Spinach Salad with Roasted Vegetables and Spiced Beans

Girl crush?  Yep, looks like I am headed in that direction with yet another Melissa Clark recipe.

I was not planning on making this recipe.  I blame the New York Times with that "Recommended for You" section next to the "Most Emailed" section.  There she was, third from the top with this spinach salad right beneath the "Modern Love" and "Well" columns.  I happened to have most of the ingredients and that practically makes making a dish obligatory.  Plus, after stuffing myself over the Memorial Day weekend, a salad is in order.

Mixed Salad with Yogurt Tahini Dressing from "It's All Good"

At one point or another, we have all said something along these lines, "Sure I could look like Gwyneth Paltrow, if I had her money and could hire a nutritionist, trainer, a nanny and a staff to clean the house."  All of that stuff is true but thankfully, Ms. Paltrow is putting the recipes on full display so we can at least know what to eat.  I was not planning on picking up her new cookbook, "It's All Good", because frankly, her Marie Antoinette musings are a bit much.  However, I was out and about on a random weekend, had a little time to kill before a dinner reservation and decided to stop by Barnes & Noble.  Her cookbook was sitting front and center on that table they have at the entrance of every Barnes & Noble on the face of the earth.  I picked it up and after looking through the recipes, was intrigued.  

Salt Roasted Beets in a Raspberry Salad with Goat Cheese and Walnuts

I have to eat lunch at my desk on a daily basis and since that is not the two martini lunch that I would like and that seems to be commonplace in the magical world of Mad Men, the least I can do is make it interesting and tasty. A pointer on bringing your lunch to work everyday, plan ahead so you are not a mad person trying to assemble everything in the morning while trying to get kids and dogs out the door.

There is a running joke in my office that I am down on the cafeteria in my office building. For the record, I was in a ravenous state one time and went to said cafeteria to order an omelet and I swear I could have broken a window with that hardened yellow brick they gave to me that they claimed was an omelet. They also screwed up an order of grilled cheese. Grilled cheese? Seriously? If you can't make grilled cheese, I'm out.

So, everyday I have to bring my lunch because the cafeteria is bad and quite frankly, I'm cheap and get nauseous at the thought of forking over $7.00 on a daily basis for food that tastes questionable at best. Enter the salad in all of the many glorious forms it can possibly come in. All of my salads have a common theme; goat cheese, walnuts and salad greens of some sort. When I found the recipe for salt roasted beets on Alexandra's Kitchen and she put it with, what else, goat cheese and walnuts, I knew it would be delicious. It was everything I thought it would be and more. In fact, the beets alone were so delicious that the first time I made them, they never made it into the salad. I added some raspberries to the salad and it was a wonderful combination.

I will try and post more lunch options because I know it is a struggle to come up with something worth eating every single day. Until then, enjoy the salad! AJ

Recipe adapted from Alexandra's Kitchen

Roasted Beets:

beets, washed, greens removed
kosher salt
a few sprigs thyme and rosemary, optional

Dressing:

3/4 cup fresh-squeezed orange juice
1 T. fig or regular balsamic
zest of an orange
1 small shallot, minced
1 small clove garlic, minced
kosher salt
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

Salad:

goat cheese
walnuts, toasted
greens, optional
raspberries

Method:

1.) Roast the beets. Preheat the oven to 425ºF. Pour kosher salt into a shallow roasting vessel to make a thin layer. (See photo to help estimate how much.) Place beets on salt bed. If using herbs, nestle a few sprigs among the beets. Cover pan tightly with foil and place in oven for about one hour, depending on how many and how big your beets are. Note: To test for doneness, remove foil and slip a pairing knife into one of the beets. If the knife meets little resistance, they are done. When beets are done, remove foil covering and let them cool. When cool enough to handle, rub off the skins and discard. Cut beets into nice chunks.

2.) Meanwhile, make the dressing. Place the orange juice in a small saucepan over medium heat and reduce to 1/3 cup. Let cool. Add vinegar, zest, shallots, chives and a pinch of salt. Let sit for 15 minutes. Slowly whisk in the olive oil.

3.) To assemble salad, arrange greens on a platter. Top with goat cheese, walnuts, raspberries and cut beets. Season with a pinch of salt and freshly cracked pepper. Spoon dressing over salad.

Focaccia, Antipasto, Burrata Bliss

I don't mean to gush but I feel I must over two wonderful items in this post. Number 1, I have a glass of wine in my hand right now and I am raising it to The Bread Maker's Apprentice cookbook. I am an unabashed lover of bread. I love to make it (see Whole Wheat post), smell it in the oven, look at it and savor that buttery taste hot from the oven. There is no way I could ever follow the Atkins diet, I love carbs too much to give them up. Now, make bread with a ton of olive oil, caramelized onions and other delectable toppings and you have focaccia or one of the most sinful of all sinful carbs.

The second item that goes so wonderfully with homemade focaccia is burrata cheese. I will never forget tasting this mound of creamy goodness for the first time at Cafe Spiaggia in Chicago on a truly unforgettable date. He, (said date), ordered the antipasto platter which included the burrata and although we were still getting to know each other, he encouraged me to taste the cheese. Taste I did and it was as if I had just eaten a piece of high quality mozzarella with heavy cream and slight lemon undertones. In other words, it was mozzarella with the volume turned up and soon my date's plate was empty with only a drop of olive oil remaining from my ravenous siege of his appetizer. Burrata is difficult to find but if you come across it, please do pick it up and use it as a wonderfully flavorful and creamy alternative to mozzarella.

To compliment the two items above, I also added in marinated olives and tomatoes, salami and roasted red peppers. I am posting the recipes for the olives, tomatoes and peppers as those are the three items for which the recipes are mine. I think posting the focaccia recipe would be a disservice to The Bread Maker's Apprentice cookbook which includes so many tips, hints and different methods for making this focaccia as well as so many other bread recipes. If you have any interest in proper bread making, in my humble opinion, this book explains better than others how to make quality breads of all kinds and I highly recommend it. Enjoy! AJ

Marinated Olives

Ingredients
24 large unpitted Spanish olives
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons coriander seeds, crushed
2 teaspoons thyme
1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
2 garlic cloves, minced

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Cover and marinate in refrigerator at least 8 hours. Serve at room temperature.

Marinated Tomatoes, recipe adapted from Fine Cooking

Ingredients
2 pints cherry tomatoes
2 scallions (white part only), chopped coarse
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
1 tablespoon finely chopped rosemary
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

In a shallow bowl, mix the tomatoes, scallions, parsley, rosemary, garlic, olive oil, and vinegar. Season with salt and pepper. Cover the bowl and let the tomatoes marinate at room temperature for at least 1 hour, but preferably 3 to 4 hours. Stir them occasionally so that all the tomatoes are marinated. If the tomatoes are very ripe and marinate long enough, they will crack and burst, allowing their juices to mix with the marinade.

Roasted Red Peppers

Ingredients
4 large red bell peppers, seeded and cut in 1/2 lengthwise
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus 1 1/2 cups
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.

Pour 2 tablespoons of olive oil on a baking sheet and place the peppers, cut side up on the oil. Turn the peppers over, season them with salt and pepper, and roast in the oven for 20 minutes. Place the warm peppers in a bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Set aside to cool for at least 30 minutes.

When the peppers are cool, remove and discard the skins. Slice the peppers and arrange them on a plate. Pour garlic or basil oil over the peppers and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Salade Niçoise

I have been wanting to make this salad forever and could never find an excuse or occasion to do so. Hard boiled eggs, tuna steak and olives all have the potential to put off a picky eater/dinner guest. I like to avoid sticky situations so I have shied away from this dish and making it for myself seemed a little too indulgent. Ok, fine, it's a lot of work for just little ol' me and I can get one heck of a stand-in at the Nordstrom Cafe which is located 10 minutes from my place. They make theirs with salmon instead of tuna and the results are also fantastic. On a side note, the Nordstrom Cafe is an awesome lunch spot and you can head over to the shoe department to drain your wallet after you eat that fabulous lunch.

So, about the taste. I absolutely love dishes that have flavors that are interesting when they come together. Some examples are raspberry and chocolate, goat cheese and honey, chocolate and cinnamon, balsamic and strawberry...you get the idea. This salad has those same interesting qualities with the dill, basil and parsley playing wonderfully with the vinegar, wine and dijon mustard as the dressing. Add in the salty olives, seared tuna steak, sweet tomatoes and meaty eggs and you have one hearty dish. Enjoy!


Recipe adapted from the Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, by Ina Garten

Ingredients:

1 (1-inch-thick) fresh tuna steak
extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
3/4 pound French string beans (haricots verts), stems removed and blanched
1 recipe French Potato Salad, recipe follows
2 small tomatoes, cut into wedges
3 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and cut in 1/2
4 to 5 good black olives, pitted
1 bunch watercress or arugula

For the vinaigrette:

3 tablespoons Champagne vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
10 tablespoons good olive oil

Method:

To grill the tuna, get a charcoal or stove-top cast iron grill very hot. Brush the fish with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill each side for only 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. The center should be raw, like sushi, or the tuna will be tough and dry. Arrange the tuna, haricots verts, potato salad, tomatoes, eggs, olives, watercress, on a large flat platter.

For the vinaigrette, combine the vinegar, mustard, salt, and pepper. Slowly whisk in the olive oil to make an emulsion. Drizzle some over the fish and vegetables and serve the rest in a pitcher on the side.

French Potato Salad:

1 pound small white boiling potatoes
1 pound small red boiling potatoes
2 tablespoons good dry white wine
2 tablespoons chicken stock
3 tablespoons Champagne vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
4 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
10 tablespoons good olive oil
1/3 cup minced scallions (white and green parts)
3 tablespoons minced fresh dill
3 tablespoons minced flat-leaf parsley
3 tablespoons julienned fresh basil leaves

Drop the white and red potatoes into a large pot of boiling salted water and cook for 20 to 30 minutes, until they are just cooked through. Drain in a colander and place a towel over the potatoes to allow them to steam for 10 more minutes. As soon as you can handle them, cut in 1/2 (quarters if the potatoes are larger) and place in a medium bowl. Toss gently with the wine and chicken stock. Allow the liquids to soak into the warm potatoes before proceeding.

Combine the vinegar, mustard, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and slowly whisk in the olive oil to make an emulsion. Add the vinaigrette to the potatoes. Add the scallions, dill, parsley, basil, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and toss. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Cranberry, Goat Cheese and Walnut Salad with Cranberry Orange Vinaigrette

I am addicted to this salad. This has been my lunch staple going on three weeks now and is showing no signs of over staying its welcome on my palate. This is a major development for a girl who avoided salad like the plague until her mid-20's and even more so for someone with a short attention span who eats nothing twice in the same week. At some point I discovered that I could make my own dressing at half the cost and double the taste which was a welcome discovery to someone who hates the artificial, chemical taste of the store bought stuff. As a disclaimer, I am not a total store bought dressing snob. Paul Newman's ranch dressing was what got me out of bed in the morning when I was pregnant with my son. The creamy consistency combined with that slightly sour buttermilk taste intermingling with a wedge of chilled iceberg was what made me go through a bottle a day with 70 pounds packed on over the course of 9 months as evidence of my addiction. Since then I have made several attempts at my own Ranch and my efforts have all resulted in flops that were never as tasty out as any of the store bought stuff. Go figure!

Recipe:

*Salad First:
2 cups spring green salad mix or any combination of hearty salad greens
2 tablespoons chopped walnuts
2 tablespoons dried cranberries or cherries
2 tablespoons plain goat cheese crumbled

Pile the salad leaves on a plate or in a large bowl. Top the greens with the walnuts, cranberries and cheese. Top with the dressing, mix and enjoy.

*This recipe serves one. Go ahead and double or triple the ingredients if you are having a party.

**Dressing Last:
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (approximately 1 orange)
1/2 cup whole cranberry sauce (from a can or homemade)
1 teaspoon fresh ginger (peeled and finely minced)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon raspberry jelly or plain sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Pepper to taste

Whisk the juice and cranberry sauce together in a large bowl until thoroughly blended. Add in the ginger, olive oil, vinegar, jelly, salt and pepper to taste and mix. Pour on the salad mix and serve.

**This dressing is enough for three to four salads. I make it at the beginning of the week and it lasts for five days of salad lunches at the office.

Enjoy! Xoxo – AJ