FORGIVE ME, FOR I HAVE SINNED

Posted in Salads, Vegetarian-friendly by sallybr

The perfect food blogger would never resort to using pre-washed greens, buying instead produce exclusively from the farmer’s market, each leaf washed with loving care. However, I am not ashamed to confess this particular sin. Quite the contrary, the bag of organic “mixed greens” found in most grocery stores is one of my best friends, because it makes life so much easier. To my delight, the latest issue of Fine Cooking had an article devoted to redeeming sinners like me: it offered several options of salad recipes that, starting from those handy bags, turn them up into something special. I intend to try all of them, but my first choice was the one featuring a ginger-yogurt dressing and fresh cucumber. I can never resist the call of ginger. 😉

MIXED GREEN SALAD WITH CUCUMBER, ALMONDS, AND GINGER-YOGURT VINAIGRETTE
(adapted from Fine Cooking magazine, July 2012)

1-1/2 Tbs. rice vinegar
1 Tbs. finely chopped shallot
2 tsp. freshly grated ginger
2 tsp. thinly sliced mint leaves
salt and black pepper to taste
1/3 cup plain non-fat yogurt
1 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
5 oz. (5 cups) mixed baby greens
1 small English cucumber, peeled, sliced
1/4 cup toasted slivered almonds

In a small bowl, combine the vinegar, shallot, ginger, mint, salt, and black pepper. Stir in the yogurt and olive oil.

In a large bowl, season the greens and cucumbers with a pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper and toss with enough dressing to lightly coat. Sprinkle the toasted almonds on top, and serve right away.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

The original recipe called for sesame seeds instead of almonds, but I like to have extra crunch in my salad, and felt that the sesame seeds would more or less disappear through the mix. I also used non-fat yogurt in place of low-fat, because that’s what we had laying around in the fridge. The dressing turned out light, with the mint and ginger bringing a nice zing to it. Great, simple salad, perfect way to doctor up those bags that may find their way into your grocery cart… 😉 Extra-vinaigrette keeps well for a day, the flavors intensify a bit.

Because Fine Cooking doesn’t make their recipes available online for non-subscribers, a while ago I contacted the magazine to know their thoughts on copyright issues. Here’s the deal: they don’t mind bloggers publishing any of their recipes, as long as full credit is given and a link to the magazine is included, so that’s what I’ve been doing, without guilty feelings. Except, of course, the guilt of buying that eventual bag of salad greens. Pre-washed. 😉

ONE YEAR AGO: Cracked Wheat Sandwich Bread

TWO YEARS AGO: Au Revoir, my Bewitching Kitchen

THREE YEARS AGO: French Bread

31Dec2010

LIGHT AND HEALTHY ORZO SALAD

Posted in Salads, Vegetarian-friendly by sallybr

We are sometimes on a mission to cut calories or fat, and this holiday season was one of moderation for us, perhaps because cooking in a tiny kitchen forced us to minimize the excesses. ;-). With this goal in mind it doesn’t get any better than a light and healthy lunch, and this salad feels like a complete meal that will satisfy you until dinner. The inspiration is from Tyler Florence’s book, Tyler’s Ultimate. It was originally made with rice and served with a lemony, oven-baked chicken curry. However, my Brazilian genes resisted the idea of serving cold rice as a salad, so instead I used orzo, and I also modified the seasoning. Make a large batch and you’ll enjoy it for several days!

MANGO-ORZO SALAD WITH GREEN BEANS
(adapted from Tyler’s Ultimate)

1 cup orzo pasta
1/2 pound green beans
1 mango, diced
2 T fresh cilantro leaves
1/2 cup roasted, lightly salted cashews
1 T olive oil
zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper to taste

Cook the orzo in plenty of boiling water, drain and place on a baking sheet to cool quickly. Drizzle a little olive oil and lemon juice to prevent it from sticking.

Trim the green beans and cut in 1 inch pieces. Cook in boiling salted water for 4 minutes, then drain and plunge in ice water to stop cooking and set the vibrant green color.

Make the dressing by whisking the olive oil with lemon juice, season lightly with salt and pepper, and reserve. Assemble the salad by mixing in a large bowl the cooled orzo, green beans, cashews, and diced mango. Add the minced cilantro leaves, drizzle the dressing all over, adjust seasoning, and serve.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: In many regions fresh mango may not be easy to find right now, but if you can locate it then don’t miss the opportunity to try it in a salad like this. The mango we bought was not as ripe and juicy as the best examples from my childhood in Brazil, but in this recipe it worked just fine.

This salad has it all: carbs from the orzo, vitamins and fiber from the green beans and mango, omega oils from the cashews, that together with the green beans, add a pleasant “crunch.”

Some people even enjoyed it heated in the microwave as a side dish with their steak. 😉 It was also delicious that way. If you want to serve it hot, consider adding the diced mango and the cilantro at the very end.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

ONE YEAR AGO: Beef Wellington (when you have romance in your mind…)

22Sep2010

POPEYE-PLEASIN’ SALAD

Posted in Salads, Vegetarian-friendly by sallybr

Watching Popeye wolf down can after can of spinach wasn’t enough to tickle my taste buds for it. Picky eater that I was when I first tried it, only in my early twenties, it required a few encounters to appreciate it. I suppose that one might say that spinach is an acquired taste: we now consume a couple of bags of baby spinach per week, and maybe more. In this salad it’s the leading man, with just two supporting actors: slivered almonds and shaved parmiggiano cheese. I adapted the recipe from one I found in Everyday Food, that lovely Martha Stewart publication that’s always peeking at me in grocery stores, next to the cashier. 😉

SPINACH SALAD WITH ALMONDS AND PARMIGGIANO
(adapted from Everyday Food, June 2010)
receita em portugues na pagina seguinte

1/3 cup slivered almonds
3 Tbs olive oil
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
salt and freshly ground pepper
1 bunch baby spinach
1/3 cup shaved parmiggiano-reggiano cheese

Toast the almonds in a 350 F oven or on a dry, non-stick skillet, until fragrant and light brown. Do not let them burn. In a large bowl, combine almonds, oil, lemon juice and balsamic vinegar; season with salt and pepper.

Add the spinach and half the cheese, toss well to coat them with the dressing. Add the remaining of the cheese on top, and serve immediately.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Spinach is the basis of this salad, but the almonds take the flavor to another level, from good to great. It’s all about how you toast them: if they’re just dark enough you’ll get an intense, popcorny flavor, without bitterness. This time I hit the jackpot, and I hope that you do too!

We enjoyed it with salmon but it will complement many other dishes: roasted chicken, grilled pork, a juicy T-bone steak, or even a panini. The original recipe used arugula instead of spinach, so keep that in mind as an alternative.

ONE YEAR AGO: Watermelon Granita

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13Nov2009

POTATO ROQUEFORT CAKES WITH RIPE PEARS

Posted in Salads, Veggies by sallybr

I don’t know Michael Bauer, so I have absolutely no ulterior motives for returning to the recipes of his book ‘Secrets of Success,” except for the fact that many of them result in absolutely delicious dishes 😉

This recipe comes from Fabrice Marcon, who was a sous chef for Paul Bocuse, and then opened his own restaurant in San Francisco, Hyde Street Bistro. His cuisine falls into the category of “French-Californian,” simple words that attract me the way that flowers attract bees. France and California: two places I called home in the past, that always bring a nostalgic smile to my face.

Try this dish, it’s very good.

(receita em portugues na pagina seguinte)

POTATO ROQUEFORT CAKES WITH RIPE PEARS
(from Michael Bauer, Secrets of Success, original from Fabrice Marcon)

4 russet potatoes, scrubbed
8 ounces firm Roquefort cheese, crumbled
2 T olive oil
salt and pepper
2 Anjou pears, diced
1/2 pounds salad greens of your choice
1 tsp fresh tarragon, chopped
hazelnut oil

for vinaigrette
1 T red wine vinegar
1 t Dijon mustard
1 shallot, minced
1 T olive oil
salt and pepper

Heat the oven to 375F, and bake the potatoes until tender (about 1 hour). Let them cool until you can handle them, peel them, and transfer the flesh to a bowl. Mash slightly, add the roquefort and 1 T olive oil. Stir until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper, going light on the salt as roquefort is salty. Form the mixture into 4 equal patties, 1/2 inch thick. Refrigerate for 2 hours.

Make the vinaigrette by whisking the vinegar, mustard, and shallots in a small bowl to blend well. Slowly whisk in the olive oil to form an emulsion. Season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Heat the oven to 350F. Heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the potato patties and brown on both sides until golden brown, 7 minutes total. Transfer them to the oven and bake for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the salad. Toss the pears with the salad greens and tarragon. Add the vinaigrette and place in a serving bowl, or divide into individual plates. Top the salad with the potato cakes, and drizzle with a little hazelnut oil.

(serves 4 regular guests, or 2 very hungry people… )

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments – Great food is all about contrast. A little spice, a little sweetness, something smooth, something crunchy, teasing your palate at every bite. This dish is it. The roquefort cheese (which must not be too soft or the cakes will not stand up to the frying), counteract the sweetness of the pears extremely well, and the hazelnut oil ties it all. Who doesn’t like cheese, fruit and nuts? 😉 The cakes are wonderful by themselves, but please follow Marcon’s take on it, you won’t regret it.

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19Aug2009

Greens + Grapefruit + Shrimp = Great Salad!

Posted in Salads, Seafood by sallybr

This recipe comes from one of my favorite cookbooks: Secrets of Success, by Michael Bauer, who is a restaurant critic for “The San Francisco Chronicle”. In this wonderful book, we encounter 300 recipes of “signature dishes” from San Francisco restaurants. More than providing the recipe, he shares little secrets used by the chefs: small details that often mean the difference between a good and a great meal.

At some point in my life (ca. 1989) I left my heart in the Bay Area, 😉 so buying this book and cooking from it was a nice way to fight my withdrawal symptoms.

This recipe comes from chef Fabrizio Laudati (owner of an Italian restaurant called Panta Rei). It was offered as an appetizer in his previous restaurant, Baraonda, that no longer exists. I find it perfect for a summer dinner: it’s light but substantial enough to fill you up, especially if you serve a good loaf of bread with it. In this case, the recipe will feed 2 or 3 happy people.

MIXED GREEN SALAD WITH GRAPEFRUIT AND WARM SHRIMP
(serves 6 as an appetizer course)

Para receita em portugues, veja o final desse texto, na proxima pagina

for the shrimp
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup grapefruit juice (freshly squeezed)
2 garlic cloves, minced
salt and pepper to taste
12 ounces uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 T butter

for the vinaigrette
1/4 cup olive oil
2 t balsamic vinegar
2 t grapefruit juice
1 garlic clove, minced (I omitted)
salt and ground white pepper

for the salad
3 ounces mixed baby greens of your choice
2 heads Belgian endive, separated into spears
2 pink grapefruit, peeled and cut into segments (see my comments)
1 t minced fresh Italian parsley

To prepare the shrimp, combine the oil, the grapefruit juice and the garlic in a bowl. Add the shrimp, season with salt and pepperand refrigerate everything for 6 to 24 hours.

To make the vinaigrette, combine all ingredients until blended.

Place the greens, endive and grapefruit segments in separate bowls, adding the vinaigrette to each bowl and tossing the ingredients. Make sure to save any grapefruit juice that runs out of the segments.

Heat a skillet that will hold all the shrimp over high heat. Add the shrimp and the marinade and stir them until the shrimp are cooked and the sauce slightly reduces, about 3 minutes. Add the butter and toss the shrimp until it melts, then remove it from the heat. Add the reserved juices from the grapefruit segments to the skillet and stir to blend.

For nice presentation, assemble the salad by placing the endive spears in a circle on individual plates. Add a grapefruit section on top of each spear,and pile a mound of greens in the center, topping the dish with two hot shrimp and another grapefruit piece. Drizzle with a little of the sauce; sprinkle with parsley.

Bon Appetit!

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