Endive & Beet Salad

Endive and Beet Salad 

with Chevre & Almond Slivers

I only have one homemade salad dressing recipe. Perhaps this is because 1. it's only been recently that I ever followed any recipes (I don't bake), and; 2. it's the only salad dressing my mom ever made. Realizing I had yet to share my childhood Dijon vinaigrette, I brainstormed a salad that would really show it off and came up with this little gem. This is by far the easiest, least prep salad on the blog to date (or it is if you buy ready to eat beets like I did). It is also a salad that will not be to everyone's taste as many folks don't like beets, or endives for that matter. However, I adore these flavors and this made for a perfect lunch. I recommend chopping the salad for easier eating; the picture below was only for presentation, promise. Hope you enjoy as much as I did! Bon appetit!

Salad Ingredients:

• 2 endive 
• 2 baby beets (I used the Trader Joe's ready to eat & serve kind found in the refrigerated section)
• 1 oz goat cheese (chevre)
• 2 tsp slivered almonds, unsalted

Dressing Ingredients*:

• 1 egg yolk
• 1/4 cup EVOO
• 1 fl oz balsamic vinegar
• 2 fl oz red wine vinegar
• 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• salt & pepper, to taste 

Dressing:
Separate egg yolk. Place yolk in bowl or jar. Add remaining ingredients to yolk. Whisk until blended, smooth and egg yolk & mustard are thoroughly dissolved.

Salad:
Remove outer leaves of endive if any are brown. Chop endive and beets, place in a salad bowl or plate. Add goat cheese and almonds. Drizzle with 2-3 tsp of vinaigrette. Add fresh ground pepper if desired. Enjoy!

*Recipe yields 1/2 cup of dressing. Use left overs in future salads!

Playoffs Salad Round II

Baby Spinach Salad

with Granny Smith Apple, Walnuts & Brie

Last weekend was packed with great football. I woke up Sunday morning beyond excited for the Pat's game, and we decided last min to have some people over to watch. This of course meant preparing a feast of snacks. I knew that I wanted to make a healthy version of some of my fav pub food and I wanted a salad to pair with it. I also knew that I had about an hour to prep and cook everything seeing as we had to take the tree down (I know, we've been busy!) and I had to shop. Luckily I was able to get it all done by game time and if you follow me on Instagram you've seen the spread I put out- it was intense. I went with this salad for a couple reasons. 1. It's super easy, quick and delish. 2. I felt that the brie added an indulgence that for me is synonymous with football snacks/pub fare. The salad turned out great and as you can see below I made A TON. I kept the dressing on the side so the good news is that we had yummy leftovers for lunch and dinner this week. Hope you enjoy as much as we did. Bon appetit!

Ingredients (for single serving):

•  1-2 cups baby spinach
• 1/4 granny smith apple, sliced thin
• 1/8 cup walnuts, halved or chopped
• 1/8 oz brie (if you want a healthier version swap regular brie for goat brie)
• 1 Tbsp Fig-Walnut Vinaigrette*

Put brie in fridge to harden (makes it easier to slice). Slice apples. Plate spinach. Top with apple, brie and walnuts. Let salad sit until brie has softened. Dress and serve. Enjoy!

*I use Lucini which can be found at Whole Foods or online here.

Baby Kale & Blood Orange Salad

Baby Kale & Blood Orange Salad

with Shaved Fennel & Sheep's Milk Feta

Yes people, it's true, I am OBSESSED with kale. So much so that I want to eat it at almost every meal (which is killing the bf). I'm also obsessed with this salad. It was almost too good. Def one that I will be making time and again. Borrowed and reworked from a Bon Appetit recipe that a friend passed along (that one called for grapefruit & avocado with the kale), this is a new fav. I know that sheep's milk feta was used in the salad last week, but I have a lot left over and don't want it to go to waste. This salad could def go without the cheese altogether or goat cheese would be a nice substitute. I will also say that if you can't easily find blood orange infused olive oil, juice a couple of sections and mix it into some regular olive oil to get the flavor in the dressing. I served this with seared tuna (and whole wheat couscous for the man). All in all it was a hit. Hope you enjoy! Oh, and please pardon the unattractive looking fennel shavings- haven't gotten that technique down yet. Bon appetit! 

Ingredients:

• 1-2 cups baby kale
• 1 blood orange
• 1/4 fennel bulb, shaved
• 1-2oz sheep's milk feta
• 1 1/2 Tbsp blood orange infused olive oil
• salt & pepper to taste

Shave fennel and set aside. Peel and section blood orange. Slice sections in half and set aside. 

In a large mixing bowl toss all ingredients together. Plate and serve. Enjoy!

Sauteed Portabella Mushroom Salad

Sauteed Portabella Mushroom Salad

with sheep's milk feta

Back in the day, for a number of years, I worked as a server at Baba Louie's Pizza in Gt. Barrington, MA. If you've never been to GB or Baba Louie's, you gotta go. Not only is the town picturesque and the pizza some of the best I've ever had, both places are also home to some of the best people on earth. It's probably only fair to credit my salad obsession to Baba Louie's. As you can glean from their menu, they have some of the most incredible salads. As a server we got to experiment a lot in the kitchen, often creating some interesting salad concoctions. The salad below is an amendment to one of my favs on the menu. It will never taste quite like it does coming out of the Baba's kitchen, but it's pretty damn close. Hope you enjoy as much as I do. Bon appetit!

Ingredients:

• 1-2 cups mixed greens
• 1 portabella mushroom, sliced
• 1 oz sheep's milk feta
• 2 tsp balsamic vinaigrette (of choice)
• 1 tsp olive oil
• salt & pepper, to taste

Spray small sautee pan with cooking spray. Once pan is heated add mushrooms. Sprinkle mushrooms with salt & pepper. Add 2 tsp balsamic vinaigrette and evenly coat mushroom slices. Sautee mushrooms until lightly browned and all liquid is cooked off. Add 1/4 cup water to the pan & cover until mushrooms are thoroughly cooked.

While mushrooms are cooking, toss greens with olive oil. Place greens on plate and top with feta & cooked portabellas. Enjoy!

Keeping it Simple... and Light

Arugula & Tomato Salad 

with walnuts

New Years Day turned out to be a day of nursing the sick. It also meant an opportunity to finally get past the holidays and back to normal, healthy meals. I woke up New Years morning craving seafood. I wanted everything from New England clam chowder to filet of sole. A quick trip to Whole Foods to get the necessary meds for the ill boyfriend led me to exploring the fish counter. Without hesitation, I immediately decided that crab cakes would be the dinner that rang in 2013. After getting home with the groceries, I also realized that I didn't plan a single side dish let alone a salad. Luckily I had a few staples in the house which led me to this super simple, super healthy and super tasty salad below. It is by no means creative genius, but it leaves plenty of room for those that want to add ingredients and spice it up. It's a great compliment to any light seafood meal and I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. Bon appetit!

Ingredients:

• 2-3 cups arugula
• 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
• 1/4 chopped walnuts
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• salt & pepper to taste

 In a mixing or salad bowl combine all ingredients. Toss until evenly coated with lemon juice & olive oil. Plate & serve. Enjoy!