Delicious Food And Beverage fan-Healthy Care And Tips

Sorry I have been remiss in posting, it was an incredibly busy week so I didn't cook much and I had little brain power left to think of creative posts :)

A friend invited me for Saturday lunch this week and asked me to bring a salad; she's all about sustainability and asked me to choose seasonal ingredients, so I decided on a shaved brussel sprout salad with a tangy-sweet balsamic vinaigrette, toasted pine nuts and dried cranberries.

Now for those of you making a face at the brussel sprouts: Really, don't knock it 'til you try it. I shaved them thinly with my mandolin, so it was pretty much like eating a cabbage salad, and the dressing and cranberries offset the slight bitterness very well. That being said, I won't be insulted if you don't want to use the brussel sprouts and you can easily substitute a cole slaw mix, or a mix of red and green sliced cabbage instead.

Note: I used agave for the first time over Thanksgiving because my sister didn't have honey on hand, and I realized it is great for dressings because it is liquid at room temperature and doesn't clump like honey does; if you don't have agave, honey or sugar is a fine substitute.

Shaved Brussel Sprout Salad

Ingredients:

15-20 brussel sprouts
3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp agave nectar
1 tsp light olive or vegetable oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
1/4 cup dried cranberries

Directions:

1. Slice brussel sprouts thinly with a mandolin (or a knife).
2. Whisk together vinegar, agave, oil and spices.
3. Combine brussel sprouts, pine nuts and cranberries in a bowl. Add dressing 5-10 minutes before serving so the brussel sprouts have a chance to soak up the flavor.

I used to think that a tomato was a tomato, but the truth is different varieties can vary dramatically in taste and texture. I have become a big fan of heirloom tomatoes; they come in a myriad of colors, shapes, and sizes, and they always taste so fresh and delicious. They are a bit more expensive than regular tomatoes, but it's totally worth it.

I love combining tomatoes with basil; although it's more of a refreshing summer salad, I still like to make it year-round if I can find good basil.

Heirloom Tomato & Basil Salad

Ingredients:

1 container mini heirloom tomatoes (I like grape tomato size)
6-8 basil leaves
1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder

Directions:

1. Slice tomatoes in half, or if you are using larger tomatoes, into bite-sized pieces.
   
2. Wash and rough-chop the basil.
   
3. In a bowl, whisk together vinegar, oil and spices. Add tomatoes and basil and stir to coat.
4. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving.

This is a play off of the fennel salad I made a few weeks ago. I haven't really used radish until recently, but now that I've started I can't seem to stop! It's crisp and fresh, and just bitter enough to wake your taste buds up. I've paired it here with a sweet & sour dressing to cut the bitterness just a bit.

Note: Radish can be very bitter; I like to buy ones that have been packaged rather than those still attached to the root because they have a milder flavor.

Cucumber & Radish Salad w/ Ginger-Lime Dressing

Ingredients:

12 radishes, cleaned
2 cucumbers, washed
2 scallions, chopped
zest of 1 lime
juice of 2 limes
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp fresh grated ginger
1 tsp honey
1 tsp vegetable oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/4 cup walnuts, toasted (optional)

Directions:

1. Slice radishes and cucumbers thinly (I use my mandolin). Place in bowl with the scallions.
2. Blend remaining ingredients and pour over vegetables.
3. Sprinkle toasted walnuts over salad just before serving.

My friends BL and JK had a fantastically fun Friday night dinner for Shabbat this week. All of the food was amazing (BL, I still want that meatball recipe!), the wine was superb, and a good time was had by all.

I brought a salad to this meal--I wanted something classic with a bit of an edge (I wasn't sure who else was going to be at the meal so I didn't want to make something too out-of-the-box). I think I came up with a good combination :)

Baby Lettuce & Endive Salad w/ Spicy Lemon-Garlic Dressing

Ingredients:

10 oz baby lettuce mix
3 endives, sliced into strips
1 cucumber, sliced
1 pear, sliced thinly
3 scallions, chopped
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 2 lemons
1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 tsp honey
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp chili powder
1/2 clove garlic, minced

Directions:

1. Toss lettuce, endive, cucumber and pear in a large salad bowl.
2. Blend remaining ingredients. Pour over salad and serve immediately.

• Toss in some candied pecans or walnuts.
• Instead of adding garlic to the dressing, slice a few garlic cloves very thinly, then fry in oil until crispy and toss into salad before serving.
  

I am continually shocked to see the lines for salad restaurants out the door and around the block. I understand there is a salad craze on right now--however, I think there is also a rather erroneous idea that salads are by definition healthier than a sandwich or some other lunch item. In fact, salads can often have higher fat and calorie counts (dressing, croutons and other salad accoutrement add much more than you actually get out of them), and don't keep you full as long so you end up eating more, sooner.

I eat salads for lunch frequently, and they can be filling and healthy if you make sure you have the right combination of fiber, protein, starch and a bit of fat. Here are the ingredients I like to use, broken out by category; you can do an awful lot of mixing and matching so you don't have to worry about getting bored!

greens:
spinach
arugula
romaine
baby lettuce
spring mix
radicchio
endive

veggies:
cucumber
tomato
peppers
avocado
radish
zucchini
yellow squash
fennel
carrots
celery
scallions

fruit:
strawberries
mango
pear
apple
blueberries
cherries

protein:
chickpeas or other beans
grilled chicken breast, salmon or tuna
canned salmon or tuna
feta or goat cheese
cubed tofu

starch:
beans
corn
rice
quinoa
pasta
millet
lentils

additions: (in moderation)
dried cranberries
slivered almonds
candied nuts (pecans, walnuts)
toasted pine nuts
crunchy asian noodles

dressing:
drizzle of olive oil
drizzle of sesame oil
balsamic vinegar
red wine vinegar
rice wine vinegar

I’ve been seeing a lot of great looking strawberries at the market lately. What’s even better than fresh strawberries from the market? Fresh strawberries from the backyard.

I wanted to do something with the strawberries besides eat them plain. I recently received some delicious sweet and salty cashews from Oh! Nuts, and I knew they’d be great in a salad with my berries.

I decided to go with watercress as the base for the salad. I really like watercress, but I don’t use it often enough. I tossed the watercress in a very simple dressing of minced shallot, lemon, honey and olive oil. I added lots of strawberries, the cashews and some shaved ricotta salata.

This is a great summer salad, and very easy to put together. Strawberry season has just started, and I’ll be getting berries from the yard for a few more months. I need to come up with some other ways to use them, any ideas?

Strawberry, watercress and cashew salad

I feel very lucky that I'm able to structure my work schedule so that I can take every other Friday off. I usually take those opportunities to catch up with friends, and this past Friday was no exception. I'm sure it won't surprise any of you to hear that most of my friends are into food. I met one of my friends for lunch in Berkeley, and afterwards we headed over to the Monterey Market which is one of the best produce markets in the area. I mean really, where else can you find baby artichokes that look like this?

I always find fun ingredients to work with when I shop there. Once I was even able to snag a fresh white truffle. This time around, I picked up some chiogga beets, purple carrots, opal basil and sweet limes with the intention of making a salad.

I already had some spinach in the fridge, so I decided to use that as my base. I tossed the spinach in a little bit of sweet lime juice and olive oil, then seasoned it with salt and pepper. I had never worked with sweet limes before, and as advertised, they're sweet, with a slightly bitter aftertaste. I know it will be difficult, if not impossible for most of you to find these, so I wrote the recipe with lemon juice instead. Next, I added in some thinly shaved yellow and chiogga beets, along with some shaved purple carrots. I finished the salad with some chive flowers, opal basil and shaved ricotta salata.

This was quite delicious, with a lot of great flavors and textures. It may also be the prettiest salad I've ever made.

Spinach and shaved vegetable salad

Serves 2

4 cups baby spinach

1 bunch of baby carrots, trimmed and thinly shaved lengthwise

1 small chiogga beet, thinly shaved

1 small yellow beet, thinly shaved

1 tablespoon of opal basil, torn

2 tablespoons of ricotta salata, shaved

chive flowers for garnish

lemon juice

extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper

Dress the spinach with a squeeze of lemon juice, a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss and taste; adjust the seasoning as necessary. Add the carrots and beets to the spinach. Sprinkle the basil, ricotta salata and chive flowers over the top.