salads

Yesterday I woke up to the first snowfall and I have to admit after two years of living in the Bay Area’s mellow climate I am not sure if I am ready for a Vermont winter.

It does help that last week I received my first winter CSA package from Pete’s Greens, and it was loaded with goodies: greens, carrots, onions, potatoes, and delicata squash. If you aren’t familiar with delicata squash you’ll have to give it a try, with a sweet and nutty taste I think it blows away the more popular butternut and acorn squash varieties. [click to continue…]

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On the final leg of my cross country trip I started off a great meal at Lolita (Cleveland, OH) with a roasted beet, fresh ricotta, and honey salad, it was delicious. I knew I wanted to give this salad a try when I got home and when I saw a colorful variety of beets at the Montpelier Farmer’s Market, it was a go.

What I enjoyed most about this salad is that the beets were lightly roasted so they still had a bit of a bite to them. Ricotta and honey are always a decadent match, but I was surprised at how well they worked with the beets, coating them with a rich, creamy texture. The lightly dressed arugula is a great contrast to the beets and ricotta; it offers a peppery and slighty bitter bite. The only thing this salad was missing was a bit of crunch, so the next time I make this I am going to add a toasted pine nut garnish. [click to continue…]

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According to the calendar, fall has begun, but I am not quite ready to break out my wool sweaters and break into the butternut squash just yet. I have been too busy the past few days relishing in summer produce, zipping around town in shorts and sandals, and enjoying dinner on the patio. I guess it is some sort of seasonal resistance disorder.

It doesn’t help that the weather in Berkeley it has been a perfect 70 degrees, the sun has been shining and the produce at the farmer’s market is absolutely unbelievable. Tiffany at The Garden Apartment published a great post on the abundance at the farmer’s markets in September, and I can’t agree more. During this time of year you have the opportunity to create pretty much anything, and the hard part is trying to narrow down the choices.

This is a salad that I have seen in a few cookbooks, and I wanted to make it all summer but for some reason it just didn’t happen. So I was excited when I saw it on the menu at A Cote (Oakland, CA), and even happier when I confirmed what a delightful combination the melon and prosciutto make. The best part about this salad? It is so, so, so easy to put together. [click to continue…]

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Greetings! For the second guest post of the week I am excited to introduce Tiffany from The Garden Apartment. Each week Tiffany posts beautiful pictures from the farmer’s market and top-notch recipes with a local/seasonal focus. If you haven’t already checked out Tiffany’s site, pop on over and subscribe!

Posted by Tiffany from The Garden Apartment:

Beginning in April, I made a commitment to eat as seasonally as possible. My plan was to shop primarily at farmer’s markets and to create complete meals with what was available locally. With this goal in mind, I have fully embraced the gifts of each season’s harvest. From asparagus and spring onions during the spring to the best field tomatoes and peaches this summer, I have experienced it all.

So, when apples arrived at my local farmer’s markets a few weeks ago, they symbolized another delicious turn of season.

The apple is one of many foods that evokes childhood memories for me. Just one bite of a crisp apple and I am six years old again, watching my mom roll out pie dough on the kitchen counter. Isn’t it amazing how foods can bring us back to moments like these?

One of my favorite farmer’s sells an impressive variety of apples. I bought a variety called “Green Rambo” which is slightly tart and similar to a Macintosh apple.  And though I have plans for making an apple pie reminiscent of mom’s apple pies, I wanted to use this apple for something a little healthier. (My farmer also tells me that he has another variety of apple that will “knock the socks off of any other apple pie.” So, the Green Rambo apple is not destined for any baking time in the oven.)

This salad features apples and blue cheese- one of my favorite combinations. I also added some blueberries for an extra layer of flavor. You could use another berry, or even dried cranberries. The salad is dressed with a walnut-balsamic dressing, and topped off with toasted walnuts. The resulting salad was refreshing and delicious. The combination of sweet and tart flavors was accented by the crisp texture of apples, juicy berries, crunchy walnuts, and creamy cheese.

Apple, Blueberry, and Blue Cheese Salad with Walnut-Balsamic Dressing and Toasted Walnuts

(Serves 2)

Salad Ingredients

• 1 large tart apple (or two small ones), diced
• 2 TB lemon juice (optional)
• ½ cup blueberries (you can sub another berry or dried berries)
• ¼ cup thinly sliced onion
• ½ cup blue cheese
• 2 tsp fresh rosemary, minced
• ½ Cup walnuts
• 2 tsp powdered sugar (optional)
• dash cinnamon (optional)
• 1 cup fresh arugula leaves, or other salad greens

Dressing Ingredients

• 3 TB toasted walnut oil
• 1 TB balsamic vinegar (+ more to your preferences)
• 2 tsp blue cheese
• 1 tsp honey
• ½ tsp whole grain mustard
• salt and pepper, to taste

Drizzle diced apples with fresh lemon juice (optional- this will prevent them from browning). Combine apples with berries, sliced onions, blue cheese, and minced rosemary leaves.

In the meantime, heat a small frying pan. Toast the walnuts over medium heat until golden brown. Remove from heat. Add powdered sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.

In mini-prep or a blender, combine all of the dressing ingredients. Pulse until a smooth consistency is obtained.

Pour the dressing over the apple mixture and combine. Divide the arugula leaves between two plates. Top with the apple mixture and finish off with the toasted and sugared walnuts.

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Figs have been popping up all over the stalls at the farmer’s market, which is a small reminder that summer is coming to a close. While the produce will still be bountiful for the next couple of months, the days will be getting a bit shorter, yellow school buses will be zipping through town, and I’ll dedicate a little chunk of my weekend to catching a football game. The prospects of this autumn have me even more excited as I’ll be making the big move from Berkeley back to Burlington, VT.

With under a month left in the Bay Area I have been eating out quite a bit, trying to make it to can’t-miss restaurants, revisiting old favorites, and catching up with friends. Last week I enjoyed another great dinner at the Wood Tavern (Oakland, CA) and this is my version of their beautiful, elegant, and simple fig salad. [click to continue…]

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It’s mid-August and I have reached the height of my annual tomato addiction, bringing home bags upon bags of multicolored heirloom varietals after every trip to the farmer’s market. I’d be happy consuming B.L.T.’s until the frost hits but I am a bit worried about an expanding waistline or my family staging some form of intervention, so I have been trying to shake things up. Enter panzanella, or Tuscan bread and tomato salad.

I am a big fan of summer salads that are light, bright and crisp - but this isn’t one of those. Panzanella is the perfect salad when you need a something a bit more hearty (a mid-day snack for those weekend workdays out in the yard or a picnic after a long hike or bike ride). It’s a quick, no-cook salad recipe that is loaded with flavor and leaves you feeling full and satisfied. [click to continue…]

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August is tomato time. Once you’ve tasted an heirloom tomato in the height of its season, you’ll never go back to chomping on those winter imports. An August heirloom offers bright flavors, gentle acidity, and a juicy deliciousness that is out of this world. This is the time of year to break out your fresh tomato recipes. Maybe a Caprese Salad with sliced tomatoes, fresh sliced mozzerella (packed in water), a bit of fresh basil, a splash of balsamic vinegar, and a drizzle of your best extra-virgin olive oil. It’s perfecto!

Or, you could go with my favorite late-summer snack: the B.L.T. And if you are feeling even more daring, check out Eggs on Sunday and try Amy’s B.L.A.T., which adds a bit of avocado for extra creaminess. With football season approaching, this is going to be my Saturday (college gameday) lunch for the next couple of weeks.

Whatever you do, don’t cook your August heirloom tomatoes (unless you’re canning for the cooler months). They are really at their finest when they are fresh, warmed by the sun, and not refrigerated. If you need some more fresh summer recipes, check out these food blog gems:

Simply Recipes: Homemade Tomato Juice (or the ultimate Bloody Mary)

Lobstersquad: Gazpacho

Bitten: Fresh Tomato Sauce

Kalyn’s Kitchen: Summer Tomato Salad

101 Cookbooks: Heirloom Tomato Tart (o.k. it’s cooked - against my rule, but doesn’t it look good?)

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After the Quest for the Best Canned Tuna challenge, I had quite a bit of tuna left over and knew that if I served tuna sandwiches for the next week there would be a revolt in the house - time to get creative! My first thought was a tuna noodle casserole, but a hot, gooey mess didn’t scream refreshing summer recipe, so I am going to put that on hold until the cooler weather arrives. I did have a bunch of green beans in the fridge, however, so I decided that green beans and tuna would be a killer combo.

This salad is basically a riff on the potato salad I posted a while back. The great thing about summer salad recipes is that once you get the dressings down, you can substitute other seasonal vegetables and end up with a happy outcome. [click to continue…]

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It’s gotten to the point that when I visit my friends in Vermont I have to make a reservation at Hen of the Wood - it is a restaurant that I just cannot pass up. A converted mill with a field stone-walled dining room that overlooks a waterfall, the whole vibe of the restaurant is rustic, casual and authentically Vermont. In his own words, Chef Warnstedt creates food that is:

• Simple, uncomplicated and down-to-earth. The uniqueness of our dishes comes from the depth of flavor found in each ingredient. We create menus based on the wealth of premium ingredients found only miles from the restaurant in the lush Green Mountains and Champlain Valley.

In an effort to recreate a bit of the Hen of the Wood experience back here in Berkeley, I stopped by the Temescal Farmer’s Market in Oakland on Sunday morning and picked up the ingredients for this radish salad (and some dearly missed Blue Bottle Coffee). This is a fun and quick salad to make, with the most time going to removing the peas from the pod. [click to continue…]

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