Salad

June – Roasted Cauliflower with Peas and Mint-Pea Yogurt
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June – Roasted Cauliflower with Peas and Mint-Pea Yogurt

This is the other salad I served to my book club friends.

Roasted Cauliflower with Peas and Mint-Pea Yogurt

Roasted Cauliflower with Peas and Mint-Pea Yogurt

Full of herbs and edible flowers, this salad was beautiful. It is meant to be eaten the day it is made, as it didn’t keep well and wasn’t particularly good the following day. The recipe came from another book by Hetty McKinnon, Family. All her books are overflowing with wonderful vegetarian meals for sharing with friends and family. This dish is particularly beautiful with all the herbs and edible flowers used as a garnish. Her recipe was written using quinoa, I substituted brown rice. However, after making it this once, I think it would be even more flavorful with farro or freekeh. It would also give a nice textural element, toothiness (is that a word?) was missing. That’s how I intend to make it next time.

The pea yogurt sauce is a nice touch. Leave it out or use a nut yogurt instead if you are going dairy free or vegan.

The flowers, herbs, and peas came from my garden. The recipe calls for peas but I used a mixture of blanched and slivered snow and snap peas. They came from the garden in Fort Bragg. I supplemented them with some frozen petit pois. You could (as the recipe was written) use all frozen peas.

Short peas growing in a raised bed, these are a mix of snap and snow peas

Short peas growing in a raised bed, these are a mix of snap and snow peas

 

Roasted Cauliflower with Peas and Mint-Pea Yogurt

Roasted Cauliflower with Peas and Mint-Pea Yogurt

 

Roasted Cauliflower with Peas and Mint-Pea Yogurt (serves 4)

Ingredients: 

  • Salad –
    • 1 cauliflower head, cut into large florets
    • Extra-virgin olive oil
    • Juice of 1 lemon
    • 1 cup of quinoa or another grain, rinsed
    • 2 cups of vegetable stock or coconut water or water
    • 2 cups of peas
    • 1 cup of microgreens
    • 1/4 cup of mint leaves
    • Garnish of edible flowers
    • salt and pepper
  • Mint-Pea Yogurt
    • 1/2 cup frozen peas
    • 1/4 cup mint leaves, roughly chopped
    • 1 cup of Greek yogurt
    • 1 tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil
    • 1 teaspoon of honey or maple syrup

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C)
  2. Place the cauliflower florets on a parchment lined baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Roast for about 25-30 minutes until tender and turning golden. Remove from the oven and season with salt and pepper.
  3. Add your grain of choice to a saucepan with the vegetable stock, coconut water, or plain water. Bring it to a boil, cover, reduce the heat to low and cook until done. Remove from the heat and cool for 5-10 minutes before draining. Fluff with a fork and squeeze the lemon over, then drizzle with olive oil.
  4. Bring a small pot of salted water to a boil and blanch the peas (including the ones for the sauce) for 1 minute, drain and rinse under cool running water until cold. Set aside.
  5. For the mint-pea yogurt sauce – combine the mint, 1/2 cup of the blanched peas, and the yogurt in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Add the olive oil, syrup or honey, and season with salt and pepper. Blend again until combined. Pour into a jar and chill.
  6. When ready to assemble the salad combine the cauliflower, grain, and peas. Drizzle with some olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Garnish with the microgreens and edible flowers.
  7. Serve the yogurt sauce on the side.

 

Roasted Cauliflower with Peas and Mint-Pea Yogurt

Roasted Cauliflower with Peas and Mint-Pea Yogurt

 

March – Roasted broccoli, preserved lemon, Calabrian chile, and brown rice pasta salad
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March – Roasted broccoli, preserved lemon, Calabrian chile, and brown rice pasta salad

Roasted broccoli, preserved lemon, calabrian chile, and brown rice pasta

Roasted broccoli, preserved lemon, Calabrian chile, and brown rice pasta

This recipe came from the cookbook vegetarian salad for dinner by Jeanne Kelley. In her recipe she uses whole wheat pasta, which would be a good alternative. I wanted to make the salad gluten free and had brown rice penne in the pantry. Serve this salad at room temperature, it’s vegan, gluten and dairy free as written. For extra protein a bit of crumbled feta ups the flavor but is not necessary.

I often roast cauliflower but forget that broccoli is also delicious roasted, especially when there are some crispy bits. Roasting sweetens the broccoli, combining it with preserved lemons and Calabrian chiles ups the the salty and tangy notes.

Roasted broccoli, preserved lemon, Calabrian chile, and brown rice pasta

Roasted broccoli, preserved lemon, Calabrian chile, and brown rice pasta

Ingredients: (serves 4)

  • 2 to 2-1/2 pounds of broccoli (about 2 bunches)
  • 4 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil
  • 8 ounces of dried penne or small macaroni, any kind (about 2 cups)
  • 3 garlic cloves, finely grated on a microplane or crushed through a garlic press
  • 3 tablespoons of chopped preserved lemon (rind only)
  • 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons of minced Calabrian chiles
  • Optional: 6 ounces of crumbled fresh feta cheese

Method:

  1. Position your oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 450 degrees F.
  2. Cover 2 sheet pans with parchment paper.
  3. Cut the broccoli into 1/2 to 3/4 inch pieces. Place the cut broccoli in a large bowl and drizzle with 2 tablespoon of the olive oil. Toss with your hands to mix well and coat with oil. Divide the broccoli between the pans. Sprinkle lightly with salt.
  4. Roast until tender browned with some crisp edges. This took about 20 minutes, I switched the locations of the pans after 10. Cool.
  5. Boil the pasta in rapidly boiling salted water until tender but firm to the bite. Drain and transfer to a large bowl (I used the same one that contained the broccoli in step 3).
  6. Immediately add the garlic and the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Toss well to coat the pasta. Add the broccoli, preserved lemon and lemon juice.
  7. Add the Calabrian chiles gradually until you have the desired heat.
  8. Add the optional feta if using.
Roasted broccoli, preserved lemon, Calabrian chile, and brown rice pasta

Roasted broccoli, preserved lemon, Calabrian chile, and brown rice pasta

Serve at room temperature.

January – Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad
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January – Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad

During the warmer summer months I gorge on sun ripened tomatoes from hot inland gardens. Once winter starts, I avoid the tasteless and long traveled ones available in the grocery store. Instead, my passion runs to Brussels sprouts. Roasted until bronzed with a few charred leaves, they are sweet and don’t resemble the over cooked boiled ones served in school cafeterias. I frequently snack on the crisp dark brown outer leaves that are loose on the sheet pan.

Most vegetables in the Brassica family profit from being roasted. It’s certainly my favorite way to cook them, or most any vegetable. Simply cut them into 1-inch pieces, drizzle with a bit of olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Then roast (cut side down) in a 425 degree oven, maybe turning once although not required, until done to your liking with edges that are brown and starting to carmelize. This usually only takes 30 to 40 minutes, hands free. Your time is then available for anything else you plan to serve.

But raw, thinly sliced Brussels sprouts are also delicious. Even better, a salad using them can be made ahead and is frequently even better the following day. A food processor with the thin slicing blade makes short work of it or you can use a sharp knife. Trader Joe’s sells pre-sliced sprouts although they are not quite as thin as I like them. They do work well in a stir fry though.

 

Brussels sprout salad

Brussels sprout salad

What’s in there? I see dried cranberries, chopped dates, pine nuts, and fresh goat cheese in addition to the shaved sprouts. Toasted walnuts would also be excellent in this salad. Although it’s difficult to see in the picture, there are also roasted outer leaves of the sprouts to add a toasty note.

This recipe originally came from the blog Love & Lemons, you will find the link here. They use grated parmesan instead of fresh goat cheese, and the dates are my own addition.

If you would like to add the roasted outer leaves, just peel them off before shaving the sprouts. Toss them with a little olive oil and salt on a parchment lined sheet pan, and roast at 425 degrees F. for about 25-30 minutes until crisp and brown. Add them at the very last minute to the salad.

Ingredients:

  • 4 cups shaved Brussels sprouts
  • ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
  • ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
  • ½ cup pine nuts, toasted
  • ⅓ cup dried cranberries
  • 4 diced dates
  • 1/2 cup of crumbled fresh goat cheese
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

  1. Toss the sprouts, pine nuts, cranberries and dates together.
  2. Add the olive oil and lemon juice and toss again.
  3. Taste for salt and pepper.
  4. Crumble in the goat cheese.
  5. optional roasted outer leaves should go in just before serving

The salad can be made ahead through step 3.

Shaved Brussels sprout salad

Shaved Brussels sprout salad

November – Celebration Salad
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November – Celebration Salad

This is a perfect salad to round out your Thanksgiving or Christmas menu. Juicy roasted grapes combine with cauliflower (Romanesco if you can find it), the slight bitterness of endive, and the crunch of toasted hazelnuts. Thinly sliced parmesan adds umami at the end. Serve this salad at room temperature, you can make it several hours ahead. At the last minute combine with the dressing and shave over the parmesan with a Y-peeler.

Roasted grapes, cauliflower, endive salad

Roasted grapes, cauliflower, endive salad

Ingredients:

  • I head of regular or Romanesco cauliflower
  • 1 bunch of seedless green or muscat grapes (the red ones would be nice with regular cauliflower), about 3 cups – mostly separate them but leave one or two in small clusters
  • 2 heads of endive
  • parmesan – shaved
  • 1/2 cup hazelnuts, toasted and chopped if whole
  • olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons of grainy mustard
  • 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar
  • 1/2 teaspoon honey
Roasted grapes, cauliflower, endive salad

Roasted grapes, cauliflower, endive salad

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 435 degrees F or 220 degrees C
  2. Separate the cauliflower into florets, on a baking sheet toss them with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
  3. On a separate baking sheet, toss the grapes with a bit more oil, salt and pepper
  4. Roast both sheets until the cauliflower is golden the the grapes are blistered, about 30 minutes. Let them cool a bit before assembling the salad.
  5. While they are roasting, make the cider vinaigrette. In a bowl or jar, whisk (or shake) the mustard, vinegar, honey and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
  6. Separate the endive and tear the leaves into bite-sized pieces
  7. Toss the roasted cauliflower, grapes, and endive with the dressing. Scatter in a bowl or platter. Arrange the grape clusters around the platter. Sprinkle with the hazelnuts and shave the parmesan on top.
Roasted grapes, cauliflower, endive salad

Roasted grapes, cauliflower, endive salad

This recipe came from the cookbook Salad Freak by Jess Damuck. I think I have earmarked more recipes in this book than any on my shelves.

This works well with regular cauliflower, in that case use red grapes . It was garnished with pomegranate seeds (for extra color) and pickled mustard seeds. Instead of parmesan, I shave sharp white cheddar on top.

Celebration Salad

Celebration Salad

Celebration Salad

Celebration Salad

You can find out how to make the pickled mustard seeds here. They make a great gift and keep almost forever in the fridge.

 

This will be my contribution to the Fiesta Friday virtual blogging party. It’s Fiesta Friday #511 hosted by Angie and Co-hosted by  Jhuls @ The Not So Creative Cook

 

May – Asian Cabbage and Kale Salad
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May – Asian Cabbage and Kale Salad

Asian Cabbage and Kale Salad

Asian Cabbage and Kale Salad

This recipe comes from Pinch of Yum. They call it Miso Crunch Salad and you can find the link to their blog here. It’s Asian-ish and would go wonderfully with any grilled protein. They add shrimp to make it a full meal, chicken would be equally delicious, even some leftover grilled steak. I served this as a salad with gochujang marinated grilled chicken. Leftover chicken was added to the salad for lunch the next day.

Thai influenced chopped cabbage and kale salad

Thai-influenced chopped cabbage and kale salad

The salad was still crunchy and delicious for lunch two days later. This would be a good salad to take to a party. It does contain peanuts but any other spiced nut would work. I only modified the recipe slightly, adding thinly sliced red onion and radishes.

Ingredients:

Dressing – 

  • 1/3 cup of avocado or other neutral oil
  • 1/3 cup of lime juice from 4-6 limes
  • 1/4 cup of white miso
  • 1/4 cup of sugar
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt

Salad –

  • 5 cups of shredded kale
  • 5 cups of shredded cabbage (a cole slaw mix would work here)
  • 1/2 cup of thinly sliced red onion
  • 4 thinly sliced radishes
  • 1 cup of chili-flavored peanuts or something similar
  • 2 avocados, chunked
  • 1/2 cup of chopped cilantro
  • 1/2 cup of sliced scallions (optional)

Method:

  1. Shake the dressing ingredients together in a jar, whisk in a bowl, or mix in a small food processor until smooth. Add a few drops of water if it seems too thick.
  2. Toss the salad together with the dressing in a large bowl and massage slightly.
Asian Cabbage and Kale Salad

Asian Cabbage and Kale Salad

BBQ season is starting and the folks over at Fiesta Friday might want to keep this in their back pocket. It’s Fiesta Friday #483 hosted by Angie and co-hosted this week by Pauline @ Beautiful Voyager

Click on the link to view recipe, craft, and decorating posts.