Barefoot Bloggers: Herb Roasted Onions

I feel like it's been ages since I last did a Barefoot Thursday, but in fact it has only been two weeks. This first November recipe was chosen by Kelly of Baking with the Boys. I was so happy to see a recipe that didn't involve vats of butter and cream. My waistline could certainly use a break. I knew I couldn't have a dinner of just onions so I had this as an appetizer to a chicken and greens dinner. More on that tomorrow. These were so good!! Duh, it's an Ina recipe. I have yet to try a recipe of hers that I totally hate. The onions get so sweet and the tangy dressing was amazing. I wanted to drink it, but restrained myself. As usual, you can see the other Barefoot Bloggers onion dishes here, and if you love Ina as much as we do, click here to find out how to join in the fun. It's almost Friday, wooooohooooo!!!!


Read this article. You will never want fast food again!





Herb Roasted Onions
(Adapted from Ina Garten)

1 red onion
1/2 yellow onion
1 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
3/4 teaspoon minced thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Pinch freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon minced fresh parsley leaves

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Remove the stem end of each onion and carefully slice off the brown part of the root end, leaving the root intact. Peel the onion. Stand each onion root end up on a cutting board and cut the onion in wedges through the root. Place the wedges in a bowl.

For the dressing, combine the lemon juice, mustard, garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Slowly whisk in the olive oil. Pour the dressing over the onions and toss well.

With a slotted spoon, transfer the onions to a sheet pan, reserving the vinaigrette that remains in the bowl. Bake the onions for 30 to 45 minutes, until tender and browned. Toss the onions once during cooking. Remove from the oven, and drizzle with the reserved dressing. Sprinkle with parsley, season to taste and serve warm or at room temperature.

POM Shrimp

Here it is! My weekly pomegranate recipe. Did you think I was done with them? I still have lots of ideas for these beauties and this is another one I found on the POM Wonderful site. I was drawn to this recipe because I love shrimp salads, but once I got to looking at the ingredients, I was intrigued. I had all of the spices in my pantry, but I don't think I ever would have thought to combine them all in one dish. The frisee was another gift I received at the farmers market. The farmers must have really taken pity on how awful I looked that day. I kept getting stuff for free! The smell and flavors of this were fantastic, but my only complaint is that the dressing came out a little grainy, I'm not really sure why, but it was still a fantastic dish. Hope you're having a happy hump day!


POM Shrimp
(Adapted from POM Wonderful)


1/4 cup POM Wonderful Pomegranate Juice
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
Freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 teaspooons mustard seeds
1 shallot, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
10 large shrimp (1 1/4 pounds), peeled and de-veined
1/2 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Kosher salt
1 packed cup light-colored frisee (chicory), heavy stems removed, leaf portion torn into 2-inch pieces
Pomegranate seeds for garnish

In a large skillet, combine 1/2 tablespoon sesame oil with vegetable oil, coriander, cumin, pepper and mustard seeds, shallots and garlic. Place over medium heat and cook, stirring for 4 minutes. Raise heat and stir in the shrimp and cook, turning and stirring, for 3 minutes, or until shrimp are opaque.

Reduce heat. Stir in the pomegranate juice, vinegar and salt. Cook, stirring and scraping bottom of pan, for 1 minute. Stir in remaining sesame oil.

Place 1/2 cup frisee on each plate. Top with shrimp, and drizzle sauce around plate. Sprinkle with pomegranate arils.

Kale Chips

If you read this blog regularly (I think some of you do), you may be wondering what my recent obsession with drying out fruits and vegetables and calling them "chips" is. I really don't have an answer for you on that. I just like finding fun ways of getting my "five a day". Yesterday I said how I was kind of a waste of space on Sunday. I did do a quick farmers market run and I must have looked so bad the farmers took pity on me. I bought one head of kale, but the guy insisted I take two. All the better to make kale chips with, my dear. These are so easy to make and I am sure they are much better for you than the "vegetable" chips you can buy at the grocery store. There are so many ways to enjoy these with different seasonings too. They have a light crunch which is totally addictive and a nice slightly bitter bite. These were good right out of the oven (cooled slightly of course), and they were good when completely cooled as well. Some of them did not quite crisp up, but it was ok. This is my new favorite snack...for this week at least!



Kale Chips
(By Esi)

1 large bunch of kale (or 2 small bunches in my case)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
Kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Wash the kale thoroughly and pat completely dry with towels or in a salad spinner. Tear the kale into bite sized pieces, leaving out the inner stalk.

In a small bowl mix together the oil, vinegar, and a few dashes of salt. Pour the oil mixture over the kale and using your hands or a pair of tongs, toss gently to combine.

Spread the kale onto the baking sheet in a single layer. It may be necessary to do this in several batches. Sprinkle the kale with a bit more salt.

Bake for 10-15 minutes, turning once about halfway through.

Fusilli with Cauliflower Il Melograno

As I predicted, I ate too much food and drank too much wine at our potluck on Saturday. It was a great time, but yesterday was pretty much a waste. I slept-walked to the farmers market and did nothing the rest of the day. I did manage to find the energy to make this recipe. I had wanted to make this with the recommended orechiette, but at almost five dollars a box, I decided to go with the much less expensive fusilli. It was so easy and really good. I liked this with and without the Parmesan and since I made the full recipe, I have lunch for the rest of the week! Of course I had to make a few changes like upping the amount of garlic and adding in a shallot for some oniony flavor. My camera is still angry at my computer. I have to figure out a way for those two to be friends again, but in the meantime, I will try to upload them once I get to work.

Ugh! So clearly it's not my camera's fault. I am able upload pictures at work. So this means I have to figure out what is wrong with my computer and why it won't play along. Dontcha just love technology??


Fusilli with Cauliflower Il Melograno
(Adapted from Gourmet)

1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
1 pound fusilli
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup bread crumbs, toasted
6 slices bacon, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 large shallot, minced
Freshly grated Parmesan (optional)

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and add the bacon and cook until crisp.

Meanwhile, add the cauliflower to the boiling water and cook 2-3 minutes until just tender. Transfer the cauliflower with a slotted spoon to a colander to drain and keep water at a boil.

Remove the bacon from the skillet with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel. Add the shallots and garlic to the skillet and cook until the shallots are translucent. Add the cauliflower and bacon back to the skillet and toss to combine.

Cook the pasta in boiling water until al dente. Drain well, reserving a ladle-full of the water. Add the pasta to the skillet and toss to combine. Add the reserved pasta water if the sauce looks dry.

Sprinkle the pasta with bread crumbs and serve with Parmesan if desired.

Persimmon "Crisps"

Hooray for Saturday!! I am totally exhausted from a week of fighting social injustices with my friends. In between the protests, I have found a bit of time to eat and cook. I wanted to focus on some other fruits than just apples and pomegranates that have been featured on here a lot lately. I love persimmons and they have been all over the farmers markets in the last few weeks. My mom makes an excellent persimmon bread, but I wanted to keep it simple this time. I have a potluck later today where I will most certainly eat too much and drink too much wine so I wanted a nice healthy something to snack on while I make a super decadent dessert for my friends. I have seen several recipes for persimmon chips or crisps popping up lately, but this one attracted me mostly for it's simplicity and the use of only two ingredients. The flavor of these came out really good. Persimmons are naturally very sweet so it didn't need any excess sugar. My only problem was that they were more chewy than crispy. Actually, they really weren't crispy at all except for some browned edges. I am going to play around with the cooking temperatures and times and see if I can find something that turns out a texture I like. Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend and if you're in SoCal, hope you're out enjoying the beautiful weather!

Persimmon "Crisps"
(Adapted from The Kitchn)

Fuyu persimmons
Ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Slice the persimmons as thinly as possible. Arrange the persimmons on the baking sheet in a single layer and lightly sprinkle each side with cinnamon (a little goes a long way). Bake for 10 minutes until slightly dried and the ends have started to curl. Flip the persimmons over and bake for another 5-10 minutes until the persimmons are dried. Allow to cool slightly before serving.

Apple Galette with a Rosemary Crust

A few weeks ago, I made a pot pie for Barefoot Thursday. While the pot pie was good, the real star of the dish was the crust that I had baked a few teaspoons of chopped rosemary into. I had some of the dough left and some of the pot pie filling left, but I wasn't about to make more pot pies because I don't really eat pot pies. I thought it would be interesting to pair the rosemary crust with a sweet apple mixture and make a galette out of it. This came out better than I hoped it would. I didn't want to use too many spices in the apple filling because I didn't want to contradict or overpower the rosemary crust so I just went with a simple mix of lemon, brown sugar, and cinnamon. The sweet mixture was a perfect pair with the flaky, salty, and pine-y crust. I like baking with Granny Smiths for their tartness, but if you prefer something sweeter, by all means use a less tart baking apple. I finally remembered the name of the apple I used in the pumpkin shortcake. It was the Arkansas black which was firm and tart, but definitely sweeter than a Granny Smith.


Apple Galette with a Rosemary Crust
(By Esi)

1 ball rosemary pate brisee
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and thinly sliced
Juice from 1 small lemon
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 egg slightly beaten with 1 tablespoon water for egg wash

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

In a small bowl, combine the apple slices, lemon juice, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, and cinnamon until well coated. Set aside.

On a lightly floured board, roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thickness. Arrange the apple slices on the dough leaving 1-2 inches around. Fold the dough over the apple slices. Dot the cut up butter all over the apples and sprinkle the apples with more brown sugar. Brush the edges of the dough with the egg wash. Bake 20-25 minutes until the crust is golden.

Beef and Orange Stir-Fry

Last week I was excited to see a new vendor at the farmers market who was selling grass fed beef. I don't eat a lot of beef, but on the occasions I do, I like it to be grass fed, etc. Just trying to do my part to save the world. I realized I hadn't cooked anything from Everyday Food lately, so a quick browse through the Fall section of the book brought me to this recipe. This past weekend, armed with my list and my cash, I went to the market in search of grass fed beef. Turns out it just wasn't my week to find it at the farmers market, but I had already bought the rest of the ingredients for the recipe, so I picked up some organic, "vegetarian" fed rib eye at the grocery store. As usual, I halved the recipe, but only used a quarter of the soy sauce. It was good, but I felt like it was missing something so I ended up adding about 2 teaspoons of honey to the leftovers. I think ginger would be good in here too. To make it a little healthier I served it with brown rice and to trim the fat even more, try using a leaner cut of beef than rib eye.



Beef and Orange Stir-Fry
(Adapted From Everyday Food)

2 oranges
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3/4 lb trimmed boneless rib eye, cut into 1/2-inch-thick strips
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 to 2 tablespoons canola oil
2 scallions, sliced

Into a small bowl, finely grate zest and squeeze juice from 1/2 orange. Add garlic, soy sauce, and red pepper flakes and set aside.

With a sharp paring knife, peel remaining 2 oranges. Slice oranges crosswise 1/2 inch thick, then halve slices; push out, and discard any seeds. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, toss meat with cornstarch until coated. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over high heat. Working in batches (adding more oil if needed), brown beef on all sides, 3 to 5 minutes; transfer to a plate.

Pour juice mixture into skillet, and boil until syrupy, about 1 minute. Return beef to skillet; add orange slices and scallions. Toss until coated and heated through. Serve hot with rice.

Waldorf Salad

Happy post election day!!! I am mostly happy with how things turn out and interested to see the changes in our country in the coming months. I am also happy that people turned out to vote in record numbers which is just so incredible! I am lastly happy that the election is over and we can move on as a country. Now, for the food. So, lucky for me, not everyone is completely sick of seeing pomegranate recipes from me. The ever talented Diana from Diana Takes a Bite sent me this recipe for her family's Waldorf salad. One of the key things was that the salad didn't use mayonnaise, but Diana also suggested that I replace the dried cranberries with pomegranate seeds. How could I say no?? I halved the amount of the recipe which made one big salad for my work lunch. This was fantastic! I loved the crunch factor in this salad and the tart apples and pomegranate paired perfectly with the mellow walnuts and celery. The dressing was sweet, but not cloyingly sweet and I am thinking about using it as a dressing for another type of salad. So many thanks to Diana for sending me the recipe and if any of you have a recipe you would like to see me try, please send it my way! I'm also going to be sending this to the POM Fresh Contest at POM Wonderful.


Waldorf Salad
(From Diana's family recipe)

1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and diced
1/3 cup celery
1/4 cup walnuts
6 tablespoons pomegranate seeds from one POM Wonderful pomegranate
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon canola oil
3/4 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

In a small bowl, whisk together the honey, oil, and vinegar. In a separate bowl, toss the apples, celery, and pomegranate seeds. Toss the apple mixture with the honey mixture and refrigerate for 2 hours.

After 2 hours, bring to room temperature for 30 minutes. Toss in the walnuts and serve.

Just a Friendly Reminder

If you haven't done so already...go VOTE!

Pesto Pizzas with Sausage and Roasted Tomatoes

Ok, last post about my Halloween gathering cause I am sure you're sick of hearing about it. It was a fun night, I think I have finally recovered. I had a couple balls of pizza dough left from my Daring Bakers challenge from last month and I thought it would be nice to serve my friends some heartier fare than just popcorn and cookies. I put basil pesto on both pizzas and topped one with a spicy chicken sausage, and the other with roasted tomatoes. I rolled out the dough (no more tossing for me!) and got the pizzas pretty thin and I brushed the edges with some olive oil so they browned up nicely. I have a crapload of roasted tomatoes in my freezer, but I had a few fresh tomatoes left so instead of slow roasting them on a low temperature, I did them for a few minutes at a really high temperature. I made a simple basil pesto to go on both pizzas. They were both great, but I was partial to the sausage pizza. I think I was craving meat that day. I like the idea of serving a pizza at a party. Maybe next time, I will have my guests help me come up with toppings.




Pesto Pizzas with Sausage and Roasted Tomatoes

For the pesto:
1 1/2 cups fresh basil
1/4 cup pine nuts
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 teaspoon salt

For the pizza:
2 balls pizza dough
Pesto
Roma tomatoes, sliced in half
Chicken sausage, sliced and cooked through
Shredded Mozzarella
Extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

To make the pesto:
Add the basil, pine nuts, and garlic to a small food processor. Combine until everything is finely chopped. Slowly stream in the olive oil until the mixture forms a paste. Mix in the cheese, taste and season with salt as needed.

To roast the tomatoes:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Drizzle a rimmed baking sheet with olive oil and salt and pepper. Rub each side of the tomatoes in the oil and seasonings. Turn each tomato cut side up and roast for about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and using tongs, turn the tomatoes over. Roast for another 5-10 minutes until the tomatoes have shrunk and dried out slightly. Allow the tomatoes to cool before topping the pizza.

To make the pizza:
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll out the dough to desired thinness. Spread a thin layer of pesto on the pizza. Top with mozzarella and the sausages or tomatoes.

Brush the edges of the pizza with olive oil and bake for 8-10 minutes until the cheese has melted and the crust is golden brown.