Roasted Beet Salad

Early last week I received an email from my old boss asking me when we were going to open our restaurant. Apparently he had just discovered my blog and I guess he liked it :) He immediately sent me his recipe for roasted beets and I was intrigued. I had never cooked with beets before. Beets are one of those vegetables that I had managed to avoid. Not because I thought I wouldn't like them, but I just didn't know a lot about how to prepare them. I had always equated beets with those kind of nasty looking things in a can that sort of resemble that cranberry sludge that people serve at Thanksgiving. However, armed with this recipe I ventured out in the hot, hot heat last Sunday to get beets at the farmers market. Luckily the weather has cooled down by 30 degrees over the last couple of days so I was able to turn on my oven the other night to make this. The possibilities are endless when it comes with what to pair the beets with. Gregg's suggestions included lentils, feta, blue cheese, walnuts, chopped endive, etc. I decided to go with some feta and a few roasted pistachios. I have probably mentioned this a million times, but I am obsessed with this mild feta I get from the farmers market. It was a great pairing with the sweet beets and salty pistachios.


Roasted Beet Salad
(Courtesy of Gregg aka one of the most talented agent/chefs in Los Angeles*)

2 bunches beets (I used a mix of red and golden), washed with the tops cut off
Canola oil
Kosher salt
Crumbled feta cheese
Roasted pistachios

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Drizzle the beets with canola oil and double wrap with foil.

Roast 75 minutes for medium beets...maybe longer for larger beets. When done open carefully, being careful of steam. If a knife goes through smoothly, the beets are done.

When the beets have cooled, peel off skin, slice, put in bowl with more drizzled canola oil and kosher salt.

*His words not mine

Asparagus wtih Blood Oranges

For the last few months I have been receiving Saveur courtesy of the Foodie Blogroll and it has quickly become one of my favorite food magazines. I love everything about it from the pictures, to the writing and of course the tasty recipes. There are also so many helpful tips on food preparation. I can't believe I didn't discover this magazine earlier. In one of the recent issues, this recipe jumped out at me. The original recipe caled for navel oranges, but since I am having a love affair with blood oranges lately, I decided to use them here. The dressing was the right balance of sweet and tart with the asparagus and the orange segments added a nice dimension as well. It's really easy and fast for dinner, especially if you're not very hungry like I was last night.


Asparagus with Blood Oranges
(Adapted from Saveur, April 2009)

Makes 1-2 servings

1 blood orange
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1 scallion, finely chopped
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
8 stalks green asparagus

Zest the orange; set zest aside. Slice off the ends of the orange. Set an orange on end; with a small knife, slice off and discard the peel and the white pith. Holding the orange in your hand, use a knife to cut the orange segments away from their membranes. Place segments in a bowl and set aside. Over a separate bowl, squeeze the remaining orange pulp to extract any remaining juice. Whisk 1 1/2 teaspoons oil, lemon juice, oregano, and scallion into orange juice and season with salt and pepper; set dressing aside.

Cut off about 1" from the tough end of the asparagus and transfer asparagus to a large microwavable baking dish. Sprinkle asparagus with reserved orange zest and drizzle with remaining oil and 2 tablespoons water. Microwave on high for about 2 minutes, rotating the dish if necessary until asparagus is just tender. Drain off cooking liquid. Toss asparagus with reserved citrus dressing and season with salt. Top with orange segments. Serve immediately or at room temperature.

Spinach and Strawberry Salad with Thyme Vinaigrette

I know you have heard me say this a lot over the past couple of days, but it's been hot, ya'll. Seriously. So hot that Diana didn't even feel like blogging because who really feels like eating anything but frozen goods when it's 100 degrees out? The other night when I got home, I wanted to do nothing more than crash in the comfort of my air conditioned apartment, but unfortunately I had a mountain of laundry waiting for me. My magic fairy had forgotten to take care of it while I spent the previous day cooling off on the beach so I can tell you it was a rockin' Monday night. Luckily, there was a new episode of Gossip Girl to keep me entertained in between. Since I am not a fan of starving myself ever, I needed something easy for dinner that night. There was no way I was going to stand over a stove waiting for something to cook so I made this salad. The original recipe calls for infusing the olive oil with the thyme, but that required stove time and I was not in the mood. I opted for just whisking the ingredients together and hoping for the best. Luckily, my gamble paid off. As I so recently discovered, strawberries and thyme go very well together and with the cool spinach it was a perfect no-cook dinner. The balsamic and Dijon in the dressing gave it a bit of tang so this was in no way a boring salad. The dressing recipe makes more than you will need for a serving of one, so luckily I was able to enjoy another salad for lunch yesterday.

We're finally going to get some relief from the heat. Good thing too because I was about to pack my bags and move to Alaska (or somewhere less hot...). Happy Earth Day!



Spinach and Strawberry Salad with Thyme Vinaigrette
(Adapted from the Los Angeles Times)

Makes 2-3 servings

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar
1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 small shallot, finely minced
Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
1-2 large handfuls baby spinach leaves, roughly chopped
Most of a pint of strawberries, washed, hulled and sliced

In a small bowl whisk together the olive oil, thyme, Dijon and balsamic vinegar. Stir in the shallots and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Divide the spinach among plates and top with sliced strawberries. Spoon the dressing over each plate.

Spring Cianfotta

Looking for springtime in a bowl? Ok, well maybe you're not, but if for some reason you are, the search is over. For a while now, I have been receiving daily emails from a fabulous website called Tasting Table. Not only do they have wonderful restaurant recommendations and inside tips, but very often they publish recipes from amazing restaurants in Los Angeles. That is how I have the tuna tartare recipe from my dear Chaya, the dill dressing recipe from my new fave Tender Greens and now this recipe for spring cianfotta. If you listen to KCRW and Good Food with Evan Kleiman, or if you have been to her restaurant, Angeli Caffe, you know how amazing she is in the food world. I was so excited to see this recipe pop up in my inbox a few weeks ago and even more excited to see all the ingredients at the farmers market the other day. With the insane hot weather we have been having, this is exactly the kind of food I am in the mood for. Nothing too heavy and lots of fresh bright flavors. Look at the colors here. So gorgeous. Since I like really crisp vegetables, I didn't cook them for as long as the original recipe called for. I also greatly reduced the amount of olive oil. The best part is that this is just as good hot as it is cold. Given the sweltering temps yesterday (100 degrees!), I was in no mood to eat hot food so I had this as a nice cool lunch and it was fantastic!

Spring Cianfotta
(From Angeli Caffe's Evan Kleiman)

Makes about 3 servings as a side dish or 1 large serving as a main dish

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 leek, white part only, thinly sliced
1 stalk green garlic (or 2 garlic cloves), peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 bunch thin asparagus, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
1/4 pound sugar snap peas, stem end and string removed; pods sliced vertically to expose peas
15 spearmint leaves, chopped
Salt and pepper

In a skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the leeks and cook over medium-high heat until soft. Add the garlic and cook until aromatic, about 1 minute.

Turn the heat to high and add the asparagus, sugar snap peas and spearmint. Cook the vegetables, stirring frequently, until slightly softer than al dente, about 4 to 7 minutes; longer for softer vegetables. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Prosciutto, Mozzarella and Egg Tart

Well, here we are at another Monday. Where did the weekend go? Yesterday was a fabulous day at the beach, I didn't want it to end. Well as I mentioned the other day, I broke the cleanse. After barely three days! I have no will power. I wasn't sure what I was going to have for my first carb-fueled meal, but I had a little bit of puff pastry and a little bit of prosciutto in my freezer (a few things, I wasn't able to use up before I started the cleanse). I actually have quite a few things in my freezer. While I am not an actual participant, I am definitely following along in The Kitchn's Kitchen Cure challenge to get your kitchen in shape. I was partially inspired by the pizza I did a little while ago, the tart I made last week, and by this other tart I found on a random search at TasteSpotting. I seem to have a big F for FAIL over my head when cracking eggs onto pizzas and tarts, but that doesn't mean this wasn't good. The flavors worked well together and it was quick and easy for a Friday night dinner since the longest part of making this recipe, besides the baking, was from rolling out the dough. You just really can't go wrong with prosciutto, cheese, and eggs.

It's going to be 97 degrees today. Wonder if I can skip work and go back to the beach!

Prosicutto, Mozzarella, and Egg Tart

Makes 2 servings

2 rounds puff pastry, rolled out to about 6 inches in diameter
2-3 slices of prosciutto
Mozzarella cheese
1-2 eggs

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place each puff pastry round on the parchment. Score each shell with a one inch border, being careful not to puncture the dough. Prick the inside with a fork all around.

Top each pastry with the mozzarella, and then line the mozzarella with overlapping slices of prosciutto. Bake 10-15 minutes until the cheese has melted and the prosciutto is crispy. Place the baking sheet on a level surface and carefully crack the egg in the middle of the pastry. Bake for 7-10 more minutes until the egg whites have set and the pastry is golden. Top with the green onions and serve immediately.

Hot Toddy Pudding Cake

This dessert is weeks in the making. I've dreamed about it. I've emailed my friends about it, I have even Twittered about it. Finally I decided to stop torturing others with my "I really want to make this" comments and just finally make it. All I really had to do was pop in to TJs to get the scotch and milk. Everything else was already waiting for me at home. I made this dessert the other night as my way of breaking the "cleanse". I am so glad I finally did. I was expecting something similar to what I thought the brownie pudding would end up being in that I was expecting something thick and rich, but I was totally wrong. Since this was one of the few times I made a recipe to the letter, it ended up turning out exactly as described. The cake separates into two layers with a nice lemony custard on the bottom and one of the lightest cakes you have ever had on top. It's unbelievable how light the top is. Lighter than angel food cake light. The taste? Lemony and boozy and absolutely divine. In Gourmet, they state the scotch is optional, but in my opinion, it isn't a hot toddy cake without the scotch and the scotch kind of makes the cake. Since, I have never bought scotch in my life, I went with an inexpensive brand from TJs which was good, but I can see how a good scotch would be fantastic in this recipe. I say definitely splurge on the scotch because chances are you already have everything else to make this recipe so really this is an inexpensive dessert.

How's your weekend going? I am off to the farmers market and then the beach!!




Hot Toddy Pudding Cake
(From Gourmet, April 2009)

1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup Scotch (NOT optional)
1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3 tablespoons mild honey
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
3 large eggs, separated, at room temperature 30 minutes
1/3 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees with rack in middle. Butter a 1 1/2-qt shallow baking dish (I used a 8x8, 2 quart dish).

Whisk together flour and salt in a large bowl. Whisk together milk, lemon juice, Scotch (if using), butter, honey, zest, and yolks, then stir into flour mixture.

Beat whites with an electric mixer at medium speed until frothy. Increase speed to medium-high and add sugar, 1 Tbsp at a time, beating until whites just hold stiff peaks.

Stir about one third of whites into flour mixture to lighten, then fold in remaining whites gently but thoroughly. Pour batter into baking dish and bake in a water bath until puffed and golden-brown, 45 to 50 minutes. Serve warm.

Fat Flush Egg Salad

Ok guys, here's the last post of the Fat Flush because today is my last day doing it! I know ya'll don't come here for bland cleanse food so I promise to have some treat for you really soon. However, this salad was actually not bland at all. It is actually what helped me get through the day yesterday! The original recipe calls for the egg salad to be stuffed into a tomato which I am sure would have been very cute, but I only had the little tomatoes and as I have already blown most of my recent paycheck at TJs, I decided to make do with what I had. Besides, the recipe said to serve the tomato and egg with leafy greens. I'm pretty sure I am not supposed to have Dijon on the flush, but to hell with it. It definitely helped kick up the flavor and surprisingly, the raw garlic was not overwhelming. This is totally something I would eat regardless of the cleanse. Thanks for baring with me and for all your words of encouragement for doing this. It's just not for me, but I am glad I tried it for at least a little bit.

It's gonna be hot, hot, hot here in LA this weekend. I hope you enjoy yours, wherever you are.



Egg Salad on Spinach
(Adapted from The Fat Flush Plan)


2 eggs, hard-boiled
1 1/2 teaspoons flaxseed oil
1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 scallion, minced
1 small garlic clove, minced
Pinch of cayenne
Pinch of salt
2 hanfuls baby spinach
Handful of grape tomatoes, halved

Dressing
1 1/2 teaspoons flaxseed oil
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Mix oil, vinegar, mustard, scallions, garlic, salt and cayenne with the eggs. Toss the spinach and tomatoes with the dressing and serve the egg salad over the spinach.

Fat Flush Stir-fry

So day 1 of the fat flush is done. In all honesty, I am not sure I am going to make it a week, much less three days. I have mentioned before that I don't really believe in diets, so you may be wondering why I was willing to put myself through this cleanse. It's just to kind of jump start my system and get out the toxins, but all the restrictions are already kind of bugging me. I am much more a fan of moderation, so that is probably what I will switch back to before today is over. However, I did want you to know that I have been eating actual food including dishes like this stir fry. One of the key points of this flush is to use little to no salt. Instead, you're supposed to use other spices (but only certain ones) to enhance the flavor of the food. In this stir fry, the flavor comes from ginger and cayenne. Since the FM was closed over the weekend, I was a little delayed in getting my vegetables so I just used what I had around. This is actually not a bad tasting dish despite its bland appearance. The ginger and cayenne definitely liven it up and the crisp vegetables are definitely the way I prefer to eat vegetables. Thanks to everyone for all the support with this. Your words of encouragement (and one "raw" cookie and a handful of peanuts), definitely helped me get through the day!

Basic Stir-fry
(Adapted from The Fat Flush Plan)

2 tablespoons low-sodium chicken broth
8 ounces chicken (you can also use shrimp, lamb, or beef)
1/2 cup broccoli florets
1 carrot, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon ginger
Pinch cayenne

Heat broth in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.

Add the protein and cook until almost done. Add veggies and seasonings, cooking until tender.

Shrimp Saganaki

I know I have mentioned this before, but about two years ago, I had the wonderful opportunity to travel to Greece to see two great friends get married. It was a perfect week filled with a LOT of food and a LOT of wine. One of the dishes that I remembered loving was shrimp saganaki so I am so glad I finally got to try making it on my own. It's certainly not the most authentic recipe for shrimp saganaki, but it's good. Also, it's really fast. Make sure you have tons of bread. My tomatoes didn't create a whole lot of juice, but there is still a lot of delicious-ness to soak up with the bread.

So today is Day 1 of my cleanse. Tomorrow, I will start sharing with you the food I get to eat while doing it. Wish me luck, but I don't have much confidence I will last longer than a day. Happy hump day/tax day! (yeah right)

Shrimp Saganaki
(Adapted from Food & Wine, March 2009)

Makes 2-3 servings

2 teaspoons each of extra-virgin olive oil and canola oil
1/2 large onion, thinly sliced
2 tomatoes, coarsely chopped
Salt
Crushed red pepper
1/2 pound shelled and deveined large shrimp, halved lengthwise
1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
1 1/2 ounces Greek feta cheese, crumbled
Crusty bread, for serving

In a large skillet, heat the oil until shimmering. Add the onion and cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, season with salt and crushed red pepper and cook until softened, crushing them with the back of a spoon, about 5 minutes. Add the shrimp and olives and cook, stirring occasionally, until the shrimp are cooked through, about 3 minutes. Stir in the dill and half of the feta and cook just until the feta is hot, about 1 minute. Transfer to shallow bowls, sprinkle with the remaining feta and serve with crusty bread.

Kitchen Clearing Calzones

Last week I was looking through my freezer and refrigerator at things I needed to use up. I am supposedly about to start a cleanse (I keep pushing the date back) and also, with summer approaching, I want to make some room in my freezer for the most excellent produce of the year. I found a few balls of pizza dough so I thawed one out. I wasn't really sure what I was going to do with it, but I noticed that a bunch of people in the food blogosphere last week made calzones and they sounded so good, that I wanted to make one too. I found a couple of links of some spicy chicken sausage from the farmers market and I had some leftover spinach and most of an onion. I used a hodge-podge of leftover cheeses to use up what I had on hand. I made sure to pile the filling high because as suspected, it cooks down a bit in the oven. While this is an easy recipe, it took some time since I had to let the sausage mixture cool. I think it is more than acceptable to make that mixture in advance so you have it ready for a weeknight meal. The calzones were so good. The spicy sausage was such a nice contrast to the sweet onion and the roasted garlic tomato sauce (from a jar) provided so much flavor as well. Even though I used a mix of cheeses, there wasn't too much on each calzone so I didn't feel weighed down after eating one. I don't know about you, but I think pizza (and now calzones) are a perfect food for a movie night. I suggest you try it!



Kitchen Clearing Calzones
(By Esi)

1 ball rosemary whole-wheat pizza dough at room temperature
1 small red onion, diced
1-2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for brushing
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 spicy chicken sausage links, split open and crumbled
6 tablespoons roasted garlic tomato sauce (or your favorite tomato sauce)
Shredded cheese (I used a combination of mozzarella, 3-cheese, and Gruyere)
Baby spinach leaves

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking pan with parchment paper.

In a large skillet heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions and lightly season with salt and pepper. Cook until the onions have softened about 5-7 minutes. Add the sausage and cook through. Stir in the tomato sauce until it has warmed through. Set the mixture aside to cool.

Split the dough into two small rounds Roll each round to about 6 inches in diameter. Top half of each round with a few spinach leaves and then a few heaping spoonfuls of the sausage mixture. Top with cheese and fold the dough over and cinch to close.

Brush the top of each calzone with a bit of olive oil and make a few slits so that steam can escape. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown.