Candy Cane Beet Salad

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Happy 4th of July!

Here is an easy raw beet salad using Chioggia “Candy Cane” beets, with goat cheese, feta cheese, pistachios and mixed greens and a quick, light dressing made with honey, lemon juice and a pinch of salt.

Perfect for a summer lunch……

If I had a restaurant, this would definitely be on the menu…..and I would grow my own candy cane beets…

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons liquid honey
A pinch of fine sea salt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound Chioggia beets,washed and cleaned, unpeeled
¼ cup thinly sliced red onion
4 cups mixed salad greens
¼ cup fresh crumbled goat cheese
¼ cup fresh crumbled feta cheese
2 tablespoons chopped pistachios

DIRECTIONS:
To make the dressing, whisk the lemon juice, vinegar, honey and salt in a small bowl until honey is dissolved. Gradually pour in the oil and whisk to combine. Set aside.

Slice the beets into thin rounds with a mandoline or sharp knife.

Add the beets in a salad bowl with the onion and greens. Drizzle a little dressing, and toss together. Sprinkle the goat cheese, feta and pistachios over the salad. Serve with additional dressing on the side.

ENJOY!

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Herb and Potato-Crusted Salmon with Italian Sauteed Spinach Salad

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Commercially prepared shredded potatoes, sold in plastic bags in the supermarket frozen-food department, usually end up as hash browns. This recipe suggests an entirely new use for them: seared onto fat fillets of salmon to form a fantastic crisp crust. Serve up the salmon with a side of sautéed spinach, onions, garlic, and fresh tomatoes is beyond delicious and extremely easy to make.

 

Serves 4

Ingredients
For the Salmon:
4 cups frozen shredded potatoes (hash browns), thawed and squeezed dry
2 tablespoons snipped chives
2 tablespoons minced dill
2 tablespoons potato starch
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Four 8-ounce skinless salmon fillets
2 tablespoons grainy Dijon mustard
1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

For the Spinach:
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1/2 peeled and julienne red onion
3 finely minced cloves of fresh garlic
2 each tomatoes cut into wedges
10 oz  fresh baby spinach
Sea salt and fresh cracked pepper, to taste

 

Directions:
For the Salmon: In a medium bowl, toss the potatoes with the chives, dill and potato starch and season with salt and pepper. Lay the salmon fillets, skin side down on a work surface and season with salt and pepper, then evenly spread on the mustard. Next, evenly add a layer of shredded potatoes onto the top of each fillet. Pat the potato down on the salmon to make sure it stays in place.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat the oil and melt the butter. Carefully add the salmon fillets to the skillet, potato side down, and cook over moderately high heat, undisturbed, until browned, about 8 minutes, or until a dark brown crust has formed on the potatoes. Carefully flip the salmon and cook for 1 minute longer. Using a slotted spatula, transfer the salmon to plates. Using a clean paper towel, blot off any excess oil from the salmon.

For the Spinach: Heat a large sauté or frying pan over medium to medium-high heat and caramelize the onion and garlic, until the garlic is golden brown, about 2 minutes, add in tomatoes and sauté for 2 to 3 more minutes. Lastly, place in the spinach and sauté for 1 to 2 minutes. Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper.

To serve, transfer the spinach salad and salmon to plates and serve.

 

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Roasted Chicken with Stone Fruits and Red Onion

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This recipe was originally created by Melissa Clark, for the New York Times. It is a sheet-pan dinner of roast chicken, plums and red onions. She came up with it as a dish appropriate to Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, which begins on September 18, 2020 but it’s outstanding meal that can grace any table for a great family style meal.

This sticky, bright-flavored joyful meal is beautiful to behold and easy to make. This sheet-pan dinner combines sweet plums and soft red onions with crisp-skinned pieces of roasted chicken. Toasted fennel seeds, red-pepper flakes and a touch of allspice add complexity while a mound of fresh torn herbs crowns the top. If good ripe plums aren’t available, you can substitute another stone fruit including cherries, peaches, nectarines or pluots, though if your fruit is very sweet, you might want to add a squeeze of lemon at the end. Serve this dish with rice pilaf, couscous, polenta or warm flatbread for a festive meal.

Recipe Adapted from

Melissa Clark

New York Times Cooking September 2020

 

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons fennel seeds 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon grated lemon or orange zest

4 garlic cloves, finely grated

2 teaspoons honey

¼ teaspoon ground allspice

A very large pinch crushed red-pepper flakes, or to taste

One whole 3 1/2 pound chicken, cut into parts

Kosher salt, to taste

Ground black pepper, to taste

2 cups ripe, soft plums, pitted and cut into 3/4-inch thick slices

1/2 cup cherries, pitted and halved

1/2 cup nectarines, pitted and cut into 3/4-inch thick slices

6 fresh thyme sprigs

1 medium red onion, peeled and sliced from root to stem in 1/2-inch wedges

Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

⅔ cup torn mint, basil or cilantro leaves (or a combination), for garnish

Maldon salt flakes, for garnish

 

Directions:

Toast the fennel seeds in a small skillet over medium heat, stirring, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Pour seeds into a mortar and pound with a pestle until coarsely crushed (or lay seeds on a cutting board and pound them with a can or jar).

Put the seeds into a large bowl and stir in lemon juice, zest, garlic, honey, allspice and red-pepper flakes. Season chicken generously all over with salt and pepper and add to the bowl, turning the pieces to coat them with marinade.

Mix in plums and thyme sprigs. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours.

When ready to cook, heat the oven to 425 º F. Put the chicken pieces, fruit and thyme sprigs on a rimmed baking pan. Add onions, spreading them out around the chicken and plums. Season plums and onions lightly with salt.

Drizzle everything with olive oil. Roast until chicken is golden and cooked through, 30 to 45 minutes, removing the white meat if it’s done before the dark meat.

To serve, transfer chicken pieces as they are done to a platter. Spoon the plums and onions around the chicken. Drizzle a little of the pan drippings over the chicken and serve, garnished with the herbs and flaky Maldon salt.

 

Hello Friends!

All photographs and content, excepted where noted, are copyright protected. Please do not use these photos without prior written permission. If you wish to republish this photograph and all other contents, then we kindly ask that you link back to this site. We are eternally grateful and we appreciate your support of this blog.

Thank you!