QUINOA SALAD WITH AVOCADO, CORN & EDAMAME

This was adapted from the back of the TJ’s box containing Organic Red Quinoa, in mash-up with a recipe from Epicurious. I loved the sweet flavor combination, but I think it would lend itself to a variety of other vegetables in season, feta cheese, etc. For picky eaters, e.g. Audrey, put the ingredients in separate bowls and serve plain.

½ lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs (optional)

1-3 cloves garlic minced
zest and juice of 3 limes (lemons would work too)
1 bunch cilantro leaves, minced, divided in half
2 tablespoons honey
½ cup olive oil, divided
salt & pepper

1 cups quinoa
2 cups low sodium chicken stock (or water or veg stock)

1 small red onion, minced
1 ½ cups corn kernels (if from frozen, rinse and let stand to thaw)
1 ½ cups shelled edamame (if frozen, cook per directions)
1 – 2 avocados
6 cups baby salad greens

Poach chicken: place it in water to cover, bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn off heat and let stand 20 minutes. Let cool, then shred and set aside.

Cook quinoa: Rinse in 3 changes of cold water, draining in a a fine sieve each time. You lose some grains and it’s a pain, but apparently it gets rid of the bitter taste. Bring quinoa and stock to a boil in a 2 quart pot, then cover and simmer until tender but chewy and liquid is absorbed, 12 – 30 minutes. Toss with ¼ cup olive oil and salt and pepper to taste and let cool.

Make dressing: mix together garlic, lime zest and juice and half of cilantro in a smallish bowl. Allow to sit for 10 minutes. Then whisk in honey. Whisk in oil, pouring in a stream to emulsify.

Put chicken onion, corn, edamame and avocado, diced in a medium bowl and toss with 1/3 of the dressing.

Toss salad greens with 1/3 of the dressing and place on a serving platter. Layer quinoa and then vegetable mixture on top. Garnish with rest of cilantro and serve immediately.

ARUGULA SALAD WITH ORANGES AND CARAMELIZED FENNEL

From Bon Appetit January 2010, the Gourmet replacement. This is just the best combo of flavors. Amazing. Keep an eye on the roasting fennel; we overbrowned ours a bit (still good, though). We used a grapefruit knife to make the orange peeling and pithing easier.

2 large fresh fennel bulbs, trimmed, each cut vertically into 12 wedges with some core attached
6 fresh thyme sprigs
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1/4 cup Sherry vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
4 oranges, all peel and white pith cut away, halved vertically, thinly sliced crosswise
10 oz. baby arugula

Preheat oven to 400°F. Combine fennel wedges, thyme, and 4 tablespoons oil in large bowl; toss to coat. Arrange fennel, cut side down, on large rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast until fennel is tender and brown, turning once, about 40 minutes. Discard thyme sprigs. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.
Whisk vinegar, mustard, and 2 tablespoons oil in large bowl. Season dressing with salt and pepper. Add fennel, orange slices, and arugula. Toss to coat. Transfer salad to large shallow bowl.

BITTER GREENS SALAD WITH MINT & POMEGRANATE SEEDS

This is from “Local Flavors” and was heavily adapted for our FCA feast to allow for individual preferences (we don’t like frisee) and local/seasonal availability. Very yummy and just the right bright balance to a meal of warm comfy food. Once the seeds and nuts were prepped ahead, this was really easy to literally toss together at the last minute.

1 lb. ish bitter baby salad greens (we had watercress and a bunch of other crazy heirloom stuff)
1/3 cups fresh mint leaves, torn into small pieces
3 scallions or small spring onions, white and light parts thinly sliced
5 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
salt and pepper
1/3 cup toasted salted nuts (we used pepitas from the Venice FM)
seeds of one small pomegranate


Toss together greens, mint and onions in a salad bowl. Just before serving, toss with oil, vinegar, salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle nuts and seeds over top and serve.

BROCCOLI, FETA AND HERB BULGHUR SALAD

This started with an Epicurious recipe – for Bulghur with Herbs. But I added a lot more to make it a substantial dish. Morgan didn’t like the texture of the bulghur – but there are a few more tries for that. Audrey ate a few bits. I had it for lunch leftover several times. Very good, as the flavors had time to mingle.

1 bunch broccoli – florets cut, stem peeled and sliced
4 – 5 carrots, scrubbed and/or peeled and sliced
olive oil
salt and pepper
1 cup bulghur
2 cups boiling water (or, sub chicken stock for part of water and heat with it)
¼ cup sliced almonds
1 small clove garlic
3 – 6 tablespoons chopped cilantro
3 – 6 tablespoons chopped mint
1 – 4 teaspoons lemon juice (half a lemon)

½ lb. feta cheese, cubed
1 chicken breast, poached, or leftover roasted chicken – cubed (optional)

Toss the broccoli and carrots with a few tablespoons olive oil on a rimmed baking sheet, sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper and roast at 375 degrees until tender – 20 – 40 minutes.

But bulghur in a bowl, pour hot water/stock over it, cover with a lid or plate and let stand for 20 minutes, until tender. Drain in a sieve if there is any excess liquid.

Meanwhile, heat a couple tablespoons oil in a small heavy skillet over medium heat. Add almonds and a bit of salt and toast until golden.

Return drained bulghur to bowl. Stir in herbs, 1 tablespoon olive oil, lemon juice (start with one teaspoon and add more to taste). Fold in feta, vegetables and chicken and finally, almonds. Add salt and pepper and lemon juice as needed to balance flavors.

HEIRLOOM TOMATO SALAD WITH CHEESE-NUT TOASTS

This is from Jack Bishop’s A YEAR IN A VEGETARIAN KITCHEN. Kind of a variation on BRUSCHETTA, but this was wonderfully rich and can only be made with very flavorful tomatoes. He called for walnuts and pecorino, I made it with pecans and parmesan. I also added the olive oil to the toasting process.

about 2 lbs. heirloom tomatoes, cut into largish bite-sized chunks
palmful of chopped parsley, oregano and/or thyme
1 – 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
olive oil
salt and pepper
1/3 cup pecans (or walnuts), very finely chopped
1 small garlic clove, minced or pressed to a paste
about 4 thick slices of crusty bread (we used a sourdough boule from TJ’s)
½ cup freshly grated parmesan (or pecorino) cheese

Put the tomatoes and herbs in a large bowl. Drizzle with about a tablespoon of olive oil and the vinegar and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Toss gently to combine – adjust seasonings as necessary.

Put an oven rack in the top position and heat the broiler. Stir together walnuts, garlic, 3 tablespoons of olive oil and salt and pepper to taste in a small bowl. Brush both sides of the bread slices with olive oil, place on a baking sheet and toast under the broiler until golden brown on one side – watch carefully, this will go fast! Flip and toast lightly on the second side. Remove from oven and spoon the walnut mixture on the second side. Sprinkle cheese on top and return to the broiler – for a short time! – and toast until the bread is crisp and the cheese is melted.

To serve, divide the salad among four plates. Place the toast on the side and serve. (I think James and I ate the whole thing.)

CAROLINA COLE SLAW

This is adapted from a recipe in Bon Appetit, offered up by a woman named Caroline Belk. It’s a nice light change from the typical mayo-based cole slaw and actually goes better with NC barbecue, which has a vinegar based sauce. Belk is a big name in Virginia/North Carolina, so she must be for real. Bill Neal (James’ source for all things southern cooking) has a recipe for Boiled Dressing that he uses to make slaw, but honestly, it sounded disgusting, involving stirring egg yolks and heavy cream into a vinegar mixture. I thought Ms. Belk’s caught the flavors of traditional NC cole slaw, with more modern ingredients. I did make some changes, per reviews and my own taste: less sugar than she had and subbed carrots for green pepper. The purple cabbage and carrots make it prettier I think. Serve this with barbecue or fried chicken!

1/2 cup white wine vinegar
4 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard
½ teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon celery seeds

1 medium cabbage (about 1 1/4 pounds), thinly sliced (used red and white for color)
1 red onion, thinly sliced
2 carrots, grated

Combine vinegar, sugar, oil, mustard and celery seeds in non-aluminum medium saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves and dressing comes to boil. Remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper. Cool completely.

Combine cabbage, onion and carrots in large bowl. Add dressing; toss to coat. Cover; refrigerate until cold, tossing occasionally, at least 2 hours. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; keep refrigerated.)

GREEN BEAN, CHERRY TOMATO AND GRILLED CORN SALAD

This is a great summer recipe from BON APPETIT. My friend Cisca gave me a copy of it a while ago (she’d made it in the spring with asparagus instead of beans) but I’ve been waiting for summer. Obviously, you want to be grilling something else when you’re making this salad – grilling the corn makes it. The grilled corn on its own was pretty good, too (we had extras) and it makes a fun popping sound while its cooking. Prepare everything for the salad, grill your meats and then grill the corn while the meat is resting.

Couple big handfuls of fresh, skinny green beans, trimmed
1 ear of corn, husked
olive oil
handful of cherry tomatoes, halved
handful of basil leaves, sliced
1 small shallot or sweet onion, minced
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

Blanch green beans until just tender, 2 – 4 minutes, then immerse in ice water and dry off. Mix shallots and basil with vinegar and allow to sit a few minutes, then whisk in 4 tablespoons olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Brush corn with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and grill until browned in spots, turning occasionally, about 10 minutes. When cool enough, cut kernels from cob.

Toss green beans, tomatoes and corn with dressing and serve. yum.

PANZANELLA OR, TOMATO & BREAD SALAD

I looked at a bunch of variations on this one at epicurious, including a bunch of reviews and there was great argument as to how to treat the bread: toast it, grill it, sauté it, fry it or leave it alone. It seems that the traditional Panzanella does not alter the bread, but some found the “soggy” bread off-putting. I’ll leave it up to you, but I did not alter the bread, and found this to be a fantastic use of almost-rock-hard French bread and the summer mother-load of tomatoes. And the next day for lunch, I just stirred in a few more tomatoes and it was great. Of course, you must use excellent quality tomatoes, but as you can see below the potential variations on this theme are huge. I think that cucumbers are the most common vegetable addition to this salad, but I didn’t have any and loved the blanched baby green beans from the garden in it.

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar (or balsamic if you prefer)
1 garlic clove, mashed into a paste with a pinch of salt

¼ cup olive oil
2 ish cups of cubed crusty bread (baguette, ciabatta, etc)
about a 1b. of fresh tomatoes, cut into chunks
¼ cup basil leaves, chopped

Whisk together the vinegar,garlic paste and pepper in a large bowl. Gradually whisk in the oil to emulsify. Add remaining ingredients and salt to taste, pushing down the bread pieces so that none are dry. Allow to stand at least 15 minutes at room temperature so that bread will soak up the dressing.

optional:
I added a teaspoon of anchovy paste, a small minced sweet red onion, a handful of blanched green beans, fresh mozzarella cut into pieces and some chopped thyme and oregano

other suggestions from other people:
olives, seeded and chopped cucumber, chopped bell peppers, feta cheese, burrata cheese, corn, arugula, slices of prosciutto

ORZO WITH FETA AND CHERRY TOMATOES

This is adapted from Gourmet. Its an easy and pretty and popular potluck item and a seasoned summer favorite. pun intended.

1/2 pound (about 1 cup) orzo
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts
1 small garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup packed fresh flat-leafed parsley leaves, chopped
1 pint plus cherry tomatoes (preferably different colors), quartered
1/4 pound good feta, crumbled
1 1/2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar

Fill a 4-quart pasta pot three fourths full with salted water and bring to a boil for orzo.

In a small heavy skillet heat 1/2 tablespoon oil over moderate heat until hot but not smoking and sauté pine nuts with salt to taste, stirring frequently, until golden, about 2 minutes. Transfer nuts to paper towels to drain and cool.

In a large bowl whisk together garlic, parsley, vinegar, remaining tablespoon oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Add tomatoes and feta and gently toss to combine.

Cook orzo in boiling water, stirring occasionally, until al dente. In a large sieve drain orzo and rinse slightly until just warm. Drain orzo well and add to tomato mixture, tossing until just combined. Sprinkle with nuts and serve.

SERIOUSLY EASY HERBED GREEN SALAD

I brought this to a potluck very last minute and had to use just what I had around. All agreed that it was a great simple accompaniment to a more complicated menu.

Big bowlful of fresh mixed baby greens – I like to use mostly arugula

Several handful-sized bunches of fresh herbs, like thyme, oregano, basil, marjoram, dill, chives, etc. (you want herbs that have soft leaves – not spiny ones like rosemary)

good quality olive oil

good quality vinegar of choice – red or white wine vinegar, or champagne or sherry if you’re feeling fancy. balsamic is too heavy

salt and pepper

Wash and dry greens and herbs. Remove herb leaves from their stems and chop. Toss together greens and chopped herbs. Just before serving, pour a few tablespoons of oil and about half that much of vinegar over the salad. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, toss. Taste and adjust oil, vinegar, salt and pepper as needed.

TABOULI PLUS

This greek salad has always been a summer staple for me. I crave it (as well as BRUSCHETTA) when tomatoes are around, and especially when its too hot to really cook and heat up the kitchen. Cucumbers are traditional, but this time a tried a fresh from the garden zucchini in it to great effect. Great leftover as flavors have time to meld – make it a few hours before dinner if you can. Morgan likes it a lot, Audrey, not so much. I think you can find bulgur wheat at most stores now, and Whole Foods has it in bulk. You can also sub Israeli or regular couscous or other small grains.

¾ cup bulgur wheat
2 cups chopped flat leaf parsley
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1 small (as fresh as possible) zucchini, grated
2 – 4 green onions, white and light green parts, minced
1 – 4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup fresh mint, chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
zest and juice of one medium lemon
salt & pepper

Pour 1 ½ cups boiling water over bulgur with ¼ teaspoon salt in a medium bowl. Cover and let stand until tender, 20 – 30 minutes. If there’s still a lot of water, drain in a sieve, press out excess water.

Meanwhile, toss together remaining ingredients. Add drained bulgur to this mixture and fold together. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve on its own as a salad, as an accompaniment to HUMMUS and warm pita bread or HOMEMADE PITA CHIPS. This is also good with a bit of feta added, or diced grilled chicken or even avocado.

GREEN BEAN SALAD WITH FETA AND TOMATOES

This is from “Vegetables Every Day”, by Jack Bishop, and I didn’t really change it at all. We made this with tomatoes, green beans and parsley from the garden. If only we had that goat so we could make our own feta. Still, it was good. Morgan loved it, as did James. No leftovers.

2 – 3 big handfuls of green beans – fresh and preferably the skinny (French) kind, but really whatever kind you like, ends snapped off and cut into bite sized pieces if necessary
2 – 4 tomatoes, chopped
or
½ pint grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
1 small shallot or sweet onion, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
pepper
about ½ cup feta cheese, crumbled

Boil salted water in a large saucepan. Add beans and cook until they turn bright green and are crisp-tender, 3 – 5 minutes. Drain and immerse in ice water, then spread out over a towel and dry them. Allow to cool to room temperature.

Meanwhile, combine everything else but the feta in a large bowl. Fold in the beans, adding salt and pepper to taste. (but not too much salt as the feta is salty.) Sprinkle feta on top and serve.

PESTO GREEN BEAN SALAD WITH ROASTED TOMATOES

Adapted from THE FOSTER'S MARKET COOKBOOK. The original pesto recipe with this called for way too much garlic for my taste. This is a nice recipe for a summer potluck, and we made it for our latest “Family Cooking Academy” this past weekend. It was hot so we grilled the tomatoes instead of roasting them which worked quite well. I had it leftover for lunch twice – once I cooked some corkscrew pasta and just stirred it in, the next day I added some feta cheese to that and ate it cold. Yummy! Kids like this generally, except Audrey, of course.

2 cups plus cherry tomatoes, preferably a mix of colors
1/4 cup olive oil
1 - 3 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 pounds green beans, stem ends removed (skinny ones work best)
1 cup PESTO
1 cup (4 ounces) grated Parmesan cheese plus more for garnish
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup pine nuts or pecans, toasted, to garnish

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Toss the tomatoes with the olive oil and garlic in a baking dish. Roast 20 to 25 minutes, until the tomatoes start to release their juices and begin to shrivel. Set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, bring a large saucepan of water to a boil, add the beans, and cook them 1 to 2 minutes or until the beans are bright green and crisp-tender. Drain the beans immediately and immerse them in a large bowl of cold water to stop the cooking process. Remove the beans from the water and set aside to drain thoroughly. If you’re in a hurry, dry them with a dishtowel.

Toss the beans with the pesto, Parmesan, and salt and pepper in a large bowl. Place the beans on a platter or individual serving plates, top with tomatoes, garnish with toasted nuts and Parmesan if desired, and serve.

ISRAELI COUSCOUS SALAD

This is from fellow softball-mom (yes, slightly different from soccer-mom) Laura Winikow. I changed it up a bit according to what was on hand. I also halved it and it was plenty for our family. I think it would be a lovely potluck dish.

1 garlic clove
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1/3 – ½ cup olive oil

2 1/2 cups chicken stock
2 cups Israeli couscous (available at TJ’s and Whole Foods)


2 cups 1/2 inch pieces asparagus, blanched 2 minutes, or roasted whole and then cut into smaller pieces
2 cups 1/2 inch pieces cucumber (or bell pepper, which I used)
1/2 cup chopped olives (optional)
2 large scallions or green onions, chopped (I did not use as I cannot digest them)
1/4 cup mint, chopped
1 1/2 cup crumbled feta

Press the garlic into a smallish bowl and add lemon juice and mustard. Whisk in the oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Bring the broth to boil, add couscous, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Transfer couscous to a bowl and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Let it sit until it comes to room temperature, tossing occasionally.

Mix asparagus, cucumber or pepper, olives, scallions or green onions and mint into couscous. Add the dressing and toss. Fold in the feta and serve.

POTATO SALAD WITH MUSTARD VINIAGRETTE

Adapted from Gourmet. Tried this as a summery alternative to roasting potatoes, and because I got the lemon juice tip from the Australian guy at Weiser family farms, where we got white, pink and purple potatoes. It was beautiful, and yummy. Tossing the taters with the vinegar/sugar while still warm let that flavor sink in deeply. Then the mustard/shallot dressing added a whole other flavor. Kudos from the dinner guests, including James, who usually “doesn’t like potato salad”.

2 lbs. small boiling potatoes, preferably of many colors, scrubbed and cut into bite-sized pieces
2 teaspoons lemon juice or white vinegar (optional)
4 tablespoons white-wine vinegar
1/3 cup finely chopped shallot
2 tablespoons coarse-grained Dijon mustard (not whole-grain)
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons olive oil
fresh parsley and/or other herbs of choice
salt and pepper

Cover potatoes with salted cold water by 2 inches in a 5- to 6-quart pot. Bring to a boil. If you have multiple colors of potato, add lemon juice at this point to keep color from bleeding. Simmer, uncovered, until just tender, 15 - 20 minutes.
Meanwhile whisk together sugar and 3 tablespoons vinegar in a large bowl until sugar is dissolved. Whisk together shallot, mustard, and remaining tablespoon vinegar in a different bowl. Allow this to sit for at least 10 minutes, so that the shallots macerate. Drain potatoes in a colander and cool slightly, then toss gently with vinegar mixture.
Add oil to shallot mixture in a slow stream, whisking until emulsified. Add dressing to potatoes, then season with salt and pepper and herbs of choice and stir gently with a rubber spatula.

GREEN SALAD WITH STRAWBERRY DRESSING

Adapted from a Bon Appetit recipe. This is a lovely potluck bring along, but you’ll want to bring the prepared dressing, strawberries, cheese, nuts and greens separately and put together just before serving. I have no idea if my kids liked it because the adults ate it up. (And it was a potluck, so who knows what my kids ate?)


about 2 pints strawberries, hulled

1 shallot or small spring onion, minced
3 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar, divided
9 tablespoons olive oil

big salad bowlful of mixed baby greens – include arugula
at least one cup of crumbled good feta cheese
1/2 cup pecans, walnuts or slivered almonds, toasted

Put the shallots in a small bowl, covered with the vinegar. Let sit for at least 10 minutes.

Mash enough strawberries to measure 1/3 cup. Mix in teaspoons of sugar. Halve the rest of the berries, sprinkle with other teaspoon of sugar, toss gently, and set aside.

Once shallots and strawberries have macerated a bit, combine in a jar or bowl. If in a jar (best way if you’re going to a party), add the olive oil and shake well. If in a bowl, gradually whisk in the oil. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Just before serving, put greens in a salad bowl and toss with some of the dressing. Add strawberries and toss a bit more. Sprinkle feta and nuts on top and serve.

CHERRY AND ALMOND SALAD

This is from The Santa Monica Farmer’s Market Cookbook. We followed the recipe, but subbed red butter lettuce and mizuna for escarole and frisee (partly because we had them to use up and I don’t like the texture of the latter two.) I am not usually a huge fan of fruit in salad but this was very satifying and balanced well with the richness of the gratin and lamb. It was also a good balance to the work required in the rest of the meal. Once the cherries are prepped, it comes together very quickly just before being served.

1 medium head lettuce, torn into bite sized pieces
1 ½ cups (3/4 lb.) cherries, pitted and halved
¼ cup dried cherries
1 lemon
2 tablespoons almond oil
salt and pepper
¼ lb. blue cheese, crumbled
½ cup almonds toasted and chopped


In a salad bowl toss together greens and cherries – fresh and dried. Grate the zest of the lemon onto the salad. Add the oil, several squeezes of lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste and toss. Sprinkle the cheese and nuts over top just before serving.

BEETS WITH BLOOD ORANGE SALAD

We have beets all year round in LA, but I think the Blood Orange season is closing and I've been wanting to try this for awhile. It was delicious and I nice change of pace from my standby for beets, ROASTED BEET SALAD. This is adapted from a recipe in “Chez Panisse Vegetables” by Alice Waters. Hers calls for endive, but we had lots of lettuce in the garden so I just used that. I also halved the recipe.

1 lb. beets, greens removed
¼ cup walnut pieces
1 blood orange
Zest of ½ orange
1 tablespoon orange juice
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/8 cup olive oil
salt and pepper
small head of lettuce (or endive)

Preheat oven to 400 and roast beets inside foil packages, until tender. (40 – 75 minutes depending on how big they are.) While oven is on, toast the walnuts on a baking sheet for about 5 minutes. When beets are done, allow to cool slightly, then rub off skins with a paper towel, cut off end and slice, setting aside.

Trim off the top and bottom of the orange and then pare off the rest of the peel, removing all the pith. Slice into ¼ inch rounds.

Make a vinaigrette by mixing together the zest, juice and vinegar and then whisking in the oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Toss beets gently with the vinaigrette, then arrange them on plates with orange slices on top of lettuce leaves. Drizzle with remaining vinaigrette and sprinkle with walnuts.

ROASTED BEET SALAD

This is a recipe cobbled together from Martha Stewarts’ "What to Have for Dinner" and from my bible of sorts, "Vegetables Every Day" by Jack Bishop. I have served it to many who “didn’t like beets” and they loved it. Healthy AND yummy.

1 lb. beets (small are nice)
½ teaspoon good grainy mustard
2 Tablespoons sherry vinegar (this is essential if pricey – Whole Foods has it)
pinch of sugar
6 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
1 large bunch arugula or the beet greens (if they’re nice) or swiss chard
feta or goat cheese, crumbled
toasted walnuts or pecans


Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Scrub the beets, remove root end if it is long and cut off greens leaving a 2 inch “handle”. Reserve greens (see HOW TO COOK GREENS if you want to use them for the salad.) Place 2 -3 beets in an aluminum foil pouch, sealed tightly. Create as many pouches as necessary to cook all the beets, trying to keep like sized beets together. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 45 – 60 minutes, until a tester proves the beets to be tender (you can poke right through the foil.)

Remove from oven and open pouches to let cool. When they are cool enough to handle, keeping them in the pouch to contain the juicy mess, use paper towels to scrape the skins off of the beets, holding onto you’re the greens handle. Slice into bite size rounds or half moons and set aside.

For vinaigrette, whisk together mustard, vinegar and sugar in a small bowl. Slowly whisk in the oil and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Toss the beets in the viniagrette, serve on a bed of arugula or cooked greens (see HOW TO COOK GREENS!) with crumbled cheese and toasted nuts sprinkled on top.

SPINACH SALAD WITH ORANGES AND ALMONDS

This is from Bon Appetit. Cutting and de-pithing the oranges is a bit of work, but worth it. I think Navels are the easiest. If you want to be adventurous, look for greens at the market to add to or replace the baby spinach, like baby tatsoi or chard or even purslane (which is some kind of weed but tasty and apparently exceptionally good for you). Others who have made this recipe have loved the dressing in and of itself – on other salads, that is, not by itself.

Dressing:
3 green onions, minced (I have an aversion to these so I sub shallots)
3 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
¼ cup fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon
1 teaspoon orange zest

4 oranges
about 1 lb. baby spinach or other greens
2/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted (you can get these with skins on at TJ’s which are better for you than blanched almonds with no skins)

Mix the onions/shallots in small bowl with the vinegar and let sit while you prepare the oranges.

Cut peel and white pith from oranges. Working over medium bowl, cut between membranes to release segments.

Whisk remaining dressing ingredients into onions and vinegar and season with salt and pepper to taste. (Dressing and oranges can be made 1 day ahead. Cover separately and chill. Rewhisk dressing before using.)

Combine spinach, half of almonds, and all orange segments in large bowl with enough dressing to coat. Divide among 6 plates. Sprinkle with almonds.

Makes 6 servings.