Beet and Goat Cheese Salad

Our New Year's Eve meal started with this salad, which pretty much guaranteed an awesome start to 2011. Roasted beets are such a treat because I rarely -- like almost never -- make them. But I think based on this salad, my resolution this year is clear: make more beets.


Beets are practically perfect roasted on their own really. Or with a side of sour cream and chives. But this salad took them to a new level. If you read through the recipe, you'll notice that there is no salad dressing to speak of, only a marinade of sorts for the beets. I worried that with no dressing on the salad, it would be dry, but the beets are so moist and flavourful and their warmth slightly melts the goat cheese, making it a perfect marriage of the warm beets, with the cool spinach, sweet goat cheese and tart marinade. Heaven.  


Beet and Goat Cheese Salad
Serves 4-6
Printable Recipe
 Ingredients

• five medium sized roasted beets, chopped into large pieces
• 2 tsp red wine vinegar
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 4 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 2 tsp orange zest
• salt and pepper to taste
• 4 cups spinach, washed and dried thoroughly
• 4 oz goat cheese

Directions

• In a bowl, whisk together the red wine vinegar, olive oil, lemon juice, orange zest and salt and pepper. Add beets and toss to coat.
• On each plate, make a small bed of spinach. Top with 1/4 of warm beet mixture (if in the fridge, pop in the oven or microwave to warm) and sprinkle crumbled goat cheese on top.

Orange Almond Salad

Mandarin oranges are out so it must be Christmas. This time of year, we buy a box of these a week and go through them like they're candy. So when I was having my girlfriends over for a festive lunch, I immediately thought of this salad my mom makes because I love the mandarin oranges in it mixed with the crunchy almonds and sweet and sour dressing. It's a crisp, refreshing salad and, one of my favourites.

And while it is Mandarin orange season, you'll notice that I used tinned oranges. This is great because you make this salad any time of year, but the tinned orange segments are peeled which are much nicer in the salad. You'll find them with the canned fruit in your grocery store.

Orange Almond Salad

Serves 6

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 large head romaine lettuce
• 11 oz tin drained mandarin orange segments
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted

Sweet and sour dressing:

• 1/2 cup tarragon wine vinegar
• 1 tsp tarragon leaves
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp black pepper
• 3 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp dijon mustard
• 1 cup vegetable oil

Directions

• Wash and dry the lettuce and break into bite sized pieces. Add the oranges and almonds and toss.
• To make the dressing: place tarragon leaves, salt, pepper, sugar and dijon mustard into small mixing bowl. Using a wire whisk, beat the vinegar into the spices until thoroughly mixed. Slowly add oil. Continue mixing until the oil is completely blended and the dressing is a light creamy colour. 
• Let the dressing sit in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to allow the flavours to blend (overnight is even better). It will separate so needs to be shaken before pouring.
• Place salads on plates and sprinkle with dressing.

**Note, this will make a large quantity of dressing and you'll only use about 1/4 for a whole head of romaine.

Fresh Green Bean Salad

To balance out all the baking I've been doing, we've been eating a lot of salads. Each week, I enjoy going to the farmer's market outside my office and finding fresh veggies to make a new salad with. I stumbled on this recipe on www.allrecipes.com/ for a two bean salad with cherry tomatoes, feta and a balsamic dressing and we were not disappointed. Unlike the other salad dressings we've made, the balsamic was sweet. This will be a regular staple in our summer salad rotation.

Ingredients

• 
  
  1/2 pound green beans
• 
  
  1/2 pound yellow beans
• 
  
  12 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 
  
  1/2 brick of feta cheese
• 
  
  2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 
  
  1 tsp olive oil
• 
  
  1 clove garlic, minced
• 
  
  salt and pepper to taste

Directions 

• 
  
  Mix together the balsamic, oil, garlic and salt and pepper
• 
  
  Clean, trim and cut beans into bite-sized pieces
• 
  
  Mix vegetables together in a medium-sized bowl with dressing
• Crumble feta cheese on top

Recipe adapted from www.allrecipes.com 

Light Vinaigrette Salad Dressing

In this sticky summer weather, I love a crisp, refreshing salad. And this salad dressing makes me want to eat nothing but salads and vegetables all summer long.


This dressing is light, with light flavours and really lets the salad shine through. I find it best with iceberg lettuce, cucumbers and tomatoes, but I know this would be great with anything. 


Ingredients

• 4 tbsp light oil (I used Crisco vegetable oil)
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• 3 cloves finely chopped fresh garlic
• salt and pepper to taste

**you can make this recipe in any quantity, but note that the ratio is always four parts oil to one part vinegar

Directions

• Mix ingredients together and stir!

Summer Couscous and Chickpea Salad

It's hot out. I mean steamy, sticky, humid hot and what am I looking for to cool down? A refreshing, cold, delicious salad. I love this time of year, but the thought of standing over a hot stove is the last thing I want to do and I just find that I always gravitate towards cold foods and healthy ones. This dish meets all those requirements and then some! This is my new go-to for the summer pot luck and I'm sure it will be yours, too!

Ingredients

• 1 cup cooked couscous
• 1 can chickpeas, rinse and drained
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 1 field cucumber, chopped
• 1 tomato, diced
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2-3 limes, juiced
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

• In a large bowl, toss all the ingredients with the olive oil and lime juice. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve cold.

Recipe from Ezra Pound Cake

Homemade Croutons

I love a good, toasty, chewy crouton. These are so simple to make and a really impressive addition to any dinner.

Ingredients

• really good french stick, cubed
• lots of butter
• lots of garlic

Directions

• Cut the bread into cubes and leave out for a few hours to dry out slightly (the longer you leave them, the less chewy they will be). I estimate about 3-4 croutons per person

• For about 20 croutons, I use about 3 tbsp of butter. Melt it in a skillet

• Add chopped garlic and mix well with butter. Keep on low-medium heat
• Add bread, stir often and cook until browned on all sides

• Pour into plate lined with paper towel and add to salad. You'll never go back to store-bought croutons again!