Beets without the Mess

This is a salad I love to eat & make. Golden beets are the classy cousins of those delicious, messy red beets that stain everything they touch. So if you want the taste of beets without the mess; look for golden beets. Luckily they are at our farmer's market, as are lovely new potatoes this time of year.
This recipe is modified from one I found in Sunset a few years ago (Thank you Roxanne Chan).

In the winter I usually roast the vegetables for a richer taste. I actually first made this salad when I high-graded the potatoes & golden beets from a hug leftover batch of roasted veggies.

Golden Beet & Potato Salad
4 or 5 golden beets (each about egg size)
5 or 6 small new potatoes
Cook beets & potatoes separately in boiling water, till tender. Slip skins from beets.
Cut vegetables into bite sized pieces.
Make dressing by mixing together:
2 T plain yogurt
2 T Mayo (homemade is yummy)
1 T rice vinegar
2 T finely chopped red onion
2 T finely chopped parsley
1 T prepared horse-radish
2 cloves garlic, minced or smashed in a press
Salt & pepper to taste
Stir into veggies, serve warm or cold. The horse-radish is not overwhelming. The tastes are perfect together. Enjoy!

It is Suddenly Salad Time

As you may know, Chico has been having a very cool wet spring and I have continued to do cool weather cooking. However this past week we finally had summer weather. Suddenly sweating over a hot stove and eating hot entrees just wasn't much fun. So I needed to change gears, dust off the barbecue and start thinking about hearty salads for the main dish. Thank you Ali for the challenge. It will be fun to share & learn about other people's salad ideas.
I don't use recipes for a lot of the salads I fix. So here are some tips anyone can use to make a cool summertime salad/meal.
1. Buff out a tossed green salad by adding: feta or other cheese cubes, chopped barbecued chicken, cold cooked sausage, cooked beans or favas, nuts, toasted squash or sunflower seeds, hard-cooked egg, cooked beets, red onion slices, chopped snow peas, left-over marinated string beans, lots of avocado, mushrooms, bell pepper, radishes, sprinklings of fresh basil or oregano or cilantro.
2. Turn leftover pasta, lentils, beans, rice or any cooked grain into a salad by adding some of the above mentioned goodies plus dressing. Instead of dressing just add spices, lemon juice or vinegar, a bit of mustard, perhaps a bit of sugar, garlic, salt & pepper. The delicious Quinoa salad, Ali posted below, is a formal example of this salad idea. (Didi made it yesterday - yum!)

Easy Delicious Winter Squash

Winter squash season is fast coming to a close. We have been having warm weather and I am thinking more about planting winter squash, than fixing it. I think I will save the space in my garden and enjoy the many types of delicious winter squash that will show up in our Farmers Market this coming fall.
However I recently made this easy & tasty version of winter squash; which I wanted to share with the C&R gals. It is a change from the standard brown sugar & butter version I've always made. The recipe features thyme & garlic, two of the best friends a veggie can have.

Here is all you do:
Cut winter squash into serving size pieces; drizzle each with olive oil and season with salt & pepper. Drizzle a baking dish with more olive oil. Make small piles of fresh thyme springs and peeled whole garlic cloves and place a squash piece upside down on each pile. Bake until tender in a 350 degree oven, (about 45 minutes.)
Serve right-side-up with the thyme & garlic on top. You will be surprised at how much the flavors blend.

With that I say "so long" to winter cooking and roll out the Bar-B-Que!

Cooking amid Construction

As shown above, cooking is still happening in the work zone. I am about to serve a steaming casserole of finocchio con latte al forno or fennel baked in milk. This recipe is from the April issue of Saveur Magazine. It is basically fennel bulbs poached in milk & butter, then baked with cheese on top. Delicious. I have been admiring the beautiful fennel bulbs and their bright green feathery tops at the farmers market and this is a delicious way to fix it.

Our usable kitchen is spread out in spots not under construction. Below is the wash-up area in the laundry room. The microwave and hot plate and some storage is in the dining room. The coffee maker and toaster is in the front hall; and I still have the oven, two small counters & two cabinets in the kitchen proper.

Making Veggies Tasty - I

This is the beginning of an infinite-part post on how to jazz up veggie side dishes...

Here's a idea of Dan's, via Barbara, as an alternative to lemon and butter or cheese on broccoli.

Creamy Dill Sauce/Dip
- Equal parts Mayo & yogurt
- Dill Weed (Andrew loves the name of this herb!)
- Splash or more of lime juice
- Sea salt to taste
- Pepper optional
Stir until creamy and combined.
Toss on drained broccoli before serving.  A little bit goes a long way.  Yum!!!
It would also work with many other veggies or as a dip.

Baked Kale Chips - Yey oder Ney?

I made Kale chips today after reading a glowing description of them on Natalie's Killer Cuisine.
I can't say I'm dying to make some more, but they were ok.  Andrew did not find them ok.  I beleive his exact response to, "What don't you like about them?" was, "I don't know where to start.  Everything..." 

Three additional notes of caution:
- During the baking process they let off quite a perfume.  I thought Isla had pooped her diaper - for real.
- They leave a mouthful of chivers.
- They are lighter than air and will easily spill and crumble making a huge mess.

Kale just going into the oven...

Here's the recipe, which I modified slightly (decreased the salt to a 1/4 of the original recipe)
I used a salad spinner, which was very easy, but if you don't have one, pat the kale dry.

Oven - 400 F

- 1 bunch Kale
- 2 T Olive Oil
- 1 tsp Apple Cider or Balsamic Vinegar (I used the apple cider variety)
- 1/4-1/2 tsp salt (the original recipe called for sea or kosher salt, but any would be fine.)

Rip kale leaves off of stalks in large pieces (I saw recipes that baked the whole leaf - oven temps and times may need adjustment), wash and spin dry leaves.  Rinse & wipe out salad spinner bowl.  In bowl, combine remaining ingredients and toss kale in mix until each leaf is completely covered (easiest by hand).  Spread leaves on parchment lined baking sheets (I prefer jelly roll pans) and bake for 15-17 minutes, until crispy.

I made two batches and tried out a variation I'd read about for my second batch...
- 1 bunch Kale
- 2 T Olive Oil
- 1 tsp lime or lemon juice
- 1/4-1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp mexican chili poweder
- Dash of Cayenne

Another variation to try...
- 1 bunch Kale
- 2 T Olive Oil
- 1 tsp green olive brine
- 1/4 tsp salt
- Paprika

I liked the flavor of the first batch best, except that it was SO SO SO salty (I used a recipe that called for 2 tsp salt!)  The 2nd batch was the one that received Andrew's glowing review.
Now that I've inspired you, go make your own and let me know what you think!