Fall Panzanella

I'll be honest with you, I was in the grocery store with a big loaf of crusty bread in my hand thinking "What's the big deal...  I'll just buy it instead of making it", but I JUST. COULDN'T. DO. IT.  
So, I put that gorgeous loaf of bread back amongst it's friends and headed home to start the focaccia. 

I pulled out the stand mixer, made my dough, let it rise...  Placed it ever so lovingly on my sheet pan to puff up again before sliding it in the oven...  And yet, something was amiss.  It just didn't look quite right, but I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.  Once it was time for the bread to come out of the sauna, I realized I had a bit of a problem.

Not really sure how I screwed it up, but it was more of a focaccia pancake.  It didn't rise properly and looked rather pathetic.  So I salvaged what I could, not wanting to waste everything and started over.  
Truth be told, the Ohio State game was on and I was a tad distracted...  There, I've said it.  I wasn't paying attention to my work,  I was watching football. 
That's what happened.

You know as I was remaking the focaccia, I was thinking "Why didn't I just buy the bread?!"...
In the end, I'm glad I didn't.  Sometimes taking the long road has it troubles but at the end of the day the effort is usually worth it.

So when all is said and done and you are staring at a fridge full of Thanksgiving leftovers, give new life to the roasted veggies hanging around.  It's a great way to use up the ones that always get passed over for everyone's favorite, the mashed potatoes.


Fall Panzanella
1 red onion, diced
1 gala apple, cored and diced
1 granny smith apple, cored and diced
3 cups diced butternut squash, roasted
2 cups red or rainbow swiss chard, finely sliced
5 - 6 cups focaccia or day old crusty bread, cut into 1" cubes
1/2 cup dried cranberries
2 1/2 cups Brussels sprouts, roasted
a few tablespoons olive oil for tossing with veggies/bread

Vinaigrette
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp sherry vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp fresh thyme, leaves only

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  If using store bought crusty bread, toss in a little olive oil before toasting bread.  Bake until golden brown and crunchy, about 12 - 15 minutes.

Toss apples and onion in a few tbsp oil, season with salt and pepper and roast for approximately 20 minutes until soft and caramelized.

While bread, onions and apples are in the oven, make vinaigrette in a large bowl and set aside. 
When focaccia is toasted, let it cool slightly then toss in vinaigrette.  Add roasted vegetables, cranberries, apples and swiss chard.  Toss to combine and coat in vinaigrette.
Serve immediately.

Can't Stand the Heat...

Summer time is when I really enjoy salads.  The anemic tomatoes of winter are happily forgotten and replaced with gleaming, juicy, bright red beauties.  The delicious, but boring cucumbers can go on hiatus along with their carrot friends. 

The same ol' stuff that routinely finds its way into your salad can go by the wayside to make room for things like stone fruit! 

Sometimes we are on auto-pilot and occasionally get stuck in a bit of a rut. Considering all of the amazing things available to us in the summer, this is the time to branch out and mix it up.

Making a salad for dinner is a great option. The clean up is pretty minimal and the ingredients are merely a suggestion.  Use it as a jumping off point for an idea;  if you don't like an ingredient, swap it out for something you do like...

Perhaps the most important reason to go with a meal that takes about 10 minutes from start to finish:

Generally speaking, most of us are less inclined to spend hours in front of a stove during a 90+ degree heat wave.  The air is stagnant.  It just hangs there... completely still, while your tolerance for anyone within a 5 foot radius decreases exponentially by the minute.


Spinach Salad with Nectarines & Blue Cheese
serves 1 hungry girl

• 3 oz fresh baby spinach (a little more than half of a 5oz container)
• a handful of toasted, sliced almonds
• 5 -6 dried figs, sliced in half or quarters
• 1 ripe nectarine, pit removed & thinly sliced
• 2 oz blue cheese, broken into bite size pieces

Mis-en-place

There are only 5 ingredients in this salad, so make sure they are of the best quality you can get.  Spring for the good cheese, don't buy the stuff that is already crumbled.  It tastes like Styrofoam.  Make sure the nectarine is ripe & luscious, under ripe fruit doesn't have any flavor.

Normally when I make this salad, I add in crispy prosciutto.  Place a few paper-thin slices of prosciutto on a non-stick (Silpat) silicone baking sheet if you have one or parchment paper if you don't, put this on a rimmed baking (cookie) sheet and bake at 350 degrees until super crispy.

Fresh mozzarella works beautifully in this salad if you don't like blue cheese.  As with the blue cheese, get the good stuff, not the shredded cheese in a bag that you would throw on a pizza.

Fig Vinaigrette

• 1/2 shallot
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
• 3 tbsp fig balsamic vinegar (not the sweet, reduced balsamic glaze)
• 1 1/2 tbsp sherry vinegar
• 3/4 cup olive oil
• kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste

In a blender (or with a stick blender) combine all ingredients EXCEPT oil.  Blend on medium speed until thoroughly combined, then lower speed and slowly drizzle in olive oil. 

(If you are fighting the urge to do your worst Bill Cosby impression, then clearly your dressing resembles chocolate pudding and you've taken your vinaigrette too far.  Thin it out with a splash of vinegar or a tbsp of water.)

Devour.



.

On the Go...

It's finally summer and you know what that means...  picnics, barbecues and long days at the beach.
This pasta salad is perfect for taking on the go.  It is light, yet substantial and dressed in a light vinaigrette, so no worries over gloppy mayo sitting out in the sun.

I love this particular pasta salad because of all the veggies in it and you can even add more...  broccoli, julienned zucchini, summer squash, cauliflower, red bell pepper, summer beans, etc. would all be great in this salad.  The beauty of summer is that so much fresh, gorgeous produce is available! 

One of my goals in summer is to avoid turning on the stove most days...  The black tar roof of the building I live in is my ceiling, need I explain further how I have come to understand what a roast chicken must feel like in the oven?!

Another goal, I'll be honest is to make enough for left-overs.  I made a big bowl of pasta salad that will feed me for a few days.   I can have it for lunch the next day and maybe as a side for dinner the day after that... or with the 4th of July celebrations right around the corner I will pack it up and take it with me to a barbecue to enjoy with friends.


Mediterranean Pasta Salad

• 1/2 lb orzo (tri-color if you can find it)
• 2 tbsp sherry vinegar
• 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/3 cup marinated, quartered artichoke hearts
• 1/2 cup grape tomatoes, cut into quarters
• 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup cucumber, quartered & thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup pitted, oil-cured black olives
• 1/3 cup feta, crumbled (or ricotta salata if you don't like feta)
• 1 tbsp lemon zest, grated
• 1 tbsp capers
• 2 tbsp fresh dill, finely chopped
• 1/4 bunch parsley, finely chopped
• kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper

Cook orzo according to package instructions.   Toss orzo with olive oil to coat pasta.
Add remaining ingredients and toss to combine.  Season with salt & pepper.
Eat!

Mason Jar Dressings

A very good childhood friend of mine sent me some salted caramels over the holidays and I have been rationing them out on a daily basis.   Needless to say, when I see commercials for all of the various weight-loss companies it makes me cringe a bit knowing I'm a few bites away from needing an intervention.
Therefore, I've taken it upon myself to get back into the swing of things.  Like everyone else, I get a bit out of control during the holidays and then, when all of the over-eating makes me feel like Jabba the Hutt, the pendulum swings back the other way and I get myself back in line.

As you well know from previous posts, I have no shortage of mason jars in various shapes & sizes cluttering my cabinets and there is a reason for this,  besides canning.   They are useful for many different things,  quick salad dressing being one of them.

It honestly couldn't be easier...  pour everything in & shake it up.   The best part of making your own salad dressing aside from it being much less expensive, is that you know exactly what's in it.   There are no dyes, no high-fructose corn syrup, no ingredients that require a Ph.D. in Chemistry to pronounce.

The basic ratio for a vinaigrette is 3:1 or 4:1 (oil:vinegar) depending on how acidic you like it.  I love vinegar so I tend to go a bit on the acidic side with my dressings, which consequently means less oil and that is usually a good thing.


Orange Ginger Dressing

• a thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled & grated
• zest & juice of 3 oranges
• 1/3 - 1/2 cup grapeseed oil
• kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper

Add all ingredients to a jam jar & shake.
I use grapeseed oil because of its neutral flavor.   The orange and ginger should be the stars here, not the oil.   Olive oil, although it is delicious isn't what I want to taste in this particular dressing. 

 Lemon-Fennel Vinaigrette

• juice of 3 Meyer lemons
• 3 tbsp finely chopped fennel fronds
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1/3 - 1/2 cup olive oil
• kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper

I purchased fennel for the "roasted roots" and I only roast the bulb, so I had the frilly tops just sitting on my counter and didn't want them to go to waste.
I decided to use them in place of other herbs for a salad dressing.  This is generally my mind set about throwing things in the garbage... in a professional kitchen, very little goes to waste.
The first time I made this dressing I put it in the blender.  It came out a shocking flourescent yellow-green color, so if you chose to do this...  don't be disturbed. 
I often still put it in the blender, but if you are running short on time or energy the jam jar works just fine.