Beet and Mint Salad

This recipe comes courtesy of Chef Jan Dobbener from the Sensory Tasting at Quails' Gate winery where I work. It is more of a food and wine pairing focused menu on the terrace with the most beautiful view.

So this recipe is for all the beet lovers out there. It's so earthy and complex. Sweet, salty, earthy, crunchy, tender.... Definitely not your everyday salad and with a bit of prep pretty easy to put together. 

When asking Jan how to make the smoked dressing for this salad he said "well just use your smoker" ok. Like we all have a smoker at home. Haha. "What do you mean you don'thave a smoker?" So my work associate suggested the liquid smoke and it works great! You should be able to find it at the grocery store.

Serves 3-4 people

What you need: 

8 med sized beets

Apple cider or sherry vinegar

1/4 cup of mayo

A couple Tbsp of liquid smoke or to taste (it can be pretty strong) 

Lemon juice

A small bunch of fresh mint

A package of prosciutto or about 8 thin slices. 

Truffle oil

Crispy five spice rice. (recipe will follow)

FIRST to cook the beets. Just wash them and throw them in a big pot. No peeling yet. Fill the pot with water to cover the beets and then add 10% vinegar to the water. So your cooking liquid should be 90% water and 10% vinegar. Add a good  tbsp of salt to the water as well and boil until your beets are tender. Sometimes it take 45 minutes to an hour depending on the size of your beets so keep checking them. 

ONCE they're done cool them down in some cold water and use a dry clean kitchen towel to peel them. The skins will easily rub off. 

CUT the beets into 1' wedges and put into a bowl. 

FOR the dressing just mix your mayo with a bit of salt and pepper and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Add the liquid smoke and taste to see if you want it a bit smokier or not. Your taste. Mix the dressing into your beets.

CHOP up a small bunch of mint leaves very roughly and keep a few small ones whole for garnish. Mix the chopped mint in to taste as well. Saving the whole leaves for garnishing plates. 

For plating add a big spoonful of beets to a shallow bowl and  gently fold two prosciutto pieces on top of the beets. Garnish with the mint leaves and drizzle a little bit of truffle oil on top. Don't overdo the truffle oil! 

THE crispy rice is wild rice that has been cooked and then fried to make it crispy then tossed in a bit of Chinese five spice. This is an optional garnish but it definitely adds a nice textural component to the dish. You could also try pumpkin seeds or other nuts for a crunchy component. 

Shrimp and Mango Noodle Salad

I think I might start buying mangoes more often. I never realized how much I liked them! Paired with one of my other favorite things, shrimp, this might be my new favorite summer salad. Simple, easy and delicious! Feel free to adjust if you like it more or less spicy or add your own ingredient or spice. You could try sweet chili sauce instead of hot or use orange juice instead of lime. Mandarins instead of mango.....You get the idea! Make it your own!

What you need

 

250-g pkg bean thread noodles or rice vermicelli
1 large ripe mango
1/4 cup lime juice, about 1 to 2 limes
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tbsp hot chili-garlic sauce
1/4 tsp salt or 1 tbsp fish sauce
350 g package of cooked, peeled medium shrimp (or uncooked, peeled)*

1/2 cup finely shredded fresh mint, basil, cilantro or a combination 

 

PLACE noodles in a large bowl and cover with very hot tap water. Let stand until tender, about 8 min.(Rice vermicelli takes longer) Drain, then rinse well with cold running water. Drain again.
Peel mango, slice off the flesh and dice it. In a large bowl, stir lime juice, brown sugar, chili-garlic sauce and salt until sugar is dissolved. Add drained noodles, mango, shrimp and herbs. Toss to coat.

*IF using uncooked shrimp, thaw them in a bowl of warm water and then saute in a small pan with a bit of butter until cooked.  

 

Grilled Peach and Speck Salad

I was hungry and saw the last peach on the counter. Peaches can be savory too. Have you ever grilled a peach?? Maybe not. Try this one and discover how peaches can be savory and sweet at the same time. There is only a few weeks left of delicious peach recipes so I've been experimenting with all kinds of ways to use them. This one was fun to make.
I bought some speck (aka schinkenspeck) at the deli counter the other day for a different recipe I had intentions of making. I've forgotten what that recipe was now..... but it happened to be a perfect pairing for peaches! It basically tastes like a cross between prosciutto and bacon. You can use prosciutto too or something similar. Super delicious. I made this just for me but it would be easy to scale up to feed more as a fancy appy at your next dinner party.

IF you have a griddle pan (which is what I used) preheat it on medium heat.  You can also use your BBQ.
CUT a peach in half and twist to separate and remove the pit. Cut in half again and drizzle pieces with a little olive oil. Sprinkle with a bit of rosemary and a pinch of salt and pepper. Place cut sides of peach on grill until they are softened and have nice grill marks.
MAKE a simple, creamy vinaigrette for the salad by combining about 1 Tbsp of red wine vinegar, 3 Tbsp of olive oil, 1 Tbsp of Greek yogurt, 1 tsp of dried or fresh tarragon and a pinch of salt and pepper in a small dish. Toss a big handful of pretty salad leaves in the vinaigrette and arrange on a plate.
THINLY slice your speck or prosciutto into thin ribbons and arrange on top of greens with the grilled peaches and sprinkle some crumbled goat cheese or feta cheese on top! NUM!  

Grilled Marinated Scallops with Balsamic Reduction

This is a simple but beautiful salad that's fairly easy to make and will impress just about anyone. I love scallops and once in awhile I'll treat myself to a few. They are so sweet and tender and delicious they are definitely in my top ten favorite foods. This salad is a perfect way to eat them during the hot weather.

What you need (for 2 people)
6-8 medium sized scallops, fresh or thawed
3 Tbsp of olive oil
2 Tbsp of balsamic vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tbsp of fresh parsley, chopped
1 Tbsp of freshly grated parmesan
1 tsp of finely grated lemon zest
A big handful of your favorite mixed greens(I used mache mix) or arugula
A handful of cherry tomatoes, sliced in half or quartered
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar or 1/4 cup of bottled balsamic reduction sauce

COMBINE the above ingredients in a resealable plastic bag set in a shallow dish and refrigerate for 2-4 hours (No longer or the acids will ruin the texture of the scallops), turn bag once or twice.
DRAIN scallops and thread them onto a skewer or two (however many fit)
PREHEAT barbeque on med-high and grill scallops for about 6 minutes, turning halfway until just cooked.
TO make your own balsamic reduction, bring the 1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar to a boil in a small saucepan, reduce heat to low and simmer, 4 or 5 minutes until reduced by half
SERVE the scallops over the greens and tomatoes and drizzle with the balsamic reduction.

Italian night

LAST night I was craving pizza. I made a crust for me and my husband to each have our own because I believe less is more for pizza while be believes more is better. I make my pizza dough in the bread maker because honestly, I'm a little scared about making any type of yeast bread. My past attempts have failed miserably. So I get the bread maker to do it for me. All I have to do is put the ingredients in there and wait a couple hours and it magically transforms it into a beautiful pizza dough. For those of you who have a bread maker, I'm sure it came with it's own pizza dough recipe. You could make it form scratch too or just buy one from the store but that's no where near as fun. I served this with a Tuscan style kale salad for my own Italian themed dinner. 

Bread maker pizza dough
1/2 cups of beer or water
1-1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp vegetable or olive oil
4-1/4 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp bread machine yeast

TOSS everything in the pan in the order listed and select your dough setting. When it's done just roll it out on a floured surface and place on a greased pizza pan or baking sheet. Top with whatever you wish. This recipe makes 3 good size individual pizzas or 2 big round ones. I froze the last 3d for later use. bake at 425 degrees for about 25 minutes or so. You could also thrown in some basil and oregano if you want.

For those braver then me pizza dough

2-1/2 to 3 cups flour

1 package active dry yeast

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup warm water

2 Tbsp vegetable or olive oil

IN a large mixing bowl combine only 1-1/4 cups flour, the yeast, salt, water and oil. Mix with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping down the bowl as needed. Beat on high for 3 minutes. Using a wooden spoon, stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can

TURN out dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic (6-8 minutes total). Divide dough in half, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. This makes four pizzas.

I used some pizza sauce that I made before hand but you don't have to. a layer of shredded mozzarella cheese is also delicious. I did both actually. Then I topped with sliced cherry tomatoes, sliced mini yellow peppers, sliced mushrooms, minced garlic, a drizzle of olive oil and some fresh cracked black pepper. I added some torn parsley leaves and shaved Parmesan when it came out of the oven. So simple and so good!

Pizza sauce
1 14.4 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 small can tomato paste
2 cloves garlic
2 tsp red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp each dried oregano and basil or 1 tsp each fresh
salt and pepper to taste

COMBINE and refrigerate for a few hours or over night to let the flavours blend if you can but using right away won't hurt.


THIS is that Tuscan kale salad I mentioned earlier. Basically it tastes like caesar salad but with healthy kale instead. Kale has one of the highest antioxidant capacities of all fruits and vegetables so it turns this into a pretty healthy version of the classic caesar.

Tuscan kale salad
1 slice of whole wheat bread, toasted
6 Tbsp of finely grated Parmesan
Juice of one lemon
3 Tbsp of olive oil
3/4 tsp of anchovy paste or finely chopped anchovy
1 clove of grated garlic
fresh cracked black pepper
7 cups of torn fresh kale

TEAR toasted bread into small pieces and blend in a food processor until it reaches the consistency of course crumbs.
FOR the dressing, combine 2 Tbsp of the Parmesan, the lemon juice, olive oil, anchovy paste, garlic and pepper in the bottom of a large salad bowl. Put the torn kale in the same bowl and toss until everything is coated.
LET stand for 5 minutes and then add the bread crumbs and remaining parmesan. Toss well and drizzle with additional olive oil if you like.