Posts tagged ‘fall salads’

Oct 26

Fall Harvest Salad And Meeting A Friend

I honestly didn’t know what to call this salad. The name is sort of an accurate description. I saw this amazing Fall Panzanella salad on Susan Pridmore’s blog The Wimpy Vegetarian. I immediately knew I had to make it it just sounded so good, kale, butternut squash, bread, apples, onions. I fell in love, then I had lunch at Speedy Romeo’s, a fantastic restaurant in my neighborhood that makes the most amazing brick oven pizza in incrediblely creative ways. They also have some awesome salads, I ordered a kale, apple, pomegranate, goat cheese salad that rocked my world. I have to add that I went there with Patty Nguyen, she is an very talented photographer and has a beautiful blog of the same name that I have been following for several years now. This is not the first time we met, whenever Patty comes to NYC we get together. I had the pleasure of meeting her family this time and we had a wonderful time.

Pizza with Patty and family at Speedy Romeo’s Brooklyn photo by Patty Nguyen

Back to the salad as I explained Susan’s Fall Panzanella grabbed me and then the salad at the restaurant was incredible, they have similar flavor profiles. I need to eat more salad, but for me it has to be super flavorful and very interesting. Lettuce and tomato are great (on a BLT) but not that interesting. I decided to take both salads and take a little from each, add my own touch and see how it comes out. It had to have kale that was a must, I wanted it to be seasonal so I added butternut squash that was roasted in the oven, apples, some toasted pumpkin seeds and pine nuts and grated aged Asiago cheese. I used Susan salad dressing which is made with apple cider vinegar, maple syrup and apple. I massaged the kale for a long time, a good 15 minutes I wanted it to be really relaxed, 10 minutes with a little olive oil and another 5 minutes with dressing, added chopped apple, butternut squash,nuts, seeds and grated cheese, another splash of dressing, season and voila, a delicious, nutritious fresh salad, bursting with flavor.

Fall Harvest Salad

1 head green curly kale cleaned, leaves torn from stems and chopped chiffonade

2 apples cleaned, cut into bite size pieces

2 cups cubed butternut squash

1/2 cup pumpkin seeds toasted

1/2 cup pine nuts toasted

approximately 1/2 cup grated Asiago cheese

Pre heat oven to 375 degree’s. Place butternut squash pieces on sheet pan lined with parchment, drizzle with olive oil and toss to make sure every piece is covered in oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast in the oven for approximately 30 minutes or unti squash is tender and lightly browned.

Remove the squash and set aside, place the pumpkin seeds and pine nuts on the same piece of parchment and toast in the oven for about 15 minutes watching carefully so they do not burn. Remove nuts and set aside.

Grate cheese and set aside.

Place chiffonade kale in large salad bowl, drizzle on a little olive oil and massage the kale really well, I worked on it for about 10 minutes. Add some of the dressing and massage another 5 minutes. Cut the apple into bite size pieces and toss into the kale, add the squash, nuts and seeds, toss to combine, add the grated cheese, season with salt and pepper, add more dressing if you like (I did). You can serve immediately but this salad keeps really well in the refrigerator for hours so it can be made ahead of time.

Dressing- Apple Vinaigrette

Recipe by Susan Pridmore- The Wimpy Vegetarian

1/2 apple peeled, seeded and diced

3 tbs apple cider vinegar

1 tbs maple syrup

3-4 tbs olive oil

1/4 tsp kosher salt

Mash the apple in a small food processor, if you don’t have a small processor heat in the microwave for about a minute and mash using a mortar and pestle. Whisk mashed apple into the vinegar, salt, maple syrup and olive oil.

Sep 27

61 Comments

Fall Farro Salad For Fiesta Friday #35

Warm Fall Farro Salad

Wow, that’s a lot of F’s Fall Farro Salad For Fiesta Friday. I tested this recipe as a community pick on Food52 and it’s so delicious I wanted to make more and share with all my friends at Fiesta Friday. This warm or room temperature salad is so good for you and the flavor is amazing. I am a big Farro fan, love it in salads and think about it with roasted cauliflower and brussells sprouts, pancetta, feta cheese and other vegetatables toss it in a simple lemon,herb and olive oil dressing, The combination is absolutely heavenly. It’s from one of the very talented cooks on Food52 Wendy@healthier kitchen. This can be made vegetarian or vegan by simply omitting the pancetta and using vegetable stock or water instead of chicken stock also if vegan of course omit the feta cheese, but you know that. I opted for the vegetarian version and omitted the pancetta and cooked the farro in salted water, the only reason was that I didn’t have any pancetta and honestly, the salad is so good as it was I didn’t miss it at all. Note: Don’t skimp on the lemon I halved the recipe and still used the whole lemon, it adds such a bright delicious flavor also I used dried marjoram in place of the oregano.

This Friday Angie@the novice gardener has enlisted the help of two very talented ladies. Prudy@butter basil and breadcrumbs and Naina@spiceinthecity. With these two talented and lovely co hosts this promises to be one heck of a party, you must check out the food, what an array of delicious dishes. Join in, it’s fun!!

Fall Farro Salad

Serves 8 – 10
1 large head cauliflower, cut up into small florets (I sometimes do this with brussels sprouts in addition – they cook more quickly so only roast them about 15 or so minutes)
2 tablespoons olive oil
pinch salt
4 cups low or no sodium added chicken (or vegetable if you want to keep it vegetarian) stock
4 cups water
about 1 pounds farro, rinsed
4 ounces pancetta, diced (omit if you’re keeping this vegetarian)
1 medium onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 large stalk celery, diced
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano (or even marjoram if you’ve got it)
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
juice of 1 large lemon
1/4 cup best quality olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste
about 1 cups crumbled feta, spread over top
Heat oven to 450 degrees.
Toss the cut up cauliflower with 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a Ziploc bag or large bowl. Make sure all pieces are lightly coated with olive oil. Spread cauliflower in a single layer in a shallow baking dish or half sheet pan. Sprinkle a pinch of salt over cauliflower.
Let cauliflower roast, stirring and turning pieces occasionally, until tender and golden brown, about 25 – 35 minutes.
While cauliflower roasts, bring the stock and water to a boil in a large saucepan over high heat. Once the stock boils, add the rinsed farro and stir. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, until tender, about 20 – 25 minutes. Drain farro, and set aside in a large serving bowl.
Meanwhile, in a large saute pan over medium heat, saute the diced pancetta unitl it darkens and gets a little crispy. Add the onion, carrot and celery and cook, stirring frequently, until onion is translucent and carrot has softened, about 10 minutes. You might have to lower the burner to medium-low if the onion is starting to crispen. Season vegetables with a sprinkle of salt and pepper.
Once cooked, add onion mixture to the farro in the serving bowl.
Add the cooked cauliflower to the serving bowl.
Add parsley, oregano and half the chives to the serving bowl.
Add lemon juice and olive oil to serving bowl and mix contents gently, but thoroughly. Taste for salt and pepper and add if necessary.
Garnish with remaining chives and feta.
Can be served warm or room temperature.