Supper Salad: Roasted Sweet Potato and Orange Salad

This salad combines so many flavors that I love, and includes ingredients that provide a lot of nutrients. The recipe makes a lot, too! My husband and I have been eating this one all week. (I have all of the pieces refrigerated separately and toss together individual servings for us each night.)

If you're looking for a filling, yet light, entrée salad, this one will do the trick (perfect for a warm summer night!). I roasted the onions along with the sweet potatoes, and recommend doing the same if you can't handle a lot of raw onions. Roasting brings out the sweetness of the onions and also flavors them with rosemary and garlic.

Roasted Sweet Potato and Orange Salad
(From Cooking Light, December, 2005)
Ingredients
Salad:
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
2 teaspoons olive oil
3 garlic cloves, unpeeled and crushed
1 1/2 pounds peeled sweet potato, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
3 cups orange sections (about 6 oranges)
1/2 cup vertically sliced red onion
3 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
1 (6-ounce) bag prewashed baby spinach

Dressing:
3 tablespoons fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon stone-ground mustard
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 garlic clove, minced

Preparation
Preheat oven to 400°F.

To prepare salad, combine first 4 ingredients (Kate also roasted the onions), tossing well. Place potato mixture on a jelly-roll pan lined with parchment paper. Bake at 400°F for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from oven; cool. Discard garlic. Combine potato mixture, orange sections, onion, pine nuts, and spinach in a large bowl.

To prepare dressing, combine orange juice and remaining ingredients in a small bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Drizzle dressing over salad; toss gently to coat.

Pom Figs: Dried Fig and Blue Cheese Salad with Pomegranate Vinaigrette

The final piece to our Valentine’s dinner is a new salad that I tried. I wanted to make a salad with some dried figs, and after a bit of searching online, I found this one that also uses blue cheese (a perfect use for the gorgonzola leftover from the steak I made).

The star of this salad is the vinaigrette. The pomegranate juice is tart (and filled with antioxidants!), but the honey sweetens it up a little. You can make the vinaigrette ahead of time. Mine took a while to boil down to one-third of a cup. My husband really liked this salad!

Dried Fig and Blue Cheese Salad with Pomegranate Vinaigrette
(Adapted from Southern Living, Christmas 2007)
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients
18 dried mission figs
1 (16-oz.) bottle pomegranate juice (2 cups)
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
¼ cup olive oil
9 cups mesclun salad greens
2 ounces blue cheese, crumbled

Directions
Place figs and pomegranate juice in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 10 minutes or until figs are softened. Remove figs with a slotted spoon; set aside.

Bring pomegranate juice to a boil over medium-high heat; boil 2 minutes (Kate's took much longer) or until syrupy and reduced to 1/3 cup. Transfer reduction to a bowl; let cool to room temperature.

Add honey and next 3 ingredients to pomegranate reduction; stir with a wire whisk. Gradually whisk in oil.

To serve, divide mesclun greens among 6 serving plates; top each salad with 3 figs. Drizzle evenly with vinaigrette, and sprinkle with blue cheese. Serve immediately.

Make-Ahead Note: Cooked figs and vinaigrette can be stored in refrigerator up to 2 days.

Everyday Salad: Kate's Fresh Herb Salad & Lemon Vinaigrette

For the first time in my life, I attempted to grow something this summer. This was a risky bet, as I do not have a green thumb. I have no children, pets, or plants, and therefore, no responsibility to tend to anything other than my husband (and well, if I forget to feed or water him, he’ll let me know!). I thought about growing my own herbs a couple summers ago. My mom informed me that I’d need to water them a couple times a day, so I quickly abandoned that idea. But this summer I decided to give it an attempt. I figured that even if I couldn’t keep them alive for long, I’d at least get my money’s worth in the beginning.

We purchased some basil, mint, chives, Italian parsley, and cilantro from the farmers’ market and planted them in a small planter at home. The total cost was under $10, so after just a couple uses, I had already surpassed what I could have purchased for that amount of money at the grocery store. I’m pleased to say that I’ve been good adequate at remembering to water them. My mint took a little while to get started, but it’s coming in nicely now (and from what others are telling me, it will never go away!). The cilantro has had it, but we had a good run. It has been so convenient and economical to be able to step outside, trim a few leaves, and add fresh homegrown herbs to my dishes.


One evening this summer I was throwing together a salad, and decided to use all of the herbs that I had. I actually just tossed the herbs with some arugula, added a little dressing, and that was it – a delicious, yet simple salad! I started making this salad every night. It is so simple and light. I have so many salad recipes that include lots of cheeses, beans, nuts, dried fruit, etc., which are all quite good, but on a warm summer day, this is refreshing and hits the spot.

In the recipe below, I’ve included pine nuts and Parmigiano-Reggiano to add some texture, but if you’re up for a simplified salad, feel free to omit them. This vinaigrette is my standard dressing that I use on almost all salads. I make a batch and keep it in a mason jar in the refrigerator to last throughout the week. I think the dressing tastes great with just the lemon and the olive oil, but my husband complained that he tasted “too much lemon”, and with the addition of a little honey and Dijon, he likes it very much now! This is a salad that you can get creative with and add your own favorite herbs, cheese, nuts, and/or dried fruits.

Kate's Fresh Herb Salad & Lemon Vinaigrette
Ingredients
For Lemon Vinaigrette:
* 1 lemon (juice and zest)
* ¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil
* ½ teaspoon honey
* ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
* Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

For Fresh Herb Salad:
* 8 cups loosely packed arugula
* ½ cup fresh herbs (such as basil, cilantro, chives, Italian parsley), coarsely chopped
* 2 green onions, chopped
* ¼ cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated
* ¼ pine nuts, toasted

Directions
Zest half of the lemon, and combine with juice from entire lemon, olive oil, mustard, honey, salt, and pepper. Either whisk ingredients together in a small bowl, or combine ingredients in a container with a sealable top (such as a mason jar) and shake until all ingredients are incorporated. (The vinaigrette will keep in the refrigerator for several weeks.)

In a large bowl, toss arugula with green onions, fresh herbs, and a couple tablespoons of dressing, so lettuce is just barely coated. Arrange salad mixture on individual plates, and to garnish, sprinkle each salad with cheese, pine nuts, and freshly ground black pepper, if desired.

Favorite Salmon Salad - Summer Salad with Cumin-Crusted Salmon

My mother found this recipe several years ago in the USA Weekend Magazine, and it became an instant family favorite. It comes together easily and is quite healthy. There are so many ingredients in this salad that I love, and that are so good for you. What’s also nice about serving this salad as an entrée, is that it while it is light, it is actually quite filling.

Summer Salad with Cumin-Crusted Salmon
Salad:
2 ounces pine nuts
5 cups mixed greens
15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup scallions, sliced
1 large orange, cut into 1-inch chunks
1 cup cilantro, chopped

Dressing:
2 Tbs. orange juice concentrate
4 Tbs. olive oil
½ tsp. cumin
1 ½ Tbs. balsamic vinegar
2 garlic gloves, crushed
¼ tsp. salt

Cumin-Crusted Salmon:
1 ½ Tbs. cumin
2 tsps. Paprika
¼ tsp. salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound salmon fillet, skin removed

Heat a non-stick skillet, add pine nuts and stir until toasty, about 5 minutes. In a large bowl, place all salad ingredients (reserve half of the cilantro and half of the pine nut for garnish).

In a separate bowl, stir dressing ingredients together.

In a bowl, combine cumin, paprika, salt and pepper. Cut salmon into 8 strips and coat with spices. Grill (or sear in a non-stick skillet brushed with canola oil) until crusty.

Toss salad and dressing; divide on plates. Top with salmon and reserved cilantro and pine nuts.

Note – I discard of the whole crushed garlic cloves before serving the dressing. I would like to warn against mincing the garlic and serving it in the dressing – you’ll be tasting it still the next morning!