Entries Tagged as 'goat cheese'

Beet Salad with Goat Cheese

October 3rd, 2008 · 2 Comments

I bought these beets at the farmers market over the summer and didn’t know what to do with them so I made a beet and goat cheese salad with candied walnuts. It was SO DELICIOUS. YUM. Highly recommended. And the fresh beets were easy too cook and delicious. I made the dressing that they included on All Recipes, but actually didn’t like it as much as I liked just drizzling a bit of balsamic vinaigrette on this.

Beet Salad with Goat Cheese

Ingredients:
4 medium beets – scrubbed, trimmed and cut in half
1/3 c. chopped walnuts
3 Tbsp. maple syrup
1 (10 ounce) package mixed baby salad greens
2 oz. goat cheese

Directions:
Place beets into a saucepan, and fill with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, then cook for 20 to 30 minutes, until tender. Drain and cool, then cut in to cubes.

While the beets are cooking, place the walnuts in a skillet over medium-low heat. Heat until warm and starting to toast, then stir in the maple syrup. Cook and stir until evenly coated, then remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

Place a large helping of baby greens onto each of four salad plates, divide candied walnuts equally and sprinkle over the greens. Place equal amounts of beets over the greens, and top with dabs of goat cheese. Drizzle each plate with dressing.

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Grilled-Salmon Salad with Tomato Vinaigrette

May 28th, 2008 · 1 Comment

This post first appeared on Chicagoist.

With the warmer weather upon us, we’ve been outside exercising more and not really into the heavier meals we enjoyed during our winter hibernation. What we’ve been digging is a well-made salad for a meal, but salads can get really repetitive and boring if you’re not careful.

Our issue has been that we’ll make one great salad and then keep making it until we’re so sick of it we either can’t stand the sight of salad just throw random things from the fridge into a bowl, top it with dressing and it doesn’t mesh. So, we’re declaring this to be the summer of salads, one in which we really try to execute many different delicious salads with flavors that compliment each other. And, of course, when we find some good ones we’ll share them with you.

salad_deck.jpgOur first salad winner this season was this grilled-salmon salad with a homemade tomato vinaigrette. We found the slight spiciness and sear of the salmon was perfectly offset with the sweetness of the tomatoes and the tartness of the vinegar and goat cheese. The pine nuts added a great crunch. If you set the salmon on the top of the salad still warm and then mix it all up, the goat cheese will melt and get very creamy, which we loved.

Oh, and at first we were a little put off by making our own salad dressing, but seriously, it took about 5 minutes. So easy and tasty, it’s worth the extra effort. We paired this salad with a sunny deck, a glass of Riesling and a stack of unread magazines. Perfect.

Grilled-Salmon Salad

1 1/2 pounds boned, skinned salmon fillet, cut into 4 equal pieces
3 Tbsp. light brown sugar
1 Tbsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
8 oz. salad mix
Tomato vinaigrette
4 oz. fresh goat cheese, crumbled
1/4 c. minced green onions
1/4 c. pine nuts

Rinse salmon and pat dry. In a bowl, mix brown sugar, cumin, chili powder, and 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Place salmon in bowl and rub pieces all over with spice mixture. Cover and chill at least 30 minutes or up to 4 hours.

Lay salmon on a barbecue grill over a solid bed of hot coals or high heat on a gas grill (you can hold your hand at grill level only 2 to 3 seconds); close lid on gas grill. Cook, turning once, until a thermometer inserted in center of thickest part reads 140°, 6 to 8 minutes total.

Meanwhile, divide salad mix equally among four plates. Place a piece of salmon on each mound of greens. Drizzle salads equally with tomato vinaigrette and sprinkle evenly with goat cheese, green onions, and pine nuts. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Makes 4 servings

Tomato Vinaigrette

1 c. diced firm-ripe tomatoes (about 8 oz.)
1/4 c. red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp. minced shallot
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper

In a bowl, combine tomatoes, vinegar, oil, shallot, mustard, salt, and pepper. Mix well.

Makes about 1 cup

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Finally Seeing Friends in San Francisco

August 24th, 2007 · 2 Comments

San Francisco City Hall
San Francisco City Hall, San Francisco

I’ve been in San Francisco and Mountain View since yesterday for work. Last night, I was lucky enough to meet up with Susan and Allison, who I haven’t seen since they moved to San Francisco. Other times I’ve been out here for work I’ve either been to busy with work stuff, or had not been staying near San Francisco, or it just didn’t work out. Trent was at a conference in San Jose and also came up to San Francisco and went out with us.

After some confusion with Susan and I going to a restaurant only to find out that Trent and Allison were in a different neighborhood and already had eaten, we ended up having drinks and dinner at Enrico’s in North Beach. The food was really good – we had goat cheese-stuffed mushrooms, oysters, and a fig and Gorgonzola pizza – but the service was crap. We repeatedly had to ask for a waiter, then for the stuff we ordered and then, in the end, for our check. Still it was fun to hang out outside and to see Allison and Susan again. Just like old times in Hawaii!

A few more photos from the quick trip are here.

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Dinner @ Crispo

June 16th, 2007 · 1 Comment

Crispo
Crispo, Chelsea, Manhattan

Alden, Jeff, John
Alden, Jeff, John :: Crispo, Chelsea, Manhattan

Crispo
Meat Equipment :: Crispo, Chelsea, Manhattan

Crispo
Roast Beets, Pickled Onions, Goat Cheese :: Crispo, Chelsea, Manhattan

Crispo
Salmon with Lemon-Roasted Potatoes :: Crispo, Chelsea, Manhattan

Last Thursday was our last dinner with the group while we were all out in New York. Jeannette had suggested Crispo as one of the options when we went out for dinner and then a coworker suggested it too, so we decided to try it out. I liked it, but I was underwhelmed. Because we had a large group they made us do this $45 prixe fixe and while I thought our firsts and desserts were fabulous, I think the main courses could have been better. But I really enjoyed the atmosphere and it’s not like the food was bad, I just would have rather not been tied to the prixe fixe and limited menu. I’d go back with a smaller group and order on my own.

Alden
Alden & His Smoking Friend :: Meatpacking District, Manhattan

Alden & his smoking friend
Alden & His Smoking Friend :: Meatpacking District, Manhattan

Chris
Chris – Not Impressed :: Meatpacking District, Manhattan

After Crispo, Alden made brief friends with some dude in the Meat packing District who, to “scam” Alden for a cigarette, challenged him to see who could roll the best cigarette. Alden smokes and always rolls his own, so the dual was on. I’m not sure who won. Also, there was brief simulated dumpster diving. I’m not sure I’m allowed to post that photo, but if you know him I’m sure you can guess who it was. After all this, we finally ended up at Pizza Bar for a couple drinks then called it a night.

I was also going to mention, and this isn’t as crazy as the people I ran into last weekend or earlier in the week, but on Thursday I ran into Mike at work. I’d forgotten he worked in the New York office and then when I emailled him he was in Japan. It was good to see him when he got back. I haven’t seen him in NY since we walked the High Line in 2004 and then when he came to my going away party a few weeks after that and once in Chicago in 2005 when he was in the city for a short time and we got together for lunch.

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BBQ Food

September 11th, 2006 · 5 Comments

Here are some things I made for our BBQ on Saturday.

torte.jpg

Tomato Basil Torta
When I lived in San Diego, a friend of mine would take a chunk of goat cheese and dump some basil or red pepper pesto on it for an instant party dip. I was Googling these ingredients online and found this recipe. It was really easy to make and produced A TON of dip. Great for a big party.

3 8-ounce packages cream cheese
4 ounces prepared pesto sauce
4 ounces goat cheese
1/2 cup Sun-Dried Tomato Spread

Set out three mixing bowls. In the first bowl combine 8 ounces cream cheese with pesto sauce. In second bowl, combine 8 ounces cream cheese with the goat cheese. In third bowl, combine 8 ounces cream cheese with 1/2 cup Sun-Dried Tomato Spread. Line a medium bowl with plastic wrap, allowing extra to hang over sides of bowl. Spread cream cheese pesto mixture in an even layer over the plastic wrap. Spread goat cheese mixture over pesto layer. Top with sun-dried tomato mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve. To serve, remove plastic wrap from bottom of Torta. Place serving plate over bowl and turn upside down. Remove bowl and carefully remove plastic wrap from torta. Serve with croutons or bagel chips. Makes 25 servings.

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Brie with Preserves and Nuts
When I was at preview night for Sunflower Market, one of the samples was a huge chunk of brie with fig preserves and some kind of chopped almonds on the top. It was so good that I went back and had it 3 times! I tried to buy everything to make it exactly while I was there, but it wasn’t all available in the store yet, so I had to do the best I could at Jewel. I used preserves made of 4 different fruits and slivered almonds. YUM!

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pasta.jpg

Pasta Salad with Tomatoes and Corn
I got this recipe from Jeannette several years ago when I lived in New York. She got it from Epicurious. It’s one of my “go-to” pasta salads, the other being this crab and pasta salad. Obvs, I didn’t use penne this time, but I usually do.

5 tablespoons olive oil
5 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 1/2 cups fresh corn kernels (cut from 3 ears) or frozen, thawed
1 1/4 pounds plum tomatoes, chopped
8 ounces penne pasta, freshly cooked
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Whisk 4 tablespoons oil, vinegar, basil and garlic in large bowl to blend. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add corn; saute
 3 minutes. Add corn to dressing in bowl. Add tomatoes, pasta and cheese to bowl and toss to blend. Season salad with salt and pepper. 4 to 6 servings.

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