salads

Orzo Salad with Asparagus, Artichokes, Tuna & Lemon Vodka Vinaigrette

June 8, 2009
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Asparagus. Artichokes. Tuna….Vodka?
What do these ingredients all have in common? Not much, but that’s the point.

They are the four ingredients chosen at random for this month’s Paper Chef  Challenge by last month’s winner, Allison of Local Lemons. I almost didn’t participate because I really don’t like vodka. My passionate dislike goes back to an “incident” involving one too many Screwdrivers (the drink, not the tool, though come to think of it, a certain boy was being a tool which is what led to the the Screwdrivers…but I digress) in my freshman year of college. Let’s just say it’s been over 20 years and I still can’t touch the stuff.

So it was with some difficulty I came up with a recipe which included the dreaded spirit. I thought about doing a pasta with vodka sauce, but really, I wanted to be able to eat what I made and I don’t even like …

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How to Make a Basic Vinaigrette

May 4, 2009
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marketveg1Saturday mornings there’s a decent sized Farmer’s Market in Pasadena, CA. It’s been a while since I’ve been there, but I went this past weekend. I have to say it puts my local market (which is barely one step above mini swap meet) to shame. Really, the assortment of vegetables was impressive.

I ending up buying 4 different colors of tomatoes, strawberries, pea shoots, fresh eggs, fuji apples, and baby lettuces, all local, all farm fresh. It was hard not to buy more, but I really didn’t want anything to go to waste.

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Beet Salad with Barley, Goat Cheese, Arugula & Mint

April 22, 2009
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A couple of weeks ago when we were at A 16 in San Francisco we had a wonderful “Roasted Beets with Full Belly Farm Farro Salad, roasted cipolline, mint & ricotta salata.” I said at the time, “I’m going to have to make this.”

Fast forward and I’m roaming the sad, pathetic, small Farmer’s Market in my neighborhood and I see some beets and think “now’s the time to make that salad!”
Of course, I forget that I don’t have farro, cipolline or ricotta salata at home. So it’s use-what-you-have time to make a beet salad.

My process:
I have barley. That’s a grain. Ok, it’s not Farro, but it will work.
I have Mint and Arugula (also in the inspiration salad) in my garden so I’ll throw that in along with a few springs of fresh Thyme.
Ricotta Salata? No such luck, but I have that …

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