Wilted Spinach and Kale Salad with Ginger Rosemary Lemon Dressing

Made this from what was in fridge.  Worked out pretty well.

1. Mince some ginger and fry up in too much olive oil.
2. Add mashed garlic and rosemary just for a few moments.
3. Transfer to large wooden salad bowl and mash together with ground pepper and salt and a little meyer lemon zest.
4. Squeeze out 1.5 or less or more meyer lemons into bowl and mix with ginger paste.  
5. Taste and add a little maple syrup to balance the lemon.
6. Heat some oil up again and brown some slivered almonds.  When golden, set aside. 
7. Artistically slice a few carrots.
8. 1/4 Moon half a small red onion.
9. Thinly Slice some black kale.
10. De stem fresh spinach from Steve's Farm
11. Mix carrots, onions, spinach and kale with the Ginger Dressing in the bowl.
12. Crumble Feta Cheese and Toss.
13. Heat some more olive oil.  When hot, pour over salad to wilt the greens.  Toss Well and then toss in the almonds.

Spinich Salad

I was reluctant to bring a salad to Thanksgiving.  Who has room for salad on Thanksgiving?  Why would you have salad when there's stuffing?  But I love Babs and will do whatever she says.  I made this from what I had in my fridge mostly from our local farmers.

1. Wash a bunch of Steve's amazing spinach

2. Mash up some garlic with some salt.  Add some of Alice's Ojai White Balsamic Vinegar.  Add some chopped green peppercorns and chopped mint from Steve and chopped parsley from BD.

3. Thinly slice at least 2 bulbs of fennel and a bunch of B.D.'s tiny scallion chive onions.  Mix and squeeze a meyer lemon from Friend's Ranch over them.

4. Toast pine nuts.

5.  When ready to serve, toss spinach with fennel mixture and dressing.  Crumble Feta on top. Heat olive oil in small pan on stove.  When hot, pour over salad to wilt.  Toss quickly.  Sprinkle in Pine nuts and add 3 cubed avocados.  Gently toss.  Salt to taste and serve.

Wilted Spinich Salad with Feta and Figs

This is the perfect dish when Steve's Spinach starts to go off.  The most delicious gigantic spinach ever.

1. Wash Spinach.

2. 1/4 Slice half a medium red onion.  Put in bowl of cold water to reduce "onion-i-ness".

3.In the Salad Bowl, mash a clove of garlic and grind with a little salt

4. Mice some fresh mint and grind some Mexican oregano and mix with garlic.

5. Pit and tear Kalamata or other favorite black olives.  (At least 12 depending on how much you like olives.

6. Pour some favorite vinegar into bowl.  Lately I am addicted to the Ojai Olive Oil White Balsamic Vinegar.  But red wine vinegar is also delicious.

7. Meanwhile, heat some olive oil in a pan and pan toast a few slices of ciabatta or other favorite bread to make "croutons".

8. Toss Spinach into bowl with onions, halved fresh black mission figs, crumbled feta and freshly ground pepper.

9. Heat some olive oil to just before smoking and pour over salad to wilt spinach.  Toss.

10. To Serve, scoop into bowls and place croutons around sides.

4th of July Salad with Fennel, Daikon, Cucumber and Smoked Salmon

We were lucky enough to get invited to Brian and Margaret's House for dinner and fireworks last night.  The King and Queen of the West End, their pad offers a 360 degree view of the Valley and a direct vision of the fireworks.  

Watching the fireworks from a mountain top is pretty cool.  You know they are toxic, dangerous and a little silly.  You can sort of hear the sirens going off and the dogs howling.  But from up on the hill they are beautiful shakti explosions.

I was asked to make a salad.  I had stuff in my fridge from last farmer's market and half a CSA box from Steve Sprinkle.

1. Cut up remaining ciabatta for croutons.  Toast in 400 degree oven till somewhat crunchy.  Heat too much olive oil in a pan and pan toast them till golden.  Remove and finely grate Parmesan cheese on them.  Set aside to cool.

2. Barely Steam some green beans.

3. Thinly slice the fennel.  1/4" Diagonal slice on the Persian Cucumbers.  1/8" Diagonal Slice on the Daikon.  Toss with Lemon, Ojai Olive Oil's White Balsamic Vinegar, olive oil and chopped mint.

4. Wash and Slice 1 head lettuce and 1 head radicchio from Steve's farm.

5. Mince a shallot or 2 and let sit in White Wine Vinegar for 15 minutes.  Stir in dijon mustard.  Salt and Freshly ground pepper.  Mix in desired amount of olive oil.

6. Toss fennel mixture with lettuce and toss with dressing.  Add in the croutons.  Flake and toss in pepper smoked salmon.  Slice up avocados and put them on top.

Butterleaf Salad with Fennel, Radish and Green Beans

Finally.  The stands at the Farmer's Market are Overflowing with fresh food that can be eaten raw.  We have had salads almost every night for the last week.

Tonight's looked like this:

-  Mince up a shallot and mix with some red wine vinegar.  Allow to sit for 15 minutes

- Wash a bead of Butter leaf lettuce from BD

- Softboil 2 eggs from Healthy Family Farms

- Barely Steam super thin green beans from those guys across from BD

- Slice Fennel from BD thin

- Slice radishes from BD thick

- Chop up some fresh dill from BD

In your salad bowl, toss fennel, radish, lettuce, beans.

Finish dressing by adding country style dijon mustard, chopped dill, freshly ground pepper and salt to shallots.  Mix and pour in the appropriate amount of olive oil and mix with wrist.

Toss dressing with salad and divide between 2 plates.  Slice Avocado on top.  Slice eggs in half and arrange.  Add about a tbl. or so of that delicious marinated blue cheese from the jar.

Note: Last night (the 17th) we had had a similar with some pepper smoked salmon on top.  I mixed the dill with the radishes and fennel instead of in the dressing and I did not have any shallots so dressing was more plain.  Instead of cheese, we had a dollop of creme fresh to meet the salmon.

Butter Lettuce, Radish, Fennel, Blood Orange Salad

Dressing
Mince Shallot and Combine with about 1.5 Tbl. Red Wine Vinegar
Let sit for about 15 minutes
Mix in 1.5 tsp. of country Dijon mustard
.5 tsp minced fresh green peppercorns
salt and pepper
1/4 cup + very good olive oil mixed in slowly and well

While shallots and vinegar are getting to know wash other, cut root off butter lettuce and wash and dry.

Slice Radishes.

Thinly Slice One Bulb of Fennel.

Using a knife, slice skin off 2 blood oranges to remove all white part. Thinly slice.

Toss Lettuce, radishes, fennel and blood oranges.

Toss with dressing.

(If I had been serving this salad with steak, an avocado might have been nice, but tonight with the potato gratin, the dinner was rich enough).

Butter Leaf Salaf with Fennel and Daikon

Dressing:
Minced Shallot
Red Wine Vinegar
Country Dijon Mustard
Chopped Capers
Salt and Pepper Olive Oil

To Make Dressing:
1. Mix Shallot with less than a tbl. of red wine vinegar. Let Sit for 15 minutes.
2. Add tsp. of mustard, about a tsp. of capers, freshly ground pepper and good sea salt.
3. Slowly wisk in good olive oil, about 3 tbl. or so.

Salad
Thinly Slice 1 bulb of Fennel and 1 Daikon Radish.
Wash and Trim Butter Lettuce.

Toss all the ingredients with the dressing.
(If I had a ripe avocado, I would have added it).

Torrey's Ceaser Salad (san anchovies)

I love Torrey Nicholson. Yesterday he turned 6 and for his birthday requested that I make a Cesar salad, specifically asking for crunchy, not soft croutons. As I started to make it, I realized that I felt nervous. That I really wanted him to like it. That I had expectations of the results of my efforts. And suddenly that teaching of being passionate without desire made sense. Put everything you have without being attached to the fruits of your labour. Let everything you do be for the pure love and joy of the opportunity to serve another. And when you work this way, you become more discerning with who and what you are working for.

This made enough salad for 15.

1. Set oven to 350.
2. Chop or tear up 4 small heads of romaine from B.D. Wash and spin or lay out to dry.
3. Slice up some ciabatta bread into croutons (about 1 inch diameter). Melt some butter and olive oil together and toss croutons in the fat. Lay them out on a baking sheet and toast in oven till desired crispiness. I checked them every 5 minutes, and rotated them for about 15 minutes.
4. Mash up 4 heads of garlic and smoosh around your wooden bowl.
5. Finely Chop about 1/3 cup of yellow onion.
6. Finely chop about 1/3 cup of curly parsley. Mash Parsley and onion together with the garlic.
7. Add a smidge of sugar, overly generous tbl. of dijon mustard, overly generous tbl. of red wine vinegar, a few dashes of worshtishire and mash together.
8. Then I added the juice of an entire lemon and some fresh grated Parmesan. Lots of fresh ground pepper and a good amount of high quality salt cuz Torrey loves salt.
9. I had to transport the dressing, so i only poured in a little olive oil to suspend the flavors and transferred the dressing to a ball jar.
10. When I was ready to toss the salad, I added more olive oil (maybe 3/4 cup total) to the dressing and shook it up to mix. I tossed the dressing over the romaine, added the croutons and some more Parmesan and tossed again. Then sprinkled fresh Parmesan on top.

Butter Lettuce Salad with Sauteed Asparagus, Leeks and Smoked Ahi Tuna

1. Wash and Dry Lettuce.

2. Wash and Dry Arugula.

3.Thinly Slice and Wash Leeks.

4. Heat a little olive oil in a saute pan and add leeks, stirring occasionally until softened, about 10 minutes. Remove to a small bowl or plate.

5. Add more olive oil to the pan and add Asparagus to pan and saute until done. (I left these asparagus whole cuz they were short beautiful thick stalks from Nancy Pepper's garden, but you could also cut them into pretty diagonal pieces). About 10 minutes.

6. Tear lettuce into desired pieces and thinly slice arugula (shred). Mix Lettuce, Arugula, and sauteed leeks together and toss salad with lemon and olive oil and salt and pepper.

7. Arrange lettuce on plates. Lie asparagus over the salad and sprinkle arrange slices of smoked ahi tuna on top.

Potato Salad with Mustard Dill Vinegrete

1. Cover small red potatoes with salted water and bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower heat and simmer till potatoes are done. With small red potatoes, I set the timer for 10 minutes and check with a fork for doneness. Then I reset the timer for appropriate time.

2. While Potatoes are cooking, chop 1 shallot and mix with 3 tbl. of red wine vinegar. Allow to sit for at least 5 minutes.

3. Mix in :
about a tbl. of grain mustard
about a tbl of chopped capers
2 to 3 tbl of dill
good salt and fresh ground pepper
I usually let this part of the dressing sit until I am almost ready to serve and then i slowly stir in about 3tbl. or more olive oil.

4. Once potatoes are done, drain and allow to cool a little before trying to handle. While still warm, slice up into halves or quarters depending on size and mix with dressing. Taste and add more salt and/or pepper if necessary. Serve immediately.

Asapargus and Spinich Salad with Toasted Pecans, Point Reyes Blue Cheese and Figs

Making dinner from what is already in your house can be a good way to stimulate creativity.

Toast the Pecans, set aside

Saute up and caramelize a thinly sliced shallot
Barely Saute Asparagus
Put Shallots and Asparagus in Salad Bowl

Barely Saute the Fresh Spinach
Add to Asparagus and Shallots
Toss with some Balsamic Vinegar and Olive Oil

Divide Salad onto to two plates or bowls
Scatter toasted pecans, blue cheese shavings and chopped dried Turkish Figs

Salt and Fresh ground pepper.

Roasted Golden and Red Beets with Feta, Olives and Arugula

We cooked way too many beets. They were so beautiful, we just had to use them all. If I did it again, I would estimate no more than a medium beet a person.

1. Oven at 400 degrees.
2. Cut off stems and scrub beets.
3. You will want to roast Golden and Red beets on two separate baking sheets. Put tinfoil down on bottom unless you love to scrub pans.
4. Roast until you can easily stick a fork into the beet. The time ranges depending on the size. Most of them were done in 45 minutes, the bigger ones took an hour. I did this first thing in the morning.

5. Once cool, Alana used a knife to cut away the skin. You can also peel them, but I like the look of the smooth cut beet skin. Again, keep the golden and red beets separate as you do this.
6. Cut them in half and then slice into "sun ray wedges".
7. Store in Fridge until ready to use.

8. Wash Arugula.
9. I recommend buying pitted olives and using them whole. We could only find ones with pits the other day and Alana had to carve them. (A huge pain).
10. Make a light dressing of minced shallots, lemon and Ojai Olive oil.
11. Cut Feta into small slices

Again, you could assemble this many different ways. If it was a small dinner party, I would probably compose individual salad plates. I started the platter and Uschi came in and fixed it aesthetically.

When ready to assemble, toss the arugula with the dressing. On a large platter spread out the arugula. Arrange the beets and Feta as you like. Scatter with the Olives.

I meant to make a balsamic vinegar dressing to pour over the arrangement. I forgot, but no one seemed to notice.

Endive, Fennel, Blood Orange and Avocado Salad

Uschi was my wingman on this one.

These proportions serve 20.

Use knife to slice all skin and white parts off the blood oranges. Squeeze juice out of the slices and reserve. Slice oranges into shy 1/4 rounds.
Slice 10 Endive diagonally. Toss with a few good squeezes of lemon.
Thinly slice 5 bulbs of fennel. Toss with juice of a lemon.
Open and pit 4 ripe avocados.

There are many ways you could assemble this salad. Last night we had a big round platter, so we arranged the ingredients on top of each other in circles.

Put endive down first and over the entire platter.
Layer Fennel on top but closer to the center so you can see the endive on the outside.
Layer blood oranges on top, but closer to the center.
Using sharp knife, slice avocados in radiating pattern while still in skin and use big spoon to scoop out. Fan avocado around the edges of the blood orange circle.

Mix the reserve blood orange dressing with finely diced red onion, a little maple syrup, salt and pepper to taste, and Ojai Olive Oil. Pour the dressing around the platter over the endive, fennel and avocados.

I wanted to put fresh mint on the salad, but could not find it in my packed fridge. So we used fresh rosemary and it worked great.

butter lettuce with simple ojai dressing

chopped shallots from rainbow
1 meyer lemons from kari and dan's trees
pause
choice of mustard to your taste
maple syrup to your taste
chopped parley from Steve's farm
salt and pepper

quickly stir as you slowly add Alice's olive oil

toss with butter lettuce
add pitted olive cured olives