Grilled Pepper, Endive, and Radicchio Salad with Goat Cheese, Baby Arugula, and Candied Walnuts

As you will soon find out, I'm a bit of a goat cheese freak. It's one of my absolute favorite ingredients. In fact, I use it so much, it's one of my no-brainer items on my grocery list, like milk, eggs, and bread. Rest assured, there will be many more goat cheese recipes forthcoming, but I'm starting off here with the salad I made my husband and me for lunch today.

There are many possible versions of this salad, so feel free to make it your own. My inspiration comes from a very similar salad I saw on Create TV's Nick Stellino Cooking with Friends, but I combined his grilled ingredients with some leftover arugula, radicchio, and candied walnuts I had on hand from my behemoth of a Valentine's feast. Though I had enjoyed the Stellino recipe when I first made it months ago, the candied walnuts I included this time around added a nice, subtle sweetness that complemented the strong flavors of the goat cheese and grilled vegetables while adding a slight crunch to the salad.

This recipe is great for lunch for two anytime or as a side salad to serve at a summer barbecue. 

Grilled Pepper, Endive, and Radicchio Salad with Goat Cheese, Baby Arugula, and Candied Walnuts

Ingredients:

1 endive

1 head of radicchio

1 red bell pepper

4 oz. of crumbled goat cheese

2-3 C of baby arugula

2 T of extra virgin olive oil

2 T of balsamic vinegar

cracked black pepper, to taste

1 cup of prepared candied walnuts (see recipe on this page)

stove-top grill

Directions:

1. After rinsing the endive, radicchio, and bell pepper, pat dry. Then, cut the endive in half, the radicchio in half, and the bell pepper in fourths lengthwise, cutting off and discarding the tough roots and stem on the vegetables. Brush the cut veggies lightly with a bit of olive oil on all sides.
2. Heat a stove-top grill to a medium-high heat.
3. Once the grill is hot, place the vegetables onto the grill, allowing them to char a bit on all sides, at least 5 minutes for each side.
4. Once the vegetables are sporting some nice grill marks, remove them from the heat and place them on a cutting board. Cut the veggies into smaller, bite-sized pieces.
5. Add the still warm vegetables to a large serving bowl and toss in about half of the crumbled goat cheese.
6. Add the arugula and most of the remaining goat cheese and continue to toss the grilled vegetables, arugula, and melting goat cheese.
7. Pour about 2 T of olive oil and 2 T of balsamic vinegar over the salad and crack some black pepper over the salad. Gently toss the ingredients one more time before plating the salad.
8. Sprinkle the plated salad with remaining goat cheese and candied walnuts and serve immediately. This is one salad you don't want to eat cold.

Now, doesn't that look good?

Enjoy!

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Valentine's Dinner for TWO (plus, like, a week's worth of leftovers)

It's a good idea to stretch your cooking muscles once in a while . . .


So I decided that this Valentine's Day, I'd like to forgo the fancy restaurant thing and go for something a bit more genuine and relaxed for my husband and me. We are, after all, parents of two children, living on a modest budget out in the country with limited babysitting access. And, frankly, sometimes going out feels like more work than fun, what with all of the fuss about trying to look nice for the first time in a few months or however long it's been.


Anyway, back in November, my husband and I enjoyed our fanciest, French-est dinner to date when he took me out for my birthday to Fort Worth's wonderfully anomalous Saint-Emilion. I don't remember half of what I ate, or at least what anything was called, but I do remember my husband going on about the soupe á l'oignon and how I just had to learn how to make it. And most importantly, I remember the pleasure of enjoying a well thought-out, elegant meal.


This is what I decided to give my husband (and, all right, fine, myself) for Valentine's Day (in addition to a French press, which I'm sure is something he never knew he always wanted and Season 4 of "Kids in the Hall")--a well thought-out, elegant meal. So, beginning a few weeks ago, I perused the Internet in search of the perfect Romantic homemade meal.


And this is what I came up with:

If I'm going to go all out, I'm going all out . . .
printed-up menu, and all.

salad: Arugula and Radiccio Salad with Vanilla Roasted Pears and Candied Walnuts from diningdetour.com

The candied walnuts were the best part!

soup: Henri's French Onion Soup from thecurvycarrot.com

This French onion soup recipe gets the stamp of
approval from my husband. He said it tasted as
good or better than the Saint-Emilion soup he
enjoyed on my birthday.

main dish: Crispy Rack of Lamb with Honey and Mascarpone from Giada de Laurentiis at foodnetwork.com

My first time cooking lamb came off without a
hitch. These were so tender and juicy, and they
tasted wonderfully with the sweet crème fraiche
and mascarpone sauce. They were also,
incidentally, the easiest part of the meal to cook!

side dish: Roasted Spring Vegetables with Arugula Pesto from delish.com

The surprise hit of the night . . . I've already
sung the praises of roasted veggies (see first
blog post), but the pesto added a succulent
quality to an already wonderful base. I'll be
using the arugula pesto again, maybe on
grilled chicken.

dessert: Chocolate Coupe with Cocoa Nib Mousse from delish.com

A perfect ending to a perfect meal. It's a good
thing these aren't easier to make because I'm
pretty sure I'd eat this everyday if I could.

And dang, if I didn't outdo myself. We definitely busted out the fine china for this one. I began cooking two days before, including making my own crème fraiche for the rack of lamb's sauce,

homemade crème fraiche (sour cream) . . .
so, so, so easy to do!

and continued to cook up until dinnertime Tuesday night. We got the kids in bed by 8 (my daughter had a hot dog without a bun for dinner with a cheese stick and some strawberries, but I am NOT going to feel guilty about that), and then my husband and I enjoyed each other's company as we enjoyed some really wonderful food and wine and the thought of knowing that we didn't have to make reservations or put on fancy clothes to enjoy a luxurious, gourmet-style meal.

It was just the two of us, a roaring wood-burning fireplace, a table full of delicious food, two glasses of wine, and good conversation.

And isn't that what love is all about?

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Healthy Eating Tip #1: Roast your Vegetables (Roasted Cauliflower Recipe)

You may have heard that boiling your vegetables often deprives them of their natural nutrients. And if that's not reason enough to stop boiling your vegetables, then how about this?: vegetables TASTE BETTER roasted.  To top it all off, roasting vegetables is easy to do . . . What's not to love?

Mmmm . . . tasty!!!

A good rule of thumb is: If it can be boiled, it can be roasted. To date, I've roasted cauliflower, asparagus, sweet potatoes, carrots, new potatoes, and summer squash, and I'm sure there are many, many more possibilities.


Roasted vegetables are also quite versatile when it comes to serving alongside your serving of meat or fish or tofu, if that's how you roll. You can season them with essentially anything in your spice rack, garlic, fresh herbs, or, of course, cheese.

For a straightforward guide and testimonial for roasting vegetables read this article by Francis Lam. It's everything you need to know about roasting vegetables.

A few more tips than Francis Lam offered, from an experienced roaster:

1. Line your baking sheet with parchment paper. It's A LOT less messy at clean-up time.
2. Don't overdo the extra virgin olive oil. For a while there, I was making this mistake, drenching my new potatoes in several tablespoons of olive oil. It not only takes away from the health benefits roasting vegetables provides but also makes your veggies a bit soggy, and one of the best parts about roasted vegetables is their crispiness.
3. Actually, that's it. Roasting is so easy, it's pretty hard to mess up.

Here's a basic example of roasting vegetables, and, again, it can be used for just about all vegetables you'd normally boil:




Roasted Cauliflower


Ingredients:


1 head of cauliflower, chopped into 1 inch florets
2 T of extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp. of table salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. ground coriander or another spice (optional)
a roasting pan or baking sheet, parchment paper


Preheat oven to 450 degrees.


Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, toss the chopped cauliflower with the 2 T of olive oil, the salt and pepper, and the coriander, if using (or use another dried spice from your spice rack . . . get adventurous!).
2. Place cauliflower on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet in an even layer.
3. Place on the middle rack of your preheated oven.
4. Cook for 40 minutes, tossing and turning the cauliflower once or twice in the middle of the roasting process.
5. Remove the pan from the oven and serve cauliflower immediately, adding fresh herbs, if desired.

1 C of roasted cauliflower is a measly 70 calories, but it's so good, you'd swear it was 700.


Again, and I cannot stress this enough, roasting veggies is one of the easiest, healthiest, most delicious things you can do for your family. If you're like me, you'll never go back to boiling your veggies.

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