Strawberry Spinach Salad

 

I made this salad for a neighborhood progressive dinner that we participated in.  It was super delicious and got rave reviews.  At first, I was going to take the dressing and let people add their own, but then I decided to just mix it all together, like the recipe stated, and I am glad that I did.  The dressing was extremely thick, which would have made it weird when people added it themselves, but when I stirred it all together, it wasn't an issue.

Strawberry Spinach Salad
adapted from: allrecipes.com

1 Tbsp sesame seeds
1 Tbsp poppy seeds (or chia seeds, which is what I used)
1/2 c. white sugar
1/2 c. oil
1/4 c. balsamic vinegar
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp. minced onion
10 oz. spinach
sliced strawberries
1/4 c. sliced almonds
Feta cheese

In a blender, blend together the sesame seeds, poppy seeds, sugar, oil balsamic vinegar, paprika, Worcestershire and onions until smooth.  In a large bowl, combine the spinach, strawberries, almonds and feta cheese.  Gently stir it all together with the dressing.  Add the dressing in a little at a time, until you get as much as you want.  I had dressing leftover at the end.  Serve it immediately.

Brie en Croute

There are not many recipes that I make more than once, and few that I make often. This happens to be one of them. I have made it 3 or 4 times in the last few months for dinner parties that we’ve had, and everyone seems to have liked it as much as we love it! It’s an indulgence that I take every now and then and enjoy every bite! I don’t know how many calories are in this thing, but if calories were based on yumminess (which, sadly, they tend to be) I would be eating my weight in them.

Please, please try this recipe.

Brie en Croute

Adapted from thesisterscafe.com

Ingredients:

One 8 oz. wheel of Brie cheese (see note below)

one sheet of frozen puff pastry, thawed to room temperature

2-3 tbsp. brown sugar

2-3 tbsp. chopped pecans

1-2 tbsp. Craisins

one egg, beaten

Directions:

1. With a knife, gently cut off most of the white rind that is covering the cheese. (You can leave it on if you like, it’s edible. It’s a little easier to cut into if it’s off.) Try not to shave off any of the cheese.

2. Let one sheet of puff pastry thaw at room temperature for about 1 hour before using. Roll out on lightly floured surface and pour brown sugar in the center of the rolled out pastry. Top it with chopped pecans and Craisins and place Brie on top.

3. Fold puff pastry up over the Brie and pinch the seams together to seal completely (you don’t want it to overlap too much to ensure it cooks evenly, and with an 8 oz. wheel of Brie I usually cut off a fair amount of the pastry and use it in a later dish). Flip the whole thing over so the seam side is down.

4. Brush beaten egg over entire wrapped Brie. (Helpful tip from thesisterescafe.com: Be thorough with all the seams- the egg will help seal them so that the cheese doesn’t escape while baking.)

5. Now grab a little of the extra pastry, flatten it out, and using a cookie cutter or a knife, cut out any shape you want to adorn the top. Place on the wrapped Brie and brush with egg.

6. Bake at 400° for 12-15 minutes. Reduce heat to 325° and cook for another 12-15 minutes until golden brown. Serve with crackers if desired.

Side note: I use a small wheel of Brie (8 oz.) which serves about 4 people. If you’re having a larger party, you can buy a larger wheel (say 19oz.). You’ll end up using most of the pastry puff to cover the cheese. Double the brown sugar, pecans, and Craisins, and increase the baking time to 25 minutes at 400° and 20 minutes at 300°.

Sweet Potato Quesadillas

Get ready everyone, this is a good one. Don't just walk, run to your local grocer and buy up all the sweet potatoes you can because you will want to make these over and over again (unless of course you don't like sweet potatoes, in which case you will probably just scroll over this post really quickly).

I got these from the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. I didn't actually read the book, but we were supposed to for book group last month and so the host made these dandies for us all to try. Yum.

Here you are:

SWEET POTATO QUESADILLAS

2 medium sweet potatoes

1/2 onion

1 clove garlic

1 tbsp oregano

1 tbsp basil

1 tsp cumin

chile powder to taste

olive oil for sauté

Cut sweet potatoes into chunks, cook in steamer basket or microwave until soft, then mash. Chop and sauté garlic and onion in a large skillet. Add spices and sweet potato, mix well, adding a little water if it’s too sticky. Turn burner very low to keep warm without burning.

4 flour tortillas

4 oz. Brie or other medium soft cheese

2-3 leaves Swiss Chard (or other greens) Preheat oven to 400. Oil a large baking sheet, spread tortillas on it to lightly oil one side, then spread filling on half of each. Top with slices of Brie and shredded chard, then fold tortillas to close (oiled side out). Bake until browned and crisp (about 15 min.), cut into wedges for serving.

I changed quite a few things and it was still divine.

First, I went a little easy on the spices. However, I thought it could have used more so next time I'm going to do it as the recipe states (what a concept!).

Next, I nixed the Swiss Chard and the Brie and just went with Mozzarella because that's what I had shredded in my fridge. I know that the host who made these from book group used spinach and I'm going to try that next time I make these.

I also didn't bake mine (because my oven is currently dead) and instead I just did them one at a time on our griddle.

Did I say "Yum" yet?

Yum.

The original recipe came from here.