Entries Tagged as 'salad'

Asparagus, Ham And Smoked Gouda Frittata

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Don’t you just love asparagus season? I confess that I buy asparagus year round-I love it. But the purple-tipped local asparagus at the farmers markets is really special, and I wanted to make a recipe to showcase them.

For DC Foodies, I created a Mother’s Day brunch menu, incuding this frittata, a warm spinach salad and rosemary potatoes. It was easy and so delicious. Frank gave the frittata two thumbs up when I made this meal for dinner recently.

 Go check it out here!

Tags: asparagus, ham, brunch, spinach, breakfast, DC Foodies entry, potatoes, salad, cheese, eggs by Ramona
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Red Italian Dandelion With Sweet And Sour Bacon Dressing

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During the coldest of winter months, I try to make my visits to the Dupont Farmers Market coincide with when Next Step Produce is there. They set up their tables every other week during winter, and they continually surprise me with their selection of organic produce.

Whether they be vegetables I’ve never heard of, or tubers I’ve never tried before, I always come away with something which I am eager to prepare.

This past Sunday, I was a bit crestfallen when I found out that Next Step would not be carrying sunchokes, or Jerusalm artichokes until next November. Recently, I tried them for the first time and made an easy and delicious soup. I will miss them (unless I spot them at Whole Foods or the like) but another intersting bit of greenery caught my eye-red Italian dandelion.

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Last night, I made a traditional steakhouse dinner, with a twist. Instead of a Porterhouse or NY Strip, I used an inexpensive Flank steak, with dill gnocchi and instead of creamed spinach, I served wilted dandelions. The dressing for the dandelions was a sweet and sour bacon dressing, which tempered the chicory taste while enhancing the verdant flavor of the dandelion.

Here’s a really simple recipe for the dressing, which you could use on spinach and many other greens for wilting.

Wilted Dandelion Salad with Sweet and Sour Bacon Dressing

Ingredients

  • 1 bunch dandelion or other greens such as mustard greens, turnip greens or spinach
  • 3 strips of bacon, cooked-reserve 3 tablespoons of the bacon grease
  • 1/3 cup white vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • pinch of salt

Directions

To a pan, add bacon drippings, vinegar, sugar, honey and salt and heat gently until sugar is melted and desired balance of sweet and sour is achieved. You can increase the amount of sugar or honey to balance the vinegar. I found this approximate amount to be just right for me. Pour the dressing over your greens and toss to coat. Allow the warm dressing to wilt the greens for about 1 minute.

Serve with crumbled bacon over top if you like.

Tags: salad by Ramona
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Frisee Salad With Sherry Vinaigrette, Bacon and Poached Egg

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Check out how to make this classic bistro salad in my weekly DC Foodies post at http://www.dcfoodies.com/.

Tags: DC Foodies entry, salad, eggs by Ramona
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Grilled Flank Steak Salad with Orange Vinaigrette

Flank steak is a tasty and affordable cut of beef. It’s suitable for a simple quick meal any day, or for entertaining. But, you have to prepare the steak in a manner which best accentuates it better attributes. I find that preparing it over searing heat works best. Tonight, I used a cast iron grill on the stove top to cook the flank steak to medium-rare*. I grilled the steak on each side for approximately 3 minutes, felt for doneness** and placed it on a cutting board. Then, as with all animal protein, I let it rest for 8-10 minutes. This allows the juices to redistribute evenly throughout the meat. Slicing it across the grain makes each piece tender.
Here, I arranged the steak over a salad of romaine lettuce, garden tomatoes, carrots, celery, chopped almonds, sectioned orange slices and feta cheese. It’s a great way to clean out your refrigerator! So, whatever you have and your taste buds desire will work on this salad.
To plate, arrange the salad, drizzle over the orange vinaigrette (recipe below )and top with sliced flank steak and feta cheese.
Orange Vinaigrette
1/4 cup orange juice reserved from sectioning orange
juice from resting steak (yes! do it!)
2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 tbsp. dijon mustard
1 tbsp. honey
salt and pepper to taste
4 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
Directions
Place all ingredients, except olive oil, into mixing bowl and combine. Adjust seasoning to taste. Stream in olive oil while whisking mixture. Continue to whisk until emulsified.
*The best meat temperature chart from Martha Stewart. I have this printed out and keep it in my kitchen for reference. I find that going with the professional kitchen temperatures works best.
** How do I know how well done my steak is?
Here is a link to The City Cook. It beautifully demonstrates what I think is the best method of manually determining how well done a steak is. It takes some practice, but once you master it, you wont need a thermometer.
If you still want to measure the temperature of your steak with a thermometer, I recommend using a simple and inexpensive analog instant read thermometer or a Thermapen.

Tags: salad, Recipe, beef by Ramona
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