Antipasti Salad

I put this salad together after I had a whole lot of toppings leftover from my grilled pizza adventure a little while back.  I hate to waste leftovers and always try my best to maximize ingredients.  I figure, if you're going to buy that $2.99 can of artichoke hearts, it's helpful to have some other ideas on how to use them...

Anyway, since we are in the "dog days" of summer (and not yet "over" as stated by the  Florence and Machine song that naturally starts playing in my head as soon as I think of that phrase--also embarrassing confession: I know that I am officially old when I hear songs first covered on the show Glee and then hear them by their original artists, but I digress...), this salad is light yet flavorful and happens to use some things that might happen to grow in your garden right now (not mine, I get all my stuff from the store...curse you, black thumb.).  Feel free to improvise and add other goodies to this as well--sliced cucumber or zucchini, cubed salami or pepperoni pieces, cooked cooled pasta to bulk it up, you can even substitute another kind of Italian cheese for the fresh mozzarella.  Make it your own and eat those dog days away.


Antipasti Salad
1/2 can quartered artichoke hearts (about 1 cup)
1 cup grape tomatoes, larger ones halved
1 cup fresh mozzarella, cubed into bite sized pieces
1/2 can whole black olives (about 1 cup)
1 cup white button mushrooms, quartered
1/4-1/2 cup favorite Balsamic vinaigrette or Italian style dressing (see below for optional recipe)
1/4-1/2 fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced, reserving some whole ones for garnish if desired

Directions: Combine all the salad ingredients in a bowl except for the dressing and basil leaves.  Stir in desired amount of dressing.  Gently fold in shredded basil and garnish with additional basil leaves as needed.  Can be served immediately or allowed to marinate for up to 24 hours (keep basil off until ready to serve).



Easy Balsamic Vinaigrette:
    4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
    pinch of salt
    1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
    2-4 tablespoons olive oil
   1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
    fresh ground black pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients in a plastic container with a lid.  Shake vigorously until ingredients are combined.  Taste and adjust seasonings if needed.  Shake again immediately before using. 

Vegetable Ribbon Salad with Balsamic Drizzle

This salad is really a vehicle for the balsamic drizzle.  I have seen balsamic reductions on fancy restaurant menus before and had thought it was too involved for me.  I'm telling you, this quick technique for reducing balsamic vinegar with a little bit of sugar has really opened my eyes to a whole realm of possibilities.  The sweet and tangy, intensely-flavored syrup tastes amazing (like scraping your finger to get the last little bit out of the dish after you've used it all up good), makes for a very simple yet sophisticated presentation and can add deep dimension to savory and sweet dishes alike.  Try it over salads, pasta dishes (it would be especially good on top of a creamy, cheesy sauce like Alfredo, grilled chicken or steak (and a sprinkle of crumbled blue or gorgonzola cheese), even on fresh strawberries with ice cream...yum. 

Paired with delicate ribbons of fresh summer vegetables, this combination that appears elegant and intricate is crisp, refreshing and insanely easy.

Shaved Vegetable Salad with Balsamic Drizzle:
serves 4-6
Salad:
2 small zucchini
2 medium carrots, peeled
1 small yellow squash (optional)
1/2 cup very thinly sliced red bell pepper (optional)
1/2 cup very thinly sliced red onion (optional)

Dressing:
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Balsamic Reduction:
(makes about 2 tablespoons...feel free to make more as needed)
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons granulated sugar

For Balsamic Reduction:
In a small skillet or sauce pan, stir together balsamic vinegar and sugar.  Turn heat to medium high and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.  Continue stirring until mixture thickens a bit and is syrupy.  The whole process will only take a couple of minutes.  Remove from heat and allow to cool.

For Salad:
Using a vegetable peeler, shave very thin slices off of the zucchini and squash, rotating when you reach the seeds of the zucchini and squash so that you're just left with the core of seeds (very much like the recent post on Zucchini Fettucini).  Discard the core and place ribbons into a medium sized bowl.  Repeat process with carrots (only you won't have a core of seeds, but at some point when the carrot gets a little flimsy, you have a crunchy little snack).  Add to the bowl.  Mix in bell pepper strips and onion, if using (for the picture above I only used carrot and zucchini).  Set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together lemon juice and olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper.  Set aside.

To assemble, toss shaved vegetables with dressing.  Season with additional salt and pepper as desired (this is also where you could certainly throw in some nice freshly chopped herbs like basil or something, too, I just didn't have that on hand nor the inclination).  On individual salad plates (or one big plate), drizzle a small amount of the balsamic reduction in a fancy (or haphazard if you're like me) pattern.  Using salad tongs, pile a portion of the vegetable salad onto the plate (use a twisting motion with the tongs to give the salad "more lift" and visual interest on the plate.  Repeat with remaining plates.  Drizzle with additional balsamic reduction as desired.  Serve immediately.  


Note: Salad can be assembled with the dressing in the bowl up to an hour ahead and kept in the refrigerator (you could also keep the shaved veggies and prepared dressing refrigerated separately for longer).  Just make sure to add the balsamic reduction on immediately before serving because it gets absorbed into the salad and loses some of its flourish very quickly!

Adapted from: Pampered Chef Spring-Summer 2006 Recipe Booklet

Quick Strawberry Balsamic Vinaigrette over Spinach Salad

Homemade salad dressing doesn't get much easier, or tastier, than this sweet and tangy vinaigrette.  Usually, I make the dressing with raspberry preserves (and you should try doing that sometime, too!), but strawberries and balsamic vinegar are a classic combination and make for a fresh, seasonal dressing.  Shake it up in a glass jar for an instant salad topper and to keep the leftovers (if there are any).

 Strawberry Balsamic Vinaigrette
1 teaspoon Dijon or brown grainy mustard
2 tablespoons seedless strawberry preserves or all fruit preserves (try raspberry or apricot for a twist)
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

In a small jar with a lid, stir together mustard and preserves until smooth.  Pour in balsamic vinegar.  Top with olive oil.  Fit lid of jar securely and shake vigorously until vinaigrette is well-combined and is thick and smooth.  Season to taste with salt and pepper as needed, shake again to combine.  If you make the dressing ahead of time, shake the jar just before serving.  Pour over prepared salad as desired.

Suggested Salad:
Fresh baby spinach leaves
walnut pieces (toasted, optional, sliced almonds would be good too!)
fresh sliced strawberries
crumbled goat cheese (or blue or feta)
fresh ground pepper to taste
thinly sliced red onion (optional)

Toss together all salad ingredients in a large or individual bowls.  Drizzle with salad dressings. Serve immediately.

Roasted Vegetable Sandwich

This has been a week of goat cheese. Tangy, creamy, so delicious. It seems to be appropriate in many uses. I especially love it spread on sandwiches (try it on a BLT!!!). The vegetables in the base of this sandwich are startlingly similar to the Grilled Balsamic Vegetables I featured in the Barbecued Corned Beef post, and you are most welcome to substitute those (I highly recommend using leftover grilled veggies as a sandwich filling--they're especially good in a pita!). In fact, these started on the grill, but the high winds we are prone to experiencing out here on the edge of the Eastern Plains of Colorado kept blowing out the flame on my grill (blast!). Well, cooking definitely invites improvisation and so I finished the vegetables in the oven. Feel free to use whichever cooking method is more convenient.

Roasted Vegetable Sandwich
1 baguette, split lengthwise and cut into 4-6 sandwich-sized lengths
1 eggplant, cut into thin slices
1 small zucchini, thinly sliced lengthwise
salt
1 small yellow squash, sliced lengthwise
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 red bell pepper, cut into large chunks
olive oil (about 2 tablespoons)
1/4 cup prepared balsamic vinaigrette

2 tablespoons prepared pesto
2 tablespoons light mayonnaise
about 4 oz. goat cheese
2 cups cut up lettuce (I used Italian blend with Romaine and Radicchio, and it was yummy!)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cut the eggplant first and spread it out in a single layer on paper towels. Generously salt the slices of eggplant and allow to rest while you are preparing the rest of the vegetables. This will draw out some of the extra moisture. Once the rest of the vegetables have been prepared, gently blot the eggplant to remove the extra water, give them a quick rinse to remove the excess salt, and pat with paper towel to dry. Arrange vegetables in a single layer on a baking sheet (you may have to use two or stagger roasting the vegetables). Drizzle with olive oil. Roast in a 450 degree oven, flipping once, until vegetables are tender and browned (about 15-20 minutes). Remove from heat and toss with balsamic vinaigrette.

In a small dish, mix together mayonnaise and pesto. Spread about 1 tablespoon of pesto mayonnaise on baguette lengths. Also spread a generous amount of goat cheese on each piece of bread. Arrange vegetables on each sandwich and top with some lettuce. Fold over and squish down so that you can actually fit all that goodness into your mouth. Simple, simple.

It would also be great to add some grilled sliced chicken, if you're getting tired of the vegetarian theme. I am finding we just don't eat that much meat in the summertime...I guess we'll say we are doing our part to reduce our carbon footprint, but really I think it's more that I've been too lazy.

Barbecued Corned Beef and Other Things

Big ol' slab of meat and some veggies grilling

The other night, we had a couple over for dinner that I hadn't met before. Jay had met them through another set of friends and thought we should get together. Whenever we have someone new come for a meal, I always try to find out if there's anything specific they're allergic to or absolutely cannot eat. It helps relieve anxiety in my meal-planning process.

Anyway, except for a honeydew sensitivity, they were willing to try anything and so I took to my fridge to see what melon-free meal I could serve. I had found a corned beef brisket for super cheap and it wasn't going to fit in my freezer, so I decided to barbecue it for our new friends. Along side, I used what we had in the fridge (I seemed to have an abundance of single, random vegetables) and served some balsamic grilled vegetables (one of my summer favorites) and a thrown-together salad that took on a bit of a Greek identity (and baked potatoes, but I don't think anyone needs a recipe for a baked potato). Eclectic? Yes. Delicious? We thought so.

Just don't ask me about dessert. They always tell you not to try out new recipes on company (I never listen). This time it bit me in the bottom and I resorted to pulling out some cupcakes from the freezer that were courtesy of Jay's Grandma (Grandma makes a mean cupcake). Here are the recipes I can take credit for:

*The pictures were not what I was hoping for, but I felt a little weird taking too many pictures of my food right before I was serving it to people I had just met. Plain weird.


Grilled Corned Beef Brisket
1 corned beef brisket (mine was a flat cut and almost 5 pounds)
non stick cooking spray
your favorite barbecue sauce

Directions:
Empty package of corned beef along with juices and seasoning packet into a large pot and cover it with water. Remember to actually fish out the seasoning packet and open it up (mine was stuck under the meat and I didn't see it for awhile...have I just lost some credibility with a lot of you?). Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low and simmer for 2-3 hours or until beef is fork-tender. If you were celebrating St. Patrick's Day in the traditional way (not green beer traditional but Corned Beef and Cabbage traditional), it would be ready to serve along with the potatoes and veggies you had thrown in at some point. But we're not doing that, we're grilling this baby. Remove brisket from water, give it a coat of cooking spray and toss it on a grill (or grill pan...heck, probably the broiler would even work here!) for a few minutes on either side. We're really just looking to sear the outside so it gets crispy. Brush with barbecue sauce and allow to glaze on there a couple minutes more. Remove from heat. Allow to rest for about 10 minutes, then cut into thin slices against the grain.

Notes: Four adults and two kids barely ate half of the brisket and so there was a ton leftover. For which, I will post again on soon...

Grilled Balsamic Vegetables
1 red bell pepper, cut into bite sized chunks
1 zucchini, cut in half length-wise and thinly sliced (like half-moons)
1 yellow squash, cut in half length-wise and thinly sliced (half-moons again)
1/2 red onion, cut into bite sized pieces
1/2 cup mushrooms, halved or quartered, depending on the size
Canadian steak seasoning or salt and pepper to taste
non-stick cooking spray
1/4 cup prepared balsamic vinaigrette dressing

Spray a grill pan (or a disposable cake pan with holes poked in it) with non-stick cooking spray. Toss vegetables together and spread in a single layer. Sprinkle with seasonings. If you have more vegetables than will fit in a single layer, just cook in batches. Grill over high heat until vegetables start to blacken on the bottom . Flip with a spatula and continue to grill for a few minutes more. Vegetables should be crisp-tender (total time will be about 10 minutes or so). Remove from heat, transfer to a bowl and pour balsamic vinaigrette over top of veggies tossing to combine. Serve warm (but cold leftovers from the fridge are pretty tasty, too).

Greek Style Salad:
Toss together any combination of:

1 head Romaine lettuce, washed and torn into bite-sized pieces
2 roma tomatoes, halved and cut into slices (half moons)
1/2 cup canned garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 English cucumber sliced into half moons
1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
1/4 cup olives
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup thinly sliced red bell pepper
2 scallions, thinly sliced
a few fresh basil leaves torn into small pieces
Bottled Greek Vinaigrette dressing (sometimes I'll make my own and sometime I'll post that...tonight it was Girards brand)

If I had remembered they were in the fridge, I would've put some sliced pepperoncini in there as well.

And, the next day for lunch, I put the leftover cold balsamic veggies over top of the remaining salad and it made me very happy indeed!