Arugula, nectarine, and blueberry salad

It's hard to beat the fruit at this time of year, isn't it? Although I'm tempted by pretty much everything the market has to offer, blueberries, peaches, and nectarines are the staples that I buy every week. Usually I eat the fruit plain, but today I decided to use it in a nice summery salad. I used arugula for the base because I like how its peppery bite pairs with sweeter ingredients, and threw in a handful of blueberries. I decided to add nectarines which weren't quite ripe because I wanted them to be a bit crunchy, with a sweet-tart flavor. Blue cheese complemented the fruit perfectly, and toasted walnuts added some crunch. With its combination of sweet and savory flavors, this salad was a nice addition to our dinner and really took advantage of the gorgeous summer fruit and greens.

Arugula, nectarine, and blueberry salad
Serves 3-4

Feel free to adjust proportions to your preference, and to substitute other fresh fruit for the berries and nectarines if you'd like.

1 bunch arugula (about 4.5 oz.), stems removed, leaves torn into medium pieces
2 medium nectarines (use nectarines that are just shy of ripe and are still slightly crisp), cut into bite-size pieces
1/3 cup blueberries
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
1/3 cup chopped toasted walnuts

For serving: good quality extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar

Toss all ingredients together in a salad bowl. Separate into individual portions and drizzle each bowl with olive oil and balsamic vinegar just before serving.

Asparagus, fennel, and potato salad with parmesan-tarragon dressing

One of my favorite days of the year happened last weekend - opening day of our local summer farmers' market! It makes me so happy to see the stalls filled with produce and to know that I can look forward to my Saturday morning market trip each week. At last week's market, I picked up a lovely bunch of asparagus, which is a real treat, since asparagus season here is so short. The inspiration for this salad came from The Accidental Vegetarian, and the dressing was inspired by a recipe in The Gourmet Cookbook, although I ended up making several changes to the recipes and putting my own spin on the final dish. This salad has roasted asparagus, fennel, and potatoes on a bed of arugula and watercress. Roasting the vegetables gives them deep flavor, although I'm sure grilling would be great too if you don't feel like turning on the oven. The dressing is very flavorful, with Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, garlic, and tarragon (the dressing isn't in the picture though - sorry). I think the tarragon works especially nicely with the fennel in the salad. With the addition of the roasted vegetables, this salad is substantial enough to be a meal on it's own, and if you'd like to add more protein, I think some chopped hard-boiled eggs would be a great addition. 

What are your favorite spring and summer salads?

Baked eggs with greens, yogurt, and spiced butter

Sorry for the lack of posts in the last couple weeks. Things suddenly got very busy, due to my job search as well as a number of social and family commitments, and I was having trouble coming up with good recipe ideas. But after a very, very relaxing few days at my parents' house, I'm ready to get cooking again! There's nothing like being spoiled by my parents to get me re-energized =).

I have been having a lot of fun creating original recipes lately, but it's still always nice to get back into my cookbooks for a while and get new inspiration from there. If you are a regular reader, then you know that I am a big fan of Yotam Ottolenghi, the author of Plenty. Flipping through Plenty always gets my mind buzzing with interesting ideas and flavor combinations, and I seem to come across something new every time I look through the book. This time I was drawn in by a recipe for baked eggs with arugula, yogurt, and chile oil. A variation of the same recipe appeared in the January 2012 issue of Bon Appetit, and I decided to mix and match components from the two Ottolenghi recipes along with a couple twists of my own.

We loved this dish - with some toasted crusty bread, it made a wonderful dinner, and would be equally good for brunch or lunch. It's got spinach and arugula, which makes it perfect for spring, and the creamy yogurt is the perfect complement to the spiced butter that is drizzled over the whole dish.

Beet pizza with arugula pesto and Gorgonzola cheese

For some reason, I've been seriously craving pizza lately. I made a classic tomato and mozzarella version last week, and wanted to experiment with something more interesting next. I had the idea to turn a classic beet salad into a pizza and decided to use Gorgonzola instead of the more common goat cheese (I love me some moldy cheese). I know I wanted to incorporate arugula, but didn't really just want to pile it up on top of the pizza. I mean, is there any good way to eat pizza with a huge pile of leaves on top without having them all fall off? I was also looking for a way to add moisture to the pizza and decided to kill two birds with one stone by making an arugula pesto to use as pizza sauce. I enjoyed the way the final pizza came out - the different components definitely worked well together to make a tasty pie. My pizza craving isn't gone though, and I've got more pizza dough in the freezer...so what toppings should I play with next??

Beet pizza with arugula pesto and Gorgonzola cheese

Makes a 16-inch pizza

Some tips: I like to form the pizza on a piece of parchment paper placed on the pizza peel. That way, the pizza and parchment slide easily into the oven. Also, if you don’t have a pizza stone, you can bake the pizza on a large baking pan.

This recipe makes more pesto than you'll need for the pizza. You can eat the leftovers with pasta or as a sandwich spread, and you can freeze it if you want to store it for a while.

1 lb. pizza dough (I used whole wheat), at room temperature
3 medium beets (about 20 oz.), scrubbed and stems trimmed to 1 inch
2 cups arugula leaves (packed)
⅓ cup walnuts
⅓ cup coarsely shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
½ cup Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled (you can also use any other type of blue cheese, or use goat cheese if you prefer)
4 tsp balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 deg F. Put beets in a baking dish with enough water to cover the bottom of the dish to a depth of 1/8 inch and sprinkle with salt. Cover tightly with foil and bake the beets in the preheated oven until they can be easily pierced with a sharp knife, about 1 hour (this could take more or less time, depending on the size of the beets). Remove beets from the oven, uncover the pan, and cool the beets. Cut off their tops and roots and rub off the skins. Cut beets into ¼-inch slices.

If you have a pizza stone, place it on the bottom rack of the oven. Increase oven temperature to 500 deg F (or as high as your oven can go).

While beets are baking, combine arugula, walnuts, and cheese in the bowl of a food processor and process until coarsely chopped. Add olive oil and process until smooth. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

When oven is heated to 500 deg F, stretch dough out to a 16-inch round on a pizza peel. Spread arugula pesto on dough and top with beet slices. Sprinkle cheese crumbles over the beets. Slide pizza onto the preheated stone and bake until crust is crisp, about 8-10 min. Remove pizza from oven and drizzle balsamic vinegar over the pizza. Let cool for a couple minutes, and serve.

Sweet potato sandwiches with goat cheese, arugula, and avocado

When I'm looking for a vegetarian option at a cafe, I'm always happy to try a sweet potato sandwich. I've had some great ones, like the one at 3 Little Figs, but I've also had some disappointing ones, with textures and flavors that don't quite work. Last week I had one that was just so-so and decided that I should try my hand at making my own version. Here's what makes a good sweet potato sandwich, in my opinion: 1) fully cooked sweet potatoes (seems like a no-brainer, but you'd be surprised what some places serve), 2) goat cheese, 3) a dressing or sauce that is both sweet and acidic, 4) good hearty bread. For my sandwich, I made a dressing with maple syrup and balsamic vinegar to toss with arugula, and also added some avocado because well, everything is better with avocado on top, right? It came out wonderful - we don't eat sandwiches at home too often, but this one might have to make another appearance soon!

What is your favorite sandwich?

Zucchini carpaccio salad

It is finally time for me to introduce you to my favorite summer salad! I am the kind of person that almost never repeats recipes, because I always get distracted by new ones that I "need" to try, but I like this salad so much that I make it several times each summer. For me, summer hasn't really arrived until I can get arugula and zucchini at the farmers' market and make this. I first ran into this recipe over at Smitten Kitchen. The salad is simple - arugula and paper-thin slices of zucchini, with lemon juice, olive oil, and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese - but it is so, so refreshing and delicious. A mandoline slicer definitely makes it easier to cut the super thin zucchini slices, but a vegetable peeler will work in a pinch. 

Zucchini carpaccio salad

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Serves 4-6

3 large zucchini (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 pound arugula, stems discarded and leaves cut into bite sized pieces
1/2 cup coarsely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (about 1 oz.)
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Juice of one lemon
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Cut zucchini crosswise into paper-thin slices. Toss zucchini in a colander with 1 tsp salt and allow to drain (in the sink or over a large bowl) for 20 minutes. Rinse zucchini well and pat dry with a kitchen towel or paper towels.

In a large salad bowl, toss arugula with 1/4 cup cheese, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1 1/2 tbs olive oil. Arrange zucchini slices over arugula, drizzle with remaining 1 1/2 tbs olive oil and lemon juice. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup cheese and pepper.

Salad is best served immediately.

Asparagus, edamame, and arugula salad

Here's a nice springtime salad that I made last week as part of my sister's birthday dinner. It features edamame and very thinly sliced raw asparagus, which are somewhat unexpected for salad ingredients, but make a nice combination with the arugula and cheese. I found the recipe in The Gourmet Cookbook - the original recipe calls for fresh fava beans, which apparently are traditionally eaten with pecorino cheese in Rome during the springtime. The salad recipe is inspired by that combination, but I substituted edamame for the fava beans, since fresh favas are not available right now in this area. Feel free to use them if you can get some!

Asparagus, edamame, and arugula salad
Adapted from The Gourmet Cookbook
Serves 6

1/2 pound medium asapargus, trimmed and peeled (peeling isn't necessary for very fresh, thin spears)
2 cups shelled edamame (I used frozen)
2 tbs extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 oz. baby arugula
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
Pecorino Romano cheese, for shaving

Cut asparagus stalks lengthwise into very thin slices, 1/8-inch-thick at the maximum, leaving 1 inch intact at the tips. Reserve tips and cut stalk slices into 1-inch segments.

Bring a 4-quart saucepan of well-salted water to a boil and blanch asparagus tips (not stalk slices) for 2 minutes, then immediately transfer with a slotted spoon to a bowl of ice water. Bring the water back to a boil, then blanch edamame for about 3 minutes if frozen (1 minute if fresh), or until tender. Immediately transfer edamame to the ice water containing the asparagus tips.

Drain edamame and asparagus tips, then toss them in a bowl with the sliced stalks, 1 tbs oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Toss arugula separately with the remaining 1 tbs oil and salt and pepper to taste. Divide arugula among 6 plates, and top with with edamame/asparagus mixture. Using a vegetable peeler, shave thin slices of cheese over the vegetables, then drizzle salad with balsamic vinegar.

Beet and apple salad

This week's  Fall Fest theme is "fall salads". Andrew wanted something with beets, I wanted something with apples, and we both love arugula, so this recipe was perfect for us. The original recipe actually called for Asian pear, but I substituted a Honeycrisp apple, which was really good. The only thing I would change for next time is to cut the apples into larger pieces - the flavor got kind of lost with the small matchsticks. Looking forward to seeing everyone else's entries!

Brie, apple, and arugula quesadillas

I have been super busy ever since the fall semester started up a few weeks ago. I'm trying to get my thesis research to the point where I can start to see the light at the end of the PhD tunnel, taking a class, doing some community work, and of course, cooking and blogging! Lately it has become very clear that I need to change my usual pattern of cooking fairly elaborate and time-consuming dinners every night. So I've been trying to to get some quick and simple recipes into my repertoire, and also save time by doing some cooking and vegetable prep over the weekend. I'm also trying to keep the freezer stocked with things like soup, meatballs, pesto sauce, etc. that help get dinner on the table fast (I'll be posting some of those recipes in the next few days). What do you do to keep weeknight meals quick but still interesting?

This quesadilla recipe is a perfect example of a quick, tasty meal. I found the recipe in the October 2010 issue of Cooking Light, and decided to make it for this week's Fall Fest, which features apples. (I originally wanted to make apple pie, but didn't get to it over the weekend, and yeah - see above paragraph about not making complicated things on weeknights). I really liked the mustard and apple cider mixture, and thought all the ingredients came together to a make a unique and sophisticated quesadilla.

An aside about apples - don't you love the apples that are at the farmers' markets now? The variety is amazing, and they are all so good. Plus I won't eat an apple unless it is perfectly crisp, and those are kind of hard to find at the supermarket. Fresh apples are definitely one of my favorite things about autumn in New England.

Some notes on the recipe: I had some trouble fitting all the arugula into the quesadilla - maybe it would work better if I let it wilt just a bit before trying to fold the tortilla over. I used a Honeycrisp apple, and I think I'll add more next time - half an apple per quesadilla would be good. Also, we had some whole wheat wraps around, so I used those instead of tortillas - tasted great.