Golden Beet & Spinach Salad

For those of you who follow my instagram feed here are those lovely golden beets purchased last week from Saskatoon Farms in a favourite salad of mine. I've never used or eaten golden beets so it was a fun change from the deep purple-red of the traditional kind we all get from the grocery. These were great to work with and share the same flavour and were a lot more friendly to my clothing and hands compared to the regular version as the colour didn't transfer and my counters didn't become red.

What you will need:
3-4 beets - around the same size if possible so they cook evenly
Goat cheese
Walnuts
Spinach
orange juice
lemon juice
prosciutto

Instructions: When I make this salad it's usually for about 4-5 servings for lunch over a week. Beets keep very well in the fridge for about a week. This is also great as a starter for dinners too.  Just keep everything separated until you are about to eat and it's easy to quickly mix it up.

cut off the stems and the stringy bottom of the beets if they have them and boil them in a pot for 45min-1hr make sure the water fully covers them. They are cooked if a knife can easily pierce them to the center. Cool them in a bowl of cold water for 10-15 min.

While the beets are cooking add 2 slices of prosciutto to a frying pan over medium heat. Cook like bacon. Once done chop up into small pieces to add to the salad.

You can peel the beets with a vegetable peeler, but I find that the top layer can easily be taken off with your hands. Once ready cut into the size you want.

Remember to keep everything separated until you are ready to eat unless you are serving multiple people then it's okay to do this all in one bowl, otherwise, take only your portion of beets in a smaller bowl to do the salad.

Using beets in a bowl (or single serving) add a splash or orange juice, squirt of lemon juice, pieces of walnuts, pieces of prosuitto bacon, and chunks of goat cheese. Mix it all together and top it onto a bed of spinach. Feel free to add more prosciutto and goat cheese to the top if you like.

 

Proscuitto + Goat Cheese + Swiss Chard Quiche

Long weekends are one of the best times to have brunches, get away, or just relax if you can. That extra day can really make a difference and in my case a chance to visit with friends and family and make some of my favourite brunch items. The best items in my opinion are eggs Benedict, anything with potatoes, and of course quiche! So that's what I'm going to share with you guys today.

I find quiche like the scrambled eggs of bunch items. That means anything that can be put in and baked. Ham, bacon, cheeses, broccoli. Anything that makes you and yours happy! 

The combination that makes by taste buds happy is prosciutto + chard + goat cheese = perfection!

For the crust:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
1 cup (2 sticks or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
6 to 8 Tbsp ice water

(I sometimes cheat and buy a pre-made Pillsbury pie crust, long weekends are meant to be relaxing after all!)


For the filling:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 medium onion, sliced thin
1 bunch Swiss chard (red - green rainbow - your choice), washed and patted dry
4-6 slices prosciutto
4 eggs, slightly beaten
salt and pepper
pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
4 to 6 oz (120gr - 180gr) crumbled goat cheese
a few sprigs of thyme

I won't hit you with a wall of text on how to make a pie crust. My go to recipe is here.

After the pie crust is baked and cooled you can start preparing the filling:

Preheat the oven to 350F and position a rack in the middle.
Heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium high heat and cook the onion until translucent (about 3-4 minutes), add the Swiss chard and cooked until wilted. Remove from the pan and set aside to cool. In the same pan, quickly saute the slices of prosciutto to get them nice and crispy. Remove from the pan.
In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Layer the onion and Swiss chard at the bottom of the crust and slowly pour the egg mixture over it. Top with slices of prosciutto and crumbled goat cheese.
Bake for about 30-40 minutes or until the tart starts getting golden brown and the egg mixture is cooked. Sprinkle with freshly chopped thyme.
 

Double Zero Chinook

Double Zero has doubled their location. That means double the reasons to eat out with friends and family, Double the space with 2 floors and a patio, and double the ways to enjoy the delicious pizzas and of course my favorite calamari salad. Ohh so much for diets!

They will also be offering new menu choices on the main level and the classic menu fare on the second floor. I'm very excited for this location to open and having another food choice while shopping at Chinook is much needed.

Artichoke & Mussel Soup

The winter weather has been dragging on and no matter how much I talk about spring trends, spring cleaning, spring decorating, and anything else spring related it's still snowing at this very moment outside my apartment. I'm starting to doubt that there will be spring and the season is going to transition right into summer. With all the depressing weather my go-to recipes are usually soups and other comfort foods such and bread and carbohydrate heavy items.  Since the snow continues to fall here is a recipe that involves mussels. Mussels are a favourite dish that I order when eating out. my two favourite places to have mussels are Local 510 for their ginger cream sauce or the Cheesecake Cafe for the equally delicious creole style and both are accompanied with fries. Ooh so yummy!

Steamed mussels
serves 4
 
2 pounds (about 1 kg) mussels
2 2/3 cup (400 ml) water

1. First prepare the mussels. Scrub each mussel individually and check to make sure their shells are tightly closed. Discard mussels with cracked shells. If any mussels are open, tap them gently against the counter and discard any mussels that don’t close up within a few minutes (do this no matter what, dead seafood can seriously harm your health). Debeard the mussels by pinching the “beard” between your thumb and first finger. Use a side to side motion and firmly tug the beard out. The beard isn’t harmful or inedible so don’t worry if there are a few little threads left that you can’t grasp.

2. In a large pot bring the water to a boil and then gently add the mussels. Cover and cook over medium high heat until the mussels open, about 5 minutes. Reserve the liquid and keep the mussels in the pot with lid on.

Artichoke soup
 
1 can artichokes
1 onion
1 small leek
1 clove garlic
1 tbsp butter + 1 tbsp olive oil
reserved liquid from mussels + 2 cups (about 500 ml) vegetable stock
6 tbsp white wine
6 tbsp cream
1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
sea salt & white pepper to taste
fresh thyme
 
1. Drain and cut artichokes into smaller chunks. Peel and chop the onion, leek and garlic clove finely.

2. In a medium pot, melt the butter/olive oil over medium heat. Add the artichokes, onion, leek and garlic. Cook on medium low heat for about 5-7 minutes until slightly softened (do not brown). Add the reserved mussel liquid, vegetable stock and wine. Bring to a boil, cover the pot and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the cream and simmer for 5 more minutes.

3.  Add the balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper to taste and puree the soup in a blender.
Serve the artichoke soup with the mussels and sprinkle with fresh thyme.

I find this soup to be a little light on spices so if you want to add a little kick throw in a pinch of cayenne pepper!

 

Adapted from Dagmar's Kitchen: Original recipe called for Jerusalem artichokes but those are not easily found where I am so canned artichokes were substituted.