Jicama Salad

I have a great affinity for jicama. If you're not familiar with it, hmm, well, you should be because it's wonderful. It's crisp and refreshing and has few calories and lots of vitamin C. I've paired with with citrus before, orange or grapefruit segments, and it's quite tasty. Yesterday though, I was in the yard and noticed my pear tree was looking abundant and ripe. Interestingly, the pear has a similar texture to jicama so it made a very nice coupling. I tossed it with a bit of lime juice, sugar, rice wine vinegar, olive oil and chipotle powder and it was really tasty. I also think that it would make a nice entree if topped with grilled shrimp.


Jicama Salad:

1 medium jicama, peeled and cut into strips
1 large or 2 medium firm pears, like Bosc, seeded and cut into strips
1 lime, juiced
1 T. rice wine vinegar
1 T. olive oil
1 T. sugar or honey
1 t. chipotle powder

I cut everything up and added the dressing ingredients right in. If you want to make it with honey though, I would make the dressing separately and pour it over the strips of fruit/vegetables.

Roasted Beet Salad with Storyville Dressing

Oh fall, how I love thee in all thy root vegetable glory! I bought some beets because I have been salivating over the idea of beets and blue cheese, a fantastic combination. I selected some blue cheese made in the Hudson River Vally by the Old Chatham Sheepherding Company and Creamery called "Ewe's Blue." A quick note about the cheese before I continue. I adore creamy gorgonzola, less so the more firm and tangy Stilton. This cheese was creamy but it had a sort of grittiness to it that detracted from the smooth texture. The flavor was very strong, straight penecillin. At $23.99/lb, I will likely not purchase this again. However, Old Chatham has won numerous awards for its Camembert so I will be looking for that next time I'm in the mood for overpriced cheese.

The salad dressing in this recipe is from a restaurant/jazz club that I worked at in New Orleans called Storyville. Unfortunately, the creative minds that came together for this venture could not work out their differences and Storyville is no longer. But I fell in love with the cafe salad and wisely got the recipe from Chef Rob during my tenure there. The original salad was mixed greens, pecans toasted with butter and cayenne, goat cheese and this superb dressing. I have been making this dressing for the past 7 years and I still admire its balance of sweetness and acidity.

Roasted Beet Salad with Storyville Dressing

3 medium beets, trimmed and washed
10 oz bag of baby spinach
3 oz. blue cheese

1/2 cup olive oil
1 clove garlic, sliced
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 T. dijon mustard
1 1/2 T. Steen's Cane Syrup
salt and pepper

Roast the beets at 350 degrees for about an hour. Allow them to cool. Remove the skins and slice.

Combine the olive oil and garlic in a small saucepan over low heat. Do not walk away while you are doing this, even on low heat, the garlic will burn quickly. Then you will waste not only the garlic but also the olive oil. Once the garlic is lightly browned and has imparted its flavor to the olive oil, remove and allow the oil to cool. Then whisk in the cane syrup and mustard. Finally add the vinegar and salt and pepper to taste.

Toss the spinach with the dressing, top with sliced beets and blue cheese.

Notes: Steen's Cane Syrup, made from sugar cane in Abbeville, Louisiana is traditionally used in pecan pies, glazed hams etc. I always make sure to stock up on my annual New Orleans visit. I would probably use half honey, half molasses if it was not available. Also, it pains me to see people throw away their beet greens. I rinse them well to remove grit, chop into about 1-inch pieces and saute with garlic and olive oil.

Broccoli-Cranberry Salad

I scavenged what is probably the last of the broccoli from the garden today and, with nothing else presenting itself for dinner, decided to make a meal of it. I thought about how to make it filling enough by adding some protein. Then I remembered a cookbook that an old roommate and dear friend had from the grand old department store Marshall Fields. This dear friend grew up in Detroit and I think she had a soft spot in her heart for this cookbook that featured recipes from the cafe in this venerable, Midwestern institution. I got the idea that going to Marshall Fields for lunch was akin to having tea at the Plaza, in a more jello-molded, mayonnaise-laden, wholly Midwestern kind of way. So she made this salad from a recipe within that book. I have to say, at first it sounded awful. Broccoli with mayonnaise? But then I tasted it and it became a little bit of an addiction for awhile. To make this more agreeable to you, perhaps think of this as a sort of coleslaw, but with broccoli instead of cabbage. The bright green broccoli studded with deep, garnet-colored dried cranberries is very pretty to boot. Sadly, I no longer live with aforementioned, dear Midwestern friend, so I can't run to the bookshelf for the exact recipe. This is my approximation.

Marshall Fields Broccoli-Cranberry Salad

1 head of broccoli
2-3 T. mayonnaise-I use Hellman's Light but whatever you've got
Splash of cider vinegar
2 T. sugar
Handful of dried cranberries
Handful of sunflower seeds

Steam the broccoli for a few minutes. Don't overcook because then you will lose that verdant green. Of course, you should never overcook broccoli but I thought I should really stress it here because brownish broccoli served cold in a salad sounds dreadful. Drain and let it cool.
While cooling, mix the mayonnaise, vinegar and sugar together. Add more mayo if you like it very creamy or more vinegar for a bite. Stir in the broccoli. I like to put it in a container with a lid so I can shake it and distribute the dressing evenly. Top with cranberries and sunflower seeds.

Note: I think the original recipe called for grapes instead of cranberries. I favor it this way but I'm sure grapes, raisins or other dried fruit would also be good.