Cheese

AUTUMN HARVEST SALAD

December 1, 2018 by Sarah Baade Leave a Comment

A colleague of mine brought a huge grocery bag full of persimmons and oranges to the office the other day. He and his wife had an abundance of fruit from their trees this year and didn’t want it to go to waste. I grabbed a couple of each fruit from the bag and went back to my desk. At the end of the day there were still quite a few left so I grabbed a couple more. I hate seeing fresh produce go to waste.

About nine years ago I went through some challenging times; I left a marriage that was toxic. Divorce alone can be a huge financial burden. Getting divorced when already strapped for cash can nearly put a person under. My monthly budget was planned down to the penny and with just $63 per month for my groceries, I cried any time I went over that budget. I am thankful that I worked in an office that often had lunch brought in at no expense to the employees. Still, breakfast and dinner were up to me. Did you do the math? That’s right, I had approximately $2.25 per day to cover those meals. I was determined to still eat a relatively balanced diet off of that budget and there were times when I got creative (this doesn’t necessarily mean creative in a delicious way). I ate a lot of eggs and a lot of pasta during this phase of my life. I also learned how to really scour the grocery ads for what was on sale. In terms of produce, I chose sale items rather than what I might have actually been craving. I didn’t eat fresh fruit and vegetables everyday but I did manage to get some on my plate each week. It probably would have been cheaper to buy boxed/processed foods but the reality was that I needed to take good care of myself. There is no question, I would have needed financial help if I had gotten really sick or injured. The best way to stay healthy was to eat well and get exercise. Because of this experience, I still see fresh produce as having a huge value. I will always be incredibly thankful when a colleague/friend brings in extra fruit fresh from his own trees.

This dish was created with the persimmons and oranges that were brought into the office as well as a beet I already had sitting in my fridge. I added a few “splurges” with the arugula and toppings but the oil and vinegar were already in my pantry. My budget has far more wiggle room than it did nine years ago but I think I will always have an appreciation for creating a dish out of what is inexpensively available.

Tips:

Add the pepitas to the salad just before serving so they keep their crunch.
The creamy ricotta gives a nice mix of texture among in this salad but feel free to leave it out if you’re making it for a vegan crowd.

AUTUMN HARVEST SALAD

A vibrant salad that takes advantage of seasonal produce.

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Course Salad

Ingredients

2 cups Arugula
2 Large red beets cooked, sliced and quartered
4 Persimmons sliced
4 Small oranges peeled, halved and sliced - be sure to remove any seeds
2 Tablespoons Ricotta cheese
Salt to taste
Olive oil for drizzling
Apple cider vinegar for drizzling
1 Tablespoon Curly leaf parsley chopped
2 Tablespoons Roasted pepitas

Instructions

Spread arugula on a serving platter then top with beets, persimmons and oranges. Place pea-sized bits of ricotta throughout salad. Sprinkle salt and drizzle oil and vinegar over salad. Top with parsley, and pepitas.

Keyword Salad

Savory Spinach Turnovers

July 15, 2018 by Sarah Baade 5 Comments

Is there actually a better meal out there than brunch? The combination of savory and sweet breakfast items plus lunch is arguably perfect. It is also the only time adding a little booze to your diet before noon is not just acceptable but encouraged. Hello mimosas and bloody Marys! Next month I will be helping to host a baby shower with brunch so I’ve had all sorts of ideas running through my head. The hardest part of menu planning will be narrowing down our options.

I can’t quite decide what I like best about this recipe. It is incredibly easy to make with just 8 ingredients. But the bonus is that it would be great served at a brunch or as a grab and go option on a busy morning. I actually made these on a weeknight and then brought them to the office the next morning to share. My co-workers happily grabbed one to take back to their desks as a mid-morning pick me up.

Tips:

You can make the filling a day ahead and refrigerate it until ready to use.
If you have whole frozen spinach on hand, you can chop it yourself rather than buying the pre-chopped.

Savory Spinach Turnovers

Makes 8 turnovers

10oz package frozen chopped spinach, thawed

½ cup ricotta cheese

¼ cup shredded mozzarella cheese

½ teaspoon garlic, minced

2 Tablespoons shallot, finely chopped

¼ teaspoon salt

2 sheets ready to bake puff pastry dough, thawed

1 egg, beaten

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Drain spinach of any excess water. In a medium bowl, stir together spinach, ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, garlic, shallot and salt.

Unfold sheets of puff pastry. Cut each sheet into four equal squares. Place 2 Tablespoons of spinach mixture into the center of each pastry square. Fold each pastry square diagonally over spinach. Pinch edges of dough together with a fork. Brush the tops and sides of each turnover with the beaten egg.

Place each turnover on the lined baking sheet. Bake 16-18 minutes or until pastry is golden brown.

Market Couscous Salad

April 28, 2018 by Sarah Baade Leave a Comment

The weather is finally getting warm again and I am looking forward to scouring my local farmers market for my favorite summer produce. In particular, I’m already craving fresh tomatoes and cucumbers. I feel fortunate to have access to most produce all year long at my local grocery store but there is something special about meeting your local farmers and buying their fresh from the farm products.

With warm weather also comes outdoor potlucks. The great thing about this dish is that it can be served warm or cold (I actually prefer it cold). With just ten ingredients, this dish is easy to put together and you can make it ahead of time.

Tips:

Don’t feel limited by the grape/sweet tomatoes I used here. Grab whatever is freshest at your local farmers market or grocery store. Even better would be homegrown tomatoes!
Make sure you add that 1 teaspoon to the water as you’re cooking the couscous – it helps to keep it from turning into one huge blob as it cools.

Market Couscous Salad

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon + 1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 cup uncooked pearl coucous (I used tri-color)

¼ cup red wine vinegar

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon fresh thyme

1 cup cucumber, chopped

1 cup tomatoes, chopped (I used a mix of sweet tomatoes)

¼ cup red onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

¼ cup crumbled feta cheese

Directions:

In a medium pot, bring 1 ½ cups water and 1 teaspoon olive oil to a boil. Add couscous then reduce heat and simmer for 7-9 minutes or until water is absorbed and couscous is tender. Remove from heat. Add remaining ingredients to couscous and stir until ingredients are evenly dispersed. Salad can be served warm or cold.

Five Spice Citrus Salad

February 25, 2018 by Sarah Baade Leave a Comment

It has been such a long and rainy winter here in San Antonio. I’m not used to needing a heavy coat for more than a day or two at a time, let alone weeks at a time. I find myself daydreaming about bright colors and warmer climates. I won’t be going on a tropical vacation any time soon so my next best bet is eating bright, flavorful fruit.

We are currently right in the middle of prime orange and grapefruit season. There are so many varieties of citrus available and I took full advantage of that for this recipe. I love the variety of colors as well as flavors from these fruits. Given the tartness that sometimes comes along with citrus, I wanted to contrast that with a little bit of sweet and a little bit of spice. The result is a perfect dish to serve with brunch or eat as a snack.

Tips:

Place some paper towels under the edges of your cutting board, this will help to catch any juice that runs off the edge as you’re cutting the fruit.
Feel free to mix and match your citrus fruits to your liking or based on what is available seasonally. The main idea is variety.

FIVE SPICE CITRUS SALAD

The perfect salad to take advantage of seasonal citrus.

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Ingredients

6 oranges (I used blood oranges, tangelos, sumo citrus)
3 grapefruit (I used one large and two small)
1/4 cup pomegranate seeds
1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1 Tablespoon fresh mint leaves
1/4 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon Chinese five spice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Cut citrus fruits into ¼' slices, removing seeds as they are found. Cut rinds off of slices then place slices on paper towels to absorb excess any juice. Move citrus slices to a serving platter and top with pomegranate, feta and mint. In a small bowl, mix together honey, Chinese five spice and vanilla. Drizzles honey mixture over citrus salad as desired.

Blueberry and Pesto Quinoa Bowl

January 18, 2018 by Sarah Baade Leave a Comment

Alright, it’s confession time. I absolutely ate my way through the holidays. I mean, I went all out with sweets and wine and homemade Chex mix (because we all know the homemade stuff is at least a million times better than the stuff that comes in a bag). No treat went uneaten. I’m not even sure what got into me because moderation with food is typically not a challenge for me. But I did it, and I did it joyfully!

What’s done is done and now it is time to get back on the wagon of eating a balanced diet. I ate salads all last week for lunch because I actually do love vegetables but I was bored by Friday. I was eating the same mixture of ingredients that I always reach for when making a salad. I need some variety if I‘m going to stick with eating healthier. As usual, I also want to make this easy on myself so I looked through my fridge and pantry for ingredients I already had on hand. This quinoa bowl gave me a change of pace in terms of both texture and flavor but was also incredibly easy to make.

Tips:

To make this an even faster recipe, feel free to use a premade pesto from the store rather than making the one included in this recipe.
You can absolutely portion this out ahead of time for lunches. Just hold off on adding the pesto until you are ready to eat it.

Blueberry and Pesto Quinoa Bowl

Serves 2

Bowl Ingredients:

4 cups raw baby spinach

1 cup cooked quinoa, cold

2 Tablespoons pepitas

½ cup feta crumbles

¾ cup fresh blueberries

Pesto Ingredients:

1 ½ cups basil leaves

2 Tablespoons pine nuts

1 ½ teaspoons garlic, minced

¼ teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Directions:

Place spinach in bottom of a large bowl. Top with quinoa then pepitas, feta and blueberries.

For the pesto, combine all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Drizzle pesto over quinoa bowl as desired.

Fruit Bruschetta

August 5, 2017 by Sarah Baade Leave a Comment

I love hitting up my local farmer’s market for seasonal produce and I love hosting friends at my house for tasty eats. The best is when these two loves come together with an easy recipe that is dressed to impress. When hitting up the farmer’s market, I often browse for what looks enticing and create a dish from the ingredients found rather than coming in with specific ingredients to find. This has resulted in me being more creative in the kitchen but has also expanded my palette. When you find a golden baguette and perfectly ripe berries you can’t walk away empty handed. For this recipe, I ultimately combined fresh finds with what I already had in my kitchen – goat cheese, mint, plums and honey. Listen, I like fresh but I also hate to waste so I’m all about using what is already on hand too.

This fruit bruschetta is light and flavorful but it is also so easy to make. It is ideal for entertaining and could be used as an appetizer, a dessert or even a snack.

Tips:

This recipe highlights using seasonal fruit. If you can’t find plums, substitute them for blueberries, pomegranate seeds, or whatever seasonal berry you can find.
Watch the bread slices closely in the oven, it is all too easy to accidently burn them. The goal is for the bread slices to be lightly toasted on each side.

Fruit Bruschetta

Ingredients:

Ciabatta baguette

8oz goat cheese (softened)

1 Tablespoon fresh mint, chopped

1 cup raspberries, washed

1 cup blackberries, washed

1 cup plums, washed and sliced

Honey for drizzling

Directions:

Set your oven to Broil.

Slice baguette diagonally into ½” thick slices. Lay out the slices of bread on a cookie sheet and place in the oven for 1 minute or until lightly golden. Remove from the oven, flip each slice of bread over and place back in oven for 1 minute or until lightly golden. Remove cookie sheet from oven and let bread slices cool completely.

In a bowl, combine goat cheese and chopped mint leaves. Spread goat cheese onto bread slices (be generous, it’s delicious!). Top with fruit as desired then drizzle with honey.