A lively apple and fennel salad

I don’t mean to brag—ok, maybe I do—but when I make changes to recipes, I am often satisfied with the results. Often I get to simplify a recipe, or explore a different technique. But other times, my adjustments produce a complete flop. And even when they don’t flop, sometimes I realize I should have just followed the recipe. Such was the case with this apple and fennel salad.

It all comes down to the shallot. The recipe called for using half a shallot in the vinaigrette for the salad. But I thought, what am I going to do with a left over half of a shallot? (It occurs to me now, of course, that I could do lots of things) So when Thomas asked if he should cut up a half or whole shallot, I replied, “The whole shallot and nothing but the whole shallot, so help you god.” Oh, I thought I was so funny. Cut to us eating the salad, our eyes watering from an excess of onion, which a shallot is a tiny version of.

I might have called this a loss due to my own poor judgment. But everything else about this salad intrigued me and tasted delicious. Despite the excess of shallots, the vinaigrette was especially good. You combine a bit of chopped apple, those shallots, apple cider vinegar, and powdered mustard, let the mixture sit for 10 minutes, and stir in some olive oil. While it sits, the mixture macerates (meaning it softens in the liquid). This is not your typical bottled dressing. The vinegar provides a sharp zing of crisp apple, mellowed by olive oil. In other words, it’s lively and perfect for dressing up a ho-hum pile of greens.

The combination of granny smith apple and fennel bulb is another genius move. Both ingredients have their own crispness and crunch, but different yet complimentary flavors. Fennel smells like licorice (not Twizzlers, but the real stuff, the black licorice you either scorn or love) or more accurately, anise. It crunches similar to celery, but without the stringiness. As for a crunchy granny smith apple, it is tart with just a hint of sweetness, and pairs well with the vinaigrette, the fennel, the greens, everything. I decided to use a whole apple instead of half, as the recipe suggested, and it was an adjustment I did not regret.

My experience with this salad doesn’t mean I’ll never mess with another recipe again—because what fun would that be? But for this one, please use only half a shallot in the vinaigrette (unless you really like onions). There are plenty of things you can do with a leftover half a shallot.

Apple and Fennel Salad
Adapted from Bon Appetit

1 granny smith apple
½ small shallot, chopped finely
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
¾ teaspoon powdered yellow mustard
3 tablespoons olive oil
½ fennel bulb, diced
4 cups mixed greens, spinach, or lettuce

1. Cut a small slice from the apple. Finely chop the slice (you should have roughly a tablespoon of chopped apple). Place diced apple in a small bowl. Add chopped shallot. Whisk in cider vinegar and powdered yellow mustard. Let mixture sit for 10 minutes (this allows it to macerate—in other words, soften). Whisk in olive oil.
2. Dice the remaining apple. In a large bowl, combine the apple, fennel, and greens. Pour the vinaigrette over the salad in 2-3 batches, tossing well after each addition so the salad is well coated.

   Variations: You could add a variety of ingredients to this salad, including chicken, tofu, pork, tempeh, and white fish. Dried fruit, particularly cranberries or dried apples (if you just can’t get enough apple) would be great.

For your holiday enjoyment: Chicken, Brussels sprouts, and roasted potatoes with Dijon sauce

If you count yourself among the Brussels sprouts-hating cohort, prepare to change your stance (and if you already love them, prepare to love them more). Turns out, all you need is a little olive oil, butter, and a super Dijon mustard sauce. “Where have you been all my life?!” sums up how I feel about these particular Brussels sprouts.

Up until I made this dish, I’d always seen Brussels sprouts as more obligatory than anything, a side dish halfheartedly flecked with bacon (because the belief that if you put bacon on anything, people, at least non-vegetarians, will eat it, predates the bacon craze). But there I was, happily peeling off the little layers of the sautéed Brussels sprouts, hoping there would be enough left over for lunch the next day. Why don’t we sauté these little cabbages all the time?

Like big cabbages, Brussels sprouts get their bad reputation, I think, from being boiled rather than tenderly cooked in a bit of olive oil and butter. These aren’t boiled; instead, after sautéing, they are briefly simmered in a shallow pool of chicken broth. Also, though it seems like a small thing, these Brussels sprouts are served cut in half, so there are no tiny cabbages rolling around on your plate, always slipping out from underneath your fork. The Dijon sauce, which is cooked with the chicken in this recipe, is a combination of chicken broth, apple cider, Dijon mustard, and butter—a versatile sauce for poultry, fish, and a variety of hardy vegetables.

It helps, of course, to serve the Brussels sprouts with delicious accompaniments, and in this recipe, adapted from Cooking Light, that’s chicken that is pan-cooked, then baked, and finished simmering in the Dijon sauce; and roasted potatoes, perfectly crisp on the outside. For a big crowd, perhaps some bread and a small side salad (and a spectacular dessert to finish) would elevate this everyday chicken and potatoes dish to holiday status, or any occasion you need to cook for a crowd.

Wherever you are, and wherever you’re going this Christmas season, be it by plane, train, or automobile; over the hills and through the woods; or just staying at home sweet home, I wish you joy wherever you can find it. A few reliable recipes like this one just add to the spirit of the season.

Chicken, Brussels Sprouts, and Roasted Potatoes with Dijon Sauce
Adapted from Cooking Light

3 tablespoons olive oil
Chopped dried thyme, to taste
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 pound red potatoes, cubed
3 medium-sized chicken breasts, halved
¾ cup chicken broth
¼ cup unfiltered apple cider
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons butter
12 ounces Brussels sprouts, tough stems trimmed, sprouts halved

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a large bowl, toss 1 tablespoon olive oil, dried thyme to taste, salt and pepper to taste, and potatoes until well combined. Spread potatoes on a cookie sheet and bake for 25 minutes, or until tender. Remove potatoes from oven, and keep oven on.
2. In a large skillet (choose one that can go in the oven, with no plastic bits), heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chicken breasts with salt and pepper to taste. Add to pan, and allow to cook for 3 minutes (do not turn the chicken during this time).
3. Turn the chicken so the browned sides are facing up. Transfer skillet with chicken to the oven. Bake for 9 minutes. Transfer the skillet with the chicken back to the stove.  Set burner to medium-high.  Add ½ cup chicken broth and ¼ cup apple cider. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and let simmer for 4 minutes; the sauce should thicken up a bit. Stir in mustard and 1 tablespoon butter (using a fork or small whisk works best for this; break up the butter into small pieces before putting it in the skillet).
4. In a separate large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter over medium-high heat. Add Brussels sprouts and sauté for 2 minutes. Add ¼ cup chicken broth to the skillet. Cover and cook 4 minutes (the Brussels sprouts should soften a little, but still retain some crunch).

So good we made it twice: Kale and potato salad

Our kitchen seems to have adopted the “make no dish twice” policy as Thomas and I work our way through my collection of cookbooks and magazines and billions of food blogs. So if I do get around to making a dish a second time, you know it’s got to be good. If I make the dish a second time just one week after making it the first time, you know it’s got to be amazing. So it was with kale and potato salad: as soon as I finished it, I knew we had to make it again, and soon. Very soon.

It all started with a kale donation from Thomas’s parents’ garden. While skimming through an issue of Gourmet, I found a recipe for a Wilted Kale and Roasted-Potato Winter Salad. Now, I know it’s not winter anymore, but since we had some late-season kale on our hands, why not? Thomas made the salad one night when I was working late, and from the first bite, I was hooked. Where do I even begin? The fingerling potatoes (which we’ve become obsessed with lately) are roasted to lightly browned perfection. The kale is just slightly wilted, not too raw or too flimsy. And the tahini sauce! The tahini, lemon, and garlic go so well with the grated Parmesan.

So, you can see why I was eager to make the salad again soon. Also, I wanted to make it myself, to see what it took to make salad excellence. I am happy to report it doesn’t take much. You slice the potatoes into rounds and roast them for 25 minutes, adding garlic and cheese as you go; while they roast, you tear the kale leaves into bite-size pieces and combine tahini, garlic, lemon juice, and water in a small bowl. The recipe says to puree the tahini sauce but, lacking a blender at the moment, I found it turned out just as well when I hand-stirred it (just make sure to stir the tahini well before pouring it into the bowl). When all the ingredients are ready, the potatoes and kale go in a large bowl. Stir in the tahini sauce, and you’re done.

I realize that by now you might be thinking, “But it’s just kale, potatoes, and tahini—how exciting can that be?” This salad is more about the combination of its ingredients and the tasty ways they interact. In addition to the tahini and Parmesan  other mixtures enhance the salad: the lemon juice livens up the kale, and the browned potatoes add crisp and smooth textures to the crunch of the leaves. Taste aside, it’s also a versatile side dish that works as a main meal, too. If you need any more encouragement, Gourmet’s test kitchen couldn’t resist, either. The recipe head reads, “We went back for seconds and thirds.”

I also realize that several posts ago I put kale down (I used the word “endure” to describe a kale-filled January). I’ve never hated kale, but thought of it as rather ubiquitous. After making this salad, though, I’ll know exactly what to do when plenty of kale comes my way.

Kale and Potato Salad
Adapted from Gourmet

2 pounds fingerling potatoes, sliced into ¼-inch thick rounds
1/3 cup olive oil
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
¼ cup tahini
3 tablespoons lemon juice (fresh or bottled)
¾ pound kale (about one large bunch), leaves removed from stems and torn into bite-size pieces

1. Heat oven to 450 degrees. Position top rack so it is in the upper third of the oven. In a large bowl, toss potatoes with olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Spread potatoes on a baking sheet. Let roast 10 minutes. Remove from oven and stir in sliced garlic, stirring the potatoes as well. Return potatoes to oven and let cook 10 minutes more. Remove from oven and stir in Parmesan cheese. Return potatoes to oven and let roast for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.
2. While the potatoes roast, make the tahini sauce. Stir the tahini well before pouring it into a small bowl. Stir in 2 tablespoons water, lemon juice, and minced garlic. Stir tahini mixture well after adding each liquid. If the sauce seems too thick, you can add water (I saw no need for this).
3. In a large bowl, combine kale and hot potatoes (along with any garlic and oil on the baking sheet). Stir in tahini sauce until kale and potatoes are evenly coated.

Vegetables win: Green beans with bacon and walnuts

Green beans can be a tough sell. They’re right up there with Brussels sprouts in the “eat your vegetables, then you can go play” category. And too many of us are haunted by the dull green beans from a can, sitting listlessly on a plate. It’s easy to forget they’re a wonderful snack, they can jazz up any salad, and they pair fabulously with many cheeses and sauces. Like an apple (though less beloved), fresh green beans have an audible crunch that somehow makes them more satisfying.

For those still hesitant to make and eat green things, bacon, like a heavy cheese sauce over broccoli, swoops in to make the dish that much better. Even as someone who mightily enjoys their vegetables, I don’t mind shards of crisp bacon mingling with green beans cooked just so they retain some of their crunch, coated in butter and olive oil, and scattered with walnuts. Writing that last sentence makes me want to make more of this, right now.

I first made this dish for Thanksgiving 2009, and at that time didn’t even think to add the bacon—silly me! Actually, the dish was already spectacular, but this Thanksgiving I felt a need to kick it up a notch. So adding bacon is pandering to tradition—so what? I’ve rambled on enough about tradition on this blog, so I’ll just say that some things are tradition for a reason. First, you get several good contrasts: the crisp and the crunch, and the rich walnuts and olive oil side by side with fresh green beans. And, you get an adaptable side dish, one that will likely find its place in the holiday meal (or meals) you might be making sometime this next month.

This green bean side is also adaptable to the many food preferences that might be present at your table. For vegetarians, you don’t have to add the bacon (it really is quite good with or without it); it’s gluten free and dairy free if you don’t add the butter (just add a bit of extra olive oil instead). Green bean haters young and old will be out of luck, but if the kids (and adults) at your table are the “excavator” type (as I was), they will enjoy picking out bits of bacon to munch on, pushing the green beans underneath a bit of turkey skin. It’s a win-win.

You’d hope, of course, that those children will one day appreciate green beans in all their crunchy, snapping glory, with or without bacon to sweeten (or salt?) the deal. As for the adults, maybe there’s no hope that they’ll change their tastes now. But, if there ever was a case for the green bean, this is it—and there’s a good chance everyone at the table will want to finish these vegetables.

Green Beans with Bacon and Walnuts
Adapted from Allrecipes

2 lbs green beans, washed and trimmed
9 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled into bite-size pieces
1 cup chopped walnuts
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil

1. Fill a pot with water. You should be able to fit a metal colander inside the pot. When the water is boiling, reduce to medium heat. Place green beans in a metal colander, and fit the colander inside the pot. Cover, and let beans steam for 5 minutes, or until just tender. If you don’t have this fancy colander setup, you can boil the beans directly in the water for 5 minutes. Either way, you want the beans to be just tender, with a bit of crunch.
2. It’s optional to toast the walnuts, but it does bring out a bit more of their flavor. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Place walnuts on a baking sheet, and let toast for 7 minutes (do not let brown or burn).
3. In a large skillet, heat butter and olive oil over medium heat. Add green beans (depending on skillet size, you might have to do this in two batches), tossing to coat. When the beans are thoroughly warmed, place them in a large bowl. Pour any remaining butter/olive oil mixture over beans.
4. Add walnuts and bacon to beans; stir to incorporate. The walnuts and bacon tend to sink to the bottom, so I pour it all into another serving bowl before serving so at least for a little while, they’re on top.