The best "girl".
This salad is "Sarah's Salad" in my mind. We've had it when we visit her and her family in Toronto. It is so good, pretty simple and really tasty! Thanks for letting me copy Sar! xxoo
I served it with a rotisserie chicken we picked up on the way home.
Spinach Salad with Oranges and Warm Goat Cheese
Ingredients
3 small navel oranges (or canned mandarin oranges, E_A_S_Y!)
6 oz fresh mild goat cheese (preferably in log form)
1/3 cup pecans
1 tsp whole-grain mustard
1 tsp white-wine vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
Pinch of sugar
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 lb spinach, trimmed
1 small red onion, sliced into thin rings (I like to dice the onions)
Directions
Cut peel and white pith from oranges with a sharp small knife. Working over a sieve set over a bowl, cut orange sections free from membranes, letting sections drop into sieve.
OR
Drain canned or jarred mandarin oranges (EASY!)
Cut goat cheese into fourths and pat each portion between your hands to form a disk. Pat pecans all over each disk to coat. Bake at 350 degrees on a small baking sheet in middle of oven until heated through, about 5 minutes.
Measure out 1 tablespoon orange juice and whisk together with mustard, vinegar, salt, and sugar in a large bowl. Add oil and whisk until blended.
Add spinach, onion, and orange sections to dressing and toss well. Season with pepper. Divide among 4 salad plates and carefully transfer one (or more) goat-cheese disk to each salad.
Whenever I pick up a rotisserie chicken, we usually have a bit leftover. So I always try to plan to make these Rice Paper Rolls with the leftovers. Makes a nice lunch too! Easy to keep the wrappers and noodles in the pantry on hand. Any veggie you have on hand would work too! Don't get nervous when you see the wrappers, it is super easy to do, once you make a mess of the first one! This recipe is adapted from Julie Van Rosendaal's book "Grazing".
Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls
15 rice paper wrappers
Filling:
about a handful of rice vermicelli noodles (I usually just use the whole package, the big little likes to "play" with the extras)
1 TSBP rice vinegar
1 large carrot, peeled and shredded (I sometimes buy the pre-shredded carrots)
cooked and shredded chicken (or 15 cooked shrimp, peeled and deveined, cut lengthwise in half)
half a cucumber, peeled if necessary and cut into thin sticks
small handful of fresh cilantro (or mint or thai basil leaves)
1/2 cup peanuts (optional)
To prepare filling, place noodles in a bowl of boiling water and let stand about 3 minutes (or as package directs), to soften. Drain well. Add carrot and rice vinegar, toss to combine.
To assemble the rolls, fill a pie plate with hot water and lay a clean tea towel over your work surface. Soak one rice paper round at a time in the water for about 10 seconds, until it is pliable, and lay it on the tea towel. Pat surface with towel.
Place shrimp (cut side up) or chicken, cucumber, and a fist full noodle mixture down the middle of the round. Sprinkle with cilantro and peanuts. Fold over one long side to cover, then fold up both ends. Roll the whole thing up as tightly as you can without tearing the wrapper. It takes some practice to make these rolls "pretty", so keep trying to get the look that you want.
Serve with Ginger Mango Dipping Sauce
Combine 1/2 cup mango chutney, 2 TBSP water, 2 TBSP rice vine vinegar, the juice of a lime and 1 tsp grated fresh ginger.
Cut goat cheese into fourths and pat each portion between your hands to form a disk. Pat pecans all over each disk to coat. Bake at 350 degrees on a small baking sheet in middle of oven until heated through, about 5 minutes.
Measure out 1 tablespoon orange juice and whisk together with mustard, vinegar, salt, and sugar in a large bowl. Add oil and whisk until blended.
Add spinach, onion, and orange sections to dressing and toss well. Season with pepper. Divide among 4 salad plates and carefully transfer one (or more) goat-cheese disk to each salad.
The little is almost crawling!
Whenever I pick up a rotisserie chicken, we usually have a bit leftover. So I always try to plan to make these Rice Paper Rolls with the leftovers. Makes a nice lunch too! Easy to keep the wrappers and noodles in the pantry on hand. Any veggie you have on hand would work too! Don't get nervous when you see the wrappers, it is super easy to do, once you make a mess of the first one! This recipe is adapted from Julie Van Rosendaal's book "Grazing".
Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls
15 rice paper wrappers
Filling:
about a handful of rice vermicelli noodles (I usually just use the whole package, the big little likes to "play" with the extras)
1 TSBP rice vinegar
1 large carrot, peeled and shredded (I sometimes buy the pre-shredded carrots)
cooked and shredded chicken (or 15 cooked shrimp, peeled and deveined, cut lengthwise in half)
half a cucumber, peeled if necessary and cut into thin sticks
small handful of fresh cilantro (or mint or thai basil leaves)
1/2 cup peanuts (optional)
To prepare filling, place noodles in a bowl of boiling water and let stand about 3 minutes (or as package directs), to soften. Drain well. Add carrot and rice vinegar, toss to combine.
To assemble the rolls, fill a pie plate with hot water and lay a clean tea towel over your work surface. Soak one rice paper round at a time in the water for about 10 seconds, until it is pliable, and lay it on the tea towel. Pat surface with towel.
Place shrimp (cut side up) or chicken, cucumber, and a fist full noodle mixture down the middle of the round. Sprinkle with cilantro and peanuts. Fold over one long side to cover, then fold up both ends. Roll the whole thing up as tightly as you can without tearing the wrapper. It takes some practice to make these rolls "pretty", so keep trying to get the look that you want.
Serve with Ginger Mango Dipping Sauce
Combine 1/2 cup mango chutney, 2 TBSP water, 2 TBSP rice vine vinegar, the juice of a lime and 1 tsp grated fresh ginger.
Sending Love,
Twin A
