Roasted Brussels Sprout Salad

My favorite little grocery store has the most amazing grocery-made food offerings, I swear. The coffee/juices/smoothies are amazing, the main dishes rock (usually a salmon, a meatless option, and ground beef or turkey), the green salads and deli sandwiches are soooo good... Don't even get me started on their hummus, which is always in the fridge at home. My favorite of their offerings, though, are the side dishes.

They have a fantastic tabbouleh mix. A quinoa grain with black beans and mango. Lentil salads, Chinese noodle salads, side salads galore. They have roasted sweet potatoes with orange and caramelized onions, and the side dish I grab almost every time I'm there: roasted Brussels sprouts with lemon and garlic, and a dusting of fresh Parm. Oh, so so good.

Finally I decided to get off my lazy butt and try to make this at home. And embarrassingly enough: it was pretty easy to replicate. The outcome here is a little different, a stronger garlic flavor than The Merc's version, otherwise almost identical though. I love the crunchy, crispy (sweetly caramelized) Brussels sprouts with the tangy lemon and nutty cheese. Ooooh, you gotta try this yourself. You won't be disappointed.

Roasted Brussels Sprout Salad

(another Nemmie original)

Ingredients:

1 lb. Brussels sprouts, washed and dried

4 garlic cloves, sliced

4 Tbsp. olive oil

2 Tbsp. butter

Salt and pepper

Zest of 1 lemon

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 425 F. Cut sprouts in half and toss on a sheet pan with garlic slices. Pour olive oil over the mixture, and season with salt and pepper (and half of the lemon zest). Toss to coat, then top with small bits of the butter.

Pop in the oven. Bake for about 20 minutes, then stir and lower heat to 400 F. Bake for another 15-20 minutes. The sprouts will be tender and caramelized. Remove from oven, and allow to cool to room temperature.

In a medium bowl: toss cooled sprouts with remaining lemon zest, lemon juice, and Parmesan cheese. Chill or serve room temperature.

Roasted Beet Salad

My favorite corner market is starting to change out their regular items - the fresh berries and tender greens are gone, and the hearty gourds, the apples/pears/figs, and the root veggies are coming out full force.

Now: beets are something they have year-round, but my last trip they happened to have yellow, gold, and regular (red) beets. All I could think about was what a beautiful salad these beets could make, so I filled up my basket with a few pounds of them.

This beet salad comes from Serious Eats. It is perhaps more of a summer recipe, but it was good with the sandwiches that we've been having for dinner most of this (very busy) week. Sweet beets, raw spicy onion, and the tart vinaigrette all give it such great flavor, as well as my absolute favorite (cilantro). Yum! Give it a shot next time you need an easy (and tasty) side dish.

Roasted Beet Salad

(from Serious Eats)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs. beets, stems removed and washed

3 Tbsp. olive oil

1/4 red onion, thinly sliced

1 Serrano chile, seed and thinly chopped

1 tsp. minced ginger

2 Tbsp. cilantro, chopped

Pinch of sugar

2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Sprinkle the beets with salt and a tablespoon of the olive oil. Wrap in aluminum foil, leaving a little hole in the top facing up, and set in a roasting pan. Cook until easily pierced with a knife, 45-60 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix together the rest of the olive oil, red onion, Serrano, ginger, cilantro, sugar, and red wine vinegar.

When beets are done and cool enough to handle, peel and chop into 1/2 inch pieces.

Mix with the rest of the ingredients. Season with salt and pepper. Serve.

Panzanella (Bread Salad)

This is a perfect recipe for the 4th of July holiday - a fabulous salad that comes together quickly, uses the smallest amount of stovetop time (just enough to dip your tomatoes), and the longer it sits at room temperature, the better it tastes. You can toss it together well ahead of lunch or dinnertime, and forget about it.


I love a good bread salad. This one has lots of tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, and capers, along with a nice thick country bread; all soaked in a tart vinaigrette until the flavors meld together. The bread is stale and therefore doesn't get mushy but instead has a nice soft texture. I love to make this in the summer for a side dish, and it always goes quickly.

Panzanella

(adapted from Giada DeLaurentiis' Everyday Italian, 2005)

Ingredients:

1/4 c. drained capers

2 Tbsp. + 1/4 c. red wine vinegar

12 oz. ciabatta or other country-style white bread, 2 to3 days old

8 ripe tomatoes (about 2 1/4 pounds total), cored and scored on the bottom

2 Tbsp. + 2/3 c. extra-virgin olive oil

2 Tbsp. + 1/4 c. red wine vinegar

1 garlic clove, minced

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/2 c. thinly sliced fresh basil leaves

1 c. diced cucumber chunks (salted and drained on paper towel)

1/4 c. pitted kalamata olives, halved lengthwise

Soak the capers in 2 Tbsp. of vinegar in a small bowl for 10 minutes. Drain.

Cut the crust off of the bread. If it is not quite “stale” enough: Cut into 2-inch slices and toast in a 350 F oven for about 20-30 minutes. Once toasted, cut or tear bread into 1 inch cubes and set aside.

Submerge the tomatoes into a large saucepan of boiling water for 10 seconds. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the tomatoes to a large bowl of ice water to cool slightly. Using a small sharp paring knife, peel off the tomato skins. Cut the tomatoes in half and scoop out the seeds. Cut the tomatoes into 1-inch cubes and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk 2/3 c. of oil, 1/4 c. of vinegar, and garlic. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Add the bread cubes, tomatoes, and basil; toss to combine.

Transfer half of the bread mixture to a 13 by 9 by 2-inch dish. Arrange half of the cucumbers, drained capers, and olives over the bread mixture. Repeat layering with the remaining bread mixture, then the remaining roasted peppers, capers, and olives.

Cover the salad and let stand at room temperature for flavors to blend, at least 1 hour (and up to 8 hours).

Crockpot Falafels

Falafels, yay! Fun to say and fun to eat! This traditional Middle Eastern fast food is something I love. What I don’t love, however, is making my whole house smell like a grease pit and getting splotches of hot oil everywhere while frying them. Enter: the crockpot. Yes, the crockpot.

This recipe is compliments of Stephanie at A Year of Crockpotting, a blog devoted to…well, a year of crockpotting. She’s done some amazing things in the crockpot so far, so I recommend you take a peek at her blog! I added a pinch more salt and almost doubled the cayenne as Stephanie suggested, and they were just perfect.

I highly recommend this tzatziki recipe, by the way, as long as we’re enjoying falafels (I like to go all Greek on mine). My favorite way to eat them is to pile the falafels on a pita with lettuce, tzatziki, tomato, feta, and onion. Mmmmmmmm. Hubs and I feasted on these when they were made, and I’m not ashamed to say I’ll be making them again and again.

Crockpot Falafels

Ingredients:
1 (15 oz.) can garbanzo beans
1/2 onion, chopped
1 Tbsp. dried parsley (or 2-3 Tbsp. fresh flat-leaf parsley)
2 cloves minced garlic
1 egg
1 tsp.-ish kosher salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 to 3/4 c. bread crumbs
2 Tbsp. olive oil

Drain garbanzo beans. Dump them into a mixing bowl and smash them with a fork. Set aside.

Get out your blender or food processor. Blend together all of the spices, the onion, the garlic, the egg, and the lemon juice.

Pour on top of your smashed garbanzo beans. Use your fork to mix together, and add the breadcrumbs slowly until the mixture is wet and sticky but can be formed into balls nicely (~3/4 c.).

Pour 2 Tbsp. of olive oil into the bottom of your crockpot stoneware insert.

Form squished golf-ball sized patties of falafel. Dip each side into the olive oil and then nestle into your crockpot. It's okay if they overlap or are on top of each other.

Cook on high for 2-5 hours. Ours cooked on high for 3.5 hours--you will know that the falafels are done when they turn brownish-golden. **Stephanie’s note: “You can flip them halfway through the cooking time if you feel like it, but they will brown on top even without flipping. (I know. I don't get it either.)”. Neither do I, Stephanie. It’s awesome yet unnerving.

And there you go, all done! Nosh as you usually do.