Heirloom and Beet Whipped Goat Cheese Salad, by Diane

 

I saw this whipped goat cheese bottom on a veggie platter I ordered in Denver and I was so inspired to come home and figure out what I could do with it. Enter this- my afternoon snack alllll last week. It is so good with fresh summer tomatoes and basil, yum!

Ingredients:

4 tbsp goat cheese

1 tbsp EVOO

fresh herbs (I used oregano and basil)

1 cup baby heirloom tomatoes, cut into bite size pieces

1/2 cup marinated beets, cut into bite size pieces

Balsamic vinegar (I have a blackberry ginger one that goes great on this!)

Optional- fresh basil for garnish

Directions:

1. Make the whipped feta either in a food processor or by hand by whipping together feta, oil, and herbs. Spread on the bottom of the bowl.

2. Top with tomatoes and beets and a drizzle of balsamic!

Roasted Asparagus and Preserved Lemon Salad, by Diane

Our cooking the countries continues! This weekend our country was Israel, specifically from the Jerusalem area. This was the first dish we made, and it was outstanding. It tasted incredibly fresh and was a great chilled summer salad. I would easily have eaten this as a meal on it's own! Plus it came together really quick, and had minimal cooking which is ideal in this heat. You can use either goat or feta cheese in this dish- although feta may be more traditional the goat cheese got extra creamy when combined with the dressing and it was a definite hit. This dish would also be perfect with chicken or salmon on top.

The twist in this dish was the addition of preserved lemon. To make preserved lemon you simply store lemon slices (peel on) in a mason jar packed with salt and lemon juice. You can make this up to a week ahead of time, but I did it a day ahead and it was fine. For this dish since I only needed a little, I used 1/2 a lemon cut into 3 slices, and made sure to massage the salt into the lemons before I stored it overnight. If you don't want to do this regular lemons will work just fine- or you can cheat and simply rub salt into lemons and use them within a few minutes. If you make the lemons in advance, the salt breaks down the peel and softens it so it's good to eat, so you can eat the whole lemon in this recipe.

Ingredients:

2 lb fresh asparagus, ends trimmed and cut in half
EVOO
Salt and pepper
2 tbsp preserved lemons, rough cut
2 cups grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup pistachios
1/4 cup crumbled goat or feta cheese
Fresh lemon juice


Directions:

1. Preheat an oven to 400, and line a baking tray with parchment paper (mine filled two baking trays since I didn't want to overcrowd the asparagus).

2. Place asparagus and preserved lemons onto the tray(s), drizzle with EVOO, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

3. Roast for 7 min and remove from the oven to cool. Save the pan drippings in a bowl for the dressing.

4. While the asparagus and lemon cool, toast the pistachios in a pan until fragrant and set aside.

5. Finish the dressing with some remaining preserved lemon juice, fresh lemon juice, and add extra EVOO, salt or pepper if desired.

6. Toss the cooled asparagus and lemons with the tomatoes, then top with dressing, pistachios, and cheese.

Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes, by Cheryl

Wowsers this was good! The spiciness of the buffalo chicken was cut by the sweet potato and blue cheese, and they all went together so smoothly. Letting the chicken sit in the sauce on the stove for a little bit made it very tender and juicy. I couldn't even wait until lunch time the next day to finish the leftovers... I had them at 9:45 in the morning! Yum!

Ingredients (recipe modified from here):

6 Sweet potatoes
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts, shredded
Blue cheese dressing
parsley

Buffalo Sauce:
2/3 cup Frank's Original Sauce
4 tbsp unsalted butter
1.5 tbsp white vinegar
1/2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cornstarch + 1 tbsp water

Directions:

1) Bake the sweet potatoes until tender (I microwaved them).

2) Boil the chicken breasts for 30 minutes in a large pot. Drain and transfer the chicken breasts to a cutting board. When cool, shred the chicken breasts with a fork and your fingers.

3) In a large pot over medium heat, combine hot sauce, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic powder. Add butter and whisk until melted. Stir in cornstarch with water. Add the shredded chicken and mix thoroughly.

4) Stuff sweet potatoes with the shredded chicken. Drizzle desired amount of blue cheese dressing on top. Top with parsley.

Figs, with Goat Cheese, Balsamic Vinegar, and Brown Sugar, Oh My!, by Cheryl

I remember my first real experience with figs. It was three years ago when we had just moved to Italy and we had taken a long weekend in Tuscany, more specifically San Gimignano. We ordered figs and prosciutto as an appetizer and my life was never the same! It was the end of the fig season there so we were lucky to have had a taste and that we also didn't have to wait until the next summer (which is what happened after that weekend... no more figs until at least June the next year!) When shopping at Metro, Italy's equivalent of Costco, we stumbled upon cases of figs and knew that it was time again! Our neighbors were eager to give us an easy recipe and we were once again in fig heaven. I miss those huge cases of figs :( I saw a pack of six at the grocery store and knew I had to recreate this snack (though I think that pack cost just as much as an entire case in Italy). This is a great appetizer or snack. Yum!

Ingredients:

Figs
Goat cheese
balsamic vinegar
brown sugar

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350.

2) Slice the figs into quarters without cutting all the way through.

3) Top with goat cheese, balsamic vinegar, and a touch of brown sugar. Bake for about 10-15 minutes.

Fall Couscous Salad, by Diane

I made this for lunches this week, it was the perfect fall dish and so delicious! Jam packed with nutrients, this is an easy way to enjoy something quick and on-the-go!

A few notes- I substituted the EVOO at the end that you toss everything with for apple cider vinegar (1/2-1tbsp) for a more tastier and healthier option. I also subbed pistachios for pecans because I felt like it, and I used couscous because it's easier to digest for most people than sorghum.

Recipe from: http://www.savorysimple.net/butternut-squash-cranberry-sorghum-salad/


Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups butternut squash, diced small

1/2 tablespoon olive oil for tossing + more for roasting

2 1/2 cups cooked sorghum

1/3 cup dried cranberries

1/3 cup pecans, toasted and chopped

4 medjool dates, sliced thin

1/4 cup pumpkin seeds, toasted

1/8 teaspoon sea salt or to taste

Crumbled goat cheese to taste

 

Directions:

 

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Toss the butternut squash in a small drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle of salt. Roast for 10-15 minutes, stirring once, or until soft but not mushy (the length of time will depend on how small the dice is).

2. Allow the squash to cool for several minutes and then gently toss together in a large bowl with olive oil, sorghum, dried cranberries, pecans, dates, pumpkin seeds and salt.

3. If using, sprinkle goat cheese on top of each serving.