Eat Simply, Eat Well

This salad.  Anytime.

It’s nice to have a go-to dish that you know will always work, no matter where you are going or when you need it or how many people you’ll be feeding.  For me during the Winter months, this salad is that kind of dish.  I love it. I’ve made it for a party of one (that would be me).  I’ve made it for a party of 40. I’ve served at birthday parties; at Christmas parties; at New Year’s parties; and for “hey, you’re coming over?  Sure, I’ll make something quick” kinds of occasions. I’ve eaten it for lunch, dinner, and as a snack, and it’s never been a disappointment.  In fact, on days when you want to celebrate, and on days when you feel like there is nothing worth celebrating, this salad is a winner.

The ingredients are easy to come by and there are no special tricks.  But the magic is in the dressing and the way it ties all of the other ingredients together.  You’ll need to get yourself some raspberry vinegar and a little maple syrup.  Add in some good quality olive oil, a little salt and a little less paper.  Shake it vigorously.  Set it aside.  You’ll pour over salad just before serving.  Mix the salad just enough to coat everything in the dressing – but make sure you don’t drown it.  Serve immediately.

As for the other ingredients:  buy a mix of different salad greens.  Toast the pecans (don’t skip this step –  the toasted flavor is key.  Buy good-quality warm-smoked salmon.  Fresh, juicy, sweet pomegranate seeds add a pop of jazzy color.  Cucumber for some crunchy fun. And the cheese.  In Finland there is this wonderful oven-baked cheese called “leipäjuusto” in Finnish and “squeaky cheese” by some of my American friends because of the sound it makes between your teeth when you first bite into it. Since it’s extremely hard to find outside of Finland, Indian paneer cheese or even a nice mild Gouda cut into bite-sized pieces will work just as well.

This will brighten even the gloomiest of Winter days

Smoked Salmon, Pomegranate, Pecans, Cheese & Mixed Greens Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette

Make the dressing: 
2 tablespoons raspberry vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon genuine maple syrup
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Prepare the salad:
8 cups / 2 liters of washed, loosely packed mixed salad greens
200g / 1/2 pound hot-smoked salmon, cut into pieces
100g of Finnish leipäjuusto or Gouda, cut into bite-sized chunks
100g pecans, toasted and roughly chopped
1 English cucumber, peeled and cut into bite-sized chunks
seeds of 1/2 pomegranate

Combine the salad greens, cheese, pecans, cucumber, 3/4 of the pomegranate seeds, and 2/3 of the salmon in a bowl.  Just before serving, shake the dressing in the jar to make sure it is well mixed.  Pour it over the top of the salad and mix the salad with your clean hands to coat everything.  Transfer the salad to a serving bowl and top with the remaining smoked salmon and pomegranate seeds.

Serves 4-6.

Pomegranate, Mango & Orange Salad with Honey, Mint, Lime Dressing

Nearly every day right now, I find myself reaching for fruit.  Clementines that just barely fill my palm, with a skin that peels easily off of the fruit providing easy access to the sweet half-moon citrus segments inside.  Persimmons that are just ripe enough to feel a wee bit squishy when pressed lightly with a finger but firm enough to peel with a vegetable peeler, and sweet and succulent inside. Pomegranates under whose leathery skin lie some of the world’s most beautiful edible morsels: those shining, ruby-red, jewel-like, sweet and sour seeds.  Oranges that are simply perfect and at the peak of their season with a heaviness to each fruit that gives a hint of the juicy perfection underneath the nubbly, bright orange peel.  I can’t seem to get enough.  Maybe I’m detoxing from indulgence. Maybe I need a dessert that’s lighter than those I enjoyed during the holidays.  Or maybe…it’s just one more way to bring the sunshine indoors.

We’re at that point in the year when it can be a bit of a challenge to figure out which fruits and vegetables are best to buy now; and when we find them, how to use them so they really shine.  Of course, you can always eat them one at a time, au natural, no accompaniment required.  Or, you can dress them up so they are ready for a meal or a party.

Removing peel and pith from oranges

I smiled when I noticed that Food52 published an article few days ago calling our attention to the seven fruits you should eat more of this month, covering many of those I mention above and including one I’d never even heard of: finger limes.

I couldn’t agree more with their list: for New Year’s, I had created a new recipe using 4 out of the 7 – subbing in regular lime for finger lime (which at the time I didn’t even know was a thing…limes in Finland tend to be of the standard variety only). For this refreshing salad, slices of orange, chunks of mango, and the luminescent seeds of pomegranate were tossed in a honey, mint and lime dressing to create a light, refreshing, eye and palate pleasing dish that works for any meal of the day, including dessert. After enjoying a plate piled high with savory and salty snacks, the light, crisply fresh sweetness of fruit was exactly the balance needed to get us all in fine form for welcoming in the new year.

This can be made up to a day ahead, and is best served at room temperature or slightly below. In any case, allow at least 30 minutes for the fruit juices to combine with the dressing.  Stir the salad briefly just before serving to thoroughly coat the fruit with the juices one more time.

And whether you call it detox or call it dessert – you’ll need no excuse to dig in.

Pomegranate, Mango & Orange Salad with Honey, Mint, Lime Dressing

Pomegranate, Mango & Orange Salad 
with Honey, Mint, Lime Dressing

6 large oranges
1 large, fully ripe mango
1/2 pomegranate
juice of 1/2 lime
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons fresh mint leaves, minced

To prepare the oranges:  cut the top and bottom off of each orange and stand the orange on one end. Using a sharp knife, cut away the peel and the pith of the orange so that you have an exposed edge of orange all around (see second photo, above).  Cut the oranges in half from top to bottom.  Remove the white pith from the center, and cut each orange half into thin half moons. Place the oranges in a medium-sized bowl. Repeat with the remaining oranges.

To prepare the mango:  Peel the skin off of the mango using a vegetable peeler.  Cut a thin slice off of the top and the bottom of the angle.  You should be able to see a firm white part of the mango: this is the seed.  Stand the mango on one end with the plumper sides of the mango on the left and the right. Cut along either side of the white seed, about 1/2″ / 1.25cm from the center, to get the most of the mango flesh.  Cut again from the thinner sides to get as much of the flesh as possible.  Cut the large mango pieces into medium-sized chunks and add them to the bowl with the oranges.

To prepare the pomegranate:  Using a sharp knife, make a cut around the center of the pomegranate, just barely piercing the leathery skin.  Using your fingers, break the pomegranate in half.  You will feel a bit of resistance at first, and then the fruit will pop open to reveal the seeds.  You will need the seeds from just one pomegranate half for this recipe.  To remove the seeds easily, hold the pomegranate over the bowl containing the oranges and mango.  Using your fingers, with the seed side facing downward, partially break the pomegranate open, but do not break it apart.  Hold the pomegranate half in your open hand, with the seeds facing your fingers and your fingers spread open slightly.  Using a wooden spoon, rap the top of the pomegranate firmly and consistently all over. The pomegranate seeds will begin to fall out of the shell into the bowl.  Continue to hit the top of the pomegranate until most or all of the seeds have been removed.  You can remove any remaining seeds with your fingers.  Some of the white pith from the pomegranate may have fallen into the bowl of fruit. Remove this and discard as it can be bitter.

To finish: Combine the honey and lime juice in a small microwave-safe bowl.  Microwave for 20 seconds so the honey warms up.  Stir; add the mixture, along with the mint, to the bowl of fruit.  Stir the fruit and dressing mixture really well to combine.  Allow the fruit salad to sit for at least 30 minutes.

Serves 6.

Almond Roca Bars

Sometimes you just need a simple, certain dessert that isn’t going to take you all day to complete.  Here is a recipe I grew up with that fits the bill: Almond Roca Bars – a buttery layer of cookie topped with chocolate and almonds.  We always had these bars at Christmastime, but since they are so simple to make, we had them at other times during the year as well.  I had nearly forgotten about these until my sister posted a picture of them on Facebook as a kick-off to her own Christmas baking (thanks Pam!).  My mouth started watering looking at the picture, but I had a long list of other things to make, and so let the thought of these bars drift to the back of my mind for a while.

Almond Roca Bars

Then a few days ago, I needed a quick sweet for the dessert table at our New Year’s Eve celebration.  I wanted a no-hassle crowd-pleaser, and so decided to make these bars.  I’ve changed the original recipe a bit to make a slightly healthier version by using Indian sugar to replace white sugar, and using dark chocolate and whole wheat flour instead of milk chocolate and all-purpose flour.  On a whim, I toasted the almonds instead of leaving them raw, and I’ve gotta say that the whole thing couldn’t have made me happier.  The only thing I can add after the above swaps, is that one thing you definitely should NOT change is the butter.  If you are at all tempted to use margarine, don’t.  With few ingredients, the quality of each one counts, and the flavor of the butter is essential to the success of these cookies (not mention all the crap in margarine, anyway…)

Thankfully, the guests didn’t consume them all: there are just a few of these bars left in our freezer for pulling out on days when we need a sweet treat.

If you are looking for a fast and delicious cookie that everyone will love, your search is over.  Enjoy!

Almond Roca Bars

Almond Roca Bars

1 cup butter, softened

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup coconut sugar or Indian sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg yolk
½ teaspoon salt

2 cups whole wheat flour

150 g dark chocolate, chopped

½ cup sliced almonds, lightly toasted

Preheat oven to 350°F/175°C. Lightly butter a 9″x13” cookie sheet.

Spread the sliced almonds onto a baking tray and place in the oven.  Bake for 3-5 minutes or until the almonds are a light golden brown.  Check after 3 minutes to make sure they don’t burn.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.  Add the vanilla, salt and egg yolk and mix to combine.  Beat in the flour until the mixture forms a smooth mass.

Spread the cookie mixture evenly into the pan, pushing it up against the edges, and smooth the top.  Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove the pan from the oven.

Sprinkle the chopped chocolate over the top of the hot cookie.  Allow it to melt for a few minutes. Using the back of a spatula, spread the chocolate evenly over the top of the entire cookie layer. Sprinkle the toasted almonds evenly over the surface of the chocolate.  Allow the bars to cool completely so that the chocolate is firm.  Using a sharp knife, cut into bars and serve.

Makes approximately 42 cookies (I cut them into 7 rows x 6 rows)