Arugula Salad with Strawberries

I just can't get enough of these gorgeous strawberries!  Gotta get my daily fix...they are like crack to a semi-strict clean eater like me!  Not only do they make a great snack and have countless uses in luscious desserts...they have savoury applications too and they make a bangin' salad.  This is another old favorite that fits seamlessly into our Paleo diet lifestyle.  Sliced strawberries take a little soak in some balsamic vinegar which sweetens and intensifies their flavour.  Then the strawberry magic is tossed with peppery arugula, toasty pecans and a simple balsamic vinaigrette.

 

Arugula Salad with Strawberries

Origin: Martha Stewart

Notes:  We enjoyed this with a simple steak on the BBQ and the 2 of us polished off the salad.  Double the amounts below to feed 4-6 people.  This salad shines extra bright when a part of a breakfast or brunch spread.

Ingredients: 

1/2 pint strawberries, rinsed, hulled, and quartered (I used about a cup, sliced)

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, divided

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 bunches arugula, washed, dried, and trimmed (I used half of a 5oz container of organic baby arugula)

1/2 cup toasted pecan halves, roughly chopped

In a large bowl, toss strawberries with 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, let sit 5 to 10 minutes.

In a small bowl, whisk together remaining tablespoon balsamic vinegar with the olive oil and salt and pepper.

To the strawberries, add vinaigrette, arugula, and toasted pecans. Toss to combine, and serve immediately.

White Chocolate Dipped Strawberries with Citrus Sugar

Local strawberries are here!  There is nothing like ripe, juicy strawberries grown close to home.  One of the many delights of summer.  This is an exceptional way to enjoy them, simple and so pretty!  Their juicy goodness still shines through, but the creamy white chocolate and bright citrus sugar are great compliments.

White Chocolate Dipped Strawberries with Citrus Sugar
Origin: Epicurious

Notes:  When melting white chocolate be sure to not let any moisture get into the bowl.  The chocolate will seize up with the addition of the smallest bit of water.  I like these served cold.
 
Ingredients:

2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon finely grated orange peel
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel
6 ounces high quality white chocolate (I used Callebaut), chopped
16 large ripe strawberries

Line a baking sheet with foil. In a small bowl, mix the sugar and citrus zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is moistened.  Set aside.

Melt the white chocolate over a double boiler, (stir the chocolate in small bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water) stirring until melted and smooth. Remove from over water.

Holding 1 strawberry by the stem, dip the berry into chocolate, shake excess back into bowl. Turn the berry dipped-end up and sprinkle with citrus sugar, place on prepared sheet.  Repeat with remaining berries, chocolate, and sugar. Chill until chocolate sets, about 30 minutes.

Roasted Chicken with Fennel & Lemon

Since I started this clean eating thing, this has been the meal I have made most often.  It's so easy to prepare and turns out beautifully every time.  Juicy chicken with crispy flavourful skin and sweet and tangy, caramelized fennel.  I turn to it when I am lacking inspiration or if I have a million things to do around the house.  I just throw the ingredients together on a baking sheet, toss it in the oven and I'm free of dinner woes. 

Roasted Chicken with Fennel & Lemon
Origin: Adapted from The Kitchn

Notes:  My favorite way to buy chicken is the "cut up chicken".  My butcher offers a whole chicken, skin on and bone in, cleaned up and cut into 8 pieces, breasts, thighs, legs and wings.  I love getting the variety of cuts (I love thighs and my husband loves wings) and it's more economical than buying just breasts.

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces, skin on, bone in (or 4 large chicken breasts)
1 large fennel bulb, or 2 small (with fronds)
1 large onion, or 2 small, halved and sliced 1/2 inch thick
2 lemons, 1 sliced and 1 zested and juiced
4 large cloves garlic, minced
4 tablespoons olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Trim the stalks and fronds off your fennel, save the fronds and chop them finely.  Cut the fennel bulb lengthwise into quarters and slice the core out of each quarter.  Slice each quarter into 1 inch strips.

Place chicken, fennel and onion on a baking sheet.  Slice one lemon into 1/4 inch rounds and add to the baking sheet, zest and juice the second lemon over the chicken and vegetables.  Add the minced garlic and chopped fennel fronds.  Drizzle the whole thing with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Toss everything with your hands and make sure the seasonings are distributed evenly. Place the chicken, skin side up, in the center of the baking sheet and arrange the fennel and onions around it.  Sprinkle the chicken with a little more salt and pepper.

Roast for 1 hour, rotating the baking sheet once during cooking.  If things are browning to quickly, reduce the oven temperature to 425 degrees.  Remove from oven, tent the baking sheet with foil and let stand 5-10 minutes before serving.  Serves 2-4.

Chipotle Steak with Brussels Sprout Slaw

This is a meal I have been wanting to recreate for a while now.  It's an attempt (a successful one!) at a fabulous dish I had at a favorite local restaurant, Allium, on one of their tapas nights.  The sadly small (but appropriate for tapas) portion size left me wanting more, I couldn't get this dish out of my head.  Robust, smoky chipotle flat iron steak with creamy chipotle aioli, accompannied by a light, grassy brussels sprout slaw.  It was great!  I did a very decent job with my copycat recipe.  I finally got my fill of this great dish!  Try it out...or visit Allium for the real thing!

Chipotle Flat Iron Steak

Origin: Inspired by Chef Arup Jana, Allium

Notes:  Allium used "flat iron steak" for this dish, my cut of beef was called an "inside blade steak", I believe both are from the shoulder, just cut slightly different.

Ingredients:

2 chipotle peppers, finely chopped (from a can of chipotles in adobo sauce)

1 teaspoon adobo sauce

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

3 tablespoons olive oil

salt and freshly ground black pepper
upto 2 lbs beef steak, flat iron or blade steak

Mix the chipotle peppers, adobo sauce, balsamic vinegar and olive oil in a glass baking dish or a resealable plastic bag large enough to hold your beef.  Add steaks and toss to coat, marinate for about an hour (or more if desired).

When you are ready to grill, remove steaks from marinade, sprinkle with salt and pepper and grill.  This a tougher cut of meat so medium (even medium-rare) doneness is ideal.  Make sure to get a good sear on the meat but don't cook it too long.  We grilled it on high heat for about 4-5 minutes per side.

Chipotle Aioli
Origin: Inspired by Chef Arup Jana, Allium

Notes:  You can adjust the amount of chipotle pepper to control the heat to your liking.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup mayonnaise (I make my own olive oil based mayo)
1 chipotle pepper, finely chopped (from a can of chipotles in adobo sauce)
1/2 teaspoon adobo sauce
1 small clove garlic, minced
salt

In a small bowl, combine the mayo, chipotle, adobo sauce and garlic.  Season with salt.  Refrigerate until ready to use.

Brussels Sprout Slaw
Origin: Inspired by Chef Arup Jana, Allium 

Notes:  This slaw is really good!  Forget everything you think you know about brussels sprouts.  The raw, shredded brussels sprouts are surprisingly mild with a nice crunch.

Ingredients:

brussels sprouts, about 5 cups shredded
1 green pepper, sliced as thin as possible
4 shallots, halved and sliced as thin as possible
4 tablespoons cider vinegar
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper

To prepare the brussels sprouts, trim the end slightly and slice them in half lengthwise.  Starting at the top of the brussels sprout, thinly slice them, stopping when you get the the core/hard bits. 

In a large bowl combine the shredded brussels sprouts, sliced green pepper and shallots.  Drizzle with the vinegar and olive oil, season with a generous amount of salt and pepper and toss to combine.  Serve immediately or chill for an hour before serving.  Serves 4.

Kofta Burgers

This past weekend marked the unofficial start to summer in Canada with our Victoria Day long weekend.  The time has finally come for cottaging, gardening, boating and BBQs!  These burgers are outstanding and would be a hit at any summertime event.  Taking cues from my recent trip, I took one of my favorite Israeli meals, the kebab, and changed it up a bit to fit right in at a North American cottage or backyard party.  In Israel, Kofta kebabs are usually made of ground lamb or beef, mixed with spices and then formed into logs around skewers.  The kebabs are grilled over open coals and served with rice, pita and an assortment of small salads, sauces and pickled things.  These all beef Kofta Burgers are loaded with the same fresh flavours and lots of spice, they are juicy and delicious.  Served with tahini sauce and fresh, bright tasting salads, all stuffed into a pita, they are superb!

Kofta Burgers
Origin: Jaime, Impeccable Taste

Notes:  These burgers are delish!  I have included recipes for some great accompaniments, but you could simplify things by serving them with pita bread and classic burger toppings like lettuce, tomato, pickle and onion.  BUT...the tahini sauce is an absolute must!!

Ingredients:

Burgers:
2 lbs ground beef (I use 1/2 lean and 1/2 medium ground beef)
1 large onion, roughly chopped
4-5 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
l handful parsley, large stems removed
1 handful cilantro, large stems removed
4 tablespoons garam masala (a blend of spices, you can purchase it or make your own)

For Serving:
Tahini Sauce (recipe below)
Simple Spring Salad (recipe below)
Onion Pomegranate Salad (recipe below)
pita bread

In a food processor, pulse together the onion, garlic and herbs until finely chopped and combined.

In a large bowl combine the ground beef, onion/herb mixture, garam masala and a pinch of salt.  With your hands, mix everything together thoroughly.  Cover and chill the mixture for an hour or until ready to use.  Form the meat mixture into patties.  Indenting the middle of each patty with your thumb will help the burgers cook evenly and keep them from shrinking up into balls once they hit the grill.

Grill the patties to your liking.  We usually grill them over medium heat for about 7 minutes per side.  It depends on your grill, the thickness of the burgers and how well you like them cooked.

Serve the Kofta Burgers with pita bread, tahini sauce and salads. 

**The burger patties are great without the pita too, just serve with salad and tahini sauce for a paleo friendly meal.

Simple Spring Salad
Origin: Jaime, Impeccable Taste

Notes:  The lemony greens and crunch of the radishes and cucumbers are great stuffed into a pita with the Kofta Burgers.

Ingredients:

6 cups crunchy baby greens, I used baby Red Leaf and Green Leaf lettuces (regular Romaine would be fine)
4-6 small Lebanese cucumbers, sliced into thin rounds (or use an English/seedless cucumber)
1 bunch radishes, sliced into thin rounds
1 lemon, juiced
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper

In a large bowl combine the lettuce, cucumbers and radishes.

Just before serving, add lemon juice, olive oil, some salt and A LOT of freshly ground pepper.  Toss and serve.

Tahini Sauce
Origin: Classic Middle Eastern Recipe, Jaime, Impeccable Taste

Notes:  This sauce is a must with the Kofta Burgers.

Ingredients:

1 cup pure tahini (ground sesame paste)
1 lemon, juiced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 small cloves garlic, minced
salt
3/4 cup warm water
a handful of fresh parsley, large stems removed (optional)


In the bowl of a food processor, combine tahini, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic and salt (start with 1/4 teaspoon and add more to taste).  Pulse to combine.  Add the warm water and process until smooth (you can add more warm water as necessary to achieve desired consistency).  Add parsley and pulse to chop/combine. 

This can be made without a food processor.  Mix everything by hand (chop your parsley first).  But note that it may take a while to achieve a smooth consistency as the tahini and lemon juice will seize up.  The warm water will help loosen the mixture.

Onion & Pomegranate Salad
 Origin: Adapted from The Food of Israel, Sherry Ansky & Nelli Sheffer

Notes:  This salad takes these Kofta Burgers over the top!  It acts like a relish or a salsa, adding flavour, sweetness and crunch.  To de-seed your pomegranate, in a bowl of water, submerge chunks of the pomegranate and release seeds into water.  The seeds will sink and the white, pithy stuff will float, and your hands will stay clean!

Ingredients:
1 large red onion, halved and thinly sliced
1/2 cup chopped fresh mint
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 cup pomegranate seeds
juice of 1/2 lemon
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Place sliced onions in a strainer over a bowl and sprinkle them with about 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt.  Let stand for 1 hour, tossing occasionally.  The onions will release much of their bitterness as their juices drip into the bowl below.  Squeeze out any excess juice.  I usually give the onions a quick rinse to remove excess salt and then press them into the strainer to remove liquid.

In a medium bowl, combine the onions, herbs, pomegranate seeds, lemon juice and olive oil.  Toss gently, check for seasoning, adding salt if necessary.