Arugula Avocado and Grapefruit Salad

Here’s a light, refreshing, simple salad to make. Tender, peppery baby arugula, creamy avocado, sweet-tart grapefruit sections, crunchy pepitas and creamy-salty Manchego cheese, dressed with a light grapefruit vinaigrette. It’s a great 5 Tastes Table side salad!

Ingredients:

• Baby arugula rinsed (one small handful per person as a side salad)

• 1 Grapefruit sections removed; juice reserved

• 1 Avocado

• Pepitas (toasted Pumpkin seeds)

• Manchego Cheese

• Salt and pepper

• olive oil

• honey

• red wine vinegar

• Grapefruit Vinaigrette (recipe below)

Preparation:

1. Rinse the arugula and place a small handful on each person’s salad plate

2. Cut the Grapefruit in half and using a small spoon (a fruit spoon is perfect) remove the grapefruit sections reserving the juice. Squeeze out any remaining juice in the grapefruit into a small bowl after removing the sections. (Note: if you place the grapefruit in a small bowl, you can save the juice and the sections in the bowl while you work. Reserve the juice for the vinaigrette. You want about ¼ cup of juice for the vinaigrette recipe below.

3. After you remove the seed from the avocado, cut each half of the avocado in half again. To peel and slice, place each quarter avocado (with the peel on) flat side face-down and slice each quarter into three slices. Gently remove the peel from each slice; reserve the slices.

4. If your Pepitas are not already toasted, toast them in a pan on the stove or in a toaster oven monitoring them carefully so they don’t burn. Use about 1 or 2 teaspoons of seeds per individual salad.

5. Using the coarse face on a box grater, grate the Manchego so you have about ½ tablespoon per individual salad.

6. Plate each salad with the arugula; place 2 or 3 slices of avocado and a tablespoon of grapefruit sections on top of the arugula; garnish with pepitas and Manchego; drizzle with vinaigrette. Sprinkle ground black pepper to taste.

Grapefruit Vinaigrette:

• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

• 1/4 cup fresh grapefruit juice

• 4 teaspoons honey

• 4 teaspoons red wine or Jerez vinegar (the Jerez is more acidic)

• Whisk oil, grapefruit juice, honey, and vinegar in a large bowl until well blended. Season vinaigrette to taste with salt and pepper.

Avocado-Tomato Salad →

Here’s the Latin American version of the Italian Caprese Salad. Colorful, creamy, crunchy and refreshing, the original recipe came to me almost 20 years ago as a family recipe shared by one of my ESOL students in the “Puerto Rican Cultural Center Cookbook”. As a class project, my students translated their favorite family recipes into English. We collected, edited, and published recipes from Peru, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Colombia, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela in the book. Everyone in the class took home a copy of the printed, bound cookbook, and the non-profit Puerto Rican Cultural Center sold copies of the cookbook as a fundraising tool. The best part was the feast we enjoyed at the end of the project when everyone cooked their recipes for the class. Gracias a mi amigo Jose Puello y Buen Salud!

Ingredients:

• 1 large Hass Avocado, or 2 small

• 2 medium tomatoes

• ½ cup diced red onion

• ¼ cup diced orange cubanelle pepper (optional)

• ¼ cup finely chopped cilantro

• ½ cup olive oil or canola oil

• 3 tablespoons white wine or rice wine vinegar

• 1 tablespoon lime juice (optional)

• ¼ teaspoon coarse Kosher or Sea Salt (or to taste)

• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper (or to taste)

Preparation:

1. Slice the tomatoes into ¼ inch rounds and lay them on a serving platter in a single layer; sprinkle with salt and pepper.

2. Cut the avocado in half lengthwise and remove the pit; place each half face down on a cutting surface and cut the avocado into half-inch-thick slices lengthwise.

3. Cut the avocado flesh of each slice at ½ to 1-inch intervals; use a spoon to gently scrape the pieces off the skin into a bowl.

4. Spread the avocado pieces and diced cubanelle over the tomato slices.

5. Mix the olive oil, vinegar, and lime juice and pour over the avocado and tomato slices.

6. Sprinkle on the cilantro and refrigerate for an hour to allow the flavors to meld.

Blue Cheese Salad Dressing

Yield 1 cup

Ingredients:

• 4 ounces blue cheese, like Roquefort, crumbled

• 2-3 tablespoons of buttermilk

• 1 tablespoons mayonnaise

• 1/2 tablespoon olive oil

• 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce (or to taste)

• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

• 1 dash Worcestershire sauce, to taste

Preparation:

1. Put half the cheese into a medium-size bowl, and mash with a fork.

2. Add the buttermilk, mayonnaise, olive oil, hot sauce, lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce, then mash and whisk the dressing until it is mostly smooth, but still with some chunks of blue cheese remaining.

3. Adjust the flavors. You may wish to add a little more hot sauce, lemon juice or Worcestershire, to taste; whisk again, and set aside.

4. *(Alternatively, if you have a mini-food-processor, throw all the ingredients in #2 above into the processor and process until you have a chunky dressing. Voila!)

*Note: dressing will keep refrigerated in a sealed glass container for 3-4 days.

Balsamic Vinaigrette

Yield 1 cup

Ingredients:

• ¾ cup olive oil

• ¼ cup Balsamic vinegar

• 1 tsp. Dijon mustard (or Honey Dijon)

• 1 Tbs. minced shallot

• ¼ tsp. salt and pepper, or to taste

In a bowl, whisk the ingredients together until well blended and the oil is emulsified and slightly creamy looking. (A Magic Bullet does a great job making salad dressings.)

*Will keep in a sealed container in the fridge for a few days.

Apples, Feta, Pickled Beets and Walnuts Salad →

This colorful, satisfying salad is full of flavor. The pickled beets add a tart, earthiness that combines nicely with the sweet apple and creamy-salty Feta; the toasted walnuts add crunch and a touch of bitterness along with the mixed greens. The Balsamic Vinaigrette ties it all together. Serve as a side salad, or add Spicy Baked Shrimp and make it a meal in itself.

Photo: c. foodblogchef 2019
Apples, Feta, Pickled Beets and Walnuts Salad with Spicy Shrimp

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 4 scant handfuls of mixed greens (about 2 cups)

• 1 Gala or Honey Crisp apple cored, quartered, and cut into thin slices

• 3-4 slices of pickled beets cut into ½ inch cubes

• 3 Tbs. Feta cheese

• 4 Tbs. toasted walnuts

• Balsamic vinaigrette

Preparation:

1. Toast the walnuts in your toaster oven or on a small skillet on the stove. (about 5 minutes)

2. In a large bowl, toss the greens and apple slices with a small amount of the vinaigrette. (start with 3 Tbs. drizzled evenly over the greens and apples, toss, and add more to taste)

3. Distribute the dressed greens and apple slices evenly on 4 small or medium size plates.

4. Sprinkle with the beets, feta and walnuts and serve.

Balsamic Vinaigrette

Yield 1 cup

Ingredients:

• ¾ cup olive oil

• ¼ cup Balsamic vinegar

• 1 tsp. Dijon mustard (or Honey Dijon)

• 1 Tbs. minced shallot

• ¼ tsp. salt and pepper, or to taste

Whisk ingredients together until the oil is emulsified. (A Magic Bullet does a great job making salad dressings.)

*Vinaigrette will keep in a sealed container in the fridge for a few days.

Wedge Salad Redux →

The Wedge Salad has taken a bad rap over time for not using more “healthy greens”, but it does what it is intended to do and that is to please. Salty, savory, crunchy, refreshing, tart...it’s all in there. However, although the classic Wedge Salad is impressive to behold, if slicing through a quarter of a head of iceberg lettuce doesn’t appeal to you and your guests, try the Wedge Salad Redux. Your guests will get all the pleasure of the Wedge, but with half the work!

Serves 4

Photo: c. foodblogchef 2019
Wedge Salad Redux

Ingredients:

• 8-12 cherry tomatoes cut in half (up to you)

• 1 small shallot, peeled and diced, approximately 2 tablespoons

• 3 slices bacon

• 1 tablespoon red-wine vinegar

• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

• 4 ounces blue cheese, like Roquefort, crumbled

• 2-3 tablespoons of buttermilk

• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise

• 1/2 tablespoon olive oil

• 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce (or to taste)

• ½ teaspoon lemon juice

• 1 dash Worcestershire sauce, to taste

• 1/2 head of iceberg lettuce, the outer leaves removed, rinsed and dried, cored, and coarsely chopped.

• 12 very thinly sliced red onion slices

• 1 tablespoon finely minced chives to garnish

Preparation:

1. Combine the tomatoes, shallots, and vinegar in a small bowl, and shower with salt and black pepper to taste. Set aside.

2. Cook the bacon in a sauté pan until crisp on both sides, then drain on a paper towel. Crumble when cool, and set aside.

3. Make the dressing. Put half the cheese into a medium-size bowl, and mash with a whisk. Add the buttermilk, mayonnaise, olive oil, hot sauce, lemon juice, and Worcestershire sauce, then mash and whisk the dressing until it is mostly smooth. You may wish for a little more hot sauce, lemon juice or Worcestershire, to taste. Then whisk again, and set aside.*(Alternatively, if you have a mini-food-processor, throw all the ingredients in #3 above into the processor and process until you have a chunky dressing. Voila!)

4. Assemble the chopped iceberg evenly on four small plates; gently spoon dressing over each. (*Alternatively, you can put the chopped iceberg in a large bowl and toss it with the dressing before you plate it.)

5. Sprinkle each salad with crumbled bacon, the dressed tomato halves, onion slices, and some minced chives.

6. Freshly ground black pepper to individual taste.

Serve with crusty bread and no guilt. Your guests will thank you. Enjoy!