chile infused beet and radicchio salad

Ingredients:

1 head radicchio, whole leaves

2 carrots, thinly sliced

1 lb beets

2 dried ancho chiles

1 tsp salt

8 small radishes

3 peppers

juice from 1 lime

3 Tbsp olive oil

1 1/2 tsp chili flakes

cilantro, whole leaves for garnish

1/4 lb queso fresco, crumbled

Add beets and ancho chilis to a pot of boiling water with 1 tsp of salt. Adjust to a simmer and cook for 35 minutes. Remove beets from liquid and cool. Remove the chilis. Slice radishes and carrots thinly, and peppers in a 1/4" dice. Mix olive oil, lime juice, chili flakes, and salt and pepper to taste, in a dressing shaker. Let sit while beets cool so that the chili can permeate the dressing. When the beets have cooled, add them over the radicchio leaves. Top with other veggies and dressing. Then crumble queso fresco over the dish, and top with whole cilantro leaves.

I ate this for dinner the other night, and for lunch the past two days. The dressing and dish flavor just gets better with age. Sweet, spicy, salty, and just damn delicious. I kind of wish we would get this all in the box again sometime soon.

orange quinoa with black beans and cilantro, spring salad with grapefruit shallot vinaigrette

Whole grains are awesome. Beans are great. Strawberry season makes life worth living. It is getting warmer outside (although not today in S.F.) and that means it's time for cold picnic salads to eat at... well, a picnic!

These two recipes use eight different ingredients from the box! Eight!!!


Ingredients:
Quinoa:
2 cups quinoa
4 cups water
3/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 can black beans, rinsed well and drained
1/4 cup chopped cilantro, tightly packed (1/2 of a bunch)
1 piece of green garlic, green parts only, sliced on a 1/2" bias (You could also use a green onion.)
2 tsp smoked paprika
salt and pepper to taste

Rinse and drain your quinoa several times with cold water. Quinoa has natural tannins (bitter compounds, like those in tea) that coat its exterior and you really don't want them hanging around. Add the quinoa and 4 cups of water to a pot, bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. When the quinoa has finished cooking (no more water in the bottom), fluff it with a fork and set it aside to cool for at least ten minutes. You could totally do this a day or two in advance, just make sure its tightly covered in the refrigerator during storage. Toss the black beans, cilantro, and green garlic into the quinoa. Mix the citrus juices together with the smoked paprika and add to the rest of the dish. Toss together and season with salt and pepper. This dish has a ton of veggie protein, is super low fat, high in fiber, and not to forget- refreshingly good!


Stop. Salad time!

Ingredients:
Spring salad:
1/2 lb mixed baby greens
1 apple, sliced
4 big strawberries, sliced
4 red radishes, sliced

Grapefruit shallot vinaigrette:
3 Tbsp Olive oil
1 1/2 Tbsp red or pink grapefruit juice (these are the sweet ones, not the sour ones)
1 shallot, finely minced
salt and pepper to taste


In a dressing shaker (what we refer to as a dressing shaker or container is actually an old glass peanut butter or Veganaise jar) combine the grapefruit juice, shallots, olive oil, some salt and pepper. Shake it like you mean it, taste, adjust your seasonings. Combine all ingredients in a bowl, add dressing, toss and eat!

I have to admit that I was skeptical about this salad dressing at first, although I didn't let Katie know that. However, once I tasted it- oh my god, was I wrong! It was crisp, sweet, tangy, and just really made all of the ingredients in the salad mesh together so well. We will totally be making this again.

burgers!!!

OK so here's what we did with the other half of our organic/free-range/local/grassfedandfinished/hormonefree/OMGyay!!! beef:

We made some big ass mother effen hamburgers, alriiight. Served on a cheddar kaiser roll, topped with romaine, grilled onions and emmentaler cheese. For a side, we threw together a salad of romaine, radishes and apples, dressed with the #1 Officially Endorsed Salad Dressing of the CSA delivery blog: Annies's Goddess dressing.

Now back to your regularly scheduled vegetarian blog... for a little while anyway.

p.s.: Californians, please vote Yes on Prop 2 tomorrow! Help stop cruel animal conditions on factory farms.

lemon shallot vinaigrette

Tonight we ate our leftover spicy pumpkin soup and threw together a salad. I know leftovers are not "blog-worthy" but I thought the dressing Kenny made for our salad tonight was fantastic so here it is!

Ingredients:
1 shallot, minced
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tsp dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste

Mince one large shallot bulb, put all other ingredients into a bowl or shaker. Mix 'em up, season and serve.