Harvest Salad

It's starting to be apple and pear season.. yea!

I LOVE apples and pears.  Mostly apples...  I miss the summer fruit...but grew up eating apples constantly.  Whenever I'm hungry to this day still mom says "Eat an apple!" 

I love experiencing the different varieties and flavors of apples, there are so many to choose from!  One of our favorite things to do is go to the local farm over here called Tapia Bros. and choose some tree ripened apples...they smell soooo good!

So the other night we were having a quick steak sandwich and I saw this recipe from Madison, over at Espresso and Cream for her Autumn Chopped Salad, and decided to make something similar.  Espresso and Cream is a fantastic blog.  If you have time go over and say Hi.  Thanks for the great recipe Madison!

This is my favorite salad right now...

I love the mix of fresh pears, apples, cranberries, and pecans....it's a Harvest Salad!

Now I got carried away making this salad and forgot to take all the step by step pictures....however, all you do is really chop everything up and throw it in a salad bowl. It's a chopped salad you see.  The dressing is a blend of sweet and tangy...sweet from the poppy seed dressing and tangy from some balsamic dressing.  I gave the proportions I used but feel free to experiment to suit your taste buds.

Tip:  Make sure to pick an apple you like.  I used a Pink Lady cause I love the sweet tart blend.  Also, make sure that your pear is ripe but still a little firm.  Who wants mushy pears!  I used a nice Bartlett pear.

So here's the end result.  I must say that I put some of the salad in a container for leftovers prior to adding the dressing so it wouldn't wilt.  It held up beautifully for 2 days.

Try this, it's truly amazing with all the fall flavors, bright and crisp!  Look how pretty!  Man, I want some now!

Harvest Salad

Adapted from Espresso and Cream Autumn Chopped Salad

Serves 4

Ingredients

6 c chopped romaine lettuce

2 medium pears, diced

2 medium apples, diced (pink lady are nice and sweet)

1 large carrot, grated
½ c dried cranberries
1/2 c chopped pecans
½ c feta cheese, crumbled
1/3 c Poppy seed Salad Dressing
¼ c (scant) Balsamic Vinaigrette

Instructions:

Chop all you ingredients, lettuce, pears, apples, carrot, and pecans.  In a large salad bowl combine the lettuce, pears, apples, carrot, cranberries, pecans, and feta cheese.

In a separate medium bowl mix your dressings together.  Drizzle over your salad to you desired amount and toss to covers all ingredients. 

Sunday Supper: Spiced Roasted Chicken and Vegetables

What does Sunday Supper mean to you?

A time to slow down on Sunday before going back to the work week?  A time to make suppers that take a little longer to make?  A time for you family and friends to gather around the table to enjoy a wonderful meal, laughter, and good conversation?

They mean all those things.

Fall brings Sunday Suppers to mind.  I guess because it's time to turn the oven on again.  To cook low and slow, for roasting, braising, slow cooking. 

So I bring to you a new seres of posts especially tapered to enjoying the Sunday Supper.

First up:  Roasting

Roasting is a cooking method that uses dry heat such as your oven and is a slower method of cooking that browns the meat through carmelization. It's suited to larger cuts of meat as well as vegetables. In the oven the hot air circulates cooking all sides evenly producing tender juicy meats.

So let's make a spicy hearty meal.  Spiced Roasted Chicken and Vegetables.

This is a satisfying dish with the flavors of Morocco and India.  It will warm you with the depth of cinnamon and paprika.  It's really delicious, and I hope you enjoy it!


First make your spice rub by mixing together the paprika and cinnamon.

Cut up your vegetables.  A rough chop will do.  Place the vegetables on a rimmed cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper.

Rub your chicken with the spice rub and place it on the pan with the vegetables. 

That's it.  Now let the oven do it's magic.  Place in a preheated 450 degree oven and cook for about 40 minutes until the chicken is done (juices run clear) and browned.

Transfer to a platter and enjoy with family and friends!

Hope you will try this for your next Sunday Supper.

Spice Roasted Chicken and Vegetables

serve 4

1 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tsp paprika

1  red onions, cut into 1/2-in. wedges

1  1 lb carrots, cut into sticks

1  1 lb red and yellow new potatoes, cut in ½ or quarters

2 Tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper

4 bone-in chicken breasts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Mix cinnamon and paprika in a small bowl.

Cut vegetables.  Place on a large rimmed cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper.

Rub chicken with spice rub.  Place chicken on the pan with the vegetables.

Cook for 40 minutes until chicken is done and browned.  Transfer to a platter and serve.

Food Truck Phenomenon

What a unique idea my company had.

They decided to celebrate Heritage Day by bringing in a gang of "food trucks" that serve foods of different ethnicity!

How awesome is that?

So I don't know if you seen them, but Food Trucks are the hottest craze.  Ever seen Food Truck Wars on the Food Network Channel?  Well they are actually gourmet food trucks that tour around the city to different locations during the day, and people come and eat!  One of the trucks visiting us was on that show...how exciting!  They also all gather in a certain spot and you can enjoy all of them at once!  So cool!


You can go online and track your favorite food truck around the city if you want...it's such a new craze!


Everyone at work was soooo hyped up about this.  They wanted to try something at every truck!  We had a 2 day food truck binge.  You won't believe what's coming...

Day 1


Here are the Food Trucks:


LudoTruck's Guerrilla Fried Chicken
(Guerrilla Fried Chicken, biscuits and slaw)

The Poutine Truck (Canadian Comfort Dish with French Fries and Gravy)

 more trucks... 

Great Balls on Tires (Meat Balls done every which 

way!)

The Great American Grill Truck

Tapaboy Truck (Filipino Breakfast Truck - meat, fried rice and egg dishes)

Barbie's Q (Rolin BBQ joint e.g., pulled pork 

sandwiches, ribs)

And the Lobsta Truck!  (Everything Lobster)












Look at this crowd....

OMG I forgot about this one....The Sprinkles Cupcake Truck!!! Look at this line...

Now the food...the FOOD!  YUM...excellent...each and every one of them!!! Take a look.

These are the Canadian Poutine Fries with Gravy....My friend bought these and I sneaked a taste...YUM!

Incrediballs....(sure were)

Ciao Balla....excellent! I had these...I want more.....now!

LudoTruck's Guerrilla Fried Chicken
look at that crust!

And for dessert Sprinkles cupcakes!  They actually sold out first and had to turn people away.


Vanilla and Lemon

So that was just day 1....can you believe it!  We were in food truck heaven.  So much so that we all went online and found that most trucks gather on Friday nights on a street in Granada Hills, Chatsworth street.  It's like a food fest every Friday.  If you have a chance and are in the area...you gotta go!

Heaven on wheels!

Happy Friday!

part 2 coming soon...