Kale and Blood Orange Salad with Chevre and Hazelnuts

 Buckle up, this post is a doozy.

You know what they say about the road to hell? Yeah. Pretty much.
I started off the year with my healthy, clean detox and I was posting here every day. I felt great, the blog picked up some new readers and things were looking bright and shiny. I meant to keep it all up. Then I got lazy. I started cooking much less healthfully and blogging much less frequently. Both of these facts resulted in me feeling cranky and unhappy. Lucky for me, Fake Lent (I am not catholic, or religious, for that matter) rolls around just about the same time as my new years resolutions are fading to small specks in the rearview mirror*. Even though I am under no religious obligation to observe Lent, I find that it's helpful for me to take this time to retool and reboot my resolutions.

This year I have decided to give up fast food for Fake Lent. It won't be very difficult since pre-Fake Lent I only ate fast food a few times a month, but I wanted to pick something that wouldn't discourage me too much like, say, giving up butter (HA!) Knowing that I can definitely meet this easy challenge makes me feel more confident in undertaking a few other challenges. These are plans that I am not making any promises about but that I have the very best of intentions for. I intend to blog a lot more. This means that the format of my blog my change a bit. Instead of strictly recipes and recipe photos, I want to start doing more for gluten-free mankind (and the rest of you suckers) by reviewing restaurants and products and talking about the food I eat even when it isn't a photo-worthy recipe. I also intend to eat more healthfully and conscientiously. Inspired by Food, Inc, I have become much more selective about the foods I eat and where they come from. I plan to include more seasonal, local and just plain healthy foods in my recipes. OK! Now, I'll step off my soapbox and share an amazingly delicious and superbly healthy recipe that takes advantage of the gorgeous kale and blood oranges that are still in season and easy to get at any Farmer's Market in LA.

 This recipe comes from The Bitten Word who adapted it from Martha.

Oooh, wait, I have to hop back on my soap box for a second to talk about kale. Kale rocks. The "picky" in my name sometimes prevents me from enjoying greens the way those granola crunching hippies seem to. Many greens are just too strong for my palate and I avoided kale for a long time because I was afraid it would just be like all the others. It's not! Kale is super mild but has a great crunch. First timers might even try substituting it for iceberg in a plain ol salad with ranch. Don't be like me, don't you dare be like me!(read in dramatic, Lifetime movie style voice.) Try kale before you judge it. Now, back to our regularly scheduled recipe:
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds Tuscan black kale or regular kale, stems and ribs removed, leaves shredded
- 4-6 blood oranges, supremed, juice reserved (see instructions)
- 1/2 cup hazelnuts, toasted and chopped (see instructions)
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 oz fresh goat cheese, crumbled
- Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions
Toast your hazelnuts in a dry skillet over medium heat, swirling them every couple of minutes. Toast until the nuts are fragrant and the skin is beginning to flake off and turn darker brown. When the nuts are toasted, pour them onto a towel or paper towel and make a pouch.

 Roll the pouch around in your palm or on a flat surface to remove the bitter skins.

 

Now roughly chop the hazelnuts and set them aside.

 

 Cut the top and bottom off the blood oranges.

Using a sharp knife, cut off the skin in strips leaving no white bits but also staying as close to the fruit as possible (try not to cut off too much of the actual orange.)

 Once all the skin and pith are removed, hold the naked orange over a bowl and cut out each segment, one at a time.

 Use a very sharp paring knife and cut along the membrane, just on either side of it. You want to get all orange but no membrane.

 Place the segments in one bowl and the leftover hulls in another. When you are finished, squeeze the membrane-y orange carcasses (nice imagery, right?) with your hands or through a mesh strainer to get all the juice out of them, then discard them.

 

 

 Place washed, dried, stemmed and chopped kale in a large bowl.

Drizzle with vinegar, oil, and reserved orange juice; toss.

 Add oranges, hazelnuts and goat cheese and toss again, gently.

 Season with salt and pepper. Let stand for 30 minutes before serving.

 * I am happy to report that I have thus far successfully kept my resolution to limit myself to ONE bag of Sour Cream and Cheddar Ruffles plus ONE 16 oz container of Ralph's sour cream per month. This is not as easy as it sounds and I am hereby giving myself a hearty pat on the back and an enthusiastic "keep it up!"

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Ranch Dressing from Scratch

When I order a salad and am given a choice of dressings, I always order the same one. Ranch. Any true ranch dressing aficionado knows that there is good ranch and there is bad ranch. Bad ranch comes in bottles or little packets at fast food restaurants and is served over iceberg salads with those teeny cubed croutons and unripe tomatoes. Bad ranch leaves a nasty chemical taste in your mouth. It is all tang with no richness. It sucks and it can ruin a perfectly good salad in an instant. GOOD ranch on the other hand is a gift from the gods. It tastes creamy and garlicky and buttermilk-y. It tastes freshly made because if it's REALLY good ranch, it probably is. It makes chicken strips and onion rings a thousand times better and don't even get me STARTED on french fries.

No matter where you go, you can never be sure which ranch you will get, fancy places sometimes serve nasty ranch and holes-in-the-wall sometimes pony up the good stuff. The secret to good ranch is making it from scratch. It's not hard and it's not expensive which is why you can find it at truck stops and diners. I urge all you ranch lovers out there to try this recipe. If you think all ranch dressing is the same, make this recipe and taste test it against any bottle of ranch you get at the store (even the kind from the refrigerated section.) I promise you, this ranch will blow the others away.
I offer two versions of my recipe, one with fresh garlic and one that only uses dried spices that you probably have in your cabinet already. They are both delicious, the one with fresh garlic is a little spicier and a lot more garlicky. Next time you get served BAD ranch, go home and make this. You'll never want to eat a salad outside your home again!

EZ RANCH
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 Tbsp Kosher salt
- 2 tsp dried parsley
- 1/2 tsp onion powder (add more to taste if you think you need it but wait 24 hours before you add)
- 1/2 tsp MSG*
- black pepper to taste
- dash of Cholula or hot sauce of your choice

Whisk together buttermilk and mayo until smooth. Add all other ingredients and whisk until blended. Chill for at least 30 minutes, taste, adjust seasonings to suit your taste then chill for another half hour before serving, overnight is better. Keeps in the fridge for over a week.

Fresh Garlic Ranch
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 clove fresh garlic (med to large)
- 1 1/2 Tbsp Kosher Salt
- 2 tsp dried parsley
- 2-3 small stalks of fresh chives (chopped)
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp MSG*
- black pepper to taste
- dash of Cholula


Cut the garlic clove into four pieces. Pour 1 Tbsp of kosher salt over the garlic then mash into a paste using a fork. Once the paste is of uniform consistency, place it in a bowl. Add the buttermilk and mayo and whisk until smooth. Add the remaining salt, parsley, chives, onion powder, MSG, pepper and Cholula and whisk together. Chill for at least 30 minutes, taste, adjust seasonings to suit your taste then chill for another half hour before serving, overnight is better. Keeps in the fridge for over a week.

Pictured is Callie's Magic Salad: Butter lettuce, diced red peppers, persian cucumber slices, halved cherry tomatoes, chopped broccoli and cauliflower, slivered toasted, unsalted almonds, shredded cheddar cheese and RANCH.

*Ok. I know what you're thinking. MSG? WTF!? #1 MSG does not give ME headaches. I have tested it. If it gives YOU headaches (or if you THINK it does) simply leave it out #2 MSG makes stuff taste better. Seriously. It does. #3 MSG is gluten free. I understand that MSG is controversial. I am just publishing my recipe exactly as I made it.

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Ruby Red Grapefruit Avocado Salad

I once had a salad like this at a catered event and I loved how the creaminess of the avocado was brought out by the zest of the grapefruit. I couldn't wait to go home and try to make it myself The crunch of the butter lettuce and cashews contrast with the softness of avocado. This salad is surprisingly delicious, all the elements play off one another perfectly.

- 2 whole ruby red grapefruits
- 1 medium avocado
- 1 Bag of pre-washed Butter Lettuce w/ Radicchio
- 1/4 cup toasted, unsalted cashew pieces
- 3/4 cup grapefruit juice
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- splash of good white wine (I use King Shag Sauvignon Blanc from TJ's)
- 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
- 1/2 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 pinch black pepper

Peel and supreme* grapefruits and reserve the unused pieces. Press into a mesh strainer to extract as much of the remaining juice as you can. Place the whole segments in your salad bowl.

*To "supreme": first, using a sharp knife, cut disks of skin off the top and bottom of the grapefruit. Make sure you cut deep enough that the fruit shows. Cut off the skin in strips going from top to bottom, following the curve of the fruit. You want to remove the peel and the pith but not remove too much of the fruit. Once the peel is removed Cut out the segments, leaving behind the tough skin between the segments but cutting as close to that skin as possible. As you remove each segment, set it aside.

Halve avocado and remove pit, slice into thin slices and place slices in bowl with grapefruit segments. Mix gently to coat avocado with grapefruit juice to avoid browning.

For the dressing: Place the grapefruit juice, lime juice, vinegar, wine, mustard, honey, salt and pepper in a blender and blend to incorporate, about 10 seconds, add the olive oil slowly and blend an additional 5 seconds. Adjust seasoning to taste.

Add the greens to the salad bowl with the avocado and grapefruit. Add in the dressing and toss gently to coat the lettuce. Add in the cashews and serve!

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Tomatermelon Goat Cheese Salad with Avocado

I had some leftover goat cheese from my pizza and wanted to use it up in something easy and tasty. I decided to make a summery salad with a tangy dressing and a surprise element. The avocado in this dish may sound a little weird but the creaminess balances out the acid in the tomato and the sharp tang of the goat cheese. The slightly salty dressing makes the watermelon extra sweet and juicy. There are a million ways you could play with this salad to adjust it to your tastes (try basil or fresh mint instead of chives) but it's pretty fantastic as is (if I do say so myself)

For Dressing

- 3-4 oz goat cheese (reserve a bit of goat cheese to put on top of the salad)
- 4 tbsp buttermilk
- 3 tsp. white wine vinegar
- 1 tsp. dijon mustard
- 1-2 tsp. sugar to taste
- sea salt and pepper to taste
- 2 stalks fresh chives, snipped into teeny tiny pieces
- splash of white wine

For Salad

- 3-4 large Heirloom tomatoes, cut into sections
- 4-5 Cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
- 1/2" - 1" chunks of watermelon (as much as you like, I used about 2 cups)
- 1 avocado cut into small chunks
- 1-2 tbsp goat cheese

Mix veggies and fruit together in a large bowl.

Whisk together dressing ingredients.

Plop a few dollops of goat cheese on top.

Pour dressing over salad and enjoy!

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