Roasted Beet and Orange Salad

Ohhh, no matter what variation of a Beet Salad I make, I always love it!
This might be the first time I've paired orange and beet, and definitely the first for the greens I used.

Cover the bottom of a glass pan with EVOO. Scrub and dry your beets with a paper towel. Don't peel them - root vegetables absorb so many great nutrients through the skin, so don't lose those. Cut them in similar size pieces and put them cut side down in the pan.

Brush the outsides with the oil from the pan and season with garlic salt, black and cayenne pepper. Roast in a preheated 375° oven about a half hour or until a fork inserted comes out easily.

While that's happening, make a bed of baby arugula and microgreens in a big salad bowl. Today I used red cabbage, kale and basil microgreens. Add sliced Vidalia onion, zest and segments of a Caracara orange, a big handful of sprouted pumpkin seeds and some sharp cheese (crumbled feta, blue cheese or shredded parmesan-romano work best). 

When the beets are done, cool just enough to touch and cut into chunks. Toss all this together and drizzle with raspberry vinaigrette dressing. Don't make this one ahead of time.

It's better made-and-served right away. . .And then it will be
Perfect. . .and. . .DE-licious! . .Lin

Avocado Vegetable Salad or Toast Spread

I was going to make this as a vegetable-heavy spread for avocado toast, then remembered halfway through the prep that I was out of bread. . .Hence the salad! This would be good either way.

1 sm. ripe avocado

1 Campari tomato 

1/4 Vidalia onion

1 lg. clove of garlic
1 lg. orange mini pepper
2-3T sour cream
3/4c shredded Parmesan 
a drizzle of lemon vinaigrette 
black + cayenne pepper
garlic salt

Mash the avocado and finely chop all the vegetables. Mix together, season, add the sour cream and a little vinaigrette and the cheese. Stir until well combined.

Spread on toasted sourdough bread or serve as a salad over your favorite chopped lettuce. Today my green base was torn up pea microgreens and baby arugula. This makes enough for 2 servings of salad or toast. . .Lin

Cottage Cheese Flagels (flat bagels)

Well now. . .I'm NOT a bagel person, but the picture of these I saw looked really good, and I'm still trying to create a couple go-to quick, savory bread, biscuit or cornbread type recipes. These look softer than a traditional bagels, browned tops and have chopped green stuff in 'em, so I had to try making them.

The ingredients were not all listed, nor were there any instructions. I Googled cottage cheese flagels, I found what I needed, but of course I made changes. . .

1c + a little more flour

~ I used about 2/3c all purpose and 1/2c rye flour

~ next time I might try corn flour in place of the rye

1t Italian seasoning

1t granulated garlic

1T baking powder

1/2t garlic salt

1c cottage cheese

2T single source EVOO

3/4c grated Dubliner cheese

2oz. finely chopped baby arugula

1 beaten egg for egg wash

Preheat your oven to 375°

In a big glass bowl combine all the ingredients. A recipe I found said to blend the cottage cheese in a blender or food processor, but I skipped that step and the cottage cheese stirred in just fine. Ideally, whisk together all the dry first, then add the rest. In putting all this into the bowl, I forgot to do the dry whisk, but after stirring with a wooden spoon and then mixing well with a little water on my hands, it all came together nicely. The recipe said 2oz. fresh spinach, but I had arugula that needed to be used, which gives these a more peppery flavor.

When well combined, form this into a fat cylinder about 6-8" long. Slice into 6 or 8 pieces, poke your finger through the middle of each one. Flatten each piece on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Brush with the beaten egg and sprinkle with a little Everything Bagel Seasoning. Bake about 22 minutes or until golden brown. These turned out well, the bottoms were also nicely browned and crispy.

Cool completely on a wire rack before serving. Great with soup or a big salad. . .Lin