Oranges and Fennel and Beets - Oh My! (salad)

1 romaine heart*

2 medium golden beets - scrubbed

1 sm.-med. turnip - peeled

~1 lemon or lime - zest and juice

~2T sugar or honey

~3T rosemary olive oil

~1t garlic salt

~½t+ finely ground pepper

~½c craisins

~¼c chopped pecans

~¼c slivered almonds

2 CaraCara oranges

1 lg. fennel bulb

2-4 green onions

several sprigs of fresh parsley

Quarter romaine lengthwise, then wash, spin and dry it in your salad spinner.* <—my favorite!  Transfer it to  a large salad bowl  Using either great knife skills, 😉either julienne slice the beets and turnips - or - crank them through a spiralizer.* <—This will take you to a Paderno Spiralizer demo video.)  Put immediately in with the lettuce.  Combine the next 8 ingredients in a small bowl and microwave 30 seconds.  Whisk, then pour over the ingredients in the salad bowl.  Toss well to distribute everything evenly and coat the whole salad with dressing.

Peel the oranges, then cut into quarters, then segments.  Cut the top and bottom off the fennel, then thin-slice or spiralize across the grain.  Slice onions and break up parsley.  Add all this to the bowl, toss gently, but enough to coat and mix all the components.  This makes a lot!  4 big servings.  *If there will be leftovers romaine is best.  If you're going to finish this soon after composing, and would rather, you could use baby spinach.  Feta cheese could also be crumbled over each serving. . .Lin

Orange, Oat, and Almond (Corn) Quick Bread

1 pkg. corn bread mix

1/4c ground flax seed

3/4c quick oats

1/2c slivered almonds

1/2c golden raisins

1/2t baking powder

1t pumpkin pie spice

juice from 1 Cara Cara Orange

zest from 1-2 oranges

2 eggs

1/4c half and half

1/4c cooking oil

In a medium size bowl, combine the first 7 dry ingredients, stirring to blend.  In another bowl, combine the remaining liquid ingredients, whisking together well.  Pour this into the dry ingredient bowl and stir together with a wooden spoon.  Bake at 350° for 30-40 minutes in a buttered 9"x13" glass pan. . .Lin

Cranberry-Orange Waldorf Relish

2c fresh cranberries

3 clementines

1 Granny Smith apple

3/4c sugar

1/2±t fresh ground black pepper

1c celery heart

3/4c walnuts

(I decided not to use the raisins)

Using a food processor, grind up the cranberries, apple and oranges.  You may need to peel the apple for it to grind up well.  Transfer to a medium bowl and stir in the sugar and pepper.  Next, either process or finely chop the celery and walnuts then add to the bowl.  Make this at least several hours beforehand, or the day before, to blend the flavors. . .Lin