Harvest Salad

Hello SUMMER! I have been waiting to say that for too long. Since my last day of school on Friday, I have been cooking away. I came across this salad that I absolutely love, and I just had to share it with you all. It is the perfect dish to bring to a backyard barbecue or a potluck at the beach. 

Harvest Salad

adapted from allrecipes

Note: Try to find a jam that is a little runnier than usual. It mixes better in a salad dressing because it is easier to separate. 

Ingredients: 

1 bunch spinach, rinsed and torn into bite size pieces

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese

2 tomatoes, chopped

1 avocado, peeled, pitted and diced

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons red raspberry jam (with seeds)

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1/3 cup olive oil

freshly ground black pepper to taste

salt to taste

Directions: 

1. To toast walnuts, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Then, spread walnuts out in a single layer on a baking sheet. Toast them in the preheated oven for 5 minutes, or until they begin to brown. 
2. In a large salad bowl, toss spinach, walnuts, cranberries, blue cheese, tomatoes, and red onion together. 
3. In a small bowl, mix jam, vinegar, olive oil, pepper, and salt together.
4. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to coat. Add avocado and toss the salad only a few times carefully so avocado does not turn to mush. Serve!

Yields 6 Servings

Friends of Fairbanks Ranch Newsletter: April

I write for a monthly neighborhood newsletter called Friends of Fairbanks. I added a copy of my article in the April edition below for your enjoyment. 

Friends of Fairbanks Ranch Newsletter: March

I write for a monthly neighborhood newsletter called Friends of Fairbanks. I added a copy of my article in the March edition below for your enjoyment. 

Friends of Fairbanks Ranch Newsletter: February

I write for a monthly neighborhood newsletter called Friends of Fairbanks. I added a copy of my article in the February edition below for your enjoyment. 

Friends of Fairbanks Ranch Newsletter: January

I write for a monthly neighborhood newsletter called Friends of Fairbanks. I added a copy of my article in the January edition below for your enjoyment.

While the articles in the newsletter may on occasion stray towards my culinary interests author, the majority of them describe my experiences as a student, an athlete, and a leader. 

I hope you will smile with me during my successes and laugh with me during my shortfalls. 

Individual Chicken Pot Pies

For Chanukah, my brother gave me four 2-cup ramekins. When I asked him what I should make first in them, he replied, “I got you the big ones so that you could make dessert.” Instead of starting off the new year with a huge chocolate soufflé, I opted to bake personal chicken pot pies for my family. The pot pies symbolize a mixture of beginnings and endings. They mark my first cooking adventure of 2012, yet they also represent the last recipe of winter break.

Goodbye 2011. Hello 2012!

Note: Since my brother doesn’t like celery but loves green peas, I omitted the celery and added an extra 1/2 cup of frozen green peas. 

Another Note: I try to get organic food when it is available. A couple years ago, there was not organic substitute for Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry carried at Jimbo’s, a local natural grocer. Now, though, Wholly Wholesome makes an Organic Pie Dough, which is what I used for this recipe. 

Individual Chicken Pot Pies

yields 4 individual pot pies

1 1/4 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves cubed

1 cup carrots sliced

1 cup frozen green peas

1 cup celery sliced

1/3 cup butter

1/3 cup yellow onion chopped

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon celery salt

1 3/4 cups chicken stock

2/3 cup milk

2 9-inch unbaked pie doughs

1 egg

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. 

2. Combine chicken, carrots, and peas in a saucepan. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Boil for 15 minutes, remove from heat, and drain. Set aside. 

3. Meanwhile, in another saucepan over medium heat, cook onions in butter until soft and translucent. Add flour, salt, pepper, and celery seed. Slowly stir in chicken stock and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick. Remove from heat. 

4. Add chicken mixture to sauce, stirring to coat chicken and vegetables in sauce. 

5. Equally divide the chicken and sauce mixture between 4 2-cup ramekins or oven-proof bowls. Cover each ramekin with half of a 9-inch pie dough. Allow dough to hang 1/2 inch over the side of the ramekin and tear excess off. Crack and whisk the egg. Coat the dough (top and sides) with egg to ensure crispy, flaky crust. Make a slit in the middle to allow steam to escape. 

6. Bake for 13 to 17 minutes, or until dough is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving. 

adapted from allrecipes

Friends of Fairbanks Ranch Articles

In August, I received a copy of Friends of Fairbanks Ranch, a monthly neighborhood newsletter, in the mail. I emailed the editors, Mr. and Mrs. Britton, and asked them if I could write for their magazine. We set up an interview for later that afternoon at a local coffee shop. I drove myself to my friend’s house down the street for advice and a quick pep talk. She told me what I already knew: to smile. I called my mom to give her a quick update on the situation (she had no idea before then that I had even called Mr. Britton). I ended up getting the position, and I became a writer for the newsletter.

My first article was published in the October Issues of Friends of Fairbanks Ranch and the Covenant Connector. 

{October 2011}

{November 2011}

{December 2011}