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Engaging stories of love, joy, comfort and friendship with proven scrumptious, healthy recipes, we celebrate LOVE as the secret ingredient for wonderful food!

Perfect Salad of Endive, Blood Oranges & Golden Beets for your Sweetheart

February 14, 2016 by Mary 9 Comments

 

Perfect Salad of Endive, Blood Oranges and Golden Beets.We are ensconced in upstate New York where the temperature is -9 degrees. No joke. And that’s not the wind chill number, which I am afraid to even know. I had a duck breast that needed to be cooked yesterday, so I made a special dinner last night and I will make one again tonight to celebrate Valentine’s Day! It is way too cold to venture out. Much better to just snuggle in at home. So last night, I made this Perfect Salad (as my husband called it) of Endive, Blood Oranges & Golden Beets. It was refreshing, delicious and different. A crisp way to start a meal so I wanted to share this with you – make it tonight for your sweetheart!

It is simple and quick to make – except for roasting the beets takes some time. I love blood oranges. They remind me of a past romantic trip to Italy many years ago. Steve remarked that although these blood oranges were good, they are better in Italy. Maybe that was the romance part?

Sliced duck breast, farro, snow peas and shiitake mushrooms on a dinner plate.

Dinner was followed by a duck breast seasoned with Chinese Five Spice and star anise and topped with a special ingredient that may go in the next MARY’s secret ingredients box (it’s amazing!), farro and snow peas sautéed with shiitake mushrooms.

Tonight I’m making a Caesar salad, roast beef, baked potato and lemon roasted asparagus. A real traditional dinner Steve will also love.

What’s on your menu?

PERFECT SALAD OF ENDIVE, BLOOD ORANGES & GOLDEN BEETS – serves 2

1 Belgian endive, trimmed and separated into leaves
2 blood oranges
3 small to medium-sized golden beets – roasted (roast extra for another day!)
1 heaping Tbs. finely minced shallot
1 Tbs. red wine vinegar
2 Tbs. olive oil + 2 tsp. for the beets
Salt
Pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Scrub the beets and dry with paper toweling. Place beets on a sheet of aluminum foil, drizzle on 2 teaspoons of olive oil, season with Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. Close foil up to make a neat sealed packet. Place packet in a baking dish and roast in the oven for an hour. Check for tenderness carefully as steam will blast out of the aluminum foil. A skewer should pierce each beet easily when done. Let cool and then peel and quarter each beet.

Trim, wash and pat dry each endive leave.

Wash oranges. Slice off the top and bottom so the orange will stand up flat on the cutting board. Then slice off all the peel and pith, top to bottom, following the curve of the orange with your knife. Slice each orange horizontally into 4 or 5 slices. Remove any white center part.

Combine the shallots with the vinegar in a small bowl. Gradually whisk in the olive oil and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Arrange the endive in a fan shape at the top of the plate, then fan out the blood oranges and then the quartered beets at the bottom. Drizzle the vinaigrette over all. Serve right away with LOVE.

If you forgot to get a V-day gift for your honey, go to MARY’s secret ingredients and order a full year subscription. It’s the gift that keeps on giving all year long with seasonal deliveries. Download a gift certificate at checkout to print and present today. The next box – spring – mails on March 25th and it is going to be AMAZING! Use the code VALENTINESDAY for 20% off!

Filed Under: First Course, Salads Tagged With: blood oranges, endives, golden beets, perfect salads

A wonderful combination and tangerines are in season!

March 14, 2012 by Mary Frances Leave a Comment

I first made this salad for my visiting brother, David, and his wife, Pat. What I didn’t realize until much later, was that this became one of Patti’s all time favorite dishes. She went home and made it and made it and made it so many times that finally David said, “Again? Patti it’s really good but enough already!”

We all love beets in our family – after all we’re Polish and the Poles practically only have root vegetables, as my son tells me after living there for two different six month stints. Beets are served at almost every meal, along with horseradish. Soon, I’ll post our all-time family favorite recipe of beets and horseradish, as we get closer to Easter, as it is an imperative Easter breakfast dish in our household.

But I digress. My brother, Mark would say, “Midge (my nickname), is this plane ever going to land?” So yes it is! This is a fantastic, surprising, most refreshing and light combination! Beets are always good with goat cheese and toasted walnuts, but this is a real treat to your palate.

Now you may think it’s a lot of work and time consuming. It does take time but you can divide it up. Roast your beets the night before while you’re making your dinner, peel them and store in the fridge. Also you can toast your pine nuts the night before too. Toast more pine nuts than you need and store in an airtight plastic container so you have them on hand to throw in a pasta dish, on other salads or on some haricot verts, Remember, the more you cook, the easier it is, because you’ll start to have things on hand – salad dressings, croutons, toasted nuts. All good things!

Beets and tangerines on arugula.

An iPhone photo of a photo on a BlackBerry!


BEETS AND TANGERINES ON A BED OF ARUGULA

-serves 4

4 golden beets
1.5 tbs. pine nuts
3 tbs. olive oil
3-4 oz. of washed, dried and chilled arugula
4 tangerines
2 small shallots, thinly sliced
1.5 tbs. raspberry vinegar
Salt
Pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Put the washed, scrubbed and dried beets in large piece of aluminum foil, drizzle with 1 tbs. olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Draw up the aluminum foil to make a packet. Place the packet in a baking dish (they might leak) and roast for 60 – 70 minutes, until they are tender and easily pierced with a skewer. When they are cool enough to handle, peel the beets and cut into sixths or eighths, or store whole in the refrigerator.

In a small non-stick skillet, over medium high heat, toast the pine nuts, stirring constantly until they are golden brown. Place in a small dish to cool.

Using a sharp knife, cut each end off of the tangerine so you have a flat bottom and top, then slice around the curve and cut off the remaining peel. Once the tangerine is peeled, over a medium bowl, slice in between the membranes to release the tangerine sections. Squeeze the juice from the membranes into a small bowl; you should have 1/4 cup.

In another small bowl, toss the sliced shallots and raspberry vinegar with a pinch of salt and let stand for 5 minutes. Stir in the 1/4 cup of tangerine juice and whisk in the remaining 2 tbs. of olive oil. Season the dressing with salt.

Place a handful of arugula on each plate. Arrange the beets and tangerine sections on plates and drizzle with the dressing. Top with the toasted pine nuts and serve.

If you have refrigerated the roasted beets overnight, bring to room temperature before using. Also, the tangerines are better at room temperature as well.

Filed Under: First Course, Salads Tagged With: arugula, beets, first course, golden beets, olive oil, pine nuts, raspberry vinegar, refreshing salads, salads, shallots, tangerines, toasted pine nuts, unique

Indian Spiced Roast Beets!

November 9, 2011 by Mary Frances 4 Comments

This recipe is really different and so good. I love roasted beets on a salad with goat cheese and toasted walnuts. And then we have a family Polish dish of lightly pickled beets with horseradish that is wonderful with Polish sausage, eggs and homemade bread, but then after that, what do you do with beets besides roasting with olive oil, salt and pepper? Well here is just the recipe. It is really different and really delicious. It is a Melissa Clark recipe, Indian Spiced Roast Beets, from the New York Times that I have altered. I hope you like it as much as we did. Serve with LOVE and enjoy!

beets

INDIAN SPICED ROAST BEETS
Serves 4

1 3/4 pounds beets; a mix of red, and golden
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher or French grey salt, more to taste
Pepper, to taste
1/2 teaspoon brown mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 fat garlic clove, minced
1/3 cup sour cream
1/2 jalapeño pepper, finely chopped with seeds
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1 teaspoon lime juice, more to taste
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro or parsley

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Peel the beets and cut into 1-inch chunks. Toss with the oil and season with 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper. Roast for 30 minutes, tossing occasionally, then sprinkle with mustard seeds, coriander and cumin and roast until the beets are tender, about 15 minutes more.

While the beets roast, prepare the dressing: using the side of a knife or mortar and pestle, mash the garlic with a pinch of salt until it forms a paste. Place sour cream in a bowl; whisk in garlic paste, jalapeño, ginger, 1/4 teaspoon salt and lime juice. Whisk in the cilantro or parsley.

Scrape the warm beets into a large bowl. Stir in the dressing. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.

Filed Under: Vegetables Tagged With: beets, coriander, cumin, ginger, golden beets, Indian spices, jalapeno, Melissa Clark, mustard seeds, red beets

Weeknight entertaining

September 20, 2011 by Mary Frances Leave a Comment

Weeknight entertaining is easy to do if you plan a little bit ahead. We enjoy seeing our friends in the city during the week as we are usually in the country on the weekends. So on the weekend, I knew my good friend MB was coming for dinner on Monday night. On Saturday, I started marinating my chicken, I roasted and peeled my golden beets for the salad and toasted the walnuts. Easy. Here’s my menu:

APPETIZERS
A platter of sliced soprasetta, thin breadsticks, fresh fennel sticks, a little bowl of basil olive oil with salt, pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice, pistachio nuts, Siracha peas and a large square of Spanakopita from the Greek store, warmed and cut into four.

DINNER
Baby spinach salad with roasted golden beets, toasted walnuts, goat cheese and a sherry vinaigrette (wash and chill spinach, cut beets, arrange all, make vinaigrette & drizzle)
Buttermilk roast chicken on a white platter.Buttermilk roasted chicken (all your work was done on Saturday)
Corn on the cob (easy to roast in their husks, 350 degree oven for 25 – 30 minutes)
Tomato, mozzerella and basil with olive oil, salt and pepper (easy – just wash, slice and arrange)

DESSERT
Baklava with fresh strawberries (wash and dry berries, cut store-bought Baklava)

I wanted this dinner to be casual, easy and serve some of the freshness that is left from the farms upstate. I’d say I succeeded! All 4 of us were content and happy. You may think why salad/salad with the beets and tomatoes but the beet salad was served as a first course and the tomatoes and mozzerella were served with the meal and it didn’t feet that way. Both were delicious. Besides, I didn’t want a plate with just corn and chicken on it for the main meal. This chicken is my son Zach’s favorite. Try it and you’ll know why. Those of you that have young teenagers at home can even put this in the oven for you when you’re on your way home from work. I used to instruct Zach to do this over the phone when we still lived in Jersey.

Filed Under: Appetizers, Desserts, Dinner, Poultry Tagged With: baklava, basil olive oil, butttermilk, corn on the cob, dinner menu, entertaining, fennel, goat cheese, golden beets, siracha peas, spanakopita, walnuts

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