Salad! Finally! (With Persimmon and Pear White Balsamic Vinaigrette)

 You must think all I eat are pickles and jam with the occasional chestnut thrown in for good measure (it is historically the poor person's protein, and that's what most people think of as "lentils" today, and I eat a fair bit of those too...), but no, I eat a well-balanced diet. Most of the people I've ever lived with (there have been almost 30 of those, not including immediate family) have been shocked to see me make a meal just for myself and do courses. Well, what they think of as courses. I start almost every meal with a salad. That way I make sure I get some greens and I don't eat way too much of a heavy main course because I'm starving and my stomach doesn't know when to shut up.

Most of my salads aren't worth writing about, but this one...

...this salad was a bit heartier. Walnuts, a raw goat's milk cheese, shredded carrot and fennel, olives from my favourite Italian épicerie (Roberto's, home of the city's best gelato...and take-out pasta and sauces), belgian endive, and crunchy organic romaine. The dressing is what really put it over the top though.

Persimmons, pears, white balsamic vinegar, Italian dijon from (who else?) Kozlik's, olive oil, and a tiny, tiny bit of salt. I think that was it...the inspiration for it was mostly that I hate wasting things, so when I had to peel the skins of the persimmons and the pears for the fruit in syrup with cinnamon and star anise and I didn't feel like eating 8 fruits' worth of skin, I decided to purée it and maybe use it for muffins instead of apple sauce sometime...but then it was already in my blender and I needed a vinaigrette. So I have a good pear vinaigrette, and I figured that making it from the skins wouldn't bother just me (if it sucked no one else was going to know. It didn't suck, by the way). So I threw in vinaigrette-y things and as I'm obsessed with strong dijon I put in about a tablespoon of that and some more than sweet white balsamic vinegar (a splash), whirled it up with a bit of salt (it was already in the blender after all), tasted, added more dijon because I'm ridiculous and re-blended. Then drizzled in a little olive oil. I knew I wasn't going to really taste the olive oil anyway (plus I didn't really want to, since it wasn't that kind of dressing) so I didn't use more than a tsp or two. It took me 4 salads to eat my way through this dressing (over the course of 4 days, not in a row), AND I ended up using it for a raw carrot dip when my grated carrot ran out. Again, my fennel tasted like absolutely nothing, just watery fibre, which is more than a little sad, but a good man/grocer is hard to find, apparently. I suppose I am looking...for a grocer...not a man. If I happen to stumble upon a man in the process of finding my grocer, well, that would just be the icing on the cake.

Speaking of cake, I had the best cupcake of my life (well, maybe...it was AMAZING! but cupcake quality all depends on what kind of cupcake mood you're in at the time, so "For the Love of Cakes" still probably gets my "best cupcake ever" vote, but this!!!) at, of all places, the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre Craft and Bake sale. I had a key lime cupcake that had both lime zest and juice in the sponge-y cake. Light without being wimpy. It must have been baked that morning it was so fresh and moist. The buttercream was so delicious and by the end of it, it was too rich, but the first few bites of it were heavenly dense and smooth. Then there was a graham cookie (home-made) stuck in the top. Just butter, graham crumbs and salt, but some bites had more salt and some just had savoury graham and then some sneaked in the butter, which I only noticed when I wasn't eating the buttercream. I was alone in my car (well, not my car, but not a stolen car...I was alone in my "borrowed" car...lets leave it at that) and I couldn't help but exclaim about how good the cupcake was. I kept looking out the mirrors to make sure no one was watching me enjoy the cupcake. Kind of weird seeing a woman freak out about a cupcake in the driver's seat of a car. Maybe also a little weird that I had a box of 4 and a bunch of other take-out bags of various lunch/dessert things I'd purchased. It was a fundraiser, after all! Green tea mochi? Yes, I think so.

Probably no more strange for passerby than seeing me ice the two yellow cakes I made (from the 1984 Joy of Cooking I was given. THANK YOU!) with orange custard filling and lemon buttercream...to come.

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

I bought 12 sweet potatoes. 1 for each expected potluck guest. I knew it would be way too much, but I did it anyway. Sweet potato fries go fast, and besides, they're SO easy to make. Really, all you need are sweet potatoes, salt and a bit of cayenne. Others would say skip the cayenne and you're golden, but you really need a tiny bit of heat (you won't really taste too much of it) to cut the sweetness of the fries. Never, never, never skip the salt.

I used my family's fall-back spice rub that we use on salmon (coat the fish with dijon and then sprinkle on a bit of the spice mixture. Grill, bake, or pan-fry). It's mostly salt, but the paprika, chili, cayenne, garlic and pepper give this enough flavour without overwhelming conservative eaters/family members.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup salt
1/4 cup paprika
3 tbsp chili powder
2 tbsp black pepper
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp cayenne

For the Fries:
3 tbsp olive oil
12 sweet potatoes

1. Cut sweet potatoes into your fry-shape of choice. I prefer long, thin matchsticks because the thinner they are, the faster they'll cook, and the more rub gets on each fry. So cut one slice off the sweet potato lengthwise to give yourself a flat sweet potato surface. Place the big piece cut-side down on the cutting board and slice it thinly. Then re-stack those pieces (except the end piece, which won't be stable) on their side, and cut lengthwise again to give you fry-like pieces. If the potatoes are too long to cut this way, cut them in half lengthwise first, and then continue with the cutting instructions above.

These are just suggestions. You can cut your fries however you want. The only thing to keep in mind is that all the pieces should be the same size approximately, so that they cook at the same speed. It's no fun when you end up with some cooked and some not-cooked fries (you can try to separate them, but it never works, and it wastes a bunch of time when you wish you were eating), or some are perfect and the rest are burnt. So, make similarly sized pieces, however you want to cut them. You can make them like hash browns if you want, but also keep in mind that the thicker they are, the more oil you'll need to use, because they'll be in the oven longer and will burn more easily.

2. Preheat the oven to 425 Fahrenheit.

3. Combine your spices in a small bowl.

4. Pour 1 tablespoon of olive oil over each 5 cups sliced sweet potatoes (you'll need a few big bowls to do this, and the ratio isn't so important. Just pour some oil over your sweet potatoes).

5. Pour half the spice rub over the sweet potatoes (probably don't pour all of it. That would be a lot. Start with half and reserve the rest for another time or another dish)

6. Mix the potatoes, the oil and the spices up with your hands.

7. Place the fries in a single layer on baking sheets. Make sure they don't overlap. They won't cook evenly that way. Place one or two baking sheets (however many will fit) in the oven at a time and bake for 12 minutes. Take the pans out, carefully flip the fries over, rotate the pans if possible, and bake again for about 10 minutes, or until the fries are tender. Eat right away before they cool. Do not leave them sitting in the oven even if the heat is turned off unless you want sweet potato jerky...It's not bad, but it's not sweet potato fries.

Just a quick note: if you don't want to make all the fires at once, you can freeze them after you've oiled and spiced them and then just bake them like you would frozen french fries. They just need to bake a bit longer. They can also hang out in the fridge for a few days un-cooked, until you're ready to bake them.

These are so much better for you than deep-fried sweet potato fries that pop up at every vegetarian and vegan restaurant in the world (not raw places, obviously), and now also at every place that serves a burger (veggie or not). Normally even if they're baked, they use a lot more oil, or they're sautéd first with flour mixed into the spices to give a firmer fry. The fries tend to break down and get mushy, which is why they should be served right away, and definitely not too over-cooked. Such an easy recipe for a crowd, or just for one if you make a small amount for yourself in a toaster oven. Mmm...sweet and spicy.

Arugula Salad with Shrimp and Grapes

Every good potluck needs a salad. A good salad. Not some greens served besides bottles of Kraft dressing. Not something coated in oil. There are two appropriate kinds of potluck green salads - ones with the dressing on the side (where only the unobservant fools who are too in a rush to get the food into their mouths to notice the accompanying vinaigrette miss out) and ones tossed in a dressing that generally everyone can enjoy. That means no cream, no heaps and heaps of mayonnaise, and no 4:1 ratio of oil to vinegar. Green salad at a potluck should not be the least healthy option. I hate feeling like a double serving of meat would be better for me than leafy greens because of some inconsiderate cook/guest. Breathe...

This salad is so light but full of flavour from the sweet grapes and white wine vinegar (you can also make a version using pear, that works in exactly the same way, and just as well). No need to add honey or sugar, and the puréed fruit substantially reduces the amount of oil needed. As always, a good dijon is important, even if you're not as obsessed as I am. I am admittedly not quirk-free, but I know good salad. Trust me.

Ingredients
Vinaigrette:
1/3 cup green grapes
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon olive oil
3/4 teaspoon dijon mustard (dijon will be much better than prepared yellow mustard, but use what you must)
1/4 cup basil, roughly chopped or torn
1/2 teaspoon onion, optional (shallots or sweet red onion work well. Yellow onions will be very pungent, but you're the one who'll have onion breath, so it's up to you to decide. If you make the vinaigrette in advance and let the flavours combine for a few hours in the fridge, it won't taste as strongly of onion)
A pinch of salt

Everything else:
3/4 lb shrimp, peeled (optional)
1/2 cup celery, thinly sliced
5 cups arugula (you can make the salad with any green but arugula has a bitterness to it that goes really well with the sweet grapes. Just don't use a crispy lettuce because the salad will seem too watery)
1 cup seedless red grapes, optionally sliced in half
1 cup seedless green grapes, optionally sliced in half
1 tablespoon pine nuts or walnuts

Instructions
1. Blend the vinaigrette ingredients in a blender or food processor. Easiest dressing ever. You could actually just skip the rest of the recipe and serve this with greens (and maybe some halved grapes) right now.
2. Bring 4 cups of water to boil in a large saucepan (if you're not using shrimp, you'll only need a cup and a half of water brought to a boil). Add the shrimp and cook for 1 minute.
3. Add the celery to the boiling water and cook for 1 minute.
4. Drain the shrimp and celery and rinse them with cold water. Pat them dry and add them to the washed arugula in a large salad bowl (the bowl needs to be big enough to toss the salad without having grapes go everywhere. Use a few bowls if you have to).
5. Add the 2 cups of grapes to the salad bowl (you can slice the grapes in half if you want, but it takes awhile. Teeth work just fine).
6. Place the pine nuts or walnuts in a small frying pan (or in the toaster oven on a tray) over medium heat and cook (or bake at about 400 degrees Fahrenheit) for 5 minutes or so, shaking the frying pan occasionally, until the nuts are fragrant and slightly darkened. Add them to the salad bowl.
7. Toss the salad with the vinaigrette.
8. Eat lots of salad.
9. Feel really good about yourself.