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Golden Beet and Greens Salad

This salad is great warm, room temp or cold! It’s easy and beets are the main ingredient! I used beet greens, kale and radicchio in this version since I had very few beet tops. This is a versatile use for beets!

Golden Beet and Greens Salad
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Golden Beet and Greens Salad

You can serve warm, room temp or cold. If you don't have the beet greens, you can sub kale, radicchio, or any sturdy green. You can also use feta rather than goat cheese if you like.
Course Main Course, Salad
Cuisine American, French
Keyword beet greens, goat cheese, golden beets, vinaigrette
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Servings 4 servings
Author misangela

Ingredients

  • 1 bunch Golden Beets, roasted You can use red ones, but the golden ones are a little milder and won't stain everything.
  • 1 bunch Beet greens (the ones on the beets), cleaned and cut into bite sized pieces sub kale, mustard or any sturdy green
  • 1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese sub feta if you like
  • 1/4 cup olive oil extra virgin
  • 2 Tbl seasoned rice wine vinegar or white balsamic would work
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced more or less to taste
  • S/P to taste
  • 1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted toast in a dry pan over med hi heat, watch carefully not to burn

Instructions

  • Cut beets into similar sized chunks (no need to peel) and roast with a little EVOO in a 400ºF oven until they are soft. Anywhere from 30-45 minutes. When done, set aside and let cool.
    Roasted Golden Beets
  • Mince up the garlic and mix with EVOO and vinegar until emulsified.
  • Toss greens in dressing. Then toss in the goat cheese.
    Greens salad with goat cheese, almonds and vinaigrette
  • When beets are cool, cut up into a small dice and add to salad. Toss.
  • Top with toasted almonds or toss them in.
  • Serve as a main or a side.
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Angela’s Basil and Garlic Gnudi

Basil and Garlic Gnudi
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Angela's Basil and Garlic Gnudi

Lovely Italian dumplings that are light with just enough chew. Great with my marinara sauce! Recipe is right before this one or search "marinara". I also recommend adding extra lemon zest to this then serving with lemon buerre blanc!
Course Appetizer, Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Keyword basil garlic gnudi, lemon basil gnudi
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 6 minutes
Time in Freezer or Fridge 30 minutes
Servings 4 8-10 gnudi
Author misangela

Equipment

  • Large stock pot
  • Large skillet
  • Half Sheet pan, lined with parchment paper and floured
  • A sauce to finish the gnudi in; I suggest my marinara sauce or lemon buerre blanc

Ingredients

  • 1 cup whole milk ricotta, drained in a coffee filter + sieve for a few minutes get whole milk ONLY
  • 1/2 cup S/R flour mix with A/P flour; you CAN use all A/P if you like
  • 1/2 cup A/P flour +/- a cup; this amount will vary, depends on your dough
  • 1/2 cup ground parmesan
  • 2 eggs one whole and one yolk lightly beaten
  • 1 Tbl garlic paste (this is found in Indian stores) OR paste 4 cloves of garlic
  • 1 lemon zest of whole lemon, about 1 Tbl juice the rest of of juice will go into the cooking water (more zest if you want it very lemon)
  • dash ground nutmeg fresh if you've got it
  • 2 tsp salt I use Dixie Crystal Kosher in all my recipes
  • 2-3 Tbl fresh Basil, minced; use as much as you like Mint is excellent in this, too; I used both

Instructions

  • In a large mixing bowl, add ricotta, parmesan, eggs and about half the flour mix. Stir.
  • Add garlic, nutmeg, lemon zest, herbs and 1 Tbl lemon juice to mix and stir. Add flour slowly until the dough is just firm enough to handle. It will be loose, but it should not be too wet to handle. This can take as much as another half cup of flour - if so, add A/P flour to get the dough firm enough to handle.
  • When the dough is just barely together enough to handle, put on a floured board and add flour until it is dry enough to roll into a rope of about 1" diameter. You'll have to divide the dough, it makes several ropes.
  • Roll the dough into a 1" diameter rope then cut at about 1 - 1.5" intervals. This recipe should give you about 40 gnudi. Give or take. Put the dumplings on the floured parchment paper as you cut them. This should make about a full sheet pan of dumplings.
  • Put the gnudi in the freezer for 15-30 minutes or the fridge for about half an hour to firm up.
  • While the gnudi is chilling, get a large pot of water on to boil. Bring to a fast simmer and add 1 Tbl salt and the remaining juice of the lemon.
  • Cook the gnudi in batches so as not to crowd the pot. The water should be boiling, but not rapidly. Stir the gnudi to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pot. When they float, they are almost done. Give them a minute or two more once they float.
  • To finish gnudi, you need to have the sauce ready and warm in a skillet. Use a slotted spoon or spider to retrieve the gnudi and put directly into the sauce. Simmer in the sauce for about 5 minutes to allow gnudi to absorb the flavour.

Notes

Have the sauce of your choice ready for the gnudi. I really loved them with my marinara sauce, but any tomato or even a lemon buerre blanc would be great with these. Traditionally, gnocchi (the potato version of these) is served with a brown butter sage sauce - which would work if you used sage rather than basil. 
Gnudi freeze very well. Just leave them on the sheet pan until frozen, then put in a freezer zip bag or food saver vacuum bag. 

 

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Angela’s Marinara Sauce

Y’all! I made marinara a few weeks ago and just did the bare minimum. It was DELICIOUS! Turns out, my stripped down version is very similar to Alex Guarnaschelli’s recipe! That new, easier than ever recipe is over here.

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Angela's Marinara Sauce

This is a spin off of Ina Garten and a Food Network recipe. It ended up being very different from both and very rich. This sauce will freeze well.
Course Sauce
Cuisine Italian
Keyword marinara, marinara sauce
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Servings 8 6 oz servings
Author misangela

Ingredients

  • 1 28oz can San Marzano crushed roma tomatoes you can sub whole tomatoes here and crush by hand
  • 1 14oz can Fire roasted diced tomatoes with garlic any type is fine
  • 1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil use something good
  • 1 small white onion, small dice (about 3/4 cup) any kind of onion is fine
  • 4-5 cloves garlic, minced finely
  • 1/2 tsp dry basil yes, DRY, not fresh
  • 1 tsp salt I use Dixie Crystal Kosher in all my recipes
  • 2 Tbl white sugar more or less depending on how acidic your tomatoes are
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 3/4 cup red wine dry, not sweet
  • 1 Tbl tomato paste from tube or 2 Tbl from a can
  • 1/2 tsp anchovy paste optional for vegans, but use it if you can
  • 5-10 whole basil leaves optional
  • 1 Tbl balsamic vinegar a sweet one if you have it
  • 2 Tbl butter optional but adds a nice finish

Instructions

  • Do your Mise en Place first: gather all the ingredients. This will take a large pot with a lid.
  • Dice up the onion and mince the garlic.
  • Put the stock pot over medium heat and add EVOO. Add onion and garlic. Sweat these, do not brown. (Turn down heat if necessary.) Add anchovy paste if using.
  • Add all the tomatoes.
  • Add basil, salt, sugar, pepper and red wine.
  • Stir thoroughly and bring to a very slow simmer. Add tomato paste. Cook over very low heat at a very low simmer for one hour, stirring occasionally.
  • The sauce should reduce by about 10-15%. When you are happy with the consistency, take off the heat and add the fresh basil leaves. Add balsamic and butter if using.
  • Finally, check the seasoning. It will likely need more salt and perhaps more sugar if it's still acidic.
  • Serve over your favourite pasta or over my gnudi (next recipe).

Notes

I highly recommend using anchovy paste here. It gives a certain umami that is very nice. 
This sauce will freeze nicely. 
I served this over my gnudi, which is the next recipe in line or you can search for it.  It is also good as a pizza sauce! 
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Sweet n Sour Chuck Roast

This is a combo of a couple of recipes I read online plus my leanings towards Asian flavours! I only got one shot of it, sadly. I hope you enjoy!

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Sweet n Sour Roast

This is an easy one pot roast that is loaded with umami! If you like tons of gravy, then you'll want to up the liquids by half. Mine was pretty tight. Also, you might need to adjust the cook time according to the size of your roast. Mine was only 2#. Add 20 mins per pound over that. You may also wish to up the veg with the size of the roast, to ensure you have enough for serving.
Course Main Course
Cuisine American, Asian
Keyword easy roast, roast beef, sweet and sour,
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours
Servings 6
Author misangela

Equipment

  • Dutch oven

Ingredients

  • 1 1-2# Chuck Roast Any kind of roast will work, even pork or lamb
  • ½ pound small potatoes halved or 3/4" dice large potato
  • 1 med white onion frenched or med dice
  • 2-3 carrots 3/4" dice
  • 1 leek, sliced white part only optional
  • 1 small pack cremini mushrooms, thickly sliced button shrooms are fine
  • 1 Red or green Bell Pepper optional, but adds nice colour; I used Korean peppers (green)
  • 3/4 cup soy sauce
  • 5-6 cloves garlic, diced
  • 1 Tbl ginger paste or freshly ground ginger
  • 1/2 cup seasoned rice wine vinegar
  • 2 Tbl sesame oil
  • 3 Tbl brown sugar
  • 1 cup sake sub chicken or beef stock
  • S/P

Instructions

  • Clean the roast of any visible silver skin or large pockets of fat.
  • Set oven to 325ºF.
  • Season the roast with S/P and set aside while you prep the veg.
  • Put the dutch oven on med high heat with 2 Tbl oil. When oil is shimmering, brown the roast on all sides. Set aside roast and turn down heat to medium.
  • Add veg to pot and cook gently for about 5 mins.
  • Add roast back into pot in the center, nestled in the veg, still on medium heat.
  • Add brown sugar, ginger paste and sesame oil and rub into roast.
  • Add soy and RW vinegar. Stir everything to get it all coated. Turn off heat.
  • Add about 1/3 of the sake or stock.
  • Put on the lid and into the oven on the center rack. Set timer for 2 hrs for a 1-2# roast and add 20 mins for every pound over that.
  • Check every hour or so to make sure it's not too dry. You may need more liquid than a cup. I suggest alternating stock and sake and finishing with stock so you won't have a raw sake flavour. It's also a good idea to check seasoning about halfway through cooking to see if it's too salty or needs salt. Too salty = add some water; not enough salt, add soy or salt.
  • Roast is done when it falls apart with a fork.

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Italian White Bean and Shrimp Soup

Italian White Bean and Shrimp Soup
Italian White Bean and Shrimp Soup
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Italian White Bean and Shrimp Soup

This is a delightful white bean soup. It's light and very flavorful, not to mention full of greens and fiber rich white beans. It's also really easy! I do recommend using shrimp stock if you can; directions on how to make it in the notes.
Course Soup
Cuisine Italian
Keyword cannelini, shrimp, white bean
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Servings 8
Author misangela

Ingredients

  • 1 pound Shrimp Med to Large, peeled & deveined, cut in half crosswise if large
  • 1 med White onion small dice
  • 3 cloves Garlic minced
  • 1 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 1 tsp Dried marjoram optional, or use dry basil
  • 2 cans Cannelini, Navy or Great Northern white beans 14 oz, mostly drained (chickpeas are good, too!)
  • 1 can Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes 14 oz, plain is fine, mostly drained
  • 1-2 Quarts Shrimp Stock use +/- to get the thickness you want
  • 2 Cups Lightly packed baby arugula rough chopped
  • 8-10 leaves Fresh Basil chiffonade, then cross chopped
  • 12 leaves Fresh Oregano chopped (optional)
  • 1 med Lemon zest and juice
  • Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Instructions

  • Start the shrimp stock first, if you're making your own. I highly recommend this!
  • In a large pot, add in about 1 Tbl olive oil and put over med heat.
  • Add in onion, garlic red pepper and dried herb. Cook until translucent, do not brown, about 5 minutes.
  • Add beans, tomatoes and lemon zest. Allow to cook for 2-3 minutes.
  • Add shrimp stock and bring to a simmer. Adjust seasoning. Simmer for 2-3 minutes, then turn off heat.
  • Add shrimp, arugula, basil, oregano and lemon juice. Let stand about 5 minutes before serving.
  • Serve with a turn of extra virgin olive oil on top and toasted baguette.

Notes

Make your own shrimp stock!  Just save the shells from shrimp and simmer for about an hour with some salt in a 2 quart stock pot. SO GOOD! Really makes a difference in this soup. 
As you use shrimp, put the shells in a freezer bag and when you have a bagful, make stock by adding 1 qt of water for every quart bag of shells. Simply simmer for about an hour and add some salt. I make stock and store in the freezer, but if you don't have space, just keep the shells and use for stock as you need it.