Jeweled Holiday Salad with California Endive, Roasted Beets and Butternut and a Pomegranate Vinaigrette

Autumn brings color into our lives with not only with falling leaves, but with colorful produce filling the tables at local markets.  Brightly hued butternut squashes contrast beautifully with vibrant bunches of greens and brilliant baskets of pomegranates.

Endive Instagram!

But have you thought of California Endive?  For years I'd walked past those little torpedo-like greens simply because I didn't know what to do with them.  Then a few years ago a girlfriend served the leaves with a savory filling at a holiday gathering, and I've been hooked ever since.

A member of the chicory family, endive is related to radicchio, escarole and frissee.  Its crisp texture and sweet nutty flavor bring a mild bitterness to your recipes, and endive is good either cooked or raw.

A California girl through and through, an opportunity landing in my inbox to promote California Endive shines right up my alley.  But the opportunity didn't stop there... A box filled with brilliant, perfectly formed red and green California Endives arrived packaged with a can of Italian Nudo Olive Oil and a Bottle of Rios do Chile Carmenère along with a challenge to create a fall themed side dish suitable for your holiday table.  My kind of challenge!!

I have to admit to using the olive oil for a few days before getting to my fall challenge.  Do you recall the Smashed Avocado Toast topped with Oiled Tomatoes? Yep... that was the Nudo Oil.  We tired the toast with Nudo oil and again with a generic oil from my pantry, and Liv actually noticed the difference without me saying anything.  This Nudo oil is a keeper.

Here's were my food blogger job brings me incredible satisfaction as well as introductions that grow into relationships.  Nudo Italia features a concept that swells my heart... I think it's best said in their own words:

Jason Gibb and Cathy Rogers set up Nudo in 2005 after buying and restoring an abandoned 21 acre olive grove in Italy's Le Marche.

Their love of the Italian countryside inspired their now famous adopt an olive tree programme which allows people all over the world to adopt an Italian olive tree and receive its oil. The programme involves a collaboration between a group of small scale, artisanal olive producers in Le Marche, Abruzzo and Sicily. Each olive farmer keeps responsibility for the care of their grove, and all the olive oil goes into the Nudo adoption programme.

In giving financial security to the olive farmers, the programme makes viable the traditional farming methods which, quite simply,produce the world's best olive oil.

A love of simple natural food is the starting point for all Nudo products. They are all made from 100% natural, high quality, locally sourced ingredients. Why use artificial preservatives when olive oil is one of the best preservatives there is - and the most delicious?

Real oils pressed from trees raised with the love of the land owners keeps the quality high and the oils special.  Most exciting for me is the Il Fico Grove owned by Saverio Adamo.  While I didn't actually visit the grove near Alcamo on the Trapanese Coast of Sicily, my husband and I spent a day in the area, and I believe we drove nearly right by.

Trapanese Coast of Sicily seen from Erice ~ 2010

But back to our challenge... with beautiful California Endives and this fabulous olive oil, a colorful holiday salad seemed to be the proper venue to let the pure flavors of the ingredients shine.

Returning to a favorite of my Mom's, I roasted brightly hued butternut with garnet colored beets and fragrant sweet onions with the Nudo Oil and seasoned it all with a few dashes of dried oregano.  Moments later my kitchen sent aromas into the air that had us all swooning.

Red endive adds holiday flair

Pairing the endive with fresh organic Farmer's Market greens (our mix had frisee, spinach, baby lettuces and arugula), I loved the contrast of the red endive with the emerald greens.  Truly a holiday mix, the roasted vegetables and pomegranate completed our rainbow.

But what about that Chilean wine you may ask??  As I tinkered with the salad, wine in the recipe just didn't seem right.  However, the Rios de Chile in my glass as I chopped, roasted and sliced made for a lovely evening.

Inviting my husband to partake as I prepped the salad (he was just home from a week long business trip), he took a sip and let out a long sigh along with an "Ahhh... that hit's the spot, did you pick this wine yourself?".

I'll admit here that my expertise in wine tasting doesn't go much beyond "Yep... that's a good one!" or "No, this one really isn't for me", but in this case, the Rios de Chile falls into the first category, "Yep... that's a good one!".  I wouldn't hesitate to bring a bottle to a gathering for any holiday this season, and I impressed my husband with my choice.  Here I'll leave you with the more professional tasting notes from the Pacific Wine Group:

"Intense ruby red with violet tints.  In the nose, aromas of dried fruits, red pepper and spice stand out.  In the mouth it is elegant, with soft round tannins, it's a wine with good persistence."

Wine with good persistence... while I'm not exactly sure what that means I like the phrase.  This wine made my salad prep a pleasure, and paired beautifully with our meal as we finished off the bottle.


Using the red endive for more of a holiday feel, this recipe will go beyond the holidays for me.  Filled with goodies like the roasted butternut and beets, the salad is hearty enough for a light lunch as well as and ideal vegetarian side to a holiday gathering.  Bright and jeweled with the colors of fresh California produce, the Italian oil and Chilean wine brought a bit of an international affair to our table.

Thank you to California Endive, Nudo Italia, and the Pacific Wine Group for the products that led me to this fun post filled with fresh produce and trips down memory lane.  We have a recipe here that's earned a spot in our regular rotation.

California Power Pomegranate Smoothie

After a relatively healthy 2013, the last few days of the year and the first few weeks of this year have been filled with "issues".  Everyone is currently as healthy as can be expected, but we've had hospital visits, rest home visits, veterinarian visits, along with twisted ankles and a few sniffles.  Hence, our eating habits have worked their way up to some of the healthiest we've ever enjoyed, and along with a lovely dose of California sunshine and a few of Dad's fresh from the tree oranges we're hoping to get everyone back on track.

Liv and her brother have always loved smoothies, but they have been known to be picky on occasion as they see me adding certain ingredients.  Both have different areas in their diet where they need a little boost, and as such I try to push those ingredients into smoothies.

But you should see the face of my nearly 18-year old boy as I reach for a handful of spinach to pop into his smoothie.  "No way!" he exclaims,  "I'm not drinking spinach in a smoothie!".  His face drops even further as I let him know I've been adding spinach to his smoothies since he was a baby and he never knew it.

Liv, on the other hand, pulled a face of her own as I dumped a few tablespoons of oatmeal into her sweet concoction.  "Seriously??  You're putting oatmeal into a drink?".  Yep... been doing that for years too.

So today we bring you our current favorite power smoothie... one filled with antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and some fiber thrown in for good measure.  Here's hoping this beauty keeps you on the healthy track too.

Quinoa Salad with Squash, Beets and Arugula

You all know how much I love my local farmer's markets.  With no less than 6 surrounding me with fresh, local and organic produce, my heart sings with happiness as I shop to my heart's content.  Unfortunately, Liv's extreme dance schedule occasionally leaves me without time to actually visit my favorite markets. 

Enter a fairly new service in our San Diego area - Naturally to Your Door, Delivery of Farm Fresh Fruits and Veggies.  I've since forgotten which local blog I first read about this service on, but I've used them numerous times over the last year when my personal market time is not to be found.  Ordering online on Saturday, Sunday or Monday, Naturally to Your Door features in season and organic produce from some of my favorite local farms (Suzi's ranks right up there).  With choices from individual items to a preset CSA-like box, your shopping is covered and a few days later dropped at your door.  (Note... Naturally to Your Door has not idea we are writing about them, nor did we receive any sort of compensation to mention their company.  This company is simply one I love, whole heartedly support and wish to share).

While I've enjoyed all of my delivered boxes, last week's preset box ranks up there as a favorite and brought me everything I needed to embrace autumn with some of my favorite fall salad ingredients.  Squash, beets, arugula and a heavy pomegranate had dinner on my doorstep.

Roasted squash and beets have become some of my most loved ingredients, and the kabocha squash included in my box worked perfectly into my veggie mix.  Commonly called a "Japanese Pumpkin", the beta-carotene filled kabocha brings a natural sweetness and rich, pleasing texture.  Mixed with ruby-red beets, chopped onions and a touch of oregano, the veggies roast in the oven for about half an hour before exiting with brilliant colors and flavor as well as filling the house with an incredibly delicious aroma.

Cooled and then dressed with a simple white balsamic vinaigrette and then served over oiled arugula, this salad has me obsessed.  Crumbled feta or goat cheese finishes the salad beautifully, and a sprinkle of pomegranate literally makes the salad pop.

While I may not be loving the shorter and cooler days of Autumn (I keep telling Liv I'm moving to Australia in search of my own endless summer...), this fall-like salad is making my transition just a little easier.

Chocolate Pomegranate Bark and a Champagne Cocktail ~ Celebrating a Year in Pictures

2012... what a year!  Filled with food, travel and my beloved photography, this world has stretched my boundaries and filled my life with the love of good friends combined with the flavors of fabulous food.  I have so much to be thankful for, and as New Year's approaches I'm ready to Celebrate.  Stretching east, my fellow Inspired Plate members are celebrating along with me as we share our final Food Styling and Photography Challenge of the year - Celebration.

2012 Year in Review

With a year of photography challenges under my belt, I took a moment to look back at the work I've submitted during the last 12 months.  While I'm extraordinarily proud of some images, there are a couple that are cringe-worthy.

What brings the most joy though, are not the actual images but the memories of late night chats on Facebook, the supportive comments and critiques of my fellow photographers, and the newly formed friendships that can be found within the members of this special group.

An eclectic group of talented women, The Inspired Plate touches locations across the world.  Starting here on the West Coast of California (I'm in San Diego), the members bring stunning photos to you also from the mid west, the east, Canada and on towards the date line from Perth, Australia.  With varying levels of skills, we have worked together monthly to provide our own interpretations of the given challenges.

Early challenges began simply with "Photography on White" and quickly stepped up the difficulty level with subjects of meat, fish and pasta.  Failing miserably at the "meat" challenge, the Mahi Mahi Tacos we created for the "fish" challenge have become a regular in our meal rotation, and I think I had the most fun writing that particular post.

"Photography on black" proved to be the most difficult to me, while the "pasta" photos took me back to my treasured days in Italy.  My favorite challenge of the year?  Without a doubt ~ The Splash...

The act of freezing time became somewhat addictive and had the entire family participating by dropping objects of all sorts into glasses of liquid.  Relishing the fact that the spilled liquid was not going to make Mommy upset, the splashes grew, and soon the tile of the kitchen floor was slick and the table dripping.  Catching a splash is indeed spectacular when captured properly, however that capture (as shown by my over 500 non-useable shots) is many times elusive.

Bringing back The Splash for our December Celebration Challenge, we bring you a new favorite cocktail worthy of any Celebration and perhaps an ideal libation for your own New Year's Bash welcoming 2013.

Incorporating my very first challenge subject, the pomegranate, we've supplemented a celebratory sparkling wine with a splash of unsweetened pomegranate juice.  Dropping in a few fresh pomegranate aerials we have a festive and flavorful aperitif boasting a few antioxidants with those bubbles.  Bubbles represent happy occasions to me, and whether your bubbles hail from the true Champagne regions of France, the Prosecco versions of Italy, or the sparkling versions of California's Napa Valley, they all exude a similar excitement.

One of the oldest known fruits, the beautiful pomegranate is a native of Persia.  Nutrient dense and antioxidant rich, pomegranates have long been revered as symbols of health, fertility and eternal life.  Also tied to mythology, pomegranates are known as the "Food of the Underworld"...

 The myth of Persephone, the goddess of the Underworld,  features the pomegranate. In one version of Greek mythology, Persephone was kidnapped by Hades and taken off to live in the underworld as his wife. Her mother, Demeter (goddess of the Harvest), went into mourning for her lost daughter and thus all green things ceased to grow. Zeus, the highest ranking of the Greek gods, could not allow the Earth to die, so he commanded Hades to return Persephone. It was the rule of the Fates that anyone who consumed food or drink in the Underworld was doomed to spend eternity there. Persephone had no food, but Hades tricked her into eating six pomegranate seeds while she was still his prisoner and so, because of this, she was condemned to spend six months in the Underworld every year. During these six months, when Persephone is sitting on the throne of the Underworld next to her husband Hades, her mother Demeter mourns and no longer gives fertility to the earth. This became an ancient Greek explanation for the seasons.  (from wikipedia)

With my fingers crossed that each seed I've eaten this year will not commit me to a month in the underworld, our celebration continues with an antioxidant rich Pomegranate Bark.  Dark chocolate and pomegranate combine bringing an irresistible treat that literally pops in your mouth.  Aerials stirred into and sprinkled on top of the melted chocolate literally burst with flavor and bring a double dose of those ever popular antioxidants in addition a simply wonderful dessert.

As we close this emotional year of 2012, I thank my newfound Inspired friends for their never ending advice, professionalism and simple friendship.  I'm looking forward to the challenges of 2013 with excitement (as well as a touch of trepidation), and I'm ever so thankful to be celebrating with this wonderful group today.

Begin a trip around the world with me as I introduce the beautiful Sabrina Wong, a Food Photographer in Perth, Australia and we'll continue our Celebration... summer style!

Cranberry Pomegranate Almond Granola with Orange Essence

Pulling together the last of our holiday gifts, I've reluctantly packaged up the end of my batch of Cranberry Granola.  Filled with toasted almonds and pepitas, this granola seems to brightly shine with the addition of freshly grated orange peel.

2012 was my granola discovery year.  Even though I am a child of the 60's, I always looked at granola as "hippie food" (not that there is anything wrong with that...) and life took me through some 45 years before I gave granola a try.  Now that I have a number of recipes under my belt, I can't seem to get enough of the crunchy goodness, and I'm thrilled to make it cheaper and healthier at home.

On the forefront of the natural food revolution, granola made a name for itself in the 1960's as young adults took a stand against processed food.  Adding fruit and nuts to a mixture of baked grains, hippies of the 60's revived the crunchy cereal and soon had others referring to them as "Crunchy" or "Granola Heads".

Lately granola has again made a resurgence of sorts, and recipes for all kinds of flavors can be found across the internet.  Often thought of as "health food", one does have to be careful though, as the cereal can be sugar and fat laden, becoming more of a crunchy dessert than a healthy breakfast.

Enter the homemade version.  Inexpensive, lower in fat and sugar, and tailored to your exact preference, what's not to like?  Filled with the whole grain goodness of oats, flax, rye or wheat germ, you choose the grains.  Bound with oils, eggs, fruit purees or nut butters, you choose the fat content.  Sweetened with brown sugar, maple syrup, agave or even apple sauce, you choose the sweetener.  And so on.  Add in your favorite nuts and dried fruits and you have an ideal crunchy topping for yogurt, a delightful bowl with milk or a tasty, energy providing snack eaten out of hand.

Placed in a cute jar or simply tied in a cellophane gift bag, granola is easy to package and works wonderfully as a homemade gift.  With a decent shelf life, granola can be made ahead of time, or tossed together at the last minute when a quick gift is needed.

Celebrating the season, Liv and I tossed together this simple Cranberry Pomegranate Almond Granola and added freshly grated orange peel bringing a beautiful, bright, and healthy treat that is sure to be appreciated.  Our recipe is below, but now that I can claim to be a real Granola Head, I've got a few additional recipes that just might pique your interest:

Peanut Butter Granola
Slightly higher in fat, but I think this one is my all time favorite!

Tahitian Vanilla Granola

Lower in fat, this granola brings a tropical twist.

Maple Granola

Pure Maple Syrup brings you a sweet breakfast in a bowl

 

Pumpkin Granola

Filled with heart healthy ingredients, this granola also brings flavors of Pumpkin Pie

And now we bring your our latest version.... Cranberry Pom Granola with Almonds and Orange Essence.  Package some up for a neighbor today!

Butternut Squash and Beet Quinoa Salad

Some 20 years ago I cooked my very first Thanksgiving, and from that day forward my collection of family favorites evolved into a menu that has remained almost constant for the last few years.  This year however, I daringly changed things up and thankfully was met with resounding success. 

With our schedules somewhat of an issue, Liv Life celebrated our 2012 Thanksgiving last Friday with a simple family affair featuring most of my traditional dishes plus a little something new.  Bringing in my latest obsession, quinoa, was a bit risky.  The kids have not been as receptive to quinoa as I would have hoped, and as their vegetable eating habits (like my husband's...) are also a touch, shall we say, lacking, adding two of my other favorites, butternut squash and beets, to the quinoa added even more risk.

Roasting the vegetables with drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of oregano, the house took on the aroma off autumn in no time.  The beets turned a beautiful crimson red as they roasted, while the butternut took on hues of brilliant pumpkin.  Enhanced with chunks of onion, the veggies were tempting enough to eat on their own, however tossing them with quinoa and arugula added the protein/flavor punch I was looking for.

Dressing the concoction with a simple oil and white balsamic vinegar combo brought a delightful tang, and the sprinkle of pomegranate contrasted beautifully with the savory flavors.  Feta and walnuts added additional texture, and the only other thing needed was a fork.

Beautifully jeweled hues had the salad looking the epitome of autumn, but it was the mixture of flavors and textures that had me weak at the knees.

My Dad's eyes lit up at the list of ingredients, however the rest of the family hesitantly scooped small servings next to their traditional mashed potatoes and turekey.  Dad and I gushed about the dish, and keeping my eye on everyone else, I was thrilled to see nearly everyone reach for the new dish for a larger helping after their initial tastes.

A perfect Thanksgiving dish that can be made ahead of time, this healthy addition is one you can feel good about serving whether your meal is simple or formal.  Flavorful and filled with textures, my only advice is to make extra... it also makes a fabulous day after Thanksgiving breakfast.