Roasted Beet Salad with Feta and Olives

We recently had a fantastic dinner at Mill Valley Beerworks. Everything was clean-the-plate delicious but one dish that I truly couldn’t get enough of was a beet salad with feta and olives. I do love beets in a salad, but this was the first time I’d had them with olives -- it's a great slightly-sweet-and-salty combo. This is my attempt to recreate it at home.

Roasted Beet Salad with Feta and Olives 
1 pound beets, roots and stems trimmed
⅓ cup raw, unsalted pistachios
¼ cup olive oil
3 tablespoons fresh orange juice (from half an orange)
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
6 cups arugula
2 ounces crumbled feta
1 cup pitted kalamata olives, roughly chopped

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wrap each beet loosely in aluminum foil and place on a rimmed baking sheet. Put the beets in the oven and roast until tender when poked with a fork, 60-90 minutes (depending on how big your beets are). Remove beets from oven and set aside to cool.

Put pistachios on a separate baking sheet and place in the oven for 5-10 minutes, until lightly browned and fragrant. Remove pistachios from the oven and set aside to cool.

Make the dressing by whisking together the olive oil, orange juice and balsamic vinegar.

When the beets are cool enough to handle, remove them from the aluminum foil. Peel the beets (wear gloves if you don’t want pink hands). Cut the beets into wedges and place in a medium bowl. Toss the beets with just enough dressing to coat.

Once pistachios have cooled, coarsely chop them. Toss remaining dressing with arugula, feta and olives.

Distribute the arugula mixture between four dishes, then top each dish with beets. Sprinkle each dish with chopped pistachios and serve.

Tri-Tip Chili

We recently had some friends over for a barbecue and ended up with a ton of leftover tri-tip. While my husband’s recipe is a tried-and-true favorite, excessive leftovers of any sort can be a challenge. Hence, this chili. It’s easy and delicious, and a great way to make something new with what’s hogging space in the fridge.

Tri-Tip Chili 
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 tablespoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 pound cooked tri-tip, cubed
1 15-ounce can kidney beans
1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
1 7 ¾ ounce can El Pato tomato sauce with jalapeño

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, cumin, chili powder, oregano, cayenne and salt and cook, stirring, for 3-4 minutes, until fragrant. Add the remaining ingredients and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover the pot, and simmer for 30 minutes.

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

We recently moved into a new house, and while it was a local move, it was still quite a bit of work, hence no new recipes from me for a bit. But, everything’s finally unpacked and I’m back in the kitchen! Our new place has a great backyard, where I recently discovered some late-season mega zucchini that the previous tenant must’ve planted. These bad boys are each at least a foot long!

I was able to put a (slight) dent in our backyard bounty with a batch of tasty muffins. Note: if you’re working with a bigger zucchini like I did for this recipe, you’ll want to quarter it lengthwise and remove seeds before grating.

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins 
1 cup white whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup grated zucchini
½ cup fat-free plain Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 large egg
¾ cup light brown sugar
1 cup chopped walnuts
Cooking spray or butter, to grease muffin tin

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease muffin tin. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder, cinnamon and nutmeg in large bowl and stir or whisk to blend. In another bowl, combine zucchini, yogurt, vanilla extract, egg, brown sugar and walnuts, stirring until blended. Add dry ingredients to the bowl with the zucchini mixture, stirring until everything’s mixed. Scoop ⅓ cup mix per muffin cup. Bake for 20 minutes.

Yields 9-10 muffins

Make-Fast Mondays: Grilled Chicken and Brie Sandwiches with Honeycrisp Apples and Arugula

Ever try a Honeycrisp apple? Take one bite and you’ll be hooked -- they’re absolutely delicious, so sweet and juicy. Just as their name implies, these apples are nice and crisp, and they hold up great in this quick, suuuuuper tasty sandwich.

Grilled Chicken and Brie Sandwiches with Honeycrisp Apples and Arugula 
Serves 4 
8 slices whole wheat bread
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
¼ cup whole grain dijon mustard
1 large Honeycrisp apple, cored and sliced thin
1 pound shredded rotisserie chicken
4 ounces Brie, sliced thin
1 cup arugula

Butter one side of each slice of bread and then spread mustard on the inside of each slice. Layer half the slices, buttered side down, with apples, chicken, Brie and arugula. Top each sandwich with a second slice of bread, buttered side up.

Heat a large nonstick frying pan or skillet over medium heat. Put 1 sandwich in the pan at a time (or 2 if you’ve got a big enough pan) and cook 2-3 minutes on each side, carefully flipping once, until cheese has melted and the bread is toasted.

Open-Faced Bruschetta Burgers

This was my first time making a batch of burgers using more than one type of meat for the patties, and I must say I was quite pleased with the results. Mixing Italian sausage in with ground turkey makes for a flavorful burger. Serve it with a slice of toasty Italian bread, fresh mozzarella and some homemade bruschetta and you’ve got quite a grilled delight on your plate!

Open-Faced Bruschetta Burgers 
Serves 8 
2 pounds Roma tomatoes, cored and diced
2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons minced garlic, divided
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for bread
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh basil, divided
1 pound ground turkey 1 pound sweet Italian turkey sausage
½ teaspoon salt, plus extra for bruschetta
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 pound fresh mozzarella, cut into eight slices
1 loaf Italian bread, cut into one-inch slices (you’ll likely have extra)

Preheat grill to medium-high.

Make bruschetta by combining tomatoes, 2 teaspoons garlic and olive oil in a medium bowl. Season with salt and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine ground turkey, Italian sausage, salt and pepper, remaining garlic and Italian seasoning. Shape the mixture into 8 patties.

Put 8 bread slices on a plate and lightly brush with olive oil.

Place patties on grill, cooking for 5 minutes before turning them over. Top each patty with a slice of mozzarella. Cook an additional 5-7 minutes, until meat is completely cooked and the mozzarella is slightly melted. Remove burgers from the grill and let them sit for a minute.

Put bread slices, oiled side down, on grill for a minute to lightly toast them. Remove from grill.

Build your burger by starting with a toasted bread slice, adding a patty and topping with bruschetta.

Grilled Chicken and Nectarine Salad with Basil Vinaigrette

I don’t know about you, but I’m not ready to sign off on summer yet. Yes, the fast-approaching fall is going to be great, but nothing beats some backyard barbecuing on a warm summer day. If you feel like getting your grill on over the Labor Day weekend, bust out some chicken breasts and give this fresh, delicious salad a try.

Grilled Chicken and Nectarine Salad with Basil Vinaigrette 
1 cup fresh basil leaves
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon honey or agave nectar
½ cup olive oil, plus extra for grilling
1 cup water
1 cup couscous
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 small shallot, thinly sliced
4 ounces crumbled feta
4 nectarines, cut into wedges
4 cups baby spinach
Salt and pepper

Make the dressing by blending the first four ingredients. Set aside.

Bring water to boil in a pan. Stir in couscous, remove from heat, cover and let sit for five minutes. Fluff couscous with a fork and let it cool to room temperature.

Preheat the grill at medium-high heat. Brush the chicken with a little bit of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill the chicken, flipping once, until cooked through, about 10-12 minutes. Transfer chicken to a platter and let it sit for a few minute before slicing.

In a large bowl, combine couscous, chicken, shallot, feta, nectarines and baby spinach. Add dressing to bowl and stir gently to mix. Season with salt and pepper.

Romesco Pizza with Sausage and Peppers

If you’ve never had romesco sauce, you’re missing out. This delicious nut-and-red-pepper sauce is easy to make (I like both The Kitchn and Pinch of Yum’s recipes) and great served with or spread on just about anything, including this fabulous pizza. The sauce, combined with sweet peppers, savory sausage and smoky cheese, creates quite a flavor sensation.

Romesco Pizza with Sausage and Peppers 
Pizza dough (I use one 16-ounce ball of Trader Joe’s dough)
Flour and cornmeal (for prepping the pizza dough)
1-1½ cups romesco sauce (depending on how saucy you like your pizza)
8 ounces cooked sweet Italian sausage, sliced
2 cups sliced sweet bell peppers (I used a mix of red and yellow bell peppers)
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1 cup shredded smoked gouda
Red pepper flakes (optional)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Roll out your pizza dough on a floured surface and transfer to a cornmeal-dusted pizza pan. Bake just the dough for 5 minutes and remove from oven.

Give dough a good coating of romesco sauce and then top with sausage, bell pepper and cheese. Bake 12-14 minutes, until crust and cheese are golden. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes if you’ve got ‘em, and enjoy.