Tart kale, lemon and beet salad with champagne vinaigrette

I recently read a Macleans article about bitter flavours in cuisine, which can add refinement to dishes, but often take a backseat in our sugar-crazed society. That article was front of mind when I came up with this salad, which marries bitter kale and tart citrus with the crunch of roasted chickpeas and the slippery sweet flavour of cooked beets. This recipe serves 4 as a side dish.

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To make the beets:

Scrub two beets, then wrap in foil. Place in the oven to roast for about 1 hour. 

To make the roasted chickpeas:

This part of the recipe is the same as for this roasted sweet potato and chickpea salad. Whisk together 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, 2T apple cider vinegar, 1T honey, 1T orange juice, 1/2T Russian-style mustard, 1/2T orange zest, 1 tsp sambal oelek, 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ground cardamom and 1/4 tsp salt. Drain and rinse one can of chickpeas, then toss with vinaigrette. Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet and add to oven with beets. Cook for about 40 mins, shaking the tray once through cooking.

To assemble the salad:

Once beets are done cooking, peel off the skin and dice. Wash and dry one head of kale. Cut away the coarse rib, then roughly chop. Add 2 pickled lemons, deseeded and thiny sliced, a handful of sunflower seeds and several thin slices of firm goat cheese. Add the roasted chickpeas and beets. 

To prepare the vinaigrette:

Whisk 3/4 cup of extra-virgin olive oil, 1/4 cup of champagne vinegar, 2T Dijon, 2T honey and salt and pepper to taste. Toss salad with vinaigrette about 15 minutes prior to serving. 

Italian strata

I came up with this dish by altering my ham-and-pesto strata recipe so as to use up leftovers from my Italian sandwich buffet lunch. The bonus? It works just as well for brunch as it does for dinner. Serve with a salad on the side. This recipe makes enough for 4 people.

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Slice 12 mushrooms and one small onion. Mash 2 cloves garlic. Heat 2T olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook, stirring regularly until the onions are translucent. Add the mushrooms and cook for a couple of minutes more. (Do not overcook as the strata will be going in the oven later). Remove from heat and add 4 sliced roasted peppers.

Slice a day-old baguette lengthwise, and spread grainy mustard on each half. Top with several slices of prosciutto, turkey, capocollo and provolone. I didn't weigh the ingredients, but you'd probably need about 300 g of meat and 100g of cheese total. Put the pieces back together, then slice the other way into 1-inch wide 'sandwiches'. Line the bottom of a 8x10" baking dish with the half of the sandwiches placed on their sides. Layer the mushrooms and onions over top, then add a second layer of sandwiches. Tuck extra meat in between the sandwiches. 

In a bowl, whisk 4 eggs with 1-2/3 cups of milk, and pour this on top. Cover the baking dish and place in fridge for at least 4 hours to let the bread absorb the eggy milk mixture. Remove from the fridge and sprinkle parmesan over top. Then bake at 350F for 35 minutes.

Make-your-own Italian sandwich bar

Entertaining doesn't have to be stressful for those who don't like, or have time, to cook. Last weekend, we hosted friends for lunch before a skate on the Rideau canal. Instead of cooking an elaborate meal, I picked up ingredients at a local gourmet deli for a build-your-own sandwich bar. Add a side of homemade or store-bought soup, garnished with fresh herbs, sliced green onion, croutons or a swirl of crème fraîche for a hearty winter meal.

If you end up with leftovers, check back in a few days for another meal idea to use up the odds and ends!

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So what do you need? Here are some ideas to get you started....

{fresh baguette}

{pesto, grainy mustard, aioli}

{olives, onion, roasted pepper, marinated mushrooms, hot peppers, sundried tomatoes}

{provolone, tomatoes, arugula}

{proscuitto, turkey, capocollo}

Upgraded store-bought soup: Mexican-flavoured sweet pepper and tomato

I'm a brown-bag lunch kind of gal. It's cheap and healthy, and makes those occasional take-out/restaurant days all the more exciting. However, it can be time-consuming, so I'm always looking for ways to make life easier. 

In previous posts, I've written about how to build on store-bought basics with a few extra ingredients, like a can of tuna turned into a Mediterranean-flavoured tuna salad or a package of instant oatmeal given a lift with fruit, spice and nuts. Soups are another good candidate to become a filling main, with some of the legwork already done for you.

Here, I started with Campbell's fire-roasted sweet pepper and tomato soup from the Gardennay line. My extras: cubed ham, finely shredded aged cheddar, cilantro and crumbled chipotle-flavoured tostadas. Pack the tostadas and herbs separately and add them just before serving. If you have any other ideas, I'd love to see about them in the comments section!

xx

Energizing

I find wearing colour so energizing, and that suits my mood these days. I started a new job last week!! I'm still with the same organization, but now on a one-year loan to another area. I wasn't actively looking for new opportunities but this one came up and I decided to throw my name in the hat. I like to push myself, and I knew this job would take me out of my comfort zone and accelerate my skill development. Without going into too much detail, I'm now working in an advisory capacity for a senior executive rather than directly managing my own files. It's fast-paced and challenging, but my new coworkers have been incredibly welcoming and generous with their time. So much for a quiet start to 2015!

I've worn this sweater with ripped jeans for a girls' lunch (here), but I profess'd it up a little for a work day a few weeks back. Since I switched jobs I've been playing it safe (read: boring) until I get a feel for the office. But I'm hoping the brighter pieces aren't completely relegated to weekend wear!

xx

Sweater - Olsen, thrifted

Skirt and belt - DKNY outlet

Shoes - Guess, thrifted 

Earrings - Laura

Bracelet - Aakriti Designs

BAM! Tangelo

It's been a while since I've had me-self some mixed prints, so here's my take on polka dots + animal print, broken up with jolts of coral. The prints are in the same colour family which is key to a cohesive look. 

On my blog I normally only wear clothes I well and truly own, as I'm a strong proponent of fashion on a budget. Buuuuut, I cheated a little on the shoes. They were given away to me by a friend, but I soon discovered they don't fit me properly either. I ultimately decided to pass them on to a more deserving owner (Sorry, feet. You'll thank me later). However, I couldn't resist using them in these photos. They look so demure from the front, and then it's like, BAM!, tangelo. So fun. (Is summer here yet??)

xx

Blouse - Ann Taylor, thrifted

Sweater - Forever 21

Skirt - Joseph Ribkoff, thrifted

Shoes - Coach, swapped

Necklace - Dynamite

Unabashedly girly

In another Valentine's Day-themed post, here's some outfit inspiration for the type of people who love all things girly (baubles! pink! chiffon! stilettos!). If you're the type to tell someone to go gag themselves on a rose stem, I'll be back to my usual fare in a couple of days.

xx

Turtleneck - Mexx

Skirt - Vertigo, Winners

Shoes - Aldo

Necklace - Road Trip

Bracelet - Hand-me-down