Tag: Almonds

peach-almond salad with honey-balsamic dressing

lettuce chevre salads almonds peaches salad greens

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This recipe is a variation on a recipe in Audrey Alsterberg and Wanda Urbanowicz’s rebar modern food. If you’re skeptical about putting fruit in a dinner salad, this salad will change your mind.

I always toast a lot of almonds when I make this recipe because they make such nice snacks. I don’t usually use the cheese—I don’t think it’s necessary with the richness of the almonds, but it is a lovely addition. One of my favorite meals in the summer is to invite friends over and make several trays of halibut fish sticks and a gigantic bowl of this salad. I never bother with another side dish, because I want to save more room for salad and fish, but you could serve slices of whole wheat bread or toast if you like.

dressing

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons honey
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
½ large white or purple onion, minced very fine
¼ teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
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1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Whisk all the dressing ingredients together, except the oil. Slowly drizzle in the oil while whisking. Season with more salt and/or honey to taste. I usually make a double batch of this and keep it in the refrigerator—it lasts quite well. If the dressing separates, just bring it to room temperature and whisk it back up to combine.

salad

½ cup or more whole almonds
2 or 3 ripe peaches (or pears)
large bowlful of salad greens
crumbles of soft chevre (goat cheese), optional

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Toast the raw almonds for about 20 minutes, until very fragrant, and light brown inside when you cut one in half. When they cool, coarsely chop up as many almonds as you’d like to garnish the salad.
2. Cut up the peaches or pears into bite-sized pieces.
3. Fill a big salad bowl with 10 cups or more of mesclun mix or leaf lettuce, torn into bite-sized pieces. Toss with dressing to your taste, then add the peaches or pears and toss once more.
4. Top with chopped nuts and cheese (if using); serve immediately.

chard with golden raisins & almonds

chard almonds golden raisins swiss chard

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This recipe is based on one from a back issue of Cook’s Illustrated. I love the sweet golden raisins with the slightly salty & slightly spicy greens, topped with rich toasted almonds. We ate this for dinner with baba ghanouj on whole wheat sourdough toast! YUM!!

When you’re toasting the almonds, you might as well toast a whole tray-full of them. They make such great snacks and toppings for salads and other vegetable dishes!

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, minced
2 pounds fresh Swiss chard, cleaned and stemmed (do not dry)
sea salt or kosher salt
2 medium cloves garlic, minced
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
½ cup golden raisins
½ teaspoon grated lemon zest, from 1 lemon
¼ cup almonds, toasted in a 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes

1. Wash the chard and cut the stems off each leaf. Holding the stems in a bundle, cut them into ½-inch slices. If the leaves are large, slice them into 1-inch wide ribbons, but if they are small, you can leave them whole. Drain the leaves, but don’t dry them.
2. Heat oil in a large saute pan. Add onion and ½ teaspoon of salt, sauté for a minute or two until starting to soften, then add the chard stems. Cook until stems are tender and onion is cooked. How long this takes will depend on the age of the chard. If the pan is drying out before the stems are tender, just add a bit of water to steam them and finish cooking them.
3. Add the red pepper flakes and garlic, and when garlic is fragrant (after a minute or two), add raisins and wet greens. Cover and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until greens completely wilt, but are still bright green, about 5 minutes. Uncover, season to taste with salt and add lemon zest. Cook over high heat until some of the liquid evaporates, and greens are completely tender. Top with almonds and serve.