Blood Orange & Fennel Salad with Almonds

When Brad and I moved to Tokyo in 2008, all I could do to keep from curling up in a ball of homesickness was to look for things about Japan that reminded me of my Midwestern home. Let me just say that finding similarities between Minnesota and Japan is not an easy task. Sometimes I would find ways of preparing food that reminded me of home. Occasionally I would see a sign for Minnetonka Moccasins that would make me feel like I still had a connection to my home state in the midst of the strange new surroundings in which I now found myself.

I had an inkling moving to Japan might be difficult in the beginning. It was half way across the globe, after all. What I didn't expect was having similar feelings after moving to Denver, Colorado. Reverse culture shock didn't hit right away. We were so busy moving and taking care of our then 6 month old son. But when it did hit, the shock was strong. And it is still lingering. I find myself searching for anything that comes even remotely close to our life in Tokyo. Typically this means trying to find the perfect bowl of ramen, the best sushi, and perfectly a Japanese curry recips. This is easier said than done because, in the case of food, Japan always does it best.

What does all of this have to do with a fennel and blood orange salad? Nothing at all. Except that when I made this salad all I was doing was thinking of life in Japan. That previous life consumed my thoughts for an entire day. That's the way it goes, I guess.

It is also possible that I am using this salad as a reset button. Both to reset my weekly eating habits and to start with something clean and fresh in my mind. Whatever the motivation, I was pleased to have something fresh and bright on my plate. If you haven't tried shaved fennel with citrus, I encourage you to get on that right now. This is the perfect time of year for blood oranges, grapefruit, Meyer lemons... And I think with all the snow and negative degrees happening out there, some vitamin C might be just what we all need.

So here's to salad. And citrus. And reverse culture shock. And reset buttons.

Blood Orange & Fennel Salad

Ingredients

• 1 medium fennel bulb
• 3 blood oranges
• 1/4 cup whole roasted almonds, roughly chopped
• Juice of 1 blood orange (you should have about 1/3-1/2 cup but if you are short, supplement with regular orange juice)
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• salt to taste

Instructions

1. Using a sharp knife or mandolin, save the fennel bulb. Place in a large bowl.
2. Peel the blood oranges and use a pairing knife to cut segments. Simply take the knife and cut on either side of each membrane (the part of the orange that shows you where each segment is). Arrange the segments on top of the shaved fennel.
3. Sprinkle the salad with the chopped almonds.
4. Next, make the vinaigrette by combining the orange juice, vinegar, olive oil and salt in a small bowl. Whisk until emulsified and drizzle over the salad just before serving.

Skillet White Chili Dip

Back when Brad and I first started dating, I had less than zero interest in anything football related. It all seemed the same to me: run a little, crash into each other, fall down, do it again. Still, because I loved him so much, I gave in and watched a game with my boyfriend. We were sitting on the sofa in the house he shared with several other college boys. I stretched out just as the game began. Five minutes later I was sound asleep. And I stayed asleep for the entire game.

Oops.

These days I'm a least slightly more interested. Between watching a 2 year old cheering for Peyton Manning and the excuse to make delicious snack foods I can remain entertained. I've realized during this football season that has been so amazing for the Denver Broncos that I enjoy watching others enjoy the game more than the actual event itself. I guess that's the beauty of sports. In a time when we are distracted by smart phones, computer screens, video games and more, anything that brings people together to spend time cheering, laughing and eating together is worth it.

I've been traveling for the last week and a half, so I'm looking to keep this weekend as simple as possible. This white chili skillet dip is perfect if you have last minute guests coming over to watch the game or if you just want something that doesn't take tons of time but brings the classic flavors people expect during the big game. What I love about this appetizer is that it's a little more elegant than the typical cheesy chili dip with tortilla chips. Serving it in a classic cast iron skillet lends a nice touch.

The simple combination of onions, garlic and green chiles make the perfect base. A little bit of beer (I used an IPA) reduced down to concentrate the flavor and give the white beans an extra boost creates the most delicious contrast to the creamy cheese. After some time in the oven getting bubbly and golden, the dip is sprinkled with fresh cilantro and drizzled with lime juice. Scooped up with salty tortilla chips, this dip was made for game day.

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Easy Skillet White Chili Dip

Yield: 8-10

Author: Rachael

Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 20 MinInactive time: 5 MinTotal time: 35 Min

This warm and delicious skillet dip is full of creamy white beans, diced green chiles, and lots of cheese. Perfect with tortilla chips on sportsball watching days!

Ingredients

Easy Skillet White Chili Dip

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4.5 to 5 ounces diced green chiles
• 1 small jalapeño, finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
• 1 12 oz can white beans, rinsed and drained
• 6 oz beer (IPA works nicely- stay away from darker beers)
• 12 oz Pepper or Monterey Jack cheese, cut into cubes
• fresh cilantro
• lime wedges
• tortilla chips

Instructions

1. Move a rack to the top third of your oven and preheat your broiler.
2. Heat the olive oil in a cast iron (or other oven proof) skillet over medium heat.
3. Add the green chiles, jalapeño (if using), garlic and onion to the skillet and heat until softened and fragrant, 2-3 minutes.
4. Add the beans and a bit of salt to the skillet and stir to combine.
5. Pour the beer into the skillet and bring to a boil. Use a fork to mash the beans a bit here for a creamier final texture.
6. Reduce the heat and simmer until the liquid has reduced by nearly half.
7. Turn off the heat and add the cheese.
8. Transfer the skillet to the oven and broil for 5 minutes, watching carefully to make sure nothing burns, until the cheese is bubbly and beginning to brown on top.
9. Remove the skillet from the oven and let it sit for about 5 minutes before garnishing and serving.
10. Sprinkle with fresh cilantro and lime juice. Serve the dip piping hot with tortilla chips on the side.

Notes

• To make your dip extra creamy, mash the beans with a fork after you add them to the skillet. They will absorb more of the liquid in the pan beautifully!
• You can use other cheese: white cheddar, pepper jack, even a scoop or two of cream cheese along with the Monterey Jack cheese!
• If you don’t want to use beer, you can use chicken or vegetable broth
• I love the green chiles from the Hatch Chile Shop- they’re worlds better than anything canned! They were kind enough to send me a box of their frozen chiles and I cannot recommend them enough.
• Would you like to see how to make it? You can check out my Instagram Reel here!

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @setthetableblog on instagram and hashtag it # setthetableblog

Cocktail Friday: Cilantro Lime Gin Fizz

I'm really good at over-thinking. I take something that should be simple and muck it up with a bunch of complicated nonsense. I'm going to go ahead and keep believing that I'm not totally strange for doing this. Do you over-think? Maybe just a little?

Please say yes.

Today, I'm choosing to think a little less. It'll be a day to clean my mental slate and appreciate the mundane daily tasks that require little thought or planning. Perhaps when the day has ended I'll be able to put my feet up and sip on this fresh cilantro-lime gin fizz. Yes, I think that's just the kind of day I need.

Whether you need a break from all of the thinking or you are looking to scare away the winter blues, this cocktail is the perfect way to begin the weekend. The recipe is simple, resulting in a clean-tasting cocktail offering a hint of summer in these cold winter months. Even for a winter-lover like me, taking a moment to remember the greener days to come is a welcome escape.

Cheers and TGIF!

Cilantro Lime Gin Fizz

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon cilantro leaves, firmly packed
• Juice from 1/2 a lime
• 1/2 teaspoon honey
• 1 1/2 oz gin
• 3 oz club soda

Instructions

1. In the bottom of a Collins glass, muddle the cilantro with the honey and lemon juice.
2. Fill the glass to the top with ice, then add the gin.
3. Stir with a stir stick to fully incorporate the honey into the gin.
4. Top with the club soda.
5. Serve with a stir stick and garnish with cilantro leaves and a lime wedge.

Peanut Butter & Date "Jelly" Bulgur Wheat

Some of you may remember that I decided to Go Sugar Free in 2014. A lot of you expressed how crazy I am. After all, how could anyone give up something as wonderful as sugar? Well, here's the deal: I am not giving it up entirely. I'm taking a course that teaches me what sugar and other foods do to my body and how to overcome cravings that won't actually make me feel better but will make me feel worse. It hasn't been as hard as I originally anticipated. I thought for sure I would be hiding in the closet with a freshly baked batch of cookies and a jug of milk. No one would ever know. But instead, I find myself focusing my energy on developing easy recipes that are added sugar free.

Breakfast is a tricky time for me because I love to have a simple piece of toast slathered with jam. Raspberry jam, to be exact. It's not like I'll never have that again, but I'm doing my best to find something I like even more. As I searched for recipes with no added sugar, I found that many people use dates. Dates are one of those things that I frequently forget about, which is unfortunate seeing as how they taste like delicious soft caramels. So I went to a big box store (don't judge) and bought a massive container of Medjool dates. I went home and cut one open. As I took my first bite (after removing the pecan shaped pit from the center, of course) I was struck by the smooth texture and nutty sweetness. I knew right then and there that I had found an ingredients that could take me to new realms of freedom from sugar.

For this bulgur wheat, based on a Cooking Light recipe that I fell in love with a couple weeks ago, I chopped the dates very finely and added them to the wheat along with some natural, unsweetened peanut butter. It was absolutely delicious. The flavors came together beautifully, creating a PB & J bowl of wonderfulness.

If you've never used bulgur wheat, you should start now. It has a wonderful flavor and all the work is done in the fridge while you sleep. One minute of microwaving in the morning and you have a healthy, easy, delicious breakfast ready to go. AND THERE IS ZERO SUGAR. You're welcome.

Peanut Butter & Date "Jelly" Bulgur Wheat

Serves 2-3

Ingredients

• 1 cup bulgur wheat
• 3 cups low-fat milk or unsweetened almond milk
• 1 tablespoon natural, unsweetened peanut butter
• 1 large date, pitted and finely chopped
• Extra milk (optional)

Instructions

1. Put the bulgur wheat in a large bowl.
2. Add the milk, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.
3. In the morning, fluff the bulgur with a fork.
4. Scoop 3/4 cup bulgur into a microwave safe bowl along with the peanut butter.
5. Microwave for 1 minute.
6. Stir in the dates and top with additional milk if desired.

Cocktail Friday: Tokyo 75

I've got Tokyo on my mind. Again.

Lately I've been having flashbacks of life in Japan. It's all popping up in my memory like it was yesterday instead of a year and a half ago when we were buying bento lunches and people watching on the other side of the world. I never thought we would live there forever, but was also unaware of how hard it would be to say goodbye. Even now, all these months later, I miss Tokyo just as much (or more) as the day we left.

A couple nights ago, we went to dinner at Izakaya Den with some friends in Denver. Just one look at the menu and I started flashing back to nights out that started with sushi, followed by yakitori and a couple pints, and ended with a a few hours of karaoke. We laughed until our sides ached and ate until we could take another bite. Of course, there were quieter memories that came to mind as well. Like the bike ride to work when we would pass the same elderly gentleman carrying a golf club and preparing to do his morning stretches while gazing over Tokyo at Mt. Fuji. I'm not sure what he was preparing for, but simply witnessing that morning ritual made me love Japan even more.

This cocktail was inspired by the drink I had when we were out for dinner in Denver. Theirs was called a Kyushu 75 and it was bubbly, fresh, and had the perfect hint of yuzu flavor. I've made this Tokyo 75 a bit simpler than the restaurant version but equally as tasty. Prosecco, yuzu juice, a splash of lemon juice, and Angostura bitters are perfectly paired with a piney gin.

It's a small thing, but even the smell of the yuzu juice used here brings me back. So, cheers to the New Year and to remember years past with fondness. I hope you all are soaking up every bit of 2014 and making it a great year to remember.

Tokyo 75

Ingredients

• Prosecco
• 1 1/2 oz gin
• 2 drops Angostura bitters
• 1/2 teaspoon honey
• 2 teaspoons yuzu juice (found at Asian grocery stores or online)
• A squeeze of fresh lemon juice

Instructions

1. Combine the gin, bitters, honey, yuzu and lemon juices in a cocktail shaker filled with ice.
2. Shake vigorously until chilled.
3. Strain into a champagne glass and top with prosecco.
   

BLT Quinoa Patties

Last night I did something that would have seemed trivial just 3 years ago. I went to a coffee shop after dinner to get some work done. Alone. It seems completely silly, but spending an hour in a place that wasn't my living room or home office where I'm constantly reminded of the other little tasks I have to do was refreshing. My mind wasn't telling me to dust the corners of the room or reorganize the shelves; instead, I could focus on myself and my work. I listened to some of my favorite music, sipped on some hot tea, and accomplished more in those 60 minutes than I expected.

You'd think I would be running out the door at lightning speed to get some time alone. The truth is, I struggled to get myself to leave the house. I kept thinking about Riley's little arms giving me a "hug-o" and his sweet little good-night-smooch that I would miss if I left. Even one night without that makes me a little sad. Plus, being a stay-at-home mom has made it difficult for me to relinquish control of what happens in my house at any given time of day for fear that things won't be done correctly. No offense to my husband by any means, but I have my routines. That's normal, right?

Even if it was only one hour, that little jaunt to the coffee shop changed my entire outlook. It was a deep breath; a chance to look at the world beyond the daily this-and-that. Yes, I missed the usual bedtime routine, but when I got home, the house was quiet, the dishes were done, and all was well with the world.

In the spirit of looking at things in a new, fresh way, I'm sharing these BLT quinoa patties with you. It's the perfect light lunch whether you are home or at work. The quinoa patties, adapted from Heidi Swanson's cookbook Super Natural Everyday, are the perfect base for a fresh, lemony mayonnaise, a thick slice of roasted tomato, and crisp applewood smoked bacon. In place of the lettuce (and because I wanted to be a little fancy) I used sprouts.

Let's pretend I can still call this a BLT.

This time of year does not always produce the nicest tomatoes, but if you can find fresh ones that don't need help by roasting you can just slice them and be done with it. I chose to roast mine on the same pan with the bacon to help concentrate their flavor and take them from hard and sour to soft and sweet. Worked like a charm thanks to my tin foil barrier. One pan and done!

Take a little time for yourself and enjoy something delicious, a little fancy, and mostly healthy. You can thank me later.

BLT Quinoa Patties

Ingredients

For the patties:

For the toppings:

• 2 1/2 cups cooked quinoa at room temperature
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup chervil, chopped (substitute any fresh herb)
• 1 yellow onions, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 cup shredded gruyere cheese (or whatever you have on hand)
• 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1 tablespoon olive oil (plus more if needed)
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• zest and juice of 1 lemon
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tomato, sliced
• 4 slices cooked bacon (I bake mine in the oven at 425F for about 15-20 depending on thickness)
• Radish sprouts, arugula, or baby spinach leaves

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, combine the quinoa, eggs, salt, chervil, onions, garlic and cheese. Stir to combine.
2. Add the panko and stir. Let the mixture sit for about 3 minutes.
3. Using slightly wet hands, shape the mixture into patties that are about 2 1/2 to 3 inches in diameter and about 3/4 inch thick.
4. Heat the oil in a large, heavy pan over medium low heat.
5. Place 3 or 4 patties in the pan, cover, and cook until brown and crisp, about 7 minutes.
6. Gently flip the patties and cook them on the second side until brown, another 5-7 minutes.
7. Transfer the patties to a cooling rack. Continue the process until all the patties have been cooked.
8. Combine the mayo, lemon zest and lemon juice in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
9. Top a quinoa patty with about 1 tablespoon of the mayo, a slice of tomato, and a slice of bacon (break the bacon so it fits on the patty). Finish with a pile of sprouts and serve.

Notes

Recipe for the quinoa patties adapted from Heidi Swanson's book Supernatural Everyday.