Tag Archives: avocado

Gourmet gets easy with red pepper vinaigrette

Posted on by
3

Ever since my weekend in Duluth, I’ve been thinking about the Duluth Grill-prepared curried polenta lettuce wrap I ate while sipping beer at the Lake Superior Brewing Company.

Fresh leaves of Bibb lettuce formed a cup that held slices of fresh, creamy avocado, roasted red pepper and a sliver of polenta that was made with cici flour, also known as chickpea or garbanzo bean flour. A few fresh cilantro leaves and a drizzle of Red Pepper Vinaigrette contributed the finishing touch.

The lettuce wrap looked like a piece of edible art in a table-top exhibition.

 

On display at the other end were individual pies: banana cream (the same pie that sent Food Network’s Guy Fieri of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives into a blissful swoon) , lemon and blueberry fillings in flaky, melt-in-the mouth pastry.

In between lettuce wraps and the desserts were rolls of homemade lefse surrounding sweet smoked salmon and bowls of not-your-everyday slaw and potato salad. All edible. All exquisite.

Duluth Grill owner, Tom Hanson, and his son Louie, delivered the gourmet lunch to our group of about 30 members of the Minneapolis-St.Paul chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier International and some of their spouses. Louie described each item we would be eating with detail. The lefse had been made using his grandma’s recipe. Just as all food listed on the Duluth Grill menu, our lunch that day was homemade with as many locally produced ingredients as possible.

Louie Hanson shared the Duluth Grill’s recipe for the Roasted Red Pepper Vinaigrette that added sweet and smoky flavor to the curried polenta wraps I haven’t been able to stop thinking about. Their recipe makes a large quantity. I reduced it and adapted it by using fresh basil, so abundant in my garden right now, rather than dry basil, cutting back on the mayonnaise and increasing the amount of Parmesan cheese just a tish.

I built a salad of leaf lettuce, avocado and cilantro and served it on top of wedges of warm Pepper and Herbs Skillet Flatbread, doused with Red Pepper Vinaigrette, of course. Pepper and Herbs Skillet Flatbread is made with cici (garbanzo bean) flour, just as Duluth Grill’s curried polenta. The Flatbread recipe is in my column this week. Click here to get to that recipe.

Roasted Red Pepper Vinaigrette offers gourmet flair and flavor and is not difficult to prepare. A food processor makes quick work of pureeing roasted red peppers, basil and garlic with oil and vinegar, mayonnaise and Parmesan cheese, creating a creamy, sweet, slightly smoky dressing.

This vinaigrette would make a lovely dressing for pasta salad. I also plan to top a fresh spinach salad with some of the Roasted Red Pepper Vinaigrette that I have stored in jars in my refrigerator.

This salad comes close to tasting like the lettuce wrap served at the Duluth Grill. But, if you want the authentic lettuce wrap served with curried polenta, you’ll just have to stop in at the Duluth Grill. Be sure to have banana cream pie for dessert. Then walk (or waddle) over to Lake Superior Brewing Company for a tour and some tasting.

Roasted Red Pepper Vinaigrette

(fashioned after Roasted Red Pepper Vinaigrette from Duluth Grill)
 
  • 1 cup roasted red peppers
  • 3 fresh basil leaves, torn
  • 6 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper
  • 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
  • 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
  • 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Put roasted red peppers, basil and garlic in food processor. Pulse until mixture is blended. Add chipotle powder and red wine vinegar and process until mixture is smooth. Add mayonnaise and Parmesan cheese and pulse until blended. With food processor running, slowly add olive oil. Continue to process until mixture is emulsified. Store vinaigrette in tightly sealed jar in refrigerator.

Tips from the cook

  • I roasted 3 medium-sized red bell peppers, which yielded 1 cup of roasted pieces. You can also purchase roasted red peppers in a jar at the grocery store. To roast the peppers at home, place washed whole peppers on a foil-lined baking sheet. Place under the broiler. Use tongs to turn peppers until they are blistered and black. Transfer the peppers to a glass bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Allow the peppers to steam in the sealed bowl for at least 10 minutes. Remove from bowl and slide the skin right off of the peppers.
  • Ground chipotle pepper is available in the spice aisle in most grocery stores.

Watercress-Topped Tuna Sandwich is just right for Lupper

Posted on by
Reply

I’ve made a couple of new friends in the last few months. They are both green — not green with envy, but green with leaves and stems. My new friends are both edible — arugula and watercress.

More on my good friend, arugula, later. For now, I will focus on watercress, which has been making an appearance in grocery stores recently. Zesty, peppery, crisp and bright, watercress tastes much like nasturtium flowers. The delicate dark green leaves are packed with vitamins.

I’ve discovered the dainty little leaves with their thin stems are a wonderful addition to potato and leek soup pureed to create a velvety smooth, spring-green soup. You might enjoy the recipe for Potato, Leek and Watercress Soup that I share in my column this week.

I’ve also discovered watercress is a nutritious and delicious substitute for sprouts or lettuce on sandwiches.

The other day I mixed up some canned tuna (I’ve been using Wild Planet sustainably caught wild Albacore tuna) with finely chopped red onion, a squirt of jalapeno mustard and a dab of Lemonaise to hold the tuna together. I spread the tuna mixture on half of a toasted 7-sprouted grains English muffin. I arranged avocado slices over the tuna, topped it with sliced roasted red peppers from a jar and sprinkled Mozzarella cheese generously over the top. Just a couple of minutes under the broiler and my open-face sandwich was ready to plate. It wasn’t ready to eat, though, until I scattered tender, fresh watercress over the top, allowing the petite leaves to fall onto the plate, surrounding the sandwich with luscious greens.

Now, that’s a sandwich for lupper, similar to brunch but instead of a combination of breakfast and lunch, lupper combines lunch and supper. I enjoyed this Watercress-Topped Tuna Sandwich around 3:30 in the afternoon. That’s lupper.

If you prefer a breakfast, lunch or brunch sandwich, you may enjoy the Peanut Butter and Nutella Sandwich from an earlier post. Click here to go directly to the recipe.

Orange and Avocado Salad with Pakistani Spice

Posted on by
2

On Sunday afternoon, a couple of friends came over to our house with a young man from Pakistan who is currently staying with them while he is a student at Bemidji State University. They came in hauling bags of groceries — meat, fruit, vegetables and several bags of a variety of spices.

The young man from Pakistan came prepared to teach us how to prepare a few authentic Pakistani dishes.

He gave us our assignments and, in great detail, told us exactly how to carry out our specific tasks. After a couple hours of chopping, stirring, simmering and seasoning, we were ready to sit down together to eat three delicious dishes — a very spicy daal made with yellow lentils, chicken biryani, and another dish made with chicken thighs that I still need to get the name of.

For dessert, we had a bowl of mixed fresh fruit. Our young teacher made sure I write down the formula for the seasoning mixture he sprinkled over the fruit.

Yesterday for lunch I made my own fruit salad with sweet, juicy organic oranges that I’ve been buying at the food co-op and slices of creamy avocado. I sprinkled the fruit with the special Pakistani spice mixture — equal parts of red chili powder, sugar and garam masala. My jar of Garam Masala comes from Penzey’s Spices, a blend of coriander, black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon and a few other baking spices. The blend of spices and sugar provides a sweet and tart flavor that is refreshing, especially after a spicy meal.

I’m planning to share the recipe for daal (that was my assignment) as well as a few pictures from our afternoon of cooking Pakistani dishes soon.

In the meantime, this salad of rounds of peeled oranges and avocado slices sprinkled with the special Pakistani fruit will excite your taste buds.

Guac, Guac here and Guac, Guac there

Posted on by
4

‘Tis the season to be eating pomegranate. The season for fresh pomegranates is short. But for me, the red pomegranate has perfect timing. The ruby-colored seeds (or arils) are the perfect color to add holiday sparkle to so many beverages and dishes.

They are a natural when it comes to jazzing up a salad of fresh greens. Their sweet and tart flavor along with a little crunch in each seed make them irresistable.

I had some avocadoes in my kitchen, just waiting to be sliced and layered on sandwiches with some turkey that was leftover after Thanksgiving dinner. I decided to turn the avocadoes into guacamole instead. This way, I could eat the creamy dip with chips as well as spread it on my turkey sandwich.

I mixed up the guacamole similar to the way I always do — white onion, red onion, serrano chiles, garlic, lime juice….and usually, chopped tomatoes. But, it’s hard to find good tomatoes this time of year where I live. So, out came the bowl of pomegranate seeds from the refrigerator. They would add bright color to the guac, along with texture and bright flavor.

It worked. I like eating the Holiday Guacamole with chips. But on turkey sandwiches…delicious!

I know you may be a little leery of this pomegranate seeds in guacamole idea. But, give it a try. You’ll be surprised at how good it is. And, it’s holiday pretty.

I’m glad we’ve got plenty of sliced turkey in the refrigerator. And lucky me — my good friend brought over a loaf of her homemade whole-grain bread. It’s her grandma’s recipe. It makes the best turkey sandwiches.

So, you’ll have guac when your friends drop over for some holiday cheer and a beer. You’ll have guac for turkey sandwiches. Everywhere Guac, Guac.

If you like pomegranates, you may be interested in my recipe for Holiday Spinach Salad with Cranberry Vinaigrette that I share in my newspaper column this week. Click here to get to the recipe.

Holiday Guacamole

  • 1/3 cup finely chopped white onion
  • 1/3 cup finely chopped red onion
  • 4 serrano chiles, finely chopped (I remove the seeds from two of the serrano chiles and leave them in the other two. It just depends on how much heat you like in your guacamole.)
  • 1 chubby clove garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon coarse salt
  • 4 large ripe avocadoes, removed from skin and coarsely chopped
  • 2 tablespoons freshly-squeezed lime juice
  • 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds, divided
  • Fresh-ground black pepper

Mix onions, serrano chiles, garlic and salt in a medium-sized glass bowl. Add the avocadoes and gently stir. Pour in the lime juice and toss. The mixture will become slightly creamy with some chunks of avocado. Fold in 1/4 cup of the pomegranate seeds. Season with some black pepper to taste. At serving time, sprinkle the guacamole with remaining pomegranate seeds.