Beef, Beet, and Farro Salad with Goat Cheese and Oranges

Happy 2013!  Last year was a year of transition but a great year nonetheless.  It was full of love and...well cookies.  Lots of cookies.  Some cake too.  And bacon.  Man, I'm ready for a salad.

New Year's resolutions may be easily broken, but I don't think that makes them any less valuable.  I see them as a way to evaluate the past year and envision the year to come.  Goals aren't a bad thing, and these are just a type of goal.  I have a few things in mind for the coming year.

1.  Fully embrace the Oil-cleansing Method.  I'm a few weeks away from the start of the last year of my twenties,  (My cranky brain keeps yelling "You're almost 30!!!"), and probably it's time to develop that skin care regime "real adults" have.

2.  Read more non-fiction and less generic YA dystopia.

3.  Continue on my quest to a "greener" home.  Next up: all-natural, homemade cleansers and soap nuts.

4.  Refocus on eating healthfully.  Learn how to eat healthy foods while being in love with a pork-rind loving man.  This means joining Weight Watchers again and really taking care of myself again.

I really am just wanting to be healthy this year; mind, body, and home.  To begin on the right foot, I started my year with this large salad for dinner.  It really has it all.  Delicious green spinach, sweet naval oranges, earthiness from the beets, and a fantastic creaminess from the goat cheese.

In the past couple of months I've become enamored with grains in my salads.  I love the added texture they add to the meal, plus they go a LONG way towards making a salad an actual MEAL.  In this salad I used some quick-cooking farro I was lucky enough to find at Trader Joe's.  If you can find uncooked regular farro that will of course work just as well.  Also, wheat berries or even barley would make a great substitution.  The farro made the salad really filling and gave it a pleasant chewiness.

I have a confession to make.  I don't eat oranges, like, ever.  It's not that I don't like them, the taste is great and I love orange juice.  I just can't stand the pith and membranes.  The only way I like them is when they are cut into segments or supremes.  (Go to the link for a how-to video).  It takes a little more time, but for a dinner salad I think it's worth it to give you a beautiful, membrane free orange.

If you're hesitant about the beets I implore you to give them a try in this salad.  I'm not always a fan of the earthiness of beets alone.  They do have a tendency to taste a bit like dirt.  Here though, they really match well with the sweetness of the orange and the creamy goat cheese.

Throw this salad together in your favorite bowl (bonus points for beauty and age) and start the year with some freshness and lots of color.  There will still be time for cookies later.

Beef, Beet, & Farro Salad with Goat Cheese & Oranges

Makes 2 Entree or 4 Side Salads

4 steamed & peeled baby beets, quartered

2 naval oranges, peel, pith and skin removed

5 oz. crumbled goat cheese, preferably with herbs

1 cup cooked farro

4 oz. roast beef, shaved

5 cups baby spinach

3 tablespoons oil & vinegar dressing

1.  Divide spinach between two bowls.  Drizzle dressing evenly over each.  Toss to coat.

2.  Sprinkle 1/2 cup over each salad.

3.  Top with remaining ingredients, dividing evenly between both bowls.  Enjoy!

Whole-Wheat Apple Cider-Cheese Muffins

When the calender flips from summer to autumn, my mind immedietely jumps to the joys of pumpkin.  I suddenly want to put pumpkin in everything.  I find ways to put it into soup, bread, cookies, and the ever popular coffee.  I tend to forget that apples are another treasure of the season, a pretty big oversight considering my hometown is overgrown with beautiful apple orchards.  I somehow forget how delicious apples are.  They're not flashy but humble, quietly wishing you'd add them to your grocery basket.

Whole-Wheat Apple Cider-Cheese Muffins

To rectify this terrible neglect I had every intention of making these extravagant muffins from how sweet it is (quickly becoming one of my favorite blogs).  Then I went on Pinterest.  And found a too-good/bad-to-resist breakfast.  You know the type.  Pancakes.  Peanut butter cups.  Caramel sauce.  Yeah... I'm not proud.  Well as much as I like to indulge in my weekend breakfast, after that sugar bomb, I decided it would be in everyone's best interest to give these muffins a bit of a make-over.

APPLES!

These are muffins, not cake disguised as breakfast.  They're chock-full of all sorts of things that can help erase the shame.  Apples, oatmeal, whole wheat flour!  These are all good things.  These are day-after-Thanksgiving muffins.  These are gin-on-a-weeknight muffins.  These are OMG-I-ate-all-the-pumpkin-cookies muffins.  They won't win any beauty contests, but they sure do look healthy-ish.  Whip up a batch on Tuesday or Wednesday to enjoy as a counter-point to the feast on Thursday.

Cheesy Batter!

Don't let the added cheese turn you off.  Cheese is GREAT with apples and gives these a nearly savory feel to them.  I used Cinnamon Toscano from Trader Joe's.  If you can find it DO.  It's great just sliced with some apples and works great in these muffins.  If not a sharp white chedder or even a parmesan should work just fine.

Toscano Cheese with Cinnamon

Whole-Wheat Apple Cider-Cheese Muffins

makes 1 dozen muffins

Adapted from how sweet it is

2 honeycrisp apples, diced

1/4 cup apple cider

pinch salt

pinch cinnamon

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon apple pie spice

1/4 teaspoon salt

pinch fresh grated nutmeg

1 egg

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup vegetable oil

4 tablespoons (2 ounces) butter, melted

1/3 cup apple cider

1/2 cup grated Cinnamon Toscano Cheese or White Cheddar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray muffin tin with cooking spray and line with muffin liners. 

1.  Add diced apples, 1/4 cup cider, pinch of salt and cinnamon to a small non-stick skillet.  Cook over medium-low heat until apples are soft and liquid is nearly evaporated.

2.  Whisk together flour, oats, baking soda, baking powder, apple pie spice, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and nutmeg. Set aside.

3.  In separate bowl, combine brown sugar and egg, whisking until smooth.

4.  Mix in oil, melted butter, and remaining apple cider.  Combine thoroughly.

5.  Add in dry ingredients, folding gently until combined.  Take care not to over mix.

6.  Gently fold in apples and shredded cheese.

7.  Divide batter evenly between 12 muffin liners.  (I use a small cookie scoop, about 2 per muffin)

Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick in the center of the pan comes out clean.  

Day #11: Thanksgiving Menu for 2

How in the world is Thanksgiving next week?  This Thanksgiving will be different than any other I have experienced.  For this first time, I'll be completely away from my family.  With Matt's family on the other side of the country, we'll be just us two this year.  This presents me with some unique challenges.  I've taken control of the Thanksgiving meal numerous times over the year, from the planning all the way to the cooking, but there has always been at least four people around the dining room table.

With only two people, how do I make a meal that

1.  Still feels like a Thanksgiving dinner.

2.  Doesn't take an overabundance of work.  (Don't tell, but I'd like to share in the football watching this year.) 

3.  Doesn't blow our entire week's grocery budget. 

and 

4.  Doesn't leave us with more leftovers than we can realistically go through.  

I started by figuring out what dishes MUST be in the meal to make it feel like Thanksgiving.  For Matt, that's the sweet potato casserole.  It has to be orange, it has to be sweet, and marshmallows are an absolute necessity.  I've settled on this Sweet Potato-Coconut Casserole for Every Day Food.  I like that it uses fresh sweet potatoes instead of canned and also that the sweetness comes from coconut milk, not a pile of brown sugar.  

My favorite part of the meal is the cranberry sauce.  I know, simple right?  I remember the days of the jelled, canned berries.  I sorta loved how the rings were still visible when it was on the beautiful holiday china.  I've evolved a bit since then and generally make an easy sauce with fresh berries and some orange.  The key to this intimate meal though is simplicity so I've found a happy medium and picked up a jar of this cranberry sauce from Trader Joe's.  (I also have a jar stowed away for this week's Swedish Meatballs.)  

Next up, is obviously the turkey.  We considered other options for a little while, but decided to save them for Christmas.  (Side note-How does one go about cooking a goose!?).  For us, Thanksgiving is just not Thanksgiving without the ubiquitious bird.  Instead of a monstrous whole bird, that will take up our entire refrigerator AND entire day, we went for a turkey breast instead.  At 6 lbs. it should provide us with just enough leftovers to be satisfying.  The gravy, well, that's coming from Trader Joe's.  Again, the idea is simplicity.  Please don't judge.  

For the vegetable portion of the meal, I decided on green beans with bacon.  To give a nod to the Campbell's soup green bean casserole of our childhoods, I'm adding crispy fried onions on top.  

For the final savory component, the stuffing.  I'm doing something a bit different then I have in the past.  I'll start with this cornbread mix (again from Trader Joe's).  To it will be added some nice quality chicken stock and following a guide from Real Simple magazine, some mushrooms, chestnuts, and Swiss chard.  Cornbread stuffing has never been part of my holiday repertoire (my mom HATES it) and I've never had chestnuts in stuffing so it should be a nice taste adventure.  Also, it will more closely resemble my Southern boyfriend's family traditions.  

Dessert is still up in the air.  There is a possibility of ginger-pumpkin pie, but I'm not completely won on the idea.  I'd be happy for any suggestions of a knock-em-dead holiday dessert.