1 September 2010

Virtual Supper Club Showcases Our Fall Favourites

Frisée, Baby Spinach, and Golden Beet Salad


We are so glad you have decided to join us once again for our Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club. This is a monthly event where 5 ladies in two neighbouring countries get together to create a delicious meal with a theme in mind. We are now in our second year and continue to share a love for Cooking Light magazine which has an emphasis on healthy eating and living. The idea is simple because of our common interest in cooking and healthy cuisine. We love to share these ideas with you each and every month through our Virtual Supper Club. This is a team effort where we combine what Cooking Light readers like best...good food with great company!!! This month our theme was chosen by Jamie of Moms Cooking Club featuring a tasty menu of:

Fall Favourites


Fall is right around the corner! Very soon, leaves will begin changing colour and falling to the ground as the air turns cool and crisp.It is an inbetween season where it is not really cold and not really warm. The air has that certain woodsy fragrance with a little nip to bite your nose early in the morning and my world is seen through multihued glasses of red and russet. If you haven't already gathered it is THE season and my favourite by far!!!!! I love to bring the warm cozy blankets and sweaters out of hibernation and sit curled up on the couch in front of the fire with a book...or better yet a cookbook.

Not only is Fall a great time for jumping into piles of leaves and carving pumpkins, but it also provides a great chance to try out some delicious recipes that will help bring the spirit of the season into your kitchen and home. One of the easiest ways you can do this is by using the bounty of inspirational produce of the season from your garden or farmers markets in various recipes.

Long time member Jamie of Mom's Cooking Club started this months menu with Beef Daube Provencal.Braised beef with red wine and vegetables makes this classic French stew perfect for cold weather.
As an accompaniment I brought along a fall salad of Frisée, Baby Spinach, and Golden Beets.  This salad of greens, beets, and goat cheese would please any palate. You can use regular red beets in place of golden beets, or opt for a combination of both. This versatile, nutritious tuber combines sweet, earthy undertones with a wealth of nutrients.

To balance the menu Shelby of The Life and Loves of Grumpy's Honeybunch adds a delicious side of Butternut Squash Blue Cheese Gratin. This is a dish I wanted to try myself so wish I could have dug my fork in in "real time".

Patsy of Family, Friends and Food wowed us with her choice of  Roasted Cauliflower with Browned Butter.Roasting your vegetables intensifies the flavours amd the browned adds that extra depth of flavour.

Sandi of The Whistestop Cafe brought the finale of a fall-inspired Pecan Pie Ice Cream. We are still in between seasons so this is a perfect crossover dish with fall flavours. Nothing says fall like pecan pie!!

At home I served this tasty fall spinach salad with Spiced Pumpkin Biscuits which complimented the sweetness of the beets and cranberries well.

**Frisée, Baby Spinach, and Golden Beet Salad**
from Cooking Light

3/4 pound medium golden beets
1 cup cranberry juice cocktail
1/3 cup sweetened dried cranberries
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons raspberry vinegar
1 tablespoon minced shallots
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon walnut oil
4 cups frisée or radicchio
4 cups baby spinach
1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled soft (log-style) goat cheese

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Preheat oven to 400°

Wrap each beet in aluminum foil. Bake at 400° for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until tender. Discard foil; cool beets for 30 minutes. Trim off beet roots; rub off skins. Cut beets into 1/8-inch-thick slices.

Combine cranberry juice, cranberries, sugar, and vinegar in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil; cook 11 minutes or until mixture thickens. Remove from heat. Stir in shallots, salt, and pepper. Gradually add oil, stirring with a whisk.

Combine lettuce and spinach in a large bowl. Add cranberry mixture; toss to coat. Add beets; toss gently to combine. Divide salad evenly among 6 plates. Top each salad with 4 teaspoons cheese.

Seves 6

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23 comments:

  1. This looks delicious. I am a big fan of betroot but I have never tried golden beets (do not know where to buy them), do they taste similar to ordinary ones?

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  2. I love golden beets K. They taste pretty much the same as red beets without all the mess and red hands of the classic.

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  3. I'm almost ready for fall. I just need another week or so of summer. Unfortunately, it will still feel like summer here for several weeks! Your salad looks delicious! I love roasted beets.

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  4. Beets are my favorite! Sadly, I could eat them right out of a can. This salad could only make them better.
    Thanks for bringing this to our virtual supper club! I've got dessert :-)

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  5. What a lovely recipe! I have never had golden beets. Last week I got inspired and sent for a subscription to Cooking Light. Very anxious a to get it and maybe join you in this fun adventure.
    You have a fabulous blog.
    Rita

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  6. I think golden beets are even sweeter than red. Pluse they're just so darned pretty.

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  7. I love fall food. That salad must be delicious!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  8. What a great inspirational group you have there.
    This salad...especially with the beets is particularly appetizing to me.
    Beautiful photo Val ;o)

    Ciao for now,
    Claudia

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  9. I absolutely adore fall food and will definitely be checking all of these out! Your salad looks fantastic, but what I'm really after is those biscuits. you had me at pumpkin...

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  10. A wonderful fall menu - the salad with golden beets sounds delicious!

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  11. What a beautiful and hearty salad, Val! :-) I have beets waiting for me at home and this would be such a lovely way to use them up. :-)

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  12. This salad looks totally amazing Val! Everything else looks great too! (sorry I've been so busy I haven't been reading blogs lately!)

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  13. Now that it's finally gotten warm here, I'm loving salads!

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  14. I love all different types of salads and this looks like the perfect one for fall. I love your Fall description. I can just feel the cool air coming (even though I'm in Florida). Fall is my favorite time too. Thanks for another great month.

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  15. This look really delicious Valli, we dont have golden beets, only we have the red you know, but I love these, x gloria

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  16. I love how pretty this salad is! Nice addition to our virtual meal!

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  17. I am having duck breast for dinner tomorrow evening and I think this salad would be a great accompaniment. I just made an adaptation of the dressing - dried cherries on hand, and rhubarb shrub and no wine vinegar and hazelnut oil. I think it will taste great. I have goat cheese and some bitter greens.

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  18. Lovely salad Val!
    Ps: The UK has just gone back into Summer!

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  19. Fabulous salad Val. We're preparing something similar for this weekend with local peaches instead of beets from Cooking Light. The peaches be gone before we know it.

    Beef Daube is one of our all time favorite cool weather meals. I'm off to check it out.

    I always enjoy your Cooking Light Virtual Supper Clubs.
    Sam

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  20. Ick did you say Fall? I hate to see summer end! I guess I do have a lot to look forward to this Fall, so I really shouldn't complain.

    This recipe is a great joining of seasons!

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  21. no, val. no. it is NOT time for fall. i shall resist it until the very end of summer. :)
    lovely salad--the golden beets are gorgeous.

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  22. You're right Val, Cooking Light is a tremendous resource. I just picked up a paperback cookbook from the authors on Fresh and Light and 5-ingredients. I cannot put it down....fabulous healthy and light recipes that I'm soon to post. Love this monthly group that you have on Cooking Light!

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  23. Fall is my favorite season to cook and find inspiration.

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Welcome to my home. Thank you for choosing to stay a while and for sharing our lives through food. I appreciate all your support, comments, suggestions, and daily encouragement.

Val

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