Sunday's Salad/Fennel, Apple and Blue Cheese Salad

What a week, a week filled with good things, bad things, sad things, and very little blogging things. But, the good out weighs the bad, and the bad is behind me, so happily, I move on! 

This time of year is such a joy for me, my tomatoes are coming in and I have tons of basil, so tons of pesto. Nothing better than an open face pesto sandwich. Makes my mouth water just to think about it. All I do is toast a great piece of bread, spread it with a mound of pesto, and then add a layer of my fresh tomatoes. A little salt and pepper, and it's luncheon heaven :)

Another favorite item, other than soups, are fun salads. I have fallen in love with fennel! Earlier this past week, I had purchased fresh fennel. As I was looking in my refrigerator, thinking about what I might like to make, the thought of pairing an apple with the fennel and then tossing it all with mixed greens sounded perfect.  

I placed about 3 heaping cups of mixed greens in my salad bowl, and topped them with a thinly sliced red delicious apple. 

I then added 1 bulb of  fennel which I sliced. Please do not follow my lead, chop the fennel, it'll be easier to eat and much more enjoyable.

I then added 1/2 cup of crumbled blue cheese, and 1/2 cup of toasted chopped pecans.

Now, the dressing I made, was simple and fabulous. A friend gave me a bottle of blood orange olive oil, and a bottle of tangerine balsamic vinegar.
   

I used 1/3 cup of the oil and 2 tablespoons of the balsamic vinegar, whipped it together and then poured it over the salad. 

HEAVEN!!!

The nice thing about the oil and vinegar is that they are available to order. For those of you who live in or near Chicago, they have stores on Wells St. here in Chicago, and another in Evanston. 

If you would like to order the oil and vinegar, you can find them HERE, and HERE. Well worth the investment. 

Fennel, Apple, and Blue Cheese Salad
printable recipe

3 heaping cups fresh mixed salad greens
1 red delicious apple thinly sliced
1 bulb of fennel chopped
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
1/2 cup toasted chopped pecans

For the dressing:

1/3 cup blood orange olive oil
2 tablespoons tangerine balsamic vinegar

Whip together, pour over salad, toss and serve.    

Sunday's Supper/Pasta with Cabbage, Roasted Walnuts and Granny Smith Apple

Since tomorrow is Easter, I thought I would go ahead and post this tonight. The ingredients of this pasta dish may seem a little strange, but the combination is absolutely delicious! 

There's more to the pasta than just cabbage, walnuts and a granny smith apple, but this was the beginning. As you can see below, there's also a sliced purple onion, and a few ingredients that you don't see below :)

Pasta with Cabbage, Roasted Walnuts and Granny Smith Apple

Ingredients;
1pkg. of whole grain pasta
1 small head of cabbage chopped
1/2 purple onion sliced
1/2 cup chopped walnuts roasted
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium Granny Smith apple thinly sliced
1 heaping teaspoon fresh chives chopped
1/2 cup of blue cheese crumbles
1 teaspoon dried sage
salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste

Boil a pot of salted water for pasta. 
While water for pasta is heating, heat the olive oil and saute onions and apple together until tender and slightly browned.
Roast walnuts.
Once the water has come to a boil, add pasta and cook as directed on package. 2 minutes before pasta is ready to drain, throw in the chopped cabbage. Once pasta is ready to drain, reserve 1/2 cup of cooking liquid.
Drain pasta and cabbage combination then place in serving bowl. Combine with the sauteed apples and onion, the roasted walnuts, blue cheese crumbles, and sage. If  needed, add the cooking liquid to give the pasta a creamy texture. Mix well. Add salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes to taste. 
Top the pasta with the chopped fresh chives and enjoy!  

The sauteed apples give the pasta just a hint of a tart taste and onions give it a savory taste. 

The pasta is creamy and yet no cream has been added, except for the natural cream of the cheese. 

My husband was intrigued by the combination of ingredients, but after one taste he said, "this is company pasta!" In other words, pasta meant for guests :) I thought that was a rather nice compliment.
My chives are up in the garden, so I am looking for every possibility to use them. I just love spring chives!
If you give the pasta a try, I hope you enjoy it too!
Rhonda