Roasted Root Vegetable Salad

Summer and fall, fall and summer- VEGETABLES. I love them. I don't know what it is, but I crave vegetables during summer and fall. Our CSA has lended nicely to this craving with fresh, local vegetables that inspire. The fall vegetables, namely the root vegetables are so earthy, colorful and full of deep, rich flavor. My most favorite are beets. I've only boiled them in the past, which is so easy and delicious. 

I found this recipe in a magazine and it was perfect timing, as we received beets, turnips and sweet potatoes (turnips not pictured- I remembered them after I peeled all the veges- eek!) in our weekly CSA with Rosebank Farms. Roasting the vegetables brings out the sweetness in them. This salad is so full of flavor- I'm kinda hooked!

                            Fresh, raw vegetables

Peeled beets- save the greens- you can cook them too!

Peeled sweet potatoes, carrots and parsnips

Shallots

Roasted root vegetables
-carrots
-parsnips
-turnips
-sweet potatoes
-beets

Ingredients for the salad dressing, which is just as addicting

Ingredients:

2 medium beets

1 bag of fresh carrots

1-2 bags of parsnips

2 medium turnips

2 medium sweet potatoes

4 medium shallots

Chopped pecans

8 cups of romaine lettuce

Salad dressing:

6 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

2 tablespoon snipped fresh thyme

1 teaspoon dijon mustard

1 teaspoon honey

1-2 cloves of garlic

salt + pepper

Directions:

1. Wash and peel all vegetables

2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cut the beets into 1-inch pieces. Place in a 2-quart baking dish. Toss with olive oil and S+P to taste. Cover the dish with tin foil and bake for 30 minutes

3. Meanwhile, cut the carrots, turnips, sweet potatoes and parsnips into 1-inch pieces. Place in a 15 x 10x 1-inch baking pan. Add the chopped shallots. Toss with olive oil and S+P.

4. Remove foil from the dish with the beets, stir the beets. Increased oven temperature to 425 degrees. Return the beets to the oven and place the pan with the other vegetables alongside the beets. Toast veges in both pans uncovered for 30-40 minutes (until tender).

5. Meanwhile, for the dressing. Combine the ingredients (olive oil, white wine vinegar, thyme, dijon mustard, honey, garlic and S+P). Blend with the emulsion hand blender. Place in the refrigerator. 

6. To serve, in a large bowl toss the romaine with the dressing. Top with the warmed vegetables, sprinkle the pecans over top and serve immediately.

Serves about 10 (I had to make more dressing later in the week)

ENJOY!

The finished product with the salad dressing!
























Will and I ate this all week long. He grilled some pork and he ate it on the side or on top of the salad (just for extra protein). The pork complimented the salad well if you're looking to add more protein. I usually feel the need to eat something hot for dinner, but this salad satisfied. It really is a hearty salad. Root vegetables are filling and somewhat starchy, so they fulfill the craving for pastas and breads while providing tons of nutrition! I hope you enjoy this salad as much as I do!

Recipe adapted from:
Better Homes and Gardens

Minero

Minero is Sean Brock's new Mexican eatery which opened its doors on Friday, October 3rd. Sean's obsession with tacos, which started in Nashville (while working on Husk Nashville), is what sparked him to open up Minero. He was unable to satisfy his craving for tacos when he returned to Charleston. Brock reportedly tried over 40 different types of corn just to get the homemade tortillas just right- talk about dedication! Unsurprisingly, this Mexican taqueria had a lot of hype surrounding its opening.

I'm here to discuss whether or not it lived up to all of the build-up and anticipation.

Minero, a casual Mexican Restaurant, is located on East Bay Street amongst all of the fine dining East Bay is known for. Casual is a new concept for Brock. McCradys, then Husk, now Minero- formality decreasing with each new restaurant. Although, Minero has hints of high-end here and there- its a great balance with a great atmosphere.

No reservations will be taken. The hostess tells you where to sit by table number, but you show yourself to the table.

Look inside the drawer at your table for napkins and silverware. 

We started off with the chips and salsa. As you can see, it came out from the kitchen in a well-themed Mexicanesque patterned bag. The chips were very well seasoned and delicious; there was plenty of salt, hints of lime and spices. They were unique- different than anywhere else. The salsas were each unique as well and unlike anything else we had before. The verde was familiar but so refreshing. The benne was exceptional; it started off sweet and finished with a kick. We really enjoyed the chips and salsa, and I would highly recommend them. 

We were a little disappointed in the size of the salsas, but once remembering that they cost $4, we felt that the price was justified. 

I ordered the Chilaquiles ($9) and a Taco Al Pastor ($3.50) because I couldn't leave without getting a taco.

The taco was delicious. I LOVE grilled pineapple (probably too much) so I was so excited to see this on the menu. The pork was perfectly cooked and seasoned- it had an intense smoky flavor that would be very difficult to replicate. I would order this taco again and again. 

The Chilaquiles was good, but it left 

something to be desired. There was a good amount of cheese (meaning too much in most people's book, but for me- the more cheese, the merrier Jenny!). 

The beans were cooked just right and were a good size. The chili was good, but nothing was great. The egg was slightly overcooked so it never "broke" over the dish. Overall, I would say it was a good dish, but I would rather eat it as an appetizer- I can't put a finger on it, but something was missing.

Will ordered the burrito (queso de Oaxaca, crema, hoppin john, avacado and poblano- Meat lovers, be warned, there is no meat!) and was satisfied with it. I tasted it and we both agreed, the flavors were really good. Again, it had plenty of cheese. The poblano was cooked perfectly and added a lot of flavor to the burrito. I think he burrito needed some heat! It was definitely good and we're glad we tried it but I don't know that we would order it again.

Overall, Minero was good. I will definitely be back to try more items on the menu. Did it live up to the hype? Not completely. But is it possible to live up to the hype that surrounded Minero's opening? It would be very difficult, as it was one of the most anticipated openings due to it being Brock's new restaurant- he's like a god around here in Charleston. 

You can tell how much time, effort and thought was put into the concept of this restaurant and the food and atmosphere were really good. Its definitely worth the trip. 

I was happy with our experience but I didn't leave feeling like I needed to tell everyone to drop what you're doing and head there immediately (which I am known to do). I will post an update once I make it back! Please, share with me what you ate and how you felt about it- I would love to hear everyone's favorites!

Check out how Brock decided on the name, Minero- pretty cool! 

Minero is the Spanish word for miner. Allegedly, Mexican miners called the dynamite used to excavate the ore in the mines, tacos. The dynamite was merely gunpowder wrapped in pieces of paper, which I imagine looked like what we know as a taco!

Goat Cheese & Arugula Pasta Salad

Torey and I met our freshman year at Clemson. Torey has always had such a powerful impact on me and has been such a good friend over the years. She is a strong, loyal woman with a good heart and boy oh boy, she can cook! One thing we always loved to do together was eat. A fond memory was walking on the hall to see Barefoot Contessa on her TV. She was always watching Ina in between classes.

Being freshman, you don't have very much access to the resources needed to cook. There was a kitchen on the first floor of our dorm for anyone to use, which no one did, except Torey! She would host little happy hours and Christmas parties and cook up a feast. She was an early influence for me. We have very similar palates and both truly enjoy the art of cooking.

Torey, her husband, Todd and their sweet baby girl, Evie came down for a visit this summer and Torey cooked up an amazing meal including this pasta salad recipe I am going to share.

I have craved this pasta salad constantly since she made it for me. I have made it on three other occasions in the span of two months. The freshness of this pasta salad is something I cannot describe. Between the greens, heirloom tomatoes, fresh basil and lemony dressing- this is all about the raw, natural ingredients. I hope you enjoy this pasta salad as much as I do!

Ingredients for the pasta salad, take note of the size of the basil leaves (left)

Could these heirloom tomatoes be any more gorgeous?!

    

                                                   Finished product with the dressing!

 

Most recently I made this dish at supper club! My friends and I have a supper club that we have been doing for the last couple of years. We get together about two-three times a month and rotate who hosts at their home. Whoever hosts cooks the main part of the meal, and the other two couples bring along sides and/or appetizers. Stefanie hosted this week and she and her husband, Tradd made Lowcountry Boil. The way we cook it down here in Charleston is with shrimp, sausage, potatoes and corn with Old Bay Seasoning- yum! Will and I brought the goat cheese and arugula pasta salad, and Lara and Jonathan provided the fresh caught shrimp from a recent shrimping trip! Stefanie set up their outside table beautifully and it was a great night as always. Pass the vino!

Stefanie, Lara and I

Ingredients:

1 bag of Arugula
4-6 oz of chevre goat cheese***
16 oz heirloom cherry tomatoes
16 oz fusilli pasta (spiral) ***
Handful (about 1 cup) of large basil leaves

Dressing Ingredients:

1/4 cup of olive oil
3 tbsp of red wine vinegar
2 small or 1.5 large lemons, juiced
1/2 cup of parsley
2 cloves of garlic
salt + pepper

Directions:

1. Place a pot of water on the stove, once boiling, add the pasta and cook to al dente, about 15 minutes. Rinse under cold water. Set aside

2. Preferably with a immersion hand blender, blend together the ingredients for the dressing (olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, parsley, garlic, S+P) and then place in the refrigerator.

3. Slice the cherry tomatoes in half and combine with the cooked pasta (which should be cooled by now)

4. Julienne the large basil leaves and add to the pasta mixture

5. Add in the goat cheese and finally the dressing, thoroughly mixing all of the ingredients to evenly distribute the cheese and dressing

***If you use the chevre goat cheese, it is soft enough to melt in with the dressing. The crumbled goat cheese will maintain its "clumps". I personally prefer the chevre goat cheese :)

***Use less pasta if you would like more of a salad versus pasta salad

ENJOY!



Adapted from a Southern Living Recipe that could not be found online
Of note, they used blue cheese in their recipe

Indaco

Ciao, friends! Indaco graced Upper King Street with its quickly known presence in August 2013. It’s a part of the Indigo Road Restaurant Group : Oak, O-Ku, Cocktail Club and Macintosh- talk about a dream team. Through the direction of their Exec Chef, Michael Perez, Indaco has held its own in this restaurant group, serving up wood-fired pizzas, homemade pastas and main entrees of seafood and meats. Think modern space with traditional Italian cuisine.

Will and I went to Indaco when it first opened and enjoyed our meal, but didn’t leave with the feeling that we needed to make a trip back as soon as possible.

It had been about a year, and we were both craving Italian. We decided to take a trip back. We thought that after recently being in Italy, it would give us a different perspective on the food and experience.

There is an option to do a family-style menu, which I would definitely like to try out in the future. The prices are on-par with other restaurants in the area.

We started out with an Aperitif which took us right back to Italy. Indaco's version tasted the same as the sweet pre-dinner drink we last had in Venice- with Aperol versus Campari.

Next, we ordered a bottle of wine and an antipasti- braised duck, honey nut squash, sunchoke, polenta, whey, parmesan and chives. It was savory and delicious. Will and I shared it and it was a good size for an antipasti. But because it was so good, we were both wanting more. 

The fall weather begins the start of what I call our "red wine season". Colder weather has me craving red wine and we go through the most wine during the cold months.

This bottle came from the region of Tuscany

For our entrees, we both ordered pasta dishes (unsurprisingly). I ordered the deconstructed carbonara, or the black pepper tagliatelle. This included house-made black pepper tagliatelle, pork tesa (standing in for the traditional pancetta), egg yolk, chives and of course pecorino romano. What would Italian be without cheese!? 

This take on carbonara speaks volumes about the authenticity and culinary creativity of this restaurant. The dish took me straight back to Italy....but with a twist. You could taste the pepper so distinctly in the tagliatelle. The pasta was cooked perfectly- it was strong enough to keep its form against the thickness of the egg yolk once broken and mixed in with the rest of the ingredients. It was perfectly seasoned, just salty enough without being overpowering leaving me thirsty. It was the perfect amount of food to leave me satisfied. You have to order this when you go to Indaco!

Will ordered the agnolotti, which was filled with milk braised pork, shiitake mushroom, pork emulsion, pickled red onion, fonduta and parmesan. He enjoyed the dish and found it the be a generous portion that left him feeling full. I tried a bite and again, it was seasoned perfectly. The agnolotti was delicious, but he would probably not order it again.



Lastly, dessert! I don't normally order dessert at restaurants because I would rather eat more on the front end, but I had been hearing so much about the budino I had to order it. Ok, lets be honest- I was on a mission from the start to get this dessert!

Holy Moly this dessert. This is a bold statement, but I think its my most favorite dessert I've ever had. It was perfect. Y'all, I'm not exaggerating. The toasted almond custard was the perfect thickness and consistency. The salted caramel held the strongest presence of the dish, both salty and sweet. The chocolate shortbread offered a more bitter than sweet crunch followed by the smooth sweet cream, which possessed just a hint of sweetness. It was perfectly balanced and I could have ordered ten of them. Of course, I pretty much ate the whole budino, and Will had a cappuccino. 

This trip to Indaco, Will and I left with an urge to return much sooner than a year! I would urge you to go soon, especially now that its getting colder outside. The cooler weather always has me craving Italian- Arrivederci!