This watermelon radish salad with Cara Cara oranges, goat cheese, and toasted walnuts is as stunning as delicious! A simple dressing of shallots macerated in vinegar, olive oil, and chives adds brightness to this refreshing winter salad.
Here’s a festive dinner: Balthazar’s Moules à la Marinière , an on old favorite that takes no time to throw together, peasant bread , and this salad, a mix of paper-thin watermelon radishes, Cara Cara oranges — so sweet and pretty — toasted walnuts and goat cheese, dressed with shallots macerated in vinegar, olive oil, and chives.
A few weeks ago, we received an enormous bag of watermelon radishes, which couldn’t be more beautiful, in our first winter CSA delivery, and we’ve been enjoying variations of this salad ever since. If you don’t have radishes on hand, turnips work, too, as do raw thinly sliced golden or red beets.
Our first winter CSA: 30lbs of root vegetables. I can’t say enough good things about our Roxbury Farm CSA , which delivers to Columbia County, the Capital Region, Westchester County and Manhattan. Everything from the arugula to the butternut squash has been exceptional.
Description
A simple salad inspired by a bounty of watermelon radishes in our CSA, the beautiful citrus at the market, and the classic combination of goat cheese, walnuts and citrus.
A few notes:
A mandoline is helpful here. This is my favorite .
To toast nuts: Preheat oven to 350ºF. Place walnuts on a baking sheet and cook for 10 to 12 minutes or until slightly browner and smelling fragrant. Dump the walnuts into a tea towel. Rub off the skins. Remove walnuts from towel, leaving skins behind. If you wish to get more of the skin off, place walnuts in a strainer and shake it aggressively.
1 shallot or half of a small red onion
2 to 3 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
kosher salt
2 to 3 watermelon radishes
2 to 3 oranges, clementines, grapefruit, etc. (I love Cara Cara oranges, which are sweet, pretty and delicious)
a handful of walnuts, toasted and chopped (see notes)
goat cheese to taste
chives, minced, optional, but they add some nice color
olive oil to taste
- Mince shallot. Place in small bowl. Cover with 2 to 3 tablespoons of the vinegar depending on how big of a salad you are making. Add a pinch of salt. Set aside.
- Cut off one end of the radish. Leave the other intact so you have a handle when you run the radish down your mandoline. Peel the radishes if you wish, though it is by no means necessary. Thinly slice on a mandoline. Arrange radish slices on a platter. I try to fold some of them so they’re not all squished down in one flat layer, but arrange however you wish. Season all over with salt.
- Cut off each end of each orange. Squeeze each end over the radishes, then discard. Use a sharp knife to remove the skin from the orange. Cut in between membranes to remove each slice. Squeeze remaining membrane all over the radishes to extract any juice. Scatter oranges over the radishes.
- Scatter walnuts and goat cheese to taste over the radishes and oranges. Pour macerated shallots and vinegar over top. Drizzle olive oil to taste (one to two tablespoons) over top. Scatter chives over top if using.
- Let sit a few minutes (or longer — it benefits from a brief rest) before serving.
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Salad
- Method: Dress
- Cuisine: American
Description
A simple salad inspired by a bounty of watermelon radishes in our CSA, the beautiful citrus at the market, and the classic combination of goat cheese, walnuts and citrus.
A few notes:
A mandoline is helpful here. This is my favorite .
To toast nuts: Preheat oven to 350ºF. Place walnuts on a baking sheet and cook for 10 to 12 minutes or until slightly browner and smelling fragrant. Dump the walnuts into a tea towel. Rub off the skins. Remove walnuts from towel, leaving skins behind. If you wish to get more of the skin off, place walnuts in a strainer and shake it aggressively.
1 shallot or half of a small red onion
2 to 3 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
kosher salt
2 to 3 watermelon radishes
2 to 3 oranges, clementines, grapefruit, etc. (I love Cara Cara oranges, which are sweet, pretty and delicious)
a handful of walnuts, toasted and chopped (see notes)
goat cheese to taste
chives, minced, optional, but they add some nice color
olive oil to taste
- Mince shallot. Place in small bowl. Cover with 2 to 3 tablespoons of the vinegar depending on how big of a salad you are making. Add a pinch of salt. Set aside.
- Cut off one end of the radish. Leave the other intact so you have a handle when you run the radish down your mandoline. Peel the radishes if you wish, though it is by no means necessary. Thinly slice on a mandoline. Arrange radish slices on a platter. I try to fold some of them so they’re not all squished down in one flat layer, but arrange however you wish. Season all over with salt.
- Cut off each end of each orange. Squeeze each end over the radishes, then discard. Use a sharp knife to remove the skin from the orange. Cut in between membranes to remove each slice. Squeeze remaining membrane all over the radishes to extract any juice. Scatter oranges over the radishes.
- Scatter walnuts and goat cheese to taste over the radishes and oranges. Pour macerated shallots and vinegar over top. Drizzle olive oil to taste (one to two tablespoons) over top. Scatter chives over top if using.
- Let sit a few minutes (or longer — it benefits from a brief rest) before serving.
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Salad
- Method: Dress
- Cuisine: American
Find it online : https://alexandracooks.com/2014/12/24/watermelon-radish-orange-goat-cheese-salad/
Shortly after volunteering to bring baked fontina to a casual New Year’s Eve gathering with the neighbors, fear of becoming a one-trick pony sent me back to the drawing board.
So I scoured my favorite hors d’oeuvres cookbooks and files and pulled out a recipe — Martha Stewart’s hot crab dip — I have been meaning to make since last February when I read The Wednesday Chef describe it as the “number one most delicious thing [she] made over the holidays.” Sounded like a winner.
Over the weekend, I discovered it was. It’s a snap to assemble — sauté shallots in butter, add spices, half-and-half and cream cheese, fold in crab — and it cooks in 20 minutes. I baked off a third of the mixture for Ben and me for lunch, and when that little cazuela emerged from the oven, cheese bubbling through a paprika-speckled surface, we attacked it with crackers, bread and a squeeze more lemon.
Sure, hot crab dip is old fashioned, rich and creamy, spiced with Old Bay and Worcestershire, but it also couldn’t be more festive or delicious: piping hot, loaded with crab, spiced with just enough cayenne to keep you reaching for more. I have no doubt my neighbors will approve of my new party trick.
Friends, I can’t believe another year has passed. Here’s to being many-trick ponies in 2015. Happy New Year, Everyone.
Description
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 medium shallots, minced
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ¾ teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
- 1½ teaspoon dry mustard
- ¾ cup half-and-half
- 8 ounces cream cheese, cut into small pieces
- 4 ounces sharp white cheddar cheese, grated on the large holes of a box grater (about 1¾ cups )
- 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 10 ounces lump crabmeat, picked over for cartilage
- ½ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 2 slices white bread, crusts removed, torn into ¼ -inch pieces
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- bread, crackers, toast points for serving
- extra lemon for serving, optional (I like a little extra)
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees with a rack in the center. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots and cook until soft, about 2 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon water and simmer for 30 seconds. Stir in the cayenne, Old Bay, and dry mustard until well combined.
- Pour half-and-half into saucepan and bring to a simmer. Slowly whisk in the cream cheese, a few pieces at a time. When the cream cheese is fully incorporated, whisk in the cheddar cheese, a handful at a time. Stir the mixture for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Add lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce; stir to combine. Stir in crabmeat and half of the parsley. Transfer mixture to an ovenproof baking dish.
- Melt the remaining tablespoon of butter. In a small bowl, toss bread with the butter, remaining parsley, and paprika. Season with salt. Spread bread mix over crab and bake until bread layer is golden and dip is hot, 18 to 22 minutes — depending on your vessel, it might take less or more time. Once it is bubbly and beginning to look golden, it’s done. Serve with bread and extra lemon if using.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
