Try this at home: Sun in My Belly's Hermes Salad

The best salad I've ever had was at Sun in My Belly, a lovely little restaurant in Decatur. I was taking advantage of a ScoutMob hand-picked deal for dinner for two (they've got one right now and it's almost gone! go get it!) and that included your choice of salad to start.

I chose the Hermes, and it changed my life forever. I would definitely not say that I'm a salad person, but I would eat this happily any/every day.

I decided it'd be really simple to recreate at home, so I decided to give it a go. Sure enough, totally doable and so delicious. I don't think they used gorgonzola as their bleu cheese, but that's what I had on hand from my baked sweet potato the night before.

Usually by the end of a salad I'm having to convince myself to keep eating it, but no so with this one. So even if you have a salad aversion, I dare you to give this one a try! The arugula is perfectly peppery and pairs beautiful with the bite of the bleu cheese and the sweetness of the roasted pears.

Arugula with bleu cheese, toasted walnuts, roasted pears and champagne vinaigrette

For the salad you'll need:
a plateful of arugula
a little bleu cheese (I used gorgonzola)
a handful of walnuts, lightly toasted (pop em in the oven for a couple minutes)
roasted pears, chopped (recipe below)
champagne vinaigrette (recipe below)

For the roasted pears:
2 pears, cored and halved
1 Tbs melted butter
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp lemon juice

Preheat oven to 400. Cut each pear half into 4 lengthwise slices. Toss in the butter, sugar and lemon juice and spread on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Roast for 20-30 mins, stirring them around every 10 or so minutes. They'll be ready when they're golden brown and slightly soft.

For the champagne vinaigrette:
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/4 cup champagne vinegar
3/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
pinch of black pepper

Combine mustard and vinegar. Then, whisking the whole time, slowly drizzle in olive oil to emulsify (mix oil and vinegar). Season with salt and pepper!

Now, assemble away! To your plateful of arugula, crumble some bleu cheese, sprinkle on some toasted walnuts, top with the roasted pears, and finally drizzle on the vinaigrette!

Bon app!

     

Eat your greens: Brussels Sprouts

We had dinner at Hearth in Sandy Springs a few weeks ago. My friends wanted to order Brussels sprouts for an appetizer. I was so confused. I couldn't believe a person under the age of 85 would order Brussels sprouts on purpose.

The waiter brought them out and they didn't look like I expected. Apparently, they had been roasted. And they were also delicious. We polished off that plate before anyone could decide how to spell Brussels sprouts. (Brussle? Brussel? Brussles Griffon?)

I decided I had to attempt this.

I gathered the ridiculously easy ingredients: fresh Brussels sprouts, olive oil, salt, pepper, balsamic.

According to Ina Garten, you need:

1 1/2 pounds Brussels sprouts 

3 tablespoons good olive oil 

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Cut off the brown ends of the Brussels sprouts and pull off any yellow outer leaves.* 

Mix them in a bowl with the olive oil, salt and pepper. 

Pour them on a sheet pan and roast for 35-40 mins, until crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. 

Shake the pan from time to time to brown the sprouts evenly. 

Sprinkle with more kosher salt (I [Ina-G. speaking] like these salty like French fries), and serve immediately.

[Katie now]: Alternative ending: instead of more salt, drizzle a little Balsamic on those little babies. 

*I'd also add that these should be cut in at least halves. Mine cooked real fast on the outside and the insides still tasted pretty... earthy. 

Fair warning: your house will smell like Brussels sprouts, and your dog might pass out, but I'd say it's worth it.