Christmas Dinner - Pt. 1

"Do as I say, or I will cut you."

"I have crazy eyes. I wouldn't mess with me."

There was a great and bloody battle, and only one was left standing.

No, no. Of course I'm kidding. That's just pomegranate juice, sillies. However, let this very short tale be a lesson for you. Pomegranates are messy. Don't wear nice clothes if you use them.

OK, onto the recipe: Spinach Pomegranate Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 (10 ounce) bag baby spinach leaves, rinsed and drained
• 1/4 red onion, sliced very thin
• 1/2 cup walnut pieces
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta
• 1/4 cup alfalfa sprouts (optional)
• 1 pomegranate
• balsamic vinegar
• honey
• salt & pepper
• olive oil

Directions:

1. Cut your pomegranate in half. Inside, it will look like this:

It's good to separate the seeds in a sink or bowl of water. The white pith will float to the top & you can scoop it all away. If you use a bowl, you can dump the seeds in a strainer. Scooping them out of the sink was easy as well.

A pretty bowl of pomegranate seeds.

2. Mix the last 4 ingredients to taste to make a vinaigrette.

3. Assemble the salad, sprinkle the pomegranate seeds on top & sprinkle with the dressing.

Voila!

Bears. Beets. Battlestar Gallactica!

Beet, Rhubarb, and Orange Salad (Bon Appetit)

Ingredients

8 2-inch-diameter red or yellow beets, 4 of each if available (I used 2 red)
4 tbsp olive oil, divided
3 cups water
1/2 cup sugar
1 lb trimmed rhubarb stalks, cut diagonally into 1/2-inch-thick slices
3 large oranges
2 tbsp unseasoned rice vinegar
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice (I used the kind in the plastic lemon)
1 tbsp minced shallot
1 tsp honey
3 cups watercress sprigs (I used some regular lettuce mixture from a bag)
1 and 1/4 cups coarsley crumbled feta cheese (about 1 7-oz package; I didn't use this)
Fresh chervil leaves (optional; I didn't use them)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place beets on large sheet of foil. Drizzle with 1 tbsp olive oil; sprinkle with coarse salt. Wrap beets in foil. Roast beets until tender when pierced with fork, about 1 hour. Unwrap and cool beets. Peel, then cut each into 8 wedges.

Bring 3 cups water, 1/2 cup sugar, and pinch of coarse salt to simmer in large saucepan, stirring until sugar dissolves. Add rhubarb. Simmer over medium heat until just tender, but still intact, 1 to 2 minutes (do not overcook or rhubarb will be mushy -- *I can attest to this, mine got mushy.) Using slotted spoon, transfer rhubarb to platter and cool completely.

finely grate enough peel from 1 orange to measure 1/2 tsp; transfer to small bowl and reserve for dressing. Cut off peel and white pith from all oranges. Working over medium bowl to catch juice and using small sharp knife, cut between membranes to release orange segments into bowl; squeeze membranes to release juice into bowl. Transfer 2 tbsp orange uice to bowl with orange peel. Whisk vinegar, lemon juice, shallot, honey, and remaining 3 tbsp olive oil into bowl with orange peel and orange juice mixture. Season dressing with coarse salt and pepper.

Arrange watercress, beets, rhubarb, and orange segments on 6 plates. Sprinkle with feta and drizzle with dressing. Garnish with chervil leaves, if desired, and serve.


**This was OK, but it was a little tart for me.