Sunday, February 7, 2010

Sunday Brunch

 

Such a stark picture of such a lovely lunch! Sorry if I seem somewhat repetitive here, posting about sandwiches again! But when you have home made bread and a cheese that's meant for melting, how can you not make grilled cheese? Add in some big juicy slices of ham steak, and you've got a glorious thing. I originally pressed these in my grill, but as they were a bit too tall, I wound up transferring them to the toaster oven. As you can see, one of them had some structural issues, but eventually the Brie wound up melting all over and holding it together. 

What I really want to talk about, though, is the salad. While I do appreciate a good salad, I rarely have them at school because I feel like buying ingredients for salad for one means that I either have to eat salad every day for a week or else waste a lot of veggies. That's why I eat so much spinach-- in a pinch it'll do as a salad, but you can always toss more wilted handfuls into other dishes. You can't really do that with old Romaine. 

Long story short though, there was a "spring greens" blend on sale when I went grocery shopping last, so I got it. I felt like some strong veggie flavors would offset the oily creaminess of the grilled cheese, and since tomato soup seemed to pale in classiness to my brie, I decided to go for a salad. Let me break it down:

  • a couple handfuls "spring greens" mix
  • half a handful of chopped apple
  • a handful of quick candied walnuts (stir ~1T sugar in a shallow pan until melted, then toss in nuts and mix til crunchy)
  • generous drizzle of home made cranberry vinaigrette 
It's the dressing that I really have to share with you. It's perfect. In a shallow pan reduce about a half cup of cranberry juice and a splash of vinegar (any kind) down to about an almost syrupy tablespoon. Transfer to a small bowl or cup and add an almost equal amount of EVOO and whisk with a fork. It will separate quickly, but it is so good. Sweet-tangy and a little sour, if you like raspberry vinaigrette you'll love this. And it feels super classy to make your own dressing!

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