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Heart Healthy Cooking: Balsamic Mustard Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Root Vegetable Salad

Friday, February 10th, 2012

This is one of those meals where you’ll get a little giddy the next morning when you remember that you have leftovers to eat for lunch. It’s that yummy. I love root vegetables but don’t often feel like bothering with the peeling, chopping, and roasting that’s required. After I knocked over an entire pile of celery root at Whole Foods the other day, I felt obligated to take some of the battered veggies home for transformation. I added parsnips and beets, and the root vegetables became the star of a delicious warm salad, which I served with a roasted pork tenderloin. It was a simple but elegant meal, easy enough to prepare on a work day but lovely enough for a special occasion (and Valentine’s Day is coming!) The veggies were tossed with olive oil and fresh herbs before roasting and became both crispy and tender and nutty and sweet. You could serve them just like this, but I put them over a bed of spinach dressed with a citrus and honey vinaigrette. The pork was simply roasted and glazed with We Olive’s Sweet Balsamic Mustard. Delicious, beautiful, and heart healthy. Enjoy!

Roasted Root Vegetable Salad
Serves 6
You’ll need:
1 lb celery root, peeled and cut in to 1/2 inch chunks
1 lb beets, peeled and cut in to 1/2 inch chunks (I used golden and red beets for color)
1 lb parsnip, peeled and cut in to 1/2 inch chunks
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (I used We Olive Arbequina)
3 sprigs each fresh rosemary and thyme, chopped
1/4 cup Blood Orange Olive Oil (You can use standard extra virgin olive oil and add fresh orange zest if you like)
2 tablespoons Pomegranate Champagne Vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1 small shallot, finely minced (about 1 tablespoon)
10 oz fresh spinach
salt and pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees positioning one rack in the upper third of the oven and one rack in the lower third. Toss the chopped parsnips and celery root with olive oil to coat and spread in one layer on a baking sheet. Sprinkle the veggies with rosemary and thyme and then season with salt and pepper. Repeat this step with the beets on a separate baking sheet.
2. Bake for 15 minutes and then swap the position of the pans – the upper pan to the lower position and the lower pan to the upper position. Bake for 15 more minutes or until tender. Remove from oven and set aside.
3. In a small bowl, combine the shallot, honey, and vinegar, then whisk in the olive oil until well combined. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Toss the spinach with the prepared vinaigrette just to coat and arrange on a platter. Top with roasted vegetables and serve.

Sweet Balsamic Roasted Pork
Serves 6
You’ll Need:
2 pork tenderloins
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
1 jar We Olive Sweet Balsamic Mustard

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Season pork tenderloins with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add one whole tenderloin, searing on each side until browned. Remove tenderloin from pan and transfer to a baking dish. Repeat this step with second tenderloin.
3. Brush the tenderloins with half the jar of Sweet Balsamic Mustard and roast for about 25 minutes or until done. Remove from oven and transfer to a cutting board to rest for about 5 minutes. Brush the tenderloins with remaining mustard to coat. Cut pork into slices and serve alongside salad.

Note: For timing purposes, I sear the pork and rub it with mustard while the vegetables are roasting so I can get the pork into the oven as soon as the veggies come out. I make the vinaigrette while the pork is roasting. When the pork comes out of the oven to rest, I dress the greens and plate the salad. The entire process will take just over an hour.

Tags: Arbequina, blood orange olive oil, pomegranate champagne vinegar, sweet balsamic mustard
Posted in Entree, HEART HEALTHY, Recipes, Salad, Side Dish | No Comments »

Fall Salad: Brussels Sprouts You’ll Love

Thursday, October 27th, 2011

I didn’t always love brussels sprouts. I have memories, like most people I think, of steamed, yellow-green balls of blah. But brussels got a bad rap and they are in fact, incredibly delicious and versatile. You can roast them in EVOO to bring out their naturally nutty flavor. You can caramelize them with balsamic vinegar for a terrifically tangy side dish. But my favorite way to prepare them is to treat them like a salad green. You can shred them up raw and dress them like you would a slaw. Or you can quickly blanch the leaves to give them a toothy but tender bite, which is what I’ve done in the following recipe. I served this recently at our La Jolla store for the La Jolla Gallery & Wine Walk charity event and it was a big hit. This salad makes a great accompaniment to any fall meal but is hearty enough for a light dinner. If you want to beef (or pork) it up a bit, crumbled bits of crisp bacon or pancetta would be a divine addition. Try it out on your pickiest eaters and you’re sure to have a few brussels sprout converts.

Citrusy Brussels Sprout Salad
Serves 8

Ingredients:
4 cups brussels sprouts, halved, cored, leaves separated
2 tablespoons lemon juice
¼ cup fresh squeezed orange juice
¼ cup white Balsamic vinegar *
¾ cup We Olive Meyer Lemon Olive Oil
½ medium head of radicchio, cored and thinly sliced
1 Red Bartlett pear, cored and sliced into thin wedges
Salt and pepper
4 oz. Manchego cheese, shaved
½ cup pecans, toasted
Zest of one lemon and one orange

1. Blanch brussels sprouts in boiling salted water for 30 seconds; drain and immediately transfer to a large bowl of ice water to cool. Spin in a salad spinner to dry leaves (or pat dry with kitchen towels).
2. In a bowl, combine the lemon and orange juice with the vinegar. Slowly whisk in the Meyer Lemon olive oil until thoroughly combined. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Combine the brussels sprout leaves with the sliced radicchio and pears in a large bowl. Toss with enough vinaigrette to coat. (Any excess can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week). Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Garnish the dressed salad with the shaved Manchego, toasted pecans, and lemon and orange zest. Serve.

Note: *Choose a White Balsamic that has some sweetness to it. We like House of Balsamic’s sweet and tangy Prelibato. If you can’t find it, Chapparal Gardens Winter Ambrosia makes a nice substitute and gives it a hint of fall spice.

Tags: meyer lemon olive oil
Posted in Appetizer, Dressing, HEART HEALTHY, Recipes, Salad, Side Dish, Thanksgiving, Vegetarian | No Comments »

Reader Recipe: Your Go To Grilled Chicken Salad

Tuesday, October 18th, 2011

This reader recipe comes to us by way of We Olive Ventura, where reader Leslie Dufresne shops for her CA EVOO. This recipes embodies everything we love about cooking with olive oil: it’s simple to prepare, packed with flavor, and it’s good for you. This is the perfect quick recipe to have in your tool box when you feel like calling the pizza guy…again. Try Leslie’s recipe below and submit your own recipes here. Thanks Leslie!

Grilled Chicken Salad

Ingredients:
-One half chicken breast, pan grilled in We Olive Extra Virgin Olive Oil, and sliced
-2 cups arugula
-1/4 cup Kalamata olives, sliced
-Crumbled goat cheese, to taste
-We Olive Meyer Lemon Olive Oil, to taste
-We Olive Aged Balsamic Vinegar to taste

Put a bed of arugula on a plate. Top the lettuce with the sliced
chicken, goat cheese, Kalamata olives, Meyer Lemon olive oil and Balsamic vinegar.
Enjoy!

Tags: balsamic vinegar, meyer lemon olive oil
Posted in Dressing, Entree, HEART HEALTHY, Recipes, Salad | No Comments »

Food Memories and Figs

Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011

I was 7 years old the first time I ever tasted a fig, outside of a Newton, that is. My grandfather was a beekeeper in the Central Valley and he and my grandmother’s modest home sat in the middle of row after dusty row of almond, apricot, and fig trees. My cousins and I would walk through the orchards after swimming in one of the nearby canals and pick fruit off the trees to snack on. My sister and I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and canal swimming and fruit snatching weren’t something that were second nature to us. We did our best to emulate our cousins that were at home running barefoot through the trees and taking honeycomb from the hive, but we probably seemed like silly little girl versions of city slickers to them. One particular summer day, after we’d exhausted all of our usual options for mischief, we got into a fruit fight in the orchard. Dashing from tree to tree, we hurled apricots at each other, squealing and dodging the fruit as it landed with dusty thuds at our feet. I distinctly remember drawing my arm back to let another fruit bomb fly when I noticed that the thing I was holding was an odd brownish-green color and shaped like a teardrop. I stopped to stare at the foreign fruit in my hand and promptly got nailed in the belly with a rotting apricot. Undeterred, I held it up and asked “What is this thing?” to my much wiser cousins, who were too busy laughing at the fruit salad all over my shirt to answer me. Eventually I got told it was fig and called a “dingus” for not knowing what a fig was, but I slipped it into my pocket so I could taste it later without any mocking from my cousins, who were still throwing fruit at me. Later that night, I snuck into the bathroom and bit into the fig and was more puzzled than anything. It wasn’t very sweet and it felt a tad slimy and tasted almost like I was eating a leaf or a flower petal. I took one more bite and was rewarded with a pink center full of crunchy seeds. I didn’t really enjoy it, but I didn’t hate it either. I was just more mystified by this alien fruit than anything. How could this thing be what ends up in a Fig Newton? Why would people eat these things? Why had I never seen one before? And then I got bored, chucked it in the trash and went off to find my cousins playing in an old broken down school bus.

While that fig certainly didn’t change my life, I think of that day every time I see figs at the market. There’s something about the wonder of discovering food that makes those memories more indelible than others. So the other day, when my husband came home with a box of figs, given to him by someone at work from their own tree, I fondly remembered the fruit fight in my grandparents orchard and my first fig encounter. After tasting one, I decided that they weren’t as sweet as I would have liked and that I would have to help them along somehow. Since my husband already had the grill going, I sliced a handful in half and threaded them onto a few wood skewers. After a quick look at my “We Olive pantry” (as the shelf that houses my bounty of oil and vinegar is known), I chose the Blood Orange Olive Oil to brush on the cut sides of the fig. I put the fig skewers on the grill cut side down for about 2 minutes until they were caramelized and soft and then flipped them over and let them cook for another 2 minutes. I sliced each half into quarters and popped one in my mouth. The fig was soft and sweet, with a bright orange flavor and a hint of burnt sugar. That night they ended up on some vanilla ice cream with a drizzle of Aged Balsamic. The next day I tossed them with arugula, gorgonzola, and a blood orange vinaigrette. This weekend I am going to serve them just off the grill as a side to pork tenderloin. And each time I make them, I’ll be thinking about running barefoot in the dirt, swimming in canals, and being tormented by my cousins.

Do you have a favorite food memory? Share them with me in the comments section and I’ll re-post your stories!

Tags: balsamic vinegar, blood orange balsamic, blood orange olive oil
Posted in Appetizer, Dessert, HEART HEALTHY, Recipes, Salad, Side Dish, Vegetarian | No Comments »

Summer’s Best Tomato Salads

Thursday, July 28th, 2011

Tomatoes any other time of year just aren’t as sweet. And I mean that literally. They’re also usually orange-y and mealy and just a sad reminder that we’ve forgotten that there are actual seasons for food. So I take an immense amount of pleasure from a red, ripe, bursting-with-juice tomato that needs nothing more than a bit of sea salt and some fresh olive oil to make it sing. In honor of the start of tomato season, I’m sharing my favorite salads using summer’s favorite fruit.

Caprese Salad

My husband and I eat this a couple of times each week in the summer months. It’s that easy and that delicious. I don’t know of another recipe that better exemplifies the idea that quality ingredients need little manipulation to produce spectacular results. Find the best and most beautiful tomatoes you can (heirlooms are always nice for variety in color) and cut thick slices. Get the best fresh mozzarella available to you. If you can find someone who makes it locally, you’ll be rewarded with a cheese that is more delicate, creamy and flavorful than what you find at your grocery store. Buffalo mozzarella is a great alternative to locally produced cheese because of it’s texture and distinctive tangy flavor. Cut thick slices of mozzarella, roughly the same size of the tomatoes. Cut both tomatoes and mozzarella just before serving so they don’t lose all of their juices from sitting on the plate too long. Arrange the tomato slices on a platter and season with sea salt. Top each slice with a piece of mozzarella and a basil leaf. Drizzle extra virgin olive oil over the tomatoes and cheese and serve immediately. I like a robust oil with grassy, peppery notes on my Caprese, so I use our Tuscan Blend, but our Fresh Basil olive oil is stunning in this dish as well.

Panzanella Salad

Whenever I make panzanella, which is made with toasted pieces of leftover bread, I imagine a little old lady in the Italian countryside surveying the day old loaf in her pantry and then shuffling out to her garden to pluck a few tomatoes and a handful of basil leaves. Within minutes, she’s transformed the humble ingredients into something magical. Clearly, I have a tendency to romanticize, but I always send a silent thank you to whoever’s nonna was resourceful enough to come up with this one. To make panzanella, you’ll need a few perfectly ripe tomatoes, a clove of garlic, 6 – 8 thick slices of crusty bread (preferably a few days old), a handful of fresh herbs (I usually use basil, but oregano, thyme, or parsley work in any combination), a pungent extra virgin olive oil, aged balsamic vinegar, and salt and pepper. Cut the tomatoes into wedges and remove any seeds with your fingers. Rub the cut slices of bread with the clove of garlic and stick it under the broiler just long enough to get it golden and crisp. When it’s cool enough to handle, tear the bread into bite-size chunks and toss it in a bowl with tomatoes. Chop the herbs and add to the bowl along with a hearty drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and then season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

Greek Tomato Salad

I made a version of this salad (which I’ve adapted from a recipe by Chef Gavin Kaysen) for my friend Linda Lou, who is Greek and notorious for stealing olives out of unsuspecting martinis. She loved it, so I consider it to have the official Greek stamp of approval. To make it, you’ll need a half cup of heavy cream, about 2 cups of feta cheese, a few pounds of assorted heirloom tomatoes (cut in quarters or wedges), roughly 2/3 cup of pitted kalamata olives, a quarter of a red onion, sliced as thinly as possible, fresh chopped oregano, sea salt, pepper, and of course, extra virgin olive oil. Put the feta in a bowl and add a little bit of cream at a time, whisking with a fork, until the cheese becomes creamy and smooth. Spread one quarter of the cheese onto the center of plate. Top with one quarter of the tomatoes, onions and olives and season a bit with salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil (my preference is our California Koroneiki) and garnish with the chopped oregano. Repeat on four more plates and serve.

Share your favorite summer tomato salad recipe with me – it may appear in our next Reader Recipes post!

Tags: balsamic vinegar, basil olive oil, tuscan olive oil
Posted in Appetizer, HEART HEALTHY, Recipes, Salad | 2 Comments »

Super Simple Strawberry Salad

Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011

Everyone should have a super simple dish in their recipe arsenal that they can break out without breaking a sweat. This no-brainer strawberry salad is the perfect accompaniment to grilled chicken or pork, it’s great over greens, or perfect as a lazy summer dessert. Everyone I’ve served it to asks for the recipe, which consists of just a few simple steps. Enjoy!

You’ll need:
1 lb strawberries, trimmed and sliced
2 T. We Olive Meyer Lemon Olive Oil
2 T We Olive Peach White Balsamic
2 T. fresh mint leaves, thinly sliced

In a serving bowl, combine strawberries with oil and vinegar and toss to coat. Sprinkle sliced mint leaves on top to garnish. Serve immediately.

Note – This salad should be dressed just before serving to preserve the texture of the strawberry.

Tags: meyer lemon olive oil, peach white balsamic
Posted in Dessert, HEART HEALTHY, Salad, Side Dish | No Comments »

Yellow Split Peas and Greens

Thursday, April 14th, 2011

INGREDIENTS

1½ cups dried yellow split peas, rinsed and picked over

1 teaspoon fine sea salt, divided

1 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds), divided

1 cup lightly packed cilantro leaves and stems

⅓ cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

3 garlic cloves, peeled

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 small serrano chile, mostly seeded and deveined

⅔ cup We Olive Collection Organic Mission extra-virgin olive oil, divided

2 cups mixed salad greens

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large saucepan, bring 5 cups of water to a boil. Add the yellow split peas and simmer, uncovered, until tender, about 25 to 30 minutes. Drain and season with ¾ teaspoon salt.

2. Make the cilantro pesto: In a blender or food processor, combine ⅓ cup of the pepitas, the cilantro, Parmigiano-Reggiano, garlic, lemon juice, chile, ¼ teaspoon salt and a splash of We Olive Collection Organic Mission extra virgin olive oil and puree until smooth. Continue blending while gradually drizzling in the remaining We Olive Collection Organic Mission extra-virgin olive oil until the pesto becomes a vibrant green sauce (makes about 1 cup).

3. Make the salad: In a large bowl, toss the cooked split peas and the remaining ⅔ cup of pepitas with two-thirds of the pesto. Continue tossing until everything is well coated. Add the salad greens, drizzle with some of the additional pesto to taste and gently toss again.

Serve immediately.

Recipe adapted from Super Natural Every Day by Heidi Swanson

Tags: cilantro, garlic, lemon juice, mixed greens, organic mission evoo, parmigiano-reggiano, pepitas, sea salt, serrano chili, yellow split pea
Posted in Appetizer, Dressing, Entree, HEART HEALTHY, Menu, Organic, Recipes, Salad, Side Dish | No Comments »

Bruschetta with Aged Balsamic

Wednesday, July 7th, 2010

Easy Summertime Cooking by Karen Kostrinsky

Appetizer
Bruschetta with Aged Balsamic – Best when made in advance!
(Prepared with We Olive Tuscan olive oil and We Olive Aged Balsamic Vinegar)

1. Seed and Chop (finely chop) about 10 Roma Tomatoes.
2. Add 2 tablespoon of We Olive Tuscan Olive Oil
3. Add 1 tablespoon We Olive Aged Balsamic Vinegar
4. Add 1-2 minced garlic cloves.
5. Add 1 tablespoon Basil leaves ribboned and chopped.
6. Mix well, add salt and pepper to taste and chill for a few hours.

Tags: balsamic vinegar, basil, black pepper, garlic, olive oil, salt, tuscan olive oil
Posted in Appetizer, Menu, Recipes, Salad, Side Dish | No Comments »

Sweet Balsamic Strawberries

Friday, May 28th, 2010

A great sweet snack for weekend BBQ’s or an elegant wine tasting party favorite…

Ingredients (serves 4-6)

16 oz of fresh strawberries
2½ tbsp of We Olive Traditional Aged Balsamic Vinegar
¼ cup of sugar (white)

Directions

Clean and slice a large bowl of plump and fresh strawberries. Next, drizzle We Olive Traditional Balsamic on top of the strawberries. Let the mixture sit for 10-15 minutes allowing the strawberries to soak in and drink up the delicious balsamic flavors. Then, sprinkle the sugar on top of the mixture, gently mix, and serve!

Tags: balsamic vinegar, strawberries, sugar
Posted in Appetizer, Dessert, Dressing, Menu, Recipes, Salad, Side Dish | No Comments »

Summer Squash Spaghetti with Lemon Aillade and Ricotta Salata

Tuesday, May 11th, 2010

Recipe adapted from: Edible Aria

Summer Squash Spaghetti with Lemon Aillade and Ricotta Salata

Seasonal zucchini and yellow squash is combined with lemon aillade, slivered spring onions, fresh basil and oregano. Topped with broiled garden tomatoes, baby carrots and raw olive oil-marinated ricotta salata. Crunchy sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper..

For the Aillade

3 cloves garlic
1/3 teaspoon sea salt
pinch cayenne
1 pastured egg yolk
1 tablespoon freshly-squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup We Olive Mission extra virgin olive oil

Peel and mince the garlic, then transfer to a mortar with the salt and crush into a paste. Add the egg yolk, garlic and salt to a bowl and whisk thoroughly.

Whisking continuously (use an electric mixer if you prefer), add the We Olive Mission extra virgin olive oil in a slow, steady stream until it reaches a mayonnaise-like consistency. Add the lemon juice the same way, then refrigerate at least 30 minutes before using.

To Prepare

Dress tomato wedges and baby carrots with We Olive Mission extra virgin olive oil, season with salt & pepper and broil until tender, about 5 minutes. Set aside.

Meanwhile, toss fine julienne of zucchini and yellow squash (raw or blanched & shocked as you prefer), slivered onions and chopped fresh basil and oregano with lemon aillade. Season to taste with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper.

Arrange “spaghetti” on a plate and top with broiled tomatoes, carrots and cheese. Garnish with additional fresh herbs and toasted pine nuts if desired

Tags: basil, egg yolk, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, sea salt, summer squash, yellow squash, zucchini
Posted in Entree, HEART HEALTHY, Recipes, Salad, Side Dish, Vegetarian | No Comments »

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