Solata s hruško, popečenimi orehi in prelivom s pečenim česnom

Sredi decembra, pa že ves teden živim na solatah. Ne ravno sezonsko. Ampak verjetno zato, ker ni snega. In zato, ker moje telo ve, da bodo prihajajoči dnevi težki. Pa se je kar samo odločilo za mini detox.

Tale recept sem pobrala pred parimi leti v Kanadi. Orehi so bili seveda karamelizirani na javorjevem siropu, če je kdo za upgrade. Pa tudi kakšen kos dimljene postrvi ali pa lososa bil čisto za zraven. Trik je pa seveda v prelivu s pečenim česnom.

Solata s hruško, popečenimi orehi in jogurtovim prelivom s pečenim česnom

Sestavine (za 4 osebe):

• mešana sezonska solata
• 2 hruški (lahko tudi jabolka)
• 2 pesti orehov
• 3 žlice olivnega olja
• 4 žličke sladke paprike
• 2 žlički agavinega ali javorjevega sirupa
• ½ žličke soli
• 200 ml tekočega jogurta
• 50 g naribanega parmezana
• 5 strokov pečenega česna (potrebujemo celo glavico česna*)
• sok ½ limone
• sol, poper
• rezine dimljenega lososa ali postrvi (po izbiri)

* Priporočam večjo količino česna, saj ni smiselno greti pečice zgolj zaradi ene glavice česna. Pečen česen se lahko uporabi v solatnih prelivih, na brusketah in crostinih, ali pa kot dodatek jedem. Hrani se v hladilniku.

Priprava:

1. Glavico česna vodoravno prerežemo, tako da vsem strokom odrežemo vrh. Postavimo na kos aluminijaste folije za živila, prelijemo z 2 žlicama olja in robove folije upognemo proti notranjosti. Postavimo na pekač in pečemo na 150 – 160 °C približno 45 minut.
2. V kozici segrejemo 1 žlico olja in dodamo orehe. Ob stalnem mešanju pražimo 1 minuto. Prelijemo z agavinim sirupom, nato dodamo sladko papriko in sol.
3. Pripravimo preliv: z vilicami pretlačimo 5 strokov pečenega česna, primešamo jogurt, nariban parmezan, sok polovice limone, sol in poper.
4. Hruški po dolgem narežemo na tanke rezine in naložimo na solato. Prelijemo z jogurtovim prelivom in potresemo s praženimi orehi.
5. Po izbiri lahko dodamo tudi rezine dimljenega lososa ali dimljene postrvi.

 

Ta recept je nastal v sodelovanju s Spar Slovenija in njihovo revijo Dobro zame.

Easy green

I would say that Slovenians, we’re a salad nation. It sounds funny, but if there’s no salad in your meal, your meal just doesn’t feel complete. And for me a good salad is often enough to make a perfect meal.

When making salads, I follow couple of simple rules: it has to be colorful, needs to have different textures and flavors and has to be a play between sweet and sour.

The main rule for composing big salads is: crunchy base vegetable + one or two colorful accessories + some crunchy details or/and cheese.

As far as dressing is concerned, it should always taste more slaty and sour. That’s how it will be perfect on your salad. And my basic rule is: never put white dressing on cheese.

Simple.

Colorful accessories.

I love putting fruits in salads. They add wonderful color and flavor. Oranges are superb in green salads. Just don’t forget to take off all that white skin.

Avocado is actually a fruit, not a vegetable. It is a good source of magnesium, potassium, vitamin K and vitamins B. It has high level of fat, but it’s good vegetable unsaturated fat. There’s about 15 g of fat in 100 g of avocado. You can easily use it as butter replacement in your other recipes.

Avocados are picked hard and green and will ripen properly at room temperature in one to two weeks. If you buy them hard and don’t want to eat them straightaway, keep them in fridge. If you want them to get ripe more quickly, put them next to bananas. And yes, you should always have them on stock!

 

Crunchy stuff: nuts and seeds

Black cumin seeds always remind me of my trip to Egypt where we had wonderful bread with black cumin seeds in the morning. It was years ago and at that time I had no idea what it was. I’ve just remembered the taste. Since I’ve rediscovered it, it’s my favorite thing on oranges and goat cheese.

Couple of crushed nuts like pistachios, almonds, walnuts, roasted or not, will give your salad a full rounded body. Salted roasted whole almonds add crunchy and a bit rustic flavor.

Soft goat cheese

 

 

Ingredients

• salad greens
• 1/2 avocado
• 1/2 orange
• handful roasted almonds (in shells)
• goat cheese
• olive oil
• 1/2 lemon
• lemon thyme (optional)
• black cumin seed to sprinkle
• salt, pepper

Directions

1. Cut avocado chunks. Peel and cut oranges. Remove white skins.
2. Roughly crush almonds.
3. Make dressing. Mix olive oil, lemon juice, thyme, salt and freshly ground pepper.
4. Assemble green salad, avocado chunks and oranges, rough pieces of cheese. Sprinkle with almonds, cumin seeds. Top with  dressing.