Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club- Have a Heart/ Red Food Granny Smith, Radish, and Radicchio Salad

This month's theme for our Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club is Have a Heart/ Red Food. Quite a clever theme for the month that gives us Valentines Day, which is a celebration of red and hearts.

The theme was chosen by Val and she has some great information on her blog about why eating red foods is a great way to add valuable nutrition to your diet.
Here is how the menu turned out this month-
Val - More Than Burnt Toast - Bourbon and Brown Sugar Flank Steak w/Garlic-Chive Mashed Potatoes
Jamie - Mom's Cooking Club - Brushetta with Warm Tomatoes

Sandi - Whistlestop Cafe Cooking - Spanish Salad of Oranges, Fennel, Red Onion and Mint with Dressing

Mary Ann (me) - Meet Me in the Kitchen - Granny Smith, Radish and Radicchio Salad

Jerry - Jerry's Thoughts, Musings and Rants - Roasted Sweet and Sour Beets, Carrots and Parsnips

Roz - La Bella Vita - Almond Jelly Roll with Raspberry Filling

I chose to make this Granny Smith, Radish and Radicchio Salad with Orange-Walnut Vinaigrette which caught my eye a couple of months ago in Cooking Light Magazine. I loved the colors in the salad and the combination of these flavors makes a salad that is spicy, crunchy, tart and delicious. The vinaigrette brings it all together, along with the chopped walnuts on top.
The radicchio and radishes were my red foods.

Check out the rest of the menu above- we have two new members joining our Virtual Supper Club this month, Welcome Jerry and Roz!


Recipe for Granny Smith, Radish, and Radicchio Salad

Fennel and Pepper Salad

Okay, so we are on Day 2 of Snow, Ice and Cold Weather Cancels everything. Not that I am complaining. I would rather have my kids and husband home with me than have them off at work or school. How are we celebrating? Well, we stayed up late watching the NCAA football championship game, slept in this morning and now we are eating frozen yogurt sundaes for breakfast, in our pajamas, while watching cartoons. Good times!

This recipe from Rachael Ray's Look and Cook Cookbook is not something that you could whip up after being cooped up in your house for a few days, unless you always keep radicchio and fennel on hand. Maybe you do keep this things in your fridge at all times. I had to make a trip to the store, and quite a few grocery stores at that, to get my hands on some fennel.

I actually made this dish for a family dinner that we had before Christmas. It couldn't be easier to mix together, once you have all the ingredients on hand. The fennel, radicchio and bell peppers make a nice crunchy, flavorful combination. If you haven't had radicchio before, it can be a little bitter and spicy, but I think it has a really great flavor, especially when combined with these other ingredients. This recipe can be found in multiple places on the internet as well.

Recipe for Fennel and Pepper Salad
* I used a little less olive oil than called for to dress this salad