Arugula and Pea Salad

Perfect Pairing:  That oh-so healthy time between Thanksgiving and Christmas!

I am lucky/unlucky enough to have a brother that lives in San Francisco.  The lucky part is obvious because San Francisco is one of the world’s greatest cities.  The unlucky part is that it is very far from Chicago and I miss his family.  I have two very adorable nieces that steal your heart.  As my mom always says when she leaves there after a visit, “I left part of my heart in San Francisco.”

We have gone out to San Francisco for Thanksgiving many times throughout the years and it is a blast.  This year was no different!  While in the city we tried some amazing restaurants (State Bird Provision and Michael Chiarello’s Coqueta) and did some shopping and a little hiking.  I also had my first experience with Shabu-Shabu, which is a Japanese dish that you cook at your table.  It is not often that I try something completely foreign to me, and I loved it! 

Of course we had a delicious Thanksgiving meal with way too much food.  Hence, the necessary pre-meal hike.

The day after we set off for a weekend in wine country.  We visited about 7 or 8 wineries.  It was a tough job, but we were up to the task.

I swear the sun is a different color there and it shines so bright.

We had so many amazing wines and really enjoyed meeting people at the wineries and exploring the grounds.

We will be back!

We all know that the diet goes steadily downhill after Halloween, and a fresh salad most definitely has its place during that time.  

I love this super simple Arugula and Pea salad.  It has bright herbs, crunchy peas, peppery arugula, and a super simple light dressing.  It is easy to pair with pretty much anything.  Perhaps a crisp California white wine?!

One year ago on Perfecting the Pairing: Wheat Berry Chicken Salad

Two years ago on Perfecting the Pairing: Thai Pumpkin Soup

Three years ago on Perfecting the Pairing: Slow Cooker Coq Au Vin

Four years ago on Perfecting the Pairing: Slow Cooker Beef Short Ribs

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Kale Salad with Spiced Sweet Potatoes, Crispy Kale and Sweet Sesame Dressing

Perfect Pairing:  Winter salad craving

This is my new favorite winter salad.  It was inspired by a salad I had at a great restaurant here in Chicago called Trenchermen.  I was determined to recreate the salad at home so I looked up the description on the website.  The description of their version says it includes vegetable escabeche, bagna cauda, avocado, pumpkin seed, and manchego.  Hmmm vegetable escabeche and bagna cauda?  I decided to ignore that part because I had no clue how to make those things. 

My version actually ended up being quite different.  I pretty much only kept the pumpkin seeds and one other very cool idea I got from them.  They topped the fresh kale salad with pieces of crispy fried kale.  It added great texture and a nutty flavor.  Instead of frying the kale I used my standard kale chip recipe.  My version features baked sweet potato spiced with pumpkin pie spice and a dash of cayenne, pepitos, freshly grated parmesan, and an awesome sweet sesame dressing.

This sweet sesame dressing has become my new “go-to”.  It kind of tastes like the dressing used on the Applebee’s Oriental Chicken Salad.  I used to LOVE that salad.  Applebee’s was like THE place to go in high school and college. 

I hope you love this salad as much as I do!  It is the perfect fit when you have a salad craving in the winter.  I am not even going to get into the health benefits. Kale!  Sweet potatoes!  Mayonnaise?  Just make it!

One year ago on Perfecting the Pairing:  Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Pretzels

Two years ago on Perfecting the Pairing:  Flatbreads with Thyme, Honey, and Sea Salt

Click Read More for the recipe...

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