Grilled Asparagus and Feta Salad

I made this salad for a food and wine pairing event for one of my book clubs.  If you want to see more about the event, head over to my personal blog, and check it out!

My dish was eaten along with a Parmesan Crusted Tilapia, and it was a perfect pairing with white wine Vouvray 2011 LaForcine Demi Sec.  This salad is mild flavored and fresh tasting salad. I needed to add a lot more salt and pepper than what the recipe called for. Next time, I would throw in a few sliced baby tomatoes. The tomatoes would have brightened up the dish and added an additional needed acidic note. Next time, I also would use a block of feta and break it up myself instead of the pre-crumbled feta.  Clearly it's not very pretty!  Using a blog of feta would have allowed me to break the cheese up into larger chunks.

If you try this, let me know what you think!

Source: Roasted Asparagus & Feta Salad
Rating: 4 forks

Here are the rest of the wines we sampled along with the courses!

Cheers!

   

Roasted String Beans



Let's eat!

A few nights ago I made roasted string beans for the first time. One word. Awesomeness.  I read several recipes to get a vibe of how to cook it and came up with my own variation.  Take out the bacon, and voila! You have a vegetarian friendly side.



Costco Salmon...my secret weapon!

With this I served one of my favorite short cuts...Salmon, prepped by Costco!!! Yay Costco! This salmon is in the deli area. It's fresh salmon topped with a herb butter and fresh dill.  All you do it bake it and it's ready to go.  I found that I only need to add a light sprinkle of salt.  It's so good I even served it as an additional protein at Christmas dinner.

Here's My Recipe:

fresh out of the oven

1 lb of washed string beans

Drizzle of EVOO

Kosher salt

Fresh cracked black pepper

2 piece of bacon, cut into small pieces

Preheat oven for 450 degrees.  Toss string beans in EVOO.  Lay on a foil covered baking sheet.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  I then sprinkle the cut bacon over top. 

 

prior to roasting

Bake for 10 minutes then take tongs and toss the beans and bacon around on the sheet and spread back out evenly.  Bake for 10 more minutes.  Serve immediately.

Source: Me!, original recipe

Rating: 5 forks