sauteed greens beans with fried shallots

You may recall my recent fascination with fried leeks. Well, it's happened again with another onion-like vegetable that has historically only rarely appeared in Cole's Kitch: the shallot.*

*I think the only shallot I've used in the past played a part in a salad vinaigrette.

As was the case with the fried leeks, these shallots could be put on just about anything - a garnish on other veggies, salads, soups. (An idea for doubling-up on shallots: mince half and use in your salad vinaigrette and fry up the other half to garnish the salad. Double yum!) The green bean-shallot pairing was inspired by a recipe my mom had clipped from a magazine (I'd cite it here, except that the source had been clipped away, so I'm not sure exactly when or where it came from). Here's what I did:

Sauteed Green Beans with Fried Shallots

Serves 2-3

1/2 pound green beens, rinsed and trimmed

1 shallot, thinly sliced

1/3 c. vegetable oil

1 tsp. butter

sea salt

Heat oil in a large pot (to make cleanup easier by keeping any oil splatter contained in the pot) over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot enough to sizzle in response to a drop of water, add shallots. Cook until shallots are deep golden brown, about 3 minutes. Remove with a fork or slotted spoon onto paper towels.

Steam the green beans in a vegetable steamer over medium heat until crisp tender. Drain and return to pan with butter. Saute until butter is melted. Season with sea salt.

Serve green beans topped with fried shallots.

spinach salad with oranges and avocado

I'm currently on week 2 of a 30-day cleanse. I had thought embarking on this cleanse that I wouldn't have anything worth posting about (or at least not anything that anyone else would want to eat!). I was wrong.

Eating 70% raw fruits and vegetables (the basic rule for the current week of the cleanse) means that I'm trying all sorts of new combinations with fresh ingredients. I tend to eat a lot of vegetables, but not such a high proportion of raw vegetables, so this week is becoming an adventure. This salad is something I'll definitely make again. The combination of flavors is great. Here's how it goes:

Spinach Salad with Oranges and Avocado

Serves 2

Dressing:

1 shallot, minced

3 Tbsp. olive oil

2 Tbsp. champagne vinegar

sea salt & freshly ground pepper

4 cups baby spinach

2 oranges, peeled, sectioned, and cut in half

1 medium avocado, peeled, pitted, and sliced

Make dressing by whisking dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Combine spinach, orange sections, and avocado slices in a large salad bowl. Pour dressing over top and mix well. Top with freshly ground black pepper.

As I was eating this salad, I was thinking that walnuts and blueberries would both be great additions to it. I'll try that next time. Let me know what you think!