Florida Sunshine Salad

This salad was inspired by two of my favorite Southern eateries. One being The Floridian in St. Augustine, which is one of the best things to happen to St. Augustine dining, and the other being The Tupelo Honey Cafe in Asheville, NC, which I've only eaten at once but was so impressed that I bought their cookbook, which I highly recommend.

As with any salad the ingredients are fluid and can be mixed and matched with what you have on hand, but the staples that are absolutely necessary in my opinion are the strawberries, roasted beets, and spicy pecans.



I made this salad and ate it for 5 meals or so in a row, I just couldn't get enough. Best enjoyed with Spring weather on your front porch.


Florida Sunshine Salad

1/2 head green lettuce
1/2 head purple cabbage shredded into long strips
2 beets (I prefer golden but any color would be lovely)
1 sweet potato
10 strawberries
hunk of cheese ( both bleu and goat work wonderfully)
Spiced pecans (recipe below)
Pomegranate Vinaigrette (recipe below)


Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Peel and slice beets, toss with olive oil. Clean sweet potato. Roast beets and sweet potato until fork tender. About 20 min for the beets and 45 min for the sweet.

In a large bowl toss the vegetables with a generous splash of the dressing. Toss well, add 2/3 of the cheese and pecans and gently toss again. Serve topped with the remaining pecans and cheese.

Serves 4-6 as a side.

Spiced Pecans

1.5 tsp unsalted butter

1.5 tsp local honey

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon, nutmeg mixture (I used a baking spice mix by Penzey's)

1 cup chopped pecans

Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add remaining ingredients and cook for 8-10 minutes, until caramelized. Remove from heat, cool, and store in airtight container in the refrigerator.

Pomegranate Vinaigrette

1/4 cup red wine

2 tbl pomegranate juice

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper

1 tsp spicy or dijon mustard

1/2 cup grapeseed oil (Can substitute olive oil but I find the mild grapeseed oil to be the best match for less acidic vinaigrettes)

Combine first 5 ingredients and mix well. Slowly whisk in grapeseed oil. Or add all ingredients in a jar with a lid and shake vigorously to combine.

Fl Orange Blossom Honey Green Tea

Florida Orange Blossom Honey Green Tea

Ingredients

2 Qt. Water
8 Green Tea Bags
2 Tablespoons Florida Orange Blossom Honey
1 Orange Sliced


Instructions

1. Bring 1 Qt. of water to a light boil, remove from burner (or microwave) and cool slightly (1-2 min)
2. Add tea bags and honey. Brew for 1-2 mins
   
3. Meanwhile fill pitcher with 1 QT. ice water/ice cube mixture
4. Poor hot tea into the pitcher. Add sliced orange.
5. Serve on ice. Garnish with sliced orange
   

This tea is a staple in our house. It is slightly sweet and has a wonderful citrus flavor. It is super simple to whip up a batch and only takes 7-8 min total. Feel free to boil your water in the microwave but make sure you only heat half of the water creating almost a tea concentrate. I was always taught this for food safety reasons and getting the tea out of the bacteria "danger zone".

I hope you enjoy this as much as we do. It's my first official Teal/Teak recipe! Keep an eye out for my next recipe, Sweet Potato Biscuits (peeking in the background).

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Sorry for my absence

I have been horrible about updating this site since October(?!?) and I apologize for that to my 12 subscribed readers. I have been to Croatia, Costa Rica, and lost my job in the time since my last post and was really trying to take some time to figure out what direction I want this blog to go.

I am hoping to redesign and relaunch as an actual food.travel.photography blog with separate tabs for photography and recipes. Keep your eyes peeled for the new site!

Heading Out With a Touch of Warmth

One of the greatest parts of my relationship with Michael has been the many secrets and never ending hidden beauties of Florida he has shared with me. Helping me distance myself from my parents' recent yankee past ;) a true Florida boy.

Tomorrow I board a plane to Croatia. For a well deserved break from reality. Though reality has been kind to me lately and I leave with a touch of Florida beauty fresh on my mind.

PS with the new blog layout you can click on first picture to scroll through all pictures full size

Travel

I found these sweet videos on Cup of Jo and instantly fell in love. Please enjoy

Work trip to Savannah

The lucky thing about my new job is that since I cover a National retail chain I have had some great experiences working in ideal locations this past year. Here are a few from my downtime in Savannah this week: ( iphone pics as i forgot my Nikon)

The line for Mrs. Wilkes Boarding House

Family style meal complete with food coma after the best friend chicken, biscuits and okra I have had in years.

Wormsloe Historic Site:

All in all it's never a bad trip when you have a nice place to explore after your work duties are done for the day.

POTD?

Not sure this qualifies as POTD posts any longer but here we go: