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).

Pin It

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:

Summer Rain

A boring video summing up Florida summer storms in August. Not bad with a porch and a pooch

Goji Berry Lemonade

Goji Ginger Lemonade
Serves 1
Ingredients:
2 Tbsp. goji berries
1 ½ cups water
1 tsp. ginger root, freshly grated
½ lemon, juiced
raw honey to taste (optional)

Directions:
1. Soak goji berries in water for at least one hour to soften.
2. Pour goji berries and soak water into a blender with remaining ingredients, blend on high until completely mixed.
3. Strain and pour into a glass with plenty of ice and lemon slices.

Recipe found here with health benefits explained. I have made this lemonade several times over since Friday and it is great. I recommend you buy some goji berries and get started.

When I first started this blog I had a much different idea for what it would be. I was torn between just sharing things I loved/hated on in a brutally honest tone and a food blog of sorts. In reality my blog turned out to be neither of those things. I hardly write anything on here and mostly use this as a place to share my photos and Florida style adventures. I guess with all things it just takes time to evolve and discover the real aim/voice.

I read a ton of food blogs and have been on a kick lately to put better things in my body. I love several newly found sites which I have added to the Blog list on my side bar. I feel good mentally and physically and while I never take horrible care of myself I do have a tendency to waver back and forth between caring and not taking the time to care. I am a very active person and I just feel better when I am eating well. For me this is a personal belief and should not come off as preachy at all. There are endless resources out there for how to take care of yourself and I believe the only way to be successful is for it to be a lifestyle and not a "diet" or temporary plan. I also believe anything in moderation is ok but some people lack a true grasp of what moderation is. Quality of life is much more important than quantity of life.

Fozzie

This is Fozzie...I fell in love with her this weekend while she was staying at my house. If anyone is looking to adopt the sweetest girl who only wants to cuddle and love on you please contact Pet Rescue by Judy.

POTD Lost Track of numbers

I have mentioned this before but to any newcomers, I can be a flake. Now that I have made a general statement about myself I do not need to apologize for losing track of the days or not posting every day...right?!

POTD 6 and 7

The sun gets high in the sky early these days and I am a slow mover in the morning time. It isn't even 9:30 and we have full staggering sunlight on my block. These pictures would be nicer lighting had they been taken 2 hours earlier, but not much gets me out walking the dog at 7am.

POTD Day 5

Steep metro escalator

POTD Day 4

Cold Brewed Iced Coffee with Vanilla Almond Milk

Was in DC this weekend for a wedding. Great wedding horrible 114 degree heat! Backlogged...practiced using natural light and my tripod.

POTD Day 3