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.

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

Summer fun

Summer in Florida there is only one place you can survive: the water. Lucky for us there are plenty of places to find water in the Sunshine State. Here are some pictures from our little reprieve from the heat.

Photo clean out

I have tons of photos I have not looked at in awhile but switching everything to iphoto is bringing them up again.

I even went to Puerto Rico in March and never posted a single photo or word about it (soon to come I would hope)

First few photos are from my house next few are from the gulf coast of FLA

Flattery gets you everywhere

Poor Mary Ann, my blogging neighbor, left Florida for Michigan a little early and ended up back just in time for an April snow storm! I am sure in August though she will be glad to be in Michigan and not in Florida's hot hot humid heat.

We are still enjoying a spring here in North Florida and while it is inching towards Summer in the sun, I am stretching this weather as long as I can and soaking up every minute I can on the porch or out exploring.

Lake

We have the luxury of being able to escape town whenever we feel the need to get away from it all out into the woods. Here is the beginning of lake season:

Good Morning

I recently bought two new camera lenses and have been trying to make an effort to use my camera every day. My friend Katy (who is a talented photographer) says practice makes perfect.

Here are my pictures from today, all shot with my new 50mm f/1.8: