Pickle Salad

Perhaps you, like me, have some jars of fermented pickles in your fridge that will not taste as delicious soon, and are finding it time to make a move on them. Perhaps you also, like me, ate too much hollandaise and eggs benedict for lunch and needed a lighter dinner. 😂 

Here then is a good move: Pickle Salad. I though about substituting pickles for cukes in a tabouli sort of salad, but then I did a search to see if any recipes would come up - one from Bon Appetit did, which I used as inspiration for this dish. I didn't have fennel though, and instead used parsley and tomatoes, meaning I still sort of went with the tabouli salad idea! I thought it was great, and will make it again, especially since I still have tomatoes turning red on the counter and fresh parsley in the fridge. The toasted walnuts and Parmesan are especially delicious in there.

• ½ cup walnuts
• 4 whole pickles, halved lengthwise, sliced crosswise into 1" pieces, plus 3 Tbsp. picklebrine 
• 3 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
• 2 tsp. Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp. honey or monkfruit sweetener
  
• ¼ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
• ½ small white or red onion, thinly sliced
  
• Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper 
  
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved  
  1 banana pepper, finely chopped
• ½ cup parsley, shopped
  
• 2 oz. Parmesan, shaved
  
• Extra-virgin olive oil (for drizzling)
  

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°. Toast walnuts on a rimmed baking sheet, tossing once, until golden brown, 8–10 minutes. Let cool; coarsely chop.

Meanwhile, whisk pickle brine, vinegar, mustard, honey/sweetener, and red pepper flakes in a large bowl. Add onion and season with salt and pepper. Let sit to allow onion to soften slightly, at least 5 minutes and up to 15 minutes.

Add walnuts, pickles, tomatoes, pepper, parsley and Parmesan to dressing and toss to coat. Transfer salad to a large shallow bowl or platter (or individual bowls) and drizzle with oil.

Paleo Tabbouleh

This photo is with hemp seeds - but pepitas are just as good!

I was never a big tabbouleh fan - I'm not sure why really, except that it just seemed to be too much parsley and too grain-y. (Traditionally the salad is largely bulgher.) But this recipe is not that way it all - this version is all fresh veggies with just a bit of grain crunch - though in this case the "grain" is some chopped up pepitas.

The recipe I modeled this version from is actually a nutiva recipe - I order my coconut oil from them because it is super cheap to get in a 1 gallon bucket. Their original recipe uses hemp seeds (no pepitas), but hempseeds are expensive. I did try the recipe with hempseeds initially (see photo) only to realize that I could really use any number of chopped nuts/seeds. And it turns out I LOVE tabbouleh! At least this version. You could certainly add more pepitas - but I like them as a small part of the overall salad.

Garlic chive blossoms

I also used some garlic chive blossoms instead of onion. These are all over the garden at the Northside homestead - and they are not actually related to the garlic plant (good for my garlic allergy) - and are more like chives. The blossoms taste like mild green onion, but with fun texture. I've been putting them in just about any fresh salad thing because they are so plentiful and pretty. Also they grow like crazy - I am going to bring some down to my house so they can be there for late in the season fresh onion-ness.

Paleo Tabbouleh
Huge bunch parsley (I used flat leaf cuz that's whats in my garden)
1/2 c chopped pepitas (or hemp seeds)
2 c cucumber, diced
1 c tomato, diced (use a nice sweet variety)
1/4 c red onion or garlic chive blossoms, diced
1/4 c fresh lemon juice
6 T olive oil
1 tsp sea salt

1. Mix parsley, pepitas, cucumbers, tomatoes and onion/chives in a bowl.
2. In a small bowl mix lemon juice, salt, and olive oil. Pour over tabbouleh. Serve!

Meatloaf with Chimichurri Sauce

The snow is starting to fall! I am watching the snowflakes while I await the results of the Minneapolis mayor election and type up this blog post. It seems highly unlikely that this snow will stick around, but my mind does turn to some winter comfort foods in the midst of the chilly weather.

Last night I tried a new meatloaf recipe - more of an Argentinean take on things with a chimichurri sauce. It turned out delicious! Chimichurri is a parsley sauce that is typically served with grilled meat of any kind, though I have not actually had it prior to making it yesterday. It's really nice and fresh tasting, and was a great way to use up lots of parsley from the garden before this freeze/snowfall. I also liked the alternative to a tomato-ketchup-y sauce. The chimichurri is not so sweet, but is really flavorful and bright tasting.

My recipe is based on "Argentinean-style Meatloaf with Chimichurri" from my Odd Bits cookbook. It does not make use of any animal odd bits though - she makes it using brisket (that she puts through a grinder). I made it using ground venison - and ground burger would work just fine. I also made some mashed cauliflower - because what is meatloaf without it?! I also kind of freaked out when i was looking at my grocery receipt where my 3.3 lb cauliflower cost the same as the 2 lb pork belly, and as a large Callister farm chicken (which was on sale). I obviously had not paid close attention to the cauliflower costing over $4 a pound or some such. I mean - that is a little crazy! I will be buying conventional from here on out.

Not the best photo - but very tasty!

Meatloaf with Chimichurri
2 T beef dripping or lard
1 large onion, chopped
3/4 c. diced mushrooms
1 lb spinach, stemmed & chopped
(I used frozen nettles instead)
2 1/4 lb ground brisket
1 scant T coconut flour
1 large egg
coarse sea salt
cayenne pepper
freshly ground black pepper
Sauce:
3 c flat leaf parsley leaves
1 shallot, chopped
1 clove garlic, germ removed (opt)
1/3 c extra virgin olive oil
1 T red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp dried oregano

1. In a large frying pan over medium heat, add the drippings; when the fat is hot add the onions and mushrooms and cook until onions are softened, about 5 minutes. Increase the heat to medium high and add the spinach/greens and continue to cook, stirring, until the all the water from the spinach and mushrooms has evaporated. Set aside to cool.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
3. In a large bowl mix meat, cooled spinach mixture, and coconut flour. Whisk the egg with 2 teaspoons of salt and 1 teaspoon cayenne and season with pepper; add to the beef and mix well. (From here you can take a small spoonful of the mix and fry it up as a mini patty to taste it and check the seasoning, or just forge ahead. Mine tasted good.)
4. Pack the meat mixture into a 6 cup loaf pan, mounding it in the center. Bake for 55 minutes; meatloaf will have shrunk (is that a word?) from the sides of the pan.
5. Meanwhile, place the parsley, shallot, and garlic in a food processor and process until finely chopped. Add olive oil, vinegar, oregano, and a pinch of salt and cayenne and process until well mixed. Transfer the chimichurri to a small bowl.
6. Remove the meatloaf from the oven and let it rest 10 minutes. Slice and serve with the chimichurri sauce. This is delicious with mashed cauliflower, and also tastes nice cold.