Hello everyone! It's October and starting to feel like fall. It has been unusually warm here in Michigan. We were gone for most of September and I'm just trying to play catch up with everything. I have tons of new recipes and blog posts that I want to share, I'm just trying to find time to sit down and write.
If you follow me on social media, you know that we have been out West Jeeping for the month of September. We had a great time and I will be sharing some photos, videos and food posts in the near future from our trip. I have several Jeep Talk Show food segments to add as well.
I recently became a Bidchat broadcaster and have a food segment on www.bidchat.com/NomNews - Thursday's at 3pm EST. I had my first live show on Thursday and I showed the viewers how to make my "Fall Harvest Michigan Cherry Salad". Of course, Michigan has a famous salad called the "Michigan Cherry Salad". There are a lot of variations to this famous salad, but for the most part it is a salad with mixed greens, cherries, blue cheese crumbles and some candied walnuts. I decided to re-create this salad but add some great fall harvest additions. I added some kale along with some roasted kohlrabi and also some pepitas. I love kohlrabi, it is a delicious vegetable that can be eaten raw or cooked. The taste is similar to cabbage and broccoli stems. After roasting kohlrabi, it takes on this wonderful celery root flavor. It's yummy. And instead of candied walnuts, I add some sriracha spiced pepitas. Pepita is just the Spanish culinary term for pumpkin seeds. I finish off this amazing salad with a warm apple bacon dressing. It is delicious! I hope you enjoy it.
Fall Harvest Michigan Cherry Salad
Ingredients:
For the roasted kohlrabi-
1 cup cubed kohlrabi (approx 2 kohlrabi , peeled and cubed - if leaves are still attached cut them off and save them for another meal)
2 tablespoon oil (use your favorite oil - olive, coconut, avocado etc)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
For the roasted pepitas-
1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
2 teaspoons oil
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon sriracha dry seasoning or smoked paprika
For the apple bacon dressing-
1 apple, cored and diced (use your favorite apple - I used a honey crisp)
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
4 slices thick-cut bacon
1/4 cup pomegranate red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons dijon mustard
1/2 cup oil (your favorite oil for dressing)
2 tablespoons maple syrup
Salt & pepper to taste
2 cups chopped kale
2 cups mixed greens
1/4 cup thinly sliced red onions
1 cup cooked farro (or quinoa if you want to it gluten free)
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup blue cheese crumbles
Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
Add cubed kohlrabi, oil, salt and pepper to a baking sheet. Toss all together and bake for 15-20 minutes or until fork tender. Remove from oven, sprinkle with garlic powder and set aside.
On a separate baking sheet, add the pumpkin seeds along with the seasonings. Mix well and bake for 10-15 minutes, then remove from heat and set aside.
In a small saucepan, add diced apple along with the cinnamon. Cook over medium heat for 8-10 minutes.
In a small skillet, add bacon and cook over medium high heat for 9-11 minutes or until done but not too crispy. Remove bacon, but keep 1 tablespoon bacon grease in skillet.
In a food processor, add the cooked apple and bacon and process until well blended. (I like to keep this apple and bacon mixture a tad bit chunky, but feel free to process until the desired smoothness.)
In the bacon skillet, whisk together the remaining bacon grease along with red vinegar, dijon and oil over low heat. Then add the apple and bacon mixture from the food processor and stir well. Next add in the maple syrup, then taste. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Add 2 tablespoons of dressing to kale and massage well to soften the kale.
To assemble, add the mixed greens and kale followed by the onions. Next add the roasted kohlrabi followed by the farro. Add the cherry tomatoes then drizzle on some dressing. Finish this salad with the blue cheese crumbles and roasted pepitas and serve. Enjoy!
Substitutions:
Feel free to use cranberries or pomegranates instead of the cherries.
Feel free to roast squash instead of the kohlrabi.
Feel free to use gorgonzola or feta instead of the blue cheese crumbles.
