A winter salad, think cranberry and orange!

Sometimes the inspiration for a salad lies in the ingredients for the dressing. In this case is it flavored olive oil and balsamic vinegar from Midtown Olive Press. I love this store because you can sample the olive oils and vinegars. I also like the fact that you can refill your empty, clean Midtown bottles in effect recycling them.

I was out of my favorite white balsamic vinegar (Honey Ginger) and went to the Midtown Olive Press location in Greensboro at Friendly Center. I tried the Cranberry Pear White Balsamic Vinegar and WOW, what a wonderful flavor. It pairs well with the Blood Orange Olive Oil which I also used when making the focaccia a few weeks ago.

The beautiful thing about this olive oil and vinegar is that you don't even have to 'make' a vinaigrette. Just sprinkle a little salt and pepper on the salad, Splash the oil and vinegar on the salad and you are done! No need for mustard or anything else.

Now what do I put in this salad? Beautiful mixed greens from the Greensboro Farmer's market, carrots, dried cranberries, sections from a clementine (they don't have seeds), and chopped walnuts.

Put the olive oil and vinegar in a bowl.

Add the slices of carrots and let them enjoy the flavors for a few minutes.

Peel the clementines, I used 4 for a salad for 3 people, add the chopped walnuts, dried cranberries, carrots and dressing to the greens in a large bowl and toss. I like to put this together immediately before taking it to the table so that the greens don't wilt.

The sweetness of the oranges, tart flavor of the cranberries and crunch of the walnuts and carrots made a delicious combination. The Blood Orange Olive Oil / Cranberry Pear White Balsamic Vinegar combination was a perfect pairing for this salad. 

Not even one morsel was left!

Yummy!

Vegetable soup--no tomatoes this time!

Let's see, in the fridge I have 1/2 of a fennel bulb, leeks, carrots & broccoli.

There is also some of the 4 hour roux and turkey stock left over from Thanksgiving. Add some red new potatoes, garlic and onions and it looks like we have the makings of a soup!

First, dice the onions, fennel, leeks, carrots and garlic. 

Saute these vegetables in 1 tablespoon of butter and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. 

Once they are tender, add the minced garlic. 

Season with 1 teaspoon of Kosher salt and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper. I also added 1 teaspoon of Southern Spain Pinchito Spice and a pinch of Crushed Aleppo Chiles from Savory. Savory Spice Shop is at Friendly Center and is a fun place to explore new ways to season food. You can taste the spices and buy small amounts of their spice mixtures to try.

Cook the vegetable mixture about 2 minutes after adding the garlic. Then add the diced new potatoes.

I just happened to have the red ones, didn't peel them, just cut them up in 1/2 inch cubes. Cook the potatoes for about 5 minutes stirring occasionally and lower the heat to keep everything from burning.

I chopped the broccoli and cooked it in the microwave covered with saran wrap for 7 minutes.

Then add to the vegetable mixture. Cooking the broccoli in the microwave ensures that it will be tender.

Then I mixed about 2 tablespoons of Jon's 4 hour roux (equal amounts of butter and flour cooked over low heat for about 4 hours, stirring periodically) with about 3 tablespoons of the left over turkey stock and heated it in the microwave to get a smooth consistency. Add this to the vegetable mixture. The roux has already been cooked sufficiently to remove any flour taste so once it in incorporated add about 2 cups of the turkey stock. This stock was not a liquid in the fridge, it had been cooked down to the point where it changed into a gelatin when refrigerated. It quickly liquified in the hot pan when mixed with the vegetables. Cover the pan and let the soup simmer until the potatoes are tender. Add more liquid as needed.

Take about 3 cups of the vegetables and some liquid and put in the blender or food processor (the blender gives you a very smooth mixture) and process until completely smooth. Then add this back to the pan. Add about 1/2 cup of cream and 1 cup of shredded white cheddar cheese and warm through allowing the cheese to melt.

Making soup isn't hard. Onions, carrots, sometimes celery and garlic are a good beginning for most soups. Season the soup with salt and pepper and experiment with some of the other flavors in the spice rack. Add the seasonings before you add the roux and stock. (If you use a commercial stock instead of home made, you will probably need to add less salt when seasoning the vegetables at the beginning.) Let the spices cook and release their flavors. Then add stock, tomatoes or whatever else you want to try.

And to think that I was originally planning 

just a leek and potato soup! 

It was good enough to freeze the left overs!