Warm Winter Vegetable Salad

I love this dish.  Love.  It.

A while back, a friend and I were discussing what to do with her CSA surplus.  What DOES one do with extra parsnips?  Does anyone know what to do with a parsnip anyways?  Well, I actually had tried making this recipe last year with some root vegetables that were on super sale at the store after I had seen a feature of Sophie Dahl (her grandfather, the famous children’s author, Roald Dahl) in one of my favorite food magazines, and I loved the flavors that resulted.  The salad is served warm, with a Dijon-balsamic glaze.  Which, honestly, might sound a little yucky, I’ll admit.  But, I promise you, it’s delicious.  I love this meal so much that I will pack it for three or four days straight in my lunch at work, and I always look forward to heating some up (which is a rare thing for me, since I really don’t like leftovers…..).  I decided to make it again a few weeks ago, and here is my solution for what to do with your CSA surplus.  Now, I am a huge fan of Sophie Dahl.  Every time I go to the bookstore, I head over to her new cookbook, but I have yet to purchase it.  It’s on my Christmas list, for sure.

I really hope you like this.  The mixture of colors, textures, earthy flavors with the tang and saltiness of feta….I could seriously eat this amazing (and super healthy) meal everyday.

Warm Winter Vegetable Salad

Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 small red onion, cut into 1/2-inch wedges

1 small sweet potato, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 carrot, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch rounds

1 parsnip, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch pieces

1 small celery root, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch pieces****My grocery store didn’t have any of these in stock, so I substituted a small butternut squash (about 2 pounds) instead (peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces)

1 small beet, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch pieces

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1/4 cup walnuts

1 and 1/2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

1 and 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley

1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

Instructions

1.  Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

2. In a roasting pan, toss the onion, sweet potato, carrot, parsnip, celery root (and/or butternut squash), and beet with two tablespoons of the olive oil.

3. Season the vegetables with salt and pepper and roast for about 45 minutes, stirring once or twice, or until tender and lightly browned in spots.

4. Meanwhile, spread the walnuts in a nonstick skillet and toast over medium heat until fragrant and lightly toasted, about 6 minutes.

5. Once the walnuts have cooled, coarsely chop and set them aside.

6. In a large bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, mustard, and the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and fold in the parsley.

7. Season with salt and pepper.

8. Add the vegetables and the walnuts to the dressing and toss.

9. Top the salad with the feta and serve warm or at room temperature.

Source:  Sophie Dahl at Food and Wine.

November 29, 2010 - 11:48 am

notyet100 - yummy nd healthy,,happy week ahead,.;-)

November 29, 2010 - 3:39 pm

cupcake - This looks fantastic! I’m going to try it. Parsnips are my very fav veg (among my fav anyhow). They are so sweet. If you fry them in butter, puree them and add cream salt and pepper it is the most amazing soup on the planet…from that innocent little parsnip.
Great recipe!
cupcake

November 29, 2010 - 5:28 pm

spals - I’m guessing the balsamic is added in step 6?

November 29, 2010 - 7:04 pm

srlacy - Spals-

ZOINKS! Nice save there. I have corrected it. It wouldn’t be the same without the balsamic.

November 30, 2010 - 9:27 am

Lauren at KeepItSweet - i love the combo of all the root vegetables! great looking salad

November 30, 2010 - 5:15 pm

April in CT - I have no idea how it will come out, but I got butternut squash, sweet potatoes, onion, turnip root and carrots to try. I’ve never made anything like this, but it sounds really good! I’ll have to skip the feta since my husbands face turns green at the mere thought of it.

November 30, 2010 - 10:22 pm

srlacy - Good luck, April! I hope it turns out for you! Let me know how it goes. 🙂

December 3, 2010 - 8:28 pm

Jael - Oooh, gorgeous. And a little bit of feta makes everything better, doesn’t it?

December 5, 2010 - 8:13 pm

Matinaki - Hi! Just stumbled into your blog and everything looks delicious!! This recipe is totally up my alley, and am already looking forward to trying it out 🙂

December 18, 2010 - 1:30 pm

Amanda - I made this last night and it was AMAZING! I loved the combination of tangy and sweet, I can’t wait to eat the leftovers for lunch today!

January 25, 2011 - 11:26 pm

Art and Food | - […] Vegetable Garden/ Winter Vegetable Salad/ Feeding the Ducks by Mary Cassatt/ Duck Prosciutto/ Supper at Emmaus by Caravaggio/ Sourdough […]

April 23, 2011 - 1:16 pm

Joy - Delicious. I made this with butternut squash and some other different vegetables that I had on hand. The dressing and the walnuts make this super delicious. I warmed the leftovers and put it in a whole wheat tortilla for lunch. Thank you so much. Amazing.

November 19, 2011 - 8:06 am

101 Healthy Holiday Recipes- IIN | HealthyMamaInfo - […] 37. Warm Winter Vegetable Salad […]

July 28, 2012 - 3:02 pm

101 Healthy Holiday Recipes - […] 37. Warm Winter Vegetable Salad […]

January 5, 2013 - 2:38 pm

Annie - I love your blog! This recipe was delicious! Thanks for all the inspiration!

February 21, 2013 - 11:53 am

Back to My Roots | um-ums defined - […] Winter Vegetable Salad Source: Food & Wine via Curvy Carrot Printable […]

November 28, 2013 - 3:11 am

7 healthy holiday food ideas: keep the pounds off | Bershan Shaw - […] 4. Warm Winter Vegetable Salad […]

December 12, 2013 - 4:02 pm

csa eats! warm winter vegetable salad | dolce vita verde - […] Warm Winter Vegetable Salad from the curvy carrot […]

December 12, 2013 - 4:06 pm

winter CSA month 3 | dolce vita verde - […] warm winter vegetable salad […]

December 17, 2013 - 10:17 pm

Bree DeMoss - Like you, I also recently had a CSA surplus of root vegetables – this was the perfect solution! I just used what I had in the kitchen, so I left out the beets and parsnip, added an extra sweet potato & butternut squash, used goat cheese instead of feta, pecans instead of walnuts, added a sprinkling of dried cranberries, and served it on a bed of mixed greens instead of using parsley.

It was soooooooooooooooooooo delicious! Thanks =)

November 8, 2014 - 4:51 pm
December 18, 2014 - 6:48 pm

Honey Roasted Butternut Squash, Quinoa & Pomegranate Salad | Pick Up The Whisk - […] Warm Root Vegetable Salad from The Curvy […]

January 6, 2015 - 9:28 am

Warm Winter Salad | - […] 1 small red onion, cut into 1/2-inch wedges […]

Devil’s Food Cupcakes

This post is in honor of Black Friday, because these cupcakes are so rich, so decadent, so dark.  Who needs retail therapy when cupcakes like these exist?

My little brother is in town right now for the holidays, so I whipped these up to share with him.  I’ve missed having him around, to laugh with, watch crazy old home videos with, and have him eat all the food that I eat.  I swear, he’s like an endless eating machine. Anyways, with the new Harry Potter movie coming out, we decided to have a Harry Potter movie marathon night, and I made these to share with him-instead of venturing out into Black Friday shopping chaos.  I admire people who can shop on Black Friday.  I actually had to run to the grocery store, and I was dreading the lines.  Amazingly, if you need to get in some major grocery shopping, apparently Black Friday is the day to do it.  No lines, no packed aisles……heaven.

I used my brand new Martha Stewart cupcake cookbook (I love you Borders Rewards……) and decided that these cupcakes would be my first creation out of it.  They exceeded my expectations.  Rich, velvety, and buttery cake with a chocolate buttercream frosting…oh my!  Because I wanted to have a nice piped look, I opted against the suggested chocolate ganache frosting that originally goes with the recipe, but I instead went for a deep, shiny buttercream that easily piped and made for a really festive look.

Devil’s Food Cupcakes

Servings:  32 cupcakes

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

3/4 cup hot water

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 and 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt

1 and 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter

2 and 1/4 cups sugar

4 large eggs, room temperature

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup sour cream, room temperature

For the frosting:

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons boiling water

1 and 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted

Pinch of salt

1 pound semi-sweet chocolate, melted and cooled

Silver dragees, for garnish

Instructions

1. For the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2.  Line standard muffin tins with paper liners.

3.  Whisk together the cocoa and hot water until smooth.

4. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

5. Melt butter with sugar in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring to combine.

6. Remove from heat, and pour into a mixing bowl.

7. With an electric mixer on medium-low speed, beat until mixture is cooled, 4 to 5 minutes.

8. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

9. Add vanilla, then cocoa mixture, and beat until combined.

10.  Reduce mixer speed to low.

11. Add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with the sour cream, and beating until just combined after each.

12.  Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full.

13.  Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in the centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes.

14.  Transfer tins to wire racks to cool 15 minutes; turn out cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely.

15. For the frosting: Combine cocoa and the boiling water, stirring until cocoa has dissolved.

16. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter, confectioners’ sugar, and salt until pale and fluffy.

17. Reduce speed to low.

18. Add melted and cooled chocolate, beating until combined and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

19.  Beat in the cocoa mixture.

20. Let sit at room temperature while the cupcakes cool.

21.  Pipe as desired onto cupcakes.  (I used Wilton tip #1).

22. Decorate with silver dragees.

Source: Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes.

November 27, 2010 - 8:56 am

Renee Simmons - Yummmmmmmm! Thanks for sharing! I shared it with my fanpage!

November 27, 2010 - 9:02 am

srlacy - Thanks, Renee! You are awesome 🙂

November 27, 2010 - 12:51 pm

Lauren at KeepItSweet - yum! nothing like a perfect chocolate cake and icing combo!

November 27, 2010 - 6:37 pm

Jara - The final cupcakes look amazing. So classic and elegant. That frosting is terribly tempting. You just want to sneak a little of the icing on the tip of your finger lol Great job!

November 28, 2010 - 12:36 am

Jenn@eatcakefordinner - I love Borders Rewards too!! I have Martha’s Cupcake book, but I haven’t tried these yet, good to know that they are good! Your frosting looks like it just melts in your mouth.

November 28, 2010 - 8:57 am

Honey @ honeyandsoy - This looks divine!!

November 28, 2010 - 10:35 am

Patty - Beautiful cupcakes! I love that you stayed in and baked instead of shopped. 🙂

November 28, 2010 - 3:50 pm

Leanne - Oh my gosh. These look absolutely perfect. I think I have to make them tonight. Thanks for sharing!

November 28, 2010 - 9:51 pm
November 29, 2010 - 6:07 am

Jenny Nguyen - always wondered who came up with the name ‘devil’s food’…it’s genius! Always makes me want to eat it when I read it 🙂 photos are great too!

November 29, 2010 - 6:58 am

Liz - Gorgeous cupcakes!!! Congrats on the Top 9!

November 29, 2010 - 8:47 am

Quay Po Cooks - Look how moist and velvety the frosting is…looks superb! I am sure it will taste as good as it looks.

November 29, 2010 - 10:06 am

Andrea - The cupcakes look soooo yummy! Beautiful.

November 29, 2010 - 12:14 pm

Preena @ A Teaspoon of Turmeric - This is just the dessert I’ve been cravin’! I’m so making these, thank you for sharing.

November 29, 2010 - 2:01 pm

rebecca - I’ve got the same book, but have yet to make these. Your cupcakes look fantastic- I think I know which recipe I need to tackle next!

November 29, 2010 - 7:01 pm

Linn @ Swedish Home Cooking - Amazing picture! It looks like a million dollar cupcake. I wouldn’t say no to a bite of that, I really wouldn’t.

April 26, 2011 - 11:27 pm

In your Easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it… | From Tundra to Times Square - […] Adapted from: Favorite Brand Name’s 100 Best Cupcake Recipes; Frosting Adapted from: The Curvy Carrot; Birds Nests adapted from old Girl Scout […]

June 20, 2011 - 7:10 pm

It’s his party and he’ll cry if he wants to | b out there - […] Chocolate Buttercream Icing (best.) […]

July 3, 2011 - 9:48 am

Nish - Hi 🙂 I paired your frosting recipe with my passionfruit cupcakes and the result was amazing! Love the silky texture!

July 3, 2011 - 9:52 am

srlacy - Holy smokes, Nish! That sounds incredible. I think I am going to try that myself…passion fruit cupcakes?!? YUM!

August 4, 2012 - 11:57 am

The Curvy Carrot » German Chocolate Cupcakes - […] exactly what I had envisioned for this recipe.) If you want some good alternatives, I recommend this one or this […]

May 10, 2013 - 9:50 am

Devil’s Food Cupcake Recipe | The Cupcake Daily Blog - […] Devil’s Food Cupcakes recipe via The Curvy Carrot […]

September 6, 2013 - 6:09 pm
September 6, 2013 - 6:11 pm

Vera Zecevic – Cupcakes Garden - These super chocolaty cupcakes look really gorgeous. I love that shiny frosting,it’s so pretty.
I’ve featured this recipe on my blog, hoping that you don’t mind, but if you do, please contact me and I’ll remove it. All the best.

Pecan Bars

Happy Thanksgiving!
This year I have so many things to be thankful for: a wonderful family, two healthy and brilliant nephews, fabulous and supportive friends (many with babies on the way…..), a fantastic job with a brand new transition in six short months, three pets who make me laugh every day, and a little food blog which is rapidly growing and suddenly becoming a full-blown passion.  The past year has had its ups and downs, but, this year I am thankful for it all:  I have gotten a second chance at living a happy and fulfilling life, and the lessons I have learned have all served as a source for inspiration and motivation for me.  (See the obnoxious photo montage below.)  What are you thankful for this year?
Today I will be spending the whole day with those I love the most:  Dad, Mom, Sara, Jack, Elliott, Oliver, Sam, Andy, Ben, and Marie….and let’s not forget Scout, Jinxie, and Cosmo.
From my home to yours…..Happy Thanksgiving!
And, in case you are still thinking about what to make, here’s my Thanksgiving 2010 recipe round-up:
Pecan Bars****I decided to forgo the usual pecan pie and make these instead.  Holy cow.  If you like pecan pie, then this is the cookie bar for you.
Pecan Bars
Servings: 24 bars

Ingredients


For the crust:

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup pecans, toasted and chopped coarse
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
For the filling:

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon bourbon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 and 3/4 cups pecans, toasted and chopped coarse
For the drizzle:

1/3 cup bittersweet chocolate
Instructions

1. For the crust: Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Spray a 9-inch square baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
3.  Fold two 16-inch pieces of foil or parchment paper perpendicular to one another in the baking pan so that there is overhang around all the edges.
4. Spray the sheets with nonstick cooking spray.
5. Place the flour, baking powder, salt, brown sugar, and 1/4 cup pecans in a food processor.
6.  Process the mixture until it resembles coarse cornmeal, about 5 one-second pulses.
7. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles sand, about eight one-second pulses.
8. Pat the mixture evenly into the prepared pan and bake until the crust is light brown and springs back when touched, about 20 minutes.
9. For the filling: While the crust is in the oven, whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, vanilla, bourbon, and salt in a medium bowl until just combined.
10. Add in the egg and whisk until incorporated.
11. Pour the filling on top of the hot crust and sprinkle the 1 and 3/4 cups pecans evenly over the top.
12. Bake until the top is brown and cracks start to form across the surface, 22 to 25 minutes.
13.  Cool on a wire rack for about 1 hour.
14.  For the drizzle: Melt the bittersweet chocolate, if using, in the microwave for about 30 seconds, stirring frequently.  Drizzle the chocolate evenly over the cooled bars.
Let sit until room temperature, about 1 hour.
15.  Remove the bars from the pan using the foil or parchment paper “handles” and transfer to a cutting board; cut into desired sizes.
What I am thankful for:


November 25, 2010 - 8:48 am

Lauren at KeepItSweet - happy thanksgiving! great pictures:-)

November 25, 2010 - 9:12 am

briarrose - Looks wonderful. I love the hint of bourbon. 😉

November 25, 2010 - 9:30 am

Kellie - Happy thanksgiving, Shan! Love you and am definitely thankful for YOU!

Hugs,
Kellie

November 25, 2010 - 12:26 pm

Mary - Ohhhh my! Yum x 1000!!! A must try!

Mary xo
Delightful Bitefuls

November 26, 2010 - 1:52 am

Crustabakes - Thats a beautiful family u got, and pecan bars too! 🙂 Happy thanksgiving!

November 26, 2010 - 2:37 pm

Medifast Coupons - Very nice pecan bars, can’t wait to make these over the up and coming holidays. We do a cookie and bar exchange will be making to share.

November 26, 2010 - 7:42 pm

cupcake - Beautiful friends and family! Nice post and great blog.
cupcake
http://www.thefamily-table.blogspot.com

November 27, 2010 - 2:17 am

Jenny @ StrungByColor - I love it all! I am so thankful for such a fun, passionate and inspiring friend like you, Shan! I am so proud of you for all you have overcome and the woman you are! Can’t wait to hear deets on your T-Day! MUAH!

November 28, 2010 - 9:50 pm

Alison @ Ingredients Inc. - Those look amazing!

November 30, 2010 - 8:00 pm

Patty - Those bars look soooooooo good! Super-sweet family pics too – I love Popeye and Olive Oil. 🙂

December 2, 2010 - 5:26 pm

easy chicken recipes - happy thanksgiving! great pictures:-)