The Brick Kitchen

Spring Greens & Grains Salad with Seared Lamb & Goats Cheese

Claudia Brick — Wed, 11 Nov 2015 08:32:13 +0000

Charred kale and asparagus with freekeh, pine nuts, almonds, pumpkin seeds, pomegranate, currants, creamy goats cheese and seared lamb – healthy and fast. Jump to Recipe

Can too much choice become a bad thing? Is there a point where our culture of wanting “the best” for everything, whether it be the best restaurant experience, the best blender, the best book, the best meal, the best job, heck, the best partner, couples with the insane number of options right at our fingertips, to become crippling?

Amongst the current exams (one to go!), I have been reading Modern Romance, by Aziz Ansari , a hilarious take on dating and relationships in the age of texting and social media, along with observations that relate to pretty much every other facet of our modern, screen-devoted lives. SO GOOD. Just about every page had a smile on my face, and this passage particularly resonated:

(on trying to pick somewhere to eat in a new city)
“First I texted four friends who travel and eat out a lot and whose judgement on food I really trust. While I waited for recommendations from them, I checked the website Eater for its “Heat Map”, which includes new, tasty restaurants in the city. I also checked the “Eater 38”…then I checked reviews on Yelp to see what the consensus was on there. I also checked an online guide to Seattle in GQ magazine. I narrowed down my search after consulting all these recommendations and then went on the restaurant websites to check out the menus.

At this point I filtered all these options down by tastiness, distance, and what my tum-tum told me it wanted to eat.

Finally, after much deliberation, I made my selection: Il Corvo, a delicious Italian place that sounded amazing. Fresh made pasta. They only did three different types a day. I was very excited.

Unfortunately it was closed. It only served lunch.

By now I had run out of time because I had a show to do, so I ended up making a peanut-butter-and-banana-sandwich on the bus.”

It made me more aware of how much we focus on getting the best thing, the new thing. I am sure that the number of hours a day I spend online, fairly aimlessly, would be eye-watering – and I am not sure whether it results in greater enjoyment – being never quite satisfied with what we have.

However, I am not saying these increased choices are a bad thing at all, or that I want to be transported back to 50 years ago. For example, when my parents were growing up in small town New Zealand, the majority of the ingredients in this Spring Greens & Grains Salad were simply unavailable. Pomegranate, kale or goats cheese? Heck, even asparagus or pinenuts? Think again. Dinnertime was limited to potatoes, red meat, steamed vegetables, with rice puddings as regular desserts. I don’t know whether you can miss something that you have never experienced, but I can’t help but feel my life is fuller for creating food and watching people enjoy it, and more recently through blogging and making connections with you guys through this little (or big, maybe!) online food world.

Like many things, I think there must be balance. Getting the best parts of social media and the internet while attempting to avoid the worst (hello, procrastination), would be a start for me. Would highly recommend Aziz Ansari’s book!

Onto this salad, though. Very green and springlike, it is full of charred kale and asparagus, pops of pomegranate, toasted pinenuts, almonds and pumpkin seeds, a hint of sweetness from currents, lots of parsley and mint, nutty freekeh to bulk it out, and topped with creamy chunks of goat’s cheese and seared lamb. Actually pretty quick to throw together, works perfectly as leftovers (nothing soggy here!) and is healthy to boot. Seriously, get on it.

Apologies also for taking so long to reply to your comments on my last post (this banana bread) – I have been smack bang in the middle of exams and just haven’t had much time. But the last one is tomorrow- cannot wait to be finished!

Spring Greens & Grains Salad with Seared Lamb and Goats Cheese

Inspired by Gather & Feast

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings 4

Author Claudia Brick

Ingredients

1 cup uncooked freekeh , cooked according to package instructions
1 large bunch kale , roughly chopped
2 bunches (12-18 spears) asparagus
1/4 cup slivered almonds
2-3 tablespoons pumpkin seeds
2-3 tablespoons pine-nuts
1/2 cup currants
3/4 cup finely chopped parsley
1/2 cup mint , roughly torn
1/3 of a small red onion , finely chopped (about 1/4 cup)
seeds of 1/2 a pomegranate
70 g goats cheese
lamb loin fillets/backstrap , enough for 4 people (~150g per person)

Dressing

3 tablespoons olive oil
juice of a lemon
1 clove of garlic , crushed or very very finely chopped
salt and pepper

Instructions

Cook the freekeh according to packet instructions (this varies as different manufacturers have different sized freekeh grains, but it is usually 1 part freekah to 2 or 2.5 parts water.
Add the almonds, pumpkin seeds and pinenuts to a small dry pan, and cook over a low-medium heat for 5-10 minutes, watching carefully, until golden, toasted and fragrant. Remove from the pan and set aside.
In a small bowl or cup, stir together the olive oil, lemon juice and crushed garlic for the dressing. Set aside
Rinse the kale leaves and roughly chop them. Place a large pan over a high heat with a drizzle of olive oil. then add the kale. Quickly toss it around for about 2 minutes, or until the leaves are bright green with a few charred bits. Remove from the heat and place in a large bowl.
Meanwhile, break off the woody ends of the asparagus and cut the remaining spears in half. Add the asparagus to the hot pan (that the kale was just in), and season with salt and pepper. With the heat on medium high, cook for 5-10 minutes, or until the asparagus is tender but still crisp, and the skin is browning and puckering. Add the asparagus to the bowl of kale.
Add the freekeh, toasted nuts and seeds, currants, parsley, mint, red onion and pomegranate to the asparagus and kale. Add the salad dressing and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper.
To cook the lamb, heat a pan or barbecue plates over medium-high heat. Drizzle the lamb with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Sear on both sides (time very much depends on the thickness of your lamb, but mine are normally 2-4 minutes per side) - you can test a little bit with a knife if you are unsure.
Let the lamb rest for 5 minutes, then slice thinly and serve on top of the salad. Sprinkle with goat's cheese.

The post Spring Greens & Grains Salad with Seared Lamb & Goats Cheese appeared first on The Brick Kitchen.

Harvest Pear, Beetroot and Walnut Salad with BBQ Lamb

Claudia Brick — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 10:14:07 +0000

Harvest pear, beetroot and walnut salad with barbecued lamb – caramelised vegetables tossed with goats cheese, basil pesto dressing and served with ciabatta. Jump to Recipe

Last time I sat on a plane, it was a week ago and I was hurriedly finishing off this chocolate date brownie post on my way to Queenstown. That week went way too fast. This time, I am heading back to Melbourne, ready (hopefully!) for a busy few weeks of exams and assignments. (Actually, this now the day after- but the bulk of this was written on the plane!). Queenstown was amazing: I had never been there in autumn before, and the spectrum of yellows, red and oranges against the backdrop of the mountain and lakes was incredible. Google ‘Queenstown autumn’ for pictures that do the landscape much more justice than those that I took. Although my brothers did a lot of extreme mountain biking (including a terrifying descent straight down Coronet Peak, with a broken wrist achieved along the way), Mum and I stuck to biking the more leisurely trails between Queenstown and Arrowtown, going for morning runs (jogs) around Lake Hayes, sitting outside gorgeous cafes (thank you, Provisions and Vudu Larder), and doing lots and lots of cooking. That last part was mainly me. Actually, make that all me. I think we were probably some of the first people staying at Millbrook to cook in more than eat out and actually do some baking there!

This harvest beetroot, pear and walnut salad with barbecued lamb is one of my all time favourites. Deep red beetroot, juicy pears and red onions are roasted and caramelised before being tossed with greens, toasted walnuts, and a pesto dressing and topped with goats cheese. Serve with grilled lamb and toasted croutons for a supremely delicious, very autumnal, and healthy meal. And easy, too. It is (barely) adapted from a old Annabel Langbein recipe.

Just backtracking slightly: goats cheese. I am really not a cheese person, having shied away from it through my entire 18 years. However, many of the cafe smashed avocados I have been loving recently have contained a white, creamy sprinkle of cheese (which I have always assumed to be feta) – which occasionally I have devoured, but mostly ended up surreptitiously shoving larger chunks towards the side of my plate. Until this week, I had never known or given much thought to what the difference was. But guess what!! I have come to the mind-blowing realisation (well, for me, anyway) that it is the sharp, salty flavour of feta that I do not like, and in fact, the subtle tang of crumbly goat’s cheese is totally to-die-for!

In NZ we have bought the Puhoi Valley Goat’s Cheese (delicious, but unfortunately a bit expensive for the student budget), and I know that in Melbourne I have enjoyed Meredith’s goats cheese at a couple of cafes – so look out for those. Anyway, for me that was a huge deal: I no longer have to occasionally branch out and buy feta, hoping it will be the one, and then be disappointed – I will be heading straight to the goats cheese. The difference between the two is that feta has to be at least 70% sheeps milk, and needs to be aged at least 3 months according to EU regulations, though in Australia ‘feta’ is often made using cow’s milk too. Goats cheese is 100% goats milk, and, interestingly, is much higher in protein. But in terms of taste, does anyone else have this preference for goat’s cheese over regular feta? I would be interested to hear.

The point of that little tangent was that this salad goes with goats cheese perfectly. The combination of balsamic, pear, beetroot, pesto, and crusty warm olive oily bread is SO so good.

The next few weeks will be pretty quiet in terms of blogging, with exams and assignments coming out my ears, but I DO have a lot of awesome recipes photographed and stocked up from my week off that I will try to get up for you! Think passionfruit pavlovas, vietnamese grilled chicken burgers, salted caramel chocolate brownie…..

But first, here is this harvest beetroot, pear, and walnut salad: enjoy.

Harvest Pear, Beetroot and Walnut Salad with barbecued lamb

Adapted (barely) from The Best of Annabel Langbein If croutons aren't your thing, you could easily serve this with crusty bread heated in the oven, or with none at all. Same goes for the lamb. This salad also works well with venison.

Course Main

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes

Servings 4

Author Claudia Brick

Ingredients

3-4 beetroot , peeled and cut into batons about 1.5cm x 4cm (doesn't need to be precise - see above photos!)
3 red onions , cut into wedges (8-10 per onion)
3 large pears , peeled, cored, and each cut into 8 wedges
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt and freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup walnut halves
5 big handfuls of mixed salad greens (for us this is generally equivalent to one of the supermarket mesclun salad packets, but really depends on how you prefer your greens:extras ratio!)
about 120g goats cheese (chèvre style)
thick slices of ciabatta or sourdough bread
extra 1/4 cup olive oil for croutons.

Dressing

1 tbsp basil pesto (try use the best quality one you can find, or make your own)
2 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp olive oil
salt and ground black pepper

Lamb

4 x 200g lamb loins , or similar
olive oil and freshly ground salt and pepper

Instructions

Preheat oven to 220°C. Place beetroot on a baking tray or shallow roasting dish. Place the pears and onion together on a separate dish (see photos above).
In a small bowl, mix together the olive oil, brown sugar and balsamic, and divide evenly over the two trays. Mix through with your hands. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Bake for 40-50 minutes, stirring a couple of times so they roast evenly, until the pear and beetroot are tender (you should be able to stick the prongs of a fork through without much resistance).
In a separate tin, spread out the walnuts in a even layer and toast in the oven for about 5min until they start to brown (more than they already are!) and smell nutty - watch carefully, as they go from almost done to burnt very quickly.
Allow beetroot, pears and onions, and walnuts to cool.
Brush each side of the thickly sliced bread with olive oil, and place directly on rack in oven. Making sure the oven is on fan-bake, toast for 5-10 minutes or until golden and crunchy. If these are on a baking tray, you will need to turn them over half way to toast each side evenly.
Mix together the dressing ingredients. Toss the salad greens in a bowl with beetroot, pears, onions, and walnuts. Pour over the pesto dressing and toss to coat. Crumble over the goats cheese (you can also wait and crumble the goats cheese over individual plates at the end).
Meanwhile, heat barbecue plates to medium-high. Drizzle a couple of tablespoons of olive oil over the lamb and season with salt and pepper. Sear on each side until cooked to medium rare. For loin fillets, this is usually about 2 minutes per side but depends on how thick the meat is and what cut you get. Leave to stand for 3-5minutes, then slice against the grain.
Serve the salad with the lamb and croutons and watch it disappear.

The post Harvest Pear, Beetroot and Walnut Salad with BBQ Lamb appeared first on The Brick Kitchen.