Our Gregorian Chant Retreat has just come to a close today, ending on a very positive and productive note, with a number of first timers wanting to return! Always a rewarding finale to any retreat.
In addition to the new faces in attendance were a number of new menus that brought many sincere compliments from the eaters. One of the new dishes was this warm autumn salad, featuring golden roasted butternut squash topped with smooth soft goat cheese.
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Warm Goat Cheese Salad
SERVINGS4servings
|
COOK TIME15-20mins |
PREP TIME10mins |
READY IN25-30mins |
Ingredients
Instructions
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine butternut squash, pecans, 2 Tbsp. olive oil, and brown sugar.
- Spread on rimmed baking sheet and roast at 400 degrees 15-20 minutes.
- Remove from oven and cool on pan.
- Assemble salad by topping mixed greens with squash mixture, dried cranberries, goat cheese, and green onions.
- Drizzle with maple mustard vinaigrette.
Summer may officially be over, but some of our garden vegetables happily are refusing to acknowledge it as they continue to provide us with a daily abundance of fresh produce. Among our favorites are beautiful multi-colored tomatoes, not only gorgeous to behold but luscious to enjoy.
Likewise our herb gardens continue to thrive producing sturdy plants of vibrant green flavorful offerings to enhance our food. Basil a favorite of so many has become the ingredient of choice along with a few other seasonings to combine with fresh buttermilk as a special dressing for lovely sliced tomatoes.
A winner with many of our sisters and special guests, why not give it a try?
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Garden-Fresh Basil Buttermilk Dressing
SERVINGS1cup (4-6 servings)
|
COOK TIME10mins |
PREP TIME5mins |
READY IN15mins |
Ingredients
Instructions
- Whisk buttermilk and mayonnaise in a bowl
- Transfer to a blender and add garlic, onion salt, and scallions. Blend until the scallions resemble finely minced pieces
- Add chopped basil and blend a few seconds more to combine
- Transfer back to the bowl and refrigerate (covered) overnight to allow flavors to develop
- Serve drizzled over freshly sliced tomatoes and enjoy!
We continue to enjoy the harvest from our gardens over these summer months. This week we had an abundance of beautiful lettuce, so we expanded our repertoire and tried out some new combinations for our guests at Bethany. The crisp, salty, creaminess of the fried goat cheese paired with the sweet and pungent combination of the blackberry balsamic vinaigrette is the key here. Summer is a wonderful time to experiment with all sorts of combinations in a salad. “The colors of a fresh garden salad are so extraordinary, no painter’s pallet can duplicate nature’s artistry.” Have fun creating, eating, sharing, and enjoying nature’s storehouse!
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Votes: 2
Rating: 4.5
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Blackberry Balsamic Salad with Crispy Fried Goat Cheese and Grilled Chicken
SERVINGS4servings
|
COOK TIME10mins |
PREP TIME10 mins(30 mins marinate) |
READY IN30 mins |
Ingredients
Instructions
Blackberry Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing
- Mix everything well in the blender until smooth. Adjust seasonings to taste.
Fried Goat Cheese
- Dredge the goat cheese slices/balls in the flour
- Dip in the beaten egg
- Dip in panko
- Fry in oil over medium heat until lightly golden brown before setting aside on paper towels to drain.
Salad
- Marinate the chicken in half of the vinaigrette for 30 minutes to over night before grilling over medium-high heat until golden and cooked through, about 2-5 minutes per side. Set aside to cool and slice.
- Assemble the salad and enjoy!
Note: Best enjoyed while the fried goat cheese is still warm from frying!
“When one has tasted watermelon, he knows what the Angels eat.” —Mark Twain
Have you ever wondered how to pick that perfect watermelon? Well, I have! Faced with a bin of green striped beauties, I never quite know where to start. Let me share some tips with you that I recently discovered, and then go andmake this delicious and refreshing Watermelon, Mint, Blueberry and Feta Salad — a great side dish for a hot summer day.
1. When viewing watermelons, the first thing that sticks out are those weird white spots. However, these spots, called field spots, are quite natural. The field spot is the area where the watermelon rested on the ground. While every watermelon has a field spot, the best watermelons have creamy-yellow or even orange-yellow spots. Go for the gold.
2. The webbing of a watermelon indicates the amount of times that bees touched the flower. The more pollination, the sweeter the watermelon is.
3. Watermelons have genders. The “girl” watermelons are more round and stout — theseare the sweeter ones. The male are oblong and tend to be more watery.
4. The best watermelons are average-sized. Don’t go for too small or too big, but just right.
5. The tail of a watermelon indicates its ripeness. Go for the watermelons that have dried tails for the best taste.
6. Tap the underbelly of the watermelon. A ripe one will have a deep hollow sound. Under-ripe or over-ripe melons will sound dull.
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Blueberry, Watermelon, Feta and Mint Salad
SERVINGS8servings
|
COOK TIME |
PREP TIME20mins |
READY IN20mins |
Ingredients
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper and diced red onion.
- Add the diced watermelon, blueberries, mint and feta cheese to bowl. Gently toss to coat. Serve immediately.
Now that the warmer weather is definitely here, most people are wanting lighter meals and a menu that includes more salads. With this in mind we wanted to come up with a light “Warmer Weather” salad dressing. This was a first attempt that most of us felt succeeded at doing just that.
First we chose a light olive oil and a mild rice vinegar as our base. To this we added a touch of spring from our herb garden by blending in a bit of fresh mint and several tender young green scallions. Into this, a little onion salt, some frozen orange juice concentrate, and just a hint of lemon zest gave our mixture just the right touch of brightness we were hoping for.
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Spring Citrus Mint Vinaigrette
SERVINGS1.5cups
|
COOK TIME |
PREP TIME5minutes |
READY IN5minutes |
Ingredients
Instructions
- Blend all ingredients together. Toss with your favorite salad greens and veggies.
Once we opened Villa Via Sacra, our mission house in Barga Italy, it
took no time for warm friendships to spring up between our Community
family and the locals. Their interest in Gregorian chant resulted in
weekly gatherings at the villa where, over foaming mugs of Cappuccino
and crunchy biscotti, together we studied studied Latin neums and
learned how to sing authentic Gregorian chant. In return the local
women invited the sisters into their kitchens where they
generously shared their own secrets to preparing authentic Tuscan
food.
Since then our menus at the Convent, Bethany retreat house and
Paraclete retreat house definitely reflect our close association
with the life in Barga. This summery salad, although it involves
little cooking, incorporates many of the typical Tuscan flavors and is generously flavored with many of the seasonings regularly used there.
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Rating: 2.88
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Tuscan Tortellini Salad
SERVINGS6People
|
COOK TIME10-11minutes |
PREP TIME10minutes |
READY IN20-21 minutes |
Ingredients
Instructions
- In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook tortellini according to package directions. Drain and transfer to large serving bowl.
- Make dressing: Whisk together olive oil and balsamic vinegar and season with salt and pepper.
- To bowl, add prosciutto, spinach, cherry tomatoes, and dressing and toss until well combined.
- Garnish with Parmesan.
