Favorite Winter Salads

I've been chopping together a lot of salads lately— some with greens, some without. Thought I'd share a couple of my favorites:

-chopped snap peas and carrots with feta, currants, and sunflower seeds
-arugula with navel orange, avocado, and spicy candied pecans

I dressed both of these in meyer lemon juice and olive oil.

For the candied pecans, I heated the nuts in a skillet with a splash of balsamic vinegar, a few tablespoons of brown sugar, a dash of cayenne, and a little garlic powder.

When putting together a salad, I like to have some green, some sort of dried or fresh fruit, some crumbly or hard cheese, and some sort of seed or nut. For dressings, I typically do olive oil and whatever vinegar best suits the ingredients (beets=balsamic; carrots=white or apple cider; green beans=red wine), along with a spoonful of mustard and some spices (i'm a ground coriander fan). Lately, though, I've been revisiting the good ol' lemon-juice-olive-oil-salt-and-pepper trick. So easy, and so good! Especially with feta and citrus :)

Fillo Tart with Cauliflower, Leeks, and Gruyere

I made this tonight in Thomas's fancy kitchen, and it was awesome.

2 leeks, chopped
1 head cauliflower, chopped
1 head romanesco, chopped
1 jalapeño, chopped
frozen puff pastry
butter and egg for brushing
salt and pepper to taste
a good amount of gruyere

preheat oven to 400
saute leeks in butter until soft.
add cauliflower, romanesco, and jalapeño- cook until al dente. season to taste.
spread out fillo- brush each layer with melted butter- I used 6 layers on the bottom.
put cauliflower/leek mixture on fillo dough on a baking sheet.
top with abou6 6 more layers of fillo. brush top with egg wash.

bake for about 30 minutes, until cheese is oozing and fillo is golden brown and crispy!