Salads in a box

So I guess this could've been a good post for when gift giving was still on people's mind, like during the holidays or even Valentine's Day, as the title of this post clearly alludes to the infamous Dick in a box sketch. But seriously, what's not to love about salad in a box? I like throwing them together for my 6-9pm course on Wednesday nights when I only have half an hour to get ready, and there's no way to heat up my dinner there.

The first salad is garlic shrimp (I know, I know, the garlic is burnt...) with avocado on a hidden bed of grapefruit and spinach. It's inspired by a recipe in my copy of The Cook's Encyclopedia of Four Ingredient Cooking by Joanna Farrow. It called for a dressing made of chili oil, but since I didn't have any on hand, I dressed it with lemon juice and olive oil, plus a liberal sprinkling of pepper.

The second salad is a creation I'm more proud of--I made it for myself on Valentine's Day :) Roasted beet with blood orange, again on a hidden bed of grapefruit and spinach, and topped with shaved romano (poor student's parmesan) and walnuts for flavour and texture contrast. I made a very yummy citrus vinaigrette for it; it starts off sweet, and then the balsamic vinegar just sort of hits you in the back of the throat:

Citrus Vinaigrette

• 1 part orange zest
  
• 1 part balsamic vinegar
  
• 2 parts olive oil
  
• 1 part honey

Mix in a small bowl until honey dissolved.

**Note that not all labelled "special diets" refer to both recipes

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A most unsexy cake

Shortly before my old hard drive failed, Jasmine at Confessions of a Cardamom Addict posted a Sugar High Friday having to do with seduction. I had dreams of buying blocks of cream cheese and dark chocolate, or instead seeing if I could be seduced by a vegan. But when a potluck rolled around, I didn't have any cream cheese or soft tofu. I had bananas.

I did have all the ingredients to make the brownies that I usually make (I'll post that recipe some other time) but I wanted to get creative and I wanted to use those bananas. A quick search on AllRecipes (Yes, I know it's hardly a "gourmet" site) turned up a Banana Upside-Down Cake.

Banana Upside Down Cake
TOPPING:

• 125 mL (1/2 cup) packed brown sugar
  
• 30 mL (2 tbsp) lemon juice, divided
  
• 15 mL (1 tbsp) butter or margarine
  
• 125 mL (1/2 cup) pecan halves (I didn't have pecan halves so I ended up using chopped walnuts instead--less pretty but still delish)
  
• 2 medium firm bananas, sliced

CAKE:

• 375 mL (1 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour
  
• 125 mL (1/2 cup) sugar
  
• 5 mL (1 tsp) baking soda
  
• 5 mL (1 tsp) baking powder
  
• 1 mL (1/4 tsp) salt
  
• 60 mL (1/4 cup) cold butter or margarine
  
• 250 mL (1 cup) plain yogurt
  
• 2 eggs, beaten
  
• 10 mL (2 tsp) grated lemon peel (at this point I want to note that the review says this adds just the right hint of lemon to offset the sweetness, but my roommates managed to wash the cutting board I had with the lemon peel on it before I got to add it to the cake... and it turned out ok)
  
• 5 mL (1 tsp) vanilla extract
  
• Whipped cream
  

1. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F)
   
2. In a small saucepan, combine brown sugar, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and butter; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium; cook without stirring until sugar is dissolved.
   
3. Pour into a greased 9-in. springform pan. Arrange pecans on top with flat side up.
   
4. Pour remaining lemon juice into a small bowl; add bananas and stir carefully. Drain. Arrange bananas in a circular pattern over the pecans; set aside.
   
5. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
   
6. Combine yogurt, eggs, lemon peel and vanilla; stir into the dry ingredients just until moistened. Spoon over bananas.
   
7. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
   
8. Cool for 10 minutes. Run a knife around edge of pan; invert cake onto a serving plate. Serve with whipped cream if desired.

The end result is a cake that is unsexy, but still very comforting. Like something your grandma would make. The brown sugar topping is sweet and the bananas and nuts add a nice touch, although I wish the bananas were a bit more visible. The cake itself is like a sponge cake (don't overbake this cake or it'll be tough!) It's very down-to-earth.

So maybe I wasn't seduced, but once in a while you need some comfort food ;)

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Dear non-existent readers...

The hard drive of my laptop has failed so I won't be posting anything for at least another two weeks. I know you're all very disappointed... I know I am, I had a very unsexy cake to show you.

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