Meow Recipes: April 2021

Thursday, April 29, 2021

Beet and Burrata Salad with Fried Bread

Beet and burrata salad in a bowl with fried bread

Here’s the thing, though: this is just my life now.

That picture of the vibrant juicy beet and orange goodness, slicked with dressing and scooped up with a hunk of creamy burrata on a bite of crispy fried sourdough? That is it. That is where I live. That is what I eat, breathe, and dream about.

Thanks for coming, but there is nothing more we need to talk about! Game over. I’ll just be eating this beet and burrata salad from here on out.

What You’ll Need For This Beet and Burrata Salad

Here’s our short and wonderful ingredient list:

pre-cooked beets
oranges
arugula
dressing (homemade or your favorite store-bought)
bread (sourdoooough)
burrata

Calling this bowl of beauty “a salad” feels not quite right, because if we’re being honest, salads leave a little to be desired sometimes.

But this salad – or maybe I should say, this big bowl of fried bread, juicy beets and oranges, quick vinaigrette, and creamy, luscious burrata – leaves exactly nothing be desired. The golden crispy-salty bites of the bread with the cool creaminess of the burrata and every juicy, vibrant, dressing-soaked bite of beets and oranges – it’s the total package. It’s a partial fork-and-knife, partial just-get-in-there-and-grab-that-bread-with-your-hands type of meal, which is my favorite kind.

New life rule: salads always need fried bread.

This Salad Makes For Great Leftovers Or Meal Prep

Some words on leftovers (or mainly just one word): YES, you can eat this as leftovers.

For max freshness, keep everything separate until you serve it.

But for the little bits of leftovers that are already mixed up, I find that the beets and the oranges hold up pretty well after they get tossed with the dressing – maybe 1-2 days. The arugula, as you can imagine, does not. So if you’re going to save leftovers, just freshen them up with a more perky handful of arugula.

The fried bread actually does pretty well if you just keep it in a container at room temp for a day or two and pop it back in the toaster / toaster oven / regular oven / skillet to get it warmed and a little crispy again. But really, any of those is going to be a sad stand-in for the real fresh fried bread. I know you don’t really need me to tell you, but where possibly, eat that fried bread right out of the pan.

Beet and burrata salad in a bowl with fried bread and a fork

Beet and Burrata Salad: Frequently Asked Questions

These salad bowls are amazing! Just want to switch up the dressing. Any ideas?

Store-bought champagne or lemon dressing would be yummy! If you want to whip up something yourself (other than what’s already written in the recipe), the lemon dressing from this salad recipe would be delicious, the kale chimichurri would be punchy and unique, and some 5-Minute Sunshine Sauce would give it a nice lift.

I want to make this, but I’m not totally sold on eating beets. What else would you recommend?

You could roast up some sweet potatoes or carrots in place of the beets if you’d prefer. Won’t have the same flavor but still yummy!

What kind of oranges should be used here?

Plain ol’ Navel oranges work just fine! But Cara Cara oranges, if you can find them, will really show off the colors in this beauty.

Prefer To Watch Instead Of Read?

Beet and Burrata Salad with Fried Bread

Author: Lindsay
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Yield: 3-4 servings

Print Recipe

Description

This Beet and Burrata Salad is everything you need. Juicy beets and oranges, a creamy and luscious burrata scoop, peppery arugula, a quick vinaigrette, and crispy fried bread. SO MUCH YES!

Ingredients

For the Dressing:

1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
a few taps of garlic powder
a big handful of chopped chives
salt and pepper to taste

(OR, a bottle of your favorite champagne dressing, lemon dressing, or similar)

For the Salad:

one 8-ounce package cooked beets
2 oranges
a handful of arugula
8 ounces burrata (two 4-ounce rounds)
4–6 slices white Tuscan-style or sourdough bread

Instructions

Video

Shake dressing ingredients in a jar.
Press excess juice out of the beets with a paper towel; cut them into chunks. Cut the peel off the orange; cut into chunks. Toss beets and oranges with dressing. Add arugula if you want.
Heat a generous swizzle of olive oil over medium high heat. Add bread; fry on each side until golden brown and crispy.
Divide into bowls, serving each bowl with a chunk of creamy burrata and a piece (or three) of grilled bread. OMG.

Category: Salad
Method: Chop
Cuisine: American

Keywords: beet salad, burrata, fried bread

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More “Salads That Don’t Feel Like Salads” Recipes

Corn, Avocado, and Quinoa Salad with Marinated Tomatoes (the fresh herbs here just take it over the top)
The Best Easy Italian Pasta Salad (DANGEROUSLY GOOD!)
Chopped Salad Pizza (testing the salad limits in the very best way)
Peanut Noodle Salad (noodles on noodles on noodles – yum)

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Monday, April 26, 2021

Harissa Meatballs with Whipped Feta

Here’s a stunner for you.

You are looking at a big ol’ bowl of store-bought wonders such as hummus, olives, and pita bread, topped with a pile of meatballs (also store-bought! SOS life) that have been coated in a quick harissa / lemon / olive oil paste and baked to juicy-crisp perfection, roasted peppers and zucchini, and a super tangy, salty, whipped garlicky feta to add a little creamy punch to every bite.

It sounds fancy when I write it all out, and actually, every bite really does feel very complex and so delicious. But in reality, almost everything can be store-bought, and then you just have two tasks: roasting a meatball and veggie sheet pan, and whipping up a block of feta.

What You’ll Need To Make This Happen

Here’s our shortcut-friendly ingredient list:

meatballs
harissa paste (it usually comes in a jar and is often sold in the “global foods” section at many grocery stores)
bell peppers
zucchini
hummus
pita
feta

And assuming you’ve got olive oil, S&P, and garlic…this big bowl of goodness is yours for the taking.

How To Make This Bowl Come Together

Essentially what is happening here is the meatballs, peppers, and zucchini get roasted on one single pan.

I know technically this isn’t the correct way to do it because you want each veggie to be cooked to its own perfection. And if you are particular about your zucchini, feel free to give it its own pan for optimal zucchini-specific roasting. But I found it most efficient (and 100% delicious) to just add the zucchini on the same pan – not for the whole time, but just for the last few minutes of roasting. If there’s an easy way to do something that still gets the same super-yum end results, you know I’m all over that. And in this case, everybody-on-one-pan is the way.

Cooked ingredients on a sheet pan for Harissa Meatballs with Whipped Feta

The Whipped Feta Is a Must-Make

The only other really “active” cooking step here is blitzing up a block of feta cheese in a food processor or mini chopper (I love this one) until it becomes a creamy, spreadable, dollop-able wonder that you might be tempted to put on, like, everything from here on out.

This recipe, this combo of flavors, this textural heaven? This one is for those of us who like to go big. Lots of color, lots of puckery zip, lots of salt, and a good amount of heat from that harissa paste… more of all, please.

In terms of eating this, you can just fork-and-knife it, OR you can get right up in there with your pillowy pita and swoop it directly into the hummus, top with a meatball and some veggies, and do a final dunk into that whipped feta to just take this day right over the top. (10/10 would recommend.)

Close-up of Harissa Meatballs with Whipped Feta in a bowl

Source Notes: Harissa paste is “a Tunisian hot chili pepper paste, the main ingredients of which are roasted red peppers, Baklouti peppers, spices and herbs such as garlic paste, caraway seeds, coriander seeds, cumin and olive oil to carry the oil-soluble flavors.” (definition from Wiki!) It reminds me a little bit of curry paste – it’s packed with flavor and vibrantly red in color. In the US, you can find it at many grocery stores that have a solidly stocked “global foods” section. It’s usually is sold in small jars. If you want to dabble with making your own (and I am actually tempted to after reading Suzy’s description), here is a recipe for homemade harissa paste.

Harissa Meatballs with Whipped Feta: Frequently Asked Questions

What type of store-bought meatballs do you recommend?

Any kind! I’ve tried pork, beef, chicken, and turkey meatballs – and I think veggie meatballs would also work really well as a vegetarian option! This recipe is very forgiving – it can work with meatballs that are pre-cooked, and I’ve also enjoyed this recipe with the pre-made, UNCOOKED meatballs that you can often buy in the meat department. For a specific brand, I really enjoyed these with the ALDI pre-made uncooked Italian style meatballs (I know, wrong flavor profile, but it worked just fine and the meatballs were amazing). I just brushed them with the harissa sauce before baking.

I have some extra time. Can I make my own meatballs for this recipe?

Sure can! These baked chicken meatballs are perfect in this recipe, and major bonus – they’re freezer-friendly if you wanted to prep these ahead of time. Doubling the recipe is not a bad idea!

Is harissa paste spicy?

It’s not terribly spicy, but harissa paste does pack some heat. I would rate it as mild+ or medium- level heat. I left a few meatballs un-sauced for my toddler just to make sure it wasn’t too spicy for her.

I can’t find harissa paste. What else can I use?

Chili oil or even sriracha could work here instead! Just adjust the amounts as necessary so that you don’t make it too spicy.