• apples sliced (1 per 2-3 people)
  • lettuce
  • handful of pumpkin seeds
  • 6 tbl canola oil
  • 3 tbl cider vinegar
  • 1tbl grainy mustard
  • 2 tbl maple syrup

last night i attended an event for bloggers. it not only was informative but fun! i met a lovely bunch of women bloggers from all over the westchester area. we not only had a cooking demo, we all got to pitch in and help create a healthy, local, and organic meal together (my type of event).

we managed to cover many topics that evening (they ranged from taco bell (?) to the walking dead) but the one that most interested me was of course food. healthy, local, organic food. chef eric korn of good-life gourmetwas a wonderful instructor, i walked out with lots of information from holding a knife the right way to canola oil (will get to all of this).

we started out by getting prepped, we all washed our hands and got to work. see that salad above, that is what we started with. we all grabbed our knives and got started. eric gave us all a lesson on the “right” way to hold a knife (might i add the knife was a lot bigger then i am used to working with). we roasted some apples and then the lesson began, canola oil. my biggest fear.

i use olive oil for everything…everything, not kidding. i am talking frying to salad dressings. i go through a lot of it. eric showed us the difference between olive oil and canola oil. i’m still not sure if i am completely sold on canola oil but it was interesting and definitely got me thinking. it doesn’t burn like olive oil and is pretty much tasteless. will i use it for frying? i’m not sure yet but for salad dressings and roasting on low settings, yes.

so our first course was a salad (see picture above, i made that for lunch today) with roasted apples and pumpkin seeds. we made a very mild vinaigrette with you guessed it, canola oil. it also included a local maple syrup (i need to get my hands on some of that), mustard and cider vinegar. it was light, sweet, tasty and healthy. i was sold.

the minute i tasted the salad i also knew that was our salad for thanksgiving. the roasted apples added a sweet flavor to the salad but didn’t over power the greens at all. the pumpkin seeds added a nice crunch and the the vinaigrette…i know yummy is just not the right way to explain food now a days, but yum!

our main entree that night was salmon with quinoa (you know how i love quinoa, i have since had it every day for one of my meals) and roasted peppers. i am not quite the biggest salmon fan…most likely because i have not been cooking it the right way. after watching eric cook it, and how easy it was, and basically how quickly salmon is actually cooked, plan on seeing it soon.

i took a lot of information home with me. it all has been running through my head randomly through the last 2 days. stay tuned because after thanksgiving eric and his partner stephanie and i have a special treat for you. it’s a surprise so i can’t give you any hints :-)

for now, enjoy some salad

roasted apple salad with pumpkin seeds from chef eric korn over at good life gourmet
  1. whisk or mix all of the vinaigrette ingredients together: canola oil, tbl cider vinegar, grainy mustard, maple syrup
  2. for the apples: to begin slice the apples. toss with a pinch of salt and little bit of canola oil. mix and roast at 400 degrees for about 5-7 minutes.
  3. for lettuce: while you apples are cooking place washed lettuce in bowl and set aside.
  4. for the vinaigrette: in a jar shake to mix, or a measuring glass with a whisk, canola oil, cider vinegar, mustard, maple syrup.
  5. dress salad.
  6. after you have added the vinaigrette and mixed, plate. add apples and pumpkin seeds.

a tip i learned last night about dressing salad: take your bowl of lettuce and your vinaigrette, around the perimeter of the bowl, pour your dressing. mix, taste and add more if necessary.

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