Blogger challenge: California walnuts, salad course

Last month I was invited to participate in a California Walnuts Holiday Blogger Challenge.

A nutrition lesson about walnuts

• Walnuts are rich in anti-inflammatory nutrients, including omega-3 fatty acids and ellagic acid. Research has shown that the regular consumption of walnuts appears to improve cardiovascular function following high-fat meals.
• The form of vitamin E found in walnuts has been found to provide significant protection from heart problems.
• Studies suggest that the addition of walnuts to one’s diet may be a useful adjunct in lowering elevated LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
• Walnuts contain antioxidant nutrients, with approximately 90% of the phenols in walnuts found in the skin. Research shows measurable anti-cancer benefits to walnuts. Similarly, research has found measurable anti-cancer benefits.
• Walnut oil is an excellent source of omega-3

 Some of the contest rules:

• All recipes must be original creations.
• Recipes must use at least one cup of California Walnuts, no other nuts can be used.
• California Walnuts must be listed in the ingredient list.

Also: Entries will be judged on originality, creativity, flavour profile, ease of preparation and the use of at least one cup of California Walnuts.  The recipes should be suitable for holiday gatherings/ winter entertaining.

“Why not?” Said I.

“Why not”? Because I’m not much of a cook. I mean, I do like to cook and I’m good at it, but I’m kind of lazy when it comes to cooking for just myself. But, most of my recipes are original. Often they’re based on other people’s recipes but sometimes they’d indistinguishable from the original(s). They’re all easy to make (like I said, I’m lazy). I trust my judgement of flavour profile. I think I’m fairly creative. So, I started brainstorming on paper, with pen. Diagrams. Arrows.

I settled on a few ideas. I’m making them over a course of a few evenings.

The first one, which I made last night, was a salad with maple walnuts. As this is a walnut challenge, I could consider maple walnuts the recipe with salad as one of their uses, but you can’t eat a meal of maple walnuts. You’ll be tempted to, but you can’t.

I’ve been making a version of this for holiday gatherings for years and each time I’ve been asked for the recipe. The original recipe called for cashews. In the past I’ve used toasted pecans. For dried fruit, I’ve used a combination of cranberries & dried cherries in the past. I think that dried currents and Saskatoon berries would work too. It’s the tartness you want. Last year I added pancetta to a version and it worked. If you’re making this for a crowd you might want to do dressing on the side.

Salad with lemon poppy vinaigrette

Vinaigrette

• 1/4 cup maple sugar
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1 shallot
• 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard (I used Kozlik’s regular Dijon this time but considered using the tarragon variety).
• 1/4 teaspoon salt or to taste
• 1/3 cup La Tournagelle roasted walnut oil (handcrated in California )
• anchovy paste to taste
• 1/2 tablespoon poppy seeds

Salad

• Romaine lettuce and spinach (original recipe calls for a head of romaine)
• 4 ounces shredded emmental, blue or old white cheddar cheese*
• 1 cup candied maple California Walnuts (see recipe below)
  
• 1/4 cup or more dried cranberries*
• 1 apple, diced
• 1 pear, diced

*I used emmental this time, sliced, because it was on sale at the supermarket & I didn’t have time to buy cheddar from the farmer yesterday. Had I used cheddar it would have come from Monforte Dairy, bought at a farmers’ market.

Directions:

1. In a blender or food processor or with an immersion blender, combine sugar, lemon juice, shallot, mustard and salt. Process until well blended. With machine still running add oil in a slow steady stream until mixture is thick and smooth.* Add poppy seeds and process just a few seconds more to mix.

2. In a large bowl combine the romaine lettuce, shredded Swiss cheese, cashews, dried cranberries, cubed apple and cubed pear. Toss to mix then pour dressing over salad just before serving and toss to coat.

* I used my new food processor, which came with a 3-piece food pusher. Each pusher is a different size and are nested together. Small holes in the bottom of the narrow pusher are for drizzling oil into ingredients. You just fill the pusher with the amount of oil needed. It worked, unlike the egg whip attachment which does not whip egg whites into a useable form as promised.

Maple walnuts

1 cup California Walnuts
2 tbsp maple syrup (I use Forbes Wild Foods #3 dark).
1 tsp cayenne pepper, or to taste

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment. Combine walnuts, maple syrup & spice in medium bowl. Spread out nuts on sheet. Bake until brown and dry, stirring often, about 20 minutes. Cool. Coarsely chop nuts if you want, crumble them into  salad with your hands, or leave whole.
Store airtight at room temperature.

I didn’t get a good photo of the end result. Instead, I offer you photos of the lovely package of California walnuts, cutting board, pot holder and nut cracker that I got, as well as the salad-making in progress.

Up next: Tonight’s meal of spaghetti squash with watercress California walnut pesto.