strawberry dream supreme

I have a bad habit of buying beautiful fresh berries and then being so excited about it that I want to savor them. So I eat one or two a day and before I know it I'm left with a pile of moldy berries. This happens more often than I would like to admit. I could eat a whole pint of raspberries, blackberries or strawberries while standing at the counter... I LOVE them. Every time I try to control my urge to gobble them up, I end up crying a little bit inside when I open up the fridge to find they've gone blue and fuzzy. This time I was determined not to let that happen! 

The grocery store had some gorgeous strawberries the other day and I couldn't resist. I decided to put those babies to work at one of my favorite meals... BRUNCH! In true improv kitchen style I looked in my fridge and worked with what I had. Mascarpone, lemons, strawberries, eggs, half a loaf of challah bread leftover from a bread pudding I had made... stuffed french toast it is! HOLY MOLY was this AH-mazing!

This dish sounds complicated and fancy but it couldn't be farther from the truth! I was surprised how quickly it all came together. When you're trying to be good and not eat out, I definitely recommend this for brunch. It tastes better than most breakfast places and only took 20 minutes to make! 

Strawberry + Mascarpone Stuffed Challah French Toast

yields 5 - 6 servings

ingredients:

1 loaf challah bread cut into 2" slices

1 pint fresh strawberries

6 oz mascarpone cheese

1 t. vanilla extract

3 t. lemon juice (about a half of a lemon squeezed) + zest of whole lemon

3 T. powdered sugar

4 eggs

1 c. milk

1 t. vanilla extract

butter or cooking spray for the pan

In a bowl, mix together mascarpone, vanilla, lemon juice + zest, and sugar. I used an electric mixer to make sure everything was really smooth and creamy. Place the mixture into a ziplock bag and set aside. Slice your strawberries any way you like and place in a bowl. If the berries are a little tart, you can add a little sugar over the top and macerate them (the sugar breaks down the berries a bit and creates nice juices). 

Next, slice your challah into 2" thick slices. Very carefully, slice a 3" cut into the side of your bread. I do mine at the bottom of the loaf because it's most stable there. This will allow you to place the filling into the slices of bread. Before you do that though, get your dipping batter ready. Combine eggs, milk, and vanilla extract in a shallow bowl and beat together. 

Now you're ready to assemble! Cut a hole in the tip of you ziplock bag so you can squeeze the filling into your bread. I stick my finger into the hole and gently make the space a little bigger so I can maximize my filling. If a little oozes out, don't worry. Everything will turn out fine. Once you've filled up your slices, dip your bread into the egg/milk mixture and griddle* those babies up! You can use any cooking method you prefer. I don't have a griddle pan so I just use 2 sauté pans with a little butter in the bottom of the dish. Cook over medium heat for about 2 - 3 minutes per side. Top with fresh sliced strawberries and any extra cheese mixture if you have it. 

*If while you're cooking your french toast the sauce seems to be gushing out, just use a knife to scrape off the excess so it doesn't burn in the pan. You will still have filling on the inside, don't worry! Plus you can always use the extra mixture to place on top of the finished product! Just make sure you're not pressing your french toast with the flat end of the spatula... you want to keep as much of that sauce in there, that's the good stuff!

improv style:

you can use any soft cheese berry combination you like... think raspberry goat cheese with orange zest, or blackberry cream cheese with lime zest... just keep the portions the same. you could even do banana with nutella... mix the nutella with some mascarpone and orange zest for a creamier filling... you really can't go wrong here! you can also substitute fresh berries for frozen if they're out of season or too expensive. if you do use frozen make sure you thaw them and drain before using so it doesn't make your french toast soggy!

happy fathers day, daddy!

For the past few years my sisters and I started a new tradition for Fathers Day. Instead of going to a movie or making him breakfast, we go on a hike through the Pacific Northwest. One of the most beautiful places on earth if you ask me! It's breathtaking, good exercise, and a chance to get away from TV, internet, and life's distractions. Plus it's great family time where we all get to make fun of how ridiculously out of shape we are!

I've missed a few fathers days in the past but this year feels different. I don't have the "I'm in the middle of school and 2000 miles away" excuse. Just the "I live in a new state that isn't remotely close to home" excuse. So while I can't be in Seattle for Fathers Day this year, I can still share my love and appreciation for my Dad with this recipe. It's his favorite cookie, I call them Fully loaded cookies. Because that's what they are, FULLY LOADED. 

This cookie couldn't have more ingredients packed in if you tried. Ok, it could probably have a few more but at some point enough is enough, right?! This recipe is my mom's. I'm not sure where she got it from but it is the perfect cookie, chewy with a little crunch on the outside but not so crunchy that its hard to eat or hurts your mouth. They stay moist for DAYS which is a bonus in my book! They even freeze well! 

When I was living alone I would make a batch, eat about 6 and then freeze the rest. I'd take them out one at a time... sometimes I couldn't wait for them to defrost and you know what, they're amazing frozen too! Now I make these cookies and Matt gobbles them up so fast I could barley get pictures of them! My favorite thing about this cookie is that every one is different. Some have mostly chocolate, others have a lot of nuts. Even when you stir the batter thoroughly you still end up with a slightly different cookie. 

A side note to all you nut haters, I usually live in the "no-nuts" camp too but there's something different about these cookies. They're so addictive! I hope you enjoy them as much as my Dad does!

Fully Loaded Cookies

yields 2 dozen medium sized cookies

ingredients:

1 c. melted butter (yes, melted)

¾ c. brown sugar

¾ c. granulated sugar

1 t. vanilla extract

2 eggs

2 ¼ c. flour

1 t. baking soda

1 t. salt

1 c. dark chocolate chips

2 c. milk chocolate chips

2 c. white chocolate chips

1 c. macadamia nuts

1 c. slightly chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 325º. In a medium to large mixing bowl add melted butter, sugars, eggs, and vanilla... combine well. In a smaller mixing bowl combine flour, salt, and baking soda. Add dry mixture into wet mixture. Stir in the chips and nuts. 

Drop dough on a cookie sheet. Make sure to leave some room for spreading... they do get a little larger when they cook. Bake at 325º for *15 - 18 minutes. 

* Whenever I bake, halfway through the cooking time I rotate the pans and flip them around to ensure 100% even baking. It's my secret to perfectly baked cookies!

improv style:

a lot of people think that you have to follow the recipe EXACTLY in baking... and you do, to an extent. As long as you keep the ratios the same (ie: 2 c. chocolate chips = 2. c substituted dry ingredient) you'll be fine. this can be expensive to make if you're like me and use good quality chocolate and macadamia nuts. holy cow are those nuts expensive! you can easily substitute any of the chocolate or nuts for other ingredients. white chocolate, dried cherry, pistachio would be fantastic. Or butterscotch, chocolate chip with dried apricots and almonds. You can take your favorite ingredients and substitute the chips. Just make sure that you have the same ingredient amount as listed in the recipe (7 cups).  

kitchen bloopers

Everyone at some point in time has had something go wrong in the kitchen... wether it's mistaking salt for sugar, burning the crap out of ____ , having the lid of a spice bottle pop off and DUMPING way more of an ingredient into the pot; we've all been there. 

In my family we have more than a hand full of these stories. The time the turkey was still frozen at Thanksgiving and we ended up eating dinner at 10:30. The time the ham gravy was way too salty (in a family of salt ADDICTS). Burning the garlic bread EVERY time for about a 2 year stretch. The time I used 2 TBSP of salt instead of tsp's in my chocolate chip cookies... the list goes on.

My best food blooper was when I was learning how to cook spaghetti sauce a.k.a. bolognese/marinara (mine is a bit of a combination between the two). I had cooked the sauce with my mom for years, but I had never made it from scratch on my own. The last time my mom and I cooked the sauce together I had her give me exact instructions so I could do it on my own the next time around. About a week later I decided I would surprise my parents and cook dinner for them. 

I grabbed all the herbs, garlic, cans of tomato, and pasta I needed to make the dish. I browned my ground beef like a champ, barley shed a tear when I chopped my onion, I was so proud of myself. I dumped in my spices and then added my cans of tomato. I even found an open bottle of red wine and added a few glugs remembering that my mom told me it added great flavor to the sauce. How many 12 year olds cook with wine?! This girl did! When my parents walked in the door I was elated to tell them I had cooked dinner for them. 

We finally sat down to the table and I served my family the meal I had prepared. Spaghetti and sauce, garlic bread, and salad. As my parents took their first few bites they both looked at each other with a strange smile. My mom inquired what I had used to create such a fabulous sauce. So I went through the ingredients... garlic, onion, italian seasoning, oregano, basil, taragon, onion powder, garlic powder, wait?! TARAGON? YES, I put taragon in my spaghetti sauce. I didn't know herbs. I just knew there were A LOT of dried green spices that went into the pot. My dad got a good chuckle and said "Ah yes, taragon in spaghetti sauce", or something of that sort. To this day it is still my biggest kitchen blooper and one I will never live down. 

You can't take cooking too seriously. Accidents happen, we make mistakes. Don't get defeated when you mess up a recipe. It is NOT the end of the world! Even the most famous chefs have stories like these. It's how we learn and grow as cooks. 

I'm sharing this recipe with you as a request from my good friend Chris. Spaghetti sauce is one of the easiest things to make and it freezes really well. It's SO much better than any jarred sauce and it only gets better the longer it sits. I think it hits its peak of tastiness at 2-3 days leftover.I hope you enjoy my tarragon-free spaghetti sauce!

This ain't no Prego Spaghetti Sauce

adapted from my mom's recipe

yields about 10-12 hearty servings

ingredients:

1lb ground beef (I use 90/10)

1 yellow onion chopped

2 carrots chopped

4 garlic cloves

½ T. italian seasoning

2 T. oregano

1 t. basil

1. t onion powder

1 t. garlic powder

2 bay leaves

1 T. brown sugar (or ¼ port wine)

1 c. red wine (cab sauv or chianti are my favs)

1 - 15 oz can tomato sauce

1 - 15 oz can diced tomato's

1 - 6 oz can tomato paste

olive oil

salt + pepper to taste

In a large sauce pot put enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan in a thin layer. Once hot, crumble ground beef and let it brown. If your pot isn't very large, you can brown your beef in 2 batches. If you put too much meat in the pan, it will steam and turn grey. This isn't the end of the world... but the browning process will add more flavor so be patient and cook it in batches if need be!

Once beef is cooked, add in your onions and carrots. Cook them down until the onions are translucent and soft. Next add in your garlic and cook for an additional minute. Add in dried herbs and give the mixture a good stir. Next pour in your red wine. This will steam and bubble up, don't worry. It's releasing all of the tasty brown bits off the bottom of the pan. Next add in your cans of tomato and let the mixture simmer for at least 30 minutes. One pot spaghetti sauce! You can make this 1-3 days in advance. The sauce only gets better with age!

improv style:

if you like your sauce on the thinner side, you can add chicken stock or water to thin it to your desired consistency. vegetarian? use a good veggie stock to thin the sauce and add extra flavor when replacing the beef. you can play with your ground meat mixture too... some people like to use ground italian sausage, pork or turkey to lighten it up. if you don't have olive oil, no big deal. you can use canola oil, vegetable oil, or pam if you really want. i like using olive oil because it's italian! i find that adding a little brown sugar or port wine really gives great depth of flavor to the sauce. for me using red wine is a must but you can leave it out if you're not a fan or a big drinker. onions are another one of those musts for me... it adds SO MUCH subtle flavor to the sauce. if you hate onions you can leave them out or try mincing them in a food processor so you get the caramelized flavor without the chunks. if you see the carrots and think i'm crazy, i feel you. the first time i saw carrots in my sauce i thought my roommate had lost her mind. it ended up being SO good. which is why i've added them to my sauce. fresh herbs are always a great addition to sauce... just know that the flavor of fresh herbs are MUCH more mild than dried. 

the ole standby

Everyone has that dish that they make over and over again. It's the meal you can rely on, the one that's quick to make, tastes delicious, and always hits the spot. It doesn't matter if your standby comes from a box, a bag, or you make it from scratch, it's there for you when you don't have the time. 


It's been one of those weeks... early mornings, late nights, hard workouts (ugh). When I'm having one of those days, or even those weeks, I turn to spinach chicken. No clever name, no complicated recipe... just quick, easy, simple food that hits the spot. About 2 years into dating Matt one of our friends asked him what his favorite dish I made was. He replied "Spinach Chicken". "What?!" I said. Really? He's so easy to please! I'll take it! 


If you're having one of those weeks, heck, even if you're not... spinach chicken can be your new best friend too!

Spinach Chicken
yields 5 - 6 servings


ingredients:
5-6 chicken breasts
1 shallot minced
2-3 garlic cloves minced
3 c. spinach leaves
4 T. (1 good glug) white wine - i like chardonnay, use what you have...
2 oz reduced fat cream cheese (about ¼ c.)
2 T. parmesan cheese
salt + pepper


Preheat oven to 350º. In a saucepan, heat a small drizzle of oil in the bottom of the pan. I use olive oil but anything to coat the bottom of the pan will do. Once pan heats up, add shallot. After 3 - 4 minutes add the garlic and cook one minute more. Add spinach and let it start to wilt. Once spinach starts to cook down a bit, add white wine (the steam will help it wilt completely). Finally add cream cheese and parmesan cheese. Salt and pepper to taste.


On a baking sheet, line your chicken breasts. Evenly spread cheese mixture over chicken breasts and cook in oven for about 15 - 20 minutes until chicken is cooked through. It may take more or less time depending on the thickness and size of your chicken breasts. 


Serve with your favorite side(s). I usually do roasted potatoes and veggies or brown rice. You can even chop it up and place it over your favorite pasta. 


improv style:
the recipe is very flexible... basically you're creating a flavor spread to bake chicken with. if you don't have cream cheese you can use mascarpone, goat cheese, ricotta, or even brie! full fat, fat free, any work... the only thing you sacrifice with fat free is texture and a little flavor (it all depends on what your preference is). add a dash or worsteshire or dijon mustard to add more flavor. you can substitute yellow or sweet onions for the shallots or leave them out if you're not a fan. LOVE garlic?! add more... don't like wine? don't put it in. you can usually substitute chicken stock or any basic stock when a recipe calls for booze. also, adding in some mushrooms to this mixture would be so tasty! you can add your favorite veggies... red bell peppers, arugula, kale, sun dried tomatoes, eggplant - you get my drift?! mix and match your favorites! it's a really flexible recipe and very forgiving.

NUTS for pie

A few weeks ago my family came to town for a little visit. It was the first time since moving to Chicago that they came to town. I was so excited for them to see our new place and our new city.


Growing up, whenever guests would come to visit, my mom always made sure to have their favorite foods stocked in our pantry. It was her way of making people feel at home in our home. And while our apartment is way too small to host my 3 sisters and my parents for 3 nights, I wanted them to feel the same way at our place. To say I'm my mother's daughter would be the understatement of the year.


My dad goes CRAZY for macadamia nuts. My mom can never keep a can in our house without him finding and depleting her entire supply. She even hides the container deep in the pantry. It's like my dad has a super mac nut radar. One year my dad found the can and left an IOU note inside the empty canister. When my mom went to bake her fully-loaded cookies she was short 2 cups of nuts, left only with a cheeky note from my dad. He is a piece of work... and I love him for it!


I knew when my family came to visit that I wanted to make something special for him. I decided to combine 2 of my dad's favorite things and make him his dream dessert (more like what I imagined his dream dessert to be)! He has a weakness for key lime pie so I combined the custard of a key lime pie with a macadamia nut crust, HELLO!


The look on his face when he ate that dessert was priceless. THIS is why I love to cook. To bring smiles to peoples faces and joy to their bellies. I had such an amazing time while my family was in town. I wish they could have stayed longer! 

Key Lime Pie with Macadamia Nut Crust
from alton brown and cooking weekends
ingredients:
for the crust
1 ¼ c. toasted macadamia nuts
½ c. panko bread crumbs
¼ c. sugar
2 T. flour
¼ t. salt
4 T melted butter


for the filling
¾ c. key lime juice (about 10-12 limes)
1 T. lime zest (from 2 limes)
4 egg yolks
1 - 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk


for the topping
1 c. whipping cream
2 T. powdered sugar
1 t. vanilla extract


Preheat oven to 375º. For the crust, lightly toast your nuts in a pan on the stovetop or in an oven. Be careful not to burn your nuts! Set them aside and let them cool. Once cooled, place in a food processor and pulse until they're a fine powder. Add panko, sugar, flour, and salt - give it a few pulses until combined. Pour the melted butter over the mixture and dump in a pie dish (you can use a spring form or tart pan also). Press the mixture into an even layer that comes half way up the side of the dish.  Bake for 10 minutes. Note the crust won't be fully cooked, that's ok. It will finish cooking once you place the custard in it and bake it off!


While the tart is baking, you can assemble your filling. Squeeze juice from about 10 limes until you have ¾ c. of lime juice. In a medium bowl, whisk condensed milk and egg yolks together. Then add zest and lime juice. I like my filling really tart. If you like yours on the sweeter side you can use less lime juice. I find the zest adds a lot of flavor to the tart. If you don't like the consistency, you can definitely leave it out.

Pour the mixture into the baked crust and cook for an additional 15 minutes until the custard is set. It's done when the filling is firm but still jiggles. Let cool for an hour and then place in fridge for at least 4 hours (you want it to get cold... if it's cold enough for you after 1, 2... you get the idea). You can even make this the day before and add the whipped topping right before serving.

For the whipped topping, place heavy cream in a bowl and beat on high until soft peaks form. Add sugar and vanilla extract and continue whipping until firm peaks form. Place in a piping bag or ziplock bag with a hole cut in the corner and pipe onto the outer edge of the pie. You want to make sure your pie is all the way chilled or the whipped topping will just melt onto the tart. 


improv style:
the first place to change this recipe is the crust. you can do a traditional graham cracker crust, use vanilla wafers, or substitute the macadamia nuts for your favorite nut. i'm not a big fan of graham crackers so i'm always looking for new crusts to make. I took a crust recipe from one pie and combined it with the filling of another. BAKING IS NOT WRITTEN IN STONE, you can alter it any way you like! all you have to do is use common sense... keep the liquid equal and keep the dry ingredients equal. 


the second place you can improvise is with the filling. i actually cheated and used regular limes because my grocery store didn't have any key limes. it turned out just the same to me! you can leave out the zest or use less if the texture bothers you. i like A LOT of lime flavor to come through and the zest makes all the difference in the world for that. if you like your pie on the sweeter side, you can use ½ c. lime juice instead. also, you don't have to use fresh limes. you can buy the bottled juice and it will still turn out. i prefer fresh but that's how i like to cook. if you can't be bothered to squeeze limes, don't! 

tiraMOsu

I used to HATE tiramisu. I don't know why, something about soggy espresso soaked cake with cream that just didn't do it for me. When I moved to Rome,  I went from hate to love in 0 to 60 seconds.

I was out to dinner with a group of girls from my study abroad program. Everyone wanted to get some dessert at the end of our meal so they ordered a tiramisu for the table. Because I can't resist a little something sweet after dinner I decided to have a bite despite the fact that I didn't like it. What can I say, I ended up LOVING it. I don't know if I was just embracing all things Italy or if my palate changed but tiramisu tasted like heaven!

From then on, at every restaurant I went to in Italy, and I mean every restaurant, I ordered a tiramisu. It became something of a ritual for me and my roomie Ashley. Any time we went to dinner we'd order a tiramisu to share. Every time it came to the table we were shocked and surprised because no two tiramisu's were alike. We had it in pudding form, in thick almost frozen form, schlop it out of your mama's caserole dish form... you get the idea.

About halfway through our time in Italy a group of classmates and I took a cooking class. For dessert, the man taught us how to make, yep, tiramisu! I learned some key tricks in making the perfect tiramisu and I have to admit, it was VERY tasty. 

Over the years I have tweaked the recipe until I came up with MY perfect tiramisu. It's inspired by all the variations I had while eating in Italy. I took my favorite parts and replicated them. Heavy on the cream, a hint of booze, lots of chocolate and perfectly tender but not soggy lady fingers. I hope you enjoy my tiraMOsu!

tiraMosu

ingredients:

3 T. instant espresso powder

1 ½ c. water

4 T. dark rum

2 - 8 oz containers of mascarpone @ room temperature

1 t. vanilla extract

1 c. heavy whipping cream

8 egg yolks*

½ c. granulated sugar

1 T. dark rum

4 T. dark chocolate powder

6 oz dark chocolate

2 boxes (~60) dry biscuit lady fingers**

yields ~9 servings

Boil water and place in a shallow bowl. Add espresso powder and stir to dissolve. Add 4 T. of dark rum (or booze of your choice - see improv options below). Set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, beat egg yolks with sugar on high until it becomes light and forms ribbons. Add 1 T. dark rum (or booze) and softened mascarpone and vanilla extract. Mix until well combined. In a separate bowl beat whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Be careful not to turn it to butter though! A trick for whipping cream faster is to place your bowl and beaters in the freezer before whipping. Gently fold half of the whipped cream mixture into the mascarpone mixture. Then add remaining whipping cream mixture, stir just until incorporated.

You're all set to assemble! I use a 9x9 glass container to put my ingredients into. Start by quickly dipping 1 ladyfinger in the espresso mixture. This is the key to the perfect tiramisu... make sure you don't dip the cookies for too long, they'll get soggy. Literally drop the cookie in, flip it real quick and pull it out. Place them in a single layer in the baking dish. Place layer of cream mixture on top and evenly spread. Lightly dust cream with dark chocolate powder and shave some dark chocolate on the layer. Add another layer of dipped ladyfingers and then another layer of cream, chocolate powder and chocolate shavings. 

Here's where I shock you... this is best if you make it 4 - 5 days in advance. I know, it sounds gross but all the flavors blend together and the texture becomes incredibly rich and thick and decadent. If you can't wait, by all means dive in. But patience is a virtue with this dish and I would make it a few days in advance if you can. 

* note i don't cook my zabaione (the cream, egg, marscapone mixture). you should use the freshest eggs possible to avoid getting sick.

** make sure you get the hard cookies, not the soft ladyfingers found in the freezer or refrigerator sections. They should have the sugar crust on one side and snap when broken in half. 

improv style:

i like my tiramisu heavy on the cream, if you like more of a balance or more cake, halve the cream mixture. if you don't have dark rum, you can substitute it for a brandy, cognac, marsala, kahlua or coffee/chocolate liquor. you can also leave the alcohol out if you're serving it to kids or don't like booze. if you like your tiramisu to be on the wet side, you can pour some of the espresso mixture over the lady fingers so that they get a little soggy. experiment with different techniques and flavor combinations until you make your perfect tiraMEsu!

BACONFEST!!

This weekend I officially had my mind blown by Chicago. They have a festival called Baconfest, yes, BACONFEST! How could I not love my new city when it has a festival devoted entirely to bacon?! To say I love bacon would be an understatement. And while I try not to eat it too often, Baconfest was definitely a great reason to splurge! 


Funny story about bacon... when I was about 8 years old I ate an entire package of bacon with breakfast. My mom joked with me that I was going to die an early death from clogged arteries. Me being stubborn as I am replied "Fine, I'm never eating bacon again!". And I didn't, for about 8 years. I don't know what I was thinking... bacon is too delicious to not eat and life is too short to live without bacon! 


On to the main event, Baconfest details! TONS of famous chefs and restaurants from around Chicago came to share their hog inspired dishes. The most innovative and my personal favorite from the event was the bacon cannoli. It BLEW my mind! Some other highlights were the crispy polenta cake with cheese fondue and bacon ragu, creole bacon sauce over cheesy grits with jalapeno bacon cornbread, maple bourbon ice cream root beer float with bacon jimmies, and bacon soup. I even got to meet Girl and the Goat's Stephanie Izard, Top Chef Season 4 winner - she ROCKS! Her bacon soup for the event was complex and bursting with flavor! Nom nom nom!

In honor of Baconfest, I thought I'd share one of my favorite but simple bacon dishes, enjoy!


Arugula, Bacon + Date Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette

ingredients:
for the dressing:
3 T. olive oil 
1 T. dijon mustard
½ T. aged balsamic vinegar 
½ lemon - about 1 T. juice
1 small clove garlic minced
salt + pepper


for the salad:
3 c. arugula
6 slices of crispy bacon
6 dates diced
¼ c. shaved parmesan


For the dressing mix ingredients together with a whisk until it emulsifies. That's a fancy way to say it becomes thick like a salad dressing. I use a 25 year aged balsamic vinegar because i find the flavor to be less harsh and the thickness adds great texture. If you don't have an aged balsamic you can make a reduction of regular balsamic vinegar to achieve similar flavor/consistency.


Throw your greens, bacon, and dates into a bowl and toss with the dressing. Be careful not to add too much dressing, you can always add more. Toss and top with shaved parmesan. Simple, quick, and so tasty! 


improv style:
if you don't have dates, candied pecans would be great as a substitution or in addition. you can do a reduction of regular balsamic vinegar if you don't have aged balsamic. try it with turkey bacon if you're trying to be healthy or leave it out to make it vegetarian. if you're not a fan of arugula i really encourage you to try it in this dish. I don't usually love it either but there's something about the pepperiness that works really well with the salty bacon and sweet dates. If you still aren't buying it, this salad would be great with mixed greens or an italian blend.