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Salad and I….let’s just say that our relationship has been strained over the years and largely because of a few early misconceptions on my part. Growing up in the Midwest in the 1980’s, salads meant iceberg lettuce, stale croutons from a box and gloppy dressing from a bottle. I’m sure some of you know what I’m talking about. And then there were the salad bars at my high school and the college dorm cafeteria. Both of these experiences make me think of cottage cheese and bacon bits for some reason. Hopefully that’s not all I ate, but I can’t promise anything. In those days it was easy to fill your plate with a bunch of very non-green foods while still feeling virtuous because you chose the salad bar. When I was out on my own, I gave up on salad for awhile. There were several years in my 20’s when I subsisted largely on blueberry bagels and strawberry cream cheese and Golden Grahams….not a green leaf in sight. It’s a wonder I’m still here.

Thankfully things change. I’ve become a curious (and better) cook and eater over the past 20 years. The selection of lettuce options available in the grocery store today is vast, almost overwhelming. Farmer’s markets offering freshly picked greens abound. Oh, and as it turns out, you can put all sorts of different things into a salad! Bulk them up with hearty grains, add some roasted or sautéed vegetables, sprinkle nuts, seeds or cheese on top, make a quick and delicious homemade vinaigrette…honestly, we are only limited by our imagination. Salad, I feel that I’ve misjudged you. I think it’s time to breathe new life into this relationship.

Which brings us to this delicious combination. Hearty pearl barley, bright asparagus, red bell pepper and spinach are a far cry from iceberg lettuce and croutons. I first began making a version of this salad, minus the pearl barley, several years ago when I came across it in an issue of Cook’s Illustrated magazine (a.k.a. my cooking bible from 1990-2005). It made a lovely first course then, and it makes an even lovelier main course salad now with the addition of barley and a sprinkling of toasted almonds. There are a few things that really make this salad special: thin, tender spears of seasonal asparagus, creamy goat cheese crumbles and a sherry vinaigrette that is incredibly simple and just what you need to pull everything together. The salad is tossed in two bowls and while it does require the tiniest bit of extra dishwashing, your efforts will be rewarded. Keeping the baby spinach separate from the asparagus and barley mixture really helps maintain the integrity of the ingredients and prevents bruising the delicate greens.

Don’t let those early years of not loving salad hold you back. You were just a kid! Now you know better. You can turn things around. This delicious combination is just the thing to remind you of how interesting and satisfying a good salad can be.

Springtime Barley Salad with Asparagus, Red Pepper and Spinach

A delicious and hearty spring salad with sautéed asparagus, red pepper, spinach and pearl barley

• Author: Kristi
• Prep Time: 20 minutes + 30 minutes to cook the pearl barley
• Cook Time: 10 minutes
• Total Time: 30 minutes
• Yield: 2–3 large salads, 4 side salads 1x
• Category: salad
• Method: sauté
• Cuisine: Nordic, Scandinavian

Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon sherry vinegar, divided

1 garlic clove, minced

6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

1 red bell pepper, cut into a medium dice

8 ounces thin asparagus spears, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces

1 medium shallot, sliced thin

1 ½ cups cooked pearl barley, cooled (see note below)

4-5 cups baby spinach

¼ cup sliced almonds, toasted

Soft goat cheese for crumbling over the top

Instructions

1. Combine vinegar and garlic together in a medium bowl.  Set aside.

2. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium high heat.  Add red pepper and cook until lightly browned and beginning to soften, about 2 minutes. Add asparagus and cook until nearly tender, about 2 minutes.  Add shallot and cook until softened, about 1 more minute. Remove from heat and add remaining teaspoon of sherry vinegar. Stir in cooled barley. Set aside to cool while you make the vinaigrette.

3. Whisk remaining 4 tablespoons of olive oil into garlic and sherry vinegar mixture.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

4. Toss spinach with 2 tablespoons of vinaigrette in a large bowl.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

5. Add asparagus and barley mixture to the medium bowl with the remaining vinaigrette.  Toss to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

6. To serve, create a bed of spinach on the bottom of each plate.  Arrange the asparagus and barley mixture over the top. Sprinkle with toasted almonds and crumbled goat cheese.

Notes

To cook pearl barley: Bring a medium pot of water to a boil over high heat.  Season with salt. Add 1 cup pearl barley. Cook until tender, about 25-30 minutes.  Drain and set aside to cool. If you want to expedite the cooling process, spread the cooked barley out on a sheet pan and place it in the refrigerator.  1 cup of dry pearl barley makes approximately 3 cups cooked so you will have more than you need. (Barley can be made up to 2 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container).

Adapted from the May/June 2003 issue of Cook’s Illustrated magazine.

Keywords: spring, salad, asparagus, spinach, red pepper, goat cheese

The Tosca cake is one of the most popular cakes in Sweden for good reason. It is the delicious coming together of opposites: A rich, crispy layer of caramel and toasted almonds and a moist, delicate sponge cake underneath. I’ve made this cake a few times in the past, but as I set out to perfect it for the blog I had a few criteria that I wanted to achieve. First and foremost, I wanted the cake itself to be moist and tender….no one wants a dry, crumbly cake and yet there are plenty of them out there. Second, I wanted the topping to be chock full of toasty almonds to provide that satisfying crunch to contrast the softness of the interior. Finally, I wanted this cake to be unfussy and easy to put together. Not too much to ask, right?

I began researching recipes and found that the cakes themselves were very similar, relying on a combination of eggs, sugar, milk, butter, all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt and vanilla extract. I decided right away that I wanted to substitute almond flour for a portion of the all-purpose flour. Almond flour is known for its ability to create an exceptionally moist and tender cake, but I also didn’t want to overdo it. Almond flour is essentially ground almonds and can create a cake that is over-the-top rich, dense and even greasy in texture. The right amount of almond flour would be key. I began by swapping out 1/3 of the all-purpose flour for almond flour. This cake was delicious and extremely moist, but also a little heavy and sunken in the middle. I did a little more research and came across an article at the King Arthur Flour blog that suggested that 25% almond flour /75% all-purpose flour was a nice mix for producing a tender crumb without compromising the light texture of the sponge cake. This ratio produced the moist and tender cake I had imagined without a hint of heaviness or greasiness.

Now that I had the cake down, I turned my attention to the topping. My research revealed two different methods of working with the caramel and almonds: Some recipes called for removing the cake from the oven about 10 minutes before it was done, adding the topping and then letting it continue to bake from there. Others called for fully baking the cake, adding the topping and then slipping it under the broiler for a minute or two to caramelize it. I liked this second option as I really wanted to ensure that my caramel and almonds were nicely browned and crispy. I also didn’t like the idea of fussing with a partially baked cake and risk compromising the crumb by taking it out of the oven and adding a topping two-thirds of the way through the baking time. The broiling method worked beautifully (keep a close eye on it!) producing a golden brown, crisp topping, but it still seemed like something was missing…like the sweetness of the cake was one dimensional. On a whim, I sprinkled sea salt flakes over the top of the caramelized cake to see if that would add the little extra something I was looking for. Success! The crunchy salt crystals provided that delightful sweet/salty combination (think salted caramel) that perfected my version of the Tosca cake.

Tosca Cake

A simple, moist yellow cake topped with a layer of crispy caramel and almonds.

• Author: Kristi
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 40 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour
• Yield: 10-12 slices
• Category: baking, fika
• Method: baking
• Cuisine: Nordic, Swedish, Scandinavian

Ingredients

For the Cake:

¾ cup unsalted butter

¼ cup whole milk

1 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

¼ cup + 2 tablespoons almond flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon fine salt

3 large eggs

1 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

For the Topping:

¼ cup unsalted butter

¾  cup sliced almonds

⅛ teaspoon fine salt

½ cup sugar

½ cup heavy whipping cream

Flaky sea salt, such as Maldon, for sprinkling (optional)

 

Whipped cream for serving, optional

Instructions

1. Warm butter in a saucepan over low heat or in the microwave until the butter is melted.  Add milk. Stir and set aside to cool.

2. Set oven rack in the middle position and preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter and flour a 9 inch springform pan and set aside.

3. Whisk flour, almond flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl until fully combined.  Set aside.

4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat eggs and sugar together on medium-high speed until light in texture and pale yellow in color, about 2-3 minutes.  Reduce speed to low and add vanilla.

5. Leave mixer speed on low and add ⅓ of the cooled butter and milk mixture followed by ⅓ of the flour mixture and mix until just combined.  Repeat this process two more times ending with final ⅓ of the flour mixture.

6. Transfer cake batter to prepared springform pan.  Bake until golden brown and a tester poked into the center of the cake comes out clean, 35-40 minutes.  Set cake aside to cool slightly.

7. While the cake is cooling, make the topping.  Set the oven to broil and make sure the oven rack is in the middle position.  Melt butter in a medium skillet over medium heat.  Add almonds and fine salt and sauté until the almonds are just beginning to brown.  Add the sugar and cream.  Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil until the mixture is slightly darker tan in color and is starting to thicken, about 2-3 minutes.

8. Pour the topping over the cake and broil until topping is nicely browned and bubbly.  Keep a very close eye on it! This will happen in only a minute or so. I leave the oven door propped open so I can make sure it doesn’t get too dark.  Remove from the oven. Sprinkle with sea salt if desired.  Allow cake to cool in the pan.

9. Before serving, run a knife in between the cake and the edge of the pan to make sure that it is not sticking before you remove the sides of the springform pan.  Cut into wedges and serve with whipped cream if desired.

Keywords: Tosca, cake, almonds, caramel, fika, Swedish