Today I went to Rainbow Grocery and I got inspired for dinner. All those beautiful vegetables, it’s smelled like fall.

Beets                  $ 1.99

2 Carrots             $0.59

Cauliflower         $2.13

Lettuce                $1.99

1 big Parsnip       $1.78

2 Turnips               $1.05

Hanger steak       $8.99

Black trumpet       $1.87

Total                   $20.39

This dinner can serve 2-4

Beet and goat cheese salad

I steamed the beets until fork tender. Please don’t buy those things canned, beets are so easy to make!! Once cooked just let them cool off. Run them under water and as you pinch the skin it will come off really easily. Set them aside. Clean your salad and then you’re done!

Make a vinaigrette (salt pepper, a bit of dijon, 1 table spoon of vinegar and 4 of oil) I added a 1/2 teaspoon of minced shallots, separate your dressing in 2 bowls, one you will toss the salad in and in the other one the beets. I do them separately as the beets will stain the dressing and it doesn’t look that great! Then plate it. A bit of salad, a few beets and I had a bit of fresh goat cheese left in the fridge, so I crumbled it on top.

Note: to remove the stain of the beets on your hands or counter, just use a bit of water with a few drops of bleach.

Cauliflower soup with pomegranate oil

Just clean the head of cauliflower and put it in a pot, I had a extra russet potato that I peeled and cut in big chunk and add to the pot. Cover the ingredient with 1 cup of water and 2 cups of milk, salt & pepper. And let simmer until the potato and cauliflower are fork tender. Blend the soup until velvety smooth. I had a pomegranate left over from Thanksgiving, so I cut it in half and with a back of a spoon tapped the seeds out in a bowl. Add a bit of olive oil and here you have it. You can also do a lemon oil with a bit of oil and lemon peels. The acidity of the pomegranate though was a nice touch.

Hanger steak and roasted root vegetables

First of all, I have to say that Hanger steak is my favorite cut, it’s cheap ($8.99/lb) and it’s so flavor full. Ok, it’s not pretty to plate but what I do is I slice the meat to present it in the plate.

For the roasted vegetables, I took the carrot, turnip, 1 potato, and parsnip cut them in a roughly same size chucks (you want it to cook evenly), drizzle a little olive oil, salt & pepper, a couple crushed garlic cloves and toss it to cover the ingredients with the oil. Put in the oven on 300 for about 45 min. When the vegetables are nice and tender, bring your oven to 400 and let them caramelize for about 10 minutes, keep an eye on them! This is my technique to get perfectly roasted veggies.

With the rest of the shallot (from the salad) I sweat them in a bit of butter, I add a teaspoon of flower, let it cook to a roux then add 1/2 cup of red wine, bay leaf, salt pepper (add some water if the sauce is too thick) at the last minute I throw my trumpet mushroom in.

I cooked the my meat on the cast-iron pan, with a bit of oil on the bottom. I make sure I pre-seasoned my meat (the longer the better) one side in the pan until nice and brown and then flip it and finish it in the oven for a few minutes. It’s important to always rest your meat! Put in on your cutting board with an aluminum foil on it. Make sure you don’t push your cooking time too much because the meat will keep on cooking for a bit longer. I usually let the meat rest for about 5-10 minutes (depending on the size) and then I sliced it and plated it.

If you slice the meat as it come of the heat all the juices will flow out, same thing for chicken or any type of meat. It is important to let it rest for a while.

Bon Appétit!