OUR TOWN COOKS!

A consummate multi tasker, I’m unable to just sit alone at my kitchen table and eat a meal. I have to be doing something, and my favorite thing is reading cookbooks. I might be lunching on a mundane roast beef on Italian bread sandwich, but I’m flipping through pages showcasing Fire Roasted Tomato, Beef and Chipotle Chili (Rachel Ray’s 30-Minute Get Real Meals) or Braised Salmon in Winey Cream Sauce (Julia Child’s The Way to Cook).
One of my current favorite lunchtime reads is “Crowd Pleasers” from the Junior League of Canton, Ohio, Inc., copyright 2002. The book details the rich history of Canton and the surrounding areas with vintage photos and features highlighting businesses, neighborhoods and local people of interest. Particularly enjoyable are the trivia tidbits sprinkled throughout the book such as:
there are more golf courses per person in Stark County than in any other county in Ohio.
Hammer thrower Jud Logan of North Canton was the oldest member of the 2000 U.S. Olympic team which competed in Sydney, Australia.’
Ida Saxton McKinley’s younger brother George was well known in Canton as a ‘ladies man.’ His romantic escapades led to his murder at the hands of a former lover in October 1898.

While perusing the pages of Crowd Pleasers, I came across the recipe for Mandarin Orange Glazed Walnut Salad. Instead of just daydreaming about how it might taste, I served the salad at a family gathering this winter. It’s a crowd pleaser that will be making many encore appearances at my table.

Mandarin Orange Glazed Walnut Salad

Dressing

¼ cup olive oil
2 Tbsp. Cider vinegar
2 Tbsp. Sugar
1 Tbsp. Fresh parsley, chopped
½ tsp. Salt
freshly ground pepper
dash of hot pepper sauce

Salad

½ cup walnuts, chopped
3 Tbsp. Sugar
1 medium head romaine lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces
2 green onions, sliced
1 (11-ounce) can Mandarin oranges, drained

Combine all salad ingredients in a jar. Shake well and refrigerate up to 3 days.
To make salad, cook and stir walnuts and sugar in a small heavy skillet over low heat for five minutes or until sugar dissolves and walnuts are glazed. Cool. Arrange lettuce and onions on individual salad plates. Top with walnuts and oranges. Drizzle dressing on top.

Note: Blood oranges, clementines or grapefruit sections may be substituted for the Mandarin oranges. Red onions can be used instead of green onions.