Thursday, December 27, 2007

What to do with $30 salt

While I was home in Texas for Christmas, Brandon and I went to Central Market to pick up a few things. After perusing the specialty salts (which ranged pretty widely in price), I noticed a smoked sea salt from Italy that contained edible silver. It sounded interesting and I thought the price tag said $7.99...So I bought it. Now that I'm back in Minnesota, I looked over my receipt. That 3.5 oz. bottle of salt cost me $29.99! Since I'm not mailing it back to Texas, I'm going to make the most of this pricey treat. Here's how I used it tonight:

Balsamic Glazed Acorn Squash with Herbed Wild Rice Stuffing

1 acorn squash, halved and seeds removed
2 Tbsp. agave nectar
2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 cup total chopped onion, carrot, and celery
1 cup wild rice
2 cups water
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. minced fresh marjarom
1/4 cup chopped pecans
fancy salt of your choice
fresh ground black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 F. Pour 1 cup of water in the bottom of a glass baking dish. Arrange each half of the acorn squash, cut side up, in the baking dish. Drizzle the balsamic vinegar and agave nectar over each half and sprinkle with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes or until flesh is easily pierced with a fork. In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, add the olive oil. Add chopped onion, carrot, and celery and saute until beginning to turn translucent. Add wild rice and stir to incorporate oil and vegetables with rice for about 1 minute. Add 2 cups water and 1 tsp. salt. Cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook for 15 minutes. While rice is cooking, toast pecans in a dry skillet until fragrant and lightly browned. To assemble, mix toasted pecans and marjoram with the wild rice. Spoon into the middle of each squash half. (You will have about a cup of filling left over- eat it for lunch tomorrow!). Top the dish with really expensive smoked sea salt and more freshly ground black pepper.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Whoa--$30 for salt?! How was it? Your dish looked wonderful...was the salt amazingly good in it?!

Courtney