Light night...

Today was pretty busy so we had a couple of light items for dinner tonight. I was looking for something that would be pretty filling, but not heavy.

To start us off I made White Cheddar and Black Pepper Biscuits. I wish I would have made a double batch of these just to put one set in the freezer. The tender biscuits, made with buttermilk, have a sharpness from white cheddar and just the right amount of bite from the pepper. I was afraid there would be an aftertaste of baking powder since there is quite a bit in the recipe, but neither of us detected it. Instead of rolling and cutting them, I decided to speed things up and just turn them into drop biscuits. Since most of the work is done in the food processor, these can be whipped up in no time.
Keeping with the light, but filling theme, we went with Apple, Almond, and Mixed Greens Salad with Zinfandel-Cranberry Vinaigrette. The fresh tasting dressing is made from cranberry juice, zinfandel, lemon juice, shallots and olive oil. Dried cranberries burst with flavor when bitten into as they were plumped up by steeping them in boiling apple juice. Crisp apples bring a nice contrast in texture to the tender baby greens. Toasting the almonds brings out much more of the nutty flavor which allows the serving size to be small, but they still pack a punch. Next time I would include some gorgonzola or another type of crumbly cheese to add another dimension.

Recipes
White Cheddar and Black Pepper Biscuits
Apple, Almond, and Mixed Greens Salad with Zinfandel-Cranberry Vinaigrette