Asian Pasta Salad

Recipe by Lauren McElwain

For a twist on the traditional, try packing this simple Asian Pasta Salad, with crisp vegetables and a yummy sauce, in your picnic basket.

1 (8-ounce) package Asian noodles

½ cup olive oil

¼ cup soy sauce

1 clove minced garlic

1 tablespoon honey

1 red bell pepper, julienned

8 green onions, julienned

1 cucumber, seeded and julienned

1 tablespoon black sesame seeds

Cook noodles by the instructions on the package, and set aside. In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, soy sauce, minced garlic and honey to create a vinaigrette. Toss noodles, vinaigrette, vegetables and sesame seeds together in a decorative bowl. Serve immediately, or prepare the night before and store in the fridge.

Blood Orange Coffeecake

Winter is almost here, and blood oranges will soon be in season. Try making this bright and festive coffeecake for your special someone.

Crumble

1½ cups all-purpose flour

¼ cup sugar

½ cup light brown sugar

Zest of 1 blood orange

½ cup unsalted butter, melted

Cake

1½ cups all-purpose flour

1½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

⅓ cup sugar

⅓ cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

¾ cup plain Greek yogurt

Zest of 1 blood orange

Glaze

½ cup powdered sugar

Juice of ½ blood orange

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch springform pan with butter or cooking spray, and set aside.

To make the crumble topping, mix together flour, both sugars and orange zest. Add melted butter, and stir with a fork until the mixture is crumbly. Set aside until ready to use.

To make the cake, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, and set aside. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars with an electric mixer on medium to high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla; beat until combined. Stir in Greek yogurt and orange zest. Slowly stir in the flour mixture.

Spread half of the cake batter into the springform pan, and smooth with a spatula. Sprinkle half of the crumble mixture on top. Add the rest of the batter, and smooth again. Pour remaining crumble over the top. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 45 minutes.

While cake bakes, make the blood orange glaze by whisking the powdered sugar and freshly squeezed blood orange juice together in a bowl.

When the cake is done, let it cool a bit before popping it out of the springform pan. Then drizzle glaze over the top of each slice, and serve.