by Pearl Pirie
One must have richness near New Year’s. Yet with so many sweets around, salad tastes amazing and sparks craving.
Main dish: Clean green
A baby spinach/adult arugula salad with English cucumber, avocado, tomato, sweet bell pepper, clementines and orange-sesame dressing. With it: sweet mama squash, baked for roundest flavour and mashed, sprinkled with black sesame seeds.
Dressing:
1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
Dessert: Brownie Cheesecake
Cheesecake layer:
125 g light cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Maraschino cherries, green and/or red
Brownie layer:
2 eggs
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 cup cocoa
1/4 cup mini fudge chips or chocolate chips
1/2 cup butter or margarine
Icing:
1 1/3 cups icing sugar
1/3 cup cocoa
3 tbsp butter or margarine, softened
1 1/2 tbsp hot water
a few drops of almond extract
Cheesecake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Chop 1/4 cup each of red and green maraschinos. Blot them dry on paper towels. Set aside. Beat cheese and egg. Blend sugar and flour. Beat together. Add cherries.
Brownie: Mix first five ingredients. Melt butter and stir in cocoa. Mix with rest. Stir in chocolate pieces. Put half into a 9” x 9” pan.
Drop spoonfuls of cheesecake on top. Cover with remaining brownie batter. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes. When cool, add icing. Some people may want a thinner layer of icing, so might not use all of the mixture.
