A  Feast for the  Eyes

and for the Palate

• Roasted Beet Salad with Arugula

• Citrus-Glazed Cornish Hens with

Pomegranate Citrus Salsa

• Peppermint Candy Cane Cookies

with Chocolate Drizzle

All is merry and bright with this colorful, tasty holiday menu, which is sized just right to prepare in your onboard galley. Enjoy!ans, trimmed, rinsed

Roasted Beet Salad with Arugula

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Cooking time: 1 hour, 15 minutes

Serves: 4-6

4 beets, scrubbed, trimmed,

wrapped tightly in foil

2 yellow peppers, halved, trimmed

6 cups arugula

4 oz. goat cheese

1/4 cup olive oil

1 Tbsp. honey

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

Salt and pepper to taste

1/3 cup pistachios

Roast beets in a preheated 400-degree oven for 1 hour or until tender.  Remove foil, cool, cut into wedges.  Grill peppers until charred and place in Ziploc bag for 5 minutes. Peel peppers, cut into strips. Whisk together the olive oil, honey and lemon. Season with salt and pepper. Toss arugula with dressing, and serve onto plates with beets, peppers, crumbled goat cheese. Garnish with pistachios.

Citrus-Glazed Cornish Hens

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 1 hour, 10 minutes

Serves: 4

1/2 cup orange marmalade

1 1/2 Tbsp. soy sauce

1 Tbsp. butter

1 Tbsp. whole grain mustard

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 Tbsp. fresh rosemary, chopped

4 Cornish game hens

Salt and pepper to taste

In a saucepan, make glaze by combining marmalade, soy sauce, butter and mustard over low heat, whisking until smooth. Rub hens with olive oil, rosemary, salt and pepper and roast in preheated 400-degree oven for 30 minutes. Pour half the glaze over the hens and roast another 30 minutes, glazing often. Remove from oven, pour the last of glaze over hens and let sit 10 minutes. Serve with Pomegranate Citrus Salsa on the side.

Pomegranate Citrus Salsa

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Serves:  4-6

1 cup pomegranate seeds

2 oranges, peeled, segmented,

cut into 1-inch cubes

1/4 cup fresh mint, chopped

1 Tbsp. rice vinegar

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 Tbsp. honey

1/4 cup shallot, diced

In a small bowl, combine pomegranate and oranges. Toss in mint, vinegar, oil, honey and shallot. Chill. Serve with Citrus-Glazed Cornish Hens.

Peppermint Candy Cane

Cookies with Chocolate Drizzle

Preparation time: 45 minutes

Chilling time: 20 minutes

Baking time: 30 minutes

Makes about 30 cookies

2 sticks butter, softened

2/3 cup sugar

2 egg yolks

1/2 tsp. peppermint extract

2 tsp. red food coloring

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate

chips, melted

In a bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter until soft and creamy. Beat in sugar slowly until incorporated. Beat in egg yolks and peppermint extract. Beat in flour until well blended. Separate half the dough; set aside. Add food coloring to the other half of the dough and beat until blended. Shape both red and white dough into balls and refrigerate 20 minutes. Take tablespoons of each color dough, roll out into ropes and twist together to form candy canes. Bake at 425 degrees for 8 minutes. Drizzle lightly with melted chocolate and serve.

Carrie Hanna is the author of Florida’s Backyard, a collection of original recipes.  To order the book, call 800-839-8640 or visit carriehanna.com.