kitchen curator: Mark Bittman's 101 salad ideas

I'm starting a new label, "kitchen curator," in which I'll link to other people's good ideas. I mostly blog about my own invented recipes or modifications of someone else's recipes, but sometimes I run across food inspiration too good not to share.

Mark Bittman, food columnist for the New York Times, and author of a giant cookbook called How to Cook Everything, has a lot of interesting ideas. Recently, he turned in this gem for the NYT - "101 Simple Salads for the Season."

I'm quite intrigued by #2 and #4 and #8, and I even made the preserved lemons for #48 the other night, but have yet to assemble the rest of the salad. Maybe this weekend...

I love the "crouton" idea in #44, where he makes a grilled cheese sandwich and chops it into bite-size salad garnishes. I would use whole-wheat bread, of course. ;)

I would love it if he came up with 101 soup ideas this fall! Wonder if he takes requests...

can you tell what I'm making?

At about 3:20, I cut some eggplants into small cubes, tossed them in olive oil and some sea salt, and placed them on a baking sheet.

I also wrapped up an ear of corn in aluminum.

It's 3:35 now, and both are going in the oven.

UPDATE 1: (3:50) Now that the eggplants and corn are cooking, I wanted to add that I'm using 3 different kinds of eggplants. I can't resist all those cool and weird-looking varieties at the Farmers Market! This dish will have American eggplant (the familiar purplish-black, "globe" eggplants), a Filipino eggplant (like the one in my hand here), and a Rosa Bianca eggplant.

UPDATE 2: (3:57) I just put a pot of water on the stove, to bring to a boil, and now my oven timer is beeping, so I'd better go check the eggplant and corn.

UPDATE 3: (4:02) The eggplant tastes great! Time to start working with some of the other ingredients: onions, a jar of roasted red peppers, heirloom cherry tomatoes, and capers. I left the corn in the oven, but turned the heat off. I'm also starting to wonder why I thought it would be such a great idea to cook today, when it is super, super hot outside.
UPDATE 4: (4:17) I keep nibbling on the eggplant chunks, and I'm still waiting for the water to boil! I did slice my cherry tomatoes into halves, though. It was about 40 cherry tomatoes - I counted them, just for you. :)

Speaking of nibbling, when we got home from the Farmers Market today, we took a bunch of the black seedless grapes we'd bought, put them in a freezer bag, and stuck them in the freezer. Mike and I just tasted the frozen grapes, and they were so sweet and refreshing. Highly recommended!

UPDATE 5: (4:30) Finally! The water is boiling, so I put in the whole wheat penne pasta. In the meantime, I also sliced up 3/4 of a yellow onion into half rings, and I'm working on caramelizing it (on medium-high heat in 2 tablespoons of olive oil) now.

UPDATE 6: (4:40) OK, the pasta is done, and it's sitting in the colander in the sink. While it was cooking, I remembered the corn (by some miracle), got it out of the oven, and sliced the kernels off into a bowl. I hold the tip of the stalk with my left hand (using an oven mitt), resting the other end of the cob in the bowl. Then I simply cut the corn off with a knife. I'm going to cut a few canned fire-roasted red peppers into strips next.



UPDATE 7: (4:44) Still caramelizing, so there's time for this comment/hint. This dish traditionally has a kind of sweet-sour flavor, which most recipes achieve by adding sugar. I'm not going to do that, of course. I'm hoping to get there through the sweetness of caramelized onions, corn, and yellow (along with some red) cherry tomatoes.

UPDATE 8: (4:50) That's enough caramelizing! I just turned down the heat and added the tomatoes and roasted red peppers to the onion pan, along with a clove of minced garlic, a teaspoon of salt, and 3 twists of the pepper grinder.

UPDATE 9: (4:58) I have added the eggplant cubes to the pan now, along with about 3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar. The tomatoes are cooking down nicely. And I had a thought...you know what else is kind of sweet? Tarragon! I don't have any fresh, so I threw in a teaspoon of dried tarragon. And a dash of red chili flakes, because I'm going to use fresh mint leaves later, so this dish will play around with hot-cool and sweet-sour.



UPDATE 10: (5:05) Final additions to the sauce: the corn, 4 teaspoons of capers, and 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts. Funnily enough, it's hard to tell the pine nuts from the corn kernels once they're all mixed in!

UPDATE 11: (5:14) The answer - I'm making eggplant caponata. Sort of! It's going to be a cold pasta salad instead of a spread. The idea occurred to me because A.) it's really hot outside, and B.) eggplant caponata is often served at room temperature or chilled. Now that the caponata sauce is done, I have combined it with the penne noodles in a container, and it's all in the fridge chilling. I'll let you know how it is in a couple of hours!

UPDATE 12: (8:00ish) It was good! The picture below shows the finished dish, garnished with shaved Parmesan and some mint sprigs. It really did have the sweet factor - so much so, that next time, I might skip the tarragon and use some more savory herbs. Still, we liked it because it was so refreshing and summery.


Mucho thanks to Mike for all the pictures he took and uploaded!

in search of mocklate: almond scones with strawberry butter

Remember that episode of Friends when Monica, the chef played by Courtney Cox, was supposed to demo a new (and as it turned out, icky) chocolate substitute? That wonder product was called "mocklate," and that's what comes to mind whenever I set out to create a new version of some dessert that I normally can't have. So, even though the recipe in this post is not a chocolaty one, it fits into this category since pastries are most definitely not filthy sucre friendly.

Strawberries are gloriously in season now, so I wanted to make something in the strawberry shortcake family, and after some thought and some web surfing, I settled on scones. For one thing, scones aren't usually a super sweet pastry, so I thought it would be easier to adapt. They are also a heavier, denser pastry, which I thought would work well with whole wheat flour. But, I needed something to put on the scones - along with the strawberries, of course. Whipped cream is out because of the sugar, so originally I was going to go with creme fraiche, although I would just have to skip the jam. Anything that concentrates the fruit like in jam or preserves is too sugary for me, plus they usually add even more refined sugar on top of the de-fiberized fruit sugars. Fortunately, the perfect solution came when I saw this post from the kitchn about strawberry butter. When I read it, I knew...I HAD to make that. ASAP.

For the scones, I used this recipe as a jumping off point, and made my substitutions - whole wheat pastry flour instead of all purpose, Splenda instead of sugar. I also added the almond extract because I like its sweet cherry-ish flavor, as well as the sliced almonds. I did find that I had to add more liquid to the batter to get it to hold together, probably because I was using the whole wheat flour. At first, I was adding heavy cream a tablespoon at a time, but after the third one, I still needed more liquid, so I switched to water. In the end, the scones came out just the right texture, flaky and delicious. Mike even said that they didn't taste too wheaty.

The strawberry butter could not have been easier to make, so I made two kinds. First, I followed this recipe (scroll down and ignore the popovers), except for using Splenda instead of butter. This version was ready to use as soon as the scones were cooled enough to serve, but after it's been in the refrigerator, it would need softening again to spread easily unless you thought to form it into a sliceable log or cube before chilling it. Thus the second version of strawberry butter that I made - strawberry canola butter. Using equal parts butter and canola oil, you create a better ratio of healthy and unhealthy fats, and it really tastes the same as the all-butter version. You just pour the blended canola butter into a tupperware container and refrigerate it until it firms up. The beautiful thing is that it remains spreadable in addition to being a little healthier, and I've been eating it for the past two weeks, so it keeps well too!

If you are not hypoglycemic (or diabetic), you might have a hard time appreciating exactly how happy it made me to be able to eat a sweet pastry for breakfast, with a fruity condiment that didn't wreck my blood sugar. Needless to say, I will be making this again!

ALMOND SCONES

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup Splenda (granular, not the kind you find in packets)
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 Tablespoons cold butter
1 large egg
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sliced raw almonds

glaze:
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 Tablespoons heavy cream

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, Splenda, and salt. Stir to blend. Cut in the cold butter with two knives (or use a pastry blender if you have one), until the texture is like coarse crumbs. Here's a tutorial about cutting in the butter, in case you've never done it before. It's the key to getting the flaky scone texture.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk one egg with the almond extract and 1/2 cup heavy cream. Stir the liquid mixture into the dry mixture until just combined. Gently stir in the almond slices.

3. Put the dough onto a floured surface, and try to form it into one lump. If it is too dry to hold together, add liquid (cream, milk, or water) one tablespoon at a time until it coheres. (I had to add about 6 tablespoons of cream/water). Be careful not to overwork the dough.

4. Separate the dough into two halves, and spread each half into a sheet about one inch thick. Use a knife to cut the dough into triangular scone shapes. Place the triangles onto a greased cookie sheet.

5. Make the glaze by whisking the remaining egg with two tablespoons of heavy cream. Brush the glaze lightly onto the tops of the scones, then decorate them with a few more almond slices.

6. Bake for 15-18 minutes. When a knife or toothpick comes out clean, they are ready to cool on a wire rack.


STRAWBERRY BUTTER

1 stick (1/2 cup) of butter, softened at room temperature
1/3 cup mashed fresh strawberries
2 Tablespoons Spenda (granular)

1. Soften the butter for a few hours.

2. Wash the strawberries and remove the green parts. In a medium sized mixing bowl, smash the strawberries with a fork. Be sure to use ripe, juicy strawberries!

3. Add the Splenda and the butter to the strawberries (keeping the juices), and use an electric mixer to combine. When it's well blended, it will be pink throughout (yay!). Try to resist the urge to lick the spoon.

STRAWBERRY CANOLA BUTTER

1 stick (1/2 cup) of butter, softened at room temperature
1/2 cup canola oil
1/3 cup plus three big strawberries, mashed
4 Tablespoons Spenda (granular)

The instructions are the same as above, with the addition of the canola oil. Just mix everything together until it is pink throughout. The canola butter will initially have a consistency similar to yogurt (again, resist the temptation to dive into it with a spoon), but it will firm up in the refrigerator. Keep it in an airtight container. It will be spreadable within a few hours.

Warm Wheat Berry Salad with Copious Coriander

Since I gave up eating refined white breads, flours, pastas, or rice a couple of years ago, I have been slowly discovering the wide variety of whole grains that are out there. Lately, wheat berries have become one of my favorites. The wheat berry is simply the entire, unprocessed, uncracked wheat kernel. A bowl of wheat berries with some veggies is a very satisfying meal, or treated oatmeal-style, it would make a hearty breakfast. You can also grind up the wheat berries to make your own whole wheat flour - I'm not that ambitious...

For this recipe, I used Bob's Red Mill Soft White Wheat Berries, because that is what I found at Whole Foods, but hard white or hard red wheat berries would work too. You do have to plan ahead a little, since it takes about an hour to boil the wheat berries - then you are free to put them together with anything you can think of. One cup of dry wheat berries will make two dinner portions, and leave enough extra that you can have for breakfast or throw into a pot of soup later.

My other inspiration for this recipe was cilantro/coriander. If you have been reading my blog for a while, you have probably noticed that coriander is one of my absolute favorite flavors, but did you know that coriander seeds and cilantro come from the same plant? So, why not combine coriander seeds, ground coriander, and fresh cilantro into one dinner? It's like a perfect circle. On that note, I feel I have to mention that there is a blog called F*@# Yeah Cilantro, and if you like tongue-in-cheek, vulgar humor involving herbs, then you should check it out. If you don't like pictures of food accompanied by tons of F-bombs...well, you have been warned.

If you can't find coriander seeds in the spice aisle at the store, check in the aisle where they keep the Mexican specialty food items. Tossing a few of these into a recipe adds a pleasant crunchy, orange-y surprise when you bite into a seed. This recipe should be made with your choice of whatever vegetables are in season. The baby artichokes and purple cauliflower I used were really good, but I could envision this working with squash, green beans, asparagus, mushrooms, etc.

WARM WHEAT BERRY SALAD WITH COPIOUS CORIANDER

1 cup uncooked wheat berries
3 1/2 cups water
a pinch of coriander seeds
a pinch of salt
6 tulip artichokes (or other baby artichokes)
2 tsps. olive oil
1 small head of cauliflower (I used purple cauliflower, but white is fine.)
1/4 cup olive oil
6 Tsps. apple cider vinegar
4 scant tsps. Dijon mustard
4 tsps. ground coriander
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
another pinch of coriander seeds
salt and pepper to taste
2 dozen small shrimp
4-5 cubes feta cheese per bowl
4-5 tsps. chopped fresh cilantro

1. Bring the wheat berries and water to a boil, sprinkle in a little salt and a few coriander seeds for added flavor. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for about an hour, or until the wheat berries are al dente. You may have to drain off a little excess water before serving.

2. Steam the baby artichokes for three minutes in a microwave steamer bag, or for about 15 minutes on the stove top. Set aside until cool enough to handle, then peel away and discard the outer leaves until you reach the tender part that doesn't resist cutting with a sharp knife. Cut off and throw away the tough tips, then slice the remaining artichokes lengthwise into halves or quarters. (More about working with baby artichokes here.)

3. Cut the cauliflower into small florets, and heat the olive oil to high heat in a large pan. Sear the cauliflower florets on high heat for about three minutes, stirring frequently. You want to see a little bit of char in spots. Turn the heat down, and add the artichokes and shrimp to the pan.

4. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the olive oil, apple cider vinegar, Dijon mustard, coriander, cumin, and coriander seeds, along with a few dashes of salt and pepper. Set this vinaigrette aside for now.

5. While the shrimp are heating, start assembling the bowls. Drain the wheat berries if necessary, then scoop an ample portion into each bowl. Once the veggie/shrimp mixture is finished, spoon it on top of the wheat berries, drizzle on the vinaigrette, and top with the cubes of feta. (Don't use pre-crumbled feta. Get a block of feta and cube it yourself for a creamier texture.) Garnish each bowl with a generous sprinkle of cilantro.

lemon basil chicken with white zucchini

Have you ever created a whole dinner around an herb? You know, something you came across by accident at the Farmer's Market or the grocery store? Well, that is how Lemon Basil Chicken with White Zucchini was born. I saw - then smelled - the lemon basil at the market, and HAD to make a dish with it. My goal was to make the recipe as lemony as possible and to find out how much flavor the herb could contribute - I was very happy with the resulting dinner!

If you are looking for lemon basil at the Farmer's Market, head for a stand that sells lots of greens. The stand where we buy salad mix usually has several different herbs, and the place where we found the lemon basil has lots of herbs, plus leeks, green onions, bok choy, cabbage, chard, lettuce, and a zillion different dark leafies. The white zucchini has been a springtime appearance at the Farmer's Market, and I've noticed that the same stand I buy it from also refers to it as "Mexican squash" sometimes. These are pretty small zucchini - one is about the length of my hand.

The mushroom broth I used was the liquid left from when I rehydrated some dried mushrooms. When you soak them in hot water, it not only brings your exotic mushrooms to life, it creates a flavorful broth that you can save in the refrigerator for a few days. You simply keep the liquid after straining out the mushrooms. I had some leftover from another recipe, and found it an ideal complement to the wine in this dish. You could rehydrate some dried mushrooms specifically for using in this dish (along with their broth), or you could go with an easy-to-find veggie or chicken broth.

We had this dish with a side of baked French-fry-style polenta (I should post that recipe sometime), but I think it would also be great with whole wheat Couscous. The wheat flour that coats the chicken sort of stops short of full-blown breading, but provides a nice texture, and it helps to thicken up the sauce a bit. While the white wine you use for this recipe shouldn't be overly sweet (aka, not a dessert wine like Reisling), you'll notice that when you pour the wine in the pan and add the lemon basil, it really smells like candy! I used this inexpensive blend from Pancake Cellars. There was enough leftover of this dish after Mike and I had it for dinner, so I took the rest to work for a delicious lunch.


LEMON BASIL CHICKEN WITH WHITE ZUCCHINI

3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Tbsp. fresh chopped tarragon
1 lb. chicken tenders (with fat trimmed off)
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chopped brown mushrooms
3 small white zucchini, aka Mexican squash
1 tsp. white balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup white wine
3/4 cup mushroom broth (or a mild-tasting, low sodium veggie or chicken broth)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 Tbsps. chopped lemon basil
juice of another 1/2 lemon

1. Put the whole wheat flour, salt, and tarragon into a large plastic, seal-able bag. Squeeze a half of a lemon onto the chicken tenders, then place the chicken in the bag with the flour mixture. Seal and shake well to coat the chicken.

2. Heat the oil in a large skillet, then add the floured chicken tenders and the garlic. Brown the chicken, but don't cook it all the way through (yet). Set the chicken aside on a separate plate and cover.

3. Leaving the traces of the chicken and flour, add the mushrooms and zucchini to the pan. Stir in the vinegar to flavor the vegetables and to help prevent the flour from sticking to the pan and burning.

4. Cook the vegetables for 3-4 minutes, then pour in the white wine and mushroom broth. Turn the heat up until the sauce bubbles. Stir frequently while the sauce reduces. During this process, add the lemon basil and enjoy the scent! After another few minutes, squeeze in the lemon juice, and finish reducing.

5. When the sauce has reduced to about 2/3 of its original volume, turn the heat back down to medium-low and add the chicken back to the pan. Cook until there is no more pink in the chicken. It should be nice and tender.

6. Serve with a whole grain side dish and some more of that white wine!

lemon basil is made of awesome

We recently discovered lemon basil at the Farmer's Market. It looks much like any other green herb, but it smells almost exactly like the lemon-flavored suckers that bank tellers used to hand out when I was a kid. You really have to try it to understand how cool an ingredient this is to play with. I invented a chicken dish featuring lemon basil, which I will post this weekend, but for now, here's a dessert that we had tonight. It takes literally 2 minutes to make, and proves without a doubt that dessert does not require sugar...not if you have a stash of the super sweet strawberries that are in season right now! Don't worry about the acidity of the vinegar; the dish will still be sweet.

LEMON BASIL STRAWBERRY DESSERT

5-6 strawberries per person
1 Tablespoon lemon basil per person, chopped
drizzle of balsamic vinegar
drizzle of heavy cream

1. Wash the strawberries and remove the green tops. Slice them lengthwise into halves or quarters - whatever suits you.

2. Place a serving of sliced strawberries in each person's bowl. Add the lemon basil and toss. Drizzle each serving with a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar, followed by a tablespoon of heavy cream.

3. Let the bowls sit in the refrigerator while you eat dinner, then enjoy!

soba noodles with veggies & scallops in ginger mushroom broth

Of all the things I want to do with this blog, one of the most important is to point out the variety of whole grains out there. If you follow a hypoglycemic diet, you give up white pasta, white rice, flour tortillas, white bread, etc. - which can be a drag sometimes, especially at restaurants, or when you find yourself peering wistfully at all the goodies behind the glass at the coffee shop. Fortunately, there are some really good, overlooked whole grains that everyone ought to try, whether you are watching your blood sugar or your waistline, or perhaps if you are bored with the usual stuff.

So, today's featured whole grain is...(drumroll, please)...soba noodles! Soba is a Japanese pasta, made from a blend of buckwheat and wheat flour. I love that there exists an Asian noodle I can eat, since Pad Thai and Pho and all those fresh-looking Asian noodle bowls are usually off limits unless I want to feel woozy and get a pounding headache. With soba, I can learn to make my own versions of these dishes, as well as a plethora of hey-what-do-we-have-in-the-fridge stir fries, such as the one I'm posting here. You should be able to find soba in the "ethnic foods" aisle of most nicer grocery stores. You'll notice that they are brown, somewhat like whole wheat pasta, but they cook a little more quickly.

I used frozen jumbo scallops in this stir fry, which, I admit were from New England, thus not as eco-friendly as I usually try to be. While I think eating locally-produced food is one of the most important ways to help reduce your carbon footprint, I don't advocate being rigid about it when (for instance) you want some interesting seafood in your stir fry. To quickly defrost the scallops, just put them in a plastic ziploc-type bag and immerse in a bowl of lukewarm water. You may have to change the water a few times (because the scallops will make it icy), but they will defrost in 20 minutes or so while you are getting your other ingredients ready. Most of the other ingredients in the recipe are in season - veggies you'll find at the farmer's market in early spring.

I had never cooked with baby bok choy before putting it in this recipe, but it is super easy to work with, and quite yummy. Although it is known as Chinese cabbage, the flavor is milder than the cabbage most of us familiar with - but, strips of regular cabbage would make a decent substitution if you can't find baby bok choy. Swiss chard would also work. I highly recommend branching out and trying some of those mysterious greens the markets are so full of right now.

SOBA NOODLES WITH VEGGIES & SCALLOPS IN GINGER MUSHROOM BROTH

2 tsps. toasted sesame oil
1 medium onion, sliced into half circles
2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 oz. dried wild mushrooms (shitake, crimini, oyster, etc.)
1 carrot, peeled into strips
4-6 jumbo scallops, cut into halves or quarters
1 cup snow peas
2 heaping Tbsps. freshly grated ginger root
1/4 cup mushroom broth (created from rehydrating your mushrooms)
2 Tbsps. low sodium soy sauce
1 Tbsp. rice vinegar
soba noodles
2 baby bok choy
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 avocado

1. Heat the sesame oil in a large skillet. Add the onions. Cook for a few minutes before adding the garlic.

2. Meanwhile, rehydrate the dried wild mushrooms in a medium-sized bowl. Cover the mushrooms in hot water for 15-20 minutes. When you take the mushrooms out of the bowl, save the water to use as mushroom broth later in the recipe. (You can also keep the extra broth in the fridge for a while - I'll be posting another recipe soon in which I used it again.)

3. Use a vegetable peeler to make carrot strips. I used a yellow carrot, but any kind will do. Toss the carrot strips into the skillet with the onions. Next, add the scallop pieces and stir so that the scallops have contact with the skillet bottom. After 3 minutes, add the snow peas, and turn the scallops. Cook for another 3-4 minutes.

4. While things are cooking away in the skillet, use a knife to remove the brown skin from the ginger root. Then use the smallest part of a grater, catching the ginger and ginger juice in a bowl. You might have to scrape the grated ginger off the back of the grater with your fingers. Once you have enough, stir it into the skillet. Pour in the mushroom broth, and add the soy sauce and rice vinegar. Turn the scallops over again.

5. Boil the soba noodles according to package directions. This recipe made enough for two of us, plus enough leftovers for me to eat for lunch one day. So, shoot for three bowls' worth of noodles.

6. Slice the bok choy into long strips, and add them to the skillet. Squeeze in the lemon juice, and cook for 3 more minutes. Once the scallops look done, you're ready to go.

7. Serve the veggies and broth in a bowl on top of the noodles. Garnish with avocado slices.

Note: We are trying to remember to start taking (and posting) pictures of these dishes...but it's a work in progress. Enjoy!

spaghetti in rosemary cream sauce with Indian eggplants, snap peas & prosciutto

Now that it is officially spring, it's time to look for ways to add all the new ingredients appearing at the Farmer's Market into our cooking plans! Sugar snap peas (a kind of "sugar" I can have) add a fresh crispiness and delightful green brightness to this adaptation of the basic cream sauce used in an earlier, more wintry post, "Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Ricotta and Meyer Lemon Zest."

I was also eager to do something with the cute little baby eggplants that I've been seeing at the Encino Farmer's Market. Can you tell that I'm in love with miniature vegetables lately? I know eggplants are generally in season in the summer, but sometimes veggies have a longer growing season in California, and sometimes the baby veggies appear sooner than the full-sized ones. I'm not sure if that's the case with these eggplants, so if anyone out there knows, please share!

In fact, according to the sign at the market, what I bought were Indian eggplants. There are lots of different kinds of eggplants, and crazily enough, they are technically considered a berry - kind of in the same way that tomatoes are considered a fruit. Whatever they are, these little eggplants were yummy to use in this dish because the spongy texture of the eggplant allows it to soak up the flavor of the cream sauce.

SPAGHETTI IN ROSEMARY CREAM SAUCE WITH INDIAN EGGPLANT, SNAP PEAS & PROSCIUTTO

3-4 baby eggplants (or Indian eggplants)
1 Tbsp. olive oil
salt & pepper
2 cups sugar snap peas, cut into bite sized pieces
1 clove minced garlic
2 Tbsps. white balsamic vinegar
3 slices prosciutto
2 stalks green onion, chopped
2 Tbsps. butter
1 long stalk fresh rosemary, leaves separated from stem and chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup fresh ricotta
salt & pepper
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
whole wheat spaghetti noodles (enough for 2 people)

1. Slice the eggplant into long, thin strips, leaving the skin on. Heat the oil in a large skillet, then add the eggplant strips. Sprinkle on a little salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes or so. Add the snap pea pieces and garlic. Cook for 2-3 minutes, then add the white balsamic vinegar.

2. Roll up each slice of prosciutto and slice the rolls so that you make bite-sized strips. Mix the prosciutto into the veggies and cook for a few more minutes. Add the green onions and cook briefly so that the green doesn't darken too much.

3. Meanwhile, melt the butter in another pan, then add the rosemary - the herbal oil will infuse the butter. After heating the rosemary for a few minutes, pour in the heavy cream. Bring to a boil, then simmer over medium heat for 3 minutes before adding the ricotta. Stir over low heat to melt and blend the cheese into the cream, then remove from heat.

4. While the noodles are boiling, stir the Parmesan into the cream sauce mixture until it melts and disappears. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

5. Serve the noodles in a bowl with the cream sauce and veggies spooned on top.

baby artichoke & fried egg tartine

OK - this is basically an egg sandwich. I have no problem admitting that. I like egg sandwiches. My sister, Anna, and I used to make them for lunch all the time when we were kids and our Mom was at work. Anna makes a mean fried egg over medium, too. For whatever reason, this is what I came up with when trying to figure out what to do with a basket of cute baby artichokes from the Farmers Market.

"Tartine" is what we left coast elites (and possibly the French?) call a fancy open-faced sandwich. I happened to look this up on Wikipedia to confirm, and I found this sweet quote, "Legally in the United States, the ruling in the case of Panera Bread Co. v. Qdoba Mexican Grill established that a true sandwich (from a legal perspective) must include at least two slices of bread. An open-faced sandwich does not satisfy this condition." So there. (I can't help put picture a sourdough loaf battling a tortilla when I read this.) Be sure to get a high quality loaf of whole grain bread that you can cut big (1+ inch) slices from. You will need a substantial foundation for everything that goes on top of the bread in this recipe. Also, you will probably need to eat this with a fork and knife.

Technically, the artichokes I bought at the market were tulip artichokes, also known as baby Eurochokes or Fiesoles - deep purple little things. Apparently, people use them in flower arrangements, too. I had to do some research to learn how to work with them. Fortunately, the California Artichoke Advisory Board has a very detailed website with pictures and instructions for cooking artichokes. This veggie is in season twice a year, in the spring and the fall, so it's worth getting to know. Soon I will try something with full-sized artichokes. In fact, the babies are just artichokes that grow lower down on the plant than the big guys, but the babies are a good training-wheels artichoke because they are easier to use and require less prep. They smelled amazingly buttery when I steamed them, which I did very quickly in the microwave in a Ziploc Zip 'n Steam bag. This was the first time I'd used the Ziploc steamer bags, and it worked well - shortcuts that make dinner happen faster are good because I'm always so hungry by the time I'm cooking. (Stupid hypoglycemia!) You can also steam them on the stovetop for about 15 minutes.

I had still had some asparagus in the fridge after making the last recipe I posted here, so I used that to add a nice crunch to this dish. With the spongy bread, creamy avocado and tangy vinegar...I'm getting hungry all over again just typing this up. Mike likes his eggs well done, which was no problem, but I intended my egg to be fried over-medium so the yolk could run into the bread...but, alas, I overcooked it just slightly. Next time it will be heavenly!

BABY ARTICHOKE & FRIED EGG TARTINE

8-10 baby artichokes (tulip or other variety)
1 tsp. olive oil
1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves minced garlic
5-6 asparagus spears, cut into bite sized pieces
1 tsp. balsamic vinegar
salt & pepper
1/2 tsp. tarragon (I didn't have fresh, so I used dried.)
1 1/2 Tbsps. fresh chives, chopped
1 tsp. butter (for the frying pan)
1-2 eggs per person
salt & pepper
1 thick slice whole grain bread per person
olive oil & balsamic vinegar for drizzling
1/2 avocado, sliced

1. Steam the whole artichokes, either in a microwave bag for 3 minutes or on the stove top for 15 minutes. Set the steamed artichokes on a cutting board and allow them to cool enough for handling.

2. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Saute the sliced mushrooms for a few minutes, then add the garlic.

3. Peel the outer leaves off of the artichokes until you get to the tender part of the vegetable. With the tulip artichokes, I found that the leaves with some yellow coloring were softer and more edible than the purplest ones. Discard the leaves you've peeled off. Slice the artichokes in half length-wise and cut off the tough purple tips.

4. Add the artichokes and chopped asparagus to the pan to saute with the mushrooms. Add the balsamic vinegar, some salt and pepper and the tarragon. Add the chives after a few minutes.

5. Melt the butter in a small frying pan. Crack the eggs into the pan. Be careful not to break the yolks if you want your eggs over medium! Shake some salt and pepper onto the eggs. Once the white part of the egg is set and is looking about 80% cooked, flip the eggs. For medium, count to 20 and remove the egg from the pan. For well done eggs, leave them in a little bit longer or break the yolk before flipping.

6. While the eggs are cooking, toast the bread. Place a slice on each plate, and drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. When the eggs are ready, place them on the bread, then spoon the veggies on top and maybe place a few around the plate to make it pretty. Garnish with avocado slices and more chives.

quick polenta bowl with tomato sauce and seasonal veggies

Here's a quick dinner I whipped up one night last week when I didn't have the energy to cook, or much in the fridge. I try to keep a can of tomatoes in the cabinet, and I almost always have a tube of Trader Joe's heat-and-serve polenta available...so, that and some asparagus I had from the Farmer's Market = dinner in 20 minutes flat!

Asparagus is just starting to appear at the Farmer's Markets here in LA, since it's early spring. There are also hot house tomatoes, but they're not that great (and I didn't have any), so I went for canned. In the summer, it's not that hard to make a sauce from fresh tomatoes, and I might use green beans instead of the asparagus. I also just used the fresh herbs I happened to have, plus some of the Italian seasonings in my cabinet. What I'm getting at here is that you should feel free to use: a) whatever is in season and sounds good, b) whatever you've got. This is a pretty hearty meal for two, and maybe more, depending on your appetite - especially if you add a green salad.

QUICK POLENTA BOWL WITH TOMATO SAUCE AND SEASONAL VEGGIES

2 tsps. butter or olive oil (for the polenta)
1 18 oz. tube of polenta
1 tsp. olive oil (for the sauce)
1 cup chopped mushrooms (I used crimini, but whatever you have is fine.)
1 or 2 cloves minced garlic
7 or 8 asparagus stalks, cut into 1 inch bite-sized pieces
1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
app. 3/4 of a large (28 oz.) can of tomatoes
1 Tbsp. fresh sage, chopped
1 Tbsp. basil
1 tsp. thyme
salt & pepper
goat cheese (optional)

1. Slice the polenta log into circles about 1/2 inch thick. Melt the butter or heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan. Add the polenta slices. Once they start warming, they are easier to mash up and stir together - at first, just be sure to stir so that the same ones aren't always on the bottom hogging all the butter or oil. While you cook your tomato sauce, check on the polenta periodically, and mash/stir it until it's a thick, uniform texture. Remove from heat if this consistency is acheived before the sauce is ready. (Note: I believe Whole Foods and other stores have thier own ready-made polenta tubes, not just TJ's. And it is, of course, possible to make it yourself, but the point of this recipe is quickness and ease!)

2. Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in a large pan, then add the mushrooms and garlic. Cook for a few minutes, and add the asparagus once the mushrooms are starting to brown. Cook until the asparagus turns bright green and retains some of its crispiness. (Soggy, overcooked asparagus is gross.) Add a tablespoon (or just a generous splash) of balsamic vinegar and cook for a minute.

3. Add the canned tomatoes to the veggie mixture. I didn't use the whole can, but just eyeball it according to your desired ratio of veggies:tomatoes. Add the herbs and simmer for several minutes, adjusting the seasonings (a little more of this, a lot more of that...) and salt & pepper to taste.

4. After you've perfected your tomato sauce, spoon the polenta into individual bowls, smashing it up against the sides to make a polenta bowl-inside-a-bowl. Spoon the tomato sauce into the polenta-lined bowls, and serve with some crumbled or grated cheese on top, if you like. We happened to have goat cheese, which melted just a little, resulting in extreme creamy goodness.

don't eat cardboard peaches

Lately, every time I go to Trader Joe's I get annoyed. It's not the insane crowd of people blocking the aisles, it's not the teeny tiny parking lot...it's the #*@! peaches from Chile. Earth to Trader Joe's: It is February. Not that it's just Trader Joe's, but why should they use their tiny (and incomplete) produce section for out-of-season fruit that isn't up to thier thrify gourmet standards of quality?

Who needs rock-hard, flavorless peaches that you have to cut with a knife and that crunch when you eat them? Is the need so great for cardboard-tasting supposed fruit that bounces like a tennis ball because it logged more than 5,587.57 miles in its weeks-long trip from the farm to the store?

It's like opening Christmas presents in April. Biking across the ocean. Shaving with your toothbrush. Cheering for Texas. You get the picture - it's just wrong.

The thing is, during the summer, we can get delicious, juicy peaches from right here in California. Peaches are such a quintessential summer thing for me that it just bothers me to see these fake ones around in the winter. It siphons off the fun and anticipation of those first peaches arriving in June or July, kind of in the same way that the holiday spirit is dampened when all the retail halls are decked right after Labor Day.

I doubt there would be any demand for these things if the stores weren't taking it upon themselves to provide all produce year 'round. I mean, I know not everyone lives in California, and we are lucky to have such a variety of fruits and veggies growing here all year. But still, think of the ridiculous carbon footprint left by a peach from Chile - its journey to the grocery store in LA is roughly equivalent to the mileage I put on my car in five months. It makes life bland if everything is available all the time, and we've got plenty to enjoy right now with a zillion varieties of citrus finishing up their season in the spotlight. OK, enough ranting...

In other news, Mike and I had the chance to go to the Farmers Market yesterday for the first time since we moved to the Valley. We decided to check out the market in Encino, and it was really good. There were hints of spring appearing: asparagus, artichokes, cute baby eggplants, snow peas...yay spring!! More recipes soon.

find this at the farmer's market this weekend: jerusalem artichokes

Hey, I'm back! We are moved in, if not unpacked, up here in (like, totally) the Valley. That means all new farmers markets to know and love...

If you are looking for something new to try this weekend, and you're baffled by all those mysterious rooty-looking winter items at the market, pick up some Jerusalem Artichokes (aka "sunchokes"). They are not really artichokes at all, but are kind of like a cross between a potato and a water chestnut in texture, crunchy on the outside and creamy in the middle. We roasted some recently, along with chopped carrots and bite-sized potatoes and some red wine, herbs and beef. You don't need to work hard to peel them - the farmer who sold them to us suggested scrubbing them with a brillo pad or coarse sponge to remove some of the skin. The rest, as he said, is good for you, so don't worry about getting it totally naked.

You could get creative with these and try them steamed, or au gratin, or in some soup...

whole wheat spaghetti with ricotta and meyer lemon zest + a salad dressing recipe

I've realized that I've been posting a lot about root vegetables lately, and there's more of that to come, but let's not forget that citrus is also at its peak in the winter (frigid 80 degrees that it is here in LA at the moment). So, tonight for dinner, Mike and I had this recipe by Celestino Drago from Food & Wine magazine, which I found through a great website called Mighty Foods. This is a little bit decadent since it's a cream sauce, but it is extreeeemely tasty. The only change we made from the original recipe was in using Meyer lemons instead of regular ones. You may not be able to find these unless you are in California, but use them if you can because Meyer lemons are rather special. They're ony available for a short time each year, and they are quite sweet in comparison with normal lemons. I sliced up some of the lemon after grating the zest off, and used small wedges as a garnish - they were delicious with the creamy, savory sauce. It was a very easy recipe and came together quickly.

Served with a salad, this pasta made for a bright and refreshing dinner. Here's the salad dressing I put together tonight.

DIJON CORIANDER VINAIGRETTE

3-4 Tablespoons olive oil
2-3 Tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
2 heaping teaspoons dijon mustard
salt
pepper
1/4-1/2 teaspoon coriander

This should be enough dressing for two side salads. I actually make it in a little glass and stir it with a fork. Just put everything in together, taste it, and mix it up to the best of your abilities. It's hard to keep the oil and vinegar mixed, so you have to pour a little on one salad, then a little on the other, alternating back and forth to make sure no one ends up with all the oil. I also don't really measure this as I'm doing it, so the above quantities are estimations to guide you in getting the proportions right. Coriander is amazing, by the way. It is made from cilantro seeds, but has a warm, orangey flavor. Chill your salads with dressing on while you make the pasta. It'll be so good!

I hate beets...or do I?

I've always hated beets. I often describe them as tasting like dirt. But, those were generally beets out of a can, so maybe that doesn't count. Anyhow, I guess you could say it's a New Year's resolution, but I'm branching out and trying new things. And beets are in season at the farmer's market.

At a picnic a few months ago, Nicole brought a beet salad that I actually liked. That was a turning point, and the difference was that she used fresh, raw beets. They were crispy - and yes, they were earthy, but not overbearing. So, here's an easy new beet salad that I invented tonight.

CRISPY BEET, APPLE AND RADISH SALAD

1 medium-sized apple (any crispy variety like Fuji, or even sour Granny Smith)
3-4 radishes
2 large fresh beets, washed with greens removed (and saved for salad or wilting on the stovetop)
handful of chopped pecans or walnuts
3 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons red balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon agave nectar
1 teaspoon chopped fresh tarragon
1 teaspoon chopped fresh mint

Wash and chop the apple into bite-sized pieces. Dice the radishes into small pieces. They will add a nice, crispy kick to the salad. We found the radishes in mixed-color bunches today, but liked the regular red ones (the spiciest) the best in the salad. Slice the beets into thin strips (but not as many as the picture). Toss the apples, radishes and beets together in a medium-sized bowl. Throw in a handful of pecan or walnut pieces, and stir everything together.

In a separate, small bowl or cup, mix the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, agave nectar, tarragon and mint. This was my first time experimenting with agave nectar, which is a low-glycemic natural sweetener. I'm not sure yet how much of it I recommend using (because the sweetness comes from fructose, which is also a sugar), but I'll get into more of that in a future post after I've played with it some more. Anyhow, you should be able to buy it at most natural food stores, and Trader Joe's has their own brand. In any case, sweetener is probably not essential for this recipe.

You may have noticed that fresh tarragon has been in a lot of recipes lately, but that is mostly because I'm still using up the bunch I bought last week (for $1!). Tarragon's sweet-savory taste works really well for this salad, and the mint is a perfect flavor complement to the overall crispy texture.

Toss everything together, and refrigerate for 15 minutes or so. Serve on a plate with a few slices of gorgonzola or bleu cheese - traditional allies of the beet, and a creamy contrast.

Heirloom Carrots

Most of us have heard of heirloom tomatoes, but in the winter, you can find heirloom carrots at the farmer's market. They come in orange, white and red.

Thanks to Mike for taking the picture on his camera phone at the Long Beach Farmer's Market today!

More on the carrots later...

Pan-Grilled Polenta with Blood Orange Relish

Mike and I went to the Farmer's Market in Long Beach today and loaded up on stuff that's in season (which in CA is a lot, even in January). One of the interesting things about living in Southern California is that you can't always tell what season it is by the weather or foliage. The grass is currently quite green, and you can find just as many purple-blooming trees as gold-colored leaves. But, you can still celebrate the seasons by paying attention to what is available at the Farmer's Market at any given time.

One of our favorite winter treats is the fabulous blood orange - sorry, Nicole, I mean raspberry orange! (The sanguine name of this fruit can be a little off-putting, but don't miss out on the beet red, berry flavored citrus.) So, we bought a bunch of them and made this easy Pan-Grilled Polenta with Blood Orange Relish that I found at cookandeat.com as an appetizer tonight. It was amazing!!

We did use pecans instead of pine nuts, since we had a bunch leftover from a salad we made last week. We just threw them in the pan to toast alongside the polenta we were grilling (or frying, really). We also added a little fresh mint to the relish, after a suggestion from one of the commenters on the original recipe. And, instead of following the recipe for the polenta, we took advantage of a Trader Joe's shortcut and simply cut thin slices off a tube of their ready-made polenta and put it in the pan to heat. If you're not familiar with polenta, it's like a more glamorous Italian version of good ol' grits. It is served in a more stiff form than some people's grits (which can be soupy), and more like my Mom's grits, which you could sculpt.

One last thing - I got lazy and didn't bother peeling the skin off each segment of the oranges, but it was still good. I was getting too hungry and impatient. Did I mention I'm hypoglycemic?

Another last thing - it seems some people recommend that hypoglcycemic people should not eat fruit. I don't buy that. The fruit sugar is tempered by the fiber, and I don't feel it making my blood sugar swing. Also, the polenta is made from corn, and counts as a whole grain. Enjoy!