Springtime Socca

Socca, farinita, torta di ceci, cecina.  I've never been to Nice and I didn't run across this treat in the few days I was in Liguria this past summer, but let me tell you; my recent discovery of these savory chickpea crepes is the perfect base for whipping up a simple spring dinner. A quick search tells me there are a million different variations on socca - paper thin and lacy, pancake-like, chopped soft herbs mixed into the batter, baked or broiled - and there are probably strong opinions from all sides on the proper way to make socca, but I'll take them in any form.  With a slight nutty and bean-y flavor, the savory possibilities for enjoyment are practically endless. [Note: I tried them topped with a bit of nut butter and honey one morning and wasn't totally sold on them in their sweet iteration.]

I've been terrible these past few weeks in shopping the farmer's market with a clear dinner plan for the upcoming days.  Instead I've been scooping all the new spring produce into my arms and cobbling together meal plans on the fly.  Even though it's just San Francisco and the winter "season" isn't all that much to write about, months still pass where all you see are dark leafy greens, piles of citrus and the earth tones of root vegetables, it's hard not to get giddy about spring's new crop of offerings. Pea tendrils! Strawberries! Fava beans! Snap and shelling peas! Radishes! Baby carrots!

Armed with a fridge newly full of vegetables and a bag of Bob's Red Mill chickpea flour, I figured I'd give socca for dinner a go.  The pea shoots were roughly torn, the favas slipped out of their pods, quickly blanched and then popped out of their jackets, avocado was sliced and a handful of pine nuts was toasted.  I made a quick dressing of some very nice balsamic vinegar and walnut oil and the salad was done.  I went with a thicker, more pancake-like version of socca so I could slice it into triangles and put the salad over the top and not need to worry about the sog factor, but stuffing the salad into a thinner crepe would be just as nice.  The only advance planning needed here is to let the socca batter sit for about an hour to let the bean flour absorb the water and make it a nice pourable consistency.  Do this before you shell the favas, toast the pine nuts, and assemble the salad and the timing should work out to where there isn't too much waiting around.

Springtime Socca

There is so much you could do with this recipe - add in a handful of chopped herbs like basil, mint, tarragon or parsley to the socca batter, thinly sliced radishes would be a pretty addition to the salad portion, use shelling peas instead of favas, arugula instead of pea tendrils, and I think some fresh goat cheese dolloped over the top or crumbled feta would really take this to the next level.  Play around.  Try the socca as thicker, sliced pancakes or tuck the salad into a folded over thin crepe

4 servings (either 2 thick socca divided or 4 thinner crepes)

1 cup chickpea flour

1 cup water

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for cooking

8 oz pea tendrils, roughly torn

1 pound fava beans, shelled, blanched and slipped out of their skins

1 avocado, sliced

1/4 cup pinenuts, toasted

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon walnut oil

salt & pepper

2 soft boiled eggs (optional)

In a bowl, mix the chickpea flour, water, salt and olive oil with a whisk until smooth. Set aside for about an hour. If you are adding a handful of chopped herbs, add that in too before whisking.

Wash, dry and gently tear the pea tendrils into manageable salad pieces and put into a bowl.  Remove the favas from their pod and set a small pot of salted water to boil on the stove. [To make the shelling easier, run a Y-shaped vegetable peeler down one of the seam sides of the pod, they should now open easily as you run your finger down and pop the beans out.] Once the water is boiling, blanch the favas for about 2 minutes, or until they all rise to the surface of the water and you can hear a slight hissing sound.  Drain and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking, then pop the beans out of their jackets and into your bowl of pea tendrils.  Toast your pine nuts in a small skillet over medium heat until  golden and slice your avocado.

Heat a small skillet (mine is 8" across) over medium high heat and coat the bottom of the pan with olive oil.  If making a thicker socca, pour half the batter into the pan and cook until the bottom begins to brown, about 3-4 minutes.  Carefully flip it over and cook the other side for another 2-3 minutes until the edges are crispy and both sides are a deep golden in spots.  Remove from pan onto a cutting board and repeat for second half of batter.  Use the same technique for the thinner crepes, using just 1/4 of the batter each time and reduce the cooking time by about a minute per side.  Cut thicker socca into 4 pieces each (2 triangles per plate) or place one of the thinner crepes flat on each plate.

Dress the pea tendrils and fava beans with the balsamic vinegar and walnut oil and season with salt and pepper.  Divide between the 4 plates and top each with some sliced avocado, toasted pine nuts and sliced soft boiled egg if using.  For the thinner crepes, place the salad on one half of socca and fold the other half over after topping the salad.

Devine Eats

I cannot believe that in over two years of posting on this blog I have never posted about this chicken club salad. I'm embarrassed.  Even more so because it's now showing  up in this hastily photographed state.  I had to snap this with my phone before I even finished mixing it all together because I knew the second that it was ready, it would disappear in the blink of an eye.  My apologies for a messy bowl and unevenly distributed dressing.

Chicken club salad is the food of gods. This is not an exaggeration. Right up there with the perfection of a summertime BLT or this lovely dish of Vietnamese noodles, stir fried beef and veggies, this salad has been a favorite from first bite. I've made it for friends and roommates who have in turn made it for their friends or special someones and every last one of those people has proclaimed this "salad" as devine perfection. I can give you references if you don't believe me, or you can just go and make it yourself. Like, right now.

You might think, after taking a quick glance at the ingredient list, that this is merely a salad or panzanella form of a BLT, but in fact it's a whole different beast.  Sure, it has brightly acidic tomatoes, and bacon, and mayonaise and toasted bread but then that mayonaise gets transformed when it's blended with basil and yogurt and lemon juice.  And there are cubes of gently poached chicken and thin rings or green onion dotted throughout.  This is nothing like that classic sandwich.  I'll repeat: this is the food of the gods.

A recent search for the original recipe lead me to a Food Network page saying the contents I was searching for could no longer be found.  Which would really be a shame, except I have here my version, one I've tweaked over the years and I think is even better.  There are more croutons for more crunch!  I use half mayonaise (Best Foods only, please!) and half plain yogurt for the basil dressing and then slather the whole thing over the salad instead of a measly 1/2 cup.  And the bread, use whatever your heart desires as long as it has some structure to it.  One time I used an Italian loaf with lemon zest in it and it was heavenly.

You're welcome.  I single handedly just saved the internet.

Chicken Club Salad
adapted from Sara Moulton

There are several elements to assemble here: poach the chicken, make the croutons, blend up the dressing, fry the bacon and cut up the veggies, but all of this can be done in advance if need be. Store the croutons in an air tight container, the veggies, dressing and chicken separately in the fridge but the bacon is probably best freshly crisped up. About 10 minutes before serving toss everything together in a big bowl and you're good to go.

6 to 8 servings

6 cups of 3/4-inch cubes day old country loaf
3 tablespoons olive oil
6 slices bacon, chopped
3 pounds whole chicken breasts OR 1½ pounds boneless/skinless breast, poached and the meat cut into bite-size pieces
1 pint cherry tomatoes, quartered
4 scallions including the green part, sliced thinly
Quick Basil Mayonnaise, recipe follows
Salt and pepper

Quick Basil Mayonnaise:
2 cups loosely packed fresh basil leaves
½ cup mayonnaise

½ cup plain yogurt 

4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper

In a food processor or blender blend together the basil, mayonnaise, yogurt and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper.  Refrigerate until ready to use.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a bowl drizzle the bread cubes with the olive oil, tossing them to coat evenly, and season generously with salt and pepper. Spread the bread cubes in a jelly-roll pan (or cookie sheet) and toast them in the middle of the preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes, until they are golden.  Let them cool. 

In a skillet cook the bacon over moderate heat, stirring, until it is crisp and transfer it with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain. 

In a large bowl combine the chicken, tomatoes, scallions, bacon, quick basil mayonnaise, and salt and pepper to taste. Just before serving, mix in croutons and let sit 5-10 minutes.

...Take Me Away

I've never had much of the traveling itch.  I rarely feel the need to get away, somewhere far away, and  discover something new.  Experience life differently.  In the past I've been quite content with mini domestic explorations and weekend road trips.  I felt grounded and rooted and wholly connected to my time and place.  But then something changed.  Maybe it's all the fog and cool summer days or the realization that after a year of living in this city, it'll never be my city.  Maybe my jam packed busy schedule for the upcoming fall semester is factoring in too.  Either way, a little late to the game, I'm ready to pack a bag or two and fly off to far away lands.

But summer comes to a close in 2 weeks and my student loans for the year have yet to come through so here in the city I'll remain, traveling by way of cooking and daydreaming; planning for a next big adventure.  And all that is okay really, because that just means something exciting will be waiting just over the horizon.

There are bowls like this Vietnamese rice noodle and stir fried beef salad to transport me and tide me over.  A salad so perfectly summer, so perfectly balanced that I can hardly find fault with it.  A tangled   base of translucent noodles mounded so high with tender beef and colorful crisp vegetables that I didn't leave us enough room to mix in the nuoc cham dressing.  Bowls filled all the way to the tippy top with eyes much larger than our stomachs.

I love all the elements and flavors that Vietnamese cuisine is based on.  Fresh vegetables garnishing so many dishes, a medley of herbs that not only work in taste but make for wonderful aromatics as well.  Salty fish sauce and acidic lime juice, balanced with a little raw sugar and a spicy heat, perfection.  A little marinated and (in this case) tender beef boost the savory quotient and I'm one happy eater.

And someday, instead of just eating, I'll be the one sitting on the beaches of Southeast Asia, satisfying that itch.

Bun Bo Xao

adapted from Use Real Butter

This recipe is mostly prep work, but once that's all done, the actual noodle salads are a cinch to assemble.  Just pile the ingredients on top of the noodles, splash a little of the nuoc cham dressing and give it all a good toss.  Every ingredient plays a key roll in the overall flavor, so really, the prep work all becomes worth it.  You'll totally understand once you take your first bite.

4-6 servings

1 stem lemongrass (the tender white part), minced
1 lb. steak (I used ribeye), sliced thin against the grain and at an angle
2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon fish sauce

1 small white onion, sliced
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 package vermicelli noodles/rice sticks, cooked
2 cups bean sprouts
2 Persian cucumbers, halved and sliced
a handful of mint leaves

a handful of cilantro leaves
pickled daikon and carrots
chopped salted & roasted peanuts

nuoc cham (dressing):
juice from 2 limes
2 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons fish sauce

1/4 cup water
4 cloves garlic, minced
sambal olek paste to taste

Whisk together all the nuoc cham ingredients until sugar is dissolved. Set aside.

Follow the instructions on the rice noodle package. If there aren’t any, place the noodles in a large pot of boiling water and let boil for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and cover the pot for 3 minutes. Drain the noodles and rinse in cold water.

To make the bun bo xao: Mix 2 teaspoons of the lemongrass (reserve the rest for later) with the beef, the garlic, and 2 tablespoons of fish sauce. Set it aside and let it marinade for 20 minutes. 

Gather your serving bowls and place a large handful of rice noodles in each bowl. Sprinkle a handful of bean sprouts and some cucumber slices over the noodles. Roll the herbs together and give them a good chopping. Sprinkle some over each bowl. Set aside. 

Heat a wok or frying pan on your highest heat setting. Add the vegetable oil, the rest of the lemongrass and the sliced onion. Stir the contents around the pan and toss the beef in, from here it should only take 2 or 3 minutes for the meat to cook through.  Add the remaining teaspoon of fish sauce and give everything in the pan a good stir. Place a scoop of the beef on each noodle salad. Dress with more herbs, Vietnamese pickled carrots and daikon, chopped peanuts and nuoc cham.

Salad Days

Dear reader, it's been a while, I know.  

You see there were big projects due (business proposals for school! student elections to run in! peer educator positions to apply for!), and then finals to take and the semester to finish promptly followed by a few days where I just sat my butt down on the couch and watched TV for hours.  I really needed to relax and recharge.  Then it was family time with my brother and sister road tripping up here from San Diego and playing tourist with me for a week in the city. In the meantime I also sent out some resumes, applied to a few jobs, interviewed for one job and TOTALLY NAILED IT.  Yup, this girl now has a job.  A job at a pretty fantastic restaurant in the neighborhood (hello, walking to work) that I'm really stoked on.

May was busy, busy indeed.

And I don't imagine this summer is going to be lazy, either.  Luckily, summertime is salad time and salads like this one will probably make frequent appearances in our fridge.  It's great because all the elements can be assembled ahead of time and then just tossed into a bowl when hunger strikes.  I'll be working 3 nights a week and D will most likely be putting in long hours at the lab, so dinners with a minimal fuss-factor are ideal.

My mom's been making a version of sesame peanut noodles from Martha Stewart for years now - which I love - but the added cabbage slaw and poached chicken in this version make it feel more like a meal.  I love the crunch from the lime-y cabbage and radish slaw (no really, go wild with the lime juice) against the creamy noodles and the super succulent poached chicken helps stretch the dish a bit further.  It packs well for lunches, can feed several people if you're bringing it to a potluck and makes a great make ahead meal to be kept in the fridge for a few days.  Topped with squeeze of extra lime and Sriracha, I'd say you've got a winner on your hands.

Peanut Noodle Salad with Chicken and Cabbage Slaw

Adapted from Serious Eats

I tinkered with this one to really maximize some flavors and tailor the serving sizes a bit.  I used whole wheat spaghetti simply because I didn't feel like making a special trip for soba noodles, but by all means, if you've got, use it.  I also added some aromatics to the poaching liquid for the chicken to infuse a bit of flavor there.  Otherwise, get that cabbage slaw dressed with plenty of lime and salt and pepper and you'll be on your way to greatness.  If you're vegetarian, or vegan or just feel like going meatless, I think this dish would still be wonderful without the chicken.

4 servings

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 large cloves garlic, divided

2 inch piece of fresh ginger, divided in 2

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon (or more to taste) Sriracha
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1 pound Savoy cabbage, shredded
3/4 cup radishes, thinly sliced
3/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons lime juice
1/2 pound whole wheat spaghetti (or soba noodles)
3 large scallions, julienned

Thinly slice a 1-inch segment of the ginger and 1 large clove of garlic into a saucepan of well salted water.  Bring to boil. Add the chicken breasts to the pot, bring to a simmer, and cook for 6 minutes. Cover, turn off the heat, and allow to slowly poach until the chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes more. Remove chicken, allow to cool, and thinly slice or shred into pieces.

In the meantime, grate the remaining ginger piece and clove of garlic over a microplane.  Combine with the peanut butter, soy sauce, rice vinegar, chile sauce and half the sesame oil in a bowl and whisk until smooth. Add a 1/4 cup water to achieve a looser texture for coating noodles.  If more is needed add 1 tablespoon at a time.  The final sauce should coat the back of a spoon, but not be thick and sticky.

In a large bowl, toss together the cabbage, radishes, most of the cilantro, the olive oil, lime juice and the remaining sesame oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Cook the noodles in abundant water until just al dente, then drain and rinse to remove excess starch. Dress with the peanut sauce.  Top the noodles with the cabbage salad, the remaining cilantro, the scallions, and the sliced chicken. Serve with more lime wedges if desired.

The Prickly Bits

Have you had cactus paddles - aka nopales - before?  They have a mild flavor not unlike green beans and kind of squeak between your teeth when you bite into them too.  Nopales are a bit notorious for having some of that slime factor the way okra does, but there are ways to get around that.  Namely, grilling.  I couldn't tell you why or how (the high heat might have something to do with it), but I can highly recommend you try them.  Other excellent ways to avoid the slime factor include staying away from canned or bottled versions of this vegetable, it's best fresh.

I've been seeing a lot more of these nopales pop up in the mexican produce market I frequent, so I assume spring must be their peak season.  The paddles are roughly the size of a large hand and usually still have their nasty spines intact.  You can also find them prepped and chopped in bags too, but those ones are hard to grill (obviously).  A simple swipe of a paring knife down the face and along the edges is all it takes to clean them up, and if you're careful, you'll only get poked maybe once or twice.  No big deal.

Now back to the grilling.  It's what brings this salad together.  The whole dish is kind of like a lighter version of mexican grilled corn, without the mayonnaise and the corn getting stuck in between your teeth. The nopales and corn get tossed with a zippy lime, cumin and olive oil dressing and then it's topped with chopped cilantro and mild queso fresco.  A little sliced avocado for good measure and you're good to go.

We enjoyed this as a salad, but you could absolutely go the taco route too if you're looking for more of a meal.  Either use this as the filling on its own and top with a good smoky-spicy hot sauce, or add in some cubed sautéed sweet potatoes and black beans.

As for me this weekend?  I'll just have to find room for more of this salad in between all the chips and salsa and grapefruit margaritas.  Oh yes, it's Cinco de Mayo!

Grilled Nopales and Corn Salad
Adapted from TheKitchn

If it's still a bit early for corn on the cob where you are, you can use frozen corn kernels and cook them in a hot skillet with a bit of olive oil to get a bit of that char going on. As for the nopales, I suppose you could use a stovetop grill pan but it's much more magical when cooked on an actual grill.  A little chile powder sprinkled over the top would be excellent as well.

4 servings

8 nopales, or cactus paddles

2 ears of sweet white corn
Olive oil
Salt & pepper
1 lime for juicing
a pinch of ground cumin
a handful of cilantro, chopped
1 avocado
1/2 cup queso fresco

Clean and prepare the nopales. Cut each paddle into 1/3-inch strips, cutting to almost, but stoping just short (about 1-inch) of the stem end. It should resemble a fan or a hand. Brush both sides with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Shuck corn and brush with olive oil.

Grill the nopales and corn until soft and slightly charred. The nopales should take about 5 minutes on each side; similar for the corn. Let cool, then cut nopales into 1-inch slices and cut corn kernels off the cob.

In a large bowl, combine nopales, corn, lime juice, cumin, cilantro, and a light drizzle of olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Just before serving, garnish with sliced avocado and queso fresco.

Leftovers

Sometimes I forget that I took pictures of food.  Sometimes I leave pictures crowding up space on my camera's memory card.  Sometimes I don't transfer them onto my computer for 3 months.  Bad food blogger.

Clearly I enjoyed tomatoes this summer.  Actually, that shouldn't even be past tense, I am STILL enjoying tomatoes into fall.  Thank goodness for living in California and thank goodness for San Francisco's Indian summers.  So if you're lucky enough to still catch the season's last trickle of tomatoes -  hopefully before it's too late and you have to hang on to these until another 9 months from now - you might consider making one of these for dinner. 

 

Grilled Steak with Bloody Mary Tomato Salad

A deconstructed cocktail alongside some grass fed beef?  Don't mind if I do!

 Haricots Verts a la Dijonnaise

 

Sopes with Refried Beans, Tomatillo and Avocado Salsa, Feta Cheese and a sort of Pico de Gallo

 

A Simple Tomato Panzanella

(I added a Persian cucumber, because why not?)

Of Grills and 'Guts

It's official.  We have a moving date.  Our last days of work are fast approaching and we've called our property management company to give them our 30 days notice.  I'd say things are getting real, except that's about as much planning that's been done.  Everything else is up in the air.  We still need to find an apartment in SF, figure out if we're taking both cars or just one, get registered for classes and you know, pack up our entire apartment and move it 500 miles away.  No biggie.

But for now, for next few weeks anyway, D and I are going to squeeze every bit of Southern California summer out of this place.  Beaches and pools will be frequented and as many meals as possible will be cooked on our BBQ.

Ah, our fickle, sputtering, flame throwing grill.  Our hand-me-down BBQ.  Though how such a crazed appliance belonged to D's grandma before us, I will never understand.  The only logical explanation I can give for its erratic behavior is that our BBQ is alive and it's a vegetarian.  You can grill all the veggies, sear all the tofu and toast all the bread you so desire on it, but the second a piece of meat is carefully laid across it's grate you better have an extinguisher handy.  It doesn't kid around.

With no meat allowed on the grill and still wanting to cook dinner outdoors, we compromise and make salads like this panzanella.    Asparagus and bread just barely charred (a controlled char over cooperative flames) to impart a nice smoky flavor to the salad.  The bright juicy cherry tomatoes and vinegary dressing tame and complement while the olives are salty briny nuggets tucked through out.  I like the kick of red onions, but if they're not your thing, try rinsing them in a bit of cold water after cutting them, or letting them soak in the dressing to mellow out their flavor.  It really is a perfect dish for an al fresco meal.

I will tell you however, even with a well behaved BBQ, I managed to set the neighbors smoke alarm off.  Oops!

Grilled Asparagus Panzanella

Adapted from Grill It, Bobby Flay

I cut out a lot of the olive oil from the original because I like my dressings more on the vinegary side, and I don't like my panzanella to be too soggy.  Croutons are a personal weakness of mine and it takes much control for me to stop snacking on them when they're around.  On the other hand, soggy bread really grosses me out.  So adjust the amount of dressing to your bread texture preference.  This is a simple quick salad to throw together and I like that best of all.

4 servings

6 slices country style bread 

1/4 cup red wine vinegar 

2 garlic cloves, minced 

Salt and black pepper 

1/4 cup of extra-virgin olive oil, divided

1 large bunch asparagus, ends trimmed 

8 red cherry tomatoes, halved

8 yellow cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced 

1/2 cup Niçoise olives, pitted 

2 tablespoons capers  

Heat the grill to high. Grill the bread slices until slightly charred on both sides. Cut into 1-inch cubes.  

Toss the asparagus with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill for 3 to 5 minutes, until tender crisp. Cut into 1-inch segments. 

Add the vinegar, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, and the rest of the olive oil in a large bowl. Whisk together until combined. Add the tomatoes, onion, olives, capers, grilled bread, and the asparagus. Toss well and set aside for 30 minutes before serving.

My Love for a Green

Things that I love: Desserts - man I've got a killer sweet tooth.  Cheese - haven't met one I don't like yet.  Except the fake kind.  But that, uh, obviously doesn't count.  My family - they're pretty fantastic.  D is pretty great too.  My cat - at the risk of sounding like a crazy cat-lady, yes, I love my cat.  Sushi.  Dumplings.  Shopping, and KALE.

Say what?  Yes, kale.  I used to think it needed to be cooked, sauteed, braised and thrown into soups.  I was wrong.  I don't eat it because it's a healthy, dark leafy green rich with antioxidants, beta carotene and Vitamin C & K, that's just a perk.  It's fantastic raw as well.  It has a bit more bite to it, a bit more chew and that translates to more flavor than your average head of romaine or supermarket lettuce.

Which is why, when this email from Tasting Table landed in my inbox, there were two reasons I knew it was going to be a great recipe.  Firstly, what a fantastic take on Caesar salad - using kale in place of hearts of romaine.  You mean I get to feel less guilty about eating a salad coated in a fatty homemade sauce of olive oil and egg yolk?  Sign me up!  And secondly, the recipe comes from Chad Robertson's new cookbook "Tartine Bread" of San Fransisco's famed Tartine Bakery.  It's impossible not to love that place with their delicious freshly baked bread, pastries and quiches.  Really the combination was a no-fail-must-make-tonight-need-this-right-now kind of a thing.

However this was just a salad; some greens, a dressing, croutons and a dusting of cheese, not quite a meal.  And sometimes, particularly on Mondays, I don't want to cook 2 or 3 things to round out a meal just because I'm dead set on making a certain dish.  I really wanted this salad, but I know that while I can be satisfied by a plate heaping with vegetables, the more manly half of this household likes something with a little more protein.  And what's quicker to make than shrimp?  Just 3 minutes in a hot pan and the salad, now a dinner, is perfect.  Hardly much extra work for me and a happy household overall.

Hey, you're eating kale instead of lettuce, give yourself a pat on the back!

Kale Caesar Salad w/ Herbes de Provence Shrimp

Adapted from TastingTable which in turn adapted it from "Tartine Bread", Chad Robertson and Epicurious.com

A few things.  I didn't use the original Caesar dressing recipe, I just couldn't bring myself to commit 1 1/2 cups of olive oil to a condiment that I rarely use, instead I found a different one on Epicurious.com.  Unfortunately, though I was excited to make it with raw egg yolk, this one didn't call for it, but I found it worked quite nicely with an extra kick from the dijon that the original lacked.  It's also scaled down to be just enough to lightly coat 4 servings because I don't like salads drenched in dressing.  Feel free to use as much as you see fit as this recipe is for only 2 servings of salad with leftover dressing.  Also, the addition of shrimp was all me.  Sauteed quickly with a little more herbes de provence it bulked up the salad to make it meal.  And although the recipe calls for lacinato kale, I made it once with just curly green kale and once with lacinato and both were delicious, so don't freak if you can only find one kind.

2 generous servings

4 1-inch slices of day old country bread, cut into 1 inch cubes (about 2 cups)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 teaspoon herbes de Provence

salt

1 large clove garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon anchovy paste (or 2 fillets)

1 teaspoon dijon mustard

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 large bunch of kale (curly green or lacinato), washed, dried and torn into small pieces

1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

1/2 pound shrimp, rinsed and dried

1 teaspoons herbes de Provence

salt

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Make the croutons: Preheat the oven to 400°. In a medium bowl, toss the bread with the olive oil, a pinch of salt and the herbes de Provence, if using. Spread the bread on a baking sheet and bake, turning the croutons midway through, until golden brown and crisp, about 10 minutes.

Make the dressing: Mix minced garlic, anchovy paste and dijon into a paste.  Add lemon juice, salt and pepper and mix to combine.  Whisk (or with a fork) the olive oil and set aside.

Make the shrimp:  Put olive oil in a small saute pan over high heat.  Add shrimp, herbes de Provence and a pinch of salt and toss to coat.  Cook for about 4 minutes, tossing or mixing frequently.

To compose salad:  Toss the kale with half the dressing until evenly coated.  Add parmesan and croutons and toss again.  Divide onto two plates and top each with half the shrimp.  Reserve remaining dressing for another use.

Like No Other

Stop what you're doing, go out and buy a watermelon and a couple deep red and golden hued heirloom tomatoes.  Hurry.  Before they disappear for the season and you miss out on something amazing.

I have been obsessed with this salad ever since eating at The Blue Plate in San Fransisco back in August.  I could gush on and on about all the delicious food I ate in that fantastic city, but it all comes back to this salad for me.  Some kind of genius in the kitchen created this salad and put it on the menu where I ordered it one fateful dinner and nothing has been the same since.  Sure the fried chicken and buttermilk dressing it shared a plate with were delicious as well, but it was the salad that I was in a near romantic relationship with.  Complete spotlight hog.  So fresh and unexpected.  Olives, slightly pickled pieces of onion and tomatoes with that quintessential summertime melon and basil?  I could not get enough.  Could you bring me more, in a to-go box, please?

I know these watermelon salads are hip right now, popping up on menus all over the place this summer (if not last summer as well), though they're mostly based on a melon/feta/mint/balsamic platform.  But have you had watermelon and basil together?!?  Blows the mint pairing right out of the water, bringing just a slight bit of the savory element.  I could never love another summertime salad the way I love this one.  Too perfect.


Watermelon and Heirloom Tomato Salad
Inspired by The Blue Plate, San Francisco

I did my best to create some semblance of a recipe here, but mostly I was just tossing things into a bowl until it looked right.  Isn't that the beauty of cooking?  A little bit of this, a little bit of that.  Don't let it sit too long, maybe a few hours tops, all the delicious juices start collecting in the bottom of the bowl and the fruit will go a bit soft.

4 servings 

4 cups watermelon chunks, about 1" square
2 cups heirloom tomatoes, cut into rough chunks
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup sweet onion, cut into 1/8" thick slices
1/4 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves
a handful of Nicoise olives (I used about 15)

Whisk the vinegar and sugar together in a small bowl until the sugar dissolves, add the sliced onion and toss.  Set it aside on the counter for 1 hour, letting the onions soften and get a bit pickled.

Meanwhile chop the watermelon and heirloom tomatoes and put them in a bowl.  Add the basil leaves.  If the leaves are on the smaller side go ahead and leave them whole, otherwise tear larger ones into smaller pieces.  Once the onions are done, fish them out of their liquid with your fingers or a fork and add them to the watermelon/tomato bowl.  Gently give everything a good toss and top with the olives.  Drizzle the vinegar/sugar mix over each serving.

Eat Your Veggies

I guess I'll stick with the salad theme here.  But instead of something to eat on the side, how about making this one your whole dinner?  I had been eyeballing this one ever since it showed up on The Kitchn months and months ago. Then just a few weeks later it popped up again at Sprouted Kitchen.  This salad had my number, it was taunting me.  It was meant to be a winter salad, being posted all the way back in February, but there's no reason you can't make it any old time.  Which is why it finally came to be, tossed and mixed, in my kitchen in late August.

If you have a tub of miso lingering in the back of your fridge, like me, this here is a good way to put a dent in it.  If you need to buy the miso, don't worry, you'll want to make this dressing again and again.  Actually, I'm not sure if the dressing is the star here or the tofu.  Those tofu sticks are darn tasty.  Caramelized from the sugar in the marinade and a high oven temp, coated in nutty sesame seed with a peppery kick and baked to a nice firm texture.  Give me some more!  (Sorry tofu haters, I think you're crazy, but if you must, go ahead and leave it out.)

It's not all-American, BBQ fare or any of what you'd expect for this Labor Day, but whatevs, it's good. So until next time; stay out of trouble, be safe and have a great holiday weekend, ya'll!  We'll be celebrating D's birthday tonight (Happy Birthday!) and wine tasting this weekend in Santa Barbara County.  Oh yes. 


Miso Slaw with Baked Tofu 

Go ahead and make the full dressing recipe, although you probably won't use all of it for the slaw.  It's terrific on salads or to dip vegetables in.  And after you eat the salad, give yourself a pat on the back, you just ate a bunch, and I really do mean a bunch, of veggies! 

4 servings as a main, 8 as a side 

Dressing

1/2 cup plain greek yogurt

1/3 cup rice vinegar

3 tablespoons yellow miso paste

3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon grated ginger

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

2 teaspoons soy sauce

Tofu
1 14oz package firm tofu
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon sesame oil
freshly ground pepper
sesame seeds

1 12oz bag broccoli slaw

4 cups spinach, chopped
4 scallions, thinly sliced
1/2 cucumber, peeled, cut lengthwise, seeds removed, and sliced into half moons

1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted



For the tofu, cut lengthwise into 1/2 inch slabs and put on a layer of paper towels on a plate or cookie sheet.  Cover with another layer of paper towels, another plate and a heavy object, let drain for 1 hour. Cut the tofu, lengthwise again, into half inch sticks.


Preheat oven to 475F.

For the dressing, put all of the ingredients in a bowl and whisk until combined and set aside.

In a wide bottomed bowl, mix the tofu marinade of soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil and pepper. Working carefully with a few sticks at a time, roll them through the marinade to coat each piece. Space them apart on a baking tray covered with a piece of foil. Sprinkle generously with sesame seeds, and bake in the upper third of the oven for about 20 minutes, flip them over halfway through baking. Remove and cool.

While cooling, mix your broccoli slaw, greens, cucumber, scallions and almonds in a bowl and toss with desired amount of dressing.  Serve and top with a few tofu sticks.

Table for One

With D out of town, camping in Big Sur, I have the whole house to myself.  For 4 whole days.  4 days to do whatever I want, eat whatever I want and finish the pile of homework I have somehow accumulated in the first week of school.  But whenever I'm cooking for just myself, I could care less.  My dinner is usually one of three things; a scrambled egg sandwich, a grilled cheese sandwich or a quesadilla and a big salad.  Sometimes just the big salad.  Or else I space and forget to make dinner entirely because maybe someone got caught up in a marathon TV session, trying to catch up on a whole season's worth in one sitting.  I won't name names or point fingers here, the details aren't important.

In this case, having just been gifted some homegrown tomatoes and corn (picked just hours before eating!) I tossed those together with a few more ingredients to make a fancier side to go with my not-so-fancy tortilla and sharp cheddar cheese.  Okay, it's not a salad revelation, but it's not a pile of lettuce!  And look at those colors!  Clearly I was overeager to eat because I forgot to take the picture until I was nearly half way done with my quesadilla, please excuse the bite marks.  So maybe you're too tired/lazy/underwhelmed by food/zombied out from TV to make dinner tonight, let me recommended this for your meal, it's good for any mood.  Quick, hard to mess up and a nice little celebration of a late summer harvest.

Now, do I have any takers to help me with my homework?


Late Summer Salad

I kept the dressing pretty light here since I wanted to showcase the delicious fresh produce.  The tomatoes will give off their own juices, especially after you salt them, so leave the seasoning until just before serving. 

2 servings

2 medium heirloom tomatoes
1 small ear of sweet yellow corn
a few thin slices off a half a red onion
1/4 of a medium avocado, cut lengthwise into thin slices
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
a pinch of kosher salt
a few good grinds of black pepper

Bring a small pot (one just big enough to fit an ear of corn) of water to a boil and add the ear of corn.  Boil for 5 minutes and remove corn from water, letting it cool.

Meanwhile, roughly chop the tomatoes and put them in a medium sized bowl.  Cut off a few thin slices, however much you feel like really, from the red onion half and rinse under cold water, this will take away some of the bite, and add to the bowl of tomatoes.  Once the corn is cool enough to handle, slice the kernels off the cob and add to to bowl as well.

Just before serving, add the pinch of salt, the black pepper and olive oil and give it a good toss.  Top with avocado slices and serve.

Giddy Up, Cowboy!

It's only Tuesday, and already I'm thinking about the weekend.  The reality of school starting again and attending full time is just that much closer now that it's officially August and the start of classes is 3 weeks away.  It's planning mode.  Cram as much of summer as I can into the next 20 days.  There are beach days, and mini vacations, and BBQs to attend.  There are afternoon happy hours and pools that I must find.  The next 20 days are one extended weekend and I need to make the most of it.  Because after that, I'm going to be bogged down with Chemistry, drowning in Statistics and up to my knees in Psychology (yeah, I obviously leave all the fun classes for last), and really, that sounds like the opposite of summer to me.

What I can see as being a part of my extended weekend is Texas Caviar.  Oddly named and not fish derived in the least this black eyed pea mixture is also sometimes called Cowboy Caviar - though it's not made from cowboys either.  It's sort of a half pickled chunky bean dip, best scooped up with tortilla chips.  You know, it's one of those casual dips where there are approximately a million variation on the idea, but this is the version I hold dear.  Sometimes there's Italian dressing (erm, no thanks, I don't even keep bottled dressing in the house), sometimes different colored peppers, sometimes corn, but this is the version that I first had, a few Labor days ago soaking in the hot hot sun at the beach, and it's the one I'll probably always prefer.  Heavier on lime juice and vinegar with only a touch of olive oil, smoky depth from cumin and crunchy bell peppers studded throughout.  And don't forget about the freshly minced garlic.  It's like pico de gallo's older hippy sister.  By which I mean it's sort of a salsa, but healthier and more complete.

Now pass the tortilla chips, please.


Texas Caviar

Like I said above, this is the version I prefer but it's by no means the one and only.  Feel free to play around with the flavors; use a different red bell pepper for something a bit sweeter, a serrano (or two) for more heat, add more olive oil. There's just enough liquid after it sits for a few hours that it makes a good dip, but not so much you couldn't serve this as a salad.

makes 4-5 cups

1-15oz can black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed
1 green bell pepper, diced

1 medium (or 2 roma) tomato, chopped

About 4 or 5 thinly sliced green onions
Chopped Cilantro - about 1/2 bunch.
1 minced and seeded jalapeno

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

1 teaspoon olive oil

2 minced garlic cloves

Ground cumin to taste - about 1/2 teaspoon to start

Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
Fresh lime juice, to taste, about 1

Mix all ingredients together and let marinate in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight.

For a Day Like Today

I'm having the hardest time sitting down at the computer right now, writing this post.  You see, after all the "May Grey" and "June Gloom" and the whatever the heck you call it when July is still cool and overcast, we finally have glorious cloud free skies!  And it's hot!  It went from 67F to 80F in one quick day, and I really couldn't be happier.  I'm antsy sitting in my chair, sun streaming through the window - the cat lounging in a pool of sunlight on the ground next to me, because she might be just as happy as me about the return of sun and sunbathing - I gotta get outside and soak it up.  The beach calls to me.

But first let me give you this fruit salad.  It's cause to celebrate as well - in my opinion at least.  It's all at once sweet and tart and just the right amount of spicy from the addition of serrano chiles.  Blows my mind.  Last October we took a little family excursion and went camping in the Anza Borrego desert and my Dad brought this amazing fruit salad.  It's one of those, some of this, some more of this, a little of that kind of recipes, and it's been stuck in my head ever since.  I was just biding my time until the mango, pineapple and blueberries were all in season and ripe.  In a pinch you could use canned pineapple, but everything else should be fresh.  So working from my visual memory I recreated the salad and even managed to write down the proportions for you, dear reader.

I've seen similar recipes out there but they were more salsa oriented with the inclusion of cilantro and maybe even some olive oil.  Meh.  I like this one better.  And don't turn your nose up at the use of onion with fruit - I know the words onion and fruit salad don't seem to go together, but trust me, they do here.  For one, it's a sweet onion.  For another, you rinse the cut up onion before adding it to the fruit so whatever bite the onion had it's much less now.  You of course could use this as a salsa and spoon it over grilled fish or even atop some plain nachos (just tortilla chips with some melted jack cheese), but this salad doesn't last long around here and I'm yet to try either of those myself.  The salad gets made then promptly gobbled.  Straight from the bowl.  With a fork.

The beach, this salad...happiness.


Spicy Mango Pineapple Salad (or Salsa)

If you want to use this more as a salsa, you can cut the pineapple into smaller chunks so everything is more uniformly sized.  As far as the serrano in this recipe is concerned, I actually used a whole one, but depending on your heat/spice preferences you may want to start with just 1/2.  I usually test the heat of the chile by touching my tongue to it lightly after cutting the stem off and make my judgment from there.  This one seemed unusually tame so I threw the whole thing in there, but once I mixed everything up it was surprisingly spicy, thus I'd say, start with half and taste once it's all mixed up.

4 servings

1 mango, about 1 cup, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 cup pineapple, cut into 1 inch chunks
1/2 cup blueberries
1/4 cup sweet onion, diced and rinsed in cold water
1/2 serrano chile, finely minced
1/2 lime, juiced

Combine the mango, pineapple, blueberries, sweet onion and serrano in a bowl.  Squeeze the lime juice over and mix it up.

...Is How You Say Bread Salad

It's Murphy's Law, when I've been eying a recipe for weeks on end, that when I finally work it into the dinner repertoire there must be at least one key ingredient that proves difficult to find.  This time, it was asparagus.  For weeks there has been asparagus everywhere.  It was always on sale, overflowing from it's displays in the market, tricking me into thinking it'd be there for me when I needed it.  So why when I go to answer it's siren's call does it leave me scrambling, woefully unfulfilled?  Last week asparagus was no where to be found, at least not at my usual grocery haunts, and then there was Trader Joes, laughingly selling asparagus in 12 oz. packages when they know I need a full pound.  Murphy's Law, you are so inconvenient!  Sure, I'll julienne a bunch of vegetables by hand and opt to make a lot of food from scratch, I don't mind the extra time there, but I really don't like driving around taking tours of 4 different grocery stores in one day.  However, for dinner's sake, I did, and eventually found the asparagus - at the last stop, for a ridiculous price.  Moving on.

Asparagus debacle aside, this panzanella comes together without a hitch.  Making the croutons is nothing more than tossing cubes of bread with some olive oil and seasonings - I like to mix it up with my hands, for funsies - and crisping them up in the oven.  Open a can of white beans, drain and rinse it.  Chop up half an onion.  Quickly cook some asparagus, cut it up.  Measure a few more ingredients into a bowl for the vinaigrette, then toss everything together - again with your hands if you so desire, but you know, with clean hands, obviously.  No special skills, no special equipment (well...I did use a microplane for the parmesan, though I'd argue this is a kitchen must-have).  After all that hand tossing of ingredients, you might want to serve the panzanella with a spoon; people get a little weirded out if you use your hands at the dinner table.


Spring Panzanella
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

I would encourage you to click over and check out Deb's original recipe. The addition of the leeks would be really nice, it's just that I got all flustered at the store when there was no asparagus and forgot to grab the leeks in the process. Or if you're not a fan, it works without too. I also upped the dijon mustard in the vinaigrette by a touch because I'm a big fan the flavor.

4 servings

Croutons:

1/4 cup olive oil

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
6 cups day-old bread, cut into 1 inch cubes

6 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Vinaigrette:

Half a red onion, finely diced

2 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Juice of half a lemon

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 pound asparagus

1 15-ounce can of white beans, rinsed and drained

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Mix the bread cubes with the garlic, olive oil, parmesan, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Toss to coat well. Transfer bread to a baking sheet and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake stirring once or twice, until the croutons are crisp and lightly colored on the outside but still soft within, about 10 to 15 minutes. Set aside and let cool.

Mix the red onion with the vinegar and lemon juice in a small bowl and set aside for a few minutes before whisking in the remaining vinaigrette ingredients: olive oil and dijon. Set aside.

Bring a small pan of salted water to a boil.  Break off tough ends of asparagus and cook it in the boiling water until crisp-tender, no more than three minutes if they’re pencil-thin, more if your asparagus is thicker. Transfer it to a bowl of ice water, drain and pat it dry.

Cut the the asparagus each into one-inch segments.  Place pieces in a large bowl and mix in beans and cooled parmesan croutons. Pour vinaigrette over and toss well. Season with salt and pepper.

A Jumpstart on Grilling Season

Can you smell it?  All the BBQs that are being pulled out and put back into heavy rotation?  People getting out of the kitchen and gathering around grills in backyards everywhere, soaking up all the sun they've been missing these past cool months?  See you later you long and involved recipes.  No more braising or oven roasting or lingering by the stove for warmth.  It's May and everyone is moving it outdoors.

It's the season of grilling.  Grilling and salads.  I saw this recipe on the Fine Cooking website a few weeks back, before fresh corn started showing up, and needed something to bring along to a friends house.  It was calling my name.  Telling me not only would this be a yummy salad/side, but once I assembled it I could sneak a few bites, scooped up with tortilla chips, before hand. (Full disclosure, I'll put anything remotely dip like on a tortilla chip.  I may even go so far as to make a meal out of it - though in this case I did not since the salad's ultimate destination was not meant to be for me, my fridge or on my chips.)  I adapted the recipe for what I had on hand; using kidney beans instead of black beans and frozen corn in place of the freshly grilled ears.  I made less of the vinaigrette than was called for because I prefer for the salad to be just coated with the dressing not swimming in it, and minced up a whole jalapeno because I couldn't see just a teaspoon adding much flavor.  And you know, it worked out quite nicely.

Tomato Avocado Corn and Bean Salad

Adapted from Fine Cooking Magazine

yields about 4 cups

1 cup frozen corn, thawed

1 small red onion, cut into a medium dice
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 - 2 limes, juiced

1 jalapeño, minced

4 roma tomatoes, cut into 1/2 inch chunks
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves, chopped
1 medium avocado, halved, pitted, peeled, and cut into medium dice
1 scallion, thinly sliced

Freshly ground black pepper

Kosher salt 

In a nonstick pan over medium heat, warm 1 tablespoon of the olive oil.  Add the diced onion and corn, and saute until onions have turned translucent and the corn begins to brown just slightly, about 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

Chop up tomatoes, cilantro, scallion, jalapeno and avocado.  Add these along with the cooled corn and onions to a medium size bowl and mix.  Add in remaining olive oil, cumin and lime juice to taste.  Season with salt and pepper.

Enjoy as a side salad to grilled meats or scoop it up with tortilla chips.