Greens, Eggs (and Ham?)

I love a dish that gives me room to experiment, and this this versatile greens and eggs dish certainly fits the bill.  A combination of hearty greens, tomatoes, sausage, eggs, and cheese all baked together makes a great weekend breakfast or a quick weeknight dinner.  

I made this for dinner the other night using a blend of pre-cut "Southern Greens" from Trader Joe's--Mustard, Turnip, Collard, and Spinach.  A blend is a great way to incorporate several types of greens at once, without having to buy bunches of all of them.  (And it's a great shortcut!)  For cheese I used some Gouda that was kicking around in the back of the fridge, and a chicken andouille sausage to add some kick!  I was very happy with the results, but I look forward to playing around and using different greens, trying both hard and soft cheeses, and different sausage flavors.  (And obviously, the sausage can be omitted to make this a vegetarian meal.)  It's easy to double or triple for a crowd; I can see myself making this for a brunch buffet and just dumping the whole thing in a casserole dish.

Zucchini Noodles and Sausage-y Tomato Sauce

Maintaining three blogs is a bit time consuming these days (in addition to Macy Bakes, I write YearOfChees.es, and the blog for Wiggle Room, a Boston-based personal organization company.)  Okay there's the plug for all the blogs.  Go read 'em all and then meet me back here.

I was sort of playing blog roulette: which one shall I update today?  Jordan has been anxious to see our zucchini noodle creation in writing, so that one is today's winner.  

Bean Stew For A Healthy You

 

Well, the 12 days of Christmas are officially over, so I figured I had to move on from Christmas cookies.  Tear.  And on to semi-healthy things, since it's January, and that's how people roll in January, right?  Actually, the fact that this next recipe is on the semi-healthy side is purely coincidental.  I saw it on Smitten Kitchen and it looked absolutely amazing, AND I realized that I had nearly everything I needed in the pantry already, and so that's what I did.  

So, the recipe:  Chard and White Bean Stew.  Doesn't that excite you?  It excites me.  Seriously.  It's full all sorts of yummy things that I love, like beans and tomatoes and garlic and shallots and herbs.  The real bonus was, as I said, all of these things are pantry staples for me, other than the chard.  I made a special pilgrimage to Whole Foods just for that, and for 20 whole minutes felt way too uncool to be there.  Cambridge is just too hip for me...  Anyway, I got home, then whipped this up.  It probably takes about an hour to make, if you're actually paying attention, but I was distracted with several other things, so it probably took me a longer.  But it's great because after you've got all your aromatics chopped and sauteing, you don't really need to pay close attention.  Perfect for cleaning up as you go, or doing other projects that I'll tell you about shortly.

Smitten Kitchen says that the chard can be replaced with kale or spinach or another hearty green, if so desired.  As for serving (which I haven't actually done yet, due to too much snacking while cooking), it can be served as is, or with some fresh herbs or grated Parmesan or Romano on top.  To make it an even more filling and delicious meal, try toasting at thick piece of rustic bread, rubbing it with a clove of garlic, then ladling your stew on top of that, then topping it with a poached egg, then some fresh herbs, few drops of sherry vinegar and/or some grated cheese.  Gosh, I wish I could take credit for that, but I cannot.  But I am definitely doing that tomorrow, once I'm hungry again.  Ooh, golly I just can't wait.

Chard and White Bean Stew (Adapted only slightly from SmittenKitchen.com)

Serves 6 to 8

* 1 pound Swiss chard (or kale, spinach or another green), ribs and stems removed and cleaned
* 3 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 cup (5 1/4 ounces) chopped carrots
* 1 cup (5 ounces) chopped celery
* 1 cup (4 1/4 ounces) chopped shallots, about 4 medium
* 2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
* 1 cup dry white wine
* 2 15-ounce cans (or about 3 3/4 cups) white beans (such as Navy Beans or Cannellini beans), drained and rinsed
* 2 cups (or more to taste) vegetable broth
* 1 cup pureed tomatoes (canned is fine; this is less than a 15 ounce can)

* Salt and freshly ground black pepper
* 3 fresh thyme sprigs
* 1 bay leaf
* 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar (Red wine vinegar also works in a pinch)

* Garnishes: Toasted bread slices, poached eggs, chopped herbs such as tarragon, parsley or chives or grated Parmesan or Romano, if desired

1. Bring medium pot of salted water to boil. Cook chard (or any heavier green; no need to precook baby spinach) for one minute, then drain and squeeze out as much extra water as possible. Coarsely chop chard.

2. Dry out the medium pot and heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add carrots, celery, shallots and saute for 15 minutes, adding the garlic in the last few minutes.  Light browning is okay, although don't go crazy--you mostly want soft veggies, not crispy ones, and definitely no burnt garlic--bitter city!

3. Add wine (scraping up any bits that may have stuck to the pot) and cook it until it reduced by three-fourths. 

 4. Add beans, broth, tomatoes, a few pinches of salt, freshly ground black pepper, thyme and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes. Add chard and cook for 5 minutes more. Remove thyme and bay leaf. Add more broth if you’d like a thinner stew and adjust salt and pepper to taste.

5. Serve as is drizzled with sherry vinegar. Or try the aforementioned toast/stew/egg/cheese/sherry vinegar combo.

Enjoy!

Theo the Greek's Spinach Pie

I am pleased to say that there was a specific request that this recipe make it into the blog, which validates it, at least in my mind.  Sometimes when I cook, especially when it's just for me, I have trouble gauging how good or how interesting things are.  Last Saturday night though I hosted 16 Williams Womens' Crew alums at my parents' apartment, so I had a whole host of people to cook for.  I prepared a mix of new and tried-and-true recipes.  This particular recipe was new to me, and comes from Table Talk, a cookbook written by Martha's Vineyard cafe owner Carol McManus.  I heard about it when she was interviewed on a local NPR talk show, where she made particular mention of the much-requested veggie burger recipe.  So I took the book out for the veggie burger recipe alone, (which, at least a year later, I have yet to make).  I also copied down a handful of other yummy sounding recipes, including this one for Spinach Pie, which I had completely forgotten about until I was poking around my computer the other day, looking for something completely unrelated.  It turned out to be so popular that several friends requested that the recipe appear on the blog, so they could make it, to.

Theo the Greek's Spinach Pie is essentially a quiche but with more veg and less egg, so you can pretend that it's healthier.  It's super easy, comes together in minutes and then, if you happen to be making this for a party and desperately need to shower, you have a whole 40 minutes while it bakes to pull yourself together!  The only thing you have to remember is to give yourself enough time to let your frozen spinach thaw, since man, that stuff is like a brick!  I left my spinach in the fridge for 26 hours beforehand, assuming it would thaw in there, but it didn't.  So I put it in a colander on a cookie sheet while my oven was preheating to help it along.  A little unconventional, I know, but the microwave was otherwise engaged.  And once it's thawed, you need to squeeze the heck out of that spinach.  It holds a lot of water!  I justsqueezed it in my hands, but if I had had some cheesecloth, I think the best way is to put it in a piece of cheesecloth, twist the corners together to make a pouch, then just squeeze, squeeze, squeeze.  You do dry out the spinach a little more though when you saute it for a few minutes with the garlic and tomatoes.  I tweaked a few of the ingredient quantities so that they correspond to standard packages, instead of (what seemed to me to be) arbitrary quantities.  But it's essentially all the same, plus or minus a few ounces of spinach and tomatoes.

Update 1/24/12: I revisted this recipe and played with it a little more.  Further tweaks and ideas can be found here.

Theo The Greek's Spinach Pie (Adapted from Table Talk by Carol McManus)

Serves 8 or so

* 1 Tablespoon chopped garlic

* 3 Tablespoons olive oil

* 10 oz. package of frozen spinach, thawed and with liquid squeezed out

* 28 oz. can of whole tomatoes, drained and chopped into large pieces (or the equivalent in fresh tomatoes, about 2 cups)

* 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

* 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

* 4 large or jumbo eggs, lightly whisked together

* 9 oz. feta cheese, crumbled into small pieces

* Basic pie crust for single pie (you can definitely use frozen here!)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. In a frying pan, sauté garlic in olive oil over low heat for 2 minutes--keep an eye on it though.  It should get golden, but not burnt, or else it will just taste bitter.  Add defrosted spinach drained of liquid.  Sauté for 3 more minutes.  Add chopped tomatoes, pepper, and nutmeg, and sauté 2 more minutes.  Set vegetables aside to cool.

3. In a large bowl, whisk eggs.  Add cooled vegetables.  Fold in feta cheese, and pour into prepared pie crust.

4. Bake pie 35-40 minutes until firm in center.  Allow to cool for a few minutes before slicing and serving.


Enjoy!!

An Oldie, A Quickie, But A Goodie

Those of you who follow me on Facebook may have noticed a lot of beach plum chatter this past week or so.  I know this, because I have gotten multiple messages asking what a beach plum is, and what the heck does one do with it.  If you're still wondering, a beach plum is a small fruit that grows in mid to northern Atlantic coastal areas.  They range in size from a cranberry to a large grape, and have a hard pit inside.  They are quite sour, and not so good for eating plain, due to the sourness and the fruit to pit ratio, they are good for making into jelly, which is the Nantucket craze, as well as infusing in booze.

However, this post is not about beach plums...not yet!  I do have more to say on them, but I'm not quite ready yet, because a) I have a lot of photos to upload and edit, and b) I don't know how my experiments have turned out!  I'll get back to you on the liquor infusion projects in, oh, a year, and the jelly a little sooner than that.  I haven't opened a jar of the jelly yet, although I have had several nightmares about it in the past week.  In one the jelly didn't set (the horror!) and in the other, the jars didn't seal properly.  Honestly, if those aren't the lamest nightmares you've ever heard of...

In the meantime, I thought I'd share a recipe that I remade this week for the first time in nearly 3 years.  It comes from Food & Wine magazine, and was actually the recipe that inspired me to become a subscriber.  The recipe is Lentil and Potato Salad with Goat Cheese, and it's so simple, easy, and wholesome, and just all around perfect, I think.  Lentils are such a super food: mild tasting, quick cooking, and absolutely packed with fiber, which makes them extra healthy.  Creamy potatoes balance the lentils' earthiness, and then a mix of fresh herbs, garlic, scallions and tomatoes add additional dimensions of flavor.  And for the final punch, creamy, tangy goat cheese ties this whole yummy mixture together.  And probably best of all, the entire meal comes together in 30 minutes.  When I was looking for goat cheese, for some reason I couldn't find a container of the "crumbled cheese for salads" that you often see in grocery stores' specialty cheese sections, so I just used dollops of Chavrie, that sort of ubiquitous block of pasteurized goat cheese log that is actually kind of yummy in its own processed sort of way.  However, I think that crumbled feta would also be a fantastic alternative.  Also, the recipe calls for French green lentils, and honestly, I have no idea what kind of lentils I used.  They came in a generic bag that said "Lentils."  They were probably common brown lentils, however, I think they worked just fine.  I also substituted red potatoes for the Yukon Golds, because I already had them, and left the skins on--I know, I'm so daring.  And I used a little less olive oil and cheese than the recipe specifies, probably closer to a 1/4 cup of EVOO and 6 oz of cheese, total.  Finally, F&W suggests, although I did not do this, that a runnily poached or soft boiled egg atop each serving of this salad would really make it a meal, and I suspect it would be quite good, if you like runny eggs, which, as discussed in April, I do not.  Despite my substitutions, I will say this recipe is pretty perfect.  I made a full batch, and have had it for 2 dinners and a lunch (I'm all about cooking a lot and generating lots of leftovers these days.  I totally don't mind eating the same thing for several meals in a row.)  It's fantastic on its own, but could easily become part of a bigger meal at a picnic or potluck.

Lentil, Potato, and Goat Cheese Salad (Food and Wine Magazine, October 2007)

(Serves 2-4 as a main dish, more as a side dish)

*1 1/4 cups French green lentils (9 ounces), rinsed and drained

 * 2 Yukon Gold potatoes (about 14 ounces), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice

* 3 scallions, thinly sliced

* 2 medium tomatoes, seeded and finely diced

* 1/2 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

* 1/4 cup finely chopped mint

* 1 large garlic clove, minced

* 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

* 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

* Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

* 8 ounces fresh goat cheese, crumbled (1 3/4 cup)

1. In a large saucepan, cover the lentils with cold water and bring to a simmer. Cook over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are tender, about 18 minutes. Drain the lentils well and transfer to a large bowl.

2. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, cover the potatoes with cold water and bring to a boil. Cook over moderately high heat until the potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. Drain very well and add to the lentils. 

3. While the lentils and potatoes are cooking, chop the scallions, tomatoes, parsley, mint, and garlic.  When both lentils and potatoes are cooked and drained and in a large mixing bowl, add the chopped ingredients, and dress with olive oil and lemon juice, and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Toss gently but thoroughly.  Spoon the lentil salad onto plates and top with the goat cheese. Serve at once.

Note:  The lentils and potatoes can be cooked ahead of time and refrigerated overnight.  Bring them to room temperature before incorporating the other ingredients and serving.

Enjoy this one, and let me know what you think!

Shakshuka: Eggs Poached in Spicy Tomato Sauce

I wish I had something inspirational to say about this next recipe, but truthfully, I don't.  I don't even have a photo to show you, sorry.  But I do have an easy, tasty recipe, so read on.  

I hadn't even heard of Shakshuka, an Israeli dish of eggs poached in a spicy tomato sauce, until it was featured on Smitten Kitchen, an excellent cooking blog that I often read.  Although in Israel Shakshuka is traditionally served as a breakfast dish, for my American palate I thought it was much more well suited to dinner (I usually steer clear of anything more potent than Cheerios at breakfast).  I was enticed by the simple ingredient list and easy prep--the perfect meal for the end of a busy week.  

I tweaked the recipe just a bit, most notably in the number of servings.  Smitten Kitchen and Saveur, which originally published this recipe, claim that it serves 4-6, but Erik and polished off 2/3 of it on our own (hey, don't judge, it's mostly vegetables!).  However, I reduced the number of eggs accordingly, from the recommended 6 to 3, basically budgeting 1 egg per serving.  The diameter of the pan I used was smaller than the recommended 12 inches, so in my pan 3 eggs fit perfectly--any more would have just created a thick, egg-y layer instead of individually poached eggs.  I suppose that if you had a larger pan and used 2 eggs per person you could stretch the sauce a bit, but I liked mine saucy without too many eggs--healthier that way, right?  I also bumped up the amounts of cumin and garlic, because I simply can't get enough of those delicious flavors.  I wimped out on the jalapenos, however, and used only 2.  Without their seeds, jalapenos actually don't pack too much of a punch, so when I make this again I will use the recommended 3 jalapenos, or add a few seeds, since those are where most of the heat resides.  This is a forgiving and flexible recipe that's easy to prepare, so try it when you're in the mood for something easy, comforting, and full of flavor.

Shakshuka (Adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

Serves 3 to 4 

* 1/4 cup olive oil
* 5 Anaheim chiles or 3 jalapeños, stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped

* 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
* 6 cloves garlic, crushed then sliced
* 1/2 Tablespoon ground cumin
* 1 Tablespoon paprika
* A 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes, undrained

* 1/2 cup water
* Kosher salt, to taste
* 3-4 eggs, or more, if you feel so inclined
* 1/2 cup crumbed feta cheese
* 1 generous Tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
* Warm pitas, for serving

1. Heat oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add chilis and onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden brown, about 6 minutes. Add garlic, cumin, and paprika, and cook, stirring frequently, until garlic is soft, about 2 more minutes.

 

2. Crush the tomatoes.  You can do this by transferring them to the bowl and crushing them with your hands, or just crushing them as you add them to the skillet.  Either way, crush the tomatoes and add them, along with their liquid and 1/2 cup water to the skillet.  Reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened slightly, about 20 minutes. Season with salt, to taste.

3. Crack eggs over sauce so that eggs are evenly distributed across sauce’s surface. Cover and cook until yolks are barely set, about 5 minutes.  (Obviously you can simmer for less time if you prefer a runny yolk, like Erik does).  Using a spoon, baste the whites of the eggs with tomato mixture, being careful not to disturb the yolk.  Sprinkle shakshuka with feta and parsley and serve with warm pitas, cut into quarters, for dipping.  Enjoy!

A Monstrously Good Salad

 

I may have created a monster.  This is what happened: 

My family came to visit this weekend, and brought with them several bags of Trader Joe's goodies.  Happiness!  Among those things was a bag of haricots verts, yummy skinny green beans (pre-trimmed!), and a box of cherry tomatoes.  On Saturday, after a long walk around town and on the beach, and a quick visit to the Whaling Museum, we were hungry for lunch, but it was already 2 o'clock, and I didn't want to eat anything that would spoil my appetite for what I knew would be a delicious dinner at Centre Street Bistro, where we had 7 o'clock reservations. (Dinner was fantastic, by the way.)  My dad suggested we use the green beans, so working with what we had in the house, I boiled the green beans, sliced some of the cherry tomatoes, and tossed them with a simple mustard-y dressing with just a hint of balsamic vinegar and olive oil.  Meanwhile my mother soft(ish) boiled two eggs, which she peeled and sliced, and tossed on top of the green beans and tomatoes.  Instant success!  My dad loved the salad so much that he insisted we make it again for Easter breakfast/brunch, so we did, and had it alongside scrambled eggs and bacon, and chocolate cake (another post for another time).  Unconventional, but delicious.  Erik had the green bean salad for the first time on Easter, and liked it so much that today he called me at work, and asked if it would be okay if he made it again for dinner!  I said yes, and so tonight we had it again alongside delicious spicy turkey burgers with grilled red onion, avocado slices, and pepperjack cheese.  Slightly unconventional yet again, but you see, this simple combo is so yummy that we'll eat it with just about anything!  Erik hadn't seen me make the salad the first two time, so his take was slightly different : he used apple cider vinegar instead of balsamic and tossed in a minced shallot.  These little changes were delicious, and I couldn't say which version I like better.  But either way, this quick salad is a winner, on its own or alongside any unconventional thing you can think of.

UPDATE:  I have received several questions about the egg issue: what constitutes soft boiled, and if it's soft, does the yolk mix into the dressing?  For the past three days when we've made this salad, the egg topping has been slightly different.  When my mom made the eggs, the yolks were not completely set, but were not runny, either.  The yolks mixed in a bit, but I wouldn't say they coated the beans.  On Easter I lost track of time and ended up hard boiling the egg, so when the egg was sliced and tossed into the salad the yolk chunks sort of distributed themselves.  Erik's egg was somewhere between those two.  If I make this salad once or twice more I will probably cover all points along the egg-boiling spectrum!  Personally, I hate runny yolks, so I always want them to set up at least a bit.  However, if you like runny yolks, by all means, just cook your egg until your whites are set and the yolks are still liquid-y enough to coat the beans along with the dressing.  I'm pretty sure there is no wrong way to do this, and I'd love to hear from anyone who tries the runny yolk method to hear how it is!

Although I didn't take pictures, my mom captured this image on her iPhone.  

The huge hand belongs to my dad.

Impromptu Green Bean Salad

Serves as many as you like, just scale accordingly

* Haricot Verts or regular green beans, ends trimmed

* Grape or Cherry tomatoes, halved

* Minced shallot (optional)

* Good Dijon mustard

* Balsamic or Apple Cider vinegar

* EVOO

* 1 or 2 soft or hard boiled eggs

1. Prepare your eggs:  I like the Julia Child method, which is to cover the eggs with water, bring to a boil, then remove from the heat, cover the pan, and let sit 17 minutes (for a hard boiled egg), then transfer to an ice bath until the eggs are cool enough to peel and slice.  I haven't experimented with the perfect length of time for a soft-er boiled egg, and I'm simply too lazy right now to go downstairs and find out if the cookbook says what it is, so let's guess that it's maybe 10 minutes? 12 minutes?  Who knows?  I ended up overcooking the egg the second time around, and the salad was still delish.

2. Bring a larger pot of water to a boil, add salt, and then boil the green beans until they are about 90% cooked.  Drain and refill the pan with very cold water and a handful of ice cubes to stop the cooking process.  (It's always best to pull the beans off the stove just before they're finished, because they always cook just a tiny bit more before you get them in the ice bath.)

3.  In the bottom of your serving dish of choice, mix together equal parts mustard and vinegar.  When they are combined, slowly add about the same amount of EVOO.  The dressing here should be a bit thicker than regular salad dressing.  Taste, adjust components if necessary, and season liberally with freshly ground black pepper, and salt, if desired.

4.  Wash and halve cherry tomatoes and add to the serving bowl. 

5. When green beans have cooled, pat them dry(ish), cut them in half, and toss in with the tomatoes.  Add minced shallot, if using, and toss all together.

6.  Slice eggs and add to the salad, and toss once more just to incorporate the eggs.  Serve and enjoy!

Luckily for me, tonight's salad used the last of the green beans, and Erik promises that we won't make it tomorrow (but then added a moment later that haricot verts are on sale at the Stop n Shop right now :)  While three days in a row might be my limit, I know this is one simple salad I will return to again and again (and again and again...)

Radloff Salad with a Twist

In my July post "BBQ, Overachiever Style" I gave you the recipe for "Radloff Salad," the romaine salad with tomato, corn, and parmesan that I make in the summer. Today, while browsing through an old issue of Gourmet Magazine that Erik snagged from my parent's house, I came across a salad called "Romaine, Grilled Avocado, and Smoky Corn Salad with Chipotle-Caesar Dressing." See why I might find this appealing?

So, Erik and I were finally able to see Julie & Julia last night due to a ferry booking snafu that was actually my fault, although I tried to pass it off on the Steamship Authority. I thought we were on the 5, it turns out I booked for the 2:45, which we couldn't make, so we ended up on the 8. So we had a couple of hours to kill... After watching the movie I was so inspired by the food that I wanted something worthy of Julia, but was restricted to whatever we could find on a whirlwind tour through Trader Joe's before boarding the ferry. I ended up with brie, the last loaf of bread in the store, (which sadly wasn't a fresh baguette), and a Toblerone bar. Healthy, no? Tonight I thought I might make something truly Julia-esque, but my inner practical person said I should use what I had in the house first, before I went out and bought a duck or something...hence the aforementioned salad.

It was simple to make but very tasty. It uses the same components as my Radloff Salad but replaces tomatoes with avocados, (though I used both), and jazzes the dressing up with lime juice and chipotle chilis in adobo. Do you guys see as many recipes calling for chipotle chilis in adobo as I do? I always wrote those recipes off because I assumed these special chilis would be impossible to find on island, but not so. Easy to find, and actually cheap. A new outlook! My culinary world has been broadened! But back to the recipe at hand... The dressing was easy to whisk up, the grilling was easy (other than my gas tank running out, but that's unrelated). Toss it together and serve. I served grilled chicken breasts marinated in bottled Caribbean Jerk 30-minute marinade alongside, and voila, dinner! I was running kind of late though due to the grill running out of gas, so I didn't bother taking any photos, so just picture it ;)

Romaine, Grilled Avocado, and Smoky Corn Salad with Chipotle-Caesar Dressing (Gourmet Magazine, June 2009)

* 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
* 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
* 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
* 1 tsp minced garlic
* 1 TBS minced canned chipotle chilis in adobo
* 3 TBS vegetable oil
* 2 ears of corn, shucked
* 2 firm-ripe avocados, halved and pitted but not peeled
* 1 head romaine (1 lb), tough outer leaves discarded (if necessary--mine were just fine), quartered lenghtwise and then sliced crosswise into 1 inch pieces.
* 1 large tomato, cored and diced (if desired--I did!)

1. Preheat grill high or prepare charcoal grill for direct heat cooking (whatever that means. I use gas.)

2. Put grated parmesan in a medium bown and add EVOO in a slow stream, whisking. Whisk in lime juice, garlic, chipotles, and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper.

3. Rub vegetable oil on the corn and the cut sides of the avocados and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill corn and avocados (cut side down). Cover the grill if you're using gas, for charcoal leave it open. Cook for 3-4 minutes (according to Gourmet--mine took longer, but I don't know how soon my grill ran out of gas) or until golden brown. Turn corn occasionally.

(If you are going to grill chicken or some other meat, throw it on as soon as you pull the veg, and the timing should work out nicely)

4. While the corn & avocado are cooling, dress the lettuce (and tomato, if using) in a salad bowl. Working carefully, slice the kernels off the corn cobs and peel and thinly slice the avocados. Serve the lettuce topped with the corn and avocado.

A final note on quantity: Gourmet says this recipe is a 6 side/4 main course serving recipe. I would disagree. I actually followed all of the quantities and found that Erik and I collectively ate 3/4 of the salad in addition to a chicken breast apeice. I think it would only serve 2 as a main course, unless you and your dinner mates are light eaters. Erik and I are not. Also, I only used half the dressing (and I actually measured things, which almost never happens), so either halve it or save the rest for another day.

Enjoy!

When Life Hands You Lemons

 

People are split on the issue of regifting: Tacky or practical? My parents fall firmly in the latter camp; my father especially regifts everything. Sometimes I find this annoying, like when I discover that he has regifted something that I have given him that I actually spent a lot of time choosing (and money buying). Sometimes I find it amusing, like when he pretends that he has chosen a gift for you, and I know that it was regifted because I saw it sitting out in our house for several months. And then, voila, "Happy Birthday, Macy! I chose this, uh....olive oil for you!" True story. For my 24th birthday I was the recipient of a box of gourmet olive oils, clearly not chosen specifically for me. But for someone who likes food as much as I do, it was actually a thoughtful gift, in its own tacky and/or practical kind of way. And I say, when life hands you lemons (or in this case, lemon-infused olive oil), make lemonade (or chickpea salad with lemon-infused olive oil).

This morning at 7 am I realized that there was next to nothing in the fridge that could pass as lunch, so in a panic I turned to the pantry. After surveying the assortment of blue corn chips and cookies I pulled from it a can of chickpeas, which I proceeded to open and dump into a Tupperware. Thinking on my toes, I rinsed the remains of package of colorful mini heirloom tomatoes, and sliced them in half. A few julienned leaves of basil and a tiny bit of minced red onion joined, and I drizzled the whole thing with just a couple of tablespoons of my fancy lemon-infused olive oil, a few drops of balsamic vinegar, a bit of salt and pepper, and voila, lunch! The whole thing seemed fairly repulsive to me at this early hour, but by noon it really hit the spot. I have to say, my regifted lemon-infused olive oil was really the star, although I bet that with just regular olive oil it would still be pretty good. Now I just need to figure out what one does with white truffle-infused olive oil...suggestions welcome!


Super Fast Chickpea Lunch:

* 1 can of chickpeas, drained, rinsed, and drained again
* About 1/3 of a pint of grape or cherry tomatoes, halved (I was lucky enough to have a mix of mini heirlooms that I picked up at Trader Joes this weekend. The mix of yellow, orange, red, purple and green tomatoes made it very pretty and colorful, but regular mini tomatoes would work just as well)
* 6-8 basil leaves, roughly chopped or julienned
* A thin slice of red onion, finely chopped
* 1-2 Tablespoons of lemon-infused olive oil or regular good olive oil
* 1-2 teaspoons of balsamic vinegar
* Kosher salt and pepper, to taste

Toss together chickpeas, tomatoes, basil and onion. Drizzle with oil and vinegar, and sprinkle with salt and pepper, to taste. Eat right away, or let it sit around for a while (as I did). It's bound to taste good either way!

BBQ, Overachiever style.

I really enjoy entertaining, but as anyone who has ever seen my cottage will attest, there is not much room to do it. Which I why I savor the summer and the opportunity to throw a backyard BBQ, because I have a lot more backyard than living room. Which is not to say that my backyard is large, because it's not. But my living room is very, very tiny.

Yesterday night we threw our first BBQ of the summer. Hard to believe that it's mid July, and still the weather has been unseasonably cool. Luckily yesterday was a beautiful day, but even so, the temps never even reached 70, and by 7 pm is was definitely cooler than that. Nonetheless, my wonderful guests persevered and we enjoyed some yummy BBQ fare in the backyard, mosquitoes and all, until it got too dark and chilly. (Incidentally, yesterday night had a record low temperature for Nantucket--48 degrees! July indeed!)

When throwing a BBQ, many people are content to slap pre-made burger patties on a grill, top with American cheese, ketchup and yellow mustard, and call it good. Maybe have a tub of deli potato salad or some other side dishes. I am not one of those people. I need appetizers, main course, sides and dessert, and I like at least a modicum of cohesiveness. I also require real plates & silverware, and bunches of fresh flowers and lots of candles for ambiance, to elevate my hand-me-down vinyl and aluminum lawn furniture. I'm probably tooting my own horn too much by labeling this post "BBQ, Overachiever Style"--I don't want to mislead you into thinking that this was some gourmet meal or that it rivals the parties that are photographed and featured in style magazines. But I do the best I can with my limited space and resources.

Conventional entertaining wisdom dictates that the first time you try a new recipe should not be when you're cooking for a crowd, but somehow I always manage to overlook this bit of (sage) advice. Last night I tried out a handful of untested recipes, and I am glad to report that they were about 75% good, but there was room for improvement. (The % good thing is a reference to my father, who last weekend told my mother that her sole--not to be confused with soul--was 80% good. I was amused.) The menu was as follows: Apps: Crudite platter with roasted garlic and artichoke dip (courtesy of Cottage Living. Yes, I read it. Since I live in a cottage and all). Tortilla chips with mango salsa (courtesy of People Magazine. Surprisingly delicious). Main course: Turkey burgers with guacamole and caramelized onions (suggested by my sister, Ali). Potato Salad. Romaine salad with corn, tomatoes, and scallions. Dessert: Fruit salad (courtesy of Beth), homemade ice cream sandwiches, and pound cake (courtesy of Sean). You can never have too much dessert!

And now, some of the recipes, and suggestions on things that I would do differently.


Crudite Platter (as inspired by Cottage Living):

I was not so in love with the veg dip to bother publishing it, although I will say that it provided a more interesting alternative to ranch dressing. Will update this when I find a dip that I like more. Cottage Living suggested blanching some of the veggies to give them more flavor & color. It had never occurred to me to do this before, but I was actually a fan of this technique. This will probably sound silly, but my jaw gets tired when I'm chewing lots of raw veggies. Additionally, and more importantly, by blanching veggies, you can serve a wider array of vegetables. On a raw veggie platter you're restricted to things that you can eat raw: carrots, celery, peppers, tomatoes, cukes, and cauliflower & broccoli, if you like those raw. By incorporating cooked veggies as well, you can have stuff like green beans, asparagus, and potatoes. Plus, I prefer broccoli cooked. So anyway, that's what I did. To my surprise, the potatoes were the biggest hit of all.

Vegetables that you like. I used:
* Bell peppers (red and yellow are my faves)
* Grape tomatoes
* Fingerling potatoes
* Broccoli
* Green beans
* Carrots (the recipe suggests true baby carrots, i.e., actual small carrots with the greens still attached, as opposed to the baby carrots that are whittled from full sized imperfect carrots. I could not find these, so I just cut sticks from regular carrots)

Other suggestions include cauliflower cut into florets and blanched and endive pulled into leaves and served raw.

Remove the seeds and membrane from the bell peppers and cut them into nice thin strips. Prepare the rest of the vegetables for blanching: for the beans this means trimming the ends, for the broccoli or cauliflower, this means cutting them into bite size florets, and for the asparagus this means cutting off the bottom ends. A handy trick for figuring out where to cut the asparagus is to snap one or two ends off. Line up the snapped asparagus with the bunch and then cut the whole bunch about an inch longer than the snapped stalks. Some people say that you should cut at the snap, but to me it seems wasteful because you will probably find that the stalk snaps pretty high, and I think that the vegetable is still perfectly edible up to an inch below where it snaps naturally. Potatoes should be scrubbed but whole, and carrots should be peeled and cut into sticks, if using big carrots, or have the greens trimmed if using true baby carrots. Boil a large pot of water. Cook each vegetable in the boiling water separately. Remove with a slotted spoon, and dunk them in an ice bath for a few minutes, then drain. Bring the water back to a boil between each vegetable. Cooking times are as follows:

Potatoes: 10 minutes or so. Start checking for doneness after 8 minutes. Once cooled, cut in half or thirds.
Broccoli & asparagus: 30 seconds
Carrots & green beans: 1 minute

Arrange blanched veggies, along with peppers and grape tomatoes on a platter with your dip of choice in the middle. (Unfortunately I didn't think to take a picture of mine yesterday, since I was rushing so much. It was pretty, though. I like to arrange the colors so that none of the greens or reds are touching. It makes it more festive that way.)

Mango Salsa (adapted from People Magazine)

This salsa was excellent. It came from a feature on what to serve at a LOST finale party.

In a bowl combine the following:

* 1 mango, peeled and diced.
* 1 avocado, peeled and diced
* 3 or 4 tomatoes, diced
* 1/2 or 1 jalapeno, diced. Much of the heat in a jalapeno resides in the seeds, so if you want a less spicy dip, carefully remove the seeds and membrane from the inside of the pepper before dicing. If you can handle the heat (I can't), leave the seeds in.
* 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
* 1/4 cup red onion, finely diced
* 1 large clove garlic, minced

Drizzle these ingredients with 2 tablespoons each of olive oil and lime juice, and toss. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve with your favorite tortilla chips.

Turkey Burgers:

My sister suggested burgers with caramelized onions and guac after a friend of hers served them at their 4th of July party. I am actually a huge fan of turkey burgers. It's what I grew up eating, and I like them just as much, if not more, than beef. A few of my guests were skeptical, but after trying them they admitted that turkey burgers are good, which made me very happy.

* Ground turkey (not the 99% fat free kind, though. Go for the 93% fat free. I'm pretty sure it's better for you than beef, but it's still flavorful and juicy. The 99% fat free stuff just...isn't.
* Hamburger buns of choice

Plan on about 4 burgers per 1.3 lb package. Season burgers as you like. We use Emeril's Original Essence because it's fast and easy and has good stuff in it. Use a lot, don't be shy! Mix it all together and form patties. Grill until they are cooked through, but not dry. Toast the buns at the end, if you like.

Guacamole

Everyone has their own favorite guac recipe. For this burger topper I used:
* 2 avocados
* 1/4 red onion, finely diced
* 1/2 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
* Juice from 1 lime
* Kosher salt & pepper--to taste

Mash all together in a bowl. Easy peasy.

Note: when serving guac as a chip dip, for example, I will also dice a tomato, but I skipped it for this one because I was serving tomatoes in 2 other dishes. For this, I just wanted something that would be nice and thick and stay on a burger.

Caramelized Onions:

* Vidalia onions, halved then cut into 1/3 inch slices.
* Butter--about 1 tablespoon for each onion

Well, I made too much of these, but damn, they were good. I used 3 medium onions for 9 people, but I think I only needed 2. No matter, the leftovers were excellent in scrambled eggs this morning and quesadillas tonight. The most important thing for caramelized onions is to leave yourself enough time! Truly caramelized onions take an hour or more. If you read a recipe and it says something like "caramelize the onions, 20 minutes" or some such thing, know that it is a dirty lie. First what you need to do is get a big enough frying pan, something heavy and non stick is ideal. Melt the butter over medium heat, and add the onions, separating the rings as you add them to the pan. Cook over medium-low heat, tossing them frequently. Eventually the onions will cook down to about 1/4 their volume. The trick is to let them soften without browning. The onions will turn brown eventually, but it will be a caramelized brown, not a burnt brown, and it will happen after about an hour of cooking them. Keep cooking them, tossing, until they reach a nice golden caramel color. Remove from the heat and transfer to your serving dish (or just serve them straight from the pan, if that's how you roll).


Easy Romaine, Corn, and Tomato Salad for 10

This salad is a riff on what Erik has dubbed the "Radloff Salad," a summer staple at my parent's house. A true Radloff Salad is served in a shallow bowl and consists of some combo of mesculan, arugula and/or baby spinach, topped with lots of slices of tomatoes, some cooked sweet corn cut off the cob, shaved Parmesan cheese, and whatever else is kicking around. This salad uses romaine lettuce instead of delicate baby greens because it's easy to cut up and won't be damaged when you toss the salad. The corn adds an unexpected sweetness, and is really the star of this simple salad.

* 2 heads of romaine lettuce.
* 4 ears of corn
* 1 pint grape tomatoes
* block of parmesan cheese
* 4 or 5 scallions

dressing:
* Extra virgin olive oil
* Balsamic vinegar
* Dijon mustard (optional)
* Salt & pepper, to taste

Peel the corn and boil the ears for about 5 minutes. Drain and let cool. (This can be done ahead of time)

Rinse the grape tomatoes and cut in half.

Rinse the scallions and cut into thin slices. I use pretty much all of the scallion, unless the dark green parts are particularly limp or bruised.

Cut the romaine into 1/2 inch slices, and then wash & spin in a salad spinner.

Working over a large salad bowl, cut the corn off of the cob and break it up with your fingers. Add the tomatoes, lettuce, and scallions. To make an easy dressing, simply drizzle with EVOO and balsamic vinegar (about a 2:1 ratio) and toss. Shave about 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese on top. A really easy way to do this is to use a vegetable peeler and run it along the block of cheese, just as if you were peeling it. Add salt & pepper to taste.

For a slightly tangy-er, more complex dressing, try this instead:
In a bowl whisk together equal parts Dijon mustard and balsamic vinegar. Slowly drizzle in olive oil (2 parts), whisking with a fork while you add the oil. The goal here is to emulsify the dressing, that is, to create a thick, uniformly blended dressing. If you do this correctly, you might even need to thin it out a little with water. Adjust to taste with salt & pepper or more oil, if needed. Pour on the salad and toss.

Homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches

Well...I'm not going to give you the cookie recipe I used, since I decided it wasn't actually that good. I tried to be moderately virtuous by using a chocolate chip cookie recipe from Cooking Light. However, the cookies didn't spread well so they ended up too thick, and they just tasted too...light. But the gist of it was: 2 chocolate chip cookies, vanilla ice cream in the middle, each sandwich individually wrapped in saran wrap and frozen. When I try these again I will just use the recipe off the back of a bag of Toll House chocolate chips, a tried and true recipe that produces thin cookies, which are key here. When assembling these sandwiches, make sure the cookies are totally cooled and don't let your ice cream soften too much. I thought I needed soft ice cream, but what I found was that even after I put them back in the freezer the ice cream ran and basically froze around the cookie inside the saran wrap, so when you unwrapped them the cookies had nearly nothing between them and the ice cream was all on the outside, and there were quite messy to eat. So this was basically a recipe on how not to make homemade ice cream sandwiches. Perhaps I will blog about these again when I do them right! (But, that being said, everyone ate them, so I guess the moral of the story is that even a bad ice cream sandwich is still pretty good!

So that is a run down of what I cooked yesterday, bloopers and all (hey, I'm no Martha Stewart). I think I managed to elevate the BBQ fare just a notch, and have hopefully inspired you for your next BBQ party.

The Holy Trinity

Tomatoes, basil and mozzerella (fresh, please), is not exactly a groundbreaking combination. In fact, these days I'd say it's pretty much downright ordinary. These three ingredients are often served together with a drizzle of olive oil and/or balsamic vinegar as a Salad Caprese at just about every half decent Italian restaurant. Heck, even American restaurants serve Caprese salads, because, well, they're just that good. Considering how ubiquitous this combo is, it's hard to be overly inventive with them. But to be honest, that's okay with me. They're amazingly delicious in their simplicity--it's a popular combo for a reason, right?

I have been toying with the idea of adding the Caprese components to pasta for a while now. I did try it once, in fact, although I think I screwed it up big time. I tried stewing the tomatoes or something, and melting the mozz. It was a big mess. Although it did teach me that these ingredients are meant to be enjoyed fresh & au naturale. So tonight was Take 2, and it was a much better success. Perhaps because I delegated and didn't actually do the cooking...?

I'll write out the recipe, but it's very simple. And it's ready in about the time that it takes to boil a pot of pasta, and you'll only need 2 dishes. The one thing that I will say about the recipe though, is get quality ingredients. They don't have too be top quality (I for one am too lazy/cheap/stuck on an island too seek out the best), but whatever you use, make sure you have ingrendients that are enjoyable in their natural state.

In particular, I can't say enough about having good olive oil. Finding good olive oil requires a willingness to spend a little bit of money and just taste what's out there and finding one that appeals to your tastebuds. Two years ago I cruised around some Greek islands with my parents and a few of their foodie friends. While I was there I gained about 5 lbs and a devotion to Greek style Kalamata Extra Virgin Olive Oil. I just use Trader Joe's brand Kalamata oil, which is relatively cheap, as far as EVOO goes, and is quite delicious. However, I've also tasted some store brand oils that are real duds. I've been so dedicated the TJ's brand Kalamata EVOO for so long now that I've forgotten what else is out there that's good. But look around and find one that you like, because it's such a kitchen staple. And without further ado, the recipe:


Macy's Speedy Fast Caprese Pasta Toss:

*Pasta. I like a fork pasta for this recipe, like fusili or penne, but choose your favorite. For 2 people with big appetites, about 1/2 lb should be plenty. I will also note that while I usually cook with whole wheat pasta, I would recommend plain (regular, white?) pasta for this dish. Whole wheat pasta has a grainy-ness and nutty-ness that stands up to hearty sauces well, but for this I wanted the other ingredients to be the stars, and the pasta to be the vehicle, hence the white pasta.
* 1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes. I think organic ones taste better, and for such a small quantity, you'll probably only spend about 50 cents more
* Basil-about 1 cup packed leaves
* Garlic--2 large cloves (or less, if that sounds very overpowering to you)
* 8 oz fresh Mozzerella, either the kind that comes in a container packed in water, or the kind that's wrapped in plastic, like Bel Gioioso brand.
* Extra Virgin Olive Oil--a hearty drizzle (1/8 to 1/4 cup)
* Kosher salt & freshly ground pepper, to taste

1. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Cook your pasta according to package directions.

2. While the pasta is cooking, halve the grape tomatoes and put them in a large serving bowl. Mince the garlic and add to the bowl. Cube the cheese (about 3/4 inch cubes) and add to bowl. Rinse and roughly chop the basil and add to the bowl.

3. When the pasta is cooked, drain and toss with a hearty drizzle of olive oil. Add to serving bowl and toss all ingredients together and serve immediately. Sprinkle with a pinch of kosher salt and a crack of freshly ground pepper, if desired. Enjoy!