Inspired by California-Mediterranean cuisines and farmers markets, I cook healthy, flavorful dishes that are easy-to-prepare yet elegant. I write for Zester Daily, One for the Table, Luxury Travel Magazine, Huffington Post & New York Daily News. My latest Amazon eCookbook is 10 Delicious Holiday Recipes. My handcrafted chocolates are available at www.dchocolates.com. "Subscribe via email" and you'll get an email whenever I post a new recipe.
Friday, July 27, 2012
Garlic Sautéed Yellow Squash and Carrots
After the vines firmly established themselves, the long, fat squash seemed to appear overnight. What to do with all those squash?
A neighbor saved the day. She loved squash blossoms. She would nip the problem in the bud, so to speak, by picking blossoms before the squash could appear.
Ultimately our best solution was avoidance. We stopped planting squash. Problem solved.
But I missed squash's pleasant crunch and clean flavor. Last week we were gifted with a basket of zucchini and yellow squash from our next-door neighbor's front yard garden. Picked while they were young, before they became watery, the zucchini and squash were unblemished, firm and the picture of health.
There were a great number of ways to prepare such perfect specimens. They could be steamed, grilled or even eaten raw in thin slices or grated. Because I had a beautiful bone in ribeye steak, I decided to sauté them with garlic to use as a side dish.
Sautéing would caramelize and bring out their hidden sweetness. Combined with carrot rounds, the color and texture contrast would add to the pleasures of the dish.
Steak never had such a pleasant companion.
Garlic Sautéed Squash and Carrot Rounds
Time: 30 minutes.
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
4 medium sized yellow squash, washed, ends trimmed, cut into 1/4" thick rounds
4 medium sized carrots, washed, peeled, ends trimmed, cut into 1/4" thick rounds
1 small yellow onion, skins and root end removed, washed, roughly chopped
4 garlic cloves, skins and root ends removed, finely chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon sweet butter
Sea salt and black pepper
Directions
Heat a large frying or chef's plan with olive oil, seasoned with sea salt and pepper. Add onions and garlic. Sauté until lightly browned. Add yellow squash and carrots. Sauté until lightly browned. Finish with sweet butter.
Taste and adjust seasoning with sea salt and pepper. Serve hot.
Variations
Dust with 1/4 teaspoon cayenne for heat.
With the carrots and squash, add 1/2 cut washed, trimmed green beans, cut into 1/2" long pieces.
With the onions and garlic, add 1 tablespoon washed, trimmed shiitake mushrooms, roughly chopped.
Once all the vegetables are cooked, add 2 cups cooked pasta, toss, dust with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and serve as a side or main dish.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
A 30 Minute Pasta with Sautéed Farmers Market Vegetables
Corn, tomatoes, carrots, beets, eggplant, zucchini, peas, broccoli, parsley, arugula, frisee, plums, pluots, figs, peaches, nectarines, apples, grapes...I'm running out of breath trying to say them all.
Part of me wants to spend the whole day in the kitchen experimenting and playing with all these great ingredients.
The other part would prefer to stay outside, enjoying our beautiful Southern California weather. This recipe splits the difference. I can have fun with the farmers market bounty and it takes only 30 minutes.
That's a win-win if ever there was one.
Sautéed Vegetables and Pasta
For vegetarians, this is a very satisfying meal-in-one. For everyone else, cooked meat, poultry and seafood can easily be added with great results.
I choose to cut all the vegetables so they are similar in size to the corn kernels, although I make an exception for the string beans, which I think are more enjoyable when cooked in lengths of at least 1". A personal preference. At any rate, cut the vegetables small or roughly, depending on how you like them.
Yield: 4
Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
1 pound pasta
1 ear of corn, kernels removed
1 carrot, washed, peeled, finely chopped
1/2 pound string beans, washed, ends removed, cut into 1" lengths
1 small yellow onion, peeled, ends removed, finely chopped
1/2 cup Italian parsley, leaves only, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled, finely chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons sweet butter
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Sea salt and pepper to taste
Method
Bring to a boil a gallon of water with the kosher salt. Add the pasta and stir well initially and every couple of minutes to prevent sticking. Cook until al dente, about 10 minutes. Place a heatproof cup in the sink and capture one cup pasta water when you drain the pasta.
Return the cooked pasta to the pot. Toss the pasta with 1 tablespoon each of olive oil and sweet butter. Season with sea salt and pepper. Lightly cover--do not seal--with a sheet of aluminum foil to keep warm.
In a large frying or chefs pan, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil. Sauté all the vegetables until brown. Add 1 tablespoon sweet butter and 1/2 cup pasta water. Simmer over a medium flame until the liquid is reduced by half. Add the cooked pasta. Toss well to coat. If more liquid is needed, add more of the remaining pasta water and a pat of butter. Taste and adjust seasoning with sea salt and pepper.
Serve with freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese.
Variations
Instead of Italian parsley, add 1 tablespoon fresh oregano.
For heat, add 1/4 teaspoon cayenne to the vegetable sauté.
Along with the pasta water and sweet butter, add 2 cups of any chopped, cooked meat, poultry or seafood you like.
Add roasted, skinless, chopped tomatoes with the pasta water and sweet butter.
Add 1 cup raw, chopped tomatoes with the vegetables.
Along with the freshly grated cheese, add 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts or roughly chopped almonds.
Along with the freshly grated cheese, add 1/4 cup toasted or sautéed bread crumbs.
Monday, May 3, 2010
A Trip to New York and a Culinary Discovery: A Perfect Spring Salad of Black Kale, Kabocha Squash, Cheddar Cheese, and Almonds
A visit to a museum is also a must. This trip we went to MOMA, where special exhibits by Marina Abramovic and William Kentridge were causing a stir, especially Abramovic's use of nudes as an element of her performance pieces. For myself, I never tire of the permanent collection with its iconic works by Van Gogh and Matisse, among other masters.
Since I'm not in the city as often as I'd like, I look forward to visiting my favorite places to eat: Gray's Papaya (Broadway at 72nd) for the $4.45 Recession Special (2 hot dogs with everything and a medium Pina Colada), Piada (3 Clinton Street below Houston) for a panini and espresso, and the salt and pepper shrimp at Nha Trang One (87 Baxter Street below Canal).
A friend who is an expert on the food scene, highly recommended several dishes, especially a salad, at a new restaurant in the East Village called Northern Spy (511 East 12th Street between Ave. A & B, 212/228-5100).
The unassuming space has a country feel that immediately makes you feel at home. Locally sourced produce and meats are put to good use in refreshingly simple and inventive ways.
Meat eaters will be in pig heaven--literally--with Chef Nathan Foot's pork terrine with homemade pickled carrots and celery root, pork shoulder meatballs in tomato sauce, and a special of crispy pork belly and potato hash and wild arugula. Classically trained, Chef Foot described the inspiration for the menu, which changes seasonally, as "being the kind of food I'd feed to my chef friends."
Affordably priced (most dishes are $10-15), the menu also has plenty for vegetarians. Risotto with butternut squash and mascarpone (Freekeh Risoto), a Farmers' Salad with a collection of root vegetables, several soups including navy bean and chilled celery root, five dollar sides of quinoa, wild rice (with feta, mint, and lemon), runner beans, collard greens, and roasted potatoes, polenta with braised greens and roasted mushrooms, and, the dish my friend had enthusiastically recommended, the kale salad.
I use kale frequently but never in a salad because I've always thought the stiff leaves needed to be sauteed or braised. At Northern Spy, kale is presented as nature intended--raw. Julienned, the kale presents a good base of support for the contrasting qualities of sharp, creamy cheddar, sweet, yielding kabocha, and crispy almonds. Finished with a lemon vinaigrette, the salad is refreshingly light with a hint of sweetness.
I experimented at home and discovered that the salad is easy to make. I made a few changes in my version, which was delicious, but all the credit goes to Chef Foot.
A Spring Salad of Black Kale, Kabocha Squash, Cheddar Cheese, and Almonds
Time: 45 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
1 small kabocha squash, about 2 pounds
1 bunch black or Tuscan kale, washed, stems removed, julienned
1 cup cheddar, a good quality English or Irish cheddar, cut into 1/2" squares
1 tablespoon whole almonds, roasted unsalted, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
Sea salt and pepper
Method
Cut the squash into quarters, scrape out the seeds and fibers on the inside. Place in a steamer. Add 2 cups of water to the pot. Cover and cook on high heat for 5-10 minutes until cooked but still firm, remove, and let cool. Remove the skin and discard.
You will need a cup of cooked squash. Reserve the left over portion to use in a soup or as a side dish with a grilled meat. Cut the cooked squash into 1/2" squares.
In a small saucepan, reduce the balsamic vinegar to 1 tablespoon. Set aside to cool.
Place the julienned kale on the bottom of a serving bowl, sprinkle the squash, cheddar, and almonds over the top and dress with olive oil, reduced balsamic vinegar, and season with sea salt and pepper.
Variations
Chef Foot sprinkles freshly grated pecorino romano on top of the salad
Add 1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion rings to the salad
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Farmers' Market Fresh: Early Spring Tomatoes Roasted Whole or Sliced
Roasted Whole Tomatoes
Yield: 4 servings
Time: 90 minutes
Ingredients
3-4 pounds tomatoes
3 tablespoons olive oil
Sea salt and black pepper
Method
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Remove the end of the stem at the top of the tomato. Place all the tomatoes on a Silpat sheet or a piece of aluminum foil on a shallow roasting pan. Drizzle each tomato with olive oil and season with sea salt and black pepper.
Roast 90 minutes. When you remove the tomatoes from the oven you'll notice the accumulation of a clear liquid. A small portion of that is the seasoned olive oil. But mostly the liquid is given off by the tomato itself. That liquid or, let's be bold and call it "nectar", is pure essence-of-tomato. Save every drop.
At this point the tomatoes can be served whole as a side dish with grilled or roasted meats. They can also be peeled and chopped for a pasta or a braised meat dish like short ribs. Run them through a food mill and you have the beginnings of a delicious tomato sauce.
A final tip about tomato nectar. If you like mozzarella with tomatoes but this time of year the fresh tomatoes don't have enough flavor, drizzle the tomato nectar, slightly warmed, over slices of mozzarella. You're in for a treat.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Putting Romaine Lettuce's Feet to the Fire
Friday, January 29, 2010
Eating Well Makes Good Sense
The truth is, you'll save money and feel better. What's more, you won't be giving up convenience. Most of these dishes can be made in 30 minutes or less.
Salads
Arugula Salad with Avocado
Arugula Salad with Hazelnuts, Carrots, and Avocados
Arugula Salad with Persimmons and Pomegranate Seeds
Black Kale, Kabocha Squash, Cheddar Cheese and Almonds
Bulgar Salad with Celery
Carrot Salad with Lemon-Soaked Raisins
Chopped Parsley Salad
Cole Slaw with Capers
Couscous Salad with Grilled Vegetables
Egg Salad
Farmers' Market Fresh Chopped Vegetable Salad
Grilled Corn Salads
Grilled Vegetable Couscous Salad
Grilled Vegetables
Parsley-Grilled Corn Salad
Potato Salad with Corn
Risotto with Summer Vegetables
Roasted Beet Salad
Salad-e Shirazi: Iranian Cucumbers, Cherry Tomatoes, and Onions
Spinach Salad
Tomato and Avocado Salad
Tomato, Avocado, Corn and Garlic Toast Salad
Wilted Spinach Salad
Soups, Snacks, Sauces, and Side Dishes
The Amazingly Versatile Blackened Pepper
Baked Sweet Potatoes with Sauteed Shallots, Garlic, and Mushrooms
Braised Sprouted Broccoli
Cannelini Beans with Roasted Tomatoes and Spinach
Caramelized Vegetable Pasta
Chermoula Sauce for Salads, Side Dishes, and Entrees
An Easy Saute with Brussels Sprouts and Carrots
Grilled Artichokes
Grilled Corn on the Cob
Grilled Vegetables
Farmers' Market Fresh Vegetable Saute
Homemade Vegetable Soup
Kale Sauteed with Garlic and Farm Fresh Vegetables
Kimchi Ramen Soup
Kosher Pickles
Mushroom Soup
Potatoes, Mashed, for Breakfast
Quesadillas, Open Faced
Ramen Soup with Kimchi and Farmers' Market Fresh Vegetables
Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Roasted Garlic-Tomato Sauce
Roasted Tomatoes
Roasted Tomato Sauce
Salt Crusted Fingerling Potatoes
Salt Steamed Broccoli
Sauteed Beet Greens
Sauteed Kale with Vegetables
Steamed Artichokes
Summer Vegetable Risotto
Sweet Potatoes Grilled
Sweet Potato Inari Sushi
Tapenade the Frugal Cook's Secret Weapon
Tomato-Vegetable Soup
Tomatoes, Roasted, for Easy-to-Make Sauce
Tomatoes, Roasted Whole or Sliced
Vegetable Soup
Vegetable Soup for Cold Weather
Entrees
Brown Sugar Pork Ribs
Chicken Wings with Kimchi Glaze
Curry, Easy-to-Make
Ginger-Soy Sauce Poached Black Cod
Cioppino with Roasted Tomatoes and Garlic Toasts
Ginger-Soy Black Cod
Green Garlic and Clams
Grilled Shrimp
Grilled Shrimp with a Tex-Mex Dry Rub
Kimchi Chicken Wings
Low Cal Breaded Fish Fillets
Israeli Couscous with Vegetables
Italian Sausages and Roasted Tomatoes
Native American-Style Salmon
Pasta Alla Checca
Pasta with Roasted Corn and Garlic
Ribs, Brown Sugar Glaze
Risotto with Farmers' Market Fresh Squash Blossoms and Baby Zucchini
Roasted Cherry Tomato and Shiitake Mushroom Pasta
Salmon with a Garlic-Citrus Glaze
Sauteed Fish with Capers, Corn, and Tomatoes
Skewered Cherry Tomatoes
Tequila Glazed Shrimp
Tofu, Beet Greens, and Brown Rice
Tofu with Crispy Toppings
Desserts
Baked Cherries
Baked Plums
Custard
Fig Tart with Crystalized Ginger Crust and Roasted Almonds
Honey Poached Apples and Pears with Cinnamon, Vanilla, Raisins, and Peppercorns
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Grilled Vegetables and Grilled Vegetable Salads
We also feel winter's grip when the sun disappears in mid-afternoon, requiring lights to be turned on before 5:00pm. With the cold and darkness, these are not easy times. Certainly there are pleasures to be gotten from a crackling fire in the fireplace, hot soups filled with savory bits, and braised meats surrounded by an array of root vegetables. Admittedly those are sweet comforts, but they are brought front and center because our sagging spirits need propping up.
Spring in Southern California is a different matter altogether. Although there is still fog aplenty at the beach where we live, the days benefit from the warmth of the sun's strengthening rays.
Besides sensing the increase of daylight and warmth, we also know that spring has arrived because the local farmers' markets welcome back long forgotten friends. Corn on the cob, green garlic, all manner of flowers, squash blossoms, and stone fruit beginning with plums, pluots, apricots and apriums.
With the abundance of locally grown produce, the high points of my week are visits to the Wednesday Santa Monica and the Sunday Pacific Palisades Farmers' Market.
As a child I avoided contact with vegetables as much as I could. My mother's treatment of produce was ungenerous. String beans were boiled in salted water and then extracted, limp and submissive. Corn and English peas were taken from the freezer and overcooked in the same salted water, their flavor saved only by the large pat of butter that joined them in the serving bowl.
Leaving home, I pursued a different path, exploring the local farmers' markets and experimenting with vegetables I had only heard about but never eaten. One of my chief discoveries was that vegetables, like hamburgers and steaks, benefited from grilling.
Who does not love carrots drizzled with olive oil, seasoned with sea salt and black pepper and cooked on a hot grill? Their carrot-essence acquires a caramelized sweetness that is irresistible. And what about the improvement of artichokes, Japanese eggplant, broccoli, corn, squash, zucchini, and even thin slices of Yukon Gold potatoes similarly coated with seasoned olive oil and placed on the grill?
So powerful are those flavors, I have to restrain myself from grilling every night.
Just about any vegetable can be grilled. Some, like tomatoes and asparagus, cook quickly and require an attentive hand to prevent charring. Others, like corn on the cob, take a bit longer and need to be turned frequently for even cooking. A few, like artichokes, require fifteen-minutes in boiling water before heading to the grill.
Grilling pulls out the essential flavor of each vegetable. Those qualities are enhanced by a simple dredging in olive oil seasoned with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.
Once grilled, the vegetables can be served straight off the grill as a finger-food appetizer, a side dish, or even as an entree. But they can be so much more.
Chopped up, grilled vegetables can fill out a parsley salad. Mixed with couscous they make a savory side dish.
Once you start grilling vegetables, they'll become a secret weapon in your culinary adventures.
Grilled Vegetables
Yield 4 servings
Time 45 minutes
Ingredients
4 large carrots, washed, peeled, cut into slabs 1/4" thick, 2" long
2 broccoli crowns, washed, cut into slabs 1/4" thick, 2" long
1 bunch asparagus, medium sized or thick, washed, white ends trimmed off
1 ear of corn, husks and silks removed, washed
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Pinch of black pepper
Method
Turn the grill on to medium and preheat for 10 minutes.
In a bowl, toss the vegetables and season with the olive oil, sea salt and pepper. Using tongs, put the vegetables on the grill.
Close the cover and cook for 2-3 minutes. Turn and cook another 2-3 minutes, checking frequently to prevent burning. How long each vegetable takes to cook depends on your grill, the vegetable, and the thickness of the slices.
Have a serving plate handy so you have a place to put the cooked pieces when they're ready. Serve hot as a side dish or room temperature as finger-food appetizers.
Grilled Vegetable Chopped Salad
Cut the corn kernels off the cob. Roughly chop the other vegetables. Toss together. Add a bit more olive oil, taste, and adjust seasoning with sea salt and pepper.
Grilled Vegetable and Parsley Salad
With the grilled vegetables as a starting point, the salad can be expanded by adding elements. In this case, parsley.
Ingredients
3 cups grilled vegetables, roughly chopped
1 bunch Italian parsley, washed, most of the stems removed, leaves finely chopped
Olive oil
Sea salt and pepper
Method
Mix together the chopped vegetables and parsley. Add more olive oil as needed, taste and adjust seasoning with sea salt and pepper.
Variations
Add 1 avocado, peeled and chopped
Add 10 fresh cherry tomatoes, quartered
Add 1 tablespoon chopped scallions or red onion
Substitute cilantro for parsley
Add 1 hard boiled egg, finely chopped
Couscous Salad with Grilled Vegetables and Parsley
The salad becomes more substantial with the addition of easy-to-make couscous.
Yield 4 servings
Time 20 minutes
Ingredients
1 cup whole wheat couscous
1 1/4 cups water, boiling
Olive oil
Sea salt and pepper
Method
Mix together 1 cup whole wheat couscous, the heated water, and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Stir well, cover with plastic wrap and set aside 10 minutes, then fluff and cover again until needed.
In a bowl, mix together the chopped vegetables, parsley, and prepared couscous. Add a bit more olive oil, taste and adjust seasoning with sea salt and pepper.
Variations
Add 6 grilled mushrooms, roughly chopped
Add 1 fresh avocado, roughly chopped
Add 10 grilled shrimps, roughly chopped
Add 1/4 cup crumbled feta or goat cheese
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
California Dreamin: A Salad of Iranian Cucumbers, Cherry Tomatoes, and Onions
Reflecting the diversity of the neighborhood, California Dreamin is an all-purpose coffee shop serving American, Mexican, Japanese, Middle Eastern, and Armenian food. I imagine it was once a hamburger joint or the kind of coffee shop that served 99¢ breakfasts.
For years I drove by without stopping. Now I look for excuses to swing by and have lunch.
I'm certain all their food is good but I'm a creature of habit so I always order #8 the Chicken Breast Kabob. The perfectly cooked chicken is tender and juicy. Served with basmati rice, a fire-roasted whole tomato and a pepper, toasted pieces of lavash, and a small bowl of cucumber salad, there's always more than I can eat. Invariably I bring home a to-go box for a late night snack. And they make a cup of thick Armenian coffee that packs more flavor than any espresso.
At some point, I realized I came as much for the cucumber-tomato salad (Salad-e Shirazi) as anything else. The combination of flavors is so deceptively simple. Making the salad at home I shop at the local farmers' markets to get the freshest ingredients. Delicious by itself, the salad is a perfect side dish for grilled meats.
Iranian Cucumber, Tomato, Onion Salad
Yield: 4 servings
Time: 5 minutes
I tried using regular cucumbers but they're too watery. For me the salad only works with Iranian or Persian cucumbers because they have more density and fewer seeds. The traditional version of the salad calls for the addition of an acid, either vinegar or citrus juice (lemon or lime). Personally, I like it without either, but all versions are worth trying.
Ingredients
2 Iranian cucumbers, washed, peeled, thinly sliced into rounds or quarters
1/2 basket cherry tomatoes, washed, quartered
2 tablespoons yellow onion, washed, peeled, cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons olive oil
Sea salt and pepper
Method
Mix together and dress with olive oil. Season to taste with sea salt and black pepper.
Serve as a side dish with grilled meats or to be eaten with grilled lavash or tortillas.
Variations
Add a squeeze of fresh lemon or lime juice, or 1 teaspoon vinegar.
Add finely chopped Italian parsley or cilantro or mint leaves.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
A 4th of July Picnic, the Perfect Time for Salads and Ribs
To prepare for the picnic, we shop at the local farmers' market, buying as many fresh vegetables and fruits as we can carry. On the 4th we spend the day cooking for the pot-luck picnic we organize with a dozen of our friends. So we'll have a good spot to watch the fireworks, we meet at 6:30pm at the park opposite the high school. We look forward to the picnic because we can catch up with our friends. Even though the picnic is pot-luck, we make extra just in case... Some of our friends who like to cook bring their specialties, like Lesli's mixed berries, while others make a run to Bay Cities or Gelson's and bring containers of deli treats and rich desserts.
By 9:00pm cars are double-parked on both sides of the street and people have crowded into the park, taking up every square inch of space. Everyone is ready for the fireworks to begin and yet...the sky is not yet completely, definitively dark. In the cool night air we bundle up and pull closer together. Only when all traces of the departing sun have been drained from the sky will the fireworks begin.
And when they do, they are a treat. From the first high-streaking skyrocket that bursts into a hundred points of light to the last crescendo of a dozen overlapping explosions, the crowd oohs and aahs. With the last firework dying in the sky, we get up slowly, feeling the dampness of the ground, hug and kiss our friends goodbye, and make our way back to our cars through the haze of gunpowder smoke still hanging in the air.
4th of July Picnic
In our experience salads work well at the picnic: beet salad, carrot salad, potato salad, egg salad, and corn salad. Finger food is good too: bread & butter pickles, salt-boiled corn on the cob and grilled artichokes. This year we'll also contribute a platter of deliciously salty and sweet Brown Sugar Ribs.
Brown Sugar Pork Ribs
Time Prep (20 minutes) Marinate (overnight) Cook (2 hours)
1 pound brown sugar
1/4 cup kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
Olive oil
Pepper
6 ounces Italian tomato paste
1 small yellow onion (peeled, finely chopped)
2 garlic cloves (peeled, finely chopped)
Method
Spread a piece of plastic wrap on the counter 5” longer than the rack. Dust the meat side of the ribs with the cayenne.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Wilted Spinach Salad Takes Center Stage
Versatile spinach works cold in a salad or heated by sautéing or boiling. A hot dressing brings spinach to a middle ground: mostly raw with some leaves wilted from the heat of the dressing. Sautéing the dressing allows for a great variety of ingredients: Italian sausage, anchovies, mushrooms, shrimp, bacon, chicken, duck, chicken livers, or purely vegetarian. As far as I can tell just about any pizza topping would work on a wilted spinach salad, excepting maybe pineapple.
I invite everyone to send in suggestions. I know I’ve only scratched the surface of this infinitely variable dish.
Wilted Spinach Salad with Shrimp, Avocado, and Olives
Yield 4 servings
Time 20 minutes
Ingredients
1 large bunch spinach, the root ends trimmed and discarded, thoroughly washed to remove the grit
2 garlic cloves, peeled, thinly sliced
2 slices bacon, finely chopped (optional)
6 mushrooms (brown or shiitake), washed, thinly sliced
1 carrot, peeled, cut into rounds 1/4" thick
2 shallots, peeled, cut into thin rounds
12 shrimp, medium sized, washed, deveined, sliced in half (optional)
12 olives (oil cured black, green split, or Castelvetrano green), pitted, quartered
1 small avocado, peeled, roughly chopped
1/4 cup croutons, preferably homemade
2 tablespoons feta, crumbled (optional)
4 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Sea salt and pepper
Remove the stems from the spinach. Put the leaves into a large salad bowl. Finely chop the stems. To make the hot dressing put 2 tablespoons of the olive oil into a sauté pan on a medium flame and lightly brown the spinach stems, garlic, bacon, mushrooms, carrot rounds, and shallots. Remove from heat and set aside. In a small sauce pan reduce the balsamic vinegar to 1 tablespoon. In a separate sauté pan drizzled with olive oil, cook the shrimps until pink about 2 minutes, then set aside.
When you’re just about to serve the salad, reheat the dressing on a medium flame. Add the rest of the olive oil, olives, and avocado.
Using a rubber spatula pour the hot dressing over the spinach leaves. Drizzle with the reduced balsamic vinegar. Top with the shrimp, croutons and if you want the feta. Taste and adjust the seasoning with sea salt and black pepper.
Variations
The hot dressing can be kept vegetarian by using olive oil, shallots, and garlic. Most vegetables can be added to the sauté: zucchini, carrots, mushrooms, English peas, sugar snap peas, broccoli, or tomatoes. Try tofu or vegetarian patties as well.
A riff on a chef salad, in the dressing sauté baked ham and turkey breast with shallots; add cheese (cheddar or Swiss) and chopped tomatoes when you toss the salad.
Borrowing from the classic frisee salad, use bacon or lardoons crisped in the sauté, topping the salad with a fried egg. A variation on a variation: instead of a fried egg, use a hard boiled egg, sliced or chopped.
Sauté 1/4" rounds of Italian sausage with slices of red pepper, onion, and garlic to make a wilted salad version of a sausage hero.
Grilled or sautéed chicken livers with mushrooms, onions, and lots of garlic.
Add several anchovies and a dusting of pepper flakes to the onion-garlic sauté.
For the meat use slices of roast duck or chicken (dark meat preferably since it has more flavor); put shiitake mushrooms in the sauté.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Tapenade, the Frugal Cook's Secret Weapon
It wasn't difficult to learn how to make tapenade. The only specialized tool you need is a blender, like the Cuisinart Mini-Food Processor. A little bit of tapenade adds a special flavor to sandwiches and appetizers. Use it as a topping on sliced hardboiled or deviled eggs. Try it spread on a good slice of buttered bread, a hot, crispy piece of grilled lavash, or a turkey breast sandwich.
2 cups, pitted olives, black oil cured or cracked green
1 cup Italian parsley, washed, finely chopped
2 tablespoon capers
1 garlic clove, peeled, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
¼ freshly ground black pepper
Cayenne, a light dusting
2 anchovies (optional)
Put all the ingredients into a blender and pulse until the olives, capers, and parsley have combined into a paste. I'd add anchovies, but my wife doesn't care for them, so I put them in when I'm making myself a special treat.
Makes ½ pint.
Preparation Time: 30 minutes.
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