White bean and chard soup

Perhaps this is not the most summery dish, but an excellent way to use up a head of beautiful red chard, nonetheless. (Plus a lot of homemade broth.)

1 bag white beans, pre-soaked and drained
1 onion, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
3 stalks of celery, chopped
olive oil
1 head of chard (or other leafy green), destemmed and chopped
Seasonings: salt, pepper, red chili flakes, cumin, parsley, Italian seasoning
broth

Saute the onion, carrots and celery in olive oil until soft. Add the beans and enough broth to float it all; simmer covered on low until the beans are tender. Add chard and seasonings to taste. Simmer another five minutes and serve, possibly with parmesan sprinkled on top.

Zucchini-leek frittata

It's been a while since I made a frittata! This has two leeks and two chopped zucchini, very similar to the zucchini-potato frittata (but, you know, without potatoes).

Same recipe, but with parsley added and with a combination of mozzarella and parmesan cheese instead of cheddar. I fried up the leeks and the zucchini until the leeks started to caramelize and the zucchini was soft, then added the egg mixture.

Tangy cucumber salad

Going through my refrigerator yesterday, I discovered an English cucumber I'd forgotten about. Voila! Cucumber salad.

From inspiredtaste.net:

2 hot house or seedless cucumbers (about 1 1/2 pounds)
Kosher salt
2 to 3 teaspoons granulated sugar, depending on how sweet you like the salad
1/4 cup (60 ml) cider vinegar, or distilled white vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon-style mustard
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced (optional)

Slice cucumbers into 1/16-inch (1.5 mm) slices, toss with 2 teaspoons of salt then add to a colander. Drain for 30 minutes. Rinse cucumbers then squeeze excess water from them. In a large bowl, whisk together 2 teaspoons of sugar, vinegar and mustard. Taste then add the additional teaspoon of sugar if needed. Add cucumbers and red onion then toss. Refrigerate salad at least 1 hour and up to a day before serving.

Frozen vegetable soup

When my husband threatened to get sick, too, I decided to make a batch of chicken noodle soup for him.

Then I realized I didn't have any chicken.

So I decided on vegetable soup instead.

However, my vegetable supplies were a little puny. I had to supplement with frozen veggies.

Fortunately, that's not a problem. Vegetable soup is more a guideline than a recipe. I ended up adding an onion, several carrots, one old zucchini, a can of whole tomatoes, a bag of frozen green beans, a bag of frozen corn, and two bunches of radish greens, along with a handful of dried macaroni. Oh, and I got to use up a bunch of homemade broth. With seasonings, it was a very delicious soup.

It's similar to refrigerator soup, except without meat, and with frozen veggies.

Succotash with ramps

Succotash (traditionally a mixture of lima beans, corn, possibly black-eyed peas, and bacon) can be a meal in itself, especially with the bacon. I like it because it doesn't require any fresh ingredients: you can pull a bag of frozen lima beans and a bag of frozen corn out of your freezer and have something delicious to eat 20 minutes later.

I've made this succotash before, but this one had a bunch of fresh ramps added in--greens and all. The ramps gave it a great green-oniony element. Season liberally with salt and pepper.

Tabbouleh with radishes and peppers

I love tabbouleh, but it's hard to find decent tomatoes ten months out of the year. Occasionally I'll make a no-tomato tabbouleh just to mix things up a little. This one has thinly sliced raw breakfast radishes and one raw yellow pepper, plus parsley and mint, minus the usual tomato and cucumber. I also added some pickled ramps, for onion flavor.

The great thing about tabbouleh is that you can make it ahead of time, eat it cold or at room temperature, or throw it into a wrap with some greenery. It's very versatile, very forgiving (you can leave it in a hot car), and very delicious.

Black bean and andouille sausage soup

Since I'm now working four doubles in a row each week (16-hour days Tuesday through Friday), naturally it's become imperative to do a bunch of cooking on my two days off. I started this week's lineup with an easy soup, using up a bag of dried beans and some leftover sausage.

1 bag of dried black beans, soaked overnight and pre-cooked in a CrockPot
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1 red pepper (or green), chopped
1 package andouille sausage, sliced
2 cups tomato sauce, or one can diced tomatoes
1 1/2 quarts broth
Seasonings to taste: salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin, paprika, cayenne

In a big soup pot, add some olive oil (or bacon fat) over medium-high heat. Saute the onion, carrot, and celery until the onion is soft. Add the pepper and the sausage and saute for another couple of minutes. Add the beans, the tomatoes, and enough broth to float everything. Let cook down on medium-low heat, covered, until everything is cooked through. (If the beans are pre-cooked, 20-30 minutes; if not, 1-2 hours.) Season to taste and allow to simmer another five minutes or so.

Note: it would be very easy to add, say, a bag of frozen corn into this soup.

Salad with baby kale, radish and pickled ramps

Sometimes simple things are the best.

I made a salad of mixed greens, with some baby kale from my little roof garden, a thinly sliced breakfast radish, and a few finely chopped pickled ramps. I added salt, pepper, olive oil, and some rose vinegar.

I drank it with a glass of funky, acidic rose wine, and the pairing was perfect. The texture of the baby kale, with the peppery crunch of the radish and the vinegar bite of the pickled ramps was perfect.

Salted, buttered radishes

I'm having a love affair with radishes lately. I don't know why. But there are so many different kinds of radishes; if all you've had are the little red ones that come in a bag from the supermarket, you owe it to yourself to branch out.

My new favorite way to eat them is raw, heavily salted, dipped into soft butter. For an extra level of awesome, have a glass of rose at the same time.

I got some beautiful breakfast radishes at the market yesterday, and I'm looking forward to eating them.

Roasted radishes

If you've only eaten radishes sliced into a salad, you really have to try this.

Roasted radishes, drizzled in butter, taste like a cross between a parsnip and a crunchy potato, with the pepper of watercress. Delicious, in other words.

From epicurious, reprinted below:

2 bunches medium radishes (such as red, pink, and purple; about 20)
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
Coarse kosher salt
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 450°F. Brush large heavy-duty rimmed baking sheet with olive oil. Cut off all but 1/2 inch of green radish tops; reserve trimmed tops and rinse them well, checking for grit. Coarsely chop radish tops and set aside. Cut radishes lengthwise in half and place in medium bowl. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil and toss thoroughly to coat. Place radishes, cut side down, on prepared baking sheet; sprinkle lightly with coarse salt. Roast until radishes are crisp-tender, stirring occasionally, about 18 minutes. Season to taste with more coarse kosher salt, if desired.

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and add butter. Add pinch of coarse kosher salt to skillet and cook until butter browns, swirling skillet frequently to keep butter solids from burning, about 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and stir in fresh lemon juice.

Transfer roasted radishes to warmed shallow serving bowl and drizzle brown butter over. Sprinkle with chopped radish tops and serve.

Spicy chicken thighs with rhubarb-cucumber salsa

I worked three doubles back-to-back last week, so by the time my day off rolled around, I was exhausted. All the stuff I'd pre-cooked for the week was gone, but that was okay, because I had a party to cook for. 

Okay, not really a party, more like friends sitting around eating and drinking wine, but it was still a lot of fun. I thawed some chicken thighs I got at Costco and made this. It was a big hit; I was a little unsure of the rhubarb-cucumber salsa at first (raw rhubarb is kind of weird), but after sitting out for a while, it was actually pretty good. Light, refreshing, crunchy.

From Bon Appetit, reprinted below:

1 habanero or two jalapenos, seeded and stemmed
2 garlic cloves
2 scallions, thinly sliced, white and green parts divided
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 cup olive oil
6 large skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs
Kosher salt
1 1/2 cups 1/4-inch cubes rhubarb
1 cup 1/4-inch cubes unpeeled seeded English hothouse cucumber
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 500°. Line a baking sheet with foil. Pulse chile, garlic, and white parts of scallions in a food processor until finely chopped. With machine running, drizzle in soy sauce, then olive oil; process until emulsion forms. Transfer sauce to a bowl.

Place chicken thighs, skin side up, on a work surface and slash each crosswise at 3/4-inch intervals down to the bone. Season lightly with salt. Place on prepared baking sheet and brush with sauce. Bake until skin is crisp and an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of thigh registers 165°, 20–25 minutes. Broil on high for an additonal 2–3 minutes for crisper skin, if desired. Let rest for 5–10 minutes.

Meanwhile, toss rhubarb, next 5 ingredients, and green parts of scallions in a medium bowl to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper and let stand for at least 10 minutes to allow flavors to meld.

Serve chicken with rhubarb salsa alongside.

Red wine and bacon pinto beans

So far this month I've spent a little over $100 on food. Not bad when you consider that I spent way, way more than that last month (start-up pantry costs).

My stepson is coming to visit next week, and I know I'll need to get some groceries for his visit. I'm trying to put off that trip to the store until at least the weekend. My fridge is getting a little bare, but it's nothing I can't handle for a few more days.

So, yesterday's challenge: find something fun to do with that last bag of dried beans. In this case, pinto beans.

I got this recipe from the New York Times. Added bonus: it used up the rest of that bottle of terrible Rioja I had. Sometimes a wine is just so bad you have to save it for cooking, you know?

This isn't quite a stew. It's more like slightly wet beans.

1/2 pound smoky bacon, diced
1 large onion, peeled and diced
2 celery stalks, diced
2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 large sprigs rosemary
1 pound dried pinto beans, soaked overnight
1 tablespoon coarse kosher salt, more to taste
2 cups dry red wine
Extra-virgin olive oil, for serving (optional)
Coarsely grated Parmesan, for serving (optional)
Coarsely ground black pepper or red pepper flakes, for serving (optional)

In the bottom of a large pot over medium-high heat, brown bacon until golden, about 5 minutes. Stir in onion, celery, carrots, garlic and rosemary. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Drain beans and add to pot along with 1 tablespoon salt. Pour in enough water to just cover the beans (about 7 to 8 cups). Bring liquid to a boil; reduce heat and simmer gently until beans are just tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Meanwhile, in a small pot over medium heat, simmer wine until it is reduced to 2/3 cup, 20 to 30 minutes. Remove rosemary branches from bean pot and discard them. Pour wine into beans and bring to a simmer. Cook for 10 to 20 minutes longer to meld flavors and thicken broth to taste. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with Parmesan, if desired; add more salt and black or red pepper to taste.

Raw mustard greens salad, take 2

I've made this raw mustard greens salad before, but I think I like this one better. The Parmesan and soy/anchovy notes give the salad a really nice Caesar-dressing-like savoriness, and you can fix it ahead of time. The more the greens sit with the dressing, the less sharp and peppery they will be.

2 bunches mustard greens
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 large cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 minced anchovy fillet or 1/2 teaspoon anchovy paste (optional, but really nice)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Strip leaves from the stems (discard stems). Wash and dry the leaves. Tear the leaves into small pieces and place in a large bowl. Add Parmesan, oil, lemon juice, garlic, soy sauce, anchovy (if using), pepper and salt. With clean hands, firmly massage and crush the greens to work in the flavoring. Stop when the volume of greens is reduced by about half. The greens should look a little darker and somewhat shiny. Taste and adjust seasoning with more Parmesan, lemon juice, garlic, soy sauce and/or pepper, if desired.

Butternut squash casserole with leeks and prosciutto

Time for using up random things again, including a bunch of prosciutto. (It's a good problem to have.) This is essentially a savory bread pudding, with butternut squash, leeks, prosciutto, and parmesan.

From Food & Wine, reprinted below:

3 pounds butternut squash—peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons finely chopped thyme leaves
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
3 leeks—white and light green parts only, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise (about 4 cups)
6 large eggs
2 1/2 cups half-and-half
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
8 ounces baguette, crusts removed and bread cut into 1/2-inch dice
4 ounces thinly-sliced prosciutto, cut into thin strips

Preheat the oven to 400° and butter a 9-by-13-inch baking ceramic baking dish. In a large bowl, toss the butternut squash with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and the thyme. Season with salt and pepper. Spread the squash on a baking sheet in a single layer and roast for about 25 minutes, until tender, tossing once halfway through. Let cool.

Meanwhile, in a medium skillet, melt the butter in the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the leeks and season with salt and pepper. Cook over moderate heat, stirring, until tender, about 20 minutes. Let cool slightly.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs with the half-and-half, cheese, 1 teaspoon of salt and a 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. Stir in the bread and let stand for 10 minutes. Fold in the squash and the prosciutto. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish and bake for about 1 hour, until lightly golden on top. Let stand for 15 minutes before serving.

Pepper and feta frittata

The other day, I found a produce stand near my apartment building. You know the places: three walls, a lot of fruit bins outside, selling fruit and produce that is most likely fresher and more local than the stuff in supermarkets, but at much cheaper prices. They had limes 5 for $1, all kinds of apples for $1 a pound, bunches of fresh parsley for 79 cents each. I bought some oranges, grapefruit, a butternut squash, and a bag of peppers.

They were a little bruised, but I didn't care. I got two red, two yellow, and two green bell peppers for $1. Total. When was the last time you got 6 peppers for $1?

So I made this pepper and feta frittata with them.

1/2 onion, diced
4-5 bell peppers, any color, diced
6-7 eggs
1/2 cup cream
1 cup crumbled feta
1/2 bunch parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper

Gently saute the onion and peppers in olive oil in a big cast-iron skillet until soft and browned. In a separate bowl, mix together the other ingredients. Pour into the skillet and mix well. Cook until the bottom is set but the top is still runny, 8-10 minutes. Finish in a 400-degree oven until the top is just set.

Scallops with blood orange gastrique

Part 2 of the Pike Place-inspired seafood feast, and definitely the fanciest dish I've made in a while. Four enormous fresh sea scallops, with a blood orange gastrique (sauce made from sugar and vinegar and reduced down), and a blood orange and parsley salad over crispy fried brussels sprout leaves.

Oh yes.

The blood oranges were the best oranges I've seen since I lived in California, fresh and tender and dripping with juice. After I cut the peel off, I sucked all the lingering orange bits off just because I could. I also saved some long twirls of blood orange peel to use as drink garnishes. I'm definitely going back and getting more.

It's essentially this recipe from Bon Appetit, cut in half, with rose vinegar instead of sherry vinegar (that's rose as in the wine, not the flower). Instead of mint and tarragon in the salad, I used more parsley plus thyme and basil, because that's what I had.

Keep the gastrique warm while you fix the other stuff, or it will start to harden to the pan.

blood orange gastrique:

3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon Sherry wine vinegar
1 cup fresh blood orange juice (from about 6 oranges)
1 1/2 cups low-salt chicken broth

scallops and brussels sprouts:

2 blood oranges, peeled, separated into segments
1/4 cup each (lightly packed) fresh parsley leaves, fresh mint leaves, and fresh tarragon leaves
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
Coarse kosher salt
8 ounces brussels sprouts, leaves removed from core, core discarded
20 large sea scallops, side muscles removed

blood orange gastrique:
Place sugar in heavy medium saucepan. Heat over medium heat until sugar begins to melt. Stir until sugar dissolves, then cook without stirring until deep golden, about 5 minutes. Gradually add vinegar (mixture will harden). Stir until caramel melts, about 1 minute. Add orange juice; boil until mixture begins to thicken, about 5 minutes. Add broth; boil until gastrique coats spoon and is reduced to generous 1/2 cup, about 15 minutes.

scallops and brussels sprouts:
Mix orange segments, parsley, mint, and tarragon in medium bowl. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil; toss to coat. Season salad with coarse salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add brussels sprouts and toss until just tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer brussels sprouts to bowl. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil to same skillet. Sprinkle scallops with salt and pepper. Add scallops to skillet and cook until browned and just opaque in center, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Arrange scallops and brussels sprouts on plates. Drizzle gastrique over scallops. Garnish with salad.

Golden beet risotto with Dungeness crab

I'm so over budget for this month it's not even funny. But I'm rebuilding my pantry from scratch--and the extra cost amortizes out over all those months when we weren't buying anything, just using up all the pantry stores.

In the spirit of being way over budget, I got some amazing stuff at Pike Place Market, and made us a fresh seafood feast. First up: golden beet risotto with Dungeness crab.

I made a golden beet risotto, with about half of the beet greens, and topped it off with handfuls of fresh crab meat. I bought a whole cooked Dungeness crab, picked all the meat out, and made crab stock with the shell. Some of the crab stock went into the risotto (the final product was about two-thirds chicken stock), and the rest went into the freezer.

I drank a Laughing Stock Pinot Gris with this feast, and in the spirit of generosity, gave a tiny scrap of crabmeat to each of the cats.

Lentils with kale and butternut squash

This can either be a hot dish or a cold dish/salad.

1 butternut squash, peeled, roasted and cubed
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup lentils
1 1/2 teaspoons red wine vinegar, plus more to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 carrot, diced small
1 rib celery, diced small
1/2 onion, diced small
1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
1/2 pound chopped kale, about 6 cups
1 clove garlic, minced

Place the lentils in a medium saucepan and cover with water by 2 inches. Season generously with salt and bring just to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until the lentils are tender but firm, about 20 minutes. Drain, rinse well, stir in the vinegar and salt and pepper to taste. While the lentils are cooking, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the carrot, celery, onion and dried red pepper flakes, and cook until the onions and celery are translucent, about 5 minutes. Rinse the kale under water and add it, still dripping, to the skillet in heaping handfuls. Add the minced garlic and salt to taste, and stir to mix well. Cover the pan, leaving the lid ajar, reduce the heat to low, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the kale is very soft, dark and frazzled looking, about 30 minutes. It should be very sweet. Stir the lentils into the cooked kale, taste and adjust seasoning for salt, pepper and vinegar. Gently stir in about 2 cups of the roasted squash before serving, snd sprinkle with cumin

Potato, leek and feta tart

This is a free-form tart that comes together beautifully. If you roll the pie crust a little thick, you can eat it like a pizza.

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 leeks (white and light green parts), cut into half-moons
1/2 cup crumbled feta (about 2 ounces)
1 handful chopped fresh parsley
2 potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
1 pie crust

Heat oven to 375º F. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the leeks with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until just tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in the feta and parsley. Add the potatoes and toss to combine. On a piece of parchment paper, roll the pie crust to a 12-inch diameter. Slide the paper onto a baking sheet. Spoon the potato mixture onto the pie crust, leaving a 2-inch border. Fold the edge of the pie crust over the edge of the potato mixture. Bake (covering with foil if the crust gets too dark) until the pie crust is golden brown and the potatoes are tender, 50 to 60 minutes.

Baked rigatoni with eggplant, chard and mushrooms

Hey, look! I cooked something!

It's been over a month since I cooked anything (Christmas Day, to be exact). In that time, I've been eating a lot of other people's cooking and road food. Also some nice meals out, but probably too many.

To avoid spending unnecessary money on both road food and eating out, I wanted to get my kitchen operational as quickly as possible. Step 1: unpack. Step 2: stock the pantry. I started at Costco, and finished with a couple of trips to local grocery chains. I've discovered that some things are weirdly cheap (eggs are $1 a dozen, eggplants are $1 each) and some things are weirdly expensive (booze has a 35% tax! Can you believe it?).

The pantry is about 85% there, but it's enough to get started. First I made chili with ground pork, then I made a big batch of tomato sauce, then I made some fudge, and now I'm making bread.

For dinner last night, I made baked rigatoni with eggplant, chard, and mushrooms. It's a variation on a theme, but a delicious one.

1 large eggplant (about 1 1/2 pounds), cut into 1-inch pieces
1 large onion, chopped (I used one large shallot)
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 small package of mushrooms, quartered
1 bunch chard, loosely chopped
3-4 cups tomato sauce
Leaves from 1 small bunch basil
1 pound rigatoni
1 pound fresh mozzarella
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Heat some olive oil in a skillet until hot. Add the eggplant pieces in one comfortable layer (you may need to do more than one batch) and cook until golden brown. Set aside in a large bowl. Cook the mushrooms next in the same skillet. Add to the eggplant. Saute the onion and garlic next, and add that to the eggplant. Cook the chard just long enough so that it's wilted, and add that to the eggplant as well.

Cook the rigatoni until still slightly firm. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid. Add both to the eggplant, along with the tomato sauce, basil and any seasonings,  and the mozzarella. Mix well, and pour into a large casserole dish. Top with parmesan and pepper, and bake at 450 until the cheese is melted and slightly browned. Serve immediately.