Lettuce 101

Making salad has become so easy with pre-washed mixes.  The wide variety of lettuces available at supermarkets and farmer’s markets leaves no excuse for a salad-less dinner.  Produce departments at many supermarket chains have automatic water sprayers that keep vegetables looking fresh but create  water-logged lettuce that shortens its shelf life. It’s important to wash this lettuce and dry it well to get the most out of your purchase.  

When you buy heads of lettuce, (soaked or dry and freshly harvested),  make salads easy to throw together with a little ahead of time prep.  That way clean, crisp lettuce is always at hand for sandwiches, burgers and salads.  This simple cleaning and storage technique comes from Madeleine  Kamman,  one of TV’s early cooking teachers  who  shared food handling methods that were simple and brought out the best in pure dishes. 

Salad spinners are a great tool but to really get clean crisp lettuce add my extra step to absorb extra moisture.  This works with and without a spinner:

• Pull leaves from head and soak in a large bowl of cold water.  (If using a salad spinner, soak leaves in the outer bucket.)  Stir the lettuce around and if the stem ends are holding a bit of dirt rub lightly with your fingers.  Let lettuce soak ayt least 5 minutes.  This allows any dirt or sand to settle to the bottom of the bowl. 
• Lift lettuce out of water and place in the spinner’s strainer or a colander.  By lifting the lettuce out, debris that has fallen away stays at the bottom and the leaves come out clean.  
• If using a spinner, now is the time.  If you do not have a spinner go on to the next step giving each leaf a good shake over the sink to remove excess water.  

• Lay out 2-3 clean kitchen towels.  (Paper towels can be used here but are not as re-usably green.)  Layer leaves over first towel.  Lay a second towel on top and continue to layer leaves onto towel  until all leaves are used.   
• Now loosely roll the towels “jelly roll” fashion and place lettuce roll into a large plastic bag (like the ones in produce department).  You can secure the ends of the towels with rubber bands to keep the roll intact. 
• Place in the refrigerator and let the towels soak up moisture for at least one hour.  The cool humid environment is a perfect atmosphere for crisping lettuce.  After an hour (or overnight) remove the leaves and store in a plastic bag.

Enjoy your salad days. 

Grilled Chicken

If you are not a year-round griller, now is the time to roll the grill onto the patio and shake down the equipment before Memorial Day weekend arrives.   Herewith, a reminder of things we know you know and some ideas for three great chicken grill outs.  Have a safe summer. 

Grill Prep
Set the grill on an even surface and away from overhanging branches or building parts (like porch roofs and soffits).  You and the grill should be several feet from exterior walls or high fences.

The best time to clean a grill is when it is piping hot.  The heat will assist you in removing debris.  If your grill has been in storage, give it a little extra attention before firing it up. Dust off the casing and legs and, if needed, wash with mild dish washing soap and water using non-abrasive tools.  Check the soot catcher on charcoal grills to be sure it is empty and clear.  Scrape out any soot and debris in the belly and hose the whole thing off, removing all suds.  Let dry. 

Gas grills using propane tanks should get a safety check.  Follow the instructions for cleaning, maintenance and hooking up tanks. Most things around a grill go wrong after a period of disuse or after refilling and reattaching the grill's gas container.  The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) began releasing safety tips for grills as early as 1997. Check http://tiny.cc/grillsafety for their advice, particularly on checking hoses and tubing for wear and blockages. 

When you are ready to clean the grill rack and cook, heat the grill and cover it to heat the grate.    Turn on gas grills, preheat and close the cover.   For charcoal grills, place the grill over hot coals and close the cover briefly to heat the grate.  Scrub the grill with a stiff wire brush once it is hot.

Some back yard cooks like to follow up with a small amount of vegetable oil on a paper towel administered carefully with tongs.  Too much oil will cause flare-ups but a small amount will prevent sticking of more delicate foods like fish and vegetables.  Your choice.   

Firing It Up
Charcoal Grills
If you are a fan of charcoal grills like us, invest in a chimney starter.  They are inexpensive (under $15) and eco-friendly.  They eliminate the need for lighter fluid to ignite the coals and the decidedly unappetizing eau d’lighter fluid on your cooked food.

To use a charcoal starter, you will need about 3 half-sheets of newspaper and a long-necked lighter or long match.  Place the newspaper in the bottom section of the chimney.  Place the chimney right side up on grill grate and fill the large cavity with charcoal.  Light the paper with the lighter.  The flaming newspaper will light the charcoal and the cylinder will quickly ready the charcoals, in about 15 minutes.  When the coals have developed a ashen exterior pour the glowing coals into the grill and place grill rack on top.

Control in charcoal grilling comes from the placement of the coals, the distance the grill rack sits from the coals and the amount of time the coals have been ready.   Although there are no hard and fast settings, seasoned grillers learn that coals 10-15 hot are at about medium heat and piling coals to one or either side of the grill allows for a range of temperatures from direct or indirect heat.  It is easy to get a feel for it and, for purists, half the fun of grilling. 

Gas Grills
Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for preheating and grilling.  When cooking with gas grills, you have great control.  Cook your chicken on a low setting for the initial cooking and when the meat has reached the proper temperature,  finish the chicken on a higher setting to crisp the skin more or continue on low to baste with sauces. 

Prep the Food Safely
Marinades
Treat marinades like raw meat, that is, separate from other foods.  It is very important to prevent cross contamination with  other foods both cooked and raw.  Once you have used a marinade,  throw away any excess.  If you would like to use part of the marinade to baste the meat while it is cooking, set aside a portion before it comes in contact with raw meat or double the recipe and keep the second half separate for basting.  

Basting Rules
Sugars in sauces cause chicken skin to char and burn. To prevent this and still attain a crisp skin, brush on the sauce after the meat has been turned once so the sauce can cook and adhere to the top of the meat.  After brushing sauce on the second side, place the piece off direct flames or over dying coals.  The sauce will thicken and cook onto the meat but will not burn.

How to Grill Chicken
Cook chicken on medium to medium-low heat.  Be patient and you will have beautiful bronzed poultry that is tender, juicy and most important, cooked thoroughly.  

Place chicken bone side down and let cook 12-15 minutes.  Larger pieces will take longer, smaller ones like wings will be ready sooner.  You can accommodate the differences in size by placing the larger pieces over the hotter sections of the grill.  Turn the chicken and cook another 10-12 minutes.  Check your each piece with a meat thermometer.  

When is it done? 
The USDA says chicken is cooked when the internal temperature reaches 180˚F.  Many chefs look for 165˚F. If you are considering the lower temperature,  consider who you are serving.  The very young, elderly and those that have been sick are most susceptible to food borne illnesses. The internal temperature will continue to rise when the meat is off the grill so you can remove it when you are a few degrees short of goal and still retain a juicy interior. 

A Little Rest
Your dinner has been dancing on a bed of hot coals so give it a chance to rest.  You’ll be glad you did.  The internal temperature will even off, juices will be re-absorbed and it will give you time to collect everyone and everything else together for serving.  To keep chicken crisp while it rests, use a large platter so you don’t need to pile the pieces up and inadvertently steam the skin.  Give yourself at least 10-15 minutes.  If the wait is longer that 15 minutes,  cover the chicken lightly with tin foil. 


Today’s Recipes
All the marinades make enough for a whole, cut-up chicken or 4-6 pieces of either dark or light meat. 

Tandoori Inspired Grilled Chicken

No Tandoor oven? No problem.  Marinate this skinned chicken dish in tenderizing yogurt and spices overnight and put it on the grill for a taste of India that will beat the spice blues.  The chicken takes on the color of the spices, especially the yellow hue of turmeric.  Tandoori chicken is not a spicy dish and the cayenne can be eliminated if yours is not a heat seeking group.

Ingredients
6 oz plain yogurt
juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1-2 cloves garlic, minced

Method

1. Skin chicken parts and with a sharp knife, make a few slits in the muscle of each piece.   Place chicken in a large bowl.  
2. In a smaller bowl,  mix the yogurt with remaining ingredients.  Pour yogurt mixture over chicken and marinate overnight or at least 10 hours.  Turn chicken every few hours to coat completely. 
3. When ready to cook, remove chicken from yogurt marinade and place on a medium- low fire.  Cook chicken 30-40 minutes turning once until cooked through.   

Serve Tandoori chicken with Basmati  rice, a selection of chutneys and Indian breads.  Make a simple vegetable curry of cauliflower, green beans and chick peas by tossing the cooked vegetables with a curry spice blend and a little coconut milk or Greek yogurt. This side astes good hot or at room temperature. (Pack leftovers in a pita packet with any extra chicken the next day.)

American Barbecue Chicken
Orange and lime gives this tomato-based sauce a citrus note that is addictive.  This recipe was adapted from a barbecue sauce for spare ribs in the 1963 edition of The Good Housekeeping Cookbook.  The key to barbecued chicken is to hold off on basting it with sauce until the chicken is almost done.  This yields tender, juicy chicken with a cooked on glaze and a bit of crispness instead of a charred and thick exterior casing a dry bird. 

Ingredients
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
zest  and juice of 1/2 orange
zest and juice of 1/2 lime
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
pinch ground clove
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4/ teaspoon pepper
1/4-1/2 teaspoon hot pepper flakes

1. Add all ingredients to a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat until bubbling.  Lower  heat and simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until sauce thickens a bit and takes on a glossy sheen. Use immediately or cool, cover and refrigerate.  Use within 3 days. 
2. If you are marinating chicken, try buttermilk and some salt and pepper or plain milk with  lemon juice (1 tablespoon for every cup of milk).  Chicken can float around in a buttermilk marinade for up to 24 hours.  When ready to cook , remove chicken from marinade and pat dry.  Discard marinade. 
3. Grill chicken according to directions above.  After turning chicken over, start basting with sauce. Keep on eye on the flames once the second side is basted.  Keep chicken pieces away from direct flames or over medium-low coals just long enough to form the coating/crust you like. Basted chicken will cook very nicely over indirect heat if you are the patient type. 

Serve American Barbecue Chicken with cole-slaw, potato salad and steamed corn on the cob. Brownies, anyone?

Boyfriend Chicken
This was my husband’s go to marinade when we met.  It is easy but impressive.  It tastes good with pork chops too, especially with the addition of some freshly grated ginger. 

Ingredients
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup cold water

Method

1. Mix the ingredients in a gallon sized zip lock bag.  Place chicken pieces in marinade and seal bag.  Place bag of chicken in a shallow bowl or pie plate and refrigerate 2 hours or overnight.  Turn bag over after a few hours to evenly distribute marinade. 
2. When ready to cook, remove chicken pieces and discard marinade.  Grill as directed above.

Boyfriend Chicken deserves some colorful vegetables on the side and a fabulous salad.  Try roasted or grilled asparagus, zucchini or yellow squash.  Sweet summer tomatoes and fresh mozzarella over lightly dressed greens and torn basil completes the table. A perfect at-home date for two or anniversary dinner with family years later....

Spinach on the Side

As I child, we only ate spinach at major holidays and always as a soufflé.  It was glamorous but sadly too rich for my young tummy.  Happily, my great Aunt Emma took pity upon me and quietly scooped my serving over to her plate when my parents weren’t looking, less a tiny teaspoon sampled under duress.  It was many years before I heard about this thing called fresh spinach. 

These days spinach is served up at almost every meal around here.  Wedges of spanikopa pie make a quick breakfast on the run or lunch with a salad.  A serving of freshly steamed spinach with a teaspoon of mayonnaise and a pinch of tarragon makes a nutritious nest for a poached egg.  And creamed spinach and spinach soufflé are now welcomed at dinnertime and holidays, especially if I’m enjoying a steak house dinner. 

In warmer weather, a steak needs a lighter side than traditional creamed spinach.  Thanks to the lessons of Italian cooks, simple steamed or sautéed spinach with garlic and olive oil is the most common way many of us eat spinach these days. Recently I had some leftover roasted tomatoes and created this variation that is a winner with outdoor celebrations featuring grilled meats and fish.  It tastes good hot or at room temperature allowing you to prepare it in advance.  Drizzle on a little extra virgin olive oil  when serving to amp up the greens.

Spinach and Grape Tomatoes
Serves 4

Ingredients
1 cup grape tomatoes (or cherry tomatoes)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove garlic, smashed and peeled
2 pounds fresh spinach (or 4 8-oz bags fresh)

Method

• Preheat oven to 450˚F. 
• Wash tomatoes and toss with olive oil and garlic. Place in a small roasting pan and roast until tomatoes are cooked through but still hold there shape, about 12-15 minutes.  Set tomatoes aside. 
• If you are using fully matured spinach rather than baby spinach, remove stems before steaming. To pull woody stems from tender mature spinach leaves, grasp a leaf folded lengthwise in one hand and rip stem away with the other.  
• Steam spinach in a covered skillet in 1-2 tablespoons water.  Stop cooking as soon as spinach wilts.  
• Drain and toss with roasted tomatoes.  Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

A New Twist for Limes

Limes are naturals in salsas, guacamole, key lime pies and drinks like gin and tonic and just about anything made with tequila.  It’s a key agent in ceviche and a great addition to marinades.  You knew about all of these.  Here are three more places to squeeze a lime for those of us who love the bright taste and sunny look of limes.

Chicken
Lime’s tart taste can cut your craving for salt and kick up flavor the way salt can.  If you are cutting back on sodium, squeeze lime on grilled chicken and send the salt shaker to the other end of the dining table.

Corn
Lime is also corn-friendly.  Squeeze it on unadorned corn or make a lime-spiked mayonnaise with a shake of cayenne.  Try corn salad dressed with olive oil, lime juice and cracked black pepper.

Cantaloupe
Lime turns cantaloupe into a treat with tropical overtones. Drizzle lime juice over your next wedge of cantaloupe to bring up some of the fruit’s more subtle flavors.  With or without a thin slice of prosciutto, this melon is special. 

Pure
Please use the real thing for really true flavor.  A little goes a long way.  It’s not hard to cut open a lime rather than twist off a bottle cap and limes will keep well.  After all the British Navy sailed long distances during the 19th century with them to provide the crew with critical vitamin C, a scurvy preventative . 

Some limes can be less juicy than others and significantly less juicy than lemons.  Here’s the best way to get the most juice possible: roll your lime on a counter pressing down firmly to break down the pulp inside the lime before slicing.  Use a reamer to help extract the juice.  A reamer looks like a decorative wooden pine cone with a handle.  When you twist it into a lime half more pulp breaks apart and the juice runs down the cone’s rivulets. I lost my reamer ages ago and use a fork to help me squeeze out juice.  It is a pretty good substitute.  Some people recommend heating limes and lemons in the microwave on high for 10 seconds to help with juicing.  I haven’t blown up a citrus fruit yet but I expect someone has.  Prick your lime to allow expansion before your first microwave attempt and keep an eye on it.   

Post Script
Lime zest is cut from the thin green layer on the outside of the lime and holds flavorful oils.  A zester is an easy tool to use and a paring knife can also slice away the outer green peel.  Microplaners also make short work of zesting.  Just be sure to only  scrape away the green part and not the bitter white pith.  Zest can be added to fruit salads, baked goods and marinades for an extra punch of lime flavor.  Zest the lime before cutting into it for the best leverage and be sure to scrub the outside of the lime lightly to remove any debris or dirt.  Use a vegetable brush or rub with a little salt and rinse.

Grocery Fatigue

Research confirms what you already suspected: We tucker out when faced with too many choices. Including at the grocery store where the number of cereal flavors, liquid soup fragrances, juice combinations, pickle varieties, rice mixes and canned tomato types slows us down to consider, reconsider and finally either choose or walk away to the next aisle, also replete with choice.

Combat this with a list you can stick to and get out of the store faster and less exhausted. Spending more time around good food does not mean spending your precious hours shopping by wandering aimlessly through the aisles in search of direction. It means investing your energy on the activities that count: meal preparation and its enjoyment. Selecting pure foods as your ingredients is simpler than you think and will buy you time for more pleasant and group oriented meal-making and dining.

First make a list. If you’ve never shopped with a list give it a try. You will find it liberating since most families repeat many of the same stock items every week. Make a good list once and you won’t have to change it much to use it repeatedly and effectively. Some items can be broad like fruit, green vegetables, salad fixins’ or dried pasta. Some will need brand/size notes (which also makes it easy to send others to fetch items).

Organize your list in the order of the aisles in the store you frequent. Here are broad categories to get you started that will keep you on a pure foods path. You’ll find most of what you buy is in one of these departments or aisles and you can customize this basic list to suit your tastes. Fill in how many of each type of food you need to cover a week and you will have eliminated another thing to think about:

Produce Department- select sale items that look and smell delicious
Fruit 2-4 choices (bananas, pears, berries)
Green vegetables 4-5 choices (broccoli, asparagus, green beans, kale)
Root vegetables 2-3 choices (sweet potatoes, beets)
Salads including lettuces, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, avocado, nuts and seeds
Herbs

Meat, Fish, Ready-to Eat Meals departments
6-7 protein choices for week’s worth of dinners- plan for leftovers to cut back on meal prep time or to carry over as enviable brown bag lunches.

Dairy, Eggs
Milk, cream cheese, hard cheeses, cottage cheese, eggs, butter, yogurt
Be selective, choose low fat where possible provided additives and additional sweetening are not added as a substitute for flavor.

Supporting Aisles
Rice, grains, pasta, dried beans
Canned and jarred low sodium vegetables and beans
Canned and jarred fruits, applesauce, dried fruits
Condiments: mustard, hot sauce, pickles, international sauces
Frozen foods: fruit, vegetables, prepared healthy meals and desser, etc.
Bakery: whole grain bread products.

Also
Cereals- cut back on the number of flavors you buy at one time; this is not the candy aisle
Juices, teas and waters- read the labels and consider mixing your own juice-teas from herbal tea bags and 100% juice.
Cookies, crackers, snacks- some people bypass this aisle. If you do not, try cutting back on the variety you buy and select something you can serve with fruit. Enjoy but be selective.

Keep Some Options Open
Try something new, but have parameters. The part of choice you may not want to abandon is finding new favorites and sampling foods you’ve heard about or seen advertised. If you toss the overwhelming aspects of consumer choice, you can keep the adventurous part as long as you stay in command. Stick to your primary list which includes brands that have passed your quality standards and pricing and explore within range to improve your home pantry.

Try something new each week and keep the rest of your list simple. For example, if you want to add more fruit to your diet pick something new for the fruit bowl or build a fruit salad out of old favorites and one new item. It can be a different variety of pear or melon or a fruit you’ve never eaten before. Farmers markets provide lots of opportunity to learn about a new fruit or vegetable and most vendors are very helpful with recipes and serving ideas.

The following week you may want to experiment with some lower sugar cereals that you can serve with fresh berries. Dietary news on sodium means we’ll be seeing new and hopefully healthier formulations of soups, shelf stable and frozen meals, snack foods and more. On another visit, take a trip abroad and check out the international foods aisle to sample a new flavor profile. You might even pick out a vegetarian meal from fresh and prepared ingredients to add to your repetoire.

The key is to keep the kinds of choices you want to make focused so that you minimize fatigue. Go home with a little more spring in your step, less exhausted in both mind and body.

Peas and Lettuce with Mint

Peas and mint always feel very English to me but I have also enjoyed this striking pair as a puree with ravioli served with Mario Batalli’s famous beef cheeks.  It’s a genius combination.  In this side dish version, delicate lettuce leaves add a wonderful additional texture.  Don’t skimp on the mint; it is essential and if you haven’t used mint in many savory dishes, a real find.

When you have access to fresh peas and Bibb lettuce, this is the dish with which to exalt.  Frozen petite peas can stand in until the garden grows or your farmers market opens its gates.  No Bibb lettuce (Boston or butter)?  Romaine lettuce or baby spinach can be used instead.  And leftovers transform into a terrific soup the next day. 

Peas and Lettuce with Mint
Serves 4 as a side dish

Ingredients
2 cups peas
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 cups shredded lettuce
1 tablespoon cream
1 tablespoon fresh mint, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. In a medium sauce pan with a tablespoon or two of water, cook peas until almost tender over medium heat.  
2. Add remaining ingredients, lower and cover.  
3. Cook an additional 2 minutes then stir.  When lettuce has wilted, the dish is ready.

If you make a double batch of the pea and lettuce recipe you can use the leftovers to create Pea and Lettuce Soup for two.   Pea soup is often forgotten once the weather turns warm and heartier soups are abandoned.  Just as satisfying as its winter counterpart, fresh pea soup is lighter but still a nice filling dish that can be eaten hot or cold.  

Fresh Pea and Lettuce Soup
Ingredients
2 cups total cooked fresh peas and lettuce
3/4-1 cup broth
2 ounces low fat milk
extra mint

Mrthod

1. Place leftover peas and lettuce in a blender or food processor.  Add just enough vegetable or chicken broth to cover and pulse or blend until finely pureed.  
2. Press soup through a strainer if you’d like a really smooth soup.  Add a touch of low fat milk and more fresh mint.  Enjoy this pure spring flavored soup hot or cold.

How to Make Quick Vegetable Broth
Make vegetable broth when the items in your vegetable drawer are looking a little tired.  There is still plenty of flavor and nutrition there and a quick broth will draw that out.  Use vegetable broth where you would meat-based broths, in soups and stews, to make rice and as a base for sauces. 

Ingredients
2 stalks celery
1 medium onion
2 carrot
2 plum tomatoes
1/4 cup fresh parsley
1 bay leaf
1/8 teaspoon black pepper corns
Salt (added at end)

Method

1. Scrub celery and carrots.  Peel onion.  Rinse tomatoes and parsley.  Chop vegetables  coarsely.  
2. Place vegetables in a large microwave safe bowl with 1/2 cup water.  Cover loosely and microwave on high to wilt the vegetables.   
3. Add herbs, peppercorns and 1 1/2 cups water and microwave loosely covered on medium for 6-10 minutes.  
4. When broth has achieved a light rose-tan color, drain vegetables and taste.  Add salt in small increments if desired

Note: It is also perfectly fine to make this broth from fresher vegetables.

Falafel Burgers

Since the 1970’s street food carts in  U.S. cities have been packing pita pockets with middle eastern falafel and salad drizzled with yogurt and tahini sauces for just a few bucks.  I remember a time when lunchtime crowds would converge on a certain mid-town Manhattan street corner to get what was rumored to be the best falafel in the city.  My colleagues and I would often walk 15 blocks passing several other vendors to get the falafel with the special hot sauce served from this cart. 

True falafel uses chickpeas soaked in bicarbonate of soda that are ground with parsley and spices then fried as bite-sized balls or patties. In Egypt, fava beans rather than chickpeas are used for falafel, a word that is used to describe things of a fluffy and crunchy texture in Arabic.  It is also thought to be a derivative of the Arabic word for peppers which sounds like “filfil.”

My falafel burgers shortcut the process with cooked chickpeas giving them a slightly softer texture but the same satisfying experience.  The burgers are baked rather than fried and can be made ahead and frozen for a future snack or lunch. A batch makes a week’s worth of bag lunches.  Peppery, spicey, fluffy, crunchy falafel burgers are easy to prepare and make a pure snack for big after-school and post-workout appetites.  For the truly time-starved (or oven-challenged) I've even included a no-bake falafel pita dip. 


Falafel Burgers with Yogurt-Cucumber Sauce
Makes 5 burgers

Ingredients
1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained or 2 cups cooked chickpeas
1 medium onion, diced
1/2 cup fresh parsley or cilantro
1 cloves garlic, mashed
1 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup plain dry bread crumbs
spray cooking oil

Method

1. In a large bowl mash chickpeas with a fork until the mashed beans hold together but are still a bit chunky.
2. Microwave diced onion on high 1 minute (or cook in a covered pan with a tablespoon or two of water).  Watch it carefully to ensure onions stay moist while they soften.  Add onion and parsley to chickpeas.
3. Using the side of a chef’s knife, smash garlic clove and remove outer skin.  Sprinkle peeled clove with a bit of salt to provide friction and chop to a fine consistency.  Use the side of the knife to smooth garlic and salt into a paste.  Add to bean mixture.
4. Next add cumin, coriander, salt, pepper, cayenne, lemon juice and olive oil.  Taste mixture and adjust according to your tastes for more cayenne, lemon or spices. 

The falafel mixture can be eaten at this point, scooped into pita pockets with salad and tahini sauce or the yogurt-cucumber sauce below or served as a chunky dip.  To turn the dip into burgers, continue with recipe.

1. Preheat oven to 425˚F.  Line a baking sheet with tin foil and lightly spray with cooking oil.
2. Stir in egg and baking powder.  Using a 1/3 cup scoop or measuring cup, place a scoop of falafel onto a shallow dish covered with a few tablespoons of breadcrumbs. Flatten into a patty using the back of a fork or the measuring cup.  Sprinkle top of patty with more bread crumbs.  Use a spatula to carefully lift falafel patty to baking sheet.  Patties are quite delicate at this stage.  Use a fork to make any needed repairs from the dish to thje baking sheet.  
3. When all patties are formed, spray the tops with a little more cooking oil and bake for 15 minutes, turning once.  

Falafel burgers can be served at once over a salad dressed with yogurt-cucumber sauce (below) or tucked into a pita pocket with lettuce, cucumbers, radishes and tahini sauce (see note).  Your favorite hot sauce finishes these burgers for those who like even more spice. 

Yogurt-Cucumber Sauce
Makes about 1 1/3 cups

Ingredients
8 oz plain yogurt
1/2 cucumber - peeled, seeded, and finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed
several fresh mint leaves, chopped
salt and pepper

In a small bowl combine yogurt, cucumber, dill, mint, salt and pepper. Chill for at least 30 minutes.

Note: Tahni is sesame seed paste.   Thin a few tablespoons with water and lemon juice to make tahini sauce.  Natural peanut butter can be substituted.  If you find you love these burgers, buy some real tahini which comes in resealable cans and can be found in most international sections of your grocery.


When in New York City-- Falafel can be found served from carts on just about every corner but when I am in NYC and want some great falafel I head to Taim, a little shop in the west village where they serve falafel flavored three different ways.  Try a combo to learn what great falafel should taste like. (222 Waverly Place, west of 7th-- closest subway stations: Christopher St (#1) or 14th Street (#1,2,3).

Shepard's Pie

Holidays often mean great leftovers.  After the Easter lamb, try the original Shepard's Pie using leftover, finely sliced lamb instead of cooked ground meat.

Shepard’s Pie is a leftover dish with lots of room for variation.  A layer of gravy'd meat followed by a layer of cooked vegetables is topped with potatoes and baked for a little over half an hour at 350˚F.  Dinner is ready when the center is hot and the potatoes are lightly browned.

You can plan for leftovers by baking a few extra potatoes and making extra vegetables to ensure you'll have enough for the dish or cook additional vegetables to fill in when you are ready to make the pie. This recipe calls for carrots and peas but asparagus, Brussels sprouts, broccoli or green beans make a nice middle layer too.

The topping here uses both sweet and regular baked potatoes for a twist on the traditional pie.  Mashed rutabaga or mashed potatoes mixed with pureed spinach, broccoli or sliced cooked cabbage also make lovely toppings dotted with butter or grated cheese.

Cooked ground meat or very thinly sliced roasts bathed in gravy are the base.  We never seem to have made enough gravy.  Here is how to make a quick beef gravy with a can of beef broth if you have also run out.  If you have pan juices, add these to your gravy for extra flavor.

Need More Gravy
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup low-sodium beef broth (or homemade)
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
salt and pepper
optional: 2 tablespoon dry sherry or milk-- added to beef broth before mixing into flour

In a small, heavy-bottomed pot, melt butter over medium-low heat.  Add flour and stir to combine.  Keep stirring while flour cooks (about 2 minutes).  Next whisk in warm or room temperature beef broth and stir vigorously until all ingredients are incorporated and sauce is smooth.  Add thyme and salt and pepper to taste.  Lower heat and continue to stir until gravy has thickened.

Shepard’s Pie
Preheat oven to 350˚F.
Lightly spray a casserole or deep pie dish with cooking oil and start layering:

Layer 1
2 cups leftover meat—lamb or beef
3/4 cup gravy

Layer 2
2 cups cooked vegetables-- carrots and peas

Layer 3
2 each baked sweet and Idaho potatoes peeled and mashed with
1 tablesspoon butter
2 ounces milk or sour cream

Optional Layer 4
1/4 cup grated cheese

Bake pie at 350˚F for 35-45 minutes.  Pie is ready when internal temperature reaches 165˚F and the top is lightly browned. 

Shepard's Pie freezes well for up to six weeks.  Leave off the cheese and cool completely, wrap well, label and freeze.  To cook, bake from frozen covered at 325 for 1 hour.  Remove cover and sprinkle with grated cheese.  Cook another 15-20 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 165˚F and the top is lightly browned.

It's Freezer Month

Clean up your freezer and restock it to make it easier to eat pure on busy days.  (That would be every day, right?) As we make the move from highly processed foods to more pure alternatives,  it is still convenient to have prepared meals in the freezer. Every household is different but it is not hard to make double recipes of favorites and eat part this week and freeze the rest in family- and individual-sized portions.  Here are five frozen favorites we like to have on hand:

Top 5 Freezer Foods  (recipes below)
Soup or Chili: try Southwestern Chicken Soup
Homemade cookie dough: try Dried Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies
Quick bite: try Rice and Bean Burritos
Pasta- or grain-based casserole: try Muscle Memory Creole Spaghetti
Party food that can also go with soup: try Cheese Crackers

We also store frozen homemade bread and pizza dough, filo, plain vegetables and fruits, nuts and seeds for salads and baking, meats and ice.  Items get stored by category.  They are easier to find and, by storing like items together,  I can prevent  cross-contamination in the event of a power  outage.  I store uncooked foods like raw chicken and beef on colder shelves at the bottom and ready to eat breads and cooked soups on higher shelves.  The temperature of a freezer should be zero degrees.  A hanging freezer thermometer  allows me to check the temperature.  I move it around to different areas to check any temperature differential.  My stand-up freezer is not large and I rarely see much fluctuation but I still check it.  

ServeSafe food safety guidelines used by the National Restaurant Association instruct restaurants  to refuse deliveries of frozen foods that have partially thawed or have thawed and refrozen.  Indications are fluids of frozen liquids on package bottoms and ice crystals on the package.   Follow this advice for your family and check for these indications at the store.  Pick up frozen items last and if you have a long drive home consider bringing a cooler with a frozen pack in your car’s trunk to prevent "milage meltage." (I do this in the summer.  It’s so darn cold here other times that placing frozen foods in the trunk is sufficient at other times of the year.)

What is not in my freezer?
No frozen prepared pizza,  no HFCS-sweetened pop-sicles,  no pre-processed frozen foods like sauced vegetables,  no whipped dessert topping, no French fries.  Yet we can put on a great meal fast and concoct a pretty great dessert with little notice with the supplies at hand.  No frozen prepared pizza could compete with our simple Neopolitan version, pop-sicles and ice cream take little notice to create from scratch, vegetables with olive oil, butter or even a little cream just plain taste better and oven baked fries are simple enough already.  If you feel guilty about eating real whipped cream, whisk it by hand and get a free bicep and deltoid workout. 

Top Five Freezer Foods - Recipes
(Double recipes to have freeze half and
enjoy half now.)

Southwest Chicken Soup
By varying a few ingredients, you can give chicken soup a southwestern identity. 

Ingredients
2 quarts low-sodium (or homemade) chicken broth
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 stalks celery,  sliced
1 medium zucchini, sliced
1 small onion, diced
2 plum tomatoes,  cut in large chunks
optional: 1 tomatillo, diced
1 jalepeno pepper, seeds and veins removed and diced
juice of 1/2 lime
hot sauce to taste
1 cup shredded cooked chicken
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 14-oz can low-sodium black beans, drained
Optional garnishes: avocado slices, fresh cilantro and strips of crisped corn tortillas (Slice corn tortillas into strips with a pizza cutter and heat in toaster oven at 350˚F for 5-6 minutes turning once.)

Method

1. Cook carrots, celery, onion, zucchini and tomatoes in simmering chicken broth until carrots are tender, about 15-20 minutes.  
2. Add remaining ingredients and heat through.  If serving immediately garnish with  thinly sliced avocado, fresh cilantro and tortilla strips.  
3. To freeze, allow soup to cool and refrigerate.  Once cool, package in smaller servings and freeze.  Thaw before reheating and add finishing garnishes. 

Dried Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies
Dried cranberries are also good in these classic cookies.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies
Ingredients
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 cup chocolate chips (dark or semi-sweet)
1 cup dried cherries, chopped if larger than the chips
optional: 1 cup chopped nuts

Method

1. Sift flour, baking soda and salt into small bowl. 
2. In a large bowl, combine softened butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract and beat by hand or with an electric mixer until mixture is light and creamy. 
3. Add eggs, one at a time, incorporating well before proceeding to next step.  
4. Stir in flour mixture, about 1/3 at a time.  
5. Stir in morsels, dried cherries and nuts until distributed throughout the dough. 
6. Divide dough in half and roll each half into a log.  Wrap in wax paper or plastic wrap.   
7. If baking immediately, refrigerate for 30 minutes.  If freezing, place rolls in a freezer bag and store. 
8. To bake immediately preheat oven to 375° F. while dough rests in refrigerator.   Slice roll into 1/2-inch-thick pieces and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.  Space dough about two inches apart. 
9. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes before removing to a wire racks with a spatula.   Cooled, baked cookies can also be frozen.

Allow frozen cookie dough to thaw to a slicing consistency and bake as above from step 8.

 
Rice and Bean Burritos
Makes 12 burritos
Ingredients

2 cups cooked rice
2 14-oz cans black beans, drained
1/4 teaspoon each cumin and oregano
1/2 cup fresh salsa
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 –1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
12 whole wheat flour tortillas
optional: 1 cup cooked ground meat,  sliced olives

Method

1. Place black beans in a small pot and add cumin and oregano.  Warm beans and if using cooked ground meat, stir into beans.  Remove from heat. 
2. Warm tortillas so that they do not crack and break during rolling. Tortillas can me warmed in a toaster oven for a few minutes on 300˚F or placed in toweling in the microwave  on medium for 15-20 seconds.  Have some tin foil or wax paper sheets on hand to wrap the burritos in for freezing.  
3. Place a warm and flexible tortillas on a sheet and scoop a few tablespoons of rice and bean filling down center leaving a 1-2 inch border at either end.  
4. Add remaining ingredients: salsa, cheese , cilantro and olives if using.  Fold the sides up over the filling.  
5. Roll the bottom edge over the filling and folded sides and continue to roll, packing the filling in tightly until the opposite edge is reached.  Roll the burrito in foil or wax paper to seal completely.   Repeat process until all tortillas and filling is used.  
6. Place wrapped burritos in a resealable plastic bag and refrigerate until firm and cold.  Label and freeze.  
7. To reheat from frozen: if wrapped in tin foil you can place individual burritos in a toaster oven or oven at 350˚ for 20 minutes or until hot in the center.  If wrapped in wax paper, reheat in microwave for 5-7 minutes at high power.   These burritos are good plain or add a dollop of sour cream and hot sauce when warmed.

Muscle Memory Creole Spaghetti
Poor school lunches have been in the news lately.   This recipe is my adult memory of a baked pasta made every week at my grammar school that is pure and tasty.  It is an enduring favorite among alums across decades and discussed fondly at reunions.  No one in my northern school knew why it was dubbed  “creole” but I suspect the “exotic” green peppers had something to do with it. This is a robust grown-up version of what I suspect was a fairly healthy dish compared to today’s school fare.  I doubt the most excellent lunch ladies at Julian Curtis School added wine to their recipe, but this makes the sauce a bit more complex.  Skip it if you prefer to cook without alcohol. 

Serves 4
Ingredients
1lb ground beef or turkey
1medium onion, diced
1 cup green pepper (canned OK)
1cup roasted red pepper
1/4 cup red wine
1/2 cup fresh, chopped parsley
1 teaspoon each basil, oregano
salt, black pepper and red pepper to taste (good pinch of each to start)
1 28-oz can  plain, low-salt tomato sauce
1 & 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (OK to add in some jack cheese)
12 oz whole-wheat rotini  or #8 spaghetti

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350˚,
2. Boil water for pasta and cook according to package directions. 
3. Meanwhile, saute onions over low heat until translucent and quite soft. Add peppers and cook down until tender.  Remove to small bowl with parsley.  
4. Cook ground meat and drain any excess fat.  Return onion-pepper mixture to skillet and add wine.  Allow wine to cook down to half the liquid then add herbs, salt, pepper, red pepper and tomato sauce.  Bring heat down to low and stir while sauce thickens and pasta finishes cooking.  
5. Drain pasta and add to meat sauce.  Combine completely and remove from heat.
6. Spray a casserole dish spray oil.  
7. Layer half pasta and meat sauce into casserole.  Cover with half of the grated cheese.  Layer remaining pasta and meat sauce over cheese and finish with a layer of cheese.  
8. Bake uncovered at 350˚ for 15 minutes.  Check to see if heated though (thermometer at 165˚F).  Turn oven to broil and broil 3-5 minutes until cheese begins to brown. Remove from oven and let pasta sit for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Muscle Memory Creole Spaghetti and other cooked pasta dishes can be frozen before or after being baked.  If baked, it must cool completely in refrigerator before being wrapped for freezing.  Many people freeze a casserole in its baking dish, then remove the frozen meal from the dish to wrap and store.  When ready to reheat,  remove wrapping and replace meal in original dish to cook.  This allows you to use your dishes instead of taking them out of commission in the freezer.  To reheat a pasta casserole, lightly cover and place in a preheated 325˚F oven for 1-1 1/2 hours until hot at the center, at least  165 ˚F.  If you would like a crisped crust, remove top during last 15 minutes and sprinkle with some grated cheese. 


Easy Cheese Crackers
This dough handles like a pie or rolled cookie dough.  In fact, you can roll it like a refrigerated cookie dough and cut slices to bake or roll it out with a bit of extra flour and cut out shapes. 

Makes about 36 crackers
Ingredients
1 1/2  cups all purpose flour (try white whole wheat flour)
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons chilled butter (cut in 6 pieces)
6 oz hard cheese like cheddar or swiss, grated
2 tablespoons ice water
1 egg

Method

1. Place flour, salt, cayenne, and butter in a food processor.  Pulse until just blended and pea-sized crumbs develop.   
2. Add cheese and briefly pulse to combine.  
3. Add egg and 1 tablespoon ice water.  Pulse to pull dough togethr into a ball.  Add more ice water, a teaspoon at a time until ball forms. 
4. Divide dough in half and roll into two  discs or two long rolls.  Dough can be frozen at this stage.   
5. To bake immediately preheat oven to 400˚F.   Either slice a roll into 1/2 inch slices or roll a disc of dough out to 1/2 inch thickness on a floured board and cut out shapes with cookie cutters.  You can also use a pastry roller to cut dough into squares. 
6. Bake at 400˚ for 10-12 minutes until crackers begin to brown.  
7. Cool on wire racks.  Store in an airtight container or freeze. 

To bake from frozen, allow dough to thaw in refrigerator several hours or overnight.  Proceed from step 5.

Pure freezers can make the switch to pure eating really easy.  Be smart about labeling, wrapping, cooling and thawing (nothing new) and enjoy your very own pure food even more (more frequently that is).

The Last Winter Squash

Last fall I stored a nice fall crop from the farmer’s market in our makeshift root cellar, a covered open-weave basket stored in a cool dry room.   Looking back from the end of March, we’ve  enjoyed roasted Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes stewed with black beans and chilies, butternut squash gratin with rosemary and acorn squash split and roasted with maple butter.  Our local farmers market will be reopening soon and there’s just one thing left, a turban squash.   We’ll need one last recipe….

Turban squash get its name from its hat like shape and fashionable striations.  Ours is predominantly green but you’ll see them with orange and yellow accents too.  It’s a mild squash with a slightly sweet flavor that can be boiled or baked.  It goes well with chicken, pork, lamb and even shrimp and grains.  We roasted it and served it with short grain brown rice.  With a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese, it reminded us of a short cut risotto.  The leftovers were mixed with diced mozzarella cheese and piled into halved red peppers and baked.   

Roasted Turban Squash
1 turbon squash (butternut may also be used)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 425˚F.  Cut skin away from squash with a sharp knife.  Cut peeled squash in half and scoop out seeds at center.  Cut squash into bite sized pieces and place in a oven safe casserole dish (or for a small squash a glass pie plate).  Add remaining ingredients and toss well.  Roast, uncovered, for 40-45 minutes until squash is tender and a fork pierces the flesh easily.  Serve over cooked brown rice.
Note: Any brown rice is terrific with winter squash.  I used Lundberg's short grain brown rice for these dishes.

Roasted Squash and Rice Stuffed Peppers
Serves 2 as a side, 1 as a main course
1 red pepper
1 cup cooked winter squash
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 oz mozzarella cheese
1 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350˚F.  Line a small baking pan with tin foil and lightly spray with oil.  Cut red pepper in half lengthwise and remove stem and seeds.  You do not need to pre-bake the peppers.  Dice mozzarella cheese.  In a small bowl combine cheese with  squash and rice.  Cut squash into smaller pieces if too large for the peppers.  Divide mixture in half and fill each pepper half.  Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese and bake 40 minutes until peppers are tender and cheese is slightly browned on top.

Winter may not be hard to say good-bye to but local winter squash will be missed, until next year.

Breakfast of Pure Champions

Switch out a few things to purify your breakfast habits and you will feel it around your waistline and around 10am when your energy reserves are still there for you.     

Lunch for Breakfast   
Many Americans consume over half of their daily sugar quotient by 9am.  Cereal, toaster cakes and tarts, energy bars and functional drinks provide a quick meal that promises to jump start the day but by mid-morning our bodies are wondering when the next sugar hit is coming.  The front of the box says its wholesome but you know you should be reading the label on the back to get the full picture.  Still, this is what we see in the grocery aisle marked breakfast so it’s got to be good for us, right?

Instead of sitting down to dessert every morning, try something really revolutionary: lunch.  Widen your idea of what a breakfast sandwiches can be.   A ham sandwich on rye, turkey on whole wheat,  peanut butter and bananas on multi-grain toast, grilled cheese with tomatoes, avocado or red peppers can all qualify as breakfast. They are fast, portable and will give you more staying power through morning meetings and classes.  If you like eggs but don’t have time to scramble some in the morning, scoop some pre-made egg salad or sliced hard boiled eggs and sliced tomatoes on a hard roll and head out the door.

With a few extra minutes you can assemble a mini whole wheat pita pocket filled with Canadian bacon, a fried egg or egg white and an ounce of cheddar cheese.  This is a first class treat and packed with long-lasting, valuable foods.  You can make a batch of these and freeze them individually in aluminum foil for a toaster-oven breakfast sandwich ready in minutes. My mother taught me to make open-faced Swiss cheese melts over grilled mushrooms and rye toast.  Sauté extra mushrooms tonight and have a fast elegant breakfast tomorrow.  What do all of these sandwiches have in common?   Some protein with a whole grain carbohydrate.  Some even pack in a little dairy.  That and the fact that you can pronounce every ingredient in your breakfast.

Blender Breakfasts
Energy drinks are easy to grab on the go from convenience stores and vending machines but did you know that low fat milk (also widely available) has the perfect balance of protein and carbs for replenishment?  Just make sure you get the real thing, not an enhanced version (which generally means added sugar).  You can also get serious benefits from downing a, 8-ounce shot of low-fat chocolate milk.  For those with bigger ambitions and a blender try these quick morning smoothies:

For chocoholics, a Chocolate Monkey smoothie….
Thank the banana for no added sugar and a nice dose of potassium.
6 oz low-fat or non-fat milk
1 small ripe banana, cut in chunks )try a frozen one)
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Add half the milk and the banana to the blender and mix on low until the banana is smooth.  Add remaining ingredients. 


For fruit lovers, a Freezer Fruit smoothie is available year round.  Because the fruit is frozen it thickens the shake naturally. 
6 oz low-fat or non-fat milk
4 oz fruit juice (orange juice, pineapple, pomegranate, cranberry)
1 cup frozen fruit: mangos, peaches, berries, any combo
2 teaspoons honey
1/4 teaspoon almond or vanilla extract
Blend all ingredients together first on low, then for a few seconds on high to get a frothy mixture.

Toasties

Think your toaster strudel is doing the trick? Sure, it’s fast and satisfies a sweet tooth’s craving for energy but you could do better.  Try a fruit and cream cheese burrito with a cinnamon spiked all-fruit spread.  You’ll get an immediate lift plus more long lasting back-up ingredients.   Assemble the night before and heat it in the toaster oven or eat it straight from the fridge. 

Toasted Fruit Burrito
1 whole wheat tortilla
1 ounce cream cheese or ricotta cheese (heaping tablespoon)
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
Dash vanilla extract
1/2 sliced fruit of your choice—peaches, pears, mango, baked apple, berries, etc
1 tablespoon jam or all-fruit spread- any flavor

Spread the jam on tortilla, leaving a two inch edge.  Next spread a layer of cream cheese or ricotta cheese over jam.  Pile fruit down center of tortilla, leaving edges clear.  Roll tortilla into a burrito by folding the bottom edge over the fruit. Fold the sides over perpendicular to that edge and close burrito by bringing top flap over the three folded edges.  Refrigerate overnight and take it on the road or heat in a toaster oven until the tortilla is crisped and the filling is warm.  Enjoy.

Have Your Bagel and Eat It Too
Have you noticed things getting larger?  The average size of a bagel has almost doubled.  Cut you bagel in half and slather on a full ounce of low fat cream cheese.  It’s the cream cheese that is holding the bagel and you together for the morning not the excess bread.  An ounce of low fat cream cheese has 2 grams of protein, 4% of your calcium requirements and about 55 calories.  If you choose a (normal-sized) bagel with some whole grains you can add in another 6-7 grams of protein.

Speaking of protein, take a road trip to England or South America where beans are on the breakfast menu.  Baked beans on toast and black beans on a corn tortilla both pack a wallop of protein and taste great plain or with a poached egg on top. 

94% say breakfast is most important meal but only 43% eat breakfast…
Many dieters make calorie cuts at breakfast.  Turn this idea on its head today.  Instead of trimming the life out of the early part of your day, feed your body and supply it with what it needs to get through the day. It’s much more fun to add up then cut back when it comes to calorie counting. By ensuring you have enough energy and nutrition reserves at the start of the day you will not be tempted to overeat at lunch and during the afternoon.  I aim for at least 300-350 calories in real foods by 10 am every day.

Dessert- The End
Enjoy cereal but put it in its proper place: dessert.  Serve it after dinner with milk and dried fruit (try warm milk).  Crunch it up on top of fresh fruit and bake it to make a cereal fruit crisp and add ice cream or frozen yogurt.  Layer it into a parfait-to-go with plain yogurt and berries as an after school snack.  And when the box is empty, take a fresh look at the cereal aisle and in the natural food section of your grocery store for something with less sugar to try in desserts next month.

Winter Salads, the Promised Part 2

Spring is around the corner but bountiful salads still seem a long way off. While we wait for the last of the snow to melt, here is Winter Salads, Part 2.  How to make a Single Vegetable Salad, Vegetable Antipasto from jars and a classic pairing of pear and blue cheese accented with cayenne-sugared walnuts. 

Single Vegetable Salads
Create a single vegetable salad when you see a really good vegetable standing out among winter weary ones.  The result is better when you simplify and focus on a single good flavor rather than hope for the best with a collection of mediocre ones.  Good candidates in the cold months are mushrooms, cucumbers or radishes. Create a star out of a modest item with a simple marinade or dressing.

Cucumber Salad
Serves 4
1 English cucumber (or 3 Kirby cucumbers)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Greek yogurt or low-fat sour cream
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon dried dill (or 1 teaspoon fresh, chopped)

Wash cucumbers and peel if skin is tough. If you are using waxed cucumbers, peel them. Cut cucumber into thin slices using a chef’s knife or mandolin.  Toss cucumber slices with salt and let stand in a colander over a wide dish at least 15 minutes (and up to several hours).  Pat cucumbers with a towel to remove excess liquid. This prevents the cucumber juice from weeping into the sour cream and thinning down dressing.   (You may skip this step and add a pinch of salt to the dressing if you are eating the salad immediately.) Combine yogurt or sour cream with vinegar.  Add cucumbers and toss to coat.  Store covered in refrigerator until ready to serve.  This is a nice side salad with beef goulash and stews. 

Radish Salad
Serves 4
1 cup radishes
2 tablespoons water
1/4 teaspoon each salt and sugar

Cut cleaned radishes into thick slices or sections.  Mix water with salt and sugar in a small bowl.  Add radishes and toss to coat. Marinate about half on hour. The mild sweet-salty bath balances the bite of radishes. Serve with miso baked salmon or grilled fish. 

Marinated Mushroom Salad
Serves 4-6
1 pound mushrooms (button or Bella)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons sherry vinegar (OK to substitute apple cider vinegar or experiment with another flavored vinegar like tarragon or fig)
Several springs of fresh thyme
Salt and pepper

Wipe mushrooms clean.  If mushrooms are bite-sized, leave whole.  Cut larger mushrooms in halves or quarters.  Toss remaining ingredients together to create a simple vinaigrette.  Add mushrooms and mix well.  Allow mushrooms to marinate at least two hours or overnight to infuse dressing into mushrooms. Serve with roast chicken and a whole grain bread.  

At this time of year, we often get a “Spring shower” of heavy snow that takes trees and power lines down.  Densely populated areas get higher priority during outages and those of us in rural spots have learned to be prepared for 3-4 day outages.  I have a power outage pantry that helps us through these trying times.  Perishable foods find their way to a large cooler on the back porch to sit out the storm.  The propane-fueled camping stove comes out and simple boiled meals that clean up easily include soft and hard boiled eggs, rice, noodles, steamed fresh vegetables and poached chicken.  Salad is created from vegetables—frozen, jarred and canned.

You don’t need a stormy day to enjoy this Antipasto Vegetable Salad.  It will lift your spirits on any busy day.  Everything can be tossed together in one bowl with an Italian vinaigrette dressing or create a salad compose, that is laying out each ingredient on a platter over greens to create a pretty landscape of color and texture.  Guests can select their favorites to create their own salads. Pass the vinaigrette separately.  This salad makes sense with an Italian entrée like lasagna, turkey picatta or osso buco and with a protein added can become a main dish.

Vegetable Antipasto
Pick five of your favorites from the list below of jarred and canned vegetables. You can use more but combine at least three in this salad.  Drain the vegetables well and, unless packed in a marinade, and rinse them to remove any excess sodium from the canning process.  Arrange bite sized pieces on a beautiful platter.  Place a layer of greens underneath if you’d like.  Drizzle the arrangement with a little extra virgin olive oil and cracked pepper.  Some balsamic vinegar is also nice with this salad if you don’t feel like making a dressing. 

Roasted red peppers
White beans or lupini
Garbanzo beans
Oil cured or brined and marinated olives
Artichoke hearts, plain or marinated (OK to use frozen that are briefly steamed to thaw)
Italian peppers like peperoncini or Tuscan peppers
Caponata (eggplant)
Marinated mushrooms
Sun dried tomatoes packed in olive oil
Hearts of palm
Asparagus

If you’d like to add some protein for a main course salad I recommend any of the following:
Cheese- sliced mozzarella, cubed fontina
Tuna packed in olive oil
Thinly sliced salami, prosciutto, mortadella or speck

Canning returned to popularity recently and if you gave it a try, you probably have additional canned vegetables that fit into an antipasto.  If you are interested in trying canning when this summer’s backyard crop comes in, I recommend Eugenia Bone’s book Well-Preserved in which she not only provides excellent canning instructions and recipes but also shows you how to use your home canned goods in elegant meals. 

The Classic

Pear, blue cheese and walnut salads are year round stand-byes.  Like apples, pears are available most months and some interesting varieties emerge as the year turns.  When pears are a little hard, a light poaching in white wine and water brings them around.  I also love to roast them Jeremiah Tower style—halved, rubbed with a bit of salt and roasted on heavily sugared parchment paper.  It takes about 45 minutes to an hour for the flavor to intensify and concentrate as the pears roast at 300˚F.

Whenever good-looking Bibb or Boston lettuce is in I love to make this salad.  If things are running late, I’ll toast the walnuts but with a little more time, I make cayenne-sugared walnuts.  They provide very subtle heat to the salad and the sweetness balances the tannins in the nuts.  Be sure to hide these treats pre-dinner since they also make great nibbles with a cocktail.   Or cook a few extra and hold back the ones you need for the salad.  They keep well in an airtight container for a couple of days.

Pear Blue Cheese Walnut Salad
Serves 4
1 large head Boston or Bibb lettuce (or 2 small heads)
2 pears, cored and thinly sliced (roasted, poached or au natural)
2-3 ounces blue cheese (Danish blue or hard blue you like)
1/2-3/4 cup walnuts, toasted (cayenne-sugared walnuts instructions below)

Clean and dry lettuce leaves.  Tear into large pieces and arrange on individual salad plates.  Arrange half a sliced pear over each salad and sprinkle with blue cheese and walnuts.  Serve salad with a simple vinaigrette of olive oil and lemon juice in a 4 to 1 ratio flavored with salt and pepper.

Cayenne-Sugared Walnuts
1 cup walnuts- whole and halve pieces
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Melt butter in a small skillet over medium heat.  Add sugar and stir until melted into butter.  Add walnuts to pan.  Cook walnuts in sugar butter stirring gently to keep them coated until sugar begins to caramelize.  At that point, sprinkle nuts with cayenne and remove from heat.  Restrain yourself from over spicing the nuts even if you like hot and spicy flavors. The subtlety of the heat is what makes these special and too much heat will overpower the other flavors in the salad.  Spread the coated walnuts on wax paper and allow to cool.  Store in an air tight container (if they last more than one night).

If you'd like to learn more about preserving and canning link to Eugenia Bone's Denver Post blog.