A Scrumptious Season

Pretty soon it'll be all root vegetables, winter squash and kale, but right now the season is giving us a nice bridge.  So I put together a yummy Farm to Table class tonight.  Let's start with Dill-Spinach Dip, getting rid of my old childhood friend, mayo, and substituting Greek yogurt.  So creamy good.... dill and lemon zest gives it a bright flavor, and water chestnuts give it a nice crunch.

Next, I'm back in soup mode with Butternut-Apple Soup.  There are so many great ways to make a butternut squash soup: with curry, with cream, with green chiles, with sage, with roasted red peppers.  My favorite remains the old stand-by, with apples.  I like Granny Smith for their tartmess.

For the main dish, we made Orange Glazed Salmon with Basmati Brown Rice and Herb & Panko Stuffed Tomatoes.  I'll be so sad when tomtoes go away.  It's a loooong lonely winter and spring without these lovelies, so get them in while you can.  I'll still let canned tomatoes into my house every once in a while for tomato soup, but I'll miss eating the real thing in salads, salsas, on crostini, and roasted like tonight.

Couldn't imagine giving you just one recipe, so here they all are..... Enjoy!

Spinach-Dill Dip

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons chopped shallots

2 scallions, thinly sliced

1 teaspoon minced garlic

6 ounces frozen spinach, thawed and drained (or 5 bunches fresh leaves)

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

½ teaspoon fresh lemon zest

½ cup Greek yogurt

1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill

Pinch salt

¼ cup chopped water chestnuts

·         Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. 

·         Add shallots, scallions and garlic and cook, stirring often, until fragrant, about 1 minute.

·         Stir in spinach and cook about 2 minutes.

·         Place spinach mixture into a food processor; pulse until roughly puréed, about 5 pulses.

·         Add lemon juice, zest, yogurt and dill, and pulse to combine.

·         Add water chestnuts and season with salt to taste.

Butternut Squash Soup     Serves 6

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

1 cup chopped onion

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 3-lb butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed

2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and chopped

4 cups vegetable broth

2 teaspoons maple syrup

1 teaspoon minced ginger

Salt & pepper to taste

Pinch nutmeg or cayenne

·         Heat oil and butter in a medium stock pot over medium heat.

·         Add onion and celery and sauté 5-8 minutes until tender; careful not to let them brown.

·         Add garlic and sauté 1-2 minutes more.

·         Add squash, apples, and broth.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer 20-25 minutes.

·         Add maple syrup and ginger, stirring to combine and cook 5 minutes more.

·         Season to taste with salt & pepper, and add a pinch of nutmeg (for sweet) or cayenne (for spicy).

·         Use an immersion blender to puree (or a blender or food processor).

Orange Glazed Salmon   Serves 6

1/3 cup orange marmalade

1/3 cup fresh squeezed orange juice (from 2 valencia oranges)

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

2 teaspoon orange zest

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon minced ginger

1 teaspoon maple syrup

1 ½ pounds salmon, cut into 6 pieces

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

·         In a small bowl, combine marmalade, juice, mustard, zest, garlic, ginger, and maple syrup.

·         Season salmon with salt and pepper and place in a large Ziploc bag.  Cover with marinade and refrigerate for 1 hour. (Citrus juice begins to “cook” protein, so don’t marinate for more than 1 hour)

·         Preheat broiler and place salmon (discard marinade) on baking sheet or roasting pan.

·         Broil 6-8 inches from heat for 5-8 minutes until opaque and cooked through.

Roasted Stuffed Tomatoes   Serves 6

3 large heirloom tomatoes

1 ½ cup panko

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

2 tablespoons+ olive oil

Parmesan cheese

·         Preheat broiler.

·         Cut tomatoes in half horizontally and scoop out the seeds and flesh.

·         Place in a baking dish or pan and broil until lightly browned, just a few minutes.  Let cool.

·         Set oven temp to 350˚.

·         In a bowl mix panko, garlic, oregano, thyme, salt and pepper; add enough olive oil to moisten the mixture.

·         Fill cooled tomato halves with panko mixture, drizzle with a little olive oil, and top with a shaving of parmesan cheese.

·         Bake 5-10 minutes until browned.



Crazy for Pumpkin!

I grew up sure that I didn't like pumpkin.  Not like how I grew up thinking I didn't like coconut, only to realize in my 20's that I DID like coconut.  When I was a kid my dad told me that I didn't like coconut, so that he could eat all my Mounds and Almond Joy candy on Halloween.  But noone lied to me about pumpkin, least of all my taste buds.  But as I discovered with my Roasted Pumpkin Soup test last week, if you leave out the cloves and the allspice, I might just love it.

So I played around with an old Martha Stewart recipe for Chicken Enchiladas in Pumpkin Sauce.  I turned it into a layered casserole and added a few more ingredients to it.  I was going to make it for one of my clients, but it looked so good, I kept it for myself!!  I love making a big casserole and having lunch and dinner in a flash the rest of the week.  But with something this good, it takes a lot of willpower to get the portion control in check!

Start with covering the bottom of a casserole dish with pumpkin sauce.  Layer tortillas over the sauce and top with a mix of shredded chicken, sliced olives, diced green chiles, sliced scallions and a little cheese.  Top with more tortillas (I prefer corn) and the other half of the chicken mixture.  Top with more tortilas and cover with pumpkin sauce and (of course) cheese.

It bakes up in about 25 minutes, which you've got to love!  And if you buy one of those rotisserie chickens (preferably organic), you can get it in the oven in just the time it takes to open a couple cans of olives and green chiles.  Well, there's the pumpkin sauce, but that's pretty much a no-brainer, too. And boy, is it ever yummy...

Chicken Enchiladas with Pumpkin Sauce
Serves 6
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon coriander
salt & pepper
6 scallions, thinly sliced
1 small can sliced olives
1 small can diced green chiles
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 15 ounce can pumpkin puree
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
2 teaspoons chopped garlic
1 teaspoon chipotle chile powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1/3-1/2 cup milk
12 corn tortillas

• Preheat oven to 400.
•  Season both sides of chicken with cumin, coriander, salt and pepper
• Heat olive oil in a large skillet and cook chicken over medium high heat to 165 degrees.  When cool enough to handle, shred.
• In a large bowl combine cooked chicken, scallions,olives, and green chiles.  Season with salt & pepper.
• In a blender combine pumpkin puree, jalapeno, garlic, chili powder, and cumin.  With motor running, slowly add milk to get the consistency you prefer.
• Cover bottom of baking dish with pumpkin sauce.  Top with 4 tortillas, half the chicken mixture and 1/3 cup cheese.
• Top with 4 more tortillas, the remaining half of chicken mixture, and 1/3 cup cheese.
• Cover with remaining 4 tortillas and pour sauce over the top.  Sprinkle with remaining 1/3 cup cheese.
• Bake 20-25 minutes until heated through.

I make a little spicy crema, mixing Greek yogurt and Siracha (or any hot sauce), and put a couple dollops on top.

It's Soup Season!

I'm reviewing a cookbook for my local paper called Superfood Cuisine: Cooking with Nature's Most Amazing Foods, by Julie Morris.  When I was in the Natural Chef program at Bauman College, I referred to these foods as "weird food."  I was introduced to a whole new world of ingredients that I'd never heard of, let alone eaten.  And it didn't kill me...so I was excited to review Morris' book and try some new foods.

Overall I love the book, and I can't wait to cook my way through more of it.  My review focused on the soup recipes.  The first one was a Tomato & Quinoa soup.  It was easy and quick, but the taste was flat.  I added my good friend, smoked sweet paprika, and it helped give the flavor a boost.

Next, I was salivating over the Chipotle Chili with Avocado Sour Cream recipe.  It's a wonderful chili if you leave out the wakame flakes.  The recipe called for 2 "heaping" tablespoons of the sea vegetable, and it overpowered the dish.  I felt like I swallowed a mouthful of the sea!  The avocado cream, however, is out of this world!  Dairy-free, and simple as can be: 2/3 cup raw cashews, 2/3 cup water in a small blender; add 1 peeled, chopped avocado,2 tablespoons lime juice and 1/2 teaspoon salt and blend into a whip.  Soooooo good.  I was putting it on everything I could think of!

I wanted to try one more recipe, hoping to find one that I would love as is, and I found it in Roasted Pumpkin Soup.  I've never really liked pumpkin, but I think it's because I don't like pumpkin pie - cloves creep me out.  The ingredients in the soup looked delish, so I decided to give it a try, and it paid off.  This soup is creamy, sweet and nutty, and is a fantastic source of antioxidants, Vitamin A and C,.  Dig in.....

Roasted Pumpkin Soup

Makes 4 servings

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1 cup sweet yellow onion, diced (about ½ medium onion)

2 large garlic cloves, minced

3 cups roasted sugar pie pumpkin, chopped into 1” chunks

1 ½ teaspoons smoked paprika (or regular paprika)

½ teaspoon sea salt

2 cups light coconut milk

1/3 cup pineapple juice

1 tablespoon yacon syrup, plus extra for serving (or 1 ½ teaspoon agave syrup, plus extra for serving)

1 tablespoon maca powder

Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

Warm the coconut oil in a large pot over medium heat.  Add the onions and garlic and cook for 4-5 minutes, or until onions begin to turn translucent.  Add the pumpkin, paprika, and sea salt, and cook for a couple minutes longer, stirring constantly.  Pour in the coconut milk, pineapple juice, and 1 tablespoon yacon syrup.  Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer.  Cover, and cook for 15 minutes, or until vegetables are soft.

Transfer to a blender and add the maca powder.  Puree the soup until smooth, then taste and adjust seasonings if desired.  To serve, ladle soup into a serving bowl, drizzle with yacon syrup, and top generously with freshly cracked pepper.

How to Roast a Pumpkin

Preheat oven to 375°.  Cut the pumpkin in half and remove the seeds and stringy matter.  Place the pumpkin, flesh side up, on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and season with a couple pinches of sea salt and black pepper.  Rub in ½ tablespoon of coconut oil an each pumpkin half, then flip the halves over to sit flesh-side down on the pan.  Place in the oven and roast until the skin has begun to brown and the flesh is tender – about 45-50 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool.  When cool enough to handle, use a spoon to scoop out the flesh for use and discard the skin.

They Made It!

I'm sure you've been on the edge of your seats wondering the fate of my two little tomatoes.  Well, they managed to survive.  Not quite the crop I was hoping for, but there's always next year.

The first time I ever ate tomoatoes from someone's yard, they were served simply sliced and sprinkled with salt.  I'd never eaten a better tomato.  Sometimes simple is best.

And sometimes a pizza with tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, leeks and goat cheese is best.

Trader Joe's makes yummy pizza dough in a few different flavors; I chose herb & garlic.  Seemed like a perfectly good place to put my tomatoes.  Tomatoes like hanging out with jalapeno peppers and onion, and I like hanging out with goat cheese (as we are all aware), so this pizza idea is a win-win.

I drizzled olive oil on the dough and then seeded and sliced a couple large jalapeno peppers, the white part of one leek and my two little tomatoes.

I like using goat cheese for two reasons: 1) goat milk is very similar to mother's milk, so our bodies deal with it better than cow's milk (and cheese); a lot of people who have trouble with dairy can actually eat goat dairy products. 2) goat cheese (or chevre) has a great, bold flavor, so you don't need to use much.  I only used about 2 ounces on the pizza...and we know what a cheese hound I am, but it was the perfect amount.

The pizza bakes up in 8- 10 minutes, depending on how thick or thin you roll it.  The dough needs 20 minutes to rest before adding your toppings, but that gives you plenty of time to chop up your veggies.  Throw together a little salad while the pizza bakes and voila!  It's a great way to add lots of veggies to your diet in a simple, delicious way.  I'm already thinking about my next creation...maybe butternut squash, sage, and shallots, topped with a little watercress.  So many possibilities....

Cooking Outside the Box

Last Sunday was my final cooking demo for the season at the Marin farmers' market.  I wanted to go out with a bang, so I fixed one of my favorite creative dishes, a sauteed cantaloupe sauce served over quinoa pasta.

I've never been a big fan of cantaloupe; I think it's a texture thing.  But a year or so ago I saw a recipe for a sauce using cantaloupe that was so unique, I had to give it a try.  If you saute chopped cantaloupe in olive oil, it releases its juices and creates a velvety sauce.  It's fairly sweet, so the addition of tomato paste not only turns it a beautiful color and thicken it up a bit, but lends a nice savory balance to the sweetness.  It also ups the nutrient quotient nicely.  Tomatoes actually become more nutritious the more they are cooked, so tomato paste is one of the most concentrated sources of  lycopene, a powerful antioxidant and potential cancer fighter.  And combining olive oil with tomatoes helps the body better absorb the nutrients.

Take a note from Michael Pollan's Food Rules and get out of the supermarket on this one.  Hit your local farmers' market and take advantage of the gorgeous variety of heirloom tomatoes to add color and dimension to this sauce.

The first time I made this, I used a cantaloupe from the grocery store.  This time of year, however, there are some great melons available at the farmers' markets, and I've been using a Charlynne melon.  It's a little lighter in color and sweeter than a traditional cantaloupe. I'm glad I discovered a way to eat cantaloupe because, like tomatoes, it's a powerful antioxidant and helps to fight free radicals, but most compelling to me is that just one slice of cantaloupe has more beta-carotene (it's one of the richest sources) and Vitamin C than your body can even use in a day.

Just a word about the nutrition stuff:  we hear about antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, etc. and while I'm sure we all realize they're good for us and we should eat foods full of them, do we really know what they do for us?  So let me tell you about the two powerhouses of cantaloupe that I just mentioned.  Our bodies convert beta-carotene into Vitamin A, which is crucial in the production of cells that fight disease.  Vitamin C protects our immune system and helps protect us against heart disease, certain cancers, and the ever-annoying cold.

So now you know...

I also took advantage of another seasonal favorite, peppers, in this dish.  Larry at Triple T Farm in Santa Rosa first turned me on to padron peppers a couple months back.  LOVE them; small crumpled peppers that are mild and sweet, except for the 1 in 10 that's spicy.  I started putting them in everything I cooked.  Last month he introduced me to Shishito peppers (pictured above).  They are very similar to padrons in every way, except for the wayward spicy one.  Just sweet and delicious.  Seek them out and give them a try....

Sautéed Cantaloupe Sauce                                                                                                                         Serves 6

3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, divided

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

¼ cup chopped shishito or padron peppers

1 cantaloupe, peeled, seeded and cut into bite-sized pieces

2 tablespoon tomato paste

1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

¼ cup milk or half & half

2 teaspoons lemon zest

Salt & pepper to taste

1 cup diced heirloom tomatoes

¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

1 lb. cooked pasta of your choice

·         Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in large skillet over medium high heat.

·         Add onion and peppers, and cook 3-5 minutes until onions start to soften.

·         Add remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and cantaloupe.  Sauté 10 minutes until a chunky sauce starts to form.  (You can add some of the starchy pasta in lieu of the olive oil to cut the fat).

·         Add tomato paste and smoked paprika, and cook an additional 2-3 minutes.

·         Remove from heat and add milk or half and half and lemon zest, stirring to combine.

·         Season with salt & pepper

·         Toss with cooked pasta and top with chopped tomatoes, and cheese if desired.

P.S. I didn't add any cheese!  It doesn't need it, it's so good!!

Day One of Cheese-Free (Almost)

Yesterday was my first official day of trying to break up with cheese.  Easy enough at breakfast... a bowl of Trader Joe's Organic Honey Crunch n' Oats.  I had to look through A LOT of labels on boxes of cereal to find this one with only 6 grams of sugar; most cereals are more like dessert than a nutritious start to your day.

Then for lunch I made a loaded tuna salad: capers, pepperonccini, kalamata olives, celery, scallions and chopped walnuts with Greek yogurt, dijon and cider vinegar.

Feeling good; thinking "this isn't so hard."  I'm sure plenty of you go many days in a row with no cheese, and it's not even a thought or consideration..... but I have "a problem" when it comes to cheese (admitting it is the first step, they say), so for me it takes a lot of thought..

I was thankful that I was going to a party at my friend Jeannine's house that night, so I didn't need to think through another meal.  As long as it wasn't a fondue party, I'd be good.  And, lucky me, it was not a fondue party! The food was fabulous and plentiful...

It started with passed hors d'ouevres.  I was thrilled to partake of the tuna carpaccio and vegan samosas, and I did, with abandon!

...so far, so good.

When one of the lovely servers came by with a tray of interesting little bites, I let the description she gave go in one ear and out the other (not surprising for those who know me).  The tasty little nuggets were "grapes" (beautifully in season right now), "coated in chopped pistachios" (yum!) and "herbed....." - pop it in my mouth....swallow... savor - "goat cheese."  It  took three of them and about 20 minutes before I said, "Wait a minute.  What...did...she...say?   Darn you, cheese!  I told you to stay away from me."

Oh who cares; they were so creative, cute and yummy.

After that, I decided to play it safe with the one thing I recognized as being completely cheese-free.

Sure, it was just a one-night-stand, but I'm grateful to those peanut M&M's for making me forget about cheese for the rest of the night...

Loaded Tuna Salad

Serves 2

One 6.5 oz, can tuna in water

1/4 cup kalamata olives, chopped

1 tablespoon capers

1 tablespoon chopped pepperoncini

1 scallion, finely sliced

1 stalk celery, diced

2 tablespoons Greek yogurt

2 teaspoons dijon mustard (I love Trader Joe's brand - has a nice kick!)

2 teaspoons cider vinegar

pinch salt (to taste)

1 tablespoons chopped walnuts

Butter lettuce, cut into bite-sized pieces

• In a medium bowl use a fork to break up the tuna, adding olives, capers, pepperoncini, scallion, and celery
• Add yogurt, dijon and vinegar.  Stir to combine.
• Lay butter lettuce on each of two plates and top with tuna salad.
• Top each with chopped nuts.

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

We've all been there at one point...you know he's not good for you, but you just can't stay away.  When you're together it's delicious and wonderful.  But afterward, you get that bad feeling in the pit of your stomach.  Well that's where I find myself these days.  And the "he" in my life is......cheese.

I love cheese;  always have.  It started when I was a little kid with that cheese spread that came in a jar (what the heck WAS that?  Cheese in a JAR?).  Then in college I met Velveeta, that yummy, perfectly meltable block of who-knows-what.  I've graduated to  real cheese (hello Cow Girl Creamery!), but my dependence on it has become an issue.

For one, I think it's a culinary cop-out that I add cheese to so many dishes.  "This dish could use a little something. What is it?.....Oh yeah, cheese!" has become an all too familiar sentence in my kitchen. 

Secondly, I recently read The China Study, and it makes a very compelling argument for eliminating dairy from our diets. 

So I've decided to try a cheese-free week.  I know I can't completely break up with cheese forever, but I do think we need to see less of each other.  So let's start with Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms, shall we?

Scrape out the gills from two portobellos.  Brush both sides with a little olive oil and either bake or grill them, cut side down for a 3-5 minutes.

While they're cooking, chop some onion, carrot, bell pepper, and celery.  I also added the mushrooms stems, a few extra cremini mushrooms and a couple cloves of garlic.

Saute all the chopped veggies in a little olive oil, add some panko (better than regular breadcrumbs) and smoked paprika.  The smoked paprika is key; it makes everything taste better.  Smoked paprika is going to help me get over my breakup with cheese.

When the veggies are still crisp-tender, fill the portobellos and grill or bake for another 5 minutes.  Make a little salad on the side, and you've got a fantastic vegetarian dinner.

Whoops, did you notice that little bit of Gorgonzola on top?  Shoot! Well, I said that breaking up was hard.  I'll start my cheese free week tomorrow.....

One little tomato sitting in a tree....

Those who know me, even slightly, know that I have not been blessed with a green thumb (thank God I have 5 year-round farmers' markets in my county).  In fact, I often say that the only two things I can manage to keep alive are me and Maxx.  But last year I tried growing tomatoes for the first time.  And I was surprisingly successful.  So this year, feeling a little cocky, I busted out more plants.  I planted four in all....

And then there was one. It was like that Agatha Christie movie I saw as a kid, when one by one each guest was found murdered.  One by one, each of my plants was ripped at the base, leaving nothing but the metal cage that was meant to guide it as it grew to greatness.  I'm usually very happy to live in an area where people and wildlife live together, but when that wildlife messes with garden....not so happy. 

I had almost given up on the one remaining plant, figuring it's time was coming soon, too.  But yesterday I went out and saw not one, but two, little baby tomatoes hanging there.

So while you anxiously await the news about the fate of these two little juicy nuggets, I want to share with you a yummy recipe for my Blistered Tomato-Basil Pesto. Obviously I didn't use MY tomatoes, but a beautiful blend of yellow and red cherry tomatoes...

 A couple notes on my recipe:
1) I use walnuts instead of pine nuts, because I always have walnuts in my freezer and they are much less expensive than pine nuts.  No one has ever noticed the difference; in fact, most people who have had my walnut-basil pesto prefer it.

 2) I only use 1/4 cup of olive oil and then add water to get to the consistency that I want, dramatically cutting the amount of fat in the recipe.  Again, no one is the wiser, but your waistline will thank you.
3) Cooking tomatoes actually makes them more nutritious than eating them raw.  And the combination of tomatoes with olive oil (and when doesn't that happen?!) makes it easier for your body to absorb the nutrients, especially the lycopene.

So eat this up while you wait on the edge of your seat to see how my garden grows.... or doesn't.  And try it over quinoa pasta; I fixed this at the Marin farmers' market this weekend with quinoa pasta, and as people were enjoying the samples, I asked if they noticed a difference in the pasta; they all loved it.  Another great way to get more protein in your diet, but still eat meatless meals -if you're unfamiliar with it, quinoa (pronounced keen-wa) is a complete protein.  Enjoy!

Blistered Tomato-Basil Pesto                                                            Makes 2 cups

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes

¼ cup chopped walnuts

2 medium-sized garlic cloves, chopped

2 cups loosely packed basil

¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese

¼ cup olive oil

½ cup water

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

·         Heat 2 teaspoons olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat.

·         Add tomatoes and cook until skins begin to blister, about 5-6 minutes.  Remove from heat.

·         While tomatoes are cooking, place walnuts and garlic in a food processor process about 20 seconds.

·         Add basil and Parmesan and process until well combined.

·         With motor running, slowly pour the oil through the feed tube, followed by as much water as you need to reach deisred consitency.

·         Add tomaotes, pulsing to combine.  Season with salt and pepper.

Oooh-La-La!

I taught a French Bistro cooking class the other night... French Onion Soup, Roasted Beet Salad, Leek & Goat Cheese Souffle.  But my favorite was the Salad Nicoise Bites.  A traditional Salad Nicoise generally is a bed of lettuce covered with boiled new potatoes, steamed green beans, tomato wedges, hard boiled eggs, nicoise olives, then topped with tuna and garnished with anchovies and vinaigrette.

I wanted to make an appetizer out of this hearty salad. , since I already had the roasted beet salad on the menu.  I created a little tuna salad with albacore tuna, blanched haricot vert, capers, kalamata olives (easier to find and cheaper than nicoise olives), hard boiled eggs, and chives (or you could use chopped scallions).  I made a tangy vinaigrette and blended it into the tuna mixture.  The longer it sits, the more the flavors develop.....sooooo good!  Then I sliced the boiled red potatoes and topped them with a little of the salad.

It's a fun appetizer and can easily be made ahead.  It's also a perfect blend of protein, healthy fat, and complex carbs so it's fillling and keeps your blood sugar balanced at the same time.  Best of all, if you have leftovers (I make sure I make enough to have some the next day), the tuna makes a yummy sandwich - slice a baguette or use a sandwich roll, hollow out a well in the middle to hold the salad and spread with a little of Trader Joe's dijon mustard..... heaven on a plate!  I've never been a big tuna salad girl, but this tasty blend has changed all that!

Salad Niciose Bites                                                                              

8 small red potatoes

1 cup haricots vert

2 eggs

¼ cup white wine vinegar

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon chopped shallot

1 tablespoon chopped chives

¼ teaspoon salt

Pinch pepper

¾ cup olive oil

One 6 ounce can light tuna, packed in water and drained

10 pitted Kalamata olives

2 tablespoons capers, plus a little juice

·         Place the potatoes in a medium saucepan and cover with water by an inch.  Bring to a boil and cook 12 minutes.

·         Add haricot vert and continue cooking 3 minutes.  Remove haricot vert and run under cold water to stop cooking process.

·         If potatoes are fork tender, also drain and rinse in cold water to stop cooking.

·         Meanwhile place eggs in saucepan and cover with water by an inch.  Bring to a boil.  Immediately cover and remove from heat.  After 15 minutes, drain and rinse with cold water to stop cooking.  Peel and chop; set aside.

·         In a small bowl combine vinegar, mustard, shallot, chives, salt and pepper.  Slowly whisk in the olive oil.  Stir in chopped chives.

·         Coarsely chop the haricot vert, olives and capers.

·          In a medium bowl, combine the tuna with the vinaigrette, then stir in the bean mixture and fold the eggs in; season with salt and pepper.

      Cut the ends off the potatoes and discard. Cut each potato into 3-4 rounds and arrange on a platter. then top with the tuna mixture.

Salad Days

Went on a bit of a salad kick this week. A sweet couple came for their second cooking class and brought me some yummy  heirloom tomatoes from their garden.  Some people see tomatoes and think sauce; I think caprese salad.  Ooooooh it's one of the best things about summer!

Made this pretty little Caprese Stack... 2 types of tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and basil with a little olive oil and balsamic.  Almost too pretty to eat. Almost.

And then there's my caprese-panzanella union - the Caprazella Salad....

... the same ingredients in my caprese stack, but chopped up and tossed with cubed sourdough bread that I sauteed in a little olive oil and garlic.  It's a hard choice between the two, but I think this one wins; it's the best of both worlds.

Now, I'm a fan of warm salads.  I know I'm alone in that a lot of the time, but clearly I am the only sane persoon out there.  I love to brush romaine halves with olive oil and grill them, just a few minutes, til they get a nice little char on the cut side.  But this time I didn't feel like firing up the grill - too impatint and hungry - so I sauteed some onion slices, threw in some sourdough cubes (yes, again!  I bought a whole baguette, so what do you expect me to do with it?), a few different types of tomatoes, and then tossed the chopped romaine in the skillet.  You just want it warm enough to melt the goat cheese (or bleu cheese) that you sprinkle on top...

Man, I have to stop posting so late at night...it always makes me hungry!

Ahhhh, Squash Blossoms

A thousand years ago my sister came back from a trip to Italy and told me about stuffed squash blossoms... stuffed with cheese and then deep fried.  The whole deep-fried thing kept me away (not the cheese, of course), but those little stuffed beauties were never far from my thoughts.  It's like that bad boy you know you should stay away from, but can't stop thinking about.

Every summer, there they are at the farmers' market, staring at me, begging me to take them home.  Until this weekend, I resisted.  But I finally figured that deep frying couldn't be the only way to prepare squash blossoms.  So yesterday I went over to the  Star Route Farms booth and talked to Annabel.  She was familiar with people baking them, so she gave me a half dozen to try.

Pick large blossoms with petals in tact and cook them the same day you buy them, if possible.  I knew I couldn't get to them until today, so I laid them on a paper towel-lined plate in the fridge ovenight.  They wilt a bit, but they're still OK.

It takes a little delicate work to peel back the leaves, especially if you're working with them day two, but if I can do it, so can you.  You need to open up the blossom, so you can pull out the pistil in the center.  Then fill and bake.
I made a filling of goat cheese, lemon zest, lemon juice, dill, a little milk (to loosen up the cheese) and some brown rice.  Then I stuffed those cuties...

Don't stuff them all the way to the top; leave enough of the petals to wrap around the filling, twisting the tops when done to contain the filling.  Lay them in an oiled baking dish and turn to coat entire blossom with oil.

Bake for about 20 minutes until petals are lightly browned and beginning to crisp...you should be able to smell the light,tangy aroma of squash.  They make an easy, but beatiful and tasty appetizer... unless you eat all six, and then I called it "dinner."

Man-oh-man, why did I stay away so long???  I'm defintely going to see Annabel at Thursday's market and get some more.  Going to try making a squash blossom risotto or maybe a pasta sauce.

STUFFED SQUASH BLOSSOMS
Makes 6

2 ounces goat cheese
1 teaspoon chopped fresh dill
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
Pinch salt
1 teaspoon milk
1/4 cup brown basmati rice
6 zucchini squash blossoms

Preheat oven to 300.
In a small bowl combine cheese, dill, lemon juice, zest and salt.  Stir to combine and add milk to moisten. 
Add rice, stirring to combine. Stuff each blossom with filling.  Grease a baking dish with olive oil and turn blossoms in oil to coat all sides. Bake 20 minutes until blossoms are lightly crisp.

Keep It Simple

I've caught 5 Ingredient Fix on the Food Network a couple times recently, and it's inspired me to simplify my recipes.  For my cooking classes I like to introduce people to lots of different ingredients and techniques, so I find that my recipes are often not as simple as the things that I usually cook for myself.  But lots of ingredients don't necessarily equal better flavor.  Case in point, the delicious Smoky Chicken in Lemon Cream Sauce that I fixed today.  While I exceeded the "5 ingredients" of Claire's recipes (apparently I'm working on my own "8 Ingredient Fix" show), it's still a simple, yet flavorful dish.

I was inspired my the gynormous lemons my friend Janet gives me from her tree...

They are full of juice and have a pungent zest, so I wanted to create something yummy with this bad boy.  I had some leftover chicken from a class the other night and some half and half, so I immediately thought of a chicken in lemon cream sauce.  I cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces, seasoned them with salt & pepper and sauteed them in a little olive oil (oil, salt & pepper don't count in the 5 ingredient mix).  The color to me was a little boring, so I hit it with 1/2 teaspoon smoked sweet paprika (my newest love).  When fully cooked, remove from heat and keep warm. 
Next I added a tablespoon of butter (don't be afraid of butter; it wants to be friends, just not BEST friends), and scraped up all the delicious brown bits in the bottom of the skillet.  Next, stir in a teaspoon of flour followed by 3/4 cup of half and half.  Stir well and watch this beautiful sauce start to come together...

The paprika not only adds a little smoky flavor, but gives this a gorgeous creamy pumpkin color.  Now kick it up... add 2 teaspoons of lemon zest, 1/4 cup lemon juice, and a teaspoon fresh thyme leaves.  Return the chicken to the skillet and warm through.  Sprinkle on some sliced scallions and you are good to go!

I topped it with some sliced heirloom cherry tomatoes (any excuse to work those babies into a dish while they're in season) and served it over brown rice,. I think that the rice was a little heavy and took away from the bright, fresh flavor of the sauce; I would rather see it simply served over a bed of baby spinach.  Good thing I have leftovers.