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.

Make a Diference

OK, so In Defense of Food turns out to be a little harder to get through than The Omnivore's Dilemma.  Maybe I need the young readers edition from here on out!  You know it's bad when you're only on page 60 when you get the reminder email from the library telling you that the book is due.  But I renewed it and I will carry on...

Although I haven't been reading much, I have been teaching a lot of cooking classes lately and love sharing info about simple changes that people can make to eat and be healthier.  During this time I've also, like many of us, been watching the car crash that has been the debt ceiling debate.  I was struck by one report about how our growing health care costs are crippling our country.  It can't be denied.  We are becoming more and more unhealthy, and I firmly believe our food - the kind and the amount that we eat- is at the root of it all.  So I've put together a few of my simple changes:

1) Eat real food...not processed, not packaged.  If it doesn't have a bar code, a list of ingredients and the dreaded "food label, it is a whole food.  Think vegetables and fruit.  Eat those up!
2) Get rid of the white stuff...white rice, "enriched" pasta, white bread, white sugar...all of that stuff. Your  nanna was right when she said, "The white the bread, the quicker your dead.."
3) Dump the soda. And don't be fooled by flavored water; make your own. Fill a pitcher with water and add lemon and cucumber slices to it...drink that instead.  Nothing unnatural about it.  Every time I hear someone complain about having a headache or feeling tired, I ask when they last had a glass of water.  The answer is usually hours ago or not at all.

We'll stop there.  It's just three simple things to try.  I've got a lot more, but let's just try those three for now.  Make a commitment to give it a go for a week, and see how you feel.  I think you'll be surprised at how easy it is and how much better you'll feel.  I have a friend who adopted these ideas and after a few months, her blood pressure was back to normal after 5 years of being in the dangerously high range.

We may not balance the budget with these 3 rules, but it's a start at being healthier.  And that is just as important to me.....