Quinoa and Spinach Tabbouleh

Posted on June 9, 2011 by fjbnyc

Quinoa is a great alternative to Bulgur wheat for making tabbouleh–not that there’s anything wrong with bulgur.  I just happened to have a large bag of quinoa in the house, and tabbouleh sounds great on this very warm summer day.

It’s still spinach season, so I’ve added lots of chopped spinach, plus parsley, mint tomatoes, lemon and olive oil.  This is a bright, assertive but refreshing dish.  Diced cucumber would be great, although I don’t have any in the house today, so I skipped it.  I don’t add raw garlic or scallion because I don’t like them, although most recipes for tabbouleh call for one or the other.

This dish is great as a lunch on its own (sprinkled with some feta) or a side dish to grilled meat.  It’s great cold from the fridge or at room temperature.

Quinoa and Spinach Tabbouleh

serves 2 as a main course

2 cups cooked quinoa

2 cups chopped fresh spinach

1/4 cup coarsely chopped parlsey

1/4 c mint leaves, coarsley chopped mint leaves

1/2 pint grape tomatoes, sliced in half

1 cucumber, peeled and diced into 1/4″ cubes (optional)

juice of half a lemon

3 tbls extra-virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients and taste–add salt and pepper.

Posted in Salads | Leave a comment

Whole Wheat Pasta with Eggplant and Chicken Sausage

Posted on June 8, 2011 by fjbnyc

This dish begins with a tomato sauce containing eggplant and onion, which has simmered for 2 hours.  The eggplant melts and infuses the sauce with a sweet, silky but very earthy flavor that’s difficult to place as eggplant.   This sauce can be made ahead and frozen (as mine was).   The recipe below will make twice the sauce you’ll need for a pound of pasta, so once you finish making the sauce, put half aside and use at a later time.  Once the sauce is made, the dish goes quickly. 

 The addition of some delicate chicken sausage and ribbons of spinach make this a complete meal.  The sausage is boiled for about 10 minutes, then allowed to rest a few minutes while the pasta cooks.  The sausage is then cut into small pieces and added to the sauce.  The spinach goes into the sauce just as the pasta is done, and the whole dish is showered with ricotta salata.

Eggplant and ricotta salata are a very happy marriage.  If you’ve ever seen a recipe for “Pasta alla Norma” (don’t know the origin of the name), you’ve seen the combination.  This is my version of Norma’s pasta, with eggplant that is so silky and melting, you’ll even please your guests who claim they don’t like eggplant.

Whole Wheat Pasta with Eggplant and Chicken Sausage

serves 4 (with enough sauce left for another batch)

1 lb whole wheat spaghetti

1 large eggplant, peeled and diced into 1″ cubes

1 small onion, coarsely diced

4 tbls olive oil

2 28-oz. can whole peeled tomatoes, squeezed into a pulpy puree

1 lb chicken sausage, boiled for 10 minutes, then cut into 1″ pieces

10 oz fresh spinach leaves, cut into 1/2″ ribbons

ricotta salata for grating

salt and pepper to taste

In a dutch oven, heat olive oil, then add onion.  Saute for a minute until translucent.  Add eggplant cubes and saute for about 5 minutes, just until they begin to soften.  Add tomatoes and reduce heat.  Partially cover and simmer for 2 hours, until eggplant has melted and sauce is thick and rich.  Taste and add salt. 

Add sausage to sauce and simmer on low while pasta cooks.

When pasta is about 2 minutes shy of done, add spinach to sauce and let simmer until pasta is ready. 

Toss in pasta and about a cup of pasta cooking liquid (the sauce will be quite thick and can use a little thinning at this point).  Grate ricotta salata over the whole dish and drizzle with a bit more extra-virgin olive oil.

 

 

Posted in Pasta | Leave a comment

Spinach Salad, Italian Style

Posted on June 6, 2011 by fjbnyc

It’s amazing how far a bunch of spinach goes when you don’t cook it!   I’m still using that huge bunch of spinach from my local farmstand.  As I said before, it’s so delicate and mild, it lends itself to the lightest cooking (or none at all). 

I’ve always loved spinach salad with its slices of raw mushroom, bacon and blue cheese.  Tonight, instead of the raw mushrooms, I’m sauteing some portabello mushrooms, which are much more interesting and meaty than raw white mushrooms.

The key to clean-tasting portabello mushrooms is to remove the gills to prevent them from bleeding their black ink into whatever medium you’re cooking them in.  Simply take a teaspoon and scrape out the gills from the underside of the cap and discard them.

Once gills are removed, slice the mushrooms and saute on high heat in 2 tablespoons of olive oil with salt and pepper for about 5 minutes.

 

 To prepare the spinach, take the bunches of leaves and remove the lower stems and bases.  Set these aside–do not throw away–try  making the pasta recipe (below) with the stems.  Slice the spinach leaves into 1/2″ ribbons and wash in a deep bowl of cold water (deep enough for the leaves to float in the water so that the soil falls to the bottom of the bowl).  Repeat the washing until there is absolutely not a trace of soil on the bottom of the bowl.   Spin dry and place in a towel until ready to use.

Next prepare the roasted peppers as I outlined in my “Steak Salad” post.

Once the portabellos are sauteed and the peppers are roasted, proceed with the recipe below.

Spinach Salad Italian Style

serves 2

6 cups washed spinach cut into 1/2″ ribbons

1 lb portabello mushroom caps, prepared as outlined above

2 roasted peppers, cut into 1/2″ ribbons

1/4 lb bacon cubes, rendered in a skillet on low heat until crispy

2 – 3 oz. feta cheese for sprinkling

juice of half a lemon

2 tbls extra -virgin olive oil

 salt and pepper to taste

In a mixing bowl, dress the spinach with lemon juice, oil and salt. 

Pile on 2 large plates and top with the remaining ingredients, arranged in clusters.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Whole Wheat Pasta with Spinach Stems

Posted on June 4, 2011 by fjbnyc

This dish is a lesson in brilliant frugality taught to me by my mother.  One afternoon many years ago, I had come home from a farm stand and my mother was visiting.  I had bought a huge bundle of spinach, much like I had yesterday.  She asked if I wanted help washing it, but I didn’t want her working in the kitchen, so I asked her to just keep me company.  She silently watched as I separated all the light green lower stems from the dark green leaves.  I washed the leaves in three changes of water, and was about to slide the stems into the garbage disposal.   Unable to contain herself, she abruptly interrupted,  “you’re not going to throw those away, are you?!” 

She then donned an apron and into my boiling salted water went the stems.  She boiled those stems for about 8 – 10 minutes, then drained them.  She said she was going to make something special for me after I finished boiling the leaves.

After draining the stems (no squeezing necessary–just drain in a colander), she sauteed some garlic and chili flakes and some cubes of stale bread in olive oil with the spinach stems.  The stems were was sublime–bright green and much more delicate than the leaves–with none of the irony aftertaste on the palette.

Yesterday as I was cleaning spinach, I remembered my mother’s admonishment and I kept the stems and made this pasta.   I must say, it was as sublime as my mother’s sauteed bread cubes, and a little quicker–no boiling of the stems is necessary. 

Into a skillet with some browned sliced garlic throw the raw stems and saute while the pasta is boiling.  I’m using whole wheat spaghetti because I love it with any garlic-and-olive oil preparation.  It’s earthy flavor is the perfect complement to the bright green flavor of the spinach and the earthiness of the garlic and chili flakes.  Topped with a little ricotta salata for milkiness, this dish is fine enough to serve to guests.

Whole Wheat Pasta with Spinach Stems

serves 4

1 lb whole wheat spaghetti

Stems from about 3 lbs of fresh spinach, washed and cut into 2″ lengths

4 cloves garlic, sliced

10 mint leaves (optional)

6 tbls extra virgin olive oil + more for drizzling

1/2 tsp chili flakes

salt and black pepper to taste

ricotta salata for grating (optional)

grated pecorino romano for sprinkling at the table

Slowly brown the garlic while the spaghetti is boiling.  When there are 5 minutes left on the spaghetti, turn up the heat under the skillet with the garlic and add the spinach stems.  Saute for a few minutes, add in chili flakes and saute for another few seconds. 

Taste for salt and toss in mint leaves.  When pasta is done, toss into the skillet with the garlic, spinach stems and mint. 

 Grate ricotta salata over the top and toss.  Drizzle additional oil and serve with grated pecorino romano.

Posted in Pasta | 3 Comments

Steak Salad

Posted on June 3, 2011 by fjbnyc

I have some steak left over from last night’s meal (which was intentional) because I was looking forward to making this salad.  Though this is more American than Italian, it’s a wonderful way to make use of leftover steak and two local vegetables that are at their prime right now–spinach and asparagus.  

The salad is composed of sliced rare filet, roasted peppers, asparagus, tomatoes and blue cheese–all piled high on top of a mountain of spinach.  The dressing for the spinach is lemon juice, olive oil and salt. 

First, prepare the roast peppers–preheat the grill.  Take each pepper and slice off flat (as possible) sections, removing them from the center stem and seeds.  Lay those flat sections skin side up in a roasting pan lined with foil.

Next, place under the broiler and char the skins.  It’s important to char most of the surface of the peppers evenly all around–it makes peeling easier. 

Next, remove from oven, fold over the foil and crimp edges so that peppers steam in the tightly wrapped package.  When they’re cool enought to handle, rub off the skins with your fingers (you’ll notice that any areas that were not sufficiently charred will be stubborn to remove). 

Slice the peppers into strips and proceed with the recipe.

Next, lightly blanch the asparagus in boiling salted water and refresh in cold water.

Assuming you already have some perfectly grilled steak, you’re ready to assemble the salad. 

Steak Salad

serves 2

6 oz. rare filet mignon, sliced thin

6 cups spinach, washed, dried and sliced into 1/2″ ribbons

1 lb asparagus, blanched for about 2 minutes, then refreshed in cold water

2 roasted peppers, sliced into 1/2″ ribbons

1/2 pint grape tomatoes, cut in half

2 -3 ounces blue cheese (any variety you like)

juice of half a lemon

2 tbls olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

In a mixing bowl, dress the spinach leaves with lemon, oil and salt.  Taste for salt. 

Arrange asparagus in 3 piles on each plate.  Pile high with spinach.  Place steak on top.  Arrange other ingredients around steak.  Top with freshly ground black pepper.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Grilled Filet with Oyster Mushrooms, Asparagus and Quinoa

Posted on June 2, 2011 by fjbnyc

This is a quick weeknight dinner and I chose each of the components of this meal for their ease and quick prep time.  Tonight, I thought I’d show you the steps of how to make this meal from start to finish in under an hour.   

First,  preheat the grill and rub the filets with a little sliced garlic, rosemary and oil and allow them to sit at room temperature while you prepare the rest of the meal and the grill heats up.  

Next, prepare the quinoa:  saute 1 small onion in 2 tablespoons of olive oil until it begins to turn golden (about 5 minutes).  Add chicken broth (or, in my case tonight, 2 1/2 cups water and 2 chicken bouillon cubes).  Add in 2 cups quinoa, cover and simmer on low heat for 20 minutes.  Turn off heat and let quinoa remain in covered pot until dinner is served.

While the quinoa is cooking, make the oyster mushrooms:  peel the “petals”off the thick center trunk of the mushrooms and discard the tough (and dirty) trunk.  Pull apart the petals into small pieces.  In a broad  skillet, brown 3 sliced cloves of garlic in 6 tbls olive oil.  Add in the mushrooms and brown on high heat for about 5 minutes.  Add in a handful of mint leaves and salt and pepper to taste.  Set aside.  Don’t bother washing the skillet–simply remove it from the heat and set aside.

By this time, the grill is hot and the steaks are ready to grill.  Simply remove the garlic and salt them generously on both sides.  Place on grill for 6 minutes per side or until the internal temperature is around 135 degrees.  Allow them to rest for 5 minutes, then serve.

While the steaks are grilling, cook the asparagus:  no peeling or blanching tonight (they’re all pretty skinny spears, anyway).  Just bend the spears, snap them in half (where they want to break) and wash them in a bowl of cold water.  In the same skillet in which you cooked the mushrooms, on high heat, add in 2 tablespoons olive oil, the zest of half a lemon, and  4 tablespoons water.  It will boil in a minute–add in the asparagus,  cover and saute on high heat for about 3  minutes, lifting the lid and stirring from time to time.  Uncover and allow the water to evaporate.  Taste and add salt and black pepper.  They are done when stalks are crisp-tender (about 5 minutes total).

Remove the quinoa from the pot and sprinkle in a generous handful of parmiggiano cheese.  A very elegant dinner in less than an hour.

 

Posted in Meat, Vegetables | Leave a comment

Watermelon, Spinach and Feta Salad with Mint Vinaigrette

Posted on June 1, 2011 by fjbnyc

This salad is a perfect appetizer or brunch dish with which to celebrate the beginning of summer.  The sweet/ tart combination of watermelon with red wine vinegar and agave is a very light and cleansing combination.  The feta adds some saltiness and richness to all of the light and bright flavors. 

The watermelon is cubed, then combined with baby spinach and halved grapes, then topped with the vinaigrette below.  After dressing,  sprinkle each plate with some crumbled feta and more black pepper.

Mint Vinaigrette

 

serves 4

1 tbl red wine vinegar

2 tsp agave

2 tbl chopped fresh mint leaves

zest of 1 lemon

1 tbl extra-virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Stir the dressing in a bowl, then top the greens and toss.

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Graduation Weekend

Posted on May 26, 2011 by fjbnyc

I’m off to a weekend of festivity and celebration for a family member’s college graduation at Cornell.

Posts will resume early next week.

Happy beginning of summer!

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Broccoli and Potato Soup

Posted on May 25, 2011 by fjbnyc

To some people, “spring cleaning” implies a thorough sweep of every corner of a house from the inside out.    This week, I’ve been doing my own spring cleaning, not of my house–but of my freezer.  Among the many things in my freezer is the last of the fall produce that I bought in large quantity at the local farms, in hopes that I could hold on to local produce throughout the winter.  Now it’s time to start clearing out and making room for this coming summer.

As I mentioned several months ago, some vegetables freeze better than others–leafy greens like swiss chard and spinach do OK if they’re blanched, then shocked, then drained well before they’re frozen.  Kale does remarkably well, without a trace of being frozen.  Broccoli, on the other hand, loses its crunch and becomes totally waterlogged. Despite this, I continue to freeze it year after year, because although it loses some texture, it still keeps its flavor well enough to use in soup.  

Much like the frozen butternut squash I put in my chicken soup the other night, this broccoli will be the main ingredient in my (chicken) soup tonight, along with potatoes. 

I made a chicken broth with drumsticks.   To the chicken broth, I’ve added celery, onion, potatoes, carrots, broccoli and parsley stems.  The broccoli gets chopped finely, then simply added to the broth at the last minute, along with some cooked pasta (orrechiette or mezzi-rigatoni. 

The chicken meat gets taken off the bone and shredded, then added back into the soup.  It’s a wonderful green-tasting soup that reminds me that there are some things to look forward to at the end of summer and beginning of winter–like broccoli.

Broccoli and Potato Soup

serves 4

10 chicken drumsticks

1 onion

2 medium carrots, diced into 1/2″ cubes

2 ribs celery, sliced thinly, leaves included

2 yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/2″ cubes

8 parsley stems, tied with string, for easy removal

2 bunches frozen broccoli, chopped into 1″ pieces

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 lb cooked orrechiete

Place chicken in stockpot or dutch oven and cover with water by about 2″.  Bring to a simmer and remove froth that accumulates as the broth simmers.  Simmer for one hour, then taste and add salt.

Add in vegetables, except for broccoli.  Simmer vegetables for approx. 1/2 hour. 

 Add in broccoli and cooked pasta and warm through. 

Serve with plenty of grated parmiggiano.

Posted in Soup/Stew | Leave a comment

Sorrel Salad with Grapes and Ricotta Salata

Posted on May 24, 2011 by fjbnyc

Although sorrel is a strong green to use in salad, I’m tempering it with some arugula as well.  The salad is a simple sweet-tart combination of greens, grapes, caramelized walnuts and ricotta salata. 

The walnuts are easy enough to prepare–simply saute them in a dry skillet for a few minutes while tossing and stirring, until they begin to smell toasty.  turn off heat and drizzle on some agave and sprinkle with salt.  Remove from heat and allow to cool.

For the dressing, I’m using a combination of lemon juice and pomegranate balsamic vinegar–a condiment that a good friend gave me a couple of years ago, which I use sparingly from time to time.  You can substitute regular balsamic vinegar in its place, since I realize the pomegranate version is not easy to find, but it gives the dressing an extra layer of sweetness.

Since I used ricotta salata for my polenta with bitter greens the other evening, I have some in the house–it will give the salad the salty component which will cut through all the sweetness of the grapes, sweet walnuts and sweet dressing.  But all the sweetness is a necessary counterpoint to the intensely tangy, lemony sorrel leaves. 

Sorrel Salad with Grapes and Ricotta Salata

serves 4

2 cups sorrel leaves. tightly packed, washed and sliced into 1″ ribbons

2 small bunches arugula (about 4 cups tightly packed), washed, dried and sliced into 1″ ribbons

1 c grapes, sliced in half

1 c caramelized walnuts (see above)

juice of half a lemon

2 tsp pomegranate balsamic vinegar (or plain balsamic vinegar)

2 tbls extra-virgin olive oil

1 tsp agave

salt and pepper to taste

ricotta salata for shaving over salad

Toss greens with grapes and sprinkle with vinegars, agave and oil.  Toss and sprinkle with salt.  Top with shavings of ricotta salata, walnuts and black pepper.

 

 

Posted in Salads | Leave a comment