colorful golden beet-lentil-potato salad

This recipe is inspired by the warm lentil potato salad from Smitten Kitchen, plus my friend Biz's legendary pink potato salad with beets. This one has golden beets, which don't dye the rest of the salad pink. It's a perfect mix of salty, crunchy, tangy, and colorful. You pretty much follow the recipe for the warm lentil potato salad, but then add in some roasted beets, cut into small dice.

ingredients:
3 small golden beets, oven-roasted, peeled and cut into small dice
3 medium sized potatoes, boiled and cut into pieces
pickles (or cornichons) chopped small
capers, chopped
1/2 red onion, finely diced
dijon vinaigrette - olive oil, dijon, apple cider vinegar, pressed garlic clove, salt and pepper

lots and lots of roots - winter farm share ideas

So in addition to the beets accumulating in the bottom of the vegetable drawer, we got a whole bunch more roots this week. From left to right: beets, kohlrabi (technically not a root), carrots, sweet potatoes, celeriac, rutabaga, black radish. Sweet potatoes are always easy to use, and carrots (although I've noticed it's my most-common vegetable on the blog), but I needed to think about some of the others. After I put out a cry for help on Facebook, I got some good beet ideas. My friends must really like beets.

Ideas for cooking/using beets:

• Red Beet Piccata - a German recipe from my friend Philipp
• a lot of friends suggested pickled beets
• Biz's famous pink potato salad (Boil potatoes and chop into pieces, boil beets and chop into smaller pieces, chop pickles into the smallest pieces of them all! - and then add pickle juice and salt to taste)
• my sister reminds me: "Borscht, duh" (like this one from Jessica)
• beet with grapefruit and goat cheese salad (Brooke)
• shredded beet salad with feta (Katie G.) and pears and mint (Ben)
• beet chocolate cake (Kim) - here's a recipe for beet cupcakes I might have to try
• Then there's always red flannel hash...

What I made so far:
Deborah Madison's root vegetable ragout with a wild rice "pancake" topping (photo right) - I've made this recipe before: it's a deep vegetable casserole with a delicious crunchy topping. This time around, I used carrot, beet and rutabaga in this one, grated in seconds in the food processor (although the rest of the recipe does take a good 45 minutes to assemble).

Also beet potato salad (thanks Biz for the inspiration!)

Also beet veggie burgers - thanks to Abby for this recipe tip from The Kitchn

Any other great ideas? Roots? Anyone else ready for spring? :)

Jessica's sweet potato chickpea peanut stew - an easy winter meal

This recipe (from my friend Jessica) comes together so fast, is made in one pot (or crock pot), requires little chopping, and brings together delicious flavors. A real winner I keep making over and over since she first shared it with me. If you have some ginger, garlic, and a sweet potato on hand, you can probably make this with stuff you have in your pantry.

• 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (or about 2 cups from frozen)
• 1 sweet potato, cubed (I used 2)
• 1 1/2 t. curry powder
• 1/2-3/4 t. garam masala (depending on how spicy you like it)
• 1 t. cumin
• 1 T. minced ginger
• 2-3 cloves minced garlic
• dash of cinnamon
• 1 14 oz. can fire roasted tomatoes, in juice
• 1 can light coconut milk
• 2 c. vegetable stock (or 1 if using crock pot)
• 2 T. natural peanut butter
• 1/2 c. red lentils, drained and rinsed (can substitute quinoa, if desired)

Combine everything in a soup pot, bring to a boil, let boil for about 15-20 minutes, then put on low and simmer for about 1 hr. It's finished when the potatoes are nice and tender (and falling apart). If you have a crock pot, turn it on high for an hour, and then let it cook on low for 2-3 hours (or low 4 hours).

ropa vieja inspired beef stew in the slow-cooker

Michael was feeling nostalgic for his Miami roots the other day...so we made a slow-cooker beef stew with Cuban flavors inspired from "Ropa Vieja". We used stew meat instead of flank steak because 2 lbs of flank steak was something like $30 (what?!).  The recipe is based on the Cuban-Style Ropa Vieja from Saveur. We served it with brown rice and some Cuban-style black beans. Michael gave this his stamp of approval, said the flavors were right.

ingredients:
2 lb. stew beef, cubed 
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 poblano pepper, thinly sliced
6 oz. tomato paste (small can)
1 T cumin
1 T dried thyme
1 T dried oregano
5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 bay leaf
½ cup dry white wine
2 cups beef stock
1 (16-oz.) can whole peeled tomatoes, crushed
½ cup halved, pitted green olives
3 tbsp. capers, rinsed and drained
¼ cup roughly chopped cilantro

instructions: 
1. Brown the meat in two batches in a bit of oil on the stove. Add the onion and cook until starting to get soft, deglaze with the white wine. (I added everything for a second to toss it before adding to crock pot, see photo above.) Add everything to the slow-cooker except the olives, capers, and cilantro. Cook on low about 6-8 hours. Mix in olives and capers last, garnish with cilantro. (Lazy version: you don't have to brown meat first - you can just add everything to the slow cooker.)

basic cheese quiche

So in our weekly farm share we're also now getting 12 eggs a week. I've actually never made quiche before in my life...so I decided to start now. I didn't go all the way though...I used a packaged crust. I just didn't feel like making pastry, and I don't have a tart pan or pie weights, and I need to stop buying kitchen stuff. So, there. That's my justification. :) And it was good, even with the store-bought crust. And easy. It's good hot, straight out of the oven, and also good cold leftover the next day or two. It probably won't last longer than that. I am going to make another one in the next couple of days with the second crust...

ingredients:
5 large eggs
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 cup milk (I used 2%, whole is recommended)
4 ounces Gruyère, 4 oz sharp-cheddar cheese*
salt and pepper
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

*Of course 100% Gruyère, or another Swiss-style cheese would be good, but that's what I had in the fridge, plus Gruyère is so pricey and this way I can save half the chunk for another quiche :) But feel free to improvise on the cheese mixture.

1. In a bowl, whisk eggs, cream, and milk until blended. Stir in salt and pepper, and cheese. 

2. Put egg mixture in pre-baked pastry, spread evenly. Sprinkle with nutmeg. 

3. Bake about 30 minutes, until top is brown and puffed. Shake quiche to test if done: you don't want the middle to be uncooked. (Or test with a knife or toothpick)

Variations:

Quiche Lorraine: with bacon (cut bacon into thick slices, and pre-cook until crisp. Drain on paper towel and add on top of pastry before the egg mixture)

Quiche alsacienne: with onions (Cut an onion in quarters, and then slice paper-thin, saute with butter to caramelize, add to pastry before egg mixture).
FYI: The above mixture just fit in a 9-inch "deep" pie crust, so if you are adding onions, you might need to reduce the egg mixture a bit so it all fits.

Recipe adapted from Quiche au fromage recipe from Epicurious

sweet potato macaroni and cheese

I didn't get a photo of this dish since we made it at night and mac and cheese does not photograph well... However, it is worth posting the recipe because of how easy it was, and good. The leftovers also re-heated well. The recipe is adapted from Eating Well, Sweet Potato Mac & Cheese. I found their recipe made way too much sauce, so we ended up making an extra cup of noodles, which evened things out. The recipe below is adjusted for that. If you want to make a smaller batch, you could make 2 cups of the pasta, and reduce milk to 1 cup. Eating Well notes that the "bright orange color tricks your eyes into thinking this healthy macaroni and cheese recipe is loaded with cheese, but there’s actually only about half as much cheese as compared to a traditional recipe." So there you go, healthy, and winter comfort. And most macaroni dishes require baking the whole dish to set, but this one you just pop under the broiler. And it was creamy and delicious. If you have a baked sweet potato already, this comes together in under 30 minutes.

photo from Eating Well

ingredients: 
3 cups whole-wheat elbow noodles
1-2 medium sweet potatoes (depending on how large - there's room for error here)

2 cups milk (nonfat or 2%, whatever you have on hand)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 small clove garlic, minced
1 1/4 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

3 tablespoons coarse dry whole-wheat breadcrumbs (homemade are best*)
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil

(optional: 1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed)

*Jessica taught me how to make breadcrumbs with the days-old bread rinds: pulse in food processor and store in freezer. 

get ready:

cookie sheet with foil

big pot for boiling noodles

saucepan for making cheese sauce

greased lasagne pan

1. Roast the sweet potatoes in the oven (wrapped in foil or on foil sheet, at 400 for about 45 mins) until soft when pierced through. (While you're doing this, you might want to make a few for the rest of the week.) This can be done in advance. 

2. Cook noodles according to package directions, about 7-9 minutes, and then drain and set aside. 

3. Whisk flour, milk, garlic in a saucepan. Heat until steaming but don't let it burn or boil. When sweet potato is cool, scoop out and add to milk mixture and puree using an immersion blender (or do it all in the blender). Be careful because it's a bit thick and splashes. Add cheese, mustard, salt and pepper and stir until combined. (And add peas if you wish.) Combine with the noodles, mix everything, and then pour into a greased lasagne-sized glass baking dish. 

4. In a small bowl, combine breadcrumbs and olive oil, and mix. Sprinkle on top of macaroni. Put under the broiler until crispy, 1-2 minutes. (Always watch the broiler!)

brussels sprouts pancakes with shrimp and scallions

Okay, this is another variation of the very good okonomiyaki recipe on Food52 (which I have also posted on the blog before, here). It's just a super tasty and quick snack, and I wanted to re-post. I didn't have cabbage on hand, so I used shaved brussels sprouts and they were delicious! Also instead of the mayo sauce I just used a squeeze of sriracha.

a snack for 2 (makes about 6 pancakes):
2 large eggs

1/2 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp salt
2 T flour
1 cup shaved brussels sprouts (use mandoline)
3-4 scallions, sliced thin
3/4 cup shrimp, chopped
sesame seeds for garnish
vegetable oil for frying
sriracha for serving

1. Whisk together eggs, soy sauce, sesame oil, salt and flour in a bowl.
2. Shave brussels sprouts very fine/thin on a mandolin or with a knife. Chop shrimp. Fold into the egg mixture.
3. Heat a thin layer of vegetable oil in a non-stick pan. Add the pancakes (a little smaller than saucer-sized) cook until brown, flip.
4. Serve with sriracha and sesame seeds  (or a mix: mayo-soy-sriracha)

how to make beans in the slow cooker

The New York Times recently had an article One Pot of Beans, Four Dinners. And I was just thinking about writing a post about making beans in the slow cooker anyways. It's more economical and tastes better (and is healthier) than canned beans. Make one bag of dried beans, and then freeze what you're not using in 1-2 cup batches. I've done this with garbanzo beans and black beans so far and both turned out really well. Here are some recipe ideas, and tips for making beans in the slow cooker.

Slow cooker beans
This technique works with any beans except lentils. 

1. (optional): Soak beans overnight. Some people say this makes the beans easier to digest. So if you think of it the day before, soak the beans first by rinsing them and then covering with a few inches of water in a big bowl in the fridge.

2. (If soaked: rinse and drain.) Add beans to slow cooker, covered by about 2 inches of water, plus 1 teaspoon of salt. (optional: add aromatics such as a bay leaf, onion, garlic, or herbs)

3. Cook on low about 6 hours. If you soaked them, they might be done a bit earlier, so check around hour five.

4. Cool and then store.

Meal Ideas with Garbanzo Beans (Chickpeas)
Make this bright orange winter couscous from Ottolenghi
A garlicky pasta dish with sage and chickpeas
A raw carrot and chickpea salad with moroccan spices

  

Meal Ideas with Black Beans
This black bean quinoa salad with mango and lime tastes super fresh
Make a nice beef stew with black beans 
Try vegetarian tacos: black bean and sweet potato filling

  

butternut squash galette with carmelized onions and fontina

 photos by Stella Chen

My friend Stella and I continued our cooking "lessons" this week, and this time she came to my place to learn some new recipes, "Western style." We made the butternut squash galette from Smitten Kitchen (the cookbook version, which is only slightly different), and a kale salad with shaved brussels sprouts (one of my favorites). And she brought her fancy camera over, so for the first time I have blog photos not taken on my camera phone. :) It was a really nice meal, and the crispy kale salad was a perfect pair for the rich galette - which had the warm winter flavors of squash, onion, sage, and fontina cheese. Delicious! Deb Perelman's dough recipe is pretty easy, too, although I somehow found we ended up with a bit more dough than we needed, and the crust was a bit too thick. But all in all, a great recipe and I want to try further variations with other vegetable fillings. 

PINK! (beet carrot apple radish salad with orange dressing)

This is a perfect Valentine's salad. :) It's very simple, but sometimes in the winter you just need some color on your plate and some raw veggies. I grated 2 carrots, 1 beautiful chioggia beet (the candy-striped kind), 1 radish, and 1 apple. I added a simple dressing of the juice of 2 clementines plus some olive oil. 

This is great served on top of an open-faced sandwich, either with plain cream cheese, or some of the butternut squash spread I made earlier this week. 

deliciously addictive butternut squash dip (with tahini)

Oh, what would I do without my Ottolenghi cookbooks? The only problem now that I have all three is that when I think of a recipe and want to make it, I sometimes have to open more than one book before I find it... This one is from Jerusalem, also posted here on the Guardian website. Even at its most basic, without the date syrup or garnish, this is totally delicious. Spread it on toast for a light breakfast or lunch, or eat with chips or vegetables as a snack. I had it for lunch on Wasa crisps, with a beet-carrot-apple salad. Which I ended up putting on top of the crisps as well, and it was totally delicious. Add some color to your winter meals!

I made about half this recipe with some leftover squash I had. It made about 2 cups, so unless you're having a party, you might want to consider halving the recipe. Next time I might also try roasting the garlic with the squash.

ingredients:
1 very large butternut squash, peeled and cut into chunks
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp salt
3 T tahini paste
1/2 cup Greek yoghurt
2 small garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

garnish:
1 tsp mixed black and white sesame seeds (or just white, if you don't have black)
also suggested:
1½ tsp date syrup
2 tbsp chopped cilantro

tangy lentil potato salad with cornichons and capers

This salad might not look like much - it's brown food - but it tastes amazing. So SO good. I am eating the second-day leftovers right now and they are even better. The dressing is full of diced cornichons and capers, which blend in perfectly with the green lentils and so each bite is a tangy, salty surprise. It also takes just about 30 minutes to make, a pretty quick and easy recipe, and great to take for lunch.

ingredients:
2 shallots
1 bay leaf
1 cup Puy (French) lentils
Salt and pepper
1 pound potatoes (fingerling or small)
2 T red wine vinegar
1 to 2 garlic cloves
1 T Dijon mustard
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tsp capers, roughly chopped
2 T cornichons, roughly chopped
1 to 2 scallions, thinly sliced

I followed the recipe on Smitten Kitchen pretty closely, so I'll just send you there if you want to make it. The only thing I would change is that it felt like a bit too many lentils for the amount of potatoes. I ended up taking out about 3/4 cup for another use.  Also, it says to serve warm, but I think it's also very good at room temperature and makes for a good packed lunch (although then you might want to reduce the garlic slightly).

From our winter farm share: shallots, potatoes

lime cardamom applesauce in the slow cooker

My friend Nina inspired me to make applesauce in the slow cooker, which is super easy. We just got a bunch of apples from our farm share and I wanted to try some new variation. (Mid-winter apples are not the best...starting to get a bit mealy.) This variation, with cardamom and lime, was tangy and delicious.

ingredients:
4 apples
3 cardamom pods
1 piece star anis (or cinnamon)
juice of 1 lime
optional: sweeten with a bit of maple syrup

peel apples and add to slow cooker with juice of 1 lime, 1/2 cup water, 3 cardamom pods and 1 piece star anis. Cook on High about 2 hours, or until apples are soft. Remove cardamom pods and anis, then mash with a potato masher until desired consistency. (Or blend in blender if you want it really smooth.)

slow cooker pork carnitas braised with dark beer and chipotles

This is an excellent base for many tasty meals, and an easy formula for making tender, pull-apart pork in the slow-cooker. I turned on the slow cooker before leaving the house today, and then came home and made tacos for dinner. Yum.

formula for slow-cooker carnitas

meat + spices  + liquid --> slow cooker = magic

quick grated kohlrabi carrot salad with dijon vinaigrette

I don't think I've introduced my new friend yet... my Cuisinart. It was a birthday present from Michael, and is everything I always wanted and more. We actually even watched the DVD that came with it. :) So we've already made hummus, pizza dough (so easy!), grated potatoes for latkes...and much more. The grating feature is amazing. Here is a simple and delicious salad that takes mere minutes with the help of the food processor. And with veggies from our weekly farm share (carrots + kohlrabi).

ingredients:
1 medium kohlrabi
3 medium carrots

dressing: 
olive oil, apple cider vinegar, honey, dijon mustard, salt and pepper

Peel the carrots and kohlrabi (kohlrabi is best peeled with a knife - it has a tough skin). Push through the grater attachment on the food processor (or grate by hand). Mix dressing and combine everything.

quick lunch: bagel with cream cheese, salmon and capers

Here's more of a lunch idea than a recipe. Toasted bagel + cream cheese + smoked salmon + capers. I also added some dill on this the second time around. Serve with some veggies on the side.

spicy beef stew with beans and green pepper (Ada Mollenkamp's Smoky Black Bean Chili)

I made this stew twice: once on the stove, and once in the crock-pot (which I am starting to use a lot more). I have to say I liked the one I made on the stove better...must be the caramelization of the vegetables... but it's hard to argue with the ease of the crock-pot. I browned the meat while I was chopping all the other vegetables, and then in it all went. And hours later - dinner. Magic. This recipe is from Ada Mollenkamp's Keys to the Kitchen, which I have also recommended as a good graduation gift. It's a good cookbook - I've really liked everything I've made from it.

Be warned: it is a little spicy. Only add one chipotle pepper if you're worried. Or serve with a dollop of sour cream and you'll be fine.

winter market shares (CSA produce)

Thursday was the first day of the new winter term Market Shares at Brown. We got a great share with beets, carrots, apples...well, everything on the list. :) And additionally, we are getting a loaf of bread from the best bakery in Providence, yogurt, local eggs and cheese. So this should drastically reduce my grocery shopping.

They also had a cute display with tips on storing produce. For example, apples should be kept away from other vegetables, since they chemically react and make other things go bad. Potatoes should be kept in a cool, dark place, but not the fridge. Fridge: beets, carrots. 

So winter produce: bring it on! :) 

Here's what we made with this round of produce:

Grated Kohlrabi Carrot salad with Dijon Vinaigrette 
Lime Cardamom Applesauce
Potato Lentil Salad
Beet-Carrot-Apple Salad with Orange dressing