for dinner: turkey-arugula sliders with three sisters succotash

These are some more recipes I ripped out of my magazines while traveling last month... and my second night of cooking in a row! woo-hoo! :) Feels good. Except I put in a long day at the office, and by the time I got groceries, came home and started cooking dinner, I just had to have a bagel with lots of avocado on top before cooking... nearly spoiling my appetite for this veggie goodness. Oh well. I'm on the right track...

Three Sisters Succotash (green beans, corn, summer squash)
12 oz green beans, trimmed, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 3 cups)
2 large ears corn, husked
2 T olive oil

1 T butter*
2 small summer squash or zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
fresh ground pepper
2 scallions, finely chopped (or shallot, or onion)
*vegan if you sub oil for butter

1. Place beans in a large saucepan, add water to cover, salt, and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to simmer and cook 10-15 minutes until firm but starting to get tender. D

2. While beans are cooking, cut corn kernels from the cobs. Place an ear in a bowl and use a small sharp knife to cut off the kernels. Then scrape the cob with the back of the knife, scraping the corn "milk" into the bowl.

3. When beans are done, drain off water, saving some of the liquid (about 2 T). Add the corn and squash/zucchini to pot, with a little butter. (If using shallot or onions, add them at this point, too). Cook until the corn and squash are tender, 8-12 minutes. Cover if you need to, or add a bit more liquid. Season with salt and pepper, top with scallions.

From a recipe by Ronni Lundy in Eating Well (author of Shuck Beans, Stack Cakes, and Honest Fried Chicken: The Heart and Soul of Southern Country Kitchens )

produce from the Ann Arbor Wednesday farmer's market!

These Turkey Sliders are nothing special, but it rounded out the meal in a good way, adding a little protein. I ate them like meatballs without the bread, but Bon Appetit suggests serving them with little buns and red onion.

1/4 bunch flat-leaf spinach (I used arugula), chopped, about 2 cups
4 scallions, thinly sliced (or shallot or onion)
1-2 cloves garlic (depending on how much you like garlic...)
1/2 lb ground turkey
3/4 tsp cumin
salt, pepper
oil, for frying

Combine spinach/arugula, scallions/onion, garlic, turkey, cumin in a bowl, season with salt and pepper. Using a fork, mix gently just to combine. Form into 6-8 patties about 1/2 inch thick. Heat oil in a large skillet, cook until golden brown, about 5 minutes per side. These would also be good served with guacamole.

hearty soups IV: porotos granados, Chilean bean and corn stew

 This soup is adapted from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's cookbook Veg: River Cottage Everyday. Again, another great British chef I had not heard of...I saw this book at Synne's and fell in love with the images and simple recipe ideas. I just had to have it, although it doesn't come out in the US edition until May 2013. So we're using grams and liters, and "tinned" beans instead of canned. :) If you have a kitchen scale, metric is easier anyways than measuring cups, and for things like soups the measurements don't need to be exact anyways.

This is a take on the traditional Chilean stew porotos granados, a combination of old-world ingredients that (according to the internet) pre-dates the Spanish, from the Mapuche Indians. I guess it is traditionally made with cranberry beans. See here for how beautiful they are, by "Hungry Sofia." I am dealing with winter and the lack of fresh most things, so I used canned cannellini beans.  Other recipes call for the addition of bell pepper and basil instead of cilantro. But the common ingredients are sqaush/pumpkin, beans, sweet paprika, corn. I followed the lead of a recommendation on Saveur to add a swirl of a garlicy-herb paste into the soup. I found it a bit bland without the addition of lots of salt, pepper and herbs at the end. Then it was nice and fresh tasting - so season well.