Honey-Cress Salad with Prosciutto

What is pink, green and covered in honey? No, not a Lilly Pulitzer dress after an unfortunate incident at high tea! It’s my Honey-Cress Salad with Prosciutto.

I invented this salad as an answer to Ivonne and Lis's call for contributions to their La Festa al Fresco event. Any dish using at least one seasonal, fresh ingredient would fit. This was more challenging for me than it might appear. First off, my market, now more than any other time during the year, is an absolute embarrassment of riches. The peaches, nectarines and plums (I bought 5 different varieties of plums alone, this week!) seem to be coming in faster than they can be sold. In the past week, I have gone through pounds of stone fruit in an attempt at the summer classic, homemade fruit pie (Don’t ask…really.), and I eat at least two out of hand every day. The figs (Black Mission, Calimyrna, Brown Turkey) which have been in fairly steady supply all summer are now at center stage in the produce section—two pounds for the price of one! And then there are the melons, daring me to gut and peel them with my largest, razor sharp chef’s knife.

The other challenge was that, even with all these luscious items at my fingertips, I didn’t really want to do much cooking. Part of my resistance was that Mike is away on business, but it also seemed quite silly to mess with nature’s perfection. All of this, plus an impending tropical storm or possibly hurricane here in South Florida, set me on a search for a dish where loveliness would be the result of sheer simplicity.

For inspiration, I flipped through the pages of Once Upon A Tart, the beautifully produced cookbook by New York City bakery owners, Frank Mentesana and Jerome Audureau. Far more than just tarts, this book is full of salads, soups and snazzy sandwich ideas. Their baguette bursting with watercress and thinly sliced brie, pears and figs caught my eye, but a sandwich was not quite what I had in mind. So, I went to bed with visions of baguettes and summer fruit dancing in my head. At some point before I fell asleep, the Honey-Cress Salad came together in my mind. Of course prosciutto and melon is a gorgeous salty-sweet combination, and the enormous, pale green honeydew melons have been calling out to me from their bin every time I go shopping. I would artfully arrange them on a bed of watercress and anoint all of it with a light honey-lemon dressing and a touch of olive oil to mellow the bite of the greens. Thin shavings of manchego would add another textural element and anchor the sweetness of the melon and honey while acting as a perfect pair with the prosciutto.


As I shopped for the ingredients the following day, I wondered if my nighttime salad fantasy would actually turn into a delicious reality. I will spare you the details of my careful prep work (I sometimes lack the patience to arrange things in a way that anyone would call “artful.”), and tell you that this salad is a dream come true. The bitter watercress became subtly peppery and the manchego fused with the prosciutto and melon like shavings of butter. Accompanied by crusty multigrain bread, this was all I needed for a simple summer meal. The portion above was intended to serve two, but I greedily finished most of it. For a larger crowd, or perhaps a festa al fresco, you can simply double the recipe as many times as you need to fill your largest serving platter. This is the kind of salad that can sit on the table along with your other dishes so diners can scoop up portions of it throughout a long, langorous meal, served under the setting summer sun.

Honey-Cress Salad with Prosciutto
I recommend the following amounts to serve four as part of a meal. Double the ingredients as many times as you need to serve a larger crowd.

3 tblsp. honey
1 tblsp. hot water
juice of half a lemon
1/2 honeydew melon, cut into wedges and peeled, then thinly sliced into uniform 3-inch pieces
4 cups watercress, thick stems removed
extra virgin olive oil
fresh ground pepper
6 to 8 very thin slices of prosciutto, torn into smaller pieces
3 to 4 oz. manchego cheese, shaved with a vegetable peeler

Make the honey dressing: combine the honey, water and lemon juice in a small bowl and whisk to combine.

Arrange the watercress on a serving platter. Sprinkle with a touch of olive oil and season lightly with pepper. Toss too combine. Over the watercress, arrange the melon slices and prosciutto alternating in a circular pattern. Any extra prosciutto can be used to make little "rosettes" in the center of the platter. Strew the platter with shavings of manchego cheese, sprinkle with ground pepper and drizzle the honey dressing over the salad. You will not need to use all the dressing, but it will keep in the refrigerator for a couple days.

technorati tags: la festa al fresco
To see the roundup of all the Festa al Fresco dishes, take a look here on September 5th.

The Frittata: Variations on a Brunch

A frittata is one of those dishes that looks quite challenging and impressive, but is actually simple to make. Other foods that fall into this category are risottos and fruit tarts. With dishes like these, all you have to do is learn one basic technique. From there, you can create endless variations to complement your mood or the ingredients you happen to have on hand. Occasionally, I’ll make a frittata for dinner to eat with a green salad and white wine. However, brunch is where the frittata shines most.

This Saturday, Mike and I went scuba diving near our home in Fort Lauderdale. We got certified in early 2005 so we could take advantage of the diver's paradise right here in our own backyard. Once you get comfortable with the mechanics of diving, all that’s left is relaxing on the boat, looking at tropical fish and enjoying the view. It is a very nice way to spend a Saturday morning. This weekend the water was calmer than we have ever seen it, but even under the best conditions, diving is a physically demanding activity. This might have to do with the fact that we had to get up at 6:30am on a Saturday, but that is beside the point. When you get home after a morning of diving, all you want to do is wash the salt water out of your hair, pop open a cold beer and have a delicious, fortifying lunch.

That is where the frittata comes in. Unlike an omelet, it can serve several people and can even be considered a one-pot meal. I have made frittatas with thinly sliced potatoes (as in a Spanish tortilla) or cooked spaghetti when I wanted something a little more substantial. For a simple and healthy version, all you need to add to the eggs are a variety of vegetables and a generous sprinkling of cheese. You could also add a protein like proscuitto, smoked salmon or thinly sliced chicken sausage. You sauté the vegetables in a nonstick skillet and pour the eggs right over them. Let the eggs set part of the way in the skillet, then put the skillet 10 inches under a preheated broiler to finish cooking and brown on top.

Below, I've illustrated how to make a frittata with red peppers, green onions, yellow corn and feta. Mike likes to call this one the "Lucky Charms Frittata." At the bottom of the post, I included a few more ideas for variations to get your creativity flowing. You will need:

6 eggs, beaten and seasoned with salt and pepper
olive oil and/or cooking spray
salt and pepper to taste
1 red bell pepper--thinly slice, then cut the slices in half crosswise
1 bunch of green onions, thinly sliced
fresh corn from two cobs
3 oz. feta cheese, crumbled


Saute the red onion in a little oil until very soft. Add the green onions and the fresh corn. Season with salt and pepper.

Pour the beaten eggs over the vegetables. Use your spoon to push the egg away from the sides to let the liquid flow to the bottom. Constantly keep things moving.

After you have worked most of the liquid to the bottom of the pan and the sides have started to set, sprinkle the cheese on top and put your skillet under the broiler. The center of the frittata will still be mostly liquid at this point.

It will take about 5 to 10 minutes to finish the frittata under the broiler, but watch it carefully! A minute too long under the scorching heat and the eggs will lose their tender texture. Mine is done when the cheese starts to brown.

Here are some tips for making a successful frittata:

1) Choose two to three vegetables with varying flavors and textures, some sweet, like sautéed bell peppers or red onions; some crisp, like fresh corn or green onions.

2) Use flavorful, full-fat cheeses and add them after you pour the eggs evenly over the vegetables. Good choices are feta, goat cheese, or fontina. Once, I used ricotta, placing small spoonfuls of the soft cheese all over the egg; it browned beautifully.

3) As the egg sets, constantly use your spatula or wooden spoon to push the eggs away from the sides of the skillet as you tilt the pan so that the liquid resting on top can flow to the bottom of the pan. This prevents the bottom from browning too quickly and ensures even cooking.

4) If you are using potatoes, slice them very thinly and blanch them. Then lightly brown them in the skillet. Finally, arrange them in an even layer on the bottom of the skillet and add any additional vegetables, followed by the eggs.

More Frittata Ideas:

1) spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, carmelized red onions, feta

2) sliced potatoes, sauteed onions and red peppers, grated manchego

3) mushrooms, green onions, fresh thyme, grated fontina

4) smoked salmon and dill

5) sliced artichoke hearts, sliced tomatoes, crumbled goat cheese

Faux Pho or the Real Thing?

"Is that her real nose?"
"Is she a real blonde?"
And, "Are those things REAL?!"

Whether we prefer it or not, we always want to know whether what we are getting is the real thing. The types of questions above are most often directed at women (that is a whole other topic), but the same attitude, the same obsession with authenticity, also applies to food. Is that real, wild salmon on the menu? Is this lamb actually grass fed? Are these raspberries truly organic? We ask these questions out of genuine concern that we are getting the purest, the healthiest, the most ethical; in short, the real thing.

When Mike and I returned home from spending the weekend in South Beach, we wanted to eat something light and restorative. We needed to recover from a couple indulgent restaurant meals and a whole lot of cocktails with complex names I can’t remember. In my mind, this called for a deeply aromatic soup full of soft rice noodles, vegetables and fresh herbs. Rice noodle soup is the most stomach-friendly food I can think of, and some of the best noodle soups I’ve had are Vietnamese pho.

Sunday afternoon was overcast and stormy (still 90 degrees, but stormy), the perfect day to fill the condo with the smell of spicy stock simmering on the stove. I looked over several recipes for pho, and mainly followed one from the January 2006 issue of Gourmet, found here. It calls for 4 pounds of meaty beef shanks which I found at the local supermarket. Another recipe in a Williams-Sonoma book of authentic Southeast Asian recipes called for some beef bones as well as several oxtails; otherwise, it was very close to the Gourmet recipe. I followed the directions carefully, parboiling and rinsing the beef to remove extra scum. I simmered them with oven-blistered onions and ginger, and a sachet of cloves, cinnamon and anise for two hours as their perfume filled the kitchen. When I finally took that first taste I was ready for rich, beefy warmth to fill my mouth, but the flavor was watered down and only slightly beefy. I continued to simmer, hoping the flavors would intensify, but I knew it had already been long enough. The beef itself was falling off the bones with tenderness, and the large pearls of marrow were soft and gelatinous. My stock was not terrible, but it did lack the depth and complexity I had hoped for.

I proceeded according to the recipe, and we enjoyed the soft rice noodles, the crunch of the bean sprouts and all the herby accents. Still, the fundamental piece of the recipe, the unifier of all the other ingredients, did not measure up. I have since looked at several more recipes, and some call for oxtails, but others are similar to the Gourmet recipe. Some called for simmering the bones several hours longer, but 3 hours was the most common directive. Maybe I will try again with oxtails sometime. Meanwhile, I had a bowl of leftover noodles, bean sprouts and herb sprigs that could not go to waste until then. On Monday night, I bought a box of good beef stock at the market and flavored it with lime and fish sauce. I poured the boiling stock over my noodles and added the various accoutrements. My faux pho did not have the authentic flavor I’ve tasted in Vietnamese restaurants, but I preferred it to the insipid flavor of my attempt at the real thing.

Of course I prefer authenticity, but sometimes a recipe just doesn't work. Maybe my beef shanks were inferior, or the moon was misaligned with whatever planet rules the boiling of beef bones. I’ll keep striving for true pho, but it was comforting to find that faking it, just once in a while, isn’t a bad substitute for the real thing.

This is my favorite part of eating pho--a big, beautiful plate of fresh herbs and other flavorful add-ins. Even if your pho is faux, a handful of basil, cilantro and mint lends a fresh, homemade touch.

First, you soak the rice noodles in cold water for 20 minutes, then boil for about one minute. They should be just barely al dente.

A close up of the real thing. I did veer a bit from traditional pho by adding carrots and snow peas. I love my veggies.

The cornerstone of a faux pho--good store bought stock.

This time, my taste buds preferred the fake version.

Whole Wheat Irish Soda Bread

Ciabatta is a tremendous sandwich-holder. Baguette is divine with butter or as a toasty crostini base. Focaccia is king all on its own. I am powerless to resist the best versions of all of these, but when I want bread for my morning toast or something thick and hearty to eat with a bowl of soup, I reach for whole wheat. I love the dense texture, as opposed to the airy center of a proper baguette. I adore the crunch of seeds and whole grains, even if they occasionally get stuck between my teeth. One of the most satisfying snacks I can eat is a slice of fresh, untoasted whole wheat bread, baked with honey for a touch of sweetness, slathered with best-quality, unsalted butter.

This way, and no other, is how I eat my Whole Wheat Irish Soda Bread. I found the recipe for this bread in the homey little cookbook produced by my elementary school in the late 80s, but the first time I made it, I was in my late teens. Although I really didn’t know what soda bread was, it caught my eye because of the whole wheat flour and the fact that no yeast was called for in this free-form, round loaf. I had never made bread, yeasted or otherwise, and this looked unbelievably simple. Actually, I was afraid some vital ingredient had been left out of the recipe by accident.

I have altered the original to make it sweeter with more honey in the batter and a generous sprinkling of sugar over the top. Despite this, the nutty, wheat flavor dominates just enough to call for a generous pat of butter to coax out the sweetness. Eat it this way with a meal or an afternoon coffee. It could become a dessert or breakfast bread, spread with fruit preserves. Mike and I recently had it with a veggie and goat cheese frittata and some pink sparkling wine for brunch. Strange as it sounds, we were both certain that the buttered soda bread made the delicious bubbly even better. I have heard people say that certain wines contain flavors of toasted brioche. Certainly it could be possible to detect notes of sweet whole wheat bread in your favorite sparkler, couldn’t it?

After combining the wet and dry ingredients, the consistency of the dough should be wet and sticky, but thick enough to hold its shape.

Use a spatula to scoop the dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and form it into an 8 inch circle.

Good unsalted butter is a must.

Whole Wheat Irish Soda Bread
I play around with different flour combinations every time I make this. I order an Irish-style whole meal flour from King Arthur that I really like. My current favorite is 1 cup Irish flour and 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour. All whole wheat flour is absolutely delicious too. Any coarse sugar is great here because it won't dissolve completely in baking, but granulated will work in a pinch. When you shape the loaf, only make it about 1 ½ inches high. Test with a toothpick or cake tester after 25 minutes, though you may need to bake for 30 minutes or a bit more. The bottom should be deeply browned when done.

2 c. whole wheat flour (or any combo of whole wheat, whole wheat pastry and Irish style)
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg
1 c. buttermilk
2-3 tblspn. honey
turbinado sugar

Preheat oven to 375. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, buttermilk and honey. Add more or less honey, depending on how much sweetness you prefer. Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the flour mixture. Stir until just combined.

Sprinkle some sugar in the center of the parchment paper and spoon the dough out on top. Use a spatula to shape it into a circle, roughly 8-9 inches in diameter and 1 1/2 inches high. Sprinkle sugar all over the top of the loaf. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, testing with a toothpick after 25. Bottom of loaf should be deeply browned. Cool completely on a rack (at least 2 hours), then cut into slices. Keeps in the refrigerator for 5 days and in the freezer for 3 months.

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Miami Spice in South Beach

Lately, I feel like I am in perpetual motion. The week days are a blur of working, cooking, blogging, thinking about cooking and blogging, going to the gym and trying to spend a half hour relaxing with a brilliant novel and a cup of fennel tea before bed. I feel like a whirling dervish, except that this all this frenzied activity is not getting me even vaguely closer to spiritual enlightenment. I do have fun though, and all the great food we cook and eat is totally worth the effort.

I live for the weekends. The trick is to get out and do something on Friday night so that by 10 or 11pm, you kind of forget that you were ever at work that day. Even though a lot of our weekend time is reserved for fun and relaxation, there are still plenty of errands to run, laundry to do, a condo to clean and the inevitable sink full of dishes waiting for us on Sunday morning. The most effective way we’ve found to abandon our list of chores and achieve supreme relaxation is to get out of town. So this past Friday, we threw our bags and beach chairs in the car, and 45 minutes later we were in South Beach having a beer at our hotel’s bar looking out on Ocean Drive.

It is awfully convenient to live so close to one of the most scenic, not to mention hedonistic, vacation destinations in America. And I didn't have to surrender any gels, lotions or duty-free alcohol in order to get there! Better yet, August and September are when Miami Spice is held. During those two months, loads of participating restaurants offer an abbreviated 3 course dinner menu for $30.06. If you live in a city where they do this type of thing, be sure to take advantage. You might discover some new favorites.

Mike and I ate at two of the swanky, glamour-pie South Beach restaurants and got a good deal on some beautiful meals. I would not have made an effort to visit these places without the Miami Spice promotion, although they have great reputations. Sometimes South Beach is more about the "scene" than the quality of the food, and I hate to pay a lot and be disappointed. Happily, we did not encounter this problem at Wish and Afterglo. If you are doing your own South Beach weekend, I highly recommend Wish for creative, perfectly prepared food, flawless service and an incredibly romantic, twinkling garden setting that is quintessential South Beach. There are a few candlelit food shots below, but first, check out Ocean Drive:

You get a little of the art deco feel in this shot.

This is Gianni Versace's old house. He was killed while standing by the front door. There are always tourists taking pictures of it, like this kid (and me!).

This is Mike and I at Wish at the beginning of the evening.

We became less photogenic after a few more like this.

The potato latke with fried oyster mushrooms and cilantro.

The rice paper wraps for the barbecue shrimp summer rolls were fresh and supple.

My duck confit shredded with the slightest touch of a fork into melt-in-the-mouth, subtly salted, ribbons of meat. It was served on a pool of strawberry gazpacho. The goat cheese fritters were so airy and creamy; they rivaled the duck for best taste and texture. I thought the cool gazpacho and the ethereal goat cheese were odd pairings for the duck, but each component was so wonderful that I did not care.

Mike's entree was octopus-stuffed squid with a slightly sweet tomato sauce and a squid ring salad. The desserts were impressive, though I couldn't detect every ingredient listed on the menu in my ricotta and goat cheese fritters. The fried ricotta took on a texture that reminded me of cornmeal, but the blue cheese ice cream was not as boldly-flavored as I would have liked. Mike's chocolate almond cake with rum-soaked bing cherries was well done.

The next night we tried Afterglo, whose website claims that the restaurant is "pioneering a new culinary style trademarked as 'beauty cuisine'." The meat is grass fed, the vegetables are organic and everything has been designed to "regenerate cells, increase brainpower, help digestion and promote radiant beauty. "

I don't know if this tuna tartare is what gave Mike's skin that dewy glow, but it was very fresh and tasty. Even the soy sauce at afterglo surpassed what we've had at nice Japanese restaurants in its delicate flavor and smooth texture.

Mike had freshly caught grouper topped with a salsa of crisp cucumber slivers and juicy tomatoes, all on a bed of sauteed baby spinach. My pistachio and pinenut crusted lamb chops were absolutely the best lamb dish I have ever had. The crisp, nutty edges provided a bit of char to contrast with the tender, deep pink center of each large chop. The meat was redolent with grassy perfume that was just slightly gamey. If the lamb had not been so divine, the fluffy layer of buttery quinoa beneath it would have been my favorite thing at afterglo.

I had to include this picture of my "flowering" jasmine green tea. It starts out as a dried pod, then "blooms" as it brews. Afterglo has a selection of about 8 of these exotic artisan teas. I would happily eat at afterglo again to sample more of their creative, healthy menu. Any high end restaurant that serves quinoa gets plenty of brownie points with me. And did I mention the lamb... since I don't have a picture, I'm telling you once more how succulent it was.

It certainly sounds we did little else but eat in South Beach, but we also swam in the ocean, people watched at News Cafe and hung out on Lincoln Road. I had my favorite seaweed salad at Sushi Samba Dromo (Brazilian-Japanese fusion really is a good idea!), and sipped a Grape-Champagne Martini at Cafeteria, our favorite late-night bar. There are so many great little bars and cafes, casual ethnic eateries and pizzerias, that I really do think there's something for everyone. And as far as getaways go, South Beach is about as far as you can get from the usual weekend routine. As I write this, the work week is getting into full swing and I can feel my little dervish starting to spin again, but this time she's got the delicious memories of duck confit and a warm, blue ocean dancing in her head.

Spanakopita, Take Two

Do you ever get in your own way in the kitchen? It happens to me occasionally. The last time I made spanakopita it came out perfectly. The layers of phyllo dough were buttery and flaky; the spinach and onion mixture was fresh and peppery; and the feta-studded cheese mixture was creamy and just salty enough. I was ridiculously pleased with myself because this was actually my first time trying the slightly intimidating dish. It even reheated well to make stellar leftovers. On top of all that, making it was really pretty simple. So, with the salty tang of feta still on my lips, I sat down at the computer to record my perfect recipe for the ages.

Weeks passed. Then months. I remembered my spanakopita fondly, anxiously awaiting another opportunity to cook this glorious Grecian casserole. The time came when I decided to start experimenting with Greek dips. A square of spanakopita would be the perfect accompaniment to my hummus, baba ghanouj and minty yogurt spread. I pulled out my recipe and got to work.

We ate the delicious dips with pita bread first, heroically saving room for the spanakopita as it got hot and crispy in the oven. When it was done, I let it rest for a few minutes, then cut a slice. Immediately I knew something wasn’t right. The top layers of phyllo were flaky, but the bottom was soft and soggy. What could have possibly gone wrong? It was perfect last time! And then I realized that I had used half as many sheets of phyllo dough as before. I wasn’t being entirely careless, I had just written my recipe wrong in the first place. I also realized that I should have drained the spinach to get as much liquid out of it as possible to help avoid soggy phyllo syndrome. Having said all that, I have to admit it didn’t actually taste too bad. Still, I loathed to eat inferior spanakopita when the perfect version had once been mine.

So, in order to strike the botched dish completely from the record, yesterday I bought more spinach, more feta and more phyllo and made one more spanakopita, documented here for you. This is not an obsessive quest for perfection. I forgot to take photos while making it over the weekend, so that is definitely a sign that I needed to do a repeat performance. Except this time (enormous sigh of relief), it was a spanakopita I could be proud of.


It's nice to have a (patient) helper to carefully layer the phyllo and keep the remaining sheets of dough covered while you brush each new layer with melted butter.

Once you have layered 10 sheets of phyllo in the casserole dish, buttering each one as you go, spread a mixture of crumbled feta and ricotta cheese over the dough.

Cover the cheese with a pound of spinach sauteed with onions, garlic and oregano until all the water generated by the spinach evaporates. This takes a good 10 minutes, and was one of the crucial steps that I missed on my first attempt.

Layer and butter 10 more sheets of phyllo over the cheese and spinach filling. Then gently score the spanakopita with a sharp knife, taking care not to cut all the way through the bottom. This makes is easy to cut into pieces without cracking the crispy phyllo crust.


My hard-won spanakopita was worth the effort. Sometimes I wonder how chefs in restaurants do not get terribly bored with cooking the same dishes night after night. My experience here made me realize that even if you think you have perfected a dish, you cannot go on autopilot in the kitchen. Fresh ingredients can vary throughout the year, one brand of feta may be saltier than another, and all the care and focus that it took to cook a dish well the first time is just as important when you're cooking it for the thousandth time. No wonder so many cooks are such clever people; food keeps you on your toes!

Spanakopita
Serves 8
This classic Greek casserole can be served as an appetizer, side dish, or vegetarian main course. Individual pieces can be reheated, covered in foil, in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes.

20 sheets phyllo dough, defrosted and covered with a kitchen towel or moist paper towel so dough does not dry out
3 to4 tblspns melted butter
1 tblspn olive oil
1 lb. spinach, picked over, thick stems removed
1/2 c. onion, chopped
5 green onions, white and light green parts, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic minced
1/4 tsp nutmeg or a few pinches
coarse salt
fresh ground pepper
1 tsp oregano divided
½ cup ricotta cheese
8 oz block feta cheese, crumbled
1 egg, beaten

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat olive oil in a non-stick skillet to medium high. Add onion, season with salt and pepper and sauté stirring frequently until translucent and lightly browned, 4-5 minutes. Turn heat to medium low. Add green onions and garlic and sauté 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add spinach one big handful at a time and cook folding it into the onion mixture until it starts to wilt. Season with the nutmeg, ½ tsp of the oregano, and ground pepper. Continue cooking the spinach mixture for about 10 minutes, or until all the water has evaporated. Remove skillet from heat and seat aside.

Combine ricotta, feta, egg, remaining oregano, and ground pepper in a bowl and set aside.

Spray the bottom and sides of a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Place one sheet of phyllo in the dish. Brush phyllo lightly with melted butter using a pastry brush. Top with another sheet of phyllo and brush with butter. Continue until you have layered 10 sheets of phyllo, brushing each with butter. Spread the cheese mixture over the phyllo, then spread the spinach mixture evenly over the cheese. Top spinach with one sheet of phyllo and brush with butter. Continue layering the 10 remaining phyllo sheets, brushing each with butter as you go.

Bake spanakopita for 30-35 minutes, until the top turns golden brown. Remove from oven, let rest for 10 minutes, then cut in to 8 squares.

Simple Greek Dips

Say "Opa!" to These Cool Summer Starters

Have you ever made hummus, or does it seem like an unnecessary use of precious kitchen time? Hummus is not exactly exotic anymore, and there are a myriad of delicious versions available everywhere. It’s a cinch to pop open a plastic container and spread it on pita bread, pretzels, veggies or sandwiches. It is probably safe to say that prepared hummus has even become a staple food in many of our kitchens. In my mind, this means it is time to pull out the food processor and whip up a homemade batch of the healthy chickpea dip. After all, those little 7 oz. plastic containers cost $2.69 at my grocery store and they are always running out of the Scallion and Spicy Three Pepper flavors that are my current favorites. And since I eat so much of the stuff, it would be nice to know it is made from the best quality ingredients. Recently, I tried my hand at homemade whole wheat pita bread from Claudia Roden’s New Book of Middle Eastern Food. They were light and airy, puffing up just right when I baked them in a 500 degree oven on a parchment paper-covered pizza stone. I figured, if I could handle fresh bread, I could certainly come up with a serviceable hummus to go with it.

Since having a particularly good appetizer platter with about 6 different dips at a little Greek restaurant in Toronto, I have been wanting to try some of them myself, especially hummus. Anything with eggplant is a favorite, so I decided to make baba ghanouj, as well as a dip I have never had before with carrot, mint and thick, creamy yogurt. The yogurt dip is from Diane Kochilas’ beautifully photographed, highly inspirational book, Meze. I often flip through the pages of Meze looking for appetizer ideas, but I do not cook from it nearly often enough. Kochilas lives in Greece and does an excellent job of conveying the spirit and importance of meze in Greek culture. You can almost detect the flavor of anise on your lips as you read it. I decided to make a meal of these dips (with pita bread of course), along with a spanakopita casserole.

You can prepare all three dips in an hour or so. Fit your food processor with the shredding disc and do your carrots first. Then the machine will be freed up for the hummus and baba ghanouj. Both spreads contain tahini and lemon, but they are entirely different in both texture and flavor. I cooked a large eggplant under the broiler until the skin was hard and the flesh was meltingly soft. You can also do it on a grill, but either way will give you just enough smoky flavor to make this velvety spread totally addicting. I think the baba ghanouj was my favorite, as it tasted better than most other versions I’ve tried. I wouldn’t do a single thing differently next time. The basic recipe came from my copy of The Complete Cooking Light Cookbook which is a reliable source of healthy, minimally corrupted versions of modern American and ethnic dishes. While the eggplant cooks, you can prepare the hummus and sauté the carrots. Once the carrots are soft and sweet, all you have to do is fold them into a bowl of thick, tangy Greek yogurt with fresh mint, lemon juice and olive oil. Leave this dip chilling in the refrigerator while you make the baba ghanouj. Serve them all with pita bread toasted in the oven for a few minutes, freshly cut tomato wedges and Greek olives. Just one warning: if you leave your guests too long with this plate of dips and an unlimited supply of pita bread, it is highly unlikely that they will have any need for a second course.

Hummus
Makes about 3 cups

3 medium garlic cloves
2 – 15 oz. cans no salt added chickpeas, drained and liquid reserved
¼ c. plus 1 tblsp. tahini (I used Arrowhead Mills organic)
¼ c. lemon juice, plus more to taste
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
extra virgin olive oil, chopped parsley, paprika for garnish (optional)

Turn on the food processor and put the garlic in through the chute. Turn machine off, remove the lid and add the cans of chickpeas, 1/2 cup of their liquid, the tahini, and lemon juice. Process until smooth. If mixture is too thick, add more of the chickpea liquid to get your desired consistency. If you run out of chickpea liquid, use water. Keep in mind that hummus will thicken slightly as it sets. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste. Add more lemon juice if you think the hummus needs it. To serve, garnish with extra virgin olive oil, chopped parsley and paprika, if desired.

Baba Ghanouj
Adapted from The Complete Cooking Light Cookbook
Makes about 2 cups

2 lbs eggplant (either 1 large or 2 small), stem end trimmed and cut in half lengthwise
1 clove garlic
¼ c. tahini
3 tblsp. lemon juice
½ tsp. salt, plus more to taste
fresh ground pepper (optional)
chopped parsley for garnish (optional)

Preheat broiler or grill. If broiling, place eggplants cut side down on a foil-lined baking sheet. Cook at least 6 inches from heat for about 20 minutes or until the skin is hard. On a grill, place the eggplants directly on the rack, cut side up. Set aside to cool.

Turn the food processor on and add the garlic through the chute. Turn machine off and remove the lid. Drain any water that had collected inside each eggplant half, then scrape the flesh out with a spoon into the processor. It should separate easily from the crisp skin. Add the tahini, lemon juice and salt. Process until smooth. Taste for seasoning. Serve chilled or at room temperature, sprinkled with parsley, if desired.

The smoky flavor that results from broiling or grilling the eggplant is subtle yet pervasive. The thick skin keeps the flesh from taking on any burnt taste whatsoever.

Greek Yogurt with Sauteed Carrots and Mint
Adapted from Meze by Diane Kochilas
Makes about 2 cups
The lowfat Greek yogurt I used did not detract at all from this rich, creamy dip. Use whatever variety you like.

2 to 3 tblsp. extra virgin olive oil, divided
2 medium carrots, shredded
2 to 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/3 c. mint leaves, thinnly julienned, plus more for garnish
2 c. Greek yogurt (I used Fage's Total 2% version)
salt to taste
2 to 3 tblsp. lemon juice, to taste

Heat one tblsp. of the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the carrots and sauté until soft, about 10 minutes. Turn the heat to low, add a bit more oil and add the garlic, stirring constantly for 1 minute. Fold in the mint and remove from heat immediately.

Put the yogurt in a bowl and add the carrot mixture, a pinch of salt, the lemon juice and about 1 tblsp. of oil. Taste and adjust seasonings. Chill for at least 30 minutes, sprinkle with additional mint and serve.

One more gratuitous hummus close up. It may have been the least exciting of the three dips, but we kept going back for just one more bite. Next time, I will make up a couple different hummus varieties with some of the following: roasted red peppers, olives, caramelized onions, chile peppers,curry powder, or ginger. You can add just about anything.

These dips were easy and fun to make. The saga of the spanakopita will have to wait until the next post.

Tomato Ménage à Trois, Part Deux

This third recipe in the trio is more than just tomatoes. It is a satisfyingly accurate adaptation of the best dish I had at one of my personal dream restaurants, José Andrés’ Zaytinya in Washington, D.C. Zaytinya is a Middle Eastern small plates restaurant, serving hot and cold mezze from various regions of Greece, Turkey and Lebanon. Every wine on the list comes from one of those three countries with the exception of champagnes and other sparklers. There are only two traditional entrée options on the dinner menu. Hot, puffed pita bread is brought directly from the oven to your table. The sleek, airy space lets in the sun and encourages the convivial vibe that goes so well with mezze. The only bad part of my experience there was that I was on a business trip and didn’t have Mike there to share it with me. Who else was I going to ramble gushingly on to about how amazing the food was?

Of all the exotically spiced dishes I ate that night, one still fills my soul with intimations of culinary immortality: the “Pipe Dream” goat cheese, seasoned with zaatar and wrapped in grape leaves with Santorini tomato jam. I don’t have the slightest idea why they are called “pipe dream” on the menu. They looked like traditional stuffed grape leaves, but inside was cool, crumbly piece of pungent goat cheese, filled with a layer of zaatar spice. Zaatar a spice mix used in the cuisine of Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Jordan, much like garam masala is used in Indian cooking. Like garam masala, it has infinite variations, but the consensus seems to be that it consists of dried thyme, ground sumac, lightly toasted white sesame seeds, and salt. Sumac is blood red in color and has a sour, slightly astringent taste. The slightly crisp, popcorny texture of the sesame seeds, as well as the familiar yet hard to place flavor of the zaatar is a critical element of the dish. I got the proportions for the spice mix from Claudia Roden’s New Book of Middle Eastern Food, an amazing resource on the cooking of that region. I had to go to a gourmet shop for the sumac, or it is available online at Penzey’s.

But this is supposed to be about tomatoes. I was unsure if I would ever be able to make a reasonable equilavent of the goat cheese-stuffed grape leaves, but ever since that dinner at Zaytinya, I have been mulling that tomato jam over in my mind. It was pure tomato in a sweet, slightly runny, jelly-like guise. Next to the zaatar-marbled goat cheese, it was perfect. It made the dish, and it was just jam after all.

I may have been in thrall of the tomato jam, but I had no idea how to make it. When the July issue of Food & Wine arrived with a simple version of tomato jam right on the cover, I took it as a sign that it was time to attempt a pipe dream of my own. F&W’s jam is a bit more rustic than Zaytinya’s, but the flavor did justice to my idealized memories. After boiling for 45 minutes, as the directions indicated, I thought is was still a bit runny, so I added a generous teaspoon of cornstarch mixed with water, and it thickened right up. Of course, you can just continue simmering until it reaches the consistency that pleases you. I didn’t want too many chunks of tomato, so when it was done, I used my immersion blender to smooth it out. Putting this little mezze together does take multiple steps, but nothing is difficult. I usually avoid anything so fussy as leaf-stuffing, but my desire to taste those grape leaves again cancelled out my culinary laziness. And it was worth it.

After soaking the grape leaves to remove their brine, we laid them out on paper towels.

We cut thin slices of goat cheese in half and make a "sandwich" filled with zaatar.

Place the zaatar-filled log of goat cheese at the stem end of a grape leaf.

Fold in the sides of the leaf, then roll up like a cigar.

Arrange the stuffed grape leaves in a dish and sprinkle with lemon and olive oil.

We followed the grape leaves and tomato jam with fillets of orange roughy, simply sauteed with salt, pepper and olive oil in a cast iron skillet. The fish is has very flaky, firm flesh and a slightly sweet taste.

The stuffed grape leaves make a pretty presentation, but don't forget the tomato jam!

Zaytinya’s Goat Cheese-Stuffed Grape Leaves with Fresh Tomato Jam
Makes 16-20 stuffed grape leaves and 1 ¼ cups jam
Jam recipe adapted from Food & Wine, July 2006

4 to 6 (depending on size) vine-ripened tomatoes
¼ c. apple cider vinegar
3 tblsp. honey
½ tsp. cumin
½ tsp. ground ginger
¼ tsp. salt
½ tblsp. cornstarch dissolved in 1 tblsp. water (optional)
Finely chopped basil or mint

30 to 40 grape leaves (you won’t use them all, but some will tear or be too small)
8 oz. log goat cheese
Extra virgin olive oil
½ lemon

Zaatar spice blend:
2 tblsp. lightly toasted sesame seeds
2 tblsp. dried thyme
½ tblsp. ground sumac
¼ tsp. salt or to taste

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Prepare a large bowl of ice water. Core the tomatoes and score the opposite end by cutting a shallow “X.” Boil the tomatoes for 1 to 1 ½ minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and plunge into the ice water to stop cooking. Remove the tomatoes from the ice water and slip their skins off with your fingers. Cut each tomato in half, remove the seeds and coarsely chop. In a medium saucepan, combine the chopped tomatoes, vinegar, honey, cumin, ginger and salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and cook uncovered for 45 minutes. If you want a thicker consistency than this, add 1 tsp. of the cornstarch mixture to the jam. Add more cornstarch mixture until it is no longer watery, but a little bit goes a long way. If you want a smooth jam, puree in a blender, or use an immersion blender to create the desired texture. Chill in the fridge for 1 hour, or for 10 minutes in a shallow dish in the freezer. Stir in fresh basil or mint just before serving. May be made up to 48 hours in advance.

While the jam is cooking, prep the grape leaves. Most likely, you bought them in a jar in a briny, citric acid solution. To do away with the salty off-taste, gently unroll the grape leaves and put them in a large bowl. Pour boiling water over them to cover. Soak for 10-15 minutes, swishing them around a bit. Drain, then fill the bowl with cold water, and soak for a few minutes. Repeat with more cold water, then drain in a colander. Carefully separate the grape leaves and lay them out on paper towels. This takes patience, and it is okay if they tear a little. You can also overlap two leaves, if they are small or torn.

Make the zaatar: toast the sesame seeds in a dry skillet over low heat until lightly browned. Remove to a bowl. Add the thyme, sumac and salt. Stir to combine.

Assemble the stuffed grape leaves: Cut a ¼ inch slice from your log of goat cheese, then cut the slice in half. Pack ¼ to ½ tsp. zaatar onto one half, and top with the other half like a sandwich. Use your fingers to mold the goat cheese into a little log. Place the cheese at the stem end of a grape leaf. Fold in the sides of the leaf and roll up like a cigar. Continue with the remaining goat cheese. Sprinkle stuffed grape leaves with extra virgin olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice. Serve cold or at room temperature with the tomato jam. May be made up to 24 hours in advance.

Seasonal Ménage à Trois: Tomatoes

When I was a kid, I didn’t like tomatoes at all. Not in a salad, not in a soup, and especially not stewed and served over mashed potatoes, as my mom liked to do. I could not even abide little tomato chunks in my spaghetti with meat sauce. In my defense, I was not a picky eater as a child. I never refused to eat vegetables or had crazy phases like insisting on only white foods. I just did not like tomatoes.

I think it must have been a texture problem. I thought canned tomatoes were slimy, and fresh ones were mealy. Of course, it was the 1980s, when we were not so hyper-aware of the benefits of eating produce in season and the freshness of a fruit that has not spent a week being trucked in from the other side of the country. I didn’t know a thing about heirloom varieties, and I had never heard of a green tomato until that movie was released. Maybe I had the delicate taste buds of a connoisseur telling me that those 80s supermarket tomatoes just weren’t up to snuff.

After my first visit to Europe when I was 15, the whole world of food (and in fact, the whole world) seemed to open up to me, and suddenly there was hardly any food I would not eat. I had my first Pizza Margherita in Florence, my first gelato in Rome and toasted, melting ham and cheese sandwiches on baguette in France. Greece and Turkey were a revelation all their own. I think it was after that experience that I started really getting interested in food and cooking. I’ve loved eating since birth, but this was different. Tomatoes found a place in my heart, and that is where they remain.

The Two Tomato Salad with Barley, the inspiration for this post.

I chose tomatoes as my seasonal ménage à trois ingredient because, well, I really couldn’t help it. I was cruising through the produce section one night after work trying to put together a meal, and the only truly inspiring item I saw were some big, farm-fresh green tomatoes. Immediately, the dish came together in my mind, and it turned out to taste even better than I hoped for. The Two-Tomato Salad with Barley can be done quickly on a weeknight and served with or without the chicken as your preference or energy level dictates. After eating those crisp, slightly bitter grilled green tomatoes topped with sweet, sautéed cherry tomatoes, I knew I had found the ingredient for my trio of seasonal dishes. If you missed the previous ménage à trois of fresh figs, take a look here.

Skewed view of the Slow-Roasted Tomato and Goat Cheese Tart.

I have been very excited about tarts lately, and wanted to make one with puff pastry and my favorite super-slow roasted roma tomatoes. Mike’s second cousin, Rob, told me this technique a couple of Thanksgivings ago. The colorful platter of deeply caramelized, roasted tomatoes, with all of their sweetness utterly concentrated within, along with a veritable cornucopia of other roasted veggies proved that his method was a winner. I roasted my tomatoes the night before, and put together the tart in less than half an hour for a unique Sunday brunch dish. These tomatoes make a wonderful ingredient in all kinds of things like dips, crostini, sandwiches, pizza and antipasto platters. Roasting them is a zero-maintenance job, so do as many as you can at a time.

In order to avoid making this a never-ending post, I am offering the first two recipes in the ménage à trois and saving the final bit of tomato goodness for my next post. So get out to your garden, farm stand or supermarket and pick out as many varieties as you can manage. Check back for my final recipe—it involves exotic ingredients. And let me know your favorite way to eat summer tomatoes.

Two-Tomato Salad with Barley
Serves 3 to 4

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, poached or grilled and roughly chopped into ½ inch pieces
2 c. water
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
1 c. quick cooking barley
Extra virgin olive oil
2 cups yellow squash, cut into half inch pieces
3 green tomatoes, sliced ¼ inch thick
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved lengthwise
6 to 8 green onions, white and light green parts, sliced
1/3 c. feta cheese, crumbled
Fresh basil, sliced
Red wine vinaigrette, recipe follows

In a saucepan, bring the water to a boil, add salt to taste and add the barley. Stir and bring to a simmer, cover and cook for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the barley is tender and the water is absorbed. Meanwhile, heat 1 tblsp. of olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the squash, season with salt and pepper and cook stirring frequently, until tender and lightly browned, about 6 minutes. Remove the squash to a bowl, coat your skillet with nonstick cooking spray and add another tblsp. of oil. Working in batches, add the sliced green tomatoes in a single layer and allow them to cook without moving them for 2-3 minutes, or until the bottom side is lightly browned. Turn and cook for an additional 2 minutes or so, until the opposite side is browned. Remove to a plate and continue cooking the rest of your green tomatoes in the same way. When the tomatoes are done sprinkle them with a little coarse salt and pepper to taste. Lower the heat to medium and give your skillet another hit of nonstick spray or a bit more oil. Add the cherry tomatoes and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, about 2-3 minutes. Add the green onions and cook for one minute more. Add to the bowl with the squash.

To assemble the dish, mound some barley on each plate. Arrange 3 or 4 green tomato slices to one side of the barley. Top with the chopped chicken, squash and cherry tomatoes. Sprinkle feta cheese and plenty of sliced basil over all. Drizzle about 1 tblsp. of the vinaigrette over each plate and serve.

Red Wine Vinaigrette
2 tblsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 generous tblsp. red wine vinegar
1 tsp. dijon or horseradish-flavored mustard
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a jar with a tight fitting lid and shake vigorously for 10 seconds just before serving. You can also use a small whisk or fork to combine.

Browning the green tomatoes in a nonstick skillet. They still retain their crisp texture when cooked.

Slow-Roasted Tomato and Goat Cheese Tart
Serves 6-8

15 roma or vine-ripened tomatoes, cored, halved and seeded
Extra virgin olive oil
Coarse salt and fresh ground pepper

5 oz goat cheese
½ c ricotta cheese
1 egg
½ tsp. salt
Fresh ground pepper to taste
1 to 2 tblsp. water or milk, as needed

1 sheet frozen puff pastry dough
2 tsp. fresh thyme leaves

Preheat oven to 250. Place the tomato halves on a foil lined baking sheet, cut side up. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 3 hours. Tomatoes should shrink and shrivel considerably in this time, but roast them longer if you want to dry out their juices even more. Tomatoes can be roasted up to 2 days before preparing the tart. Keep them tightly covered in the refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 425, or follow the directions on your package of puff pastry. Using a food processor, blender, or mixer, combine the goat cheese, ricotta, egg, salt and pepper until smooth. Add 1 or 2 tblsp. of water or milk if necessary to achieve a thick, but spreadable consistency. Set aside.

Defrost the puff pastry according to package directions. Carefully unfold the dough onto a floured surface, sprinkling a little flour on the bottom of each square of dough as you unfold it. Lightly flour the top of the unfolded dough, as well as your rolling pin. Roll the dough so that it is about 1/8 inch thick. I used Dufour’s brand of puff pastry, and it was already the appropriate thickness. Find a pot lid, dinner plate or other stencil that is approximately ten inches in diameter and use it to cut out a circle of puff pastry. Discard the scraps or save them for another use (individual tartlets, anyone?). Transfer the round of dough to a greased baking sheet by draping it over your rolling pin and laying it out on the baking sheet. If the circle gets a little distorted, that is okay, just mold it back into shape as well as you can.

Spread the goat cheese mixture over the tart with the back of a spoon, leaving a half inch border. Arrange the roasted tomatoes in concentric circles, starting from the outside and working your way to the center. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the edges are puffed and lightly browned and the cheese in the center is set. Remove from oven and sprinkle with fresh thyme. Serve immediately.

Use a 10 inch pot lid as a stencil, and cut out a circle.

A Beautiful Brunch!

A Match Made in Heaven

I made a grocery list and my husband added on some extra items. Aren’t we a pair?

Honest, I did not make this up.

Do you have a bizarre or embarrassing shopping list stuck to the fridge or buried in your handbag? Or an unintentional comedy moment involving food? Leave a comment or send me an email. Evidently, these things can be both funny and revealing…

By the way, I recently realized that I had my comment settings fixed so that you have to have a blogger account to comment. Oy! No wonder I haven't gotten much feedback on here... Now anyone can leave a comment and you can even do it anonymously... unless you're stalking me.

Eat To the Beet

I’ve been on the lookout for beets for the past couple of weeks, as they’ve been elusive in the local grocery store. I am a sucker for any combination of beets and goat cheese that I find on restaurant menus, and I’ve been itching to try my own hand at some beet-centric dishes. This photo is evidence that I found beets at last, but the best news is that Mike finally set foot on Florida soil on Friday after spending two long weeks in Canada. After all the restaurant meals, fast food and takeout he had (accompanied by one case of minor food poisoning), he would just as soon have eaten homemade rice and beans all weekend than set foot in a restaurant. Thrilled to have him back to cook and eat with me, I had better plans—beet plans.

The beets caught my eye during a quick run to Whole Foods Market on my Thursday lunch hour. I went in mainly for vitamins, but can never resist cruising around the store to see what looks good. I stepped through the automatic doors into the produce section and there they were: golden beets stacked two feet high, coated with moist dirt and with their fresh, leafy greens in tact. To me, this honey-yellow variety tastes summery and less beet-like than its red cousin. If I remember right, I did a little hop and exclaimed, “golden beets!” I immediately started foraging for the most vibrant looking bulbs with the crispest green tops. I stopped to glance down the wall of produce and saw an even larger display of red beets a little ways away. I bagged one bunch of each and skipped off in search of goat cheese. I was ready to welcome my husband home with a beet-tastic weekend.

The most daunting thing about beets is cleaning them. Otherwise, they’re easy. You can boil or steam them, but roasting seems the least labor-intensive to me. If you have a particularly earthy bunch of beets like mine, give the whole thing a rinse to do away with the dirt clumps. Cut the stalks off, leaving about an inch on each of the beets to prevent the juice of the red ones from staining everything in its path. Then rinse and scrub each beet and wash and save the greens. You can sauté the greens as you would spinach or Swiss chard or add them to a pasta dish like I did. Once you roast the beets, you can trim off the stalk and the bottom end, slip off the skin and use them to add vibrant color to salad, pasta or anything else you like. I once had them tossed with a seasoned rice vinegar dressing and served with a crisp asian-inspired slaw. They would also be lovely tossed with lemon, olive oil, salt and pepper and served as a side dish.

I stretched our beet consumption out over the whole weekend, using them in a salad followed by some deliciously rare tuna steaks with couscous and a tangy lemon-caper dressing on Saturday and in Double Beet Penne on Sunday. I do think beet and goat cheese salad is a bit overdone, but since sheer deliciousness is the reason for that, I don’t mind. Although my standard salad is baby greens, lemon and olive oil, it was fun to go to a bit more trouble for the salad here. You could change it up in so many ways, but do roast and candy your nuts. They are (almost) the best part. If your beets have been roasted ahead of time, the Double Beet Penne comes together in about 20 minutes. The pasta, and everything else, will take on a pinkish cast, so have a theme and open a bottle of rosé to drink. Try to buy beets with plentiful, fresh greens attached, as they add a pleasant bitterness that is well-matched with a squeeze of lemon. I supplement them with Swiss chard, but you can use all chard if you don’t have nice beet greens. It’s not as if Mike couldn’t eat beets in Canada, but I like to think my homemade Florida beet creations were a sight for sore stomachs.

Scrubbed beets, ready to roast.

Making the candied walnuts. Most of the sugar will stick to your spoon, leaving the nuts with a light, sweet coating.

Beet & Goat Cheese Salad
Serves 2
Although you only need two beets for this salad, roast a whole bunch or two and use them in other dishes. You can fit 2 or 3 beets in one foil packet. Be sure to separate the different colors, so your golden beets don’t turn pinky-brown from the red dye.

1 golden beet, trimmed and scrubbed
1 red beet, trimmed and scrubbed
olive oil
4 cups baby greens
1 orange, peeled and cut into sections
3 tblsp. walnuts, chopped into large pieces
½ tblsp. butter
2 tsp. sugar
½ tsp. salt
additional salt and fresh ground pepper
lemon vinaigrette, recipe below
2-3 oz. goat cheese, crumbled

Lemon Vinaigrette:
2½ tbslp. extra virgin olive oil
1 tblsp. lemon juice
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Add all ingredients to a jar with a tight-fitting lid and shake vigorously to combine; or, whisk together in a bowl.

Preheat oven to 425. Place each beet on a square of foil, sprinkle with olive oil and seal into two tight packets. Roast on a baking sheet for 1 hour. Remove the beets from the foil and, when cool enough to handle, trim off the ends and slip the skins off with your fingers. Chop into bite-size pieces and set aside separately so colors do not bleed together.

Heat a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the butter, sugar and salt, stirring constantly to combine. Add the walnuts, stirring frequently until the sugar caramelizes. Everything will be very sticky, and you will probably have clumps of sugar left in the pan, but that is okay. I also roasted my walnuts in the oven first, but this is not necessary unless you like very toasty nuts. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the greens, orange sections, candied walnuts and roasted beets. Season to taste with coarse salt and fresh ground pepper. Add the dressing and toss to coat. Lastly, add the goat cheese and give the salad one last gentle toss. Serve immediately.

Tuna Steaks with Lemon-Caper Vinaigrette
Serves 2
Adapted from Gourmet Magazine, July 2006
I served this tuna with plain, salted whole wheat couscous, drizzled with the vinaigrette as well.

For Vinaigrette:
3 tblsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 tblsp. lemon juice
½ tsp. dijon or spicy mustard
1 tblsp. capers
coarse salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Add all ingredients to a jar with a tight-fitting lid and shake vigorously to combine; or, whisk together in a bowl.

For Tuna:
Olive oil
2 tuna steaks, about 6oz. each
coarse salt and fresh ground pepper
2 tblsp. chopped parsley

Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Season both sides of the tuna steaks with salt and pepper. Add the fish to the skillet and cook until the bottom is lightly browned and the tuna is opaque about ¼ inch from the bottom. Flip and cook the opposite side in the same fashion. If you want your fish more done, cook on medium to the point that you like. The lower heat will help them cook through without becoming too dark on the outside. Drizzle all over with the Lemon-Caper Vinaigrette, sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately.

Double Beet Penne
Serves 2 generously

8 oz. whole wheat or regular penne pasta
2 tblsp. extra virgin olive oil, divided
6 cups loosely packed greens (any combination of beet greens, swiss chard and spinach), trimmed and chopped
coarse salt and fresh ground pepper
2 yellow and 2 red beets, roasted (see beet salad recipe for roasting method), halved lengthwise and chopped
zest of 1 lemon and juice of half
½ to ¾ cup feta cheese, crumbled

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling, salted water. Meanwhile, toss the chopped beets with salt and pepper and 1 tblsp. of the oil. Heat the remaining tblsp. of oil to medium-low in a nonstick skillet. Add the greens, season with salt and pepper and cook until just wilting. Add the beets to the skillet and cook for 2-3 minutes more. Squeeze the lemon juice over the mixture and remove from heat.

Drain the pasta in a colander and immediately return it to the pot. Add the greens and beet mixture, the lemon zest and the feta. Toss to combine and serve immediately.

Picking over the beet greens.

The beets heat up with the sautéed greens and a touch of lemon.

It's like wearing rose-colored glasses.

It IS Easy Being Green

When cooking for one, whether this is your standard routine or an occasional occurrence, how often do you just pop open a can of soup or whip up a quick omelet? Not that I don’t love an omelet or eat my share of soup, but when I’m alone I find it lifts my spirits to putter around in the kitchen and create something wonderful just for me. I can listen to my CDs (It’s usually Tori Amos; last night it was Common) instead of watching Mike’s beloved Sports Center or our compromise, Wheel of Fortune (there’s not a lot on at that time of night, people). I can take my time and float around our tiny kitchen without stepping on my husband’s feet, or knocking heads with him over the stove, which has been known to happen—sometimes it’s like a finely choreographed urban ballet in there with clanging pots and twirling utensils. And best of all, I don’t have to share the rest of my opened bottle of Côtes-Du-Rhône with a single soul.

Mike has been working on a project in Toronto for the past 10 days. I did fly in to spend the weekend with him and explore the city, but now I’m home again, and the kitchen is starting to get a little lonely. It can be tough to give it my all when there’s no one around to ooh and aah over my culinary creations (or help with the chopping), so I came up with an easy dinner that did not require much time spent leaning over my hot electric stove, but still gave me a chance to unwind and experiment with a new ingredient (and finish that bottle of wine).

I had picked up some adorable chayote squash in the supermarket the day before and had been flipping through magazines for ideas about what to do with it. Finally inspiration came upon me out of the blue—and it was green. I think my Green Quesadillas are unique, but it’s still the same simple formula: Press some meat, veggies and cheese between two tortillas and cook until hot and melting. I’m also relying on the green gimmick here, but why not?

Some gorgeous green things. The chopped squash looks like a granny smith apple, and has a similar texture, too.

Here's the sauteed chayote squash with some green onions--sweetly carmelized, but still quite firm.

If you're only hungry for half a quesadilla, load it up like this and fold the other side over.

I could always make a salsa out of fresh tomatillos, but short cuts are nice on nights like this.

Lovely Green Quesadillas, just for me.

Green Quesadillas
Serves 1 (But is nice enough to multiply and share with friends)
You don't want to over-stuff these or they won't stay together, but I called for more filling than you might need in case you can't eat just one.

1 tblsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 chayote squash or zucchini, chopped into small pieces
Coarse salt and fresh ground pepper
3-4 green onions, white and light green parts, thinly sliced
2 spinach tortillas
¼ to ½ c. poached or grilled chicken breast, coarsely chopped into small pieces
½ avocado, chopped into small pieces and tossed with lime and garlic salt, if desired
½-¾ c. grated cheese (I used extra sharp cheddar. Jack, mozzarella or any easy-melting cheese will work.)
¼ c. chopped cilantro
Sour cream, for serving
Salsa verde, for serving

Heat the oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the squash, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until softened and browned. I took mine to the point of almost blackened, as chayote is a firmer squash and I like a little char. The chayote takes a good 10 minutes to cook, but the zucchini will go more quickly. Add the green onions and cook for 1 minute more. Remove to a bowl.

Reduce the heat to medium-low and coat your skillet with nonstick spray. Add a tortilla and top with some chicken, squash mixture, avocado, the cheese and some cilantro. Cover with another tortilla. Use a spatula to check the bottom of the quesadilla often. Because the tortilla is green, you won’t see much browning, but you’ll know it is time to flip when the edges of the tortilla become firm and crisp and the cheese starts melting on the inside, 3-5 minutes. Carefully flip the quesadilla and cook on the opposite side for a couple more minutes. Cooking times will vary, so you be the judge. An alternative method that I used which makes flipping easier is to cover half the tortilla with filling and fold over the other half. If you’re clever, you can fit two of these half-moon quesadillas in the skillet at once.

Slice the quesadilla into quarters, top with sour cream, salsa verde and cilantro. Serve (yourself) immediately.

Zen and the Art of Dining

Niagara Street Cafe, Toronto
If you read my previous post, you know that Mike and I spent a delicious day in Toronto wandering from one culinary delight to the next. As fun as this style of eating is, we still love to sit down for a long, relaxing dinner. This often means gorging on... oops, I mean eating a lot of tasty, elaborately prepared food. The more flourishes and fanfare that goes into your meal, the better right? While it can be fun and rewarding when chefs cook like showmen, I like to balance those experiences with what I think of as the dining equivalent of minimalism.

We took that minimalist approach on our first night in Toronto and dined at Niagara Street Café. I read a recent review of the restaurant in the Toronto Star, and I was instantly sold. Naturally raised meat; fresh, organic produce; organic dairy; not to mention reasonable prices all in a romantic neighborhood bistro setting. You may never have the opportunity to visit Niagara Street Café (although I recommend it if you are in the area), but it is a nice reminder of how pleasurable and special a meal can be when every item on the table is made to taste just like itself, only better. Is it true that you or I could just as easily cook like this at home? In some cases we could, but if you are like me, you would never have the time to shop for and prepare a variety of dishes and dessert using the best local ingredients. We need restaurants and chefs to find the food sources that are not always available to the home cook. Of course, anyone can simply poach a naturally raised chicken breast, but even the simple dishes at Niagara Street were constructed with multiple components, all elegantly mingled to create a memorable dish.

The King West Village neighborhood is full of shady residential streets, ample apartment dwellings and bars and restaurants with patios that were full of Torontonians enjoying the comfortably warm evening. We parked near a lively Irish pub and walked on past smiling, contented Buddhas and other icons fronting a Buddhist temple to reach Niagara Street Café. We could only get a reservation for patio seating, but on this sun-kissed summer night, it looked like that is where everyone wanted to be. Niagara seems to have taken a cue from the temple just up the road with its calming, candlelit patio garden, sleek, cozy dining room and relaxed yet knowledgeable wait staff. As the sun went down and we drank our bottle of wonderfully spicy Portuguese red, Mike and I took in the romantic, unhurried atmosphere. In fact, Niagara Street appears to manage their reservation book so that no party feels mildly hurried, even if that means a table stays empty for longer than is desirable in order to accommodate a later reservation. “Do these people even care about making money?” we wondered. It looks like their only goal is to serve beautiful food in the most amiable manner possible. Of course, this couldn’t be true, but perhaps creating that perception is part of Niagara’s success.

When a menu is small, I sometimes fear that no dish will jump out at me, dictating that I must have IT and no other. That was not the case at Niagara Street where grilled fresh sardines were on the appetizer list. I've been itching to try these oily fish, and after tasting Niagara's, I am afraid no other sardines will do. Charred crusty-black, the little fish were moist and slightly salty with no hint of canned fishiness whatsoever. They were topped with a green pesto-like sauce and served on a bed of crisp fennel, but I hardly noticed these accompaniments.

We also tasted an appetizer of baby beets with goat cheese. This is hardly an original pairing, but I love beets and seem to have won Mike over to them as well. The portion was a bit slight, but then again, that is probably more conducive to eating as opposed to gorging... Still, there's always room for goat cheese! Like the beets, everything at Niagara was light an