shredded brussel sprouts salad

Summer in our apartment means the returns of bright, meal-sized salads.  This is one of my favorites -- the speck gives it a little bit of extra salt and meatiness, so it feels more substantial.

From Food52.

Serves 3-4.

1/4 lb brussel sprouts, trimmed and shaved on a mandoline.
1 c. finely chopped arugula
     [Alternative: double the brussel sprouts and nix the arugula]
1-2 ribs of celery, trimmed and finely diced
4-6 slices speck (or some other sturdy-but-thinly-sliced cured meat), cut into slivers
1/4 c. dried cranberries, roughly chopped (I've also used dried tart cherries here, to great effect)
1/3 c. walnuts, finely chopped
1/4 c. finely grated pecorino cheese
salt & pepper
2 Tbs. olive oil
1/2 lemon, to taste
dash of chili powder

Mix the salad components up in a large bowl, add the olive oil and dash of chili powder. (The recipe calls for piment d'espelette, but chili powder is a perfectly adequate substitute.) Add lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste, and toss until the dressing is evenly distributed.

Protip: the brussel sprouts are sturdy enough that this stores really well -- even dressed! -- in the fridge overnight.

sugar snap summer salad

Winter was endless this year, so I'm as excited as I've ever been about the return of summer produce and light, summery meals. This salad (which can be either a side or stand on its own as a light meal) is super easy, and because you quick-boil the snap peas, it's perfectly fine if they're less-than-perfect looking.

Adapted from epicurious.

Ingredients: 

1.5 lbs sugar snap peas, trimmed, stringed, cut in half
3 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tbs fresh lemon juice (I was heavy handed on this, to great effect)

1 tsp white wine vinegar (we used apple cider vinegar and it worked just fine)
1/2 tsp sumac + some extra for garnish
1 bunch radishes (around 6 oz.) trimmed and thinly sliced
4 oz. ricotta salata, crumbled (feta also works, though it isn't my favorite)
freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbs coarsely chopped fresh mint

Fill a large bowl with ice water and set aside.  Cook snap peas in a large pot of boiling (and salted!) water until crisp-tender, about 2-3 minutes.  Drain and transfer snap peas to ice water bowl to cool.  When cool, drain the peas and transfer them to a baking sheet or paper towel to dry.

Once dry, toss peas, sliced radishes, and cheese in a large bowl.

For the dressing: whisk oil, lemon juice, vinegar, and sumac in a small bowl.

Add dressing to the salad and toss it until the veggies are more or less coated.  Season with salt, pepper, and as much lemon juice as fits your taste.  Garnish with mint and a sprinkle of sumac.

roasted eggplant with fried onion and chopped lemon

From the often high-maintenance but always reliable Jerusalem cookbook.

This is a fantastic recipe, and surprisingly easy to make -- all of the work can be done while the eggplant is roasting in the oven.

Ingredients:

2 large eggplants, halved lengthwise with the stem on (about 1 2/3 lbs, total)
2/3 c. olive oil
4 onions (about 1 1/4 lb), thinly sliced (a mandolin is super useful for this one)
1 1/2 green chiles, seeded and finely chopped. (Keep the whole one and the half in separate piles.)
1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. sumac
1 3/4 oz. (50 g) feta cheese, in large chunks
1 medium lemon
1 clove garlic, crushed
salt & freshly ground pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

2. Score the cut side of each eggplant with a crisscross pattern.  Brush the cut sides with olive oil (the recipe calls for 6 1/2 tablespoons at this point), and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.  Place on baking sheet, cut side up, and roast in the oven for about 45 minutes, until the flesh is golden brown and completely cooked.

3. While the eggplants are cooking: Add the remaining oil to a large frying pan and place over high heat.  Add the onions and 1/2 tsp. salt and cook for 8 minutes, stirring often, so that parts of the onion are really dark and crisp.  Add the ground cumin, sumac, and the whole chopped chile and cook for a further 2 minutes before adding the feta.  Cook for another minute (don't stir much), then remove from heat.

4. Use small, serrated knife to remove the skin and pith of the lemon.  Coarsely chop the flesh, discarding the seeds, and place the flesh and any juices in a bowl with the remaining 1/2 chile and the garlic.

5. As soon as the eggplants are ready, assemble the dish.  Transfer the roasted halves to a serving dish and spoon the lemon sauce over the flesh.  Warm up the onions a little and spoon over.  Serve warm or set aside to come to room temperature.

And, voila!

rosemary + lemon white bean dip

From the always-reliable serious eats.

File this one under "super easy, super tasty." Total work time was barely 10 minutes, and this works great as a dip, or even as a sandwich spread.

1 can (15.5 oz) cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 medium cloves of garlic, peeled (I was a little heavy handed here; probably 3-4 cloves)
2 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp. lemon zest (again, a little extra certainly doesn't hurt)
1/4 cup + 1 tbsp. olive oil, divided
2 tsp finely minced fresh rosemary
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Put beans, garlic, lemon juice in food processor (use the steel blade). Pulse until the mixture is fairly smooth.

2. With the motor going, pour 1/4 cup olive oil through the feed tube; process until the mixture is smooth.

3. Move bean mixture into small bowl. Stir in rosemary, lemon zest, and remaining 1 tbsp of oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Can be served immediately, or keeps quite well in the refrigerator (tupperware worked fine) for 5-7 days.

Chiles Rellenos

We had people over for dinner on NYE again, and some of the recipes turned out pretty well, so we figured that we should write them down.

Inspired by

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/08/baked-chile-rellenos-with-corn-crema-recipe.html

we made some chiles rellenos.

Ingredients:

1 dozen Anaheim chiles
1 bag frozen corn kernals
2 pieces Dorot frozen cilantro
3 cloves garlic
2 small handfuls red onion
small handful scallions
1 jalapeno
red pepper, salt, pepper, cayenne to taste
1 T mayo
about 8oz combined sharp chedder and monterey jack shredded and mixed.


Broil the chiles, about 6-8 minutes a side (the first one takes a bit longer), until fairly charred all over
Put them in a glass bowl, and cover with saran wrap, let it steam for about 10-15 minutes. After soft, it's pretty easy to remove the skins. I'm not sure why I needed to do this, but every recipe said to.
Cut a slit in the slide, and remove the seeds (I did this by running it under cold water, which was a small pain in the ass but I got the hang of it). I tried to preserve the structural integrity of the peppers, which worked 3/12 times. Put aside

Saute the garlic, jalapeno and scallions in olive oil over high heat until fragrant, add the frozen corn, seasonings, and 1 handful of red onions. Let it cook, leaving it for a few minutes and then stirring, until the corn gets nice and charred. Add the cilantro and the other handful red onions, stir until cilantro is well mixed, and then turn off heat. Season to taste, and then add the mayo (which is mostly for binding).

Fill the peppers with the mixture, cover with cheese.

Cook on 375 for about 15 minutes, and then broil for 5 minutes, serve immediately.

Things to work on: Most of them turned out fairly unattractive - not sure how to fix this

Ricotta Gnocci and roasted asparagus pesto

Gnocci:

http://food52.com/recipes/9460-grandma-dilaura-s-italian-ricotta-gnocchi

fresh whole milk ricotta cheese (calabria won the serious eats food test, so I used that)
1 large egg
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
some ground nutmeg, a dash of ground cloves
2 cups flour, sifted, plus extra for rolling dough
Add egg to ricotta cheese and oil and mix thoroughly. Add grated parmesan cheese to mixture and sprinkle with nutmeg to taste.
Add sifted flour a little at a time and continue to mix thoroughly until dough comes together. (i didn't sift, and added one cup at a time)
Dump onto generously floured surface and work with hands to bring together into a smooth ball.
Add more flour as necessary until dough is smooth and no longer sticks to your hands. Cut off slices of dough like cutting a loaf of bread and roll into ropes thumb size thick by spreading hands and fingers and rolling from center out to each edge of the rope. Line one rope parallel to another and cut 2 at a time into 1-inch pieces.
 Transfer gnocchi pieces to a lightly floured or non-stick baking sheet so they don’t stick together
 bring a large stockpot of generously salted water to a boil. (this is all the salt they get)
 Add gnocchi to boiling water and gently stir once with a wooden spoon to create movement and prevent gnocchi from sticking to the bottom.
 As gnocchi rise to the top {a sign they are done cooking} scoop them out with a mesh strainer or a bamboo wire skimmer and immediately place in serving bowl shaking off excess water. This time I did this much faster, and they came out much more pillowy.
I dried them off, and then fried them in a non-stick with some olive oil in order to get more textural contrast

pesto:

2 bundles asparagus
1 leek
garlic to taste
juice of half of a lemon
parm
olive oil
1 small scoop pistachios

roast two bundles asparagus at 400 degrees, for maybe 20-25 minutes, until nice and crisp. I turned the oven off, but let them stay in there for even more dehydrating action.
while I was doing that, I sauteed some leeks with garlic, and lightly toasted the pistachios
I then vitamixed everything together. I think that if I had chopped it first and then mixed it later it wouldn't have come out as pasty. but it was delicious. although maybe it looked like vomit a little bit.