Mushroom Pie

I had a picture in my mind of what I wanted the vegetarian Christmas entrée to be. I did not want to cook another squash or pumpkin - I did that at Thanksgiving - I wanted something warm and winter-y.

I wanted a non-meat meat pie.

So I created it with mushrooms and pastry, and I served it with mushroom gravy. To my surprise, it turned out just like I had imagined.

I started by baking a mushroom pâté in a seven-inch round cake tin. Then I lined an eight-inch springform pan with pastry and dropped in the cooked pâté. I covered it with a crust, which Mum helped me decorate with holly leaves and berries made from scraps of dough. I brushed it with egg and baked it, and it came out looking spectacular.

It was very moist so it didn't need the mushroom gravy I made, and it reheated well as leftovers.

The mushrooms were delicious, but I think I could have used any bean or lentil loaf as the filling. Non-meat meat pie will show up again on our winter table, I am sure.

Mushroom Pâté
1 lb cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 tbsp water
2 tbsp white wine
2/3 cup pinquitos (or other small beans) cooked
1 egg, beaten
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme
1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease and line a 7" diameter cake pan.

Cook the mushrooms, onion, garlic, red pepper, water and wine in a saucepan over medium heat about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Let cool slightly.

Put the mushroom mixture in a food processor along with the cooked beans and process until smooth.

Transfer the mixture to a bowl. Add the egg, bread crumbs, thyme and rosemary. Mix well. Season with salt and pepper.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake pan. Level the surface. Bake about 1 hour until set and browned on top. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Once cool, cover and refrigerate overnight.

Serve as pâté with crackers, or use in a pie as described above.

Spaghetti Squash Chutney

First I peeled the spaghetti squash, then I
seeded it, then I cut it lengthwise into strips
before slicing it crosswise.

Regular readers know of my obsession with spaghetti squash. I don't know why I love it but I do.

So when I read a recipe for spaghetti squash chutney, I knew we had to eat it with our Christmas turkey and Mushroom Pie.

I've never been much of a chutney fan - I like my food relatively plain and unadorned - but I have to say that the tangy sweet and sour flavor of this chutney goes well with mushroom pie and makes a great addition to a vege-pâté sandwich. Plus it looks great in a glass bowl. What more could you want from a holiday relish?

The recipe is from a book called The Vegetarian Kitchen Table Cookbook - written by two Montrealers, Igor Brotto and Olivier Guiried (formerly from other countries) - that Larry borrowed from the Alhambra library for me. He then braved Whole Foods to get me the organic currants required in the recipe. So really it's his fault he had to eat spaghetti squash on Christmas Day.

Spaghetti Squash Chutney

2 lb spaghetti squash

1/2 cup currants

2 cups sugar

2 cups water

2 cups white wine vinegar
1 lime

Peel the spaghetti squash, cut it in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds and guts. Slice it in roughly 1/2 inch strips. Cut the strips crosswise in 1 - 1 1/2 inch pieces.

Put the squash in a large pan with the currants, sugar, water and vinegar. Bring it to a boil and simmer, uncovered, until the squash is tender, about 90 minutes. Grate in the zest of the lime and cook another 10 minutes.

Remove from the heat and let cool. Can be stored for 2 weeks in the refrigerator.

Spiced Nuts

I experimented with Spiced Nuts this holiday season. I found that cooking them in the toaster oven is not a good idea (my squirrel friends are enjoying the burnt nuts), but that cooking them in a skillet with seasonings is easy and very flexible.

I was over-enthusiastic so I made both appetizer nuts and dessert nuts. (No one complained.) Both contain sugar, which as regular readers know is a no-no on this blog, but I used organic cane sugar and figured the holidays only come once a year so what the heck.

I used regular unblanched almonds for the Spicy Almonds and they held the spices well. For the Sugared Hazelnuts, I toasted them and rubbed off the skins in the time-honored manner, but I feel they would have held the seasonings just as well if I had left the skins on. I'll try that next year.

These nuts would be an excellent nibble at a New Year's celebration. Expect everyone to eat more of them than you could imagine.

Spicy Almonds

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp coarse salt

1 1/2 tsp whole cumin seeds

1 tsp red pepper flakes

grated zest of 1 orange

1 tsp vegetable oil

2 cups almonds

Stir together the sugar, salt, cumin, pepper flakes and orange zest. Mash together with the back of a spoon.

In a large skillet, warm the vegetable oil over medium heat. Add the almonds and cook, stirring frequently, until sizzling - 1-2 minutes.

Stir in a tablespoon of the sugar mixture. Toss and stir the almonds until the sugar melts and starts to glaze the nuts. Add more sugar and repeat the process until you've used all the sugar, and it is all melted and coating the nuts.

Tip the nuts out onto a cookie sheet, spread them apart, and let them cool. When the almonds are cool to the touch, break them apart as needed and store in an airtight container. In theory they will last a couple of weeks at room temperature.

Sugared Hazelnuts

1 tbsp olive oil

1 cup shelled hazelnuts

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground cloves

1/4 cup sugar

Warm the olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Add the hazelnuts and cook until sizzling.

Stir together the cinnamon, cloves and sugar. Add to the skillet a tablespoon at a time, stirring to melt the sugar. Continue with all but a couple of teaspoons of the spice mixture. When the nuts are well glazed turn them onto a cookie sheet to cool.

When cool, break the nuts into a bowl. Stir in the remaining sugar mixture.

Christmas Dinner

Festive Persimmon & Pomegranate Salad

I understand that professional food bloggers prepare a Christmas dinner in early December so they can post pictures and recipes ahead of time for their followers to use in their own holiday meals.

More proof that I am not a professional food blogger.

I have been cooking and taking photos these past couple of weeks, but I've been spending more time online researching the next step of my rain farm than I have writing this food blog. Our Christmas dinner was delicious nonetheless, and I'll tell you about it over the next few days. All of the recipes would be good any time of year.

Tracie had last-minute car trouble so was unable to join us Christmas Day. We served the leftovers on the 27th when she came up for lunch - it was a good meal to eat twice.

I hope you are having a delicious holiday season. And once again I say thank you to the farmers whose hard work makes my meals so good.

Christmas Dinner Menu
Before-Dinner Nibbles:
Trader Joe's organic Corn Chips and Homemade Salsa
Spicy Almonds
Dinner:
Mushroom Pie
Turkey
Spaghetti Squash Chutney
Chestnut Stuffing
Persimmon and Pomegranate Salad
Roast Fingerling Potatoes
Brussels Sprouts with Brown Buttered Almonds
Au Jus Gravy
Trader Joe's Gravy
Mushroom Gravy
Dessert:
Meyer Lemon Cornmeal Cake
After-Dinner Nibbles:
Mum's Fudge
Spiced Hazelnuts

I ordered the fresh organic 11-lb turkey from Grassroots in South Pasadena. We picked it up on the 23rd and left it refrigerated in its wrappings until the 25th. Mum, Larry and Tracie found it excellent.

Mum made the stuffing with chestnuts from Ha's Apple Farm that we had roasted in the fire at the solstice. She added sausage and other things. Apparently it was delicious.

I realize it's weird to have three gravies for four people, but I needed a vegetarian gravy to go with my Mushroom Pie so I made mushroom gravy. Mum made an au jus gravy from the pan drippings. And because I wasn't sure if Larry and Trace would like the au jus gravy, I bought a box of turkey gravy at Trader Joe's.

The Meyer Lemon Cornmeal Cake was a recipe from the Jan. 2015 issue of Sunset - I picked the Meyer lemons from our tree on Christmas Eve. It was a moist cornmeal upside-down cake with the floral tang of the Meyer lemons - yummy.

Mum's fudge is an awesome recipe that does not belong on this healthy-eating blog, but we are still enjoying it.

And isn't that the key to good eating - mostly delicious healthy food and the occasional incredible indulgence to boost the spirits.

I hope your spirits are boosted as we head into 2015.

Sunday Shopping

It was chilly at the Hollywood Farmers Market this morning, and there were fewer people than usual. Our list was short, but we managed to get weighted down none the less. Four pounds of beans and a spaghetti squash will do that.

Here's what we bought:

olive oil, eggs, coffee, 9 grapefruit, 2 lb white lima beans, 1 spaghetti squash, 1 sweet potato, 4 small red peppers, 4 delicata squash, cilantro, parsley, 12 oranges, 4 limes, celeriac, 2 pippin apples, 3 arkansas black apples, 3 sundowner apples, 4 cameo apples, 2 red delicious apples, 4 bartlett pears, 4 poblanos, blueberries, 2 lb pinto beans, romaine lettuce, celery, red butter lettuce, green olives, black olives

Simple Salad

We have some blue cheese crumbles in the fridge (from Organic Valley) so I've been sprinkling them on our dinner salads. The muskiness of the blue cheese complements the crunch of the vegetables and the sweet tanginess of the dressing.

Here's a salad I made the other night. It added a nice crunch to a meal of spicy rice casserole.

Simple Salad
1 shallot minced (about 2 tbsp)
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp dijon
1 tbsp chopped chives
1 tsp honey
juice of 1/2 lemon
6 cups romaine lettuce, chopped
3/4 cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
3/4 cup red pepper, sliced
3/4 cup radishes, halved and sliced
1/3 cup blue cheese crumbles

Whisk together shallot, vinegar, oil, mustard, chives, honey and lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Toss lettuce with a little dressing. Put on a plate. Layer cucumber, red pepper and radishes on top. Pour a little dressing over all. Sprinkle crumbles on top.

Serve with remaining dressing on the side.

Serves 2-3

Rice and Poblano Casserole

Poblanos and rice - one of the best combinations ever. When I have leftover rice, I always throw it in the freezer to be able to make a simple casserole like this.

Unfortunately, we had eaten all the freezer rice, so I had to cook rice from scratch. That's okay. This casserole was worth it.

Rice and Poblano Casserole
2 poblano peppers
1 tbsp oil
1/4 cup diced onion plus 2 tbsp onion
1 clove garlic, chopped
3 cups cooked brown rice
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup chopped cilantro (opt)
5 oz cheddar, grated
3/4 cup frozen corn, defrosted

Toast the poblanos over a gas burner or under the broiler until their skins are charred and blackened. Put in a covered pot until cool, then remove the stems and seeds. Scrape off the blackened skin (if you leave a little on the pepper, that's okay). Dice the flesh and set aside.

Warm the 1/4 cup diced onion over medium heat. Cook the onion and garlic until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add poblanos and cook another minute.

Crumble the rice into a large bowl. Add the onion mixture and stir well.

Whisk together the yogurt, cilantro and remaining raw onion. Stir into rice along with cheddar and corn.

Grease a 2-quart casserole. Spoon in the rice mixture. Cover and cook at 325°F for 25 minutes until heated through.

Serves 6

(This casserole can be made ahead and refrigerated. Bring it to room temperature before baking.)

White Beans with Fennel and Chard

Just after adding the chard

There are so many varieties of greens and colors of beans that I'm sure I could eat them every day for a month and never have the same combination twice.

The other night, I combined white beans, fennel and red-stemmed chard into this simple yet satisfying stew. The fennel adds crunch and a little anise flavor, the beans add texture, and the chard reminds me I'm eating healthy food. Plus it all looks very pretty together.

I could have served this over rice or with bread on the side, but we enjoyed it as is in shallow bowls, using a fork not a spoon.

Fennel bulbs, also known as anise, arrive at the farmers market with long fronds attached. The fronds can be used as garnish, but otherwise end up in the compost. The bulb is the part that goes into this dish.

I've also made this stew with black-eyed peas. Chickpeas would be good. Use whatever bean you like. If you want you can use a 14-oz can of beans instead of cooking your own. Be sure to rinse them really well to get rid of any metal flavor.

The chard cooks down to nothing

White Beans with Fennel and Chard
1/3 cup white beans
2 fennel bulbs
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 bunch (about 3/4 lb) Swiss chard
2 medium tomatoes, cored and diced
1 1/2 cups water

Pick over beans and remove any stones. Rinse them off, then cook in plenty of simmering water until tender, about 90 minutes depending on the age of the bean. Drain and set aside.

Prepare the fennel by removing the fronds. Cut off the thick bottom, and discard any discolored or dried-out layers of the bulb. Cut the bulb in half from top to bottom, and cut out the tough triangular core at the bottom. Slice the remaining pieces of the bulb thinly crosswise. Set aside.

Cut the stems off the chard leaves - save for another use or compost them. Wash the leaves well, shake off the excess water, then stack them and cut them in 1/2 inch ribbons. Set aside.

Warm the olive oil over moderate heat, and sauté the fennel and onion, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Add the cooked beans, chard, tomatoes and water. Season with salt and pepper. Partially cover the pan and let it simmer over moderately-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the fennel is tender and the greens have shrunk to almost nothing, about 25 minutes.

Serve in shallow bowls with salt and pepper on the side. Olive oil can be drizzled over or parmesan sprinkled if desired, but we enjoyed it straight.

Serves 4

Giving Thanks

Every day as I pull vegetables out of the fridge I think of the farmers who grew them for me.

As I'm prepping our morning fruit I think of Jorge who grows the grapefruit and pomegranates, Rocky Canyon Farms who grows outstanding melons, Finley Farms for the strawberries.

At lunch I eat salads with great lettuce from Finley Farms, and finish with an apple from Ha's Apple Farm. (See the apple slide show to the lower right to get a sense of the diversity of apples I am lucky enough to eat.)

And dinner includes onions and garlic (and sometimes potatoes or sweet potatoes) from T&D Farms out near Joshua Tree, greens from South Central Farmers Cooperative or Flora Bella up near Three Rivers, brown rice from Koda Farms, peppers from Tutti Frutti.

I get such a thrill from appreciating not just the earth from which these foods sprang, but the farmers who commit their lives to doing the hard work of growing organic, sustainable, nutrient-filled produce that keeps me healthy and strong.

To all of you who grow my food, I say thank you every day of the year.

But especially today, Thanksgiving Day, when Larry and I will raise a glass in toast to you all.

Thanksgiving Preparations

Larry came home last night to the sight of three separate pots of beans boiling on the stove. One was for dinner and two were for the Thanksgiving lentil loaf in a squash.

"Something smells good," he said as he walked into the kitchen. And he was right. The gently-bubbling beans warmed the kitchen with an aroma promising a good meal. It's a hard one to describe, and those of you who think you don't like beans (or have only eaten canned beans) will not understand it, but when beans have become a regular part of your diet, smelling them cooking foretells a good filling meal in the way the smell of pot roast does to a meat-eater.

Larry has come to appreciate beans in a way that could not have been predicted 20 years ago. (Although when I met him he did cook a mean tofu stir-fry.)

When we were discussing the Thanksgiving menu a few days ago, he suggested that we go vegetarian. He had been thinking about what he was thankful for, and realized he was really grateful for the incredibly healthy (vegetarian) food we eat every day, the food that keeps him strong and vital when others in cubicles around him are dragging and sickly. While I was thinking of getting him a turkey part, stuffing and gravy from Trader Joe's, he was looking forward to celebrating with lentil loaf.

So our Thanksgiving table will look similar to the one we had last year when Tracie joined us and proclaimed her (short-lived) conversion to vegetarianism.

We'll have lentil loaf in a funky-looking squash, mashed potatoes, corn and peppers, green beans, and a salad with persimmons in it. Dessert will be a cranberry concoction - although we'll be too full so it will wait until Friday to be tasted.

It's a simple meal which, now the lentil loaf is cooked, will take a couple of hours to bring together. I plan to spend the day in the garden, and then we'll gather in the kitchen around 4 p.m. to chop and bake and mash these fresh delicious foods. Truly a day to be thankful for.

Lentil Loaf
1/3 cup trail of tears beans
1/2 cup red lentils
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 egg
1 carrot, coarsely grated
1/2 cup grated aged cheddar
1 cup fresh wholewheat breadcrumbs
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp ketchup
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp hot chili powder

Cook the beans and lentils in separate pots of boiling water until cooked all the way through. The lentils will take about 15 minutes, the beans about 90 minutes. When they're cooked, drain and set aside.

Warm the oil in a skillet and sauté the onion, garlic and celery until softened, about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool slightly.

In a food processor, combine the cooked beans and lentils, the cooked onion mixture and the egg, and process until smooth.

Transfer to a large bowl and add the carrot, cheddar, breadcrumbs, tomato paste, ketchup, cumin and chili powder. Stir together well, then pour into a greased 9x5 loaf pan.

Bake at 350°F for 1 hour.

This is great warm or cold, in sandwiches, in a pumpkin, fried into burgers, served as slices with mashed potatoes and ketchup - any way you would eat meatloaf. (Although I'm not sure anyone has ever served meatloaf in a pumpkin.) It also freezes well.

Green Beans with Hazelnuts

Finley Farms at the Hollywood Farmers Market has had excellent green beans this fall. The Finley children enjoy them raw. We've eaten them cooked but plain - simmered for 9 minutes in boiling water - no butter or salt or pepper required.

Cooking is really easy when you start with good produce.

The other night, however, I decided to dress up the green beans with some hazelnuts I found in the freezer and some mint and a lemon from the garden.

It is still an easy side dish - it can even be made ahead and served at room temperature - so it would be good for Thanksgiving.

Green Beans with Hazelnuts
1/4 cup hazelnuts
2 tbsp chopped fresh mint leaves
1 tbsp grated lemon peel
2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt (or more to taste)
4 tbsp olive oil
3/4 lb green beans

Toast hazelnuts in a dry skillet over medium heat until they smell good and are golden when you break one open. Tip them onto a kitchen towel, and when they're cool enough to handle rub them with the towel to remove as many of the brown skins as possible. Chop coarsely and set aside. (This can be done hours or days ahead.)

Stir together the mint, lemon peel, lemon juice and salt. Whisk in the olive oil. Taste and add more salt if desired.

Cook the beans in boiling water until just cooked - 7-9 minutes.

Now you can choose whether to serve them right away as a warm vegetable side or later as a room-temperature salad.

I served them warm by tossing the beans with some of the dressing, putting them on a serving plate, and sprinkling the hazelnuts on top. I served the small amount of extra dressing on the side.

To serve them as a salad, when the beans are tender plunge them into ice water to cool, then drain and set aside. When ready to serve, toss with the dressing, sprinkle with the nuts and serve.

Serves 2-3

Sunday Shopping

It was windy at the Hollywood Farmers Market this morning. Farmers were working to keep their canopies weighted and their signs attached.

Maybe it was all that air blowing through my brain, but we somehow ended up carrying a lot of heavy vegetables. And I can't use Thanksgiving as an excuse because it will just be the two of us (and a bounty of squash).

Here's what we came home with:
3 onions, 1 quart and 4 cups plain St. Benoit yogurt, green beans, eggs, 12 red bliss potatoes, cilantro, 3 poblanos, 2 red peppers (still roasting and freezing), 2 celery, 1 bacon avocado, carrots, rapini (oh boy!), radishes, turnips, a loaf of red fife cracked wheat bread (I need to make breadcrumbs for the Thanksgiving Lentil Loaf), chard, 1 pomegranate, 3 bartlett pears, 6 pink grapefruit, 16 oranges, 4 cameo apples, 2 arkansas black apples, 3 somerland apples, 5 delicata squash, 1 kabocha squash and 1 large sweet potato.

Apple and Spinach Salad

I love winter for the thick soups that make meals easy. Soup and salad has always eluded me though. I don't know how to eat from a soup bowl and a salad bowl at the same time.

However, it's important to eat raw food as well as cooked, so when I served Thick Bean and Tomato Soup this week, I started the meal with a plate of this Apple and Spinach Salad.

Usually I just toss the ingredients together in a bowl and we serve ourselves, but layered on small plates they looked very pretty. We ate our plates of salad and then bowls of awesome soup. Quite the satisfying meal.

The dressing is slightly sweet and very good on all green salads. There will be more than is necessary for this meal - save it for other salads in the week. It will last a few weeks in the fridge.

Apple and Spinach Salad
4 large handfuls of spinach
1 apple (I used cameo)
1 small carrot
1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
3/4 cup halved cherry or pear tomatoes
2 tbsp crumbled blue cheese
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp honey
1/2 cup olive oil

Wash spinach well. Dry and remove any large stems. Tear into bite-sized pieces and spread on 2 small plates.

Slice apple and carrot into bite-sized pieces. Place on spinach, along with onion and tomatoes. Sprinkle blue cheese on top.

Whisk together the vinegar, honey and olive oil. Serve on the side. (Or toss the spinach with some of the dressing before placing on the plate. Serve the extra dressing on the side.)

Serves 2

Thick Bean and Tomato Soup

The weather is cooling off in the evenings (down to the 50s), making soup a welcome meal.

A good vegetable stock and some vegetables and grains or beans makes a great soup.

This Bean and Tomato soup is a little more complicated than I usually make, but it's worth the extra time. First I made a thick tomato soup and puréed it. Then I added cooked beans and more chopped vegetables for texture. When they were tender, dinner was served. (For my simpler creamy tomato soup, see here.)

We ate this delicious soup three times this week, and I've frozen the rest to eat in future weeks. It makes a lot, which is a plus in my book.

I love good soup.

Thick Bean and Tomato Soup
3 tbsp butter or olive oil
2 lbs potatoes, peeled and diced 1/2 inch
1 leek, white only, halved and sliced
3 onions, peeled and diced, divided use
3 cups diced celery, divided use
28 oz can tomatoes
1 lb tomatoes, quartered and stem removed
1 tbsp dried Mexican oregano
3 cups vegetable stock and 5 cups water (or some combination)
4 carrots, diced (about 2 cups)
2 fennel bulbs, diced (about 2 cups)
1 1/3 cups white beans, cooked (or 2 cans, drained)

Melt butter in large soup kettle and sauté potato, leek, 1 onion and 1 cup diced celery, stirring frequently, until onion just starts to brown, about 10 minutes.

Add canned tomatoes and fresh tomatoes; stir well, scraping any onion off bottom of pan. Add oregano, water and stock. Bring to a boil, lower to a simmer, and cook, loosely covered, until soup begins to thicken, about 45 minutes.

Remove from heat and purée with an immersion blender (or in batches in a blender). Season with a teaspoon of salt and a few grindings of pepper. Depending on the saltiness of the stock you used, you'll need to add more salt. I added close to a tablespoon. (Still very little salt compared to packaged soups.)

Stir in carrot, fennel, remaining onion and celery, and simmer gently until they are almost tender. Stir in the cooked beans, and keep cooking until all is warm and tender, stirring regularly, about 25 minutes total.

Taste and season to taste.

Serves 10-16

Lasts a week in the fridge. Freezes well too.

Sunday Shopping

I love fall weather. The leaves turn beautiful colors, the farmers market is full of gorgeous squashes, and maybe water will fall from the sky.

I am still optimistically working on my rain farm. So on Sunday we did a quick run through the Hollywood Farmers' Market, ate a fast breakfast at K24 on Cahuenga, and then made a short stop home to unload the groceries before heading to Home Depot for rain farming supplies.

Here's what we bought at the market:
green beans, 2 red onions, 2 onions, 5 potatoes, 1 heirloom pumpkin for decoration and then delicious eating, 1 leek, 4 fennel bulbs, 7 poblanos (some to eat, some to freeze), cilantro, 3 bartlett pears, 4 limes, 7 tomatoes, 3 satsuma tangerines, 2 dozen eggs, 3 small St. Benoit plain yogurts, 6 grapefruit, king crimson grapes.

Russ sharpened two sets of garden shears for us while we shopped.

Fall Bean Salad

The beautiful peppers at the Hollywood Farmers Market inspired this chickpea salad. Because this is southern California, I was able to buy fresh asparagus at the market to add contrast. I could have used green beans instead.

It had good staying power - I took it for lunch 3 days in a row along with a green salad. I tossed the two together for an excellent lunch, followed by a farmer's market apple. Real food is a great break in a busy day.

Fall Bean Salad
1/2 cup chickpeas
juice of 2 limes
2 tbsp basil, chopped
1/3 cup olive oil
8 oz asparagus
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
12 kalamata olives

Pick over chickpeas and remove any stones or clumps of dirt. Bring a quart of water to the boil and add the chickpeas. Cover and simmer, adding boiling water from the kettle as necessary, until the chickpeas are tender - 2-3 hours.

Whisk together the lime juice, basil and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste

Drain the chickpeas and put in a bowl. Add the dressing and stir to combine.

Steam the asparagus until tender. Cut in 1 inch pieces and add to the chickpeas along with the chopped peppers. Pit and slice the olives and add to the salad.

Serve on lettuce.

Serves 4

Pear and Blue Cheese Salad

The pears are so delicious at this time of the year - juicy and sweet and, unlike apples, fleeting.

The pears we buy at the market are not completely ripe - they keep getting better as they sit on the counter. As with peaches, I check them every day, pressing gently near the stem to see if they are softening. If I'm impatient and cut one too early, it is chalky and dry. But when I wait until they are a little soft at the top - not mushy all over - they are fragrant and luscious.

I used a perfect one on this salad last week - Larry's favorite that I make only during the few weeks when good pears are available.

Pear and Blue Cheese Salad
2 tbsp walnut oil
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp finely minced shallot
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp white pepper
1/4 cup walnuts
4 cups chopped romaine
1 ripe pear
2 oz crumbled blue cheese

Start by making the walnut oil vinaigrette: whisk together the walnut and olive oils, white wine vinegar, shallot, salt and pepper. Set aside.

Toast the walnuts in a dry heavy skillet until fragrant. Let cool.

Spread the romaine on a plate. Core the pear, quarter it lengthwise, and slice into 1/4 inch thick slices.  Scatter on the lettuce. Sprinkle the walnuts and blue cheese over top, and drizzle some of the dressing over the top. Serve the rest of the dressing on the side.

Serves 2

Sunday Shopping

For the past few weeks, I have been exercising excellent restraint when walking past the colorful winter squashes at the Hollywood Farmers Market.

Today, restraint left the building.

I mean, really, is there a table decoration more beautiful than a winter squash? Plus, when you're bored with looking at it, you can eat it.

The weather promises to be cooler this week - maybe even down into the 60s - so I feel I can decorate with squashes. (Last week our house got into the high 80s - not good for winter squash storage.)

When Larry observed halfway through the market that our bags were heavier than usual, I had to admit that a few colorful winter squashes had jumped into the bags he was hauling.

Here's what we lugged home:
3 large sweet potatoes (cool weather is coming so I'm planning sweet potato soup), 2 garlic, 1 small (really) butternut squash, parsley, world-famous heirloom spinach from Finley Farms, green beans, radishes, 2 small romaine lettuce, 1 cucumber, a small amount of mesclun, 1 red butter lettuce, 7 red peppers (many will be roasted for the freezer), 1 ambrosia cantaloupe, 5 medium shiitake mushrooms, a bunch of beets - first of the fall season - from South Central Farmers, 3 persimmons, 2 lemons (ours are all green), 3 quinces from Mud Creek Ranch that I

promised Larry will not end up in the morning fruit - instead I will make them into excellent dessert or jam, 2 potatoes, 3 bartlett pears, 1 loaf of wheat rye sourdough bread from Bezian Bakery (for a quick breakfast of fried eggs and toast before heading into the garden to optimistically work on the rainwater farm), 1 dozen eggs, 2 kabocha squash, 1 lb Columbian coffee from Cafecito Organico, 1 turban squash, 1 large and 4 small plain yogurt from St. Benoit, 20 oranges for breakfast juice to counterbalance the fried eggs, 3 grapefruit, 4 pomegranates and 1 dumpling squash.

Also, Russ sharpened a knife for us while we shopped.

Fennel and Orange Salad with Pomegranate Seeds

We ate chili and rice on Sunday night - an easy slow cooker meal - and I decided we needed something crisp and fresh as a complement.

I combined fennel, oranges and pomegranate seeds in this salad that was so yummy and pretty, I might put it on the Thanksgiving menu.

It's also simple, and still tasted good on the 2nd day when we ate it as a side with black quinoa in a pumpkin.

Fennel tastes like licorice but in this recipe the robust flavor is toned down by the oranges and honey, and contrasts well with the slightly spicy olives. (If you don't have spiced olives, add a dash of cayenne to the dressing.)

The key is to slice the fennel thinly, but not too thin. I cut a few slices with my mandolin, but decided they were too slender to give enough crunch. Instead, I just sliced them across with my knife. They softened a little in the dressing, but didn't become soggy.

Fennel and Orange Salad with Pomegranate Seeds
1 lb fennel bulbs
4 small oranges
9 spicy red pepper stuffed green olives
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup pomegranate seeds
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp honey

Cut the fronds off the fennel bulbs and set aside, and remove the outer segments of the bulb, including any which are brownish. Cut in half lengthwise, and then cut out the core - a triangle at the bottom of each half - and discard it. Slice the remaining pieces of the bulb cross-wise and place in a medium-size bowl. Chop about 1/4 cup of the fennel fronds and discard the rest.

Wash and dry the oranges. Cut off each end (top and bottom) to reveal the orange pulp. Place one end on a chopping board, and cut down between the white membrane and the pulp to remove the peel. Once the orange is peeled, hold it over the bowl and use a small knife to cut between the segments, separating the pulp from the white membranes. Let the juice fall into the bowl with the segments - but not the seeds. Squeeze the remaining juice from the membranes before discarding.

Slice the olives and add to the bowl, along with the parsley and pomegranate seeds.

In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lime juice, red wine vinegar and honey.

Add the dressing to the salad, and stir in the fennel fronds.

Serve at room temperature or chilled. Serves 4-6

Halloween Pumpkin

When I saw black quinoa in the cupboard and a small pumpkin on the counter, I knew I had to combine them for a festive Halloween dish.

I had found Organic Royal Black Quinoa at my local grocery store. It's organic and fair trade from Bolivia, so I thought I'd give it a try.

Larry was dubious - he said this dish looked unattractive but tasted good, which I take as a compliment.

I was surprised to find the texture and look of the black quinoa more appealing than the red or white kinds, and combined with shiitake mushrooms and cashews it had great flavor.

I could have served the quinoa as a side dish instead of in a pumpkin, but I enjoyed the combination. If you don't have a pumpkin, any squash like an acorn or delicata or hubbard will work just as well. Cook it in the same way, checking for doneness more frequently if it's a small squash.

Black quinoa keeps its color

Halloween Pumpkin
1 small pumpkin or other winter squash
1 cup black (or other color) quinoa
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cups sliced shiitake mushrooms
1/2 cup sliced scallions, white and green parts
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup roasted, salted cashews
1 lime

Make a few slits around the top of the squash (to make sure it doesn't explode while cooking) and bake it in a 375°F oven for 30-60 minutes until a thin knife slides in easily. Set aside.

Rinse the quinoa thoroughly in a fine mesh sieve, using hot water and then cold, to wash away the bitter saponins that coat the grain. Put it in a pot with 1 1/2 cups water. Cover, bring to a boil, reduce the heat so it simmers, and cook until the water is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Set aside.

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the shiitakes and cook, stirring occasionally, until they are slightly crisp. Stir in the scallions and cook, stirring frequently, until they wilt. Remove from heat and stir in the soy sauce and vinegar. Stir in the quinoa and cashews, making sure to combine well. Then grate the zest of half the lime over the grain, and squeeze the juice from one half. Taste and add pepper and lime juice to taste.

Slice the top off the pumpkin and scoop out the seeds and stringy insides. Pile the quinoa inside - there will be a lot leftover to serve on the side.

I carved the pumpkin into wedges to serve, and spooned the quinoa filling alongside on the plate. The quinoa did not hold together, but it all looked pretty together. I also could have scooped the flesh from the pumpkin along with some grain. Or just eaten the quinoa alone, which we will be doing as leftovers.

Serves 4-6

Roasting Peppers

One of the fall aromas in our house is that of peppers roasting on the gas stove.

A little burn, a little sweet, a little spicy. Fortunately I rarely set off the smoke detector.

Fall is the time organic peppers are inexpensive at the Hollywood Farmers Market, and I buy extra to roast and freeze. All winter I will enjoy the ease of pulling a roasted pepper from the freezer and adding its smoky sweetness to a stew or casserole.

I mainly roast red peppers and poblanos. You can read how I do it here.

Our friendly squirrel prepares for winter by burying nuts. I prepare by burying peppers in the freezer. We are both most satisfied.

Sunday Shopping

The topic of discussion at the Hollywood Farmers' Market this morning was rain - as in, we enjoyed the quarter inch Friday night but will there be more. With the temperatures heading back into the 80s in a few days, no one felt comfortable that the winter rains were really here. (Although Flora Bella up in Three Rivers had their first snow of the year, so they felt wintry.)

I continued buying peppers to roast and store in the freezer. Here's what we came home with:

2 cameo apples, 3 sundowner apples (bred by the same Australian farmer who bred Pink Lady apples), 3 bartlett pears, 2 oranges, red grapes, 2 pomegranates, 1 large and 4 small plain yogurt, 1 dozen eggs, 2 lb pinquito beans, 6 anaheim peppers, 6 poblano chiles, 2 red peppers, 1 early girl tomato, 9 shallots, 4 onions, 2 large potatoes, lacinato kale, arugula, 1 red lettuce, green beans, asparagus

Bean Salad with Rooster Sauce

This was a pretty salad for Halloween week - black beans, orange cherry tomatoes, red peppers, and rooster sauce (Sriracha) to give it a kick.

Bean salads are great to eat daily - they are low in calories and high in fiber and antioxidants - and if you make a batch of bean salad you can easily scoop it into containers for the lunch box. (I take mine along with a green salad, then mix the two together to get a very healthy meal that, along with an apple, sustains me through my busy day.)

Bean Salad with Rooster Sauce
1 cup black beans
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp rooster sauce
1/2 cup orange cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped red pepper
juice of 1 lime

Cook the black beans in plenty of simmering water until tender. Drain. Put in a bowl and stir in the vinegar and rooster sauce. Let cool to room temperature.

Stir in the remaining ingredients.

At this point it can be refrigerated for up to 5 days. Before serving, stir in extra lime juice if desired.

Serves 4

Heirloom Tomatoes

It is not often that I buy heirloom tomatoes. They look pretty, but I'm not convinced the taste appeal is worth the hefty price tag. I put cherry tomatoes in our salads; otherwise I tend to cook tomatoes, and the regular red organic ones are fine.

This week, however, I decided to serve heirloom tomatoes as a side salad. I sprinkled them with olive oil, salt and pepper and lime juice. They went beautifully with a simple dinner of tofu and rice.

Chestnuts

Chestnuts always mean fall to me. Usually the locally available ones are imported from Italy, which is a ridiculous use of fuel. Fortunately, Ha's Apple Farm in the Tehachapi Mountains also has chestnut trees, and last week I bought some of the first crop of the season.

The nuts are currently part of our fall decorations, but soon I hope to roast them in the fireplace and burn my fingers. I don't expect them to end up in a fancy recipe. I'll just enjoy the fresh roasted flavor, and the smell of woodsmoke in the air.

Sunday Shopping

The temperatures fell into the 70s this week, good fall weather, perfect for pumpkins and squash, pomegranates, red lettuce, and the first nuts of the season. It's a good time for eating.

Here's what we bought at the Hollywood Farmers Market this morning:

2 grapefruit, 1 pomegranate, 14 oranges, 1 dozen eggs, 3 orleans apples, 2 bartlett pears, 1 red sails lettuce, 1 ambrosia cantaloupe, 2 small butternut squash, 2 bunches of spring onions, 1 box cherry tomatoes, 1 small pumpkin, 1 cucumber, 1 bunch radishes, celery, 2 small green and 1 small red romaine lettuce, 2 bacon avocados, 2 heirloom tomatoes, 1 bunch carrots, 1 celery root, 8 large shiitakes, 3 fennel bulbs, green beans, 6 small sweet potatoes, 4 red tomatoes, and chestnuts from Ha's Apple Farm. 

Beans and Greens

Yes, I'm a little obsessive with my beans and greens. If we all ate these every day, we would be much healthier.

There are many ways to cook these nutritious and delicious ingredients. This is what I did on Sunday.

I cooked the beans early in the day and drained them. (You could use a 14-oz can of beans.) Later I cooked the tomato sauce. Just before eating, I reheated it, steamed the spinach separately, and then combined them.

There's enough sauce to make this a great dish to eat with rice or another grain. However, I also like it in a bowl just as is.

My body is thrilled to be eating all these good nutrients. Yours will be too.

Beans and Greens
2/3 cup large white beans
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
3/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
1 tbsp olive oil
14oz can tomatoes
6 oz spinach

Cook the beans in plenty of simmering water until tender. Drain and set aside.

Sauté garlic and onion in olive oil until softened. Add canned tomatoes and cook until they are broken down. Add the cooked beans and mix well.

Wash the spinach, pull off any tough stems, and chop coarsely.

Put it in a pan with an inch of boiling water, cover, place over medium heat, and let steam 3 minutes until tender but still a little crisp.

Toss the spinach and beans together. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

Serves 4

Tomato Chili Pickle

A few weeks ago I planned to cook ratatouille. I bought peppers and tomatoes but couldn't find any eggplant at the Hollywood Farmers Market. I was thwarted in my plan.

So instead I turned the tomatoes into this tomato chili pickle. This is not pickle like Americans understand it. It's a form of British chutney, like lime pickle, a spicy relish to serve with curries or meats.

It's similar to sambal oelek, although a little less hot.

I'm giving you the recipe I used, but I have to warn you that in order to be completely food safe you should cook the full jars in a hot water bath for 20 minutes - I describe that in our salsa recipe.

I didn't do that, because I was feeling British. My grandmother made all sorts of preserves and put them in sterilized jars with a layer of greaseproof paper on top. No one died. This chili pickle has so much vinegar and chilies in it that I felt fine not boiling it, but the food safety police would be on me if I recommended such recklessness to you. It should be fine poured into a sterilized jar and refrigerated for a few months (if you can keep your family away from it).

I recommend serving it on with grain dishes or squash or veggie burgers - anything that might need a little zip. It rescued our Canadian Thanksgiving dinner from blandness.

The heat will vary depending on your peppers. I used jalapeños from my droughty garden - extra hot.

Yum. It disappears quickly. I should have made more.

Tomato Chili Pickle
10 jalapeños, stemmed
1 oz fresh ginger root, peeled
1 tsp tumeric
3 tsp cumin seeds
3 tbsp organic canola oil
5 cloves garlic
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp salt
3/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 1/4 lbs tomatoes, cored and cut in 8ths

Grind the jalapeños, ginger root, turmeric and cumin together in a small food processor or blender with a little oil.

Warm the rest of the oil over medium-high heat until quite hot. Stir in the puréed peppers and cook 2-3 minutes, stirring. Lower the heat and add the garlic, sugar, salt and vinegar. Keep stirring. When the sugar has dissolved, stir in the tomatoes and cook down until it's pulpy.

Pour into sterilized jars, cover and refrigerate until ready to eat.

Makes about a pint.

Sunday Shopping

The colors at the Hollywood Farmers' Market were beautiful this morning: purple eggplants; red, yellow and green peppers; all shades of greens and many colors of winter squash. I managed to come home without a squash, but everything else jumped into my bag.

Here's what we'll be eating this week:
1 red onion, 3 yellow onions, 1 bunch carrots, 4 large yellow potatoes, 3 red peppers, 2 green peppers, cilantro, 6 san marzano tomatoes, 3 bartlett pears, 5 pink grapefruit, 1 dozen eggs, 4 small plain St. Benoit yogurt, red grapes, black grapes, 2 fuyu persimmons, sun gold cherry tomatoes, 3 cameo apples, 2 mutsu apples, 3 small eggplant, 2 butter lettuce, 1 yellow pepper, rainbow chard, lacinato kale, 1 cantaloupe, spinach, green beans, and Jorge had found the last 3 pomelos in his orchard and brought them for me.

We also restocked some staples: ginger root (not organic but locally-grown - the ginger root at my local grocery store is shipped from China), 5 lbs brown rice from Koda Farms, 1 lb walnuts from Rancho LaVina, and 2 bulbs garlic.

Lazy Sunday Cooking

This is day-old pesto stew - the pesto turned
brown, but it was still delicious!

Sometimes I wake up on Sunday morning with no desire to think about food, even though we're about to head to the Hollywood Farmers Market to do our weekly grocery shopping. When this happens, I turn to Robin Robertson's Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker to inspire me to make Sunday dinner.

(Then I buy a lot of good-looking vegetables at the market and figure out what to do with them later.)

Every recipe I've made from her book works and is delicious - unlike some of the other vegetarian slow cooker books I have (see my post on squash and barley risotto - not from Robin's book.)

On a recent Sunday morning,  she inspired me to make white beans with pesto. Yum. I had vegan pesto (no cheese) in the freezer from last fall, so it was simple to defrost and stir into the stew before serving it.

It cooks for 6-8 hours, so I had time to make it when we got home from the market - I soaked the beans while we were out so they would cook more quickly.

Usually I don't bother peeling tomatoes, but it really is an easy thing to do once I've boiled the water, and it makes a textural difference. So I rose to the occasion.

Larry usually only likes pesto on pasta, but he thought this stew was just great. I hope you enjoy it too.

White Bean and Pesto Stew
1 cup dried white lima beans or other white bean1 tbsp olive oil
1 large yellow onion (about 1 cup chopped)
1 red pepper, seeded and diced
3 tomatoes
1 1/2 cups water or vegetable stock
1/4 cup pesto

Pick over the beans and discard any stones. Wash them, then put in a saucepan, cover with 2 inches of water, and bring to a boil. Put the lid on, and let the beans simmer gently until they are tender, 90 minutes to 2 hours, depending on the age of your beans. When they are tender but not soft (no hard center), drain them and set aside. (At this point they can be refrigerated for 2-3 days until you're ready to use them.)

Warm the oil and sauté the onion until softened, about 5 minutes.

Bring a pot of water to the boil. Cut an X through the skin at the base of each tomato. Put them in the water for 30 seconds, then lift them out and put them in a  bowl of ice water. Let them cool enough to handle, then peel off the skin with your fingers, starting at the X. Then cut each tomato in half along the equator and scoop out the seeds with a small spoon or your fingers. Chop them coarsely, removing the stem end.

Scoop the cooked onions into a 4-quart slow cooker. Add the diced red peppers, chopped tomatoes, cooked beans and water or stock. Season with salt and pepper, cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.

Just before serving, stir in the pesto.

Serves 4-6

Sautéed Lacinato Kale

I always snap up lacinato kale, also known as dinosaur kale or cavolo nero or Tuscan kale, when I see it at the Hollywood Farmers Market.

It's a sturdy kale that lasts well in the fridge, and cooks into a side of greens with texture and a little chewiness.

I served this dish at Canadian Thanksgiving. It goes well with grain dishes (or stirred into cooked brown rice), and with baked squash - any time you want an easy green side dish.

Of course, it's also extremely healthy. Kale is a member of the cabbage family which offers protection against many cancers. It's also full of antioxidants, and is known for its anti-inflammatory and pro-cardiovascular benefits. Cooking it in a little oil helps break down the cell walls so our bodies can better absorb the nutrients.

Plus, it's really simple to wash, chop and cook.

Sautéed Lacinato Kale
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion
1 bunch lacinato kale

Warm the olive oil in a skillet. Chop the onion and cook it until it's tender.

Wash the kale and chop off the bottom of the stems. Chop the leaves down the center, then stack them and cut across in rough 1 inch strips.

Stir the kale into the onion and let it cook down a little, stirring occasionally.

Now you have two options. At Thanksgiving, I was making it a couple of hours ahead and reheating it, so I scooped it from the skillet when it was softer but not fully cooked, put it in a covered casserole dish and left it at room temperature. About 15 minutes before we wanted to eat, I put it in the toaster oven at 350°F.

If you're going to eat it sooner, let it cook, covered, in the skillet until it's the texture you like. If it browns on the bottom a little, that adds to the flavor. If it's ready before you are, turn off the heat and let it sit, covered, until you're ready to eat it. Reheat quickly and serve.

Serves 2-3

Canadian Thanksgiving

Canadians do Thanksgiving differently to Americans. To start with, it's earlier - the second Monday in October (although most people eat Thanksgiving dinner on the Sunday). Leaves are turning and the harvest is coming in. It's the weekend to close up the cottage, clean out the garage, tune up the snow blower and put away the lawn mower.

Turkey is the traditional dinner centerpiece, but there's not the same focus on gluttony that there is here in the U.S. In fact, I can't remember a traditional Thanksgiving dessert. I asked my mum and she couldn't remember what we used to eat for dessert either. (She had just eaten Thanksgiving dinner at a friend's house where they ate apple crisp from apples the family had picked that day at a local orchard. That sounds like a good tradition.)

Larry and I celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving in Los Angeles yesterday with a day in the garden and then dinner eaten outdoors under the stars. This year we ate barley and squash cooked in the slow cooker, with sides of lacinato kale and baked acorn squash.

The barley dish was a new one - and I won't be making it again. It was bland - probably because I have run out of my excellent roasted vegetable stock so the liquid was plain water. But honestly, I'm not sure even vegetable stock could have saved it.

Fortunately, I served it with Tomato Chili Pickle, a relish I made in August when we had extra tomatoes. (More on that another day.) That made it delicious.

On the side were cooked kale and baked acorn squash. It was a pretty autumnal meal.

And fortunately we didn't have room for dessert. Because I hadn't made one.

Sunday Shopping

It was misty and cool at the Hollywood Farmers Market this morning, a welcome respite after all the heat.

By the time we got home, the mist had burned off and the sun was shining in on our dinette - making a beautiful picture of the great organic produce we had brought home with us.

It will be another beautiful day in Southern California.

Here's what we bought to eat this week:
8 limes, 5 poblanos, 1 quart of plain yogurt and 4 small unmarked but hopefully plain yogurts from St. Benoit (who really need to get their act together with the labels), 3 red onions, 2 red peppers, 1 green pepper, 1 yellow pepper, 1 bunch celery, 1 bunch cilantro, 1 cucumber, 1 baby romaine, 5 early girl tomatoes, 3 bartlett pears, 3 summerville apples, 3 mutsu apples, 1 red sails lettuce, 1 cantaloupe, 12 oranges, 3 grapefruit, 4 brown onions, 2 sweet potatoes, 1 small acorn squash, 1 bunch lacinato kale, 1 treviso radicchio, a couple of handfuls of green beans, 1 bunch parsley, 1 medium red cabbage, 4 yosemite gold tangerines, 1 dozen eggs, and 1 head frisée chicory.

Eggs and Peppers

When the red peppers appear at the Hollywood Farmers Market, I take some home to make into this luscious breakfast dish.

I sauté onions, peppers and tomatoes until juicy and sweet, then top them with poached or fried eggs and sprinkle a little feta on top. If we're feeling decadent, as we were a week ago, we mop up the sauce with slices of baguette.

I used to poach the eggs directly in the sauce, but then it all needs to be eaten at brunch, because the leftovers are distinctly unattractive. This time, I cooked the eggs separately so any leftover sauce could be saved and enjoyed over potatoes or with rice.

Eaten on the patio in the slanting fall sunshine, this is a seasonal feast.

Eggs and Peppers

1 small onion, chopped

1 red pepper, chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

1/4 tsp hot paprika

1 small clove garlic, chopped

2 tomatoes, chopped

4 eggs

2 tbsp crumbled feta

Warm oil in a skillet. Add the onion and pepper and cook, covered, over moderately high heat. Stir occasionally and cook until softened, 7-8 minutes. Add paprika and garlic and cook another minute, stirring. Add tomatoes and cook, uncovered, until vegetables are tender, another 5 minutes or so.

Poach or fry the eggs.

Spoon some sauce onto each plate. Top with 2 eggs. Sprinkle with 1 tbsp feta.

Enjoy.

Serves 2 

Bean Salad with Basil

Bean salads are an easy bread-free way to add protein to the vegetarian lunch box.

Take cooked beans, add some celery or green pepper for crunch, some cherry tomatoes or cucumber for juiciness, and some herbs for flavor. Toss in a simple vinaigrette and you have an easy dish that will last a few days in the fridge, ready to be scooped into cup-sized containers and added to the lunch box.

This week we'll be eating this pretty salad in our lunches.

Bean Salad with Basil
1 cup dry beans (I used a combination of white limas and Christmas limas)
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup fresh basil
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Cook the beans in plenty of boiling water until tender, about 90 minutes. Drain and toss with the vinegar. Let cool at room temperature.

Add the remaining ingredients. Toss well. Season to taste.

Enjoy at room temperature.

Serves 4-6

Sunday Shopping

The slanting October light shone on the piles of pumpkins and apples at the Hollywood Farmers Market this morning. It will be in the 90s today, but at 8 a.m. it was comfortable, which was a good thing because Larry had a lot of produce to haul to the car.

Here's what we bought:
1 cantaloupe, 3 bartlett pears, 3 mutsu apples, 3 somerville apples, 3 huge pink grapefruit, 1 pomegranate, 4 limes, 7 red potatoes, orange cherry tomatoes, 1 red onion, 5 tomatoes, 2 red peppers, 1 onion, 2 quarts of plain yogurt, 1 quart lemon yogurt (for Larry to take to a breakfast pot luck), 3 small plain yogurts, 12 oz chile lemon pistachios, and 5 lbs san marzano tomatoes to make another batch of salsa. Russ sharpened two knives for us while we strolled the market.

Lemon Tofu

I have little patience for the flexitarian moniker. Basically it means you'll eat anything - you're flexible, an omnivore. Why that needs a special name, I'm not sure.

But I've enjoyed browsing through Peter Berley's book, The Flexitarian Table, and have tried some of his techniques that were new to me. (It helps that he was the chef at a vegetarian restaurant for a while.)

This tofu recipe is one he developed while chef at that restaurant in the 1990s, and it's definitely stood the test of time.

I tried it because both my thyme bush and my lemon tree are producing vigorously. But the main seasonings are the standard balsamic vinegar and tamari, so it's a good substitute for marinated tofu in any recipe.

Lemon Tofu
12 oz package firm organic tofu
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp tamari (or soy sauce)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp finely chopped thyme
1/8 tsp cayenne
1 lemon

Rinse the tofu, wrap it in a clean kitchen towel, and press it between two plates. Put a weight on the top plate (a jar of barley or can of tomatoes or heavy skillet work fine) and let it sit about 30 minutes.

Slice the tofu in 4 1/2-inch thick triangles. Preheat the oven to 450°F.

Whisk together all but the tofu and lemon. Put the mixture in a  casserole large enough to hold the tofu in a single layer, and add the tofu. Turn it to coat both sides.

Roast the tofu, uncovered, for 20 minutes.

Wash the lemon with a little dish soap. Dry it and slice it thinly. You'll need 1-2 slices for each tofu triangle. Take the seeds out.

Turn the tofu over, put the lemon slices on top, and baste with the small amount of marinade in the pan. Roast another 10-15 minutes until the tofu is well browned and the marinade has been absorbed.

Serves 4

Colorful Garnish

A few weeks ago, I wrote about cooking cherry tomatoes with mint. This week, I cooked them with a little garlic and basil for a side dish that Larry said would go with anything. That was good, because we ate them with tofu, and with eggplant, and with rice. They reheated well, and kept their red color and good flavor.

Here's what I did.

Colorful Garnish
1 tbsp olive oil
1 pint cherry tomatoes
1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped
1 scallion, sliced
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
2 tbsp chopped basil
salt and pepper

Warm the olive oil in a skillet. Add the tomatoes, garlic, scallion and red pepper flakes. Cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes soften and start to crack, about 5 minutes. Stir in the basil and cook another couple of minutes until the tomatoes are juicy. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve.

Refrigerate leftovers, and reheat in a skillet or in a covered container in the toaster oven. They last a few days in the fridge, if you hide them.

Serves 4