White Bean and Sun-Dried Tomato Salad

My mother dries organic tomatoes each fall - thin slices in her dehydrator. I hydrate them in hot water and use them in the winter to add a zesty tomato flavor to dishes like this simple salad. You can use the dried tomatoes that come in oil, if you like, in which case don't soak them in hot water before using.

This was the salad we ate this week. It was really good, but I forgot to take a picture. So you'll have to make it to see how pretty it is too.

White Bean and Sun-Dried Tomato Salad
1 cup white beans, cooked until tender
2 tbsp red onion, diced
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp capers, drained
1 tsp dijon mustard
1/4 tsp salt
few grindings of pepper
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp parsley, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
2 carrots, diced
1 tbsp sun-dried tomatoes

Put the beans in a large bowl. (You can use 2 14-oz cans of beans if you prefer. Drain and rinse well before putting in the bowl.)

Whisk together the onion, vinegar, capers, mustard, salt and pepper. Whisk in the olive oil. Toss gently into the beans. Add the celery and carrots. Reconstitute the dried tomatoes in hot water a few minutes, then drain them, slice, and add to the bowl.

Serves 4

Baked Squash

I wrote late last year about how we were eating the organic squashes I had used as Thanksgiving decorations. A couple of weeks ago we ate the last one - a kabocha squash. I baked it in a 350° oven for 45 minutes until a knife slipped in easily. Then I cut it into wedges, scooped out the seeds, and served it with garlic butter poured over it. Wow. It was really good.

So last night I cooked another kabocha squash. I washed it with a drop of my coconut-based dishwashing liquid (Planet brand), dried it, then put it in the 350°F oven. I was able to pierce it easily with a knife after 40 minutes. I let it cool a few minutes, then cut off the top and scooped out the seeds.

I put it on a plate and filled it with a bean stew I had cooked on the stove. I scooped the stew onto plates, and used the serving spoon to carve out some of the flesh of the squash as well. It was a simple, attractive and nutritious dinner.

Sunday Shopping

It was a grey morning at the Hollywood Farmers Market, but the fruit and vegetables were vibrant. This is what we brought home with us:

12 red potatoes
14 oranges
6 grapefruit
celery
radishes
bunch of young turnips with greens
broccoli
7 tangerines
1 bartlett pear
2 bosc pears
2 fuerte avocados
2 heads garlic
1 red onion
2 yellow onions
1 romaine lettuce
1 bunch collards
5 limes
5 pink lady apples
2 dozen eggs
3 cups and 1 quart plain St. Benoit yogurt

Black Bean and Orange Salad

I picked a couple of oranges off our tree to combine with black beans in this colorful salad. Grapefruit, corn and cherry tomatoes added to the festivity, and the zingy dressing of lemon and lime juice made it fun to eat.

As usual, I recommend adding some red onion (maybe a quarter cup) to add a little bite. I used an anaheim pepper, because that's what I had, but a red pepper would work too (although then a jalapeño to add some punch would be nice). One morning I added some diced avocado to the container I was taking to work - that was a nice addition.

Bean salads are very flexible. The key is to use lots of good flavors, and enough salt to help the flavors shine through.

Black Bean and Orange Salad
1 cup black beans, cooked (or 2 14-oz cans)
1 cup frozen corn, defrosted
1/2 cup halved cherry tomatoes
2 oranges
1 grapefruit
1 anaheim pepper
1/4 cup cilantro
1/4 cup lime juice (from 2-3 limes)
2 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt

If using dried beans, cook them in plenty of boiling water until they are tender but not mushy, about 2 hours depending on the age of your beans. Drain them and put in a large bowl. (This can be done ahead).

Add the corn and cherry tomatoes to the beans.

Slice the ends off the oranges and grapefruit and then slice down each side to remove the peel and pith. Then you have 2 choices of how to proceed.

For the very beautiful look, hold the orange over the bowl of beans, and cut from the outside to the center along one of the membranes. Then turn the knife so you're cutting the segment away from the membrane on the other side. Let the juice drip into the beans. Cut the segment in 2 or 3 pieces and add it to the beans too. Once you've segmented the whole orange this way, throw away the pith.

The second option leaves some of the pith on the segments. This is not as pretty, but it is healthier. The pith is where the bioflavanoids are, and we need those to enhance our immune systems. Once you've peeled the grapefruit as above, cut in half from top to bottom, and then cut each half in four wedges (as if you were cutting them into segments, but not worrying about cutting along the membranes). Then cut the pithy core off the wedge, and cut the remaining wedge into pieces and add them to the bowl. (This is way easier to do than to describe.)

Seed and dice the pepper and add it too, along with the cilantro.

Make a dressing by whisking together the lime and lemon juices, olive oil and salt. Add it to the beans and stir gently. Taste and add more salt or lime juice to taste.

Before serving, taste and season again. The beans absorb more flavor as they marinate in the dressing.

Serves 6

Root Vegetable Gratin

We had some whipping cream left over from the Christmas festivities, so the other night I poured it over root vegetables to make this simple yet decadent gratin.

The root vegetables became soft and creamy, and I served them  with Lemony Beet Greens to cut the richness. Altogether a satisfying meal on a dark winter night.

I used baby rutabagas, young turnips, potatoes and white-fleshed sweet potatoes because they were what I had in the house. Use whatever roots you have, including carrots and celeriac. (Beets will turn the cream pinky - not necessarily appetizing.)

The quantities will depend on the size of your dish. I put in enough of each vegetable to cover the vegetables beneath it.

Root Vegetable Gratin
4 red potatoes, peeled and sliced thin
1 bunch baby rutabagas, peeled and thinly sliced
2 white-fleshed sweet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
1 bunch young turnips, peeled and thinly sliced
1-1 1/2  cups whipping cream

Butter a shallow 2-quart baking dish. Layer half the potatoes on the bottom and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Follow with a layer of rutabagas, a layer of sweet potatoes and a layer of turnips, seasoning each layer lightly. Put the remaining potatoes on top.

Pour cream over the top, letting it drip through the layers until it comes to about halfway up the dish.

Cover with foil and bake at 350°F for 45 minutes or so, until a thin knife slides through the roots easily. Remove the foil and cook another 10 minutes until lightly browned on top.

Serves 6

Steamed Collard Greens

Collards are our favorite greens.

And steaming them might be our new favorite way of cooking them. It brings out their sweetness, yet keeps their texture.

Just wash the leaves and remove the toughest stems.

Put a steamer in a pot with some water, bring to a boil, add the leaves, cover and steam for about 5 minutes, until they are the consistency you like.

Chop the leaves before serving if you like.

Bean and Sweet Potato Stew

Healthy vegetarian cooking can be simple and delicious. This stew, which we ate last night, has very little fat, lots of protein and fiber, and a yummy taste that had us going back for more.

It's a stew to serve over brown rice, or a very chunky soup, which is how we ate it. The sweet potatoes keep their shape, but become very soft so are easily broken up with a spoon. The chiles make it warming to the mouth, and the beans add essential protein and fiber.

I used one orange sweet potato and two purple-skinned sweet potatoes with white flesh because that's what I had in the cupboard. The white-fleshed ones are less sweet, which let the chiles shine through. However, using all orange ones would add a little extra sweetness which might be nice.

I used small heirloom pinquito beans which cook quickly and are great on a soup spoon. I've also made this stew with lima beans or black-eyed peas. Use whatever bean you feel like eating.

I used 1 1/2 cups light vegetable stock and 1 1/2 cups water. All water would be fine, just add extra salt at the end for seasoning. I picked a red serrano pepper from the garden and plucked a red anaheim pepper from the freezer to season the dish. A jalapeño and red pepper would work well too. Use what you have.

I went out to the garden to pick the couple of handfuls of collard greens I added at the end. My plants are still young so the leaves were small. If you have regular-sized greens, use about 6 leaves.

Bean and Sweet Potato Stew
1 cup pinquito beans
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced (3/4 cup)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 anaheim pepper, seeded and chopped
3 cups water or stock
1 1/4 lbs sweet potatoes
14 oz can diced tomatoes
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 serrano pepper, seeded and diced
1 tsp grated ginger root
2 handfuls of collard greens

Cook the beans in plenty of boiling water until tender, 1-2 hours.

Warm the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the onion, garlic and anaheim pepper and sauté, covered, until soft, about 5 minutes.

Peel the sweet potatoes and cut into 1-inch chunks.

Combine all the ingredients except the collard greens in a 4 to 6 quart slow cooker. Cook on high for 4-5 hours.

Steam the collard greens 5 minutes until tender. Chop them in bite-sized pieces and add to the slow cooker. Stir and serve.

Serves 4

Sunday Shopping

The smoke from the Colby fire had lifted this morning, and the sky was blue with whispy white clouds as we headed to the Hollywood Farmers Market.

We were an hour too early for the americanos at the Cafecito Organico stand in the Farmers Kitchen, so we settled for a drip from their stall on Argyle, near the St. Benoit yogurt stall.

Then we started shopping. This is what we bought:
1 bunch green garlic
1 bunch beets with greens
1 bunch dill
10 red potatoes
2 heads of garlic
cherry tomatoes
1 bunch carrots
1 onion
2 bunches scallions
5 pink lady apples
2 bunches purple frilly kale
1 kabocha squash
1 delicata squash
1/2 lb cremini mushrooms
1 bartlett pear
1 bosc pear
6 tangerines
1 dozen eggs
2 fuerte avocadoes
6 grapefruit
12 oz pistachios in their shell
1 block 3-year old cheddar from Spring Hill Dairy
1 bunch radishes

Bean Salad with Lime

Limes are plentiful at the Hollywood Farmers Market at the moment. I brought some home and used them in the bean salad we ate this week. Larry says it's hard to stop eating, it's so good.

I made it with the Christmas lima beans I buy at the farmers market. They have a great texture for bean salad - I hesitate to call them meaty, but they do have a munchiness to them. Cannelini or kidney beans would be good too.

If you're using canned beans, use 3 14-oz cans. Drain them and rinse them well to get rid of the tinny flavor.

And if you'll be home for a couple of hours of an evening, try cooking dried beans. Let them simmer on the back burner while you cook dinner, making sure to keep them covered with an inch of water at all times, and taste one occasionally to see if it's cooked - not crunchy, but not mushy either. If you've never liked bean salads because of the texture of the beans, cooking them from scratch will convert you, because you have complete control over what texture the beans will have.

A little red onion would be a nice addition - I don't eat raw onions when I'm working out of consideration for my afternoon clients, but on a weekend it would be good.

Bean Salad with Lime
1 1/4 cup Christmas lima beans or other large bean
1 1/2 limes
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper
1 large stalk celery, diced (about 1 cup)
1/4 cup cilantro

Cook the beans in simmering water until tender but not mushy.

Squeeze the limes and put the juice into a large bowl. Add the olive oil and some salt and pepper. Whisk well.

When the beans are cooked, drain them and add them to the bowl with the dressing. Let cool, stirring occasionally. Stir in the celery and cilantro.

Taste before serving and add extra salt, lime juice or cilantro to taste.

Serves 4-6

Lemony Beet Greens

We ate leftover root vegetable gratin yesterday. I haven't posted the recipe yet, but I will, because it is both delicious and decadent. I made it with the leftover whipping cream from Christmas.

I wanted a simple and zesty green dish to contrast with the creamy root vegetables. This is what I did:

Lemony Beet Greens
1 bunch beet greens
1 tbsp oil
3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup diced onion
2 tbsp lemon juice
salt and pepper

Remove the stems from the beet greens and wash the greens.

Warm the oil in a medium skillet. Add the garlic, onions and greens. Stir to combine. Let cook 5 minutes or so, stirring occasionally. Squeeze in the lemon juice and stir in the salt and pepper to taste. Let cook another few minutes until the onions are soft and the beets are a good consistency. Season to taste and serve.

Serves 2.

Skillet Potatoes

After shopping at the Hollywood Farmers Market early Sunday morning, we headed home for a leisurely breakfast.

Larry squeezed oranges and made coffee (with beans from Cafecito Organico), and I scrambled eggs and fried up these simple potatoes for a meal that was a good accompaniment to the Sunday papers.

These are great potatoes - crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. I boiled and drained them before we went to the market, then fried them when we got home. Cooking potatoes whole takes a little longer, but it means when I cut and fry them they hold their shape better. I peeled them because they'd been in the cupboard a couple of weeks and were looking old. Usually I cook them with the peel on.

A key to getting a crispy exterior to the potatoes is making sure the oil is hot. I heat my cast iron fry pan enough that the butter sizzles when I add it. Then I turn the heat down a little, but not too much, before adding the potatoes. I don't stir them around too much. I want the pieces to get browned on the bottom before I flip them.

These are great served with eggs for breakfast, and they're also a great dinner meal served with greens. (See my recipe here.)

Skillet Potatoes
5 medium red-skinned potatoes
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
Mexican seasoning (optional)

Scrub the potatoes, put them in a medium-sized pot, cover with cold water and add a good teaspoon of salt. Cover, bring to the boil, and simmer until a knife can slide all the way through a potato. Don't overcook. Drain. (Can be refrigerated overnight at this point.)

Cut the potatoes in bite-sized pieces. Heat a heavy frypan over medium-high heat. Add the butter and olive oil, when melted add the potatoes, sprinkle with salt and pepper and Mexican seasoning if you like, then the potatoes toss with a flat spatula to coat them in oil, then let them sizzle a while until browned on the bottom. Flip and continue cooking. Cook until browned on all side, 15-20 minutes.

Serves 2

Sunday Shopping

We received excellent news at the Hollywood Farmers Market today.

Cafecito Organico is soon going to start selling americanos again. They served them years ago, but market politics required them to give up their espresso machine and just serve drip coffee. It's good coffee - fair trade, organic, shade grown - and I buy a cup each week to sip as we stroll the market, but I miss the americanos.

An americano is an espresso with extra hot water added - also known as an allongé - and I find it easier on my stomach and my nerves than drip coffee. (I rarely drink coffee except for Sunday mornings.)

They will be setting up in the Farmers Kitchen on Selma, just east of Vine. I was told they'll definitely be ready in February. I can't wait.

In the meantime, we bought a few organic vegetables to eat this week:
9 red potatoes
1 onion
4 grapefruit
cilantro
10 limes
dandelion greens
7 tangerines
parsley
romaine lettuce
1 orange sweet potato
1 smallish spaghetti squash
1 lb khadrawy dates
green curly kale
bloomsbury spinach
1 dozen eggs
enoki mushrooms
2 bartlett pears
2 pink lady apples
3 summer field apples
1 winesap apple
1 bunch spring onions
1 bunch young beets with greens
1 red leaf lettuce
St. Benoit Yogurt!!!! - 1 quart plain, 4 cups of plain and 1 cup lemon

Kidney Bean Salad

Bean salads are my favorite lunch. I combine them with a green salad and an apple for a filling, protein-rich meal that travels well.

This is the bean salad I'm eating this week. (Isn't it pretty?) I cooked the beans in the evening, let them marinate overnight in the fridge, and then added the remaining ingredients in the morning. It will last 4-5 days in the fridge, easy to scoop out in the morning and pack in the lunch bag.

Kidney Bean Salad

1 cup red kidney beans or other colorful bean

4 tbsp red wine vinegar

1/4 tsp salt

1 tbsp olive oil

2 stalks celery, diced

3/4 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered

1/4 - 1/2 cup feta (opt)

Pick over the kidney beans, rinse them, and cook them in boiling water until tender, about an hour. Test one. If it's at all crunchy, it's not cooked. However, you don't want them mushy either.

Drain the beans, then stir in 2 tbsp red wine vinegar and 1/4 tsp salt. Let sit until cool, then stir in 1 tbsp olive oil and refrigerate overnight. (Or just continue with the recipe.)

Stir in the celery and cherry tomatoes. Add remaining 2 tbsp red wine vinegar, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Add more olive oil if you like.

If desired, sprinkle the crumbled feta over the salad, and serve.

Serves 4.

Gentle Collards

The other night I tried a new recipe for spicy tofu. It was marinaded in sambal oelek, a very spicy chili sauce. I was concerned it might be too hot to be pleasant, so I put some brown rice on to cook, and turned to collard greens to add the sweetness to balance the spicy tofu.

The tofu recipe needs a little tweaking - very spicy! - but the collard greens were the perfect gentle dish to calm the mouth between bites of tofu.

Collard Greens
1 bunch collard greens
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 large red onion

Cut the large stems from the collards (they are edible but take a little longer to cook and take away from the gentleness of this dish).

Wash the leaves, then stack them and cut lengthwise 3 times and then across every couple of inches. Don't dry the leaves.

Warm the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pot. Dice the red onion, and sauté until tender. Stir in the chopped collards, making sure they get coated in oil. Cover the pot and let the collards cook, stirring occasionally for 10-15 minutes until they are soft. They won't sog down into a mass like spinach, but will retain their shape during cooking. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serves 2 as a side dish.

Parsnip and Spinach Chowder

What have we been doing with all the excellent organic parsnips we've been buying at the Finley Farms stall at the Hollywood Farmers Market?

Well, mainly they go into vegetable stock to fill my freezer for the next 10 parsnip-free months.

But yesterday I cooked a few of them into this sweet creamy soup that was soothing on a cool end-of-holiday evening. I made it after reading Darra Goldstein's book The Vegetarian Hearth, which has beautiful pictures and some yummy recipes, including this one. Highly recommended.

Parsnip and Spinach Chowder
1 onion, peeled and diced

1 small clove garlic, peeled and minced

2 tbsp unsalted butter

1 lb parsnips, peeled and cut into ¾ inch cubes

1 lb potatoes, peeled and cut into ¾ inch cubes

4 cups water

¾ tsp salt

2 cups tightly packed spinach, washed and tough stems removed

2 cups milk

white pepper

dash of cayenne

2 scallions, finely chopped

1 tbsp minced parsley

1 tbsp minced dill

Sauté onion and garlic in butter until soft, 8-10 minutes. Add parsnips and potatoes, stir, cook 3 minutes. Add water and salt. Simmer, covered, until tender, 20-30 minutes.

Add milk, pepper, cayenne, scallions, spinach and parsley. Simmer 10 minutes. Don't let it boil. Stir in dill just before serving.

Serves 6-8

Sunday shopping

It was a quiet morning at the Hollywood Farmers Market. Fewer shoppers, fewer farmers, and no St. Benoit Yogurt stand.

We said hi to our favorite farmers and were back on the road by 8:15 a.m.

This is what we bought:
cherry tomatoes
cilantro
collards
7 tangerines
6 grapefruit
carrots
2 anjou pears
3 bosc pears
2 summerfield apples
baby rutabagas with greens
2 jars of almond butter
1 dozen eggs
pistachios

Simple Lunches

We've had warm sunny days this New Year, perfect for working in the garden and having simple salad lunches on the patio.

This is the lunch we had today. The salad was romaine lettuce with walnuts, radishes, cherry tomatoes and a mustardy vinaigrette.

The cheese was Humboldt fog from Cypress Grove Creamery. It's a tangy aged goat cheese with a layer of ash in the middle - reminiscent of fog, apparently. I highly recommend it.

The bosc pears were from Ha's Apple Farm, and they were out of this world - juicy and sweet.

When we had this same meal on New Year's Day, we ate tangerines from our garden. Yes, life in Southern California is idyllic.

New Year's Eve Pasta

I recently found the most interesting pasta at my local independent grocery store.

It's organic artisan pasta made in Puglia, Italy, and while I shudder at the fuel dollars that were spent shipping the pasta halfway around the world, I feel good supporting organic farmers and artisan pasta makers in Italy.

It was the form of the pasta that caught my eye - it was called sagne torte, and looked like long twisted fettucine. I felt it would be an excellent match with a rich mushroom sauce on New Year's Eve.

And it was. It was thick and chewy and tasty, and it absorbed the cream sauce well. It even retained some of its twists after cooking. Larry found it a little too long - it turns out it was folded in half in the package, so each strand was about 2 feet long - but I felt that made it more entertaining.

The green beans were young tender beans from McGrath farms. I used brown cremini mushrooms, but the white kind would be okay too. Make sure to use organic whipping cream. One of our basil plants is still going, and the fresh basil made a great flavor pop, but the dish will still be good without it.

This is not a health food recipe. However, it is delicious, so save it for a special occasion and drink a glass of red wine with it to help your arteries.

Happy New Year!

Creamy Pasta with Mushrooms and Green Beans
1 tbsp oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
8 oz cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
1/2 cup white wine
1 1/4 cups whipping cream
1/2 cup vegetable stock
8 oz green beans, trimmed and cut in two-inch pieces
12 oz fettucine
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes
1 egg
3 tbsp chopped fresh basil
shaved parmesan to taste

Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the onion and garlic and cook over medium heat until soft, 3-5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring, another minute. Add the wine, cream and stock. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Add the green beans a couple of minutes into the cooking time.

Cook the fettucine according to package directions. If the sun-dried tomatoes are in oil, cut them in thin strips. If they're dry, pour hot water over them and let them soften a few minutes, then drain and cut in strips.

Turn the heat under the skillet to low. Lightly beat the egg in a small bowl. Whisk in a little of the hot creamy liquid, stirring constantly. This warms the egg so it doesn't curdle when you add it to the skillet. Pour the egg mixture slowly into the skillet, stirring constantly for about a minute. Keep the heat low so it doesn't boil. Add the basil and sun-dried tomatoes. Stir gently until heated through. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Stir sauce over the warm pasta. Garnish with shavings of parmesan.

Serves 3-4