Sunday Shopping

It is Oscar Day in Hollywood, so we made sure to get on the road to the Hollywood Farmers Market early. We could see the barriers a couple of blocks down Hollywood Blvd. from the market, but our shopping was not disrupted.

It was a quick shopping trip, too, because our winter vegetable garden is burgeoning. We really needed fruit and apples, and a few extra vegetables like spaghetti squash just because.

Here's what we bought:
3 sweet potatoes (the white kind), 3 Bartlett pears, 1 bunch tiny radishes, 1 yellow onion, 1 medium spaghetti squash, 2 dozen eggs, 2 avocados, cilantro, broccoli, 2 grapefruit, 6 large tangelos, 7 pink lady apples.

Risotto with Broccoli

We have been buying beautiful bunches of thin-stemmed broccoli from the South Central Farmers Cooperative at the Hollywood Farmers Market.

They have long slender stems, a few young leaves and small florets. I've steamed them and served them with lemon juice, tossed them with brown rice and lots of pepper, and the other night I served them on top of a simple risotto.

Broccoli is a wonderfully versatile green, and it helps keeps our estrogen levels balanced, so it's good to eat regularly.

This dish most decidedly does not taste like health food.

Risotto with Broccoli
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup arborio rice
3 cups vegetable stock and water
1/4 lb young broccoli
1 tsp olive oil
2 oz parmesan shavings
1/2 tsp cracked black peppercorns

Bring the stock and water to a gentle simmer in a covered pot. Keep warm on a low burner.

Warm 4 tbsp butter in heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Cook onion and garlic until soft, about 4 minutes. Stir in the rice until the grains are coated with butter.

Add a cup of stock and stir. Let simmer, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is mostly absorbed. Repeat with another cup, and then the last of the stock, cooking about 25 minutes until the rice is tender but still has a little bite.

In the meantime, cut the broccoli in 2 inch pieces and blanch in boiling salted water for 2 minutes. Drain and toss in olive oil and a little salt and pepper.

Cut up the remaining butter and stir into the rice to make it creamy,

Spoon risotto onto 2 plates, top with the broccoli. Use a potato peeler to shave some parmesan over the top of each, then add a few grindings of coarse pepper. Serve immediately.

Serves 2-3

Pasta with Beet Greens

The beets I'm growing in our vegetable patch have many more leaves than the ones I buy at the farmers market. In fact,  each beet has as many greens as I would usually get in a bunch of three beets.

So we've been eating a lot of beet greens. This isn't a hardship because they are sweet and versatile. I like them combined with chard or kale in a side dish of wilted greens. I've also stirred them into cooked brown rice for a simple casserole.

The other day I stirred them into pasta with garlic and olives for a quick but tasty meal.

In the past I've made this dish with chard and other greens. The beets were particularly yummy, I thought.

I used my large pasta pot with a strainer insert to cook the pasta. It took a lot of water, but it was easy to lift out the pasta and reserve the water - turned pink by the beet leaves - for watering my plants. I'm sure they appreciated the extra minerals.

Pasta with Beet Greens
1 lb beet greens (cut stems at bottom of leaves before weighing)
1 lb whole wheat penne pasta
3 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup finely chopped green olives
2 dried red hot chiles, crushed (or 1/2 tsp hot chile flakes)
salt and pepper
1/4 cup grated parmesan

Wash the beet leaves, cut coarsely and set aside.

Cook pasta in a lot of well-salted boiling water until almost tender. Add the beet leaves and cook another 2 minutes. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup water.

Meanwhile, warm olive oil in large saucepan. Fry garlic, olives, chiles, and salt and pepper to taste, until garlic is golden, about 2 minutes.

Add drained pasta with beet leaves and 1/3 cup pasta water. Cook, stirring, until well mixed and the liquid is absorbed. Add a few extra spoonfuls of cooking water if needed to make it moist and a little saucy.

Stir in the parmesan and serve.

Serves 4-6

Brussels Sprouts Leaves

The head on top of the stalk

I bought a Brussels sprouts head at the Hollywood Farmers Market the other day.

I have seen Brussels sprouts stalks before, but never the leafy head that grows at the top of the stalk.

It makes me want to grow some of my own just for the decorative and unusual plant in the garden. Sadly, our garden doesn't get enough chilling hours to make them grow really well. Instead I buy my sprouts from farmers in cooler California regions.

But this was the first time I was able to buy a Brussels sprouts head.

I cooked the leaves as I would cabbage or collards. The farmer suggested I could eat them raw in salads too, but they seemed a little tough for that.

And I steamed the little sprouts which were sweet and tender.

Altogether a very cool experience. I'll buy these again.

The upside-down head - see the tiny sprouts?

Sunday Shopping

It was a bit of an ordeal getting to the Hollywood Farmers Market this morning. First the on-ramp to the Hollywood freeway was closed so we took a very poorly signposted detour through the streets of downtown. As we drove the surface streets, we passed a car which had run off the road and hit a post near a homeless encampment. Larry got out to make sure the driver was okay, which he was, and we continued on our way, finally getting to the market after it opened at 8 a.m.

There were many more shoppers than we're used to, but we did not allow that to dissuade us from our perusal of the organic vegetables. An americano from the Cafecito Organico stand helped soothe our nerves.

I had a nice chat with a young man whose descriptions of the dried beans he grew were exceptional. I bought some scarlet runner beans which he said were very meaty and would be great in a stew on a cool evening.

And Larry played with a puppy in a backpack at the South Central Cooperative Farmers stall, where I picked up two bunches of huge beets with their greens and some beautiful broccoli.

I bought a lot of beets this week because we are going to be eating them raw every day as a way to cleanse our livers and gall bladders of all the stress hormones produced on our weekly trips to the market. 

Here's what we came home with:
1 dozen medium eggs, 2 grapefruit, 2 navel oranges, 24 small tangelos to juice, 1 bunch asparagus, 2 bunches beets with greens, broccoli, the top of a Brussels sprouts plant, 1 portabello mushroom, 4 cremini mushrooms, 2 onions, 3 small plain St. Benoit yogurt, Mike's firehouse cheddar from happy jersey cows, 7 red delicious apples, dried scarlet runner beans, 2 butternut squash, 1 red onion, 10 small sweet potatoes, 3 bartlett pears, 12 beets with no tops, 1 lb Finca Columbia coffee from Cafecito Organico.

The top of a Brussels sprout plant.

Dinner from the Garden

I went out into the garden yesterday afternoon and harvested dinner.

It is so exciting to be able to say that!

I picked two beets with masses of greens, a rutabaga with huge leaves, 2 mikado turnips with delicate leaves, and some leaves of chard, curly mustard and kale. These all grew on a layer of straw so I barely had to water them at all yet they were vibrant and healthy.

I rummaged through our potato bags for some potatoes. And on the way back up the steps I picked a few self-seeded nasturtium flowers to add color to the plate.

I steamed the roots and sautéed the greens, and we sat down to a simple dinner that was simple yet truly exceptional in its flavor. The beets were sweet and fresh, the turnips were spicy and juicy, and the greens were soft and tender with a little heat from the mustard greens and a couple of dried chiles from the ristra I made last fall with our harvest of peppers.

It was the first time we'd eaten a meal completely from our garden (with the exception of the olive oil, salt and pepper, and an onion), and we marveled as we ate it.

I'm still extremely glad I have the farmers at the Hollywood Farmers Market to grow most of our food for us, but it was a satisfying experiment to eat hyper-local produce, all of which had been picked a mere couple of hours before we ate it.

I stacked layers of alfalfa then straw. I put a thin layer of mud
on top before planting my seedlings.

Turnips and curly mustard thrive. The cage is to prevent birds
from eating the seedlings and critters from digging them up.

Green Spaghetti Squash

I found a bunch of cilantro, a few fronds of dill, and some parsley in the fridge so I decided to purée them into a version of chimichurri sauce and stir them into spaghetti squash.

I have to say, it worked very well.

The key is not to call it pesto. That makes diners imagine glorious piles of pasta with fragrant basil and garlic sauce. Green spaghetti squash would be a disappointment.

However, call it spaghetti squash with garlic butter, hazelnuts and green sauce, and it goes down very well.

I don't have a recipe, but this is what I did.

I washed a medium spaghetti squash, pierced it a few times with a knife, and baked it at 375°F for 45 minutes until it was soft. I cut it in half lengthwise and let it cool a bit. Then I scooped out the seeds and discarded them.

In the blender, I puréed cilantro, parsley and dill with a red jalapeño I pulled from the freezer, a little olive oil and a good amount of salt and pepper. Then I whirred in some water to make it more of a sauce than a paste.

I melted some butter in a skillet and added a couple of mashed cloves of garlic. I coarsely chopped a handful of hazelnuts and tossed them in when the garlic was fragrant.

I scooped the strands of spaghetti squash from their shell into the pot and tossed them in the garlic butter. Then I poured in the green sauce and stirred it together. I let it heat fully and then served it as a colorful and flavorful side.

Vegetable Curry

Vegetable curry before the coconut milk

I pulled some odds and ends of vegetables from the fridge the other day to make this vegetable curry with coconut milk.

A curry is simply a spiced stew - there are as many variations on the seasoning that goes in a curry as there are cooks. For this version I ground fenugreek, cumin, coriander and mustard seeds in my mini coffee grinder, along with some dried turmeric and cayenne. It was a spicy well-bodied mixture with a hint of sweetness from the fenugreek.

I also added some leaves from my new curry plant (Murraya koenigii). Before Christmas when it was cold and dry, I bought a few spice plants to warm my spirits, including a tiny curry plant. It's supposed to grow well outdoors in southern California, so I'm hoping to have a grove of it one day. For now it's a sprig in a pot. The leaves are used in cooking and then removed, like bay leaves. They don't have the traditional curry aroma of cumin and turmeric. Instead they are floral and spicy. I'm quite excited by this, but I think the dish would be equally good without them. (Dried curry leaves can be purchased at Indian groceries.)

The coconut milk made a lovely sauce that coated the brown rice I served the curry on.

With a side of sautéed greens, this was a nicely warming meal on a cool evening.

Blanching the vegetables ahead makes it a quick dish to put together, even though it's a little tedious. It also helps to have the vegetables diced very small, so this is a good time to practice knife work. My grandmother used to make vegetable curry with a tin of mixed veg. I can see why.

But of course, there's nothing like fresh organic produce, even if it means a little more prep work in the kitchen.

Vegetable Curry
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 1/2 tsp brown mustard seeds
1 tsp ground cayenne
3/4 tsp fenugreek seeds
3/4 tsp ground turmeric
3 cups diced potatoes
1 cup small cauliflower florets
2 small turnips, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 cup peeled and diced celery root (celeriac)
2 carrots, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick (about 1 cup)
2 cups chopped cabbage
2 tbsp ghee or vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
4 sprigs of curry leaves
1 cup unsweetened canned coconut milk
salt and pepper

Grind the coriander, cumin, mustard, cayenne, fenugreek and turmeric until powdered. Set aside.

Blanch the potatoes in boiling water until tender - about 5 minutes depending on the size of your dice. Plunge in cold water to stop the cooking, then drain and set aside.

Combine the cauliflower, turnips, celery root and carrots and blanch 2 minutes until tender. Plunge in cold water, drain and set aside.

Blanch the cabbage, cool, set aside.

Warm the ghee or oil in a large skillet. Add the onion and cook until the edges are browned. Add the garlic and stir until fragrant. Stir in the spice mixture and the curry leaves and stir until fragrant, another 30 seconds. Add the potatoes and mixed vegetables and sauté another minute. Add the coconut milk and let everything heat through.Stir in the cabbage and simmer a couple more minutes until everything is tender. Add extra water if necessary to keep a nice sauce.

Season with plenty of salt and freshly ground pepper.

Serve over brown rice.

Serves 4

Sunday Shopping

It was already warm at 7:30 a.m. as we headed to the Hollywood Farmers Market. We saw some marathoners crossing a 110 overpass heading to downtown. By the time we were leaving the market at about 8:15 a.m., they were running along Hollywood Blvd. on their way to the Pacific.

The farmers market stays open on Marathon Sunday, but there are fewer shoppers because of the traffic closures and parking difficulties. We were glad our favorite farmers set up their stalls anyway.

I'm continuing this dangerous habit of shopping without a list. I plan to harvest our own greens this week, so I resisted the urge to bring some home with us. I was happy to see Koda Farms was there — they only come once a month and I've been waiting impatiently to buy more of their excellent chickpeas.

Here's what we came home with:

2lbs garbanzos from Koda Farms, 1 Tahitian pomelo, 1lb khadrawy dates from Bautista Family Organic Date Ranch, 3 small St. Benoit yogurt, 2 dozen eggs, 8 blood oranges, 6 page mandarins, 20 small navel oranges for juicing, 1 red onion, 2 brown onions, 6 potatoes, 2 fennel bulbs, 1 celeriac, 1 bag Bloomsdale spinach, 2 romaine lettuce, 2 small fuerte avocados, 2 limes, 6 large navel oranges for eating, 3 bartlett pears, 5 sundowner apples

Simple green salad

Finley Farms has been selling beautiful romaine lettuce at the Hollywood Farmers Market recently. The crisp sweet juicy leaves chop easily into wonderful quick salads.

The other night I harvested arugula from our garden and shiitakes from our garage, and combined them with pasta for a yummy meal.

I served this simple salad on the side. The parmesan dressing went well with the pasta dish, and the crunch was a nice contrast to the meal.

Simple Green Salad
2 tbsp parmesan
1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice (approx)
1 tsp chopped fresh oregano
1 very small clove of garlic (about 1/2 tsp mashed)
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup olive oil
4 cups washed and chopped romaine lettuce

In a small bowl, stir together the parmesan, lemon juice, oregano, garlic and a little salt and pepper. Slowly whisk in the olive oil to make an emulsion. Add more lemon juice or salt and pepper to taste.

Put the romaine in a salad bowl. Drizzle the dressing over it and toss well.

Serves 2

White Bean Salad

Bean salads are the ultimate lunchbox treat. They travel well, are full of protein and fiber to nourish the body for a busy afternoon, and pair so well with a simple green salad and a piece of fruit for dessert that the lunch hour becomes a satisfying break for the spirit as well as the body.

This week we're eating a white bean salad with sun-dried tomatoes. I use large white lima beans, but cannellini would be pretty too. When I packed them for lunch, I added some halved cherry tomatoes for color and freshness. When I was really organized I snipped some fresh mint over top as well.

Cooking the beans with aromatics enhances their flavor. If you are using canned beans, drain 3-14oz cans of beans and rinse well. Stir in one celery stalk, chopped in bite-sized pieces, and omit the onion and bay leaves. The salad will still be good, but I do encourage you to try cooking your own beans.

I used the sun-dried tomatoes that are hard, not packed in oil. If you use the oil-packed kind, don't refresh them in hot water. Also, use a little of the oil in place of the olive oil for a richer flavor.

White Bean Salad
1 cup dried great northern or cannellini or navy or white lima beans
1 onion, peeled and quartered
1 celery stalk, cut in half lengthwise
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp chopped sun-dried tomatoes, softened a few minutes in hot water then drained
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp chopped parsley
1 tbsp capers, drained
1 shallot, finely chopped (or a couple of spring onions)
1/4 tsp dijon mustard
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
3 tbsp olive oil

Sort the beans to pick out any stones or debris or broken beans and discard. Rinse and put in a large pot with the onion, celery, bay leaves and 8 cups water. Bring to the boil, then simmer, partially covered, stirring occasionally, until the beans are tender but still hold their shape, about 2 hours. Pick out the onion, celery and bay leaves. Drain the beans and place in a large bowl. Add the sun-dried tomatoes.

In a small bowl, stir together the vinegar, parsley, capers, shallot, mustard, salt and pepper. Whisk in the olive oil to make an emulsion. Pour this over the warm beans, toss gently to combine, and set aside at room temperature to cool.

Just before serving, add chopped tomatoes if desired, and a little sprinkling of mint. Season with extra salt and pepper as desired.

Serves 4-6

Sunday Shopping

We were early to the Hollywood Farmers Market today, which was great because there were fewer shoppers to bump into and we finished in record time.

I once again went without a list, but this week I went a little more crazy than last. It is hard to resist all those squashes and greens. It will be a week of good eating.

Here's what we came home with:

1 little gem lettuce, 1 red butter lettuce, 1 bunch celery, 1 bunch baby rutabagas, 1 small cauliflower, 2 bunches of carrots, 1 broccoli, 2 oro blanco grapefruit, 9 page mandarins, 1 kabocha squash, 2 fuerte avocados, 2 navel oranges, 20 valencia oranges, 2 bartlett pears, 2 granny smith apples, 3 red delicious apples, 3 sundowner apples, 3 pink lady apples, 1 small spaghetti squash, 2 onions, 8 red potatoes, 3 slender sweet potatoes, 2 dozen medium eggs, Brussels sprouts, olive oil

Shiitake Mushroom Adventure

I was given a shiitake mushroom log at Christmas. I was pretty excited because I have never grown mushrooms before. And it came at the perfect time - the weather was cold and rainy, and our garage provided the perfect environment to grow the 'shrooms. The log grows inside a plastic bag, so it has stayed moist even as our days and air have become drier.

The other day, I picked our first crop - a bumper - and made this delicious stew with the winter vegetables I have in our fridge.

I often buy fresh shiitake mushrooms at the Hollywood Farmers Market. They are dark brown and thin-capped and very mushroom-y in flavor. The shiitakes I picked off our log are white and sweet - a different taste altogether and quite eye-opening. It's like the difference between a supermarket tomato and a home-grown tomato, but more so.

My first harvest!

I cut the caps from the stems and dried the stems on a rack on the kitchen counter to go into my next batch of vegetable stock. The caps added great flavor to this simple vegetable dish.

The key sauce ingredient in the stew is nutritional yeast. This is a good source of B vitamins and a vegan source of cheese-flavor. I'm told it's also good on popcorn, but I have yet to try that.

Vegetable Stew
1/3 cup chickpeas
1/2 lb Brussels sprouts
2 tbsp olive oil
6 cloves garlic, peeled and bashed
4 shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
2 cups peeled and cubed butternut squash
1 carrot, cut in large matchsticks
3 cups packed chopped green curly kale
1 cup water
1/4 cup tamari (natural soy sauce)
1/4 cup nutritional yeast

Cook the chickpeas in plenty of simmering water until tender, 2-4 hours depending on the age of the beans. Drain and set aside.

Trim the Brussels sprouts and cut them in half. Steam them about 5 minutes until tender and bright green. Set aside.

Shiitake log in its plastic bag

Warm oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, mushrooms, squash and carrot. Cook, stirring often, until tender, about 5 minutes. Add chickpeas and kale. Cook stirring often, until kale is bright green, 1-2 minutes. Stir in Brussels sprouts. Reduce heat to medium low.

Whisk together water, tamari and nutritional yeast in a small bowl. Pour over the vegetables in the skillet. Stir and cover. Remove from the heat and let stand 1-2 minutes for the flavors to blend.

Serve on brown rice.

Serves 4

Beans and Potatoes with Kale

I made this simple dish of beans, potatoes and curly kale the other day. It is both satisfying and highly nutritious. The beans have protein and fiber, the potatoes have essential insoluble fiber (read my post on the health benefits of potatoes here), and the kale is full of vitamins and minerals.

Plus, it was pretty on the plate.

I used the small pale green flageolet beans beloved by the French. White lima or cannellini beans would be good too. Or trout beans - my latest heirloom bean purchase - which are small white and brown beans also called Appaloosa beans because of their coloring.

Beans and Potatoes with Kale
2/3 cup flageolets
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large red-skinned potato, cut in 3/4 inch dice
1 small red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 bunch kale, tough stalks removed, leaves sliced in ribbons
juice of 1/2 lemon
grated parmesan (optional)

Cook the flageolets in a large pot of simmering water until tender, about 90 minutes depending on the age of your beans. Drain and set aside. (They can be cooked up to a day ahead and stored in a closed container in the refrigerator if needed.)

Warm the olive oil in a large skillet with a lid over medium-high heat. Add the potatoes and a sprinkle of salt. Stir well, cover the pan, and let cook a few minutes while the potatoes turn golden brown. Carefully turn the potatoes over with a spatula and continue cooking them until they are cooked through and golden.

Add the onion and cooked beans to the pan. Keep cooking, with the lid off, letting the beans brown a little and catch on the bottom of the pan to enhance their flavor. Don't stir for a couple of minutes until the onion has softened and the beans have browned a little.

Stir in the garlic and kale. Lower the heat a little and cover the pan. Let the kale wilt for 3-4 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.

Serve immediately with grated parmesan on the side if desired.

Serves 2-3

Chickpea Burgers

There is nothing like an excellent falafel. It's the perfect vegetarian fast food — chickpea fritters served in a pita with those delightful pickled turnips. I used to eat it often in Montreal because there was a Lebanese restaurant right up the street from my home.

Of course, falafel are traditionally deep-fried, which is not the healthiest thing. I now only eat falafel on my trips back to Montreal.

The other night, however, I combined chickpeas and spinach in this yummy burger that was reminiscent of falafel in flavor and texture. I served it with a sauce of yogurt with mint and garlic — the burgers are dense and on the dry side so the sauce helped — and a salad of romaine lettuce with more yogurt sauce drizzled on it. It was a nice light dinner, until I found a bag of organic french fries in the freezer and decided to serve them alongside. Larry appreciated that. And actually Chase, the Lebanese restaurant I frequent in Montreal, serves excellent french fries and salad alongside their flafel sandwich, so it was a nice reminder of home for me too.

Of course, you could stuff these burgers in a pita, or even put them on a bun. Make sure to have a sauce or some juicy tomato with them. They are dense and protein-packed, but still not as much like a hockey puck as many commercial veggie burgers.

They made good sandwiches the next day too.

Chickpea Burgers
2/3 cup chickpeas
1 cup packed chopped fresh spinach
2 scallions, white and light green parts, sliced
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/4 cup flour

Cook the chickpeas in plenty of simmering water until tender, 2-4 hours depending on the age of your beans. Drain.

Put the chickpeas in the food processor with all the remaining ingredients. Process until well blended. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Tip the mixture out and divide into 4 pieces. Shape into patties about 1/2 inch thick.

Warm a well-seasoned cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add just enough oil to coat the bottom lightly.

Place the burgers in the skillet and cook without touching them for 4 minutes. Check if they're lightly browned on the bottom. If they are, flip them over and cook another 4 minutes without touching. Resist the urge to press the patties while they're cooking. This would compress them even more - not a good idea.

Serve immediately.

Makes 4 burgers.

Sunday Shopping

 It was chilly at the Hollywood Farmers Market this morning. We shopped quickly and made it home before the forecast rain.

I went to the market without a list — which can be dangerous because then I tend to buy one of everything that looks good. And there are only two of us to eat all this excellent organic produce. However, I managed to exercise pretty good restraint.

Here's what we came home with today:
broccoli, cauliflower, romaine lettuce, 1 bunch collard greens, a bag of heirloom spinach, 4 pink grapefruit, 20 oranges, 1 large and 7 small plain St. Benoit yogurt, 1 dozen eggs, 1 bunch red spring onions, 2 bartlett pears, 1 small butternut squash, 2 onions, 5 small red potatoes, 2 pink lady apples, 2 sundowner apples, 8 page tangerines, 2 oro blanco grapefruit.

Mixed Greens

We had an excellent diversity of greens in our fridge the other day: rutabaga greens, turnip greens, radish greens and beet greens. These are the bonus vegetables that come attached to the delicious roots we buy at the Hollywood Farmers Market.

I combined them all in this simple dish of greens.

First I washed them all - this was the longest step - and discarded the very thick stems. Then I stacked them on top of each, cut them in half lengthwise and then across in inch-wide ribbons.

I warmed a tablespoon of oil in a large skillet with a lid. I added some red onion and a bashed clove of garlic and let them soften. Then I added the greens a few handfuls at a time, interspersing with salt and pepper, and stirring well so the oil lightly coated all the greens. I put the lid on and let it cook down a little. I find if the greens get slightly browned they become sweeter, so I encourage that, but not burning.

The diversity of the greens cooks down to a pleasant pottage. The spicy turnip and radish greens are tempered by the sweet beet tops and the cabbage-y rutabaga greens. I could also have added kale or spinach as well to bulk up the dish. In fact, any greens do in this simple, yet highly nutritious, side dish that we enjoy regularly through the winter months. I tend to make a large amount so I can stir the leftovers into cooked brown rice the next day.

We can never eat too many greens.

Ethiopian Lentils

A standard dinner around here is beans, greens and grains. Within that structure, the possibilities for diversity are endless.

The other night the beans were lentils with Ethiopian spices, the grain was millet, and the greens were curly kale.

I seasoned the lentils with a spice combination I made recently and stored in a jar in my pantry. It has an aroma similar to the food I ate in an Ethiopian restaurant near my home in Montreal many years ago (if my nose is remembering right), wonderfully warm and spicy on a winter evening. It's more warming than heat-hot, so add cayenne as desired.

The spice recipe makes about a cup and will last about 3 months in a cool place, ready to be stirred into a pot of beans any time you're wanting a cozy meal.

I added roasted poblanos to the stew because I keep them in the freezer. (See my fall pepper prep here.) You could use fresh diced poblanos or even regular green peppers.

The lentils only take about 20 minutes to cook, but then this stew simmers for another 40 minutes or so for all the flavors to combine. The kitchen becomes fragrant, hungry diners hover, and finally it's time to eat.

Spice Mix
1/2 cup dried basil
2 tbsp whole cloves
1/2 tbsp allspice berries
1/4 cup ground ginger
3 tbsp fenugreek seeds
2-inch stick cinnamon
1 tbsp cayenne

Combine all in spice grinder and grind until smooth. This will stay flavorful in a cool dark pantry for 3 months or so.

Ethiopian Lentils
2 cups green lentils
2 large red onions, chopped
1/4 cup ghee or vegetable oil
5 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp finely grated fresh ginger root
1 carrot, chopped
2 poblano peppers, roasted, peeled and chopped
3 tbsp tomato paste
Ethiopian spice mix (above)
cayenne pepper to taste (optional)

Cook the lentils in 6 cups of water until tender, about 20 minutes. They should absorb most of the water. Drain them but reserve the cooking liquid.

Heat a large cast iron fry pan over high heat until very hot. Lower the heat a little and add the onions. Cook, stirring constantly, until they look a little browned and are starting to soften. This dry cooking of the onions adds great flavor. Lower the heat to medium, add the ghee, and stir in the garlic and ginger. Keep stirring for another minute, then add the carrot and poblano peppers.

Add a ladle of the lentil cooking liquid to the pan and stir in the poblano peppers, tomato paste, tomato paste and 1 tbsp spice blend. Season with salt and pepper to taste. This is the time to add a little cayenne if you want it hot - I generally don't. Add a little more of the spice blend to taste - I used a couple of tablespoons in total.

Add the lentils and half their cooking liquid to the pan. Let them simmer, uncovered, until they are tender and the sauce has thickened, about 40 minutes. Add more liquid as necessary so the stew stays moist.

Serves 4-6

Beet Burgers

I'm really enjoying the book Grains as Mains by Jodi Moreno and Sarah W. Caron. It combines ancient grains like quinoa and buckwheat in simple yet delicious ways. As a big fan of diversity in eating, I am always happy to find new ways to cook the grains in my pantry.

When I read their recipe for a beet and buckwheat burger, I was sure it wouldn't work. So of course I had to try it. And halfway through I thought I was right - the burgers were falling apart.

But as they cooked in the pan, they held their shape - because of the egg protein gluing them together - and they turned out crunchy and yummy, and not dry like so many veggie burgers are. Larry said this was the best use of beets ever.

I used the toasted buckwheat also called kasha. It's a deep brown color and looks like tiny pyramids. It's not related to wheat - it's actually a seed, not a grain - and is gluten-free. It also has a deep rich toasty flavor that goes well with mushrooms - I usually cook it as the grain in a mushroom pilaf - and now I know it tastes great with beets too.

I used pumpkin seeds because I love their bright green color against the red beets. The authors called for sunflower seeds. Chopped nuts would work well too, I think.

I put the buckwheat in to soak before I went to work, and cooked the burgers for dinner. Make sure to add the 8-12 hours of soaking time to your schedule when you plan to make these.

Beet Burgers
1/3 cup buckwheat
1 medium beet (4 oz)
1 shallot (about 1 1/2 oz)
2 eggs
1/3 cup rolled oats
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
2-3 tbsp vegetable oil

Place buckwheat in a bowl, add water to cover it by an inch, and let it sit 8-12 hours. It doesn't expand very much, but it does soften enough that it doesn't need cooking.

Scrub and coarsely chop the beet and the carrot. Put them in the food processor with the peeled and chopped shallot. Pulse a few times to chop finely.

Drain the buckwheat and add to the processor along with the eggs, rolled oats, salt and pumpkin seeds. Pulse a few more times until the mixture is finely chopped. It will not be holding together or looking anything like a successful burger dough.

Scoop the mixture into a bowl, cover and refrigerate about 30 minutes.

Divide it into 4 portions and pat them into 1/2 inch high patties, about 4 inches in diameter. The mixture will only loosely hold its shape. Don't be discouraged.

Warm the oil in a cast iron fry pan. It should cover the bottom.

Cook 2 burgers at a time, 4-5 minutes on each side, until crisp and browned. A little blackened is okay. The burgers will hold together when they're crispy and will flip easily.

I served them with oven-baked fries and a zesty cabbage salad.

Serves 4

Sunday Shopping

It was another chilly morning at the Hollywood Farmers Market. That didn't deter the farmers, though, who brought macadamia nuts, kohlrabi, winter squash, many varieties of legumes, and tiny beets and rutabagas to tempt me.

I was relatively restrained in being tempted. Here's what we brought home with us:

3 red delicious apples, 2 pink lady apples, 2 bartlett pears, 5 page mandarins, 1 bunch small green kohlrabi, 1 bunch very small rutabagas with their greens, 1 bunch red scallions, 1 red butter lettuce, 12 oranges, 2lb dried white lima beans, 3 small plain St. Benoit yogurt, 1 dozen eggs, 1 brown onion, 2 heads of garlic, 1 bunch of baby beets, 1 bag of heirloom spinach, 1 bunch large carrots, 1 leek, 1 bunch cilantro, a small basket of macadamia nuts, and 1 lb dried trout beans.

Spicy Spaghetti Squash

Over the holidays, I cooked some soba noodles and served them with a spicy sauce made with Szechwan pepper and chilies. It was a yummy dish that I served with fried tofu and celery slaw. Larry said the noodles were so good he would even eat them cold for lunch.

I made more chili oil than the noodles needed, so I stored the extra in the fridge until I decided how to use it.

Then I saw tiny spaghetti squashes at the Hollywood Farmers Market - decision made!

I have to say, it was a yummy combination. The spaghetti squash is mild and a little crunchy. The chili sauce is zesty and moderately spicy, with the occasional crunch from a peppercorn.

I pierced the small spaghetti squash with a knife and baked it at 350°F until it was tender. This took only 25 minutes — it was a very small squash.

Then I let it cool a little, cut it in half lengthwise and scooped out and discarded the seeds. I scooped the flesh into a small dish, separating the strands somewhat, and tossed them with a few tablespoons of the chili oil.

Yummy. And I'm sure the sauce would be great on other vegetables too. Here's how I made it.

Spicy Chili Oil
4 scallions, white parts only, thinly sliced
1/2 cup canola oil
1 tbsp crushed red pepper flakes
2 tsp sesame seeds
2 tsp Szechwan peppercorns, coarsely chopped

Warm the scallions, oil, red pepper flakes, sesame seeds and peppercorns in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir occasionally for about 10 minutes until the oil sizzles and the scallions are golden. Remove from the heat and let cool.

This is the oil I stirred into the spaghetti squash.

For the noodle dish, I whisked 3 tbsp of the unstrained chili oil together with 1/4 cup tahini, 1/4 cup rice vinegar, 3 tbsp tamari (natural soy sauce) and 2 tsp roasted sesame oil. I tossed this sauce with the cooked noodles and the scallion greens and drizzled with more chili oil. I poured this over 12 oz of soba noodles.

Fennel, Apple and Avocado Salad

I served this fun crunchy salad the other night with a meal of leftover beans and rice. It added a great counterpoint to the meal.

The bashed peppercorns add a zest when you bite into one, and the tart granny smith apple plays well with the fennel and mild Susanna avocado. The fennel adds a good crunch.

I suppose the pink grapefruit zest is not essential, but it added a citrus note without any juice.

Altogether a delicious side salad.

Fennel, Apple and Avocado Salad
2 tsp crushed peppercorns
2 tsp chopped drained capers

¼ tsp fleur de sel

¼ tsp pink grapefruit zest

3 tbsp olive oil

3 tsp chopped dill

1 avocado, cut in thin wedges

1 cup thinly sliced fennel

½ granny smith apple, thinly sliced

Combine peppercorns, capers and salt in a small bowl. Separately, whisk the grapefruit zest with the juice, oil and dill. On a serving plate, layer the avocados, fennel and apple. Drizzle with the vinaigrette and sprinkle with some of the salt mixture.Serve immediately, passing the extra salt at the table.

Serves 2

Fancy Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Oven-roasting transforms vegetables and blends disparate flavors in fabulous ways.

This recipe looks a little strange, but is really delicious. The dates and pecans add flavor and texture - it will even convert people who think they don't like Brussels sprouts.

The picture to the right is of the dish after being reheated as leftovers. I forgot to photograph it the first time out of the oven when it was much prettier. However, the reheated leftovers tasted really good too.

Brussels sprouts are members of the cabbage family, so they contain all the estrogen-balancing and colon-health nutrients that cabbage and kale do. They are also good sources of folate, Vitamins C and K, fiber and omega-3 fatty acids. Plus they are adorable.

If you want to try Brussels sprouts but this recipe is too complex, click here to see my simple recipe for Brussels sprouts with lemon.

These tiny vegetables are delicious when prepared simply, but are strong enough to handle big flavors. They're definitely worth adding to the week's menu.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Squash with Dates and Pecans
10 oz Brussels sprouts
10 oz butternut squash or other winter squash
1/2 cup pecans
1/4 cup dates
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tbsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 large clove garlic
1/4 tsp dried chili flakes

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Cut any faded outer leaves off the Brussels sprouts and cut them in half through the stem end. Put them in a large bowl.

Peel the squash and dice it in 1/2 inch pieces. Add to the Brussels sprouts.

Chop the pecans. Take the pits out of the dates and cut them with scissors into bite-sized pieces. Add both to the bowl.

In a smaller bowl, whisk together the chopped rosemary, salt, pepper, dijon, oil, vinegar, minced garlic, and chili flakes. Pour this over the vegetables and mix until well combined.

Pour the mixture onto a baking sheet and spread it out. Bake 40-45 minutes, stirring once or twice during the cooking.

Serves 4

Sunday Shopping

It was cool and overcast at the Hollywood Farmers Market this morning. The espresso guy had wandered off and was nowhere to be found, so I had to manage without an Americano. This was no bad thing.

I had a short list, but then I saw small rutabagas at Flora Bella, and beautiful organic brussels sprouts at a stand I don't remember the name of, so a few extras came home with us. I'm sure we'll manage to eat them. After all, you can never have too many vegetables.

Here's a list of the organic produce we'll be eating this week:
1 red butter lettuce, 1 bunch small rutabagas with greens, 1 small container Brussels sprouts, 3 small plain St. Benoit yogurt, 1 bunch red beets with greens, 1 kabocha squash, 1 bag heirloom spinach, 1 bunch broccoli, 3 medium leeks, 1 white grapefruit, 6 pink grapefruit, 3 red potatoes, 2 heads garlic, 2 large onions, 13 oranges, 1 bunch dill, 1 bunch green curly kale, 2 dozen eggs, 4 red delicious apples, 4 pink lady apples, 2 bosc pears, 1 bartlett pear, 1 anjou pear, 12 oz chile lemon pistachios, 1 bunch mikado turnips with greens.

Beans in Coconut Milk

One of the great things about dried beans is the way they can be transformed into so many different dishes with just a variation in seasonings.

I have a dozen varieties of beans in my cupboard at any one time (you can see my current list near the bottom of the column to the right) which gives me a variety of textures and sizes to choose from depending on how I will use them. Bigger ones are good in salads and smaller ones in soups. However, they are all pretty inter-changeable, and can all be made delicious.

The other day I served a standard meal of beans, grains and greens. The beans were pinquitos (small reddish beans native to southern California) cooked in coconut milk; the grain was millet; and the greens were curly kale cooked my usual way.

It's such a simple dinner, yet highly nutritious. Lots of fiber, B vitamins, minerals and protein in a relatively low-fat and low-calorie yet satisfying meal.

Beans in Coconut Milk
1 1/3 cup pinquito beans or other small bean
1 tbsp canola oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 jalapeños, chopped
2 tsp tumeric
1 tbsp ground cumin
2 tsp coriander
14 oz can diced tomatoes
14 oz can coconut milk

Cook the beans in boiling water until tender, about 2 hours. Drain and set aside.

Warm the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until transparent. Stir in the jalapeño, turmeric, cumin, coriander and salt to taste. Cook, stirring, 30 seconds. Add the cooked beans, tomatoes and coconut milk. Lower the heat and simmer about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened slightly and the beans are warmed through. Add salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

Serves 4-6

Three Bean Stew

This is a fun winter stew using fresh green beans, dried Christmas limas (or other dried bean) and frozen edamame. We enjoyed the colorful combination as a meal in itself, and then as leftovers served over brown rice a couple of days later.

Three Bean Stew

2 1/2 oz green beans

1 1/4 cup frozen shelled edamame

1 tbsp olive oil

2/3 cup chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 bay leaf

3" rosemary sprig

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 carrot, chopped

1/3 cup dried beans, cooked

1 1/2 cups vegetable stock

2 tbsp unsalted butter

Trim green beans and cut into 2-inch lengths. Cook until tender. Drain. Cool in ice water and drain again. Set aside.

Cook edamame according to package directions. Drain, rinse under cold water, and set aside.

Warm olive oil in a heavy-bottomed skillet. Add the onion, garlic, bay leaf, rosemary, salt and pepper. Cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Add carrot and celery. Cook, stirring, until softened, another 3-5 minutes.

Add cooked beans and vegetable stock. Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Add green beans and edamame. Cook a couple of minutes until heated through. Add the butter and stir gently until it is melted. Discard the bay leaf and rosemary.

Serve hot.

Arugula and Orange Salad

It's nice to have a zesty salad to go with a simple plate of rice and beans. The other day I picked tender arugula leaves from our garden and combined them with oranges and red onions for a salad that definitely left the mouth tingling.

Unlike most store-bought arugula, ours is quite spicy. Although the sweet oranges provided a nice balance, a few leaves of butter lettuce would have made the salad less of an adventure in eating.

Don't let that deter you though. Just munch on an arugula leaf before you make the salad, and decide if you need to add some lettuce. There is plenty of dressing in this recipe to easily coat a few leaves of lettuce. I saved the extra dressing and used it on a green salad the next day.

Arugula and Orange Salad
1/4 cup fresh orange juice (from 1 orange)
1 very small clove garlic, minced (opt)
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp canola oil
1/4 tsp curry powder
1/2 navel orange
1 tbsp slivered red onion
1 cup arugula leaves, washed and dried

In a small saucepan, boil the orange juice over medium heat to reduce it by half or a little more, about 5 minutes.

Pour the concentrated juice into a small bowl and whisk in the garlic, vinegar, oil and curry powder. Add a sprinkle of salt to taste.

Cut the top and bottom off the orange. Stand it on end and cut it in half. Reserve half for another use. Slice the skin and white pith off the half you will use, then cut the flesh crosswise into 1/4 inch half-moons.

Toss the arugula in the dressing and put it on a plate. Add the red onion and oranges. Drizzle a little dressing over all. (You will probably have extra dressing.)

Serves 2

Sunday Shopping

It was cool and grey at the Hollywood Farmers Market this morning. Our shopping list was not long, which is maybe why a tiny spaghetti squash was able to slip into our bags unnoticed (well, unnoticed by Larry, which is the key).

We did our shopping quickly, and then bought pupusas to take home for breakfast. Yum.

Here's what we bought:
3 onions, 1 romaine lettuce, 1 red butter lettuce, 1 bunch beets, 2 delicata squash, 7 oz small cremini mushrooms, 4 clementines, 1 very small spaghetti squash, 4 navel oranges, 1 large and 3 small plain St. Benoit yogurt, 1 greenish-red pepper, 4 red onions, 2 bulbs of garlic, 1 bunch cilantro, 8 small red potatoes, 1 bunch green curly kale, 1 non-organic but locally-grown ginger root, 3 pink lady apples, 4 apples that I forget the name of, 1 dozen eggs, 12 oz hickory smoked pistachios, and 3 bartlett pears.

And Russ sharpened 2 knives for us while we shopped.

Simple Beet Salad

Winter stews and grains make delicious meals, but they can be a little boring to look at on the plate — a lot of brown is involved.

The other day I whipped up this simple beet salad to add a spark of color to our dinner plates. I took the leftovers in my lunch the next day. It's a great way to get Vitamin C, potassium, beneficial fibers, and all sorts of health benefits.

It's fast to make in the food processor — grating by hand would be very messy. I suppose you could use golden beets, but where's the fun in that?

Simple Beet Salad
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp dijon mustard
3 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
3 medium beets, greens removed and saved for another dish

Whisk together the vinegar, lemon juice, mustard and olive oil. Season with a little salt and pepper.

I peeled the beets because the skin is grayish and I wanted a sparkly red salad. However the skin is perfectly edible, so leave it on if you like. If you do, make sure to scrub the beets well.

Either way, cut off the tops and bottoms and slice the beets to fit the feed tube of your food processor. Use the shredding disk to grate them.

Add the grated beets to the dressing. Toss to combine and serve.

Serves 4

Jalapeño Corn Bread

 We started 2016 with a dinner of collard greens, black-eyed peas and jalapeño cornbread – it was a great meal to start the year, and hopefully lucky too.

I have many cornbread and corn muffin recipes. I made this one at New Year's because I had some apple juice in the freezer I wanted to use up.

(I can only find organic apple juice in large jars, but I rarely need more than a cup at a time. So I freeze the extra in small containers ready to be defrosted and added to marinades or baked goods.)

This is a moist and light cornbread. It only uses egg whites; I added the yolks to scrambled eggs for breakfast the next day — they went great with left over cornbread.

I used 2 serrano peppers I pulled from the freezer — freezing makes them milder. Jalapeños tend to be milder than serranos, especially if you remove the seeds before using them. You could use a little red or green pepper instead of the hot peppers if you don't like spice, but it's nice to have a little kick in the cornbread.

Make sure to use organic cornmeal — the non-organic kind is almost certainly genetically-modified. The same goes for the frozen corn, which is fortunately getting easy to find at the supermarket.

Jalapeño Corn Bread
1 1/2 cups cornmeal
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 egg whites, lightly beaten
2 cups plain yogurt
1 tbsp honey
1 or 2 jalapeño peppers
1/2 cup grated cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed

Leftovers are great for breakfast

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly oil a 9x9 or 7x13 inch baking pan.

Stir together the cornmeal, flour, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl.

In a smaller bowl, whisk together the egg whites, yogurt and honey.

Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the wet. Stir together vigorously.

Seed and mince the jalapeños. Add to the batter along with the cheese and corn. Pour the batter in the prepared pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the top turns slightly golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Allow the bread to cool slightly in the pan. Cut into squares and serve warm.

Spicy Collard Greens

Larry gave me a fun cookbook for Christmas - Leon: Fast Vegetarian by Jane Baxter and Henry Dimbleby.

The focus is on simple but delicious vegetarian cooking. We have varying definitions on fast, but it's definitely approachable food, not fussy cooking.

I delved in and found a recipe for collard greens that I served with the black-eyed peas on New Year's Day.

Collards are one of Larry's favorite greens, and he particularly enjoyed them cooked with chili and turmeric. They were a great addition to a meal of black-eyed peas and cornbread.

Spicy Collard Greens
1 bunch (about 1 lb) collard greens
1 heaping tbsp dried (unsweetened) coconut
1/4 tsp tumeric
1/4 tsp chili powder
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1/2 tsp cumin seed
1/2 tsp mustard seed
1 dried chile, crushed
3/4 inch piece of fresh ginger root, peeled and grated
1 clove of garlic, crushed
squeeze of lime juice

Wash the collards and cut off the thick stem at the bottom. Roll them tightly like cigars and shred them finely across.

Combine the coconut with 1 tbsp of boiling water, the turmeric and chili powder. Stir well.

Warm the oil in a large skillet. Add the onion and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes until translucent. Add the cumin and mustard seeds, chile, ginger and garlic. Cook another 2 minutes.

Add the collards and sprinkle with a little salt. Stir well, then turn up the heat and stir vigorously. Let cook, stirring regularly, about 5 minutes, until the greens are wilted. If they stick to the pan, add a little water.

Stir in the coconut mixture and lime juice. Season with salt and pepper. Serve.

Serves 4

Any leftovers can be stirred into cooked rice or reheated alone as a side dish.

Sunday Shopping

It was chilly at the Hollywood Farmers Market this morning, and there were fewer farmers than usual.

Fortunately, we were able to find enough delicious organic produce to feed us this week.

Here's what we came home with:

4 satsuma tangerines, 3 bunches of carrots (there was a great deal), 1 bunch beets, brussels sprouts, 1 head (?) fennel, 3 granny smith apples, 1 bunch curly purple kale, 1 green pepper, 1 red sails lettuce, 2 onions, 1 bunch radishes with excellent greens, 4 zutano avocados, peanuts in the shell for our friendly squirrel, 1 lb mixteca coffee from Cafecito Organico, 1 lb khadrawy dates from Bautista Family Organic Date Farm, 2 dozen eggs, 2 bartlett pears, and 3 pink lady apples

And Russ sharpened a knife while we shopped.

New Year's Good Luck

I have adopted the Southern tradition of eating black-eyed peas on New Year's Day for good luck.

I'm willing to sign on for pretty much any tradition involving beans.

This year I cooked them with tomatoes, rosemary and thyme, tossed them with smoked cheddar cheese, and baked them in the oven.

Needless to say, they were delicious.

(The smoked cheese substitutes for the traditional bacon flavor in black-eyed peas. But you can leave it out if necessary, the dish will still be yummy.)

Black-eyed peas are one of the quicker legumes to cook. I usually don't even soak them, just let them simmer for an hour or so until they are tender. On New Year's Day, however, I did soak them in water to cover for 3-4 hours before cooking them. It shortened the cooking time a little, which was nice. Best of all, it reminded me that while 1 lb of dried black-eyed peas doesn't look like much, when they have expanded in the soaking water they make enough to feed an army. I cooked them in a large pot, and then baked them in a large casserole. Larry was a little taken aback at the size of the dinner.

Fortunately, they last well in the fridge. They will be my lunch for quite a few days to come.

And if black-eyed peas on New Year's are lucky, then more black-eyed peas must be even luckier!

Happy 2016 to you!

Baked Black-Eyed Pea Casserole
1 lb dried black-eyed peas (about 2 cups)
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 large onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
14oz can diced tomatoes
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tsp chopped fresh thyme
2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
3/4 cup grated smoked cheddar or smoked jack
3/4 cup grated aged cheddar

Soak the peas in water to cover by 3 inches for a few hours. (The less time you soak them, the more minutes they'll need to cook.) Drain.

Warm the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and fry until golden-brown. Add the can of tomatoes, then fill the can with water and add that too. Add the salt, pepper, thyme, rosemary and drained black-eyed peas.

Simmer, covered, until the beans are tender, 30-45 minutes. Stir occasionally. This is a dry dish, so there shouldn't be a lot of liquid in the pot, but add a little water if it looks like it needs it.

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Remove the bean pot from the heat and stir in the smoked cheese.

Pour into a 7x13 casserole (or other 3 quart size) and sprinkle the cheddar on top.

Bake 35-40 minutes until the flavors are melded and the beans are piping hot.

Serves 8-10