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.