This Week's Granola

I think I ate commercial granola once, back in the 80s when there was something called Harvest Crunch which was supposed to be healthy but word was it was high fat and high calorie because of all the nuts and fruit.

As you can tell, it didn't impress me much. It tasted like sweet crunchy lumps. So I learned how to make my own. It's not difficult. Toast some grains and seeds and nuts, add some dried fruit, store in a jar.

By making it myself, I can ensure that all the ingredients are organic, and that they really are food. I use differing amounts of sweetener depending on how I feel. This one, which we're eating this week, has brown sugar and honey in addition to the fruit. The sugar and honey keep the grains soft and sweet - if you are trying to convert your family from sugary cereals, this will help. I use raw honey even though I'm not sure it has any live enzymes left after being baked for half an hour.

This is healthy food, and it is very nutrient-dense. The nuts, grains and seeds provide protein, cholesterol-lowering fiber, immune-boosting beta glucan, antioxidants, heart-healthy monounsaturated fats, and more. The dates provide slow-burning sugar, antioxidants, fiber, B vitamins and other vitamins and minerals.

Homemade granola is a great way to start the day. I eat mine with plain yogurt (unsweetened, made by St. Benoit Creamery from the milk of grass-fed Jersey cows in Sonoma County), brewers yeast (good source of B vitamins), ground flaxseeds (omega-3 fatty acids) and almond milk. Larry prefers his straight with milk. There's no bad way to eat granola.

Nutty Granola
4 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup chopped almonds
1/3 cup chopped pistachios
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup orange blossom honey
1/2 cup dried figs
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup deglet noor dates
1/2 cup dried pears
1/2 cup dried mangoes

In at large bowl, combine the oats, nuts, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, oil and honey. Spread on a cookie sheet and bake at 325°F for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it's lightly golden.

Meanwhile, cut the dried fruit into bite-sized pieces. Stir it into the cooked oats. Let cool completely. Store in large glass jars at room temperature for up to a few weeks (but it won't last that long).

Black Bean and Corn Salad

Beans are one of the healthiest foods we can eat - full of fiber, protein, antioxidants, B vitamins, iron - plus they're inexpensive, and they travel well in the lunch box.

A bean salad and a green salad combine to make an excellent portable meal.

I make one or two bean salads a week for our lunches. The variety is infinite - beans never have to be boring. Here's the colorful salad we're eating this week.

Black beans cook quickly in boiling water - usually in under two hours without soaking. You want them to be tender, but not mushy. If you prefer to use canned beans, 3 to 4 14-oz cans will do.

I still have some of last year's poblanos in the freezer. (You can see how I froze them here.) If you are not so lucky, substitute a red or green pepper, or a jalapeño if you'd like a little heat. Or skip the pepper completely. Make sure you use organic celery - the non-organic kind is one of the most heavily pesticided vegetables. Fortunately, safe celery is becoming easier to find in the organic section of grocery stores. Also, pick up a couple of extra limes - it's nice to squeeze a little more lime juice over the salad before serving or packing in a lunch box.

Black Bean and Corn Salad
1 1/4 cups dried black beans (turtle beans)
10 oz packet frozen corn kernels (about 2 cups)
1 poblano, roasted and peeled, seeded
3 stalks celery
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
3/4 cup slivered red onion
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin
juice of 1 lime
1/2 cup olive oil

Pick over the beans, discarding any small stones or clumps of dirt. Wash them well, then cook them in plenty of boiling water, partially covered, until they are tender - 90-140 minutes depending on the beans. Drain and put in a large bowl.

Cook the corn in a small amount of boiling water until tender - 2-3 minutes. Chop the poblano and celery into bite-sized pieces. Add them to the beans along with the corn, grape tomatoes, and red onion.

Whisk the salt, cumin and lime juice together. Slowly whisk in the olive oil to make an emulsion. Dress the salad and let it sit at room temperature for half an hour for the flavors to meld.

Serve immediately, or refrigerate for a few days. Serves 6-8

Sunday Brunch

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that the newsstand on Cahuenga where for a decade we have been buying our Sunday NY Times after shopping at the Hollywood Farmers Market was closing. Now we have to buy the paper at Starbucks, standing in line while people order their double-shot half-caf, mocha soy whatevers.

Yesterday, however, we had a hard time finding the Sunday NY Times. We stopped at the Gower Gulch Starbucks on our way to the market. Larry stood patiently in line only to find the papers had not yet been delivered. After the market, I ran into the Starbucks on Hollywood Blvd. The place was full of zombies, but I was able to get the attention of a barrista who told me the papers had all sold out. Back to Gower Gulch where they still had no papers. Frustrated, we left Hollywood and headed to the Starbucks in South Pasadena, where they had the paper we wanted. While Larry picked it up, I ran in to Orchard for a couple of hanging baskets. When I opened the trunk to put them in, I was surprised to see our bags of groceries in the car. I had completely forgotten we hadn't yet had breakfast! It felt like the day was half gone.

Fortunately, we arrived home with our groceries, our papers (the LA Times had been delivered), and enough energy to make brunch.

Larry squeezed Jorge's tangelos for juice while I cooked Jared's red potatoes (see my skillet potato recipe here). I picked some blueberries from our garden to go with the Finley Farm strawberries. And I made omelets with the eggs from Ha's Apple Farm (chickens raised in an orchard produce delicious eggs), bloomsbury spinach (Finley), red onion (Jared) and cremini mushrooms (I don't think I've ever seen the name on the mushroom stand I frequent).

After what felt like an endless morning of shopping, it was nice to slow down and eat fresh, locally-produced food while reading the Sunday papers.

Sunday Shopping

It's stone-fruit season at the Hollywood Farmers Market: peaches, nectarines, plums, cherries, apricots. The variety is amazing.

But I'm not sure most of them are at their best yet, except for the apricots which tend to be early-season fruit. I bought some beautiful Blenheim apricots at Flora Bella - sweet and crisp and they actually taste like apricot.

Here's what we came home with:
red sails lettuce
red onion
4 cremini mushrooms
10 blenheim apricots
1 quart and 4 cups plain yogurt
5 pink lady apples
carrots
turnips with greens
beets with greens
avocado
strawberries
cilantro
4 grapefruit
16 tangelos
5 small red potatoes
dried bartlett pears
6 limes

Tofu Coconut Milk Stir-Fry

Sometimes I get a craving for tofu, so I stir some up with coconut milk, greens and red thai curry paste for a simple stew I serve over brown rice.

Coconut milk had a bad name for many years because it is high in saturated fat, but now scientists are finding that most of the fat in coconuts is actually good for us. The medium chain saturated fatty acids are rapidly metabolized into energy in the liver, and are thought to be more rapidly used by the body than other saturated fats, and therefore less likely to be stored as fat. More importantly, coconut milk contains lauric acid, which is converted in the body into an antiviral and antibacterial compound. It seems that consuming coconut milk may help protect the body from infections and viruses.

I like the simplicity with which coconut milk becomes a sauce that is yummy when poured over rice. Here's my standard recipe.

Tofu Coconut Milk Stir-Fry

1 tbsp oil

14 oz firm tofu, drained and diced in 1/2 inch cubes

2 large cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp minced ginger

1/2 cup chopped shallots

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp red thai curry paste

14 oz can coconut milk

8 cherry tomatoes, halved

4 large handfuls spinach, washed and chopped into bite-sized pieces

Fry the tofu, garlic, ginger and shallots in the oil for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they are lightly browned. They'll probably stick to the pan a little, but you can scrape the bottom more thoroughly once the coconut milk has been added.

Add the soy sauce and curry paste, mushing the paste against the sides of the pan to start breaking it down. Add the coconut milk, and stir everything together well. Let it simmer for a while with the lid off. Toss in the cherry tomatoes and baby spinach, and cook a couple more minutes.

Serve over brown rice.

Serves 3-4

Spinach Salad

I wanted a vibrant crunchy salad to serve with a vegetable stew the other day, and this spinach salad  fit the bill perfectly.

I tossed crinkly bloomsbury spinach with diced red onion and walnuts. A simple fat-free dressing of tangerine juice and red wine vinegar with a little coarse-grain mustard added gave the salad an extra burst of flavor.

If you don't have a tangerine, squeeze an orange instead - drink the extra juice as a perk.

Spinach Salad
4 cups spinach
2 tbsp diced red onion
2 tbsp walnuts, coarsely chopped
3 tbsp tangerine juice (about 1 tangerine)
3 tsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp coarse-grain mustard
salt and pepper to taste

Wash the spinach well, spin it dry, tear out any tough stems, and rip the leaves into bite-sized pieces. Put in the salad bowl along with the red onion and walnuts.

Whisk together the tangerine juice, vinegar and mustard. Season with salt and pepper, and add more vinegar if the dressing tastes too sweet. (Dip a spinach leaf in it to see if you like the taste.)

Toss the salad with half the dressing and serve the remainder on the side.

Serves 2

Sunday Shopping

We power-walked through the Hollywood Farmers' Market this morning.

Here's a list of what we picked up on our way through:

Finley Farms: red sails lettuce, 3-pack strawberries, young kohlrabi
Flora Bella: rapini
Mud Creek Ranch: 3 shasta gold tangerines and 3 pixie tangerines
Ha's Apple Farm: 4 pink lady apples
Jorge was back at the market after three weeks away, so we loaded up on 6 grapefruit, an avocado and 3 pomelos

Spaghetti Squash

I am always tempted by spaghetti squash at the Hollywood Farmers Market. Larry does not understand this, and would prefer I lost my fascination with this vegetable. So I restrain myself most of the time.

Until the other day when I served spaghetti squash tossed in olive oil and garlic. Now I think Larry will not look so askance at my purchases.

I prefer not to cut into hard raw squash if I don't have to, so I wash the skin and then put it whole in the toaster oven at 350°F until it's soft. That can take 30-60 minutes, depending on the size and age of the squash. I have a slender knife I slide in to see if it's done, and I also squeeze it with my hand to see if it gives. When it's cooked, I leave it on the counter to cool a while, then cut it in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds and the guts. With spaghetti squash it can be tough to discern the guts from the squash, but I err on the side of caution. With two forks I separate the strands a bit.

Ready for the garlic oil.

Then comes the good part. I warmed 1 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet and threw in 2 cloves of minced garlic. When they smelled good, I added the squash, stir-frying it so it got coated in the wonderful garlicky oil.

Even Larry enjoyed it.

As I always say, you can't go wrong with garlic butter - or even garlic olive oil.

Vegetable Stew

Once the vegetables are prepped, this stew cooks quickly. It's a satisfying, comforting stew, suitable for this season of cool evenings before the summer vegetables hit the farmers market. It's a good winter stew too -- add some hot chilies to give it a kick, if you like. The turmeric gives the potatoes a pretty yellow color.

Serve it on brown rice with a crunchy salad on the side. It makes great leftovers too.

Vegetable Stew

1 large onion

3 red potatoes

1 small butternut squash

2 large carrots

1 tbsp olive oil

14-oz can diced tomatoes

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground turmeric

14-oz can chickpeas, drained

Chop the onion coarsely in roughly 1 inch pieces. Peel the potatoes and cut them in 1/2 inch chunks. Cut the butternut squash in half lengthwise. Peel it, scoop out the seeds and stringy pulp, and dice the flesh into roughly 1/2 inch chunks. Peel the carrots, cut off the ends, and slice in 1/2 inch rounds.

Warm the olive oil over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until it is lightly browned, 5-7 minutes. Add the potatoes, squash, carrots and the canned tomatoes with their juice. Pour in enough water to barely cover the vegetables, cover and bring to a simmer. Stir in the cumin and turmeric, cover the pot, and simmer gently until the vegetables are tender, about 25 minutes.

Add the chickpeas, and season to taste with salt and pepper. You'll need at least a couple of teaspoons of salt. Simmer over low heat another 5 minutes to blend the flavors.

Serves 6-8

Sunday Shopping

We received sad news as we left the Hollywood Farmers Market this morning. Every Sunday for the last 10 years we've picked up a Sunday New York Times at the newsstand on Cahuenga near Hollywood Blvd. We hear stories of the Saturday night fights and police activity from the overnight guys, or admire the outfits of Diz, the daytime cashier. Today she was wearing a black and white outfit, and told us the sad news that the newsstand is closing. Today. We were so shocked that we left without the paper we paid for.

Fortunately we had already stowed our vegetables in the car, so we came home with them. Here's what we bought:
10 red potatoes
1 small butternut squash
1 portabello mushroom
bloomsbury spinach
cabbage
cherry tomatoes
1 zucchini
4 pink lady apples
6 avocados
1 dozen eggs
1 bag oranges
2 heads garlic
6 shallots
asparagus
hummus
pita
pistachios
4 satsuma tangerines
1 shasta gold tangerine

Fattoush

One summer afternoon a few years back I had lunch at Cafe Santorini in Old Pasadena. On the menu was fattoush, a salad with purslane and toasted pita bread. It was bright and lemony and I loved it. I returned to have it again a few months later, and it was off the menu. Apparently purslane is not easy to come by.

So when I saw a packet of golden purslane seed at the garden center back in February, I knew I had to try it.

Purslane is a lemony-flavored edible annual succulent that grows well in warm weather and well-drained soil. I sprinkled some seed in a pot on our patio (next to the pot of watercress) and hoped for the best.

And the other day, I picked my first harvest in order to make this delicious salad.

I'm going to tell you what I did, even though I'm sure it's not a traditional recipe. But I really enjoyed it.

For the dressing, I whisked together the juice of 1/2 a lemon and the zest of 1/4 lemon, 1 small clove of garlic that I crushed but left whole, a sprinkle of salt, and 2 tbsp of olive oil. I let it rest to get garlicky, but not overly so. (I removed the clove of garlic before I added the dressing to the salad.)

Then I cut a pita in half to make 2 circles. I brushed each half with olive oil and toasted them under the grill until crisp. When they were cool, I tore one half in pieces and saved the other half for another use.

Into a bowl I put about 3 cups of home-grown golden purslane, largest stems removed, and torn into bite sized pieces. I added 1/2 cup cooked white beans, 2 tbsp chopped sweet onion, 2 tbsp cubed feta, and a heaping tablespoon of mint. I tossed it with half the dressing and the pita pieces. I let it rest a few minutes before serving with the remaining dressing on the side.

Makes 1 large serving.

Simple Sunday Supper

After a long day of digging in the garden, it's nice to have a simple supper.

Last night I boiled up some penne and tossed it with stemmed and chopped arugula, goat cheese, and enough of the pasta cooking water to make a sauce. Plenty of black pepper, and we had a meal worthy of a good Italian restaurant. But we were able to eat it at home, on our patio, enjoying the garden.

Sunday Shopping

Early summer has arrived at the Hollywood Farmers Market - as evidenced by the first zucchinis and apricots. While I bought a few apriums (a cross between an apricot and a plum), I was dubious about the plums - it feels a little early for them to be good - so I just bought a couple for Larry to try.

The strawberries, however, look delicious!

Here's what we bought to eat this week:

eggs

shelling peas

strawberries

portabello mushroom

3 shiitake mushrooms

4 zucchini

1 quart plain yogurt

spaghetti squash

8 red potatoes

1 onion

cipollini onions

coffee

6 apriums

2 plums

arugula

golden beets

2 butter lettuce

1 romaine lettuce

spring onions

4 pink lady apples

Simple Casserole of Greens

With some fresh greens in the fridge, an easy and delicious meal is not far away.

Yesterday I picked some collard greens from our garden and combined them with the greens from a bunch of beets and some cooked brown rice to make a simple nutritious dinner.

I sautéed some onion and garlic in a little olive oil, then added the washed and chopped greens. I covered the pan and let the greens steam/sauté until they were wilted, stirring a few times so they didn't stick to the pan (although a little browning is no bad thing).

Brown rice bubbled away in the rice cooker, and when it was cooked I stirred in the greens and an egg. I put it all in a casserole dish, grated a little cheese on top, and baked it in the toaster oven at 350° for about 20 minutes. The egg helps the rice and greens hold together so it's more of a casserole. The cheese adds a little flavor and makes it all smell great while cooking.

It was a simple supper on a cool spring evening.

Spring Salad

Lettuce is fresh and colorful in the spring, and the garden and farmers market are brimming with herbs. I combined some spring greens and herbs, fresh fava beans from our garden, and a mustardy dressing for this attractive addition to last night's dinner.

This is a recipe that is a springboard for whatever you have growing in your garden. No fava beans? Then use peas or snap peas, or even organic edamame. Use whatever herbs you like, and try to have some peppery greens and some soft.

It will be like eating spring in a bowl.

Spring Salad
3 cups colorful spring greens, preferably including red and green lettuce leaves, nasturtium leaves and watercress
1 1/2 cups chopped mint, tarragon, dill and chives
1/2 cup cooked, shelled fava beans
2 tsp dijon
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Toss the greens and herbs together with the fava beans. Separately, stir together the dijon and vinegar, then slowly whisk in the olive oil to make an emulsion. Season to taste with the salt and pepper. Toss some of the dressing into the greens, and serve the rest on the side.

Serves 2

Sunday Shopping

Organic cherries arrived at the Hollywood Farmers Market today. It's a short season, but boy do I love it while it's here. There's nothing like sitting under a tree with a bowl of cherries on a warm spring day.

Here's what else we bought:
feta
tarragon
dill
lettuce
scallions
radishes
4 mushrooms
snap peas
cherries
arugula
5 tangerines
5 pink lady apples
4 cups and 1 quart of plain yogurt
2 onions
3-pack of strawberries
4 lb bag of oranges
pistachios
2 dozen eggs

Beans and Greens

Regular readers of this blog have probably figured out that I consider beans and greens foundation foods. If we all ate them everyday, we would be a lot healthier.

And really, there's no reason not to. With all the varieties of beans in the world (I currently have 16 in my pantry) and the diversity of greens available at the markets in the spring, beans and greens is a dish that never gets old.

I recently made my old stand-by dish with rapini and black olives, and it was great.

Rapini - also known as broccoli rabe - is a cancer-fighting green that is also good for the bones. It is a little bitter, so goes well with salty flavors and with beans.

Here's what I did the other night:

First I cooked 1/2 cup of my standby large white beans. They are grown locally and cook quickly in a large pot of boiling water - they're usually done in 90 minutes even without pre-soaking. I use a large pot of water because then it's unlikely to boil dry when I'm off wandering the garden. When they're cooked I drain them and set them aside until I need them. A 14-oz can of cannellini beans can be substituted if necessary.

Then I warmed 1 tbsp olive oil over medium heat, and added 3/4 cup chopped onion and a minced clove of garlic. While this was cooking, I washed a bunch of rapini and removed the largest stems, cutting the rest coarsely. I stirred this into the softened onions, sprinkled on a little salt and pepper, stirred well, and covered the pot to let it cook down for a few minutes. Then I added the white beans and 8 black olives that I had pitted and sliced. I let it cook a few more minutes until all was warmed through, and then served it in shallow bowls.

A delicious and healthy meal.

Summer Barley Salad

I usually think of barley as a winter food - great in soups and stews. But the other day I used it in a salad that tasted of early summer - full of cherry tomatoes and peas and fresh dill.

This ancient grain is soothing to the digestive tract, balancing to the blood sugar, and healing to the heart. It makes a nice change from brown rice, and takes about the same time to cook. Buy barley at the health food store - it should be a brownish color and will be called pot barley. The pearl barley at the supermarket is whiter and more refined - meaning more of its goodness has been removed.

However, when you're eating this salad, you won't be thinking of the health benefits because you'll be too busy enjoying the flavors.

Summer Barley Salad
3/4 cup barley
3 cups frozen corn
1/2 cup fresh or frozen peas
3/4 cup cherry tomatoes
1 stalk celery
2 spring onions
3 tbsp chopped fresh dill
3 tbsp olive oil
juice of 1/2 lemon

Cook the barley in 2 1/2 cups boiling water, covered, until the grain is tender and the water is absorbed, about 45 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.

Steam the corn and peas for about 3 minutes until tender. Halve the cherry tomatoes and dice the celery. Slice both the white and green parts of the spring onions. Combine the vegetables, dill and barley in a large bowl. Stir in the olive oil and lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and extra lemon juice as desired.

Serves 4-6

Sunday Shopping

Today for some reason was citrus day for us at the Hollywood Farmers Market. Here's what we brought home:

lettuce
spinach
12 oranges
4 tangerines
4 pink lady apples
8 tangelos
1 pomelo
3 avocados
2 onions
4 cups yogurt
1 leek
blueberries

Cabbage Soup

I love my slow cooker - I can set it up in the morning, ignore it all day, and sit down to a hearty dinner in the cool of the evening. It's almost like having a private chef.

The other day I used it to make this cabbage soup. While I would never boil cabbage on the stove - the smell would linger for days apart from anything else - cooked gently in the slow cooker over many hours it becomes soft and tender, nothing like boiled cabbage.

I added protein in the form of white lima beans that I had cooked ahead - they only take a couple of hours simmering on the stove. I used 1/2 cup of beans to make the 1 1/2 cups cooked beans the recipe calls for. A 14 oz can of cannellini beans, drained, would work too. The color in the soup comes from the carrots. Also, I added a little red cabbage too because I had it in the fridge. By the time the soup was cooked, it was all pretty uniformly white.

The keys to the great flavor in this soup are the vegetable stock and the liquid smoke. I'm not sure what liquid smoke is, the ingredient is smoke, but I feel it's comparatively natural. And it adds the smoky, dare I say bacon-y, flavor that is traditional in a cabbage soup. Other smoky possibilities, if you prefer not to use liquid smoke, are smoked paprika or chipotles in adobo - which would add a bit of a kick too.

Cabbage Soup
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
5 cups shredded cabbage (1 small head)
1 potato, peeled and diced
1 1/2 cups cooked white beans
6 cups vegetable stock
4 sprigs thyme
salt and pepper
1 tsp liquid smoke

Sauté the onion, carrot and garlic in the olive oil until softened, about 5 minutes. Scrape into a 5-6-quart slow cooker. Add the cabbage, potato, beans, vegetable stock, thyme, and a good sprinkling of salt and pepper. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

Just before serving, stir in the liquid smoke. Adjust seasonings to taste and serve.

Serves 6-8. Freezes well.

The finished soup.