38 Power Foods, Week 11 -- Spinach -- B"L"T Risotto

Bacon, Spinach (the "L"), and Cherry Tomato Risotto

As a kid, spinach was not my thing.  It was that slimy stuff Popeye ate.  I didn't care if he was strong.  If I had to eat spinach, I didn't want to be strong.  I wanted nothing that slid whole cloth out of any can.

My own first child adored spinach.  By then, we'd reached the American culinary stage of  gorgeous gooey-cheesy baked spinach casseroles with crispy crumbled crackers on top.  Enabled by grocery store freezers filled with vegetables year-round, we chopped, mixed, added soup or cheese, and threw stuff into ovens to our heart's content.  We were eating vegetables, weren't we?  And we liked anything with cheese or sour cream or dried onion soup mix.

38 Power Foods, Week 2 -- Asparagus -- Asparagus Soup

Alyce's Asparagus Soup a la Silver Palate

Every Friday for the foreseeable future, I'll be blogging one of the 38 healthiest ingredients from POWER FOODS : 150 DELICIOUS RECIPES WITH THE 38 HEALTHIEST INGREDIENTS by the editors of Whole Living Magazine. 

Toasted Israeli Couscous Primavera--All from Trader Joe's

Welcome spring!

If you shop Trader Joe's, you might know Israeli couscous--a bit more like round orzo than couscous.  Maybe you buy it?  And if you live in the metro D.C. area or read papers online, you might have read a recipe from the Washington Post a few weeks ago for a Toasted Israeli Couscous Primavera.  I do not live in the D.C. area, though I did for years; these days my traveling husband occasionally brings me a WP home to Saint Paul.  I'm always glad to get it because it was the first paper away from Chicago to which I became really attached.   And as a food blogger, I like seeing what's going on somewhere else food-wise.   If  you're a regular reader, you know I rarely blog a recipe from a newspaper.  Until recently when I jumped on board the fun 50 Women Game-Changers in Food blogging adventure, I  blogged almost exclusively original recipes. This one's yummy, though, and I wanted it on my own site--if only for my own self!  You can, and I did, buy everything you need to make this recipe at any Trader Joe's.

Fried Cheese-Snake Squash Salad or I'm Sure This Has a Better Name

 Last Friday night was a use-what's-on-hand night:

• The first of the Minnesota corn (very tiny kernels, but yummy)
• One of the pork tenderloins I'd gotten on sale at Kowalski's (froze 4 of them in April)
• Salad makings that wouldn't be good the next day. I sautéed the greens with garlic and lots of fresh herbs:

My own garden herbs:  marjoram, sage, chives, tarragon, basil, and thyme.

I added raisins and chopped cashews to the sautéed greens.

The first of our tomatoes went in at the end.

 Despite heat and humidity that all Minnesota is ready to get rid of, we ate outdoors under our big maple tree that reaches toward the house and garage, creating a canopy to cover the patio.  That soft, shady spot is often the coolest place anywhere and you can bet I've looked.  Along with everyone else on Wheeler Street.

Next night, a quick look-see in the frig assured me I had enough to throw together some sort of salad as I had a snake squash (can't find right name) from my victory garden neighbor:

Tastes like a cross between a mild zucchini and yellow (summer) squash.

Some asparagus (now out of season, but still my favorite) was sagging in there and a little bit of the pork tenderloin called me.  What really appealed was the rest of my fresh cheese (blogged at Dinner Place), which I knew would fry.   Could there be anything bad about fried cheese?
 

Alyce's 2-1 cheese

 What about a salad of greens, sautéed squash and asparagus, with avocado, blueberries, and thinly sliced pork tenderloin topped with fried cheese?  With a perky, ramped up orange vinaigrette?  I was sold.  Moral of story:  make up your salad as you go along.

I cooked the squash and asparagus in a bit of oil, salt and pepper, and set that aside.

Sliced up my avocado.  Creamy and fatty, it would be a good foil for my spicy greens.

Blueberries for color, texture, contrast of taste, and sweetness.

About 3-4 oz cooked pork tenderloin--or how much of whatever meat you have.

My homemade cheese fried in olive oil and black pepper.  Dave was so excited.

Et voila--

 Fried Cheese Snake Squash Salad with Orange Vinaigrette

MAKE YOUR VINAIGRETTE FIRST:

Place the following ingredients in a small jam jar, close tightly with lid, and shake well until emulsified. I like to do this to "America" from West Side Story:  Shake to this rhythm..123,123, 1--2--3--. (Thanks, Leonard Bernstein.) Set aside while you make the salad.

• 1T fresh orange juice
• 1/4t kosher salt
• 1/8 t freshly ground pepper
• pinch crushed red pepper
• 1/2 t honey
• 1/2-1 t minced shallot (or garlic)
• 2T extra virgin olive oil.

MAKE THE SALAD:

•  2 T olive oil, divided
• 1 cup each:  sliced zucchini (or snake or summer squash) and  chopped asparagus (or green beans)
• Kernels from 1 ear of fresh cooked corn (you can cook it in unshucked in the microwave.)
• 1 avocado, peeled, pitted, and sliced
• 6-8 cups baby greens, your choice
• 1/4 cup fresh herbs of your choice, optional
• 1/2 cup fresh blueberries
• 1/4 cup toasted walnuts chopped
• 2-4 ounces sliced, cooked pork tenderloin, steak or chicken
• 2T fresh lemon juice
• Kosher salt and Freshly ground pepper
• 6-8 small pieces fresh cheese
• Orange vinaigrette (above)

1. In a large skillet, sauté squash and asparagus in oil over medium heat for five minutes.  Dust with salt and pepper.
2. Remove veggies from pan and place in a large bowl.  (Keep pan out; you'll use it for the cheese)
3. To the squash and asparagus, add the corn, chopped avocado, blueberries, walnuts and pork, keeping the ingredients at the center of the bowl.
4. Around the pile of veggies and meat, place the salad greens and fresh herbs.
5. Set aside or in refrigerator.
6. In the skillet, pour another tablespoon of olive oil and heat over medium heat once more. Grind some black pepper into the oil as the pan heats.  Place the cheese slices in the pan and cook a few minutes or until nicely browned.  Turn carefully with a spatula and let the other side brown.
7. Take the salad and drizzle with the lemon juice.  Dust the whole thing with some salt and pepper.  
8. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and top with the browned cheese. 
9. Eat immediately.  Won't keep.
10. Take downstairs and watch movies.   

Wine:  The Wine Thief  (2 doors west of me on St. Clair)  has a lovely, palepalepale rosé called "Whispering Angel.  Drink it.

  

Two-Dog Kitchen and Around the 'Hood

Fern garden.

On the wall ladies' room in restaurant The Angry Trout

In our south garden

Heavy, heavy hydrangeas after rain-- next to drive

As my mom would say, "Morning, Glory."

This incredible flower showed up in my corner garden yesterday.
My pharmacist's assistant tells me this is a perennial hibiscus.

I've been making blueberry jam, actually blueberry-orange conserve.

Miss Gab

Tucky-Bucky

Hot and muggy.  Lots of storms and rain.  Tomatoes are coming. The first ones weren't so good.  Wonder if it's like pancakes--throw out the first ones?

Sing a new song; enjoy August,
Alyce

Pasta Primavera with New Peas, Ramps, Leeks, Asparagus, et al or I Guess I'm Home Because the Cream Soups are Unpacked

If you have a yard surrounded by old lilacs, spring is a good time for a dinner party.
And, if it's spring, it's a good time for Pasta Primavera (Spring Pasta).
And, if it's time for Pasta Primavera, it's a good time for pink wine.  French rosé.  Or Oregon rosé.

You needn't be picky about the wine, though it must be dry and young (2010).  It shouldn't cost much--not more than $15 and often much less.  Just make sure you have enough.  A variety of choices would be a kind gesture to both you and your guests.

And if you were really loving that day, you might make an appetizer platter of tapenade and local goat's cheese blended with fresh basil and grated lemon rind.  Some proscuitto and tiny tomatoes make the plate.
The rosé will be quite stunning with that goat's cheese.  Promise.

I'm sold lately on lemon ice cream.  In fact, it's a perfect solution to dessert.

Picture taken later after the ice cream had been in the freezer.

I used a recipe from epicurious. com (Gourmet, 1993), though I didn't use as much sugar.  I thought 2/3 c was plenty and it was.  The brightness and/or sourness of the lemon can easily be overwhelmed by too much sugar. (Click on the purple recipe.)  Note that the mixture must be made ahead, cooked briefly, chilled very well, and have more half and half added right before freezing.


About the Primavera... you could look up twenty recipes for Primavera and they'd all be different, except that they should all have spring vegetables of some sort (leeks, ramps, scallions, peas, asparagus, baby greens, fennel, etc.).  If you go to the farmer's markets now (when you think there'll be nothing), you should find some spring vegetables.  If not, pick up your favorites at the grocery and use those.

A gorgeous fennel bulb..use the fronds for garnish.  There's a core here much like in cabbage.  Cut it out and slice the fennel into half moons.

Fresh pea shoots--leaves, shoots, and tendrils from pea plants.  Yummy greens.

 The basic directions (serves 4) that would include your choice of vegetables  would look like this (and I don't think the Primavera police are out tonight if you want to change the process):

Ramps--quite like scallions

Salmon this and Salmon that...or How I love my Salmon Chowder

No matter how often I make salmon, I find I like it best grilled outdoors with some fresh veggies and served with a simple sauce. 

But what I like even better are the leftovers:

Salmon mixed in scrambled eggs

Grilled cheese with Salmon sandwiches

On a caesar salad

Whipped up with cream cheese, scallions, and dill to make a spread.

Soup--Hmm.

Salmon soup sounds a bit odd to the ears.

But just think of things like clam chowder, crab or lobster bisque....

Salmon Chowder is maybe even better.....

So here's the plan for making enough salmon for a meal,

but having enough leftover to make soup.

 

Grilled Salmon, Balsamic Sauce and Grilled Vegetables

Serves 4 with leftovers

2-3 lb salmon filet, cut into serving pieces

Olive oil

Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

1-2# fresh asparagus

2 Large red or yellow onions

1/4 c balsamic vinegar

1/4 c honey

Preheat gas grill or stove-top grill to medium-high.

Pat salmon dry with paper towels.

Brush salmon generously with oil and shower it liberally with salt and pepper.   Set aside.

Clean and trim asparagus.  Slice onions 1/3-1/2" thick.

Heat indoor oven to 250F and put serving plate and dinner plates in to warm.

Drizzle vegetables with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Grill, turning once, until light char marks appear- just a few minutes.   Remove from grill and set aside in oven on warmed platter.

Add salmon filet pieces to grill and grill until medium-rare, about 8-10 minutes for 1" thick fish.  Remove to warmed platter with vegetables.

While fish is cooking, make sauce:  In a small sauce pan, warm together balsamic vinegar and honey.  You can drizzle it on the filets or serve it in a bowl at the table where people can help themselves. 

If you'd like some grilled bread, too, simply brush some sliced baguette with olive oil and grill it.  After it is browned on one side, turn it and add a little grated parmesan.  Set aside until veg and fish are done.

Salmon Chowder from Leftover Salmon

serves 4

6-8 oz leftover grilled salmon

6-8 spears grilled asparagus

1/2 grilled onion

Cut these things up and stick back in the frig while you make the rest of the soup.

1 medium onion, chopped

4 celery stalks, chopped

2 large carrots, peeled and minced

4-6 small, new red potatoes, cut in half

1T olive oil

1 c chopped fresh parsley

1 clove garlic, minced

Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

1 qt chicken broth, low-sodium

2T fresh tarragon or 1t dry tarragon

1 c dry white wine or water

1 c chopped fresh spinach or kale

2T heavy cream

In a medium stockpot, saute the onion, celery, carrots, and potatoes in the oil until softened.  Add the fresh parsley and the garlic.  Season with salt and pepper.  Saute 1-2 minutes, being careful not to burn the garlic.  Add the broth, wine, and tarragon and stir well.  Taste.  Reseason with salt and pepper as necessary.  Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer, cooking until vegetables are tender--about 15 minutes, adding chopped fresh spinach during last five minutes or so of cookinbg.  Add the reserved cut-up salmon, asparagus and onion.  Stir in the heavy cream.  Warm through 2-3 minutes, and serve hot.

-------------------------------------------------

There are a few tulips in bloom, and my grass has some green in it.  60 and a little wind.  Snow on the peak, of course.  Trees are budding out and will probably get clobbered with the next snow.  Such is spring at the edge of the Rockies.   If we had eaten dinner an hour earlier yesterday, we could have eaten (with a sweatshirt) on the deck, one of our favorite things to do.  Today...not.

Hey, Alyce, what about dessert?  Nope, not so much. I'm trying to abstain, but I'd love for you to look at some dessert on fellow blogger Andrew Scrivani's site:

http://makingsundaysauce.com/2010/04/12/champagne-and-chocolate/

That's kinda how I'm gettin' any these days....

Lovely, huh? 

Hey, Alyce, what about wine?  Well, you know I'm cutting back, but there's always room for a small glass of Pinot Noir (Oregon if you can) with salmon.  Though, and I feel like the Wizard of Oz scarecrow here, some people really like a great, big old California Chardonnay to break that fat.  Try both and tell me how you feel?

Two-Dog Kitchen:

Waiting for Godot

Sing a new song; sip a new soup,

Alyce

Let's Diet-You go First or Hot Springs Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

Let's diet.
You go first.

In an effort to increase health (which includes weight loss), I've been on a kick to include more vegetables in our diet, and have been eating a lot of stir-fries, etc.  While we like Thai food a lot, I had a craving for something like that, but with more Mediterranean flavors....   Read that olive oil, lemon, basil, garlic and so on. 

Yesterday, we had a huge old frittata for breakfast, trying to use up a bunch of eggs before our delivery arrives on Monday and we then have more eggs than at Easter.  Lots of vegetables (and a tiny slice of ham) went into that, but I still had tons left.  Also, dinner promised to include meat and pasta, so lunch needed to be all vegetables for balance.

Salad?  No, I was tired of it.  I wanted real food but didn't want rice, pasta, bread, meat or dairy for caloric purposes.   HMMMM...  I  finally just pulled stuff out of the vegetable bin, grabbed a huge saute pan, and cranked it up.   You could call this a French stir-fry, maybe?

Big yum and absolutely no guilt.  Try it with whatever YOU have.

Here's what I did....

Hot Springs Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette
serves 2

3t olive oil, divided
6 c fresh spinach
1/4 c fresh parsley leaves, whole
½ medium red onion, diced/divided
1 stalk celery, diced
½ yellow bell pepper, diced
2 small zucchini sliced about 1/3” thick
1 small yellow squash, sliced about 1/3” thick                                     
6-8 stalks asparagus, well-trimmed, cut into 1” pieces

1 clove garlic, grated or smashed and minced                     
1/4 t kosher salt               
1/8 t fresh ground pepper
Pinch of crushed red pepper, optional
8 cherry tomatoes, cut in half
4T fresh basil, chiffonade (sliced very thinly)
2T fresh lemon juice

 (Above, right:  cooking spinach, parsley leaves and red onion)

Vinaigrette: 2T each olive oil and fresh lemon juice, good pinches of kosher salt and fresh ground pepper (Whisk together well in small bowl.  This makes plenty; you might want less.)


DIRECTIONS:
In a large skillet, warm 2t olive oil. Add spinach, parsley leaves, and half of the red onion. Saute over medium heat, until spinach has begun to wilt. Remove from pan and divide into two large, shallow bowls, pushing spinach to the edges of the bowl to form a ring.

Put other 1t olive oil into skillet and add rest of onion, celery, pepper, squashes and asparagus. Saute over medium heat, stirring often, for about 5 minutes. Add garlic and season with salt and pepper. Add crushed red pepper if desired. Saute another 2 minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat. Spoon these veggies into the middles of the bowls so that they are surrounded by the spinach ring. At center of each bowl, make a little mound of the cut cherry tomatoes and then sprinkle entire dish with the fresh basil. Squeeze fresh lemon over all. Drizzle with dressing and eat hot, warm or at room temperature.

                Cooking the squash, asparagus, celergy, onions, garlic and peppers

Need more to eat?  Serve with some whole wheat baguette or cook a little pasta or rice to go under the "salad."

Wine?   Chenin Blanc (or Vouvray) would do nicely...off-setting the acid from the lemon.

Dessert?  A strawberry or two.

                             The hot salad, ready for its close-up....

Spring a new song,
Alyce

TWO-DOG KITCHEN.....  WITH SPECIAL GUEST........

.......Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day.....

I went to Bergen-Belsen once.

I don't think I'll forget.

It Might as Well be Spring, Spring, Spring...

                              "A little madness in the spring is wholesome even for the king."   -Emily Dickinson

It hit 50 F this week.  Maybe more.
If you breathed really deeply, love was in the air.

Spring.
When a girl's thoughts turn toward...

You guessed it:  asparagus.

Of course, it's Fed Ex asparagus. (Ask me if I care.  I want asparagus and I want it NOW.  And, it's never market-ready in Colorado Springs.  Like many other things, we're kinda the import city of America food-wise.  Even the Native Americans never tried to live here and grow anything.  How smart were they?)

Living in Europe, I yearned and burned for green asparagus.  Germans, when I lived in Germany, cultivated only white asparagus, grown under mounds of dirt to prevent it from greening.  Green asparagus was for animals and it grew wild in Russia, where no one ever thought to bother it.  No, we ate spargel in Germany and, I guess we were glad to get it.  But, hey.  It was fat spargel.  And I never got used to its pale hue.  Looked a bit sick to me.  Give me the skinny green stuff any day.

We've had asparagus nearly all winter, but the other day it simply looked like spring asparagus to me.  I had to have some; I had to have a couple of bunches.  It was like a windfall of riches.  When I got home, I sat around dreaming about what I could do with it.  For, oh, about five minutes.  I had to get dinner done and get to book club that night.  (BLUE DIARY by Alice Hoffman--a good read that was oh-so-sad.)

I could have sauteed some onions, added the asparagus and some chicken broth and simmered the pot until the vegetables were tender.  A whirrrrrrrrr in the blender and  I'd throw it in bowls topped with sprigs of dill and a baby spoon of sour cream. We'd have "cream" soup.

I could have grilled it.  (This is my fave.)  Salt, pepper, olive oil, and a squeeze of lemon juice.  Thassall.  Phew--right down it goes.

I could have steamed it in the microwave for TWO minutes and we could have eaten the spears with our fingers after dipping it into a mustard vinaigrette.

Somehow my head kept bowing in the direction of where the little book on risotto used to be (I had given it away.)  A little pesto (I had basil), a little onion, a handful of cheese and there was dinner.  Who could ask for anything more?   Here's how I did it...

Asparagus Risotto made for Spring Love

1# asparagus, cleaned and cut into 1" pieces
1T unsalted butter
1T olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped finely                                                                   
1 c arborio rice
Kosher salt; fresh ground pepper
1/4 t crushed red pepper
1/4 c white wine (use more chicken stock if you don't care for wine)
4 c unsalted chicken stock, heated and kept warm in another pot on the stove

1 c fresh basil leaves
3T walnuts, plus a couple of extra whole ones for garnish
2 cloves garlic, chopped

1/3 c extra virgin olive oil                                                                    
1/2 c freshly-grated parmesan cheese
1/2 c   "           "      manchego (your choice--I had manchego)

In a heavy 4qt saucepan, saute the onion for five minutes over medium heat.  Add rice and cook another 5 minutes or so until it just begins to turn a tish golden here and there.  Careful it doesn't burn.   Season rice and onions with salt and both peppers. 

Raise heat to medium-high and pour in 1 c chicken stock.  Stirring often, cook until stock is absorbed...   You must stir very well, particularly if you don't have a really heavy pan.  It will stick and burn easily.  Pete and repeat using almost all of the stock.    (While the risotto is cooking, make the pesto.)  When you have only about 1 c stock left in the other pan, add the asparagus pieces and, for the last couple of broth additions, add only 1/3-1/2 cups broth.  Taste now to see how close to done the rice is.  You want it with a little bite, but the risotto should be juicy when you serve it.  Nothing mushy, please.

When the last bit of broth is absorbed, turn off the heat, stir in all but 2T of the pesto, and let the risotto sit uncovered for 3-4 minutes.  It will finish cooking now.  Eat hot, garnishing with a little pesto and a walnut half.

PESTO:  Combine basil, nuts, and garlic in the food process or with mortar and pestle.  Slowly add olive oil until you have a smooth paste.   Stir in cheeses.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Option:  A real meat eater might add 2 strips/pieces of bacon or pancetta, chopped and cooked up with the onion.

Below-  Next night:  leftover risotto with some grilled chicken on a bed of spinach topped with mushrooms, red peppers and garlic cooked in a bit of cream and chicken broth.

Tell me what makes it spring for you?

Sing a new song; make a new risotto,
Alyce           oh, and ....of course,


NEWS FROM THE TWO-DOG KITCHEN...