the summer vegetable hit parade

This is one of the most beautiful pictures I have ever displayed in my blog:

 

I feel like I have finally regained my cooking mojo, and, even more impressively, my healthy cooking mojo. I have several sources to thank, one of which is at last buying my own groceries and living in a wonderfully healthful place where the farmer’s market is cheap, walking everywhere is easy, and the people around me all dig health too. Believe me, many North Carolina posts to come. Life is good here!

Let’s wind down some pictures from back when I lived in the somewhat exhausting DC suburbs. I was finding joy in soaking up my last days with the family (and CAT!) for a good long while. I was making delicious food for them.  As an added bonus, when I feel like cooking delicious and healthy food, I also feel like photographing it. I feel like my cooking creativity has finally reappeared!

So back to this layered fusion-type business:

(That upside down flip flop in the background of the picture is obviously a deeply meaningful postmodern symbol. I’ll let you come up with your own interpretation).

On to the dish. Beginning with the eggplant.

To make eggplant any good without involving extraordinary quantities of fat, you must salt it. Just slice it, spread the slices out on a cutting board, liberally salt both sides, and let ‘em sit there for awhile.

You’ll note some condensation.

  

Once that’s happened, brush the slices with a clean kitchen towel, then wipe them with olive oil. It obviously tastes better with quite a lot of olive oil; and don’t skimp too much even if you’re fat preoccupied because they’ll just be dry and grody.

Under the broiler with them, til they look like this:

  

Meanwhile, make yourself some chickpea flour batter. Any respectable socca recipe (I used Mark Bittman’s from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian but the Internet is riddled with additional ones) will do. I seasoned this less aggressively than I do when I’m serving it straight up, so the flavors wouldn’t compete too much with the other ingredients in the stack o’ goodness.

 

To get tortilla-like shapes for layering with my veggies, I cooked the batter in a skillet, like you would pancakes. The chickpea flapjacks came out surprisingly adorable. I now understand much better how one could make injera at home.

Then I threw together an exceedingly quick sauce with basically just olive oil, tomatoes, and fresh herbs. And so the layering could begin.

 

Simultaneously fancy looking, healthy, and dead easy, this is a technique that I will be incorporating into many other recipes. Chickpea flapjacks+veggie layers= boss. I think tahini sauce may be in the future, too…

 

Certain people named my boyfriend left an ENORMOUS bag of kale in my refrigerator when certain people left town. ENORMOUS. Like a SLEEPING BAG FULL OF KALE.

Fortunately, I have two words for you: kale pie.

Leftover phyllo dough? Don’t mind if I do.

 

Filling can include any of your desired combinations of:
- Kale (duh). At various points I reappropriated leftover kale chips and leftover steam kale into my kale pies, and both worked brilliantly
- Eggs (or egg yolks made into a custard with milk)
- Cheese (parmesan, goat, or feta would be nice; but I used cheddar one time and that was tasty too)
- Fresh herbs of your choice, with parsley being a very nice choice
- Lemon zest or juice
- WALNUTS! Give it a nice extra shazam

I first used phyllo dough because it is reminiscent of classic spanikopita for this recipe, and had also been languishing in my fridge for quite some time. However, in a later version I made a homemade whole wheat and olive oil pie crust and it was mighty delicious too.

I photographed this pie immediately after it came from the oven, so it was steaming quite powerfully. But you get the idea.

   

More summer goodness to come, from the state with Carolina blue skies!

i heart summer vegetables

Title is self-explanatory, though ever so slightly ripped off from another blog!

Let’s do a bit of case study here, shall we? We begin with pristine farmer’s market lima beans. 

 

I do as many photoshoots as possible on the deck to capture its lovely natural light. This always amuses my cat, who starts nuzzling the camera.

 

Being in a soup mood, as I am often inclined to be, I decided I wanted something cold, creamy, and herb-y.

This is not a recipe (though get excited, as there are two recipes- real ones!- below, but an approximation. I feel like it’s worth it to share an approximation, if it produces something wonderful with lima beans, as so many people are oddly scared of lima beans. I promise, they are good this way!)

Basically:
- Cook ‘the beans til they’re tender. In whatever. I used chicken broth cause I had some languishing in the fridge.
- Let them cool a bit and puree them with their liquid.
- Add creaminess, if desired. Pureed beans, especially starchy ones like lima beans, already do a pretty good job of making a creamy soup, but since I had some buttermilk in the fridge I opted to add that too, which made it even creamier and contributed a welcome tang, which leads me to…
- Add flava! I added copious amounts of the wonderful fresh basil growing on my deck, lotsa salt and pepper, and lemon juice

It. was. greeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeat! 

I enjoyed the soup over a course of a couple of meals but I wanted to highlight a delicious lunch I had, joined by my sister. The soup was a highlight, of course, as was an enormous bowl of guacamole, with homemade tortilla chips dunked in it. My sister, demonstrating the balance in her life, included in her lunch a plate covered of two totally crack-like substances she brought home: both chips. One bag of apple chips. One bag of kettle cooked sun-dried tomato parmesan potato chips. Gahhhh.

Anyway, we both focused on the guacamole. Love us some avocado.

 

And now, I have not one but TWO recipes highlighting delicious summer vegetables! It is a joy to share them, as well as somewhat of a relief that I have not completely forgotten how to be healthy. I had been inclined to believe, for awhile, that my health related to food was on an upswing, at least to the extent that my emotions connected to my eating habits. Then, blessedly summer returned and I threw myself with gusto into preparing the wonderful produce of the season. Groove=back.

We begin with…

Greek Style Green Beans

1/3 cup olive oil
1 small/medium onion, finely diced
1 clove garlic
1 T tomato paste
1 lb fresh green beans
1 large heirloom tomato (or 2 normal sized tomatoes), chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 tsp. ground allspice
1/2 cup water

Wash green beans, and with a knife or scissors, trim off the tips at both ends and any coarse strings that many remain.

In a large dish like a Dutch oven, over medium heat, cook onion in olive oil until translucent. Stir occasionally. Add the garlic and tomato paste and cook for an additional minute, stirring often, until they are evenly distributed through the onion. Add green beans and cook for an additional minute, stirring often, until they are evenly coated with the oil.

Then add remaining ingredients. Increase to high, and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until the green beans are tender, about 30-40 minutes for thick green beans like the ones shown above. If you want the sauce to be thinner, remove the lid of the pot for the last 5-10 minutes of cooking.

Notes:
-The olive oil is present in large quantities. It is what gives the dish the majority of its flavor, and is authentic to the Greek origin of the recipe. If you make it with less olive oil, it will be less good. And olive oil is good for you. And you’re eating green beans, for heaven’s sake, so just add the whole 1/3 cup of olive oil, okay?
- I used the broad green beans available at many a farmer’s market this time of year. I was filled with delight when I saw them because they looked exactly like the green beans I ate with such gusto in Greece. You are, of course, welcome to use regular green beans. They will just cook for slightly less time. I also used a heaping pound of the green beans. In other words, the proportions aren’t set in stone.
- The allspice is present in small quantities because it has a distinctive, strong flavor. I love it in here, but any other herb, fresh or dried, would be great, too. If you are adding fresh herbs, of course add more than 1/4 tsp.
- Add water based on how saucy you want your final beans to be. This is a great dish for soaking up with bread or rice, but if you’d rather have a more basic side dish without a lot of sauce, you can add a lot less water.

This dish tastes like GREECE! Also, summer.

  

Since certain people’s boyfriends were leaving town, this certain person’s boyfriend left behind an ENORMOUS, almost COMICAL amount of kale in his beloved girlfriend’s kitchen. She rose to the occasion (oh, she rose. Just wait. This post is I Heart Summer Vegetables Part 1, friends), but there was just a TON, man!

Meanwhile, another ingredient I squealed with delight to see at the farmer’s market was fresh fennel.

I got out my scary dangerous trusty mandoline and made some thin slices of the good stuff, knowing they were destined for greatness.

A salad seemed a wise choice, and also a delicious one, combining the wonderful crunchy, licorice-y splendor of fresh fennel with the earthy bitterness of kale. I feel slightly silly writing a recipe for salad, and yet this was wonderful and I wanted it recorded so, if no other reason, I’d have it for the next time I myself wanted to make it.

Crunchy Kale, Fennel and Apple Salad

5 cups shredded kale
1 large green apple, very thinly sliced
1 bulb fennel, very thinly sliced
1/2 cup walnuts
2 T olive oil
the juice of 1 large lemon
1/2 T honey
2 T apple cider vinegar
salt and pepper

Combine kale, apple, fennel, and walnuts in a large salad bowl. Whisk together oil, lemon juice, honey, and apple cider vinegar with salt and pepper to taste. Toss the salad gently so as not to totally pulverize the apple slices!

Bonus: unlike some kale salads, this was just as good the next day or two. It might’ve been good after that, but we just ate it so quickly…

lately i’ve been

Lately I’ve been gardening like it’s my job. I mean, it isn’t. Obviously. Fortunately, since I’m not all that good at it yet.

Still, the adventure of growing plants from seed is going surprisingly well- here’s a shot of my overcrowded deck, taken Sunday.

I thought I’d recount a bit of my journey, to encourage those of you who’ve wanted to start a garden but have doubted your abilities. Believe me when I say that if I can do it, anyone can do it.

After planting my seeds, my first sprouts were greeted with joy. You’ll recall that they began their lives indoors, with consistent warmth cultivating their growth at a crucial and delicate phase of their lives.

Tomatoes and basil grew reliably (with the heirloom romas being particularly hardy). 

I worried about the heirloom zucchini because it took forever to sprout and I was afraid I wouldn’t get anything. Well, I needn’t have worried, as it turned out it was just taking its time below the surface, ultimately rising in an impressively large sprout.

The dill were the absolute cutest, reaching for the sun.

Once we had reliable sun and warmth outdoors, and the plants were hardy enough to be relocated, they got potted on the deck.

You produce an amazing quantity of seedlings when you grow from seed. Keep that in mind, particularly if you’re doing a potted garden. (I am by necessity, since deer freely wander our yard, entirely unafraid of us, eating absolutely whatever they want).

Here are just some of the pots required to contain just what the tomato seeds successfully produced:

Transplanted a few of the little basil guys, but had to keep most of them in the pot til I had space for them. So precious!

I’d bought a pepper plant at the farmer’s market, then suddenly panicked. Don’t plants need to cross pollinate? Isn’t that necessary for plant sex? (The fact that I call it “plant sex” is a good indicator of how much I know about cross pollination, obviously).

So my thoughtful boyfriend bought me an additional pepper plant and an additional squash plant, so my lonely plants could have necessary companionship.

They came in the neatest containers, where you rip off the plastic rim around the top and then everything else is biodegradable, so you can plant it directly in the pot.

The pepper department looked good (and its leaves bore a striking resemblance to basil, which I thought was interesting)

He also got a boyfriend for my lonely squash.

And so some more time passed, with me visiting my plants each day to top them off with water if needed (tricky, knowing what’s not too much and not too little- a Goldilocks esque quandry). It’s so nice visiting them, talking to them, cheering them on in their progress. I was explaining this to my mom, who agreed that it was so amazing watching things grow and then said, “It’s just like being pregnant!” And then I changed the subject, eurgh. Plants are quite enough responsibility for me for the foreseeable future.     

And now? Now all my plants are doing swimmingly!

The tomatoes are big and beautiful (and I need to stake them sooner rather than later)

 

The squash are glossy and abundant.

And the peppers are filling me with delight! I am growing them for the first time so am particularly enchanted by their growth progression.

You see, they have little baby bulbs!

And the first has begun to transform into a sweet little pepper flower! So excited.

 

In the herb department, we have thriving basil and wintered-over sage. The sage I raided to make succulent bison meatballs just the other day.

Very excited for the harvest! Will continue to update, mostly for my own scrapbook-like memories!

Lately I’ve been eating this for breakfast a lot.

   

It’s a (subtly) healthified version of an absolutely delicious Steve creation. I combine:

- yogurt (1/2 a cup or so; Steve uses full-fat vanilla yogurt, I use lowfat or nonfat plain yogurt plus a little milk, plus a little vanilla, plus stevia)
- a whole buncha whole flaxseeds (crunch!)
- sliced banana
- frozen blueberries (which I don’t bother to thaw; I use the Trader Joe’s frozen organic wild Maine blueberries which are tiny and packed with flavor)
- peanut butter
- oats

Steve also adds honey.

 

Guys, this is DELICIOUS. And difficult to photograph, obviously.

Lately I’ve been trying to be a runner.

My primary motivation for this is that I got shoes that are THE CUTEST. I know nothing about running shoes, so I went to DSW and looked for shoes that cost
-$85 or less (my dad was kind enough to get me these. We’ve been playing racquetball twice a week and my old shoes- which I’d gotten in high school, were understandably junky)
-Well padded with good support (I didn’t like the minimalist shoes at all. I also tend to do a lot of arc trainer at the gym, and that machine necessitates well-padded toes)
- Didn’t make my knee hurt when I ran up and down the aisle at DSW

So I ended up with these cute Nike Airs.

Lately (ish) I’ve been eating a lot of hardboiled eggs. After Greek Easter, we had a tonnnn of them. For reasons best understood by her, my sister’s godmother, who hosted Easter this year, asked us to bring three dozen Easter eggs… then already had that amount made herself.

Anyway, Jacques Pepin has a great recipe for hardboiled egg and tomato gratin and I made it a coupla times, with my own spin

The gratin must contain tomatoes and hardboiled eggs. Beyond that, one can add
- cubed stale bread
-onions, slow-cooked until soft
-cheese
-fresh herbs

Duh-lish.

 

Lately I’ve been taking organic chemistry. Pray for me.

Thank goodness I have Sheila helping me study.

Lately I’ve been making a TON of fruit compote. I finally, finally found rhubarb at the farmer’s market (I completely missed rhubarb season last year, SAD) and made a truly delicious strawberry-rhubarb compote. It involved agave nectar and a little powdered ginger.

It was magnificent on whole-wheat pancakes with a ton of chopped almonds.

 

Fruit compote is great to use up fruit that’s still good but perhaps a little squishier than you’d like it. My most recent rendition contained nice farmer’s market apples that were a little too wrinkly to eat raw mixed with a few soft cherries and strawberries from otherwise nice containers of them.

Lately I’ve been interrogating orthopedic surgeons because my poor baby sister is getting knee surgery tomorrow. I hope everything goes well!

Lately I’ve been apartment hunting in the Chapel Hill/Carrboro area and I think I at last have success! I’ll share more once I’ve dotted i’s and crossed t’s, since apartment hunting is a volatile business, as I’ve learned the hard way.

Lately I’ve been eating not the best, mostly because I’ve had such bizarre sleeping habits. Sleeping ridiculously late, setting alarms and being unable to get up when I need to. Not cool. Staying up late, feeling really buzzed, eating junk food, then waking up with no appetite and skipping breakfast. Not cool! I want to get back into a healthier routine. I know I do better when I wake up at a reasonable hour; I’m happier and more productive in the morning. I like being a morning exerciser. Etc. I need a way to make this schedule happen in an organic way. I think these not so fun habits may be connected to a slightly lowered mood, which probably has something to do with imminent life changes, a course that demands skills that are far from inherent for me, and fears about getting the job I need in NC. And another thing, my next point…

Lately I’ve been watching the new episodes of Arrested Development on Netflix and boy are they awful.

what I'm diggin'

Other bloggers do "Friday Favorites" posts, so here's my take at one. It is an amusing amalgamation of everything I've thought about this week, some totally unrelated to food.

1. I am a HUGE fan of Too Hottie for that Body- it is such a cute, inspired, positive blog. I'm not particularly preoccupied with weight loss right now, but the nice thing is that you can be on whatever health/fitness/nutrition journey you want and still enjoy her point of view. And get overwhelmed by the cuteness of her groundhog day cupcakes.

2. I made a kick-ass salad last night. The ingredients:

- arugula, lots

- carrots shaved into ribbons with a vegetable peeler

- goat cheese, crumbled

- whole flax seeds

- cinnamon

- olive oil

- apple cider vinegar

SO satisfying! I often find myself eating salads dutifully and grimly in the winter. This one tastes like winter and manages to stick to your ribs, despite consisting of non-starchy vegetables. Nom.

3. I always enjoy learning how other cultures do things. One of my favorite courses in college was the Anthropology of Child-Rearing (or, er, something like that). One of the books we perused for the course was a study on preschools in the upper-income US, lower-income US, China, and Japan. I learned a lot and it made me think about our priorities as a country (as well as some inherent differences in child rearing philosophy and practice based on socioeconomic background). Anyway, in the Washington Post this week, in a similar vein, I found and enjoyed this article on school lunches in Japan. Particularly this line: "Schools in Japan... give children the sort of food they’d get at home, not at a stadium". Also, the children in their little chef's outfits are super adorable.

4. Do you have bum ovaries? I do! Apparently PCOS, polycystic ovaries syndrome, will get a new name, since the current one has nothing to do with the diagnostic criteria. PCOS is one of those "lady problems" that gets almost no news coverage and no one bothers funding research for it. I ask you, how many medications are there for erectile dysfunction? Yet PCOS (or whatever it'll be called now) affects up to 1 in 10 women and no one cares. Baffling. Also, my sister hooked me up to a PCOS website which led me to this PCOS Workbook. I've started it and it's pretty good. I like how it includes emotional as well as physical health. HELLO. Human beings are complex. We have bodies and minds.

5. I found this Time magazine article about guns and a person's instinctual response when their body is under threat fascinating and thought-provoking. In general I am sad and heartsick at the state of political debate in our country. Is it all rooted in our country's adversarial legal system? Did both of the parties decide that their ultimate objective was to beat the other guys, not to actually pass laws?

Anyway, I'm a big believer in science and research and data, with my political science background that's now transitioning to hard science courses preparing to pursue an RD and MPH. It makes me sad when we have a country that seems so vehemently opposed to looking at cause and effect (I'm looking at you, Superstorm Sandy and drought and the hottest July on record and tornados and derechos and so on in 2012 alone).

The science on having a gun in your home is pretty well researched- this op-ed from this morning's Washington Post includes some of that research (yes, that op-ed has a particular political point of view, recognize that if you click on it).  However, the Time article (the original point of this, from which I have veered!) takes the "put more armed guards in schools" argument to its logical point of reference- how do people with weapons react in a crisis like an armed shooter trying to force their way into a school? I thought all of the opinions in it, including those from law enforcement, were interesting. As was the research. As is, as always, our body's fundamentally amazing systems for dealing with fight or flight.

6. This Ode to Joy flashmob made me cry. And that's called PMS, boys and girls.

7. This "cat people" and "dog people" video made me laugh so hard I almost cried (I presume you've already seen it but just to be sure).

8. This book, The Round House by Louise Erdrich made me unable to sleep at night for several days. Good. Intense. Suspenseful. Upsetting. Beautifully imagined and written. Arcadia, by Lauren Groff was another great one I read this month. Both were recommendations from my mom: she's in a book club and vets books for me! So convenient.

9. I have still flossed EVERY DAY IN 2013! Hurray hurray. Now that I have that in the evening routine, I have added taken a daily multivitamin to the morning routine. It's so nice to do something healthful for yourself, earning a pat on the back.

10. Locals, if you need a car guy and your car isn't American, I cannot say enough things about Eurasian Service Center, right by Tyson's. They are where my family has been going forever, so Eddie, the guy behind the counter has known me since I was 8. They'll tell you what you need and do it well and quickly and, perhaps more importantly, they'll tell you what you don't need and thus don't need to pay for. Also, they have comfy leather couches, a Keurig, and WiFi. I had to get my brakes replaced last September and brought my laptop along to study for the GRE. 7 hours later, I told them that they should rename themselves Eurasian Service and Test Prep Center. My scores were great!

Hope everyone is looking forward to a relaxing and enjoyable weekend. Perhaps do a little dancing?

I will leave you with an amusing picture from my friend's wedding.

I'm Cousin Itt in the green dress. Dance like no one is watching, right?

giant sweet potato!

My mother’s coworker grew a VERY LARGE SWEET POTATO. Here is Steve interacting with it. 

Annnnd one with the sweet potato actually in focus, so you can marvel at its girth. I know it’s difficult to spot in the photograph, but also worthy of marvel is Steve’s blue eyes when he wears this blue shirt. Just know- know they are there.

So a sweet potato that GIANT can make many amazing things.

I made mostly lazy things. LOTS of oven sweet potato fries, with my current favorite roasted veggie spice combo: paprika, cumin, and garlic powder.

Another lazy thing I did was chopped up some sweet potato (I used the outer pieces with skin on ‘em for the fries and used the inner pieces, already skinless and not in need of peeling for this), and chucked it in a pan with some red lentils and water. Threw on some garam masala and cooked it all til tender.

Had it the first night with yogurt. Excellent.

Had leftovers the next day with a FRIED EGG ON TOP! YES! Continuing with the Indian(ish) motif, also had some roasted cauliflower, that I’d tossed with a bit of curry powder pre-oven.

This was deeeeeeeeeeelicious and very filling.

I am not sure why my fried egg looks so creepy and wrinkly. It tasted good. Farmer’s market egg, heck yeah!

   

And of course, the oozy yolk made the most creamy, decadent sauce. Love it love it love it.

Now for a more formal sweet potato meal.

We begin with the standard onion/carrot/celery trifecta, sauteeing in a bit of olive oil:

Then throw in some ‘shrooms.

Then get out a packet of tempeh! I’m so into tempeh. It’s such hippie food. It just tastes so… earthy and grungy and unglamorous and tasty.

I cut it into little chunks, the midpoint of which can be seen here. BUT, you could definitely do them in smaller dice, like to approximate the consistency of ground beef. I’d probably do that next time.

The veggies, meanwhile, got a sprinkling of seasoning. I could’ve put thought into herbs, but instead I chucked some Italian seasoning on.

Then sprinkled on some flour…

And in went the tempeh, some wine, and some water, to make some sauciness (I’d add more liquid next time. I would’ve added vegetable stock, but for the simple reason that I’m out and left my Better than Buillion at Steve’s like A MONTH AGO AND KEEP FORGETTING TO TAKE IT BACK).

 

Into a baking dish it went…

  

All set to be TOPPED. Because friends, here’s where the sweet potato goodness comes in. Okay so apparently giant sweet potato actually had been all used up at that point, so I roasted two new ones.

And then as a wonnnnnnnnnnnnderful treat, we had some cream in the house leftover from Thanksgiving baking, so I added just a bit (like, seriously, probably a tablespoon- it’s so FLAVORFUL, let alone rich, that that’s all I needed).

 

And shmeared it over the top. Untraditional shepherd’s pie!

Given a bakesie for 20 minutes or so at 350, til golden brown and gorgeous. Delightful.

On a final note, CHRISTMAS ALERT. If there’s someone who likes eating or reading in your life, I highly recommend getting them Blood, Bones & Butter. It’s written by a well-known chef who happens to be ( a woman, but more than even about food it’s just an incredibly beautifully written memoir about a somewhat insane childhood, a few lost years (decades?) and a really fascinating/bizarre look into a crazy relationship (including some intoxicating chapters spent in Italy). I got it from the library and inhaled it. A great read!