After having several vivid dreams about shopping for spring vegetables (I am not joking), I decided to scratch that subconscious itch and head down to the Union Square greenmarket this week, with visions of radishes dancing in my head. And crunchy sugar snap peas. I combined them with a lightly tangy dressing, creamy white beans, and a bunch of fresh herbs to make a perfectly portable salad that I can bring to lunch at school, potlucks, barbecues, and picnics (check out an earlier post to see how much I over-think these kinds of things).
1 can (15 oz) of small white beans, drained and rinsed
3 radishes, thinly sliced (I used a mandoline set at 2.0mm)
about 1/3 pound snap peas, cut in half
1-2 teaspoons minced shallot (depending on how oniony you like things)
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
a couple squeezes of lemon juice (about 2 teaspoons)
1 heaping tablespoon plain yogurt (optional)
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons minced fresh chives
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
Combine shallot, vinegar, lemon juice, yogurt, salt, pepper, and olive oil to make dressing. Toss with beans, vegetables, and herbs. Taste and adjust seasonings.
Another recipe from the Momofuku cookbook (remember when I made spicy rice cakes with pork?). Sadly, this one fell a little flat after floppy execution by yours truly. I took a few liberties with the recipe, omitting the pickled sunchokes and enoki mushrooms and adding a fistful of arugula instead of a few dainty microgreens. I wanted to make this salad all pretty with bright and flashy watermelon radishes, but they ended up being under-pink and too old and tough (they are supposed to look like this). And finally, we cannot ignore the pistachio puree, which bears an eerie resemblance to the feces of a small infant (that’s right, I said “feces” on a food blog). Blame it on my unsophisticated food processor.
The best part of this whole vegetable ensemble was the crazy delicious pan-roasted oyster mushrooms, which were seared in oil then coated in butter, garlic, and sherry vinegar. I know no better way to prepare mushrooms.
This elegant salad hails from Lyon, France, and I’m a little surprised you don’t find it in more restaurants here on this continent. It’s a salad, but come on, it has bacon AND an egg in it. If this can’t get Americans to eat their vegetables, I’m giving up hope. (Please note that I am not actually advocating eating bacon and eggs with every serving of vegetables. Also I’m not actually giving up hope.) The traditional version uses frisée, which is a frizzy bitter green from the chicory genus that you’ve probably seen somewhere in a mesclun salad mix. But you could use any kind of bitter salad green, including escarole and arugula, as Mark Bittman advises. Lardons (little French cross-section batons of thick-sliced bacon) are also traditionally used, but I went with pancetta since there was some sitting around in the freezer. Finally, I find poaching eggs to be an unnecessarily fussy way to spend my time, so I went with sunny-side-up and only used one frying pan for everything.
To make the dressing, combine a little bit of Dijon mustard with a little bit of sherry vinegar, salt, pepper, and oil. Fry bacon pieces in a pan until crisp. Remove. To make croutons, add a clove or two of chopped garlic to the bacon fat and push it around to infuse the grease. Remove garlic from the pan. Add stale bread cubes (I had some leftover from Thanksgiving stuffing-making) and cook, tossing occasionally, until crisp and golden. Season with a little bit of salt and pepper. Wipe crumbs from the pan and add a little butter or oil. Cook an egg in it, but not too much because you want to smother this whole salad in hot runny yolk. Of course, you can also just go ahead and poach the egg like you’re supposed to. Toss dressing with frisée, bacon pieces, and croutons. Top with egg. Devour.
Every Monday, I am a volunteer cook and lunch lady at a public school in my neighborhood as part of the Cook for Kids program organized by Wellness in the Schools (the website’s content is way thin, I know). The resident chef (a legit culinary school graduate) and I put together a salad bar for the school cafeteria using basic fruits and vegetables and a lot of improvisation. One of the standards is something we call “healthy slaw”: no mayo, just raw shredded cabbage and other veggies in a light honey-kissed vinaigrette. I happen to do my own version of this, with the addition of miso and sesame oil. Sometimes it gets packed up for lunch with quinoa or some other whole grain, chicken or tofu or beans, roasted veggies, and other stuff you would expect a nutrition nerd to eat. John and I catch colleagues/classmates checking out our lunch, but we will never (ever!) trade.
2 teaspoons shiro miso (white miso)
warm water
1 to 2 teaspoons honey
1 teaspoon white wine or rice wine vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 scallion stalk, chopped
1 small head of cabbage, shredded
1 medium apple, julienne into thin strips
sesame seeds
Dissolve miso in a bit of warm water (just enough to thin/smooth it out). Mix in honey, vinegar, and sesame oil. Toss with scallion, cabbage, apple, and sesame seeds.
Apples apples apples, all through fall and winter. That’s all the fruit I’m getting. Honey-sweet gold supreme apples, loudly crisp Macoun apples, and my personal favorite: the winesap. New York Magazine has a feature on locally grown apple varieties found at the greenmarket (John and I are huge fans of visual aids like this… I think I squealed a little when I saw it). Though the descriptions probably won’t help you figure out which among these varieties you like, eating them will. And I’ve seen prices drop to something like $1 a pound in mid-winter.
My new thing this season is grain salads with apples and warm spices. Make a vinaigrette with shallots or red onion, whatever vinegar you’d like (I used apple cider vinegar), and oil. Spike it with a little bit of cinnamon (or garam masala even). Add cooked quinoa, chopped apples, dried cherries (or cranberries or raisins), toasted walnuts and/or pecans, and chopped parsley. Also good with a little yogurt in the dressing, and/or with wheatberries instead of quinoa.
I’m still picking up green tomatoes from my CSA and the farmers’ market, even as autumn-licious things like acorn squash are rolling in. I was looking for something quick and simple to do with green tomatoes that completely didn’t involve frying, as lovely of a tradition as that is. I went ahead with this recipe and added yellow tomatoes. Honeydew melons were nowhere to be found so I left them out. Still fresh and summery and delicious.
Here’s my latest in grain exploration. Wheatberries aren’t actually berries the way, say, blueberries are berries. Wheatberries are entire kernels of wheat: bran, germ, and all. They’re kind of like round, chewy grains of rice. To prepare them, all you have to do is drop them in some boiling water for about 1 hour to 90 minutes, then drain them. They’re great for salads (e.g. with cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, scallions, lemon juice, olive oil, and feta cheese) or even breakfast (scooped on top of yogurt with honey and fruit).
Last weekend I said goodbye to a grandfather who I will miss more than I ever imagined. Yesterday I took my last final of a semester that I should’ve earned higher grades in. Last night I had nachos and beers for dinner (Pavla would be proud). Today I’m playing frantic catch-up at work. Tomorrow my apartment will look cleaner and better than it does today, after we haul everything from one room into another. Next month I’m getting married (holy shit) to this dude I’ve been outrageously in love with for the past six years.
And all I really wanted for lunch today was this salad that I threw together while letting all of the above sink in.
a couple tablespoons of chopped red onion
a couple tablespoons of yogurt
salt and pepper
a dash of Worcestershire sauce
a drizzle of milk and/or olive oil
crumbled blue cheese
2 strips bacon
1 medium waxy red, yellow, or white potato, diced
handful of grape or cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
several handfuls of baby arugula, spinach, or other salad greens
Combine first 6 ingredients to make dressing. Set aside (I like to make it in the same big bowl that the whole salad will end up in).
Fry bacon in a pan over medium heat until crisp, turning frequently. Drain on a paper towel and set aside. Get rid of most of the rendered bacon fat, leaving just enough to coat the pan.
Add potatoes to pan and season with salt and pepper. Cook until potatoes are soft and slightly golden.
Crumble or chop bacon. Combine with potatoes, tomatoes, and dressing. Mix in greens.
Full disclosure: I had a brownie and a glass of milk for dinner tonight, around 8pm. I’ve gone mad, I know. Thankfully, I also had a salad and some leftover rice and beans for dessert.
To make the salad the way I make my salad: Put baby arugula and thinly sliced shallot in a mixing bowl. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Add a drizzle of pomegranate molasses (or a mixture of vinegar and honey? I just thought of that) and a drizzle of olive oil. Toss gently with your hand. This is my favorite way to mix baby greens. Add chopped hazelnuts and crumbles of fresh goat cheese.
