An abundance of cherry tomatoes--Puttanesca!

When the cherry tomatoes first start ripening in mid-July, they are a great treat, and are mostly eaten directly in the garden.  At this point in August, they've reached the stage of abundance at which I turn to recipes to try to keep up with them.  I had Spaghetti alla Puttanesca in an Italian restaurant earlier in the week, which gave me the idea to make it at home.  I used a recipe that called for canned tomatoes, but substituted fresh cherry tomatoes.  Delicious!  I also have fond associations with this dish as something my mother made later in life, after decades of making her regular, excellent, spaghetti sauce with meatballs (recipe from Mrs. Vilano, our neighbor 60 years ago).  My mother was a great cook, but tended to stick pretty close to her repertoire.  It was a bit of a thrill to have her serve something else!

SPAGHETTI ALLA PUTTANESCA

adapted from 365 Ways to Cook Pasta, by Marie Simmons

1 T. olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 28-oz can of diced tomatoes, undrained (or 28 oz. of cherry tomatoes, cut in quarters)

1/2 c. pitted, chopped Kalamata olives

2 T. small capers, rinsed

1/2 t. crushed dried red pepper (recipe called for 1 t., but I found 1/2 t. to be enough)

1/2 t. dried oregano

pinch of coarsely ground black pepper

1/4 c. chopped flat-leaf parsley, divided in half

1 2-oz can anchovies, drained, blotted dry, & cut into small pieces

1 lb. spaghetti

Heat oil in a large skillet.  Add garlic and sauté over low heat about 1 minute; do not brown.  Stir in tomatoes with their juice, olives, capers, crushed red pepper, oregano, black pepper and 2  T. of the parsley.   Cook over medium heat until the sauce thickens, about 15-20 minutes.  Stir in anchovies and other 2 T. of parsley; simmer 2 minutes.

While sauce is simmering, cook spaghetti in boiling salted water until al dente; drain.  Toss with the sauce.

Great Greens

I've been trying to make a point of cooking greens more frequently.  They're good for you, and taste great too!   I planted both chard and kale in my garden this year, and the chard is just about ready to harvest.  Here are a few recipes I've really enjoyed.

EGGS NESTED IN SAUTEED CHARD AND MUSHROOMS

adapted from http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/eggs_nested_in_sauteed_chard_and_mushrooms/

Serves 2

1-1/2 T. olive oil

1 c. chopped onion

1 lb. fresh chard

8 oz. mushrooms, sliced 1/4" thick

salt and freshly ground pepper

4 eggs

Cut out the center ribs of the chard leaves.  Chop the ribs into 1/2-inch pieces.  Cut the remaining chard leaves crosswise into 1-inch ribbons and set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a non-stick pan (with cover) on medium-high heat.  Add the chard ribs, chopped onion, and sliced mushrooms.  Sauté for about 5 minutes, until the onions are translucent and the mushrooms are a little browned on the edges and have started to give up their moisture.

Add the sliced chard leaves to the pan.  Turn the leaves over in the pan so that they get coated with some of the oil and mixed in with the onions and mushrooms.  Cook until the leaves are wilted a bit.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper. 

Spread the mixture evenly over the bottom of the pan.  Crack the eggs onto the mixture, spacing them around the pan.  Lower the heat to low and cover the pan.  Cook for about 4 minutes, until the whites are cooked.  Serve immediately, two eggs per person.  Cut into the egg yolks so that the runny yolks run over the chard and mushrooms, making something of a sauce.  With a salad, this is a meal in itself.

BRAISED MUSTARD GREENS WITH GARLIC

adapted from http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Braised-Mustard-Greens-with-Garlic-231195

Serves 2

1 lb. mustard greens, center ribs discarded and leaves coarsely chopped (4 cups packed)

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 T. olive oil

2/3 c. water

Blanch mustard greens for 1 minute in a large pot with boiling salted water to cover.  Drain greens in a colander and wipe pot dry.

Heat the olive oil over medium heat, add garlic and cook about 30 seconds, until pale golden.  Add greens and water, and simmer, partially covered, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 6 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.

GREENS WITH LEMON ZEST

(neglected to note source of this recipe)

Serves 2

1 t. olive oil

2 green onions, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 bunch of greens (chard, spinach, or kale)

1-1/2 T. Balsamic vinegar

1 T. grated lemon zest (or lime)

1 t. sesame seeds, toasted

Heat olive oil in a large stockpot over medium heat.  Add green onions and garlic, and cook until softened slightly.

Add the greens, packing them in.  Cover the pan tightly and cook, stirring once or twice, until the greens are wilted and tender, but still bright green--about 3-5 minutes.

Remove from the heat.  Add the vinegar and lemon zest and stir until combined.  Transfer to serving platter and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.  Serve hot or cold.

SWISS CHARD WITH OLIVES RECIPE

adapted from http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/swiss_chard_with_olives/

Serves 2-3

• 1 oz. pitted green olives (about 10 medium), roughly chopped or sliced [if the olives have pimentos, those can be used too]
• 1/2 t. minced fresh rosemary
• 1 green onion or shallot, chopped
• 1/2 t. capers
• olive oil
• 1 large bunch of Swiss chard, rinsed and patted dry
• freshly ground pepper to taste

Mix together the olives, rosemary, green onion, and capers with 1 T. of olive oil, and let sit while preparing the chard.

Cut out the stems of the chard,and then slice the stems into half-inch pieces and set aside.  Cut the leaves into 1" thick ribbons.  Leaves and stems will be cooked separately.

Heat a large non-stick pan on medium high heat.  Coat the bottom of the pan with 2 t. olive oil.  When the oil is hot, add the chard stems.   Cook for a couple of minutes, stirring often, until they begin to soften.  Then stir in the olive mixture.  Cook for a minute more, and then add the chopped chard leaves, tossing them in with the rest of the mixture.

Cover the pan and reduce heat to low.  Let cook a few minutes, lifting the cover a few times to turn the leaves over in the pan.  Cook until the chard has all wilted.  Sprinkle with black pepper to taste.

And just to put related recipes in one place, here are links to two previous posts on soups that star kale:

http://penny-inthekitchen.blogspot.com/2013/02/butternut-squash-soup-with-kale-and.html

http://penny-inthekitchen.blogspot.com/2011/02/another-great-soup-kale-bean.html

Barbecue chicken pizza

I've had the pizza and flatbread book by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François (authors of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day) for quite a while, but hadn't gotten around to trying anything out.  The other day I saw a recipe for Barbecued Chicken Pizza on the Recipe Girl blog (Lori Lange), and it called out to me.  I studied the basic pizza dough method in the Artisan Pizza and Flatbread book, which also had a recipe for barbecued chicken pizza.  I combined elements of the two recipes, as given below.  It was very, very good.  I put one leftover piece in the fridge, and had part of it for a late night snack--delicious cold also. The second pizza is in the fridge for tonight's dinner.   This is not my usual low-fat fare, but I will be making it again!  

BARBECUE CHICKEN PIZZA

combination of

http://www.recipegirl.com/2013/05/24/barbecue-chicken-and-bacon-pizza/ 

and the recipe for Barbecued Chicken Pizza in ArtisanPizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day

This recipe is for two 12" pizzas, each made with 1/2 lb. of Artisan pizza dough.  With a hearty salad, one pizza serves 3 people.

The ingredients below are for TWO pizzas, made sequentially

2 balls pizza dough (each a 1/2 lb. of dough) (I used the artisan recipe, but you can use any pizza dough 

       recipe)

olive oil for greasing baking sheet

about 1-1/2 c. barbecue sauce (Recipe Girl recommends Bull's Eye Original, which is what I used)

1 red onion, sliced very thinly (I used a mandolin)

several chicken thighs, skinned and boneless, grilled or otherwise cooked (I used a Foreman grill)

most of a basket of cherry tomatoes, cut in half

6 strips bacon (I used turkey bacon)

a couple of large handfuls of arugula or fresh spinach (can substitute a few tablespoons of fresh cilantro)

about 6 oz. smoked Gouda cheese, diced in 1/2" cubes

Preheat oven to 550 (or 500 if your oven only goes that high); have baking stone on rack in bottom third of the oven.  Preheating this high can take a while—about as long as it took me to prepare all the toppings, which need to be prepared and at hand before rolling out the dough.

Roll out the dough for one pizza into a 12" circle, 1/8" thick; a rectangle also fine, and fits well in the heavy-gauge baking sheet with short-rimmed sides that I used (one option recommended by Artisan Pizza book, easier than transferring the pizza from peel to baking stone.)

Transfer the dough to the baking sheet.  Spread half the barbecue sauce on top, enough to lightly cover the dough.  Take half of each of the toppings, and put them on the pizza, cheese last.

Place the baking sheet on the baking stone.  Bake for 8-10 minutes.  While the first pizza is baking, assemble the second one.

When first pizza is done, put on a wire cooling rack to cool for a few minutes.  Put the second pizza in the oven.

Great new Asian cookbook--healthy and simple

I've really been enjoying a new Asian cookbook:  Jaden Hair, Steamy Kitchen's Healthy Asian Favorites:  100 Recipes That are Fast, Fresh, and Simple Enough for Tonight's Supper.  The recipes really are simple enough to do for an ordinary night's dinner, and they use much less oil than is common in Asian cooking.  My standout favorites so far are Dan Dan Mien (a noodle, cabbage, and ground meat dish) and Stuffed Miso Eggplant (stuffed with ground meat).  We've also enjoyed a cucumber salad, Asian slaw, Kung Pao chicken, lemon chicken, and Mapo Tofu.  I highly recommend that you purchase this book!  The recipe below has just some very small tweaks.  Thanks to Jaden Hair for permission to include it here.  This recipe was great as is!

DAN DAN MIEN

serves 4

8 ounces dried egg noodles

SAUCE

2 T. soy sauce

1 T. white balsamic vinegar (recipe calls for Chinese black vinegar or non-aged tart balsamic vinegar; I had white balsamic on hand, and it was fine)

1/2 t. cornstarch

1/4 c. cool water

1-1/2 t. sriracha sauce (recipe calls for 2 t. hot chili-garlic sauce, such as sambal oelek; I had siracha sauce on hand, and it was fine)

1/2 t. sesame oil

1 T. cooking oil

8 oz. ground chicken or turkey

8 oz. napa cabbage, julienned (or chopped fine)

3 green onions chopped

2 cloves garlilc, finely minced

1 t. finely grated fresh ginger

Cook noodles according to package instructions, drain, and set aside

In a bowl, whisk together the sauce ingredients and set aside.

Heat a wok or large sauté pan over high heat.  Swirl in the oil and when hot, add the meat.  Stir-fry until browned, about 2 minutes.   Add the cabbage, green onions, garlic, and ginger.  Stir-fry 1 minute.  Add the noodles and pour in the sauce. Toss until heated through and serve.  

Really good guacamole

I'm easy to please with guacamole.  I've found a commercial brand I like, so I rarely make it myself these days.  But on a recent trip to Austin, I had some that was so good, I made a stab at replicating it at home.  Definitely worth the extra effort!  So, the story is:  I was in Austin with several friends for a quilt show.  The first night there, we went to the Iron Cactus restaurant.  The food was excellent, and the guacamole delicious.  The waiters make it table-side, so you can see exactly what ingredients they put in.  Everything was so good, we went there the next night too.  Different waiter, somewhat different take on the guacamole, still great.  So here's my version, adapted from the restaurant, and also with help from a recipe by Mark Heyman I found online here.  Serve with tortilla chips--homemade are easy and tasty; see instructions here.

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Iron Cactus Table-Side Guacamole

Serves 4 to 6

2 ripe avocados (if need further ripening, put in a brown paper bag for a day or two)

1 T. finely chopped red onion  (yellow onion would likely also be fine)

2 heaping T. chopped tomato (I used several cherry tomatoes)

1/4 t. Sriracha hot chile sauce  (The restaurant used some finely chopped jalapeno, about half a pepper.  I forgot to buy the jalapeno when I was at the store, so I substituted the hot sauce.  This was fine, and it's easier than dicing the jalapeno.)

2 T. finely chopped cilantro

juice from 1 lime

juice from half an orange (juices together come to a scant 1/3 cup; less also OK)

Salt, to taste

1. Mix lime juice, orange juice, salt, hot sauce or jalapeno, onion and cilantro together in bowl.
2. Add avocado and mash with fork.
3. Add tomato.

This makes a "juicier" guacamole than usual, but the fresh juice adds a lot to the taste.

Butternut Squash Soup with Kale and White Beans

I've been looking out for ways to get more kale/chard/spinach into our dinners, and I love the taste of butternut squash, so I was happy to find this recipe that combines butternut squash with kale.  The recipe did not disappoint--it's very good.  I made one major change in the recipe--I added a step where some of the soup is puréed, rather than leaving all the vegetables as is in the broth.  The original recipe also called for fresh rosemary and thyme, but I rarely have those on hand, so I substituted dried.  On the other hand, the original called for garlic salt; I substituted fresh garlic.  Et voila, a great healthy soup.  Serve with bread and salad, and it is a full meal.

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Butternut Squash Soup with Kale and White Beans

adapted from RecipeGirl blog (URL below)

6-8 servings

2 t. olive oil

1 clove garlic, chopped

1/2 medium onion, chopped

3/4 c. chopped carrot (about 2 large)

3/4 c. chopped celery (about 3 large stalks)

3 scallions, chopped

4 c. vegetable or chicken broth

3 cups water (adding 2 t. powdered/paste bouillon)

4 cups peeled/chopped butternut squash (chop into about 1/2-3/4" pieces)

4 c. torn/chopped kale leaves

1/2 t. dried rosemary

1/2 t. dried thyme

1 15-oz can white beans, rinsed and drained (I use cannellini beans)

salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

optional:  grated Parmesan cheese, for serving.

Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot.  Add the garlic, onion, carrot, celery, and scallions.  Cood and stir for about 5-6 minutes, until vegetables begin to soften.

Add the broth, water and butternut squash.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.  Then take out about 4 cups of the soup, add about 1 cup of the beans, and blend to a puree.  (Use an immersion blender if you have one.)

Put the puree back into the pot of soup.  If you'd like the soup to be thicker, puree more of it before proceeding to next step. 

Add the kale, rosemary, and thyme and simmer for 10 minutes.  Stir in the rest of the beans and heat through.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Serve with Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Nutritional information:

serving size: 1-1/2 cups

calories: 126

fat: 0.4 g

fiber: 7g

protein: 6g

carbohydrates: 26g

WW points per serving:  Points Plus: 3    Old Points Program: 2

  

the original recipe: http://www.recipegirl.com/2013/01/07/butternut-squash-and-kale-soup-with-fresh-herbs-and-white-beans/

Avocado and Grapefruit Salad

When I grocery shop, I go to the store with a list--ingredients lined up for a week of meals.  Avocado wasn't on the list last week, but they were on sale for $1.00, so I brought one home.  And then forgot to put it in the salad I made that night.  I wanted to use it today before it got too mushy.  I also happened to have a grapefruit on hand, so I looked online for an avocado and grapefruit salad.  I mixed and matched from various recipes, added a bit of my own, and came up with the recipe below.  I really like the contrast of the smoothness of the avocado with the tartness of the grapefruit.

AVOCADO AND GRAPEFRUIT SALAD

serves 2

1 ripe avocado

1 grapefruit (I used red)

juice from half a lemon

1 shallot, minced

drizzle of olive oil

Peel and pit avocado; cut into slices about 1/4" thick.  Arrange in a shallow bowl.  Pour lemon juice over the slices--will keep them from turning brown.

Cut the rind off the grapefruit, and cut the sections of fruit out from between the membranes; set aside the membranes.  Lay the grapefruit sections on top of the avocado.  Squeeze the juice from the membranes over the salad.

Sprinkle on minced shallot.  Drizzle a little olive oil over the top.

N.B.  Since I take a statin medication for lowering cholesterol, I generally don't eat grapefruit, because of the warning against a drug interaction.  But a few times a year, I go ahead and have a half a grapefruit in the evening.  No adverse reaction so far.