Roasted Carrot and Black Sesame "Hummus"

Recipe here. I didn't have any regular tahini so I used black sesame tahini*, which is why this is green instead of a lovely orange color. I also omitted the milk (since when do you put milk in hummus?), but it tasted delicious with the whole wheat pita chips I made (cut pita into pieces, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and bake for about 10 minutes), and I've been snacking on it all week.


PS: these people also make the best cashew butter ever known to mankind. Seriously addictive.

Chickpea and Kale salad with Cilantro, Red Onion, and Lime

Also: a little toasted coriander, cumin, and chili.

Here is why dried chickpeas are so much better than canned ones: because you can add flavor to them by cooking them with garlic, salt, and herbs, or even a little tomato. Canned chickpeas can be seasoned, but they won't take on the flavors in the same way. Also, the texture is so much better with ones you cook yourself; canned ones can be a bit mushy sometimes.

Mezze-ish

I had a bunch of recipes with a bit of an Eastern bent bookmarked (okay, Nice is not really Eastern...), so I made a meal out of them for a tv viewing party. Clockwise from top: herb salad (parsley, cilantro, mint, arugula, spinach, and preserved lemon), olives, socca (so easy!!), pickled watermelon radishes, roasted beets with harissa, green bean raita, and (middle) sweet potato, kale, and quinoa cakes.

Beet Bruschetta

Stuck in Chicago during "Snowpocalypse 2011," my friend Piper and I have been working with what food she has in her pantry... by which I mean, the most amazing assortment of ingredients! Inspired by a meal we had at Lula before the blizzard, I used the beets from her last CSA box to make my favorite salad, and served it atop her incredible homemade sourdough with her homemade farmers' cheese. Yum!

Spiced Almonds

Inspired by Moro, these are just almonds I roasted and tossed with olive oil, paprika, salt, and a little cayenne and white pepper.

Smashed White Beans and Roasted Cherry Tomatoes on Toast

Arugula Salad with Watermelon and Lemon Verbena; Smashed Chickpeas on Toast with Preserved Lemon and Chilies

Bruschetta!

with homemade ricotta, arugula, olives and chilies


with smashed chickpeas and sauteed chard

Blistered Padron Peppers with Sea Salt

Eggless Mayonnaise

This recipe was on David Lebovitz' blog yesterday and as we happened to have bought some lovely little artichokes at the market, we decided to whip up a batch to accompany them. It's amazing how close it is to a real mayonnaise, and a bit lighter for those of us who are trying to pay attention to these things. I made it without the chervil, since my plant is still pretty small, and I added about a half a teaspoon of Dijon mustard. I should add that this photo makes it look much more yellow than it really was, but I thought it was too pretty to color correct.

Carrots with Cumin, Lemon, and Yogurt Dip

Citrus and Mozarella Salad with Fennel, Purple Basil and Preserved Lemon Peel, Smashed Chickpeas on Toast

Still Hungry?

Hello again! I am thinking about posting on this blog again. Most of the things I cook lately are very simple (and don't really require recipes), but I would like to keep a better record of them, so I guess that this will be more of a collection of different combinations of ingredients from here on out (with the occasional real recipe, I'm sure). Summer makes it easy to take advantage of all the wonderful local produce available. Here are some of the things I've eaten over the last couple of months:


Tomatoes on toast with Fleur Verte goat cheese.


Blistered Padron peppers with sea salt.


(Richard made this one, but I intend to copy it.)
Tomatoes, basil, snap peas and grilled chicken in a garlic-anchovy dressing.


Sangria made with kumquats, key limes, plums, nectarines, grapefruit, and Moscato D' Asti.


Little gems lettuces with Mission figs and mint in a creme fraiche dressing.


Homemade pot pie and a spinach salad with mint, basil, fennel and strawberries with pecans and ricotta in an orange-balsamic dressing.


"The Eton Mess" (strawberries, whipped cream, and crushed meringues).


A gimlet with bergamot-basil simple syrup, lemon juice, and vodka.


Scrambled eggs with broccoli rabe and aged Danish gouda served with fruit salad and toast.


Tomato-grape salad with mint and feta.