Spicy Roasted Broccoli Romanesco, Chickpeas

I served this with yogurt, and it was one of the best lunches I've had in a long time.

Tuna with Lemon and Caramelized Red Onions, Arugula

Sour Cherry Pie

For my dad's birthday.

Roasted Broccolini, Millet, Fried Egg

Smashed Chickpeas on Toast with Sauteed Kale

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

I went strawberry picking yesterday and came home to discover half a chocolate bar in my pantry just waiting to be melted down and used for dipping berries. Yum!!!!

Cranberry Beans, Millet, Roasted Broccolini, Fried Egg

This is the sort of meal that comes from having a bunch of good ingredients on hand but no clear plan of what to do with them. I soaked some millet and beans overnight, and then went to the store the next day to see what looked good, opting for more of this beautiful broccolini from Borba Farm that I've been eating a lot of lately. I had some diced red onion (from my knife skills class), so I caramelized that and added it to the beans once they were cooked. I cooked the millet and tossed it with just a little ghee to add some richness (I swear, soft-cooked millet with ghee and sea salt is as good as, if not better than, mashed potatoes any day), roasted the broccolini with garlic, and put it all together with an egg on top. Delicious, if a little scattered...

Fried Chicken

On Mother's Day our plans to go to The Beast and the Hare for fried chicken were foiled. In a pinch, I offered to pick up a chicken and fry it up at my parents' house instead, and it ended up being a wonderful brunch. Having just taken a class at 4505 Meats last week, I am now an expert on breaking down poultry, so I portioned out the chicken, seasoned it, and let it marinate in buttermilk for about a half hour. While that was going on, I threw together some biscuit dough, using this recipe but substituting buttermilk for creme fraiche and omitting the sugar. After I'd cut the biscuits and put them in the freezer to chill, I started dredging the chicken in a mixture of flour, rosemary, cayenne, salt and pepper, and frying it in batches in a cast iron skillet. This always takes longer than I remember, since each piece needs about 10 minutes on each side, and in this case one small chicken required 3 batches of cooking totalling about an hour. Just before the last batch was ready, I stuck the biscuits in the oven and served them hot with butter. Hooray for spontaneous fried chicken!

Scrambled Eggs with Arugula, Green Garlic, Herbs and Chevre

made with beautiful eggs from my fried piper's chickens!

Roasted Baby Broccoli, Chickpeas with Harissa, Yogurt

Spicy Chickpeas with Preserved Lemon and Arugula

Broccolini and Tofu, Brown Rice

I sauteed the broccolini and tofu with a bit of tamari, miso, garlic and ginger, and added a little mirren and black sesame seeds to the rice.

Roasted Cauliflower, Black Eyed Peas, Walnuts, Goat Cheese

Loosely based on this recipe from Smitten Kitchen, and on the ingredients I had at hand. I forgot to take a picture after I added the goat cheese, but you get the idea: I roasted the cauliflower with some garlic and rosemary, and added the walnuts for the last couple minutes just to toast them. Then tossed everything with the beans in a vinaigrette made with shallots, lemon juice, and red wine vinegar.

Salmon with Miso-Ginger Glaze and Kale with Caramelized Shallots

Trying to eat more fish...

Shaved Asparagus, Beet, Blood Orange and Olive Salad with Seared Scallops and Avocado

This was a total mash-up based on what was in my refrigerator and what I was craving. I cooked the scallops for almost no time in some ghee, dressed the asparagus (and arugula) with shallots, blood orange, lemon juice, and chopped olives, and roasted the beets until tender.

Couscous with Asparagus, Arugula, Herbs and a Fried Egg

I dressed the veggies with red wine vinegar, finely chopped shallots, and lots of black pepper, and added in some mint and parsley. I also shaved a little Parmesan on top at the end (post photo), which was delish.

Black Eyed Peas, Rainbow Chard, Feta Cheese

Roasted Root Vegetables, Lentils, Hazelnuts, Goat Cheese

Sort of a mish-mosh of a few favorite dishes, on a day where I was in need of some protein. The light also happened to be perfect just as we were sitting down to eat.

Asparagus, Arugula, and Goat Cheese on Millet Toast

It's spring! I dressed the asparagus and arugula with some shallots, red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Sweet and Brown Rice, Bok Choy with Garlic, Ginger, Chili and Miso

Smashed Chickpeas, Sauteed Kale with Caramelized Shallots, Knackebrod

A quick dinner demonstrating the knackebrod addiction I picked up while in Sweden...

Chickpeas, Carrots, Cabbage & Sunflower Sprouts with Yogurt, and Stout in a Teacup

There were very few green things available in Sweden in the middle of winter, so I made this variation on one of my favorite easy meals with cabbage, and we threw some sprouts on top for a little extra green. Since we were cooking in a rented cabin we didn't have any seasonings, so this came out pretty bland (ever underestimate the power of salt!), but it was nice to have something healthy after eating knackebrod and tube cheese in the car all day. Also interesting to note: I usually make this with caraway, and I thought it would be really easy to find at the grocery store in Sweden, as caraway is such a common spice in Northern European cooking, but we couldn't find anything labeled as such. I compromised by buying cumin instead, and when I opened the package I discovered it was indeed caraway... so what do they call cumin in Sweden, if "cumin" means caraway?

Brown Rice with Kale, Caramelized Shallots, and Miso

My friends and I ordered Chinese last night while catching up on Drag Race, and I had a lot of brown rice left over. I heated that up with a little mirin, and sauteed some shallots with a spoonful of red miso, added kale until it wilted, and combined everything. Delicious, and about as easy as possible!

Roasted Cauliflower with Walnut Pesto, Fried Cranberry Beans with Kale, Sumac, and Feta

Cauliflower recipe from here. The beans were a play on this Ottolenghi dish, made with bits and pieces from my fridge: cranberry beans instead of lima (they didn't fry up quite as nicely because of the smaller size), kale instead of sorrel, leeks instead of spring onions.

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.

Tofu Bake

This recipe is from the amazing Amy Chaplin at Coconut & Quinoa, and involves layers seasoned tofu, millet and beets, and leeks and mushrooms. I don't like mushrooms so I subbed in artichoke hearts, and it was delicious! The tofu layer didn't come out the way it should have- the recipe calls for firm tofu but I think I should have gone with a softer one to get the creamy effect I was looking for- but it still tasted great!.

Jamie's Winter Vegetable Salad, Take Two (Vegetarian/Gluten Free Version)

Another version of Jamie Oliver's stellar winter salad, this time with chicories, roasted squash, beets and red onion, oranges, avocado, and pumpkin seeds. I didn't even miss the chicken or chunks of bread (or pomegranate seeds).

Post-Cleanse!

Easing yourself into solid foods after a juice cleanse is just as important as easing yourself off them beforehand. For lunch I made a salad and this broth with kale, yams, and red lentils. I added in a big chunk of fresh ginger, garlic, bay, turmeric, cumin, coriander, and a healthy dose of cayenne, and I cooked it until everything was nice and soft. Even after only three days of juicing, it was so exciting to have something savory and (semi) solid!!!

Coconut-Cashew-Banana Smoothie

My friend Erik came up with this one (he adds cacao nibs and cocoa powder to his too!), and man is it decadent- almost like a milkshake! After my cleanse I was so excited to make this. I made some fresh coconut milk in my juicer (but you could also just put young coconut meat and its water in a blender for a similar effect), mixed that with one banana and a big tablespoon of raw cashew butter, and added a little vanilla bean, some freshly grated ginger, and a pinch of cinnamon and cardamom. YUM!

Cleanse!

green juice (kale, romaine, celery, apple, ginger, lemon), pineapple-mint juice, spicy lemonade (lemon, maple syrup, cayenne pepper, water), and citrus-beet juice (beets, blood orange, tangerine, and grapefruit)
Today was the first day of my three day cleanse. There are many ways to vary a juice cleanse (the companies in my previous post all offer different cleansing levels, with different juice combinations), but generally speaking, the more green juice and the less fruit juice you drink, the better cleansed your system will be. The regimen I am following this week is as follows: green juice, pineapple-mint juice, green juice, spicy lemonade (based on the famous Master Cleanse recipe), beet-citrus juice, coconut water (not pictured).

Of course there is a lot more to cleansing than simply flushing out your digestive system, which is what drinking all that fluid does. The three tenets of cleansing are: hydrate, eliminate, exfoliate (a cleanse is meant to clean out your colon, liver, and kidneys, but many of the toxins will be eliminated through your skin, which is the body's largest organ. Therefore it's important to sweat a lot- to speed up the detox- steam- to open up your pores, and exfoliate during a cleanse to keep the toxins from reabsorbing into your body). Thus, along with all this juice (112 oz), I will also be drinking large quantities of water and herbal teas, working out extra hard, taking very hot, steamy showers and baths, dry brushing my skin, and taking some superfood supplements along with it all.

Curious about juice cleansing? This post is full of great resources.

Chicory, Fennel, and Citrus Salad with Avocado

I'm preparing for the cleanse I postponed in December. Tomorrow I'll start juicing, and today I'm eating nothing but raw veggies and fruit. This salad is great for any lunch, but it's especially good for a pre-cleanse meal- you don't even need oil for dressing, because the juices from the citrus make their own.

Red Lentil Dal, Chicory and Orange Salad, Avocado

I cooked the lentils with some finely chopped onion, coriander, turmeric, cumin, cayenne, and fresh ginger.

Pasta with Broccoli and Pesto

When I was a Sophomore in college, I had a huge crush on a boy who was vegan. We often worked late together in the lithography studio, and most nights we'd take a dinner break and head to one of our apartments to cook. And almost every one of those nights, we made pasta with some sort of green vegetable (broccoli, green beans, zucchini, spinach) thrown into the pot halfway through, and then tossed with olive oil, sliced almonds, and salt and pepper. It was an easy meal to make and tonight, home sick with a cold, I decided easy was a good idea. I added in some homemade pesto (I always keep it in the freezer, ready to defrost), and voila: a relatively healthy meal in less than 10 minutes!

Chickpea and Winter Vegetable Tagine, Take Two

I try not to post things twice here, but the truth is that when something's good I make it over and over again (which is why I don't post more often!). Since this time I got a better picture than the last time, I thought it was fair to share this dish again. Also: it is SO GOOD.

Dulce de Leche Ice Cream with Sea Salt

I've made this before, and it's ridiculously easy- you don't even need a custard because the dulce de leche is already so thick! With a pinch of sea salt on top, it was so good I had to stop myself from eating the whole batch after my dinner guests went home!

Mixed Chicories, Orange, Olive and Feta Salad

I make some variation of this all the time during the winter. The colors are so pretty, and the salty/sweet/bitter/acid flavor combination is a winner!

Lime Yogurt Sorbet with Toasted Almond Topping

I've been trying to come up with new ways to use all the limes from my father's tree. This recipe came from Martha Stewart and was deliciously tart! I used about four times the amount of lime zest, and only half the yogurt, which may have had something to do with that. The topping is just leftover chopped almonds with sugar and butter that form the crust for the truffle cake from River Cafe.

Garlic Tart

I will happily admit that Erik made this one with very little of my help (I grated the cheese!), but I wanted to post it, terrible picture notwithstanding, because it was delicious! From Plenty, of course, and full of whole garlic cloves poached in balsamic vinegar and olive oil, two kinds of cheese, cream, and eggs. We had it with a green salad and devoured the whole thing easily. Next time I think we'd try using a short crust instead of puff pastry (actually, we used filo this time, but the recipe calls for puff), and making it in a deeper pie pan for an even more custardy effect.

Another Green Couscous

This one comes from Jamie Magazine and is a little bit quicker to prepare than the Ottolenghi recipe (due to the lack of caramelized onions)- I think it took me about 15 minutes altogether, and I've made it twice this week already! Full of broccoli, greens (Jamie uses spinach but I had kale), toasted sunflower and pumpkin seeds, and seasoned with harissa, I found this to be very satisfying and quite healthy.

Chicory and Roasted Beet Salad, Curried Chicken Salad, Toast

I made the chicken salad with a bit of curry powder, toasted, slivered almonds, and a good amount of mango chutney mixed in. I dressed the chicories and beets with orange juice, and tossed some toasted pumpkin seeds in as well.

Dessert Tray

From left to right: brown butter shortbread, rose jellies, truffle balls, lime meltaways. For the truffles, I used the recipe for my favorite truffle cake, and I just rolled the ganache into balls and tossed them in the candied almonds instead of layering them.

Creme Fraiche Scones

I've been looking for a good scone recipe for years, and I think this is the one! These are slightly sweet and they would be great for shortcake too. I served them with clotted cream, homemade lemon curd, and cherry-lime-ginger jam that I made from the cherries I harvested this summer.

Finger Sandwiches

A few lady friends came over for tea and as usual I went a little overboard. I made some classic British sandwiches: cucumber and butter, egg salad with watercress, roast beef with horseradish creme, curried chicken salad with mango chutney, and salmon and cream cheese.

Winter Vegetable Salad

The latest issue of Jamie Magazine came in the mail yesterday and it's full of recipes I want to make (including a whole section on celery!). This salad was perfection: roasted root vegetables (beets and carrots in this case) and red onions, toasted chunks of bread, shredded chicken, pomegranate seeds, sunflower seeds and pepitas, and an assortment of beautiful baby chicories from the market, all dressed in a honey-orange vinaigrette. There are a lot of components, to be sure, but in all it took about 40 minutes to prepare (including roasting time), and I will definitely be making it again. I only wish my shoddy nighttime photography accurately depicted what a beautiful plate this was.