Archive for the 'veg' Category
As always, food ideas come to me in clusters. In Jasper, I pulled a recipe from Canadian Living for a cheesy chard gratin. When I got home and jumped around to some of my favourite food blogs to catch up on what’s been going on in everyone’s kitchens, Deb had made a chard gratin with sweet potatoes. Well, hello.
So obviously it was a sign. I picked up some chard. However. Have I mentioned the entertainment tax I paid last week? It cost me a full 8 pounds. Too much cheese, bread, butter, meat, desserts doused in whipped cream. Repeat. Have you ever heard Michael Pollan’s advice to “eat food, not too much, mostly plants”? In recent weeks (between Jasper, Toronto, Vancouver, Vegas and the Okanagan-yikes!) I’ve lived the opposite: “eat food, way too much, mostly stuff that didn’t grow out of the ground”.
And if it was a plant it was doused in thick, creamy balsamic dressing or béarnaise. Or both.
So this chard and sweet potato gratin seemed like a good idea, but I could hardly feel virtuous about a vegetable casserole made with 2 cups of heavy cream, butter and cheese, although I can’t imagine a tastier way to eat my vegetables. So I swapped the butter for oil, used milk (you could do half & half if you don’t want to lose the cream entirely) and eased up on the cheese a bit – this part I was most resistant to being stingy on – but a little went a long way. I used the end of a stump of Gruyére, and a bit of old Gouda. I also streamlined it a bit, mostly because I’m lazy and don’t much like doing dishes (or telling Mike to) and ditched the herbs (parsley and thyme). It was ridiculously good – sweet and warm and nutty from the cheese and nutmeg – and between the two of us (W would have nothing to do with it) we ate almost the whole thing. I had it for dinner and dessert.
Swiss Chard and Sweet Potato Gratin
adapted from SmittenKitchen
canola or olive oil, for cooking
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 bunches of Swiss chard, leaves and stems separated and both cut into 1-inch pieces
2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. flour
2 cups milk
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 large dark-fleshed sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/8-inch thick slices
light sprinkle of freshly grated nutmeg
salt & pepper
1 cup coarsely grated Gruyére, old cheddar or Gouda cheese
Heat a drizzle of oil in a heavy skillet set over medium-high heat and cook the onions for a few minutes. Add the chard (if you rinse the leaves first, they should have an ideal amount of moisture still clinging to them) and sprinkle with a bit of salt and cook until the chard wilts and there is no moisture left in the pan. Transfer to a bowl.
Add the butter and flour to the skillet and whisk together to make a paste. Whisk in the milk, then add the garlic and bring to a simmer. Boil for 2 minutes, whisking; season with salt and pepper and remove from the heat.
Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray a baking dish with nonstick spray. Spread half of the sweet potatoes in the baking dish. Sprinkle with nutmeg, salt, pepper, half of the greens mixture, about half the cheese and half the sauce. Layer with the rest of the potatoes, the rest of the greens, the rest of the sauce, and top it all with the rest of the cheese.
Cover with foil and bake for about 45 minutes, then take the foil off and bake for another 15 minutes, until golden and bubbly. Let stand 15 minutes before serving. Serves 6.
One Year Ago: Pasta Carbonara with Peas
November 16 2009 | veg | 16 Comments »
AKA my new favourite way to eat Brussels sprouts (yes Brussels – as in the city in Belgium. Not brussel sprouts. Also not expresso. Espresso! ESPRESSO!!) These were the last remaining veg in the fridge that held their own during our week away. A few wrinkly peppers destined for roasting, and it’s time to hit the market.
Brussels sprouts are after all teeny heads of cabbage, so why not shred them into slaw? My Mom, a devout BS hater, who can sniff one out on a Thanksgiving table loaded with food, said she could be persuaded to try this. I’m doing it quick, before she changes her mind. I’ll let you know if she survives.
Brussels Sprout Slaw with Grainy Mustard Vinaigrette and Maple Pecans
adapted from Bon Appetit, November 2009
1 cup pecan halves
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
salt & pepper
1 1/2 lb. Brussels sprouts, trimmed
Dressing:
1/4 cup grainy mustard
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread the pecans out on a baking sheet and drizzle with maple syrup; stir around with a spoon to coat them well. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake for 5 minutes; stir and bake them for another 5 minutes, until the syrup is thick and glaze-like. Remove from the oven and spread the nuts on a piece of foil or a plate to cool.
In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the Brussels sprouts for 5 minutes; drain and run under cool water. Shake off any excess water and run the sprouts through a food processor with a 1/8″-1/4″ slicing disk, or patiently cut them all thinly by hand. Transfer to a large bowl.
In a bowl or jar, shake or whisk together all the dressing ingredients. Toss the Brussels sprouts with as much dressing as you like; let marinate for about an hour. Right before serving, add the pecans.
I was busy patting myself on the back for eating a bowl of Brussels sprouts for lunch – nary a pastry in sight, and I haven’t had hot chocolate with whipped cream and chocolate shavings for a good 3 DAYS – when our neighbours popped over and gave me an excuse to break into some cheese. So technically I ate triple crème, Oka and crackers for dinner. This is not helping my pants fit.
November 15 2009 | salads and veg | 22 Comments »
It would appear I’m becoming a slacker again, especially on weekends. This time I have an excuse though: I got stung by a bee and swelled. No really. Actually it was a wasp, and it wasn’t so much the swelling as the ensuing sensation that my gut was being stomped upon by angry transvestites in stilettos (stilettos with real-size women in them would be far too small and dainty).
Although I do like the excuse that I’m actually only 120 pounds, I just got stung by a bee. (Or perhaps several – mostly in the muffin-top and thigh area.)
I was so honoured to emcee the first annual Sugar Bowl last night. Immediately upon walking in the door of the lawn bowling club I was chatting at the registration desk, not hassling any wasps at all, and one flew up my capris and stung me above the knee (as one might do if one was trapped in my pants). Ironically, I’ve been killing wasps all over our house and yard for days without being stung – in fact I assassinated 4 in the bathroom immediately before leaving for the event. (Clearly this is payback – either the offending wasp followed me there, or got texted by his second cousin over in Ramsay that half his family was just obliterated and flushed down the toilet.)
So it hurt, yes, and swelled into a second knee. But as I was dabbing some ointment on it my stomach must have got wind of what happened, cramped up and remained that way for the entire evening, so much so that it was hard to stand up straight. I’m sure some attendees wondered about the pained expression on my face; surely I couldn’t be that passionate about lawn bowling?
It was a really really fantastic, fun event, and I’m already looking forward to next year. But when it was over I got myself home, into my PJs and the fetal position and stayed that way until this morning. Stupid wasp.
So last night: no dinner. I have no idea what M fed W, but this morning the latter fessed up to eating a bag of whole wheat hot dog buns, and I estimated there were at least 6 in there when I left (I took note for a fall-back dinner: a whole wheat hot dog bun spread with peanut butter and stuffed with a banana. Guess he didn’t make it that far.)
Tonight we ate grilled Spolumbo’s sausages and leftover ratatouille, but I do have to tell you about those kale chips. Turns out fresh kale, when oiled, salted and roasted, turns into crispy, salty kale, and although it is completely delicious, and finally helped me to understand why people go around eating sheets of nori, I think calling them chips are a bit of a stretch. I will totally make this again, though – my sister and I polished off a bowl of crispy, ruffly “chips” in under 10 minutes. The kids unfortunately didn’t fall for the ruse.
Thanks, you guys, for all the recipe links! It was interesting to compare; oven temperatures ranged from 250°F to 400°F (I did a middle-of-the-road 350°F) and while all were tossed in oil, a couple also had lemon juice or apple cider vinegar, which I opted against. (In order to get veggies nice and crispy you want to avoid any moisture, and I really wanted them crispy.) Wash your kale, dry it in a salad spinner or between tea towels, pull out the tough stems, tear it into chunks (if you like – some recipes roasted whole leaves) and toss with a drizzle of canola or olive oil, then sprinkle with salt. Make sure the leaves are spread out in a single layer on your baking sheet; when they get bunched up they tend to not crisp up. The higher temp recipes took only 5 minutes; the low took half an hour; mine took about 15 minutes. You just want them crisp, but not burned. It’s pretty simple, really.
And I thought it was about time I mentioned the ratatouille; I’ve gone through a couple batches in the past weeks, keeping it in the fridge to dip into for pizza, sandwiches, lasagna, or to balance a grilled sausage. It seems more like an end-of-summer dish, but the markets are loaded with tomatoes, peppers, zucchini and eggplant right now. I love this recipe because you can start with the onion and then just chop and add veggies to the pan as you go, and measurements are approximate – feel free to add more of this or that, and sometimes I add a big spoonful of tomato paste to enrich it a little.
Like chili and soup, ratatouille is even better the next day, and the next. And once you have a stash of it, you can toss it with hot pasta (and crumbled feta or goat cheese), layer it between lasagna noodles, spread some into a panini or grilled cheese, or gob onto a pizza crust or pita and top with cheese.
Ratatouille
canola or olive oil, for cooking
1 large onion, halved and sliced
4-5 big garlic cloves, crushed
1 small eggplant, chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 red, yellow or orange pepper, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped into bite-sized pieces
3 ripe tomatoes, coarsely chopped
a couple tablespoons tomato paste (optional)
1 tsp. oregano or dried Italian seasoning
a handful of fresh spinach or basil, chopped (optional)
In a large skillet, heat a generous glug of oil over medium heat. Saute the onion, stirring occasionally, until soft and starting to turn golden. Add the garlic and cook for another minute, then add the eggplant and cook for another 5 minutes, adding more oil if needed, until the eggplant is soft. Add the pepper and zucchini, season with salt and pepper and cook for about 10 minutes, until everything is nice and soft and you’re starting to get some golden edges. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste and oregano and cook for 5 more minutes.
Taste and adjust the seasoning if you need to; if you’re adding fresh spinach or basil, stir it in and let it wilt. Serve immediately or refrigerate overnight and reheat as you need it. Serves 8 (or so).
One Year Ago: Seafood Chowder
August 09 2009 | snacks and veg and vegetarian | 29 Comments »
This is a bit of a last-minute throwtogether post -pardon the hasty photo- but I was so excited to see the launch of Summer Fest 2009, a four-week, cross-blog celebration co-created by A Way to Garden and some of my very favourite food people: Matt Armendariz of Mattbites, Jaden Hair of Steamy Kitchen, and Todd and Diane of White on Rice Couple, with guest appearances from Shauna and Daniel Ahern of Gluten-Free Girl, Marilyn Pollack Naron of Simmer Till Done, and Paige Smith Orloff of The Sister Project, and hey, I wanted to be a part of it. Today the theme is fresh herbs, a topic that I could easily spend a whole lot of time on, if I had it. Today I have more parsley than time. Flat-leaf Italian parsley appears to be the only thing (besides tomatoes – they are growing so well they may just escape over the neighbour’s fence) that truly thrives in the little clay pots littering my back patio. Good thing I love it so much.
I’m constantly making an effort to eat more greens. There’s always spinach, kale and chard, but Italian parsley is dark and leafy, and can be added here and there without taking over. The kicker is parsley is so often seen as a garnish; a sprinkle to make potato salad look prettier, rather than an ingredient in and of itself. I typically add entire bunches of it to grainy salads and lentil-barley salads, and recently discovered how well it blends into hummus. But today, with a surplus of nubbly potatoes the size of walnuts and freshly shelled peas, I thought I’d make an easy potato salad (I crave it about this time every summer) where Italian parsley has as much a presence as any other vegetable.
Usually I roast potatoes for salad – they are crispier and more flavourful, and don’t absorb as much mayo so you can get away with using less – but this one needed to be a little more delicate. Scrub and simmer the potatoes (fingerlings would be stunning here) just until tender, adding a handful of fresh peas a few minutes before the potatoes finish cooking. Drain the lot in a colander, run it under cool water to stop them from cooking, and refrigerate until cold.
For the dressing, add a generous squeeze of lemon (and some grated zest, for extra pow) to as much mayo as you want to use. (The quantity of juice is really up to you – according to your taste – but it will thin it enough to dress the salad well – more the consistency of a creamy ranch dressing than thick mayo.) Toss the potatoes and peas with this, tear over a large handful or two of Italian parsley, removing any tough stems, and add a good grinding of black pepper. Today I can’t think of a more welcome lunch.
As for Summer Fest, you can play too – just visit the aforementioned sites (they are all beautiful posts, all well worth a stroll through) and leave your comments – about herbs of all kinds, including links to your own posts if you like, or your favourite online finds – remembering of course that I love to get comments too.
THE SUMMER FEST 2009 SCHEDULE:
Tuesday, July 28: HERBS (Any and all.)
Tuesday, August 4: FRUITS FROM TREES
Tuesday, August 11: BEANS-AND-GREENS WEEK
Tuesday, August 18: TOMATO WEEK
One Year Ago: Pizza on the grill, using Afghan flatbread
July 28 2009 | salads and veg | 13 Comments »
I forgot to tell you – I had a three hour lunch with Bill Hardy (of Hardys wines, from Australia) at Rush on Monday. (Feel free to hate me; I would if I was you.) I only tell you know because it’s shaping up to be the most memorable meal of the week, and because that afternoon I walked home in the hot sun, all loopy after an initial flight of 8 wines, then three with lunch (the Chronicles: Twice Lost Rosé – named for his grandfather’s having lost a herd of cows twice during his first job in Australia – The Gamble Chardonnay Pinot Gris, and Butcher’s Gold Shiraz Sangiovese) and another three vintages of Thomas Hardy Cabernet Sauvignon after (everyone else spitted; I swallowed) and was pretty much wrecked for the rest of the afternoon. And because it caused a bit of a domino effect that has rendered me about a day behind so far this week.
I say that as if I am generally smack on schedule.
Not that it wasn’t totally worth it. I mean, I was eating with Bill Hardy, a wonderful man with hilarious stories of his wine-making family in Australia, as well as a few other media types – five of us being served creamy, salty risotto with pork jowl, and then roasted pork over chive mashed potatoes, and a chocolate-caramel-sea salt tart topped with pistachios for dessert in an elegant private dining room. At lunch. On a Monday. To be honest the whole time I half expected someone to figure out I was just Julie and have someone in a suit grab me by the scruff and escort me outside. After three hours and 15 wines I’m astounded that I didn’t just curl up under the table and nap there until dinnertime.
Tonight I made a quick aloo gobi – again prompted by a comment that reminded me how good it was – but you know that one already. So I figured it’s high time I told you about the slow roasted tomatoes I’ve been picking at cold, straight from the fridge. The first time I made them they were destined for something or other, and I had to make another batch because I ate them all straight off the cookie sheet.
I had done them before, but not for years, and the concept has received a lot of attention since Molly included them in her new book. (Tony has a particularly good rendition. So does Gabrielle.) Roma (or plum) tomatoes tend to be meatier with less juice and seeds, making them the best candidates for roasting. I did two batches of Roma, but last week had a surplus of smallish round tomatoes that I tossed into the oven and they turned out just fine too. Like roasting chicken or beef, you can roast tomatoes slowly at a lower temperature, or crank up the heat and get them done more quickly, although the flavour isn’t quite the same; slow roasting brings out their sweetness and rids them almost entirely of their acidity. I may never eat a sandwich made with fresh tomatoes again.
Slow Roasted Tomatoes
Roma or plum tomatoes (as many as you want to roast)
olive or canola oil
salt (and pepper too, if you like)
To slow roast your tomatoes, turn the oven on to 250°F; to roast them more quickly, preheat the oven to 400°F. Cut the tomatoes in half or quarters lengthwise and spread them out on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with oil and toss around with your hands to coat the tomatoes.
Sprinkle with salt (and pepper, if you’re using it) and roast for 4-6 hours (at 250°F) or for 1 hour (at 400°F). Cool and store (along with the juices and oil that has collected in the bottom of the pan) in a sealed container in the fridge.
One Year Ago: Minted Pea Soup and Black Bean Fajitas
June 17 2009 | veg | 24 Comments »
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