Black-eyed peas and a Happy New-ish Year!

Recipes: Black-eyed peas, Seared lamb loin chops

Yes, I know the season for Happy New Year has more or less passed. I was out of town for New Year's, however, so I didn't get to make traditional good luck black-eyed peas like I usually do. Better late than never, don't you think? I decided to make them last night with lamb chops, and they were pretty delicious!

This method of cooking dried black-eyed peas will work for almost any dried pea or bean. The difference is black-eyed peas (and lima beans and split peas) cook a lot more quickly than other kinds of dried beans, and without soaking. To me, black-eyed peas are one of the tastiest of the dried legumes and they can easily be made in an hour for dinner. I think you'll want to add this one to your cooking repertoire!

Black-eyed Peas

I pack a lot of vegetables into my black-eyed peas. Why not make them as tasty and nutritious as possible? Then they can stand alone as a vegetarian or vegan dinner, possibly served with steamed brown or white rice, or they can be a base for a simply cooked meat, like the seared lamb chops I served them with last night.

• 1 cup picked over and rinsed dried black-eyed peas
• 1 tablespoon butter and 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped onion, white or yellow
• 1 medium carrot, peeled and chopped small
• 1 red or yellow bell pepper, stemmed and chopped
• 1 small dried mild or spicy pepper, seeded and broken into small pieces, or 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 small bay leaf
• sea salt to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

In a heavy pot or Dutch oven, melt butter and heat oil together. Saute the onion, carrot, bell pepper, and dried pepper for a few minutes, stirring, and then turn the heat to low, add a sprinkle of salt, cover the pot, and let it cook slowly for 15 minutes. Stir it once during this time.

Add the black-eyed peas and stir them into the vegetables. Add 2 cups water and the bay leaf and bring the pot to a boil. Turn the heat down to medium low and simmer the peas, uncovered, until they are tender. This should take about 40 minutes, and you will need to check the pot and stir it several times while it is cooking. You should always be able to see some liquid. If the liquid cooks away, add another half cup of water. Toward the end of 30 minutes, taste the peas to see if they are soft. When they are nearly soft, and not before, add 1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste) and the dried thyme. Stir well and continue to cook over medium low heat until the peas are completely soft but not falling apart. Remove the bay leaf and serve.

You can let the peas sit, covered and with the heat off, while you prepare meat or whatever you are serving with them. For the lamb chops, I used tiny loin chops so I planned on two per person. I salted and peppered them when I started the peas, so the seasoning would marinate into the meat a bit. Once the peas were done, I heated a cast iron skillet with a bit of olive oil and sauteed the chops 3 minutes on each side over high heat. Then I let them sit on a plate for 10 minutes to finish cooking and adjusting their juices. To serve, I put two big spoonfuls of peas in a soup plate and arranged the chops on top, pouring juices from the chops that had gathered on the plate over it all. I finished it off with a little dollop of mango chutney on top of each chop.

We ate in front of the fireplace and a roaring fire. It tasted great on a rainy winter night!

Happy New-ish Year!!

Some riffs on a bag of cauliflower

Recipes: Romesco sauce, Cauliflower gratin

I came back from a shopping trip to Costco with a big bag of cauliflower florets a couple of weeks ago. In case you're not familiar with Costco, it's a membership warehouse store with really good prices for lots of things and, incidentally, is also famous for high-quality meats, vegetables, and fruits. You just have to buy a lot as it all comes in big packages. Costco is the main reason I have two refrigerator freezers plus a chest freezer and a whole system of wall shelves in the basement - I have to store all those supplies I get at Costco.

I don't often buy vegetables there, except for onions and potatoes, because it's just too much to use before they go bad. This time I couldn't resist the big bag of cauliflower. It's cauliflower season and I love cauliflower. It looked so fresh and good. The bag had the equivalent of 2-plus whole cauliflowers cut into medium florets. Lots of cauliflower for two people.

I worked at it. The first thing I did was serve raw cauliflower with Romesco sauce as an appetizer when my friend Jackie came over for our usual Monday night dinner together. It's January and of course we're all trying to shave off those extra coupl'a pounds we put on over the holidays. Raw veggies are a healthy lo-cal option. On top of that, Romesco is made with roasted red bell peppers (more veggies) and, yes, almonds. It's kind of exotic and is delicious with all kinds of raw and cooked vegetables. Here's how to make it.

Romesco Sauce

Makes about 1 cup of sauce. If you want less, you can halve this recipe. Romesco freezes well, though, so you could make the whole thing and have some already made for next time.

• 1 slice country-style white bread, or gluten-free bread if desired
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup almonds, roasted (but not salted). You can roast raw almonds in a dry skillet for a few minutes if that's what you have.
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 teapoon ground red chile (or red pepper flakes to taste)
• 4 ripe Roma tomatoes, or one 14-oz can drained chopped tomatoes (not seasoned)
• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley leaves
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 1 large red bell pepper, roasted and peeled*, or 1 small jar roasted red bell peppers
• 1/4 cup sherry vinegar (I have also used 1 tablespoon dry sherry and scant 1/4 cup rice vinegar)
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil (if you can get Spanish olive oil, go for it)

Tear the bread into pieces and fry in a little olive oil until golden and crisp. When cool, grind the bread, nuts, garlic, and chile in a food processor with the metal blade. Add everything else except the vinegar and oil and process until smooth. With the machine running, gradually pour in the vinegar, then the oil. Taste to make sure the sauce has plenty of piquancy (vinegar and/or ground chile) and enough salt.

Now all you have to do is take out a few cauliflower florets and arrange it on a plate around a bowl of Romesco. Quite pretty, isn't it?

*To roast a pepper, remove the top and any seeds inside. Then cut the pepper in half and flatten it skin side up on a foil liked broiler pan. Put it under a hot broiler until the skin turns mostly black. Take it out of the broiler, carefully gather it all into a pile and cover it with an overturned bowl. After it's done steaming and cools enough to handle, the blackened skin will come off easily with a paring knife. Then it's ready to use.

* * *

Still had quite a bit of cauliflower left in the bag so, in line with the desire to eat a bit more healthily in the New Year, I started snacking on raw cauliflower whenever I felt like diving into some cheese and crackers. It was really a delicious alternative and couldn't have hurt the effort!

As the amount of cauliflower dwindled, I decided to cook a little of it for dinner one night. This simple gratin was so quick and easy, and it was "simply" delicious. I served it with chicken.

Cauliflower Gratin with Butter and Parmesan

• 1/2 medium or one small cauliflower, cut into medium florets
• Butter
• Sea salt
• 2/3 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Boil a big pot of water. Put about half a cauliflower's worth of florets, medium to large size, in the water and cook it for 5 minutes. Drain it and let it cool.

In an oven-to-table baking dish, smear the bottom and sides with a little butter. Arrange the cauliflower florets so they overlap each other slightly, roof-tile fashion. Sprinkle with sea salt and 2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese. Dot liberally with butter.

Bake on the uppermost rack of the preheated oven until a light crust forms on top, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Take it out of the oven and let it settle a few minutes before serving. Delicioso!

 

* * *



Before I knew it, that big bag of cauliflower was empty! Yum!

'Tis the season for soup!: Split pea

Recipe: Split pea with ham (or not) soup

Cold nights, hot soup. Yum. It's a great time of year to haul out the soup pot.



 Split pea soup is a classic that's easy to make and uses common ingredients. It's also versatile! Don't want to make it with ham? Use smoked chicken or turkey instead. Want to make it vegetarian? Leave the meat out altogether. Either way, it'll be delicious and perfect in front of a roaring fire. Or snuggled up on the sofa listening to records. Or, you know, whatever you like to do on a cold winter night!

Split Pea Soup with Ham (or not)

• 1/2 pound (8 oz. or 1 cup) split green peas, picked over. Split peas often include small stones, so look them over carefully.
• 1 medium smoked ham hock, cut in two or three pieces (or smoked chicken or turkey meat)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• Sea salt
• 4 cups water
• 1 carrot, peeled and chopped medium
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 rib celery, chopped medium
• 3 ounces deli ham or ham slice, chopped medium
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• Freshly ground black pepper

Put the peas, ham hock, thyme, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and water in a medium soup pot or Dutch oven and bring it to a boil. Turn the heat down to simmer, cover, and cook for about an hour, stirring now and then. Be sure to stir from the bottom of the pot so the peas don't stick.

Stir in the carrots, onions, and celery. Continue to simmer until the peas have softened and broken down so the soup is thickened, about 25 minutes.

Remove the ham hock and add the deli ham. Continue to simmer for 10 minutes. When the hock is cool enough to handle, remove any meat and add it to the soup. Stir in the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper to taste before serving.

Split pea soup can be made and refrigerated for up to 3 days, or frozen for up to 2 months. That way you could make it on a weekend and have it ready to serve during the week when you're starving and don't have time to make dinner. Double the recipe if you want to make enough for several meals. Simply reheat the soup over low heat or in the microwave, adding a little water and stirring well if it's too thick.

Split pea soup is gluten-free, and is also vegetarian if made without the ham hock and deli ham.

Secrets of a souffle (ssshhh)

Recipes: Cheddar cheese souffle, Baby greens salad with persimmon and balsamic vinaigrette



Mention making a souffle and some cooks will run for the hills. "Not me," they say. "Too hard, too fussy." And to that I say, "Oh pshaw." It's not true, you know, that it is hard, or that it is finicky and everything has to happen at the last minute. There are a few "secrets", and I'm about to divulge them. I made this cheese souffle (the very one pictured here) in about 45 minutes the other day while my friend Jackie was over visiting. She actually helped whip up the egg whites, but there would have been ample time to do that if I had been in the kitchen alone. Come on, give it a try.

Oh, I didn't mention the real reasons for giving souffle a try. Nothing, I mean nothing!, is more delicious than a good cheese souffle with a salad. And it makes a dinner that's beautiful to look at as well as yummy. Those are the reasons.

 

Cheddar Cheese Souffle

The Secrets: I'll give you the secrets right up front, so you can think on them.

1. Take the eggs out of the fridge 30 minutes or so ahead of time, or even leave them out for a couple of hours, so they come to room temperature. This makes whipping the egg whites easier.

2. Separate the eggs and put the whites and yolks in separate small bowls. Do this before you do anything else. This will also help bring them to room temperature faster. Note: there are 4 egg yolks and 6 egg whites in the recipe. Unless you have an immediate need for the 2 extra yolks, just discard them.

3. A regular souffle dish will work great, but I like to use a shallower gratin dish instead - see the one in the photo above. The shallower dish makes for more crust, which many people like best, and the souffle cooks a little faster. I find it's more fool-proof, and who doesn't love that?

4. Prepare your baking dish, souffle or gratin, right after you separate the eggs. Then it's done and you're not scrambling to do it at the last minute.

5. Get all your ingredients out and ready, as you should always do. Grate your cheese in advance. Remember mise en place? And KISS (Keep It Simple Silly) from an earlier post about organizing? Excellent, you're on your way.

The Recipe

• Butter, plus 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan for preparing the baking dish.
• 1-1/4 cups warmed milk or combo milk and cream (I used 3/4 cup 1% and 1/2 cup half-and-half)
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour (or gluten-free flour, if you wish)
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon Hungarian paprika or ground red chile (like New Mexico ground chile)
• 4 large egg  yolks
• 1 cup (4 ounces) grated cheddar. I used white extra-sharp New York cheddar; use whatever cheddar you like, white or orange
• 6 egg whites

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Separate the eggs into separate bowls. Butter a 6-cup souffle dish or an 8-cup gratin dish and coat it with the Parmesan. Heat the milk.

Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan. When foamy, whisk in the flour and continue cooking over low heat for a few minutes, whisking. Whisk in the warm milk and stir well for a minute or so while it thickens, then add 3/4 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of black pepper, plus the paprika (or chile). Take it off the heat. Beat the egg yolks into the milk mixture one at a time until well blended, then stir in the cheese. Don't worry if it's not perfectly smooth.

Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they form firm peaks. You can use a whisk or an electric mixer with the whisk attachment. Do not do this step in advance; the milk/egg base will be fine for the few minutes it takes. Stir a quarter of the beaten egg whites into the base to lighten it, then carefully fold the rest of the whites in with a spatula.

Pour the souffle batter into the prepared dish, then put it in the center of the oven and lower the heat to 375 F. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden and just a bit wobbly in the center.

Serve immediately with a salad as pictured below, or any steamed vegetable. Piece of cake, right?

Baby Greens Salad with Persimmon and Balsamic Vinaigrette

This is a simple salad, and delicious. The balsamic vinaigrette is versatile too - wonderful on most salad combinations and on cooked green vegetables.

The Vinaigrette

In a small bowl, combine 1/2 teaspoon sea salt with 1/2 teaspoon sugar. Add 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar. Stir with a fork or small whisk. Add 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil and stir vigorously till well combined. Set aside until just before you're ready to serve dinner.

The Salad

• Toast slivered almonds in a small frying pan until they are lightly browned.
• Slice 1 fuyu persimmon (see photo below), removing the small seed.
• Wash and spin dry any combination of baby lettuces, including some arugula if you have it.
• Toss all with the dressing just before serving, reserving some of the almonds to sprinkle on top.

Fuyu persimmon

Both dishes are vegetarian and gluten-free (if you use gluten-free flour in the souffle).

There's rice, and then there's rice

Recipes: Brown and wild rice with vegetables

I read an article in a magazine recently about rice. Why is rice so uninteresting as a side dish? Granted, plain rice is just the right thing under an Indian curry or a wonderfully spicy Thai dish, but as a side dish with meat and vegetables? Meh. Not so much.

The premise of the article (wish I could remember which magazine, but I can't) was that "enhanced" rice, as in a pilaf, is obviously more tasty than plain rice because it contains flavorful ingredients, like vegetables and herbs. And that this enhancing is easy to do. In fact there's a kind of formula you can use to enhance any kind of rice or combination of rices. Here's basically how it works.

• Saute finely chopped aromatics (vegetables) in oil or butter, or a combination of both, until they are tender and barely browned. A good choice to start would be onions, carrots, and possibly garlic. Worth considering as a future experiment would be zucchini, celery, butternut squash, artichoke hearts, mushrooms, kale, or any other vegetable you like.
• Add the rice and saute it with the aromatics for a few minutes, until it smells nutty. Perhaps add a little dry white wine at this point, and cook it until it is absorbed.
• Use broth instead of water - chicken, beef, vegetable, mushroom - to give it more flavor. Heat the broth and add it to the pot. Turn the heat down immediately to low and cover the pot.
• Once the rice is tender, turn the heat off and leave the pot covered on the stove for at least 15 minutes before serving.
• Stir chopped fresh herbs, like parsley or oregano, into the rice before serving. Only fresh will work; if you want to use dried herbs, add them sparingly with the vegetables at the beginning.

Using these principles, I cooked rice for us to eat with salmon and steamed carrots and brussels sprouts the other day. It was so good we kept reaching for more rice, and almost forgot to eat the delicious wild salmon!

Brown and Wild Rice

• 1 cup raw rice. I used a combination brown-and-wild-rice I bought at Trader Joe's. You can use any rice you like. Brown rice takes about 45 minutes to cook, wild rice takes a little longer so I cooked this combo for nearly an hour. White rice takes about 20 minutes to cook. You can definitely lift up the lid after it's been cooking for awhile and taste a grain. That, and whether the liquid has been absorbed, is the best way to tell if your rice is nearly done.
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cups chicken broth, heated (or use vegetable broth or mushroom broth to keep it vegetarian). Brown rice takes more liquid than white rice, which would only require 1-1/2 cups broth for 1 cup rice. Even so, when I lifted the lid of my pot after 45 minutes, I noticed there was still a lot of liquid and a grain of rice tasted nearly done. What did I do? Of course I poured off most of the liquid into the sink, using the pot lid to keep the rice in the pot. Then I put it back on the burner on low, covered it again, and cooked it for another 10 minutes or so, until all the liquid had been absorbed. Rice is not fragile!
• 1 carrot, peeled and chopped
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• A splash of dry white wine
• A handful of fresh parsley leaves, chopped

 Melt the butter in a medium Dutch oven and add the olive oil. Saute the chopped onion and carrot in it over medium heat until the vegetables are soft and just beginning to brown.
Add the rice and stir well to combine. Saute, stirring, until the rice heats and begins to smell nutty. Add the wine and cook, stirring, until the wine is absorbed.

Meanwhile, heat the broth almost to boiling on the stove or in the microwave. Turn the heat down on the rice and add all the broth at once. Be careful, the broth could boil up. The idea is to heat the rice enough that the broth keeps its heat when it's added, which helps the rice cook without getting too mushy.

Cover the pot and turn the burner down to low. Set the timer for 45 minutes (in this case, since we're using brown and wild rice).

At 45 minutes, lift the cover and check to see whether the liquid has been absorbed. Taste a grain of rice to see if it is soft. If there is still quite a bit of liquid and the rice appears to be nearly cooked, pour some of it off, taking care to use the lid to keep the rice in the pot. Then re-cover and continue to cook over low heat until the rice is done and the liquid has been absorbed.

Turn the heat off and let sit, covered, for 15 minutes while you finish any other dinner preparations. When you are ready to serve the rice, stir in the chopped parsley.

Buon appetito!

This recipe for rice is both vegetarian and gluten-free.

Porcini risotto with spicy shrimp

Recipes: Porcini risotto, Spicy shrimp

Have you ever made risotto? It's one of those things, like souffle, that has the reputation of being difficult. Or at least work intensive. And when you learn how to make it, you're surprised because it's not difficult at all. Risotto is a country dish, and the country is Italy. Compagnoli, country people in Italy, have been making this dish to stretch resources and provide delicious food for their families for ages. So how hard can it really be?

What you do need is a little time, about 30 minutes (plus 30 minutes for soaking the porcini), and the ability to concentrate for about 20 of those minutes. Piece of cake, right?

Here's a really special dinner for two with complex tastes and minimal work and time involved. You're going to love it.

Porcini Risotto with Spicy Shrimp

• 3 ounces or so of dried porcini, rehydrated in a cup of boiling water for 30 minutes.
• 1 cup risotto rice. I use Trader Joe's brand of arborio rice.  
• 2 tablespoons butter, divided, plus 1 tablespoon to use at the end
• 1/4 cup chopped onion or leeks
• 1/4 cup dry white wine, like sauvignon blanc
• 2 cups of chicken broth, heated in microwave or on stove until hot but not boiling
• 1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• 1 dozen (or more) raw shelled shrimp. I like them with tails on.
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar

Squeeze the rehydrated porcini mushrooms to extract all the juice and chop them. Save the water they soaked in and strain it through a paper-towel-lined sieve. Combine the strained mushroom water with the hot broth and reheat it. Keep the broth hot while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Pat the shrimp dry. In a bowl, toss the shrimp with the paprika, cayenne, salt, and sugar. Let them sit while you melt 1 tablespoon butter in a baking dish that can go under the broiler. When it's melted, turn each shrimp over in the melted butter and then arrange them in one layer in the dish. Put aside, they will go under the broiler later.

In a medium heavy saucepan, melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat. Add the onion or leeks and saute until soft. Add the chopped mushrooms and saute for 1 minute. Add the raw rice and cook, stirring, until the rice starts to smell nutty, 3 to 4 minutes.

Add the wine and cook, stirring, until the wine is absorbed by the rice. Add 1/2 cup of the hot broth mixture and cook, stirring, until the liquid is absorbed.

Turn the broiler on to High.

Continue the process of adding 1/2 cup of the hot broth mixture at a time and stirring, until all the broth is used. Toward the end, taste a piece of rice to determine whether it is almost completely soft. If it is still hard in the middle, add a little broth to the last bit and heat it before putting it in with the rice.

Turn off the heat on the rice. Add 1 tablespoon of butter and the grated cheese, and stir vigorously until it is thoroughly mixed in. This gives your risotto wonderful taste and a creamy consistency.

Slip the baking dish of shrimp under the broiler for exactly 3 minutes. When it is done, take it out and arrange the shrimp on top of the pot of risotto. Serve it immediately with wine and perhaps a plate of sliced tomatoes, if they are in season, or a simple green salad. Buon appetito!

Marlys granola (or have a good morning!)

Recipe: Granola

My sister-in-law Marlys makes really good granola. She bakes a big recipe of it, twice the size of the recipe below, and then stores it in those plastic cereal containers that I think are so neat. Whenever I go to visit her and my brother Jim, I look forward to eating her granola in the morning with fresh fruit and milk. It's a great way to start the day!

Fortunately she was willing to share her recipe. Don't you love people who share? And then I read an article about granola in Sunset Magazine, and tweaked her recipe a bit so it bakes in about 35 minutes instead of 60-70 minutes. All the better for us! Even though I messed with her original recipe, I'm still calling it Marlys Granola, because she was my inspiration! I'm making some today so I can eat it for breakfast tomorrow. . .

Marlys Granola

• 3-1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (not instant or quick-cooking)
• 1 cup raw seeds, like sesame, pumpkin, chia, flaxseed
• 1 cup raw nuts, like sliced almonds, pecan pieces, walnut pieces, pine nuts
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon cardamom (or 1 teaspoon cinnamon and no cardamom)
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil (or canola oil). You could also use half-half coconut oil and olive oil for a coconut flavor.
• 1/2 cup maple syrup (or honey)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup dried fruit, like raisins, dried cranberries, chopped dried cherries, chopped dried apricots, chopped dried apple slices . . I could go on!

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine oats, seeds, nuts, salt, and spices.

In a small bowl, whisk together oil, maple syrup (or honey), and vanilla. Add oil mixture to oat mixture and stir to combine well. Spread mixture evenly in lined pan.

Bake granola, stirring every 10 minutes, until light brown and fragrant, 30 to 35 mintues. Let cool in the pan, then stir in the dried fruit. Don't add the dried fruit till it's cool, or the fruit will become hard and stick to your teeth!

Store airtight and no longer than 3 weeks. Like it would last that long!

Mmmm, chicken livers and bacon!

Recipe: Chicken livers with bacon and onions

I'm not going to make a big deal of this, but a lot of people don't like to eat liver. I'm one of them. My mom, bless her heart and soul, could cook the life out of a piece of calves' liver, even with fried onions. It was like dried shoe leather and, as a kid, I was required to eat at least half of whatever was on my plate. The only thing that saved me was copious amounts of Heinz 57 sauce.

Imagine my horror on a trip to the romantic Furnace Creek Inn in Death Valley years later, to find chicken livers on my breakfast plate. And let me mention that in Death Valley, there is nowhere to eat but the Furnace Creek Inn, normally a fine choice, so I was stuck. My Midwestern training still intact, I dutifully tried them. Heaven!! What a shock! So, although I still won't touch calves' liver, chicken livers are now among my favorite dishes. Go on, give it a try!

Sauteed Chicken Livers with Bacon and Onions

The trick with chicken livers is to not overcook them.

• 1 pound chicken livers, cut in half
• 2 slices thick bacon, cut in pieces
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium onion, cut in half and then in 1/2-inch slices
• 1/4 cup dry white wine, like sauvignon blanc
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a large skillet, fry the bacon pieces until they are just short of crisp. Add the olive oil and the onion and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Fry, stirring now and then, until the onion is partially cooked but still holds its shape. Add the chicken livers and cook, stirring frequently, for about 2 minutes.

Pour in the wine and turn up the heat a little. Cook for another two minutes until the wine is almost gone. Turn the heat off.

Add salt and a generous grind of pepper and toss gently to combine. Serve alone with a green salad, or over cooked pappardelle (wide egg pasta) or spaghetti, or over baked or steamed potatoes.

The payoff:
Chicken livers give you a good dose of iron and protein plus vitamins B12 (terrific for stress) and A (sharp eyes).
This dish is gluten-free, served alone, over gluten-free pasta, or with potatoes.

 

Five ways to eat more broccoli (be good to your body!)

Recipes: Broccoli stir-fry, Long-cooked broccoli, Chopped broccoli, Wiki-wiki salad, Broccoli potato soup

Fresh green broccoli is so good and good for you, and late winter plus spring-into-summer is the time when you'll find it in farmer's markets. But cooking and eating it in some new way that'll wake up your taste buds can be challenging.

Tired of steamed spears with butter and lemon? Good as that is, sometimes we all need something new.

Here are a few pretty sweet suggestions for that great bunch of broccoli you have in the fridge.

 

1. Broccoli Stir-fry

• 1 pound fresh broccoli
• 2 tablespoons peanut oil
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch combined with 2 tablespoons cold water

Start by cutting the ends off the broccoli stalks and cutting the florets. Then peel the tough skin off the big stems with a vegetable peeler or paring knife. Cut florets and peeled stems into 1-inch pieces.

Mix the cornstarch and cold water well in a small bowl and set aside.

Heat a wok or large skillet until hot. Add the peanut oil and stir-fry the broccoli pieces for about 2 minutes. Add salt and sugar and mix well. Add the tablespoon water and cover the wok or skillet. Let cook over high heat for a minute or so, stirring once. Uncover the pan.

Add the cornstarch-water mixture and cook over high heat for 1 minute. Serve hot over rice or noodles, or over sliced cooked chicken. Season with Tamari soy sauce and a drop of sesame or chile oil if you wish

Asparagus, zucchini, or cauliflower can be combined with broccoli or used instead of broccoli using the same stir-fry method, except that no peeling is required for those vegetables.

2, Long-cooked Broccoli

Adapted from a recipe in Alice Waters' Chez Panisse Vegetables

• 1 pound broccoli
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1-1/4 cups water
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• Salt and pepper
• 3 flat anchovy fillets
• 1/2 fresh lemon
• freshly grated Parmesan

Pick off any leaves and peel the tough skin off the broccoli stems with a vegetable peeler or paring knife. Slice the broccoli stems and florets crosswise into 1/8-inch-thick slices. Put the slices into a skillet or shallow saucepan 2 to 3 inches deep. Peel and slice the garlic and add to the pan with the water, olive oil, and red pepper flakes. Season with salt and pepper.

Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for 50 minutes, until the broccoli is tender and starting to fall apart, and the liquid is nearly evaporated. If the pot goes dry before the broccoli is done, add a little more water.

Roughly chop the anchovies. When the broccoli is done, sprinkle the anchovies over it, squeeze the lemon over it, and toss everything together. Serve on a warm platter and garnish at the table with a grating of Parmesan.

3. Chopped Broccoli with Lemon

From Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone

Something as simple as chopping the broccoli instead of leaving it large changes it completely.

• 1 pound broccoli
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or butter
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
• Fresh lemon for juice

Chop the broccoli into small florets and peel and finely chop the stems. Put the stems in the steaming basket, add the florets, then cover and steam until just short of tender. Put in a serving bowl, toss with olive oil or butter and season with salt, pepper, and lemon juice.

For a heartier dish, toss equal amounts of boiled diced potatoes, cooked rice, or cooked quinoa with the cooked chopped broccoli.

4. Wiki-wiki Salad

This salad was posted earlier in this blog, but it's definitely worth repeating. Who knows where the name came from? It's basically a broccoli-cabbage-snow peas cole slaw, and can be a whole meal on a hot day.

• 1/2 small green cabbage, cored and sliced thin as for cole slaw
• a good handful of snow peas, ends removed, and sliced into bite-sized pieces
• 4 scallions (green onions), diced including white and green parts
• 1/4 pound broccoli flowerettes, cut fairly small
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted on top of stove or in oven
• 1 pack Top Ramen noodles, chicken flavor

 Dressing:

• 1 flavor pack from Top Ramen noodles - chicken flavor
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• scant 1/2 cup vegetable oil (like Wesson)
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt (or 3/4 teaspoon sea salt and 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder)
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Combine cabbage, snow peas, scallions, broccoli, and almonds in a large bowl. Crunch the ramen noodles and add them. Mix together dressing ingredients in a small jar with a cap. Shake well. Add dressing to the cabbage mixture and toss thoroughly. Wiki-wiki is best if it sits for 30 minutes or so before you serve it.

5. Broccoli Potato Soup

Adapted from a recipe in Marcella Cucina

• 1/2 large yellow onion, sliced very thin
• Sea salt
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons butter (divided use)
• 3/4 pound broccoli florets, washed and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and sliced crosswise very thin
• 2 medium red potatoes, washed and cut into medium dice
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 3 or 4 fresh basil leaves, torn (optional)
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmegiano-Reggiano cheese

Put the sliced onion, a pinch of salt, all the the olive oil, and 1 tablespoon of butter in a heavy saucepan or Dutch oven. Turn on the heat to medium low and cover the pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is completely tender and has become colored a light brown.

When the onion is cooked, add the sliced garlic and leave the pan uncovered. Cook, stirring for 1 minute. Add the broccoli florets and a generous pinch of salt, and cook, turning the florets over now and then, until they feel tender when you prick them with the tip of a paring knife.

Add the diced potatoes and cook for about 5 minutes, turning the contents of the pan over frequently. Add the broth and cook until some of the potatoes dissolve as you stir them (20 minutes or so). The final consistency should be loosely creamy, rather than real thick.

Taste and correct for salt, and add liberal grindings of black pepper. If you are holding to heat later, put the pot aside. When you are ready to serve the soup, swirl in the torn basil (if using), the grated Parmesan, and the remaining tablespoon of butter. Serve at once in bowls.

Grilled chicken salad (or summer's here and we feel spicy)

Recipe: Grilled chicken salad with rustic guacamole and a roasted sweet potato

The weather's warming up and summer's here, at least for the moment here in northern California. Yay! When friends came over for an afternoon pre-concert dinner a few days ago (Willie Nelson at the UC's Greek Theatre, no less), I wanted to make something different - summery and maybe a little spicy. I went immediately to Rick Bayless' excellent cookbook, Mexican Everyday, and once more, Rick came to the rescue with a main-dish salad that zings with the tastes of Mexico..

This salad has no real precedent in traditional Mexican cooking, Rick says; nevertheless it takes the flavors and traditional ingredients and produces a deliciously rich and flavorful meal, with a little spice thrown in for fun. Healthy too! My family and guests really loved it, including one who had gluten and dairy dietary restrictions. As a matter of fact, she asked me for the recipe - a huge compliment in my book.

You can fire up the grill for this, but you don't need to. A stovetop grill pan, which is what I used, works just fine. This recipe serves 2. I just doubled it to serve 4.

Grilled Chicken Salad with Rustic Guacamole, Romaine, and a Roasted Sweet Potato

Adapted from a recipe in Rick Bayless' Mexican Everyday

Sweet potato sounded good to me, so I added it to the menu. Wash one large orange-fleshed sweet potato, or 2 small ones, and stab it with the tip of a paring knife in several places so it won't explode in the oven. Talk about excitement you don't need! Then put it or them into a baking dish and bake at 400 degrees for 1 hour (45 minutes if using small potatoes). While the potato is baking, make the salad.

For the dressing

• 1/4 cup olive oil, plus a little extra for grilling the onion
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and halved
• 1/2 jalapeno (or more if you want it quite spicy), seeded and halved
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 1/2 cup roughly chopped cilantro or flat-leaf parsley
• freshly ground black pepper
• sea salt

Heat the oil in a small skillet, add the garlic and chiles and cook, stirring frequently, until the garlic is soft and lightly browned, 2 minutes. Pour the oil, garlic, and chile into a blender or food processor. Add the lime juice, cilantro, black pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Process until smooth.

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
• 1 small white onion, cut into 1/2 inch slices
• 1 ripe avocado
• 1 medium romaine heart, sliced crosswise into 1/2-inch-wide ribbons
• 1/4 cup grated Mexican queso anejo or Parmesan cheese (optional)

Put the chicken breasts in a bowl and pour one-third of the garlic dressing over them, spreading it evenly over both sides.

Make the guacamole
Heat the grill or grill pan over medium high heat until it is quite hot. Lightly brush the onion slices with oil and sprinkle them with salt. Lay the onion on the grill or grill pan and turn the slices over a couple of times, grilling until they are well browned, about 3 minutes each side. Take the onion off the grill and chop it roughly. Put the onion in a bowl. Pit the avocados and scoop the flesh in with the grilled onion. Add another one-third of the garlic dressing and coarsely mash everything together with a potato masher or a large fork. Taste and season with salt, about  1/4 teaspoon.

Grill the chicken
Now heat the grill or grill pan up again and put the chicken breasts on. Cook about 4 minutes on each side, until well seared. If the chicken breasts are exceptionally thick or thin, adjust the cooking time accordingly - 5 minutes each side for thick, 3 minutes each side for thin. Take the chicken off the heat and let it sit on a chopping block for 10 minutes to finish. Then cut each breast into cubes.

Assemble the salad
Put the sliced romaine into a large bowl. Drizzle the remaining garlic dressing over it and toss well. Divide the lettuce between two dinner plates. Scoop half of the guacamole into the center of the lettuce. Arrange the cubed chicken over the guacamole. Sprinkle the whole thing with grated cheese, if you wish, or serve it separately for individual use.

Cut the roasted sweet potato in half on the crosswise diagonal, just for show, and arrange it on the plate alongside the salad. It will be beautiful! Enjoy!

The payoff
In addition to great taste, this dish has the benefit of being gluten-free and dairy-free (if you don't use the optional cheese).

Avocado, which is native to Mexico and Central America, has more potassium than bananas and lots of fiber. High avocado intake has been shown to lower blood cholesterol levels. All good. And yummy.