A late winter's salad

Signs of spring cheer the heart, but it's only mid-March as far as produce goes in the East. If you like a salad for lunch, think beyond tomatoes and lettuce. Here's one that's colorful and hardy for a cool, rainy day.

A late winter's salad
Serves 2

Ingredients
½ cup cooked wheat berries, chilled
½ cup cooked French tiny green lentils, chilled
4 mini bell peppers, sliced
Handful of haricots vert, or tender green beans, cooked and cooled
½ cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
2 tablespoons quality olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Celtic gray salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions
Toss all in a bowl and serve. Also good over a bed of tender field greens or arugula.

Breakfast blossoms

In "Rancho Cooking" (Sasquatch Books, 2001, 238 pages), Jacqueline Higuera McMahan, an eighth-generation Californian, mentions that her people loved squash blossoms more than they loved squash itself, and although I'm fond of squash almost any way one cooks it, I would have to agree.

You usually don't find squash blossoms in the grocery store; they are fragile and don't take to handling and transport well. But those big showy male flowers are wonderful in a number of recipes. I found them at the farmers market in Sacramento yesterday, along with a long stemmed spring garlic and some beautiful maitake mushrooms, also known as hen of the woods.

This morning, I made omelets with them. Unfortunately, we were so hungry, we ate them before I had a chance to take a photo. If I make them again tomorrow, I will photograph them before we eat.

Lori K's Squash Blossom Omelet 
with Maitake and Spring Garlic
Serves 2-3

Ingredients

Butter
⅛ pound maitake mushrooms
1 clove spring garlic, crushed and minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
6 squash blossoms
3 eggs
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Heat a 12-inch crepe or omelet pan over medium-low heat. Swish the butter stick over the bottom of the heated pan, then add the mushrooms and garlic. Sauté until softened, then remove from pan and set aside.

While the mushrooms are cooking, twist the stems off the blossoms and remove them and the pistil and throw that part in the compost. In a separate bowl, beat the three eggs until smooth.

After removing the mushrooms from the pan, add the oil, swish it around and place the flowers in it with the stem areas near the middle. When they have wilted, turn them over.

Add the beaten eggs, swirling the liquid gently around the blossoms as not to disturb them. When they have mostly set, sprinkle the mushrooms over and season to taste. When the edges start curling up a bit,  flip in half, then split the omelet and serve immediately.

Bean there, done that

Tuscany Bean Salad - photo by Lori Korleski Richardson

Young, tender rainbow chard, fresh from the garden
Photo by Lori Korleski Richardson

Tuscany is a food lovers dream. And one of its claims to fame is its bean dishes. Tuscany is so tied to beans that its people are known as "mangiafagioli" (bean eaters) in the rest of Italy.

One of Tuscans' favorite beans is the cannellini, sometimes called "white kidney beans" in American stores. That is a horrible misnomer: Except for the shape, cannellini beans have nothing in common with kidney beans. Not the color, not the texture and especially not the taste.

Even after cooking, cannellinis keep their shape, their firmness belying their tender insides. They have a pleasant nutlike flavor, and their mild taste makes them a favorite for minestrones.

They make a great salad, hearty enough to continue into winter when local lettuces are long gone. Keep a few cans around and you can have this salad until your chard freezes. And it's good without chard, after that. To make it a main-dish salad, add a drained can of tuna, or serve on a bed of prepared wheatberries.

Lori K's Tuscan bean salad
© 2012, Lori Korleski Richardson
Serves 2 as a main dish, 4 as a side salad

Ingredients
1 can cannellini beans (or white Northern or navy beans), rinsed and drained well
1 small red onion, half, peeled and sliced thinly
4-6 young rainbow chard leaves, sliced and microwaved, covered, until just wilted, about a minute
1 tablespoon capers
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Arugula or wheatberries, optional

Instructions
In a bowl, combine the beans, onion, chard and capers, and tuna if using. Season with salt and pepper. Add olive oil and toss to coat well. Chill.

To serve, put on a plate of arugula or chilled wheatberries. Serve.

Note: To prepare wheatberries, put 1 cup in 3 cups boiling water and cook until tender, about 45 minutes. Drain and chill.

Making something healthful unhealthful

California Avocado Commission

Why do restaurant chefs just pile on the calories, after they've created something that sounds right and healthful? Case in point:

CHOPPED SALAD

Recipe Provided By Chef Kevin Gin, Bridges in Danville, CA

Serves: 4

Ingredients

12 ounces grilled chicken breast, diced medium

6 ounces crisp cooked smoked bacon, chopped small

8 ounces fresh avocados, diced medium*

4 petite hearts of romaine, chopped (about 2 cups lightly packed)

8 small tomatoes (2" diameter), cut in quarters

2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon mixed herbs

Creamy Basil Dressing (recipe follows)

Instructions

Marinate the cut tomatoes in the olive oil and mixed herbs for about 10 minutes.

Toss the chopped romaine with the Creamy Basil Dressing. Divide the mixture between 4 serving bowls.

Top each bowl with chicken, avocado, bacon, and tomato. Serve.

*A large Fresh California Avocado weighs about 8 oz.

Creamy Basil Dressing

(Yield: 1 1/4 cup)

Ingredients

8 ounces sour cream

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

1 tablespoon heavy cream

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

½ ounce fresh basil, chopped

Instructions

Whisk all ingredients together.

Now tell me, how does the dressing make this salad any better than if you added a couple of basil leaves and a squeeze of lemon? Why add cream and sour cream to a basically healthy dish?

A side note: Bridges is a fine restaurant, and if you're ever in Danville, you should check it out. If you don't plan a trip to this East Bay burb anytime soon, you can see the restaurant in the movie "Mrs. Doubtfire."

Roast chicken done Holly's way

A good roast chicken is one of life's most sublime pleasures, a crisp-skin package with meltingly tender meat, releasing a bit of wonderous broth in every bite.

My usual method is to season the chicken well – salt or garlic salt, pepper, paprika (smoked or plain) maybe put a little rosemary under the skin and stuff with a lemon – spray with olive oil, start it at 475, then turn the oven down to 325 and cook for an hour or so. I never baste, never open the oven door while cooking. I love crispy skin.

I check the temp in the breast since that's what I eat first; it should be at least 160 degrees (the temp continues to rise as it sets out of the oven) and never more than 165. Overcooking is what usually dries out poultry.

Letting the chicken rest when it comes out of the oven is another key to a moist chicken; minimum 10 minutes to let the juices absorb back into the meat (that works with all meats, by the way). Before serving, I check the temp on the thigh; if it's not up to 165, I remove the legs and put them back in the oven, keep the breast warm, serve the salad. They are usually cooked just right by then.

But I'm always open to new ways of roasting chickens: I love the Zuni Cafe method, and I'm eager to try THIS ONE my friend Holly just posted on her blog, which uses butter and celery. Do you have any favorite roast chicken recipes or tips to share?

Chili? Or just a tasty vegetable stew?

If you've never been to Terlingua, Texas, on the first weekend of November, you don't really know what chili is. Yes, you can buy (click on the book cover above) a copy of "A Bowl of Red," Frank X. Tolbert's bible on the legendary stew, and follow the directions, but to taste, all in one place, the chilies that have been judged the best of their respective communities, and to immerse yourself in the culture of the pod, is an experience not to be missed.

Started in 1967, the cookoff features a number of different chilies, but to be a Texas chili, the mixture must:

• Not contain beans
• Not contain anything that doesn't turn red or brown after four-plus hours of cooking.

I love a good bowl of red. But I don't eat that much red meat anymore, and when I do indulge in grass-fed beef from a local farmer, I prefer a nice steak.

So my chili these days is one that will have my Texas friends rolling their eyes. Just taste it, though, before passing judgment. It may not be what you call chili, but you'll have to admit it's a tasty vegetable stew (which is what Frank X. Tolbert reportedly called Dave Chassen's famed Beverly Hills chili, which  contained beans).

Vegetable Chili
Serves 8

Ingredients
1 medium eggplant
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 cup olive oil
2 onions, chopped
6 cloves minced garlic
1 large red pepper, diced or one large jar diced pimientos
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained, but reserve the liquid
1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 15-ounce can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon oregano
1 tablespoon basil
1 teaspoon pepper
Salt to taste
1/2 bunch of chopped parsley
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
Juice of 1/2 lemon

Instructions
Cut eggplant into cubes and sprinkle with salt. After an hour, pat dry. Sauté in 1/4 cup of the olive oil until almost tender and set aside. Add remaining oil and sauté onions and garlic until softened. Add to eggplant. Put on low heat and add all but the last four ingredients. If cooking on the stove, leave uncovered and stir frequently for 30 minutes, then add the last four ingredients and cook for another 15 minutes. If using a crockpot, cover and cook for at least an hour; add the last four ingredients 15 minutes before serving.
Serve over brown rice. Offer shredded cheddar cheese, tiny-diced fresh jalapeños or hot sauce and sliced scallions as toppings, and serve with corn chips or cornbread.

Note: If eggplant is out of season, use a large can of black olives, chopped, and obit the kosher salt.

Gobble-good meatloaf

A Berkeley friend and Episcopal priest, Kristin Krantz, mostly shares tidbits about her family life and ministry on Facebook, but she surprised me one day with a most unusual meatloaf. She makes it with beef, but said it originally called for turkey, so that's what I used. I think it would be great with ground lamb as well. My substitutions are in parentheses (I didn't have any feta on hand, so I had to modify to use what I had).

It was very tasty, moist and didn't need ketchup. I'll use fresh parsley the next time, maybe plain crumbs and a shallot and spices instead of the crusting mixture (which I was trying to use up, since I don't like it as a meat coating). And definitely the feta, which I adore.

Sundried tomato and feta meatloaf
Serves 4-6

Ingredients
1/2 cup plain dried bread crumbs (McCormick's French onion, pepper and herb Crusting Blend)
1/3 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (3 tablespoons dried parsley)
1/4 cup chopped garlic and herb marinated sun-dried tomatoes (sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil)
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 large eggs, at room temp, lightly beaten (1 egg)
1/4 cup olive oil (1 tablespoon olive oil)
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese (1/2 cup Greek nonfat yogurt)
1 1/2 tsp. salt (1/2 teaspoon)
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper (1/2 teaspoon)
1 lb. ground beef (ground turkey)

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray 9x5 loaf pan with cooking spray
In a large bowl stir (or hand mix) the bread crumbs, parsley, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, eggs, olive oil, feta (yogurt), salt and pepper. Add the meat and combine. Pack the mixture into the pan. Bake until internal temp is 165 degrees, approximately 45 minutes.
Remove pan from oven and let meatloaf rest for 5 minutes. Soak extra fat on the surface with a paper towel.

From Kristin Nelson Krantz**The recipe is for turkey meatloaf, which is why I think there is olive oil in the mix - when I used ground beef I just used a little oil.

Salad days

Fresh salads with crisp new greens, with just a light dressing, with nothing else to hide the taste of Mother Nature's first offerings, are truly a gift to gardeners and friends of gardeners.

You can't make a meal out of them alone, but they do make a good basis for a simple supper: the warm salad.

The greens and the cheese are cold here; everything else is at room temperature or slightly warm. The coq au vin refers not to the classic slow-cooked dish, but just that the chicken breasts are cooked in wine.

Warm Coq au Vin Salad
Serves 2 as a main dish

Ingredients
2 cups of torn greens
1 cup red wine
1 cup chicken broth
2 dried hot peppers or 2 teaspoons hot pepper flakes
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
4 peppercorns
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
1 bay leaf

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed of fat and any ligaments

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced
12 grape tomatoes, cut in half
2 ounces feta cheese cubes
1 red bell pepper, roasted, skinned and sliced
Salt, pepper and extra oregano to taste

Instructions
Wash, dry and tear the lettuce; wrap in paper towels and put on a plate. Chill.
Combine the wine, broth, dried hot peppers or flakes, peppercorns, teaspoons of oregano and salt, and bay leaf in a saucepan big enough to hold the liquid and chicken breasts. Bring to a full rolling boil. Add the chicken breasts. Cook for 10 minutes, turn off the heat and leave in the warm liquid for about 5 more minutes or until firm. Remove from the liquid to a plate.
As the breasts are cooking, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and season with a little pepper. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes. They should have released their liquid when you uncover them; cook until the liquid evaporates, then remove to a plate to cool.
In the salad bowl, place the tomato halves and feta cheese cubes, and the rest of the olive oil. Add salt, pepper and oregano to taste. Add the sweet red pepper strips, and the mushrooms when cool. Slice the chicken breasts against the grain into rough strips and add to the bowl. Add the chilled lettuce. Toss, adjust seasoning if needed and serve.
Variations:
If you want a heartier dinner, use a cup of arugula instead of the lettuce and toss with a cup of cooked tiny green lentils and 4 ounces of pasta (shells, bowties or orzo) cooked and cooled a little. You may need to increase the amount of olive oil a bit, and perhaps add a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar.
If you have time, coat the chicken with lavender salt and marinate a couple of hours before poaching; decrease the salt in the liquid.

No electricity? No problem

A disclaimer: No electricity during a snowstorm also means no heat, which, believe it or not, suppresses one's appetite. Or maybe it was the coffee and hot chocolate consumed to make one FEEL warm that suppresses the appetite. Regardless, two days and a night without heat was all we could take, especially as the firewood dwindled away. We decamped into town.

Yet, I really enjoyed this dish on the first night we were without power and I thought I'd share it. I intend to make it again once the heat comes back on. Along with Meyer lemon pudding cakes (I have not forgotten them!).

Scallops coriander

Ingredients

3/4 pound scallops (the bigger, the better; look for creamy to rosy colored ones)

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Ground coriander (if you have seeds, toast them a little first in a cast-iron pan over medium heat until you can smell them, cool then grind)

Sea salt

Whole pepper

Instructions

• Rinse the scallops well and pat dry. Toss with the olive oil. Season scallops lightly with the ground coriander, and grinds of sea salt and whole pepper (go very easy on the pepper as not to overwhelm the delicate scallops), and toss again.
• On the camp stove, heat a medium cast-iron skillet to very hot. Add the scallops, turn the heat to low, then stir the scallops around to brown them on all sides. Cook about 10 minutes until just firm.
• Serve immediately with a salad of baby greens and arugula, cooked baby carrots tossed with brown sugar and ginger, and a side of lemon orzo (or rice). Any juice from the pan is a good addition to the orzo or rice.

Many thanks to Stuart Leavenworth, who posted a menu on his Facebook page:

What's for dinner? Corriander chicken with preserved Meyer lemon, kale and cous cous.

It inspired me to try coriander on scallops.

California tried to come here...

... but didn't quite make it. A friend made a special effort to ship my favorite olive oil to me, even going to the Sunday farmers market under the freeway in Sacramento to buy it from the grower, but the box arrived yesterday minus its bottle. There's a reason "Thou shalt not steal" made it into the top 10 of the commandments, and I'm sure the oil won't completely calm the waters of its thief''s roiling conscience. To read a review of the missing oil, click here.

And for those of you in or visiting Southern California soon, be sure to check out a very interesting exhibit at Heath Ceramics in Los Angeles. Clare Crespo has created an entire Mardi Gras feast with yarn versions of seafood gumbo, beignets and café au lait, king cake, catfish po’ boy, and more. Her oysters are pictured here.

The show’s opening is on Feb. 6 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Heath, featuring complimentary Abita beer and other pre-Fat Tuesday offerings.

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Good grills go everywhere

Our new house has one of those infernal microwave/hood combinations, which is even more infernal than most. To be blunt, it doesn't suck, and I don't mean that in a good way.

So until we can get a proper exhaust fan put in, we're going to be grilling a lot this summer. One of the first things we did was set up the gas grill out back. Since I needed to bring a finger-food appetizer for our tailgate picnic on the way to the theater, and I hadn't set up my kitchen yet (limited spices, oils, etc.), I just skewered a bag of chicken tenderloins, sprinkled them with oil and a grinding of garlic and pepper and grilled them just until done. I chilled them down, then packed them with ice packs and off we went. They were a hit! 

Fava beans - no liver, no Chianti

Fava beans are one of my favorite vegetables of spring. This initially came as a surprise to me, since they look a lot like lima beans, and I was a child who spent a lot of my childhood picking the lima beans out of the servings of frozen mixed vegetables my mom liked to serve us several times a week.

I picked up a handful of favas at the grocery store this week. I would have bought more (it takes about a pound of fava beans in their pods to produce a cup of edible beans) but a handful is all that was left. Never mind: That is enough to brighten up a pasta dish, especially with a sprinkling of red pepper flakes. Yes, that's the ticket: 4-6 ounces bowtie pasta, cooked to al dente and drained; a drizzle extra virgin olive oil; shelled, cooked fava beans; a few red pepper flakes; sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. A few threads of basil and some shaved Parmesan, maybe a little crisped ham or bacon bits, and ummm-ummm good.

To prepare fava beans that are past the baby stage (when they can be eaten whole), take the beans out of the pod and throw the pods in the compost. Put the beans, which have a thick outer coat, into a pot of cold water and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, prepare a bowl of ice water. When the beans are in a rolling boil, remove from the stove and drain, and dash them into the ice water. When they have cooled, remove the skins by either pinching them, or using a little sharp knife, cut a slit in the outer coat and push them through. Add the outer coats to the compost pile. Saute the beans in a little oil briefly until just tender. Season if you wish.

Oh, and at the bottom of this post is another reason that favas have gotten a rather bad rap.

Photograph by David S. Deutsch
More Americans are discovering fava beans' buttery texture and lovely nutty taste.