When X and I pulled in last Sunday night from our trip north, we were so worn out that we both probably could have gone to sleep without eating, but I wasn’t going to have any of that, so I opened the fridge to see what I had leftover from the week before.

This is the good thing about non-stop recipe testing – I’ve always got some interesting leftovers hanging around.

In this case, roasted red bell peppers and caramelized onions. This was going to be easy.

I warmed up the veggies while the pasta water bubbled away, and we ate dinner outside in the garden. No mosquitoes, no blistering heat. It was a perfect night, a lovely birthday dinner, and a wonderful end to a much-needed break.

And the pretty blue and white vintage serving plate? A 3 euro find at a brocante along the coast. Because it wouldn’t be a weekend away without a brocante, now would it?

Birthday Pasta

Makes two large servings

INGREDIENTS

2 large white or yellow onions

3 to 4 tablespoons of olive oil

2 roasted red bell peppers

1 minced clove of garlic

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

about ½ box of penne pasta

half of a ball of mozzarella, torn into bits

chopped flat-leaf parsley

Parmesan

1. Caramelize the onions by tossing them in a large skillet with the olive oil and letting them cook on low heat for about a half-hour. Stir them around every now and then, and when they’re a nice caramel color, they’re ready.

2. Go ahead and put your pasta water on to boil.

3. Add the minced garlic to the onions and cook for a couple of minutes. Then chop up the roasted red bell peppers in bite-size pieces, and toss them in.

4. Cook your pasta and add it to the veggies and toss. Taste. Add the bits of mozzarella, stir once or twice, and serve with some flat-leaf parsley and freshly grated Parmesan on top – whether it’s your birthday or not.

I scooped up what I’m sure was the last butternut squash of the season about a week ago, when it still felt like winter, and like summer tomatoes, I just hate to say goodbye to the butternuts.

I’ve always been rotten at goodbyes. Ask anyone. They’ll tell you.

I’m also terribly lazy sometimes, and just can’t bear the thought of going all the way across town for Indian food, something that I’m often in the mood for, but just not up for the travel, and on a crowded metro car to boot. So I figured butternut squash with an Indian twist would satisfy my curry craving, without a trip across town, or to the stinky stinky Franprix, even.

I love this curry and I’ve made this once before, with leftover turkey instead of squash, and it was wonderful —  all you do is omit the cooking time for the squash, and insert the turkey. This would work equally well with anything that you’d like – cauliflower (dare I?), spring peas, potatoes, leftover chicken. You get the idea.

And listen, don’t be dismayed by the long list of ingredients. This is really a dump-and-stir and it comes together in a snap.

Butternut Squash Curry

Adapted from “New Indian Home Cooking” by Madhu Gadia (HP Books)

Makes four servings

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons fresh chopped ginger
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cumin
1 16 oz. can diced tomatoes in juice
½ teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon cayenne
½ teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed (you may used the back of your knife to do this)
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup plain yogurt
½ to 1 cup water
About 4 cups butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro, for garnish (optional)
raita, for serving (optional)
Basmati rice, for serving

1. Put the vegetable oil in a large skillet, along with the onion, garlic, ginger, cumin, and cinnamon. Cook until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.

2. Add the tomatoes, turmeric, cayenne, fennel seeds, black pepper and salt. Stir and cook for 2 minutes, then add the yogurt and water, stirring constantly. Now add the butternut squash. Let mixture cook for 15 minutes (until the squash is cooked but still firm) and serve with chopped cilantro and raita over Basmati rice.

I’m happy to report that the spinach at the Belleville market  this week was gorgeous – so pretty that I bought 1 kilo. Do you have any idea what 2.20 pounds of spinach looks like? I pulled it out of the sack and it filled up my whole sink – then of course, shrinkage — I was left with about  3 cups’ worth.

So all we’ve got here is spinach, corn tortillas, ancho sauce and a fried egg. Super-simple, but it does require that you make the ancho sauce, which takes a teensy bit of time, and I do mean teensy. I make up a batch and keep it in the fridge for times just like these – when I have something fresh and wonderful that I want to be the star, like this spinach, and I want to put something together in a flash.

I made flat, Santa Fe-style enchiladas because I wanted to heap on the spinach, and then I thought that it needed something gooey and runny, too. Enter the fried egg. Plus, I’ve been thinking a lot about eggs lately, as y’all are well aware.

Did you know that the USDA said last month that eggs have 14% less cholesterol and 64% more vitamin D than the last time that they were analyzed (in 2002)?

Of course, I fried the eggs in duck fat, but that’s because there was a little bit leftover from the tortilla-frying (see below), and I didn’t want to let it go to waste.

A word about spinach. I enlisted X to help me pull the woodsy stems off of the big pieces, but the man at the market told me that he never does this. Of course, we were in the middle of a Mexican standoff over  the price of a potimarron at the time (he wanted 4.50 for one and I told him that the same size was just 3 euros the week before, which it was), and I was picking out leaves of spinach one at a time, peeling off the stems as I was doing so, and sort of taking my time about it, lalalalala. When he gave me the spinach stem news, I looked at him with amazement, and I said that I’d have to try that. Then he said he’d give me the potimarron for 3 euros. So I bought two. And I stopped picking off the stems and grabbed a couple of big handfuls of spinach and stuffed them into the plastic sack.

Now I go to his stand every week and he has stopped trying to rip me off.

This is how you have to play it, people. It’s never just a relaxing morning of  picking out the prettiest fruits and vegetables and putting them in your cute little straw basket. It’s a fierce, highly competitive game —  over price, over who gets waited on first, and over what quality of fruits and vegetables end up in your sack. The only way to win is to stand your ground, argue when necessary (frequently), and you’ll earn the respect of the person on the other side.*

The next thing you know, you’ll start to get a few free onions tossed in as a gift-with-purchase.

Which never happens at the Kroger.

*This same idea applies to all transactions, whether at the market, the butcher, or the boulangerie, where they’ll always try to sneak in an undercooked baguette even though you requested “bien cuit.”

Spinach Enchiladas with Ancho Chile Sauce

Makes two servings

The ancho chile sauce is adapted from a recipe in Diana Kennedy’s “The Art of Mexican Cooking” (Clarkson Potter)

INGREDIENTS

4 ancho chiles (these are dried and available at Mexican markets – I brought mine from Texas)
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 cloves garlic, chopped (divided use)
1 pound fresh spinach, washed and stems removed (or not)
2 tablespoons olive oil (or more if needed)
big pinch sea salt
crank or two of freshly cracked black pepper
6 corn tortillas
1 tablespoon lard or duck fat (you may need a bit more to fry the all of the tortillas and the eggs)

1. Remove stalks, seeds and veins from the dried chiles and toast on comal or another heavy skillet on medium-low heat until the chiles turn an opaque tobacco brown — they’ll curl up as they heat through and you’ll need to press the chiles down with a wooden spoon to toast them. Be sure and toast both sides and be careful not to burn the chiles.

2. After the chiles are toasted, remove and soak in 1 cup of hot water for about 15 minutes — until they’re reconstituted.

3. Pour the chiles and water into a blender and add one clove of chopped garlic and the 1 teaspoon sea salt. Blend until smooth. Note: this can be done ahead of time and kept in the fridge.

4. Cook the spinach. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet, add the other clove of chopped garlic and turn the heat on medium. When the garlic begins to cook and you can smell it, add the spinach, turning it with tongs so it cooks evenly and quickly. Add the sea salt and pepper. Remove the spinach and put it into a colander to drain. You may need to do this in batches, but it won’t take more than 5 minutes or so to cook all of it.

5. Make the enchiladas. In a small skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of duck fat or lard over medium-low heat; in another small skillet, on low heat, heat 3-4 tablespoons of the ancho chile sauce. When both mixtures are warm, stack your tortillas on one side of the stove and your plates on the other. One by one, dip the corn tortillas into the lard or duck fat, and fry until soft, turning over a time or two. Then, dip each soft tortilla into the ancho sauce, flip it over so it’s well-covered, and put it on the plate. Do this two more times for one serving; then do three more tortillas for the second plate.

6. Using your tongs, heap a large pinch of spinach on each tortilla.

7. In the same skillet with the duck fat or lard, fry up a couple of eggs, putting one on each plate. Now, stab that yolk with your fork and let the yellow ooze.

With the holidays and year-end deadlines, I spent the last part of December running around town a lot, and it’s either been snowy, rainy –  or both — and all I’ve wanted to do when I walk in the apartment is take off my wet clothes, put on my sweatpants, and flop down on the bed and watch something silly on BBC Prime Europe. On nights like this, I turn to an old friend to create a dinner that’s the easiest thing to make on the planet.

I found this recipe in Marcella Hazan’s “Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking” many years ago, when I was in love with all things Italian (including an undercover cop named Leonardo, who lived in Florence) and spent my afternoons making homemade gnocchi and ravioli di spinaci. I was working my way through Hazan’s cookbook, and saw this – a tomato sauce made of just three ingredients — I wondered how it could possibly taste as good as she said that it did. Tomatoes, butter, onion. That was it. Seriously? I was skeptical.

But it is indeed so good that while it’s cooking – about 45 minutes to reduce so the tomatoes are nice and sweet — I always taste the sauce every now and then, just to make sure it’s coming along as it should. Because you just never know. Ingredients can be tricky and if there’s one thing that I’ve learned, you must always, taste, taste, taste.

When I make this, I’m usually standing over the stove with a glass of wine in one hand and a torn piece of baguette in the other, dipping and dunking into the chunky, buttery sauce.

Which, I might as well warn you, you will eat every bit of.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Tomato-Butter Pasta

Adapted from “Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking” by Marcella Hazan

Makes two large or four small portions

INGREDIENTS

1 32 oz. can diced tomatoes in juice
5 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion (white or yellow), peeled and cut in half
sea salt
1 pound pasta (I like penne, but you may use whatever pasta you’d like)
freshly grated Parmesan, for serving

Put the tomatoes, onion and butter in a medium saucepan and turn the heat on medium-low. Cook for 45 minutes, or until the sauce reduces to a thick, chunky (rather than watery) texture. Serve with pasta and grated Parmesan.

]]> http://cowgirlchef.com/2011/01/03/simple-tomato-butter-pasta/feed/ 11 http://cowgirlchef.com/2010/11/12/potimarron-soup/ http://cowgirlchef.com/2010/11/12/potimarron-soup/#comments Fri, 12 Nov 2010 05:25:59 +0000 epierce http://cowgirlchef.com/?p=4369

If you ask me, there’s nothing that says fall in France more than the arrival of the potimarron, the little orange squash with the delicate flavor of chestnuts. I love my butternut, and I adore my acorn, but potimarron and I, well, we’re in a serious relationship.

So much so when I go to the stand at the Belleville market where I’ve been buying them this year, he greets me with a “Bonjour” and then, “Potimarron?” He knows I cannot resist picking up one or two, which fit so neatly in the bottom of my grocery sack.

This recipe is simple and meant to let the potimarron shine — I mistakenly added celery one time and regretted it after the first taste, because even though it was just part of one stalk, the celery overwhelmed the potimarron’s subtle flavor. That said, I figured that a little crunch of my favorite cinnamony-toasty cookie, the Speculoo, would be a fun way to bring in an additional flavor, but not be too much — you can use crushed up gingersnaps if you can’t find Speculoos in your neighborhood.

For those of y’all that live in France, potimarrons are easy to find, and if you don’t,  you can substitute pumpkin or butternut squash. It won’t be exactly the same, of course – the chestnutty flavor is unique to the potimarron — but it’ll be a lovely fall soup nonetheless.

Which brings me to a little note about the timing of this post — clink your champagne glasses with your soup spoons, everyone! — it’s another Friday Twitter #LetsLunch recipe, which means that we’re all having lunch together right now. Or cyber-speaking, that is. If you’re just joining in, #LetsLunch is the Twitter hashtag for what’s become an international group of food bloggers that gather via the magic of the internet to share recipes, stories, and more than that, even, friendship. I love how our little group has grown. (Want to be a part of the fun? Just go to Twitter and type in #letslunch.)

So, to everyone old and new, Bon Automne!

Soup’s on. Let’s eat.

Here’s what the others have posted today. Check ‘em out. (May I just say one more thing? YUM!)

The Kitchen Trials’ hot-n-spicy Carrot Habenero Soup

Free Range Cookies’ Oven-Baked Soup

A Tiger in the Kitchen’s Winter Melon Soup

Dreaming of Pots and Pans’ Roasted Tomato Soup

Cooking in the Fruit Bowl’s Apple Beer Cheese Soup

Bon Vivant’s Carrot Soup with Chicharonnes

ShowFoodChef’s No Knead Pasta-Chard and Mushroom Soup with Fregola

Potimarron Soup

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 2 pd. (appx) potimarron, peeled, seeded and cubed
1 large carrot, diced
5 small waxy potatoes, such as red potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 sprig parsley
1 sprig thyme
bay leaf
sea salt
freshly cracked black pepper

Tie the parsley, thyme and bay leave together with a piece of string.

In a large soup pot, drizzle the olive oil and add the carrots. Cook until they begin to get a little tender, just about 5 minutes or so. Add the potatoes, and cook for 3-4 minutes, and add the potimarron, about 4 cups of water and the herbs. Cover and cook on medium for a half hour. Check to see if the potimarron and potatoes are tender. When they’re done, remove the herbs and purée the soup with a hand blender. Serve immediately or save for the next day – it’s even better.

Since I started up the yoga again, my mornings have gotten a bit hectic, and I’ve gotten hungrier. Suddenly I can’t bear the thought of walking Rosedog without eating something first, so I started making these smoothies, and sharing them with X, too. I’m experimenting with bars that I can pack along with me (so I don’t starve to death on the long, half-hour ride home on the metro), and this one’s a slight variation of the one that Mark Bittman with The New York Times posted recently, a no-cook, five-minute to put together bar that’s crispy, nutty and oh-so-good-for you.

I actually made these bars three times in the last week, testing with both sweetened almond butter (which I bought by mistake), and unsweetened, and adding honey as a sweetener, as Bittman suggests in his recipe.

The first time I used the cane sugar-sweetened almond butter only, upped the amount to 1 cup total, and omitted the honey. They tasted great, but didn’t hold together at room temperature. I figured honey might be the glue, so I bought unsweetened almond butter, mixed it with honey, as Bittman’s recipe says, and found the bars to be too sweet — and they also didn’t hold together at room temperature.

Third time, I switched back to the sweetened almond butter and just kept them in the freezer. They taste so good, I really don’t care about the stick together factor.

But I’m hooked on the idea of making my own bars (I made a crunchy version recently for a Cowgirl Chef column for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram), and I’m going to keep trying out different bar recipes. I’ll let you know how that goes.

Onto the  smoothie — it’s a killer. You can substitute any frozen fruit that you want, but since we’ve got frozen mangoes and wild blueberries at Picard, the all-frozen foods store, I’ve gotten hooked on this one.

Mango-Blueberry Smoothie

Makes 2 eight-ounce smoothies

INGREDIENTS

½ frozen mango, chopped in 2-inch pieces
⅔ cup frozen blueberries
5.29 oz Greek yogurt
½ to ⅔ cup soy milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon honey (I use this because the wild blueberries here are quite tart; you may not need this)
Put everything in a blender and puree until smooth. You may need to add a bit more soy milk to thin the smoothie a bit.

Chewy Almond Butter Granola Bars

Adapted from Mark Bittman’s recipe in The New York Times

Makes 12 bars

INGREDIENTS

½ cup almond butter (or you could use another nut butter, such as peanut)
½ cup honey
1 cup all-natural crispy rice cereal (or puffed rice cereal – that’s all I could find here)
1 cup granola (I used my own. Recipe here.)
1 cup dried apricots or other dried fruit, such as figs
¼ teaspoon sea salt

Line a 8″ X 8″ pan with plastic wrap, with the edges coming up and hanging over the sides.

Melt the honey and almond butter* in a saucepan, and then pour over the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Press into the pan with a spatula, and cover with two layers of plastic wrap. Press it down well, and put it in the fridge overnight.

Cut into squares and individually wrap them up for EZ travel. Store in the freezer or fridge.

*Note: If you can find cane sugar-sweetened almond butter, just use 1 cup and omit the honey.

Cue the singing angels: the stinky stinky Franprix down the street is now open on Sunday. (Gosh, it’s almost — dare I say it? — like America! A grocery store — albeit a small one and with rotting vegetables — open seven days a week!)

When this big announcement was made with much fanfare  awhile back, I knew that my life in Paris had taken a change for the better, and that I’d have one less thing to complain about — but remember y’all, “open on Sunday” doesn’t mean open all day, or even anything close. It means open from 9 am until 1 pm, which, for some reason, I can’t seem to remember.

So there I was on Sunday, dashing out of the apartment with my hemp Whole Foods/London bag slung over my shoulder, at 1:55, with a short list of items to buy for dinner. I arrived at the Franprix, out of breath, only to see the two surly cashiers on the other side of the locked-tight automatic doors, standing there, waiting — for me, perhaps? —  so they could have a good laugh.

Heh, heh, heh. Tant pis, les Americains! Hmmphf! Thees is not le 7-11! Heh, heh.

Deflated, my empty sack and I returned to the apartment, and ducked into the kitchen, without a clue about what to make for dinner.

But the little cherry tomatoes and the hunk of country bread that X had bought a couple of days before had other ideas. My dinner plan soon turned into eat-up-what’s-about-to-go-bad.

Which is how I came up with what I’m calling “Sunday Tuna Salad,” something that’s so good, I’ll make again and again, any night of the week.

This is also a bit summery (I told you I wasn’t ready to say goodbye), and it’s a riff on panzanella, the Tuscan stale bread salad that’s made with bread, tomatoes, cukes, and onions, and a few other things — only this version isn’t soggy; in fact, with crispy garlic and olive oil croutons, it’s just the opposite.

The key here is using olive oil-packed tuna, which I really recommend. Yes, yes, I know, it’s a bit more expensive, but it makes this quickie salad special. Other than that, a couple of hard-boiled eggs, Kalamata olives, capers, and some basil, and that’s pretty much it.

I’m really, really happy that the Franprix was closed.

Sunday Tuna Salad

INGREDIENTS

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved (you can use more or less here, depending on what you’ve got on hand)
1 160 gram/6 oz can tuna packed in olive oil, drained
12 Kalamata olives, split in half and pits removed
2 tablespoons capers, drained
4 leaves fresh basil, roughly torn
4 thick slices country bread (or you may use any leftover stale bread)
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
sea salt
freshly ground pepper
Basil-lime oil, recipe follows
2 large eggs

1. In a large bowl, put the halved tomatoes, tuna, capers, Kalamata olives, and 2 leaves of the torn basil.

2. Cut the bread into 1 to 2-inch chunks, depending on how you like your croutons (I like ‘em big). Drizzle the 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large, deep skillet, add the minced garlic, and turn the heat on medium-low. Let the oil and garlic warm just a bit and add the bread cubes. Watch these carefully as they cook and turn the croutons so all sides get a bit of the oil and garlic, and have the chance to get a bit crispy. When cooked, spread the croutons on a cookie sheet so they’ll stay crisp as they cool.

3. Boil the eggs. Put the two eggs in a saucepan, cover with cold water, add a pinch of salt, and bring to a boil. When the water boils, turn heat down to a simmer and set the timer for 10 minutes. When the buzzer goes off, put the saucepan in the sink, run cold water over it, and take out the eggs. Peel and roughly chop.

4. When ready to serve, add the chopped eggs to the large bowl, and the cooled croutons, too. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of basil oil on top, and taste for salt and pepper.

Basil-Lime Oil

INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon basil, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
zest of one lime
⅓ cup olive oil
sea salt
pepper

Put first 4 ingredients in a jam jar, and shake. Salt and pepper to taste. Let sit for an hour, at least, before using. Will keep for a week or two in the fridge.

My childhood was figless.

And clueless, too — I had no idea what a fig even was, other than something that was a key ingredient in Fig Newtons, something that we never bought, and that I had no interest in. Remember the silly commercial from the 70s with the dancing fig? What was that oversize teardrop  fruit, anyway? And while we’re on the subject, what was a Newton, besides someone’s last name?

The dance seemed desperate, like someone who was trying too hard to be liked.

Figs, how I’ve misjudged you.

If there’s anything that’s uplifting about summer’s long days coming to an end, it’s the arrival of figs at my neighborhood market in September — big, fat purple ones with bright red, juicy middles. I love them in the most simple of ways, split and roasted with a bit of chevre and honey, or on top of grilled bread with proscuitto and chevre, for a sweet-salty bruschetta. I like them chopped up in big pieces, too, and folded into my Greek yogurt, with a spoonful or two of homemade granola on top.

Besides figs, lately I’ve also been thinking about fall picnics — my favorite time of year to eat outdoors — so when the Twitter #letslunch Friday crew suggested posting picnic-themed recipes, I knew that I wanted to figure out how to take figs, one of my most favorite things to eat – ever — on the road, without a big fuss.

Why not make a pesto-like something with figs, I thought to myself, which could be easily transported and spread on a crusty baguette?

So. Here you are, possibly the fastest little bread spread you’ve ever put together. Just three ingredients — plus one, if you have room to pack the honey bear in your basket.

Do I need to mention how wonderful this is?

No, I’m just going to let you make it and see for yourself. It just may inspire you to come up with a new fig dance.

Other great fall picnic ideas from the #letslunch bunch:

ShowFood Chef’s Torta al Testo

Free Range Cookies’ Caramel Apple Scones

Kitchen Trials’ Rustic Tomato Soup with Homemade Bread

Blog Well Done’s Pumpkin Subs

Tiger in the Kitchen’s Braised Pork Belly Sandwiches

Fig-Walnut Pesto

INGREDIENTS

8 oz figs
⅓ cup walnuts
2 oz Roquefort, crumbled
honey, for drizzling (optional)

Preheat oven to broil.

1. Slice figs in half and put on foil-lined cookie sheet. Slide into the oven and cook for just about 10 minutes, or until the edges start to brown. You don’t want the figs to be mushy; just slightly roasted.

2. Toast the walnuts in a cast-iron skillet on top of the stove over medium low heat. When cool, roughly chop by hand (using a food processor will over-process the nuts).

3. Take out the figs and let them cool, then chop them into 1/4-inch pieces, and put them in a bowl and gently toss with the walnuts and the Roquefort crumbles. Take along on your picnic and spoon on top of a crusty baguette for for a first course, or a dessert, with a drizzle of honey. You decide.

P.S. Go Team Fig!

Truth is, I’m not ready to write this post. For summer to be in my rear view mirror, getting smaller by the minute. (Rhubarb, we spent so little time together. You left without saying a proper goodbye, which I must tell you, I felt was quite rude. Strawberries, cherries, peas, tiny girolles, for God’s sake, DON’T GO! Not yet. Please. I’m begging y’all.)

Last week, at President Wilson Market, I bought nectarines and peaches, and paid dearly for them, too –8 euros — for two of each. I know what this means. It’s over for them, too.

Sigh.

So, I must let go. Let go and let fall, well, fall upon us.

In the spirit of saying au revoir to what has been my juiciest, fruitiest and veggiest summer ever, I threw together this little salad the other night. One overpriced peach, a couple of beautiful tomatoes, an avocado, along with some of the cute goat cheese man’s wonderful chevre, and, voila, I had salade. With each bite, I said goodbye – until next year.

Today, I’m off to the market in anticipation of returning with a full lime green wheely cart of the goodies that I’ll find. I know that the beautiful, oh-so-sweet Reine Claudes are here, and so are the lovely yellow mirabelles..and I saw the first potimarrons and cepes the other day, which I’m very excited about. Also, figs. I think that I’ll find some lovely figs today.

Oh how I love figs!

End of Summer Salad

INGREDIENTS

1 large avocado
2 medium tomatoes (I used one red and one green zebra)
1 large peach
125 grams/4.5 oz fresh chevre
6-8 leaves fresh basil, torn
appx 2 tablespoons almonds, toasted
splash sherry vinegar
drizzle olive oil
pinch sea salt
pinch pepper

Chop the avocado, tomatoes, and peach into pieces roughly the same size and put in a medium bowl. Add just a splash of sherry vinegar and olive oil, the pinch of salt and of pepper and very gently toss. Taste for seasonings and when ready to serve, add the chevre, toasted almonds, and torn pieces of basil. Looks so much prettier that way.

]]> http://cowgirlchef.com/2010/09/01/end-of-summer-salad/feed/ 6 http://cowgirlchef.com/2010/08/27/salmon-lentil-salad/ http://cowgirlchef.com/2010/08/27/salmon-lentil-salad/#comments Fri, 27 Aug 2010 17:29:43 +0000 epierce http://cowgirlchef.com/?p=3263

Continuing this summer’s theme of keeping the oven in “OFF” position as much as possible, I came up with this little number, a super-simple, tres Frenchy way to eat salmon.

Here’s what happened: I’d made the lentils a day before, and they were hanging out in the fridge, just waiting for something to come along and jazz them up. Enter salmon — I consider myself lucky to have a fish guy that sets up at the St. Didier market every Saturday, and sells super-fresh fish, and at a reasonable price, which is always a bonus in my Birkin/Goyard totin’ quartier. (Remember, I’m the one in beat-up cowboy boots, with a hemp Whole Foods/London bag slung over my shoulder.)

All I did was cook up the salmon, let it cool, and make the dressing. About 15 minutes, tops.

Despite the heat that we’ve had around here, I’m really enjoying the challenge of cooking in a different way. Without the benefit of an A/C, I’m constantly thinking of what sorts of foods will be cool, light, and tasty, too. This scores high in all three categories — or as X likes to say when he takes a bite of something new and likes it instantly, “Winner!”

Salmon-Lentil Salad

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS
2 pieces of appx 130gram/4.5 oz salmon filets, with skin
2 tablespoons olive oil
¼ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
680 grams/3 cups cooked lentils du Puy, recipe follows
125 grams/4.5 oz fresh brebis or chevre
1 medium tomato, chopped in large chunks
4 leaves basil
2 ounces toasted pine nuts (for garnish; optional)
Noisette vinaigrette, recipe follows

Preheat oven to broil.

1. Rinse and pat dry the salmon, and put about 1 tablespoon of olive oil on each, making sure to evenly coat (and include the skin). Place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet, salt and pepper, and slide into the oven. Watch this carefully — it’ll only take 7-10 minutes to cook, depending on the thickness of your salmon. When it’s cooked, just let it cool, with a little foil tent on top if you’d like for it to stay a bit warm.

2. Assemble the salad. Spoon 1 1/2 cups lentils in a shallow bowl. Flake the salmon on top of the lentils, then add pieces of the brebis or chevre, the tomatoes, the basil and the pine nuts. Drizzle a bit of the vinaigrette over it all and serve.

Note: I like this best cold, as a summer dish, but you could serve it warm, too.

Lentils

INGREDIENTS

500 grams (1 pound) lentils du Puy, rinsed
½ medium white onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
32 oz water
2 tablespoons olive oil

1. Drizzle olive oil in a medium stockpot, add the chopped onion and minced garlic, and turn the heat onto medium and cook until the onion becomes translucent, 5-10 minutes. Add the lentils and water and cook until it boils. Cover, and cook for 45 minutes, or until the lentils become soft, but not mushy. Be sure to check the lentils every now and then as they cook – you may need to add a bit more water as they cook.

2. When the lentils are cooked, let them cool and then put in a container in the fridge until you’re ready to eat them.

Noisette Vinaigrette

INGREDIENTS

⅓ cup sherry vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon minced shallots
pinch sea salt
pinch pepper
⅓ cup olive oil
⅓ cup noisette (hazelnut) oil

1. Put everything but the olive oil and noisette oil in a jar (I always use old jam jars for my dressings) and shake until combined.

2. Add oil, shake again, taste, and adjust for seasonings if necessary.