Zinfandel-Braised Asparagus with Green Garlic

Spring has crept into California, and it surely can't be that far behind in other parts of the country. Which means it's the season, or very nearly almost the season, for green garlic and asparagus. Snatch them up as soon as you see them, pour yourself a glass of wine, share a little with them, and contemplate the sunshine. Or the snow. Whatever. At least it can be springtime on your plate.

Ingredients
Olive oil
1 tbsp sliced or chopped green garlic
1 bunch asparagus
A slosh or two of Zinfandel
2 pinches kosher salt or to taste

Heat a glug of olive oil in a nonstick pan over medium heat. Add the green garlic and saute for about 20 seconds, then add the asparagus and toss to coat. Cook for about 2 minutes, tossing once, then add a generous slosh of Zinfandel.

Cover and let simmer for 2 minutes. Uncover, stir, and continue to simmer for another minute or two until the asparagus are al dente and the liquid is mostly boiled off. Sprinkle with salt, and serve.

Serves 2-4.

Prosciutto-Wrapped Walnuts with Goat Cheese and Pear

Fancy enough for a dinner party, but easy enough to make just because. Or so the husband says. I just eat them when they're put in front of me.*

Ingredients
6 candied walnuts or pecans
1 oz soft goat cheese, divided into 6 slices
Bosc pear—cut 6 rectangular slices about 1/2" by 1"or a bit longer
3 slices Prosciutto di Parma, halved lengthwise
4 tbsp balsamic vinegar, simmered over low heat until reduced by half

Layer, in order from bottom to top: Walnut, goat cheese, pear. Wrap in prosciutto. Drizzle with balsamic reduction. Serve with toothpicks.

Serves 3-6.

*The term "in front" here is meant broadly, as in, within a three block radius of my current location.

Chickpeas and Chorizo with Kale

Big on flavor, low on hassle. All you need is one pan. And a bowl, if you're feeling fancy. And maybe a glass of Rioja.

Ingredients

Olive oil

1 spicy chorizo sausage (fresh, not cured)

2 cloves garlic, slivered

1-2 cups chopped dino kale (remove thick part of stems first; or sub chopped spinach)

1 can chickpeas, rinsed well and drained

About 1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp paprika

Salt

Toasted whole grain bread (optional)

Heat a wide nonstick pan over medium heat. Drizzle with olive oil. Cut the chorizo from its casing and place the meat in the pan, cutting into 4 to 5 pieces with the spatula. Let brown on one side.

Turn the chorizo, push to the side of the pan, and add the garlic to the other. Sauté the garlic for about 30 seconds, till it starts to soften, then add half the chickpeas and half the kale. Stir to combine. Wait a minute for the kale to wilt, then add the rest of the chickpeas and kale.

Continue stirring occasionally until all the kale has completely wilted, then use the spatula to break apart the chorizo into smaller pieces. Sprinkle in cumin, paprika, and salt to taste, and stir well.

Cover, turn the heat down to medium-low, and continue cooking for about 7 minutes until the kale is tender, adding a tablespoon of water if the pan starts to get dry. Remove from heat and let sit another couple minutes.

Serve hot, drizzled with a little olive oil, and garnished with a toast or two if desired.

Serves 2.

Mostly Plants in a Hurry: One-Pot Pasta with Arugula and Lemon

Lately, work has been similar in sensation to a whirpool caught inside a vortex trapped beneath a swamp. Cooking, let alone cleaning up afterward, starts to seem like an insurmountably effortful undertaking when viewed from the tail end of a 14-hour day.

Enter the one-pot, quick-and-easy dinner menu. It may not result the sort of a swooning state of culinary bliss or eye-catching aesthetic that you would seek when planning a dinner party. But it's tempting enough to remind you that you're hungry, envegetabled* enough to keep you healthy, and most importantly, barely more work than nuking a pre-made, over-processed microwave meal.

Here's one, for next time you're feeling underwater.

 

Ingredients
1 - 1 1/2 cups whole wheat corkscrew pasta
1/3 can chickpeas (optional, but a good way to sneak in a bit more protein)
2-3 handfuls baby arugula
Good quality olive oil
A little Stilton, crumbled (or sub your favorite blue cheese or grated Parmesan)
Meyer lemon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Boil the pasta in salted water per package directions, until al dente. If you have a smaller pot with a lid that drains, it will boil faster and make draining the pasta that much easier.

Add the chickpeas, then drain with the pasta. Return to pot. Drizzle with olive oil, toss with the arugula, and wait a minute for the arugula to wilt. Stir in the cheese (enough to impart a hint of flavor to each bite). Squeeze lemon liberally, and top with freshly ground black pepper.

Re-energizes 1.

*is too a word.

Rosemary-Scented White Beans with Butternut Squash and Prosciutto

Here's an easy, different, and delectable use for leftover butternut squash.

Ingredients

4-6 slices leftover roasted butternut squash*

Olive oil

1 small shallot, chopped

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

1 can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

Splash dry white wine and/or broth

1/2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary

1-2 tsp chopped flat leaf parsley

Salt and freshly ground white pepper

2 oz. prosciutto

Set a nonstick frying pan over medium heat. Sauté the shallot and garlic in a glug of olive oil for 2-3 minutes, until they soften. Add the cannellini beans and cook, stirring occasionally, for 2-3 more minutes. Next, add a splash of wine and a splash of broth, and stir in the rosemary and parsley. Continue cooking for about 3 more minutes, stirring from time to time.

Remove from the heat and sprinkle with a pinch of salt and some white pepper.

Meanwhile, reheat the butternut squash in the microwave, then arrange the slices at the bottom of two soup plates. Top with the white bean mixture, and layer a slice or two of prosciutto over the top.

Serve warm.

Serves 2.

 *To roast the butternut squash, halve lengthwise, scrape out the seeds, and slice into 1" half-circles. Brush with olive oil, arrange on a baking sheet, and roast at 425° until just tender, flipping the pieces after 20 minutes or so (wait until they brown on the bottom before flipping). Alternatively, just halve the whole squash lengthwise, scrape out the seeds, and roast face-down until tender.

Roasted Broccoli with Gruyere

You know that song, about Romeo and Juliet and broccoli and Gruyère?

You know the one: "Never know how much I love you, never know how much I care, when you put your arms around me, you're like the broccoli to my Gruyère." At least, I'm pretty sure that's how it goes.

Clearly, some pairings are just meant to be. (Don't question it. Just eat.)

Ingredients

2 heads broccoli, tops divided into florets, tender part of stem sliced

1/2 head cauliflower, divided into florets

1 medium red onion, quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced

Olive oil

3 oz Gruyère, grated

Salt and freshly ground white pepper

Preheat oven to 425°.

Toss broccoli, cauliflower, and onion with olive oil in a roasting pan (the veggies should be a couple layers deep). Roast for 40 minutes, turning every 15 or so, until tender. Top with Gruyère, then broil 3-4 minutes.

Sprinkle with salt and white pepper, and serve hot.

Serves 2-4. Best the first day, rather than reheated, so why save any for tomorrow?

Happy New Year!

Happy 2014, faithful eaters! Might we suggest serving your new year's resolution with a side of delicious? Here's a look back at some of our favorites from 2013.

 

Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Lemon Zest

Moroccan Chickpea Stew paired with Braised Cumin Carrots

Jungle Rice

Polenta with Tomatoes, Basil, and Balsamic Reduction

Sukuma Wiki

Fried Chickpeas

Wasabi Salmon Sandwiches

Poached Egg over just about anything

...and here's to many more to come!

Shaved Fennel Salad with Pomegranate and Persimmon

Every now and then, one finds a life-changing cooking trick.

For example. There was life before the pomegranate hack. Life before the pomegranate hack consisted of, on average, oh-point-five pomegranates per annum per person in our household. In contrast, life after the pomegranate hack, at the present rate, is on track to exceed over 100 pomegranates per person per annum. (Surely the local pomegranate supply...or our paychecks...will run out long before then, however.)

To experience your own epiphanic culinary moment, arm yourself with a pomegranate, a wooden spoon, and this easy video tutorial.

Then, after you gorge yourself on an entire pomegranate or three, consider the many culinary excuses available for replenishing your dwindling supply. Like, for example, this salad.

Ingredients

1/2 fennel bulb

2-4 large handfuls mixed baby greens

3 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp sherry vinegar

1/2 pomegranate, seeded

1 ripe fuyu persimmon, sliced or diced

1 tbsp lightly toasted pumpkin seeds

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Shave the fennel (I use a carrot peeler to slice off thin pieces). Toss in a bowl of ice water and let sit in the fridge for at least 10 minutes to crisp, then drain and pat dry.

Whisk olive oil and vinegar together to form an emulsion. Add some pepper. Toss the greens with just enough vinaigrette to lightly coat. Add the fennel, toss a couple moe times, and arrange on salad plates. Sprinkle with pomegranate and pumpkin seeds, and garnish with persimmon slices.

Serves 2.

Return of the Pizza: Roasted Butternut Squash, Caramelized Leek, and Prosciutto

As dedicated cookers and consumers of all things delicious, we pride ourselves in our ongoing efforts to champion the most delectable of dishes. Yet it has come to our concerned attention that we have lapsed. Egregiously.

Mostly, we just like saying the word egregiously. With emphasis. Egregiously.

The lapse involved the following: For awhile, there was pizza. And then: there was not. Pizza, I mean. No pizza of any sort.

Egregious, right?

Let's get right on that.


Ingredients
Crust:
1 tsp dry active yeast
1/2 cup warm water (about 110 degrees F)
1/4 tsp sugar
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp stone-ground whole wheat bread flour
3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp plus one pinch salt
2-3 pinches lemon zest (grated on a microplane, else very finely minced)
Coarsely-ground cornmeal
Olive oil for brushing

Top:
1 small clove garlic, chopped or pressed
1.5-2 oz grated Gruyère
2 oz grated Monterey jack cheese
1 small leek, white and light green parts, halved lengthwise, rinsed well, sliced into half rings
2 oz prosciutto
1/2 cup (or more) diced roasted butternut squash*
4-5 leaves dino kale, stems removed and sliced crosswise into thin strips


Follow the instructions in this recipe to prepare the pizza dough (or use store-bought dough if you must, but making your own is easier than you think, way healthier, and deeply delectable).

Sauté the leek in a little olive oil over medium heat for about 7 minutes, turning the heat down slightly to prevent browning if needed.

When the dough is ready, preheat oven to 450°F. Brush the flour off your cutting board and sprinkle it with cornmeal. Take the dough out of the bowl and gently form a ball, then place on the cutting board and begin gently pressing and stretching it outward to form a flat pancake. You want to end up with a flat disc that's about 12" in diameter.

Lightly oil a pizza pan or baking sheet and sprinkle with cornmeal. Gently transfer the crust to the pan, then brush the upward side of the pizza dough with olive oil.

Rub the minced garlic into the top of the pizza, then sprinkle lightly and evenly with the grated cheeses (leave a thin ring around the outside without cheese). Spread the leeks evenly over the cheese, then layer the prosciutto, squash, and finally kale.

Bake in the oven on the middle rack for 12-16 minutes, until crust turns slightly golden around the edges.

Remove from the oven, slice, and serve immediately.

Makes 8 small but rich slices (enough for two, or as an appetizer for four). Pairs very well with a crisp salad and a glass of Seghesio 2012 Zinfandel (currently available at Costco).

*To roast the butternut squash, halve lengthwise, scrape out the seeds, and slice into 1" half-circles. Brush with olive oil, arrange on a baking sheet, and roast at 425° until just tender, flipping the pieces after 20 minutes or so (wait until they brown on the bottom before flipping). Go ahead and roast the whole squash, peel and dice what you want for the pizza, and then use the leftovers later for this or this or this.

Braised Broccoli and Kale with Smoked Bacon

Here's a simple, richly satisfying, wintry sort of dish that's lovely on its own or as an easy pasta topping. It's mostly vegetables, and yet the bacon makes it taste, well, full of wondrous bacon.

You can also sub any kind of sausage meat for the bacon—just break into small bits in the pan and brown. (If it's chicken or lamb rather than pork sausage, you may want to cook it first, remove from the pan, and add it back after the veggies are done to avoid overcooking.)

Ingredients
Olive oil
2 strips Niman Ranch applewood smoked bacon
2-3 cloves garlic, smashed
1 head broccoli, cut into bite-size florets (you can slice up the tender part of the stem, too)
1 bunch dino kale, sliced crosswise into strips
(One easy shortcut is to soak, rinse, and spin dry the broccoli and kale together, after they've been cut, in a salad spinner)
1/2 cup chicken or veggie broth

2 1/2 cups whole wheat fusilli pasta, if desired, cooked according to package directions.

Heat a wide saucepan or large dutch oven over medium heat. When hot, drizzle with olive oil. Add the bacon and cook 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the bacon turns lightly brown in a few places.

Toss in the garlic and press into the pan gently, then add the broccoli and stir to coat evenly. Cook for about 4 minutes, stirring once in the middle (the idea is to let it start to brown here and there). Add the kale, stir to combine, and drizzle with a little more olive oil. Continue cooking for another 5-10 minutes, stirring only occasionally, until nicely browned in many places.

Add a splash of broth, cover, and let steam for 3-4 minutes. Stir, add another splash, replace the cover, and lower the heat to medium low. Continue steaming, stirring every once in awhile and adding a little more broth if it starts to stick to the bottom of the pan too much, until the kale and broccoli are both tender (usually about 5-10 minutes of steaming will do it. And this is one of those lovely dishes that only gets better if you accidentally let it brown a little extra).

If you're making pasta, toss it, once cooked, with a little olive oil, salt, and plenty of freshly ground black pepper.

Serve the kale mixture hot, on its own or atop a bowl of pasta.

Serves 2.