Khichdi

After reading an article about what kids around the world eat for lunch, I was curious to try khichdi, a one-pot Indian comfort food made of lentils, rice, and vegetables. This dish was delicious, comforting, and happily devoured by adults and toddlers alike.

Recipe adapted from here and here. You can use smaller lentils for a creamier consistency or larger lentils (like chana dal) if you want it chewier; I liked a blend of both. Feel free to sub out various veggies depending on what you have on hand—just keep the proportions of rice to lentils to veggies about the same as what's listed here. Everything blends together into creamy, subtly spiced deliciousness.

Ingredients
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1.5 tsp cumin seeds
1.5 tbsp julienned fresh ginger
3 carrots, diced
1/2 cup frozen green peas
1/2 medium to large orange sweet potato, diced
2 cups chopped cauliflower
2 handfuls coarsely chopped greens (spinach, collards, mustard greens)
1 Anaheim chile, chopped
3/4 tsp turmeric
1 tsp chili powder
1.5 cups mixed lentils (e.g., toor dal, moong dal, red lentils, chana dal), rinsed well and checked through for stones
6 cups water

2 bay leaves

4 whole cloves
2 cardamom pods, crushed
2 tsp salt
1.5 cups white Basmati rice, rinsed well
Chopped fresh cilantro for garnish

Heat a large pot over medium heat. Add the butter and olive oil. When the butter melts, add the cumin seeds and ginger and sauté for 30 seconds, then add the veggies. Sauté, stirring occasionally, for about five minutes.

Add the turmeric and chili powder and stir, then add the lentils and mix well. Pour in the water and stir. Add the remaining spices and salt, then cover and bring to a gentle boil. Turn the heat down and simmer 10 minutes. Add the rice and simmer for another 30-40 minutes or until everything is tender and the desired consistency.

Remove the two bay leaves (you can also try to find the cloves and cardamom pods while you're at it). Serve warm, sprinkled with cilantro.

Serves 4-6.

Grilled Curry Yogurt Chicken

This recipe is simple enough for a midweek dinner and delicious enough for a dinner party; it works well as leftovers to top a salad for tomorrow's lunch or it can scale up easily to serve 8 or 16. Magic? Perhaps. Accio dinner.

Ingredients
Four boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup plain yogurt
1 tbsp curry powder
2/3 tbsp garam masala
Squeeze or two of a lemon or lime
1 clove garlic, pressed
Sprinkle of salt

Pound 4 chicken breasts flat in a gallon-sized ziplock bag. Add all the other ingredients, smush around, and let marinate in the fridge overnight.

Preheat grill to medium-high. Brush grill with oil. Grill chicken breasts 4 minutes on the first side, then turn. Grill 4 1/2 minutes more. Serve hot.

Dinner suggestions: Serve over rice, quinoa, or farro tossed with lime, lemon, and/or orange zest, chopped cilantro, and a pat of butter.

Leftovers for lunch: Toss leftover rice, quinoa, or farro with a little olive oil and some lemon or lime juice. Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces and layer on top of the grains. Top with baby greens tossed with olive oil, lime juice, and very coarsely chopped fresh cilantro.

Serves 4.

Steak Salad with Lime-Cilantro Vinaigrette

Quite possibly the best summertime salad of all. After all—mostly plants still leaves room for the occasional giant hunk of steak.

Ingredients

3 tbsp olive oil

1.5 tbsp lime juice (about half a lime, hand squeezed)

Kosher salt

2 tbsp chopped cilantro

4 oz mixed baby spinach and baby arugula

2 endives, julienned

1/2 pint fragrant cherry tomatoes, halved

1 avocado, diced

Leftover steak, sliced

Whisk together the olive oil, lime juice, and a couple pinches of salt in a large bowl. Add half the cilantro, then add the greens and endives and toss to coat evenly. 

Toss the tomatoes with the rest of the cilantro. Serve a bed of greens onto each plate. Sprinkle with tomatoes and avocado, and top with the sliced steak. 

Serves 2.

Mulligatawny Soup

This hearty stew is the perfect complement to a wintry day. Don't let the length of the ingredients list fool you...this recipe is one of those dice-a-few-things, simmer-for-awhile affairs that's simple to throw together and easy to size up for company or leftovers.

Ingredients

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp olive oil

1 large yellow onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, pressed

2 carrots, peeled and diced

1 orange sweet potato, peeled and diced

1 apple, peeled and diced

1 ½ tbsp grated fresh ginger

½ can diced tomatoes (Muir Glen fire roasted if possible)

3/4 cups red lentils, picked through carefully for stones and rinsed

3 cups chicken broth

1 tbsp good-quality curry powder

½ tsp ground cumin + an extra dash

¼ tsp ground turmeric

¼ tsp sweet paprika

¼ tsp ground cinnamon + an extra dash

¼ tsp dried thyme + an extra pinch

1 tbsp creamy peanut butter

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

3 tbsp coconut milk, plus extra for drizzling

3 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

Melt butter with the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and sauté about three minutes. Add the garlic, carrot, and sweet potato, and continue to sauté, stirring occasionally, for about seven minutes more until the onion is browned here and there.

Stir in the apples, ginger, tomatoes, and all the spices and continue to cook for a couple minutes more. Add the lentils and broth, stir once, and cover. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer about 30 minutes longer, stirring occasionally. Check that the veggies are tender, stir in the peanut butter, and turn off the heat.

Use an immersion blender to purée about half the soup (or decant half into a blender and pour it back again) to desired consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste, then stir in the coconut milk. It's fine if it sits for a bit at this point; reheat if necessary before serving.

Serve warm, drizzled with a spoonful of coconut milk and garnished with chopped cilantro.

Serves 4.

Fancy Fish Tacos with Cilantro Yogurt Sauce

There are only so many times you can present me with fancy tacos from trendy food trucks before I decide it's high time I make my own.

Three, it turns out, is the number. In case you were wondering. Feel free to try it. (Presenting me with tacos, I mean.)

After that, these happen. And then everyone is happy. Because tacos.

Ingredients
1/2 lb white fish (Petrale sole or black drum are particularly good; cod is fine as a backup)
Whole wheat flour
9 oz Greek yogurt (Voskos or Fage are particularly good)
1/2-2/3 bunch cilantro
1 lime, halved
2-3 handfuls Serrano or Padron peppers (or sub a couple Anaheims and a jalapeno)
Fresh whole wheat or multigrain tortillas (it's worth investing in particularly delicious tortillas. Look for local ones that are softer and fluffier than your garden variety dry disc).
1/2 cup grated Pepperjack cheese (optional)
Diced avocado (optional)

Combine the yogurt, cilantro, and juice of 1/2 the lime in a blender or small Cuisinart and blend until smooth.

For Serrano or Padron peppers: Heat a nonstick pan over medium heat. Drizzle with olive oil, add the peppers, and sauté, shaking the pan occasionally, for a few minutes until peppers blister and soften slightly. Remove from heat and let cool, then slice crosswise into rings. (You can eat the seeds, so don't worry if a few get into the rings.)

For other peppers: Dice or slice into strips, and sauté in olive oil until they soften, 5-7 minutes.

Salt and pepper the fish, then dredge in the flour. Heat a nonstick pan over medium heat. Drizzle liberally with olive oil. Add the fish and shake the pan to prevent sticking. Cook until the fish is browned on the bottom, then flip and cook until just before the fish is done (it will finish cooking from its own heat). Remove from the pan and set on a cutting board for a minute to cool slightly, then cut crosswise into strips.

Meanwhile, toss your tortillas in the microwave between a couple damp paper towels for a few seconds to warm them.

Take each tortilla and sprinkle lightly with a little cheese. Pile in the fish, drizzle generously with cilantro-yogurt sauce, top liberally with peppers and a couple slices of avocado if desired, and garnish with lime wedges. Serve warm.

Serves 2.

Curried Potato Salad with Cilantro and Ginger

A few weeks ago, while lunching outdoors in Berkeley on a shady patio, basking in the summery summertime, I was offered a bite of potato salad.

"Potato salad?" said the bite-offerer, descriptively.

"Um," I replied.

I paused. I'm not such a fan of potato salad, after all. I believe in the overcooking of all potatoes always forever, and potato salad potatoes are so frequently al dente. And then there's the mayonnaise thing. And the cold thing. And the lack of any hint of flavor drama.

And yet.

Maybe this was THE potato salad. Maybe this would be the moment at which the summertime picnics of my life would change course magically and irrevocably in a blissful epiphany of potato salad perfection. Maybe the secret ingredient was hidden inside this very forkful.

I forked.

I chewed.

I marveled at how very much this potato salad tasted exactly like every other potato salad I had ever tried in the history of summertime picnics.

Enough was enough. I was tired of being a passive potato salad bystander, sitting wistfully on the sidelines of summertime picnic history. It was time to act. It was time to make this.

It is in many ways, as you will see, the anti-potato salad potato salad. No mayonnaise. No white potatoes. Bursting with flavor. And best of all, delightfully overcooked.


Ingredients
1.25 lbs yellow or purple potatoes
Rounded 1/2 tsp black or yellow mustard seeds, lightly toasted in a pan until fragrant (about 30 seconds)
4 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger
Scant 1 tsp good quality curry powder
1/4 tsp kosher salt
Handful cilantro, chopped (about 2 1/2 tbsp)
Small handful baby arugula, chopped
2-3 scallions, sliced

Bring a pot of water to boil for the potatoes, then boil 15-25 minutes until the skins split and the potatoes are very tender (i.e., delightfully overcooked). Drain, rinse with cold water or an ice bath to cool, and peel (the skins should pull off easily).

Whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, curry powder, ginger, and salt. Put the peeled potatoes in a bowl and break apart into bite-sized pieces with a fork, then drizzle with the curry mixture and toss to coat evenly. Sprinkle in the mustard seeds, cilantro, arugula, and scallions, tossing gently to mix evenly. Adjust seasonings to taste (the spice of the curry, tang of the vinegar, and cilantro-y-ness of the cilantro should balance each other out -- if one seems to be missing from the flavor, add a bit more. If the flavor just seems muted overall and you want to make it louder, sprinkle in a bit more salt).

Cover the bowl and leave in the fridge to chill while the flavors blend until you're ready to eat.

Serves 3-4.

Black Beans with Everything

Time is short. Food is delicious. What to do? A simple pot of home-cooked beans can form a delectable base for every meal from breakfast to dinner and back again. And once you make the basics, your fridge is stocked for the week, or even an impromptu dinner party.

 
Ingredients

For the black beans:
1 1/2 cups dried black beans
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 bay leaf
Salt

For the rest:
1 1/2 cups volcano rice or other brown rice
Pepper jack cheese, grated or thinly sliced
Handful or two cherry tomatoes, cut into halves or quarters
Handful or two fresh cilantro, chopped
1-2 avocados, diced as needed just before serving
Good quality tortillas
Olive oil
Any or all of the following:
1 clove of garlic, smashed
2 small or 1 large zucchini, cut crosswise into thirds and then lengthwise into sticks
1 red, orange, or yellow bell pepper, cut lengthwise into strips
1 shallot or red spring onion, halved and sliced into half rings
Several handfuls spinach or baby kale
Pastured eggs
Greek yogurt or sour cream
Lime wedges

Rinse the black beans. Place in a pot, cover with 1-2 inches of water, throw in 3 cloves of garlic and the bayleaf, cover, and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to low and simmer gently for 45-60 minutes or until tender but not mushy. Remove from the heat, salt to taste, and set aside.

Cook rice according to package instructions.

Meanwhile, sauté the veggies: Heat a generous glug of olive oil in a wide pan over medium heat. Toss in the garlic, stir for a minute, then add the zucchini and cook until golden here and there. Add the peppers and continue cooking until soft, covering if the pan starts to dry out. Sprinkle with salt and serve hot. And/or, heat a pan, drizzle with olive oil, sauté onion or shallot until softened, and then toss in some greens and cook until tender.

Toss together the tomato and cilantro. Scramble a few eggs if you're headed for breakfast burritos. At the last minute, dice the avocado.

Serve as a bowl: Rice, a sprinkling of pepper jack, beans, and then veggies, avocado, tomatoes mixed with cilantro, avocado, whatever else. Or serve ingredients separately and hand guests tortillas to make fajitas with whatever they would like. Or arrange your rice and beans alongside egg, veggies, cilantro, and a dollop of yogurt for a divine breakfast burrito. The possibilities are infinite. Or at least varied enough for a week of easy eating.

Guacamole with Green Garlic and Cilantro

'Tis the season for green garlic. Which means: Make this.

Ingredients

4 ripe avocados

2 tbsp minced green garlic (or sub 2 small cloves garlic, pressed)

4-6 tbsp finely chopped fresh cilantro

Juice of 1 lime

Several dashes ground cumin

Cayenne or Aleppo pepper to taste

Pinch or three of salt

Coarsely mash the avocados in a bowl. Mix in half the garlic, most of the cilantro, and most of the lime juice, then add a couple dashes of cumin, a couple pinches of cayenne pepper, and a light sprinkling of salt.

Taste, and adjust all the proportions as desired. Cumin and salt will both help round out the flavor if it tastes thin, but note that you may want to under-salt (or taste with your chips) if you're serving with something salty.

Serve. Eat. Sigh. Resolve that you'll totally obviously definitely share next time. Right?


Serves 3-4.

Maui, Day 3: Blue Marlin with Ginger and Coconut

Found at the Maui Costco: Fresh, local blue marlin.
Found at Mana Foods: Curry leaves, red mustard frisee, ginger, and cilantro.

The result: A new take on an old favorite. Serve this over jungle rice.

Ingredients
2 thick blue marlin fillets (or one that you cut in half later; we used one .7 lb fillet for two hungry people)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 curry leaves (optional)
Olive oil
1 1/4 tsp minced ginger
Small handful cilantro, chopped
1/3 can coconut milk
1 bunch red mustard frisee, coarsely chopped (or sub spinach or another green*)
1/2 large papaya, diced

Sprinkle the fish on both sides with salt and pepper, and press a couple curry leaves into each side. Heat a nonstick pan over medium heat. When hot, add a little olive oil and swirl to coat. Add the fish, shake the pan to prevent it from sticking, and then pan fry until golden on both sides.

Add the mustard frisee and sauté around the fish, stirring a few times, for about a minute until it begins to wilt. Stir in the coconut milk, the ginger, a pinch of salt, and the cilantro. Turn the heat down a bit to simmer gently until the fish is just barely cooked through (if you use one fillet for two people: it gives you an excuse to cut the fish in half at this point and check whether it's almost done). Turn off the heat about a minute before the fish is cooked to your liking, because it will keep cooking a little once served over the rice.

Serve over jungle rice—fish, then greens and sauce over the top, then scatter papaya over everything.

Serves 2.

*If it's a veggie that takes a little while to cook, like bok choy or asparagus, sauté separately until almost tender first and then add back in with the fish at the end.

Wordless Wednesday: Blog vs. Kansas, Round 2

Sauteed Corn with Cilantro and Avocado

Smoked Bacon and Mushroom Risotto

 

Black-Eyed Peas and Polenta

Sauteed Green Beans with Almonds and Balsamic Reduction

~Shopping Lists~

From Door-to-Door Organics: Local sweet corn, green beans, red onion, parsley, cilantro

From Whole Foods: Heirloom tomatoes, Niman Ranch applewood smoked bacon, yellow lentils and black-eyed peas from a great bulk aisle, baby arugula, beautiful mushrooms

From Trader Joe's: Basmati rice, Trader Giotto's balsamic vinegar, sliced almonds

From Natural Grocers: Avocado, Bhutanese red rice, Imagine chicken and veggie broth, and assorted herbs and spices from a top-notch bulk spice selection.

~

Jungle Rice

If you think of rice as a plain old staple—something to plop down on your plate as a generic staging ground for a hunk of chicken or slab of fish—think again. Or better yet, stop thinking and just make this.

Pairs wonderfully with seared fish, sauteed bok choy, grilled garlic shrimp, avocado tossed with cilantro, ripe mango, and probably anything else you might find yourself cooking with Hawaiianesque ingredients (we named it "Jungle Rice" in honor of the little patch of Maui jungle in which we were staying when we first cooked it). And it's flexible—if you're missing something like pistachios, you can substitute cashews (or just leave the nuts out). If you don't have curry leaves or coconut milk, it will still turn out quite well (though make sure you add enough water to replace the liquid from the coconut milk). And you can make it with other kinds of rice as well (we just discovered that Madagascar pink rice is particularly delicious in this recipe...just make sure to adjust the water and cooking time for the type of rice you use).

Ingredients
Olive oil
1 shallot, chopped
4 fresh curry leaves
2 tbsp shelled pistachios (roasted is even better)
1 scant cup black Forbidden rice, rinsed and drained
1 cup water
1/4 cup coconut milk, plus a couple spoonfuls to drizzle over the top if desired

Heat a glug of olive oil in a smallish pot over medium heat. Add the shallot, curry leaves, and pistachios and saute, stirring occasionally, for 2-3 minutes or until the shallot softens. Add the rice and saute for 1-2 minutes more. Stir in the water and coconut milk, cover, and bring to a simmer, then turn the heat down to low and simmer for 23 minutes or until the liquid is all absorbed and the rice is tender.

Serve hot, with a little coconut milk drizzled over the top.

Serves 2-3.

Cannellini Spread with Garlic and Cilantro

Quick, easy, delightful, and tastes like springtime on a plate.

Ingredients

Olive oil

1 shallot, sliced

3 cloves garlic, smashed

Salt

1 can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

Handful fresh cilantro

Dash or four of ground cumin

Dash or two of paprika

1/2 tsp Aleppo pepper (or sub 1 pinch cayenne pepper)

Crackers or toasts

Optional (but highly recommended):
2-3 handfuls baby arugula, very coarsely chopped

(or sub baby spinach, coarsely chopped)

Juice of 1/3 Meyer lemon

Heat 2-3 tbsp olive oil in a small pan over medium heat. Add the shallot, garlic, and a pinch of salt, and turn the heat down to medium low. Saute for about 3 minutes or until the garlic softens, then remove from the heat.

Combine the cannellini beans, shallot-garlic mixture (with the oil), and cilantro in a Cuisinart and blend until smooth. Add a dash or four of ground cumin, a touch of paprika, and the Aleppo pepper, and blend again. Taste and adjust salt, cumin, paprika, and cilantro as needed (you want the cilantro taste prominent but not overpowering, and the cumin and paprika as more of a background note. If you like the balance of flavors but want to bring them out more, add a little salt).

Toss the baby arugula with a light drizzle of olive oil and Meyer lemon juice, if desired, and arrange in a ring on a plate or soup bowl. Add the spread to the middle, and serve with stone ground whole wheat crackers.

Serves 2 for a light lunch or 4-6 for appetizers.

Wine pairing: Tapiz Torrontés

Corn Soup with Sauteed Huitlacoche

There's no delicate way to phrase this. My husband is obsessed.

It all started innocently enough. In our Co-op, or in a corn field, depending on how far back you want to go. It doesn't really matter. The end result is still the same.

He returns home one day with An Announcement. "You'll never BELIEVE what I saw at the co-op." I perk up. (This was back at the beginning of September, when I was young and naive and innocently hopeful.) I think he's about to name a new exotic fruit that's shaped like a pear and colored like a parrot, or perhaps a six-foot long vegetable that gets roasted whole over a fire pit in certain areas of the Yucatan. "What??" I say, excitedly. He beams at me, or grins fanatically, depending on how you look at it. He leans forward. 

"There's this crazy mushroom that grows on corn."

"Yes," I say.

"Hyoo-it, hyoot, hwit..."

"Huitlacoche?" I say. (I had encountered it once in a phenomenal quesadilla at Toloache
in Times Square, where I'd learned both to pronounce it—weet-la-COH-chey—and not to think too carefully about what it looked like before it was prepared.)

"That," he says. He leans forward a little further.

"WE ARE GOING TO COOK IT," he says.

"Well," I hedge, "It's kinda..."

"WE ARE GOING TO COOK IT."

"It's like corn mold. I don't know if..."

"I'll cook it. We're cooking it. It's amazing."

He turns to his laptop, starts typing. I think maybe it's a reprieve—he's gotten distracted by email. Five minutes later, he looks up, clearly delighted. "It's also called CORN SMUT," he announces happily.

 
I think that was the moment I knew. It was huitlacoche or bust.

To prepare huitlacoche, which you'll be reassured to learn is a delicately corn-flavored, nutrition-packed delicacy, rather than a fearsome fungal predator, peel back the corn husk and silk and gently pry the "kernels" of the mushroom from the cob either by hand or using a table knife for a little leverage. You can either chop them, slice them, or leave them whole, depending on how adventurous you're feeling in terms of texture and taste (we left the smaller ones whole, just to see what they were like, but I think next time I'd try slicing or chopping to keep the texture a little more even). The mushroom (also known as Mexican truffle) should be fairly firm, like corn itself, and a cloudy, faintly bluish-tinged color when you buy it (slimy means it's over the hill). And despite my initial skepticism, this truly was delicious.

Ingredients
Olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1 small yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, 1 pressed and 1 smashed
3 ears fresh corn, kernels sliced from the cob
Chicken and/or veggie broth (about a cup)
Pinch ground cumin
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1-2 tbsp cream
1 tbsp chopped Anaheim chile
2 tbsp huitlacoche
1 tsp chopped fresh cilantro, plus extra leaves for garnish 

Heat a pot over medium heat. When hot, add half the butter and a glug of olive oil. Add the onion and a pinch of salt, and saute until soft. Stir in the pressed garlic clove and saute a minute more, then add the corn. Cook, stirring occasionally, for another couple of minutes, then pour in enough broth to just cover the kernels. Bring to a gentle boil, turn the heat down to medium low, and cover. Simmer 5-10 minutes, until the corn kernels taste tender and fully cooked.

Meanwhile, heat the rest of the butter and a glug of olive oil in a small pan over medium heat. Add the smashed garlic and the Anaheim pepper, and saute for a minute or so until they soften, pressing the garlic into the olive oil to flavor. Add the huitlacoche and a pinch of salt, and saute for about two minutes. Turn off the heat, remove the garlic clove, and sprinkle in the cilantro.

When the soup is done, puree with an immersion blender until smooth or desired consistency. Add a dash of cumin, a slosh of cream, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Ladle soup into bowls. Place a dollop of the huitlacoche in the center, drizzle the soup with a little of the extra oil from the pan, and garnish with cilantro leaves. Serve hot.

Serves 2-3.

Sauteed Corn with Cilantro and Avocado

Let us say, for the sake of argument, that you are trapped in Tahoe. In a condo, overlooking the lake. With the sound of water lapping away below you.

Clearly, the circumstances are dire.

(You pause, to contemplate the pink tinge of sunset washing over the dire circumstances.)

To make matters worse, there is nothing in the fridge. Well, there's corn, technically. And there is a bag of rice on the counter. And there's a bit of cilantro. But there are no beans. And nothing else. A clove or two of garlic, yes, but nothing you could make a meal out of. And you are—did I mention?—totally trapped. The only way to acquire proper dinner ingredients would be to find your sandals, track down the front door, open it, walk out, get in your car, and...well, you can see the problem. Even the first part would be too much for a sunset-addled brain.

Fear not, good readers. Dinner is hidden everywhere. Even when all you've got is rice and corn and a sunset to steer them by.

Serve this over Bhutanese Red Rice or one of the nuttier varieties of brown rice. And don't be fooled by its simplicity. It is totally amazing, and worth making even if you have to go to the store. Or, you know, send someone to the store while you make sure the lake keeps lapping.

Ingredients
Olive oil
1 medium clove garlic, smashed
3 ears sweet corn, shucked, de-silked, and kernels sliced from the cob
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Large handful fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 - 2/3 cups grated pepper jack cheese (Petaluma Creamery is still by far our favorite)
1 avocado, quartered and sliced just before serving
1 small ripe tomato, chopped and tossed with a bit of the cilantro

Heat a pan over medium heat. When hot, add a glug of olive oil (just enough to lightly coat the bottom), wait ten seconds, then add the garlic. Saute for about a minute until it softens slightly, then add the corn and a pinch or two of salt and stir. Saute 2-3 minutes until the kernels are al dente (they should still retain a hint of crunch while also bursting with juicy sweetness...just taste them every minute or so until they taste amazing, then stop cooking).

Turn off the heat. Toss in about two-thirds of the cilantro, sprinkle with pepper, then taste and adjust salt and cilantro as needed.

Serve in layers: Rice first, then a thin layer of cheese, then the corn. Top with avocado, and add a dollop of the tomato salsa to finish it off.

Serves 2-3.

Easy Rice and Beans

Rice and beans. Dispelling the myth that fast food, healthy food, and delicious food are non-overlapping categories, one bowl at a time.

Serve this over brown rice, and make extra—it's even better reheated the next day (just hold off on slicing the avocado until you're ready to eat).

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil

1 red onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 can black beans, halfway drained

1 can navy beans, mostly drained

Pinch salt

A spoonful of Aleppo pepper (optional)

1 handful fresh cilantro, chopped (about 1 tbsp)

2 avocados, quartered and sliced just before serving

Heat the olive oil in a wide saute pan or dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and saute, stirring occasionally, until it softens. Stir in the garlic, turn the heat down to medium-low, and saute for 2 minutes more.

Add the beans, salt, and Aleppo pepper and stir to combine. Cover, bring to a simmer, and cook for 5-10 minutes (depending on how long until your rice is ready). Add the cilantro, stir, and turn off the heat. Replace the cover and let sit for 5 minutes to allow the flavors to blend.

Serve over rice and top with avocado.

Serves 4.

Mostly Plants in a Hurry: White Beans with Tomatoes and Cilantro

This isn't the flashiest dish, looks-wise, but they say it's what's on the inside that counts. And oh, my, its insides are delicious.

Good for when you're low on time and happen to have some tomatoes and fresh cilantro on hand. It reheats well, so consider doubling the recipe and saving some leftovers for lunches. Serve over brown, black, or white rice.

Ingredients

Olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

1 tsp Aleppo pepper (or sub a small pinch of cayenne)

1 1/2 cups chopped ripe, fragrant tomatoes (or halved cherry tomatoes)

Small handful fresh cilantro, chopped

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup grated pepper jack cheese (optional)

Sprinkle the tomatoes with a couple pinches of salt, toss, and let sit while you begin to cook (the salt draws the flavor out of the tomato and makes it taste more tomatoey—a particularly handy trick if you're using supermarket tomatoes or tomatoes that have been in the fridge).

Heat a nonstick pan over medium heat. When hot, add a generous glug of olive oil. Add the onion and saute, stirring occasionally, until it softens and smells sweet. Add the garlic and a pinch of salt and continue to saute, turning the heat down to medium-low and adding a little more olive oil if necessary, until the onion begins to turn golden in a few places.

Add the beans and turn the heat back up to medium. Saute, stirring from time to time, for 3-4 minutes more. Sprinkle with Aleppo pepper to taste, and turn off the heat. Cover and let sit 5-15 more minutes to let the flavor blend while the rice finishes cooking.

Toss the tomatoes with the cilantro and a little drizzle of olive oil. Serve in layers: rice (sprinkled with a little cheese if desired), beans, then tomatoes on the top.

Serves 2-3.

Red Rice and Black Beans with Peppers and Cilantro

There are few things as simple, hearty, inexpensive, and roundly delicious as rice and beans. Here's one of our favorite versions yet.

For the rice:
Combine 1 cup red Bhutanese rice and just barely under 1 1/4 cups water in a pot and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to low and simmer, covered, for 25 minutes. (You can substitute brown rice, but red is worth seeking out if you haven't tried it before.)

For the beans:
1 onion, chopped
1 jalapeno, finely chopped
1 green bell or Anaheim pepper, chopped
Olive oil
Salt
1 can black beans
Handful cilantro, chopped
1/2 cup grated pepper jack cheese (Petaluma Creamery is still our all-time favorite)

Saute onion in a wide saute pan until translucent, then add peppers and continue sauteing until onion begins to lightly brown around the edges (more cooking brings out more flavor). Add the beans and salt to taste (unless beans are already highly salted) and stir. Turn down heat to low or very low and simmer gently for 15-20 minutes.

Serve in layers: rice, a sprinkling of cheese, beans, a sprinkling of cilantro, and the rest of the cheese over the top.

Serves 2.

Smoked Trout, Two Ways

Once upon a time, we thought we shouldn't plant cilantro in the summer because it would bolt. Now we know better. Not only is green coriander an amazing find, balanced halfway between cilantro and coriander, but this week, our produce box came with a big bunch of fresh, green cilantro berries. They're like little bursts of cilantro with a hint of citrus, and we've been scattering them on everything we can think of.

Meanwhile, it's summer, and we're on the prowl for meals that don't involve turning the stove on. Like putting things on bread and eating them.

These two versions of open-faced smoked trout sandwiches taste completely different and yet share most ingredients in common, so it's easy to make both at once if you want a fancy-feeling summer picnic with fairly minimal effort. The bread could probably be toasted, but we liked it untoasted, and it's best to stick with something relatively plain to avoid overpowering the trout--a levain would work nicely, and Village Bakery's walnut levain (available at the Co-op or Taylor's, where you can also find smoked trout) was an unexpectedly perfect complement.

For a side veggie, try sauteed beet greens or chard.

Ingredients
Fresh bread, sliced
1/3 lb smoked trout
2 small scallions, thinly sliced (white and light green parts)
1 avocado, thinly sliced
Freshly ground black pepper

1-2 tbsp chopped fresh dill

1 ripe, fragrant tomato, thinly sliced

and/or

Cilantro berries (or sub a light scattering of chopped fresh cilantro)

Arrange the bread slices on a plate or two, then divide the avocado and trout equally among them, layering one over the other (avocado on the bottom is slightly easier to eat later, since it's less prone to slipping off the bread).

For trout with dill and tomato: Liberally sprinkle each piece of bread with scallions and dill, and top with a slice of tomato. Grind pepper over the top, and serve.

For trout with fresh cilantro berries: Sprinkle each piece of bread with just a few scallions and some cilantro berries (6-8 cilantro berries for each half-round of bread was a good amount for us...you won't taste them much unless you bite directly into them, and then they give a burst of cilantro-y flavor...so you want to end up with about one per bite). Sprinkle with black pepper, and serve.


You'd never guess (or at least, we never would have), but the cilantro pairs amazingly well with a glass of Gnarly Head old vine zinfandel.

Serves 2 for dinner.