Mostly Plants in a Hurry: Quinoa Salad

Let's face it. Quinoa, when eaten plain, gets a little too quinoa-y about halfway through the plate. Salad, meanwhile, just goes on and on, leaf after increasingly boring leaf. But when you put the two together...

...there's no other word for it. Magic.

Ingredients
1/2 cup quinoa (white and/or red), rinsed well* (or sub 1 1/2 cups leftover cooked quinoa)
2/3 cups broth
1 or 2 medium or hardboiled eggs, sliced (or sub 6 quail eggs, boiled for just under 3 minutes)
2 handfuls chopped mizuna (or sub spinach or mixed baby greens)
2 handfuls baby arugula (or sub chopped arugula)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp sherry vinegar
1 1/2 tsp whole grain mustard
1 1/2 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
A little grated carrot or beet (optional)

Drain the quinoa well. Combine with the broth in a pot, cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Fluff and decant into a dish to cool (stick it in the fridge to cool faster, or make it a little bit ahead of time...you just want it to be warm or room temperature rather than hot).

Meanwhile, boil the egg(s), if you're not using leftovers from some earlier egg-cooking extravaganza.

Whisk the olive oil and vinegar together in a bowl, then stir in the mustard, parsley, a couple pinches of salt, and pepper to taste. 

Pour half the dressing over the mixed greens and toss to coat evenly. Add the quinoa, drizzle the rest of the dressing over it, and toss well. (If it seems a little dry, you can add a bit more olive oil.) Arrange on plates, garnish with egg and a little grated carrot and/or beet if desired, and serve.

Serves 2 for a light lunch, or pair with fresh bread and some chickpea spread or cheese for a complete dinner.

*If you have time, soak in cold water for 15 minutes to remove any lingering saponins (they're what make quinoa bitter). Supposedly, nowadays quinoa already has the saponins mostly removed, which makes soaking unnecessary, but I still tend to do it if I have a few extra minutes -- it seems to make the quinoa a little sweeter and more tender. If you do this, you can reduce the liquid slightly to 1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp.

Sesame Crusted Albacore with Asparagus and Ginger

It's 8pm. A well-intentioned husband goes hunting at the local co-op and brings back sustainably fished albacore tuna, which you are pretty sure you don't like, but have resolved not to mention aloud. You have on hand some rice, assorted condiments, a head of garlic. And asparagus, because apparently Sacramento is convinced that it's spring. Really, life could be worse. But what do you do with the tuna?

Answer: This.*

*This, it turns out, is DELICIOUS.**
**Which means I was completely wrong about not liking tuna.***
***Unless you consider the fact that no restaurant at which I had tried tuna (and I had tried it numerous times) ever did anything like this to it.****
****But then you have to wonder: Why wouldn't you do this to tuna?*****
*****Have I mentioned before my inordinate fondness for footnotes?


Ingredients
Black Forbidden rice, cooked with a little sauteed onion (or sub brown rice)
10-11 oz. (about .6 lbs) thick-cut, sushi-grade albacore tuna
Olive oil
1/2 bunch thin asparagus or a little more, tough ends trimmed, cut at a diagonal into 1" pieces (or sub young green beans)
1 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil
Black sesame seeds
Kosher salt
Freshy ground black pepper
1 clove garlic, smashed
1 tsp julienned fresh ginger

Take the tuna out of the fridge to temper. Sprinkle with salt, grind black pepper liberally over the top, and cover densely with sesame seeds.

Combine the soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sesame oil in a small dish. Heat a glug of olive oil in a nonstick pan over medium to medium-high heat. When hot, add the asparagus and toss to coat lightly with the oil. Cook for several minutes, tossing or stirring every 2 minutes or so, until lightly browned on at least one side and al dente (a fork should insert smoothly, without it feeling either crunchy and raw or mushy and overly soft). Add the soy sauce mixture, stir immediately, and then turn the heat off as it simmers and begins to evaporate. Let simmer for another 10 seconds or so, then decant the asparagus and sauce into a bowl and set aside. Wipe the pan out lightly (and carefully) with a paper towel if there are drops of soy sauce remaining.

Add a glug of olive oil to the pan and turn the heat back on to medium. Add the smashed garlic clove and cook for a minute or so, pressing it into the pan, until it just begins to soften. Add the ginger, stir once or twice, then add the tuna. Cook for a couple minutes per side or until it browns, then flip. As the ginger begins to turn golden, you can fish it out of the pan and either put it on top of the fish or add it to the bowl of asparagus.

When the tuna is browned on the outside but still completely rare in the middle (or about two minutes away from being however cooked you want it), remove from the pan and place on a cutting board. Let sit for a minute. Meanwhile, add the asparagus to the pan to reheat for a minute, stirring, then turn the heat off.

Slice the albacore into half-inch pieces. Serve over a bed of rice (it will warm through from the heat of the rice, which is why you want to stop cooking it a bit early) and spoon the asparagus and sauce over the top. Serve immediately.

Serves 2. Pairs well with an ice cold cup of Onigoroshi sake, available at the Tokyo Fish Market in Berkeley, among other places.

Mostly Plants in a Hurry: Orzotto Meets the Complete Beet

What's that you say? More beets, please? I do believe we've got you covered.

This is the perfect quick-and-easy way to use up your leftovers from this recipe, which you have either already made or must immediately swear to make tonight.

[Insert pause for beet swearing purposes. If you still think you don't like beets, you may swear at rather than about beets at this juncture, but you must also grapple with the heart-wrenching possibility that underneath your staunch and steadfast beetophobia may lurk a fellow beetophile just waiting to spring forth. It's possible. Admit it. End pause.]

This also involves both beet tops and beet bottoms, making it a Complete Beet sort of dish. The Complete Beet rhymes, and this makes me inordinately happy. So does the fact that you can whip up something that tastes this good in only 15 minutes.

Ingredients
About one cup leftover roasted beets
1 rounded cup whole grain orzo
1 1/4 cups chicken broth
Olive oil
1 medium to large clove garlic, sliced
1 bunch beet greens, sliced crosswise into ribbons
A handful of arugula (optional)
1 oz. soft goat cheese, crumbled
Kosher salt and freshly ground white pepper

Heat the broth in a covered pot over medium heat until it boils, then stir in the orzo. Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 8-9 minutes or until al dente.

Meanwhile, heat a saute pan over medium heat. Add a glug of olive oil, then add the garlic and saute for about a minute until it softens. Add the beet greens and stir to combine. Saute for a minute, stirring occasionally, and then cover the pan and let steam for 2-3 minutes more until wilted and tender, uncovering and stirring every minute or so. Toss in the arugula, sprinkle with salt and white pepper to taste, and stir to combine. Turn off the heat and cover to keep warm.

Zap the beets in the microwave on high for about a minute or until just heated through.

When the orzo is done, add it to the greens and stir to combine. Crumble in about half the goat cheese. Spoon into soup plates, top with the leftover beets, and sprinkle with the rest of the crumbled goat cheese. Serve hot.

Serves 2 for an easy lunch or light dinner.

Roasted Beets and Turnips with Fresh Rosemary and Balsamic Reduction

Okay, yes, I'll admit it. I don't have anything to hide. I love beets. Love them. And no, I don't even recognize myself when I look in the mirror anymore. I'm a beet-loving shadow of my former self. But really...why look in the mirror when you could be eating roasted beets??

Here's a variation on a previous theme that incorporates turnips, if you happen to have them, and somehow tastes even more amazing.

Ingredients
5 medium beets, peeled, halved lengthwise, and cut into chunks or wedges
1-2 medium turnips (ideally golden turnips), peeled and cut into chunks
Olive oil
2 cloves garlic, slivered
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
Salt and freshly ground white pepper
Several handfuls arugula
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 oz. goat cheese

Preheat oven to 400° F.

Toss the beets and turnips with the olive oil, garlic, rosemary, and a liberal sprinkling of salt. Pour into a nonstick baking pan (sized so that the beets are 1-2 layers thick). Roast for 25 minutes, then stir. If the beets are dry, crowd them together in the pan; if there's liquid at the bottom, spread them out more thinly. Return to the oven and roast for an additional 35-40 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes or so.

Meanwhile, reduce the balsamic vinegar by gently simmering in small pan over medium-low heat until the volume is reduced by half. Coarsely chop the arugula and arrange it as a bed on the plates.

Just before serving, zap the arugula in the microwave for 10-15 seconds until it just starts to wilt (this takes the bite off the greens and reduces the volume a bit). Sprinkle with a little olive oil and balsamic reduction. Arrange the beets over the top, drizzle with balsamic reduction, and sprinkle with freshly ground white pepper and crumbled goat cheese.

Serve hot. Works as a complete meal with a little fresh bread and some roasted kale, or serve as a side dish. Pairs well with a good zinfandel.

Serves 2-4 (depending on whether it's a main dish or side dish).

Eggs and Lox with Lemon-Garlic Chard

A quick and easy picnic on a plate for nights when you're home late and hungry.

Ingredients (per person)
Fresh chard, sliced into ribbons
1 small clove garlic, smashed
Meyer lemon
1 pastured egg
Olive oil
1 shallot, chopped
Fresh chives, snipped
Nora pepper
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
2 oz wild smoked salmon
1 slice whole grain bread, toasted, or whole-grain crackers
Thinly sliced radish or daikon

Saute the garlic in a little olive oil over medium-low heat until it starts to soften, then add the chard and stir to combine. Sprinkle with a pinch or two of salt, turn the heat up to medium, and saute until the chard begins to wilt. Cover and steam until tender (about 3-5 minutes). Squeeze liberally with lemon juice to taste, sprinkle with black pepper, and turn off the heat.

Meanwhile, heat a glug of olive oil in a nonstick pan over medium heat. Add the shallot and saute until it softens. Reduce heat to medium low and crack each egg into the pan. Stir gently to combine with the shallot (the idea is to end up with distinct yellow and white parts, rather than scrambling the egg entirely -- an especially delicious trick when you have a real pastured egg with an intensely yellow yolk). Sprinkle to taste with salt, black pepper, nora pepper, and a few snips of chives. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until cooked through, then serve with chives snipped over the top.

Serve chard and egg alongside a few slices of smoked salmon, radish, and crackers or toast. Goes particularly well with ak-mak stone-ground whole wheat crackers.

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.

Cumin Ginger Carrots

Easy, delicious, and one of those delightful dishes that somehow tastes better when you accidentally forget about and overcook it for a few minutes.

Ingredients

1 bunch carrots, sliced at an angle

A few slices ginger, julienned

Cumin seeds

Olive oil

Splash chicken or veggie broth

Set a frying pan over medium heat. When hot, add a glug of olive oil and wait a few seconds to let it heat through. Add the ginger and a couple pinches of cumin seeds, and saute in the oil for about 30 seconds. Add the carrots and a pinch or two of salt, and saute, stirring occasionally, for 3-5 minutes.

Add a splash of broth, stir once, and cover. Turn the heat down to medium-low and let steam for a few minutes until desired tenderness (poke with a fork to see how soft they are). They're good al dente or accidentally overdone (my favorite, because they get all caramelized and delicious that way).

Serves 2-4.

Ginger Tea with Lemon Verbena and Honey

We're pretty sure this tea is magic. It keeps colds at bay if you're well and calms even the most tenacious lingering cough if you're not, resets a lost voice after a long first week of lecturing, helps hangovers, warms thoughts and fingertips, and cures winter blues in a heartbeat.

Plus, it's delicious.

Ingredients
A few slices fresh ginger
10-15 dried lemon verbena leaves (or sub about twice as many fresh)
1 2-inch sprig fresh thyme
1 tsp honey


Add about 4 cups boiling water, brew for at least 8 minutes, and enjoy. (You can try a sip after about 5, if you'd like, and adjust any and all ingredients to taste. I didn't quite get the point of homemade tea until we started blending things like this. Even tea skeptics seem to like it.)

Opah with Coconut, Ginger, and Cilantro

Consider the impeccable timing: just weeks before our long-awaited Kaua'i trip, I fall deeply, obsessively, madly in love with fish. The result? A delightfully fish-filled vacation, brimming with everything from fresh ahi poke to a panoply of new (for us) fish discoveries primarily involving the letter O—ono fish wraps from the Kilauea fish market, sauteed opakapaka with garlic and scallions; succulent opah simmered in a mouthwatering medley of coconut milk, ginger, and cilantro.

Speaking of which, if you can find opah (also called moonfish, and sometimes available at the Sacramento Co-op and no doubt other west coast fish markets at least), make this. If you can't, find a substitute fish (thick enough to be cooked for a little while, relatively firm, buttery flavor) and make it anyway. And if you can snag ripe mango or papaya, try combining a bite with the fish, closing your eyes, and enjoying your taste buds' tropical vacation.

Ingredients
2 thick opah fillets (or one that you cut in half later; we used one .6 lb fillet for two people)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil
1 1/4 tsp grated ginger
Small handful cilantro, coarsely chopped
1/3 can light coconut milk
4 baby bok choy, sliced crosswise (or sub tatsoi)
1 ripe mango or papaya, sliced (optional)
Black Forbidden rice (or sub brown rice)
1 medium shallot, chopped

Rinse a cup of black rice and let drain. Saute the shallot in a little olive oil until soft, the add the rice and saute for another minute or so. Stir in 1 cup of water, cover, bring to a boil, and turn the heat down to low. Simmer 25 minutes or until the water is absorbed and the rice tender. (If substituting brown rice, adjust liquid and cooking time accordingly.)

Meanwhile, heat a glug of olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Stir-fry the bok choy with a pinch of salt and a pinch of grated ginger until just tender (we like it when some of the pieces brown a little, too). Set aside.

Sprinkle the fish on both sides with salt and pepper. 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 coconut milk, the rest of the ginger, a pinch of salt, and the cilantro, and the bok choy. Turn the heat down a bit to simmer gently until the fish is just barely cooked through (here's why I like using 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 just before the fish is cooked to your liking -- it will keep cooking a little on your plate, as well.

Serve the fish on a bed of black rice. Spoon the bok choy and coconut sauce over the top of both, and garnish with fresh mango or papaya and a sprig of cilantro.

Serves 2.

Happy New Year

Happy 2012, from our kitchen to yours!


They say black-eyed peas bring good luck in the new year. We say bacon is delicious. The end result, dinner-wise, is happily the same.


(Recipes from here and here, in case you want some lucky bacon in your new year, too.)