Thanks, food52!

Nothing like a James Ransom photo to make your food look amazing!

Just saw yesterday that food52 selected one of my recipes, for a Community Pick, the best part of which is that the recipe now sports a fabulous photo taken by Ransom - much better than anything I could hope to take. Very excited and thrilled for the nod!

It's still a little early for local corn in most places, but keep this group of Community Picks in your pocket for when it starts making its appearance.  My recipe is right up top, Sauteed Corn, Green Onions and Shitake Mushrooms. If you click either on the name of the recipe or the picture, you can click right through to the recipe on food52. Or, you can go directly to the recipe from here.

And while you're there, check out the other great corn recipes, including the two that are finalists this week!

No Crust Quiche-Like Food

I have read many a kale recipe over the last few years, and many an article in a food publication touting kale as not only a superfood but one that any proper food lover should embrace.  In my house, however, we simply call this dish "no-crust quiche," because, really, despite all its hype and hoopla, most people still turn their noses up and their taste buds off at the sound of the dreaded "K word." My husband is a perfect example of such a person.  I have served kale in all its varieties and all its splendor and blogged about it several times.  However, my unscientific tests have shown that if I say a dish has kale in it, it receives a much frostier response than it would if the taster thought the green bits were something other... say, spinach, maybe.  Not that anyone is actually fooled, but at least I don't have to see sad faces at the beginning of dinner.

So, in order to ensure that this dish got its fair shot (I won't even address the quinoa issue), I renamed it for my family's purposes.  In actuality, this is Hilarybee's famous Quinoa and Kale Crustless Quiche from food52, and there is a reason that so many love it.

I recommend it highly, for those times when you think you'd like a quiche-y kind of eggy thing without all the fat.  Don't get me wrong, this is not completely virtuous, what with some cream cheese and cheddar, but it's got all the satisfaction of a full-on quiche without the crust, many fewer eggs, and no cream.

I use 1/3 less fat cream cheese with no loss of creaminess and I also like to grate a little cheddar over top to brown.  Last time I made this, I used Cotswold cheddar, the one with the bits of chives in it, and it was delicious.  I like to use lacinato kale (also known as Tuscan kale) for this.  You can even use frozen kale, just thaw it in a strainer and then press out all the water.

A couple of other tips: first, don't skimp on the onions (in fact, add more if you like them); and, second, make extra quinoa to keep in your refrigerator for a quick salad later in the week.  Although Hilarybee recommends this be served hot or room temperature, I much prefer it hot out of the oven, when the cream cheese is oozy and, well, creamy.  Leftovers are delicious microwaved to that same state of creaminess.

Many thanks, Maddy, for the beautiful photos!

Crispy Lentils with Lamb

The combination of lamb and lentils is not one I would have easily come up with, but I love cumin so when I saw this featured on food52, I immediately tried it.  I've made this dish now several times and have adapted it to suit our family composition of two omnivores and one vegetarian (although Maddy has asked that I no longer refer to her as Veggie Girl, the moniker remains oh-so-fitting).  It's an easy weeknight dinner and even possible to make, as I do, in two pans simultaneously.  I will explain how I do that below, for any of you likewise mixed families.

But first, a couple of tips.  This dish is equally tasty made with ground beef, and, I have to come clean, with pre-coooked lentils from Trader Joe's refrigerated section.  When I used the pre-cooked lentils, I deglazed the pan with white wine left over in the fridge instead of the lentil water called for.  I serve with large leaves of lettuce in which to wrap a few spoonfuls of the mix and with some warm pita and yogurt or labne (please, please try Rivka's which is delicious and save for a little advance planning, incredibly simple to make.  I use 2% Greek yogurt for this).  For a vegetable side dish, roast some cauliflower  or diced eggplant on an oiled pan in a 425 degree oven for about 30 minutes or so.

I make this in one larger pan and one smaller one, using the smaller one for a lentil only version.  In the smaller pan, I skip the lamb and just put the lentils in with a little olive oil.  I use about 1/3 of the lentils for the vegetarian version and 2/3 for the one with lamb.  In step 2, I add the spices and garlic and wine proportionally to the two pans and watch and stir both.  Both versions taste great!

Photo credits: Maddy Bazil

Summery Salads

I thought I'd take this opportunity to link to some cool, summer salads appropriate for a lighter dinner. One of my all time favorites is Salade Nicoise. There is a little stove top simmering involved, but no need to heat up the oven. Just make sure to buy a jar of really top quality tuna in oil - this is not the place for Bumble Bee solid in water. Really.

Last night I served two salads alongside each other and they really complemented each other well. The first, a Spanish flavored chicken salad, is one that I've made numerous times since Amanda first posted it on food52. The mix of artichoke hearts and peppadew peppers with the almonds is irresistible. Last night, I improvised a little, adding the kernels of a leftover ear of corn, as well as some sliced heart of palm for some of the artichoke after I ran out. If it's hot and you don't want to roast a chicken, just use a store-bought rotisserie chicken. Some stores sell "naked" or seasoning free roasted chickens, which are preferable here.

The second was something really different. I pulled it out of the New York Times the day I made a dish requiring the tops of the broccoli. I eagerly cut out this recipe using the broccoli stalks in a lemony salad with creamy avocado. Together, this and the chicken salad made a delicious summer meal with a piece of garlicky bruschetta and a glass of vinho verde.

Enjoy and stay cool!

It's Cooler!

Not until I was leaving the house this morning full of energy with three errands to accomplish before my exercise class, did I realize how completely lethargic I've been for the last week. I really didn't even want to cook, grill, drive, it was so hot. So, though I made it to the farmstand on Sunday morning before the heat was too oppressive, by the time I got home I was didn't even have the motiviation to admire my market finds. Whatever had I been thinking as I bought a couple of pounds of Persian cucumbers? I could barely make dinner that night, let alone make pickles.

It took until today, a beautiful sunny, humidity-free day, for me to finally get out the Ball jars. Last year, I made some unbelievable tangy, sweet and sour pickles that crunched when you bit in even months after I made them. But those take 8 days to make, not even counting sitting time, and although I've regained some of my heat-suppressed energy, I haven't regained some of my much needed ability to focus on something for longer than a couple of minutes. So lacto-fermentation it was, with food52 to the rescue with the perfect recipe. Lacto-fermentation sounds scary - it conjures up pictures of bulbous, cartoon like, blue-green-purple bacteria (and what's with the "lacto"? Milky?), but it seems to mean that I just put the cucumbers in a jar with some garlic, dill and salt water and let them sit for three days. At the end of three days, I am supposed to check the jars and make sure the water seems fizzy, which will indicate that lacto-fermentation is successfully underway and that I can refrigerate my pickles for later use. Piece of cake on an 85 degree day!