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Chopped Herb Salad With Farro
This dish is modeled on a Middle Eastern tabouli. Add just one cup of cooked farro or spelt to a generous mix of chopped parsley, mint, arugula and other herbs like basil or dill. Notice that I’m calling this dish a chopped herb salad with farro and not a farro salad with chopped herbs. It’s modeled on an authentic Middle Eastern tabouli, which should be all about the parsley, with just a small amount of bulgur. I add just one cup of cooked farro or spelt to a generous mix of chopped parsley, mint, arugula and other herbs like basil or dill. There are also chopped tomatoes in the mix, all of it tossed with lemon juice and olive oil.
Marinated Cauliflower and Carrots With Mint
This is an elaboration of one of my favorite carrot dishes. That dish couldn’t be simpler – steamed carrots tossed with sherry vinegar, olive oil, salt and fresh mint. It is good at room temperature or warm, as a starter or a side dish. I added steamed cauliflower to the mix but made no other changes to the formula. The cauliflower, which always loves a vinegar marinade, is a wonderful addition, very compatible with the carrots and pretty, too. The dish is great for a buffet as it only gets better as it sits. The dish is particularly beautiful if you use different colored carrots.
Lentil Salad With Fresh Favas
According to Jo Robinson, a food and nutrition writer whose informative new book, Eating on the Wild Side,” cites a federal survey of phytonutrient content of common fruits and vegetables, lentils have the most antioxidant activity of all legumes, with black beans a close second.
Salmon and Cucumber Tartare With Wasabi Sauce
This makes a delightful hors d’oeuvre, appetizer or even a light supper. If you’re serving it as an hors d’oeuvre you can spoon it onto cucumber rounds, small endive leaves or toasted pita triangles. The better the salmon, the better this will be (sashimi grade is the best).
Lentil and Herb Salad With Roasted Peppers and Feta
A delicious salad that works equally well warm or at room temperature.
Cauliflower, Potato and Quinoa Patties
Cauliflower is a great vegetable to use in a burger, because it breaks down nicely so that it can be mashed along with potatoes to form a burger that stays together. I have always loved seasoning this vegetable with Indian spices, which is what I do here, with Aleppo pepper thrown into the mix. Black quinoa contributes texture, color and protein. Sriracha sauce is the perfect “ketchup” for this burger.
Cauliflower and Tomato Frittata With Feta
Cauliflower, tomatoes and feta are always a good combination. This being a winter frittata, I used canned tomatoes for the sauce, but in summer the same dish can be made with fresh tomatoes. Make sure to cook the sauce down until it is quite pasty. If it is too watery it will dilute the eggs and the texture of the frittata will be a bit watery. Even better, make the tomato sauce a day ahead and keep uncovered in the refrigerator.
Grilled Sardines
What to do about seafood? Nutritionists say we should eat more, that many types of fish are nutritious and contain fats that seem to protect the heart. I know from experience that many of them can make for fine meals. If you’ve only had sardines from a can, you may turn up your nose at them. Fresh ones will change your mind. Brush them with olive oil, toss a few sprigs of rosemary onto a hot grill, and grill them. Sardines take two to three minutes to grill and about that long to eat. They’re a rare treat and a great nutritional package, containing omega-3 fats, selenium, vitamin B12, calcium, niacin and phosphorus.
Salmon Rillettes
A light but rich tasting spread made with fresh and smoked salmon. This is my adaptation of David Lebovitz’s adaptation of Susan Loomis’s salmon rillettes, a recipe that I have been wanting to make for years. A more buttery version is in Susan Loomis’s wonderful book “Cooking at Home on Rue Tatin,” and on David Lebovitz’s eponymous website. David uses a mixture of steamed fresh salmon and smoked salmon, and I have followed suit, changing the proportions slightly. I used much less butter – 1 tablespoon, and a tablespoon each of olive oil and crème fraîche, as well as some Greek yogurt, and I still came up with a mixture that I can call rillettes. You can serve the spread with sliced bread or crackers, spoon onto endive leaves, cucumber rounds or squares of red and green pepper, or use as a filling for miniature bell peppers. You can also substitute these salmon rillettes for the smoked trout rillettes in the recipe for “Lentils With Smoked Trout Rillettes” from earlier this week. As always, use a fork, not a food processor, to make this.
Roasted Tomatillo-Poblano-Avocado Salsa
One of my favorite new cookbooks of this season is “A Mouthful of Stars” (Andrews McMeel), by Kim Sunée. The book is a memoir, travelogue and cookbook all rolled into one, written by an author who earlier published another compelling memoir with recipes, “Trail of Crumbs.” Kim is a poetic world traveler who loves many cuisines. She is a big fan of taco trucks and loves salsa, the spicier the better. This salsa is based on her recipe for roasted tomatillo-poblano salsa. I love its balance of char, heat, acid and creamy. I’m a moderate when it comes to heat, but you can make this hotter by adding more chiles.
Roasted Mushroom Base
At this year’s Worlds of Health Flavors conference in Napa, Calif., Pam Smith, a culinary nutritionist, presented delicious recipes by the chef Clifford Pleau featuring a finely chopped roasted mushroom mix (chefs refer to it as simply “The Mix”), that she combined with beef for a delicious burger with half the meat, and with tuna for a wonderful tuna burger. Inspired, I made up a big batch of my own version of the mushroom base when I got home and had a lot of fun using it all week in adaptations of classic meat or fish dishes with the animal protein cut by half or more and replaced with the mushroom base. I recommend using pre-sliced mushrooms for this – then the mix goes very quickly. It is very easy to make and keeps well for several days in the refrigerator.
Tuna, Cauliflower and White Bean Salad
Cauliflower is very happy in a pungent marinade, so I added it to one of my favorite stand-bys, tuna and bean salad. I liked this salad even more with the cauliflower added, as the tuna flavor infuses the cauliflower along with the vinegar and olive oil. You can use canned white beans, or cook up some delicious giant white beans and some of their broth in the dressing. The salad tastes even better if it has a few hours or a day to sit, and it keeps well.
Leek, Kale and Potato Latkes
These delicious cumin-scented potato pancakes are laced with leeks and crispy kale, adding a putatively healthy touch to the standard fried latke. You can serve them with Greek yogurt, sour cream or crème fraîche. But a chutney or yogurt blended with cilantro, mint and garlic would make for excellent eating as well. You might even try a salsa.
Avocado and Roasted Tomatillo Salsa
I have been making tomatillo and avocado salsa for years, but I usually simmer the tomatillos rather than roasting them. Roasting the tomatillos, chiles and garlic – toasting really, as I use a skillet for this, on top of the flame – produces a salsa with a delicious charred flavor. I learned something recently from the chef Iliana de la Vega, who demonstrated the recipe at the “Healthy Kitchens, Healthy Lives” conference in Napa Valley in March: she says, in no uncertain terms, that you should not add water to tomatillo salsas. Without the water, this is a more intense salsa with pleasing density.You can use it as a sauce to serve with chicken or fish, or as a dip with chips or other vegetables.
Spiced Tomato Ketchup
This sauce is a tomato jam that tastes more like a richly spiced ketchup. A long simmer is important. This is inspired by a recipe for a delicious tomato jam in the chef Matthew Kenney’s cookbook, “Matthew Kenney’s Mediterranean Cooking.” My version is not as sweet as his; I decided to call it ketchup rather than jam because to me, it tastes like a richly spiced ketchup, with sweet and sour flavors and a little kick from the cayenne. A long simmer is important for cooking the sauce to the right consistency and for concentrating the flavors. After that, I put the ketchup through a food mill to achieve smoother texture, but that step is optional. I salt toward the end of cooking because the mix will reduce quite a lot and it’s too easy to oversalt if you salt before that happens. However, be sure to use enough salt to balance out the sweetness and bring out the spice.
Red Pepper Rice, Bulgur or Freekeh With Saffron and Chile
This mildly spicy Lenten vegetable rice is prettiest when made with rice, because the saffron will have more of an impact on the color. But I also love it with bulgur, and especially with freekeh, which is very compatible with the peppers, chile and paprika. If you make it with rice, remember that in the traditional Greek dish the rice is very soft, as it is here. If you don’t want the dish to be spicy leave out the chile pepper.
Pesto-Filled Deviled Eggs
Deviled eggs may be old fashioned, but I will always have a weakness for them. I’m always experimenting with fillings for these perfect little protein packages. Pesto, mixed with half of the hard-cooked yolks, is pungent and rich. I particularly like the basil-mint version. Serve these as an hors d’oeuvre or as part of a light lunch.
Dried Porcini Consommé
A refreshing and light soup that can be an appetizer or full first course. I could drink this refreshing consommé for lunch every day. It makes a very light and satisfying appetizer soup or first course.
Endive Leaves With Crab Rillettes
Canned lump crabmeat is transformed in these light, slightly spicy rillettes. I have been pleased with the canned lump crabmeat I have been finding lately at Trader Joe’s. It is fresh and perfect for both crab cakes and for these light, slightly spicy rillettes, which I serve on endive leaves. You can also stuff cherry tomatoes with the rillettes, or mini bell peppers, or just serve them on croutons or crackers. You have a choice here of using a combination of Greek yogurt and crème fraîche, or all Greek yogurt. In the spirit of rillettes, which would be much fattier than these if they were more authentic, I vote for the yogurt/crème fraîche combo, but if you want to keep calories down use all yogurt.
Mini Bell Peppers Stuffed with Goat Cheese
This side dish is a way to take advantage of the mini sweet peppers that are showing up by the bag in supermarkets. They should be roasted briefly and not peeled. My oldest brother, Dan, and his wife, Margaret, hosted a wonderful party in Minneapolis in May to celebrate their 50th anniversary. The savory food on the gorgeous vegetarian buffet was catered by the well-known Minneapolis restaurant Lucia’s, whose chef/owner, Lucia Watson, is a friend of the family. One of my favorite items was minipeppers stuffed with goat cheese, the inspiration for this recipe. Mini sweet peppers have begun to proliferate in supermarkets; the ones I’m finding come in 12-ounce bags, roughly 12 to a bag (though they range in size, some being about two inches long, others about three), usually a mix of red and yellow. They are thin skinned, with very small seedpods and membranes. I roast them briefly to soften them and sweeten the flavor. There is no need to peel them, and they should not be roasted so long that the skin loosens. You will probably have a little filling left over, but it’s nice as a spread so it won’t go to waste. These will keep for 3 days in the refrigerator. Bring to room temperature before serving.
Uncooked Tomato and Mint Sauce with Poached Eggs
This dish turns summer tomatoes into a salsa cruda that can also work well with most any kind of fish. My friend and colleague Clifford A. Wright serves this delicious salsa cruda with grilled salmon. It’s also wonderful with most other fish, grilled, oven-roasted or pan-cooked, and it makes a terrific sauce for foods like cooked grains, the vegetarian burgers I published a few weeks ago or simply cooked green vegetables. One of my favorite uses is in a Mediterranean huevos rancheros: poach an egg, set it on a lightly charred corn tortilla, sprinkle the egg with a little salt and pepper if desired and spoon on the sauce.
Tostadas With Beans, Cabbage and Avocado
Beans are traditionally fried in lard, but I use a small amount of grapeseed or sunflower oil instead, and rely on the broth from the beans for flavor. This is a great buffet dish for a Mexican dinner party. I prefer to toast the tortillas using the microwave method, but you can also deep-fry them.
Smoked Sardines Rillettes
Canned smoked sardines are easy to come by, and if you eat fish (especially if you are trying to find ways to eat more fatty fish because of their high omega-3 values), they should be a staple in your pantry. Look for Pacific sardines, which are a Best Choice on the Monterey Aquarium Seafood Watch list. (Atlantic and Mediterranean are poor choices.) Like the other rillettes posted on this week’s Recipes for Health, you can use these as a spread for bread or crackers, or as a filling for peppers or endive leaves or cherry tomatoes. The rillettes also go well with lentils, like the smoked trout rillettes featured earlier this week. The crème fraîche is optional but recommended (you could substitute olive oil or yogurt); I like the way it loosens and enriches the mixture.
Steamed Clams in Spicy Tomato Sauce
Include mollusks in your seafood week. Clams are high in Omega 3 fatty acids, low in calories, and very high in iron.