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Watermelon Feta Salad with a Balsamic Fig Crostini

12 Jul

This was an off-the-cuff experiment with my dear friend, and park slope neighbor for the summer, Miss beezy burgess. I started to make a balsamic glaze, originally intended for the watermelon salad.  On whim, I threw in some fresh figs I had just bought at the co-op. To my delight, this turned into a lovely balsamic fig compote. Spread with some goat cheese on a crostini (aka  little piece of bread toasted w. olive oil) this lovely hors d’oeuvre would be best enjoyed with a chilled glass of wine, on a porch, in the summertime [or as it was- on my fire escape – beer in hand.]

Watermelon Feta Salad
big bowl of watermelon- cut into chunks
feta
fresh mint
lime (i subbed w. lemon once- but lime works way better)
splash of balsamic vinegar
sea salt
red chili flakes or maybe a serrano pepper (optional)
Take big bowl of watermelon. Squeeze fresh lime juice over. Sprinkle with some feta.  Chop a couple sprigs of fresh mint add (a little mint goes a long way with flavor.)  Add a splash of balsamic and a grinding of sea salt. Add hot pepper if you like. Mix up. Let sit for a minute for the flavors to combine.

Balsamic Fig Crostini
Fresh figs (dried might work too)
balsamic vinegar
goat cheese
baguette
Take a frying pan, add enough balsamic vinegar to cover bottom of the pan. Bring to boil on high heat [beware this lets off a very strong vinegar scent- keep your oven fan on]. Keep cooking down. After a few minutes, this  will thicken into a glaze. Add a few chopped fresh figs. Continue stirring to cook until thickens slightly more- coming together like a jam. Take off heat.  Preheat oven to broil. Cut baguette into slice 1/2 in thick. Lay on cookie sheet. Drizzle with olive oil. Broil for about 2 mins- keep an eye- as they go from toasty to burnt fast.  Spread goat cheese on toast. Spread compote.

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Wheatberry Salad- 2 ways

19 Apr

The other day, I was in the elevator at work– and one of my co-workers, who also belongs to the co-op, made some comment about how filling wheat berries are.  I chuckled and took it as typical co-op talk– but something about it stuck– and within the week I bought a huge bag of wheatberries (costing 83 cents, yup).  Pretty soon, i’m that co-op hippie in the elevator- talking about the delicious and substantive qualities of wheatberries, surely deserving to be mocked.  This salad is not too different from the Everything But The Salad– and is equally infinitely modifiable.  I made this two ways- a meat and a veg version. Ingredients might seem a little random- but it is basically whatever I have in the cabinet/freezer.  The veg features a chipotle baked tofu, spinach and black beans. The meat has duck, chorizo and kidney beans.  I sort of winged it on these recipes- so forgive me for the imprecise manner- and just ask me if you need anything clarified.

How to prepare wheatberries: A lot of people talk about soaking these overnight, but this does not really prove to be necessary.
Rinse wheatberries thoroughly in a colander. Boil 3 cups of salted water.  Add 1 cup of wheatberries.  Lower heat, and simmer for 45 mins uncovered until they are tender- and they will start to split. Drain. *now i only usually cook them for like 25 mins– maybe I just like them w. a bit more bite- but that’s what i do

Veg version
1 package firm tofu
Can of chipotle in adobo
14 oz can of black beans
10 oz bag of fresh spinach
Cumin- and I think I added a minuscule pinch of cayanne
Lime (or lemon if you don’t have it)
Olive oil
Salt & pepper
Take firm tofu and place on a plate. Put another plate on top of it- and put a very heavy book on it. Leave for 30 mins. This will drain out some of the water. It is not an altogether necessary step- but if you have the time- it does make a difference.  Cook wheatberries. Cut tofu into 1 inch cubes and place in an 8×8 inch baking dish. Mix some olive oil, half a lemon or lime, salt and pepper in a little bowl.  Pour over tofu.  Take a spoon of the chipotle sauce- pour over the tofu and mix up. This stuff is pretty spicy- so use more or less accordingly.  Bake at 400 for 30 mins.  Best Baked Tofu would work here too.
Drain beans in colander.  Sprinkle w salt & pepper and a pinch of cumin- tiny pinch cayanne. Mix up.
Wash spinach. Put wet spinach into a big pot. Add some water- maybe half a cup. Turn on the heat, put on a lid, and stir occassionally and the spinach will wilt in a couple minutes. Drain spinach.
Add beans, and wheat berries to spinach. Season with lime or lemon, salt and pepper.  Add tofu. I think a red pepper would work really nicely in here too, if you have it.

Meat-tastic version (not pictured, sorry)
1 chorizo link
1 duck breast
1 14oz can of kidney beans
Paprika
salt & pepper
balsamic vinegar
Cook the cup of wheatberries per instructions above.  Drain, then add salt, pepper, a splash of balsamic vinegar and a touch of olive oil.  Later, I am going to add some duck fat- but if you are not into that- add little more olive oil here.  Drain can of kidney beans.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper and paprika.  Slice up chorizo and fry in dry pan. Take out of pan and set aside.
To cook a duck breast:
Wash and pat dry.  It will have a massive layer of fat on top. Make knife cuts into this fat, diagonal, quarter inch apart.  Make another set in the other direction, like a crosshatch.  Salt & pepper. Heat dry skillet on low. Don’t add oil (but because I am indulgent, I left the chorizo fat in this time). Put fat side down in skillet.  Will begin to brown and fat seep out, 10-15 mins.  Flip over and cook another 5 minutes. That’s medium rare.  Pretty interesting, apparently duck is a red meat- so you cook it medium rare etc- instead of like poultry which you cook through.  Want it more well done, cook on the longer side of the 10-15 mins.  Take out of pan, wrap in foil and let rest for 15 mins.  To eat, I usually cut off the massive fat layer- though one might consider this poor practice- then slice the breast on the diagnoal.  I have had crispy bits of duck fat on a salad before- and it was delicious- can’t remember the proper name for it.
Add beans, duck and chorizo to wheatberry salad.  Here is where I got a bit decadent again- and drizzled a spoonful of duck/chorizo fat that remained in the pan out over the salad.

Squash, Kale & Lentil Salad

15 Nov

Healthy, delicious and full of flavor.  Black kale [aka Lacinato, Tuscan or dinosaur kale] is so hot right now- according to nymag, that is.  Amount you use totally depends on your mood- if you want a more kale or squash base. But I’m really loving raw kale– will continue as a salad base- in fact, I saw a raw kale caesar on a menu at a restaurant the other day- doesn’t that sound good?  Anyway, if you read other food blogs, then you probably read Smitten Kitchen.  This recipe is originally from Bon Apetit– adapted by Smitten Kitchen– and then again, by me.

3/4 cup black or green lentils [if you can find them, the french Lentils de puy are the best]
2 pound squash- peeled, seeded and cubed
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon hot smoked Spanish paprika [i used regular]
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
4 cups arugula [I used a couple cups of kale- probably half of the bunch]
1 cup soft crumbled goat cheese [I didn’t have so grated some Pecorino]
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, plus additional to taste [I didn’t have- so used a splash of white wine vinegar and a splash of balsamic vinegar]
Roasted seeds (about 1/2 cup) from your butternut squash [I wish I had done this but was too lazy]

Preheat oven to 400. Line baking sheet w. foil.  Toss squash in 2 tablespoons olive oil, cumin, paprika and salt.  Spread on sheet in single layer. Roast for 20 mins, flipping after 10.  [I kept roasting it an extra 15/20 mins- to get it a little sweeter- next time I think I’d set my oven to 425- like in the butternut squash soup recipe]

Meanwhile, soak the lentils in water for 10 mins.  Then, in a small saucepan, cook lentils in [1 cup] of boiling salted water until tender but firm [interesting note, the salt actually helps it keep its bite].  Smitten Kitchen says this takes 30 minutes- but I took another route.  Boil on med/high heat for 3-5 minutes.  Lower and simmer for 10-15 minutes.  Start tasting at after the 10- mine only took that long- you want them pretty firm.

Combine lentils, squash and kale.  Add the last 1 tablespoon of oil and vinegar.  If using goat cheese, add half now- and serve w. the other half on the side.  Season w. salt, pepper and extra vinegar to taste.

everything but the salad

16 Sep

What to bring for lunch? Ah, the eternal question.  There are two things that make this salad so especially great.  First, is that it has a grain base instead of greens, which makes it much more filling.  Second, it tastes good with pretty much anything.  Consider the ingredients I listed as a starting off point.  Mine is a bit southwestern themed… but italian (sun-dried tomatoes, mozz, salami, balsamic vinegar, spinach etc) or greek themed (olives, cucumber, feta), all work well.  But no theme required… go wild.

p.s. this makes a couple days worth of lunch

1 cup bulgar wheat (can also use couscous, qunioa, barley etc)
2 cups water
1 pepper (red, green or yellow)
black beans (or chickpeas, kidney beans etc)
Smoked gouda (or feta, cheddar etc)
raisins (or dried cranberries, cherries etc)
nuts (if you like, i don’t)
baked tofu (can buy packaged baked tofu- my recipe coming soon- or can use regular tofu- i prefer the vacuum packed to the kind sitting in water)
1 lime
red pepper flakes

Cook your grain of choice according to its instructions. For bulgar wheat, put 1 cup bulgar and 2 cups water in a small saucepan and cover.  Bring to boil, then lower heat.  Simmer for 15-20 mins.  Take off heat (don’t uncover) and let stand for 10 mins .  Fluff w. a fork.

Add chopped pepper, cheese, tofu, rinsed beans.  Sprinkle w. red pepper flakes and juice from lime.

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