Asian Chicken Salad with Orange-Ginger Dressing

Asian chicken salad has been a favorite of the Grays for a long time now—it’s the only way Chris will accept eating salad as a main course. To ensure that he does, I have to pack it full of hearty, crunchy niblets. It had been awhile since we’d done it, but the real inspiration for this salad was the dressing. It’s JAPANESE RESTAURANT DRESSING. If you eat at Japanese restaurants from time to time, you know exactly what I mean, and you’re wiggling in your seat right now, just like I did when I found the recipe. Oh that gingery, orange loveliness that they drizzle over iceberg lettuce—so deeply flavored! so mysterious! Why is it so hard to find a recipe? I don’t have the answer, but I did come across one that, with a little tweaking, tastes just like the real thing. And I can’t get enough of it. From the list of ingredients it looks a little painstaking, but honestly I didn’t measure anything—I just eyeballed it, tossed it in the food processor and let it blend away.

Salad

Lettuce (we had romaine, anything is good)

diced green onion

chopped red pepper

chopped apple (mandarin orange is also good)

julienned carrot

crushed dried ramen noodles

toasted sesame seeds or chopped peanuts

optional (but indisputably divine): chopped fresh basil to garnish

Chop and rinse your lettuce, top it with all of your vegetal additions

Grilled Chicken

Marinate two chicken breasts in a mix of soy sauce, mirin, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, honey, ketchup, and peanut butter. Grill:

Then slice into thin strips:

Place chicken strips on salad, top with crushed ramen noodles, chopped peanuts or toasted sesame seeds, and chopped fresh basil, if you have some on hand.

And then drizzle on this amazing concoction:

Dressing

1/2 cup minced onion

1/2 cup peanut oil

1/3 cup rice wine vinegar

1/4-1/2 C orange juice

2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger root

2 tablespoons minced celery

2 tablespoons ketchup

4 teaspoons soy sauce

2 teaspoons white sugar

1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Puree all ingredients in food processor. This is best if it can sit overnight to let the flavors meld. Strain before serving.

Mango Dal (with Chard)

Serves 6

  

I’m a dal fiend, so when I saw this recipe in Eating Well magazine, and imagined the blissful combination of my favorite fruit and my favorite legume preparation, I knew it would be on the menu soon enough. I finally got around to trying it when we had guests the other night. We served it with an Indian-spiced roast chicken (I made a spice rub with salt, cumin, curry, biryani seasoning, cinnamon, chili powder and ginger), and homemade parathas, which are kind of like an Indian version of a tortilla. I call them the lazy man’s naan, since there’s no yeast involved. Below is the recipe as written, but I found that it need a little extra….something. Salt being part of the something. I also dipped into my Indian spice mixes and added a tablespoon of a basic vegetable curry spice blend. Oh, and I added chard because I’m a chard disciple lately.

1 C yellow lentils

4 C water

1 tsp salt, divided

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

1 Tbs canola oil

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1 onion, chopped

(1 bunch chard leaves, washed and chopped)

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbs minced fresh ginger

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

2 mangoes, peeled and diced

1/2 C chopped fresh cilantro

Rinse lentils, then combine with water, 1/2 tsp salt and turmeric in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes.

In the meantime, heat oil in a large skillet. Add cumin seeds and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add onion (and chard) and cook until soft. Add garlic, ginger, coriander, cayenne and remaining 1/2 tsp salt, and cook for one minute longer.

Stir the spice mixture and the mangoes into the lentils. Return to a simmer and cook 15 minutes longer. Serve with rice and garnish with cilantro.

Eggplant and Tomato Gratin

Serves 4

If ever you wanted to perfectly capture all of the best flavors of summer in one simple dish, this is it. I saw it on A Cooking Life recently and couldn’t stop thinking about it. You really ought to visit the link because her pictures are much prettier (whose aren’t??) and because she gives a lot of useful information about the execution. Her argument is that the success of such a simple dish is entirely contingent upon the quality of the ingredients, and therefore recommends that you make your own tomato sauce and bread crumbs--I did, and I do agree with her. Truly, the flavors are exquisite: like sun in a casserole dish. The problem I’m having now is that I can’t wait to eat the leftovers, but the next meal is breakfast…

1 1/2-2 lbs eggplant

olive oil

1/2 C coarsely chopped fresh basil

2 C tomato sauce (I used the sauce recipe here)

1/2 C grated parmesan

3/4 C bread crumbs made from artisan bread

Slice eggplant into 1/4 inch wide slices. Drizzle with olive oil, arrange on a baking sheet, and broil until browned on both sides. Cover with another baking sheet for 20 minutes to allow slices to steam. Place a layer of slices in a baking dish. This is my Alsatian tart pan—I don’t have many opportunities to use it, so I was thrilled this evening when, as I rummaged through the cupboard looking for the right pan, I remembered the woman who sold it to me in Keysersberg, France saying that it would be perfect for ‘des gratins….”

 

Spoon homemade tomato sauce over the eggplant, followed by some chopped fresh basil and a dusting of grated parmesan cheese. Repeat as many times as necessary to use up the eggplant slices.

Top with fresh bread crumbs and drizzle with a little olive oil

Bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes, until the crumbs are browned, the sauce is bubbly and the eggplant is soft.

I was raving about the dish to my neighbor who is, unfortunately, allergic to eggplants—she wants to try it with zucchini. Oh my heavens, a whole new world is opening to me here…

Butter Bean Risotto with Swiss Chard

Serves 4-6

This one is actually from the most recent issue of Bon Appétit—I’m always looking for ways to use chard, and this one turned out to be completely, completely delicious. The toddler ate it, which leads me to this syllogism: if it is delicious, the toddler won’t necessarily eat it, but if the toddler eats it, it is indisputably delicious.

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 bunch Swiss chard, stems removed, leaves coarsely chopped

2 links Italian turkey sausage, casings removed

4 cups chicken broth

2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter, divided

1/4 cup chopped onion

3/4 cup arborio rice or medium-grain white rice

1/4 cup dry white wine

1 15-oz can butter beans, rinsed, drained

1 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan cheese plus additional for serving

Heat oil in heavy medium skillet over medium heat. Add chard and toss until wilted and tender, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion; sauté until soft but not brown, about 2 minutes. Add sausage and sauté until cooked through. Add rice; stir to coat well, about 3 minutes. Add wine; simmer until wine evaporates, stirring constantly, about 1 minute. Add cooked chard.

     

Add 1 cup broth. Simmer until absorbed, stirring almost constantly, about 2 minutes. .

Continue to add broth, 1/2 cup at a time, simmering until broth is absorbed each time and rice is creamy and just tender, stirring almost constantly, about 18 minutes longer. Add beans, 1 tablespoon Parmesan, and 1 tablespoon butter. Season risotto with salt and pepper

Pasta with Sausage and Butternut Squash

Serves 4

Another recipe from the collection down…about 800,000 to go. Only slight exaggeration. Once again I did quite a lot of adapting with this one, primarily for the (to me) hilarious reason that the grocery stores don’t carry canned pumpkin until just before Thanksgiving (I guess I should mention that the recipe was originally Sausage and Pumpkin Pasta). Not only do they not carry it now—they can’t! Because of the great pumpkin blight of 2009! Global warming be damned, you ruined the pumpkin crop and now I have to improvise. Although, as my MIL pointed out, the grocery stores have been selling pumpkin pies and pumpkin bread all year. So either they have access to some top secret supply or, “They’ve been cheating.” Long story short, I used roasted pureed butternut squash in this recipe, to no real detriment. I think pumpkin is a little more pungent and earthy, while the squash is a little sweeter, but in the end it’s just a tasty bowl of pasta.

2 cups uncooked multigrain bow tie pasta (we used angel hair)

1/2 pound Italian turkey sausage links, casings removed

1/2 pound sliced fresh mushrooms (whoops, didn’t have those either—we added green pepper instead)

1 medium onion, chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth

1 cup canned pumpkin (or butternut squash)

1/2 cup white wine

1/2 teaspoon rubbed sage

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes

Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray, cook the sausage, mushrooms, onion and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the broth, pumpkin, wine, sage, salt, garlic powder and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 5-6 minutes or until slightly thickened. Drain pasta; add to the skillet and heat through. Just before serving, sprinkle with cheese and parsley.

Orange-Roasted Tofu and Asparagus

serves 4

So I have a new goal for this blog: to cook through most or at least many of the recipes that I have gathered from cooking magazines in the past few years. They’re all collected in a big notebook where I’ve been trimming and pasting them in, a monument to the old analog age. There are hundreds of them, but I’ve probably tried under ten; I’d like to make an effort to remedy that. The recipes are taken from Gourmet, Bon Appétit, Eating Well, Healthy Cooking, Vegetarian Times, and Saveur Magazines—with the occasional Martha Stewart contribution. The most daunting part of the project will definitely be the dessert section; I tend to save waaayyy more dessert recipes than I have occasions to make dessert, but luckily we’re coming into birthday season…

To kick off this new endeavor is a totally delightful recipe adapted ever so slightly from Eating Well. I loved this, and Chris liked it…for a racquetball night (ie: something light that will allow him to go exercise right after eating). We served it with quinoa (cooked with chicken broth), but you could also use brown rice or soba, rice or udon noodles.

1 14-oz package extra firm tofu, rinsed and pat dry

1 lb asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2-in pieces

Marinade

2 Tbs oil (peanut, coconut, canola, etc.)

1 Tbs red miso

1 Tbs rice wine vinegar

Sauce

2 Tbs oil (same as above)

1 Tbs red miso

1 Tbs rice wine vinegar

2 Tbs minced freshly grated orange zest

juice of one orange

3 Tbs minced fresh basil

2 Tbs honey

1 tsp soy sauce

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil, spray with non-stick cooking spray. Toss tofu with marinade, then roast for 15 minutes. Gently stir in asparagus and roast 8-10 minutes more, until asparagus is tender and tofu is browned. Toss the roasted tofu and vegetables with the sauce, and serve with rice, noodles or quinoa.

Baba Ganouj

Makes about 2 cups

Sing with me now: “I’m in heaven, nightshade heaven…” I’m glad lots of people don’t like eggplant—more for me! Here is a recipe for the unforgettable Middle Eastern roasted eggplant dip, made from garden eggplants

1-1 1/2 pounds eggplant

olive oil for roasting

1/4 C tahini

1 clove garlic

2-3 Tbs lemon juice

3 Tbs olive oil

salt to taste

First you need to roast your eggplants. Coat them with olive oil and place them on a foil- or parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for about an hour until eggplants are shriveled and easily pierced with a fork.

 

When cool enough to handle, peel the eggplants and place the flesh in the blender or food processor with remaining ingredients. Process until smooth. Serve with pita, crackers, raw vegetables, etc.

Zucchini Madness III: Bacon-Feta Summer Squash Muffins and Spicy, Honey-Sweet Zucchini Bread

The race to keep up with the squash plants continues, and this afternoon my kitchen was positively aflame while the toddler napped and the newborn nestled against my chest in the sling. The result: more savory muffins, this time with the unexpected combination of feta and bacon, and secondly a dark, spicy zucchini bread with natural sugar sources and whole grain flours.

Bacon-Feta Summer Squash Muffins

makes 12 muffins

1/2 C olive oil

1 C plain yogurt

2 eggs

1 green onion, minced

3 strips bacon, cook until crisp and crumbled

4 oz. feta cheese, crumbled

3 C grated summer squash

1 1/2 C whole wheat flour

1 C barley flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp Greek seasoning (or a mix of garlic, oregano, mint, fennel)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together oil, yogurt and eggs. Stir in bacon, feta and squash. Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then add to wet. Stir until just combined. Fill twelve muffing cups completely full.

   

Bake for 20-25 minutes.

 

Spicy, Honey-Sweet Zucchini Bread

Makes one large loaf

1/2 C oil

1 C honey

1/2 C maple syrup

1/2 C milk

2 eggs

3 C grated zucchini

1 1/2 C whole wheat flour

1 C barley flour

1 C brown rice flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 Tbs ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp cardamom

Whisk together oil, honey, syrup, milk and eggs. Stir in zucchini. Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then add to wet. Stir until just combined. Pour into a well-greased 9-in loaf pan.

 

Bake for 50-55 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Zucchini Madness II: Garden Strata and Basil Squash Cakes

The quest for original ideas for use of excess squash continues. We had the strata with dinner last night and the cakes were my lunch today. Honestly, I never get tired of these vegetables. They’re so light and adaptable!

Garden Strata

serves 4

4 C stale bread, cubed (we used a mix of sourdough and roasted garlic)

2 C grated zucchini and/or yellow squash

1/2 red pepper, diced

1/4 C minced red onion

1/2 C diced cooked sausage (we used andouille)

1/2 C coarsely chopped fresh basil leaves

1 C milk

2 eggs

1/2 C shredded cheese (we used cheddar jack)

salt and pepper

Salt the squash and place it in a colander to drain 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Squeeze out liquid from squash and combine with remaining ingredients. Stir until combined. Pour mixture into a greased 8-in square pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until crispy, golden and cooked through.

Basil Squash Cakes

makes 6 cakes

2 C shredded zucchini and/or yellow squash

1 green onion, minced

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 C panko bread crumbs

1/4 C coarsely chopped fresh basil

1/4 C fresh grated parmesan cheese

1/4  diced fresh mozzarella cheese

salt and pepper

Mix all ingredients.

 

Heat a skillet over medium heat, drizzle with olive oil. Cook the cakes for 7-8 minutes per side until crispy.    

Zucchini Madness I: zucchini fritters and zucchini french bread pizza

Makes 8-10 fritters and 2 8-in long pizzas

The season is upon us. The season of zucchini door ditching—look out, I might be leaving some on a porch near you. Last night I did my best to incorporate the intimidating harvest into some dishes that would be a little bit novel for Chris, who, in truth, doesn’t even like zucchini very much. I thought they both turned out great—the pizza especially, due to the deeply flavored roasted tomatoes. But more about that in a minute; let’s start with the fritters.

I had never made fritters before—in fact, I’m not sure that I’d ever eaten them. So I went to the internet and found a highly rated and very easy recipe—after all, I’ve got a newborn on the boob and a toddler on my lap, and right now simplicity takes precedence over culinary innovation and complexity. Therefore: this recipe has some ingredients that I wouldn’t ordinary use (out of excessive snobbiness and mild obsession), but they won’t kill ya, and next time I try them I’ll experiment with whole grain flours and natural seasonings. Conclusion: I loved the crispy edges and the fluffy center, and think they deserve a place in the pantheon of zucchini door ditching season favorites.

 

2 C grated zucchini

1/2 C milk

1 egg

1 C flour

1/2 oz. ranch dressing seasoning

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

Mix all ingredients until combined. Heat 1/2 to 1 inch canola oil in a large skillet. Drop four fritters (about 1/4 C batter each) into the oil. Cook about 4-5 minutes per side until golden and puffed up.

 

And now the French bread pizzas (which could, of course, be made on regular ole pizza dough—we had half a loaf of delicious homemade bread left over from generous friends who brought us dinner after Fielding was born). As I said above, what really set these apart was the roasted tomato topping, which idea I pilfered from Passionate About Baking. Except that I had exactly five extremely ripe tomatoes when her recipe called for much more, so I knew that it wouldn’t go far. But the flavor is so deep, so resonant, it was the perfect way to use up tomatoes that were on their way out. All you do is half and seed your tomatoes, salt them and let them drain for a few minutes, then drizzle them well with olive oil and put them in a 250 degree oven for 4-5 hours--I used the toaster oven. By that time they should be shriveled, soft, and pungently flavored. Mash them up or put them in the food processor, and then you can either spread them on pizza crust, canapes, or pack them in oil and preserve them in the fridge for awhile. Here are mine, all mashed up:

1/2 C roasted tomatoes, chopped or mashed

1 link cooked sausage (we used andouille)

1 medium zucchini, sliced into thin ribbons using a vegetable peeler or mandolin

1/2 green pepper, thinly sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 Tbs lemon juice

shredded cheese (we used cheddar jack)

Slice your 8-in hunk of baguette horizontally. Drizzle olive oil on each half, rub with a clove of garlic and toast until lightly browned.

While bread is toasting, sauté the garlic and green pepper in a little olive oil until they begin to soften. Add the zucchini, stirring frequently until soft. Add lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Spread roasted tomatoes on each baguette half, top with sliced sausage, zucchini mixture and cheese.

  

Broil until cheese is melted and beginning to brown.

Provencal Stuffed Garden Vegetables

Serves 4-6

  

Yes, I made and photographed these before Fielding arrived. I was actually kind of a kitchen tornado in the days preceding his arrival—I must have sensed it, because we came home to some tasty leftovers and snacks and, thank goodness, a manageable overflow from the garden (boy did we grow one hell of a zucchini during our 30-hr hospital stay).

6-8 stuffable vegetables, such as tomatoes, onions, pattypan squash, etc.

1 lb ground meat (I used turkey) or sausage

1 onion, chopped

2-3 cloves garlic

5-6 large mushrooms

1 C chopped fresh basil

1 15-oz. diced tomatoes

1 C uncooked brown rice

1 1/2 C water or broth

1/2 C diced cured black olives

salt

grated parmesan

bread crumbs

First hollow out your vegetables, saving all of the innards. I used both a melon baller and a grapefruit spoon, depending on the shape and texture of the vegetable.

   

Next, sauté the onions and garlic until translucent. Add the ground meat or sausage and cook until no longer pink. Add the mushrooms and basil and continue sautéing until soft.

Add the rice, diced tomatoes, vegetable inards (I pulsed them in the food processor beforehand) and water/broth. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low and let simmer until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed.

   

If your vegetables are especially dense or big, as onions and pattypan squash are, you should parboil them for about 10 minutes before stuffing. Otherwise just fill the cavities with the rice mixture, and top with finely grated parmesan and bread crumbs.

    

Mix the remaining rice with more grated parmesan and spread it in a 9 x 13 in. pan. Place the stuffed vegetables on top. Cover loosely with foil and bake for one hour at 350 degrees.

Grilled Pizza with Beet Greens and Heirloom Tomatoes

Serves 4

I can’t believe how well this turned out. I’m still sort of gloating in my mind over how delicious it was, even if Chris did say, “too bad there was no Italian sausage to put on here…” What’s even better, it helped me use up all the beet greens from the garden that I’ve been saving while on some kind of insane beet-eating quest this week. Seriously, I’ve had beets in some form or other for lunch everyday since Monday I think. Anyway, you could do this pizza with a huge variety of different toppings, obviously. What makes it special, I think, is the pesto, the combination of feta and mozzarella, and the fact that it’s grilled rather than oven-baked (always a plus when the temps are in the 90’s).

Dough:

1 1/2 C white flour

1 1/2 C wheat flour

1 tsp dry active yeast

2 tsp kosher salt

2 Tbs olive oil

1 1/4 C water

Combine all ingredients in your food processor. Process for 30 seconds until mixture forms a ball. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times until smooth. Place in an oiled bowl and cover with a dish towel. Let rise in a warm place for 1-2 hours.

Toppings

Several cups of beet (or other) greens (mine actually included the last of some garden spinach too)

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

olive oil

balsamic vinegar

pesto

feta cheese

sliced tomatoes

fresh basil

Mozzarella cheese (I used an Italian blend this time, with Asiago, etc.)

Start by washing and chopping your greens, then sautéing them in a little olive oil with the garlic. After they’re good and wilted and are starting to get dry, give them a splash of balsamic vinegar, sprinkle on a little sea salt and turn off the heat.

When the crust is ready you just need to decide what your grilling system is going to be. Some advocate preheating the grill, rolling out the dough, oiling it on both sides, then placing it directly on the grate. You cook it on one side for a few minutes, flip it for another few, and THEN put your toppings on. I actually didn’t know about this technique when I started tonight, so I used the vegetable basket for our grill, and spread the dough on it (after oiling it up good) like so:

 

I spread pesto sauce on it after pressing it into the basket. Look at this glorious container of farmer’s market termaters:

 

On top of the pesto I spread the greens, topped with a little feta (I always leave cheese quantities to your discretion—we tend to go easy), and then the tomatoes.

Tear up some fresh basil and sprinkle it over the tomatoes, then top with shredded mozz or Italian cheese blend of your choice. Fresh mozz would, of course, have been out of this world, but we were plum out.

I let the grill heat to about 450 or 475 before putting the pizza in, and cooked it for about 12 minutes, which was perfect. Here she is just as I’m about to remove and slice ‘er.

So stinkin’ pretty! And what’s better than cutting up homemade pizza on your patio and taking in the evening air?

 

This is the happiest plate ever. And the happiest belly. Mama will be happier when Sawyer doesn’t insist that she cut the skin off the peaches.