Pomegranate Masala Spinach Salad

Pomegranate Spinach Salad

It’s almost November, which means one thing to me (no, not “Halloween”). It’s pomegranate season!

Last week, I noticed the pomegranates making their way into our local grocery store, without much of the fanfare that accompanied the figs and chantrelle mushrooms when their season came. I’m not sure why, but at only 75 cents per piece, people probably don’t need a lot of convincing to buy poms. I immediately threw one into my shopping basket, unsure of what I would do with it.

When I got home, however, I realized I had some feta cheese in the refrigerator, as well as a bit of baby spinach… and I was looking for a side dish to serve to one of my good friends, Mariyam, who was coming over to our house for a ”Bon Voyage” dinner (Mariyam and her girls were leaving for Pakistan, and, unfortunately, it may be quite a few months until I see them again). However, for this dinner the stakes were high, not only because I wanted to send my friend off with a good memory, but also because she is very excellent cook.

Hmmm…. I thought….

So I cut up some very thin red onions. And then, because “pomegranate” always makes me think “walnut,” (if you’ve never had fesenjan and you don’t know what am talking about, you need to get yourself to a Persian restaurant  immediately and try it out).

I also added some fresh mint leaves to the mixture, inspired by a Lebanese salad my friend recently made for me which included a liberal sprinkling of mint leaves among many other vegetables.

Next, I needed a dressing… so  I took some olive oil and balsamic vinegar and then I added just a pinch of chat masala. This is the same spice my mother-in-law, like many Indians, sprinkles on fruit (including pomegranate seeds) to give them a savory flavor. The spice really gave the simple dressing a bit of an earthy kick, and it worked well with all the other ingredients in the salad – especially the pomegranate.

Mariyanm’s daughter liked the dressing so much that she started pouring spoonfuls of it on a zucchini pancake. And Mariyam and I both thoroughly enjoyed this colorful salad. My husband even asked for it again later in the week. Therefore, I consider this recipe a  successs. Bon appetit!

Pomegranate Spinach Salad a.k.a. “Goodbye Mariyam Salad”

Ingredients

* 5 cups baby spinach

* 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds

* 1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled

* 1/4 cup toasted walnuts

* 1/4 of a red onion, very thinly sliced

* 1/8 cup fresh mint leaves

Directions

1. Combine

2. Shake several tablespoons of olive oil with 2 tsp. balsamic vinegar and a pinch of chat masala and salt.

 

Tofu Cranberry Spinach Salad

Cranberry Tofu Spinach Salad

I’ve decided to host a “salad week” here, listing all my favorite salads. So, do you want another idea for a warm salad? Look no further.

When I used to work in the US  and bring my lunch every day, this was one of my go-to salads. It’s one of the easiest to make – just bake your tofu beforehand and keep it in the fridge. Buy a can of mandarin orange slices and a bag of dried cranberries or craisins, and you’re all set for the week.

Now, you could buy already-baked tofu at a grocery store for this salad. It’s a lot easier – but that stuff is expensive, so if you are trying to save some money, buy a big block or two of tofu at your local Asian grocery store, where you can get one for about a dollar. Then bake it  (by the way, I never mess around with pressing the water out of it, just drain it and it will work fine).

When you pack this for your lunch, keep the tofu in the larger slices so you can take it out and warm it in a microwave before eating. Then, cut the warm tofu into smaller slices, top off with a Asian-inspired vinaigrette (Trader Joe’s has one I like a lot), or use orange-infused olive oil.

Tofu Cranberry Spinach Salad

Ingredients

* Bag of baby spinach

* Handful of slivered or sliced almonds

* 4-5 mandarin orange slices

* Small handful of dried cranberries

 *As many slices of baked tofu as you want

 

Directions

1. Warm tofu and cut into large chunks. Toss everything together.  Add a nice dressing, and, viola!

Cold-Weather Spinach Salad

Spinach Quinoa Salad

Those of you who know me well know I’m obnoxious about salads – that is, I think everyone should eat one, every day. And not some wussy iceberg lettuce and ranch dressing salad! No, a salad that’s light on the greens and heavy on vegetables, cheese, nuts – one that will “stick to your ribs” (I’ve only heard that phrase accompanying descriptions of oatmeal or peanut butter, but I think it works well with salads, too).

Unfortunately, as the weather gets cold it is  harder to find fresh produce and harder to get yourself to eat a chilly salad. Which means it’s time for some warm, colorful, salads to add some brightness toyour day.

The inspiration for this salad originally came from Monty’s Blue Plate Diner in Madison, Wisc., a place I used to frequent during college. However, in the years since graduation, I’ve tinkered with it a little bit, omitting the eggplant and sunflower seeds, and adding garlic and cashews. It’s basically the Perfect Salad. Why?

Spinach: High nutritional value, extremely rich in antioxidants, calcium, iron, potassium, folic acid, and vitamins A, C, E, K, B6, and B2.

Fresh mozzarella: Full of calcium, and lower-fat that many other types of cheese.

Quinoa: Has a very high protein content (12-18 percent) and a balanced set of essential amino acids, making it a source of complete protein. It also has fiber, iron, magnesium and iron.

Bell peppers: Or, “Capsicum” as my husband calls them…Excellent sources of vitamins C and A, beta-carotene, antioxidants,  folic acid and lycopene.

Zucchini: Low in calories, and containing folate, potassium, and vitamins A and C.

Cashews: Lower fat content than most other nuts and contains oleic acid, the same heart-healthy monounsaturated fat found in olive oil. Research has shown that adding a small amount of nuts to your diet can actually help you lose weight.

Dressing: Simple, with “good fat” olive oil, a splash of lemon juice and some herbs. Light and chemical-free.

Not only is this salad healthy, it’s quite easy to take for a lunch. Simply put the spinach, cashews and mozzarella in a fairly large tupperware, and the quinoa and veggies in another, smaller, microwavable, dish. Heat that one up, mix it into the larger container that holds the spinach, put some dressing on, cover, shake – and enjoy.

The vegetables, sauteeing

 

Cold-Weather Colorful Spinach Salad

Ingredients

 

*  One bag of baby spinach

*  2 bell peppers of different colors (Red, orange or yellow), cut into small strips

*  1 large yellow zucchini squash, sliced thinly

*  1 medium or two small green zucchini squash, sliced thinly

*  1 small red onion, sliced

*  3 cloves garlic

*  1 tbsp. oregano or Italian seasoning

*  1-2 large balls of fresh mozzarella

*  1/4 cup cashews

*  1 cup quinoa, cooked according to the bag or box

* Olive oil

 

Directions

1. Heat some olive oil in a pan, add garlic for a minute, and then onion. Sautee for two or three minutes, then add other vegetables. Add some salt, pepper and the oregano, stir, and continue to sautee until just softened – do not make them mushy!

2. Put spinach in a bowl.

3. Top spinach with warm quinoa. Then put a heaping spoonful of the vegetables on top. Now, put 3-4 slices of mozzarella on top, and a small handful of cashews.

4. Drizzle with a salad dressing made of olive oil, a splash of lemon juice, salt, thyme and oregano.

Mushroom Tart

So I'm no pastry chef... but look at those mushrooms!

 A few weeks ago, I started seeing a lot of different mushrooms taking over the farmer’s markets and produce aisles in French grocery stores. Apparently, it’s mushroom season!

My landlady told me she always goes mushroom-hunting in the fall, and last year she came away with pounds and pounds of mushrooms, which she dried or froze, and kept her stocked with mushrooms all year long. She said she’ll take me as soon as she gets back from vacation. Which is good, because I wouldn’t trust myself to be able to distinguish between poisonous and safe mushrooms — although here in France, you can take your stash to any pharmacy, and they will look it over and make sure it’s safe. They even have huge posters in their windows this time of the year helping people distinguish inedible vs. edible mushrooms.

Anyway, since I have to go buy them (for now) I went to the local store and realized just how cheap chanterelle mushrooms were. I got several cups of them for less than 2 euros! Thinking that I would put them on a tart, I bought some puff pastry dough, pulled out Ina Garten’s recipe for a mushroom-and-shallot-saute, and altered it a bit so that it would be suitable for putting on top of a tart. (Note: Unfortunately, the prices of the chanterelles have already started climbing, now that’s October. But they’re still affordable, just not cheap!)

Chantarelles and Champignon de Paris

It was delicious! Great flavor, and nice contrast in textures — the meaty chanterelle vs. the flaky pastry. Yum! This is a quick recipe, and if combined with a salad, is a great meal. Or, if you are having people over, make it beforehand, put it in the oven as they arrive, and cut it into small pieces to serve as appetizers.    

 

 

 

Fresh out of the oven...

  

 

 

Mushroom Tart

Ingredients

 *3-4 cups mixed mushrooms, such as cremini, chanterelle, porcini, etc.

* 3 Tbsp. olive oil

* 2 Tbsp. butter

* 1/3 cup chopped shallots

* 5 Tbsp. mascarpone cheese

* a small handful of fresh thyme and rosemary

* 3 garlic cloves, pressed

* Pre-made puff pastry dough

* Pepper and salt, to taste

 Directions

1. Clean the mushrooms. Slice the buttons or creminis, and roughly chop the chanterelles into large pieces.

2. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan, add the shallots and cook over low heat for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for a minute. Then, add the butter, mushrooms, salt, pepper and herbs. Cook over medium heat until the mushrooms are beginning to release their juices and they are starting to get tender, about 7 minutes. Don’t let them get soggy!

3. Remove from heat and try to drain some of the excess juice and butter off into the sink.

4. Roll out puff pastry dough on a cookie sheet and spread mascarpone around in a thin layer throughout the center of the dough, leaving about a 2-inch area on each edge free of the cheese.

4. Evenly spread the mushroom mixture over the cheese.

5. Roll each edge up, creating a square pocket-like tart (see photo above).

6. Bake according to your puff pastry dough ( I bake mine at 400 degrees fahrenheit for about 20 minutes).

Soupe au Pistou

A hot bowl of pistou

I first heard of Soupe au Pistou, a vegetable-and-pesto soup from Provence, during a French lesson. My tutor was shocked I hadn’t heard of it, so I quickly went out to buy a cheap box at the grocery store, to see what I was missing.

The box was OK, but I could tell a home-made batch would, obviously, be a lot better.

Fast forward to this summer, when I was looking through my mother’s Ina Garten cookbooks. For those of you who don’t know her, she’s the Barefoot Contessa, the host of a show on the Food Network.  I LOVE her cookbooks. Unlike many others I’ve read,  every single recipe I ever try of Garten’s comes out perfect on the first try.

In addition, her “Barefoot Contessa in Paris,” offers me all sorts of ideas for what to do with the various veggies that are more common (and cheap) in France, like beets, shallots, wild mushrooms, etc. There are many simple, healthy and really fantastic recipes in that book.

So I made her soupe au  a few times, and everyone loves it. My mother and I loved it. My husband loved it. Yesterday, I made a batch for some friends here in France and they loved it, too. It has very strong flavors that I prefer in my food  – very un-French, right?!

Anyway, Ina suggests you make your own ”pistou” (which is sort of like the Provençal answer to pesto). Ina’s recipe, more or less, looked like a typical basil pesto recipe, with added tomato paste.  I made my own when visiting family in Wisconsin, when I had tons of fresh basil plants and a decent food processor. Here, however, I just buy a little bottle of pesto and mix in some tomato paste. I know, I know! But it tastes fine, trust me!

I make a few other alterations to the recipe, also, such as adding beans to it and (sometimes) adding some zucchini, if I have too much sitting around in the refrigerator. 

At the end, I garnish the soup with a few dollops of the ”pistou” and top it with a few old baguette slice and parmesan cheese.

These haricot verts cost just 28 cents in France!

 I hope the Barefood Contessa doesn’t mind me reprinting this recipe on the Internet. For anyone living in France, I would highly suggest you purchase her Paris cookbook, by the way – it will give you great ideas on what to do with much of the fresh, seasonal produce you find in the markets, and it will let you replicate a few of the treats you find in the bakeries, like  brioche and baba au rum.

 

Soupe au Pistou

Ingredients

(You can add 3/4 chopped zucchini into this soup, too, just cut back a little bit on the other vegetables if you do so).

*2 tbsp. olive oil

* 4 cloves garlic, crushed

* 1 yellow onion

* 1 cup chopped leek, white and green parts

* 1.5 cups 1/2-inch diced potato

* 1.5 cups 1/2-inch diced carrots

* 1.5 quarts chicken or veggie stock

* 1/2 tsp. saffron threads

* 1/2 lb. haricots verts

* 1/2 – 3/4 cup can of white beans

* 2 oz.  spaghetti (broken into pieces)

* 1/2 cup pistou (pesto mixed with tomato paste)

* Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, for serving

* Salt & Pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large stockpot, add the garlic and onions, and saute over low heat for about 10 minutes. Add the leeks, potatoes, carrots, (zucchini, if you add it), salt, and pepper and saute over medium heat for 5 minutes.

2. Add the stock and saffron, bring to a boil, then simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, or until all the veggies are tender.

3. Add the haricots verts, beans and spaghetti, bring to a simmer, and cook for 15 more minutes.

4. To serve, whisk 1/4 cup of the pistou into the hot soup. Serve with grated Parmesan on top.

Mustard Tomato Puff Pastry

Mustard and Tomato

I first tasted this flavor combination at a lunch get-together that one of my French friends hosted for some of the partners at INSEAD. One woman brought a few frozen appetizers, and one of them was a mini-pizza topped with whole-grain mustard and tomatoes. It was so delicious, I quickly tried to make my own.

This is one of the simplest, tastiest snacks to make as an appetizer for a party. Or,  if served with a salad, it makes for a great light meal.

 Make sure to use a high-quality whole-grain mustard to give the appropriate “kick” to this dish. 

A close-up

Ingredients

* 6-10 tbsp. whole-grain mustard

* 1-2 tomatoes, sliced very thin

* Cheese (whichever you prefer, I like using shreds of fresh mozzarella, but grated emmental, gruyere or mozzarella would work well, too)

* One frozen puff-pastry

Directions

1. Thaw the pastry sheet at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit, and lightly grease a baking sheet. Or, you can use a pizza stone instead.

2. Unfold the pastry dough on a lightly floured surface and roll it into a 9 x 13 rectangle. Place dough on a baking sheet.

3. Spread mustard on the top until there is a very thin coating over the whole dough. Now, add just a little bit of grated cheese. I like using very thin slices or strips of fresh mozzarella.

4. Finally, add sliced tomatoes side-by-side so they cover nearly the entire dough.

5. Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Note: In France, I use pre-made puff pastry dough and this meal gets baked quickly. Here in the US, the Pepperidge Farms puff pastry is much thicker and I found it took longer to bake. If you’re worried about it not getting baked all the way through, you could go ahead and score and slice individual squares of dough before you spread the toppings on. This will help the center of the dough bake more quickly.

 

Zucchini and Goat Cheese Crustless Quiche

 

Cheesy Crustless Quiche

Since finding this recipe in April, I’ve made zucchini & goat cheese crustless quiche about once every two weeks.

Why not? It’s simple, filling, inexpensive, tasty…

I don’t have any great stories about this recipe – it simply comes from the Food Network Web site. I made it first on Easter, for a brunch, but since then, I make it for dinner.

Now that I’m home in Wisconsin, visiting my parents for a few weeks, I’ve been challenged to find recipes for zucchini, since the plants in my dad’s garden are growing like crazy. So far, I’ve made this quiche, zucchini “chana masala,” zucchini bread, zucchini soup… you get the idea.

However, this is still my favorite recipe for zucchini. If you have a lot of the stuff growing in your garden, I’d suggest grating and then freezing it, so you can use it in winter to make this quiche.

A slice of quiche

 

Zucchini and Goat Cheese Crustless Quiche

There’s no point in rewriting this recipe, since I followed it almost perfectly. So just click above.

 The only changes I made were in the facts that I used fresh thyme some herbs de provence in place of the dill, parsley and oregano.

All right, now I want your recipes: What is YOUR favorite way to use up zucchini from your garden?

The Mysterious Case of the Flying Dahi Vadas

Dahi vada

My husband and I recently were attacked by some rogue dahi vadas.

Dahi vada is an Indian snack food, made by soaking fried urad dal fritters in a spiced yogurt sauce. It’s delicious. Also, I always thought, it was too tricky to attempt making — much like cream puffs or French fries, I thought, it was better left to the professionals. Mostly because I have no idea how to fry anything.

But, after eight dahi-vada-less months in France,  I changed my mind.

And so, I convinced my husband, we should try to make this snack.

Several days later, after waking up D’s mother in India with a midnight culinary-question phone call, and nearly giving D. third-degree burns on much of his face, we achieved our goal: a wonderful dish of dahi vada.

Basically, to make this snack, you first must soak urad dal (which is just a type of de-husked lentil ) overnight, then process it into a paste, then take that paste and form it into spoonful-sized balls. Then, drop those into oil, fry them (without burning them, but enough so that they aren’t raw in the middle), soak them in cold water for a minute, squeeze them dry of excess water, and place them in yogurt sauce.

It’s not easy, but, like healthcare reform, nothing worthwhile ever is, right?

D., making the urad dal batter into balls

The hardest part is getting them to fry correctly. I can’t actually tell you how hot we fried the oil, or how long we fried the fritters – we just kept trying, hitting and missing, until we sort of figured out what worked on our stovetop.

And then, mysteriously, some of the fritters started flipping themselves out of the pan, nearly hitting us in the face. It got to the point where D. would throw a fritter in, and we would both step back to the edges of our kitchen, waiting for it to fly back out at us. 

D. trying to avoid the Flying Dahi Vadas

 Does anyone know why this happened? D. thinks the paste was getting too dry, while I think the oil was getting too hot. But neither one of these ideas really make sense.

Oh well. In the end, no one got hurt, and we ate well that night.

The finished product

Dahi Vada

Ingredients

1 cup Urad dal (can be bought in Indian grocery)

2 tbsp. cumin seeds

2 cups yogurt (should be somewhat watery, so, if it’s too thick, add a bit of milk)

1 tsp. cumin powder

2 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp. sugar

Salt, to taste,

Oil, for frying

Tamarind chutney

Cilantro, to taste

 

Directions

1. Soak the urad dal in water overnight. Grind it to a paste in a food processor – do this by starting to process, then add water by the teaspoon if it is too dry – do this gradually, as you DO NOT want the mixture to be watery. Add 2 tsp. salt and the cumin seeds into the mixture.

2. Heat oil in a pan and take tablespoons of the dough, make it into balls, and fry. Balls should turn golden yellow. Take care not to make the balls too large, or they won’t cook in the middle without burning on the outside.

3. Take balls out of oil and drop into cold water for a minute. Then, remove from water and gently squeeze excess water out. Place on a paper towel.

4. Beat yogurt and remaining spices together. Before serving, place balls in the yogurt, and top with tamarind chutney and cilantro.

Wild Blackberry Crisp

Blackberry crisp - straight from the forest to my oven

I know, I know… another dessert? Am I crazy?

A few weeks ago, I was walking home from the train station in our village when I noticed blackberries growing along the side of the road. At least, they looked like blackberries.

After doing a bit of reconn work, I discovered there were tons more all over the forest of Fontainebleau. D. and I took a walk around one day, and grabbed a few to taste. Since we didn’t die, I figured they were safe to eat, and started looking for recipes.

I found one by Nigella Lawson, and so I had a mission — to find at least 4 cups of blackberries. Or not.

I went berry-hunting with a friend and found about 2-and-a-half cups of them. Most berries in the forest were still green, but I would imagine that in about a week or so, one could literally come out of the woods with buckets of berries. So go for it.

My blackberries

Anyhow, when I got home, I realized I’d have to make some adjustments to the recipe – such as cutting it in half. Oh well, we don’t need to eat that much crisp by ourselves, I reasoned.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have a small-sized baking pan, but I just used a big one. I also added some additional spices to the recipe, and substituted pine nuts for sunflower kernels – because it sounded better. So, here is the recipe, with my adjustments.

 Happy berry-picking!

Wild Blackberry Crisp

Ingredients

*Just under 1/2 cup butter, melted

*1/2 cup rolled oats

*1/4 cup flour

*1/4 cup brown sugar, packed

*1/4 cup sliced almonds

*1/8 cup pine nuts

*1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

*1/2 tsp. ground cardamom

*1/4 tsp. ground cloves

*1/8 cup sugar

*2 tsp. cornstarch

*1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Combine the oats, flour, brown sugar, almonds, pine nuts and spices in a bowl.

2. Butter a baking dish (I think a bread-loaf pan would actually work well for this portion of crisp – however, if you want more crisp and fewer berries, go ahead and use a pie pan like I did.

3. Place the blackberries in the dish and add sugar and cornstarch. Mix around with your hands.

4. Add vanilla extract to the melted butter, and pour this mixture into the crisp topping. Use your hands to make sure it is well-blended, and spoon it over the blackberries.

5. Bake for 15 minutes (20 if you used a deeper pan). Top with vanilla ice-cream or regular heavy cream.

I never need another cake recipe…

A thick slice of rhubarb cake

 As someone who blogs about food, I spend a fair amount of time reading other people’s food blogs.

And when I have an ingredient that needs to be used, or a craving that needs to be accommodated, I search my favorite blogs for help.

After making some rhubarb mascarpone shortbread bars, I still had rhubarb left – and I wanted a quick and easy way to use it up. I also needed a treat to bring for the women in the Interfaith Group I lead. So I found this recipe on the blog “Yulinka Cooks,” which is run by a Milwaukee blogger.

The best part about this cake comes at the exact moment you bite into a piece with a big chunk of rhubarb, and you get that tangy feeling at the back of your palate. It reminds me of being a kid. To be honest, I don’t ever remember actually eating rhubarb in any form in my childhood. But my tastebuds remember it.. weird, huh?

Rhubarb Cake 

Ingredients:

*2 cups flour
*1 cup sugar
*Pinch of salt
*1.5 tsp. baking power
*100 grams butter (about a half cup), melted and cooled
*2 eggs, beaten
*200 ml (about 8/10 of a cup) buttermilk
*1 lb. (about 3 1/2 cups) rhubarb, finely diced

Preheat the oven to 370. Mix the dry ingredients (flour through baking powder) in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, add the milk ingredients to the butter; mix. Add the eggs and stir well.

Click here to read the rest:

Tips:

* I used brown sugar on the top, instead of the powdered kind pictured.

*I  also added a bit of cardamom powder into the rhubarb cake.

* The recipe calls for buttermilk. While it’s inexpensive here in France, I know it is harder to get, and much pricier, in some parts of the US. So, if you want to use a substitute, just squeeze a tablespoon of lemon juice into a measuring cup, and almost fill the rest of the cup with milk. Fill the rest with yogurt, and stir. Let it sit for at least 5 minutes.