Green Pea Pasta with Feta

Last spring I introduced the KC kids to the idea of green pasta with Nut-Free Kale Pesto. Here's another healthy, veggie-packed green pasta sauce that comes together quickly for an easy week night supper. This time we're pairing fresh sweet peas, dill, and briny feta because, well, feta with spring vegetables is freaking delicious, that's why. 

Green Pea Pasta with Feta
adapted from Fine Cooking

1 pound green peas (fresh or frozen)
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 cup sugar snap peas, trimmed, strings removed, and sliced on the diagonal
12 ounces short pasta, any shape
4-6 ounces feta cheese

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the green peas and cook 2-4 minutes until crisp tender. Use a slotted spoon to remove the peas from the water and set aside.

Return the pot to a boil and cook pasta according to package instructions. Reserve the cooking water.

Meanwhile, transfer all but 1 cup of the green peas to a blender. Add the olive oil, almost all of the dill (reserve a little for garnish), salt, pepper, and lemon juice and puree until smooth, adding the reserved cooking water from the pasta until you reach your desired consistency.

Drain the pasta and toss with the green pea sauce. Add the remaining whole green peas, sliced snap peas and feta, toss again. Garnish with lemon wedges and remaining dill. Dinner is served!

Sesame Sweet Potato Miso Dip

I owe many a luxurious and enlightening Sunday afternoon to one fine group of ladies. How else would I justify needing to spend a cozy hour curled up in an armchair furiously finishing a novel? And more importantly, when would I get to chomp pecan cookies, start drinking at one in the afternoon or have the excuse to make egg-filled cakes and other contraband delights? Give it up for book club.

Sure, sometimes we overdo it on the wine, but typically not until after we discuss the book. Briefly.

Not only do my book club ladies read, they cook. And they eat (with enthusiasm I might add) all the stuff I don't normally get to make at home. And I love them all the more for it.

Every time book club rolls around I'm faced with the impossible decision: sweet or savory? Clearly the answer is both. This time around blueberry-lemon yogurt cake with lemon cream was an easy sell and will be coming in a later post. I have promised Roo an egg-free version. Wish me luck.

The real dark horse though, is this crazy good sweet, silky, salty dip.

Sesame is such a rock star - all that toasty deep earthy flavor of nuts, without the nuts. Add the creamy sweetness of the potatoes, salty bite of miso and my friends, you have one heck of a dip on your hands. 

I actually had no intention of sharing with the kids but when Bean came by asking what that yummy smell was (toasting sesame seeds) I couldn't pass up the opportunity. The kiddos dipped snap peas and carrots and somewhat shockingly, no one snorted, choked, or exhibited odd facial contortions. A couple of kids even came back for a second round. That's a winner in my book.

Sesame Sweet Potato Miso Dip
adapted from Sunset Magazine December 2010

1 pound sweet potatoes
1 tbsp minced fresh ginger
2 tbsp white miso
2 tbsp tahini
2 tsp soy sauce
1 scallion, thinly sliced
toasted sesame seeds for garnish

Peel the sweet potatoes and cut into large chunks. Place the potatoes in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook until soft but not falling apart, about 15-20 minutes. Remove the sweet potatoes from the water and allow to cool slightly. Reserve the cooking liquid.

Combine the cooked potatoes, ginger, miso, tahini, and soy sauce in a food processor or powerful blender. Puree the mixture, adding cooking liquid from the potatoes as needed until the mixture is smooth and silky. Transfer the dip to a serving bowl. Sprinkle with scallions and toasted sesame seeds. Serve with fresh vegetables for dipping.

Radishes in Brown Butter with Lemon

Radishes are so pretty. The vibrant purplish pink really works to their advantage with my pink and purple-loving crew.

The KC kids generally prefer their radishes crisp, raw and thinly sliced and I admit, that's not a half bad way to enjoy them. But beyond salads and the crudite platter, here's a simple, delicious way to showcase radishes in all their springy pink and purple glory.

Radishes in Brown Butter with Lemon
adapted slightly from Cooking Light

2 bunches radishes, including greens
1 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp fresh lemon zest
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp black pepper

Trim the greens from the radishes, leaving about one inch of stem attached to the bulb. Halve the smaller radishes. Quarter larger ones. Wash the greens and spin dry in a salad spinner. Roughly chop the greens.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add radishes (not the greens!) and simmer until crisp tender...about 3 or 4 minutes. Drain and dry the radishes on a towel.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan or skillet over medium-high heat. Add the radishes and saute for a few minutes until the butter starts to brown. Add the lemon juice, zest, salt, and sugar and cook one minute more. Remove the pan from heat. Stir in the radish greens and plenty of black pepper.

Baked Parmesan Green Bean Fries

We've turned our beets, kale, apples, and Brussels sprouts into chips, so why not green bean fries?

The real trick with these bad boys is getting them to crisp up, since crunchy fries are clearly superior to squishy ones. It's a delicate balance between mush, crisp and burnt and quite honestly, it's hard to get every last fry perfectly crisp, but here's what I've learned in my trials.

1. Use the thinnest green beans you can find. Haricots verts are ideal. 
2. Make sure your beans are completely dry. If you rinse them, get every last drop of water off them before you add oil or cooking spray.
3. Do use oil or cooking spray. You need something to help the cheese adhere to the beans. Otherwise, you end up with roasted green beans with a side of crispy Parmesan, which while not an awful situation to find yourself in, is not the point of this exercise.
4. Convection bake if you can. If you don't have a convection oven, it's no big deal but if you do, use it.
5. Don't open the oven door once you turn off the heat. No peeking!

OK. Now you're ready to begin.

Parmesan Green Bean Fries

1 pound hericots verts or thin green beans
1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs
2 ounces Parmesan cheese, finely grated
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp canola oil or cooking spray

1. Preheat a convection oven to 375 degrees (or 400 degrees for a regular oven). Combine the Panko, cheese, salt, and garlic powder in a small bowl and toss with your hands to combine.

2. Place the dry green beans on a sheet pan in a single layer. Toss the beans with 1 tablespoon of oil OR give them a good douse of cooking spray. Sprinkle the cheese mixture on top, gently turning and pressing the topping onto the beans. Some will fall off. Don't sweat it.

3. Bake for 15 minutes. Turn the oven off but leave the beans where they are. Do not open the door - not even for a sec to check on them. Let the beans cool in the oven for at least an hour or longer if you want to max out your crispiness.

4. Serve with a dip of your choice...garlic aoli, vinaigrette, or a simple side of marinara, which makes for a flavor combo that's slightly reminiscent of mozzarella sticks. Just sayin.

Crispy Brussels Sprouts Chips

Building. We're always building on past success. Of course I use the term very loosely as it pertains to feeding my kiddos.

Kale chips are a hit. Even Looly is coming around, albeit slowly. Beet chips are hugely popular with most of the family and I suspect Looly will come around on those eventually too. So then, Brussels sprouts chips?

Along with beans, beets, kale, and most things colorful, vegetarian, and healthful, Bean has always loved Brussels sprouts. Two Thanksgivings ago, as a two-year-old, she sat on the counter eating raw "baby lettuce" while I prepped to roast them for the rest of us - the "rest of us" being the adults of course. Looly was not convinced and at that point I wouldn't have even entertained the notion of putting a leaf of any variety in Roo's mouth for fear of gagging. But this is a new realm. And in this realm, we make chips out of Brussels sprouts.

Crispy Brussels Sprouts Chips

1&1/2 pounds Brussels sprouts
2 tbsp olive oil
Kosher salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Chop the ends off the Brussels sprouts and discard any wilted or yellow leaves. Separate each sprout into individual leaves. This is the perfect job for eager little fingers that want to help! When you get to the dense core and can't remove any more leaves, you can toss it, save it for another recipe, or feed it to Bean.
2. Spread the leaves in a single layer on 2 rimmed baking sheets. Toss with oil to coat. Bake 10-15 minutes, shaking pan occasionally, until leaves are crisp and brown on the edges. If some leaves brown faster than others, remove the crisp leaves and continue baking others until they are all nice and crisp. Season with salt to taste.

No surprise, Bean went barmy for these. And once again Looly and Roo were not impressed, but they each managed a few nibbles. Perhaps the biggest surprise of the evening was Mufasa, who was nearly as enthusiastic as Bean. That's success in my book. These little munchies are staying in rotation and might just make it to the Thanksgiving table this year.

Summer Vacation Salad

Just as we're about to leave town for anything longer than a weekend the panic sets in. What to do with all that produce that won't make it until we're back? This time our Angelic Organics CSA box arrived Wednesday and we were leaving for Traverse City, Michigan, (more on that in a later post) on Saturday, so it was quite a bounty!

First, I whipped up some pico de gallo but in the flurry of packing, cooking, searching for bathing suits, and back to school preparations, I never got around to taking photos. Rest assured it was suitably fresh and piquant with lots of jalepenos, tomatoes, onions, cilantro, lime, and even a few chopped tomatillos thrown in for good measure. We brought it along in the cooler and ate it all vacation long with chicken, over pulled pork, on eggs, and mixed with pasta.

For my next endeavor, Vacation Salad. What's Vacation Salad you ask? Why, it's anything you need it to be. That is the beauty of Vacation Salad.

To make Vacation Salad simply dump the perishable contents of your refrigerator as well as the wire basket or whatever contraption you use to store non-refrigerated vegetables onto the counter. For us that meant I was staring down exactly 4 ears or sweet corn, 8 tomatoes (that was after the pico de gallo), 2 green peppers, one red bell pepper, one banana pepper, one zucchini, one yellow squash, a white onion and two lemons. Get chopping.

Then make a splash of dressing and drizzle over the top. Mix it all up and pack it in the cooler.

The longer it sits, the better it gets. For maximum flavor, enjoy on a balcony overlooking a beautiful mist-hooded lake.

Now obviously, the allure of this salad is that you can make it out of whatever you happen to have on hand. Here's how ours went down.

Our Summer Vacation Salad

Corn kernels cut from 4 ears of sweet corn
8 tomatoes (any variety)
2 green peppers
1 red bell pepper
1 small yellow squash
1 zucchini
1 banana pepper
1 medium onion

For the dressing

1 clove garlic
1 cup basil leaves, loosely packed
zest of one lemon
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup good quality olive oil
Kosher salt
Black pepper

1. Place corn kernels in a large bowl. Chop all the other vegetables into 1/4-inch dice and add to the corn.
2. To make the dressing, puree the garlic and basil in a blender. Add the lemon zest and juice and pulse to combine. Slowly drizzle in olive oil through the top opening in the blender lid while continuing to pulse. Season with salt and pepper and pour over vegetables. Mix the whole concoction together and serve, or pack it up in tupperware for your own vacation, or at the very least, a leisurely picnic lunch. 

The First Tomato

We celebrated a momentous occasion this week. Our first tomato has finally blushed to perfection! 

I might have mentioned before that I excel at killing plants. Thank goodness children require slightly different care and feeding from vegetables or I'd be in a penitentiary somewhere. Fortunately Mufasa has spent the past few years honing his gardening skills and after several disappointments (ravenous rabbits and squirrels mainly) we have a real thriving, albeit small, garden.

Picking time!

Much to our delight we feasted on tomatoes, cucumbers, and basil all grown within a 10 foot radius of our house. Now that's local. I love summer.

Tomatoes and Cucumbers with Basil Salt

1 cup fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup kosher salt
3-4 cucumbers, the fresher the better, extra points for growing them yourself
3-4 tomatoes still warm from the sun

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Combine the 3/4 cup of the basil leaves and salt in a food processor. Process until well combined. Spread basil-salt mixture on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake 45-50 minutes shaking pan occasionally until dry. Allow to cool to room temperature.
2. Slice the cucumbers and tomatoes. Arrange on a platter and top with remaining 1/4 cup basil leaves. Sprinkle a bit of the basil salt on top to taste, reserving the rest in an airtight container for the bounty of vegetables yet to ripen (or perhaps to rim a margarita, the choice is yours).

So simple, lovely, and summery