Raw Broccoli Salad with Leafy Greens, Oranges and Nuts


This versatile salad features winter broccoli and oranges. The rest is up to you. Add in tender or crunchy lettuces or other leaves like spinach, peppery arugula or vibrant red cabbage (pictured above). Roughly chopped herbs are wonderful in this mix — mint, cilantro, dill, parsley. Try some feathery fennel fronds (or shaved bulb). If you can get your hands on a few edible flowers like calendula or broccoli add them at the very last minute before serving. This salad is crunchy, bold and slightly sweet — a colorful mound of pleasure for the eyes as well as the palate.

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Lentil Soup with Roasted Roots and Mint

The original inspiration for this hearty soup came from Love Soup, by Anna Thomas, but I’ve tweaked the formula in so many ways over years, that I no longer could tell you what that recipe looked like. This soup draws its sweetness from loads of roasted carrots and parsnips (though it has done well with potatoes, turnips and fennel). There is also a bright nuance to the flavor that’s often tricky for tasters to pinpoint — lemon and mint.

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Basil Pesto

This pesto is fabulous spread on pizza or toasted bread (topped Caprese-style with tomato and fresh mozzarella), folded into warm pasta or stirred into a steamy bowl of soup. Double the recipe and freeze the extras for later.

Try substituting walnuts for some of the pine nuts.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups packed basil leaves
  • 1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan
  • 2 tablespoons pine nuts (or a mix of pine nuts and chopped walnuts)
  • 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt to taste

Method:

  1. Blanch the basil leaves in boiling water for about 15 seconds, then remove from pan and quickly cool in a bowl filled with ice water. After cooling, remove leaves from the water and squeeze gently to extract as much water as possible.
  2. Chop basil, cheese, nuts, and garlic in a food processor until finely minced. Stop machine and scrape down sides of the bowl once or twice during processing.
  3. While machine is running, slowly add oil and process until incorporated. Add salt to taste.

Mashed Chickpea and Spinach Dip

This is a sort of cooked, chunky spinach hummus — if that makes any sense. The bright green color proclaims healthy goodness that can’t be ignored. Nor will you want to, since the spread tastes as beautiful and fresh as it looks. Enjoy on toasted artisan bread, scooped with vegetables or spread on lavash with sliced veggies for a simple sandwich.

I use a small food processor driven by my immersion blender for processing the mixture, but you could also mash it with a potato masher or use the standard immersion blender. You’re working toward a chunky-smooth consistency that’s quite flexible. It’ll taste great regardless.

Ingredients:

  • Olive oil
  • 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 pinch crushed red pepper
  • 1 bunch fresh spinach (about 10-12 ounces), roughly chopped
  • 1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
  • Salt
  • Fresh lemon juice
  • 1 to 2 teaspoons tahini (roasted sesame paste)

Method:

  1. Warm about 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and red pepper and cook for 30 seconds. Add spinach and chickpeas and mix everything together. Cook until spinach is wilted, adding a splash of water as needed to prevent mixture from drying out.
  2. Remove from the heat and cool. Process in a food processor to a chunky paste. Season with salt, lemon juice and tahini to taste.

Roasted Potato and Fennel Soup

This recipe is adapted from Ina Garten’s The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook. There’s a tattered copy on our shelf — stained with years of reverent use. Though we love Ina, we also routinely doctor her recipes to reduce the fat and salt content. She’s heavy-handed in these areas, but her recipes are always simple, pure and consistently satisfying. You can omit the cream (or reduce) if you like, but it adds a lovely richness. We’ve already reduced it by half from the original. If you have leeks, substitute one for some of the onion.

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