so, we never really had much of a winter here in LA, which is why spring greens are appearing mid-winter. a selection of wild greens has shown up at the highland park farmer’s market, including lambsquarters, which you can forage all over los angeles. since i haven’t had any first-hand experience with this edible weed, i thought i’d start by buying it, so i’d have a better sense of what to look for when foraging.
lambsquarters is similar to spinach, and distantly related. it’s got a soft, toothy texture, which would make it a nice addition to salads. the leaves are fuzzy on the under-side, so you’ll probably want to wash them, to minimize this.
lambsquarter breakfast ramekin
lambsquarter breakfast ramekin, serves 2
1/2 bunch lambsquarters
1 medium onion
2 eggs
1 tb butter
1 tb white wine vinegar
1/4 cup water
2 tbs grated parmesan cheese
salt & pepper to taste
preheat oven to 350º if using a large oven, hold off if using the toaster oven.
pull the leaves from the stems of all lambsquarters and wash in a colander. chop the onion and sauté in butter over medium heat until translucent, 5 minutes. add vinegar, water and the lambsquarters leaves, cover and turn heat down to low, wilt the leaves 5 minutes. uncover and sauté until lambsquarters are sufficiently wilted and liquid is cooked down.
place a scoop of the sauté mix into 2 ramekin dishes, crack an egg over each, sprinkle parmesan over the top and bake 20 minutes at 350º, or shorter if you prefer soft-cooked eggs.
super-cute explanation of the universe done in food! i especially like the polar caps in shredded mozzarella.
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rebranding teachers, image: hyperakt
a beautiful rebranding of teachers by hyperakt re-imagines the inspiration of education and applies it to just about every civic touchpoint conceivable. great work!
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cuppow, image: cuppow.com
i saw this innovative item on 3 blogs in one week, and it first caught my eye for the retro-style packaging. however, i have several friends who have given up on the travel bottle craze and gone luddite, preferring to cart their beverages around in mason jars with canning lids. i think this is great, except for my desire to frequently sip. then i saw this cuppow thing and love that it makes a sippy cup out of jars. now the question is, can i get it in glass instead of any type of plastic [though i see it’s bpa-free and recyclable]. see the writeup and video at fastcodesign.com
i was recently in la jolla and had brunch at cody’s where i tried this amazing idea: a breakfast salad. theirs was a mix of baby field greens dressed in a mild vinaigrette, topped with goat cheese crumbles and poached eggs. they poached the eggs freeform, and despite having an egg poacher, i think i prefer the freeform method, for the delicate texture, for the ability to see just how much the yolks are cooking, and for the fact that the eggs look like formative solar systems when they’re done. i have been thinking about the breakfast salad i had for nearly 2 weeks, so i thought i’d try to recreate it with baby spinach and a lemon-dijon-maple dressing.
breakfast salad serves 1
2 eggs
1 tbsp vinegar
1 large handful of baby greens
1 oz goat cheese, crumbled
salt & pepper to taste
dressing:
1 tb dijon mustard
juice of 1 lemon [zest optional]
1 tsp maple syrup
1 tsp oil [try a flavored oil like sesame or garlic]
heat a pan of water with 1 tablespoon of vinegar over medium heat until simmering. swirl the water into a whirlpool and crack eggs, gently dropping them into the water. poach to desired consistency, and set aside on a plate when done.
place all dressing ingredients in a bottle and shake well to mix.
place the field greens in a tossing bowl, pour 1-2 tablespoons of dressing over them, and toss to coat. transfer to a serving bowl and top with the poached eggs. add crumbled goat cheese, and season with salt & pepper to taste.
i’ve been eyeing the butternut squash in the farmer’s market since september, but hadn’t bought one till this week. when researching recipe ideas, i found lots of delicious baking, roasting and cooking / puréeing ideas, so naturally i wanted to fill in the gap of something fresh mixed with greens. i thought i’d work on a variation of this spicy squash salad since this is in line with how i like to eat. i’m halfway through the bowl i photographed above as i write this, and it’s delicious.
butternut squash salad
1 small butternut squash, about 2 pounds
1/2 cup black mung beans [urad, available at indian specialty markets]
2 cups water & salt for cooking beans
3 tb olive oil
1 tb cumin
1 tb paprika
1 tsp salt
2 oz light feta cheese, crumbled
1 large handful baby arugula leaves
2 tb balsamic vinegar
pepper to taste
peel the butternut squash with a vegetable peeler or knife, slice the neck down to the gourd, cut the gourd in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds, and cut all pieces into .5″ cubes. place in a roasting pan, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle cumin, paprika and salt over all pieces. mix to coat with a spoon and roast at 400º for 40 minutes, flipping pieces halfway through to cook evenly.
while squash roasts, cook urad in 2 cups salted water about 30 minutes until soft. when both squash and urad are done, set out to cool. when cool, add both to a mixing bowl, add crumbled feta, arugula and balsamic vinegar, and toss to mix well. serve with fresh pepper over the top.
i’ve been playing around with farro lately, since it’s such a nice alternative to rice. i think it does particularly well as the bulk of a more pilaf-type salad, with fruit, nuts and greens all cut to similar sizes. i pulled this selection of seasonal flavors for a hearty late-fall farro salad.
farro pomegranate salad
1 cup farro
2 cups water
arils from 1 pomegranate
2 apples [i chose 1 fuji and 1 granny smith]
juice of 1 lime
6 roasted garlic cloves, mashed with a fork
2 tbs olive oil [i used garlic-infused canola oil]
1/4 cup italian parsley, chopped
1/4 cup sliced toasted almonds
1 handful arugula leaves, chopped
1 tbsp lemon zest, minced
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
salt & pepper to taste
cook the farro in 2 cups of salted water until water boils away and farro is al dente. cut apart the pomegranate and collect all the seeds. chop apples, collecting pieces in a bowl, and sprinkle with lime juice.
place the farro in a large mixing bowl. add the mashed garlic cloves and oil, parsley, almonds, arugula, lemon zest and parmesan cheese and mix well to incorporate. fold in the apples and pomegranate arils and mix gently to incorporate. salt and pepper to taste. serve warm or chilled.
sometime last year i tried out making preserved meyer lemons, and they rapidly became one of my favorite flavors to keep on hand for seasoning all kinds of food. meyer lemons just reappeared in the farmer’s market, and they’ll be around all winter. enjoy them fresh while they’re ripe, but try making preserved lemons early in the season so you can try them out, and then you’ll know if you need to make 4-6 more jars to keep through the summer.
preserved lemons are really simple to prepare. you’ll want some quart-sized canning jars, preferably wide-mouth, a good amount of coarse sea salt, and about 8-12 lemons for each jar.
meyer lemons, quartered and salted
some people like to cut the stem-ends off their lemons, but since i like to use the whole thing, i left the ends on. since i’m using meyer lemons, which have thinner skins anyway, i slice from the non-stem end lengthwise to the stem end without cutting all the way through. turn 90 degrees and make a similar cut, so you have a quartered lemon that is attached at the base. if you work over a plate, you’ll be able to collect any juice to pour in the jar later.
you’ll always end up with some seeds, but this is a point where i try to remove any i can get to. once you’re ready, pour salt into the quartered lemon, coating all interior sides, close the quarters and place it in the jar. as you work, you’ll want to jam the lemons together, packing them as tightly as you can to release juice and eliminate space for air.
i worked with 11 lemons total, and my jar was about full with 8 of them inside. i zested the last 3, since they’ll just be used for juice [reserving the zest for other projects] and juiced the remaining lemons into the jar to submerge the preserved lemons and add a tablespoon of salt. place in the pantry for a couple days, and then into the refrigerator for about a month. once a the peels have softened and the salt and acids have worked the lemon oil from the skins, you’ll have a deeply flavorful addition to all kinds of meals.
preserved meyer lemons, packed in a jar
some say to wash the lemons of their salt before use, but i just chop up the whole thing and forego salting the dish i’m making instead. one of my favorite ways to enjoy them is to top chicken or fish with chopped preserved lemon and oil and then broil. here are some other ways to use preserved lemon:
it’s tricky to address cranberry sauce from a local perspective, because while cranberries are native to north america, they tend to be grown in northern states above the sunbelt. you won’t find them in farmer’s markets around los angeles, and most other fall berries have just wrapped up their seasons. so what’s a person to do about a tart berry sauce for thanksgiving?
while you might not be able to use fresh berries on a seasonal diet, lots of local producers of cherries, raspberries, blackberries, and some blueberries also make dried berries, which are perfect to simmer with seasoning and spices for a comparable compote to cranberry sauce. adding the fact that pomegranates are currently in season, there are some great, deeply red antioxidant flavors to use here.
cherry and citrus relish
1 vidalia onion or red onion, chopped
1 tb canola oil
juice & minced zest of 2 medium oranges
1⁄2 cup pomegranate juice
1 cup water
1 cup red wine
1⁄2 tsp cinnamon
1⁄2 tsp cardamom
1⁄2 tsp allspice
1 tb sugar or honey
2 cups dried cherries
1⁄2 cup pine nuts
sauté onion over medium heat in 1 tb canola oil until translucent, 5 minutes. add orange & pomegranate juices, water and wine, cinnamon, cardamom, allspice and sugar. bring to a boil, add cherries, reduce to medium heat and simmer covered 20 minutes. check liquid levels periodically and add water as needed.
remove from heat and toss with orange zest and pine nuts. serve hot or chilled.
variations
– substitute a mix of dried berries to your liking
– substitute dried blueberries, or add in chopped dried apricots & plums
– process or chop dried berries before cooking for a more uniform consistency
– use a mix of dried, toasted & chopped nuts instead of just pine nuts
with thanksgiving around the corner, you might want to start giving thanks to family, friends and clients. craft magazine has a nice write-up on these letterpress fill-in thanksgiving cards.
i’ve made a lot of variations of savory pumpkin and mixed vegetable pies. when considering the recipes for the thanksgiving guide, i wanted to incorporate sweet potatoes, and i thought i’d work with a version that uses a simple breadcrumb crust rather than a full pie crust. you can pick your favorite type of bread, but i’ve tried to keep the carbs lower by using sprouted rye [i love both trader joe’s and alvarado bakery’s sprouted rye breads]. i think a whole-grain sourdough would also be really tasty.
roasted pumpkin and sweet potato
start by roasting the pumpkin and sweet potato. i like to use cinderella pumpkins, because they have deep red-orange, juicy flesh. i also like to cut them lengthwise along the grooves for roasting in slices. cut the sweet potatoes in half lengthwise for roasting as well. roast 45 minutes at 300º on an oiled baking sheet, turning the slices halfway through, but leaving sweet potatoes cut-side down. when finished and cooled enough to handle, cut the pumpkin away from the peel and scoop the sweet potato away from the skin into a bowl. cut into large chunks and mash coarsely with a fork to break up and incorporate. this should not be in any way uniform, just break up the pieces so they can be mixed with other fillings and baked.
sauteed onions and garlic
while the pumpkin and sweet potato are roasting, prepare your onion, garlic & spice sauté. i chose a cumin-coriander-chili spice mix, but this is the time to pick your favorite flavor profile and saute them once the onions are translucent.
savory pumpkin pie ready to bake
preheat oven to 325º. when all the fillings have been prepared, add onion sauté to the mixing bowl along with 2 eggs and parmesan cheese, and stir in with a form to incorporate. toast the 2 slices of bread and blend them into bread crumbs in the blender. use butter or oil to grease a 9″ baking dish, spread the breadcrumbs along the bottom and shake them up along the sides to coat [it’s not critical to get a thick layer on the sides of the dish, just do what you can]. add the pumpkin filling and spread with a spoon into a level pie. bake at 325º for 1 hour.
savory pumpkin slice
savory pumpkin pie
1⁄4 cinderella pumpkin, cut into 1” sliced sections
2 sweet potatoes, halved
2 medium onions, chopped
2 tb butter
4 cloves minced garlic
2 tb white wine vinegar
spice mix: 1 tsp each of cumin, coriander and chili powders
2 eggs
1⁄2 cup parmesan cheese
bread crumbs made from 2 slices whole grain bread
roast pumpkin and sweet potato on an oiled baking sheet at 300º for 45 minutes. cut pumpkin flesh from peel, scoop flesh from sweet potato skins, and roughly chop each into a mixing bowl. mash with a fork to mix potato and pumpkin. turn oven up to 325º.
sauté the onions with butter, 3 minutes. add garlic and vinegar and simmer on low heat, covered, 20 minutes. uncover and add the spice mix, sauté 1 minute more, remove from heat. add sautéd onions, eggs and parmesan to the bowl. stir with a fork to mix through. grease a 9” baking dish and spread bread crumbs over the bottom. add the filling and level the top. bake 1 hour at 325º.
variations
– add mushrooms to your onion sauté
– substitute feta cheese or any hard cheese for parmesan
make it vegan
– substitute olive oil for butter
– substitute vegan parmesan [make your own!]
– substitute ener-g egg substitute for eggs
– add additional bread crumbs to pumpkin filling
– add mushrooms to your onion sauté
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