Corn & heirloom tomato salad

I thought I'd share another tomato recipe today. I've used heirloom tomatoes but feel free to substitute cherry or sungold tomatoes instead.

This salad came together because of two leftover ears of corn. The night before I boiled them before rubbing with butter, sprinkling with smoked paprika and a squeeze of lime. I didn't think the corn could taste much better until I whipped up this salad the next day.

I cut the kernels from the cob, mixing them with heirloom tomatoes, avocado, cucumber, basil and a simple lemon vinaigrette. This salad is perfect eaten as is or added to your veggie tacos like salsa.

Corn & heirloom tomato salad
2 ears of corn (I used red corn)
2 medium heirloom tomatoes, diced
1 small cucumber, diced
half an avocado, diced
2 tbsp basil, chiffonaded
half of a lemon, juiced
1 lime wedge, juiced
1/4 tsp chili flakes
sea salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp pumpkin seeds, toasted

Boil the 2 ears of corn in a pot of water until tender. Slice kernels off the cob into a large bowl (omit this step if you're corn is already cooked). Stir in the tomatoes, cucumber, avocado, and basil.

Mix the lemon and lime juice into a smaller bowl. Add the chili flakes, salt, pepper, and olive oil. Stir well and drizzle over the corn and tomato salad.

Sprinkle with pumpkin seeds and serve.

Thanks again for your participation in Tomato Tuesday. Hopefully you signed this petition and are spreading the word about buying slave-free tomatoes from the right sources (Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, farmer's markets, CSAs). Happy Friday friends!

Don't forget the beet greens

Did you pick up beets from the market this weekend? Are you going to make a raw or roasted beet dish? Whatever you do, don't discard the beet greens! They can be substituted for chard in recipes. Seriously, beets and red-stemmed chard are related. They both share a wine-colored stem, which I think is pretty rad. That has to mean there's some extra vitamins and minerals in there, right? Right. Beet greens are full of folic acid, vitamins K and A. They also contain more iron and calcium than just the beet itself. So next time, save those greens!

I've been digging the humble beet green lately, and the CSA has kept my crisper full. I sauté them with spring onions and garlic, and finish with this tahini sauce (yes, I'm addicted). They sound good on pizza and in a risotto too.

As you can see there's no Food Matters Project recipe here today, so skip on over to see what Laura and the rest of the members whipped up.

Source: Woods, Rebecca. The Whole Foods Encyclopedia, 2010.

Instalunch: Tahini greens with millet

My camera is dead so I thought I’d post a quick & easy recipe using instagram instead. I picked a lot of vegetables this morning at my CSA and I knew just what I wanted to have for lunch. This recipe is adapted from Whole Foods Market.

Lemony lentils with vegetables

This week's Food Matters recipe is a cassoulet with lots of vegetables. A cassoulet is a slow-cooked casserole that originated from France. It's traditionally made with meat, white beans, and vegetables. Some recipes finish it off with a sprinkling of breadcrumbs too. See Keely's post for the original recipe here.

I was looking forward to making my first vegetarian cassoulet for dinner on Saturday night. The morning started out rainy (which would've been perfect for this dish), but by lunch it was sunny and in the high 70s. I decided I didn't want to turn on the oven or eat a warm meal, as it was a perfect night for dining on the porch. I took inspiration from the original recipe, and kept beans as the focal point.

Bittman calls for white beans, I had a whole bag of black lentils begging to be used. He uses canned tomatoes, I opted for sun-dried. He uses wine to flavor, I chose a lemon vinaigrette for the salad.

Eat over a large bed of greens for a lighter meal. Make it  heartier with the addition of goat cheese or a poached egg and a side of roasted sweet potatoes or brown rice.

Lemony lentils with vegetables
1 c black or beluga lentils*
4.5 c almost boiling water
8-10 sundried tomatoes
4 spring onions, sliced thinly
2 medium carrots, diced small
1 stalk of celery, diced
1/4 c parsley + cilantro, rinsed and minced
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp dijion mustard
juice of 1 lemon
3 tbsp walnut oil
2 tbsp capers, rinsed

Rinse and sort the lentils making sure there aren't any rocks. Put into a pot and cover with the 4 cups of almost boiling water. Let simmer for 20-22 minutes over low heat.

Pour the rest of the very hot water—about half a cup—into a bowl. Add the sun-dried tomatoes. Let sit for 10-15 minutes until they rehydrate.

Chop the onions, celery, carrots, and herbs while you wait on the lentils to cook. Put into a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, mix the salt, pepper, coriander, mustard, lemon juice, and walnut oil. Pour the vinaigrette over the vegetables and mix well. Add the capers, and chopped sun-dried tomatoes.

When the lentils are done cooking—they should be tender, not mushy—strain, and pour into the bowl with the vegetables. Mix well. Refrigerate until ready to eat. Serve chilled.

*Use black or beluga lentils as they'll keep their shape when cooked. Red lentils break down when cooked and will be too mushy for a bean salad.

Kale + brussels sprout salad with mustard vinaigrette

Spring is here in North Carolina. The yellow dust has settled on our cars, herbs are being planted, inch worms are taking over the city. The day's are getting longer and temperatures are warmer. I feel like I've shed winter's cocoon—refreshed and positive—ready to tackle what comes my way. It's invigorating. Not only has the time changed, but our diets are shifting from those cooked, warm meals of winter to cool, lighter meals of spring. Have you noticed?

We signed up for our first CSA last week! This calls for another exclamation point! I visited the farm and came home with storage garlic and sweet potatoes, and a huge bunch of kale. I made homemade ravioli stuffed with kale pesto that night (recipe coming soon!). A friend I met at CCCC last semester is working on the farm and gave me a tour of what's been planted so far. I'm so excited and ready for the arrival of asparagus, fresh eggs, radishes, lettuces, strawberries, and herbs! Anybody else ready for spring vegetables or fruits?

I didn't make the Food Matters Project recipe since I was out of town, so check out this week's recipe over at the Fifth Floor Kitchen. Instead I decided to share a salad I can't get enough of lately. Don't worry if you don't have brussels sprouts, just add more kale. Hazelnuts, almonds, or sunflower seeds can replace the toasted pine nuts. You really can't go wrong with this salad. I've made variations of it with avocado and pecorino, and it's just as good.

Kale & brussels sprout salad with mustard vinaigrette
Adapted from Bon Appetit
1 bunch of kale, chiffonade
6-8 brussels sprouts, grated
1 celery stalk, small dice (.25 in)
1 carrot, small dice (.25 in)
half of a small red onion or shallot, sliced thin
1 tbsp mustard
1 tbsp white balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp walnut oil
1/4 tsp cayenne
dash of salt and pepper
1/4 c toasted pine nuts

Put the kale, brussels sprouts, celery, and carrot into a large bowl. Mix the onion, mustard, vinegar, oil, cayenne, salt, and pepper into a smaller bowl. Mix well and let sit for 10-15 minutes, so the flavors meld. Pour over the kale mixture, and massage well with your hands for about five minutes. The kale will start to break down a bit. Toss in the pine nuts, and serve immediately or refrigerate for later.

The perfect side dish

Short on time? Need a quick and healthy vegetable dish with dinner? This is the perfect side dish alongside any meal. Plus you get a dose of antioxidant and immune-enhancing beta-carotene for the day.

Paprika roasted carrots
Preheat the oven to 375. Grab that bunch of carrots in your crisper. Wash and pat the carrots dry. Trim off the greens, but leave the top. Add to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Drizzle with a tablespoon or two of olive oil. Sprinkle with a healthy dose of sea salt, black pepper, chili pepper, regular paprika, and smoked paprika. Put into the oven and go about preparing the rest of your dinner. Bake until tender when pierced with a knife or about 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven and enjoy.

Horseradish lentils with red cabbage and leeks

Around our house, lentils are a go-to dish. I eat them over a big green salad or with a bowl of roasted veggies while the husband prefers them with his turkey sandwiches. When the weather is warmer, we eat them cold and in the winter months, we eat them warm. The contents of the salad normally depend on what I have in the fridge, but we've kept the dressing consistent lately. 

Josh had a lentil salad he couldn't stop talking about from a trip to Paris a few years ago. Needless to say I had to figure out what was in it. After much tinkering, we determined that it must be horseradish. The spiciness of the cruciferous vegetable mixed with tangy dijon mustard, lemon juice, and nutty walnut oil is irresistible.

You can use green, french or black lentils in this salad, but don't use pink lentils, since they become mushy when cooked. Save those for that dal or curry. I used store-bought horseradish, but you can easily make your own if you can get your hands on some horseradish root. It's really just a mixture of the root with water, salt, and vinegar.

Horseradish lentils with red cabbage and leeks

2 c lentils, cooked

1 tbsp olive oil or ghee

2 leeks, cleaned and sliced thinly

1 celery stalk, small dice

2 garlic cloves

1.5 c finely shredded red cabbage

1/4 c parsley, chopped

1 heaping tablespoon of horseradish

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp dijon mustard

3 tbsp walnut oil

salt + pepper to taste

Saute leeks and celery in olive oil over medium heat. Cook for about 5 minutes or until the vegetables have softened. Add the garlic cloves and a pinch of sea salt, cooking until fragrant, about a minute. Add the cabbage, cooking for about 5 minutes, or until the cabbage has softened a bit. Add your lentils to the pan and cook until warm. Remove from heat, add to a large mixing bowl along with the parsley. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients, and pour over the lentils. Mix well. 

Cranberry-ginger relish

As a kid, I remember lavish Thanksgiving meals that my mom labored over for days. Great attention was given, making sure it was just right. Green bean casserole, sweet potato souffle, buttery rolls, squash casserole, cornbread stuffing, smoked turkey (my dad's job), marinated carrots, cold and warm pumpkin pie. The only dish that wasn't homemade was the cranberry sauce. It came right out of a can, was sliced and served. It never seemed to belong on the table with the rest of the meal. Everyone would take a slice, but no one was going back for more.

A few years ago my mom changed that. She bought fresh cranberries and made a cranberry-orange relish that was quite delicious. We all raved about it and went back for seconds and thirds. Every year since then she makes that relish. 

Today I share my version of cranberry relish in honor of those many, many Thanksgiving meals that were made for me with love. Thanks mom and Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Cranberry-ginger relish

Adapted from Martha

1 bag fresh cranberries

juice of 1 orange

zest of 1/2 orange

3/4 c maple syrup

1 tablespoon ginger, grated

1 cinnamon stick

pinch of sea salt

2 tsp red wine vinegar

Add the cranberries, juice, zest, maple syrup, ginger, cinnamon stick and salt to a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Don't worry about the popping, the cranberries are supposed to do that. Reduce heat and simmer for another 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the vinegar. Cool and serve. You can make three days ahead and refrigerate until ready-to-eat. 

Raw beet salad with dill & walnuts

Everyone seems to go pumpkin crazy this time of year. But there's another vegetable that shows up at the farmers market that often gets overlooked. The humble beet. I know some of you might dislike beets, but please give them another try. Any beet lovers out there? I've mentioned this before, but it took me years to appreciate beets.

Beets are excellent for your health. They're great if you want to detox or cleanse which means they support a healthy liver. They also provide the body with beneficial antioxidants and phytonutrients.
I usually roast beets, but today I decided to grate them into a lovely raw salad. I also added apple, ginger, orange juice, balsamic and dill. It was a nice contrast eaten with a warm bowl of butternut squash soup.

Look at that beautiful, deep red color. You know that means it must be good for you. Oh and don't toss out the beet greens. Save them and cook like any other leafy green.

Raw beet salad with dill & walnuts

4 large red beets, peeled
1 golden delicious or gala apple, peeled
1.5 inch piece of ginger, peeled
1.5 T balsamic vinegar
1 T freshly squeezed orange juice
1 tsp cider vinegar (optional)
2 T walnut oil or olive oil
1 T dill, minced
1/2 tsp salt
dash of cracked pepper
Toasted or raw walnuts, to garnish

Grate the beets, apple and ginger (with the grate attachment of your food processor or a cheese grater). Add the next seven ingredients into a small jar (with lid). Screw on the lid and shake. Pour over the beets and mix well. Garnish with walnuts and serve.

Tomato-watermelon salad with feta

Hope you all had a great holiday weekend. I can't believe it's already July. That means the year is already half way over, and we're getting closer to getting married (!).

Here's what I whipped up for a Fourth of July potluck. This salad screams summer. I love the combination of tomatoes and watermelon, especially with fresh herbs and salty feta. A great seasonal salad and a nice change from the regular ol' green salad.

Like tomatoes, watermelon contains the amazing antioxidant, lycopene. Watermelon is also an excellent source of vitamin C. I love how refreshing watermelon is on hot and humid Carolina days (which is everyday lately).

Tomato-watermelon salad with feta
3 large ripe heirloom tomatoes
4 cups watermelon, cut into cubes
1 small cucumber, chopped
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
juice of 1 lime
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup of herbs (basil, mint, cilantro)
dash of sea salt & cracked pepper
Garnish with feta

Mix the tomatoes, watermelon and cucumber into a large bowl. Drizzle with balsamic, lime juice and olive oil. Toss in the herbs, salt and pepper. Mix well. Garnish with feta. Feel free to omit the feta and add avocado to make this vegan. Enjoy!