Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Our breakfasts are pretty routine and simple, most days are yogurt, fruit and granola, or occasionally oatmeal.  Once in while we have waffles, although lately they seem to be a good dinner option.  And on Sunday's we usually have muffins, alternating though a few standards like banana, pumpkin, or cranberry.  A couple of weeks ago, I decided we needed something different.  Something a bit more decadent.  Since my lemon tree is back to bearing some great (and huge) fruit after a lean year, I thought Lemon Poppy Seed.  

Freakishly Large Lemons

And not the nasty lemon poppy seed muffins that are sticky, overly sweet and pre-wrapped at free hotel breakfasts (if we can remember back to those days), but bright and balanced.  And enough poppy seeds to make passing a drug test a concern.  So I googled recipes .. many were clearly lacking enough lemon and/or poppy seeds, or were more like a cake, needing to cream butter and sugar.   Then I stumbled on one from Sally's Baking Addiction that seemed close.. but it was Orange Lemon (and will someday try it when I have oranges around too).  So I made a few modifications in part to make if more like how I make all my muffins (I do this before coffee, so it needs to be something I can practically do in my sleep).  And it came out good.. very good. 

Wet Ingredients

Yes, the lemons are big

Dry Ingredients

Add dry to the wet

And Muffins!

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

 

2 cups all-purpose flour (can use about 30% whole wheat if you like)

1/3 cup oat bran

3 Tablespoons poppy seeds

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

2/3 cup granulated sugar

½ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons lemon zest

3/4 cup buttermilk (or milk/yogurt combo)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Almond slivers, for sprinkling

Coarse sugar, for sprinkling 

Preheat oven to 400°F or 380°F convection bake. Spray a 12-count muffin pan with nonstick spray. Melt the butter in a small bowl (about 1 minute in the microwave) so it has time to cool. 

 

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, poppy seeds, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together until thoroughly mixed. Set aside.

 

In a large bowl, whisk the egg and granulated sugar, then whisk in melted butter, then lemon juice, lemon zest, milk, and vanilla. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix together until no pockets of flour remain. 

 

Spoon the batter into the muffin pan, filling each about 3/4 of the way full. Sprinkle with coarse sugar and a few almond slivers. Bake for about 22 minutes, muffins should be browned and springy to the touch when done.   

Preserved Lemons

As many of you know, I have a large old lemon tree in my backyard, and always on the lookout for things to do with lemons.  Lots of lemons.  You can only drink so much lemonade.  So I decided to try making preserved lemons, which are a traditional food in North Africa (think a Moroccan tagine)... and when you have a giant jar of them in your refrigerator (not small expensive jars from a gourmet store) you start experimenting.  And now I get cravings for them, even though I have not tried making tagine yet!

Traditionally, to make preserved lemons, you "almost" quarter the lemons, then stuff with salt, then stuff the lemons in a jar.  This seems like a lot of bother.  Then I stumbled on this recipe where you just quarter the lemons... Eureka!  Actually, the recipe was for Meyer Lemons, but works just fine on Eureka lemons.  Next I am going to try with limes (and do a smaller batch).   Here is my short version of the recipe, click through the link for more details.

Preserved Lemons

15 lemons: quarter 12, the remaining 3 will be juiced
1 ½ cups Diamond Kosher Salt

Mix lemon quarters and salt in a large bowl.  Let sit at room temperature about 1 hour.
Tightly pack lemon quarters into a large 2 quart jar.  Use lemon juice to just cover (note – I use pickle weights to help hold down the lemons).

Let the jar sit at room temperature for about 7 days until lemon rinds are glossy and look translucent all the way through, then refrigerate.    They will be good for many months, at about a year they start getting mushy.
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So, what do you do with them?  The first key is to rinse off each piece when you are ready to use it, and remove the pulp... you just use the lemon rind (the pulp is pretty mushy and super salty, although there are some recipes that call for it), and usually dice into small pieces.  They have a bright, briny pop, and use them like you might use capers or olives.  You can add to most any pasta or grain salad, I also like them with green salads that have fish in them.  I sometimes throw them into the Chickpea and Vegetable Saute.   They go great on roasted vegetables.  I haven't tried this recipe yet, but it looks good:  Roasted Carrots with Lemon.

If you want to do something a bit more fancy (and unusual), try this recipe, inspired by El Farol: Tapas and Spanish Cuisine by Chef James Campbell Caruso (one of those cookbooks where every recipe I have tried is really good):

Preserved Lemon Goat Cheese Spread

1 large head of garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
8 ounces soft goat cheese (such as Silver Goat), at room temperature
1 tablespoon chopped preserved lemons (just the rind part)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Roast the garlic:   Preheat oven to 350F (can do in toaster oven).  Cut off the top of the garlic. Set the garlic in the center of a square of foil, drizzle with olive oil so that oil runs into the cloves.  Bunch (scrunch) the foil around the garlic head, leaving a bit of an opening then bake for 35 – 45 minutes until cloves are nice and soft.   Let cool.

Mix the remaining ingredients in a small bowl with a wooden spoon.  Slip the garlic cloves out of the skin and add to the bowl.  Mash them a bit on the edge of the bowl (you may or may not want to add the whole head depending on how big it is) then stir together.    Refrigerate the mixture for at least an hour to let the flavors meld, but let sit at room temperature for 20 minutes or so before serving so that is spreads more easily.

Serve on warm bread, crackers, or crudité.
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And last, if you want to go the trendy route with kale and a home-fermented food, try this salad, which was inspired by my favorite salad at our local chop house, Stake. While they do have good steaks, we are much more likely to go there and just have a flatbread and salad, or a roasted vegetable outside on the balcony... along with a nice bottle of wine.
 

Kale Salad with Almonds and Feta

Per person for a main dish salad: 

¼ cup almonds – either slivered blanched almonds or coarsely chopped whole almonds

Handful of kale ~ 4 leaves, thick ribs removed and cut into thin slices (1/4 inch or so)

Handful of cabbage – cut into ¼ slices, each about an inch or two long

1 quarter of a preserved lemon (peel only), diced

1 ounce feta cheese, crumbled

1 small carrot (optional) – 1/8 inch julienne or shredded

¼ cup chickpeas (optional) – plain or roasted

¼ of an avocado (optional) – diced.

Olive oil

Lemon juice – about ½ a lemon

Pepper

Salt

Roast almonds:  place on foil on a pan and toast in a toaster oven until light brown.  Alternatively, roast in a small skillet over medium heat, tossing frequently.  Or start with roasted almonds.

Massage kale leaves with a tablespoon or so of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt.  Let sit while you chop the remaining vegetables.  

Add the cabbage, preserved lemon, cheese and optional ingredients.  Add the almonds (they should be slightly cooled). Toss.  Add the lemon juice and a good grind of pepper, toss some more.  If the salad looks dry, add another bit of olive oil.  Taste to determine if more salt is needed (the preserved lemon and feta are pretty salty, so more salt may not be needed).  Serve in a handmade bowl.
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Butterflied Grilled Chicken

I have always considered myself to have good mechanical skills.  I learned to take apart and grease a sewing machine when I was a kid.  I can read schematics, put together Ikea furniture.  I spent a couple years of my engineering career working on precision molds and die-sets.  But when it comes to working on things that really get your hands dirty, like cars or bikes, I have virtually no experience. There was always a brother, or husband, or mechanic who did these things. I never doubted I could do them, but self confidence only goes so far.  I recently bought a bike off of Craigslist.  I spent $45. It pretty much worked, except the front wheel didn't spin freely.  I did a little googling and determined the front hub needed to be repacked.  Then some more googling for video's on how to repack the front hub, which all looked doable.  My biggest fear is that the bolt to get the wheel off would be rusted on, but it came right off. More YouTube video's searched to figure out out to release the brake to get the wheel off.  Everything came apart as described, the bearings were in good shape, a little bit of cussing to get the ball bearings back, a short phone consult with my husband about grease, it went back together and it works!  The moral of this story is that You Tube is an amazing learning tool.  You can learn things that maybe you are too embarrassed to admit you don't know or don't have anyone around to show you.  And I'm telling you this story because there are lots of cooking techniques you can learn from YouTube.  Like how to butterfly a chicken.  

This recipe is a riff on "chicken under a brick" recipe, I have just skipped the brick.  It still comes out great. And I have included the instructions to put orange slices under the breast, but half the time I forget to do it, and the chicken still comes out good.   And most the time, I don't have all three citrus types around, so I will just use two kinds (although one is *always* lemon).

Grilled Citrus Chicken

1 large orange
Juice from 1 lemon
Juice from 1 lime  
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh oregano
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon paprika or ½ teaspoon mild chili powder
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt

1 whole chicken, preferably 4 pounds, but this works for a typical 5 or 5 ½ lb bird.

Cut 6 thin slices from the orange.  Put into the refrigerator for later.  Make the marinade:  Juice the rest of the orange into a small bowl.  Add the other juices, oil, garlic, herbs and spices and stir. 

Butterfly the chicken:  With the breast side down, grab the chicken tail (aka the Pope’s Nose).  With scissors, cut up the side of the backbone.  It’s easy until you get to the shoulder bone, find the joint to get through.  Repeat on the other side of the backbone.    Now, cut out the breast bone. This is trickier, and not absolutely necessary.  Use a small knife to cut the cartilage at the top of breast bone, then use your fingers to pull out (check out the video to see how this is done).  If you are so inclined, put the backbone, neck, and giblets into a freezer bag and save to make broth at some later date. Remove the big chucks of fat (and if you are a real fanatic, you can render these down to make schmaltz). 

Put the chicken in a gallon zip-loc bag, add the marinade and distribute to cover all around.  Let chill for 2 – 5 hours. 

Start your grill; get to about medium (350 - 400F). Pull the chicken out of the bag, Carefully loosen the skin on the breast and insert an orange slice or two between the breast and skin.  Do the same on the thighs.  When the grill is hot, oil the grill racks (I like to put oil on a paper towel, then using tongs, rub the oily towel on the grill), then put on the chicken on the grill skin side down.  Turn the burners down to low (goal to maintain about a 350F or so, and not catch the bird on fire).  Cook for 15 or 20 minutes, until the skin is nice and brown.  Using a spatula and tongs, carefully flip over.  Cook for another 20 to 35 minutes until done (this is about 155 – 160F in the thickest parts of the bird). Let rest for 10 minutes or so, then carve and eat.

Let them eat cake!

My mom asked me a while back, is a little sugar bad for you? My opinion… a little sugar is OK. The problem is that it’s too easy to eat a lot of sugar, and not even realize it. In the US, the average adult gets 13% of their calories from sugar, kids get 16%. How can this be?

Here's how:  Chris (yes, I'm making this all up), is an engineer, trying to be healthy and train for a ½ marathon. Chris works long days, but makes a point to avoid the free soda’s at work, donuts and other sweets that show up in meetings, and hits the gym after work at least 3 days a week. A typical day … Breakfast was a bowl of granola (and since granola is pretty dense, only a ½ cup, way less than the normal serving size of normal cereal), a ½ cup of blueberries and vanilla soy milk. And coffee, black. Lunch was brought in to a meeting at work (budgets are tight, so it was from Subway), so she had a Black Forest Ham Sandwich plus Sunchips. Chris was good and didn’t have a brownie or a Coke, but instead an apple brought from home for dessert. Mid-afternoon (knowing it would be well after 5 before getting to the gym), she had a strawberry yogurt, one of the "healthy" snacks from the vending machine.  On the way home after the gym (now 7pm) Chris thought Chinese food would be good as she hadn’t had much in the way of vegetables, so a quick stop at Pei Wei was made for chicken lettuce wraps and Kung Pao chicken. It was a big serving, so she only had about ¾ of it. Not a bad day, right? Total calories for the day was about 2200 (about right for her size and activity level). But (and this could mean a big gut), the added sugar this one day is about 90 grams.. that’s almost ½ a cup of white sugar.  This is not counting the sugar in the fruit, or the lactose sugar in the milk.  It comes to about 16% of the total calories. This is not a little sugar, and this is avoiding some big and easy adders (had she had the coke and brownie, that could have doubled the amount of sugar for the day. And while there is on-going debate on the role of saturated fats, meats, salt, and fewer vegetables in our diets, every study about “modern” diets includes shows that huge additions of simple refined carbohydrates like sugar is the constant factor in increased rates of tooth decay, diabetes, and heart disease.  National Geographic has recently done a great article on sugar, here's the link.

Unfortunately, it’s a lot of work to get food that is low in sugar. You need to read labels, check restaurant web sites or use other calorie counters (I used MyFitnessPal to get these numbers for the about story). It’s helpful to cook food yourself so you know what is going into it. You need to ignore the advertising that makes sugar filled foods sound healthy.

I cook most of my food, and carefully watch things like bread and make sure I buy “unsweetened” versions of things like yogurt and soy milk. But I don’t completely shun sugar, because I think a little is OK, at least for me. Most days it’s a little granola on my morning yogurt, and often a square of dark chocolate for dessert. And once in a while, I’ll go all out and make cake!

This is my current favorite cake… Lemon Olive Oil Pound Cake. It’s inspired by a recipe in Olive and Oranges, by Sara Jenkins and Mindy Fox (a pretty fabulous cookbook). I like this because its simple and I almost always have the ingredients around to make it. Although I don’t normally have crème fraiche around, I do recommend getting some (Trader Joes has it) for serving. And only 2 tablespoons of added sugar per serving.

Lemon Olive Oil Pound Cake

Serves 8

1 cup flour
½ cup white whole wheat flour (or just use more regular flour)
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1 cup of sugar
¾ cup plain low-fat yogurt
Finely grated zest of 3 lemons
¾ cups extra virgin olive oil

For serving (optional)
Crème Fraiche
Fresh berries (add a teaspoon of sugar and let sit for an hour or so to help release the juices)

Heat oven to 325F (or 300F convection bake). Very lightly oil a 9” cake pan (or 9” deep dish pie pan). Cut a round of parchment paper to fit into the bottom, stick it down with the oil, and add a touch more oil to the top.

Mix together the dry ingredients in a small bowl.

Beat eggs and sugar in a large bowl on high speed for 5 minutes. The mixture will get pale and thick. Add yogurt and zest, mix until blended. Then add oil in a steady stream with the mixer on medium speed. Add dry ingredients and mix on low until just blended.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 40 to 45 minutes, cake should be golden and center springs back to the touch. Let cool for a couple of minutes in the pan, then put on rack to cool completely.

Serving suggestion… Top with a smear of crème fraiche and a spoonful of berries.

Main Dish Salads

I love salads, and have big ones for lunch 3 or 4 days a week.  I don’t try to be Goldilocks, but have a few ideas about what a proper big salad should be:

1. It needs to fill me up.  Even if I have been swimming. But I don’t want to be chewing on it all afternoon.
2. The texture needs to be just right.
3. They need to be tasty.

For me, a combination of protein, carbs and fat is best for filling me up.  So I include a high protein food, like some left-over chicken, grilled fish, or hard boiled eggs.   If I don’t happen to have any of those around, I might open a can of beans or fish (like salmon or sardines), or just add some nuts or cheese.   Beans do double duty as carbs.  I also like boiled potatoes or leftover brown rice.  But most often I just have some whole grain crackers (like Rye Crisp or Akwana) on the side.  My dressing always has some olive oil in it.  Nuts or cheese also do double duty to add some fatty filling goodness.  I also really, really like avocados in my salad.  This is the real reason I spent so much time in San Diego – a variety of avocados all year long, that have been properly handled so they get ripe before they rot!

The vegetables (and a sharp knife) are key to get a nice balance of crisp, crunchy, tender, and soft.  Hard raw vegetables, like carrots, and radishes give crunch – but should be thinly sliced so they are not too chewy.   I like cucumbers quartered, and in thick slices, so they don’t clump together. Some vegetables really need to be cooked before going into a salad, like broccoli, cauliflower, or beets. It’s a great way to use up dibs and dabs of things.    And lettuce should be in fork size pieces.   Soft (and creamy) can come from beans, potatoes, avocados, or cheese.. but not too much, otherwise you get glop.

I want something that punches up the flavor:  a few olives, or feta cheese.  A nice bit of roast chicken.  A bunch of great tomatoes. Some herbs.  Anchovies.  Left over cubes of roasted sweet potatoes.    Salads are a great way to use up leftovers, but don’t include everything that might be lurking in the fridge.  One or two proteins, one or two flavor punches, not more than 4 or 5 veggies.    Last, make sure it’s properly dressed.  Lately I have been guilty of just using lemon juice (generally a 1/3 to ½ a lemon), some olive oil, plus salt and pepper added directly to the salad.  When I don’t have lemons, I’ll make vinaigrette or for an occasional change of pace, a creamy dressing.   I have started not putting salt into the dressing – instead, just sprinkling a little salt on the lettuce just before dressing.  You can more easily tailor how much to use (not much salt is needed if you have feta cheese or anther salty ingredient).  And I think you get more salt flavor from less salt this way.   I also like my salads tossed so even with a little dressing, every bite is coated.  Then Goldilocks likes to put it on a plate and not just eat it from the bowl. 

How to not follow a recipe

I’m notorious for not following recipes.  Even my own.   I can’t help but mess with things, even perfectly good things. Sometimes it works, others not.  I roasted a chicken last week... It was small and I was late getting it into the oven. So I figured why follow the recipe I posted a week or two ago?  I'll just cook on 400 convection for the whole time!  Needless to say, in 50 minutes I had an overcooked chicken.  But still, I’m always on the lookout for an easier way to do something, or figure out how to make something with what I happen to have on hand.  A good example is a beet salad I made for lunch a couple of Sunday’s ago.  

But first, let me digress.  I got a great book for Christmas, called Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work.  It teaches you how to use all the cool toys in your kitchen, as well as chemistry behind certain foods and additives.  One of the cool ideas was to use your vacuum sealer for blanching vegetables.  The traditional method to blanch vegetables is to bring a large volume of salted water to boil, briefly cook (say 3-5 minutes for green beans), then remove the vegetable and put in an ice water bath.  Big pot + colander + big bowl = big mess.  Their idea is to put the vegetable in a vacuum bag, boil (using a pot that is just big enough) in bag, cool in ice bath.  The pot and bowl don’t really even get dirty, they just have water in them.  This hit me as a great way to cook beets for a salad, as the typical roasting process is messy and time consuming:  trim and scrub them, wrap in foil, roast in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour, cool, then peel and get beet juice everywhere.  They are quite tasty, but it takes a couple of hours.  I have tried peeling, quartering, and steaming in the microwave, but this makes a pink foam that escapes from the covered dish and gets all over.  You can also boil the beets, but it seems that you lose all the red goodness… especially if you drain and use an ice bath to quickly chill to use in a salad.     So… I quartered some small beets, lightly salted, put into a vacuum bag in a single layer, boiled in a covered pot just big enough to hold them for about 20 minutes, pulled out, ran under some cold water (since I was using right away I skipped the ice bath).  Beets ready to go into a salad in under a ½ hour!  And if you didn’t want to use them right away, not problem, they will keep for a few days sealed in the bag in the refrigerator!

So, back to the main story: How to Not Follow a Recipe.   I have a perfectly good recipe for beet salad, adopted from a recipe from a White House chef.  But it called for roasting the beets, plus fresh herbs I didn’t have, and feta cheese that I didn’t have.  And raw onions, which always seem to sharp in a salad.  First were the processes changes:  boil-in-bag beets (huge time saver) and the onions got a brief ice water soak to take out some of the bite.  I changed up the ingredients too:  used just lemon juice (I have lots of lemons) instead of lemon juice and vinegar.  If I didn’t have lemons, I would have used just the white wine vinegar.  I used the herbs that I happened to have on hand:  fresh mint, skipped the the parsley and cilantro (I would recommend having at least the mint or cilantro, they both have a strong flavor).  I did use the dried oregano it called for (one of the few dry herbs I keep around), but thyme or Italian seasoning would would too, and the cumin, a spice that pairs well with beets, but something I don't normally think of.   I used Romaine lettuce instead of spinach (its what I had on hand, pretty much any green would work), and goat cheese instead of feta (again, its what I had…  and pretty much my go-to cheeses for any salad are goat or feta). And I changed the ratio of beets to greens to make a main dish salad instead of a side salad.  The result?  A pretty good Sunday lunch.  Had I stuck to the recipe, I wouldn’t  have done it.  Was it as good?  Maybe not quite, but certainly better than just another PB&J sandwich!  

Main Dish Beet Salad

Serves 2.  

½ pound beets (any kind), peeled and cut into bite size pieces

½ red onion thinly sliced

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoon fresh lemon juice or white wine vinegar

1 small clove garlic, minced

1 tablespoon (each) chopped mint and / or cilantro leaves

1 teaspoon dried oregano, thyme, or Italian seasoning (or 1 T fresh)

1 teaspoon ground cumin

¼ cup kalamata black olives

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 cups romaine or spinach, shredded

1/3 cup crumbled goat or feta cheese

1. Bring a medium pot of water to boil.  Lightly salt the beets.  Place in a single layer in vacuum bag and seal.  Place in boiling water (the bag will puff up), cover the pot if you want.  Turn bag over after 10 minutes or so.  After 20 minutes, the beets should be cooked.

2. Remove the beets from the pot, and run under cold water.  If desired, put into ice bath.

3. While the beets are cooking, put the onion in a small bowl with a few ice cube and fill with cool water.
  

4. Mix oil, vinegar or lemon juice, garlic, herbs, and cumin into a large bowl and stir together.  Drain the onions and add to the bowl along with olives and beets.  Toss.  Add the greens and toss again.

5. To serve, divide the beet salad onto 2 plates and sprinkle the servings with equal amounts of goat or feta cheese.

When life gives you lemons, make salad

Sorry to leave my faithful readers (both of you) hanging for the continuation of the side salad saga: Creations from Citrus. Our lemon tree is full (again) of nicely ripe lemons, so lemons are used pretty liberally right now at my house. It would be a huge adjustment for me to have to cook without having a tree to pluck lemons whenever I need. Almost as bad as not having an herb garden. 

I have published some of my citrus-based side salads before, like Mediterranean Couscous Salad, Vegetable Rice Salad, Greek Salad, and Corn and Bean Salad. Interesting tidbit: lemon juice based dressings are common in Middle Eastern food, because they historically don’t drink alcohol… so no wine, no vinegar, no vinaigrette based dressings.

In general, the dressings are 4 parts olive oil to 3 parts lemon (or lime) juice plus herbs. Personally, I like lemons and the acid bite, so I typically do more like a 1:1 ratio. And if you are using Meyer lemons, I would reverse the ratio, 3:4 (more lemon juice) because they just are not as sour.  Lemons pair wonderfully with many different herbs (basil, parsley, thyme, dill, oregano, mint) and will keep them from turning brown.

Beet salads just have a spectacular color, especially if you use red beets. It is a bit of a pain to cook them, I try to do ahead if I’m baking something else, just refrigerate after they have cooled, and they will hold for a day or so.

Beet and Orange Salad

Serves 4

1 pound gold and/or red beets
2 oranges
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
½ a small red onion (or sweet white onion) thinly sliced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2-4 tablespoons chopped herbs, such as mint, dill, parley, or basil
Salt, Pepper
1 oz goat cheese

Cook the beets: Scrub and trim the beets. Halve if large. Put in a shallow glass baking dish, add a ½ inch of water and a drizzle of olive oil. Cover and cook for about 45 minutes in a 400F oven or until they are tender. Drain. When they are cool enough to handle, peel. (note – you can also peel them first then roast).

Prepare the oranges (start when the beets come out of the oven): Zest one of the oranges, put zest into bowl large enough to make the salad. Section the oranges by first cutting the peel off the top and bottom, then down the sides to expose the sections. With a small knife, cut out each section and put into the bowl. Catch the juice in the same bowl, and when the sections are out, squeeze any remaining juice from the membranes into the bowl. Add the lemon juice and onion slices plus a bit of salt to the oranges and let sit for 10 minutes.

Add the beets, olive oil, herbs and freshly ground pepper; stir to combine. Taste and add more salt or lemon juice if needed. Serve with goat cheese crumbles on top.

Have a happy and safe 4th of July!

Lemonade

As I am now the proud owner of an old and large lemon tree, expect to see more recipes that call for lemons. As an added benefit, the tree is in California, near the ocean, where the lemons can just hang on the tree all year as opposed to Arizona, where lemons turn to mush when it hits 100F.

I'm just not used to drinking really sweet stuff: I have weened myself off any kind of soda (and for that matter, rarely drink juice). But I like lemonade, and have adjusted the typical recipes (which typically call for a cup or more of sugar) to one that fits my taste and my lemons.

Lemonade

1 ¼ cups lemon juice *

¼ cup sugar **

Optional: a few thin slices of lemon

Dissolve sugar in a ½ cup or so of boiling water. Add some ice cubes to cool off. Put lemon juice, sugar syrup, and enough water and ice to fill a 2 quart container. Garnish glasses or pitcher with lemon slices

* Suspect that if you are using fully ripe Meyer lemons, you should use a bit more, and if more sour store-bought lemons, a little less.

** at this sugar level, there is a little less than 10g of sugar per 12 ounces, compared to 33g for your basic cola. Still not something I will guzzle by the gallon, but very nice treat.

New Feature: Eating seasonally in Phoenix -- ideas for this week's CSA box

I am going to try to do a weekly update on my Love Grows Farm CSA box , with ideas and recipes to use the weeks bounty.  Plus identify unusual items. I am hoping that other customers of Love Grows Farm and other Phoenix-area CSA participants will read, comment, and share their ideas as well.  Please don’t be shy!  I think we can all use some inspiration; it seems that most of the food magazines and web sites are talking about making stew, braised short ribs and bread, not how to use wonderful tomatoes and greens!  Not to mention what to do with the pile of citrus we seem to be getting from friends, family and our own tree.
Last week’s box included salad greens, spinach, arugula, green onions, kohlrabi, lemons and oranges, and of course, tomatoes.

New is the box this week was kohlrabi, something I had never had before.  Kohlrabi is German for “cabbage turnip”, and is a member of the cabbage family.   They can be eaten raw or cooked.  Most recipes I saw called just to use the bulb part (trimmed and peeled), but the leave can also be eaten.   I ate mine raw, in a salad (I didn’t use the leaves, it was mid week by the time I got too them and they were wilted.  It’s similar to very tender broccoli stems.   I’m hoping to get more, to try cooked as well.   I think the leaves would go good in soup.
My recipe for this week (and inspiration to try to do this weekly) was a salad I made on Sunday for friends.  It was quite wonderful..  I wish I had remembered a picture (so much for my New Year’s resolution to take more pictures).
I actually used 4 things from the box for this one simple salad – greens, scallions (green onions), lemons and oranges.  I served on my new stainless steel platter I got for Christmas, and it looked marvelous as well.

Orange Salad 

Serves 4

1/3 cup walnuts (slightly broken up)
Two oranges
Large bowl of greens (guess about 8 cups, or 1 bag of baby greens)
Lemon – oil dressing (see below)

Toast walnuts. (I use the toaster oven – place on a piece of foil on tray, and 1 cycle through toast, or you can do in a dry skillet over medium-high heat, will take just a few minutes… whichever way, keep an eye on them - you want a light toast, not too brown).

Prepare the oranges:  cut of the ends, then cut off the peel.  You can either cut out the segments, or for a faster prep, just slice.  Remove any seeds.

Assemble:  toss the greens with the dressing, it should only take a few tablespoons.  Place greens on a platter.  Arrange orange segments (or slices) over top, and sprinkle walnuts over top.  Serve immediately.

Lemon – Oil DressingI adopted this from a Julia Child recipe (from the Julia and Jacques cookbook, unfortunately, its out of print)

1 tablespoon minced scallion
Zest from 1 small orange (optional)
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 - 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
¼ teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/3 to ½ cup excellent olive oil

Put scallions, mustard, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a small bowl and whisk until blended (or use immersion blender).  Pour in the oil slowly, droplets at first, then in a thin stream, whisking constantly until the oil has been completely emulsified and the dressing has thickened.  Taste and adjust the seasonings.  Best used immediately,  store remainder in the refrigerator for a few days at most.

Swimming makes you hungry

Swimming is certainly the rage this week with the Olympics, Michael Phelps, and the new world records with the new Speedo suits.  It's great motivation to keep me going.  Plus I keep  watching to figure out how out things like the body whip (the dolphin like swimming that the swimmers do as they come off the wall).  My main motivater has been my swim class leader Kymmie, who makes it fun.  She has a huge amount of positive energy that she brings to class, plus is really, really a good swimmer.  And Tuesday made us swim with cups on our head (the red plastic kind you would use at a keg party - I'm thinking there needs to be a drinking party game involved).  The other fun thing is that you need to eat more (assuming your goal is to not lose weight).  According to the press, Michael Phelps eats 12,000 calories per day.  The challenge is to not just starting eating a bunch of crap.  But Kymmie has helped here too, with several recipes on good for you foods to help keep you going. 

Disclaimer:  every recipe I have put on my web is something that I have cooked, usually many many times.  These are from Kymmie, and I have not tried them yet.   I have added my thoughts, and I will add comments when I make them to how they come out (and be suspicious if I make you chocolate pudding).   Enjoy!

Cowboy Caviar

Deb’s take:  This is real similar to my corn and bean salad (my salad has some olive oil but no acocados, I suspect this is a good trade).  Unless you are cooking for a crowd, I would suggest making just 1/3 of the recipe (using just black beans).  I would eat this straight up without the tortilla chips.

Juice of 1 lime
1/2 cup of red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp hot sauce (Tobasco)
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic
1/4 tsp pepper
3/4 tsp salt
3 firm, ripe avocados, diced into cubes
1 (15oz) can each: white beans, black beans, kidney beans; rinsed and drained
3 cups frozen corn; thawed
1 cup green onions, thinly sliced
1 cup fresh cilantro; chopped
1 lb pear tomatoes; halved
Tortilla chips; Scoops are best

Mix together lime juice, vinegar, hot sauce, oil, garlic, pepper and salt.  Add avocado; mix gently with lime juice mixture.  Add remaining ingredients, put in refridgerator for several hours.   Serve with Scoops

Cauliflower Lemon Antipasto Salad

This looks yummy.  There are couple of interesting techniques.  One is marinating the tofu in the dressing, which will give it great flavor.  The other is putting boiling water on the broccoli and cauliflower – which should help remove the “rawness” without really cooking.   I will definitely be trying this out.

4 oz  extra firm tofu
1 cup  broccoli florets
1 head cauliflower, cut in florets
1 small lemon, thinly sliced
2 cups  chick-peas
1 small sweet red, green, and yellow peppers, sliced
Half  seedless cucumber, chunks
2 cups  cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup  black Kalamata olives
3 oz   fresh mozzarella cheese, cubed
2 tbsp  fresh parsley, chopped
2 oz  feta cheese, crumbled
Dressing
¼ cup  olive oil
1/8 cup red wine or white balsamic vinegar
1  green onion, minced
2-3  cloves garlic, minced
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp  Dijon mustard
2 tsp  each fresh basil, oregano, parsley
Pinch  sea salt and pepper

Dressing:  In a bowl, whisk together all ingredients, gradually adding oil.

Cut tofu into 1-1/2 inch long strips, about ¼ inch wide; add to dressing. Let stand at room temperature for 1 hour.

In a bowl, pour boiling water over broccoli, cauliflower and lemon slices; let stand for 8 minutes. Drain well and place in salad bowl along with remaining ingredients. Add tofu and dressing; toss gently. Cover and refrigerate, stirring occasionally, for at least 1 hour or until chilled.

Nut Butter Protein Energy Balls

This looks like a way to make your own energy bars.  I’m not crazy about all of the added vitamins that most of the bars have (I think I taste them), plus they tend to be expensive.  
Update: There are a great alternative. I have made with chocolate chips, as well as chocolate chips and dried cranberries.  I have not used the protein powder, but Kymmie says the Ruth's is good and not highly processed, and available at Sprouts.

1 cup raw almond, cashew or peanut butter
3 cups organic old fashioned oats
1-2 Tblsp of protein powder (Ruth's Raw Hemp/Flax seed)
1/2 cup maple syrup, honey or agave nectar
1 tsp vanilla extract
cinnamon
Optional additions
1/2 cup raisins (or dried cranberries)
1/3-1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/4-1/2 cup raw cacoa bits (or chocolate chips)
Combine all ingredients together; take a tablespoon and form into balls. Refrigerate.

Raw donut holes

These look good, I’m a huge fan of dates. However, I am not a big fan of coconut of the sweetened dried coconut (probably relating to those pink Hostess things), but sometimes I’m OK with the unsweetened coconut.

1 3/4 cup raw almonds, soaked overnight in water
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 cups dried pineapples, chopped  (the mini ones at Trader Joe’s)
2 cups pitted dates
1/3 cup plus 1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

Process first 3 ingredients in food processor until fine powder, slowly add pineapple and dates. Place in a large bowl and add 1/3c coconut. Form into small balls and roll in 1/4c remaining coconut.

CHOCOLADO PUDDING 

This one I’m just going to have to try… 

~3-4 servings

2-3 ripe avocados
7 ½ Tbs unsweetened organic cocoa (chocolate) powder (Dagoba, etc.)
½ cup agave nectar OR pure maple syrup
splash vanilla extract
pinch sea salt
dash cinnamon

Peel the ripe avocados and blend them in a Cuisinart/food processor. Add chocolate/cocoa powder, vanilla, sea salt and cinnamon. Blend. Add agave or maple syrup and adjust the amount for sweetness. Keep blending in your Cuisinart until creamy with a pudding-like consistency.

Eat or refrigerate, serve w/ fresh berries.

Lemons!

It seems that spring has sprung.  The wildflowers have come (and almost gone), we have great greens in the farmers market, along with good tomatoes (OK, so the seasons are a bit odd compared to most the world).  It’s also the time when everyone with lemon trees are trying to unload lemons.  If you are fortunate enough to have friends, neighbors, or anonymous people at work leaving bags of lemons around, grab some while you can.  You can use in salads and dips (see some recipes from last spring), but if you have more, try some lemon bars.  This is based on a recipe from epicurious.com, but based on the many reviewer comments, I increased the amount of filling, and added the zest.  They go together pretty quickly. Make this and you will be very popular - there's much too much to eat it all yourself!

Lemon Bars

Shortbread base:
1 ½ sticks unsalted butter
2 cups flour
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ teaspoon salt

Topping:6 eggs
2 to 2 ¼ cup sugar
Zest (finely grated) from 3-4 lemons
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons lemon juice (4 to 6 lemons)
½ cup flour
¼ cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350F.  Line bottom and sides of 9x13 pan with parchment paper. (Easiest to use 2 pieces, one lengthwise and one cross wise, OK if corners are not quite covered.)
Cut butter into ½-inch pieces. In food processor, process all shortbread ingredients until mixture begins to form small lumps. Sprinkle mixture into prepared pan and with a metal spatula press evenly onto bottom.  Bake shortbread until golden, about 20 minutes. 

While shortbread is baking, prepare topping:  whisk together eggs, granulated sugar and lemon zest in a large bowl until well combined. Stir in lemon juice and flour.   Pour topping over the hot shortbread, turn down oven to 300F, and bake for about 30 minutes.  Topping should be set (i.e. not jiggle if you gently shake the pan… cook a few more minutes if it does).  Cool completely in the pan, then keep in the refrigerator (covered).  To serve: you should be able to pop the entire bar out of the pan (loosen the corners if needed, consider these the cook’s share).  Place on cutting board, and cut into squares.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.