Zucchini and Cilantro Soup with Chile and Mint

from Deborah Madison's Local Flavors

1 poblano/pasilla or 2 anaheim chiles
3 zucchini, 10-12 ounces
1 bunch cilantro, about 2 cups in all (i used much less and it was still delicious)
1 large onion
3 tablespoons sunflower seed or olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped mint
2-3 corn tortillas
sea salt
4 cups vegetable or chicken stock (or water)
juice of 1 or 2 limes
sour cream or yogurt, optional

1. Roast the chile, peel, remove seeds, and chip coarsely. Quarter the zucchini lengthwise and chop into 1/2 inch pieces. Wash cilantr and chop. Slice the onion.

2. Heat half the oil in a soup pot over medium high heat, then add the onion, cilantro stems, zucchini, chile, and mint. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is limp and the zucchini is fairly soft, about 10 minutes. Tear one of the tortillas into pieces and add it to the vegetables.

3. Add 2 teaspoons salt and the water or stock and bring to a boil. Simmer until zucchini is completely soft, about 15 minutes. Add the remaining cilantro. Let cool, then puree until smooth. Season with salt and lime juice to taste.

4. Cut the remaining tortilla into skinny strips and heat the remaining oil in a skillet. When hot, add the tortillas and cook until crisp. Set them on paper towels to drain. Serve the soup garnished with a dollop or sour cream or yogurt and little mound of tortilla strips.

Ottolenghi Red Rice and Quinoa

from 101 Cookbooks
I made this tonight for dinner and it. was. awesome.

1/4 cup shelled pistachios
1 cup quinoa
1 cup red rice (see headnotes)
1 medium white onion, sliced
2/3 cup olive oil
grated zest and juice of one orange
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 garlic clove, crushed
4 spring onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup dried apricots, roughly chopped
2 handfuls of rocket (arugula)
salt and black pepper

Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Spread the pistachios out on a baking tray and toast for 8 minutes, until lightly colored. Remove from the oven, allow to cool slightly and then chop roughly. Set aside.

Fill two saucepans with salted water and bring to a boil. Simmer the quinoa in one for 12 - 14 minutes and the rice in the other for 20 minutes. Both should be tender but still have a bite. Drain in a sieve and spread out the two grains separately on flat trays to hasten the cooling down.

While the grains are cooking, saute the white onion in 4 tablespoons of the olive oil until golden brown. Leave to cool completely.

In a large mixing bowl combine the rice, quinoa, cookied onion and the remaining oil. Add all the rest of the ingredients, the taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve at room temperature.

Makes a large platter.

Thai Chicken Salad with Mango and Ginger

adapted from Cooking Light

Ingredients

Dressing:
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons Thai fish sauce
4 tablespoons brown sugar
teaspoon minced seeded Thai, hot red, or serrano chiles
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil

Salad:
12 ounces skinned, boned chicken breast
2 cups sliced peeled mango (about 2 mangoes)
1/4 cup matchstick-cut peeled fresh ginger
4 cups mixed salad greens
2/3 cup torn mint leaves

Preparation

To prepare the dressing, combine the first 6 ingredients in a bowl, and stir well with a whisk. Set dressing aside.

I used a stovetop griddle for the chicken- cut into large strips that will then get cut up later. Sear both sides, allow to cook through- 10 minutes or so - and sprinkle liberally with salt and black pepper. I also doused the chicken with a bit of fish sauce. Alternately, you could marinate it in a bit of the dressing.

Once chicken is cooked through, cut into shreds or smaller, bite-size slices. Toss with slicd mango, salad greens, mint, and ginger. Dress and serve.

Kale Slaw

I had some deliciously spicy kale slaw when I was up in Portland recently. I tried to recreate it at home:

a few big handfuls of curly kale, washed and chopped into bits
2-3 carrots, julienned

for the dressing:
olive oil
sesame oil
a splash of apple cider vinegar
chili flakes
cumin
coriander
a little squeeze of honey or agave nectar

mix it all together, and let sit for several hours before eating. It's best if you make it a day before you want to eat it.

I didn't have a lemon, but I think next time I'll use some lemon juice to balance out the honey.

Faux Coq au Vin

This is a quicker version of the French Classic. I peeked at Alton Brown's version on Food Network, and adapted, throwing out anything that took too long.

2 chicken thighs
flour
salt and pepper

1 small red onion, chopped
1 strip of bacon (I used pancetta)
3 cloves garlic
3 tsp tomato paste
about a cup of chicken broth
about a cup and a half of red wine (traditionally made with pinot noir - i used petite syrah)

pinch marjoram
pinch herbs de provence
small sprig rosemary
1 bay leaf

olive oil
1 tbsp butter
honey (optional)

Cover chicken thighs in salt and black pepper. Dredge in flour.

Heat olive oil in a cast iron. Cook onions until translucent.
Add pancetta.
Add chicken thighs, skin side down, and let brown- 2 minutes on each side.
Add garlic, tomato paste, herbs, and a bit of each of the liquids.

Cook on medium heat until reduced, and add more of the liquids and the butter.
Cover and let braise for about 20 minutes. Add the rest of the liquid after about 10 minutes.
When it was almost done, I added about a tablespoon of honey.

Serve with pasta. (Serves 2)

Thai Garlic Noodles

Melissa and I just made these noodles - I got the recipe from a friend at the chowhound picnic in the fall. The secret ingredient is the tianjin vegetable, which is preserved salted cabbage that comes in a lovely earthenware jar. You can buy it at the Asian market, and it really adds a lot to the dish. So does the entire head of garlic!

Tianjin vegetables

Garlic Noodles, Bamee Haeng (recipe from Kasma Loha-Unchit Clark)

1/2 cup peanut oil
1 head garlic, finely chopped
1 lb chinese thin noodles
1/4 cup tianjin vegetables
6 green onions
4 cups bean sprouts
3 tbs fish sauce
3 tsp sugar
cilantro
15 lettuce leaves
chopped peanuts
1 lb charsiew pork

Cook noodles. Drain and rinse.

Heat oil in wok. Fry the garlic until it starts to turn golden. Turn off heat, and drain off some of the oil. Add in all of the ingredients, and some chili flakes too if desired.

serve warm or at room temp.

Garlic noodles!

This recipe can be altered in many ways - we added some cabbage instead of lettuce, which was great, and we also added some green garlic. The fish sauce/sugar combo is important, so it would be hard to make this strictly vegetarian - but it would be great with some fried tofu instead of the pork.

These noodles taste awesome!

Pine Nut Rosemary Shortbread

from 101 Cookbooks
(I didn't have any lemons, so I left out the zest)

2 cups white whole-wheat flour (or unbleached all-purpose flour)
scant teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup (natural cane) sugar
zest of one lemon
2/3 cup pine nuts, toasted and loosely chopped
1 1/4 teaspoons fresh rosemary, finely chopped

Combine flour and salt in a small bowl and whisk to combine.

In a separate large bowl or stand mixer cream the butter until light and fluffy. Add the sugar and lemon zest and mix again, then add the flour mixture, nuts, and rosemary and mix until the dough goes just past the crumbly stage, and begins to really clump together (you don't want to over mix, but under mixing will make the dough seem a bit dry, which can make it difficult to handle). Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface. Knead the dough just once or twice to bring it together, then divide it into a ball and flatten into a disk 1 inch thick. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350F degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper of a Silpat mat. Roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut into whatever shapes you desire, and place on the prepared baking sheet. Sometimes I chill the dough in the freezer for another 10 minutes, it seems to help the cookies hold their shape - but you don't have to. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until the cookies are beginning to brown on the bottom. The baking time will vary depending on the size of the cookies, taking less time for smaller cookies.

Makes about 2 dozen small cookies.

Variation: use chopped raw or toasted walnuts and 1 tablespoon coarsely ground coffee in place of the lemon, pine nuts, and rosemary.