Garlicky Braised Rapini

Posted on August 1, 2012 by Salts Kitchen


When we were young, my brother and I often shared the same food but different parts: I liked the yolk and he liked the white, I ate the inside of the bread and he ate the outside, I liked the broccoli trunk and he liked the top of the tree. I still prefer the stalk, which is why sprouted broccoli, broccoli rabe or rapini (used interchangeably), or just really tender and fresh broccoli still taste so good to me. I can’t say I’m a fan of regular ol’ broccoli from the store, but there are so many ways we can spice it up that it’s not hard to see it as a canvas on which to create something new.

I braised these guys and threw them on top of brown rice. For an added bonus, I still have some really great lean lamb that The Tattooed Man gave me when he was cleaning out his freezer during a move. I cooked the lamb and froze the leftovers after he couldn’t make it and I couldn’t eat it all, and I’ve been defrosting a piece at a time for lunches here or there. Luckily, lamb is on the Elimination Diet so this is another great meal for the week. Add roast chicken, sausage, or leave it as is and you’ve got a great meal or a side. Tomorrow I’m adding Richardson’s Chicken Sausage to the greens for lunch.

Garlicky Braised Rapini
3 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil*
1/2 teaspoon ginger, chopped fine (optional)
3 teaspoons (about 4 cloves) garlic, sliced thinly
1 bunch broccoli raab/rapini
1-2 teaspoons wheat-free tamari

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet or pot over medium-heat. Cut the ends of the broccoli up the where the leaves start. Cut these stalks into 2-inch pieces and add to the skillet with the ginger (if using). Cook over medium-high heat for just about 2 minutes, stirring very infrequently. Add the sliced garlic and turn the heat down to low-medium.

Add the broccoli and partially cover for about 2-3 minutes, stir, and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Remove cover, add a teaspoon of tamari and cook until the greens and stalks are tender and wilted. Remove from heat and serve warm.

*You can also use sesame oil in place of olive oil.

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The Diet.

Posted on July 25, 2012 by Salts Kitchen

It started on a sunny Thursday at the bar: I went to a happy hour and had a delicious drink and a tasty sausage. The next day my Pa came to town and we had dinner starting at 5pm and ate for some hours. Meat. Wine. More meat. Butter. Sugar. Meat. Sugar. You get it. The next day looked like a lot more of that and the next. Then Sunday night to Franklin’s BBQ for an event. Then finally, no more events or meals planned. But the leftovers! Tons of lamb, leftover BBQ, leftovers at the office. Meat, meat, and more meat. Sugar overload. Drink more coffee.

I’m not big into “cleanses”: I am not a very good hungry person and well, I love food. The idea of a cleanse sounds great. But they’re not for everyone, I’ve learned that and I’m okay with that. But I needed something after this food fiesta. Some structure, some guidelines. And then my colleague told me about the Clean Cleanse. There are things you can buy, powders, guidelines and such but I went with the basic do-it-yourself at home version. I read all of the materials and love the idea. Basically, it’s the Elimination Diet with a smoothie for breakfast and another for dinner with a lunch as big or small as you’d like that sticks to a strict Elimination Diet. It’s not about starving or counting calories. It’s about ridding your body of toxins and starting over. I’m not on a hunt to actually eliminate anything from my diet, but it sure would be nice to give my body a boost and a fresh start.

Since I already know how to eat gluten and dairy free, it hasn’t been the hugest leap for me. I am completely addicted to my breakfast smoothies though. Cherries, almond butter, almond milk, fruit, good stuff. The biggest challenge has been to not snack throughout the day, to make myself get up an extra 5 minutes early to make my smoothie, and to not pick as I go. The first couple of days off caffeine was tough. Going out with friends over the weekend and not drinking was pretty easy, but watching them eat BBQ wasn’t my favorite. My favorite HAS been not overeating or feeling exhausted, not snacking just for the sake of snacking, and quite honestly, it hasn’t been all that tough.

Don’t get me wrong though, I’ve stuck strictly to the Elimination Diet, but if I know I’m going out late or about to be around people eating good food, I’ve made my lunch become dinner so I’m eating a full meal before I go out. The following few recipes (until I choose otherwise!) are all part of the Clean Cleanse and Elimination Diet . That also means they’re all paleo, gluten free, dairy free, soy free, sugar-free, corn free, you get the picture… Just know it doesn’t mean flavor-free.

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Cherry, You Delicious Minx

Posted on July 19, 2012 by Salts Kitchen

Cherries. Cherries. Cherries. I eat them all day in the summertime. I let the pile of pits mound up in front me. Sometimes I think about moving to a place where cherries are in season all year-long. A magical place. Does such a place exist? Can I invent it?

After handful after handful of cherries, sometimes, you just need to figure some other cherry treats out. My friend Paola made brandied cherries and created a mixed cocktail with soda water and I must say I was inspired.

So I went to check it out for myself. I settled on calvados as my liquor of choice (to be fair, I was in a fancy liquor store downtown with my dad, my niece, and nephew, so I went for the most reasonably priced and most easily accessible choice before anyone broke anything or started crying). Calvados is an apple-based brandy from Normandy and runs around 40% proof. A splash does wonders in baking and here’s something to do with a whole heap of it and all those cherries!

I’ve included my 2 favorite creations below: one very basic and one spiced up. They both make for a lovely cocktail: the cherry infused liquor as well as the cherries themselves. Make a mixed drink of it, add soda water, add to mulled wine, or make something up completely. Or cook the alcohol off and serve it as a topping if you so desire (over ice cream!).

Please note I did not mention pitting the cherries. This is up to you. If you DO pit them, do so over the sugar and water so as to catch all cherry juice.

Cherries in Brandy
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
juice of 1/2 a lemon
3/4 cup calvados
1/2 pound cherries (about 2-3 cups)

In a small saucepan, heat the sugar and water over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Let cool slightly. Add the lemon juice, the calvados, and then the cherries. When completely cooled, pour the mixture into a jar or container to keep in your fridge. Leave the cherries and liquor to macerate for at least 24 hours. These should stay good in your fridge for at least a couple of weeks.

Spiced Cherries in Brandy
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
peel of 1 lemon
6-8 cardamom pods, smashed
2-inch piece of ginger, sliced and bruised
1-2 cinnamon sticks
4 whole peppercorns
pinch of salt
3/4 cup calvados
1/2 pound cherries (2-3 cups)

Place sugar, water, lemon peel, cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, peppercorns, and salt in a small saucepan and simmer over low heat for about 10 minutes. Mix sporadically until the sugar is dissolved. Remove pan from heat and add the calvados and then the cherries. Let sit until room temperature then pour into an airtight container and store in your fridge.

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Watermelon, Tomato, and Feta Salad

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Salts Kitchen


Watermelons are amazing right now. All the melons at the farmers’ markets are. I love Two Happy Children for their watermelons, both yellow and red, as well as amazing white and orange fleshed melons, and Farmer John of Engel Farms has a variety of melons too and he calls each one something different every time. And while Lightsey Farms only has a small stock of them, they are as unreal as their figs and peaches. I could eat melon all day long.

There are a plethora of variations of this watermelon salad: with arugula, with chili, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, all watermelon, with tomatoes, without tomatoes, with sliced onion, without… you get the picture. Here is a basic version of one of my favorite summertime salads. Mix it up, change it up, it’s a keeper.

Watermelon, Tomato, Feta, and Herb Salad
4 cups watermelon
1-1 1/2 cup tomatoes (cherry tomatoes or larger tomatoes)
1/4 cup feta cheese
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
handful each of mint and/or basil
sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
optional: 1 small serrano pepper, seeds removed, roughly chopped

Cut the watermelon into large bite-sized chunks. Place in a large serving bowl. If using cherry tomatoes, slice in half. If using larger tomatoes (make sure you have a sweet and juicy variety), slice into quarters or eighths and place on top and around the watermelon.

Crumble the feta all over the top. Pour the vinegar and oil over the fruit (add more to taste). Tear the herbs into small pieces and sprinkle over the salad. Finally add the salt, pepper, and chili to taste. Serve as is or toss before serving. If you choose to mix the salad, know that it isn’t nearly as pretty of a presentation.

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Peachy Peach and Blueberry Crisp

Posted on July 16, 2012 by Salts Kitchen

It’s still peach season! This may be the best ever peach season I’ve experienced in Texas. Possibly. I made this at the start of peach season a few weeks back and the peaches are even better now. I love that I barely use any sugar, as the peaches are so sweet. This topping did well with peaches and blueberries, peaches and cherries, and peaches all on their own and it held up nicely the next day too. Enjoy!

Peach Crisp
1.5-2 pounds peaches (about 5-6 cups)
1 cup blueberries, optional
1/2 cup hazelnuts
1/2 cup almonds
1/2 cup oat flour
1 3/4 cup oats (divided into 1/2 cup and 1 1/4 cup)
1/2 cup sugar
pinch of salt
1 1/4 cup oats
3/4 cup sliced almonds
1/4 cup agave

Preheat oven to 350. To prepare the peaches: bring a pot of water to boil. Add the peaches but don’t crowd them, so you may have to do this in batches. Boil just for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Remove peaches to a strainer. When cool enough to handle, peel the peaches with your fingers. The skin should come off nice and easy. Remove pit and slice the peaches into quarters or eighths. Place the peaches and the blueberries in a 9×13 glass baking dish and set aside.

To prepare the topping, combine the nuts, oat flour, and 1/2 cup of the oats in the food processor. Blend until fine. Add the sugar and salt and blend.

In a separate bowl, combine the remaining oats, almond slices, and agave. Mix with a fork or your hands. Add the dry mixture to the wet. Spread the topping out evenly all over the fruit. This makes enough topping to cover it pretty completely. Bake for 40-45 minutes. Top with whipped cream, or yogurt with honey as I did here.

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It’s a Cracker.

Posted on July 12, 2012 by Salts Kitchen


Hosting a supper-club with another individual was both more stressful and less stressful. It took more prep time, but much less time on the day of. With more time on my hands that morning, I threw in a couple more small components. This recipe for almond crackers is a delight. The recipe comes from Elana’s Pantry and she has a few different versions of gluten free crackers. I barely changed what she had, so check it out here.

I should tell you that I did a couple of my own variations and my most favorite version was half way through baking I brushed with a bit of olive oil and sprinkled with malden sea salt. I felt it added a bit more flavor and crunch to the final product. Also, instead of cutting the crackers to be perfectly uniform, I tore them apart while warm. I like a more rustic cracker sometimes and that’s what this achieved.

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Chocolate Passion Fruit Mousse

Posted on July 9, 2012 by Salts Kitchen

Still off the sugar-wagon but I wanted to bring desserts to the 4th of July barbeque. I started with an idea and a few ingredients and had no idea if this would turn out or just be soup. I followed my own instructions for a second go-round just to make sure it was as tasty and successful as I’d thought. It was. And I’d do it again.

This is a very rich and decadent mousse. It is not very sweet. If you prefer sweeter, use more semi-sweet chocolate over the bittersweet, or add 2 more tablespoons honey.

Chocolate Passion Fruit Mousse
2 cups coconut milk or cream (1 can)
1 Tablespoon honey
pinch of salt
4 Tablespoons arrowroot powder
3 Tablespoons cocoa powder
1 cup passion fruit juice
6.5 ounces chocolate, chopped (combination of semi and bittersweet)

Place 1 cup coconut milk, the honey, and the salt in a pot and bring to a low boil. In a separate bowl, combine the other cup of milk, arrowroot powder, and cocoa powder. Whisk until smooth-ish. Over low heat, slowly whisk this mixture into the pot on the stove. Stir constantly.

When smooth and starting to thicken (about 2 minutes), slowly whisk in the juice. When that’s completely smooth, turn the heat off. Add the chocolate and stir until the chocolate has melted and the mousse is a smooth consistency. The mixture should coat the spoon with a thick layer.

Pour into a serving dish and cover with saran wrap. Chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours. Once it has chilled, the mousse will firm up significantly.

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Seared Peach and Grilled Chicken Salad

Posted on July 5, 2012 by Salts Kitchen


I’m back off the sugar truck and have been craving salads. Maybe that has something to do with the 2 nights in a row of fries for dinner and other foods that should not be consumed as a meal (or this often). At farmers’ market this weekend, the chef demonstration involved a grilled chicken. Long story short, it didn’t get sampled and let’s just say someone has an entire grilled cut up chicken in their fridge. Hint: it’s me.

I’ve been digging peach season even more than usual this year. So I figured hey- peaches, chickens, herbs… sounds like the fixings for a salad. This isn’t a recipe so much as a shout out to salad. To herbs. To peaches. To chickens. You don’t make friends with salad. Well, sometimes you do.

To sear peaches, cut 1 or 2 freestone peaches in half. Heat a cast iron skillet medium-high. Drizzle 1 teaspoon olive oil in the pan. Place the peaches, sliced side down, in the skillet. Don’t touch for about 2 minutes. Check it, if it’s charred enough, you’re done. If not, flip them back over for another 2 minutes. The peach does not need to be cooked through, just blackened enough to release some extra delicious sugar.

To assemble: place a big honkin’ few handfuls of lettuce in a large bowl. Shred some of the white and dark meat of the grilled chicken into the bowl. Sprinkle a handful of sliced almonds on top. Place the peach in the center. Chop a variety of seasonal herbs over the top, I used mint, basil, and thai basil. Splash some red wine vinegar and extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of good salt and pepper, and you’re good to go.

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Almond Peach Torte with Lavender and Honey Créme Fraiche

Posted on July 2, 2012 by Salts Kitchen


I experimented with this torte recipe over and over (and over) until I found it to be the perfect texture, taste, crumble, size, sweetness, and it’s beautiful… oh it’s so good. I’m rather proud of myself for this one. I experimented with a variety of fruits as well as fruitless. Peaches were my favorite and figs made for a close second. The plums in Texas are too hard to slice easily, but if you’ve got larger plums in your town, they’d work well. Just note that the dough puffs up a bit over the fruit, so bigger slices are necessary. I didn’t cut the figs at all so that you can still see the beautiful fig shape. I could eat this for breakfast everyday. But I won’t.

I also explored the topping for quite some time. I made an ice cream version, a whipped cream version… and then fell in love with this simple dollop of delight. The lavender, honey, and créme fraiche each hold their own in this topping and the flavors blend well together. It’s not very sweet, so feel free to sweeten it up more.

Although this may sound fancy as all get-up, it is a snap in the kitchen and makes for a very beautiful rustic Italian dessert. Try it. You won’t be disappointed.

Rustic Almond and Peach Torte
3-4 medium-sized ripe peaches (1 pound)
1 1/4 cup (6 ounces) almonds
1/3 (35 grams) cup glutinous/sweet rice flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 scant cup (7 ounces) sugar
1/2 cup (4 ounces) unsalted butter or butter substitute, room temperature
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs

Preheat the oven to 350. Butter an 11-12 inch removable bottom tart pan and set aside. Peel peaches: bring a small pot of water to boil. Add the peaches and boil for about 1 minute. Remove from the water. Let cool and then peel, the skin should come off easily with your fingertips. Set aside.

In a food processor, pulse the almonds until finely ground. Add the rice flour and baking powder. Add sugar and then the butter and blend. Add salt, extracts, eggs and blend thoroughly.

Pour the batter into the tart pan and smooth with a spatula. Slice the peaches in half and remove pits. If using freestone peaches, this should be easy to do. Slice each half into quarters or thirds, depending on their size. Place the peach slices into the batter starting at the center and creating circles around the center piece. Press peach slices down very lightly. If using figs, do not press much or the figs will get buried.

Sprinkle sliced almonds on top for an extra crunch and for aesthetics. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes. Toothpick should come out clean in the center.

Lavender and Honey Créme Fraiche
1/2 cup almond milk
3 sprigs culinary lavender
2 Tablespoons honey
2 cups creme fraiche or Green Valley Organics Sour Cream*
1 Tablespoon powdered sugar
pinch of salt

Heat the almond milk over low heat. When warm, add the lavender and honey. Turn heat to medium, stir until the mixture is hot. Turn the heat off and let seep for about 30 minutes. Discard the lavender (I like it VERY subtle).

Place the créme fraiche in a bowl and whisk in the milk mixture. Add the powdered sugar and salt and whisk. Chill. It will firm up, if you like it firmer, use less milk. This keeps in the fridge for a week.

*This sour cream is not vegan, it’s still all organic but the lactose has been removed. It’s the only substitute for sour cream that I find to be amazing. I never tell anyone it’s lactose free and no one guesses. And no one is paying me to say this.

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Giuliano’s Potatoes with a Twist (or 4)

Posted on June 30, 2012 by Salts Kitchen

Oh potatoes. I can’t say I generally choose potatoes first. But sometimes, just sometimes, there’s a potato dish that really and truly hits the spot. It’s potato season and I saw some beautiful fingerlings at the farmers’ markets over the last few weeks. Lindsey, my co-host for the supper club, and I decided a good room-temperature potato dish would round out the meal nicely. But what to make?

When I was in high school my mother went to Italy. While there, she took a cooking class with cookbook author and instructor, Giuliano Bugialli. Apparently, during a class, he made a “snack” for the students of vinegary potatoes and my mother recreated it for us when she got home. I have since recreated it in a million ways oh so many times.

This version varies greatly from the original but the biggest take-away, and the thing that has everyone saying “huh?” is that I slice the potatoes and then boil them in very diluted red wine vinegar. Here’s the version I made at supper-club for folks and I’d say it went over well. This is a very “slap-dash” recipe, so measurements are not exact.

Giuliano’s Potatoes with a Twist
8 cups potatoes (approximately 2-3 pounds)*
1-2 cup red wine vinegar
3-4 bay leaves
6 Tablespoons garlic, chopped
1/8 cup capers
1-2 Tablespoons anchovies or paste
3/4 cup parsley, chopped roughly
1/4 cup basil (optional), chopped roughly
pinch of chili flakes
salt

Bring a large pot of vinegar, bay leaves, salt and water to boil. Use 1 cup red wine vinegar to 4-5 cups of water. With a mandolin or in a food processor (or by hand if you’re very patient), slice the potatoes thinly. Add to the boiling water as soon as sliced. Boil JUST until the potatoes are barely cooked. They will be a tiny bit crisp still, but not undercooked. Drain and set aside.

Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in a large skillet. Add half of the garlic, anchovies, and capers and saute until tender and fragrant. Add the potatoes, chili flakes, the remaining garlic and saute for about 3-5 minutes, until ingredients are all incorporated. Add the herbs and toss. Serve immediately or at room temperature.

*Because potatoes are in season and I chose fingerlings, the skin was very tender. I did not bother peeling them in this version. The vinegar in the water also keeps the peel from separating when boiled.

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