The Beat on Beets

Posted on June 6, 2011 by Salts Kitchen

Beautiful Red Beets


I’m not sure when beets went from “eh, okay if they’re on my plate” to “mmm, let’s grab some beets for dinner.” Beets are abundant here in Central Texas and as much as I love roasted beets and beets on my salad, sometimes you just want to mix it up a little more. I had some friends over for some Borscht. Cold Beet Soup. Cold borscht? I have no idea what to call it, but I enjoyed it. I tested this recipe out on friends and I got mostly, yumms, but a few “I’m just not sure how I feel about cold soup”. I know how I feel about it, and I know I’d make this again. Over and over again. I ate it for lunch several days in a row and it just got better and better. And if you’re wondering, no you can’t speed up the process no matter how hard you try. Let it cool.

Cold Beet Soup with Green Apple and Yogurt Topping
4 Large beets, peeled and cut into chunks
1 small onion, chopped
2 stalks celery
1/8 c sugar (or less)
splash of red wine/red wine vinegar (I had old red wine in the fridge so used a smidge)
pinch of salt and pepper to taste

Green Apple Topping
Greek Yogurt
1 Green Apple, peeled and grated
1 cucumber, peeled and finely diced
juice of 1 lime
few sprigs of dill, chopped

Bring a large pot of water to a boil (about 8-10 cups- or enough to cover all beets). Add beets and boil until beets are tender, about 10-15 minutes. Drain beets and RESERVE the water. Saute the onion and celery until translucent and just tender. Saute over low heat and mix here and there so nothing browns.

Add the beets to the onions and continue to cook over low heat. Add 4 cups of the reserved beet juice and 1 cup of water. Add 2 T of sugar and a splash of red wine vinegar. Cover the pot and cook down over low for a few minutes. When all is very tender, blend all ingredients. I use my handy dandy hand-held immersion blender. Chill soup in the fridge for at least 8 hours. I was impatient, and stuck it in the freezer with a bunch of ice cubes. Don’t do that.

To make the topping, combine chopped cucumber, apple, juice, and dill. Let sit in the fridge until soup is ready. Taste the soup for sugar, salt, pepper, and red wine vinegar. When ready to serve, ladle soup into a bowl, top with a dollop of yogurt, and then the apple topping. Serve very chilled.

Done and done

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Skillet Baby New Potatoes, Green Beans, and Parsley

Posted on May 18, 2011 by Salts Kitchen

I’m not a huge potato fan. Really. I don’t like mashed potatoes and even as a child I felt that they were generally a waste of space on my Thanksgiving plate. Or maybe just the receptacle for the tasty tasty gravy. However, that all goes out the window when I have fresh and delicious potatoes. As I’ve mentioned here before, freshly dug up potatoes are a whole different tuber from those purchased at the store. Weiser Family Farms in Southern California have the best ever. Really, ever. Purple Peruvians, German Butterballs, fingerlings, oh they are all so good.

Potatoes are also very much a comfort food, no? My parents were in a drunk driving accident many years ago (the other car was the drunken car I should point out) and I stocked the house during their recovery at home. When Alex Weiser saw me coming, he loaded me up with all varieties of potatoes and then took me around to several other farmers and suggested they “give” me some produce to aid in my parents’ recovery. I’ll take it. My dad’s heart surgery last year- again Alex loaded me up with German Butterballs knowing that these are his very favorite too. Well now I’m getting all nostalgic. Point is, you can’t beat a good potato.

While I can’t fly to LA every time I want Alex’s potatoes, I CAN get them straight from the earth at Green Gate Farms. And oh they really are so good. The potatoes leftover from the potato salad and the nicoise salad, got chopped up for an afternoon snack. Just an FYI: parsley, capers, and anchovy are delicious together. I used them on that artichoke dish some weeks ago, and again here in a different way.


Skillet Baby New Potatoes, Green Beans, and Parsley

8 baby new potatoes, cubed
optional: 1-2 green onions, sliced thin
15-20 green beans, cut in bit sized pieces
3-4 T parsley, chopped
1 T anchovy paste
1 T capers, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
optional: mushrooms (chantrelles, oyster, or morrels would be delicious)

Put 1 T olive oil in the skillet and heat over medium flame. Add the cubed potatoes and green onion and cook for 8-10 minutes over medium heat, stirring just every couple of minutes (leave them be for minutes at a time so they get a little browned).

Add the green beans and cook all for another 2-4 more minutes. Push the veggies to the side and add 1 T olive oil and dissolve the anchovies in that oil.

Add everything else and turn the flame to low, and cook everything together, stirring here and there for 3-5 minutes.

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World’s Best Peanut Butter Cookies

Posted on May 9, 2011 by Salts Kitchen

pb cookies

No, I don’t mean the best for gluten free, I simply and truly and really mean the best. Better than a Nutter Butter from Grandma’s cupboard, better than Diddy Riese in Westwood, just the best. They also have very few ingredients and are so very simple to make. They are always a pleasant surprise, they freeze well, and they travel well. They come out differently according to which peanut butter you use (organic, sweetened, etc). This recipe seems to be word of mouth around the gluten free world, although I hear it slightly differently. This is my favorite way:

Peanut Butter Cookies
Makes 20-24 cookies
1 cup peanut butter
1 scant cup sugar (I use organic cane sugar, do NOT use turbinado, or anything with a lot of texture) plus 2 TBSP for coating
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 350. Line a tray with parchment paper. With a fork, mix together all ingredients. Roll into balls about 1-in in diameter. Place approximately 2 inches apart on cookie sheet. Dip a fork in the extra sugar and press cookies lightly in a crisscross. Bake for 8-10 minutes.

Note that these can be made slightly bigger than 1-inch, but don’t get too big or they’ll break apart.

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Stuffed Crookneck Squash

Posted on May 5, 2011 by Salts Kitchen

Quinoa Stuffed Crooknecks

I do love a good crookneck. Actually, to be honest, they’re not my favorite. I had a ton in my fridge last week and roasted a few with herbs and that was tasty, but really I wanted something where the squash was not necessarily the star of the show. So I stuffed them. I used whatever I had in the house and a few scraps that were on their last leg and I thoroughly enjoyed this. I didn’t know what to do with the dandelion greens as they were a little too bitter on their own for me, and the chard was on its way out… so, stuffed squash!

Crooknecks and Quinoa Stuffing
1 cup quinoa
2 carrots, diced
1 onion, diced
2 green onions, diced
1/2 bunch swiss chard or other mild green, chopped
1/4-1/2 bunch dandelion greens or other bitter green, chopped
2 T parsley
raw cheese from Dos Lunas (my new favorite and easy-to-digest cheese)

Cook the quinoa according to instructions. I use half veggie broth and half water. Set aside. Saute the carrots, onion, and green onion until onions are just translucent and the carrots have just a little crunch to them. Add the greens and saute until just wilted. Add quinoa to the pan with the veggies and mix it up. Taste for salt, pepper, and potentially a splash of extra virgin olive oil.

Stuffing

While the vegetables are cooking, prepare the squash. Wash and cut off both ends. Slice in half and scoop out the seeds with a spoon.

hollowing out the crooknecks


Preheat the oven to 350 and lightly brush the crooknecks with olive oil. Stuff the squash with the quinoa stuffing and then sprinkle grated dos lunas raw milk cheese on top. This is my new favorite discovery. Elise and her cousin Xavier help her father run the raw cheese booth at the SFC Farmers’ Market at Sunset Valley at the Triangle. She was so convinced that I too could eat this raw cheese without a stomach issue that she gave me a chunk to try. I took it home and ate it slowly. I sure did enjoy it and while I still eat it slowly, I have bought many a piece since that day.

Cover the baking dish with tin foil and bake at 350 for 30 minutes, or until the squash is a little tender but not mushy. Remove the tin foil and bake for another 10-15 minutes at 400. The stuffing will crisp up a bit.

Ready for Baking

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Nicoise Salad

Posted on May 2, 2011 by Salts Kitchen

So I know this guy who volunteers at Green Gate Farm every Saturday. This week he asked me to make him potato salad for a party so I said, “sure if you bring me the potatoes.” So he did. A ton. And a few green beans for kicks. I made the potato salad (soon to be posted) and put aside a few extra potatoes. When I saw those beautiful new potatoes and lovely green beans straight from the ground I decided dinner should be something refreshing to really highlight those flavors. We so rarely get this treat that it would be a shame to do much to them and mask the earthy flavor of a freshly harvested potato.

I had a ton of lettuce and micro-greens left from Jo my salad pusher at the farmers’ market; I had the green beans and potatoes; I had parsley in the house and I went from there. I decided I needed, needed, Nicoise Salad. I was only missing the tuna. My potato supplier, also commonly known here as Mr G (aka Lieutenant Jackass), volunteered to pick up a slab of fish in exchange for eating the salad when it was ready (which is kind of awesome since he supplied the main ingredients anyway). So, a huge slab of yellowfin later I was ready to make the salad. Mr G seared the tuna and all I had to do was prep the rest. This is a super simple and tasty main course salad as long as all the ingredients are in season. I was lucky enough to have the beans and potatoes dug up that morning thanks to Mr G and the rest just fell into place. Perfect for a hot spring day.

Nicoise Salad
3 farm fresh eggs
6 baby new potatoes, cut in half or quarters
1 handful kalamata olives
15-20 green beans, cleaned and ends pinched off
tomatoes, quartered if you have them
Tuna (canned can do in a pinch)
mixed greens
micro-greens if you have them

Anchovy, Caper, Parsley Vinaigrette
2 T parsley, finely chopped
1-2 T capers
2 tsp anchovy paste or 2-3 anchovy fillets finely chopped
1 tsp dijon mustard
olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
salt and pepper to taste

Hard boil the eggs. I like them still soft in the yolk so I: put the eggs in the water, bring the water to a boil, turn the water off and cover; leave them in the pot for 10 minutes, strain and put them in cold water until ready to peel. Just a side note: the fresher the eggs the harder they will be to peel. I always use the last of a carton for boiling.

Cut potatoes in half or quarters depending on their size and boil until tender but not too soft. Add green beans for the last 1-2 minutes of boiling. Strain everything. When cool, cut the green beans into smaller chunks. And let sit.

Sear the tuna by putting a little salt and oil on both sides and putting it on medium-high heat in a skillet. Cook on both sides until just brown on the outside. While the tuna is cooking, add capers to the skillet and let them get a little crispy while you cook the tuna. While letting the tuna cool, make the vinaigrette.

Put all ingredients (except the oil), including the fried capers, in a small bowl and whisk. Pour extra virgin olive oil into bowl while whisking until you have the consistency you like for vinaigrette (a couple of tablespoons?). Let the dressing sit while you put together the salad and slice the tuna.

Parsley, anchovy, caper vinaigrette

Place all mixed greens and micro-greens in a large bowl. Place all of the ingredients on top of the lettuce. Slice the tuna and add that to the top as well. Pour dressing on, toss, add salt and pepper to taste, and enjoy.

Done

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Roasted Brussels Sprouts everyone will love

Posted on April 29, 2011 by Salts Kitchen


Brussels Sprouts are a food I simply didn’t like until fairly recently. Yes, I’d had them prepared well. Yes, I’d had them straight from the farmers. No, I still did not like them. Then about 4 years ago, my then boyfriend’s then roommate made some for his dinner. I was intrigued. I tasted them. They were not good. BUT I realized they were not good because he had not made them well, NOT because the underlying taste was grody (sorry Keith). Suddenly I had a mission: make brussels sprouts and like them.

Really, I don’t know why they suddenly sounded appealing, but once I started I couldn’t go back. Mr G wouldn’t eat them while I experimented, so I found friends (Pam and Liz especially) that would try them with me and tell me what they thought. I made them for potlucks, bookclub, basically anytime I knew Pam and Liz would be there to try them. I made them with pancetta and onions, hot peppers and olive oil, bacon and feta. Braised, roasted, boiled, mashed, whole.

For Passover this year I wanted to go simple to please the masses (my niece Delfina told me they were the best brussels sprouts ever) so I roasted these plain and simple and used a few tricks my mom has taught me since I started liking these guys.

*First of all, ALWAYS get them from the farmers’ market. They are supremely better than at the store.
*If you’re not going to cut them in half, let them sit in a bath of cold water, critters and dirt will seep out slowly (see picture below).
*If you want more flavor to seep in or are in a hurry, par-boil them first.
*If they’re truly fresh from the market, there will be little to trim (if any).

So I do this differently every time (in a skillet v parboiled v long roasted). For this way, I soaked the sprouts in a big pot of ice water for about 25 minutes. I had 2 large plastic containers of them total.

Preheat the oven to 400. Then strain sprouts. Boil a large pot of salted water and boil brussels sprouts for about 2-5 minutes. They should not be soft. Strain sprouts and toss in 2 T olive oil, a hefty sprinkle of salt (1 tsp), 1 t balsamic vinegar and 5-10 whole garlic cloves (skin on) in a pyrex glass baking dish. Roast in the oven for about 20 minutes. Toss in another 1 T of balsamic vinegar and mix, and return to the oven until the sprouts are nice and crisped on the outside, about another 5-10 minutes.

Thank you Pam and Liz for helping me perfect these delightful sprouts and solidify my love for them all season long.

If you are not boiling them first, put them in at 400 for approx 45 minutes, stirring once in the middle.

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Coconut Custard Tart (with strawberries)

Posted on April 27, 2011 by Salts Kitchen

Passover just ended and what a gluten-free delight that was! Somehow this holiday was the worst to me growing up. Maybe it had something to do with the gefilte fish. Maybe something to do with the prayers that never ended while we attempted to be satiated by sucking on salty parsley or niblets of matzoh and drinking down cups of hideously sweet grape juice. Now though, without the gluten, I’m pretty much kosher for Passover all year but I can’t have the matzoh. Alas, no matzoh brei.

We had a nice dinner at my house this year and my sister made the brisket (we bought 20 pounds from Richardson’s at the Farmers’ Market). I made a few things as well but I think my favorite was indeed the dessert, so I’m starting with that. I really wanted another almond coconut crust and I wanted to further experiment with the one I’d created in February for Tom’s Cherry Pie.

Then Saturday, we had the Green Easter Egg Hunt at the Farmers’ Market and kids could find cascarones and coupons for 1 free strawberry. The best part? When I went to ask the strawberry farmer how it went, he said “we have a flat left of washed strawberries, want em”? Yes sir I took them off his hands. I decided to make a custard with those strawberries (and strawberry sauce and sorbet, soon to come). It took awhile to find something I could adapt for my own, but I found Jam’s Coconut Custard in Pumpkin recipe and decided to work with that as it was naturally gluten and dairy free.

I attempted to arrange the strawberries in a star on the crust, but I didn’t press them down hard enough and I put a ton of custard over them so you couldn’t see them well enough. I’d DEFINITELY do this recipe again. Ooh, also I had some extra custard since I doubled the recipe and I had some leftover white rice. I put rice in a pyrex and poured the remaining custard to cover and baked. It was the best breakfast a girl could ask for.

Almond Coconut Crust (take II)
1 cup blanched almond flour (or buy blanched almonds and grind them in the food processor yourself)
1/2 cup coconut flour
2 Tbsp sugar
3 tsp sweet rice flour
5 Tbsp butter
1/2 tsp vanilla

Blend almonds in cuisinart until they are a fine powder. Add the other dry ingredients and blend until mixed. Add butter and vanilla and cuisinart until just blended. Press into a 9 in pyrex pie pan and put in the freezer for about 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 and par-bake for 10 minutes.

Pre-baked crust

Coconut Custard
1 cup thick coconut cream
1 cup cane juice sugar (any organic brand would do) I felt this a little too sweet, so I’d lessen the amount next time
5 eggs

Heat the coconut cream. When it’s hot, add the sugar and stir until dissolved. Let cool to room temperature (you can arrange the strawberries as described below while waiting for coconut to cool). Beat the eggs and mix into the cream mixture. Strain the mixture through a fine wire mesh colander to smooth out the bubbles.

Quarter or halve strawberries and arrange them on the crust (cut side down) in whatever design you prefer. Press lightly into the crust. Pour custard over strawberries, pressing down any strawberries that float to the surface. Bake in the oven at 325 covered with tin foil for about 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 20-25 minutes or until a knife comes out clean and the custard has puffed up a bit and doesn’t jiggle. This custard is so worth it!

I didn't get a great shot since we were busy eating it...

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Chocolate Pudding to please them all

Posted on April 22, 2011 by Salts Kitchen

The idea of tofu instead of something does NOT sound so appealing to me. Tofu for vegan mayo, tofu to make sauces, tofu to make fake cheese. I don’t know, it just goes along the same lines as the hippy granola-ey line of food that is okay sometimes but I don’t want to be typecast for my healthy and/or GF way of life.

But then… Mark Bittman wrote a recipe for the New York Times in 2009 for Mexican Chocolate Pudding. My world changed. Wait, that’s a lie. First, I made his recipe with an immersion blender and it was choppy and odd and I figured that’s what happens when you use tofu instead of real milk. Then I tried it again with a cuisinart (yes, that’s what it called for in the first place). And then I made it again. And again. The original recipe calls for cinnamon and chili powder and other such spices. I mixed it up. I did it plain. I did it with orange zest and toasted pistachios on top. I thoroughly enjoy this recipe. It is my “go-to” when I have to create a dessert that looks great, is super simple, and pleases everyone with all the food issues human-kind now comes with to a party.

I’ve made variations of this as pie filling, renamed it “mousse” to sound fancier, made it with roasted bananas for chocolate banana cream pie, and this week I made it for my vegan intern’s birthday with espresso and toasted almonds.

Vegan Chocolate Pudding
16 oz silken tofu (firm or extra firm- or if you’re doubling it- try 1 soft and 1 extra firm)*
8 oz bittersweet chocolate
3/4 c. boiling water
3/4 c sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 t instant espresso, rum, orange juice etc (optional)
topping choices: crushed pistachios, toasted almonds, orange zest, peanuts and bananas (it’s really good I swear), fleur de sel, you get the picture.

Melt chocolate and set aside. Pour boiling water over sugar and mix with a spoon until dissolved. If using espresso, add this to the boiling water too. If using juice or alcohol, take away 2 teaspoons of the water. Blend tofu in the food processor until smooth, add all other ingredients and puree. Scrape out into individual ramekins or in 1 serving bowl. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving. Add topping just before serving.

"intern holding mousse"

*It’s very important that you use silken. I’ve experimented with regular ol’ tofu and to me it tastes too vegetabley-based as opposed to sweet and delicious.

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Nutella-Cream Cheese Frosting

Posted on April 18, 2011 by Salts Kitchen

I could eat a bowl of this frosting. Well, maybe not really but it was quite tasty. I think it go well on a more delicate cake next time since it’s really rich and creamy. Also, I was concerned at how soft it was so I added 4 oz of melted chocolate. Then after being in the fridge over night it was actually very solid. I had to microwave it for just about 10 seconds so I could mix it up to frost the cake. Next time, I’ll try it without the melted chocolate, and I think the consistency would still be pretty perfect. There is a non-nutella brand out there that is dairy free. It’s delightful. It’s up to you if you want a softer frosting or hard. We refrigerated the whole cake before it was time to serve and it was the consistency of a hard buttercream. Yum.

1/2 c nutella (8 oz)
2.5 T powdered sugar (less or more depending on your sweet tooth)
1/4 c cream cheese
1/4 c butter
1 t vanilla
4 oz melted bittersweet chocolate (optional)

Blend butter and cream cheese until soft, add nutella and vanilla and beat. Add powdered sugar until it’s sweet enough for you. Fold in chocolate if you’re going to use the chocolate.

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Flourless Nutella Cake

Posted on April 18, 2011 by Salts Kitchen

We had a birthday in the office and I volunteer/have been volunteered to be in charge of desserts for such occasions. I wanted to experiment with something new and figured it had been awhile since I’d made a cake. I glanced at several GF and non GF recipes and came up with this one. The base is similar to the almond butter brownies from Elana’s Pantry. I love those brownies but wanted it to be cakier. This was tasty, very very dense and definitely a brownie-esque cake. I topped it with a nutella cream cheese frosting, soon to be posted.

Flourless Nutella Cake
8 oz almond butter
8 oz nutella
3 eggs
2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup agave
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease a springform pan. Blend almond butter and nutella until smooth. Blend in wet ingredients: eggs, vanilla, agave. Then mix in dry ingredients until just incorporated. Pour into prepared springform pan and bake at 350 for about 10 minutes, then lower the heat to 325 and bake for another 30 minutes, or until toothpick comes out pretty clean.

Let cool completely before you frost it…

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