Autumn Squash, Apple, and Kale Salad

The genesis for this salad is the seasonal menu at Taylor Gourmet, which features butternut squash-based salads in both main dish and side dish form. When I happened upon the menu earlier this week, I knew that I could create something similar at home.

Some of the measurements below are a bit imprecise. Just go with it - you'll need to figure out some of the quantities on the fly, depending on your own taste. I promise it will be worth it.

Autumn Squash, Apple, and Kale Salad

1 medium butternut squash
Olive oil
Apple cider vinegar
Salt
Pepper
A sprig of fresh rosemary, finely chopped
A few stems of Italian parsley
A handful of kale from the garden
1 granny smith apple
3 green onions
1/2 cup dried cranberries
4 oz. blue cheese crumbles (gorgonzola or goat cheese would also working, depending on your preference)
Sunflower seeds (shelled)

1. Peel the squash, cut it in half and remove seeds, then cut into small (1/2 inch) cubes.

2. Preheat oven to 400F. Toss squash cubes with a few glugs of olive oil and apple cider vinegar (enough that the squash is well-coated), salt, pepper, and rosemary. Spread out squash in a single layer on one or more cookie sheets or baking dishes.

3. Roast squash for ~25 minutes at 400F, stirring about halfway through. Depending on the size of your cubes, you may need to roast for a longer or shorter time. Cubes should be soft but not mushy.

4. While the squash is roasting, remove stems and thick center vein from kale leaves, then slice into thin strands. Dice the apple into 1/2 inch cubes and slice green onions into small rounds.

5. Remove squash from oven and toss (while still hot / warm) in a large mixing bowl with kale, apple, and green onion. The heat from the squash will soften the kale and apple a bit.

6. Mix in parsley, cranberries, and blue cheese. If desired, add olive oil and/or apple cider vinegar to taste.

7. Place in serving dish and top with sunflower seeds. Serve while still warm or refrigerate for later.

Shamrock Soup (AKA Potato-Kale Soup)

Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day, so we made this lovely green soup to celebrate! The flavor is fairly mild, so if you like it a bit spicier, add more red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, or whatever else you like. We adapted this recipe from a cookbook we received via a friend, who got it from her CSA provider. Because you use an immersion blender to create a smooth texture for the soup, prep time is fairly quick as you'll only need to coarsely chop the vegetables before adding them to the soup. Also, the original recipe called for three cups fresh kale, but we like A LOT of kale, so we added quite a bit more. The verdict? Great!

Shamrock Soup (12+ servings)
4 T. olive oil
2 medium onions, coarsely chopped
10 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1/2 T. red pepper flakes
1 tsp. salt
6 medium potatoes, scrubbed and cubed
Water and/or broth
4 large handfuls fresh kale (maybe 8 cups? who knows!)
black pepper

1. Heat oil over medium heat, add onions, garlic, red pepper flakes, and salt. Saute until onions are translucent.

2. Add potatoes and enough water (or water + broth) to cover by two inches. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, covered, for 10-15 minutes, until potatoes are just tender.

3. Add kale and cook, uncovered, for an additional 10-15 minutes.

4. Puree soup using an immersion blender (if you don't have one, you can use a regular blender). Season with pepper (and additional salt & red pepper flakes, if desired).

5. Serve it up - perhaps with some soda bread?

Vegetable Pot Pie with Biscuit Crust

We're in the midst of one of the coldest cold snaps in recent history, and that just made us want to hide out inside and drink tea and hot chocolate all day. But it isn't just hot beverages that such chilly weather creates yearnings for...such weather is also an excuse to make up a delicious veggie pot pie! (Actually, I was first craving vegetable pasties, but I was talked into trying something a bit different, since the ready-made pie crusts at the store are made with lard.) Anyway, we got a lot of veggies at the grocery store, so this recipe makes a 13 x 9 pan - if you'd like to scale back, just save some of the veggies and roast them up separately for another night, or cut out those that you aren't as fond of.

Vegetable Pot Pie with a Biscuit Crust (8-10 servings)
1 cup dry white wine
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic
3 large carrots
1 large parsnip
1 medium turnip
1 medium rutabaga
seasonings to taste (salt, pepper, rosemary, sage, thyme, etc.)
1 10-12 oz. bag frozen peas
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can pre-made biscuit dough, or your favorite biscuit recipe

1. Chop onion and mince garlic. Cut carrots and parsnip into 1/4 inch thick pennies; cut larger rounds in half. Dice turnip and rutabaga to ~ 1/2 cubes.

2. Warm 1/2 c. wine over medium heat in a large pan. When it starts to steam, add onions and garlic and cook for two minutes, until onion begins to soften. Add carrots, parsnip, turnip, and rutabaga and 1/2 c. more wine. Stir together, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

3. Preheat oven to 400F.

4. Add desired seasonings to vegetables and stir. Stir in frozen peas. Continue to simmer uncovered for 5 minutes, until vegetables are just tender.

5. In the pan, or a separate bowl if the pan isn't large enough, stir together vegetables and cream of mushroom soup.

6. Spray a 13 x 9 casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray. Turn vegetable mixture into dish. Cover with foil and bake at 400F for 30 minutes.

7. Remove casserole dish from oven and take off foil. Place biscuits on top of vegetable mixture (you may need to cut a few of the biscuits in half - also, don't worry if the biscuits don't cover the entire vegetable mixture).

8. Return casserole dish to oven and bake uncovered an additional 15 minutes, until biscuits puff up.

Margarita Cookies

Continuing with the theme of desserts inspired by the flavors of Mexico (begun with Mexican chocolate brownies) - I also wanted to make a cookie that incorporated the lime and tequila flavors of a margarita. I thought about adapting a recipe for lemon bars, but ultimately decided that I wanted something that would pack more easily. And so I hit upon this concoction, which blends a classic sugar cookie with a margarita. These cookies were a huge hit at the office. (Note: There isn't much tequila in them to begin with, and it bakes off anyway.)

Margarita Cookies (~ 3 dozen cookies)
1 c. butter (two sticks)
3/4 c. sugar
zest of 1 lime, 1 lemon, and 1 orange*
1 egg yolk
1 T. tequila
1 tsp. lime juice
1/4 tsp. salt
2 1/4 c. flour

For dusting: 1/4 c. sugar + 1 tsp. salt

1. Cream butter and sugar together. Stir in egg yolk and citrus zests, then tequila, lime juice, and salt.

2. Mix in flour a little at a time until fully incorporated.

3. Cover and refrigerate dough for at least 30 minutes.

4. Preheat oven to 350F.

5. Scoop dough out with cookie scoop or teaspoon, form into balls, and roll in sugar + salt mixture. Place on cookie sheet lined with parchment or silicone and flatten each ball slightly with the tines of a fork.

6. Bake at 350F for 15 minutes. Remove cookies from oven and allow to cool on pan for a couple of minutes, then move to wire rack.

* I only had key limes, so I zested two. Instead of the orange zest, I used 1 tsp. of dried Valencia orange peel.

Mexican Chocolate Brownies

This past Sunday was Cinco de Mayo, which in the US means that we have an excuse to eat a lot of Mexican food and drink margaritas. And since the day after Cinco de Mayo happened to be the monthly celebration of birthdays in my office, I thought that I'd use the holiday as inspiration for a couple of birthday treats. First up - Mexican chocolate brownies.

This is only the second time in my life that I've made brownies from scratch. It definitely won't be the last. Sure, it takes a little longer to melt the chocolate down, but you also get to control for things like chewy vs. cake-y and the level of sweetness, and the balance of flavors. (And if you have a stand mixer, the machine does most of the work anyway!) As written below, these spicy beauties pack three kinds of chocolate (but aren't super sweet), a little bit of heat (but not so much that your co-workers who prefer bland foods will have to miss out on the brownie fun), and are quite moist and chewy.

Mexican Chocolate Brownies (~16-20 brownies, depending on how generously you cut 'em)
1/2 c. butter (two sticks)
2 oz. unsweetened or bittersweet baking chocolate, chopped
2 T. cocoa powder
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2/3 c. flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/3 tsp. cayenne pepper (or rounded 1/4 tsp.)
1/4 tsp. salt
2/3 c. semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350F and grease a square 8 x 8 baking pan.

2. Melt butter and chocolate together in the microwave, stirring frequently (I heated for 30 seconds, stirred, and repeated until ready to go). Stir in cocoa powder and set aside.

3. In large mixing bowl, whisk together sugar, eggs, and vanilla. If using a stand mixer, set to stir and pour in chocolate mixture.

4. Sift in flour, cinnamon, cayenne, and salt; stir until just combined.

5. Fold in chocolate chips and pour batter into prepared pan.

6. Bake at 350F for ~35 minutes, until a knife or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Craft-y Macaroni and Cheese

I have fond childhood memories of making the mac and cheese that came in the blue box. My parents didn't let me have it particularly often, but Kraft Macaroni and Cheese was perhaps the first meal that I was able to cook on my own (not that it took a lot of skill). It was more of a treat - I remember having friends over for a sleepover during which we made a VERY FANCY version (we cut up hot dogs and mixed them in, along with the milk and butter and powdered cheese).

But a funny thing happened on the way to adulthood - the day-glo orange cheesy noodles aren't quite as good as I remember. Don't get me wrong - I still like an occasional bowl of mac and cheese. But it just doesn't cut it for me anymore as a stand-alone meal. I try to atone for the cheesy goodness by mixing in some sort of vegetable (carrots, spinach, etc.). I stir in pepper or Italian seasoning to liven things up a bit.

Which leads me to...going beyond the box. It doesn't really take that much longer to whip up a homemade batch of mac and cheese, and it is infinitely more customizable (and, perhaps, a tad healthier - although, really, it is never going to be a healthy meal). Making your own mac and cheese means that you can pick the cheese that you like (I used a mix of mild and sharp provolone, fontina, and asiago when I made this the first time - the leftovers from an Italian cheese tray, which I chopped up - although cheddar, colby, mozzarella, pepper jack, or many others will also work). And it turns out that you don't have to have powdered, super-processed cheese food product to achieve the bright orange color found in the blue box - squash puree can give you the same result!

Macaroni and Cheese (8 servings)

1 package (13.25 oz.) whole wheat macaroni (penne, shells, or other shapes will also work)

2 T. butter

2 T. flour

ground black pepper to taste

2 c. skim milk

1 1/2 c. shredded or chopped cheese

1 c. cooked squash puree (half of a square frozen package)

1 c. frozen or 3 c. fresh chopped spinach (or try other vegetables)

1. Cook pasta according to package directions for al dente. Drain and set aside.

2. While pasta is cooking, melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat, then stir in flour and pepper. Stir in milk, cheese, and squash puree. Continue to cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the cheese is melted and the squash puree is fully incorporated.

3. Toss together pasta, cheese sauce, and spinach. Pour into a 13 x 9 baking dish. Bake at 350F for 20-30 minutes, until heated through.

Kale Slaw

Spring is in the air (or at least it was, until we got a load of sleety rain yesterday, which brought a chill just in time for the start of astronomical spring) - and fresh produce is in the mind, if not yet abundant in the stores and farmers markets. But fear not - kale is a perfect vehicle for springtime veggie lust.

This slaw doesn't require much time or equipment to prepare - just a large bowl (if you have one with a lid, that's even better), a smaller bowl, a good chef's knife, a cutting board, and a fork. Of course, if you want to get fancy and use a food processor or mandoline on the carrots and cabbage, that's okay, too. Also, you may need to play with the proportions of ingredients based on the size of your kale bunch, how much you like particular ingredients, and desired amount of dressing, but this is a good start. The slaw keeps well in the refrigerator for a few days, so don't be afraid to make a big batch - you might find it disappears pretty quickly.

Kale Slaw
1 bunch curly kale
3-5 green onions
1-2 carrots
1/8-1/4 head red cabbage
1 15 oz. can chickpeas, drained

Dressing
1/4 c. mayo
1 T. red wine vinegar
1 tsp. poppy seeds
salt and pepper to taste

1. Chop kale, onions, carrots (julienne or shred), and red cabbage (finely chop or shred). Add chickpeas and toss in a large bowl.

2. Stir together mayo, red wine vinegar, poppy seeds, salt, and pepper until combined. Add to slaw and toss. If desired, make more dressing and repeat.

3. Serve up a big helping and enjoy!

Pumpkin and Chickpea Curry

After an extended hiatus (only from the blog realm - I've still been in the kitchen), The EmT Plate is back with a recipe made just for cool fall evenings...pumpkin curry!

This recipe grew out of the need to use up some of the various gourds we've been getting in the CSA share this fall before another batch came in. It can be made with one or more varieties of pumpkin and/or winter squash - for the one I made, I used a pumpkin and a butternut squash, with some crookneck squash thrown in as well. If you are planning ahead, roast the squash the night before you make the curry - it will reduce cooking time for the curry overall.

Pumpkin and Chickpea Curry (~ 6 servings)
1-2 small to medium winter squashes (pumpkin, butternut, acorn, etc.)

Cut the squash(es) in half and roast on a large baking sheet, cut side up, at 400F for about 20 minutes. You should be able to pierce the flesh with a fork, but it will still be somewhat firm (and if it is really soft, just scoop it out and use it anyway!). Allow to cool, then peel and cut into ~ 1/2 - 1" chunks.

1 T. ghee or oil
1 T. Bengali five spices (panch-phoran)*
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 hot peppers (jalapeno, etc.), or to taste
1 T. ginger puree or minced fresh ginger
1 T. tumeric
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground coriander
salt and pepper, to taste
water, as needed
1 cup (~ 1/2 can) cooked chickpeas
1/2 cup almond milk

Heat ghee in a large pot over medium heat. When it melts, add Bengali five spices and allow to simmer for 30-60 seconds. Add diced onions, garlic, and hot peppers and cook about 2-3 minutes, until the onions just begin to turn clear. Add squash, ginger, tumeric, cumin, and coriander. Stir together and continue simmering, stirring regularly and adding water as needed, until squash is tender (and your kitchen smells like an Indian restaurant), about 20-30 minutes. Add the chickpeas and almond milk and continue simmering, about 5-10 minutes.

Serve over rice (for a Halloween-y look, over black rice, as shown below, or wild rice) - and top with mango chutney.

* If you can't find panch-phoran at your local supermarket or Indian grocery, you can make your own by mixing equal parts cumin, fennel, black mustard, kalonji, and fenugreek seeds.

Chard and Sweet Potato Gratin (or winter squash)

I am a bit late to the party for Smitten Kitchen, but smarter heads prevailed in a recent search for delicious vegetarian dish that would use up some of the chard that is (still!) growing in the garden. The recipe for swiss chard and sweet potato gratin at Smitten Kitchen turns out a delicious crowd-pleaser that I've made twice so far (and will definitely make again!).

The first time around, we had some winter squash puree that we'd frozen amidst the squash deluge from the CSA this fall, so we substituted squash for the sweet potatoes. It was delicious.



Then for Thanksgiving we followed the recipe more closely, using sweet potato rounds and an applewood smoked gruyere that imparted this dish with an almost bacon-y scent and taste. Everyone (well, almost everyone) at Thanksgiving dinner gave the dish a thumbs up. (A couple folks swore up and down that they don't like sweet potatoes. I don't know how it is that I am related to them.)

Finally, a friend of mine also made this dish for a fall potluck. Instead of chard, she substituted frozen mustard greens, and she kept the sweet potatoes. It was a hit.

(Vegetarian) French Onion Soup

Caramelized onions, crusty bread, and melty cheese...what's not to love about French onion soup? If you are a vegetarian, perhaps the strong beef broth that serves as a base of this popular soup. But with the rain pouring down outside and oodles of onions from last week's CSA delivery filling my produce bowl inside, I was determined to make a vegetarian version of French onion soup that could pass muster. This one is lighter in color and sweeter than what you'd get with the traditional recipe, but my fiancee pronounced it delicious - just the thing for a rainy, stormy night. We actually made this one night (through step 3), froze about 2/3 of it, and refrigerated the rest to heat and serve for dinner the following day.

French Onion Soup (~6-8 servings)
1 T. butter
2 T. olive oil
4 large onions, finely sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
2 T. flour
1 c. white wine
4 c. vegetable broth
1 c. apple cider
1 c. water
6-8 slices French bread, toasted
grated Gruyere cheese, to taste

1. In a large stock pots, heat butter and oil over medium-high heat until melted. Add the onions and cook about 10 minutes, until soft and just starting to go from translucent to brown.

2. Add the garlic, sugar, and thyme. Reduce heat to medium and continue cooking, stirring frequently, until onions are brown - about 30-35 minutes.

3. Stir in the flour, wine, broth, cider, and water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium or medium-low and simmer for 45 minutes.

4. If you are brave and have oven-proof bowls, heat the broiler. Fill each bowl about 3/4 with soup, then add a piece of toast and top with grated cheese. Broil about 3-4 minutes. If you are less brave or don't have oven-proof bowls, float the bread, top with cheese, and microwave for 30-60 seconds, or until cheese is melted.

Acorn Squash Pasta Bake (also good for butternut squash)

I have been a very bad blogger, and have left this site for over a year (yikes!). However, my culinary adventures have continued...and today, I bring you acorn squash pasta bake!

This delicious autumn dish was born of necessity - our CSA gives us lots of squash, and so we've been very creative in finding ways to use it - in squash soup and baked squash  and spaghetti form. But I had committed as the host of a potluck dinner, and wanted to find something really great to make with some of the squash that we'd roasted, scooped, and frozen a few weeks ago. And thus the acorn squash pasta bake was born...(sorry there are no pictures - we ate it too quickly!)

Acorn Squash Pasta Bake (~ 8 servings)
1 lb. pasta of choice (I used mini penne; ziti, penne, shells, elbows, rotini, etc. would all work)
2 cups acorn or butternut squash, already roasted or boiled and mashed*
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 clove garlic, or 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 T. olive oil
1 egg
freshly grated black pepper, to taste
salt, to taste
1 bunch spinach or chard, chopped (about 1/2 pound, give or take depending on your taste)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Butter or spray a 9x13 baking dish.

2. Boil the pasta according to package directions for al dente. Drain.

3. While the pasta is cooking, puree the squash, ricotta, cinnamon, nutmeg, garlic, olive oil, egg, pepper, and salt in a blender or food processor to make a smooth sauce.

4. Stir together pasta, squash sauce, and chopped spinach or chard and turn into baking dish. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.

5. Cover baking dish with aluminum foil and bake 30 minutes at 350F. Remove foil and bake an additional 15 minutes. Remove pan from oven and let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

* To prepare squash, slice in half and scoop out the seeds. Rub the cut side with a bit of olive oil or butter and place cut side down on a baking sheet. Bake at 375F for 30 minutes, turn cut side up, and continue baking until tender, ~15-30 minutes depending on size of squash. Scoop flesh out of shell. If you are using butternut squash, you can also peel the raw squash and slice into 1" chunks, then boil until tender (~10-15 minutes).

Chai-Spiced Applesauce

A few weeks ago, I noticed that the grocery store was selling chai-spiced apple cider and I thought "I bet I could make a chai-spiced applesauce that is pretty good." I used the following recipe to make two batches of sauce - for one, I cored the apples but left the skins on and did not mash the apples after cooking (making the dish more like baked apples than a true sauce), for the other I skinned the apples and mashed them into a sauce. Both versions came out pretty tasty, so choose the preparation that sounds better to you. As with any applesauce recipe, it is pretty easy to scale up and down on the ingredients depending on the amount of apples you happen to have on hand and on your own taste.

Chai-Spiced Applesauce

4-6 lbs. apples

1 c. water or apple juice

1/2 c. brown sugar

1 stick cinnamon

1-2 tsp. ground cardamom or 3-4 green cardamom pods, lightly crushed

1 tsp. whole or ground cloves

1-2 tsp. ground ginger or 1 T. fresh ginger

1 star anise cluster

1. Core, peel (if desired), and dice apples and place in a large stock pot with water (or apple juice), brown sugar, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, ginger, and star anise. Cover and simmer over medium heat until apples are soft (~30 minutes), stirring occasionally. Uncover and simmer for another 10-15 minutes to reduce liquid.

2. Remove cinnamon stick and star anise cluster (and caradmom pods and whole cloves, if used). Mash with a potato masher (if desired).

Pumpkin Parmesan Orzo

When I lived in Syracuse, I spent many a Saturday morning at the Central New York Regional Market, wandering through the many produce, baked goods, and other assorted vendors. The market never disappointed, and when I am back in town to visit friends, I often visit the market to pick up some fresh fruits and vegetables for the weekend's cooking. Last weekend, I found the stand for Flour City Pasta, which offers up organic pastas infused with locally-sourced herbs, vegetables, even fruits. I picked up their "autumn harvest orzo" - a blend of apple cinnamon, pumpkin, parsley sage, and beet orzos. Included in the package was the following recipe for orzo in a pumpkin sauce. If you don't live in Central New York, I'm guessing that it will be almost as good with plain orzo as it is with the flavored pasta. Serve this as a side dish or alongside a fresh green salad.

Pumpkin Parmesan Orzo (~4-6 servings)

1/2 lb. orzo

1 T. butter or olive oil

12 sage leaves, chopped + additional whole leaves for garnish

1 shallot, diced

1/3 c. milk

1 c. vegetable broth

1 c. pumpkin puree

salt and pepper to taste

1/3 c. grated or shredded parmesan cheese + additional for garnish

1. Cook orzo to al dente, according to package directions. Drain.

2. While orzo cooks, heat oil in a medium saucepan and sauté sage and shallots over medium heat, about 5 minutes.

3. Add milk and half of vegetable broth to saucepan, continue to cook over medium heat for 5 minutes.

4. Stir remaining broth and pumpkin puree into saucepan and simmer about 10 minutes or until sauce reaches desired thickness. Add salt and pepper if desired.

5. Toss orzo, parmesan cheese, and sauce. Garnish with additional sage leaves and shredded parmesan.

Whole Wheat Blueberry (Almond) Bread

Summertime brings lots of fresh fruit to my apartment - or rather, it brings me to berry patches which results in me bringing home lots of fresh fruit. While I use some of the fruit quickly - eaten fresh with yogurt, stirring into scones, mixing into lemonade, or making preserves for future peanut butter and jelly sandwiches - I also store a lot in the freezer to pull out for later. A few weeks back, I was craving some blueberry bread, but wanted something healthier than the muffin-type breads I've made in the past. This loaf fits the bill - whole wheat flour, rolled oats, reduced oil content - and, of course, lots of juicy blueberries. I made the recipe twice over, once in a large loaf with only blueberries, and once in mini loaf pans with both blueberries and almonds. Both came out delicious!

Whole Wheat Blueberry (Almond) Bread (1 large loaf or 3 mini loaves)

2/3 c. packed brown sugar

3/4 c. skim or 1% milk (or try with almond milk, if you are lactose unfriendly or just want a different flavor)

1/4 c. applesauce

1/4 c. canola oil

2 eggs

2 1/4 c. whole wheat flour

1 c. rolled oats

3 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. salt

1 c. fresh or frozen blueberries (if frozen, allow to thaw for 15-30 minutes)

1/2 c. almonds (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350F and grease either 1 8-9" loaf pan or 3 mini-loaf pans.

2. In a medium bowl, stir together sugar, milk, applesauce, and eggs.

3. In a large bowl, stir together flour, oats, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.

4. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in wet ingredients. Using a wooden spoon, stir until just combined.

5. Fold in blueberries (and almonds, if desired). Pour into prepared pan(s).

6. Bake at 350F for 45-55 min or until a toothpick comes out clean. (I found that the smaller breads took about 45 minutes and the larger bread took about 55-60 minutes). Remove bread from the oven and allow to cool for ~10 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the pan and turn out onto a wire rack to continue cooling.

7. Slice and serve with a bit of butter, homemade preserves, or just on its own.

Black Bean and Corn Salad

Hello there, faithful readers (if there are any of you left)! I've been offline for a while, at least as far as The EmT Plate goes, but that doesn't mean that I have abandoned the kitchen. I'll try to catch up with some recent recipes over the next few days...starting with today's contribution.

With summer in full swing here in DC, I've been making a variation on the following salad almost every week to serve at potlucks, pack in lunches, and complement dinners. The base for this salad (black beans + corn + cilantro lime dressing) can be mixed and matched with celery, bell peppers, green onions, red onions, chickpeas, red beans, green beans, or whatever else you have handy. And if there are things on that list that you don't like, just don't include them in your salad - it will still be great. Also, the amount of dressing to make will depend on how big a salad you make and how much dressing you like in the salad - if you are using all of the ingredients for the salad, make more dressing.

A couple of weeks ago I found a package of red sweet corn at the grocery store. When cooked, the kernels fade a bit on the outside, but they are still a beautiful scarlet once you cut them from the cob and thus make a colorful addition to this salad. If you are using fresh corn, boil it for about 5 minutes in lightly salted water, then let it cool before cutting off the kernels. If you are in a hurry, you can run the corn under cool water to speed the cooling process.

Black Bean and Corn Salad (a good size for a picnic or a few days worth of lunches)

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

2 T. fresh cilantro, chopped OR 1 T. dried cilantro

1-2 T. lime juice

1-2 T. white balsamic vinegar or white wine vinegar

1-2 T. olive oil

1 can (15 oz.) black beans, drained and rinsed thoroughly

2 ears sweet corn, cooked and removed from cob OR 1 can (15 oz.) corn, drained and rinsed thoroughly

5-7 green onions (use the white bulb + some of the green stalk), sliced thinly OR 1 small red onion, diced

5-7 stalks celery, diced

1-2 bell peppers (red, yellow, orange, or green), diced

Optional: 1 can (15 oz.) chickpeas, red beans, or green beans

1. Combine garlic, cilantro, lime juice, vinegar, and olive oil in a small bowl and allow to sit while preparing ingredients for remainder of salad (15-30 minutes).

2. Combine beans (black + any optional ingredients), corn, onion, celery, and bell pepper in a large bowl.

3. Pour dressing over salad and stir thoroughly. Ideally, allow salad to sit for at least half an hour before serving to allow flavors to meld.

काला चना का सूप (Kala Chana ka Soop - Black Chickpea Soup)

काला चना, or black chickpeas, are among my favorite legumes. They aren't available in cans here in the US, though - so if you cook with them, you will have to buy them dried and then soak and cook them - which means that cooking requires some extra planning and time. On the upside, many grocery stores (at least here in DC) are beginning to expand their Asian foods section - just yesterday I saw kala chana at Wegmans. If your local store doesn't carry black chickpeas, however, explore the nearest Indian grocery.

This recipe uses the black chickpeas as the basis for a soup broth. You won't need all of the chickpeas after cooking - the extras can be sprinkled on salads, processed into hommous, or eaten however else you'd like - or you can keep them as a part of the soup if you prefer.

As with my previous black chickpea recipe, this requires the use of a pressure cooker - if you don't have one, you'll need to increase the cooking time for step 1 to 1-2 hours, or until the chickpeas are tender.

काला चना का सूप (black chickpea soup) (~4-6 servings)
1 cup dried black chickpeas, washed in 3-4 changes of water
6-7 cups water
2 1" sticks of cinnamon
4 black cardamom pods, lightly crushed to break the skin
1/2 tsp. salt
1 T. ginger-garlic paste (store-bought or make your own by grinding together 1-2 cloves garlic and a quarter-sized piece of ginger)
1 15 oz. can tomato sauce
2 T. vegetable oil
1 quarter-sized piece of ginger, cut into matchsticks
1 tsp. cumin seeds
1 T. ground coriander
1/4 tsp. ground tumeric
1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes, drained
1/4 cup fresh cilantro (including stems), chopped

1. Soak the chickpeas overnight in enough water to cover them by 2 inches. Drain and place in pressure cooker with water, cinnamon, cardamom, salt, and garlic-ginger paste. Secure lid and cook over high heat until high pressure is reached, then cook 3 minutes more. Remove from from heat and allow the pot to depressurize on its own (approx. 20 minutes). Open the lid and check to see if beans are soft. [If beans are not soft, add additional water, cover, and bring to high pressure and cook another 1 minute.]

2. Transfer the mixture to a large cast iron pan or other large pot [if there is too much liquid, remove some and save it to add as liquid evaporates during cooking]. Stir in the tomato sauce and cook over high heat for about 5 minutes, then reduce heat to medium-low and continue simmering for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

3. Heat the oil in a medium saute pan over medium high heat. Cook the ginger sticks (stirring frequently) until golden, about 1 minute. Add the cumin seeds, coriander, and tumeric in quick succession and cook about 30 seconds. Stir in diced tomato and cilantro and cook for 1-2 minutes more.

4. Set a strainer or colander atop the pressure cooker pot and pour soup mixture through in order to separate out chickpeas. Remove and discard cardamom pods and cinnamon sticks. In a food processor, combine tomato mixture and 1/2 - 1 cup of cooked chickpeas and process until smooth. Add this back to the soup, along with additional liquid and some whole chickpeas (~ 1/2 cup), if desired. Return soup to a low boil over medium heat and simmer for a few minutes until heated through.

5. Serve with fresh chapati/roti, or if you don't want to make fresh flatbreads, with crackers or a few slices of store-bought crusty french bread.

Food on the Fly - DC

Between gigantic snowstorms that shut down the nation's capital for much of early February and travel for work and fun, I've been a bit remiss in posting recently. However, I would like to mention a couple of great places that I have come across recently in my quest for good food in DC...

First, DC sweet teeth have been taken by cupcakes for a couple of years now. However, places like Georgetown Cupcake, CakeLove, Baked & Wired, etc. have one major problem - they aren't very accessible to a large fan base, most of whom are stuck in offices all day and don't have the time to sojourn to Georgetown, U St., or other locales for a cupcake. Enter DC's new favorite trend - mobile eateries that carry their food in a van or truck and drive around downtown until they find a parking spot - then using Facebook and Twitter to broadcast their location. Born of this trend is Curbside Cupcakes, which makes some of the best cupcakes I've had - not too big or too small, priced decently ($3 - it sounds steep, but is actually spot on for perennially-overpriced DC), and most importantly, open to suggestions from their fan base. A few weeks ago I suggested carrot cake, and lo and behold it was on the truck this week (although with a plain cream cheese frosting, not the ginger-infused topping I'd suggested - I guess I'll have to experiment with that on my own). Another fan requested chocolate with a minty green top for St. Patrick's Day and yesterday and this weekend the truck has pulled up at Shamrock Fest and the DC St. Patrick's Day Parade with green cupcakes in ample supply.

Another purveyor of street food that I keep my eye on is Fojol Bros. of Merlindia. They aren't active right now - their latest update says they plan to be back on the streets mid-March (coming right up!) - but last summer their truck of (mostly) Indian food delights attracted large crowds wherever it stopped. In addition to Indian-style curries (both vegetarian and meat-based) served in a range of sizes, they help DC-ites beat the heat with lassipops (frozen lassis) in flavors like ginger and mango.

If you are in the mood for tasty curries before Fojol Bros. hit the streets again, and you happen to be near McPherson Square or Farragut North, check out Spice Express Indian Bistro, with locations at 1025 Vermont Ave. NW and 1020 19th St. NW. A lunchtime plate of rice and two curries (generous portions all around) costs $6.99 + tax. I recently had their palak paneer and chana masala and found both to be excellent. The bistro also has wraps, single curry plates, and other specialties.

An added bonus if you patronize these places - both Fojol Bros. and Spice Express use primarily recycled and biodegradable materials for their carryout boxes and flatware.

Snowmageddon II - Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie

As Snowmageddon blew itself out late this afternoon, moving on after leaving us with something in the neighborhood of two feet of snow here in Arlington, I stayed warm and toasty indoors by baking a strawberry-rhubarb pie. The strawberries were the last of a batch I picked last summer, the rhubarb I found during a 7 am trip to the grocery store yesterday morning before the storm came in (no eggs left, but frozen rhubarb and pre-made pie crust were in stock and on sale!).

The recipe I used was quite similar to the one found in this post from May, with a few changes:
- I also added 1/2 tsp. of orange zest to the sugar / flour mixture.
- I used more strawberries (3 1/2 cups) than rhubarb (2 1/2 cups) this time around.
- Because I was using frozen fruit, I let the fruit / sugar / flour mixture stand for 45 minutes before pouring it into the pie plate - then increased the baking time to 1 hour 25 minutes (keep foil on the edges of the pie for the first hour).

The pie came out quite delicious - although very juicy. To avoid the hassle of having to clean out leaked juices from your oven, place the pie on a shallow baking sheet, or place the baking sheet on the rack below the pie.

Snowmageddon I - Pesto-Spinach Lasagna

DC is in the midst of its second major snowstorm of the winter (we had Snowpocalypse in December, which brought 18-20") and its third snowstorm of this past week (last weekend we got about 6 inches and on Tuesday we got another 3 inches). With the Capital Weather Gang calling for a total of 16-26" (or even 30"+) and the local network affiliates on overdrive with wall-to-wall weather coverage, it is time for cooking and baking.

First up during the storm (after braving the crowds at the grocery stores, of course): Pesto-Spinach Lasagna. This is my favorite lasagna, and I have my best friend to thank for it. She made me this lasagna to keep me fortified during my doctoral candidacy exams, and I have been craving it ever since. Making this particular pan was bittersweet, though - I used up the last of the pesto I'd make using homegrown basil from this past summer. Well, that's a bit of summer sun to cheer me up amidst all of this snow, at least!

Lasagna freezes quite well in individual servings if you have too much - allow the pan to cool completely, wrap each slice in a piece of plastic wrap, then put the individually-wrapped servings into a freezer bag and freeze - you'll be able to pull out a piece at a time as you need it.

Pesto-Spinach Lasagna (12 servings)
1 T. dried currants, soaked in warm water for 20 minutes
1 1/2 recipes pesto (for recipe, go here)
1 1/4 lbs. spinach or 1 1/2 lbs. swiss chard (or 2 14 oz. cans spinach, well drained)
2 T. olive oil
1/2 c. minced onions
3 T. pine nuts
1 clove garlic, minced
1 lb. ricotta or cottage cheese (low fat, if you prefer)
1 1/2 c. parmesan cheese
1 lg. egg
nutmeg (to taste)
salt and pepper (to taste)
1 12 oz. box no-cook lasagna noodles (or 1 lb. regular lasagna noodles, cooked)

1. Cook spinach "dry" (just with the water clinging to its leaves) over medium heat until just wilted, remove from pan and chop.

2. Heat olive oil over medium heat, brown onions, pine nuts, and garlic. Add chopped spinach and currants, cook about 2 minutes.

3. In a large bowl, stir together spinach mixture, ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, egg, nutmeg, salt, and pepper.

4. Preheat oven to 350F. In a 9 x 13 baking dish, assemble the lasagna as follows (listed in order from bottom to top - thus start with the noodles and end with the pesto):
4 lasagna noodles (overlap slightly)
1/4 spinach - cheese mixture
1/4 pesto sauce
Repeat - Repeat - Repeat (you'll have four layers when you finish)

5. Cover pan with foil and bake at 350F for 35 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 15 minutes. Remove pan from oven and let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Snowbaking - Mint Chocolate Chip Brownies

Last weekend the DC metro area was socked with about 6 inches of snow - perhaps not much compared with the 20-30" we are expected to get during our current storm (more on that in posts to come) or the 18-20" we got during the Snowpocalypse of December 2009, but still more than enough to justify a bit of snowbaking. For this endeavor, I decided to try brownies made with the mint & chocolate chips I found at the grocery store during the holiday season. If you don't happen to have mint & chocolate chips on hand, try these with white, milk, or dark chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, or whatever your favorite mix-ins happen to be. These brownies come out moist and on the cakey side.

Mint Chocolate Chip Brownies (~ 24-32 brownies)
3/4 c. butter
1 1/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla (or mint extract)
1 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 c. milk
1 c. mint & chocolate chips + additional chips for sprinkling on top

1. Spray a 9 x 13 baking pan with nonstick spray and preheat oven to 350F.

2. Melt butter in microwave (1 1/2 - 2 minutes). In a large bowl, combine melted butter, sugar, and cocoa powder and stir with a wooden spoon until well mixed. Add eggs and vanilla and stir until just combined.

3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Alternate adding dry ingredients and milk to the butter mixture, stirring after each addition. Fold in mint & chocolate chips.

4. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick can be inserted and removed cleanly. If desired, sprinkle additional mint & chocolate chips on top of the batter about 10 minutes into baking.

5. Remove pan from oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for about 2 hours, then cut into squares. If you cut a little earlier, use a plastic knife to reduce the amount of brownie that sticks to your knife.