Roasted Chickpea and Pasta Salad

This Sunday at the Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market, you'll find pastured meats and eggs from Fair Valley Farm and Fog Hollow Farm, cut flowers from Tiger Lily Art Company, and fresh produce from Camas Swale Farm, including eggplant, tomatoes, and corn on the cob.

For the past year I've been cooking many variations on this chickpea pasta dish, in which the pasta cooks in chickpea broth, absorbing all of the flavors. It's come to the point that the rest of my family members will roll their eyes when I suggest this dish. But tasked with bringing a side dish to a work picnic, I thought of a new variant on the theme: cooking pasta for a salad in the same broth used to cook chickpeas that I then roasted, along with eggplant and carrots, to layer on top. The pan was empty by the end of the picnic.

Roasted Chickpea and Pasta Salad

2 cups dried chickpeas (will make twice as much chickpeas as needed, but they store well)
1 bay leaf
olive oil
1 lb small pasta such as ditalini or shells
1 eggplant
6 to 8 carrots
4 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp cumin seeds
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 large lemon

1. Rinse the chickpeas, transfer to a large cooking pot or Instant Pot insert, add water until they are covered by 2 inches, add 2 tsp salt, bay leaf, and a drizzle of olive oil. Cook on low heat until soft through or if using an Instant Pot, cook on high pressure for 40 minutes and allow the heat to release naturally.

2. When the chickpeas are cooked, drain them and reserve the cooking liquid. Taste and add more salt if needed. Return the chickpea broth to the pot, bring to a boil, and cook the pasta until just cooked but still firm. If using an Instant Pot, cook the pasta on low pressure for 5 minutes. Drain the pasta, toss with a little olive oil, and reserve.

3. Meanwhile prepare the vegetables. Cut the eggplant into 1/2 inch cubes, toss with a tsp of salt, and allow to drain for at least 20 minutes. Clean and trim the carrots and cut into 1/8 inch thick ovals. 

4. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and place in two sheet pans. In a mixing bowl, combine the cumin seeds, smoked paprika, and a pinch of salt. Peel and slice the garlic cloves and add to the bowl. Use a vegetable peeler to peel the lemon and cut the lemon peel strips into thin matchsticks and add to the bowl. Add the chickpeas and a generous drizzle of olive oil and mix to coat the chickpeas with the spices. Transfer the chickpeas to one of the hot sheet pans and roast for about 30 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally, until they are well crisped and starting to brown.

5. In the same mixing bowl, toss the carrot slices with a another drizzle of olive oil and pinch of salt and transfer the carrots to the second sheet pan. Roast for about ten minutes, flipping once with a spatula, until they are cooked through and browned at the edges.

6. In the same mixing bowl, toss the drained eggplant cubes with another drizzle of olive oil. When the carrots are done, transfer them to a bowl, spread the eggplant cubes on the  hot sheet pan, and return it to the oven. Roast the eggplant cubes for about twenty minutes, shaking the pan occasionally to flip, until they are cooked through and browned at the edges.

7. Assemble the salad. On a serving platter, layer the pasta, then the eggplant cubes, then the carrots, and then the chickpeas with all of the roasted cumin seeds, lemon peel, and garlic slices. Juice the lemon and drizzle over the platter, along with a final drizzle of olive oil. Serve at room temperature.

Caramelized Carrot Soup

This Sunday at the Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market you will find fresh eggs and pastured chicken, beef, pork, and lamb from Fair Valley Farm and Fog Hollow Farm, baked goods made with local whole grains from WildFlour Oven, fresh cut flower bouquets from Tiger Lily Art Company, and plenty of fresh produce from Camas Swale Farm, including root vegetables such as potatoes, beets, and carrots. 

My recent infatuation with pressure cooking, now that I am a proud owner of an Instant Pot, led me to this recipe for a caramelized carrot soup from modernist cuisine. The idea is that in a pressure cooker, vegetables can reach high temperatures while remaining moist, achieving the cooking reactions of roasting without drying them out. A pinch of baking soda creates an alkaline environment, which encourages the Maillard reaction of browning. The full recipe calls for a stick of butter, which I halved, and freshly extracted carrot juice, which I substituted with a ginger and lemon grass broth I had in the freezer. The soup was intensely flavorful and made a delicious accompaniment to a sandwich of baked tofu, bacon, and pickled daikon.

Caramelized Carrot Soup

Adapted from modernist cuisine

500 g carrot (about 10 medium)
4 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup water
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups carrot juice or broth, or more to desired consistency
squeeze of lemon or lime juice

In a pressure cooker use the saute setting to melt the butter. Stir in the carrots to coat with butter. Add in the water, baking soda, and salt. Cook the contents at high pressure for 20 minutes. Release the pressure naturally or after a few minutes. Puree the caramelized carrots with carrot juice or broth to desired consistency. Taste and add salt as needed. Finish with a squeeze of lemon or lime juice.

Green Pizza with Roasted Zucchini

Don't let the heat keep you away from the Fairmount Farmers Market this Sunday. From Camas Swale Farm, you'll find plenty of inspiration for salads and other cold meals. 

And once the heat breaks, you can try this springtime pizza. The green sauce takes inspiration from this recipe from Joe Beddia's Pizza Camp, and the zucchini are inspired by this roasted zucchini salad from Jacques Pepin.

The resulting pizza was a tasty celebration of spring produce and a nice change from our regular pizza Margherita.

Green Pizza with Roasted Zucchini

makes four individual pizzas

1 recipe of Jim Lahey's no-knead pizza dough (enough for four individual pizzas, started the evening before)
4 medium or 6 small zucchini
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 ball fresh mozzarella, sliced
1/2 cup grated pecorino romano

green sauce
1 bunch spinach, stems removed and rinsed well
1 handful chives
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
pinch of red pepper flakes
salt to taste

1. Prepare the pizza dough the evening before, according to Lahey's instructions. Combine 500 g flour, 2 teaspoons salt, 1/4 teaspoon yeast, and 1 1/2 cups (350 g) water, and mix briefly in an electric mixer or by hand until combined into a ball. Cover and let stand for about 18 hours.

2. When you are ready to start the pizzas, preheat the oven to 500 degrees and insert a pizza stone if you are using one. Also put a rimmed baking sheet in for the zucchini.

3. Slice the zucchini into 1/4 inch discs. Toss in a bowl with a pinch of salt and a tablespoon of olive oil to coat. Slide onto the hot baking sheet in the preheating oven and spread into a single layer. Bake for about 5 minutes until starting to brown, the flip with a spatula and bake for another 5 minutes. Remove from the oven, return to the bowl, toss with a teaspoon of balsamic vinegar, and reserve.

4. Prepare the green sauce by mixing all the ingredients in a food processor. Taste and add more salt, pepper flakes, or lemon juice as needed.

5. Divide the dough into four balls, flour them lightly, and shape them according to Lahey's instructions (or use a rolling pin to roll them out on a silicone mat). Sprinkle polenta on a baking sheet or pizza peel and place one pizza dough on top. If you like, you can prebake the crust for 5 minutes in the preheated oven to ensure an extra crispy pizza. Spread over a quarter of the green sauce in a thin layer. Top with a quarter of the roasted zucchini rounds, fresh mozzarella, and pecorino romano. Bake for at least ten minutes, until the crust is crisp and the cheese has started to brown. Prepare and bake the remaining pizzas. Serve with a drizzle of olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice, and a sprinkle of fresh chopped chives.

Fava Bean and Summer Squash Chickpea Flour Crepes

At last week's Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market, Camas Swale Farm brought a bounty of spring vegetables, including delicate summer squash and fat fave beans.

Fava beans are best when shelled from their pods

and then released from their slightly bitter and tough skins. Peeling fave beans  is a true labor of love, and after all that investment of work they should be treated with reverence.

I decided to pair them with lightly sautéed summer squash and fresh herbs as topping for chickpea flour crepes as a stovetop version of farinata. 

The batter is simply chickpea flour and water with a bit of salt and olive oil. I found that I needed to keep my crepe pan quite hot and use plenty of olive oil to prevent the crepes from sticking, but once I mastered this, the crepes proved to be the perfect canvas for the fava beans, and a delicious post-market treat.

Chickpea Flour Crepes with Fava Beans and Summer Squash

makes about 4 crepes

Crepe batter

1 cup chickpea flour

1 cup water

1/2 tsp salt

2 Tbsp olive oil for batter and more for cooking

Crepe toppings

handful of fave beans

1 or 3 small summer squash

1 Tbsp olive oil

salt to taste

aleppo pepper or red pepper flakes to taste

chopped fresh herbs such as chives and thyme

1. Whisk together the batter ingredients into smooth. Let rest for at least half an hour, or overnight in the refrigerator.

2. Prepare the fave beans. Boil a small pot of salted water. Remove the fave beans from the pods. Blanche the beans in the boiling water for 1 minute and then strain and run under cold water. For each blanched bean, use a paring knife to make a small incision in the outer skin and pop out the bean from the casing with your fingers.

3. Cut the summer squash into 1/4 inch thick half moons or other pieces. Heat a crepe pan or nonstick skillet over medium hight heat. Add one Tbsp olive oil, the summer squash, salt and aleppo or red pepper flakes to taste. Sauté until the summer squash has a bit of brown blistering on its surface but is not yet mushy. Transfer the squash to a bowl.

4. Return the crepe pan to medium high heat. Add a generous amount of olive oil. When the oil is shimmering, pour in about 1/2 cup crepe batter and tip the pan in a circular motion to spend out the batter. Allow the batter to cook until it darkens in color slightly. Then use a spatula to flit the crepe  and cook briefly on the second side. Cook the remaining crepes. 

5. Top the crepes with the sauteed summer squash and fave beans sprinkled with chopped fresh herbs.

Simple Miso Soup for a Cold

 

Being at the tail end of my second nasty cold in the past month, I've been craving nothing much but soup. Steaming pots of long simmered chicken broth are wonderful, but when cold viruses have sapped every last drop of energy from your body, such a broth can seem like a mirage. In contrast, a restorative miso soup, prepared with a quick kombu broth, is well within reach. 

As described in Elizabeth Andoh's Washoku: Recipes from the Japanese Home Kitchen, Japanese broths made with kombu, or dried kelp, takes just as long to prepare as to bring water to a boil. I've shared both her dashi (made with bonito flakes) and a vegetarian version made with shiitake mushroom. These broths can be the backdrop of a flavorful soup when you layer in greens and mix in miso paste (avoid cooking, to preserve the full benefits of the fermenting microbes). A few bowls of this soup (with any number of variations in vegetables and protein) can do wonders for restoring one's spirits and health. 

Dashi (basic sea stock)

12 square inches kombu
2 cups cold water
1/4 cup loosely packed dried shaved bonito flakes (katsuo-bushi)

Place the kombu in a pot of cold water and heat over medium heat. When small bubbles begin to break the surface, remove from the heat. Sprinkle over the bonito flakes. Allow the flakes to settle, and then remove the kombu and strain the broth through a fine mesh strainer. You can scale up this recipe for more stock,which can be stored for 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator, but the flavors will not last if frozen.

Kombu Jiru (basic vegetarian stock)

12 square inches kombu
1 dried shiitake mushroom
2 cups cold water

Place the kombu and mushroom in a pot of cold water and heat over medium heat. When small bubbles begin to break the surface, remove from the heat. Allow to sit 3-4 minutes, remove the kombu and mushroom, and then strain the broth through a fine mesh strainer. Reserve the mushroom cap for cooking. You can scale up this recipe for more stock,which can be stored for 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator, but the flavors will not last if frozen.

Simple Miso Soup for a Cold

makes 1 large bowl

2 cups broth
1 rehydrated shitake mushroom cap, sliced
1 slice baked tofu, rinsed and diced
1 handful tender greens like baby spinach
1 Tbsp miso

Heat the strained broth to a simmer. Add the sliced mushroom cap and tofu to the simmering broth. Place the greens in a large soup bowl. In a small bowl, mix the miso and a ladle full of the broth. Pour the rest of the simmering broth into the soup bowl and mix in the thinned miso. Eat right away.

Roasted Poblano Romesco Sauce

This Sunday at at the Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market, you can look forward to a selection of pastured chicken and grass-fed lamb cuts from Fair Valley Farm, handcrafted vegan hazelnut cheese from Avellana Creamery, and beautiful fresh cut flower bouquets from Tiger Lily Art Company. Good Food Easy at Sweetwater Farm will have the following offerings: 

Fresh
Blueberries (make a blueberry buckle)
Lots of tomatoes (Romas and red, yellow, and orange slicers) 
Eggplants (try grilled in Middle Eastern or Asian spreads)
Bell peppers, jalapeños, anaheim and poblano chile peppers (make this romesco sauce)
Artichokes, baby beets, new potatoes, and broccoli
Carrots, summer squash, and cucumbers
Chard, collard greens, and kale (try this quinoa, kale, and beet salad)
Garlic and fresh herbs (basil, oregano, sage, thyme) and home-grown lemon grass
Lettuce, including ready-to-eat bagged mix
Cherries and Blenheim apricots (from Washington)

Preserves, Beans, and Grains
From Sweet Creek Foods:
Dill Pickles, Chili Dill Pickles, Bread 'N Butter Pickles, Pickle Relish
Blueberry, Strawberry, Blackberry, and Raspberry Fruit Spreads
Enchilada Sauce and Salsa
From SLO Farm: Applesauce
Assorted beans and grains from Camas Country Mill

Sweetwater Farm's peppers are reaching their peak at this point in the summer. Poblanos are particularly delicious roasted, so I decided to use them in a twist on a traditional red pepper romesco sauce.

Many romesco recipes incorporate stale bread as a thickener, but Freshwater's dainty cauliflower clusters inspired me to use these as a bread substitute, roasted alongside the poblanos in cast iron skillets under the broiler.

The roasting brought out the peppers' sweetness, toasted almonds and olive oil gave the sauce richness, and lemon juice and a splash of sherry vinegar made it sharp and bright.

This sauce is as versatile as pesto and could be used on pasta (I might combine it with grilled vegetables and feta cheese), on grilled meat, or in sandwiches. We enjoyed it slathered on my latest attempt at the Bread 101 class' final exam (this Chad Robertson recipe), which proved to be the perfect nourishing fare for summer travels. 

Roasted Poblano Romesco Sauce

1/2 cup whole almonds
2 large or 3 medium poblano peppers
1 small cauliflower head
3 Tbsp olive oil (divided)
zest and juice of 1 small lemon
1 tsp sherry vinegar
salt to taste

1. Turn on your broiler, and as it's warming up, quickly toast the almonds in a dry cast iron skillet, being careful not to scorch them (or to be safe, toast them in the skillet on the stove top). Transfer them to a food processor or blender. 

2. Rinse the poblanos and place them into the hot skillet. Roast them under the broiler, turning every couple of minutes until the skin is brown and blistered on all sides. Transfer them to a bowl and cover with a plate to steam. When the peppers are cool enough to handle, peel off the blistered skin, core and seed them, and transfer them to the food processor.

3. Rinse the cauliflower and cut into small florets. Toss the florets with a Tbsp of olive oil and a pinch of salt in a hot skillet (either the one used for the poblanos once they are done, or a second one). Roast under the broiler, shaking every couple of minutes, until the cauliflower is cooked through and browned around the edges. Transfer to the food processor.

4. To the food processor, add the remaining 2 Tbsp olive oil, lemon zest and juice, sherry vinegar, and a generous pinch of salt. Process until smooth. Taste and add more olive oil, lemon, vinegar, or salt as needed. Use as a spread on bread, a sauce for grilled meats, or mix into pasta. Can be kept refrigerated for several days.

Roasted Cumin Carrots and Red Lentil Salad

A meeting in Boston last weekend afforded many serendipitous treats: beautiful spring weather in place of the predicted rain, a lovely stroll through neighborhood streets of my childhood bursting with blooming dogwoods, a chance encounter with my favorite high school French teacher, and some precious time with my parents as just parents, rather than grandparents or parents-in-law. Also, I whipped up a delicious lunch for us with some roasted carrots and a packet of red lentils that had been lingering in the pantry since my last visit.

With the lentils I made approximately this pilaf and layered it on some lettuce leaves with mango slices on the side and the roasted carrots on top, finally drizzled everything with approximately this spiced yogurt sauce. Like the rest of the weekend, it was an unanticipated treat, well worth savoring.

Roasted Cumin Carrots and Red Lentil Salad

serves  four for lunch 

Roasted cumin carrots

6 carrots

1 Tbsp ground cumin

1 tsp tumeric

1 tsp paprika

pinch of salt

good drizzle of olive oil

Red lentil pilaf

Spiced yogurt sauce

Lettuce for four

1 mango

1. Rinse 1 cup of red lentils and soak for an hour or two. 

2. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Trim and scrub the carrots and cut them along the diagonal into 1 inch long chunks. On a large, rimmed baking sheet, toss together the carrot chunks, spices, and olive oil such that the carrots are well coated. Spread out the carrots in a single layer and roast in the preheated oven for approximately 30 minutes, shaking every ten minutes or so, until they are soft and have started to brown and caramelize on the edges. 

3. While the carrots are roasting, assemble the spices for the lentil pilaf and prepare the yogurt sauce.

4. Cook the lentils, according to the pilaf directions, which will take about five minutes.

5. Assemble the lettuce on plates and arrange mango slices around the edges. Scoop on a pile of the red lentils in the center and top with a generous serving of roasted carrots. Drizzle over yogurt sauce and serve with more yogurt sauce at the table. Enjoy.

Grain Salad in a Jar

Here's a convenient lunch idea, composed of leftovers from the previous post on pickled chard stems. Into a pint jar I packed farro, chopped carrots, pickled chard stems and almonds, and drizzled over some olive oil (the pickles brought along some vinegar to meld into a vinaigrette during the day). On top I gently layered some greens so that when I inverted the contents into a bowl at lunch, I had a lovely composed salad.

Grain Salad in a Jar

1 pint jar per person

2/3 cup cooked grain (farro, barley, quinoa)
1/3 cup chopped crunchy vegetables (carrots, peppers, cucumbers)
1/4 cup chopped pickled vegetables (chard stems, fennel bulb, etc.)
1/4 cup protein such as nuts, diced cheese, canned tuna in olive oil, hard boiled egg
1 Tbsp oil oil (or oil from tinned fish)
1/2 cup greens

In a pint mason jar layer grains, vegetables, pickles, and protein, and drizzle over olive oil. Layer on greens and close the jar. To serve, invert the jar into a bowl.

Grilled Eggplant Salads and Dips

This Sunday will be the penultimate Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market of the season. You can look forward to the following offerings from Sweetwater Farm, Fair Valley Farm, and Tiger Lily Art Company:

tomatillos (try this slow cooker tomatillo beans and pork)

heirloom tomatoes, romas, and tomato deals: 10 lbs/$18, $20 lbs/$30 (preserve for winter)

watermelon, honeydew melons, cantaloupes, and other heirloom melons

Bartlett pears (delicious on pizza or in pancakes)

Akane apples and Asian pears from SLO Farm (make apple sauce)

A wide selection of winter squash, including delicata (delicious roasted for salads)

corn, green beans and yellow wax beans (make a savory corn pudding)

pepperoncini, poblanos, red hot cherries, anaheim chiles, and assorted pepper bargain bags

eggplants, fresh spring garlic, and onions (make one of these eggplant dishes)

cucumbers and zucchini (make pasta primavera for the fall)

carrots, cabbage, kohlrabi, and celery (make Pad Thai)

French sorrel and cutting celery (great as a pesto for soup)

new potatoes and beets (make a hash)

fresh herbs including dill, parsley, basil, and cilantro 

bietola, kale, chard, and a variety of lettuces (make lettuce wraps)

dried beans and grains from Camus Country Mill (make teff grain muffins)

jams, salsa, and pickles from Sweet Creek Foods

pastured chickens from Fair Valley Farm (cook up a pot of Pueblan chicken tinga)

floral arrangements from Tiger Lily Art Company

The chilly, damp fall weather is here in earnest, but we can still enjoy a couple more weeks of summer produce, like tomatoes, corn, and eggplant, and a few more opportunities to fire up the grill. If you do, be sure to throw on some eggplants, because once they collapse into charred masses, their soften insides are the perfect palette for any number of dips and salads. If it's too rainy to grill, you can char your eggplant under the broiler or directly over a gas flame, like a bell pepper, until it is blackened and soft (but avoid doing this in a hotel with very sensitive smoke detectors, as I did this summer). 

Smokey Middle Eastern baba ganoush is a delicious and familiar eggplant dip that is best shoveled with warm pita. I came across an interesting variant of this in Fuchsia Dunlop's Every Grain of Rice: Simple Chinese Home Cooking. It has the same smokey eggplant and pungent garlic, the same salty tanginess (from soy and vinegar, as opposed to salt and lemon juice) and even contains sesame (seeds, not paste), but is an entirely different dish that works as a refreshing salad appetizer. Pick up plenty of eggplants this Sunday to try both ways.

Baba Ganoush

2 large eggplants
2 cloves garlic
juice from 1 lemon
1/3 cup tahini
1 tsp pomegranate molasses
1 Tbsp olive oil, and more for drizzling
generous pinch of salt
Walnuts and mint leaves for garnish (optional)

1. Char the eggplants on a grill or under the broiler for about 30 minutes, or over gas flames for about 10 minutes, turning with tongs, until they are completely soft and collapsed. At the same time, roast a couple of cloves of garlic in a small cast iron pan on the grill, under the broiler, or on the stove, until soft (if you don't mind raw garlic, you can skip this step). Cool the eggplant until you can handle them and then peel off the charred skin with a pairing knife or your fingers. Place the softened pulp in a strainer for about 15 minutes to drain out some of the liquid. 

2. Peel the roasted garlic cloves and in a mixing bowl, mash them into a paste with a fork or pestle. Transfer the drained eggplant to the bowl and add the tahini, lemon juice, olive oil, pomegranate molasses, and a pinch of salt. Mash with a potato masher or a pestle until well mixed and the desired consistency. Taste and add a bit more of any of the ingredients to adjust the flavors to your liking. Spread out on a plate and drizzle with olive oil. Garnish with herbs or nuts if you like and serve with warm pita bread.

Chinese Smokey Eggplant with Garlic

adapted from Fuchsia Dunlop's Every Grain of Rice

2 large eggplants

2 cloves garlic

2 tsp light soy sauce

2 tsp Chinkiang vinegar

2 Tbsp chili oil with its sediment (or use a diced fresh hot pepper and 2 Tbsp sesame oil)

1 tsp sesame seeds

2 Tbsp finely sliced scallions (green part only) 
Cilantro leaves for garnish (optional)

1. Prepare the eggplant and garlic cloves as in the recipe above.

2. Mince the garlic and dice the eggplant pulp. Combine in a bowl and toss with the remaining ingredients. Garnish with cilantro leaves if you like and serve as a salad appetizer.