Lunch today: leftover mujadara (recipe heavily adapted from Molly Wizenberg at Orangette) with an egg scrambled into it, topped with yogurt and served with whole wheat flatbread. That egg-scrambling trick is my all-time favorite way to deal with leftovers.
I neglected to post these pictures with the first cranberry bean post, but I couldn’t resist sharing them. This is what you can do with a little leftover Warm Cranberry Bean Salad, a poached egg or two, and some toast.
I love that.
Thrown together from things I found in the refrigerator: a quick sauté of button mushrooms and celery, coated with red miso that I thinned with water, and served over leftover mai fun rice noodles, garnished with peanuts and celery leaves. That is pretty much the recipe, shockingly enough. I was very restrained today, and didn’t use one single spice other than black pepper. Not even hot sauce.
I threw the roasted chopped peanuts, thinking how well peanut butter and celery go together in that childhood snack, Ants on a Log. (I always hated the “ants” part, since I’ve never liked raisins, and would demand their omission on mine.) The flavors of celery, peanuts, and mushrooms are really delightful together, as it turns out; I’m going to have to play with that more in the future.
Since I’ve been neglecting you all lately, here’s a special edition Five Minute Photo Shoot: one with a recipe!
I threw this dish together the other night when some friends came over for dinner. I was just about to take off for a whirlwind trip to my hometown, New Orleans, and felt I should make room in my freezer for all the goodies I was planning to bring back. A block of tasso (a highly spiced bit of cured ham used for seasoning in Cajun and Creole cooking) was begging to be used up, and I was craving some serious greenery; this is what resulted.
The flavorful tasso got sautéed with an onion and some crimini mushrooms, before adding in a can of chickpeas and about a million collard greens (which always cook down into oblivion). A splash of chicken broth, a rind of Parmesan, and a bay leaf tied everything together, and made just the sort of thing I want to eat on these newly-chilly Fall nights. For dinner, I served it alone with a wedge of Northern-style cornbread; it went over rice for lunch, with a dollop of yogurt on top and some whole-wheat flatbread on the side.
Greens with Tasso and Chickpeas
Makes 6 to 8 servings
I used collard greens here, but you can substitute mustard greens if you like. Instead of the hard-to-find tasso (and in case you don’t want to make your own), use any spicy, highly-flavored sausage you like, such as Spanish chorizo. Add extra broth if you’d rather have a more soup-like dish. Do not skip the Tabasco sauce; it makes the dish. You could stir it into the pot as it cooks, but I much prefer the random and more potent spice it gives by adding it at the table.
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
12 to 16 ounces tasso, cubed
8 ounces crimini mushrooms, quartered
1 can (15 ounces) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 bay leaf
1 sprig thyme
1/4 teaspoon freshly-grated nutmeg
3 pounds collard greens, thoroughly washed, ribs removed, and chopped
2 cups chicken broth
1 rind from a used wedge of Parmesan
3 scallions, chopped
1/3 cup parsley leaves, roughly chopped
1 to 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Salt and black pepper, as needed
Toasted pine nuts, optional garnish
Tabasco sauce, not optional garnish
1. In a large stock pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the chopped onion, and sauté until translucent, 5 to 10 minutes. Add the tasso, and cook until tasso browns, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms, cooking until they release their liquid, about 5 minutes. Add the chickpeas, bay leaf, thyme, and nutmeg. Stir and cook until fragrant, about 5 minutes more.
2. Meanwhile, prepare the collard greens, which will take longer than you think. As you chop them, add them to the pot. Stir to avoid burning. When all greens have been added, add broth and Parmesan rind. Cover loosely, reduce heat to medium-low, and let simmer about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Remove pot from heat. Remove bay leaf (and Parmesan rind, if inedible). Stir in chopped scallions and parsley leaves. Add lemon juice, salt, and freshly-ground black pepper to taste. Serve immediately in bowls, or over rice, with toasted pine nuts (optional) and Tabasco (not optional).
I haven’t done one of these in ages. Embarrassingly, it’s mostly due to the fact that I haven’t been making myself proper lunches. Time for a change!
This is a bed of red leaf lettuce, topped with a bit of chopped jicama and avocado, shaved red onion, and a red miso-mustard dressing with plenty of black pepper. Whole wheat flatbread rounds out the quick lunch for two.
Creamy, crunchy, tangy, and surprisingly filling. Just what I wanted.
Ahem.
*shuffles feet*
I might have let you know that I was going out of town for nearly a week. I had things that I meant to post before I left, but time got away from me, as it always manages to do. There’s lots of excitement in my life lately, and I’ve been devoting my time elsewhere.
But here are some spicy pork shoulder tacos I made! In the background is a plateful of cilantro, sliced Napa cabbage, and red onion. The glass of Bourbon is an homage to a local taco restaurant. which offers a daily whiskey special alongside their spectacular tacos.
More exciting things are coming in the near future, so stay tuned!
This marks the first lunch of the week that consisted of real food, rather than an energy bar or hummus. (Being busy has its ups and downs.) There wasn’t much in the fridge to choose from, but the freezer helped me out. It’s a bit of a mess, but there’s edamame, peas, and onions, all sautéed with an egg and herbes de Provence. Leftover roasted asparagus and a pretzel roll filled out the meal.
For lunch: leftover roasted shrimp and broccoli, over quinoa. An extremely simple, nutritious, and excellent meal.
For lunch yesterday: an open face sandwich on homemade rye bread, with fancy-pants cultured butter, sliced radishes, and a sprinkling of fleur de sel. On the side are the radish tops, quickly tossed in a hot sauté with olive oil, salt, and pepper. They turned gorgeously crisp and were slightly bitter, like arugula.
For lunch today, I had BLTs planned. But for some reason, the tomato tasted funny to me, with a faint chemical flavor. It tasted fine to my sous chef, however, so he was perfectly content to have it all to himself. For him, then, a standard BLT, with mesclun standing in for the lettuce.
For me, a BLC (bacon, lettuce, and cucumber) was an adequate and crunchy substitute.
I couldn’t possibly serve a BLT (or a BLC) without a smear of mayonnaise on one piece of bread, but I did gussy it up a bit with a little mascarpone on the other piece. It was buttery and creamy, a luxurious complement to the crisp bacon and rustic multi-grain bread.
