Curried Collards

We eat a lot of greens in my kitchen, from kale, chards, to collards, so I'm always trying to think of new and interesting ways to cook them. My latest experiment was spicy curried collard greens - here's how I did it:

Ingredients
Large bunch collard greens
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 small ginger root, minced
Red chili pepper to taste
1/2 yellow onion, diced
2+ tbsp. curry powder
1 tbsp. Thai red curry paste
1/2 can light coconut milk
Sriracha to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
Water

Method
1.) Wash and drain collard greens, stripping leaves from the stems.
2.) Heat olive oil in a large pan and add minced garlic, ginger and red chili to taste - can be dried red pepper flakes or fresh Asian chili pepper (jarred), or both.
3.) Add collard greens to the pan and toss with garlic, ginger and chili to distribute around evenly. Season with salt and pepper. Saute for a few minutes.
4.) Add water to the pan - just enough to cover about half of the greens but not completely. Cover and simmer on medium heat for 20 minutes or until the collards have gone from pale to bright green. (Braise the greens, essentially. Vegetable or chicken broth could be used in place of water for added flavor.)
5.) When the greens have simmered to change color, remove the lid and turn up the heat to boil off some of the excess liquid. Add the diced onion, curry powder, and Thai curry paste, stirring with a wooden spoon to spread/cook the spices. (I added the onion here rather than at the beginning so they retain some texture: in the end they should be translucent but not mush.)
6.) Reduce the heat to low and add a dash of Sriracha (or in my case five) and light coconut milk to finish, stirring so the curry sauce is even throughout. Serve hot, over coconut jasmine rice if desired.
*Note: for protein, adding crispy tofu on top of the curried greens would be great.

Superbowl Snacks

A couple of my favorite Superbowl Sunday snacks:

Chili cheese fries: using homemade baked sweet potato fries for more fiber and nutrients, and my Dad's classic chili recipe - okay with a few of my touches. I can't help but experiment.

Spinach and artichoke dip: when made fresh and baked until warm and bubbly in the oven, this vegetarian-friendly dip is easily as delicious as the various meat dishes (and I appreciate good hot wings.) Serve with veggies and pita chips.

Pigs in blankets: for a kid-friendly item, nothing beats the simple Crescent roll-hot dog-cheddar cheese combination. They're quick and easy - it takes about a minute to assemble a tray - and let's be honest, whether serving to five- or twenty-five-year olds, they get demolished.

Soup Ideas

Arctic January in Boston means lots of soups. Here are the soups I've tried this year:

Healthy Tomato soup: I added spicy Hungarian paprika to basic tomato soup and finished it with nonfat Greek yogurt (rather than cream) for a protein-packed yet creamy consistency.

Kale, White bean, Sausage soup: iron-rich kale and lean chicken or turkey sausage create great flavor for this winter soup.

Ribollita: Following the traditional Tuscan recipe in the Italian cookbook La Cucina Fiorentina, this hearty vegetable soup uses both collard greens and kale or chard, and both whole and blended white beans for varying textures. Ribollita means "reboiled" in Italian, so this soup should be made the night before serving, then bring to a boil again the next day, hence boiling twice, for a thick, rustic result.

Roasted Cauliflower soup: I roasted both white and golden cauliflower in the oven and then created a three-cheese sauce using blue cheese, gruyere and extra-sharp white cheddar. This is snow day comfort food, best served bubbling hot.

Lentil soup: stewed lentils with sweet potato, carrots and spinach for a fiber-filled winter meal. When it's bitter cold below freezing, spiced lentil stew does the trick.

Black-Eyed Pea Fritters

Every year on New Year's day I cook black-eyed peas for good luck in the new year - see previous blog post http://princess-peach-kitchen.blogspot.com/2011/01/fortunate-food.html for the explanation - and this year was no different. (Okay, last year I didn't cook black-eyed peas on Jan. 1, but I was seeing the pyramids in Egypt that day, and there was no kitchen. A lot of sand and some camels, but black-eyed peas not so much.) Anyways this year I decided to do something different rather than the steaming pot of beans, or scattered artfully over a salad, as I've done in various years past. This year I decided to make spicy fritters. Here's how I did it:

Ingredients
1 can black-eyed peas in water
1 small onion
1 egg
Approx. for all ingredients following - use to taste:
1 tbsp. flour (For a gluten-free substitute fine corn flour would be good)
1 tsp. cayenne
1/2 tsp. chili pepper
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. paprika
Salt and freshly ground pepper
A few red pepper flakes

Method
1.) In the morning drain the beans and rinsed them, then pour them in a bowl with fresh water to soak. *If using dried beans then you'll want to do this overnight, even, to make sure the beans are soft enough to cook by dinner time.
2.) Before cooking, drain the soaked beans in a colander and then put them in a large mixing bowl and season with the spices. Stir in the egg and flour. Mash the bean mixture using a potato masher. I kept the texture a bit chunky, with about a fourth of the beans still intact in the mush.
3.) Mince the onion and then saute in a medium skillet in oil until translucent. Add a few red pepper flakes to the pan, stirring around with a wooden spoon. (Can be omitted of course, I just like everything spicy.)
4.) Remove the cooked onion from the pan and stir into the bean mixture. *You could use raw onion in these fritters to omit the extra step, but since I don't enjoy the taste of raw onion it's worth it to me to cook them beforehand.
5.) Add more oil to the pan - a good frying oil like vegetable or grapeseed - and increase the heat. Shape the fritters with clean hands and place them into the pan. The oil should sizzle around the edges of the fritters.
6.) Flip the fritters after a minute or two - the sides should be golden brown - and brown the other side. Remove and drain on a plate with a paper towel to soak up excess oil.
7.) Serve the spicy fritters warm over greens (I had spinach on hand, but mixed greens would work, too) and enjoy.

Happy New Year!

Baked Shrimp

A quick and simple seafood dinner is this baked shrimp with Mediterranean flavors. Here's how I did it:

Ingredients
1 lb. shrimp, deveined
Olive oil
Dry vermouth
3 tbsp(+) minced garlic
Four plum tomatoes
Bunch fresh basil
1/4 lb. Greek feta block
Salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste
1/2 lemon

Method
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Peel 1 lb. shrimp (fresh or fresh-frozen is fine.)
2) Saute a few tbsp. minced garlic in olive oil in a skillet - be careful not to burn the garlic. Add red pepper flakes. Deglaze the pan with a splash of dry vermouth.
3) Add the shrimp to the garlic-red pepper-infused oil and season with salt and black pepper. Cook for just a minute, until the shrimp begins to turn pink, and remove from heat.
4) Dice four plum tomatoes and rip a handful of fresh basil into small pieces over the tomatoes. Cut a quarter pound of good firm Greek feta into small cubes.
5) Pour shrimp with oil-garlic-vermouth sauce into a glass baking dish and spread out to ensure the bottom of the dish is oiled. Add the tomatoes, basil and feta to the shrimp, and grind more fresh pepper (though not more salt as the feta is already salty) over top.
6) Bake for 10-15 min, depending on the oven. (I only baked it for 10 min. since I hate overcooked, rubbery seafood - keep an eye on it!)
7) Squeeze fresh lemon juice over top and a drizzle of olive oil to finish. Serve with good crusty bread to sop up the juices in the pan - the flavors combine to create a light sauce, so irresistable you have to get it all. Enjoy!

Obama Spinach Pie

My best friend Marc clipped a recipe of First Lady Michelle Obama's favorite recipe for spinach pie and brought it home for me, and after making it I have to say I love this spinach pie almost as much as I love Michelle Obama. Almost.

Here's the original recipe from Michelle Obama's book American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America:


Of course I made some variations to the recipe (I can't help myself ...)
In my version of the Obama spinach pie, I used lowfat milk instead of half-and-half, and a mix of extra sharp cheddar and part skim mozzarella instead of Swiss cheese. I also seasoned my sauteed spinach with a pinch of red pepper flakes for heat and a bit of nutmeg. The pie turned out to be awesome:

 

Packed with a pound of fresh spinach, this savory pie is good hot and bubbly out of the oven, served at room temperature or even as cold breakfast leftovers, in my opinion. This I will have to make again and again ...

Trumpet Herb Pasta with Peas

 

I got this pasta from Pappardelle's stand at the holiday farmer's market in Rehoboth, DE and had to share how excellent their pasta is. The wide selection at the market included everything from spinach lemon herb fettucine and garlic chive pappardelle to spicy Thai linguine and dark chocolate pasta! (Dessert pasta - crazy awesome.) They also have gluten-free pasta options such as porcini mushroom large trumpet and basil garlic penne, which is great considering the relatively limited variety in most gluten free pasta available. They retail online www.pappardellesonline.com and sell at farmers markets and festivals all over the country and British Columbia, apparently.

 

 

I chose the trumpet herb blend with a mix of carrot tarragon, chive, and dill & parsley peppercorn pasta, and I recommend this pasta blend if you're looking for a shorter-cut pasta with lots of flavor. Pappardelle's provides sample recipes to go along with their pastas to give you ideas (I took photos of the recipes on display at the market like a nutcase but they're on the website) and they recommended trumpet herb blend for pasta salad with tuna and cauliflower, which sounds great for a summer picnic. For a late autumn dinner, this is how I prepared the pasta:

 

1) Bring pot of water to a boil and salt; add pasta.

2) A few minutes before the pasta's done (8-10 minutes to cook al dente, but I use my "Italian timer" ;) to determine when pasta's ready) add about 1/2 cup frozen peas to the water to warm through.

3) Drain the pasta and peas, reserving some of the starchy cooking water for the sauce.

4) Pour the pasta and peas in a bowl and add 2 tbsp. low fat cream cheese, freshly ground black pepper, a pinch of oregano and red pepper flakes to taste. *I chose a simple cream sauce for this so that the pasta's intense herb flavor is the star of the dish.

5) Add a spoonful of the starchy cooking liquid to create a sauce and stir so the cheese melts over the pasta; add more water as necessary to thin out the sauce consistency.

6) Finish with a drizzle of good olive oil and serve warm. Enjoy!