Zucchini Frittata

By the luscious, creamy texture and complex flavor of this zucchini frittata, you’d never guess it was barely more than squash, onion and eggs. Choose the freshest eggs you can find for this since they play such a prominent role. We like to pack this frittata for picnics with a fluffy bibb lettuce and herb salad and my Go-To Vinaigrette.

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Hot-Smoked Arctic Char with Greens and Golden Beets

Arctic char is a relative of salmon and trout, with flavor is somewhere between the two, and it has a luscious fattiness. The fish is native to chilly Arctic waters, and it’s a good option for sustainable aquaculture since the fish are cultivated in closed recirculating tank systems, according to Paul Greenberg, author of Four Fish. I had a hot-smoked Arctic char salad similar to this one at the Los Angeles restaurant Ammo. This recipe demonstrates how easy it is to smoke fish on a standard grill. Serve the smoked arctic char warm or chilled. This recipe also works well with wild salmon.

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Sautéed Wheat Berries with Shrimp, Zucchini and Gremolata

This wheat berries recipe sort of sums up everything NOURISH Evolution stands for. The zucchini comes fresh from our garden (if you don’t have one of your own, you’ll likely be able to find zucchini that someone else has grown this time of year). The wheat berries are a relatively new whole grain discovery for me, full of flavor and hearty texture that’s so good for me my whole body goes ‘mmmm.’ The shrimp are caught wild or farmed sustainably here in the U.S. This is truly a dish to nourish body, soul, and planet.

sauteed-wheat-berries-shrimp-zucchini-gremolata

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Wheat Berry Salad with Middle Eastern Spices, Grilled Tomatoes & Eggplant

This wheat berry salad always wows those new to whole grains. The smokiness of the grilled tomatoes, creaminess of the eggplant and haunting complexity of the spice paste create quite a sensation. Soft wheat berries have a toothsome starchy quality that works well in this recipe.

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Roasted Red Pepper Romesco Sauce

Romesco sauce is delicious staple of Spanish cuisine. Our version of Catalonian tomato-red pepper romesco sauce boosts the ratio of roasted bell peppers. There are lots of ways to roast peppers and other items. Lia likes to do it on the stovetop in a comal (a flat griddle pan). You can also throw them on a hot grill (especially good and smoky if you add soaked wood chips to the coals or a smoker box), or use a pair of tongs to hold peppers over the open flame of a gas stove. Since this recipe calls for roasting a fairly large volume, we pop ‘em under the broiler. However you do it, the result is a simple, smoky romesco sauce that you can serve with grilled bread as an appetizer; as a condiment with fish, poultry, or meat; tossed with pasta; or even on pizza in place of traditional tomato sauce. It may just end up being your new all-purpose sauce.

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Spicy-Sweet Pickled Cucumbers

These pickled cucumbers are inspired by the spicy-sweet pickles served at Saffron, a popular Thai takeaway in San Diego. Use thin-skinned Japanese, Persian, English or pickling cucumbers, and slice them as thinly as possible. If you have a mandolin or Japanese slicer, this a good time to use it; otherwise, just use a razor-sharp chef’s knife. Serve these pickled cucumbers as a refreshing summer side dish, or use them as a condiment in sandwiches and tacos. They’d be delicious on a sandwich or tortilla with Grass-Fed Beef Bulgogi and Fiery-Sweet Peach Salsa.

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Lia’s Black Beans

These have become our favorite black beans to accompany Latin American meals. I recently made these for a class I taught with Ana Maria from Guatemala and got the coveted thumbs up.Lia's Black Beans

1 tablespoon canola oil
1 onion, chopped
2 large poblano chiles, seeded and chopped
4 cloves garlic, smashed
2 guajillo chiles, soaked, seeded and chopped
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons oregano
2 teaspoons ground ancho chile
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1-1/2 cups dried black beans, rinsed and soaked overnight (or fast-soaked in a pressure cooker)
Generous hit of sea salt
2 cups water
1 cup vegetable or chicken broth

Heat canola oil over medium-high heat in a large, heavy-bottomed pot. Add onion, poblanos and garlic, and sauté 15 minutes, stirring frequently, until deep golden brown. Add guajillo chiles and spices, and sauté 1 minute, until fragrant.

Add beans, salt, broth and water, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 1-1/2 hours, until beans are very tender.

Using a potato masher, mash the beans until there’s a mix of whole beans and creamy mashed beans.

Serves 10-12

Grass-Fed Beef Bulgogi

Bulgogi means “fire meat” in Korean and is the name of a beef dish in which paper-thin sliced meat is soaked in a flavorful combo of soy sauce, black pepper, ginger, rice wine, and pureed fruit. In this version, readily available pureed kiwifruit stands in for traditional Asian pear to help tenderize the lean grass-fed beef. To make the beef easier to slice super-thin, pop it in the freezer for 30 minutes. If you don’t feel like firing up the grill, you can stir-fry the beef. Serve in lettuce cups with short-grain brown rice. We also love it on warm tortillas with a dollop of Fiery-Sweet Peach Salsa.
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Glass Noodle Salad with Spicy Sweet Shrimp

Holy smokes, this Asian noodle salad is yummy! And ridiculously easy to pull together, too, especially if you have extra Spicy Sweet Shrimp on hand–or substitute other leftovers, like Mahogany Grilled Chicken. Packed with flavor yet light and refreshing, this noodle salad is a go-to, one-dish healthy dinner.

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