These lamb chops remind me of my time on Corfu. After we’d close the restaurant late at night, we’d grill up a batch and set them in the middle of the table for everyone to nibble on in between stories or songs.
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Category Archives: Nourishing, Fast, Fresh Recipes
Grilled Crostini with Fava Bean Spread
This nibble comes together super-quick once the fava beans are shelled, so you can whip it up and be back outside before the conversation even hits a lull.
Note: Fava beans need to be shelled twice–once from their pods and again from the skins that hold the bean itself.
1 baguette, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch slices
3 cloves garlic, peeled and divided
3 pounds fava beans, shelled from the pod (about 2 cups)
1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Grill or broil the baguette slices until crisp and use a halved clove of garlic to rub both sides of each. (can be done ahead of time)
Bring a pot of salted water to boil and drop fava beans in for 20 seconds. Drain. Then slip each bean out of its skin and into the bowl of a food processor.
Add remaining 2 cloves of garlic, Parmigiano-Reggiano and lemon juice to the bowl and process until smooth. Drizzle in extra-virgin olive oil and blend until emulsified. Season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground pepper and spoon into a serving bowl.
Serve fava bean spread with the crostini.
Serves 6-8
Strawberry-Rhubarb Crostata
One of my mom’s springtime standards is strawberry-rhubarb pie. Here’s my take in a rustic crostata–a type of free-form tart. In any form, rhubarb’s tart taste is a perfect foil to sweet strawberries.
1-1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose unbleached flour, divided
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar, divided
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract, divided
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 tablespoons nonhydrogenated shortening (like Spectrum Organic)
1/4 cup ice water, as needed
1 pound rhubarb, cut into 1/2-inch chunks with any ‘stringiness’ peeled off and discarded
1 pint strawberries, cut into 1/4-inch slices
1 teaspoon lemon zest
Pulse together 1-1/2 cups flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, salt and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla in a food processor. Pulse in butter and shortening, adding ice water by tablespoons as needed, until mixture comes together and there are still a few lumps of butter. Form dough into a ball, then flatten into a disc, wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Roll out dough into a 12-inch circle (dough should be between 1/4 and 1/2 inch thick) on parchment paper.
Mix together rhubarb, strawberries, lemon zest, 1 tablespoon flour and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla. Mound on dough, leaving a 1-inch border along the edge. Fold up the edge and crimp as you go along so that the edges stay up and are well-secured. Ease crostata, still on the parchment paper, onto a cookie sheet and bake 40 minutes, removing parchment paper after the first 15 minutes. Dough should be golden-brown and the fruit bubbly and syrupy. Let cool before serving.
Serves 8
Crisp Cornish Hens with Spiced Pomegranate-Honey Glaze
Removing the skin from the hens both decreases calories and increases the impact of this vibrant, spicy glaze. If you’ve never cooked with Cornish hens before, you’re in for a treat.
Hens:
2 (1 1/4-pound) Cornish hens, halved and skin removed
1 teaspoon thyme, minced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
Glaze:
4 teaspoons olive oil, divided
1 garlic clove, minced
1/3 cup pomegranate juice
1/3 cup honey
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Preheat oven to 425. Spray a large, heavy duty roasting pan with cooking spray and place it on the middle rack of the oven. Mix together garlic, thyme, salt and pepper and rub onto hens. Let sit on a plate while preparing the glaze.
Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil over medium heat in a small saucepan and sauté garlic for 2 minutes, until just beginning to color. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 8-10 minutes, until thickened to a syrup consistency. Remove from heat.
Heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Sear hens breast down for 5-8 minutes, in batches if need be, until deeply browned. Brush hens with glaze and transfer to the roasting pan, breast up. Brush again with glaze. Roast for another 20 minutes, brushing often with remaining glaze.
Serves 4
Classic Blackened Catfish
This dish brings back memories of my college days in New Orleans when I used to make it at least once a week. Little did I know then that I was making a sustainable pick! I’ll warn you from experience; your fire alarm will probably go off, so have a towel handy to fan the smoke away.
4 (6-ounce) catfish fillets
2 tablespoons Cajun Spice Mix (see recipe below)
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 tablespoon butter
8 lemon wedges
Rub each side of fillets with Cajun Spice Mix. Heat oil and butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add fillets and cook for 3-4 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily with a fork.
Serve with lemon wedges.
Serves 4
Cajun Spice Mix
Leftover spice mix can be stored in a sealed jar for up to three months.
3 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons ground red pepper
2 tablespoons dried thyme
2 tablespoons dried oregano
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon sugar
Combine all ingredients in a small bowl.
Makes 1 cup
Grilled Halibut with Green Pea Coulis
Did you know that fish, like other foods has a season? Pacific halibut season is spring and fall, though you can find high-quality frozen fish at other times of year. Here, we pair grilled halibut with green peas in a kelly-green coulis, which definitely falls into the “can’t get better than fresh-from-the-garden” category. This dish is a good excuse to break in the grill for the season.
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More recipes for fish on the grill:
- Halibut “Burgers” with MInted Napa Cabbage Slaw
- Grilled Salmon with Stone Fruit Salsa
- Grilled Fish in Parchment with Cherry Tomatoes & Corn
Radish and Goat Cheese Baguettes
Everything about this sandwich makes me happy. The radishes–so vibrant and colorful–come straight from our back yard, the bread from our local bakery, and the goat cheese from grazing goats just a few miles away. Even the olive oil comes from a local producer. The radish offers a peppery hit that’s lovely against the creamy, pungent cheese.
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