Category Archives: Special Diets

Nigel Slater’s Parmesan Tomatoes

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English cookbook author Nigel Slater reminds me a bit of Marcella Hazan. Like Hazan, Slater is adamant that he’s a cook, not a chef, and he’s a champion of simple, straightforward home cooking. The American edition of his book, Tender: A Cook and His Vegetable Patch (Ten Speed Press) came out recently, and it deserves a place in your cookbook collection. His signature unfussy approach lets the flavor of seasonal produce really shine. Roasting summer-fresh tomatoes heightens their sweetness and deepens their flavor. Slater recommends serving these as a side dish with fresh mozzarella or basmati rice. They’re equally delightful served over sliced baguette as an appetizer or light lunch.

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Homemade Gravlax with Wild Alaskan Salmon

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Gravlax is a wonderfully simple way to showcase the the rich, buttery quality of wild salmon from the Copper River. Gravlax is a Swedish specialty that cures the salmon with a mixture of salt, sugar and spices. It’s a simple, no-cook technique requiring nothing more than a little prep work and time. There many of variations of gravlax. Our version uses a basic combination of granulated and brown sugars, coarse sea salt and black pepper that lets the luscious flavor and texture of the wild salmon really shine. You could customize this in any number of ways – swap black pepper for earthy white pepper, add lemon or orange rind, etc. Serve thinly sliced on multigrain crackers, garnished with chopped fresh dill and grated lemon zest. Or you could go old school and serve it with fresh bagels, cream cheese, capers and thinly sliced red onion.

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Faux Aioli

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My friend Honore jokes that she’ll put lemon seeds in a dish of doctored-up jar mayonnaise to give her quickie aioli an air of authenticity. Feel free to serve this faux aioli recipe — pungent with smashed garlic and made with a mix of light and regular mayonnaise — with or without seeds.

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Santa Maria-Style Beans

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The barbecue of Santa Maria, Calif., is famous for delicious smoked tri-tip, and it’s always accompanied by a pot of pinquito beans. This legume, a cross between white and pinto beans, is grown only in the Santa Maria Valley. You can order them online, use standard pintos or experiment with other varieties of heirloom beans, such as Eye of Goat (which I used here) or Yellow Indian Woman. Using a pressure cooker yields tender beans that hold their shape in about a third of the usual cooking time. If you don’t have one, soak the legumes overnight and cook them in simmering water for 2 hours or until tender. Cooking time will vary, depending on the size and age of the beans. Use any leftovers to make kick-ass burritos the next day.

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Speedy Chickpea Couscous with Pesto

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If you need  fast-cooking whole grains, stock your pantry with whole wheat couscous. As Maria Speck notes in her wonderful book, Ancient Grains for Modern Meals (Ten Speed Press), couscous is an anomaly. “It is neither a grain nor a pasta,” she notes, but it is eaten like a grain. You can vary the flavor of this recipe by using different types of pesto. We used our Basil-Mint Pesto here, but you also could use our Asian Pesto or Spicy Sage and Parsley Pesto, or even some from a jar. Whether it’s homemade or store-bought, use a bold pesto you really love since it adds most of the flavor to this dish. Serve with fish or chicken. “Garnish with 1/4 cup chopped toasted pistachios,” Speck suggests. “Or make it a light meal with crumbled ricotta salata, goat cheese or feta cheese and a few olives.”

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Basil-Mint Pesto

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This emerald pesto is ideal when the weather  starts to warm up – the  mint adds a springy note while the basil offers a hint of summer to come. Stir it into Maria Speck’s Speedy Chickpea Couscous with Pesto, serve a dollop atop fish or poultry, spread it on crostini or add it to hot pasta. This pesto recipe yields a generous amount. Use whatever you need now, and freeze the leftovers in an ice-cube tray. Once it’s frozen, pop the pesto cubes out of the tray and transfer them to a heavy-duty zip-top bag and freeze up to 1 month.

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Carla Hall’s Spicy Carrot and Ginger Soup

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This carrot and ginger soup recipe demonstrates “Top Chef” contestant and cohost of “The Chew” Carla Hall’s deft touch with nourishing ingredients. It’s also the type of healthy everyday food she favors that leaves room for some well-chosen indulgences. She uses herbal tea bags as bouquet garni to infuse flavor and silken tofu instead of heavy cream to give this carrot soup body. Unsweetened carrot juice underscores the flavor of the fresh carrots while coconut water adds a subtle tropical note. “Using vegetable and fruit juices in addition to or in place of stock is another way to add layers of flavor,” says Hall.

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Chocolate Amaranth Pudding

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As we’ve noted before, amaranth has a gelatinous quality that makes it ideal for pudding. If you’re fan of rice pudding or tapioca, you’ll probably like this, too. Our version is spiced with a little ancho chile powder and ground cinnamon, and sweetened with coconut sugar. You can cook the amaranth in unsweetened coconut milk beverage found in the refrigerated section of health food stores (rather than the thicker, richer canned coconut milk you’d use in our Spring Vegetable Curry), or use almond milk if you prefer less pronounced coconut flavor.
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Roasted Asparagus with Miso, Honey and Lime Zest

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I deliberately left the dressing for this roasted asparagus super light so that nothing, with the exception of the cayenne, would tug your tastebuds too far away from the asparagus itself. The result is bright and zingy; it also pops asparagus out of the Mediterranean profile so you can serve it with Asian-leaning dishes. If you can get your hands on an unfiltered peanut oil, like Spectrum Organic’s, you’ll gain even more flavor.

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Fennel & Mint Raita

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Raita is an Indian condiment made with yogurt, vegetables, herbs and spices. It’s often made with cucumber, but in spring, we like to use fresh fennel and mint. Try it with our Red Lentil Dal with Caramelized Onions, Carrots and Peas. It’s also delicious with lamb, poultry or fish. Save the pretty fennel fronds to garnish the bowl.

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