Strawberry, Bacon and Spinach Salad

As a healthy eating strategy, many experts recommend shopping the outer edges of the grocery store--the portions of the store containing real ingredients rather than processed, packaged foods. As an addendum to that advice, I'd also add spending about half that time in the produce section.

This time of year, it's easy to do. After a winter and early spring of produce that has been shipped long distances from countries with different growing seasons, by summer, the produce aisle looks a lot more local. You can even bypass the grocery store and find a good farmers market for fresh, seasonal produce.

Berries are one of those summer produce items that taste so much better when they haven't been frozen or even refrigerated for a long-distance trip. And strawberries are among the first berries to arrive in the summer.

This salad hits all the flavor centers, with its sweet berries and honey, smoky-meaty bacon, slightly bitter spinach and feta cheese to lend sourness. I sprang for authentic Greek feta cheese for this salad, which I didn't regret, as it had a more interesting flavor than the usual domestic varieties I get.

Strawberry, Bacon and Spinach Salad

Serves 3

1/4 sweet onion, sliced very thin
2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 tsp. honey
Pinch of salt
1/3 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
4-5 cups of baby spinach
3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
4 oz. hickory-smoked bacon, cut into thin strips (lardons)
12 fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered
4 oz. Greek (sheep's milk) feta, crumbled

1. Quick-pickle the onions: Combine onion, red wine vinegar, honey and salt in a bowl. Stir to coat onions. Set out at room temperature for 1 hour. Drain and rinse onions under cold water.

2. Toast walnuts in a small frying pan over medium-low heat until fragrant, about 8 minutes.

3. Place spinach in a large bowl. Whisk together the oil and vinegar and toss with the spinach. Add the quick-pickled onion and toasted walnuts.

4. Brown bacon in a medium frying pan over medium heat. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate. Then add to the salad. Toss to combine.

5. Serve salad in shallow bowls with fresh strawberries and crumbled feta.

Sautéed Chicken Breasts with Tarragon-Lemon-Garlic Sauce

Chicken's well-known versatility makes a good partner for many different herbs. Tarragon works particularly well with chicken. It looks a bit like rosemary, except its leaves are more delicate and have a greener flavor in contrast to rosemary's bitter piney taste.

I like this technique for lightly dredging chicken breasts before sautéing them. The thin layer of flour helps promote good browning with the full-blown crunchy layer you get with actual breading. It makes for a lighter dish that's perfect with a sauce like this one, a potent but summery blend of tarragon, garlic, lemon and white wine. It also doesn't take that long to cook; about 10 minutes for the chicken and another 10 for the sauce. Depending on the sides you choose, you could easily have this on the table in half an hour.

Roasted new potatoes.

Not being rushed, I opted for a side of roasted new potatoes and green beans sautéed with baby leeks. A smoky dose of paprika stands in for the usual bacon. The cooking time on the beans depends on your particular taste. I know there's a trend to cook green beans less these days, although I actually like them cooked a little bit longer. Six minutes in boiling water is a nice compromise between the almost-raw texture of a quick blanch and the falling-apart tenderness of beans cooked for a long time.

Tarragon-Lemon-Garlic sauce

Sautéed Chicken Breasts with Tarragon-Lemon-Garlic Sauce

2 tbsp. vegetable or canola oil
2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. fine garlic powder
Seasoned salt, to taste
3 or 4 boneless-skinless chicken breast halves
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 tbsp. minced garlic (about 3 garlic cloves)
1/2 cup dry white wine
Juice from 1 lemon
1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 tbsp. fresh chopped tarragon

1. Heat vegetable or canola oil in a frying pan over medium heat until almost smoking hot. Whisk together flour, garlic powder and seasoned salt in a shallow bowl. Pat chicken breasts dry with paper towels and dredge in the flour mixture, tapping off any excess. Add to the frying pan with the hot oil and sauté until browned on one side, turn over and brown the other side. Continue cooking until the chicken has reached an internal temperature of 165 F. Remove from pan.

2. Pour excess oil from pan. Add butter. When melted, add garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add white lemon, lemon juice, mustard and tarragon and whisk to combine. Cook, whisking frequently, until reduced by about half, about 5-10 minutes. Serve chicken with sauce spooned over it.

Roasted New Potatoes

1 lb. new potatoes, well scrubbed, cut into quarters
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. fresh thyme
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 375 F. Combine cut potatoes, olive oil, thyme, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Arrange potatoes on baking sheet in a single layer with cut sides down. Roast until potatoes are browned, about 40-45 minutes.

Sautéed Green Beans with Baby Leeks

1 lb. fresh green beans, ends trimmed off, beans cut into 1 1/2 to 2 inch pieces
Pinch of salt and pinch of sugar
2 tbsp. butter
4 baby leeks, green ends discard, white and light green parts cleaned and chopped into 1/4-inch pieces (see this video for cleaning leeks)
1 tbsp. minced garlic (about 3 garlic cloves)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 tsp. smoked paprika
1 tbsp. white wine vinegar

1. Heat a large saucepan of water over high heat until it boils. Add a pinch of salt and a pinch of sugar. Add the green beans and boil for 6 minutes. Drain beans and set aside in a bowl.

2. Heat a large frying pan over medium heat. Add butter and, when melted, add the leeks and garlic. Sauté until the leeks have softened, about 5 minutes or a little more. Add the green beans and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper and smoked paprika and cook for about 2 minutes. Stir in the vinegar and cook for 1 minute more.

Peas 3-Ways Risotto with Mint

Three-ways can be a little controversial. Take, for example, the recent three-way between Pamela, John Ross and Emma on Dallas, which got tongues wagging. Well, this three-way is sure to get your tongue wagging too, but in a different way.

English peas have to be shelled first. You end up with about half as much peas by weight as you get with peas in the pod, so plan accordingly.

This risotto features three different types of peas: the basic English variety, which I've pureed, sugar snap peas, which are blanched and stirred into the cooked rice, and sautéed pea shoots (also sometimes called pea tendrils). All three types came from New Morning Farm, my neighborhood farmers market that I'm getting an even deeper appreciation for as I read the farmer's son's memoir, A Farm Dies Once a Year.

Sautéing the pea shoots

I also got to use some fresh spearmint from my garden. When I originally planted the mint in April, I put it in the same pot as a peppermint plant. This turned out to be a mistake. After a few weeks, the spearmint looked pretty unhappy, turning a dull shade of green with some brown spots. I repotted the spearmint so that it had its own, larger pot, and what a difference. Now the plant is vibrant green and growing steadily. Definitely going to be time for mojitos soon.

This is a pretty simple and adaptable recipe. To make it vegetarian, substitute vegetable broth for the chicken broth. You could even make it vegan by omitting the cheese and using only olive oil instead of butter.

Adding the pea puree to the risotto.

Peas 3-Ways Risotto with Mint

4 cups chicken broth
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 yellow onion, diced
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
3/4 cup dry white wine (I used a Chenin Blanc/Viognier blend)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Pinch of ground nutmeg
1 lb. sugar snap peas, ends trimmed and peas cut in half
5 oz. shelled English peas (about 10 oz. unshelled)
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 oz. pea shoots
Pinch of red chili pepper flakes
3 tbsp. fresh chopped spearmint
1 cup grated pecorino romano cheese

1. Warm the chicken broth in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat.

2. Heat butter in a Dutch oven or large sauté pan over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until softened, about 10 minutes. Add rice and cook until lightly toasted, stirring occasionally, about 3-4 minutes. Add wine and stir to combine. Cook until the wine is absorbed by the rice (when running a spoon across the bottom of the pot leaves a dry space). Add 2 cups of chicken broth, stir to combine, and simmer over medium heat until the broth is absorbed. Then, continue adding broth by 1/2 cupfuls, stirring to combine and waiting between additions until the previous addition is absorbed by the rice. In total, this should take about 20-25 minutes. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Reduce heat to low to keep warm.

3. While the rice cooks, prepare the peas. Bring a large saucepan to boil over medium-high heat. Add the sugar snap peas and cook for 2 minutes. Remove peas from the boiling water and transfer to an ice-water bath. Add the English peas and cook for 2 minutes. Transfer the cooked English peas to a tall container, add about 1/2 cup of warm water and puree with an immersion blender (alternatively, transfer to a food processor and process until pureed).

4. Heat olive oil in a medium frying pan over medium heat. Add pea shoots, season with salt and red chili pepper flakes, and cook until wilted and lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Set aside.

5. Stir the pea puree and cooked snap peas into the risotto, along with the fresh mint and grated pecorino romano. Serve the risotto in shallow bowls topped with sautéed pea shoots.

The Feed: July 2, 2014

Sweet Corn Ice Cream with Blackberries, in honor of the New York Times Dining section's ice cream issue.

The Feed is my weekly round up of interesting food-related stories from newspapers, magazines, blogs and websites.

New York Times: “The Only Ice Cream Recipe You’ll Ever Need,” by Melissa Clark.
Summertime and ice cream are a classic pairing that always brings a smile. Today’s Dining section is an ode to the frozen staple that’s oh-so-good when the mercury climbs. Clark covers the fundamentals of making ice cream from a standard egg-yolk base recipe that’s ripe for flavor experimentation. She offers lots of flavor ideas in this recipe-infographic.

 New York Times: “You Say Soft, I Say Serve,” by Jennifer Steinhauer.
It may seem low-brow next to today’s wave of artisanal gelatos and fro-yo chains, but soft-serve ice cream just hits the spot sometimes. Steinhauer says it all with this passage: “A soft-serve cone should be procured whenever possible at the beach, while hopping from foot to foot to avoid the searing heat of sand that has baked in the midafternoon sun, or after Little League practice, preferably with a passel of 8-year-olds who smell vaguely equine.”

Washington Post: “Daniel Boulud: On Fine Dining and Why he Left Washington,” by Tim Carman.
Daniel Boulud is one of the country’s most renowned chefs, famous for New York’s Daniel as well as a mini-empire of other New York establishments. The news that he’s opening a version of DBGB in D.C. is quite exciting. Carman sat down with Boulud for this 90-minute interview, discovering in the process that Boulud almost established himself in D.C. instead of New York. I also enjoyed the companion piece about a recent dinner Boulud hosted for 35 of D.C.’s top chefs—the guest list really is a who’s who of D.C. chefs.

Washington Post: “Weeknight Vegetarian: A Glut of Cucumbers, Cool as Ever, Makes for a 'Creamy' Soup,” by Joe Yonan.
I’ve recently been interested in recipes that develop “creamy” texture without the use of cream. Like the Mexican-themed pasta I featured recently made with a “creamy” sauce of pureed avocado. So I was intrigued by Yonan’s recipe for Cold Cucumber Cream with Tomato Salsa, which he says has a “slightly gelatinous, almost creamy mouth feel.”

Been There Eaten That: “The Sensation Minibar,” by Lori Gardner.
Ever wonder what it would taste like to enjoy a 26-course dinner featuring innovative modernist cuisine overseen by one of the country’s most famous (and definitely our city’s most famous) chefs? Gardner recently found out, having been treated to an evening at José Andrés’ Minibar. Reading about her night there is a delicious vicarious experience.

Love & Lemons: “Feta & Harissa Fattoush Salad,” by Jeanine Donofrio.
I love panzanella, but I’ve never made fattoush. I wasn’t really sure what it was actually until reading this post. Basically, it’s like Middle Eastern panzanella, which means it’s probably amazing and perfect for summertime.

Wall Street Journal: “Forget Dinner. It's Always Snack Time in America,” by Mike Esterl.
It’s not exactly news that Americans eat a lot of snacks, but what Esterl manages to make interesting about this story is how that has impacted the food industry. For those who argue that snacking is healthier than three-squares, this story reports the science is still out on that.

Pizza Margherita

Now that my basil is finally growing well, it's time to start putting it to good use. Pizza Margherita is a prime showcase for fresh basil. A few leaves scattered on top wilt a bit from the pizza's heat but retain their fresh green flavor.

I won't be coy about this pizza. It was really good. And really pretty easy to make compared with other pizza. The ingredients require little prep and the dough, which I adapted from a Cook's Illustrated recipe, was pretty easy too.

Pizza Margherita
Adapted in part from a recipe by Cook's Illustrated, More Best Recipes

Dough:
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 tsp. instant or rapid-rise yeast
1 cup warm water (110 degrees F)

Sauce:
2 tsp. olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
14 oz. crushed tomatoes
Pinch of salt
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

2 tsp. cornmeal
10 oz. fresh mozzarella, sliced between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick
16-20 fresh basil leaves, larger leaves torn

1. Make the dough: Add flour sugar, salt and yeast to the bowl of a food processor and pulse about 5 times until combined. With the machine turned on, slowly stream the water through the feed tube. As the water is added, the dough should come together into a ball after about a minute or two. If, after the first minute, the dough seems too sticky and clings to the blade, add 1 or 2 more tablespoons of flour or, if it's too crumbly and doesn't come together, add 1 or 2 more tablespoons of water. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and form into a ball. Transfer the dough ball to a large lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rise at room temperature for 1 hour.

2. Make the sauce: Heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally until it starts to bubble, reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes.

Make the pizza:

3. Preheat oven to 500 F with two oven racks evenly spaced. Cut two pieces of parchment to fit two small baking sheets; sprinkle each with a teaspoon of cornmeal. Divide the risen dough ball into two pieces. Place first dough ball on a lightly floured surface and shape into a thick disc. Then, using your hands, shape the disc into a thin round about 12-inches across (the round should be thicker around the edges and very thin in the middle--be careful not to tear it; pinch the dough together if it does tear). Place the shaped dough round on a prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the other half of the dough.

4. Place about 1/2 cup of the tomato sauce on one dough round and smooth the sauce across the dough using a spatula, leaving the outer 1/2-inch of dough uncovered. Place half of the sliced fresh mozzarella on top of the sauce in a single, evenly spaced layer. Repeat with the other dough round.

5. Bake pizzas in the oven until the edges are browned and the cheese begins to bubble, about 15 to 20 minutes (note: if using a pizza stone, cooking time may be less). If the pizza looks "soupy" in the middle, bake a little longer to dry it out. Remove pizzas from oven and immediately scatter half the fresh basil on top of each pizza (the heat from the pizza will wilt the basil a bit). Allow to cool a bit then serve.

Growing an Herb(an) Garden: Week 12

It's nearly 3 months into the balcony container herb garden project, so I decided it was time for a check-in. Here's an update on what's been happening with the basil, mint and tarragon, all of which will appear in recipes on my site this week. I'll also talk about the chervil, which, unfortunately isn't doing so well.

Basil

In the last installment, I documented how I had trouble with my basil. The first plant withered away and seemed all but dead, so I discarded it--a victim of D.C.'s unseasonably cold April, I concluded. I tried again with a second plant. This one started off much better, doubling in height pretty quickly. Then things took a turn for the worse. The growth halted, and many of the leaves started turning yellow with brown splotches. While it wasn't so bad that I thought it was lost, it definitely needed an intervention and fast.

The once scrawny, yellowing basil is now tall and vibrant green.

I turned to the Web (as well as my mother, an avid gardener) for advice. One of the tricky things about growing plants is, like pets, they can't tell you what's wrong. You have to look for signs. Unfortunately, sometimes signs can be interpreted the wrong way. For example, I learned that yellowing leaves can be a sign of both under- and over-watering. So how to know which it is? With regard to watering, I think the trick is learning to water properly. 

Consider the soil. When you water the plant, the top layer of soil will instantly become saturated, whereas lower layers will only get wet from water that trickles down through the soil. If you only add a little bit of water, the top layer of soil and the roots in it will take up all the water and the lower layers will remain dry. However, there are roots down there too and they need water. So when watering, it's important to give the plant a good, long drink. Keep watering until a little bit of water drips out from the bottom of the plant, that way you know that you've watered all of the soil and not just the top layers. I like to add the water in increments with pauses between them to let the water trickle down. If you water in a constant stream, you could end up adding too much and then a lot of water will be dripping down, potentially overflowing the drip plate.

Watering in full like this doesn't need to be done everyday. Or even every 2 days. You should check the soil first with your finger. If you stick your finger into the dirt about an inch or two down and feel moisture, it's not time for watering yet. Better to let the plant continue drinking. If it's dry, then it's time for a drink. Using this method should ensure you don't under-water the plant by wetting only the top layer (or letting the whole thing dry out) nor over-water it by adding water when the soil is already damp and doesn't need more.

The other thing I've done with the basil is repot it. Initially, I had the basil in a 7-inch pot. I knew it should be all by itself so that it could spread out, but this pot proved to be too small. I moved up to a 10-inch pot, which might still be a bit small for basil, but so far it seems to be working fine. Since this is a balcony garden, I don't have a lot of room to keep transplanting into larger pots, but this move worked out great. I was grateful to have my mother's assistance with doing this during her recent visit. Here's what we did: 1) carefully removed the basil from the pot, 2) transferred the remaining potting soil from the old pot into the new one, 3) added additional potting soil until the pot was about half full, 4) placed the basil plant in the pot, 5) filled in the space around the plant with more potting soil, being careful to avoid air pockets. Not so hard actually. One thing we did was skip the step of putting gravel in the bottom of the pot. My mom she said she'd never heard of doing this. She was concerned that the gravel takes up room in the pot that could otherwise be used for the roots and that it's really not needed for drainage, since the holes in the bottom of the pot provide enough drainage.

So far, the re-potting has been a great success, as the once scrawny basil is now flourishing, having grown quite a lot and turned a much healthier shade of green.

Spearmint (above) and peppermint (below)

Mint

Although it never looked as bad as the basil, the mint also took a bad turn shortly after my last update, and I think it was for similar reasons. Mint also likes to spread out, and I put two mint plants in one 7-inch pot: spearmint and peppermint. I think this was just too much mint for a small pot. So I re-potted the spearmint into a larger 10-inch pot and left the peppermint all by itself in the smaller pot. So far, this has turned out to be an excellent choice, as both plants are flourishing now. In fact, the spearmint, which before was never a vibrant green, is a beautiful shade now, and the plant is quite bushy. The peppermint is still smaller, but that's fine, as I don't expect to use it as much.

Tarragon, on the left, is growing slowly; chervil, on the right appears to be done.

Tarragon

The tarragon has been a bit surprising, in that it hasn't really "taken off" like most of the other herbs, although it doesn't look unhappy. It just doesn't seem to grow very fast. I feel like I have barely more today than when I planted it, unlike, say, the thyme, which has grown like crazy. Not sure why this is the case. According to this source, it grows slowly (and interestingly doesn't grow from seed), so perhaps I just need to be patient. Luckily, it's not an herb I use often. 

Chervil

I think it's time to bid "adieu" to the chervil (you can see it next to the tarragon in the photo above). After a wonderful start, the plant has withered away and dried out. I think it's a goner. After the flowers appeared, the plant started producing seeds and once that happened, I think it gave up, having completed its circle of life for the season. Maybe later in the summer I'll think about getting another one.

Cocktail: Mai Colada

This refreshing tropical-flavored highball is a cross between two popular tropical drinks: the Mai Tai and Piña Colada. If you have fresh pineapple on hand, it would make a great garnish.

Mai Colada

1.5 oz. dark rum, such as Captain Morgan or Mount Gay
1 oz. amaretto liqueur
3 oz. pineapple juice
1 oz. fresh lime juice
2 oz. coconut water

Combine ingredients in a shaker, then add ice. Shake until cold and strain into a highball with ice.