Barley Risotto Update

Now look what I went and did. Made a barley risotto, as we previously discussed, but put mushrooms in with the barley and garlic, finely chopped Swiss chard with the first dose of broth, then snap peas with the parmesan at the end. Yum.

Veggie Night: Sweet Potato & Kale Sandwich

Contrary to popular opinion and prevalent menu impositions, a sandwich does not have to have meat in order to be a satisfying, fist-fitting meal. I'm learning from my work that as long as you're working with quality ingredients, you have a really good shot at getting a delicious finished product. Good bread is a big first step; starting with fresh produce is another.

Often, though, you need a little foresight to make certain items--like potatoes, say--edible. This is where the stack-o-cold-cuts wins out: efficiency. But try experimenting with sticking new things between two slices of bread and see what you come out with. May just be your new favorite.

Sweet Potato & Kale Sandwich

serves two; takes about 30 minutes

4 slices good sandwich bread; we used sourdough

1 small sweet potato

1 small bunch kale

1 small onion (or 1/2 medium), sliced thick

1 small pear (or 1/2 medium), sliced thin

goat cheese, room temperature

Dijon mustard

Bacon mayonnaise (optional)

1. Start by roasting your sweet potato. Preheat oven to 400º. Peel potato and, depending on the size, cut it into planks (long ways) or medallions (cross-wise) about 1/2 inch thick--whatever you think will fit better on your bread. Spray foil-lined baking sheet with baking spray or brush with oil. Lay potato pieces out and spray or brush tops; sprinkle with salt. Roast 15-20 minutes, or until you poke it and it just feels soft. Don't cook it all the way to mush.
2. Meanwhile, heat a skillet with a bit of oil and saute your onions with a little salt until translucent, 3-5 minutes. Wash and stem the kale and slice it into very thin strips. Toss in skillet, add salt and pepper, and reduce heat. Stir until kale is cooked through, 6-8 minutes. Add more water (or some lemon juice) if the skillet gets dry. Lift cooked kale out of skillet and drain in a sieve or colander over sink.
3. Lastly, pull out a healthy chunk of goat cheese (about 2 Tbsp?) and mix with a little milk or cream until it's spreadable.
4. To assemble: spread mustard on one piece of bread and mayo (optional) on the other. Follow with goat cheese on one piece, then sweet potatoes, then kale/onion mixture, then slices of pear to cover. Top with other slice of bread and do some jaw stretches before attacking.

Creamy "green" barley

As the weather maintains its sweltering severity and my days are already full of working and errand running and trying to see my husband and sleeping somewhere in there, I find myself gravitating more and more to one-dish meals. I don't mean Food TV creations designed to cause you the least amount of hassle (and, correspondingly, the least possible interaction with your food). I mean decently-rounded meals that can be stirred together in one bowl and happily, if somewhat lazily, consumed. Spoon to mouth, that's all I'm asking for.

Since ice cream does not a meal make (at least not every night), I'm falling back on my old steadies, whole grains. Tonight I wanted a creamy bowl of pearled barley flecked with nutrient-rich green vegetables. Instead of making a cream sauce, then stirring my grains in at the end, I had a thought: why not just take the elements of the cream sauce and just cook the barley straight in it? Remove a step (and a dirty dish)? Wouldn't you know, it worked!

As always, use the vegetables of your choice, just make sure they're cooked--or sufficiently edible--first. This would certainly be a decent meal on its own, but we added some broiled fish and it was perfect. It's best eaten warm, but can be stored in the fridge and reheated later.

Creamy "Green" Barley

(serves 2-3; start to finish about 45 minutes)

1/2 medium onion, diced

1 cup chicken or vegetable broth

1 cup milk

2/3 cup pearled barley

1/2 cup broccoli florets

2 cloves garlic

4 stems of greens of your choice (I used collards)

1/4 cup peas, freshly shelled or frozen, defrosted

1/4 cup chopped parsley

1 Tbsp lemon juice

Salt, pepper, and olive oil

1. To reduce dishes, start by filling a medium saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Stem and slice green leaves into thin strips and blanche in boiling water 5-7 minutes, until tender. Drain.
2. Now, take that same saucepan and over medium high heat, saute onions with a little oil and a sprinkle of salt about 5 minutes, until translucent. Add broth (or water, alternately), milk, barley, and 1 tsp salt. Bring to a simmer then reduce heat and cook until almost all liquid is absorbed, about 30 minutes. Take it off heat before the barley has sucked up all liquid--that's where your creaminess will come from.
3. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400º. Toss broccoli and garlic cloves in olive oil and salt. Roast 20 minutes. (Alternately, steam or saute broccoli until firm-tender.)
4. When barley is ready, stir in vegetables and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper.

**Very important note!! What I forgot: bacon. I had every intention of frying a few slices of bacon and stirring in their tiny crumbles. Try it, and tell me how it went.

Greens 101

I recently became aware that I use the term "greens" with some ambiguity. "What exactly are greens?" a friend asked me. Ready to bestow my overflowing knowledge to this greenhorn (pun comPLEtely intended), I opened my mouth and froze.

Uh...

The leaves? There are the basics: mustard, kale, collards, chard, etc. You can also eat the tops of lots of root vegetables like beets and turnips. I am continually surprised by delicious greens turning up at the farmer's markets around here--are they grown in and of themselves, like spinach and bok choi? Or are they a byproduct of something else, like broccoli or kohlrabi?

After snapping my gaping yapper shut (realizing I had no real wisdom to dispense), I did some half-hearted and fruitless research. The conclusion I have reached--and feel quite comfortable with--is that "greens" can encompass any kind of edible leaves that aren't grown into a compact head (like lettuce, cabbage, etc.).

Problem is, most of these greens are quite bitter, especially the kind you'll find in the grocery store, unless prepared well. Because they are in season now, we have been eating a lot (a LOT) of greens lately, and I wanted to you to eat them too. So, allow me to introduce you to a simple, three step, 15-minute way of preparing any green of your choice.

Greens 101

(serves 2; start-to-finish 10ish minutes)

1 bunch greens

olive oil

1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced

1-2 cloves garlic, minced (depending on your preference; I like 2)

1/4 cup chicken broth

S&P

1. Start by preparing your greens. Rinse them well under running water or submerge them in a big bowl of water, lightly shaking to release dirt. Do not dry. Remove the leaves from the stem, then chop the leaves. I like to slice the leaves crosswise in thin ribbons because they're easier to eat.
2. Film a large pan with olive oil and heat med-hi. Saute onions with a little salt until tender, 3-5 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more. Add your chopped greens to the skillet and turn to distribute garlic/onions in the pan. Pour in broth and cover. Let steam for 3 or 4 minutes, until greens are tender.
3. Remove lid and stir; season liberally with salt and pepper and taste. If greens are too bitter, add more broth and continue to simmer.
4. To serve, lift out greens, leaving any liquid behind. Eat up.

Greens Gratin

I've been going to the farmer's markets for work lately, peddling our baked beauties to all the Boston suburbs. It's exhausting and lately very soggy, but ultimately really fun. I feel like I'm a part of the local economy, participating in the community, getting all hippie dippie.

Now, let me tell you about the best part of the market day: when the clock strikes and you're done, the real shopping begins. Got an extra loaf-or-5 of bread? Maybe trade it for those juicy tomatoes, a pound of sugar snaps, or a glistening quart of strawberries. You're sick of seeing your own bread, and Farmer Joe is sick of lugging around his time-sensitive produce, and if you're lucky, both will want what the other has.

Enter the mysterious but heavenly greens I brought home last week. The guy at the stand said that the seeds for this plant are impossible to get, but he has secured them--from an international source--and grown them very carefully (read: stealthily). I have no idea what plant these leaves came from, but I have never tasted a green like them. Exquisite.

The moral of this story is: go to the farmer's market. See what the farmer is growing. Buy it, even if you've never heard of it. Take it home and eat it. You will thank me.

Ok, so, for dinner we made a gratin out of these babies. What's that? You want to learn about gratin? Well, ok... The term "gratin" (pronounced grah-tan, emphasis on the "tan") comes from an archaic French word (gratte) that referred to the part of a cooked dish that stuck to the pan and had to be scraped off, so as not to waste--see above photo. This description lent itself to cooks who later started baking things with an intentionally crusty top, achieved with bread crumbs or grated cheese. The term "au gratin" to us Americans usually means "with cheese on top, please," though "gratin" can be created in more than just this one way.

The process is easy and fairly quick, though it takes a few steps. I adapted the recipe from one of my new favorite cookbooks, Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison. For anyone trying to incorporate more veggies into their diet, this tome is highly recommended.

Greens Gratin

(serves 2, start to finish, about an hour)

1 big bunch of greens (whatever your pleasure), stemmed

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp flour (any flour, I used whole wheat)

1/4 medium onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup broth (or 1 full cup milk if you have no broth)

1/4 cup grated parmesan

1/4 cup grated gruyere (or other swiss cheese)

dash nutmeg

1/4 cup fresh bread crumbs

Salt & pepper

1. Preheat oven to 375º. Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Plunge your greens in and cook 3-5 minutes, until they are bright, bright green and tender. Drain and run under cold water. Squeeze dry and finely chop.
2. Meanwhile, make your bechamel sauce (vocab alert: this is basically just a cheesy cream sauce). Heat oil in a small pot on medium-high heat. Add onions and a pinch of salt and cook until translucent, 3ish minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more. Throw in flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Stir together milk and broth and add to pot in three separate additions, whisking well after each pour. Bring back to a simmer in order to thicken. Taste, adding salt and pepper as needed.
3. Now, butter a small dish and sprinkle about 1 Tbsp of your grated parmesan in it, shaking to coat. In a bowl, combine chopped greens, cream sauce, remaining cheeses, and a dash of nutmeg. Stir to combine and slop it in your prepared dish. Cover with bread crumbs that have been tossed with a little olive oil or melted butter (or just spray the whole thing with cooking spray). As we know, it's not a gratin without that crusty top.
4. Place in the oven and cook for about 20 minutes, or until a little bubbly on the sides and super crusty on top. Take out and let sit 7-10 minutes before serving. Serve with some good bread and a light, green salad.