Nicoise Salad

I received two emails last week about Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs that will be up and running this spring. Is that possible?!? Is it possible that at some point the enormous snow piles will melt, the trees will re-grow leaves and the temperature will actually rise above 32 during the day? I’m skeptical. It's not looking good these days. Last Friday, I walked to Union Station from my office and was nearly run over while trudging through a mound of snow that blocked access to the sidewalks.

So until spring actually arrives and there are real vegetables (I mean, those beyond kale and cabbage) back in the supermarkets, I’ll stick to salads like this one made of winter vegetables and those of the canned variety. This salad is great all year-round but really satisfies in the winter when you are craving something filling and substantial- it's a "meat and potatoes" kind of salad. The greens are hearty, the flavors bold so it can stand-alone for weekday lunch or be paired alongside a soup for dinner.

And because you can prepare all the ingredients in advance, then just dress the salad before serving, preparation and clean up are a snap. It's nice to know that's a sure thing, because as for spring, well, that's another story...

Nicoise Salad
Adapted from Julia Child and Emeril Lagasse

1/2 pound red potatoes, scrubbed and cut into small chunks
1/4 pound haricots verts, or small, thin green beans, ends trimmed
Tuna- either 2 cans of Italian tuna packed in olive oil (as used in this recipe) or 1 lb. fresh tuna
Kosher salt and ground black pepper2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large head romaine,
1/2 pound plum tomatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes
Handful (about a 1/3 cup) Nicoise olives, pitted
4 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and sliced

In a medium bowl, mash the anchovy, salt, pepper, and garlic into a paste with the back of a fork.  Add the lemon juice and mustard, and whisk well. Add the oils in a steady stream, whisking constantly to form a thick emulsion. Add the shallots, capers and Worcestershire, whisk well, and adjust the seasoning, to taste. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Bring 2 medium pots of salted water to a boil. Add the potatoes to 1 pot and blanch until tender, about 5 to 6 minutes. Drain in a colander, pat dry, and set aside. Add the green beans to the other pot and blanch until tender, about 3 minutes. Drain in a colander, pat dry, and set aside.

If using fresh tuna, season with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large skillet, over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot but not smoking, add the tuna steaks and sear, about 30 seconds per side for medium-rare. Remove from the pan and dice the tuna into 1-inch pieces. If using canned tuna, drain well. Keep the chunks of tuna intact - don't mash.

Tear the lettuce into bite-size pieces. Toss with enough of the Anchovy Dressing just to coat. Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper as needed. Toss the potatoes and green beans in a bit of Anchovy Dressing. Arrange the lettuce along the side of 4 large plates (or 1 serving platter). Spoon the vegetables along the other side of the plate. Arrange the diced tuna over the lettuce. Arrange the tomatoes, olives,  and eggs on the other sides of the plates (or serving platter).

Anchovy Dressing

1 anchovy fillet, drained or 1 teaspoon anchovy paste
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
1 clove chopped garlic
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
8 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons minced shallots
2 teaspoons capers, drained and chopped
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Corn and Green Chili Bisque

Contrary to what my mom thinks, I don't consider myself a very adventurous cook. In a recent email to me, she wrote: "I am much less adventurous than you and therefore tend not to experiment; I'm happy to do the work when I know it will turn out fine. I like someone else to do the experimenting." I tend to feel that way too, at least most of the time, because who likes to cook or bake something with less than stellar results? Something like these muffins I made earlier in the week that were a perfectly good waste of a can of pumpkin.

This week seems to have- at least temporarily- changed my ways. After being snowed in and having four straight days to cook, I was itching to experiment beyond cabbage soup, my soup of choice the last few weeks.  Cabbage is filling and nutritious, but there is only so much cabbage that one girl can eat in a given month.

I've always liked the Corn and Green Chile Bisque at Au Bon Pain. It's a complex mix of spicy and hearty, a filling southwestern style chunky soup with a kick. But the problems with this soup are two-fold: first, it's only served on certain days and it seems that the days I'm passing by ABP during lunch aren't one of them. And second, it's almost $4 for a cup of soup which I'm not going to shell out on a regular basis.

So this week I did something SO unlike me- I attempted to create this soup at home. I assumed the potential risk of failure. But you know what? I did it. I created this soup and it was delicious. NAK even said that it's better than the real thing. Who would have thought that you just dump all the ingredients in a pot, bring to a boil, reduce to simmer and 20 minutes later you produce a soup with a careful balance of spice and restaurant-style thickness and chunkiness, but without the added sodium, preservatives and cost.

Now who ever said that I wasn't adventurous???

Corn and Green Chili Bisque

1 medium onion, diced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons flour
2 14 ounce cans corn, rinsed and drained
2 small cans green chilies
1 14 ounce can chopped tomatoes
2 teaspoons cumin
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 cups milk
2 cups vegetable broth
salt and pepper

Heat the olive oil over medium heat, add the onion and saute but do not brown. Add 2 tablespoons of flour to the onions and stir.

Add the corn, chilies and tomatoes and mix. Add the spices and the milk and broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer for 20-30 minutes until blended together. Taste then season with salt and pepper.

Pulse soup in the blender or with a hand mixer but do not puree - soup should be chunky. Serve with a dollop of sour cream.

Sour Cream Pancakes

When the weather outside is frightful, breakfast aught to be delightful. I have taken full advantage of my extra time in the kitchen these past few days making things like cookie dough to keep in the freezer, cabbage and white bean soup, chocolate cake with butter cream icing, salad Nicoise, Cobb salad and broccoli salad. (More to come on some of these dishes at a later time) But for some unknown reason, I've largely ignored breakfast, and NAK and I have been eating raisin bran and sliced banana day after day. Blah.

Today is really the first day that I could see into the back of my refrigerator. Like every other crazy person in the DC area, I braved the insanely long lines at the supermarket last week before storm #1 and nearly broke my back carrying home large quantities of groceries- 2 boxes of eggs, 3 half gallons of milk...like I said, crazy. We're finally making progress on some of these staples and this morning, I peered into the fridge and discovered two different containers of sour cream, both open, nestled in the back corner by the baking soda.

If you're like me, then you just love finishing off an ingredient in a way that is totally different than the ingredient's original intention. I can't even remember why I bought this sour cream but I finished off container #1 with this heavenly pancake recipe.

These pancakes are everything that a pancake should be - light, fluffy, firm outside but soft on the inside. They are tangy and only slightly sweet so you don't feel like you are gobbling down tablespoons of sugar at breakfast - that is until you drown them in maple syrup and powdered sugar. And best of all, they can be made with one bowl and one measuring cup, making clean up a snap and leaving me with more time to cook, bake and watch the whiteout outside.

Sour Cream Pancakes
Adapted from Ina Garten

Ina adds bananas to her pancakes. I opted for a sprinkle of fresh blueberries on top of the pancakes at the end, but I'm sure that bananas in and on top of the pancakes would be delicious.

1 1/2 cups flour (I used white whole wheat)
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 cup sour cream
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon milk
2 extra-large eggs (I only had large, they worked just fine)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
Unsalted butter
Pure maple syrup

Mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sour cream, milk, eggs, vanilla, and lemon zest. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones, mixing only until combined.

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat until it bubbles. Ladle 1/4 cup of the pancake batter into the pan to make 3 or 4 pancakes. Distribute a rounded tablespoon of bananas on each pancake. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until bubbles appear on top and the underside is nicely browned. Flip the pancakes and then cook for another minute until browned. Wipe out the pan with a paper towel, add more butter to the pan, and continue cooking pancakes until all the batter is used. Serve with fresh fruit and maple syrup.

Three Bean Vegetarian Chili

Last weekend, for the life of me, I could not figure out why the Food Network airwaves were dominated by recipes for wings, blue cheese, chili and other similar fare. It didn't even occur to me that the Superbowl was taking place this weekend- and, embarrassingly, I couldn't have even told you who is playing in this year's game.

What I was keenly aware of, however, was the impending enormous snow storm that was predicted to - and has in fact- blanketed the Washington area with 2 feet of snow.

And so if you are going to be hibernating from the snow for a few days - and take note, DC, because I hear that another storm is in the works for this week- you better start to do your food planning asap, taking into account the insanely long pre-storm supermarket lines that you will most definitely want to avoid.

This chili is certainly the sum that is greater than its parts. On their own, these ingredients are simple canned staples that when combined together, form the perfect chili texture, consistency and taste. This was just what we needed for a night indoors with a movie, or a blizzard or when the store shelves are empty....or all of the above.

Three Bean Vegetarian Chili

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 large onion, diced
1 15 ounce can of vegetarian refried beans
1 15 ounce can of black beans, rinsed and drained
1 15 ounce can of kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 15 ounce can of whole kernel corn, rinsed and drained
1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes
1 dried chipotle pepper, reconstituted in hot water, diced
(I was also considering throwing in 1 can of diced green chilis- either will do, just use one or the other and not both)
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa
1 cup water
Salt and pepper
Sliced green onions and grated cheddar cheese, for garnish

Heat vegetable oil in a large pot. Add the onion and saute until tender. Add the beans, corn, tomatoes, water, and seasonings. Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer for about 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and top with green onions and cheese. Makes 6-8 servings.

Key Lime Pie

I love a good snow storm now and then but I've all but had it with this winter. After the flu, bronchitis and a near spill yesterday in my icy driveway, I'm counting down the days until we start to thaw out. The bad news is that P. Phil saw his shadow today meaning that we're in for another 6 weeks of this snowy, icy, messy cold that makes me want to hibernate under the four blankets on my bed and just stay there all day.

Since my boss might take issue with this, there was nothing to do but attempt to brighten up these gray days with a killer citrus dessert. But after a weekend of constant cooking including numerous loaves of challah, vegetable barley soup, chocolate cake, and red velvet cupcakes, I had no time (or energy for that matter) for a lemon curd tart with olive oil or something of the sort.

And so it was really happenstance that the last dessert I made this weekend happened to also be the easiest and the best. I could rave to you about the crumbly, buttery graham cracker crust or the luscious tart and tangy filling- or about how it took only 30 minutes total to pull together- but that wouldn't be very nice of me seeing as how we've got 6 more weeks of winter minimum and this Key Lime Pie is about as close to Key West- or anywhere else above freezing- as we're going to get. I hope this pie will bring a little sunshine to your home as well.

Key Lime Pie
Adapted from Emeril Lagasse

*Emeril's pie called for a strange sour cream layer to be spread over the pie once it's chilled. I can't imagine why you'd want to ruin a perfect pie with a layer of sour cream, but if you'd like a topping, I suggest a dollop of whipped cream with lime zest.

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick butter) melted
2 (14-ounce) cans condensed milk
1 cup key lime or regular lime juice
2 whole eggs

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In a bowl, mix the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter with your hands. Press the mixture firmly into a 9-inch pie pan, and bake until brown, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature before filling.

Lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees F.

In a separate bowl, combine the condensed milk, lime juice, and eggs. Whisk until well blended and place the filling in the cooled pie shell. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes and allow to chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Cut pie using a sharp knife. Serves 8.