Salad of Roasted Carrots, Apple, and Lentils with Chile and Preserved Lemon

I’m always excited to flip through the pages of interesting flavor combinations in a new Diana Henry book. Her latest is From the Oven to the Table, and I received a review copy. She writes: “If you’re a throw-it-in-the-oven kind of cook, whether by necessity or desire, then this book is for you.” With these recipes, the oven does most of the work for you. The stovetop gets used a bit here and there to start a dish or to prep components to go with what’s roasting, but the real stars are the lovely things coming out of the oven. There are options that include whole meals roasted together on a sheet pan, a chapter just for chicken thighs, others just for vegetables, recipes for special occasions, and desserts. I have little flags sticking out of several pages in the vegetables, grains, and legumes chapters. And, I haven’t even marked pages for summer vegetables yet. Let me give you some examples of the mix of flavors I enjoyed seeing. There’s a whole roasted cauliflower with pistachio and preserved lemon relish and tahini, baked sweet potatoes with avocado and chimichurri, and roasted Indian-spiced vegetables with lime-cilantro butter to name a few. I want to roast some plant-based sausages with lentils and make the herb relish to spoon on top, and I definitely want to try to the baked rice with green olives, orange, feta, and dill. I got inspired by the roasted squash and tofu with soy, honey, chile, and ginger recipe and made it with sweet potatoes instead of squash. In the head note, there’s a suggestion to serve this with a hot Asian dressing, a lot like nuoc cham, found later in the book, and I happily followed that advice. And, I can’t wait to bring home some blood oranges and try the pomegranate molasses-roasted beets with oranges, walnuts, dill, and labneh, and I keep turning back to the page with roasted cabbage wedges with XO crumbs that's topped with seasoned sourdough rye breadcrumbs. I need more flags. Every time I turn the pages, I’m tempted by another recipe. Baked potatoes with smoked trout, dilled beets, creme fraiche, and salmon roe needs a flag. Before I get any more distracted, I want to tell you about the roasted carrot salad. 

This dish does involve cooking lentils on the stovetop unless you happen to have some already cooked and ready to use. With lentils at the ready, it all comes together very quickly. The carrots were trimmed but left whole and unpeeled. They were tossed with olive and salt and pepper before being arranged on a baking sheet and popped into a 400 degree F oven. They roasted for about 30 minutes until tender and well-browned. A dressing was made with apple cider vinegar in my case but white balsamic is suggested, olive oil, garlic, and grated fresh ginger. The cooked lentils were placed in a bowl with some finely sliced red chile and finely chopped preserved lemon, and that mixture was tossed with some of the dressing. An apple was cut into matchsticks and tossed with lemon juice. The roasted carrots were added to the apple matchsticks along with more preserved lemon and chile, some mint and cilantro leaves, and the remaining dressing. The carrot mixture was placed on top of the lentils to serve. 

In the book, it’s noted that the real surprise here is how good the apples are with the other flavors. I have to agree, but I couldn’t pick a favorite part of the salad. It was all delicious, and all the parts worked together so well. The book is full of great ideas, and I’ll be pulling it off the shelf often for meal inspiration.

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Spicy Carrot-Grapefruit Juice

Happy New Year! I didn’t really mean to take a break from the blog, but that’s what happened when things got busy during the holiday season. Of course, I was still reading lots of food-related books, and I can’t wait to tell you all about them. Up first is the Cannelle et Vanille: Nourishing, Gluten-Free Recipes for Every Meal and Mood book by food blogger and photographer Aran Goyoaga. Early in my food blogging days, I became a follower of Cannelle et Vanille and always loved the beautifully presented dishes. I also enjoyed learning bits and pieces of Aran’s life like her upbringing in in a Basque town in northern Spain where her grandparents operated an artisanal pastry shop. She eventually moved away from Spain and from a career in food before later settling in Seattle where she now works as a food photographer and stylist. Her cooking is entirely gluten-free, but you’ll find lots of lovely baked goods here. There are sourdough breads, pies and tarts, cakes, homemade pasta, and even doughnuts. The ingredients are fresh and straightforward with something for every season. I’m looking at the Roasted Cauliflower, Swiss Chard, and Hazelnut Pasta dish right now and making plans to try it. There’s a chapter for entertaining called The Gathering Table, and it’s no surprise to find a delightful Chicken and Seafood Paella on an Open Fire recipe complete with instructions for building a fire. There are also options for Grilled Backyard Pizzas like the Leek, Fennel, and Pesto Pizza that I’ve been craving. Salads kept catching my eye including the Shaved Beet and Lentil Salad with Tahini and Preserved Lemon Dressing, and I keep flipping back to the Morning chapter to look at the Egg Tostada with Fennel, Radishes, and Yogurt made by cooking an egg directly on a tortilla as it fries. But, I couldn’t pass up the Spicy Carrot-Grapefruit Juice since it’s citrus season, and the first carrots were just appearing at farm stands. 

This is an easy beverage to prep provided you have a juicer handy. It’s a simple blend of three carrots, one peeled grapefruit, a half-inch piece of fresh turmeric, and a half-inch piece of fresh ginger. Now, I simplified the process a bit because I left the juice mixture at that and stirred in the half teaspoon each of cayenne and cinnamon. However, to follow the recipe precisely, the juice mixture should have gone into the blender, and the spices should have been added along with a tablespoon of sunflower seed or almond butter and a half teaspoon of honey. I liked the thinner, simpler juice as it was, but the added ingredients would have made it more filling. 

First, the color of this juice makes it impossible to resist. And, the flavor is fresh, bright, zesty, and delivers a kick from ginger and cayenne. It’s a great way to boost your energy level during a mid-day slump. 

And, what else have I been reading? One more food book I want to mention today is Grilled: Turning Adversaries into Allies to Change the Chicken Industry by Leah Garces. Often, books pertaining to the food industry point out problems and offer information about why we should be concerned but offer little in the way of workable solutions. Here, the problems of the chicken industry are made clear as are some positive wins in improving standards. Much of the book focuses on broilers or chickens grown for meat. Consumers became aware of the suffering and disease caused by the crowded, filthy conditions in which the birds are raised, but there was a lack of understanding of the genetics of the birds and how they were bred to grow too big too quickly. As a result of the tireless work of animal advocates, some of the largest companies controlling chicken farming are beginning to make changes to how the birds are housed and bred. The next step is to improve on the agriculture processes involved in growing feed for all those chickens. In April 2018, Tyson agreed to one of “the largest ever sustainable grain commitments for a US protein company.” They set a two-million-acre land-stewardship target for grains raised for chicken feed. One thing we all can do to improve conditions for animals raised for food and reduce climate pollution caused by animal agriculture is to cut back our intake of meat and support small-scale farms producing pasture-raised meats. The book mentions: “a drop in consumption of beef, pork, chicken, and milk contributed the most to the reduction of greenhouse gases over the period (2005-2014).” By finding ways to effectively communicate concerns and by having vocal consumer backing for such concerns, advocates and food policy organizations have convinced large companies to make improvements. Some positive steps have been taken, but there’s still more to do and every reason to keep up the good work in 2020.

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Griddled Flatbreads and Spicy Carrot Pickle

I’m always on the lookout for vegetarian recipe inspiration, and Middle Eastern food is an excellent source. The latest book from Greg and Lucy Malouf is New Feast: Modern Middle Eastern Vegetarian, and I received a review copy. In the introduction, it’s explained that the climate and terrain of the Middle East is suited to growing a variety of vegetables and less so to raising animals for meat at a large scale. So, we easily find many vegetable, grain, and legume dishes with plenty of herbs and spices. As the authors set out to create this vegetarian cookbook, they wanted to excite people who are trying to eat more plant-based foods and offer some new ideas to those already on that path. The chapters include Breakfast, Breads, Butters and Preserves, Dips and Spreads, Pickles and Relishes, Soups, Stuffed Vegetables, Fritters, Savory Pastries, Raw Vegetable Salads, Cooked Vegetable Salads, Hot Vegetable Dishes, Grains, Rice, Legumes, Pasta and Couscous, Ices, Desserts, Sweet Pastries, and Cakes and Cookies. And, there’s a Menu Ideas list for how to group dishes for different occasions. One of my favorite menus is the Middle-of-the-week working lunch menu: Semolina Bread with Aniseed and Sesame; Artichoke and Lemon Labneh; Baked Tomatoes with Saffron, Bulgur, and Barberries; Shankleesh Salad with Parsley and Pomegranate; and Lemon Posset with Fennel Shortbread Thins. Some other recipes I’d like to try include the Middle Eastern Granola with Pomegratate, Sour Cherries, and Pistachios that’s made even prettier with dried rose petals and the Honey-Roasted Carrots with Dates Dandelions and Moroccan Dressing. But, I got completely distracted by the Breads chapter. The soft, pillowy-looking Sesame Joujou Breads were a strong contender, and then I saw the Griddled Flatbreads and all the suggested options for toppings. To go with the flatbreads, the Spicy Carrot Pickle looked like a fun pairing, and as warned in the head note, it is addictive. 

I started on the flatbread dough first since it needed to proof. Flour and baking powder were sifted before the yeast was added. Warm milk along with olive oil, yogurt, an egg, and salt were added next. Everything was combined in a stand mixer and then kneaded with the dough hook on low speed for several minutes to create a very smooth dough. It was placed in a bowl, covered, and left to rise for an hour. Meanwhile, I moved on to the carrot pickle. Carrots were cut into matchsticks and set aside. For a spice paste, cumin seeds and dried chiles were ground to a powder. Salt, minced garlic, and grated fresh ginger were added along with turmeric. In a saucepan, oil was heated and cumin and mustard seeds were fried until they popped. Curry leaves were called for, but I failed to procure them and left them out. The spice paste was added to the oil followed by apple juice and apple cider vinegar. The carrot matchsticks were stirred into the mixture. The heat was lowered to allow the carrots to barely simmer for about 15 minutes. Moving back to the flatbreads, the dough was divided into six pieces, and each piece was rolled just before cooking. The breads were cooked in a dry pan over high heat for a couple of minutes per side. After removing each bread from the pan, it was brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with herbs and spices. I used a mixture of sumac, za’atar, and fresh oregano on some breads and crushed fennel seeds and Aleppo pepper on others. 

The carrot pickle was nicely spicy. I tore off pieces of bread and spooned carrot matchsticks onto each bite. I kept thinking how delicious the carrot pickle would be on a sandwich. And, the breads bubbled just as they should while cooking and came out of the pan crisp on the edges and deliciously chewy in the middle. Eating vegetarian is an easy sell with flavors like these.   

Griddled Flatbreads 
Excerpted with permission from New Feast: Modern Middle Eastern Vegetarian by Greg and Lucy Malouf, published by Hardie Grant Books.

This is a wonderful all-purpose dough that suits both griddled and naan-style baked flatbreads, which are the most popular accompaniment for Middle Eastern meals. Use the basic recipe to make a batch of dough and fry them plain, or choose the filling that you fancy from below. The quantities of dough and fillings are sufficient for six large-ish flatbreads or eight smaller ones. 

MAKES 6–8 
450 g (1 lb) strong (bread) flour, plus extra for dusting 
1 teaspoon baking powder 
1/2 teaspoon salt 
2 teaspoons dried active yeast (7.5 g / 1/4 oz sachet) 
2 teaspoons caster (superfine) sugar 
150 ml (5 fl oz) hand-hot milk 
30 ml (1 fl oz) vegetable oil 
150 g (5 oz) natural yoghurt, lightly beaten 
1 egg, lightly beaten 
clarified butter, for brushing 

Sift the flour and baking powder into the bowl of a stand-mixer. Add the salt to one side of the bowl and the yeast to the opposite side (salt can kill the yeast). Dissolve the sugar in the hand-hot milk then add it to the bowl, along with the oil, yoghurt and egg. Mix briefly to form a ball. Knead with the dough hook on a slow–medium speed for 10 minutes. You may need to scrape it up from the bottom of the bowl every now and then. Once the gluten has developed and the dough is smooth and satiny, shape it into a ball with lightly oiled hands and transfer to a large bowl. Cover with a tea towel and set aside in a draught-free spot for an hour, or until doubled in size. 

Punch down the dough and knead by hand for a few minutes. Divide into 6 or 8 equal balls. At this point you can fry the breads as they are, or fill them with one of the stuffings, as outlined below. Keeping the rest covered, roll out one ball of dough onto a floured work surface, to a 30 cm (12 in) round for large breads or 23 cm (9 in) for smaller ones. 

Heat a large, heavy-based frying pan over a very high heat. Fry the bread in the dry pan until large bubbles start to appear on the surface – it should only take 1–2 minutes. Flip over and fry for a further minute, or until lightly golden. Brush with clarified butter while still warm and serve. Repeat with the rest of the dough. 

Spicy Carrot Pickle 

This much-loved pickle seems to go with just about everything. We think you’ll find it’s addictive; we’ve been known to finish a jar in one sitting. 

MAKES AROUND 4 X SMALL-ISH (340 G / 12 OZ) JARS 
1 kg (2 lb 4 oz) carrots 
2 teaspoons cumin seeds 
2 teaspoons mustard seeds 
6 fresh curry leaves (or dried will do at a pinch) 
100 ml (3 1/2 fl oz) apple juice 
200 ml (7 fl oz) cider vinegar 

Spice paste 
2 teaspoons cumin seeds 
3–4 small dried red chillies (depending on their heat) 
1 teaspoon sea salt 
5 cloves garlic, roughly chopped 
50 g (1 3/4 oz) fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped 
1 teaspoon turmeric 
75 g (2 1/2 oz) soft brown sugar 
3 tablespoons vegetable oil 

Cut the carrots into roughly 6 cm (2 1/2 in) lengths, then cut into matchsticks. Set aside. To make the spice paste, combine the cumin seeds and dried chillies in a mortar and grind to a fine powder. Add the salt, garlic and ginger to the mortar and continue to grind to a fairly smooth paste. Add the turmeric and sugar and mix in well. 

Heat the oil in a wide casserole pan – a cast iron Le Creuset is ideal. Add the cumin and mustard seeds and fry for 10 seconds or until they just start to pop. Add the curry leaves and fry for 1–2 minutes, until they turn translucent. Add the spice paste and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the apple juice and vinegar and bring to a vigorous simmer. Add the carrots and stir well, so that they are all coated with the spicy liquid. Lower the heat to a gentle simmer and cook for 15–20 minutes, stirring every few minutes to ensure they cook evenly. By the end of the cooking time the carrots should be soft, but still retain some texture and the liquid should have reduced by about one-third. 

Leave to cool slightly then transfer to sterilized jars and store for up to 3 months. Once opened, store in the fridge and use within 5 days.

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Bulgur and Green Lentil Salad with Chickpeas and Preserved Lemon

Have you ever thought much about how you really cook? I mean when you’re cooking regular, daily meals not when you’re following a specific recipe to try something new or when you’re making something for a special occasion. For day-to-day cooking, do you always make your favorite meals the exact same way every time? Probably not. The new book from Deborah Madison, In My Kitchen: A Collection of New and Favorite Vegetarian Recipes, is a look at how she really cooks. These are recipes that may have appeared in a slightly different version in previous books, and they are ones that she turns to often. Here, she explains why they have stood the test of time for her and how she has modified them since they were first written or routinely changes them up depending on what’s in season. There’s a nice introduction to how her cooking has changed now that so many well-made food products can be easily found in markets. She also writes about her garden and the delight of planting and growing new and different things to use in your cooking. What I really enjoyed about this book was that in the head notes for the recipes there are several suggestions for ways to vary ingredients or technique along with ideas for what to serve with the dish. Those notes give you a real sense of her regular cooking and inspire you to experiment as well. For several recipes, you’ll see that she has simplified the process from the original version. The Warm Cabbage Salad with Togarashi Tofu Crisps is a more streamlined approach to a similar dish from her book This Can’t Be Tofu in which the crisp tofu cubes are treated like croutons. The Eggplant Gratin with a Golden Dome of Saffton-Ricotta Custard is lightened up compared to the original now that the layer of cheese has been removed. And, the Masa Crepes with Chard, Black Beans, Avocado, and Pickled Onions began as a rich, layered Mexican casserole. I can’t wait to play around with the recipe for Yellow Coconut Rice with Scallions and Black Sesame Seeds. It’s intended to be pressed into a pan, chilled, and then cut into diamonds and browned. It could also be served warm from the stovetop after initially cooking, and there are some great suggestions for what to serve with it. The first dish I tried from the book was the Bulgur and Green Lentil Salad with Chickpeas and Preserved Lemon. 

I had some pretty, bright carrots from my CSA and some locally made preserved Meyer lemons that were perfect for this recipe. And, I learned something new. Every time I had ever used bulgur in the past, I poured boiling water over it to soak before using. Until reading this recipe, I didn’t realize you could just pour cool water over it and wait about 30 minutes. It becomes tender, and you can drain away any excess water. I actually had some cooked green lentils in the freezer and got to skip that cooking step in the process. The dressing was a quick mix of minced garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, sliced scallions, and salt. The preserved lemon was chopped as were the carrots, celery, and herbs. Fortunately, I had some parsley in my herb garden, and I used my Mexican mint marigold rather than tarragon. Rinsed and drained chickpeas were combined with the vegetables, herbs, bulgur, and lentils, and the dressing was added to finish the dish. 

I’ve read and used several Deborah Madison books, and it was fun to see some recipes I recognized from earlier works here. It was her books that got me interested in using sorrel, and now I love finding it at local farm stands in the spring. I had just bought a bunch of sorrel the day I made this and decided to chiffonade a few leaves for a garnish on top of the salad. The lemony ribbons were great with the bright dressing and bits of preserved lemon throughout. This is the kind of book I want to keep flipping back through to remind myself of all the great tips. And, I want to keep cooking these dishes. 

Bulgur and Green Lentil Salad with Chickpeas and Preserved Lemon 
Recipe reprinted with publisher’s permission from In My Kitchen: A Collection of New and Favorite Vegetarian Recipes. 

1/2 cup green French or black Beluga lentils 
1 bay leaf 
1 deep orange carrot, diced into small pieces 
1/2 cup fine or medium bulgur 
1 plump garlic clove, finely minced or pounded in a mortar with a pinch of salt 
3 tablespoons lemon juice 
1/3 cup best olive oil 
1 1/2 cups home-cooked or canned chickpeas, well rinsed and drained 
8 scallions, thinly sliced, including some of the greens 
1 preserved lemon, skin only, finely diced 
1/2 cup finely chopped parsley 
1 rounded tablespoon chopped tarragon 
2 celery stalks, diced, plus their pale leaves, finely chopped 
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper 

If you have time, soak the lentils in water to cover for 30 to 60 minutes. Drain the lentils, then put them in a small saucepan and cover with water by at least 2 inches. Add the bay leaf, carrot, and 1⁄2 teaspoon of salt, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until tender-firm, 25 minutes or longer. 

Meanwhile, put the bulgur in a small bowl, add 2 cups of water, and let stand until the liquid is absorbed and the grains are tender, about 30 minutes. When a grain tastes done, drain the bulgur and press out any excess water. 

Whisk the garlic, lemon juice, oil, scallions, and  1/2 teaspoon of salt in a large bowl. When the lentils are done, drain them and add them to the bowl along with the bulgur and chickpeas, preserved lemon, parsley, tarragon, and celery stalks and leaves. Turn gently and thoroughly. Taste for salt and season with pepper. Mound the finished salad into a handsome serving dish. Serve immediately or cover and set aside to serve later. 

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Brazilian Slaw

I’m not a vegan, or a vegetarian, but I like to dabble in that space. Most of the time I prefer plants to meat, and a lot of what I cook is meatless. So, I was intrigued by a new book called Smith & Daughters: A Cookbook (That Happens To Be Vegan) from a Melbourne restaurant of the same name that happens to stick to a vegan menu. The goal of the restaurant menu and of the book is to offer “plant-based food the way it should be: big, bold, flavorful, noteworthy, celebration-worthy, and myth-dispelling.” Rather than focusing on the conscientious reasons most people choose to follow a vegan diet, here plant-based cooking is a jumping-off point for creativity. The food is inviting, fun, and hearty. The Breakfast Burrito is made up of a few homemade components and is a great example of the flavorful cooking seen throughout the book. The burrito is made with homemade Chipotle Cashew Cheese, Brazilian Black Bean Soup, Spicy Ground Chorizo made with textured vegetable protein, and Tofu Scramble. Something to note about the ingredient lists is that you will see things like “chicken stock” and “butter.” But, in the Book Notes at the beginning, it’s mentioned that vegan substitutes for those types of items are intended. The delicious-looking Sopa Seca is made with broken angel hair pasta, chipotles in adobo, and vegan chicken stock. Some other dishes I want to try include the Warm Hearts of Palm Salad served with guacamole; the Artichoke and Chickpea Salad with Lemon and Cumin Vinaigrette; and Spanish Meatballs made with brown rice, bell peppers, oats, brown lentils, and chickpea flour. The recipe that got me cooking first, though, was Brazilian Slaw. This brought back a memory of a cooking class I attended taught by Susan Feniger. The title of that class was Inspired by Brazil, and one of the dishes was a Vegetable Salpicon or slaw. I still have the notes and recipes from that class (I keep the notes I receive from cooking classes filed away), and that slaw is the dish I remember most. Feniger’s version was topped with crispy shoestring potatoes, and the mix of vegetables was slightly different. The general concept was the same, and I couldn’t wait to try the version from this book. 

Here, the crispy topping was baked corn tortilla strips rather than fried shoestring potatoes. They were baked until golden and crunchy and set aside to cool. I made a couple of substitutions based on what was fresh and in season right now. So, instead of using corn and apple, I used a mix of radishes. Along with radishes, carrots were also cut into julienne strips. Red and green cabbages were thinly sliced into ribbons. Mushrooms, and I used maitake instead of oyster just because they looked better that day, were seared with soy sauce until browned and allowed to cool. Last, pimento-stuffed green olives were sliced. To make the dressing, first a vegan aioli was prepared. It was made in the blender with silken tofu, garlic, apple cider vinegar, Dijon mustard, and olive oil. The aioli was mixed with lime zest and juice and more garlic to form the slaw dressing. The vegetables were combined in a big bowl along with parsley and cilantro leaves, and all was topped with dressing. The mixture was tossed until well coated and served with tortillas strips on top. 

I’m always a fan of crunch, and it’s abundant here. The vegetables are crunchy, and the tortilla strips are really crunchy, and all that texture made this fun and delicious to eat. The aioli is also a perfect base for other dressings. I used what was left from this recipe to make a green goddess dressing for another salad. And, I also made the Coriander Cashew Cream with added chipotle to use on tacos. I may not be vegan all the time, but thanks to recipes like these more plant-based meals are showing up on my table. 

Brazilian Slaw 
Recipe excerpted with permission from Smith and Daughters: A Cookbook (that happens to be vegan) by Shannon Martinez and Mo Wyse, published by Hardie Grant Books March 2017, RRP $35.00 hardcover. 

As far as salads go, you just don’t get prettier, with more texture, more variety and more fun. 

Serves 4–6 

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil 
150 g (5 1/2 oz) fresh or frozen corn kernels 
85 g (3 oz) oyster mushrooms, roughly torn 
1 tablespoon tamari or soy sauce 
1 granny smith apple, cored and cut into thin matchsticks 
1 large carrot, peeled and cut into thin matchsticks 
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced 
85 g (3 oz) green pimento olives, sliced into thin rounds 
300 g (10 1/2 oz) thinly shredded purple cabbage 
large handful flat-leaf parsley leaves 
large handful coriander (cilantro) leaves 

Dressing 
250 g (9 oz/1 cup) Aioli 
zest and juice of 1 lime 
1 small garlic clove, crushed 

Garnish 
3 corn tortillas, cut into 5 mm (1/4 in) strips (or use roughly crushed tortilla chips) 
olive oil spray
chilli and lime salt  

Preheat the oven to 180ºC (350ºF). Heat 2 teaspoons of the oil in a chargrill pan or small frying pan. Grill or saute the corn until lightly charred. Remove from the heat and set aside. 

Heat the remaining oil in a medium-sized frying pan over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and soy sauce and sauté until golden and slightly crisp. Set aside to cool. 

To make the dressing, combine the ingredients in a bowl and whisk together until well combined. 

To build the salad, combine all of the ingredients in a large salad bowl and add enough of the dressing to lightly coat. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. 

For the garnish, spray the tortilla strips with olive oil spray and dust with a little chilli and lime salt. Transfer to a baking tray and bake in the oven until crisp. If you are using tortilla chips, just sprinkle with the chilli and lime salt instead. 

Build a small conical tower with the salad and top with the garnish. Big salads are always better, especially when tortilla chips are involved. 

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Cumin-Coriander Roast Carrots with Pomegranates and Avocado

Who wouldn’t want more ideas for cooking simple meals at home? This is the goal of the latest book from Diana Henry, Simple: Effortless Food, Big Flavors, and I received a review copy. I agree completely with her statement that “You don’t need many skills to feed yourself, your friends, and family well… What we mostly lack are ideas.” This book is full of great ones for quick, weeknight meals. There are a few dishes that take a little longer to prepare, but they’re not difficult. She repeatedly offers suggestions for substitutions or things that can be omitted to further simplify or personalize the recipes without sacrificing flavor. From Eggs to Salads to Pulses to Chicken, Vegetables, and more, the chapters cover a broad range of meals and parts of meals. As often happens as I read cookbooks, I ended up with sticky flags marking several pages. I marked the recipe for Linguine All’Amalfitana because I’d never before seen this particular pasta sauce with garlic, anchovies, and walnuts. The Smoky Couscous sounds fabulous with smoked paprika, lemon, green olives, almonds, and roasted red peppers. Then, the sauce for the Pork Chops with Mustard and Capers is so simple to make but sounds so delicious, I want to try it on roasted chicken. There are some tempting, easy desserts as well with a whole chapter of Fruit Desserts followed by Other Sweet Things. The Bitter Flourless Chocolate Cake with Coffee Cream got my attention, and now I’m going to want espresso in my whipped cream all the time. Next, I turned to the Salads chapter where I couldn’t decide where to start. 

My indecision was due to two different salads involving roasted carrots. In the Harissa Roast Carrots, White Beans, and Dill recipe, the carrots are roasted with harissa, and lemon slices are roasted with them and added to the salad. I loved the idea of the roasted lemon slices. In the recipe for Cumin-Coriander Roast Carrots with Pomegranates and Avocado, the carrots are roasted with a drizzle of olive oil, cumin seeds, crushed coriander seeds, and crushed red chile flakes. I ended up going with the second option and adding lemon slices to the pan while the carrots roasted. This salad was a bright mix of pomegranate seeds, avocado slices, a tangy dressing with pomegranate molasses, and crunchy walnuts. I used frisee that I found at Boggy Creek Farm rather than watercress for the salad greens. And, I had some pretty and colorful carrots from my CSA. My carrots were different sizes. So, some of them were halved and other quartered lengthwise before roasting. Also, I don't have cilantro growing in my herb garden right now, but I do have parsley and used that instead. 

As promised, there was nothing difficult about making this. It was all about the ideas, and I was delighted to combine some from two different recipes. In between the pages for the two salads with carrots, there’s one for Burrata with Citrus, Fennel, and Olives that kept making me stop and think about it as well. With so much inspiration here, I won’t run out of ideas for what to have for dinner for a long time. 

Cumin-Coriander Roast Carrots with Pomegranates and Avocado 
Recipe reprinted with publisher’s permission from Simple: Effortless Food, Big Flavors. 

Serves 6 as an appetizer, or 8 as a side dish 

For the salad 
30 young carrots, ideally slim 
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 
2 teaspoons cumin seeds 
1 1/2 teaspoons coriander seeds, crushed 
1 teaspoon chili flakes 
salt and pepper 
3 ripe avocados 
3 1/2 tablespoons walnut pieces, toasted 
3 1/2 oz watercress, coarse stalks removed leaves from a small bunch of cilantro 
1 cup Greek yogurt 
1 garlic clove, crushed 
seeds from 1/2 pomegranate 

For the dressing 
1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses 
1 garlic clove, crushed 
1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard 
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil 
1/4 teaspoon honey 
squeeze of lemon juice 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Trim the carrots at the top but leave a little of the green tuft on. If you can’t find slim carrots, halve or quarter large ones. Don’t peel the; just wash them well. Put in a roasting pan in which they can lie in a single layer. Add the olive oil, spices, and seasoning. Turn the carrots over in this to ensure they are all well coated. Roast in the oven for about 30 minutes; they will become tender and shrink slightly. Be careful not to overcook them. 

To make the dressing, just beat everything together with a fork. Halve and pit the avocados, cut into slices, then carefully peel each slice. Put everything except the yogurt, garlic, and pomegranates into a broad shallow bowl (or onto a platter) and gently toss in three-quarters of the dressing. Mix the yogurt with the garlic and dot spoonfuls of this among the vegetables, then scatter with the pomegranate seeds. Spoon on the rest of the dressing and serve. 

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Carrot and Rice Salad with Ginger Sumac Dressing

I feel as though Nancy Silverton and I go way back except that, of course, I’ve never met her. In 2007, I read her Breads from the La Brea Bakery book and soon thereafter made my sourdough starter that I still use today. I’ve made many of the breads from that book and have even gotten comfortable adjusting recipes here and there. I make a whole grain version of the bagels from that book. And, it’s that voice of Nancy Silverton that I think I know, the voice of her writing from 1996 when that book was published. All these years later, the voice of her latest books is a little different. She’s having an amazing culinary career and experience and passage of time have brought clear preferences for certain flavors or techniques. Her latest book is Mozza at Home: More than 150 Crowd-Pleasing Recipes for Relaxed, Family-Style Entertaining, and I received a review copy. It’s full of recipes she turns to for entertaining both at her home in Los Angeles and at her second home in Umbria in Italy. The book includes nineteen different party menus with various side dishes that would go well with each theme or main course. If you’re planning a dinner party, you could pick and choose how many and which side dishes to prepare. Then, Desserts has a chapter all to itself. The idea was that most of the desserts could be paired with multiple menus, and you can choose from the whole collection. For main courses, the menus include dishes like Saturday Night Chicken Thighs with Italian Sausage, Sicilian Swordfish Spiedini, Dean Fearing’s Frito Pie, and Lamb and Chicken Tikka Kebabs. I got caught up in all the various salads as side dishes. The Farro Salad with Fresh Herbs and Feta is like a Greek salad with farro. The Couscous Salad with Root Vegetables and Ricotta Salata is perfect for fall with carrots, parsnips, and radicchio. And, there’s a Mixed Grain and Seed Salad made with quinoa, wild rice, and fregola sarda. I couldn’t resist starting with the Carrot and Rice Salad with Ginger Sumac Dressing for the seasonally appropriate color scheme. 

There are a lot of interesting things going on with this rice salad. Three different types of rice are suggested. You could limit that to one instead, or use two types of rice as I did. I used black rice and red rice and skipped the brown rice. Each type of rice is cooked separately and then cooled by spreading on a baking sheet. The second main ingredient here is the carrots, and they need to be cut into short julienne pieces. The process for cutting the carrots is suggested as follows: “cut the carrots into 3- to 4-inch segments. Using a mandoline, slice the segments into 1/16 inch thick lengthwise. Stack the slices and slice with a knife into 1/16 inch batons.” I employed the carrot slicing trick of making angled cuts that you stack and julienne rather than pulling out the mandoline. I don’t remember where I learned that trick, but it’s a great one. The third main ingredient for this salad is a whole cup of flaxseeds that were toasted in a dry skillet and cooled. The dressing was made with lime juice, sumac, champagne vinegar, grated fresh ginger, and red chile flakes. I believe there’s a typo in the book for the quantity of sumac. I used almost a tablespoon not one half cup. That was whisked together and set aside. The cooled rice was combined in a big bowl with the julienned carrots and flaxseeds. The mixture was drizzled with olive oil and tossed to coat. The dressing was added, and the mixture was tossed again to distribute. 

The bright, zippy dressing livens up the rice and makes this a fun salad. The flaxseeds add a nice nutty richness to go with the freshness of the carrots. I’m not sure if I’ll keep working through all the salads I want to try or maybe move on to the Eggplant Lasagne next. Then, there’s the Desserts chapter to devour. For today, I’m happy to enjoy the orange and black of this dish. Happy Halloween! 

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Carrot Banana Cake

We’re still anxiously awaiting our return to our permanent property. The work on our new house is progressing, and the kitchen is starting to take shape with cabinets being set into position. Every day brings a new dilemma like what kind of outlets should be installed on the island? Hopefully, all of the issues will be solved soon, and I’ll be in my new kitchen in time for holiday baking season. I realized how much I’ve missed more frequent baking as I turned the pages of Yvette Van Boven’s newest book Home Baked. I recently received a review copy. I was hooked on this book from the very beginning thanks to the tips for homemade vanilla extract, natural food coloring, and a list of flours from various grains to use. The Bread chapter won me over quickly with tender Potato Rolls, Spicy Italian Anchovy-Garlic Bread, and the use of a sourdough starter for bread and pizza dough. The recipes are a mix of sweet treats and some more wholesome options with whole grains and less sugar. There are cakes, bars, cookies, pies, and pastry, and even treats for canine friends. I took one look at the Speculaas cookies and wanted to find out how to order a board with a windmill mold to make them. (Incidentally, I found one here.) And, the Pear Caramel Pies with Walnuts look decadent with the crisp puff pastry and drizzles of homemade caramel. Since I’m still doing my best to keep sugar intake at a minimum, I decided to try the Carrot Banana Cake. It’s a cross between a carrot cake and banana bread, and it’s lightly sweetened with just a couple of tablespoons of honey. The rest of the sweetness comes from apple juice, carrots, and the fruit in the cake. 

This is a little different from other banana bread recipes because the bananas are sliced rather than mashed. There were supposed to have been dried apricots in the recipe, but as seems to happen to me often with various ingredients, the day I needed dried apricots there were none to be found. I used dried plums instead. To begin, apple juice (and I love that organic unsweetened apple juice was recommended), grated carrots, halved dried plums in my case, and honey were combined in a saucepan and brought to a boil. The pan was removed from the heat, and it was left to rest for 30 minutes. Spelt flour, grated unsweetened coconut, baking powder, ground ginger, and salt were sifted together. There’s a note that cinnamon is nice here as well, so I added some. The carrot and apple juice mixture was added to the flour mixture, beaten eggs were stirred in, and last the banana slices were folded into the batter. The cake baked for about 50 minutes. 

I tasted the batter just before transferring it to the baking pan. I thought it tasted not sweet enough and worried the cake would be bland. But, it didn’t occur to me that I was tasting plain batter with no banana in it. Once the cake was baked and sliced, and the banana slices were evenly distributed and found their way into each bite. They added just enough extra sweetness. I loved the texture with the carrots and all the fruit, and I wouldn’t change a thing the next time I bake it. Now, if we can just get moved, I can wait to start breaking in my new, roomier kitchen with lots of baking. 

Carrot Banana Cake 
Recipe reprinted with publisher’s permission from Home Baked. 

Oh, delicious. Look, I figured: I love carrot cake, I love banana bread, why don’t I throw the two together and combine them into a single thing I love? The cake doesn’t contain any sugar, butter, or wheat, so it’s pretty healthy. But by adding the apricots, banana, apple juice, and carrot, it ends up being pretty sweet anyhow. If you can’t get spelt flour, you can of course simply use wheat flour, I won’t stop you. Bake this cake and bring a thick slice to work. It’s the perfect snack. 

for 1 cake, prep 25 min., inactive 30 min., bake 50 min. 
wheat-free, lactose-free, refined sugar–free 

1 cup (250 ml) unsweetened organic apple juice 
1 1/4 cups (150 g) grated carrot 
2/3 cup (100 g) unsulphured dried apricots, halved 
2 to 3 tbsp honey or agave syrup 
2 cups plus 2 tbsp (250 g) light spelt flour 
1/2 cup (50 g) grated unsweetened coconut 
2 tsp baking powder 
1 tbsp ground ginger (cinnamon is nice too)
pinch of salt 
3 eggs, beaten 
2 bananas, sliced 

Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180°C). Position a rack in the center. Thoroughly grease a 1 1/2-qt (1.5-L) loaf pan, or any other pan with approximately the same volume. I use some melted coconut oil, but baking spray or olive oil also works fine. 

In a saucepan, bring the apple juice, carrot, apricots, and honey to a boil. Turn off the heat and allow to rest for 30 minutes. Let cool until the mixture is nearly at room temperature. I usually spoon the mixture into a large dish to make sure it cools faster. 

Meanwhile, combine the flour with the coconut, baking powder, ginger, and salt. Then spoon in the carrot mixture. Stir in the beaten eggs and finally the banana slices. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake the cake for 50 minutes or so. The cake is done when a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Let it cool in the pan, then turn out onto a rack. Once cooled off, the cake will be slightly firmer. 

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Carrot Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Since Kurt’s birthday is just a few days before Valentine’s Day, there have been years when there was an overload of sweet treats during that second week of February. This year, it was a little different since Kurt was traveling for work on his birthday. We waited and celebrated both occasions on the 14th. Of course, I questioned him in advance regarding what kind of cake he wanted this year. In early December, I read Alice Medrich’s latest book, Flavor Flours, in which she suggested the New Classic Boston Cream Pie made with corn flour chiffon layers with a rice flour-thickened pastry cream is better than the original wheat flour version. I was sure this was going to be Kurt’s birthday cake because he lives for Boston Cream Pie. Instead, he shocked me by requesting a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. I was surprised but delighted to make a carrot cake. My go-to carrot cake recipe has always been the one from The New Basics Cookbook by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins. It includes walnuts, shredded coconut, and crushed pineapple, and the cream cheese frosting has a little lemon juice in it which I love. I’ve been making that recipe for years and never felt I needed a different approach to carrot cake. But, I decided to try something new this time. Also in Flavor Flours, there’s a Carrot Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting made with rice flour and oat flour that’s touted as being a better-than-ever and gluten-free take on a classic. Now, let me explain, neither of us has any sort of gluten sensitivity, but I do love experimenting with different types of flour to discover new tastes and textures. This carrot cake is completely gluten-free, but, more importantly for me, it’s completely delicious with a delicate crumb. It seems impossible since carrot cake is usually somewhat dense, but even with the walnuts this was a light and crumbly cake. 

It’s very similar to my standard carrot cake recipe in that it’s made with vegetable oil rather than butter, and that’s mixed with sugar and eggs. Rice flour and oat flour were combined with baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, freshly grated nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt. The dry ingredients were mixed into the wet, and then grated carrots and toasted, chopped walnuts were added. Thanks to perfect timing, I had just received a bunch of fresh carrots from our CSA that I shredded for the cake. I baked the cakes in eight-inch round pans and let them cool. For a layer cake, one and a half times the recipe for frosting is needed. The frosting recipe here includes cream cheese, butter, confectioners’ sugar, and vanilla, and I added lemon juice because I can’t give up that detail of my usual carrot cake approach. One thing to keep in mind with this cake is that because it is especially crumbly, it definitely requires a crumb coat of frosting. I scooped some of the frosting from the big bowl in which it was mixed into a smaller bowl to use for the crumb coat. That way, any crumbs from the spatula will only get mixed into the crumb coat frosting and not into the entire batch. Chilling the cake after applying the crumb coat is a good idea since the frosting will set more firmly. Then, the pretty final coat of frosting can be applied.

This version didn’t have the shredded coconut or crushed pineapple that I’ve become used to in a carrot cake, but I liked that leaving them out eliminated some sweetness. Mostly, I really liked the tender, crumbly texture and the flavor from the spices and nutty oat flour. It really was amazingly the opposite of dense given that it was a carrot cake. Kurt was very pleased with his choice as well, and I now have two favorite carrot cake recipes. 

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Roasted Carrot Soup with Dukkah Spice and Yogurt

Some people get earworms, songs stuck in their head, and can’t think of any other music because of that tune that won’t go away. I have this issue with recipes instead of music. Is that a recipeworm, foodworm, brainworm? I don’t think I like any of those names for the condition. I’ll keep working on that. This soup was one of those recipes that took up residence in my head and wasn’t going to leave. I saw it in the December issue of Bon Appetit and thought of it every time I saw carrots. It’s an incredibly easy soup to make, but this is one of those times when simple is perfect. You roast chopped carrots and then puree them with vegetable broth, and that’s the soup. But, what makes those carrots especially tasty is the melted butter that’s drizzled over them before they’re roasted. The power of butter to elevate flavor is a marvelous thing. I happened to have a few spring onions that had just arrived from my CSA, so I roasted and pureed them with the carrots which added one more layer of flavor to this simple soup. Then, it’s all about the garnishes. A nice, little dollop of thick yogurt and a sprinkling of dukkah, and this was a recipeworm, for lack of a better name, that was worth having. 

To make the dukkah, you toast shelled pistachios in a dry skillet and then let them cool on a plate. Next, you toast sesame seeds, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, and peppercorns in the same skillet. I chopped the pistachios by hand and ground the spices and sesame seeds with a mortar and pestle with some salt before combining them. This spice and nut mixture can be made in advance and stored at room temperature. The carrots were peeled, cut into big chunks, and placed on a baking sheet. I trimmed spring onions, cut them in half and tossed them on the baking sheet with the carrots. Just two tablespoons of butter was melted and drizzled over the vegetables before they were roasted in the oven for about 25 minutes. The roasted vegetables were transferred to the blender and pureed with vegetable broth. The puree was reheated in a large saucepan before being served with thick yogurt and the dukkah. 

This soup with the toppings is delicious all by itself, and I discovered it’s also a very good soup for dunking grilled cheese sandwiches. I’m glad this stuck in my head until I finally tried it. Now, I need a better name for this condition. Any suggestions? 

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Marinated Cauliflower, Olive, and Caper Salad

At the tail end of cauliflower season, I’ve had enough of bubbly, gooey gratins. With spring just around the corner, I wanted to use what might be the last of our local cauliflower for something with more zip. I found a marinated cauliflower salad from Bon Appetit’s November 2003 issue, and that was just the inspiration I needed. Of course, I made a few changes by including carrots, switching up the olives, throwing in some capers, and adding some heat with crushed red pepper. But, I was thrilled with the basic idea of this mix of marinated vegetables that could top a bed of arugula for a fresh, crunchy salad of winter produce. You’ll want to start the salad either several hours or a day before you plan to serve it. The cauliflower, carrots, and olives need some time mingle in the dressing. I served it just like it appeared in Bon Appetit on a bed of baby arugula leaves, but it’s also great by itself. Or, you could top it with some toasted pine nuts and crumbled feta. 

I started with a large head of cauliflower and cut the florets into pretty small pieces of about an inch or smaller. You can add the chopped vegetables to a large mixing bowl as you go. Next, a mix of olives like green and black Cerignolas and Kalamatas were pitted and roughly chopped. While shopping for these olives, I discovered that red Cerignola olives exist. I’d never seen them before. I looked it up and learned that they’re dyed red during the curing process, and I lost interest. For a moment, I thought there really was a strange, red variety of olive, but no. Carrots were sliced and celery was chopped as well. I love using the very middle stalks of celery and chopping the pale green leaves and including them too. Last, capers were drained and added to the bowl. I didn’t add any salt to the vegetables or to the dressing because of the saltiness of the olives and capers. Taste as you go to decide if you’d like any added salt. The dressing was made by whisking together apple cider vinegar, Dijon mustard, minced garlic, some fresh herbs, and crushed red pepper. Olive oil was drizzled in while whisking, and black pepper was added last. I used both chopped fresh oregano and parsley because both are currently growing in my herb garden. You could certainly skip the oregano or used dried. Half of the dressing was poured over the vegetables in the mixing bowl, and it was stirred to distribute. Cover the bowl and store the remaining dressing separately. Both should be refrigerated until ready to serve. For serving, arugula leaves were tossed with some of the remaining dressing and placed on a platter to be topped with the marinated vegetables. 

The marinated cauliflower keeps well in the refrigerator for several days, and I found another great use for it that I can’t wait to show. The pops of flavor put this on the opposite end of the cauliflower spectrum from a cheese-filled gratin, and that makes it a good transitional dish on our way to spring. 

Marinated Cauliflower, Olive, and Caper Salad 
inspired by recipe from Bon Appetit November 2003 

Dressing: 
3/4 cup apple cider vinegar 
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard 
1 clove garlic, minced 
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano (optional) 
2 tablespoon chopped fresh parsely 
pinch crushed red pepper 
1 cup extra virgin olive oil 
black pepper 

Marinated cauliflower: 
1 large head of cauliflower, cut into small florets 
2 cups mixed olives, pitted and roughly chopped ( a mix of green and black Cerignola olives and some Kalamatas made a good combination) 
3/4 cup sliced carrots 
3/4 cup chopped celery, (middle stalks with the leaves) 
1/4 cup capers in brine, drained 

To assemble: 
10 ounces baby arugula, washed and spun dry 

In a small bowl or glass measuring pitcher, whisk together the vinegar, mustard, minced garlic, herbs, and crushed red pepper, and slowly drizzle in the oil while continuing to whisk until emulsified. Season with black pepper to taste. I don’t add salt here since the olives and capers add saltiness to the salad. 

Combine all ingredients for the marinated cauliflower in a large mixing bowl. Add about half of the dressing to the vegetables and stir to combine. Cover and refrigerate overnight or for several hours. Store the remaining dressing in the refrigerator overnight as well. If you think of it, stir the cauliflower mixture a time or two to distribute the dressing while it marinates. 

Remove dressing and marinated cauliflower mix from refrigerator about an hour before serving. Toss arugula with some of the remaining dressing and place on a platter. Top the arugula with the marinated cauliflower and serve. 

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