Green Bean and Shell Bean Fattoush

A new book from Martha Stewart always gets my attention and so do books focused on vegetables. I was delighted to receive a review copy of the latest, Martha Stewart's Vegetables. This brings together dishes for every season with all sorts of vegetables, but it’s not a vegetarian cookbook. The recipes highlight what’s great about the vegetables, and in some cases the star vegetable isn’t the only player in the dish. The chapters group types of vegetables like Bulbs, Roots, Greens, Pods, Fruits, etc. In this case, Fruits refers to tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, and cucumber because they are technically fruits due to the seeds held within the flesh. Each chapter begins with an introduction to its type of vegetable with good information about how the plants are grown, their growing season, and some general tips for buying, storing, and preparing. This book is a little breezier about the vegetable information and doesn’t go quite as deep into the taxonomy of the plants as does Vegetable Literacy by Deborah Madison, but it offers a very good overview of the different kinds of plants we include in our meals. And, page after page reveals beautiful dishes ranging from stir-fries to sandwiches to soups, salads, and pasta with inspiration from several types of cuisine. The Herb-and-Scallion Bread Pudding would be perfect for Thanksgiving, Beet Risotto with Beet Greens would brighten a winter table, and Twice-Cooked Potato and Leek Casserole looks like a comfort food dish no one could resist. I want to try the Fried Rice with Collard Greens, Fennel and Smoked Salmon Salad, and Moroccan Vegetable Soup. Right away, I was intrigued by the Green Bean and Shell Bean Fattoush, and all the main ingredients are in season here right now. 

In the book, the recipe name is Green Bean, Shell Bean, and Sweet Onion Fattoush. But, I have an onion thing. I only use onion if it’s minced or if it’s in pieces large enough that I can easily scoot them out of my way on the plate. So, in my version, the onion was minced and whisked into the dressing for this salad. But, the important parts of this dish were the green beans, shell beans, and cucumber. I found all of those at Boggy Creek Farm. For green beans, I used purple and green long beans that I cut into two-inch lengths before blanching. The shell beans were fresh, golden creamer peas that cooked quickly with just about 15 minutes of simmering. Both kinds of beans were shocked with cold water after cooking and left to drain. The dressing, in my case, was made with minced onion, lemon zest, lemon juice, and garlic. Olive oil was whisked into the mixture. Pita was grilled and broken into shards. The cooled and drained beans were tossed with chopped cucumber, parsley, and homegrown basil rather than mint. Crumbled feta was added along with the dressing, and the pita pieces were added to each serving. 

This was a light and fresh take on using shell beans for me. Each year when their season arrives, I usually add them to a summery stew with chunks of summer squash and tomato. This herby, lemony salad was a delicious way to highlight their mild, buttery flavor. I know I’ll be reaching for this book often as different vegetables appear throughout the coming months. 

Green Bean, Shell Bean, and Sweet Onion Fattoush 
Recipe courtesy of Clarkson Potter/Publishers, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC. Copyright 2016 by Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. Photographs copyright 2016 by Ngoc Ming Ngo. 

In late summer, fresh green beans and shell beans make a wonderful pair, one sharp and crisp-tender, the other buttery and plump. They’re the beginnings of our version of fattoush, a Middle Eastern bread salad that’s a fine way to enjoy summer produce. You can blanch the beans in the same pot: first the green beans, and then the shell (and not the other way around, since shell beans release a lot of starch). 

Serves 4 

2 lemons, 1 zested and both juiced 
2 garlic cloves, crushed 
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper 
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing 
1/2 pound haricots verts, trimmed 
3/4 cup shelled fresh shell beans, such as limas 
3 pita breads (6-inch) 
1/2 large Vidalia onion, coarsely chopped 
1 English cucumber, quartered and cut into 1- inch pieces 
4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled 
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh mint, plus more for garnish  
1/3 cup coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley 

1. Whisk together lemon zest, lemon juice, and garlic, and season with salt. Whisking constantly, pour in oil in a slow, steady stream and whisk until emulsified. Season with pepper. Let stand 15 minutes; discard garlic. 

2. Blanch haricots verts in a pot of salted boiling water until crisp-tender and bright green, about 1 minute. Transfer beans to an ice-water bath (reserve pot of water); let cool, then drain and pat dry. Place in a large bowl. 

3. Return water to a boil. Blanch shell beans until just tender, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer to ice bath; let cool, then drain in a colander and pat dry. Combine with haricots verts. 

4. Heat a grill (or grill pan) to medium. Split each pita in half. Brush both sides of pita halves with oil; season with salt and pepper. Grill pita, turning once, until golden and crisp, about 1 minute per side. Let cool, then tear into 1-inch pieces. 

5. Add onion, cucumber, feta, herbs, and pita to the beans; drizzle with ½ cup vinaigrette; toss well to combine. Season with salt and pepper; garnish with mint. Let stand at least 10 minutes and up to 1 hour before serving. 

TIP The pita is charred on the grill (or under the broiler) to make it sturdy enough to soak up the vinaigrette without falling apart. The longer the salad sits before serving (up to an hour), the better the flavors and textures will be. 

I am a member of the Amazon Affiliate Program. 
Tweet

Southern Hummus

How do you change the direction of 100 years of family cooking while honoring the traditions? That’s what Alice Randall and her daughter Caroline Randall Williams set out to do. They chronicled their family history and their desire to change their eating habits for the better in their new book Soul Food Love, and I received a review copy. The book begins with stories about three generations and five different kitchens and the types of cooking in each. The goal for mother and daughter was to keep the flavors from the past while fine-tuning approaches to arrive at healthy dishes for celebrations and every day. They’ve written of the historical complexity of the kitchen for many African-American families. “(The kitchen) has been a place of servitude and scarcity, and sometimes violence, as well as a place of solace, shelter, creativity, commerce, and communion.” When excess appeared in the kitchen, foods began causing illness rather than nourishing families. The authors want to change that pattern by offering dishes that are easy to make part of your home-cooking routine and are free of guilt. The Soups chapter begins with a few homemade broths, and one of them is Sweet Potato Broth. It’s a puree of cooked sweet potatoes in water with onion, celery, and carrot, and it sounds like a delicious base for lots of soups. It’s used in the Sweet Potato, Kale, and Black-Eyed Pea Soup and the Peanut Chicken Stew. There are several fresh and light salads like Savory Avocado Salad with Corn, Peppers, and Cilantro and New-School “Fruit” Salad with watermelon, cherry tomatoes, avocados, and feta. There are also updates to dishes made with practical ingredients like canned fish. The story behind the Salmon Croquettes with Dill Sauce brought back memories of the mackerel cakes my Mom used to make that I loved. Likewise, there’s a story about how eating sardines used to be thought of as a hardship, but now we know that they’re a healthy and sustainable choice. The recipes nicely weave together the best of the past with a health-conscious look forward. 

I was intrigued by the Southern Hummus recipe because as many times as I’ve made hummus, I’d never thought of using peanut butter in place of the tahini. Since I usually have some natural peanut butter on hand but not always tahini, this means I can make hummus even more often. It’s an easy puree in the food processor of natural peanut butter, lemon juice, and chopped fresh garlic. Next, rinsed and drained canned chickpeas, warm water, ground cumin, salt and pepper, and olive oil were added and pureed. I suspect there’s a typo in the book. The ingredient quantities seem to be meant for two cans of chickpeas. So, if using one can, the other ingredients should be reduced by half. Later in the book, there’s a recipe for a Moorish Pizza which is pita topped with hummus, baba ghanoush, and chopped parsley. I couldn’t resist going that route with this hummus even though I didn't have any baba ghanoush on had. I warmed a fresh, whole wheat pita over the flame of a burner until toasted and crisp. Then, I spread some hummus on top and sprinkled on chopped parsley. I gave it a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, and cut it into wedges. 

This is going to be my new way of making hummus. I liked the flavor of the peanut butter in it even more than the usual flavor of tahini. And, the pita pizza made my day. It would be perfect with cocktails too. This book got me thinking about family food traditions and how to preserve them to make sure they’re not forgotten and update them as needed. I’m sure there are lots of dishes just waiting for a fresh take. 

I am a member of the Amazon Affiliate Program.

Tweet

Falafel Pitas

Whether they’re regional specialties or family favorites, sandwiches are well-loved in many sizes, flavors, and forms, and there’s a new book completely devoted to them. The Encyclopedia of Sandwiches is by Susan Russo from Food Blogga, and the photography is by Matt Armendariz from Matt Bites. I’ve known about this book for a while since I had the pleasure of testing a recipe for it, and I recently received a review copy. The sandwiches appear in the book in alphabetical order, and there are options made with waffles, bagels, doughnuts, English muffins, cookies, pound cake, rolls, buns, and many, many different types of bread. There’s also background information on where types of sandwiches originated and suggested alternative fillings in some cases. I was unfamiliar with a few of them like the chow mein sandwich and the chip butty, but there are also well-known favorites like the dagwood, the po’boy, and sliders. There are breakfast sandwiches like the Denver sandwich and the classic breakfast sandwich on an English muffin, there’s dessert with the pound cake sandwich and the ice cream sandwich, and there are classics like the Elvis and the lobster roll. It’s a fun book to peruse for sandwich ideas, and everything is so beautifully presented, I was instantly hungry when I started turning pages. The falafel pitas was my first stop since I can’t resist the mix of crunchy fried patties and cool, crisp toppings.

The sandwich recipe itself is followed by one for quick and easy falafel which involves using canned chickpeas rather than soaked, dried beans. To make the falafel, minced onion and garlic were briefly sauteed before being added to a food processor with rinsed and drained canned chickpeas, chopped parsley and cilantro, cumin, cayenne, and salt. Flour and baking powder were added, and the mixture was pulsed until it formed a paste. Then, balls were shaped from the mixture, they were rolled in sesame seeds, and they were flattened before being fried for a few minutes. I also followed the recipe in the book for tzatziki, and that was a quick mix of diced cucumber, Greek yogurt, lemon juice, salt, cayenne pepper, and fresh mint. The sandwiches were built in halved pita with falafel patties, some tahini, chopped lettuce, cherry tomatoes, and tzatziki.

Pita is such a perfect container for a sandwich. In the book, it’s also used for kofta pockets and spiedini pockets. Here, the falafel fit nicely with the toppings and tzatziki, and it’s just enough bread without being too much. The flavors and textures and the hot and the cold made this great. Now, I’m eyeing the toasted chocolate sandwich, or maybe next I should try the torta or the pepper and egg sandwich. With so many good options, I'll being trying lots of different sandwiches soon.

Tweet

Greek Salad with Grilled Pita Crisps and Bulgur Salad with Cucumbers and Radishes

When I read cookbooks, there’s always something that sparks an idea and sends me toward the kitchen. Sometimes, though, I just really enjoy the book and don’t want to move from my chair until I’ve finished it. Eating Local falls into that very category. It's been a pleasure to read this book about using locally grown food and the stories about farmers from different parts of the US. The recipes are straightforward and familiar, but they all have an unexpected twist that makes them fresh and new. For instance, beets with goat cheese or feta is a natural combination. But here, cooked beet greens and stems are topped with whipped feta seasoned with Aleppo pepper and mint. There’s also a zucchini bread, but this one has grated carrots and minced candied ginger in it. There are grilled cauliflower steaks with tahini sauce that look great too. The many stunning photos and the little, surprising additions to the recipes kept me turning the pages to see what I’d find next. Throughout the book, there are introductions to farmers from Oregon, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Illinois, and even Austin, Texas, and the stories offer glimpses into what inspires these farmers to do what they do, their challenges, and their successes. I could go on and on, but I will just tell you one more thing about the book. It’s organized by ingredient alphabetically. You can look to the top right or left corner of each page and flip until you find the item you want to prepare. If you just received ten pounds of eggplants from your CSA, flip to the eggplant pages and you’ll get several ideas. Ok, one more thing. There are also recipes for fruits, poultry, eggs, and meat.

So, from the 40 or so pages I marked with sticky notes, I tried the Greek salad with grilled pita crisps first. I’d been thinking about panzanella lately, and this is similar to that or to fattoush. Locally grown, heirloom tomatoes are recommended for this, but what I found at our farmers’ market was just red, ripe lovelies in various sizes. The large tomatoes were cut into wedges, and the cherry tomatoes were cut in half. They were combined with cucumber, onion, and a dressing of olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic, and fish sauce. I noticed in several recipes for salad dressings, fish sauce is included for a little added umami. Feta was added to the salad, and I used a locally made marinated feta. Last, grilled pita bread was broken into shards and tossed into the mix. The salad was garnished with basil and Greek olives. It was fresh defined and that tip about the fish sauce is one I’ll definitely use again.

Next, I flipped to the page with the bulgur salad with cucumbers, radishes, and green onions. This is essentially tabbouleh with the addition of radishes, dill, Anaheim chiles, and Aleppo pepper. The dill with the usual parsley and mint boosted the herb effect in the salad, and the radishes added peppery crunch. It’s recommended that this be scooped into lettuce leaves to form wraps which I did. I also used some leftover pita from the Greek salad and spooned the bulgur into pockets. These salads with little, added touches were satisfying dishes making use of several local ingredients. I know this is a book that will spend more time in the kitchen than on the shelf.

Tweet