watermelon + citrus gazpacho with avocado
- 3 navel oranges
- 2 roma tomatoes, roughly chopped
- 1 cucumber, peeled and diced
- 3/4 cup diced watermelon
- 1 small red onion, diced
- 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1-1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
- 1 small avocado, halved, pitted, peeled and diced
procedure
- Grate 1 teaspoon zest from one orange; set aside.
- Peel and cut one orange into segments. Cut segments into small pieces. Remove to a bowl and set aside. Peel and segment remaining oranges into blender or food processor.
- To oranges add tomatoes, 1/2 cup of the diced cucumber, 1/2 cup of the watermelon, 1/4 cup of the onion, 2 tablespoons of the vinegar, the oil, 1 teaspoon of the salt and the reserved orange zest. Pulse until finely chopped, about 10 to 12 times; chill until ready to serve.
- To reserved orange segments add remaining cucumber, remaining 1/4 cup watermelon, the onion, remaining 2 teaspoons vinegar, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and the avocado; mix gently.
- To serve, divide pureed mixture among four bowls. Spoon chopped mixture into center of each bowl.
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chiles capones (pasilla chiles stuffed with tomatillo + cotija cheese)
I was in Mexico last weekend hosting a group of editors in the magical town of Morelia. As a representative for the Mexican avocado industry, I was introducing food writers to the ancient tradition of avocado harvesting. In addition to touring avocado orchards, I get to eat some of the most wonderful foods I have ever eaten. These trips, which I go on about once a year, are what have made me fall in love with authentic Mexican cuisine. It will take many more trips before I can digest and wrap my head around the multitude of earthy ingredients that go into this deep rooted cuisine, but for now we can start with a recipe for chiles capones.
The chile used in this recipe is the pasilla chile or also called chile negro or black chile. It is the dried form of a pepper called chilaca. The pasilla is long, narrow and wrinkled, dark in color and rich in flavor. It is mild in heat but sometimes can be medium hot. For this recipe you will have to soak the chiles for several hours before using them, but in some recipes all you need to do is heat them to make them pliable. I love the deep earthy flavor dried chiles bring to a dish – they are wonderful in salsas, broths and rich sauces, like mole. To learn more about chiles and to try other recipes, see Diana Kennedy’s write up on Mexican chiles in Food & Wine.
look for tomatillos with tightly wrapped husks
I had these chiles capones at a restaurant in Morelia called Los Mirasoles. Our tour guide, Deborah, recommended them years ago and I still ooh and aah when I eat them. For something so rich and complex in flavor you’ll be surprised at how easy they are to make. You start with a saute of onion and tomatillos then slowly add the cheese. If you taste the mixture before the cheese is added, you’ll taste the tartness of the tomatillos and understand why so much cheese is added. You’ll also notice that no salt is required thanks to the cotija.
chiles capones
serves 3 (I know this is odd, but it’s the truth)
ingredients
- 6 pasilla chiles
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 2 cups finely diced tomatillos (about 4)
- 8 ounces cotija cheese, grated
procedure
- Seed and devein chiles by gently cutting a vertical slit in the center of the chile. With scissors, carefully cut up and down the chile until it is split open. Remove seeds and light colored veins.
- In a large bowl, combine chiles and vinegar; fill with water until chiles are submerged. Soak for 8 hours or overnight.
- In a saute pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions; cook and stir until translucent. Add tomatillos; cook and stir until slightly tender and translucent.
- Slowly begin adding the cheese, stirring constantly until all the cheese is incorporated. Remove from heat.
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
- Drain chiles and pat dry. Arrange chiles on aluminum foil.
- Spoon tomatillo mixture into the peppers until you run out. Bake in oven until cheese begins to brown, about 10 minutes.
- Serve stuffed peppers with tortillas, crema and avocado if desired.
parsley + baby kale salad with radishes, montasio cheese and meyer lemon
Now that kale is on its way to becoming mainstream, grocery stores are carrying it bagged and cleaned like any other lettuce. I prefer buying the bunch and tearing it myself because I like my kale big and leafy – the bagged kind tends to be choppy and stemmy – but now Earthbound Farm is carrying boxes of mixed baby kales. How cute is that? Baby kale leaves don’t have the central stem so no tearing necessary and the leaves are much more tender and don’t require massaging or marinating. This product is great for convenience if you want to whip up a salad in a jiffy but there’s something I love about tenderized leafy kale so I won’t be giving up buying bunches of the big stuff.
I got another block of Montasio cheese from work last week and it’s perfect for salads. It is similar in flavor to Parmigiano-Reggiano except it is a bit more mild with a creamier texture. Meyer lemons were also being distributed at work (lucky me) but instead of making a vinaigrette I just squeezed the juice right over the greens to get the most out of the flavor. I used some zest too because that gorgeous color was not gonna go to waste!
I’ve been giving my mandolin quite a bit of attention lately. Mine is tiny so bringing out every time I make a salad isn’t a hassle and it really slices radishes to perfection. Aren’t radishes so beautiful?
parsley + baby kale salad with radishes, montasio cheese and meyer lemon
ingredients
- parsley leaves
- mixed baby kales
- chopped endive
- thinly sliced radish
- thinly sliced red onion
- Meyer lemon
- olive oil
- red wine vinegar
- salt + pepper
- Montasio cheese
procedure
- In a large bowl combine parsley, kale, endive, radish and onion.
- Remove zest of one Meyer lemon and add to greens.
- Squeeze juice of lemon over salad. Drizzle with olive oil and a dash of vinegar. Season with salt and pepper; toss gently.
- Remove salad to serving dish and top with slices of cheese. Season with more pepper, if desired.
Like this:
mushroom, tomato & basil breakfast pizzas
I’ve had a lot of great breakfast pizzas lately and I don’t know why I never thought of making one myself. Cookshop and ABC Kitchen have tasty pizzas, both are delicious but very different. Cookshop’s is big and has an incredible chewy crust and ABC’s is more of an individual size, thin and crispy and is covered in super savory mushrooms. While they do take longer to make than my typical eggs n’ avocado toast, sometimes it feels good to put a little more effort into breakfast.
I used whatever I had on hand for this but really anything goes when it comes to pizza, so have fun and experiment. My pizza dough was store-bought, Trader Joe’s to be exact, but if you have yeast at home it’s pretty easy to make your own. I took home some Montasio cheese from work which gave it a perfect dose of saltiness, but next time I’d use something more like mozzarella as the base and use a flurry of the Montasio or a parm on top.
give the mushrooms enough room and they'll brown just right
don't worry if the yolk runs when you crack the egg, the surrounding ingredients will hold it and it will bake in place
mushroom, tomato & basil breakfast pizzas
serves 2
ingredients
- 1 tablespoon salted butter
- 2 cups sliced crimini mushrooms
- 8 ounces whole wheat pizza dough
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 cup grated cheese
- 2 small tomatoes, cut into wedges
- 2 eggs
- 8 basil leaves
procedure
- Preheat oven to 450°. Line a rimless baking sheet with aluminum foil.
- In a saute pan over medium-high heat, melt butter. Add mushrooms; cook, stirring once in a while, until brown on both sides. Set aside.
- Divide dough in half. On a floured surface, roll out each ball of dough until it is about 10-inches in diameter. It might seem too thin but remember, it will rise and thicken after baking. Transfer rolled out dough to baking sheet.
- Brush 1/2 a teaspoon of oil over both doughs. Divide cheese, tomatoes and mushrooms amongst both, leaving room in the middle for the egg.
- Crack one egg in the middle of each pizza. Season egg with salt and remainder of pizza if necessary, depending on the cheese you use.
- Bake in the oven 8 minutes. Remove pizzas from the baking sheet and bake straight on the rack for 2-4 minutes or until the egg whites are set, cheese is melted and crust is golden brown.
- Remove from oven and garnish with basil leaves. (I garnished before and ended up with black, crispy basil. Oops!)
Like this:
taim’s spicy moroccan carrots
Taim, a tiny falafel eatery in New York’s West Village, makes the best carrots I’ve ever tasted. They are cooked but still have a snap, they are spicy, acidic and the perfect complement to their sabich platter – a spread of fried eggplant (also the best I’ve ever had), egg, hummus and Israeli salad. Lucky for me New York Magazine featured the recipe a few years ago and I’ve been making them ever since.
Because the carrots are acidic and heavily spiced, they pair beautifully with creamy ingredients like hard-boiled egg and avocado. Make the carrots ahead of time and toss into green or grain salads throughout the week. The carrots are so flavorful that they really become the star ingredient in any dish.
taim’s spicy moroccan carrots
adapted from NYMag
makes 4 servings
ingredients
- 1 pound whole carrots, peeled
- 1 tablespoon olive oil plus 2 teaspoons for sautéing
- 1-1/2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
- 3/4 teaspoon paprika
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne
- 1 clove garlic, super thinly sliced
procedure
- Bring large pot of water to a boil; add carrots. Cook until slightly tender but not overdone, about 10-15 minutes, depending on the size of the carrots. Drain and place carrots in an ice-water bath until cool.
- Slice carrots diagonally into 1/4-inch-thick rounds.
- In a large pan, heat one teaspoon of the olive oil. Add half of the carrots; cook and stir until slightly brown. Remove to a large bowl. Repeat with remaining carrots and 1 teaspoon of the olive oil.
- To bowl of carrots, add the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil, vinegar, paprika, salt, cumin, sugar, cayenne and garlic; mix well.
- Refrigerate until cold, overnight for best results.
