Stuffed Zucchini with Spinach and Feta

I love these little zucchinis. Have you seen them? I think they're called 8-ball zucchini, and they're about the size of an 8 ball or a softball, and they are just perfect for stuffing. I always get a little sad when I see the regular stuffed zucchini, because to me it's not really stuffed. More like shallowly carved out and then a bunch of toppings piled on top that could possibly tumble off. I understand that you can get more crunchy, browned cheesy goodness on those zucchini boats than these round ones, and so for that, I can understand why people do it. But I really love to truly stuff something and get a ton of goodies inside, which is why I really love these. Plus, they look so cool, and it might be my imagination, but I think these are milder and sweeter than your regular old regular zucchini. And if you've read my blog before, you know how obsessed I am with personal serving sized things, like mini cakes and tartlets, so you can imagine how much I like these when a single stuffed pepper is the perfect serving for one person. Not to mention totally cute.

Now, take a sweet, mild, uniquely shaped zucchini, and stuff it with herbs, veggies, and cheese, and you totally have my vote. The great thing about these is that they are open to using up leftovers and really very versatile. Want something hearty? Stuff it with cooked rice, crumbled italian sausage, the rest of the zucchini, and some parmesan or romano. Got some leftover chicken? Throw it in. Need to use up the end of some cheese? Use whatever you have on hand. For me, I had some fresh baby spinach that was a couple days past salad stage, a gigantic block of feta that I was still working through, and some leftover pistou that I had used on top of some salmon. For me, this was a great clean-out-the-fridge dish. Since it is warm and summery here, I made this vegetarian and just popped it in my toaster oven—no need to heat up the whole kitchen with the regular oven when it's nearing 80 degrees out. My hands on time was only a few minutes, and dinner was ready in under 45 minutes. Add a starch—in my case, some great ciabatta from the Mount Vernon farmer's market—and some fresh fruit for dessert, and you're done!

Creamy Broccoli, Potato, and Leek Soup

I've been on a leek kick lately. Those tender, delicate vegetables add such a great flavor to so many dishes. Here, leeks lend a subtle, sweet flavor to a delicious soup - green broccoli, thickened with yukon gold potatoes. I've made potato soups before with the hand blender, to varying degrees of success - they often come out a little gluey or gummy. And broccoli soups can taste thin without the addition of butter and heavy cream. But this seems to be a great balance - enough veggies to keep the soup from being gluey, and enough potatoes to make the soup thick and filling. Just a little butter for flavor, and some evaporated milk for body, this is a great one for weeknights when you want something comforting, creamy, and healthy, but don't have a lot of time. Add some whole grain bread, or maybe a couple cheese-toasts on the side, and you have a great dinner.

Creamy Broccoli, Potato, and Leek Soup

1 TB butter
3 large leeks, white and light green parts only, chopped
2 medium potatoes, chopped into 1/2" cubes, about 2 cups
1 large head of broccoli, crowns chopped, stems peeled and chopped, about 2 cups
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
6-8 oz evaporated milk
1/2 tsp worcestershire sauce
1 tsp Frank's Red Hot sauce
salt and pepper to taste

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Sweat the leeks with a pinch of salt until starting to wilt, stirring occasionally, about 7 minutes. Add the potatoes and broth, and simmer for 10 minutes. Add broccoli, and simmer for another 6-8 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Turn off heat, and blend with a hand blender until creamy. Stir in milk, worcestershire sauce, and Frank's. Taste, adjust seasoning if needed with salt and and a healthy dose of pepper, and serve.

Creamy Winter Root Vegetable Mash with Frizzled Leeks

I love mashed potatoes. Creamy, rich, comforting, starchy goodness, they are at home on my plate any time the weather is under 70 degrees, which is often around here. But man (or woman) cannot live on mashed potatoes alone - we need our veggies, and mashed potatoes are starchy and can be very rich. On the other side of the coin, there are mashed potato haters out there. I know, sometimes I can scarcely believe it myself. Those that say mashed potatoes are bland and boring, like baby food. Even my husband used to say he didn't like mashed potatoes! (Don't worry, I made a convert out of him.)

But what if we could have it all - mashed potatoes that contain other wonderful veggies so they are more nutritious and not such a starch bomb, creaminess without being loaded down with tons of cream and butter, and definitely not boring? To the humble potato I've added celeriac, aka celery root, for nutty flavor, parsnips for earthy sweetness, buttermilk for richness and tang without high fat content, and frizzled leeks for that mild, oniony flavor and great crispy texture. A delicious side dish, perhaps delicious enough to convert even the most stubborn mashed potato hater!

Springtime Risotto with Fava Beans and Asparagus

I've been intimidated by fava beans before. These big beans that you have to peel twice: once out of the pod, then a second time out of the skin. (The internet says blanching them briefly in boiling water, then shocking them in ice water helps the skins slide off easier; you can also peel them as-is while watching TV, like I did.) It seems like a lot of effort for little payoff. I was wrong, the payoff is big! Now I'm a convert, and even my bean-picky husband liked the dish (a lot). So creamy and mild, they have a wonderful green yet slightly nutty flavor that goes well with the freshness of asparagus and lemon.

Risotto is always made out to be a lot of work, but I don't really think it's as hard as it can seem. Sure, you have to stir, and it does demand your frequent attention, but in 30 minutes you can have delicious risotto while only tending to one pot, and to me that's easier than trying to orchestrate a separate protein, starch, and veg.
 

Fresh Corn Soup with Basil and Tarragon

This is definitely one of those cases of simplicity is best. This soup is so good, I having a hard time getting past the superlatives of "really good" and "yummy". It's silky on the tongue, light and almost frothy, it's sweet from the corn, it has a little of that mild green bite from basil, and underneath it all is this tingly licorice from the tarragon. But this sounds weird when I write it out, so trust me when I say, it just works. All these little notes balance harmoniously, and while it tastes light and fresh, it satisfies deep down like soup should. You don't need to serve it piping hot, and you don't need to serve a lot, although I went back for seconds, and maybe a little more after that. It would make a great amuse for a summer dinner, for just you, or 10 friends. If you're feeling generous enough to share, that is.

What To Do with Kohlrabi?

Are you familiar with kohlrabi? I sure am not. I have this thing, though, where if I see a new vegetable I've never tried, I just have to pick it up. I can't pass it by. It nags at me when it's unfamiliar, it whispers "why don't you just take me home and figure out what to do with me later". Usually this works in my favor, like with yummy long beans or or bitter-sweet broccoli raab. Sometimes I just don't like it, like with Chinese spinach, although that's rare. So you can imagine that these funny looking veggies were so compelling, with their knobby bases and startling color. I recognized the name kohlrabi, but I didn't even know what they were - root vegetable, or something else? (Turns out they're a brassica - related to cabbage and broccoli - and not a root vegetable.)

I took them home and looked for some recipes. I didn't find much, though I did find several people commenting that they grew up eating them raw. Well, that's a start, so with a sharp knife I carefully topped the long stalks, cut off the bottom, and peeled the outside. I cut a sliver, and was surprised. It was crisp and watery, like jicama or a raw potato. It was mild in flavor, a little bit sweet, a little bit nutty. Another taste. A little like a cross between a broccoli stem, a cabbage, and an apple. Another taste. Truth be told, I was no longer sampling, just eating. It was really tasty!

An Easy, Simple, and Elegant Salad with Corn and Golden Beets

It's early June, and it's raining. Today's high is expected to be a mere 52° Farenheit, a far cry from the normal 68°. I've been hearing lots of record weather in the last few years... record snows two winters ago, record highs last summer, record mild winters, and now, the wettest stretch of rain in the "dry season", or so says the weatherman. All I know is, my outdoor lounge chairs, BBQ, tomatoes, and me, are all crying for some sunshine.

I know, fast forward two or three months and I'll probably be muttering about it being too hot. I can only hope that we don't have a 100° summer like we did last year, us pale and pasty PNWers (without A/C) can hardly take that kind of weather. But I would happily take a few days in the low 70s. In the spirit of looking forward to the warm weather, and the abundance of produce that comes with it, here's a beautiful and easy no-cook side dish.

Poached Eggs with Greens and Garlic on Toast

Today I received a fantastic loaf of bread in my grocery delivery box - the most lovely loaf of French bread I have ever laid my eyes upon. Before I even put the rest of the groceries away, I cut off a slice from the end - perfection! Very moist, tender, and fine crumb, lovely yeasty smell and flavor, thin but crisp shell. An excellent bread from Boulangerie Nantaise, in Seattle. I hadn't planned on using the bread that day, but it seemed a shame not to eat it fresh, so I rummaged around the fridge to see what I could find.

Fresh eggs, some arugula needing to be used up, some beet greens, with beets to be used at a later date, and a fresh head of garlic. A lovely dinner was created - toasted and lightly buttered bread, layered with slightly bitter, savory, and garlicky greens made lively with a dash of sherry vinegar, topped with a poached egg. A delicious light supper, the egg yolk running into the greens, making a sauce; the greens softening the toasted bread just a bit. Yum.

Ginger Fried Rice with an Egg

I have an ongoing love affair with eggs and rice. Ever since I discovered the joy of an over-easy egg with rice and soy sauce, it's been my favorite breakfast, easy lunch, or I'm-too-tired-to-cook meal.

I'd been eyeballing this recipe in the Asian Flavors of Jean-Georges cookbook, especially since I'd had good luck with several of his other recipes. So when I saw Mark Bittman wax poetic about it recently, and he showed me just how easy it really is, I knew it was time to give it a shot.

The ingredients are simple, but this is really tasty fare. The silky, smooth leeks really gives the rice a lovely flavor and subtle texture, and the crispy garlic and ginger really elevates it. Served with a simple salad with a miso vinaigrette, it really hit the spot. My husband loved it so much, he was mostly done by the time I'd finished snapping pics. Next time, I'll use jasmine; I used calrose by force of habit, and realized my mistake only after I'd started cooking it. Oops. It still turned out great, though!

Baby Artichokes with Bread Crumbs and Almonds

I love fresh artichokes. I've grown up eating the giant thistles, steamed until tender, dipping the meaty ends of the leaves into melted butter and scraping off the good stuff. And the heart is the best part, I would carefully scrape off each tuft of fluff, leaving the heart as intact as possible, so as not to waste any. They were always such a treat!

So when I saw a giant package of baby artichokes at Trader Joe's, I couldn't resist. I had never had baby artichokes before, I had no idea what I would do with them, or even exactly how you prepared them, but I took them home anyway.

So after poking around for recipes, and not finding too many, I decided to wing it. A crunchy topping sounded like a good idea, so I grabbed some old bread I'd stashed in the freezer. I was actually going to use pine nuts, but it seems I was out, so I subbed in blanched almonds - which turned out to be a great idea! And of course, lemon has to go in there somewhere. It all turned out really good - and very simple.

Summer Bounty Hash

I think this is my favorite summer meal. I might declare something else my favorite later on, but for right now, this is it. Light and loaded with sweet corn, juicy tomatoes, delicate fingerlings and herbs, a little bit of crispy bacon for texture and salty pork goodness if you like, and an egg to round it out, it brings together some of the best of summer in one easy, but super delicious, dish. And please excuse my egg; they can't turn out perfect every time!

Onion Soup with Thyme

I really love french onion soup. But I don't like heavy, overly beefy, salty soup, and I really don't like all that cheese on top. It's just too much, and you end up chewing great hunks of rubbery cheese, which I don't find pleasant. However, I made this onion soup and really loved it. Not only did it take less than an hour, it still had the sweetness of the onions and a little richness from the beef broth, but it wasn't heavy. Floated with two thin, crisp baguette slices topped with a little sharp cheese, it was just right.

Beet Risotto with Beet Greens

Here's another recipe involving beets that I love. It was actually my introduction to using beet greens, and I love that this recipe uses the whole beet, stems and all. The rice takes on a really vibrant hue, so the whole dish looks hot pink, which I think is really neat. How often do we get to eat fuschia food? There's a nice contrast of textures here: soft onions, creamy rice, nice bite from the beets, and the tender greens. This is a great dish year round - light enough for spring or summer, hearty and earthy enough for fall.