AMARANTH GREENS

Amaranth, the wonder plant. It is one of the oldest cultural plants. It has been cultivated as a grain for over 8000 years. Amaranth was a staple food of the Aztecs in the 1400's. The grain is highly nutritional and most commonly ground into a flour that is gluten free. You can also find it as a grain similar to quinoa. But I want to write about the beautiful green leaves on this plant. The leaves and stems are very high in protein, taste incredible, and are easy to cook.

Amaranth is cultivated all around the world but I usually find them in the Asian stands at the Farmer's Market. I have seen them in Asian grocery stores as well. Sometimes called Chinese spinach, these greens are similar to spinach but way more flavorful. You cook and use them the same way you would spinach, cooking just a little longer than you would spinach. I like all greens but these are my favorite. The young leaves are the best, and they will start showing up in Farmer's Markets in spring or early summer.

In Greece amaranth is a popular dish know as Vlita. The leaves are boiled and then served with a drizzle of olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice. I like to saute them in olive oil and then a squeeze of lemon juice and salt and pepper. Pure and delicious.

If you have never tried these and see them at a market, grab a bunch and give them a try.

NO WORK MOSTLY WHOLE WHEAT PIZZA DOUGH

This is Mark Bittman's recipe for healthy pizza dough. You use two cups whole wheat flour and one cup all purpose flour. You add 1/2 tsp. of instant yeast and a tsp. of salt. That's it. No mixing or kneading. It needs to sit in a warm place for 8-14 hours to ferment and it's ready to go. It takes 5 minutes in the morning and it will be ready for dinner. It freezes well too. We made this dough as part of the Food Matters Project and most everyone called it a winner. I loved it. We cooked the dough in a cast iron skillet over the BBQ but the oven works well too.

NO-WORK MOSTLY WHOLE WHEAT PIZZA DOUGH

(makes 1 large or 2 small pizzas / 8-14 hours, almost entirely unattended)

 

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup all-purpose or bread flour, plus more as needed

1/2 teaspoon instant yeast

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for greasing

1. Combine the flours, yeast, and salt in a large bowl. Stir in 1 1/2 cups water (I used warm water and also added in 1 tbsp olive oil). The dough should be relatively sticky and wet, like biscuit batter. If not, add a little more water.

2. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, cover, and put it in a warm spot. Let the dough sit for at least 6 or up to 12 hours. (The longer it ferments, the more complex the flavor.)

3. When you’re ready, heat the oven to 500 degrees. If you have a pizza stone put it in the oven at the same time so it can preheat as well. If not, generously oil a baking sheet or large ovenproof skillet. Dust your hands with a little white flour and fold the dough over in the bowl a few times. It will be sticky, but resist the urge to use too much flour; dust your hands again only when absolutely necessary and use a light, gentle touch. If you’re making small pizzas, divide the dough in half or quarters. Gently press the dough into the skillet or onto the baking sheet; it’s not important that the pizzas be perfectly round, but you do want to be careful not to tear the dough. Note that pizza dough freezes really well; after dividing it, just wrap it tightly and use it within a couple of months.

4. Brush or drizzle the top of the pizza or pizzas with 2 tablespoons oil, cover, and let sit while you get your toppings together, but no more than 60 minutes or so.

5. Top with your favorite Food Matters Way Toppings (see below) and cook for 8-12 minutes.

Crunchy No-Work Mostly Whole Wheat Pizza Dough: Substitute 1/2 cup cornmeal (fine or medium grind) for 1/2 cup of the whole wheat flour.

Herbed No-Work Mostly Whole Wheat Pizza Dough: This works of the main recipe or the variation above. Add 1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary, thyme, oregano, or tarragon, or 1 tsp dried, to the dry ingredients at the beginning of Step 1.

Topping Pizza, the Food Matters Way

Go easy: Overloading your pizza makes the crust doughy and often underdone.

-All-Purpose Tomato Sauce

-Herb Pesto

-Cooked Mushrooms

-Caramelized onions with fresh thyme or rosemary

-Roasted garlic

-Sun-dried Tomatoes, soaked in hot water and drained

-Chopped, pitted oil-packed black olives

-Chopped marinated artichoke hearts or baby artichokes

-Spoonful of capers

-Chopped anchovies or sardines

-Sliced fresh tomatoes

-Thinly sliced fennel

-Parboiled broccoli, broccoli rabe, cauliflower, or Brussels sprouts, drained

-Sautéed spinach, chard, or kale

-Sliced cooked waxy potatoes or sweet potatoes

-Grilled or broiled eggplant or zucchini

-Lightly mashed beans: black beans with chopped chipotle chiles or salsa, white beans with walnut oil and lemon juice, chickpeas with tahini…

-Smear of fresh ricotta or creme fraiche

-Crumbled goat cheese

-Sliced Fresh Mozzarella

Ingredients to Put On After Baking

-A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, flavored olive oil, nut oil, or sesame oil

-Chopped fresh basil, mint, or cilantro

-Shaved Parmesan, grated ricotta salata, or crumbled feta

-Freshly ground black pepper

-Baby spinach, arugula, or macho, tossed with a little olive oil

-Sliced hard-boiled eggs (or raw eggs, broken over the pizza and broiled for the last 2 minutes of baking time)

-Toasted pinenuts, almonds, walnuts, cashews, sesame seeds…

 

Recipe by Mark Bittman

SKILLET GRILLED PIZZA

Asparagus, Goat Cheese and Arugula Pizza. Sauteed Amaranth greens and Feta Pizza. Grilled Romaine with Blue Cheese-Bacon Vinaigrette Pizza.

This week Niki from Salt & Pepper chose our Food Matters Project recipe. It was Mark Bittman's No-Work Mostly Whole Wheat Pizza Dough. I was excited to try his recipe for dough. It is part whole wheat flour and part all purpose flour. I liked the mixture of the two flours and he uses instant yeast so this dough comes together in just a few minutes. There is no kneading or punching just mix it up and let it sit in a warm spot for 6 to 12 hours. I got the dough started and headed off to the Farmer's Market for inspiration.

I spotted some lovely Amaranth leaves. Using the Greek dish Vlita (boiled amaranth leaves, served with a drizzle of olive oil and a squeeze of lemon) as my inspiration for my topping my plan started. I would saute the greens in olive oil, salt, pepper, and some  lemon juice. Cheese...hmmm Greek Feta of course.

Done.

But I kept walking and a farmer suggested I taste his arugula. Oh my, so spicy and wonderful. It was sitting right next to the fresh asparagus. Ah....pizza topped with asparagus, arugula pesto and goat cheese.

Done.

And then I saw some beautiful fresh romaine. I could top a pizza with grilled romaine, blue cheese, and a bacon vinaigrette. And while the fire is hot I will grill the pizzas as well.

Woo Hoo!

Really done.

I decided to make three small pizzas with three different toppings. We started the BBQ and soaked some oak chips for added flavor to the pizza. I looked at the dough. Ooops, it was way too soft to put on the grill. I only let it sit for 6 1/2 hours, maybe if it was longer it would have been firmer. So plan B. In the skillet over the fire. That should give it a nice smoky grilled flavor.

I put olive oil in the bottom of the skillet, spread the dough out and put the skillets over the hot fire. When the bottom was cooked we flipped the dough over and cooked it another 5 minutes or so and then added the toppings and put the lid on the grill so the pizza would pick up some of the oak smoke.. Flipping it over made for a crispy crust that we love. The crust reminded me of Indian Fry Bread that I made a million years ago. This was the BEST pizza ever. Hubby's favorite was the grilled romaine pizza and then the asparagus pizza. My favorite was the amaranth pizza. I'll post the recipes over the next few days. For the original Mark Bittman recipe go over to our host, Niki's blog here. For more really creative ideas for pizza visit all our adaptations here.

Thanks Niki! This was really fun.

GARBANZO BEAN AND SPINACH SALAD WITH CILANTRO LIME VINAIGRETTE

You can't get much healthier and tastier than this salad. It's easy to put together and even better when you make it a day ahead.


GARBANZO BEAN AND SPINACH SALAD WITH CILANTRO LIME VINAIGRETTE

4 cups loosely packed fresh spinach

4 cups cooked garbanzo beans or two 15oz. cans drained and rinsed

1/2 red onion, chopped

1 tsp. salt

3 oz. of lime juice

1 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro

1 1/2 TBSP. honey

2 TBSP. balsamic vinegar

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tsp. red pepper flakes

1/4 cup olive oil

Chop spinach into small pieces.

In a large bowl combine chopped spinach, garbanzo beans, and onion.

In a food processor or blender, add the lime juice, cilantro, honey, balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, garlic, and pepper flakes. Process for a few seconds and add the olive oil slowly, allowing the dressing to emulsify. Taste and add salt and pepper if needed.

Pour 3/4 of the dressing onto the salad and toss to combine. Serve the rest of the dressing drizzled on top when serving. Let salad sit for at least 30 minutes at room temperature or overnight in the fridge to let the flavors meld.

You are going to think you are over dressing this salad but don't worry. It needs a lot of dressing and it is really good.

Recipe adapted from www.mindoverbatter.com

 

 

RASPBERRY-ASPARAGUS MEDLEY

 

I found the most beautiful purple-ish asparagus at the Farmer's Market. I thought the color would go nicely with raspberries so I whipped up this easy spring time recipe. This is wonderful addition to any brunch. You can make it ahead and serve at room temperature.

RASPBERRY-ASPARAGUS MEDLEY

1 TBSP. white wine vinegar

2 TBSP. raspberry preserves

1 1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard

1/8 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. lemon zest

1 lb. asparagus, tender parts only

1 1/2 cup fresh raspberries

2 TBSP. chopped pecans, toasted

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Combine first four ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in lemon zest.

Cook asparagus in boiling water for 2 minutes or until crisp tender. Drain and plunge into a bowl of ice water. Drain and pat dry.

Toss the asparagus in the raspberry mixture and place on a serving platter. Sprinkle the asparagus with fresh raspberries and drizzle the fresh lemon juice on top. Sprinkle pecans on top and serve.

Serves 6

Recipe by Linder Hunt

CAJUN TURKEY MEATLOAF

This is one of my favorite meatloaf recipes. I use turkey to make it lower in fat but you can use 1/2 beef and 1/2 pork if you like. Sometimes turkey can be dry but in this meatloaf you add 1/2 cup of evaporated milk and it keeps it tender and moist.

I like to serve this with jalapeno turkey gravy.

 During the holidays I make gravy and freeze it. This is how I make the gravy. After I defrost it I add chopped jalapenos and warm for about 15 minutes.

I hope you give this a try, it really is good.

CAJUN MEATLOAF

Seasoning mix:

2 whole bay leaves

1 TBSP. salt

1 tsp. ground red pepper (cayenne)

1 tsp. black pepper

½ tsp. white pepper

½ tsp. ground cumin

½ tsp. ground nutmeg

Combine seasoning mix ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

Meat Loaf:

4 TBSP. unsalted butter

¾ cup finely chopped onions

½ cup finely chopped celery

½ cup finely chopped green bell peppers

1/4 cup finely chopped green onion

2 tsp. minced garlic

1 TBSP. Tabasco sauce

1 TBSP. Worcestershire sauce

½ cup evaporated milk

½ cup ketchup

2 lbs. Ground Turkey or 1-½ lbs. Ground beef and ½ lb. ground pork

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup very fine dry bread crumbs

Gravy if desired

Melt the butter in a 1 quart saucepan over medium heat.  Add the onions, celery, bell peppers, green onions, garlic, Tabasco, Worcestershire and seasoning mix.  Sauté until mixture starts sticking excessively, about 6 minutes, stirring occasionally and scraping the pan bottom well.  Stir in the milk and ketchup.  Continue cooking for about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat and allow mixture to cool to room temperature.

Place the ground meat in an ungreased 13x9 inch baking pan.  Add the eggs, the cooked vegetable mixture, removing the bay leaves, and the breadcrumbs.  Mix by hand until thoroughly combined.  In the center of the pan, shape the mixture into a loaf that is about 1 ½ inches high, 6 inches wide and 12 inches long.  Bake uncovered at 350~ for 25 minutes, then raise the heat to 400~ and continue cooking until done, about 35 minutes longer.  Serve immediately with a gravy if desired.  I use a can of turkey gravy heated with some chopped fresh jalapenos.

Recipe slightly adapted from Paul Prudomme

FISH BRAISED IN RHUBARB SAUCE

This is week 10 of The Food Matters Project. This week Camilla chose the recipe and it was Fish Nuggets Braised in Rhubarb Sauce. The fish is cooked in caramelized sugar which is a classic Vietnamese technique that I am very familiar with. I cook a lot of Vietnamese food so I could mentally taste the flavors except for the Rhubarb. After thinking about it for a while I realized that I AM A RHUBARB VIRGIN! I have never had rhubarb before...not sure why...my grandmother used to grow it but I think she must have made sweet things with it and I wasn't a sweet eater. I asked Ron (hubby) if he had had it before and he said quite often. He grew up in Germany and they had it over ice cream and in pies. I mentioned that I would be putting it in a Vietnamese style dish and his words were...

"OH GAWD"

and he said it more than once.

I knew I could find fresh rhubarb (we have Farmer's markets here in Santa Barbara six days a week) and on Saturday there is a Fisherman's market where you can buy fish right off the boat so I was excited to give this a try. I bought a bundle of rhubarb and some fresh local swordfish.

 I think never having tried rhubarb was a good thing since I didn't have any preconceived notions as to how this would taste.

I chopped up the rhubarb and gave it a taste. Hmmm... sour, citrusy celery. OK.

I caramelized the sugar and then added the rhubarb, onion, Thai chili and let it cook into a sauce. Then I stirred in the black pepper and the lime juice and gave it a taste. WHOA was my reaction. This was so sour and tart. I knew an ingredient was missing from my Vietnamese cooking so I added about a Tablespoon of fish sauce. That really helped and then about 2 teaspoons more sugar and the balance was right.

I added the swordfish and cooked it for about 5 minutes more, served it over Farro and  garnished it with cilantro and sliced scallions.

I suspected this would need to be served over something really hearty so that was why I chose Farro. If you have never had Farro think barley on steroids. The Farro was the perfect base for this sweet*sour*salty* spicy* meal. It would not have been nearly as good if it was not over Farro.

Mr. "OH GAWD" had seconds :)

Thanks Camilla! It was a fun choice.