Broccoli Salad with Cashews and Water Chestnuts

 

“I just made a new broccoli salad that has cashews and water chestnuts in it,” I recently told a friend, adding that it was very good, but then honestly, I asked her, what broccoli salad isn’t? One that she had had recently apparently, made by a friend of hers who had blanched the florets. She cooked her broccoli for her broccoli salad! Come on, people! Would you par boil lettuce for a green salad? I don’t think so. Never, and I am telling you NEVER cook broccoli for a broccoli salad. No!

 This recipe with the addition of cashews and water chestnuts, different from the norm, was just the ticket. I punched up the dressing with a little bit of dry mustard, taking it from drab to dynamic.

Broccoli Salad with Cashews and Water Chestnuts

 2 large crowns Melissa’s Organic Broccoli, cut into florets

6 slices bacon, cooked and chopped

1 c. cashews

¼ c. chopped red onion

½ c. golden raisins

⅓ c. chopped water chestnuts

 Dressing:

1 c. Duke’s mayonnaise

1 T. cider vinegar

¼ c. sugar

½ t. kosher salt

¼ t. dry mustard

Whisk together dressing ingredients in a medium bowl; set aside.

 Play, broccoli, bacon, cashews, onion, raisins, and water chestnuts into a large bowl. Pour dressing overall and toss to combine. Cover and refrigerate for at least two hours, preferably overnight.

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Walnut Mushroom Bolognese

I found it ironic that this recipe came from a magazine called Real Simple. This recipe is anything but simple. It’s not difficult, mind you, but between toasting the walnuts, and being in need of a food processor, it cannot be made by everyone. On the plus side, it is unique and flavorful, can be adapted to suit your needs (as I did with the inclusion of fresh garlic, as well as swapping out the half-and-half for heavy cream), makes a lot, and freezes beautifully. It is wonderfully sophisticated, complex, and perfect for a cold winter evening.

Walnut Mushroom Bolognese

Adapted from Real Simple

 1 lb. cremini mushrooms

1 c. toasted walnuts

1 yellow onion, quartered

1 medium carrot, chopped

1 medium stalk celery, chopped

1 clove garlic

6 T. olive oil, divided

1¼ t. kosher salt, divided

½ c. dry white wine

1/3 c. tomato paste

2 c. vegetable stock

¼ t. freshly ground black pepper

½ c. heavy cream

1 lb. fettuccine, prepared according to package direction

Grated Parmesan, for serving

 Working in 2 batches, pulse mushrooms in a food processor until finely chopped. Transfer to a bowl. Add walnuts to food processor; pulse until finely chopped. Transfer to a medium bowl. Add onion, carrot, celery, and garlic to food processor; process until very finely chopped.

Heat ¼ cup oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add mushrooms in an even layer; cook, undisturbed, until browned in spots, about 8 minutes. Season with ½ teaspoon salt, toss, and cook for 1 minute. Transfer to bowl with walnuts. Reduce heat to medium. Add remaining 2 tablespoons oil to skillet. Stir in onion mixture and ¼ teaspoon salt; cook, stirring often, until mixture is golden and almost dry, 10 to 12 minutes. Stir in mushrooms and walnuts. Add wine; cook until absorbed, 2 to 3 minutes. Add tomato paste; cook, stirring, until combined, about 5 minutes. Add stock; simmer over low, stirring once or twice, until sauce is very thick, 35 to 40 minutes. Add pepper, remaining ½ teaspoon salt, and heavy cream; cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.

 

Toss pasta with desired amount of sauce. Serve with cheese. 

 Place any remaining sauce in an airtight container; refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

 

Breakfast Bruschetta

 Breakfast can be boring. It can be pretty dull having the same thing every morning, particularly when that thing, such as toast or cereal, is not particularly interesting. If breakfast is the most important meal of the day, then we should be serving something nutritious and delicious that invites us to indulge and enjoy. I prefer to start my day savory rather than sweet, was in a bit of an Italian mood, and came up with this. Wonderful!

Breakfast Bruschetta

8 (1" thick) slices of French bread

5 T.butter, softened

3 handfuls fresh baby spinach

4 large eggs

1/4 c. whole milk

1/8 t. Montreal steak seasoning

1/8 t. instant minced onions

1 c. diced tomatoes

½ c. shredded cheddar

Preheat oven to 400ºF.

Spread 2 tablespoons of the butter on top of each slice of French bread. Arrange the bread slices on a baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes, then flip them and bake an additional 3 to 5 minutes until toasted. Remove the bread from the oven; set aside. Change oven setting to broil.

While bread is baking, sauté spinach in one tablespoon of butter. When wilted and heated through, remove with tongs, and mound evenly on each slice.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, steak seasoning, and dried minced onions. In the same pan in which you cooked the spinach, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter. Pour in egg mixture, and cook, stirring as needed, until scrambled to your liking. Mound scrambled eggs on top of the spinach. Sprinkle chopped tomatoes and grated cheese over all. Top each with a sprinkle of salt and grating of ground black pepper. Broil until the cheese has melted. Serve immediately.

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Pasta with Peas and Pesto

On Sunday I reviewed Gabby Dalkin’s new book, What’s Gaby Cooking: Take It Easy. Today I’m going to share one of the recipes from the book that is perfect for Meatless Mondays, or any other day of the week. It is super simple to put together, light, and refreshingly good.

Pasta with Peas and Pesto

4 four cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/3 c. finely grated pecorino Romano cheese, plus more to finish
1/3 c.  extra-virgin olive oil
2 lemons, one juiced and one thinly sliced
¼ t. crushed red pepper
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
1 10-oz. pkg. frozen peas, completely thawed
1 lb. pasta (your choice)
Basil Pesto
Fresh basil, for garnish

In a medium bowl, whisk together the garlic, pecorino, oil, lemon juice, crushed red pepper, salt, and plenty of black pepper. Add the thawed peas and stir to combine. Taste and adjust with salt and black pepper as needed. Use the back of a fork to roughly mash half of the peas so they are a little chunkier, and leave the other half whole.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta according to the package instructions. Drain and toss the pasta with the smashed peas and a few large spoonfuls of pesto. Top with the basil, lemon slices, and more salt and black pepper before serving.

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Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of What’s Gaby Cooking: Take It Easy from Abrams Books as a participant in their Abrams Dinner Party Program for 2022-2023.

 

Green Soup

Leafy greens are very important to a healthy diet, eye health (as my optometrist always tells me) in particular. I happen to love leafy greens, but not everyone does. In cases like this, perhaps the answer is to drink them. This recipe for Green Soup comes from Abrams' new book by Erin Gleason, The Forest Feast Road Trip. The soup is light and delicate with a pleasant taste, and is a quite engaging shade of green.

Green Soup
From The Forest Feast Road Trip

3 medium onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, sliced
3 T. butter
Salt and pepper
4 c. vegetable broth
2 russet potatoes, cubed (no need to peel)
3 handfuls fresh greens*

In a large pot over medium heat melt butter; sauté onions and garlic with salt and pepper to taste. Add vegetable broth and potatoes. Bring to a boil and then simmer 10 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender. Add greens. Turn off the heat and stir to wilt, and then blend in the pot using an immersion blender. Add more broth if needed to reach desired consistency.

Garnish with chopped scallions, yogurt or sour cream, a few greens pan-fried in butter or olive oil, salt and pepper.

*Feel free to use up whatever greens you have on hand. The author likes a mix of spinach, arugula, and lettuce. I used kale, baby spinach, and chard.

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 Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of The Forest Feast Road Trip from Abrams Books as a member of their Abrams Dinner Party 2021-2022.

 

Three Olive Potato Salad

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In my family, potato salad was a main staple of every summertime event. I can still remember being barely able to see over the counter, watching my mother cube potatoes into a large bowl where she would eventually add lots of other ingredients, stir it together with a large wooden spoon (that I now have), and it would turn those potatoes into something magical. Sounds simple, right? Well...

When I married the late Mr. O-P, I had a rather rude awakening. I made the potato salad of my youth, and presented it to him. Apparently he and his family did things differently. They didn’t cube potatoes, they sliced them. He wasn’t happy with my efforts at all! It was then that I came to realize that, when it comes to potato salad, there are “slice people” and there are “cube people.” I, my friends, am a cube person. When you make this potato salad, feel free to slice them if you must, but do make this delicious version with three kinds of olives. Olive lover or not, you will love this intensely flavorful version, while maintaining its comfortable familiarity.

Three Olive Potato Salad

5 lbs. Melissa’s Baby Red Potatoes
1 c. chopped celery
1 c. chopped red onion
3 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
½ c. sliced black olives
½ c. sliced green olives stuffed with garlic
½ c. sliced Kalamata olives
½ c. chopped Melissa’s Red Bell Peppers
½ c. sweet pickle relish
½ c. chopped dill pickles
½ t. smoked paprika
2 T. stone ground mustard
2 T. apple cider vinegar
1/3 c. mayonnaise
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Place potatoes into a large pot of water and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain and cool.

Remove peel from potatoes, and cut into chunks. Place potatoes in a large bowl with remaining ingredients. Using a wooden spoon, stir to combine. If the potato salad is too dry, add additional mayonnaise and cider vinegar in equal portions.

Roasted Cauliflower with Brown Butter, Tart Cherries, and Pine Nuts

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The other day I was talking to a friend about cauliflower. Don’t ask me why. Truthfully, I have been having a lot of weird conversations with people lately. I think it has a lot to do with being stuck in. At any rate, she told me that one of her favorite recipes for cauliflower came from a book by Melissa Clark. She sent me a copy of the recipe, and it did look good. But, as I’m wont to do, I thought I could make it a little bit better. I haven’t tried the original recipe, mind you, but anytime I can swap raisins for tart cherries you’d better know that I’m going to do it. I also added a pinch of dry mustard that wasn’t in the original recipe and that gives it that little extra something that makes it ever so good.

Roasted Cauliflower with Brown Butter, Tart Cherries & Pine Nuts
Adapted from a recipe by Melissa Clark

1 medium head cauliflower (about 1 ¾ lb.),

cut into bite-size pieces
2 T. olive oil
½ t. fine sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 3-oz. pkg. Melissa’s pine nuts
4 T. butter
1 3-oz. pkg. Melissa’s dried tart cherries
Few gratings fresh nutmeg
Pinch dry mustard
2 T. capers
2 T. chopped parsley for garnish

Preheat oven to 425°F. Toss cauliflower, oil, salt, and pepper together on a rimmed baking sheet until coated. Roast until the cauliflower is caramelized, 30 to 45 minutes, tossing it halfway through.

Meanwhile, heat a 9-inch sauté pan over medium heat. Add pine nuts and cook, stirring frequently, until toasted, about five minutes. Transfer the pine nuts to a plate.

Return skillet to medium heat and melt butter. Continue cooking and swirling the butter until it is brown and nutty, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat and continue to swirl as the butter will continue to cook as it cools.

Bring one cup of water to a boil in the microwave. Add the cherries and let them soak for 5 minutes. Drain through a fine mesh sieve. Pat the cherries dry and add them to the butter along with the nutmeg and dry mustard. Stir well.

When the cauliflower comes out of the oven, toss it with the brown butter mixture, toasted pine nuts, and capers. Serve immediately topped with parsley and more salt.

Brussels Sprouts with Garlic, Pine Nuts, and Shallots

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When Melissa’s Produce posted a beautiful photo of a dish they had made with Brussels sprouts, shallots, garlic, and pine nuts on their Instagram feed, I knew that I had to try it...so I did. It is insanely good! Not only does it make an excellent side dish, but tossed with angel hair pasta it is a fabulous, meatless main dish. A bit of freshly grated lemon zest and Parmesan cheese take this over the top. Did I mention that it’s easy? Yeah, that too. 

Brussels Sprouts with Garlic, Pine Nuts, and Shallots

From Melissa’s Produce

2 pounds Melissa’s Brussels sprouts
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
¾ cup pine nuts
3 Melissa’s shallots, peeled and finely sliced
3 cloves peeled garlic, minced
1/2 cup fresh basil, cut into ribbons*
1 lemon juiced
Kosher salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Score an “X” on the bottom of each Brussels sprout and place them into salted, boiling water. Boil for 3 to 4 minutes or until tender. (You can check for doneness by cutting one in half and checking the center.) When done, place them directly into a bowl of ice water to stop them from cooking. When cooled, remove them from the ice water and cut them in half, lengthwise; set aside.

Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a 10” sauté pan. Add the pine nuts and sauté, stirring constantly, until golden, about three minutes. Remove the nuts and set aside. In the same pan, melt the remaining butter and add the shallots; season with salt and pepper. Sauté until translucent and add the garlic. Cook for one minute and then add the sprouts, 1/2 of the pine nuts, and the basil. Cook until heated through, about four minutes. Remove from the heat, add the lemon juice, and remaining pine nuts. Mix well and adjust seasonings. Top with a few gratings of lemon zest and Parmesan cheese. Serve.

I did not add the basil. I felt that it would overwhelm the flavor of the sprouts. So, I’m going to leave the decision as to whether to add it or not up to you.

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Fresh Tomato Gazpacho

I had lunch with my aunt last week, and was lamenting the fact that I almost had more tomatoes than I could handle. Every day I was having some form of fresh tomato, and while I thoroughly enjoyed every dish I’d made with them, I was growing weary of tomatoes. She happened to mention a recipe for gazpacho that she enjoyed, that, it turned out, was conveniently located within the food-stained pages of one of my all-time favorite cookbooks, St. Louis Days St. Louis Nights. I looked it up, and, using it as a guideline, was off and running. Magnificent! I used a variety of toppings, and, depending upon my mood, used everything from chopped chives and chopped parsley, to homemade croutons and feta, to sour cream and pesto. You can’t mess this up; it is an excellent, tasty, and cooling way to start any meal.

Fresh Tomato Gazpacho

1 clove garlic, cut into quarters
1 Melissa’s shallot, peeled and quartered
½ fresh red or green bell pepper, cut in half
½ cucumber, peeled and quartered
4 large tomatoes, peeled and quartered
½ t. salt
¼ t. Melissa’s Lemon Pepper
1 T. good olive oil
3 T. red wine vinegar
1 c. Cucumber Dill Bloody Mary Mix

Place all ingredients as haphazardly as possible into the work bowl of a food processor. Blend until thoroughly combined, 10 to 15 seconds.

Chill and serve topped with the garnish of your choice. (Here I used sour cream, basil leaf, a small slice of cucumber, and ground Melissa's Red Hatch Chile Pecans.)

Serves 8 (Unless you’re me, and then it only serves one.)

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Summer Pasta Salad

Last week was a crazy one. I’m not going to get into the details, but I will tell you that at one point, I decided to touch up the woodwork in the bedroom, and ended up painting it all! That was a lost day. At any rate, the deck garden is doing well, and cucumbers and green peppers are ripening in leaps and bounds. In addition to dicing and slicing the peppers to freeze for use during the winter, I’ve also used them just serve pasta salad with great results. Look how cute these are. It serves a dual purpose of using up one of my many (way too many) peppers, and saves me washing a dish, not to mention delighting my lunch guests with this clever edible “bowl.”

I had intended for this post just to be a brief one on a rather unique use for green pepper, but I thought I would toss in my recipe for pasta salad as well. I liked this one in particular, because I found the addition of dried cherries to be quite a pleasing one. I tossed them into the salad dressing to hydrate them a bit, and then mixed everything together. Wonderful!

Summer Pasta Salad

4 whole red, yellow, or green peppers

Dressing

1 T. Melissa’s Dried Tart Cherries

2 T. freshly squeezed lemon juice

½ cup olive oil

½ t. kosher salt

¼ t. freshly ground black pepper

½ t. dried oregano 

1 clove garlic, crushed

3 c. tri-color rotini, cooked according to package directions

½ c. cherry tomatoes, halved

1 green bell pepper, cut into thin strips

1 English cucumber, seeded and diced

12 pitted Kalamata olives

½ cup diced red onion

1 c. feta cheese, crumbled

½ cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped

Cut the tops off of the peppers, as well as a tiny bit off the bottom to allow them to stand upright. Seed and remove any white pithy parts. Rinse and invert onto a paper towel to dry while you make the salad.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together lemon juice, oil, salt, pepper, oregano, and garlic until thick and creamy; add cherries and chill. In a large mixing bowl combine pasta, tomatoes, green pepper, cucumber, olives, red onion, feta cheese, and parsley. Toss salad ingredients with dressing gently to coat. Scoop into hollowed out peppers and serve immediately.

Serves 4-6

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Not Quite Cleveland Heath’s Brussels Sprouts

On the east side of St. Louis in the state of Illinois lies a town called Edwardsville. It is home to many things including a restaurant called Cleveland Heath. Cleveland Heath is good quality indeed, and is known for their Brussels sprouts. I find this significant. How many restaurants do you know that even serve Brussels sprouts, let alone are known for them?

Recently, their recipe appeared in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and I cut it out. When I read the recipe I saw that their beautiful, fresh Brussels sprouts were fried in cooking oil. Blasphemy! I’m not a fan of anything fried in oil. They also wanted you to clean them (of course), halve them, fry them, flip them…this is way too much trouble for the everyday cook.

Because I find Brussels sprouts to be tremendously good simply roasted, and Melissa’s to be uniformly small and tender, I combined my roasted version and favorite brand of sprout, with their sauce, and came up with the perfect combination of the two.

Not Quite Cleveland Heath’s Brussels Sprouts
Adapted from Cleveland Heath, Edwardsville, IL 

8 oz. fresh Melissa’s Brussels Sprouts
1 T. good olive oil
Salt and freshly ground cracked pepper

Sauce*
2 T. good olive oil
1 T. fresh lemon juice
1 Melissa’s medium shallot, finely chopped
1 T. capers
2 T. freshly grated Parmesan

Preheat oven to 400° F. Toss Brussels sprouts in oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 20 minutes.

While sprouts are roasting, make sauce; set aside.

In a small bowl, combine olive oil, lemon juice, shallots, and capers. Toss with roasted Brussels sprouts, salt, and pepper to taste. Place into a serving dish, top with Parmesan cheese, and serve hot.

*This sauce was so tremendously good, by the way, that I made some up separately to use to dip Italian bread. Yummy!

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For a more elaborate use of Brussels Sprouts, try Angel Hair Pasta with Brussels Sprouts and Bacon.

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