Black Beans and Flan

Retrieving what I loved but abandoned: Poetry for its own sake. Ballet. Luckily, there's a beginners' class nearby, with Juliana -- such an ennobling teacher. (I wanted to take ballet when I was 10, but my parents said they couldn't afford lessons for all 5 of us, so none could have them. Made sense then.) I also loved to read, & loved color. And meditating -- call it resting!! I've been sitting peacefully for 10-20 minutes a day in the New Year. Oddly, it makes me more jumpy than before. I'm guessing it's a phase.

Also: casual hospitality. Last night, with 4 friends. They brought salad & fruit. Clark smoked meat & I made black beans. Here's the recipe, but first you must promise to sort the beans. I love the sound of them plinking into a white plate, then sliding into a pot to be rinsed. Yesterday I caught two bean-sized stones.

Black Beans

2 C. dry black beans

2 tsp. salt

olive oil

4 medium onions, finely chopped (or 2 bags of frozen, chopped onions.)

1 green pepper, chopped (or 1 bag of frozen, chopped green pepper. You can also mix red & green pepper.)

3 cloves garlic, mashed

1 tsp. cumin seed, crushed (Ground cumin, is OK, but for sharper flavor grind whole seeds with mortar & pestle. Last night I used ground.)

1 tsp. oregano

1/2 tsp. dry mustard

28-ounce can crushed tomatoes

juice of 1/2 lemon

Pick over, rinse, soak & cook the black beans in water with 2 tsp. salt.

Sauté the onion & pepper in olive oil until soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic & cook a minute more. Add cumin, oregano, & mustard, & cook another minute or 2, stirring so the spices don't burn. Salt it a little. Add the tomatoes & simmer for a while, stirring occasionally & adding water if it's getting dry. Yesterday I cooked it about an hour, but you can cook it much less. Just simmer until you like it or until the time runs out. Then add the stewed black beans with a little of their cooking liquid & salt. If you add more liquid you have black bean soup. Cook until you like the way it tastes -- sometimes just 5 minutes; yesterday was about an hour. You can go slow or fast. After you add the beans, mash some of them so you have a thick soup. You can use a potato masher, but I recommend an immersion blender. Before serving, add lemon juice to taste. Serve with rice & chopped onions. Some people also like sour cream &/or chopped cilantro.

I was going to make a chocolate dessert, but something stopped me. Made flan instead. This recipe is from Margarita Zayas, who was our neighbor in Miami.

Margarita's Flan

Make a caramel by melting 1/2 C. sugar with 2 1/2 T. water in a small pan over medium heat. Be patient! Wait until it's brown, but not burnt. Pour that into a bread pan,* tilting it to cover the entire bottom. Then mix 1 can evaporated milk, 3 C. whole milk, 3/4 C. sugar, dash salt, 4 beaten eggs, 1 tsp. vanilla. Pour that over the carmel. Put the pan into a larger pan with water in it that goes halfway up the bread pan. Bake at 350° an hour or more, until the custard is set. Chill thoroughly, then turn the pan upside down on a platter so the custard is surrounded by carmel.

*I used glass custard cups instead, & did not turn them upside down for serving. It's comforting to have your own cup of custard, I think.

Delicious days: week 1

Delicious and simple

Sunday

Pasta

Quick polenta. Don't forget salt. Stir in smoked mozzarella at the end.
Roasted tomatoes -- little red tomatoes and chopped garlic, olive oil, salt. 425° until crinkled. Add chopped fresh basil.

Also made pesto. Chopped basil leaves tiny. Chopped garlic cloves. Mixed together with olive oil and salt. Next time might try mortar and pestle... 

I froze this in ice cube tray.

Monday

Chicken

chicken curry 

I planned to marinate chicken in tandoori spices, but decided to go with the simpler chicken curry recipe from NYTimes cooking app. I used a bit more curry powder than called for, also didn’t use tomatoes but added frozen chopped spinach instead. It’s good and worth jazzing up a bit, but next time I’ll: 

*marinate the chicken pieces in tandoori spices mixed with a cup of yogurt

*Sauté some garlic with the onions. 

* cook the chicken BEFORE adding  coconut milk

*add some other vegetables

*top with herbs, as suggested. 

Good with brown rice 

Tuesday 

kale

Surprise! this was delicious. But I like kale. I almost thought it would be my entire dinner, but then I fried a little sliced chicken sausage and leftover polenta in my iron skillet. That was enough.

Kale
Heat up 1/4 C. olive oil in hot skillet. Add 3 cloves garlic. Cook one minute or until light brown. Add kale, ribs removed and coarsely chopped, and chicken broth. Cook. Stir in red wine vinegar. Salt to taste. Cook a little more, until not crisp.

Wednesday

Sopa de calabaza*

The hard part is peeling a pumpkin. But it's worth the trouble.  Soup alone wasn't quite enough, so I finished with chocolate and roasted almonds. I mean I ate them later, but writing this now makes me think almonds might be good with the soup. Chocolate too!

Place in soup pot:
1 to 1 1/2 pounds pie pumpkin, peeled and chopped
chopped up celery, carrot, and onion( I use the kind you buy pre-chopped at Trader Joe's)
A box or can of chopped tomatoes, either large or small -- depends on how tomato-y you want the soup
garlic, parsley, bay leaf,
chicken broth and water,  to make 5 cups
3 ounces white wine
1 T. honey
1 T. cinnamon
salt and pepper to taste

Cook until pumpkin is soft.
Mash or blend with immersion blender.
Add 1 cup heavy cream.

*based on a recipe from Goya products

Thursday

Eat out

Friday

Eat out

Saturday

Salmon

Thaw frozen salmon. (I used Sockeye.)
Rub with olive oil, seasoned salt, and pepper if you want. Put on parchment paper. Bake at 450° about 12 minutes per inch of thickness,
Recipe says make a sauce: Mix 3 T. olive oil with herbs to equal 1 T., and 1 T. lemon juice and some lemon zest. pour sauce n top of fish and tent it with foil and let it rest 5 minutes.
Also made brown rice (Trader Joe's frozen)
and salad of mixed greens with olive oil, vinegar and mustard.

Two days to draw an artichoke

Written June 10

Dear Friends,
I would have drawn an artichoke for today, but I ate it.

Janie, Sandy and I just came back from Ella restaurant (I have been told people around here call it Ella, not Ella’s…) where we celebrated Sandy’s birthday and also her purchase of a condo here. She liked renting here so much that she bought a place. That’s when I ate the artichoke. 

Other than that, I did organizing, paperwork and budgeting. I would rather draw an artichoke.

Written June 11
And, yes, I did get some artichokes today. The recipe is from the New York Times. Dip the leaves in lemon juice, garlic and salt, whisked together with melted butter. Or maybe olive oil. 
Love,
k

Amaranth: It's not bitter -- it's beautiful

Written last night:
Dear Friends,

Did you ever eat amaranth? Until tonight, me either. That’s why I love the farmers market. The farmer told me to sauté it  with olive oil and garlic. It’s not bitter — it’s beautiful; I had it with a side of polenta. 

Love,

k

Sunday: spiky vegetables and bright woven rug

Written last night:

Dear Family,

Sunday is free — I do what I please — mostly.

I heard there was an Asian farmers market near the big one under the freeway, and late this morning I found it, a cluster of white tents near 4th Street off Broadway. Since it was almost noon, prices were going down. I asked about some pointy green fish-shaped vegetables. The farmer told me their name, which I forget, and he said I could either boil them with meat or slice and fry them. “Here, take these to try!” he said, and he gave me a big handful. “They’re bitter!” he warned. 

What are these vegetables?

Later this afternoon Zing and I went to an art fair at nearby Curtis Park. It’s a bare, grassy space surrounded by comfortable homes. Today it was almost too hot. Some vendors were packing up an hour early, and the crowd was thin. We made a quick tour, seeing little of interest until I spied a loom and bright carpets made by Sergio Martinez. He told me he’s been in Sacramento 12 years, and I forget the Mexican area he calls home. Oaxaca, I think. Many of the designs are indigenous, he said, and some are his interpretations. He said sometimes he makes his own dyes, like grinding red bugs for color. (Just yesterday I read that artists did the same thing in Turkey in the 1500s; it surprised me they did it then, and it surprises me even more that this man does it today. I hadn’t told him about my reading.) I bought this small wool rug, and I’m looking at it now, on the floor beside my bed.

Love,

k

Mom's leek and potato soup

Mom's recipe card

As the weather chilled, I wanted a comforting soup, and what could be better than Mom's creamy leek and potato soup? I still have her recipe card, and it warms my heart to use it. When I told the women in the family what I was making, they wanted the recipe too -- in her handwriting. So I copied the card and glued the recipe to fresh index cards, which I sealed with matte medium. They love having the recipe, and -- even more -- this dear memento of Mom, in her own script.

Mom's Leek and Potato Soup

3 to 4 cups peeled potatoes, sliced or diced
3 cups thinly sliced leeks, mostly white part
1 1/2 quarts homemade chicken broth (canned is OK)
1/3 cup heavy cream
2 to 3 T. soft butter
2 to 3 tsp. minced parsley

Simmer vegetables and broth together, partially covered, until vegetables are very tender. Mash the potatoes with a fork.  (I use an immersible blender.) Season with salt and pepper. Set aside, uncovered, until ready to serve.

Reheat to simmer just before serving, then add cream and butter. (You can skip cream and butter, but it will taste different.) Heat -- do not boil. Decorate with parsley.

*Before mashing vegetables, cook until you think it is the right consistency. If too liquid, cook it down before mashing.

Market Square Farmers Market

It was busy last Saturday.

I bought red peppers, $1 ea. and roasted them.

 

I bought 2 eggplants, then roasted them with garlic and olive oil, which I blended with a tiny bit of anchovy paste and served last night with French bread.

I'm going to try her honey next time, but I'm happy with  Orchard Pond tupelo. 

You can't see the sign around her neck that says "Blind." She and her husband are real partners in this venture. A month ago they sold me two basil plants and then gave me a "lucky" mint plant when I said I can't grow mint. It's still alive.

Rice, savory and sweet

I grew up with white potatoes, not rice. It's taken many tries to appreciate this grain. Now my rice recipes are scattered, and I'm still not at ease enough to know which one I want. Often I settle for brown rice boiled in the bag. When I'm more energetic I cook the one I find first. So here they are, all in one place. (Yes, there's a dessert here too!)

Coconut Brown Rice

from Saveur

This is simple and delicious, especially with Indian or Thai dishes. To make it simpler, just use coconut milk for all or part of the liquid andcook brown or white rice the way it says on the box. Add a piece of peeled ginger if you have it.

1. Using the back of a large knife, pound the ginger until it becomes bruised and somewhat stringy and releases some of is juice. This will take a few good whacks.

1  1" piece peeled fresh ginger
1 cup brown jasmine rice
3⁄4 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1⁄2 tsp. kosher salt
Cilantro sprigs for garnish

2. Rinse the rice in a strainer under cold running water for 30 seconds. Transfer the rice to a 1 1⁄2-quart saucepan and add the coconut milk, 3⁄4 cup cold water, and the salt.

3. Add the ginger to the pan and stir well to combine with the rice, making sure that the ginger is as fully submerged in the rice as possible. Place the pan over high heat and bring the liquid to a boil while stirring with a large spoon to prevent the rice at the bottom of the pan from scorching or burning. (Don't worry if the liquid thickens considerably as it comes to a boil; that's a result of the combining of the fats in the coconut milk with the starch in the rice.)

4. Allow the rice to boil for 15 seconds, while continuing to stir. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, until the liquid is completely absorbed and rice is tender, about 45 minutes. Remove the pot from heat; allow the rice to continue to steam, covered, for 10 minutes. Fluff rice with a fork and garnish with sprigs of cilantro.

SERVES 2

Judy's Spanish Rice

Judy married Lou, from a Spanish family. I remember they had Christmas lights strung in the back yard for their wedding celebration. Eventually they divorced, but the recipe survived.

Sauté a couple of tablespoons olive oil and five cloves of garlic, chopped.

Toss in 1 green pepper and 1 red pepper, chopped. Cook a couple of minutes.

Add 1 pound shrimp or cut-up snapper or chicken and 1 1/2 C. rice.

Add about 3 cups water or water/white wine/chicken broth mixed, a pinch of crushed saffron, and salt to taste (I use 1 1/2 t.). Put the lid on and simmer about 15 minutes, until rice is cooked. Check to make sure the chicken is cooked through. It will be if your pieces are bite-sized.

This is so good.

Mamma Pappas' Rice Pudding (Rizogalo)

This is from the Columbus Dispatch recipe exchange from a long time ago.

1 quart milk

1/2 C. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 T cornstarch

1 egg yolk, beaten

1 T. butter

cinnamon

Cook rice in 1 C. boiling water 10 minutes or until water is absorbed. Add milk. Return to a boil, cooking gently over reduced heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add sugar and vanilla.

Dissolve cornstarch in 1 tsp. water (I use more). Add to rice mixture. Cook 10 minutes; remove from heat.

Add 1 C. of hot rice mixture to egg yolk & stir. Pour that back into the pan and stir it all. Add butter. Cook until mixture coats a wooden spoon. Sometimes I add finely grated lemon peel at this point. Before serving, sprinkle with cinnamon.

Bright Yellow Cashew Rice

*Not everyone loves turmeric

Sauté in butter 2 medium onions, chopped. Stir in 1 C. uncooked brown rice andfry a few more minutes. Sprinkle in 1 t. ground turmeric* and stir so it doesn't burn.

Add 2 C. water 7 and1 t. salt.

Bring slowly to a boil, then simmer about 35 minutes, or until rice is done.

Toss in 1/2 C. chopped cashews and 4 or 5 chopped scallions just before serving.

Garnish with orange slices.

Baked Chicken and Rice

from Cooking for Engineers

I discovered this in the cooking for the sick ministry at Good Shepherd. I made dinner for a family of four. The father was finishing up cancer treatment. I asked what was his favorite dish, and they said chicken and rice. My mom used to make a casserole with leftover chicken; hers had cream of chicken soup, and I think she used noodles instead of rice. You can add any vegetable; I like broccoli or spinach. (This might be how I discovered Cooking for Engineers. He has other great basic recipes, and I love his charts.) Here's the chart; the link explains it fully.

Oven Baked Chicken and Rice (serves 6)

Preheat oven to 375&176;F (190°C)
1 cup (195 g) rice	cook	cook	stir in	stir in	combine	place	sprinkle	bake 375°F (190°C) 1 hour
1 Tbs. (14 g) butter
1 medium onion	dice
1 clove garlic	mince
1 medium zucchini	cut
10-3/4 oz. (305 g) can cream of mushroom	whisk
2-1/2 cup (590 mL) water
4 lb. (1.8 kg) chicken parts
1 teaspoon (2.8 g) garlic powder

Eating dandelions

Grandma Frey used to eat dandelion greens. I can't remember if she picked them from the yard or bought them at the store. She would fry a little bacon, then add vinegar and sugar and pour it over to make a salad that only she would eat. Now I'm eating dandelion greens, and maybe it's thanks to Grandma that I love their bitter bite. They're $4 a bunch at Fresh Market -- all for me, because Clark said "No thanks" after the first try. I like them sautéed in olive oil and topped with Gorgonzola and croutons; or fried and then tipped out of the pan so I can fry an egg to go with it; or as a salad with garlicky dressing. Or just munched as a rabbit would like. Or Grandma.

Okra

I used to think of okra as green noses full of snot. That's because long ago I had a bad okra day. In the convent I ate canned okra. Gag.

But yesterday at the farmers' market I was buying black-eyed peas. The woman in a straw hat asked if I wanted okra too. No, thank you. The couple beside me said in unison, "You can't buy peas without okra." Can too! I said. Then everyone started telling me how to cook it: Boil the peas and rest whole okra, ends tipped, on top and cook lightly. Or cook onions and hamburger and tomatoes. Add okra. Or make gumbo. So I gave in. Last night I made their hamburger recipe, with a dash of lemon juice, a couple sprigs of thyme, and chopped green peppers, with enough water to make it soupy. I used lowest-fat hamburger and winged the amounts, except for precisely cutting the okra into 3/8" slices (I read that in the recipe for shrimp and crab okra gumbo from The New Orleans Cookbook.) Simmered for 2 hours, adding okra for the last hour. Served it over rice. It was good.

Gratin Dauphinois

I made these scalloped potatoes for a potluck yesterday. It was shameful to serve them in a disposable foil pan, but they were elegant anyway, and smelled so delicious that I almost pulled over to eat some on the way. When I went to the table to retrieve my leftovers after dinner, even the pan was missing. I clipped this recipe from Vogue magazine about 40 (yes!) years ago, and it has won me friends ever since. We used to have these for Christmas on Key Biscayne, to go with Patrice's prime rib. The potatoes were as popular as the meat.

Gratin Dauphinois

2 pounds potatoes (I used a bag of baking potatoes) to make 5 to 6 cups when sliced
1 large clove garlic, crushed
2 C. milk
1 1/2 C heavy cream
3/4 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
1 T. butter (for buttering pan)
1/2 C. grated Swiss cheese (I use Gruyere)

Peel the potatoes, then wash and dry the whole potatoes thoroughly. Slice thin. Don't put them in water now because you need to conserve the potato starch. Combine potatoes with garlic, milk, cream, salt and pepper in a large heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil on medium, stirring to prevent scorching. I use the low-heat burner because I have burned them many times.

Bring to a boil, stirring, until mixture thickens slightly.

Butter a shallow (1 1/2 inch)  baking dish (I usually use the oval copper gratin pan; yesterday it was a 9" x 13" foil pan) and pour the potatoes in. Cover with grated cheese.  I usually put the pan on a cookie sheet to catch drips. Bake at 400° for an hour or until potatoes are soft and top is browned. These are even good cold.

No-cook Sunday: Marinated vegetables

I've finally realized that no-cook Sunday is more about being organized than about having the right prepare-ahead recipes. However, I'm not an organized cook; I love to meander through different cultures and tastes and even serving bowls as they strike me. I HAVE tried. Notes from the past say things like "Monday, soup; Tuesday, fish; Wednesday, grill," etc. But I couldn't do it, not even when work and worry consumed me. Then, maybe most of all, I let myself cook as I pleased and take my time with it. Some Sundays I would cook all afternoon and early evening.

But it still seems like a good idea to have a single day with a packet of cooking time released so I can meander through other loves and creativities. Yesterday I cooked a garden-ful of vegetables (carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, all steamed or microwaved separately) and tossed them with a can of white beans, another of marinated artichokes, and a marinade. It was tempting to eat them right away, but we resisted. Today I'll add little tomatoes, which I halved last night, sliced scallions, and chopped parsley. We'll have it with garlic toast, or maybe grilled cheese. But that would be cooking.

Marinade: Mix and boil 5 minutes: 3/4 C. red wine vinegar, 1/3 C. olive oil, 1 bay leaf, 2 chopped garlic cloves. Pour while hot over vegetables. Refrigerate when cool and toss occasionally.

No-cook Sunday: Greek cauliflower

Greek cauliflower

No-cook Sunday is harder than I thought. I can cook less, but it's hard to cook nothing at all -- even for just one day. Yesterday I made Greek cauliflower, put the skillet in the refrigerator overnight, and warmed it up for dinner. That's cooking, right? With it we had a roast chicken from New Leaf Market. While I was there I checked their ready-made foods: tuna salad, chicken salad, macaroni salad, quinoa salad. Guess next Saturday I have to make a salad for Sunday. This might be more about being organized than being hungry.

Greek cauliflower *

1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 t. dried oregano
1/2 t. crushed fennel seed
1/4 t. cinnamon
1 medium head cauliflower, broken into florets (I think frozen would work too)
1/2 C. tomato sauce
1 T. lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Put olive oil in skillet and add onions, garlic, oregano, fennel, and cinnamon. Cover and cook over medium heat 3 to 4 minutes, until onions are golden.

Add the cauliflower, tomato sauce and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, cver and reduce to medium. Cook until cauliflower is tender, about 8 minutes. Add a little water if sauce seems to be boiling away.

*I've had this recipe forever and don't remember where I got it.

How to clean a leek

Leeks often have sand in them. I used to try to scrub and rinse between the layers. It was nearly impossible, so dinner would be sandy, and that made me stop cooking with leeks. Here is how I do it now, and it works. You start with leeks (above).

Cut off the tough green tops. I've never been sure exactly how much to cut, but what you see above works. Maybe I could go higher.

Slice. I started with crosswise, but I prefer lengthwise.

Chop.

Put in a bowl and run water into it. Swish around to loosen sand.

Drain. Repeat rinse and drain another time or two, until you feel no sand in the bowl. Your leeks are clean. Continue with the recipe. If you're going to sauté them, wrap them in a towel and squeeze it over the sink to eliminate some water first.

Five Salads

We're on a mental "vacation" this week. I'm not cooking much. Last night I boiled potatoes & opened this can of tuna. I put it on a plate with some (not all) the ingredients below, plus the prepared olive salad you see here, from La Lanterna deli. It was good. During the week I made all but one of these salads. The farro is for tomorrow. To any of these salads, you could add bread, broiled fish or meat or shrimp. I think I will start over again next week.

Mediterranean Salad

Olive oil, Salt, Lemon juice

Tomatoes, Italian tuna, or Green pepper, Croutons, Olives, Garbanzos, boiled little potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, sliced red onions

Cucumber, Tomato, & Feta Salad (from Bon Appetit)
(These ingredients go together well, no matter what proportion you have.)

About 2 pounds cucumbers, peeled (I peel in strips, leaving strips on too) & chopped
1 pound tomatoes, chopped
1 bunch scallions, chopped
1 C. Greek olives, chopped
7 oz. feta cheese, crumbled (I bought the good kind, in water. It tastes milder & better)
½ C mint, chopped
6 T. olive oil
¼ C. lemon juice
Salt & pepper

Mix everything, except for last ingredients. Salt lightly. Mix oil & lemon juice, s & p. with a fork. Toss. Save some cheese for the top.

TABBOULEH WITH DRIED FRUIT AND WALNUTS (from Splendid Table)

Serves 4

Sweet bits of dried fruit and crunchy nuts add a delightful twist to this Middle Eastern salad that is traditionally made with tomatoes and parsley. Use an individual dried fruit such as apricot or cranberry or a combination of your favorites. Serve on lettuce leaves.

1 cup bulgur

1 cup chopped dried fruit

1 cup walnut pieces

1 bunch scallions, chopped

1/2 cup chopped fresh mint

1/4 cup walnut oil or extra-virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Add the bulgur to 2 cups of salted boiling water. Decrease the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the water is absorbed. Drain any remaining water and blot the bulgur to remove the excess moisture.

2. Place the bulgur in a bowl and add the dried fruit. Toss to combine. Add the walnuts, scallions, and mint.

3. Pour on the walnut oil, lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Toss well to combine.

Tabouli with Farro (from Splendid Table)

Reprinted with permission from Ancient Grains for Modern Meals: Mediterranean Whole Grain Recipes for Barley, Farro, Kamut, Polenta, Wheat Berries, and More by Maria Speck (Ten Speed Press, 2011). Copyright © 2011 by Maria Speck.

Serves 4 to 6

Farro:

2 cups water

1 cup farro

2-inch sprig rosemary, or 1/2 teaspoon dried (optional)

Tabouli and to Finish:

2 cups coarsely chopped tomatoes (3/4 pound)

1 cup loosely packed chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves

1/2 cup finely chopped red onion

3/4 teaspoon minced hot green chile (optional)

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1. To prepare the farro, bring the water, farro, and rosemary to a boil in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan. Decrease the heat to maintain a simmer, cover, and cook until the farro is tender but still slightly chewy, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the rosemary sprig, drain any remaining liquid, and transfer the farro to a large serving bowl to cool.

2. Once the farro has cooled, make the tabouli by adding the tomatoes, parsley, onion, and chile to the serving bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

3. To finish, pour the dressing over the tabouli and toss to combine. Set aside for 10 minutes for the flavors to mingle, and serve.

Gretchen’s GUACAMOLE SALAD

1 pint grape tomatoes, halved

l yellow pepper - seeded and diced

1 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 cup diced red onion

2 tbls. minced jalapeno pepper, seeded

1/2 t. grated lime zest

1/4 cup lime juice

1/4 cup olive oil

1 t. kosher salt

1/2 t. black pepper

1/2 t minced garlic

1/4 t. cayenne pepper

2 ripe hass avacados, seeded, peeled and diced

Mix veggies together (minus avacado) in large bowl. Whisk together the lime juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, and cayenne pepper and pour over vesgetables. Toss well. Just before ready to serve - add avacados.

Gretchen adds cilantro & a little hot sauce (she likes things very spicy).

CHICKPEA-COUSCOUS SALAD WITH LEMON AND FRESH MINT (from Splendid Table)

Serves 4 and doubles easily

15 minutes prep time; 3 minutes microwave time
The salad holds in the refrigerator for about 4 days. Serve it with sliced tomatoes and spoonfuls of whole milk yogurt.

Juice of one large lemon

1/2 medium red onion, cut in 1/4-inch dice

1 garlic clove, minced

1 teaspoon salt, divided

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided

3/4 cup whole-wheat couscous

1-1/2 cups warm water

1 small, sweet bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch dice

1 stalk celery, cut into 1/4-inch dice

1/4 cup chopped pitted Kalamata olives

1/4 cup raisins

One 15-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1/4 to 1/3 tightly-packed cup fresh mint leaves, torn

More lemon if needed

1. In a large bowl, combine the lemon juice, onion, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and let stand while you pull together the rest of the dish.

2. In a microwave-proof glass bowl, combine the couscous, water, and the remaining salt and pepper. Microwave, covered, on high for 2 minutes. Carefully check couscous for tenderness (be careful because it will be steaming and hot). If needed, give it another 30 seconds to 1 minute. You want it slightly firmer than usual because it will finish cooking as it sits.

3. Add the red pepper to the onion mixture along with the celery, olives and raisins. Toss everything with the chickpeas and couscous. Taste for lemon and salt and pepper. Serve the salad cool or at room temperature, but not stone cold.

Tomato + Blue

As I drove away Monday evening, I waved to Kit & Ana, who were heading up our walk. Ana was carrying a big blue bowl. They gave Clark these tomatoes from their garden. Yesterday I had tomato salad for lunch; Clark made a tomato sandwich for dinner.