eat yer greens, grilled

A beautiful day to lounge in the backyard
while cooking and sipping wine.

 I don't know what possessed me. Perhaps it was the bubbly wine getting to my head, but with the grill fired up and ready to go I had a notion to try cooking a head of iceberg lettuce. Iceberg is a rarity in my house to begin with. I have long ago given it up for more interestingly flavored varieties of greens. But for a burst of watery crunch, with a resilient body that holds up to dressings, iceberg can't be beat.

I also happened to have a wedge of Napa cabbage bumming around my fridge so I decided to grill that too. What the heck.

To round out this spontaneous mish-mash of ingredients I rummaged around for a few mangoes to get the singe treatment as well.

I did not want to over cook the two greens (pale, pale greens I might add,) I just wanted to get a few gentle grill marks and capture some smokey flavor.  Keeping the greens in large chunks made them easier to manipulate with tongs over a hot grill. The mangoes got sliced, with the skin still on, along the line of the pit.

Hot off the grill I decided to chop everything up into a large one inch dice and make a tossed salad with the pieces. I don't know what I was expecting, but I was very pleasantly pleased with the results. The iceberg took on a depth of flavor I never would have imagined. It tasted more like escarole, but with a fresh watery texture.

I finished the salad off with a toss of fresh herbs from the garden and a sprinkle of chive blossoms. For dressing - a splash of good sherry vinegar and extra virgin olive oil will more than suffice. I was really surprised and pleased at this improvised experiment. The salad had a complexity of texture and taste with the subtle smokiness I was looking for. The mango's sweetness perfectly combined with the mild bitterness of the greens. So there you go iceberg, you can hold your own!

somethng spicy for spring

Little flowering surprises are starting to pop up in my garden. Everywhere I look tiny buds are showing up; all over Central park, in window boxes, sidewalk planters and community gardens. New York city is beginning to get all powder puffy as the trees bust out in their floral frenzy. Sublime!

The weather is still cool and damp, like a typical spring, in fact, more spring-like than our strangely wimpy winter which definitely lacked in winter-ness.

There are really no crops ready for the market yet at this time of year so winter comfort food will have to continue to soothe and comfort while we wait for the robust growing season to kick in.

One of the simplest ways to bring a lot of flavor to food is to use curry spices. A tablespoon or two of good curry powder added to a vegetable saute will do the trick. Lots of bang for under a buck of spice powder. I like to source curry powder from Indian stores. We have several good options in the city. There are an abundance of spice stores in the "curry hill" neighborhood of Manhattan on Lexington avenue and 28th street, and then there are the multiple shops in Jackson Heights, Queens. Caribbean cooking also uses curry blends with those tending to be a bit milder than the east Indian varieties. For the milder spice blends I feel freer to be a bit more heavy handed when adding it to a recipe.

Small Yukon Gold potatoes combine really well with leafy greens in a curry preparation. Saute some onions and garlic, fry up cubed potatoes, add the curry powder and handfuls of washed greens. Let the mixture cook down till the vegetables are tender and serve.  Consider adding a dash of something sweet like raisins or a dollop of mango chutney to the mixture to round out the flavor.

This Saumur 2010, Val de Loire, Chenin Blanc is an excellent option to pair with a curry meal. It has a slightly tart, pineappe-ly overtone that brings a tropical fragrance to the forefront. It works well with the aggressive spicing of a curry. This wine also had a lovely woody back note that helped give it some depth and character.

Curried Potatoes and Greens

1 bunch of leafy greens (spinach, mustard, kale, chard, collards would all work well)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups of cubed potatoes
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch piece of ginger, minced
2 tablespoons curry powder
1/2 lemon
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup of raisins

•Wash the greens, chop into bite sized pieces and set aside.
•Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the potatoes and fry on all side till they are a bit crispy. Remove the potatoes from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside.
•Add the onions, garlic and ginger to the pan and saute for a few minutes on medium heat until the onions soften.
•Add the curry powder and mix well to get the spice completely coated with the oil from the pan. Cook for another minute to allow the spice flavors to develop.
•Add the potatoes back into the pan and the leafy greens. Stir to combine all the ingredients. Cover the pan and allow to simmer for about 10 minutes till the greens have wilted. Add a splash of water to the pan if it gets too dry. You want the vegetables to be loose, but not swimming in liquid.
•Add the raisins and squeeze the juice of the half lemon into the pan and stir again. Let the contents of the pan come back up to a simmer uncovered. Cook for about five more minutes until the vegetables are tender. Taste and adjust seasonings.
Serve immediately.

please, eat your vegetables

 Deborah
The New York Times has been running articles about how we Americans don't eat enough vegetables. In fact we are eating less and less. This is a pity for all the obvious reasons. I am an admitted omnivore yet I consider vegetables to be one of the greatest joys of life. The fact that they are healthy for our diet is only part of the story. I am enamored of the way they grow, the way they look, taste, and smell. Jane E. Brody who writes a weekly science column for the Times has challenged her readers to propose ways to increase vegetable consumption in this country. Marketing schemes are already under way but certain obsticales have to be overcome. The fact is that vegetables are much harder or should I say, more confusing to cook than meat. Vegetables come in all shapes and sizes, they may have to be peeled, or cleaned of sand and grit or cored or seeded or destemmed. Some can be eaten raw, some have to be cooked. Some taste great both ways.  A lot of variables need to be considered. Storage, freshness, provenece are also considerations.

There are plenty of fresh greens in the farmers markets right now. I simply stir fry any mix of greens with some garlic, olive oil and a squeeze of lemon to finish.

Let us begin where we can by trying to eat some vegetables everyday. Salads are easy, no? A head of romaine lettuce roughly chopped with a drizzle of oil and vinegar can be part of a daily meal.

Look for cook books that have simple recipes so you can make a meal quickly.

Kylie Kwong Simple Chinese Cooking is a wonderful book to find really flavorful yet easy to prepare recipes for vegetables.

Look for vegetables in Asian markets, where they can be found in abundance and at very good prices because of the large demand.

Kylie Kwong's really simple stir fry of snow peas took no more than 10 minutes to prepare.

Heat oil in wok, stir fry snow peas and a pinch of salt for 2 minutes, add crushed garlic and a pinch of sugar, stir fry another minute, add a splash of water to get the snow peas simmering till tender for another 2 minutes. Splash on some sesame oil and serve.
The splash of sesame oil at the end of cooking seems to be Kylie's signature flourish and boy is it good!


This is a subject I will continue to revisit. As for now I am off to Paris for a week to see what the French do with their vegetables and wine!

A bientôt!

Amanda

I definitely need to check out these articles in the NY Times! I have not seen them. But I have to say, I don't necessarily think that veggies are more difficult to cook - I think it's more about what we're used to. Take for example, a whole chicken. I wouldn't know the first thing about carving it or cutting it up properly. Or all of the numerous cuts of beef out there - which one to use for which preparation. Stews, roasts, steaks, stirfrys, etc. And then, what to do with them once you have them in your kitchen, as far as trimming, prepping, seasoning, and cooking. I think in general, for the mere fact that people don't eat a lot of veggies, they just seem more daunting. It's what we're used to. People are "comfortable" with meat. Not so much with veggies. I would venture to guess that the majority of people find meat easier to deal with only because that's what they eat most of the time. But I think those who normally don't eat many veggies would actually find them quite simple (relatively) to prepare (with a little education and patience, of course).

Take, for example, the recipe at hand. How could any meat dish be as simple to prepare?  Not to mention healthy. I find vegetarian cuisine so much more exciting than meat or fish dishes these days. The possibilities are endless. In my opinion, there are limitations to what you can do with meat and fish dishes. This is really what led me to adopt a more "vegetarian" lifestyle - boredom.  I am constantly reading and learning about new ways to incorporate veggies into wonderful, new dishes (thanks, Deb!), and I fall in love with each new recipe a little more than the last!

As for wine, Deb's snow peas really call for a crisp, light white. Something simple and inexpensive. I would love to sip a Gruner Veltliner, or Albarino with this delightfully light, healthy dish. Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand would also be a great choice.