Harissa-Glazed Carrots

This is one of those dishes that just came together as I was staring at random ingredients in my refrigerator.  I knew I wanted to use the colorful carrots I had just purchased, and the rest just fell into place.  

Start with 6 to 8 medium carrots.  I love heirlooms, mostly because I'm a color freak, but standard orange carrots will do nicely as well.

Peel the carrots, and then boil (or steam) them until they are fork tender.

In the meantime, finely chop 1 medium white onion like so.

And sauté the chopped onion in about 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil until it becomes soft and slightly caramelized.  Then set the onion aside in a large bowl.

Measure out 1 teaspoon each of cumin, coriander, and kosher salt, 2 tablespoons of good vinegar (I'm using Sherry vinegar), 1/4 cup Harissa (found in most Middle Eastern and gourmet markets) and a big handful of fresh arugula.

Add the Harissa, vinegar, salt and spices to the cooked onion.

Slice up the carrots and gently fold them into the onion mixture, coating the carrots well.

Plate the carrots, scatter the top with arugula and serve at room temperature or cold.

This kicked up carrot salad is delicious and lovely.

Ingredients/Recipe:

6-8 Medium Carrots
1 Medium White Onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander 

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 tablespoons good vinegar

1/4 cup Harissa

Big handful fresh arugula

Boil or steam carrots until fork tender, and let them rest.  Sauté chopped onion in olive oil until soft and slightly caramelized.  Set cooked onion aside in large bowl, and add in Harissa, salt, spices and vinegar.  Slice carrots into thin 1/4-inch disks and gently fold into the onion mixture.  Plate the carrots and top with fresh arugula.  Serve at room temperature or cold.  

Cassandra Linguine and the Chaotic Romanesco. . . (explained by Francesco)

I think this my favorite dish of the Winter!  And I have my dear friend Cassandra Linguine -- who is every bit as Bohemian as her name suggests -- to thank for it.  You see, Cassandra loves vegetables like I do, and we often swap recipes.  She also subscribes to one of those services that delivers a basket of farm fresh seasonal organic produce to her door once a week.  This leaves me in a constant state of intrigue as I wait for Cassandra to disclose the contents of her basket each week, with many items making their way into her lunch, and consequently into my lunch by proximity.  

This week's basket included Romanesco, which Cassandra and I both concluded was THE MOST GORGEOUS vegetable on God's green Earth.  It looks like a cross between broccoli and cauliflower, but it's not.  Indeed, as explained by our dear friend and Friday lunch buddy Francesco, not only is Romanesco an Italian heirloom dating back to ancient Rome (hence the name), but it is also an edible fractal with each spiral bud being composed of a series of smaller spiral buds, arranged in a series of more logarithmic spirals, all of which is important in the study of chaos theory.  Whoa!

Thus, this perfect, albeit chaotic mathematical arrangement of vibrant, chartreuse-colored spiral buds, is precisely what makes Romanesco so captivating.  So, after confirming Francesco's vegetable math on Wikipedia (he was, of course, correct!), I set about finding my own Romanescos so that I could disassemble each perfect and beautiful fractal, one spiral branch at a time.  

After removing the branches, I decided to steam my Romanesco.  I considered roasting it, because I love roasted cauliflower, but I wanted to totally preserve the bright chartreuse color, so instead I opted for steaming until fork tender.

In the meantime I gathered 1 large fresh scallion, a sturdy organic Japanese cucumber, an handful of fresh Italian flat leaf parsley, and an few sprigs of fresh mint.  I sliced the onion and cucumber very thin, and gave the herbs a good chop.

After steaming the Romanesco, I let is cool down a bit before tossing in the onion, cucumber and herbs.

Then I prepared my favorite dressing -- 1/4 cup of really good extra virgin olive oil (from Turkey, of course), the juice of half a lemon, 1 clove of pressed or finely grated garlic,1/2 teaspoon of Dijon mustard, 1/4 teaspoon of Kosher salt, and a few good grinds of fresh ground black pepper, all whisked together until smooth.

Ingredients/Recipe:

Salad:
Fresh Romanesco (2 medium heads or 1 large one)
1 large fresh onion (scallion) sliced very thin, including the green part

1 firm, medium-sized cucumber (skin on if organic) sliced in half longways, and then into very thin slices
1 handful for Italian flat leaf parsley, chopped
10-15 fresh mint leaves, chopped

Dressing (all whisked together):
1/4 cup of very good olive oil
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1 large clove of garlic, pressed or finely grated
1/2 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
A few grinds of freshly ground black pepper

Steam the Romanesco until fork tender (20-30 minutes), and allow it to cool.  Then combine with the remaining ingredients, toss in the dressing, and serve.  I like it best at room temperature.


The best and most beautiful salad ever!  Delizioso, molto buono! Cassandra and Francesco, thanks for inspiring me to make my favorite salad this winter!

Colorful Carrots

One of my go-to side dishes when I'm pressed for time, I have been making this very simple and lovely carrot dish for years.  A delicious and nutritious family favorite, many a hand has been slapped while reaching in to grab a carrot before dinner is served.

I start with about 6 medium sized carrots, which I clean and trim.  If the carrots are organic, I don't peel them, and if they are not, I do.  I love using these colorful "high pigment" carrot varieties for that wow factor, but more often than not I end up using basic orange carrots, and the result is still very eye-catching.

Next, I slice the carrots into uniform sized sticks, as shown.  (I just love the deep purple ones with the cream colored interior!)

After that, I boil the carrots in salted water until they are just fork tender.  For me, this half raw, half cooked preparation represents a satisfactory trade-off, as the longer the carrots cook, the sweeter they will taste, but their nutrition value will also be compromised.

In the meantime I prepare my toppings.  They include a large clove of minced garlic, one fresh purple or green onion sliced very thin (including some of the green stems), a handful of Italian flat leaf parsley chopped well, 2 tablespoons of very good extra virgin olive oil, and the juice from half a lemon.

When the carrots are perfectly tender, I drain them and immediately plunk them into a bath of ice water to arrest the cooking.

Then I line the carrots up in a serving dish, toss in the olive oil and lemon, garlic, onion, and parsley, sprinkle in some Kosher salt and plenty of fresh ground black pepper, and serve.

Organic Baby Lettuce Salad with Blue, Beets, and Carmelized Pecans

My artistic sister Cheryl and I share a love of vegetables, especially salads, and particularly colorful salads featuring contrasting flavors and textures.  This year Cheryl made this beautiful salad that combines sweet and savory for our Thanksgiving feast, and it was so good that I made it again for a Christmas potluck, and then second time just because....  My sister's version includes bacon, which is of course very delicious, but as you will see the bacon is conspicuously absent from the vegetarian version depicted below.  The following recipe serves about 6 decent-sized portions.  I doubled it for the potluck, as did my sister for Thanksgiving.

Start with about 8 cups of mixed organic baby lettuce.  Use whatever blend of lettuce varieties you enjoy, but be sure to include radicchio, notable for its eye-catching red color and lovely bitter accent.  Chop the lettuce coarsely and place in a large serving bowl.

Roast or boil 2-3 yellow beets, and when cool, peel the beets, slice them into thin wedges, and give them a quick pickle by allowing them to rest in a bowl with a splash of vinegar and some salt and pepper for 15 minutes or so.

In the meantime, peel and mince 2 medium shallots, and dice up 1 yellow tomato and 1/2 an English cucumber.  Also, chop up a handful of fresh herbs, such as dill, parsley, and/or mint for an extra flavor punch! Sprinkle the ingredients over the lettuce and add the pickled beets.

Next, measure out 1/4 cup of crumbled blue cheese and 1/3 cup of candied pecans.  (You can candy the pecans yourself, but Trader Joe's sells candied pecans that are out of this world.)  Coarsely chop the pecans.

Finally, whisk together a simple Dijon vinaigrette by measuring out 1/4 cup of very good extra virgin olive oil, 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar, 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard, and a bit of Kosher salt.  Pour the dressing over the salad just before serving, scatter the blue cheese and pecans on top, and add a few grinds of fresh cracked black pepper.

Now if you are craving the full on carnivore version of this salad, this is the point at which you would also add plenty of salty crumbled bacon.  And if, like me, you follow a strictly vegan diet (at least during the day), adapt the recipe by swapping cubes of creamy avocado for the blue cheese. 

No matter your dietary predilection, there is a version of this salad for you to enjoy!