Winter wonderland

On Martin Luther King Day, we were blessed with an incredible snowfall, the second of the season, which is pretty rare for NYC these days. We celebrated, true to our Upstate nature, and thoroughly enjoyed our snow day.We headed straight for Prospect Park. It was very wet snow, and not at all chilly, so it clung to the trees and outlined the various ponds and lakes with delicate precision. My favorite spot in the park is near the Audubon House where swans, ducks, and geese hunker down for the winter.These kids were so excited, but they could barely walk for all their layers. It was adorable watching all the tykes getting hauled around on sleds, their parents doing all the work. We saw one dad pulling a string of kids on a single line uphill. The babies were just lying back and enjoying the scenery. Seems like things have changed from when I used to go sledding...After our romp through the park, we bought some fresh tulips for the table and cozied up at home with some homemade Indian food (courtesy of the Moosewood cookbook) and a snowy salad. More recipes and photos to follow.
(The tulip vase is a vintage milk glass piece I picked up at a thrift store in Philly...trying to build my collection Martha-style. Also, the tablecloth is a vintage, hand-embroidered piece from the 1950s I got at a garage sale some years back. It really charms up our living/dining room).

Snowfall salad
On a bed of arugula or mixed baby greens, place:
1 pink grapefruit, peel removed and segments detached from membranes
1 avocado, cubed
1-2 oz. feta cheese, crumbled (my favorite is the creamy French feta)

Dressing
Whisk together:
2 parts EVOO
1 part fresh lemon or pink grapefruit juice (from the remaining core)
A squirt of Dijon mustard (about 1 tsp for a 2-person salad)
A pinch of dill seed, cumin, or other spices which match your main course
Cracked black pepper and sea salt to taste

This light salad was a delicious accompaniment to the Indian meal (with echoes of mustard, cumin, and citrus in the dressing) and the crumble feta topping matched the snowfall outside. The citrus and avocado are decisively wintry flavors, which really rounded out our snow day.

After dinner, we snuggled under a huge quilt and watched Mongol, a Chinese film about the rise of Genghis Khan, which I highly recommend. The epic storytelling and incredible scenery made it a memorable treat. Yes, it was a pretty awesome snow day in Brooklyn!

Finding rainbows

Colors are especially important to me--for clothes, walls, skies, and food--and I love to play with them in every format. As a child, when given a set of blocks or toys for a "sorting" exercise, I would usually just order things along the rainbow, rather than by shape or size, as was expected of a kid. So it's second nature with me, when I'm cooking, to try and incorporate the most beautiful food combinations into each dish so that little flecks of color and texture satisfy both the eye and the palate. Here are some recent creations that play with the rainbow scheme.

Handmade foccacia pizza: For this dish, I utilized my new favorite purple/blue tool, the blue potato, and the varieties of tomatoes and squash from the local market to liven up the flavors. With sauteed garlicky chard (red stems) and thinly sliced summer squash, the dish had ribbons of red, orange, yellow, green, and indigo. Not bad for a Tuesday night dinner! Also, we melted three kinds of cheese: feta, asiago, and mozzarella on top to give it some zing.

Bounties of Summer pasta salad:

I brought this dish to a friend's summer gathering, and it was a certain crowd pleaser, even though the pasta was GF. Using red peppers, carrots, summer squash, dill/basil/thyme, cucumbers, and purple Spanish Olives, I accomplished a near-perfect garden rainbow. A simple vinaigrette with lemon juice, dijon mustard, and grated parmesan gave some spice to the fresh veggies.(Close-up of the purple olives)

Tri-color potato Salad
Using Yukon Golds, blue potatoes, red onions, and lots of fresh herbs, I turned a normally bland yellow dish into a bit of side-dish confetti. We enjoyed this with Alex's mom's homemade baked beans, veggie hotdogs, and ice cold lemonade. Summer cooking at its finest.

I challenge you to make your next meal a complete rainbow, it is probably healthier and more delicious than the two- or three-color palate that most Americans consume. Plus, it makes your inner rainbow goddess so happy!

Early summer indulgences

Some days, it's a challenge to create menus that both excite and satiate my non-GF boy (how many ways can I prepare rice, potatoes, and corn?) However, we've been remarkably creative and Alex has been a good sport. It often means making dual dishes- one pot of wheat pasta and one pot of rice pasta for our homemade pesto, for example- but this recent menu was a supreme hit for all parties.


Darling Polenta Pizzas
We used pre-made polenta, purchased before we started making our own, so this was an ideal way to use it up and take advantage of the firmer texture of the store-bought variety. These would probably be even better with homemade polenta, packed in a loaf pan or spread onto a cookie sheet and left to firm up overnight. You can add any toppings you like, but we kept it simple since the polenta was already flavored with mushrooms and onions.

1 package (18oz.) mushroom and onion polenta, cut into 1/2" rounds
2 Tbsp olive oil to coat polenta
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 cup tomato sauce (we used leftover homemade sauce)
1 cup grated Mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup other cheeses of your choice, diced to 1/2" pieces- we used a creamy Greek feta and a nice French brie (each pizza had one or the other)
1/4 cup washed, chopped basil leaves

1. Preheat the oven to 375, per polenta package instructions. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and place the polenta slices on the sheet. Brush the polenta with olive oil and sprinkle with the oregano, to taste.
2. Bake the polenta rounds about 15 minutes, till firm and slightly crispy. Meanwhile, grate the mozzarella, chop the basil, and slice the cheeses.
3. Spoon about 1 Tbsp of sauce atop each round. Sprinkle with mozzarella and the other cheese, top with basil. Bake another 5-8 minutes until gooey and melted.


Arugula Truffle Salad
It was a muggy late-June evening, so the chevre melted and slid to the bottom of the bowl, coating every leaf in gooey cheese flavor. I love the nutty tang of arugula, it adds a nice spice to a salad and complements the pecans really well. The lemon juice and green grapes are so cooling and evocative of summertime, and the grapes are a nice mild backdrop to the truffles. We finished off the entire bowl in one meal.

4 cups organic baby arugula
2 ounces Truffle chevre, crumbled (a new find at the Coop, but any chevre will do)
1 cup green seedless grapes, washed and halved
Handful of toasted pecans (baked in a conventional or toaster oven at 350 degrees for about 5 minutes, watch to be sure they don't burn)

For the dressing:
1.5 tsp truffle oil (ours is an infusion in olive oil, so it's cheaper and less truffley)
Juice of one lemon (about 1 1/2 Tbsp)
Zest of 1 lemon (about 1 tsp)
Cracked black pepper to taste
(this will be pretty tart and lemony, so you can dilute with white or infused vinegar, more oil, Dijon mustard, or use less lemon juice if you prefer it milder)

Combine the dressing ingredients in a jar or bowl and pour over the salad. Toss and enjoy!