I Love You More Than Food

Category: lunch

  • Mussels & Clams Pastis

    Mussels & Clams Pastis

    mussels pastis

    BiRite Market opened up a location a short bike ride from my house, and I’ve made it an excuse to shop in smaller quantities and incorporate the exercise of going to the store as an excuse to make even fresher meals. These beautiful PEI mussels were filled to the edge of their shells with meat, the freshest I’ve seen in a long while and exceptionally tender.

    When shopping for shellfish, always make sure your shells are not broken (throw the mussel out if it is!), that they close when you agitate them, are free of debris on the outside (scrub them with cold water), and that you toss any that don’t open after cooking (though a small crack open is perfectly fine!).

    In case you have not cleaned or bought bivalves before, here’s what I do to clean them up and inspect them:

    How to Clean Mussels and Clams

    1) Bring them home immediately, and if you aren’t using them in the next hour, open up their bag and put them in the refrigerator so they can breathe, or set them on ice and leave them out, as they do in the store. Always buy them the same day you intend to cook them.

    2) 30 minutes to 1 hour before cooking, place them in very cold fresh water and leave them unagitated for at least 10 minutes. They will relax, open up, and use the fresh water, thus rinsing out any sediment, sand, etc from the inside of their shells.

    3) Before removing them from the water, inspect each mussel or clam for any missing chunks, major cracks, etc. If it has an imperfection, throw it out. If it does not close when you handle it, throw it out. Even when buying from a quality fishmonger, you’ll likely have 1-2 that get thrown out before cooking.

    4) Next, if especially dirty, replace the cleaning water and recover in very cold water. Remove any “beards” or seaweed looking bits that are hanging out the side of the mussels shells. Do this with a quick jerking action down towards the thickest side of the mussel. It will take a little effort, especially if they are very fresh. Strain them and cook them within 20 minutes or so!

    Mussels & Clams Pastis Recipe

    Serves 2

    1.5-2lb of mussels and clams
    2 T olive oil
    1 large shallot, chopped finely
    2 cloves garlic, minced
    1/2 C white wine
    1 C Pernod or other anise liquor
    2 T fresh parsley, roughly chopped
    salt & pepper

    In a large pan that will fit all of the mussels and clams, add the olive oil and heat to medium. Add the garlic and shallot, cooking until nearly translucent or beginning to be translucent, but not caramelized or browned. Add some salt, the white wine and pernod, and reduce slightly, raising heat immediately to high or medium high.

    Add the mussels and/or clams and cover, cooking about 2 minutes before checking. Cover again if they are not all or mostly opened. When all are opened, remove lid and stir well, adding fresh cracked pepper. Remove the mussels and clams and set aside in a warm spot or in a heated bowl (or place into heated individual serving bowls). Change heat to high and reduce liquid by 1/2, then add the parsley and serve over the mussels and clams.

    Serve with french fries or bread with butter.

  • Shrimp Stuffed Poblano Peppers with Tomato Red Pepper Sauce

    Shrimp Stuffed Poblano Peppers with Tomato Red Pepper Sauce

    A new favorite, this shrimp stuffed poblano peppers recipe can be prepared ahead and cooked on a weeknight, it’s healthy and chock-full of vegetables and lean protein. I clearly was lazy in peeling my peppers, but we didn’t mind a bit of charred skin here and there.

    [buymeapie-recipe id=’2′]Shrimp Stuffed Poblano Peppers with Tomato-Red Pepper Sauce Recipe
    Serves two for main course

    The Peppers & Filling
    4 poblano peppers, charred over a flame and peeled or cooked at 400 degrees for 15 minutes and peeled
    3/4 lb shrimp, peeled and chopped roughly
    2 cloves garlic, minced finely or mashed
    2 T fresh cilantro and/or basil, chopped
    1/4 red bell pepper, chopped finely
    1/2 tsp ground cumin
    3/4 tsp sea salt

    Combine all but the peppers in a bowl, and stuff the peppers with the mixture, closing them again as best you can. Bake in oven at 350 for 8-11 minutes, depending on size of the peppers. Shrimp will be completely white and pink when done.

    For the Tomato-Red Pepper Sauce
    1 large red bell pepper, roasted at 400 degrees, peeled, seeds removed and tossed into a blender
    2 ripe, never refrigerated roma tomatoes or one small can peeled roma tomatoes or chopped tomatoes
    2 cloves garlic, chopped
    1 tsp chili flakes or equivilent
    4 small-medium shallots, chopped finely
    2 tsp coconut oil or other cooking oil

    In a sauce pan, warm the coconut oil and add the shallots and chili flakes, cooking until shallots begin to go limp. Add the garlic and chili flakes, followed immediately by the tomatoes–slice thinly the tomatoes and add to the pan, cooking at medium heat until they are falling apart, about 20 minutes. Add it all to the blender with the roasted pepper and puree. It will likely be thicker than soup; you can thin it with vegetable or chicken stock, or serve it thick under the cooked peppers.

  • Roasted Spring Root Vegetables

    Roasted Spring Root Vegetables

    Roasted Spring Root Vegetables: Baby Carrots, Turnips, Easter Egg Radishes, Golden Beets, Rutabaga

    Roasted Spring Root Vegetables: Baby Carrots, Turnips, Easter Egg Radishes, Golden Beets, Rutabaga

    A beautiful and simple lunch or light dinner, these roasted spring root vegetables are pleasing to the eye and are the perfect summary of the spring bounty that is now my CSA/farm shipment.

    Simply find the best spring veggies you can, cut them in fairly even sizes, toss them in olive oil, salt, and pepper (or add some herbs de provence if you like), and roast them 25-40 minutes at 400 degrees on some foil (for easy clean up). Save them cold to toss into salads for the coming days or feast on them then; serve them as an appetizer with friends over on a large platter and cocktail forks. It’s a pleaser.

    Use things like: Baby Carrots, Turnips, Easter Egg Radishes, Golden Beets, Chiogga Beets, Rutabaga, Celery Root

    Leave the stems on (they are edible! and save those radish & turnip greens for a sautee, a quiche, or a pesto) but trim off any broken or decrepit parts of the stem and use a vegetable sponge to scrub the dirt from the tops and sides. Don’t peel the carrots, just scrub the dirt off. You can also roast everything whole and slice them in half afterwards for brighter centers, but you may need to separate a few trays by size of the objects to ensure even cooking.

  • Easy Weeknight Rack of Lamb Recipe

    Easy Weeknight Rack of Lamb Recipe

    Weeknight Rack of Lamb

    This is painfully easy; it’s shamelessly stolen from artist Joanne Ruggles who treated a whole gaggle of us to it on New Years Eve this year. I’ve been making it every few weeks since–I even took a cooler pack of lamb with the ingredients up to Orr Hot Springs and made lunch out of it on a weekday–after which several people who saw me preparing it in their wonderful kitchen asked me for the recipe. Yeah, that good!

    Easy Weeknight Rack of Lamb Recipe

    Rack of Lamb, however much you want, trimmed of fat (this is important! slice that stuff off or you’ll be gnawing on it)
    Sweet Mustard
    Montreal Steak Seasoning shamelessly purchased from Costco (Yeah, I know. This is a serious tangent from this blog).

    Oven, 400 degrees. Slather that trimmed lamb with mustard, even the bones. Generously coat it in the steak seasoning. Throw it on some foil and put it in the oven for about 20-35 minutes, until medium or medium rare. If you like your lamb more cooked than that then you don’t deserve to make this.

    Serve it with anything! A big salad, some couscous, zucchini, asparagus, sauteed chard or spinach..Whatever!

  • Ginger-Miso Soba Noodles with Crisp Tofu & Red Cabbage Recipe

    Ginger-Miso Soba Noodles with Crisp Tofu & Red Cabbage Recipe

    Ginger-Miso Soba Noodles with Crisp Tofu & Red Cabbage

    A recipe for a quick and healthy weeknight meal; this is versatile, feel free to swap scallions for chives or spring onions, tofu for a tablespoon or two of raw cashews, red cabbage for arugula, napa cabbage, spinach, turnip greens or any other thing you’ve got hanging around.

    Ginger-Miso Soba Noodles with Crisp Tofu & Red Cabbage Recipe
    Serves 2

    2 rolls dry soba noodles (pre-bundled by most manufacturers)
    1/2 pack tofu (enough for two people), cubed
    1/4 head red cabbage, shredded thinly
    2 scallions (green onions), sliced thinly on the diagnoal
    2 T golden or light miso (just not the really really dark mugi type stuff)
    1 T fresh grated ginger
    2 tsp mirin
    2 tsp soy sauce
    2 tsp sesame oil or toasted sesame oil
    sesame seeds
    olive oil

    In a skillet, heat olive oil to medium high heat. Press dry your tofu and cube it, fry it in the oil turning every minute or two until golden all around. Set side if you’re done with it ahead of time.

    Bring a big pot of water to boil, add a tablespoon of salt and boil the soba. Plunge them into a bowl of room temp water when they’re cooked to rinse.  It’s important to rinse the starchy coating off soba.

    Whisk together the miso, mirin, soy sauce, ginger and sesame oil until smooth. Add a touch of salt if needed.

    Add the soba to the fried tofu pan (while it’s still hot or you bring it back up to temperature), tossing. Add the sauce and toss until warm, in the hot pan over a medium flame, mixing in half the cabbage. Separate two servings into bowls, top with remaining cabbage and scallions, and a touch of sesame seeds.

  • Meatless “Meat” Raw Burger Patties

    Meatless “Meat” Raw Burger Patties

    Meatless Raw Burger Patties

    I love to serve these warm from the dehydrator with sundried tomato puree (with garlic and some vinegar), or broken up into raw chili.

    Meatless Sprouted Seed Vegan Raw Protein Patty Recipe
    Makes about 10

    1 cup raw sunflower seeds, soaked 4-6 hours or sprouted
    1 cup raw pumpkin seeds, soaked 4-6 hours or sprouted
    1/2 cup raw walnuts
    Juice of one lemon
    3 cloves garlic
    2 T sweet and/or barley miso
    Pulp (from juicing) of 6 carrots, 2 apples, 1 big bunch spinach (about 1/2-1lb)
    1 tsp kosher salt
    1 T mustard any kind
    1 tsp fresh ground pepper
    1T dry oregano or sub fresh herbs, chopped
    2 T capers, rough chopped
    1 red bell pepper, diced
    1/2 sweet onion, diced

    Puree soaked seeds and walnuts (can sub other nuts for the walnuts), lemon juice, garlic, miso, salt, mustard, pepper, herbs in a high powered blender. Mix resulting pate with vegetable pulp from juicing and remaining ingredients. Form into patties using a can with both ends cut out or a cookie cutter. Dehydrate on nonstick mats for 3 hours, then flip onto mesh screens and dehydrate 4-5 more hours. Eat warm or store in refrigerator for 5-7 days max. They freeze ok but defrost and then re-dehydrate.

    You can break them up into wraps or on salads, into sauces, you can serve them whole like a burger with or without a bun, on cabbage, with sour cream, etc. In this instance break them up loosely in a bowl of raw chili, recipe below.

  • Raw Vegan Chili Recipe and Raw Sour Cream

    Raw Vegan Chili Recipe and Raw Sour Cream

    I know what you’re thinking, but it’s really not that bad. It’s possible someone slipped some patchouli or some hemp seeds or some godknowswhat into my breakfast smoothie, but this stuff is seriously tasty, and it’s good for you, and it’s better for the environment than the alternative. And I’m going to keep making it.

    Raw Vegan Chili with Vegan Ground Meat and Cashew Sour Cream

    Great served with Raw Burger Patties (meatless/vegan).

    Raw Cashew Sour Cream

    Makes about 1.5 cups

    1 cup raw cashews, soaked in water 4 hours
    1 cup water
    juice of 1 lemon
    1 clove garlic
    1/2 tsp kosher salt

    Puree all ingredients in a high speed blender. Chill to achieve thicker consistency. Can be used as a base for creamy dips and sauces. Good for about a week in a mason jar sealed tight.

    Raw Vegan Chili Recipe
    Makes about 6 servings
    1 portabello mushroom, diced finely
    1/2 red bell pepper, diced finely
    1/2 sweet onion, diced finely
    2 stalks celery, diced finely
    1 cup raw almonds, soaked 24-36 hours
    2 carrots, cut into 1/2 inch coins or so
    1.5 C sundried tomatoes, soaked in water 5-12 hours
    1.5 C fresh water or water from soaking tomatoes
    2 T tamari, namu shoya, or soy sauce
    2 tsp chili powder
    1 tsp cayenne
    1 tsp salt

    Chop carrots and almonds in a food processor until chunky. Add to diced veggies.

    Puree tomatoes, tomato juice or water, and all spices/seasonings in a high speed blender until smooth. Mix everything together and warm in dehydrator or let sit room temp for a few hours to soften. Serve warm (if possible) with cashew sour cream. If you made the meatless meat patties, tear one apart for each serving and mix into 1 cup of raw chili to make “meat.”

  • Herbed Chicken on the Grill with Tangerine Raw Summer Vegetables

    Herbed Chicken on the Grill with Tangerine Raw Summer Vegetables

    Lavender Grilled Chicken on Raw Summer Vegetables

    Lavender Chicken on the Grill with Tangerine-dressed Raw Summer Vegetables
    Serves 2-3

    Chicken & Poultry Rub
    2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded to 1/4 inch thick
    2 tsp dry rosemary
    2 tsp lavender
    2 tsp oregano
    1 tsp salt

    Vegetables
    1 medium zucchini
    1 yellow patty pan squash
    2 C baby kale (or other hearty salad green, or blanched mature chopped kale)
    1/2 avocado

    Dressing
    Juice of 1/2 orange (about 2-4 Tbsp)
    1 tsp olive oil
    1 clove garlic, minced
    1/2 tsp salt

    Chop your zucchini julienne (matchsticks) and use a mandolin on your patty pan squash to create discs. Set aside.

    Grind all spices in a coffee grinder or with a mortar & pestle and dress your pounded chicken generously. Use olive oil spray to briefly coat each side, or alternatively, rub with olive oil prior to applying spice rub. Get your grill ready.

    Whisk all dressing ingredients together and toss your kale in it, placing it in warmed salad bowls. In the remaining dressing, toss the summer squash and place 2/3rds of it on top of the kale, gently mixing in avocado slices.

    When chicken is done cooking on the grill (or in a cast iron in a pan with a lid, or however you’d like to do it!), slice in 2 inch pieces and layer with remaining squash and avocado in bowls.

  • Zucchini & Purslane Soup

    Zucchini & Purslane Soup

    Zucchini and Purslane Soup

    Quick, healthy, and delicious zucchini soup recipe. Works best with a high powered blender, but a stick blender or regular one will work too, with a little finesse. Can be served chilled as well.

    Zucchini & Purslane Soup Recipe
    Adapted from Food & Wine
    Serves 2

    1.5 lb of zucchini or mixed summer squash, washed, trimmed, and sliced evenly*
    1/2 medium or large yellow onion, diced roughly
    3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
    1.5 cups water
    1/2 cup vegetable stock
    1 bay leaf
    1 tsp dried thyme or 1 tbsp fresh thyme
    1 cup purslane (or microgreens, which can be tossed with a little lemon or orange zest as well)
    Salt to taste

    In a 3 quart pan or larger, warm your vegetable stock over medium heat. Add onions, cooking until almost transparent. Add garlic, thyme, bay leaf, and zucchini, cover and cook about 5 minutes at medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened but still firm. Add the water and cover. Cook about 10 minutes, until soft.

    Using your preferred blending method, puree the soup until smooth. Taste and season with salt, or salt at the table. To serve, do so immediately warm, reheat later with a little more vegetable broth, or add several ice cubes to the fresh puree to bring the temperature down, then store in the fridge up to two days and serve chilled. Garnish with generous purslane and raw zucchini strips.

    *Make some thin strips for garnish if you like, before chopping it all up

  • Tilapia with Lemon Verbena Cream Sauce on Arugula & Potatoes

    Tilapia with Lemon Verbena Cream Sauce on Arugula & Potatoes

    tilapia with lemon verbena cream sauce

    new potatoes and arugula

    lemon verbena cream sauce

    I recently changed CSA’s from Farm Fresh to You (which I did for nearly 3 years) to Eatwell Farms–I’ve only received one shipment, but was 100% delighted with the first one which included strawberries, red and white spring onions, huge arugula, fava beans, lettuces, braising greens and best of all–fresh lemon verbena. Normally I don’t like my food to smell like bath products I use or my bath products to smell like food, but in this case, it was a new challenge–I’ve never cooked with the stuff. I almost decided to start making home made face products alla Lush cosmetics, but thought better of it and remembered my growling stomach.

    Recipe: Tilapia with Lemon Verbena Cream Sauce on Arugula & New Potatoes
    For Two

    2 filets tilapia*
    4-6 cups fresh arugula, chopped coarsly
    6 small new (red) potatoes, sliced in 1/2 inch chunks
    4 T creme fraiche
    2 C fresh lemon verbena leaves**
    1/2 small/medium yellow onion, diced
    1/2 C wine
    4 T olive oil
    2 T white wine vinegar
    4 T butter, divided
    salt & fresh cracked pepper

    For the sauce
    Combine the onion, wine, and a generous few cranks of pepper in a sauce pan, and cook until almost translucent at medium heat. In a blender or food processor, add the lemon verbena leaves, white wine vinegar, olive oil and the slightly cooled onion mixture. Blend very well until evenly textured. Set aside and let cool. Just before serving, add creme fraiche and blend briefly to incorporate. Can be made ahead and refrigerated for several days. Flavor will mellow, however, and is most fragrant at room temperature, but most creamy/thick cool.

    For the fish and potatoes
    Using half the butter (2T), heat a large skillet to high heat and fry the potatoes until golden. If using a cast iron, turn off the heat and add the arugula, stirring to wilt. If using other pan, reduce heat to low and stir until arugula is wilted. Set aside and keep warm.

    Meanwhile, heat another skillet with other 2T of butter, and lightly salt/pepper the tilapia filets. Once butter is at medium high heat, add filets, turning when mostly cooked.

    Serve fish on top of potatoes and arugula, topping at last moment with fresh sauce.

    Great with a dry white wine like pinot blanc or pinot grigio from the north of Italy (Alto Adige region).

    * You can substitute halibut, basa, or other mild fish of your choice.
    ** Fresh lemon verbena is not that easy to come by and dries out very quickly once picked. You can substitute cilantro, but it will produce a very different but equally delicious sauce.