eat like us

The farmers markets, they are a-burgeoning with produce. The blogosphere equally runneth over in good ideas. Here are a few that tickled my fancy this week:

Top ten bento box rules from Just Bento. I wish all my food had those adorable eye stickers affixed to it.

Cuban black beans at Pictures and Pancakes. Simple and beautiful.

Grain salad! With buttermilk dressing. From 101 Cookbooks, of course.

This recipe encompasses everything I love about August: fresh, easy, fast and am I starting to sound like a Food Network host? But anyway, go forth and make this pan-roasted corn and okra from The Bitten Word. Just trust me.

Perfect picnic food: pan bagnat. Vegan and not-vegan versions at Pink of Perfection.

One of my favorite ways to top pizza is scattering the dough with paper-thin slices of raw potato and onion, a generous glug of olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme. But I could branch out. This steakhouse version of potato pizza has bleu cheese and caramelized onions. Um, yes. At Herbivoracious.

It’s reaaaaally hard to read Joy the Baker without making a mad dash to the oven. Visions of these chewy molasses chocolate chip cookies probably won’t leave my head until they are safely in my stomach.

Hungarian sour cherry cake at Sassy Radish. My kind of cake: not too sweet and erring a bit on the side of bread. Getting my favorite fruit involved? Yup. I’m there.

Sometimes messy is good. Sometimes, you mean to make this, but things fall apart. And then the yellowy chaos reminds you of scrambled eggs. And that makes you think of how delicious everything becomes when eggs are involved. And then you poach an egg, throw it on top of your beautiful mess, and dinner is served.

Rice bowl with furikake, smoked kippers and wilted collard greens

Sunday

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Cheap and delicious: lentil salad with pea shoots and mustard vinaigrette.

I just returned from a fantastic week in Michigan. Delicious food, wine and friends in abundance. Much merriment was had. Many films were watched.

Back in DC, I have exactly one month left before I move to a different part of the city. Which means I have exactly one month to eat anything and everything in my pantry that I don’t want to schlep across town. Based on a quick inventory today, that means lots of dried beans. And pasta. (more…)

Being sick in the summer is silly. But it is a wonderful excuse to making piping hot meals despite the raging inferno outside.

Japanese hot pot is a particularly good hot summer dish because even though it is warm and filling, it is still a relatively light. This version is almost vegetarian because I used a pinch of bonito flakes, which are smoked, dried fish, to make the broth. They could easily be omitted if you’d like to go for the full vegetarian here; the Shiitakes add the necessary umami to the broth.

I may have also made this again after I got over my cold. It’s pretty great. (more…)

I’m sick. It’s stupid. Who gets sick in the summer? But I’m definitely sick: achy, sniffly and with a sick roommate to share in all my misery. But! In a happy note, I got a babillion pounds of free produce at the farmers’ market and used the cucumbers to make this, which was both soothing to my sick self and refreshing in the DC heat. Win-win! (more…)

I can’t remember exactly where I first heard of mujaddara. It may have been on Orangette, or through Desert Candy or Herbivoracious. It could have been Mark Bittman‘s write-up of the crispy burnt onions on top. Or maybe it was at Mamoun’s, the Middle Eastern restaurant near my old New Haven apartment. (more…)

Another quick lunch recipe. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this combo; serving a rich cheese with avocado always felt a bit like gilding the lily, you know? But it’s Wednesday and I’m feeling it. So here ya go:

Avocado, Mozzarella and Walnut Salad

Large handful of spring greens
1/2 avocado, sliced thinly
1 oz. buffalo mozzarella, sliced thinly
Small handful of walnuts, toasted

For the walnut-dijon vinaigrette:
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 tablespoon champagne vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 cup walnut oil
Coarse salt
Pepper

Whisk together the ingredients for the vinaigrette, adding additional mustard or vinegar to taste (Note: the vinaigrette recipe makes much more than you need for a single salad. It will keep well in a jar in the refrigerator.)

Toss the salad greens with a few tablespoons of vinaigrette. Top with sliced avocado, mozzarella, toasted walnuts and additional coarse salt and freshly cracked pepper.

Serves one.

Guess what? It’s still summer. And still real hot in DC. So… I’m still craving things that are quick, light and refreshing for lunch. Hopefully this isn’t getting too monotonous. I’m not sick of it yet, although I was seriously craving a bowl of ochazuke the other day.

The sensible side of me beat down the part of my brain craving that delicious Japanese soup. I listened to the “Japanese” side of the craving and blocked the “piping hot, comforting” aspect and instead went with a kicky chilled tofu salad, leaning heavily on this Chowhound recipe for inspiration.

Will fall be here soon? Please? (more…)