I made harira, the traditional soup of Morocco

One of my favorite Middle Eastern restaurants, Bedouin Tent in Beorum Hill, serves this kind of soup--a hearty, tomato based soup with lentils and chickpeas and a complex, savory but cinnamon-y flavor. As the weather's gotten colder, I've been in the mood to make soups and thought this was a good one to start the season.

I did some research and looked at a bunch of recipes on the web. I learned that in Morocco, this soup is eaten for Iftar, the nightly traditional meal that breaks the fast during Ramadan. It's thickened with tadouira--a mixture of tomato paste, flour and cilantro. There are many variations--some include chicken, some lamb. The kind I'd had at Bedouin Tent was veggie, so I knew they had to be out there. Finally I found a few versions which were mainly lentils, chickpeas, tomatoes, spices and vermicelli. And who doesn't like some noodles in their soup? I settled on this recipe and followed it pretty exactly.

I am being completely honest with you all here: THIS WAS THE BEST SOUP EVER. Seriously guys. You will want to eat this soup ALL THE TIME. It's hearty and filling and noodle-y and tomato-y and lemony and cinnamon/spicy. One bite and you will be like, "Fall and winter: BRING IT ON."

Harira Soup
Serves 8

Ingredients

Harira

• 1/2 cup green lentils
• 1 Tbs. olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped (2 cups)
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 15-oz. can chopped tomatoes, drained, liquid reserved
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 15-oz. can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup vermicelli
• Lemon wedges, for garnish

Tadouira

• 2 Tbs. all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 2 Tbs. lemon juice
• 1 Tbs. tomato paste

Directions

1. To make Harira: Cook lentils in pot of boiling salted water 2 minutes. Drain. (I did this but still don't understand why it was necesssary.)
   
2. Heat oil in large pot over medium heat. Add onion, parsley, cilantro, ginger, and cinnamon; sauté 5 minutes, or until onion is soft. Stir in tomatoes, and sauté 5 minutes more.
3. Stir in broth, chickpeas, lentils, reserved tomato liquid, and 3 cups water. Season with salt and pepper, and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 45 minutes, or until lentils are tender, stirring occasionally.
4. To make Tadouira: Whisk flour with 1 cup water in bowl. Whisk in cilantro, lemon juice, and tomato paste. Stir Tadouira and vermicelli into Harira, and cook 3 minutes, or until noodles are soft. Serve with lemon wedges.

I made Gnudi w/ onion, sausage, wilted arugula + toasted walnuts!

So back in May, my parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary! I told them I would like to cook them dinner as an anniversary gift, but then we could never find a date that worked until the very end of July. But, finally, the day came around and I tried to figure out what to make.

All I knew was that I wanted to make something summery, and simple - but impressive. After looking at a few recipes, I decided to make GNUDI, the potato-less, lighter cousin of gnocchi. Even though I was a bit apprehensive about making something for the first time for such an important occasion (what if it comes out wrong??) I decided to just go for it.

Turns out, it was really not all that hard!! Phew. Here is what you need:

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
Unsalted butter
1 bunch tarragon (I also think other herbs like basil, sage, rosemary, etc. would work.)
1 lemon
1 small white onion
1 egg
¾ lb fresh ricotta cheese
¼ lb freshly grated parmigiano reggiano
1/3 cup semolina flour
1 tbls all purpose flour
small bag whole, shelled walnuts
a bunch of baby arugula
sausage of your choice (optional) - I used D'artagnan brand chicken sausage with truffles - fancy! -(Mushrooms would be a good vegetarian alternative in this recipe.)
homemade or store-bought vegetable stock for poaching the gnudi (optional) - I just used water.

Make the Gnudi Mixture

In a small mixing bowl, combine the ricotta, one tablespoon chopped tarragon, egg, Parmigiano, half of the flour and the tbls of all-purpose flour. Using a wooden spoon, mix until the ingredients are well combined. Salt and pepper to taste.

Place the remaining flour in a shallow bowl. Using floured hands, pinch about a tablespoon worth of mixture and form into a little football shape. Dredge each through the flour in the bowl and onto a baking sheet. Continue this until you’ve made as many gnocchi shaped pieces as you can. You can either immediately poach them or cover with foil and refrigerate for up to a few hours.


(The lemon in the photo gives you an idea of the size of these.)

Poach the Gnudi

Bring either stock or plain water to a simmer (not boil). Take out the gnudi and drop 5 or so into the pot for about 2 minutes, or until they rise to the top of the liquid. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a clean flat baking sheet. Do this for all of the gnudi, being gentle and taking care not to break them as they can be delicate. Refrigerate for up to a day, or let rest for about a half hour before finishing the dish.

Make the toppings

Roughly chop the walnuts and toast them, either in a pan or an oven. Watch them closely so they do not burn! Sautee the onion in some butter or oil slowly in a large pan until translucent. Season with salt and pepper and some lemon juice. Chop and add sausage (or mushrooms) if using. Sautee until sausage (or mushrooms) are browned. Carefully add the gnudi to the mixture, gently stirring just to incorporate the ingredients and heat the gnudi. They are very delicate ! You don't want to break them. Add the arugula just for a moment, it will wilt quickly.

Plate up the gnudi and season with some more grated Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, and lemon juice.

I served this with a kale salad with mint and lime dressing and some baby heirloom tomatoes that I marinated in oil, garlic and salt + pepper.

For dessert I made a fruit salad with multi-colored plums, blueberries, and marinated it for a few hours with some honey, lime juice and chopped mint. We had it with vanilla ice cream!

Man, it was a pretty awesome summer dinner!! Happy anniversary to my parents.

I made quinoa, tuna and white bean salad

The other day, I came home from a long day of work and class starving. I wanted to make something delicious and comforting and protein packed. I thought to myself, do people ever make quinoa salads with tuna? Is that crazy? I googled "quinoa tuna salad" and found that no, it's not crazy. Lots of recipes exist. But I ended up making one up myself. It's basically your standard tuna white bean salad, but with quinoa.

Salad:
A few handfuls chopped arugula
1 can white/cannolini beans
2 cans good quality tuna packed in olive oil
2 or 3 tablespoons capers
handful chopped fresh parsley
1/2 large red onion, or 1 small, chopped finely
whole wheat bread crumbs
1 cup quinoa
2 cups water

Dressing:
few tablespoons olive oil
few tablespoons red wine vinegar
juice of two lemons
2 garlic cloves, minced

Cook the quinoa. (Combine with water, bring to boil, cover and simmer for 15.) Meanwhile, make the dressing. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir it up.

When the quinoa's cooked and cooled a little, just combine it with all the other ingredients in a big bowl. Except the bread crumbs. Then add the dressing. Stir it up. THEN sprinkle the bread crumbs on top for garnish!

In the future, I might try this with chickpeas or some other kind of firmer bean instead. White beans are soft, and it and it needed something to counter the mushiness of the quinoa. But besides that, it was really delicious! I couldn't stop eating the leftovers cold from the fridge.

I learned: it is NOT crazy to put tuna in your quinoa salad!

Don't be afraid of collard greens

Hello.

This is just a short post with a simple recipe for collard greens. They are one of those vegetables that I mistakenly thought could only be prepared with hours of slow cooking. Although this is true for the traditional southern style preparation, I recently found out that there is another, quick and easy way to cook them. I've made them this way a few times now, and I think I will keep on doing it!

Ingredients:

* 2 1/2 pounds collard greens (I think that is one large bunch)
* 2 garlic cloves
* 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice, or to taste

Remove and discard stems and center ribs of collard greens. Cut leaves into 1-inch pieces. In a kettle of boiling water cook collards 15 minutes and drain in a colander, pressing out excess liquid with back of a wooden spoon.

Mince garlic. In a 12-inch heavy skillet heat butter and oil over moderately high heat until foam subsides and stir in garlic, collards, and salt and pepper to taste. Sauté collard mixture, stirring, until heated through, about 5 minutes.

Drizzle collards with lemon juice and toss well.

In the photo, I just accompanied my collards with some arborio rice cooked in vegetable broth and sprinkled with grated Parmesan cheese. I also made them with Sarah one night and we had them with some black eyed peas ("hopping john" style). They really go with anything. If you want to eat greens but are sick of spinach or kale or chard etc, give these a shot.

LATE NIGHT COOKIN' WITH A+A - Stuffed Artichokes and Lemon Bars!

So Amy was in town for a spell a few weeks ago and we decided to have another sleepover wherein we make/consume baked goods. We decided to start the night with some stuffed artichokes, and follow them up with some lemon squares - two really spring-y, fragrant foods. Amy graciously picked up some groceries and made her way over. (Between the lemon squares and the artichokes I think she bought like 12 lemons. I love lemons.) We used the following NY Times recipe for the artichokes. It looked like a pretty basic, solid recipe, and it came out really well. BUT I am curious - DO any of you have a stuffed artichoke recipe that you like to use? Feel free to paste it in the comments!

But like I said, damn. These were so tasty.

Stuffed Artichokes With Lemon Zest, Rosemary and Garlic

1 1/2 lemons, zested, then halved

4 large globe artichokes (we only used two, and halved all other ingredients.)

2 1/4 cups plain bread crumbs (we used Japanese bread crumbs aka PANKO - which is not traditional, but still tasty and maybe a bit lighter. In any case, if you want to make these and all you have is panko, by all means, go for it.)

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley, plus 4 whole sprigs

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary (We omitted. I'm weird about rosemary. Don't know why!)

8 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled

2 carrots, peeled

1 1/2 tablespoons chopped capers

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 small onion, thinly sliced

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling

1/2 cup dry white wine. (Didn't have this either. It's not essential, but would definitely add to the flavor. Next time I will definitely use wine.)

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Fill a large bowl with water and squeeze juice from two lemon halves into water. Cut off artichoke stems, peel them with a vegetable peeler, rub them all over with remaining lemon half (this prevents browning) and drop them into water.



2. Use a heavy, sharp knife to cut top 1 1/2 inches off an artichoke. Pull out pale inner leaves from center. At the bottom, where leaves were, is a furry bed, the choke. Use a spoon (a grapefruit spoon works wonderfully) to scoop out choke. (Seriously - USE A SPOON - I didn't and I got stuck by a sharp piece of the "choke". It hurt!) Next, using kitchen shears or a pair of scissors, trim pointy ends from outer leaves of artichoke. As you work, rub lemon half over cut parts of artichoke. When you are finished trimming, drop artichoke into bowl of lemon water. Repeat with remaining artichokes.(At this point, we felt really connected to our artichokes and decided it would be a good idea to name them. If memory serves - Steven and Tricia? I forget which was which.)

3. To prepare stuffing, in a large bowl combine lemon zest, bread crumbs, Parmesan, chopped parsley and rosemary. Mince 6 garlic cloves and add to bowl. Finely chop one carrot and add to bowl along with capers, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Toss.


Amy is listening to the "artichoke-cean" - get it!?

4. In a small roasting pan or baking pan large enough to hold artichokes, scatter onion slices. Add reserved artichoke stems, 4 sprigs parsley and remaining garlic cloves. Slice remaining carrot into rounds and add to pan.

5. Holding artichokes over stuffing bowl, stuff choke cavity and in between the leaves with bread crumb mixture. Stand stuffed artichokes upright in pan and generously drizzle olive oil over center of each artichoke.

6. Fill pan with water until it reaches 1/4 way up the artichokes. Add wine and remaining salt and pepper to water. Cover pan with foil and poke several holes in foil. Bake artichokes for about 1 1/2 hours, or until tender; when done, a knife should be easily inserted into artichoke and a leaf should be easily pulled out.


While these baked, we began prepping the lemon square/bars/whatever you call them. We used this recipe from the ever popular Smitten Kitchen.

Lemon Bars
Adapted from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook


For the crust:
1/2 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups flour
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

For the full-size lemon layer:
6 extra-large eggs at room temperature
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest (4 to 6 lemons)
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup flour

Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

[Or] for a thinner lemon layer: (We used these proportions, it was PLENTY.)

4 extra-large eggs at room temperature
1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest (3 to 4 lemons)
2/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
2/3 cup flour

Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 9 by 13 by 2-inch baking sheet.

For the crust, cream the butter and sugar until light in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. (We just used an electric hand mixer.) Combine the flour and salt and, with the mixer on low, add to the butter until just mixed. Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and gather into a ball. Flatten the dough with floured hands and press it into the greased baking sheet, building up a 1/2-inch edge on all sides. Chill.

Bake the crust for 15 to 20 minutes, until very lightly browned. Let cool on a wire rack. Leave the oven on.

For the lemon layer, whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and flour. Pour over the crust and bake for 30 to 35 minutes (less if you are using the thinner topping), or about five minutes beyond the point where the filling is set. Let cool to room temperature.

Cut into triangles and dust with confectioners’ sugar.

YUM. These two creations of ours complimented each other very well. We even finished baking by my self-imposed cut off time of 2 AM - (had to work in the morning). I was sleepy the next day but very happy to have a lemon bar wrapped in aluminum foil waiting for me at lunch time.