Spring has sprung here in Northern California. The sky is bright and blue and the weather is warm enough for shirt sleeves. All of the cats (and there are a lot of them) are sprawled out in sunny patches, eyeing the bugs that fly by. And the garden is happiness incarnate. So what does this have to do with dinner? Plenty.
Now is the time that I crawl out from my winter rock and venture out into the farmer’s market. Oh, sure, in the doldrums of winter I make my way over, trying to pretend, even for a day, that spring is on its way. But the tables of lettuces, apples and Brussels sprouts tell the truth: spring is a far off place. But last Saturday I made the trek (all of five miles, oh my!) and was duly rewarded:
I bought beets and a turnip, some fantastic asparagus, some "cosmetically challenged" pink lady apples, an artichoke the size of my head, some trumpet mushrooms (never had those before – omg!) a couple of asian pears (huge, organic, amazingly sweet), cauliflower, red onion, and some blood oranges. And as if this wasn’t an embarrassment of riches enough, a friend brought me over a dozen Myer lemons from her mother’s tree. And as I wondered what to do with this all, I realized that I was answering that nagging question that had been lurking in the back of my mind for weeks, the question that plagued me, and would give me no quarter of rest: What’s for dinner?
Although I am a meat lover, surprisingly this week’s WFD will be vegetarian. I didn’t plan it that way; it just happened. Most of these dishes can be made as side dishes for a primary meal, or you can toss in some chicken to please the meat eaters at your table.
First up was a roasted beet salad with blood orange dressing.
First, wash the beets, chop the tops off (these can be sautéed and eaten as greens – I’ve heard they’re very good, but I’ve never tried them myself) and wrap the beets in two layers of foil. Bake at 400 until the beets are tender, about an hour to an hour and a half. (I used a wooden skewer to test them.) While the beets are cooking, toss together a tablespoon of cider vinegar, 4 Tbsp of olive oil, and squeeze in the juice of half of a blood orange in a small bowl. Toss in a quarter of a shallot and a half of a clove of garlic. Don’t mince; you’re going to pull these out later. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Once the beets have cooled, rub off the skins and cut the beets into bite sized pieces. Meanwhile, gather a few cups of lettuces in a bowl. Luckily, I had a bunch of baby lettuces growing in my garden that need to be harvested. Now segment the other half of the blood orange and add that to the greens, along with a handful of toasted walnuts. Toss this with the dressing (remember to remove the garlic and shallot pieces). Add in your quartered beets and top with goat cheese crumbles. I was going to fry the goat cheese, but it seemed like a lot of extra work and I really wanted something simple. Viola! Roasted beet salad!
Since my husband (the carnivore) wasn’t home that night, I decided to cook up the artichoke as well. I halved it and steamed it (with a quarter lemon and the other half of the garlic clove), and pulled it just before it was done. Then I tossed it on the grill over high heat for about 7-10 minutes. Yes, this is an extra step, but it imparts this lovely smokiness to the sweetness of the choke. In my family, we always eat our artichokes with melted butter mixed with lemon juice and a bit of garlic clove added for flavor. Yum! At this point, I just want to say that for all those who think you just can’t get full eating rabbit food? You’re so, so wrong. After finishing off the feast above, it was time for my sweats with the elastic waist.
Friday night we went out with friends after work for appetizers and beer. When I got home, I knew that I needed to eat something with some protein, but I really didn’t want to cook a whole big meal. I recalled having some left-over roasted asparagus, so I decided to make a very quick and easy egg tart. (Some people might call this a frittata, or an omelet. But to me, these kinds of dishes will always be egg tarts.)
So, over medium heat I melted a half teaspoon of butter and tossed in a small minced shallot. I then added 4 or so of the trumpet mushrooms (diced) and a drizzle of olive oil and some salt and pepper. Once the mushrooms had released their liquid, I added in two eggs beaten with a dollop of half and half. I cooked until the eggs were beginning to firm up (a minute, maybe two) and then added in the left over asparagus which was still fairly crispy. I smooshed the spears down into the eggs and put the whole thing in a 400 degree oven for about 5-7 minutes, or until the eggs were completely firm. Then I added a layer of cheddar, put it back in the oven for 3-4 minutes, and pulled it out. I was light and fluffy and gorgeous. A totally delicious meal in less than 20 minutes. Now that’s my kind of eats! The mushrooms really loved the shallot and gave off a wonderful meaty flavor, and the asparagus imparted an almost smokiness to the dish due to little bit of caramelizing that occurred during roasting. Contrast that with the sharp tang of the cheddar and this became a dish that made me go back for seconds.
Lastly, I made a roasted vegetable pasta primavera with store-bought green olive pesto and goat cheese (in case you missed it, I love goat cheese).
For this, I simply tossed some veggies (cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, asparagus, mushrooms) with some olive oil and a bit of shallot and garlic. Roasted at 400 for about 10 minutes, and then tossed that with pesto and pasta, and topped with the goat cheese. Again, a very quick and easy meal in about 30 minutes. (Sorry, no photos of this one!). I find this is a great way to use up veggies that are about to go south on you, just as egg tarts are a great way to use up leftover veggies.
So, there you have it: what’s for dinner, farmer’s market style. So. What’s cookin’ at your house?