bay leaves

Summer Salads Some Aren't- Grilled Radicchio Wedge Salad with Lentils, Honey & Spiced Walnuts

26 Aug 2011
grilled radicchio wedge salad

My week long series on Summer Salads marches on. Today I have a grilled salad. A grilled wedge salad. Afterall, it's summer.

Now I like a wedge salad. I even like a wedge salad with good old-fashioned iceberg lettuce. I really do. I don't understand why it gets such a bad rap.

But just because I like the classic wedge salad doesn't mean I can't play around with it some. Because I like fresh takes on the familiar. This Grilled Radicchio Wedge Salad with Lentils, Honey & Spiced Walnuts is just that. A fresh take on the familiar wedge salad. But it didn't start that way. I set out to make a lentil salad with chopped radicchio in it. But I made a wrong turn. That's what I like about wrong turns. They always lead somewhere unexpected.

But before I get too far along here I better bring up the obvious. Radicchio is a terrific vegetable. But many people don't really care for the particular brand of bitter that radicchio sports. So a lot of these folks end their relationship with it right there. But really, grilled radicchio is a whole other taste. Sure it's bitter. But it's a better bitter.

Now if my entire goal today was to introduce you to grilled radicchio then I would have simply advised that you grill it on each side, then sprinkle it with salt and fresh lemon. It would have made a fun, piping-hot alternative to a wedge salad.

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Grilled Radicchio Wedge Salad with Lentils, Honey & Spiced Walnuts

grilled radicchio wedge salad
By jgreghenry Published August 22, 2011
Prep time: 30
Yield:1 (Servings)

Ingredients:

  • 0.5 c honey
  • 0.25 t alpeppo pepper (or other type chili powder)
  • 0.5 t tummeric
  • 0 salt & pepper, as needed
  • 0.5 c walnuts, broken in large pieces
  • 1 c puy lentils
  • 0.25 t crushed red pepper flakes
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 T olive oil
  • 2 T red wine vinegar, plus more for drizzling
  • 1 head radicchio, left whole
  • 0 pecorino romano, shaved into thin shards, to taste

Directions

Prepare the walnuts: Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. In a bowl combine, honey, alpeppo pepper, tumeric and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Stir until well incorporated. Pour half the honey mixture into a new bowl and set aside for the lentils.

Add the walnuts to the remaining honey and mix to coat the nuts well. Spread the nuts onto a parchment lined baking sheet in as close to a single layer as possible. Bake the nuts 15-20 minutes, stirring once halfway through, until crunchy but still sticky. Set aside.

Prepare the lentils: Add the lentils to a medium saucepan, cover with about 2 inches of water, add the crushed red pepper flakes and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer uncovered 15-20 minutes, until tender but not yet mushy. Drain the lentils and return them to the pan. Discard bay leaves.

In a small bowl whisk together the reserved honey mixture, olive oil, vinegar, a pinch each of salt & pepper until the honey dissolves. Stir the mixture into the lentils while they are still hot, then set aside covered in a warm place.

Grill the radicchio: Heat the grill or grill pan to medium-high (indirect heat). Cut the whole radicchio head into 8 wedges. Brush the grates or the grill pan with a little olive oil. Grill, cut side down, about 3 minutes per side. Remove from heat and sprinkle with a little salt & pepper to taste.

Arrange 2 wedges per person on 4 plates. Set a large spoonful of lentils alongside the wedges. Garnish with reserved nuts, shaved pecorino romano and a drizzle of vinegar. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Source: The flavor combination was inspired by Yotam Ottolenghi

You are Never Too Busy for Spring Lamb Soup with Dandelion

16 Mar 2011
Spring Lamb Soup

I turn to soup when things start to get out of hand. In this case lamb soup with dandelion. It’s an unusual choice, I know. Not many people turn to soup in times of great stress.

Or do they?

You know how I know things are getting out of hand. Well this tasty lamb soup was supposed to have been navarin d'agneau, a French stew traditionally served at spring’s first blush.

I can’t say what’s going on where you live. But spring is blushing out all over here in Los Angeles. Some people wait for that crazy ground hog to announce the change of season, but I turn to another harbinger. The turnip. As soon as those tiny, perfect little turnips poke their fat butts out of their hole in the ground. I know that spring has sprung. Because followed closely behind adorable little turnips, come the tiniest of new carrots and the very best parsnips of the season. Not to mention thin skinned new potatoes and peas; fresh English peas. I don’t know about you, but I look at a list of ingredients like that and I think navarin d'agneau. I really do!

But how did I get from Spring Lamb Stew to stress induced lamb soup?

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Lamb Soup with Dandelion Greens

Lamb Soup with Dandelion Greens
By jgreghenry Published March 15, 2011
Prep time: 150
Yield:1 ()

Ingredients:

  • 3 lb lamb shanks
  • 4 c water
  • 4 c chicken stock
  • 1 T fresh oregano leaves
  • 1 t salt, plus more as needed
  • 1 t dried oregano
  • 0.5 t dried marjoram
  • 1 large onion, cut into bite size pieces
  • 3 big fistfuls of dandelion greens
  • 2 bay leaves, whole
  • 0.25 t freshly cracked black pepper
  • 3 carrots, sliced crosswise into bite pieces
  • 2 stalks celery, sliced crosswise into bite sized pieces
  • 0 grated parmesan as needed

Directions

In a large Dutch oven combine lamb shanks, water, stock, bay leaves, dried oregano, dried marjoram, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil then reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours or until meat very tender and falling off the bone. Remove lamb shanks from the broth. When cool enough to handle, remove meat from bones. Discard bones. Coarsely chop meat. Strain broth, discarding solids. Skim fat from broth. Return broth to Dutch Oven. Stir in chopped meat, carrots, celery and onion. Return to boiling, reduce heat. Simmer, covered, about 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Stir in fresh oregano, and dandelion greens. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes more or just until greens wilt. Ladle soup into individual bowls and sprinkle each serving with Parmesan cheese.

Notes:

serves 8

Classic Spaghetti and Meatballs, Now That's (Not Really) Italian

21 Jan 2011
Spaghetti and meatballs

Spaghetti and Meatballs, now that’s Italian!

How many times have you heard that phrase? Well, probably fewer than you think. Because Spaghetti and Meatballs is not an authentic Italian dish, it’s an American adaptation. I’d even go as far as saying it’s an American adaptation developed as a reaction to the socio-economic forces experienced by a wave of Italian American immigrants in the late 19th century. Now that’s a mighty tall order for such a soothingly classic style of American comfort food.

But really, who cares where it’s from anyway? Some of my favorite “Italian” restaurant specialties aren’t typically found in Italy. Things like Baked Ziti, Pasta and Broccoli, Pasta Primavera, and Fettuccine Alfredo were all developed here and became popular not only on dining tables but as reflections of family traditions too.

Now I may not care where these Italian American specialties developed, but I am interested in why they developed.

Italian families 3 or 4 generations ago cooked up Spaghetti and Meatballs. It probably had its origins in several baked Neapolitan pasta dishes served at religious festivals. Because at that tumultuous time of Italy’s history (they were fighting over the concept of unifying all the regions of Italy into a republic) meat was costly. So these special occasion dishes used meatballs the size of walnuts as opposed to the egg-sized versions we are used to in America.

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