The first time I made this, it was simply a variation on black bean and corn salad which also included watermelon because I had a little bit which needed to go. The watermelon worked so stunningly well in the recipe, adding crisp freshness while totally absorbing the flavors of it, that I decided it was more important than the corn.

This works very well if you have bits of watermelon that are not up to par for eating because they’re insufficiently sweet or have been hanging around in the fridge long enough that they’ve picked up too many other flavors to be eaten plain. Or, if you’re just sick of eating watermelon, but it’s not gone yet.

Black Bean & Watermelon Salad

2 cans (about 3 cups) black beans, drained and rinsed
1-2 cups watermelon, small dice
1/2 med. red onion, small dice (about 1 cup)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cajun spice blend*
2 Tblsp. lemon or lime juice
1 avocado, diced
1/2 chipotle pepper, minced + ~1/2 tsp of the adobo from the pepper can.
couple of cranks of black pepper
(fresh cilantro to taste)

Throw all this in a bowl and mix ‘er up. Best if it gets a chance to ripen in the fridge for a few hours.

*About my cajun spice blend: I first made this for making jambalaya and catfish, but I cannot speak to the authenticity of it. Regardless, I use it for so many things and have remade it several times since. I should figure out the proportions of stuffs and post it but here’s what it includes: black pepper, cumin, fennel seed, thyme, smoked paprika, smoked salt, garlic powder, and red pepper flakes.

I’ve been sick since the weekend, living on mostly brothy soup, tea, toast, and orange juice for several days now. Tonight, I made this risotto along with pan-fried cod, breaded with cracker crumb, tarragon and smoked paprika, and topped with lemon-butter sauce, and asparagus sauteed with lemon, black pepper and salt. I suspect this meal would have tasted pretty good even if I had eaten a proper meal since Saturday, but this tasted amazing.

About the rest of the meal I’ve probably told you as much as you need to know (though comment if you’d like to know more), but this risotto was the centerpiece as much as anything. It was a beautiful sweet, smooth foil to the sharpness of the lemon in the other two parts, and was delectibly sweet entirely due to the beet and onion, sauteed together at the beginning.

Sweet Beet Risotto

1/2 med. beet, washed and grated
1/2 med-large onion, diced
1 Tblsp. butter (or oil, if you want it vegan)
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp dried tarragon
1 cup arborio rice
1 1/2 c water
1 1/2 c stock (pref. mushroom stock)
2 Tblsp. parmesan cheese (optional)
(salt and pepper to taste)

Melt the butter (or heat oil) in a large saucepan over med-high heat. Add the grated beet, diced onion, and salt. Stir occasionally until the onion starts to be noticeably cooked and it starts to smell sweet. Add the tarragon and the rice. Stir this around a little before adding the water and stock. Turn down to med-low heat and stir occasionally to make sure it’s not sticking to the pot (as risotto is wont to do). When the liquid is mostly absorbed, leaving a creamy, tender risotto (30-40 minutes), add the parmesan cheese, check seasoning, and add salt and pepper to taste.

Variation: I actually used a little porcini mushroom powder in this, but I don’t expect most people to have that lying around. If you have a little whole or ground porcini to throw in, awesome, but I doubt there’ll be a gaping hole without it. It’s probably more essential if you’re not adding cheese or mushroom stock, but you can be creative, too.

For a long time, I thought I didn’t like brussels sprouts. When I was about 20, I had them not steamed or boiled to death for the first time, and it was a revelation; sauteed briefly with fresh garlic, salt, pepper, and dressed with lemon and olive oil, they were crisp, lightly sweet and had a pleasant light mustardy tang.

This is what I did tonight and I’ve had trouble not picking at them since.

Nearly Irresistible Brussels Sprouts

~1/2 lb brussels sprouts, rinsed and halved
1/4 red onion, med. dice
1-2 tsp olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 Tblsp. dark beer (I threw in a swig of the Brooklyn Brewery Black Chocolate Stout I’ve been hoarding)
1-2 Tblsp. turkey stock (came from a well-brined turkey, so the stock has a fair amount of salt)
1-2 tsp balsamic vinegar
a whole bunch of fresh-ground black pepper
few pinches smoked sea salt

I heat up a big cast iron skillet over high heat and added the olive oil. When the oil was hot, threw in the onion and stirred it around until it started to get a little color and a little soft. Threw in the the garlic and the sprouts and tossed those around a bit. Added the beer and stock and covered for 3-5 minutes. Added the vinegar, pepper and salt and commenced picking.

It’d be easy enough to leave out the turkey stock and either use a little more beer or water and salt it a little more, but I’ve been loving this turkey stock I made. Really, nothing about the cheap post-Thanksgiving turkey Maria and I got has been anything but awesome. We’re really getting our $10 worth on this one.

I made dinner for over 200 people on Friday as part of the community dinner series in the town where I grew up. On the menu: mixed greens with dried cranberry, toasted walnut, and cider-ginger vinaigrette; mushroom soup; winter squash risotto; and apple crisp. Unfortunately, we weren’t expecting more than 200, so the 5 gallons of soup I made weren’t sufficient.

The mushroom soup garnered the most recipe requests and is delightfully simple: it mostly relies on a LOT of mushrooms. And a little butter. Here’s a home-sized version.

Let the Mushrooms Speak Soup

2 Tablespoon butter
1 medium onion, diced (~1 cup)
1 cup diced carrot (about 3, depending on size)
1 pound mushrooms, sliced (these usually come in 8 or 10 oz. packages – I used roughly half and half baby bella and white mushrooms)
4-6 dried shiitake mushrooms (Asian market!)
6-8 cups broth of your choice (I used a concentrated mushroom base on Friday, but made it at home with veggie broth well)
1 or 2 teaspoons paprika (optional – smoked paprika is awesome if you have it)
salt and pepper to taste

Special Equipment: Food Processor, Blender, or Hand Blender. If you don’t have a blender or similar, you can just cut the ingredients very finely. It won’t be perfectly smooth, but I kinda like it that way.

Soak the shiitake in 1-2 cups of water. The best way to do this is to bring it to a boil in a small, covered pot, then turn it off, leaving the lid on. Do this before you even start chopping the vegetables. The more time these have to soak, the better.

Melt the butter in your soup pot over medium heat and throw in the carrots and onions.

Let the carrots and onions get a little soft before throwing in the mushrooms (except the shiitake).
Add a teaspoon or so of salt. The mushrooms will cook down quite a lot, and release a lot of rather delightful smelling liquid.

Take the shiitake out of their soaking liquid and add the liquid to the pot. Squeeze out the shiitake over the pot, then chop them up some.

Take the cooked onion/carrot/mushroom and stick it in the blender or food processor (or take a hand blender to it). It does not need to be perfectly smooth, unless that’s what you want.

Return this to the pot and add the stock. Add paprika, if using it, and adjust seasoning to taste.

Let simmer for at least 5 minutes, preferably longer, before serving.

This recipe bears some resemblance to German Baked Pancake or Pfannkuchen recipes, which was what I was aiming for this morning (well, mostly I was aiming for a tasty excuse to turn the oven on to take the edge off the chill without wimping out and turning on the heat). However, this came out rather different than the Pfannkuchen that I’ve had before – not better or worse, just differently awesome – very light and spongy. Plus it capitalizes on the fact that we’re swimming in apple season right now. It hasn’t gotten old yet.

Also, this recipe is remarkable because it represents my sister and I equally contributing to the creation of a recipe without feeling the need to squash each other for territorial reasons.

Baked Apple Pancake

Preheat oven to 400 F

Dry Mix:
1/2 cup flour
3 T sugar (+ 1 T for dusting)
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon (+1/4 tsp for dusting)
3/4 med apple (about 1/2 lb apple – I used a Cortland)

Wet Mix:
2 T apple cider
2 T plain yogurt
1 whole egg+

Whip to stiff peaks
3 egg whites+

+We often have spare egg whites hanging around. You can get away with 3 whole eggs, separated. Mix the yolks in with the wet mix and whip the whites separately. You could even try it with just 2 eggs.

Combine wet and dry mix, then fold in the egg whites.
Melt 1 T butter in a 9” cast iron skillet, then pour in the batter and spread out evenly. I arranged 6 slices of apple on top, then popped it in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until it got toasty-brown on top and a toothpick came out of the center clean.

We turned it out onto a plate (and bless my seasoned cast-iron, it slid right out), and dusted it with cinnamon sugar.

It tasted a little like a warm cider donut…Oh yes.

For the last week or so it’s been the same: I make a pot of this with the intention of eating it for several days’ lunch, take some to work, come home, and my sister’s come home from work and eaten the rest of it for her lunch.

At some point, I thought I’d be bright and double the recipe. But then we both ate it for dinner as well, and I still had to make more the next day. Good thing the ingredients are cheap as chaff.

Khichari

This is the double recipe, in case you also have a hungry sister or roommate in some other form. Should make about 3-4 meals, depending on how well you can resist picking at it while it’s sitting there, tempting you, singing its little Bollywood siren song.

Nom-aste. (Wow, that was bad.)

1 cup yellow mung dal or red lentils (masoor dal)+
1 cup rice++
3-4 cups water
1 tsp. salt (maybe a little more at the end. Mmm…salt)
1/2 – 1 tsp. turmeric.
1/2 tsp cumin (whole or ground)
1 tsp. garam masala
1 tsp red pepper flakes (1/2 tsp if you’re heat-shy – I like spicy)

Put the dal and rice in large saucepan and rinse 3 or 4 times in plenty of water. Add water to cover plus another inch or two (should be about 3-4 cups). Put on the stove, cover and turn on high heat until it comes to a boil. Then turn down to low heat and cook for about 20 minutes, until all the water is absorbed (test – might need a little more water).

+Both of these are available at almost any Asian grocery. Otherwise, red lentils are often found in the Latin/Goya section of the supermarket.
++I usually use jasmine rice, but any white rice will do. You can also use brown, but the cooking time will be a little different.

Khichari (also khichdi, khichri, khichdee, khichadi, khichuri) is a South Asian specialty from the collection of third world comfort food that packs a nutritious wallop (dal + rice = complete, lowfat protein and fiber) for super cheap. It’s pleasantly mushy, salty, and lightly spicy in an apparently irresistible way. Also, high in Vitamin Y (for yellow and yum).

From this base, you can embellish in many simple ways. I’ve tried and liked (most of which could be combined with each other):
-cubing sweet potato and throwing it in at the beginning with the
lentils and rice (also adds a nice hit of Vitamin A)
-chopping up tomatoes and onions and sauteeing them with some cumin
seeds, salt, and a hint of sugar (rather traditional)
-mixing in pesto (rather less traditional, but quite tasty)
-wilting spinach on top (I sometimes put raw spinach in the container
for lunch and let it wilt when I reheat it – this way it doesn’t
get too overcooked)
-Cilantro. Cilantro. Cilantro. Why don’t I have any? (also traditional)

At the risk of tooting my own horn, I’m a pretty damn good cook. And, moreover, I’m creative about it. I used to work in food professionally, but I find doing it at home allows me to like it more, plus the whole endeavor ends up being generally healthier for me from a variety of viewpoints.

So, last night I made ravioli filled with onion, apple, hot sausage, blue cheese, ricotta and sage, tossed with olive oil, toasted pecans, more fresh sage and blue cheese, and then drizzled with honey (recipe forthcoming). I really wanted to share it with others. Rather fabulous concoctions like this occur on a semi-regular basis, and then usually forget about them. I’d really like to have as much documentation as possible so that I can recreate them, and also so I can tell others how to make them. I often want to put together cookbooks to give away as gifts, and the task of writing up all the recipes is overly daunting. This way, I’ll have a bank of written up recipes, and, incidentally, so will you.

If you try any of them, let me know how they work out.

To start, here’s a ridiculously tasty and simple recipe for the ice cream maker:

Coconut Sorbet (vegan!)

makes 1 quart sorbet
2 cans coconut milk
3/4 cup sugar
1 medallion palm/coconut sugar (or 1/4 cup plain sugar)

Special equipment: ice-cream maker

Note about palm/coconut sugar : Found at most Asian markets and often used in SE Asian cooking, it will give this a warmer flavor. If you can get it and have interest in playing with SE Asian flavors, it’s a good one to have around.

Pour 1 can coconut milk and sugar in a saucepan and turn on medium-medium high heat. I often chop up the compressed palm sugar a bit so it dissolves more quickly. The goal here is mostly to dissolve the sugar. Once it’s well dissolved, turn the heat off and add the other can of coconut. Once the whole thing has an even consistency, chill to at least room temp before putting in ice cream maker. Freeze according to ice cream maker’s instructions.