Christine's Recipe For Brown Rice Medley Pilaf With Apples, Walnuts and Pomegranate Seeds

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I love the Brown Rice Medley from Trader Joes; a combination of parboiled long grain brown rice, black barley and daikon radish seeds that give a nice pop when cooked.

Inspired by the shallots and apples at our local farmers market, I'd already made this pilaf several weeks ago and thought it pretty darned tasty. Then I received a gift from my friend Erika and took it a step further, adding walnuts and sweetly tart pomegranate seeds, not only imparting greater depth of flavor but also kicking up the nutrition factor - pomegranates being very high in antioxidants and walnuts giving up a walloping dose of Omega-3 fatty acids.

(Serving suggestion)

Because I avoid eating wheat, I won't be having traditional bread stuffing this Thanksgiving. But I won't feel at all deprived because this delicious, easy-to-make pilaf will be on the table.

Brown Rice Medley Pilaf with Apples, Walnuts & Pomegranate Seeds
Christine's original recipe
Ingredients:
1 and 1/4 cups Brown Rice Medley, or your favorite rice
2 and 1/2 cups chicken stock, organic if store bought but your own home made is best
1 medium sweet onion, finely chopped
2 tart green apples such as Granny Smith, cored, seeded and chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
1 stalk celery, cut in half or quarters lengthwise and cut crosswise into 1/4-inch pieces
2 teaspoons fresh thyme, finely chopped
olive oil and butter for the pan
kosher salt and freshly ground black peppercorns
2/3 cup walnut pieces
1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
Preparation:

Cook the rice in the chicken stock in a rice cooker until done according to the manufacturers directions. The rice will be somewhat moist. Keep warm.

Sauté the onions in about 1 teaspoon each olive oil and unsalted butter until they are golden and soft. Add the apple, celery, and chopped thyme and sauté until they are softly cooked, adding more olive oil and butter if needed to prevent sticking.

Toss the sauté mixture with the rice then season with kosher salt and black pepper to taste. Add the walnuts and pomegranate seeds. Toss until blended.

May be made a day or two ahead, refrigerated.

Reheat, covered, in a 300-degree oven for 30 minutes to serve.

Cook's Notes:

Fresh chopped herbs like sage, marjoram, parsley or celery leaves can be added to the onions, apples and celery as they are sautéing.

Trader Joes did not ask for my endorsement of their product (I just like it) nor have they offered me any promotional renumeration.

Copyright © 2005-2009, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

Sautéed Chard Stalks With Sweet Peppers And Yacón

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Ever heard of Yacón? Neither had I until a few weeks ago. Farmers market supplier, Jacques Neukom had a display of what looked like potatoes, or maybe a new strain of Jerusalem artichoke, it was hard to tell. As it turns out, they were tubers that grow high in the Andes Mountains of Peru and are distantly related to sunflowers.

Botanically named Smallanthus sonchifolius, Yacón has a taste that's a bit like a crunchy sunchoke or a water chestnut, with a wonderfully juicy sweetness. It can be eaten raw, sautéed in stir fries, or roasted with other root vegetables. Because this Yacón is grown organically and locally, we're going to use it as a substitute for water chestnuts in this year's Thanksgiving stuffing. A colorful dish like the one offered here wouldn't be a bad idea either.

The sugars in Yacón seem to have a low impact on diabetics and studies are currently underway to determine just what the long term health benefits may be and how the food industry might capitalize on these low glycemic sugars.

For now, I'm happy to put them into stir fries, such as this offering of rainbow chard stalks, a mix of homegrown peppers, farmers market onion and garlic. A little kosher salt, a small amount of freshly ground black pepper, and a sprinkle or two of golden balsamic vinegar finishes this dish. No further embellishments needed.

Remember when I admonished you to not toss out your chard stalks? With good reason. First, what a great waste! Second, chard is listed as one of the world's healthiest foods and its stalks are very, very good for you as well, and they are in season right now. So, c'mon, put a little green, yellow, pink, red and orange in your life and on your plate.

Christine's Stir Fried Chard Stalks with Peppers and Yacón
Christine's original recipe
Ingredients:
22 rainbow chard stalks, ends trimmed, cut crosswise into 1-inch pieces
4-5 garden peppers of any sweet kind, chopped (You can throw in a jalapeno if that suits you)
2 medium Yacón tubers, peeled and diced
1 medium onion, medium dice
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
Olive oil for the pan
Preparation:
Heat the oil in a heavy skillet over medium high. Add the minced garlic and onions and saute until softened.

Add the peppers and chard stalks and saute for about 3 minutes more.

Add the Yacón, stirring it into the rest of the vegetables, reduce the heat to medium low and allow to cook until everything is nicely tender, about 10 minutes more.

Don't overcook or you will loose the beautiful colors.

Season to taste with kosher salt and a few grindings of black pepper and serve.

Fast, simple, local, organic, healthy. What more could you ask for?

Copyright © 2005-2008, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

Barley Chevre Pilaf With Basil And Tomatoes

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Barley. Organically grown, hull-less, red winter barley. Grown about 12 miles from my kitchen, it cooks up into sturdy, fat, chewy (not gooey), delicious kernels of high-fiber goodness. I'm very excited about this. Due to the "gooey" factor, I'd not been overly fond of barley in the past. But that's all changed. These nutty, brown grains are highly addictive and I admit to being hooked. And then, of course, there's the fact that whole grains are really good for you and barley is a noted World's Healthiest Food.

So here is my barley offering, the first of many, made sometime during the past month when I was on hiatus. Do give yourself plenty of time to soak the grains before beginning the recipe.

Barley Chevre Pilaf with Basil and Tomatoes
Christine's original recipe

Ingredients:
1 cup uncooked hull-less, winter barley (preferrably organically grown)
water for soaking
2 1/2 cups water for cooking
2 tablespoons roasted walnut oil
1 tablespoon golden balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons finely chopped basil (green and purple)
2 ounces good chevre
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
freshly ground black pepper
Campari tomatoes

Preparation:

Put the uncooked barley into a large metal pot and cover with cold water. Give it a stir and skim off any hulls that float to the top. (It's called hull-less, but there will be a few strays that managed to stick around.)

Let the barley soak for about 8 hours then rinse well.

Return barley to the rinsed pot, cover with 2 1/2 cups of water and bring to a boil on high heat.

Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until the water has been absorbed and the barley is just tender and chewy, about 50 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat, stir to separate the grains and pour into a ceramic bowl or casserole dish.

While the grains are still warm, gently stir in the oil, vinegar, herbs and cheese. Adjust the seasonings with the fresh lemon juice and some freshly ground black pepper.

To serve: On a serving plate, make a ring of sliced tomatoes, slightly overlapping each other, leaving a space in the center of the plate. Mound the pilaf in the center of the plate and garnish with a sprig of basil.

Cook's Notes:

My friend Simona wrote an article about our local organic grain farmer, Kevin, and his grain CSA, which you can read here.

Pilafs I have known generally have more vegetables in them. I would encourage you to add vegetables of your choosing to this recipe, at will. As I will.

Copyright © 2005-2008, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

Heart Healthy Lentil Vegetable Soup

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I've got to be quick about this as I'm late for the roundup at Heart of the Matter. Brought to us by Joanna, Ilva, and Michelle, this great blog offers up healthy, low fat, good-for-you recipes from bloggers around the world. Our mission for HotM 11 was to come up with a heart healthy soup. Joanna will have the roundup posted in the next few days so be sure to visit. I know there will be some fantastic recipes there that you'll want to try for yourselves.

Lentils, one of the world's healthiest foods, celeriac, sunchokes, carrots, celery, rutabagas, onions, garlic and Meyer lemon juice for some pizazz. Fabulously healthy ingredients all gently cooked together in a vegetable stock. What more could you want on a cold winter's day? A hint of olive oil is used to sauté the onions and garlic, otherwise there is no added fat. The combined tastes of all the vegetables is so good that I didn't even add herbs - just a touch of kosher salt.

As you can see in this photo, I added some local canned albacore, a slice of whole wheat walnut bread, and topped the dish with grated parmesan but these can easily be left out without sacrificing taste. In fact if you left out the tuna and the cheese, this would be perfect for vegan friends and family.

So let's get to it. This recipe is easy as pie: You count the ingredients in the photo above and use that much for a very large pot of soup. Cut the amount in half and you will still have enough for two plus leftovers for your workday lunch.

Heart Healthy Lentil Vegetable Soup

Christine's original recipe
Ingredients:
6 Celery stalks with some leaves, sliced thin
4 Rutabagas, peeled and cut into chunks
4-6 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 large celeriac, peeled and cut into chunks
5 or so sunchokes, peeled and sliced
1 onion, peeled and chopped
4-6 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped fine
1-2 teaspoons olive oil for the pan
3 quarts good, organic vegetable stock
1 heaping cup lentils, washed and picked through for debris
1 can gourmet canned albacore tuna (optional)
juice from 2 Meyer lemons
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
shavings of parmesan cheese (optional)
Preparation:
Have a heavy skillet and a large soup pot on the stove.
Put the soup pot on a back burner, put in the vegetable stock and bring it to a simmer, covered.
Heat the olive oil in the skillet over medium heat and sauté the onions until they are soft. Add the garlic and sauté a few minutes more until the aromas come up and they are softly cooked then add them to
the vegetable stock.
Add the lentils to the stock and cook for about 15 minutes until beginning to soften.
Add the rest of the prepared vegetables to the stock and bring to a simmer. Allow to everything to cook gently until all the vegetables are tender and the lentils are done.
Add the Meyer lemon juice then the kosher salt and pepper to taste

To your good health!

Copyright © 2005-2008, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

Cocoa Spice Encrusted Seared Wahoo

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The very same wonderful neighbors who grow our lamb every year and often bring us fresh-caught crab are also known to go on a fishing trip or two after which they share the bounty of their catch with us. Yes I do know how lucky we are.

Last summer neighbor Chris went on such a trip to Baja and brought back a number of different kinds of tuna. In the bunch that he shared with us was this loin of Wahoo, a relative of the King Mackerel. While this fish is not in the tuna family, you could've fooled me: It looked like a tuna, seared like a tuna and tasted delicously like a tuna only really, really juicy. All the fish caught on Chris' trip were loined and flash-frozen on-site making this the freshest thawed fish I've ever tasted.

Michael Chiarello's NapaStyle Cocoa Spice Rub was the perfect base for the thick coating on the loin. The spice rub has cardamom in it so I embellished it with more cardamom and extra salt to bring out the flavors. You don't have to try to find a loin of Wahoo to make this dish; albacore or yellow-fin tuna would work just fine.

Seared Wahoo with Cocoa Spice Rub
Christine's original recipe
(print recipe)
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons NapaStyle Cocoa Spice Rub
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon fine Kosher salt
1 loin of Wahoo or tuna
2 teaspoons olive oil for the pan
1 teaspoon butter for the pan
Preparation:

Grind the spice rub, cardamom and salt in a mortar and pestle until it becomes a very fine powder.

Pat the loin dry with paper towels and then roll in the spice mixture, coating the fish entirely. Use up all the spice powder by patting it on with your fingers to make a thick coating.

Place the oil and butter in a heavy skillet over high heat.

When the butter has melted, add the coated loin and sear quickly, turning the loin with tongs until all the loin is seared and browned.

You can serve the loin at this point if you like your fish very rare. Otherwise, place the pan in a hot (400 degree) oven for 2 more minutes to cook the fish a little longer. The center will still be rare.

Remove the loin to a cutting board and allow it to rest for 2-3 minutes then slice it into rounds with a very sharp knife.

Serve with steamed green beans tossed with a small amount of butter and a sprinkling of toasted chopped pecans.

Copyright © 2005-2008, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

Peach Blackberry Crumble - At The Heart Of The Matter

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Joanna and Ilva at Heart of the Matter are focusing on fruits and berries this month and do I have a dish for them.

Berries, peaches, pecans, almonds, white whole wheat flour , a touch of sugar (or, in my case, Splenda), cinnamon, and Earth Balance instead of butter - all organic, all so good for you, all combined in one glorious little crumble.

Have it for breakfast with Greek yogurt. Have it for dessert with... Greek yogurt. Or have it with afternoon tea just as it is. It's delicious, it's healthy, and it's soooo satisfying.

Peach Blackberry Crumble

Christine's Original Recipe

Ingredients:

For the fruit filling,

3 organic yellow peaches, cut into chunks

3 to 4 cup blackberries - organic and wild-picked, if you can get them

1/4 cup Splenda (or sugar, if you prefer)

2 tablespoons white whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon lemon juice, if the fruit is overly sweet

For the topping,

2/3 cup toasted pecans, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup toasted almonds, coarsely chopped

2/3 cup quick-cooking rolled oats

3 tablespoons white whole wheat flour (optional)

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/3 cup Splenda-Brown Sugar Blend (or regular brown sugar if you prefer)

small pinch kosher salt

1/3 cup (or less) Earth Balance Buttery Stick (EB), cut into small pieces (see Cook's Notes)

Preparation:

Spray a 6"x9" ceramic dish with Pam or other cooking spray. Set aside.

Have your oven at 350 degrees.

For the fruit filling, combine the flour, sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.

Prepare the fruit and combine in a large bowl, adding the lemon juice if desired.

Sprinkle the flour-sugar mixture over the fruit and gently toss to combine. Set aside.

For the topping, chop the nuts then add the rest of the dry ingredients and blend well.

Add the EB pieces to the crumble mixture. Using your fingers and working quickly, blend the EB into the dry mixture by pinching between your fingers until the EB is fully incorporated into the crumble and about the size of small peas.

Pour the fruit into the prepared dish then sprinkle the topping over the fruit, covering it entirely.

Bake in the oven for about 1 hour or until the fruit bubbles to the top.

When done, remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature.

Cook's Notes:

I'm a lucky cook in that there are two kinds of blackberries that grow wild on our property (a mixed blessing to be sure) and they're all coming ripe as I write this. According to the web site World's Healthiest Foods, Blackberries are highest in phytonutrients and antioxidants that promote heart health.

Earth Balance Buttery Sticks are a trans-fat free, non-GMO, cholesterol-free butter substitute that uses expeller-pressed oils and no hydrogenation. A healthier choice than butter, I will often use this product, judiciously because it's still fat, especially in baked goods.

As I've been writing this I've received several phone calls, one of which was from a friend from long ago who is in our area and will be coming for dinner tomorrow. Excitedly talking to Mr CC (also on the phone) about tomorrow's surprise visitor and possible dinner offerings, I began idly leafing through the September issue of Food and Wine, turned a page and saw an almost identical recipe for blackberry and apple crumble with nut topping. Mr CC said, "See, you're cutting edge." Well, maybe. I think it's the season.

Be sure to visit The Heart of the Matter after Sept. 23rd to see the fruit and berry roundup of delicious dishes from food bloggers 'round the globe.

Copyright © 2005-2007, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

Heart Smart Summer Squashes: Two Ways

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With organic produce sparkling fresh from the farmers market, the more simply prepared the better is my approach. Let those sun-drenched flavors shine.

I've dished these up for Joanna and Ilva's HOTM4, a blog event devoted to heart-healthy recipes. Vegetables are the star of this month's event which will be posted on The Heart of the Matter after June 22nd.

I love vegetables. I love them roasted, grilled, sauteed, steamed and raw. The only way I don't like them is boiled. Both of these dishes were sauteed in heart-healthy extra virgin olive oil. No butter, no cheese. Blah, you say? No way! Fresh oregano and marjoram from my garden, some cloves of the coveted, local Claudia's garlic , and you've got a tasty and delicious feast fit for even the most finicky of dinner guests. All that, and your heart will go pitter-patter, in a good way.

Zucchini and Sunburst Squash Sauteed with Garlic and Herbs

Christine's original recipe

Ingredients:

6 or so summer squashes (depending on size), mixed varieties such as zucchini, sunburst or pattypan, cut into bite-sized pieces

4 cloves fresh, organic garlic, minced

2 heaping tablespoons minced fresh oregano and marjoram

kosher salt and freshly ground peppercorn medley to taste

extra virgin olive oil for the pan

Preparation:

Heat 2-3 teaspoons olive oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat.

Add the cut up squashes and saute until beginning to soften.

Add the minced garlic, stirring so they don't stick to the bottom of the pan, and cook until the squash is just soft to the bite.

Add the fresh minced herbs and give a quick stir, allowing them to heat briefly, about 45 seconds.

Remove from the heat and season with the kosher salt and generous grindings of peppercorn medley. Serve immediately.

MMMMM. More veggies. Here I've used the last of the summer squashes from my trip to the farmers market last Saturday along with more of Claudia's garlic, which I simply cannot get enough of. Crisp white corn, red bells and protein-rich edamame from our local Co-op all helped to make this a heart- healthy and very satisfying platter of goodness.

A Medley of Squash, Red Bell Peppers, Corn, Edamame, Garlic and Herbs

Christine's original recipe

Ingredients:

1/2 to 1/3 cup chopped sweet onion

3 large cloves very fresh garlic, minced

3 ears fresh white corn, shucked and cut from the cob

6 small summer squash, such as sunburst, round zucchini, and pattypan

1 cup fresh or frozen edamame (green soy beans)

1 large red bell pepper, stem and veins removed, cut into 1-inch dice

2 tablespoon minced fresh oregano

kosher salt

freshly ground black peppercorns

extra virgin olive oil for the pan

Preparation:

Begin with the onions in a heavy skillet laced with about 2 teaspoons of olive oil and set over medium-low heat. Let the onions soften without burning, 4- 6 minutes.

Add the red bell pepper and give a stir. Saute about 2 minutes or until softened.

Add the edamame and stir to blend.

Add the minced garlic and a bit more olive oil if needed to keep things from sticking to the pan.

Cook gently until the edamame has softened. You can cover the pan if you wish and you can add a splash of white wine also, but not too much. (I didn't add the wine although I think it would be just fine to do so.)

Add the squash, stir and cook for about 2 minutes.

Add the corn kernels and the oregano and stir to heat through.

When it all looks done to your liking, remove from the heat and season with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.

I'm looking forward to Joanna and Ilva's next Heart of the Matter challenge for July. Take a peek at the recipes that have been submitted to date.

Copyright © 2005-2007, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

Marrow Beans In Garlic, Olive Oil, Lemon And Oregano

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Another bean post. This time 'round I've cooked up the Marrow beans that I recently bought from Rancho Gordo's in Napa, California. In my last post about his beans, I forgot to tell you that Steve Sando, and his beans, may be found, fondled (yes!) and purchased Saturday mornings at the San Francisco Ferry Building farmers market.

And just in case Steve reads this and thinks I'm vying to be chosen to test recipes from his up coming book, Heirloom Beans: Recipes from Rancho Gordo, yes, I am. I didn't start out to, honest, but once I started posting about his beans, the idea did occur to me. I may as well be honest about it, right?

Lusciously creamy with a light taste that can take on the flavors of what it's paired with, in this case, extra-virgin olive oil, fresh lemon juice, garlic and fresh oregano, this bean will keep its shape after cooking yet can be mashed into a light and fluffy spread for crackers or artisan bread.

I cooked the beans without bay leaves this time; just clean, fresh water after a 6-hour soaking. After they were cooked for about 45 minutes, I drained them (saving the cooking liquid) and allowed them to come to room temperature.

For this dish, I heated extra-virgin olive oil in a skillet then added a fresh bay leaf that had been torn in half and allowed to permeate the hot olive oil for about 5 minutes. After fishing the bay leaf parts out, I gently sauteed minced garlic in the olive oil. Fresh lemon juice, a bit of salt, freshly chopped oregano and some of the cooking liquid rounded out the ingredients. The beans were then tossed with this mixture and I've got to say, the combination was delightful.

Marrow Beans in Garlic, Olive Oil, Lemon and Oregano
Christine's original recipe
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups Rancho Gordo dry Marrow beans soaked and then cooked in fresh, cold water
For each 1 1/2 cups of cooked beans:
1 fresh bay leaf, torn in half
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4-5 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 tablespoon (or more to taste) fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon fresh oregano, finely chopped
1-2 tablespoons bean cooking liquid
kosher salt to taste
Preparation:

Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium low heat. Add the torn bay leaf and allow to cook for 5 minutes. Keep the heat low so the oil does not smoke.

Remove the bay leaf pieces from the skillet and add the minced garlic, cooking until just fragrant and slightly golden, about 2 minutes.

Off the heat, pour the skillet contents over about 1 1/2 cups of the cooked beans, tossing gently. Add the lemon and the bean cooking liquid, 1 tablespoon at a time until the consistency you desire.

Gently stir in the chopped oregano and season with the kosher salt.

Serve warm or at room temperature along side your main dinner dish, or with crackers as an appetizer.

Dare I enter two bean posts, back to back, to Weekend Herb Blogging? Since I'm going to be gone this weekend, and this will be my only post until next week, yes is the answer. Back with our fearless originator this week, the wonderful Kalyn will post her round-up on Sunday. Be sure to check it out! Want to join in the fun? Click here to see how it's done.

Copyright © 2005-2007, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

Confetti Coleslaw

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I know summer is not far off when I begin thinking about making coleslaw. Once I make it, I'm doomed. I could eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Come to think of it, I have. And as a snack in between. There's something about the combination of fresh crisp cabbage, sweet carrots and this incredible buttermilk dressing that I can't seem to get enough of.

The inspiration for the dressing comes from Kalyn's Buttermilk Dressing that she used on her coleslaw last summer. I've made a few changes to suit my whimsy, but the credit really goes to Kalyn.

Confetti Coleslaw

Inspired by Kalyn's Buttermilk Dressing

Ingredients:

Slaw

1 medium head green cabbage

1 medium head red cabbage

6 carrots

1 cup (heaping) frozen peas per bowl of slaw

1 cup lightly toasted pecan pieces

Dressing

1 cup buttermilk

2 cups Vegenaise

3 tablespoons cider vinegar

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon wasabi powder

3/4 teaspoon celery salt

3/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

pinch kosher salt

1 packet Splenda

Preparation:

For the dressing, combine all the ingredients in a large glass measuring cup and whisk until blended. Taste and adjust seasonings and refrigerate until ready to use. This will keep in the fridge for several days, covered.

For the slaw, remove any limp outer leaves from the cabbages, slice them in half and cut out the core. Cut the coreless cabbages into wedges small enough to fit through the feed tube of a food processor. Fit the food processor with a slicing blade and process all the cabbage, emptying the contents into a large bowl when necessary.

Peel the carrots and snip the ends. Fit the grating blade into the food processor and push the carrots through the feed tube until they've all been grated.

Combine the carrots and the cabbages and mix well.

This makes a lot of slaw so I package about half of it into a gallon-size zip top bag and put it in the crisper of the fridge to use later. It will keep this way for about 4 days.

Toss about 1 1/2 cups of the dressing with 1/2 of the cole slaw. Chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours in a sealed container, turning it from time to time to evenly distribute the dressing. About 1/2 hour before serving, add a cupful of frozen peas and toss well to mix. The peas will have defrosted by the time the salad is served. Lightly toasted pecans, added just before serving adds a nutty crunch factor. Too bad my pecan container was empty this time!

Cook's Notes:

Vegenaise. Bless the Follow Your Heart people for coming up with a mayonnaise substitute that tastes wonderful! Made without eggs, you'd think it would taste just awful but it doesn't. I prefer it to mayonnaise now and am delighted that it's full of good omega 3's. Check their site out for yourself.

Copyright © 2005-2007, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

A Mother Of A Bean

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Up until recently, I'd never been much of a bean person. I actually can't remember my mother ever cooking a pot of beans. Maybe that's where my indifference came from.

Not that I've never cooked beans before. In the 70s and early 80s when I decided to be vegetarian and Molly Katzen came out with the Moosewood Cookbook, I made her Black Bean Soup a lot. Over the years, though, my bean cooking had fallen off to just short of never.

These days, however, with all the attention on getting one's fiber, eating more whole grains, beans, etc., I've re-examined my ho-hum attitude toward the lowly bean.

Did you know that beans are a high fiber, complex carbohydrate, low glycemic food that are high in B vitamins and many minerals? Or that Beans have been shown to lower cholesterol, prevent diabetes, and lower the risk of colon cancer when eaten as part of a regular diet regimen? Neither did I until I did some research.

And if health factors alone were not enough to get me on the bean wagon, discovering Rancho Gordo has also helped to renew my interest. Steve Sando is so enthusiastic about his beans he practically could make a convert out of anybody. Including me. Here is my most recent purchase of a trio of beans from the man himself: Good Mother Stallard, Black Valentine and Marrow.

These beans are clean, people! No dust, no rocks. And I found just one bean that wasn't absolutely perfect. How many of you can say that about your store-bought beans?

Firmly on that bean wagon now, this morning I began with the Good Mother Stallard: A swirl of purplish burgundy on a creamy background encases this sturdy, plump bean which holds its shape even after cooking. The taste is nutty and earthy, the mouthfeel creamy and smooth. This is a bean to dress simply so its lovely flavor and texture are not muddled. And please don't throw out the cooking liquid. It's pure gold.

Cooked with fresh (or dried) bay leaves (I'm so lucky to have a bay tree growing outside my kitchen door!) and a covering of cold water, the finished beans needed nothing more than a drizzle of olive oil, some lemon zest and a sprinkling of Maldon Sea Salt to make my eyes light up and my tongue do its happy dance.

A quick rinse under cold water and these were ready to soak. A 6-hour soak was all they needed.

They cooked to a perfect consistency in less than 1 hour.

There's no particular recipe here. I simply did the following:
Rinse the dry beans under cold water.
Place them in a large pot and cover with cold, fresh water. Throw in 3 fresh or dried bay leaves. DO NOT salt the water. This will retard the cooking of the beans and you'll end up with hard rocks. Ditto on using stock. Just use plain, cold water and you'll be rewarded.

Place the pot over high heat and bring to a boil. When a boil is reached, lower the flame to maintain a simmer, on my stove, that was low.

Allow the beans to simmer until they've reached the consistency you desire. These were well cooked in just under 1 hour. In fact, I may have overcooked them just a teeny bit.

Remove the pan from the heat and drain the beans, saving the pot liquid! The liquid these beans make, in and of itself, is worth it. Use the liquid for soups, stews, or to add back into the beans if you wish.

Discard the bay leaves.

To achieve the finished dish (photo at top of page), drizzle beans with good, extra-virgin olive oil, a teaspoon of fresh lemon zest (go ahead, squirt in some juice if you want) and a sprinkling of good sea salt. Serve warm or at room temperature.

This is my entry for Weekend Herb Blogging. My post is not really about an herb per se, but WHB includes plants, veggies, and fruits as well. Plus, I'm so excited about beans, I simply must share.

Weekend Herb Blogging is the brainchild of my blogger buddy Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen and is being hosted this week by Ellie of Kitchen Wench, way down in Australia. To read about WHB and how to join in, please click here. Ellie should have her round-up posted on Monday. I can't wait to read all the entries!

Copyright © 2005-2007, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

Campari Tomatoes: Good For Breakfast

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Just a few weeks ago I could walk into my local Safeway and pick up any number of boxes of small-but-mighty, juicy, sweet Campari tomatoes. I discovered the taste of these babies some time ago and knew they were exemplary grocery store tomatoes. No cardboard taste here. I also knew that not many people knew what I knew.

Now, thanks to Ruth Reichl, who wrote about them in May 3rd's Gourmet Weekly, I'm lucky to find a mere box or two. And there's always someone else eyeing the very boxes that I'm eyeing.

Lucky for me, this time I got to them first. And no one was hurt.

This time.

These are US grown, pesticide-free tomatoes. Packed with antioxidents, they'll do your heart good. If the news hasn't hit your area yet, get down to the grocery store and pick up as many boxes as you can carry. Then run for your life.

Campari tomatoes are perfect on a BLT (until, of course, the heirlooms come in), in a fresh tomato sauce, or with your scrambled egg breakfast.

Bon Appetit!

Copyright © 2005-2007, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

The Way I Roast Garlic

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My boys love roasted garlic. When they're in my kitchen, they can hardly wait for the garlic to come out of the oven before they start picking the soft caramelized, succulent cloves from their skins. Didn't used to be that way. They had to grow a bit, develop a keener sense of taste. But now, if Mr CC and I want some garlic for ourselves when the boys are around, I have to be sure to roast a lot and even then there's no guarantee.

So this post is for my boys: The way I roast garlic. Make your own! Just kidding.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Take several heads of garlic and, using your fingers, peel the skins away to where they're just covering the cloves and keeping the heads together.

Laying a head on its side, cut the tops of the cloves off with a sharp knife. Trim the tips from the lower cloves with a small sharp knife.

Place the head in a small, lidded casserole and drizzle generously with olive oil.

Sprinkle with kosher salt, cover with the lid and roast in the oven for about 45 minutes or until golden brown and soft.

To make enough for a crowd. Follow the above directions and place the prepared heads in a large baking pan that has been drizzled with olive oil.

Continue with more olive oil and kosher salt then cover the pan tightly with foil and roast per the above directions.

Another very nice way to do the for-a-crowd method is to lay herbs in the bottom of the pan and place the garlic heads on top of them. I've used sage, rosemary, thyme and bay leaves. You can use your imagination. Just be sure to use hardy herbs as soft ones will burn in the oven.

Cook's Notes:

The sweet little garlic roaster came to us as a gift from our friend Luis. It's made in Mexico.

I'm going to be gone for a few days. The sisters and nieces are meeting in Colorado for our annual Hornitas-fest. I'll tell you about it when I return.

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