This recipe comes from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. I made it over the weekend when some friends came over to dinner. I think they and Mike thought I was a little crazy when I told them I was feeding them kidney beans with pears. But they’re good friends, so they tried it anyway. It was a hit! So here is the recipe for you to enjoy.

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 shallots, minced
• 3 pears, cubed
• 2 15-ounce cans kidney beans, drained
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped (or heaping 1/2 teaspoon dried)
• sea salt and freshly cracked pepper

1. Heat the oil in  a large skillet over medium heat. Add the shallots and pears. Cook for about 5 minutes, until just starting to brown.
2. Add the wine and thyme. Bring to a boil and allow most of the wine to cook off.
3. Add the kidney beans and a generous sprinkle of salt and pepper. Cook for a few minutes more until the beans are heated through. Serve.

(Serves 4)

I used Asian pears because I love their crunch. I used one can of dark red beans and one can of light red just to add a little variety.

The grocery store had purple potatoes the other day. As you know by now, if there is a food that’s not the “normal” color, I have no choice but to purchase it. This led to a fun incident tonight in which, while Mike is chopping vegetables, I hear a sudden intake of breathe.  I assume Mike sliced his finger. Nope, just startled by the purple insides. Heh. Much better than bloody finger(s) to deal with while we’re trying to prepare dinner. I laughed at him and dinner making continued. We ended up with this tasty dish.

• 2 cups cubed carrots
• 2 cups cubed turnips
• 2 cups cubed potatoes
• 1 cup cubed onion
• vegetable oil (for drizzling)
• sea salt
• freshly cracker pepper

For the horseradish sauce:

• 1 egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon water
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2-4 tablespoons prepared horseradish

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Combine the carrots, turnips, potatoes and onions in a large roasting pan. Drizzle with oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Roast until vegetables are tender and starting to brown along the edges, about 1 hour.
3. Meanwhile, combine the yolk, lemon juice, water and salt in a large bowl. Whisk together. While continuing to whisk, add in a few drops of oil, then a few more, to start the emulsion. Add the remaining oil in a slow, steady stream. When all the oil has been added, stir in the horseradish.
4. Once the vegetables are ready, serve, drizzled with horseradish sauce.

(Serves 2-3)

Obviously, purple potatoes are not required to make the dish. But if  you can find them, they certainly make the dish more colorful.

The horseradish sauce is really mayonnaise with horseradish added. When you’ve first made the mayonnaise it should be thick enough to cling to the whisk. After the horseradish is added it thins out and is more pourable. I provided a range for the amount of horseradish to add since that will depend on how much you like horseradish and how “spicy” your particular horseradish is. Unless you really douse the vegetables you’ll have leftover sauce. To make less you’d have to start using part of an egg yolk, and that seemed silly. So save the rest and think up other dishes that horseradish could accompany.

You know it’s fall when the roasted squash recipes appear. I made this a couple weeks ago to bring to a friend’s “Autumn Fest.” Basically, I started with my recipe for roasted squash and pears and added some other ingredients to make a more substantial dish.

• 2 small delicata squash, cubed
• 4 anjou pears, cubed
• 3 small red onions, cut into eighths
• 3 well-packed cups of torn kale
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 2/3 cup wild rice
• 1/3 cup brown rice
• 1/3 cup red rice
• 3 cups water
• walnut oil, for drizzling
• freshly cracked pepper
• sea salt

Dressing

• 5 tablespoons walnut oil
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon honey

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Mix the squash, pears, and onions in a casserole dish or roasting pan. Drizzle lightly with oil, season with salt and pepper, and toss to coat. Roast in the oven for about one hour and fifteen minutes. Scrap and mix about halfway through the cooking time. The edges should be just beginning to brown.
3. Meanwhile, combine the rice and water in a pot. Bring the water to a boil; then cover and reduce to a simmer.
4. Make the dressing by whisking all the ingredients together; set aside.
5. Add the kale to the rice pot when about 5 minutes are left on the pears and squash.
6. Mix the rice/kale and pear/squash mixtures in a large bowl or serving platter. Add the dried cranberries and dressing. Toss to coat. Adjust salt and pepper and serve.

(Serves 6-8)

I used the delicata squash and anjou pears, mainly because that’s what looked best at the store. If you decide to give the recipe a go, I would worry more about produce that looks good rather than making sure to have the exact same type of produce.

You don’t necessarily have to use the same proportions of rice, but for the timing to work make sure to stick with unmilled rice. You could make the recipe with white rice but make sure to adjust the cooking time down as white rice cooks in much less time.

Mike declared this one of his favorites foods that I’ve made up for the blog, so I guess you could say he recommends it.

I made this last week when we had some friends over for dinner. I liked it enough that I decided to make it again.

• 3/4 pound green beans
• 3 1/2 cups cooked cannellini beans
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
• zest and juice of 1 lemon
• freshly cracked pepper
• sea salt

1. Blanch and shock the green beans. (For reference: Bring a small pot of water to boil. Salt well. Have a large bowl with ice cubes and water nearby. Once water is boiling, add the green beans. Cook just long enough to take the raw edge off, 1-1.5 minutes. The green beans should be bright green. Drain, then plunge the beans into the ice bath to stop the cooking. Drain again once they are cooled.)
2. Trim and chop the green beans into half inch segments.
3. In a large bowl mix the green beans, cannellini beans, and parsley. Zest and juice the lemon over the top. Add a large pinch of salt and lots of freshly cracked pepper. Mix well. Chill for an hour before serving.

(Serves 6)

You can serve the salad immediately, but I felt the flavor was better after the salad was chilled a bit.

The food blogosphere has been full of spring risotto recipes for weeks now: risotto with ramps, risotto with peas, risotto with asparagus. And they all sound delicious. However, as I pointed out in my previous soup post, it’s hasn’t been that warm around here. I haven’t seen any peas or ramps at the store. Our produce boxes have steadily included apples and hearty greens though. So I made risotto with what I had.

I’ve mentioned before that I dislike store-bought veggie broth. I didn’t have any homemade broth either. So I made some up on the spot which I’ve included in the recipe.

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small white onion, diced
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
• 3/4 cup hard apple cider
• 4 1/2 cups mushroom broth (see below)
• 2 large leaves of kale, de-stemmed and chopped
• 1 small apple, chopped
• 1 tablespoon butter
• sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, and crushed red pepper

For the broth:

• 1/2 cup hard apple cider
• 4 cups water
• 1 ounce of dried shitake mushrooms
• 1 teaspoon cracked peppercorns
• large pinch of sea salt
• 1 sprig of fresh rosemary

1. Combine all the ingredients for the broth in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cover and let simmer for at least 15 minutes. Keep the broth over low heat while making the risotto.
2. When ready to start the risotto, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
3. Add the onions and garlic and cook for a few minutes until the onions are translucent.
4. Add the rice, cook for 1 or 2 minutes, stirring so that the rice gets coated in oil.
5. Add the hard cider, continue stirring until the cider is absorbed, another minute or two.
6. Add the broth a ladleful at a time. Stir frequently. Once the broth is absorbed add another ladle. Continue until all the broth has been used.
7. When the broth is mostly used, remove the shitakes and allow to cool. When cool enough to touch, slice.
8. After all the broth has been absorbed, stir in the kale, apples, shitakes, and butter. Season with salt and peppers. Cook for a few minutes until the butter is melted, the kale is wilted, and the apples are heated through. Serve.

(Serves 6)

You certainly can use pre-made vegetable or mushroom broth if you have either. I’d use the same technique and soak the shitakes while the broth is being warmed. Or you could leave the mushrooms out entirely, since their purpose was to flavor the broth.

Obviously I veered from typical risotto making by using hard cider in place of white wine. The apple flavor was pretty subtle. Wine would certainly work if you can’t track down (or don’t feel like tracking down) hard cider.

This recipe has a fairly high ratio of veggies/fruit to rice. That’s considered good in my book, but others may think it distracts from the creaminess of the risotto. If that is you, you may want to scale back on the kale, apples, or mushrooms.

Tonight we had some cabbage that needed to be used ASAP. On one hand, it’s never fun to have that pressure to use up food–perhaps I shouldn’t say never, some people probably love it. On the other hand it was nice because I could use that as an excuse to get Mike to eat a meal made mainly of cabbage.

• 4 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 4 scallions, diced
• 6 cups shredded cabbage
• 4 eggs
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon wheat-free soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• freshly cracked pepper
• sesame seed oil (to garnish)

1. Heat half of the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Beat the eggs with 1 teaspoon of soy sauce.
2. Add egg/soy sauce to the pan. Swirl the pan and allow the egg to set. Once the bottom is set, scrape underneath the egg and lift it up, allowing any uncooked egg to run underneath. Break egg into large chunks and flip, allowing the other side to cook.
3. Once the egg is cooked, remove from the pan and slice into bite-sized strips.
4. Turn the heat to high and add the remaining vegetable oil. Once the oil is hot, add the scallions. Cook for about one minute, then add the cabbage. Season with pepper and add the remaining soy sauce and rice vinegar. Mix well.
5. After another minute or so add the eggs and allow them to heat through. Serve with a drizzle of sesame seed oil over the top.

(Serves 4)

If you don’t want to be fussy about your eggs, you can scramble them instead.

Mike admitted that he was skeptical about the dish but did end up enjoying it. Score one for Kalinda.

Ask most people for a good summer salad using fresh mozzarella and they’ll probably tell you Insalata Caprese: tomatoes, fresh basil, mozzarella, olive oil. That’s fine and all, unless you are like me and you don’t like raw tomatoes. I offer melon, mint, mozzarella as an alternative.

We received a honeydew in our produce box this week. I remembered a cantaloupe and bocconcini salad from Martha Stewart’s Everday Food: Great Food Fast cookbook (which is a lovely cookbook, but full of meat and wheat so I don’t frequently use it anymore) I always wanted to try. This is my variation.

• 1 ripe honeydew, cubed
• 7 ounces bocconcini or ~1 cup cubed fresh mozzarella
• half a lemon
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh mint
• sea salt
• freshly cracked pepper

1. Combine honeydew, cheese, and mint in a large bowl. Squeeze lemon over the top. Season with salt and pepper. Toss and serve immediately.

(Serves 4)

We are lacking in the melon baller department, but if you have one, balls work just as well as cubes.

Here’s the first recipe to result from our produce box. Included were a mango and cherry tomatoes, making salsa seem the obvious choice. After a quick trip to the store for a few extra ingredients (it’s actually nice outside now!) we were in business.

• 1 mango, chopped
• 2 avocados, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, quartered
• half a small red onion, diced
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
• juice of 6 small limes
• 1 15-ounce can of black beans
• sea salt
• freshly cracked pepper

1. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl and gently toss to combine. Salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.

(Makes a lot, bring it to a party

I know 6 limes sounds like a lot, but the limes at our store are small and aren’t the juiciest. If you have big juicy limes at your lime purveyor you can cut back. For extra zing you could zest one of the limes into the salsa. We also used a fork to try and scrap out the pulp.

I actually eighthed my tomatoes but I figured most people would think that’s a bit too much work so quarters are called for in the recipe. It’s up to you how chunky you want your salsa.

The salsa was pretty mild. If you’re the type of person who likes your mouth on fire feel free to leave the seeds in the jalapeno or switch to a pepper with more bite.

As mentioned in the recipe, be gentle when you stir so that the avocados don’t end up as mush.

And finally, while this recipe is named Mango Avocado Black Bean Salsa–and it is great with chips–it could just as easily be called Mango Avocado Black Bean Salad and served as a side dish. It’s healthier for you that way too.

This is part of an experiment to get Mike to like green beans. He did eat them, although I don’t think I have him converted.

• 1 pound green beans, trimmed and washed
• 1 medium onion, sliced into half moons
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 heaping tablespoon miso paste
• freshly cracked pepper

1. Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large frying pan. Add the onions and cook for a few minutes until onions start to brown.
2. Add the green beans and a generous amount of pepper. Stir. Add the water, cover with a tightly fitting lid, and reduce the heat to medium low.
3. Cook, stirring once or twice, for about 20-25 minutes.
4. Once the green beans are done, stir the miso paste into the pan juices. Mix well. Adjust seasoning as needed and serve.

(Serves 4)

I used red miso but you can use darker or lighter to suit your taste.

This recipe takes a little forethought since the beets are roasted. But once that’s done, it’s a snap to put together.

• 2 small beets
• balsamic vinegar
• walnut oil
• zest of one small orange
• 1/4 cup almonds, roughly chopped
• freshly cracked pepper
• sea salt

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Scrub the beets well to remove dirt; there is no need to dry them. Wrap the beets in aluminum foil. (You can wrap them together.) Roast for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
2. Cut the top and bottom off of the beets. Slice into discs, slice each disc into sticks, then slice the sticks in half.
3. In a bowl, mix the beets with the orange zest, a splash of oil, and a splash of vinegar. Add a pinch of salt and some pepper and toss well. Divide between four plates and serve topped with the chopped almonds.

(Serves 4)

Take care when unwrapping the beets. There will be juice, and it stains. I’d advise you to unwrap them over the cutting board you’ll be using.

I know the proportions for the dressing are a bit vague. I figured I’d leave it open-ended, and people can add as much or as little as they like. My salad had more like a drizzle of oil and a couple glugs of vinegar. I’m quite sure other people would find that too strong. So like you’ve heard many times before, adjust to taste.