Remember This One in July

My ardent interest in Super Natural Cooking continues, this time with a buckwheat noodle salad called Otsu. In Japanese, otsu means something "strange, quaint, stylish, chic, spicy, witty, tasty or romantic." Although that's hardly a specific definition, it actually does a pretty good job of summing up this dish. There's a nice interplay of hot and cool, with a fiery dressing (made from lemon zest, lemon juice, ginger, honey, cayenne, rice vinegar and soy sauce) tempered by refreshing cucumbers, scallions and pan-seared tofu. And, as author Heidi Swanson writes, "Unlike many pasta recipes that leave you feeling weighed down and sluggish, this one makes for a healthy, invigorating, and energizing meal that will quickly become a favorite." I agree: as the recipe makes a substantial amount of food, I wound up eating this for lunch a few days, and can report that eating a portion of it sitting on a bench in the park at 1:00 did not result in me slumped over my desk back at the office at 3:00.

A few notes on the recipe: cooking the tofu until it is browned takes some time. Be patient, because it's worth the extra minutes to get the tofu a slightly crispy crust. Also, the recipe calls for shoyu sauce in the dressing. I substituted soy sauce, and while I know it's not the same (shoyo is apparently more complex), it turned out fine. I also used regular rice vinegar (my bottle doesn't say if it's made with white or brown rice). Again, things tasted great.

I'm keeping this recipe in my file, for sure. I have a feeling it'll come in very handy on steamy summer days, when I want something "strange, quaint, stylish, chic, spicy, witty, tasty or romantic" but just don't feel like eating a hot dog.--S

Otsu

Dressing
Grated zest of 1 lemon
Fresh ginger, cut into a 1-inch cube, peeled, and grated
1 T honey
3/4 t cayenne
3/4 t fine-grain sea salt
1 T freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 c unseasoned brown-rice vinegar
1/3 c shoyu sauce
2 T extra-virgin olive oil
2 T toasted sesame oil

Salad
12 oz. dried soba noodles
12 oz. extra-firm nigari tofu
1/4 c chopped fresh cilantro
3 green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cucumber, peeled, cut in half lengthwise, seeded, and thinly sliced
1 small handful of cilantro sprigs, for garnish
1/4 c toasted sesame seeds, for garnish

1. Make the dressing by combining the zest, ginger, honey, cayenne, and salt in a food processor (or use a hand blender) and process until smooth. Add the lemon juice, rice vinegar, and shoyu, and pulse to combine. With the machine running, drizzle in the oils.
2. Cook the soba in plenty of rapidly boiling salted water just until tender, then drain and rinse under cold running water.
3. While the pasta is cooking, drain the tofu, pat it dry, and cut it into rectangles roughly the size of your thumb (½ inch thick and 1 inch long). Cook the tofu in a dry nonstick (or well-seasoned) skillet over medium-high heat for a few minutes, until the pieces are browned on one side. Toss gently once or twice, then continue cooking for another minute or so, until the tofu is firm, golden, and bouncy.
4. In a large mixing bowl, combine the soba, the ¼ cup cilantro, the green onions, cucumber, and about ⅔ cup of the dressing. Toss until well combined. Add the tofu and toss again gently. Serve on a platter, garnished with the cilantro sprigs and the toasted sesame seeds.

Recipe courtesy of Super Natural Cooking

Beans, Beans, the Magical Fruit

This morning at the market, I picked up two varieties of snap beans I'd never tried before: Purple King and Dragon's Tongue. How could I resist such names? Not to mention their gorgeous colors?

The Purple King beans are essentially deep-purple colored string beans, but their insides are green. The contrast is striking and beautiful. And the Dragon Tongue beans are creamy white with bright purple streaks on the pods--apparently resembling giant lizards' tongues. The pods are as long as a typical green bean yet wider and flatter. Their insides are white.

I showcased these colorful gems in a Shredded Green Beans dish from Heidi Swanson's lovely Super Natural Cooking. I altered the recipe somewhat, substituting basil--from my personal supplier--for chives, and plugging in those awesomely-named beans for green beans. Sadly, the purple color of both beans faded somewhat in cooking, even though they were only on the heat for two minutes, but they still tasted fantastic: fresh, snappy, and I think the Dragon's Tongues even had a tiny little kick to them. I love this recipe because it's so simple, yet seems innovative because you slice the beans thinly, on an angle. They look so chic and un-bean-like.

I also threw together SJR's uncooked tomato sauce (from her comment on the Eat Local post), boiled some penne, and enjoyed a light summer meal that was heavy on flavor--and color.--S

Shredded Green Beans

3/4 lb green and/or yellow beans [or whatever varieties you'd like], tops and tails trimmed
2 T extra-virgin olive oil
2 T water
Grated zest of 1 large lemon
Grated zest of 1 lime
1/4 c chopped fresh chives [or other herb]
Fine-grain sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Slice the beans on a diagonal into roughly 1/8-in. pieces. If you are using a food processor, do them a handful at a time. Either way, the result should be tiny, angular zeroes.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the beans and stir until coated with oil, then add the water. Cover and cook 2 or 3 minutes, until the beans are brightly colored and tender; give the pan a good shake midway through to ensure even cooking.
3. Remove from the heat and stir in the zests and half of the chives. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve garnished with the remaining chives.

Serves 4

Recipe courtesy of Super Natural Cooking

Healthy Comfort

It's a rainy night in New York City. I'm hungry, but since Fork is at band practice, I don't feel like cooking a big ol' dinner for one. Yet I want something healthy, as my diet today mainly consisted of two granola bars, a muffin and some leftover ravioli (all tasty, yet lacking in the fresh vegetable department). So I turned to a recipe I'd tried once before, that had turned out well but left me with a few thoughts a la "next time I make this...."

And tonight, I nailed it. I love the recipe's name: Giant Crusty and Creamy White Beans with Greens. It's from Heidi Swanson's Super Natural Cooking, a book I rave about often. You sautee large white beans in olive oil, letting them sit long enough to brown, so they become golden and a little crunchy on the outside, and soft and creamy on the inside. You add some garlic and onion, and then you stir in fresh greens--kale, tonight--until they wilt. Top the dish with some freshly grated Parmesan, a smattering of hot pepper flakes, and you've got yourself a meal.

This time, I made sure to use truly "giant" beans. Last time I'd used cannellini, and they just didn't hold up to the sauteeing as well. I also julienned the kale instead of roughly chopping it, which made it a little softer but still nowhere near overdone. And against Heidi's advice, I used canned beans--butter beans, to be exact--instead of dried ones that I'd previously soaked and simmered for hours. I wanted to eat this dish tonight. And it turned out fine. Next time you want a fast, healthy, comforting dish, I highly recommend this keeper.--S

Giant Crusty and Creamy White Beans with Greens

Serves 6 to 8 as a side dish, 3 or 4 as a main course

1/2 lb. medium or large dried white beans, cooked [I think canned work fine. I used butter beans, but you can also use giant corona beans or cellini beans]
3 T clarified butter or olive oil
Fine-grain sea salt
1 onion, coarsely chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
6 or 7 big leaves chard, preferably rainbow chard, leaves cut into wide ribbons and 1 or 2 stems cut into 1/2-in. pieces [I used kale]
Freshly ground black peppper
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, for topping

1. Drain the beans, then heat the butter over medium-high heat in the widest skillet you've got. Add the beans to the hot pan in a single layer. If you don't have a big-enough skillet, just do the saute step in two batches or save the extra beans for another use. Stir to coat the beans with butter, then let them sit long enough to brown on one side, about 3-4 min., before turning to brown the other side, also about 3-4 min. The beans should be golden and a bit crunchy on the outside and soft and creamy on the inside. Salt to taste.
2. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 1-2 min., until the onion softens.
3. Stir in the chard and cook until just beginning to wilt.
4. Remove from the heat and season to taste with a generous dose of salt & pepper. Drizzle with a bit of top-quality extra-virgin olive oil, and sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan.

Recipe courtesy of Super Natural Cooking

Super Power

Go ahead and roll your eyes: I made my own granola bars. Do-It-Yourself Power Bars, actually. I need to find something to do with my time now that I'm in the dreaded taper period of marathon training. And while I'll gladly tear into a PowerBar after an 18-mile run, the fact remains: they taste like crap.

Not so for these delicious homemade treats. The recipe is from Heidi Swanson's beautiful Super Natural Cooking, and calls for tasty ingredients like dried cranberries, toasted walnuts and candied ginger. The method is easy and similar to making granola. You stir together all the dry ingredients, simmer the liquid ones, and then mix the two.

I will not be making my own Gatorade or knitting my own running socks anytime soon, but could somebody hand me one of these DIY Power Bars somewhere along 1st Avenue?--S

Do-It-Yourself Power Bars

1 T coconut oil (I used grapeseed oil; it's just to grease the pan)
1 1/4 c rolled oats
1 1/4 c walnuts (toasted and chopped)
1/2 c oat bran
1 1/2 c crisped brown rice cereal
1 c dried cranberries, coarsely chopped
3 T finely chopped crystallized ginger
1 c brown rice syrup
1/4 c unrefined cane sugar
1 t pure vanilla extract
1/2 t fine grain sea salt

1. Grease a 9" x 13" baking pan with the oil (I used an 8" x 8" pan so I'd have thicker bars).
2. In a bowl gather the next seven dry ingredients.
3. In a small saucepan stir together the remaining ingredients over a medium heat until they start to bubble and boil and thicken slightly (about 4 min.).
4. Pour the hot liquid in with the dry ingredients and mix until they are fully coated in the syrup.
5. Press down the mixture in the baking pan and leave to cool. (I coated a spatula with nonstick spray to pat down the mixture because it's very sticky.)
6. Cut into bars before serving

Recipe courtesy of Super Natural Cooking

This Is Not Chocolate Cake

But it sure does look like it, doesn't it? There's not a bit of chocolate in this Sticky Teff-Kissed Spice Loaf. The dark color comes from blackstrap molasses, super-thick and bittersweet. I love this cake. I've made it a few times and each time it's a winner. Sweet but not overly so, and a little spicy, thanks to ground ginger, cinnamon, allspice and cloves, plus some fresh grated ginger. The other secret ingredient is teff flour, a very nutritious whole grain flour. Compared to other grains, teff has a much larger percentage of bran and germ so it's a very good source of dietary fiber, protein and iron. Of course, I probably counteract all the health benefits but eating the cake with a dollop of fresh whipped cream on top.

The recipe makes two loaves, so I shared one from this recent batch with my friend Deena. Make some for you and a friend today.--S

Sticky Teff-Kissed Spice Loaves

2 c whole-wheat pastry flour
1 c brown teff flour
1 1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t fine-grain sea salt
2 t ground ginger
1 T ground cinnamon
1/2 t ground allspice
1/4 t ground cloves
1 c unsalted butter
1/2 c water
3/4 c blackstrap molasses
3/4 c honey
1 c natural cane sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 c milk
1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
Freshly whipped cream, for topping

1. Preheat the oven to 325 and position the racks in the middle of the oven. Butter and flour two 8x4-in. loaf pans, tapping out any extra flour.
2. Combine the flours, baking soda, salt, ground ginger, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves and whisk to combine.
3. Combine the butter, water, molasses, honey, and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, until well-blended. Pour into a large bowl and let cool until it isn't hot on your tongue when you're sneaking a taste. Whisk in the eggs one at a time and then the milk. Switch to a rubber spatula and fold in the dry ingredients in 3 increments. You might have a few lumps, but resist overmixing. Fold in the grated ginger.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until loosely set in the center. Don't overbake or you'll lose much of the signature stickiness. Let cool in the pan. Slice and serve with a big dollop of whipped cream.

NB: These cakes keep beautifully in the refrigerator for up to a week. They also freeze well double-bagged in plastic with the air pressed out.

Recipe courtesy of Super Natural Cooking

Inside Out

Fresh off a day at Yankee Stadium (beer, hot dog, popcorn, you know the drill) and my first long-ish run in awhile (9 miles), I thought my body deserved a healthy meal tonight. Who else to turn to but Heidi Swanson? Fork was off to Brooklyn for dinner with a band mate; a burger was in his future. I knew he'd snicker when I told him the kind of burger I was planning on for my meal: Sprouted Garbanzo Burger. So I spared myself the snickering and told him to have fun with his beef burger.

This recipe is the result of Heidi's experiments to come up with a new kind of bean or lentil burger, since often when you put one of those kinds of burgers on a bun, the burger as a whole is too dry and bready, with too much doughiness and not enough snap, crackle and pop. So she turned the patty into a bun and stuffed that with the good stuff.

You make a hummus-like spread out of chickpeas, eggs and some salt, and then mix that with chopped cilantro, chopped onion, lemon zest, micro sprouts (I used a blend of onion, radish, clover and cabbage sprouts) and whole-grain breadcrumbs. You form this batter into patties and brown them on each side. Slice open, and a burger is born. I filled mine with sliced avocado, more sprouts and a sprinkling of smoky Spanish paprika. Yum.--S

Sprouted Garbanzo Burgers

2 1/2 c sprouted garbanzo beans (chickpeas) OR canned garbanzos, drained and rinsed
4 large eggs
1/2 t fine-grain sea salt
1/3 c chopped fresh cilantro
1 onion, chopped
Grated zest of one large lemon
1 c micro sprouts, chopped
1 c toasted (whole-grain) bread crumbs
1 T extra-virgin olive oil

1. If you are using sprouted garbanzos, steam them until just tender, about 10 minutes. If using canned beans, so jump right in and combine the garbanzos, eggs, and salt in a food processor. Puree until the mixture is the consistency of a very thick, slightly chunky hummus.
2. Pour into a mixing bowl and stir in the cilantro, onion, zest, and sprouts. Add the breadcrumbs, stir, and let sit for a couple of minutes so the crumbs can absorb some of the moisture. At this point, you should have a moist mixture that you can easily form into twelve 1 1/2-inch-thick patties. I err on the moist side here, because it makes for a nicely textured burger. You can always add more bread crumbs a bit at a time to firm up the dough if need be. Conversely, a bit of water or more egg can be used to moisten the batter.
3. Heat the oil in a heavy skillet over medium low, add 4 patties, cover, and cook for 7 to 10 minutes, until the bottoms begin to brown. Turn up the heat if there is no browning after 10 minutes. Flip the patties and cook the second side for 7 minutes, or until golden. Remove from the skillet and cool on a wire rack while you cook the remaining patties. Carefully cut each patty in half, insert your favorite fillings, and enjoy immediately.

Makes 12 mini burgers.

Recipe courtesy of Super Natural Cooking