Alton Brown's Parsley Salad

You won't believe how good this simple salad tastes! Alton Brown is the man! Here's his recipe.

Ingredients:

4 oz (about 2 quarts) parsley leaves

2 tbsp fresh lemon zest

2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

6 tbsp walnut oil (Adrienne's note: This stuff is expensive, so I just diced and toasted some walnuts and infused some olive oil with them)

2 tsp dark sesame oil

1 tsp honey

salt and pepper to taste

3 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Directions:

Wash and dry the parsley. Pick the leaves and set aside. Discard the stems.

In a large bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, zest, walnut oil, sesame oil, honey, and salt and pepper to taste. Add the parsley and sesame seeds and toss to combine. Allow the salad to sit for at least 30 minutes before serving so that the flavors meld.

Coconut Taro Leaf Soup

This is a Fijian recipe from fijitaro.com.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp oil

2 onions, chopped

3 cloves crushed garlic

4 cups taro leaves

salt to taste

2 cups coconut cream

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 tbsp chopped fresh basil, parsley, or cilantro

4 cups chicken or vegetable stock or broth

1/4 tsp crushed chili or chili sauce

Directions:

Clean and chop the taro leaves (pull the stalk out of the leaves and try to remove the central thick veins, then pinch off the tip of the leaf before chopping). (Adrienne's note: your hands might become very itchy doing this. I learned that there are calcium oxalate crystals in the raw taro leaves that act like little daggers entering your skin). In a heavy saucepan, cook onions and garlic in oil until very soft. Add all remaining ingredients except a cup of coconut cream, and cook for 30 minutes. (Adrienne's note: let it go for at least an hour to cook off the calcium oxalate crystals, or those same crystals might make your mouth and throat itchy when you eat the soup). Puree in batches in a food processor blender until smooth. Reheat before serving. Add a swirl of the reserved coconut cream to each bowl of soup. (Small cooked shrimp can be added if desired). (Flame Tree Cookbook by Sue Carruthers)

Caldo Verde Lasagne (EXPERIMENTAL)

This recipe was inspired by a need to use up the leftover ingredients from the Caldo Verde recipe I made a few weeks ago. I had only a few recipe ingredients left, and I am not sure if doubling the amounts I used would work yet, so the recipe below is for experimental purposes only.


Ingredients (amounts I think would work):
1 lb Portuguese chourico sausage, diced small
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup milk
8 cups of kale, chiffonaded
6-9 lasagne noodles
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare the lasagne noodles according to the package directions. When they're done, cut them to fit the loaf pan. I cut mine into thirds and lay the pieces so that the ruffled edges are parallel to the shorter side of the pan.

In a saucepan over medium heat, cook the diced chourico chunks until they've caramelized on most of their sides and released about 2 tbsp of red oil. Remove to a separate dish using a slotted spoon.

In the remaining red oil in the pan, sweat the diced onion. When onion is translucent, add in half of the minced garlic cloves. Cook for a few more minutes until the garlic is fragrant. Add the chourico back into the pan, and mix the chourico, onion, and garlic together. Set aside.

Wipe out the pan. Pour in the milk and cream. Add in the remaining minced garlic clove. The milk and cream should begin bubbling immediately. Add in all of the kale and continuously stir the kale into the milk and cream so that it wilts and the liquids evaporate, about five minutes. Take off heat and set aside.

In a loaf pan (this recipe is meant to make a fat lasagne to be cut in half and shared by two people), layer the chourico and onion mixture, then the creamed kale mixture, the lasagne noodles, and the shredded mozzarella cheese until you have used up all of the ingredients. The last layer should be the mozzarella layer. Try to cover up any exposed areas of noodle or else they might dry out and become crispy in the oven.

Bake in the oven until the mozzarella cheese turns golden brown, about 20-30 minutes. Garnish with parsley leaves.

Ellie Krieger's Green Bean Salad

What a delicious recipe! This recipe seems very healthy, with the smallest amount of dressing I've ever seen on vegetables. But it works! The other flavors (the earthiness of the toasted walnuts, the bite of the red onion and vinegar, and the fresh, sunny flavor of the parsley) all marry well with the crunchy green beans. Here is the link.

Ingredients:
1/2 lb green beans, trimmed
2 tbsp chopped walnuts
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley leaves
2 tbsp chopped red onion
2 tsp walnut oil or olive oil
1 tsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
salt and pepper

Directions:
Bring a large pot of water with a steamer basket to a boil, add green beans and steam for about 4 minutes. Transfer to a serving bowl.

Toast the walnuts in a small dry skillet over medium heat until they become fragrant, about 2 minutes, and then transfer them to a small bowl to cool. Add the parsley and onion to the walnuts and stir to combine.

In another small bow, whisk together the oil, vinegar and mustard. Toss the dressing with the green beans, top with the walnut mixture and season with salt and pepper. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Mushroom Pasta in Herb Cream Sauce

This is one of my "throw-it-all-in-there" improv recipes.

Ingredients:

2 cups dry egg noodles

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 minced garlic clove

3 cups button mushrooms (raw), with stumps removed, mushroom heads sliced

3 tbsp parsley, chopped

1 tbsp assorted other herbs, minced (here: sage, oregano, and thyme)

2 tbsp olive oil

lots of black pepper to season to taste

pinch cayenne

pinch nutmeg

1/4 (or more) grated parmiggiano reggiano

Directions:

Boil enough water to cook the 2 cups of egg noodles. Salt the water.

In the meantime, heat up a sauce pan over medium heat. Add to this sauce pan 1 tbsp of olive oil and the minced garlic clove. Saute until the garlic clove is fragrant (about 2-3 minutes). Throw in all of the mushrooms and salt and pepper them. Drizzle another tbsp of olive oil over the mushrooms, because they will have absorbed all of the oil that was in the pan. Cook for five minutes or until soft and brown. The mushrooms will shrink from 3 cups in volume to 1/2 cup. Set mushrooms aside.

In same sauce pan, heat up 1/2 cup of heavy cream over high heat. When cream boils, turn heat down to low and simmer until cream thickens, stirring frequently. Add salt, pepper, 1 tbsp of the chopped parsley, pinch cayenne, and pinch nutmeg. Sauce will thicken in about 10 minutes. Towards the end of the ten minutes, throw in another tbsp of parsley and the tbsp of other herbs. Throw in 1/4 cup grated parmiggiano reggiano.

When the pasta is done, toss it with the cream sauce. If the pasta and the sauce are still too watery, turn the heat up to medium and continuously stir the pasta, cream sauce, herbs, and mushrooms until the sauce thickens up again.

Serve hot, with more grated parmiggiano reggiano. Sprinkle the remaining tbsp of parsley over the dish as garnish. Pepper liberally.

Chard Tart

Swiss Chard Tart: Pasticcio di Bietole al Forno, from Mario Batali
Ingredients

• 2 pounds Swiss chard, washed and spun dry


• 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil


• 1 Spanish onion, thinly sliced


• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced


• 1/4 bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped to yield 1/8 cup


• 3 large eggs


• Salt and freshly ground black pepper


• 1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano


• 1 cup bread crumbs

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Bring 8 quarts water to a rolling boil and add 2 tablespoons salt.

Roughly chop the Swiss chard, discarding the rough stems. Add the Swiss chard to the boiling water and cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain thoroughly and set aside.

In a 12-inch saucepan, heat 3 tablespoons olive oil over a medium flame until hot but not smoking. Add the onion and garlic, and cook until soft and golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add the Swiss chard and the parsley. Let cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and let cool.

Meanwhile, break the eggs into a small bowl. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Add 3 tablespoons of Parmigiano and, using a whisk, mix until the ingredients are well-blended. Add the egg mixture to the cooled Swiss chard and toss to combine.

Using the remaining olive oil to lightly grease a shallow 9-inch round or oval baking dish. Dust the bottom of the baking dish with 1/2 cup bread crumbs. Carefully place the Swiss chard and egg mixture into the pan. Dust with the remaining Parmigiano and then the remaining bread crumbs.

Bake until the top is golden brown, about 1 hour. Serve hot or room temperature.

Notes from Adrienne

We were running out of parmiggiano reggiano, so we substituted Asiago. The change was fine. Also, we added bacon bits into the mix. Panko is great as the "bread crumbs" in this dish. This is a nice recipe for a brunch dish, served with Sassy greens in a balsamic vinaigrette.