Curly Endive Salad with Blueberries, Toasted Hazelnuts, and Parmesan Shavings

Check out this huge head of curly endive! I wanted to get a shot of it sitting on the couch, like someone who has come over to visit-- that's how gigantic it was. It haunted me throughout the week. It was like a surprise houseguest that you don't know very well, who is staying for an indeterminate amount of time. You want to take him out and do things with him, but (1) you are busy, (2) fully engaging him appears to be a major task, and (3) all of this was so unexpected. So there he sits, waiting for you. It's a little weird, but you don't want to complain.

You come home after a long day at work, open the apartment door, hoping to see the sheets he used folded neatly on the couch, with some kind of thank-you note, and him? GONE! Instead, there he is, on the couch, with the remote in his hand. "Oh, hey!" you say, force-cheerfully. "You're still here! That's awesome! I was thinking we could do something this weekend, you know, if you're still around. Sorry we haven't had time to hang out." This you say, with your hand nervously rubbing the back of your neck. "Work has been so crazy lately, you know? Hope you're not too bored just sitting around here." And he is always so polite. He insists, "No, don't worry! I'm okay. Pretend I'm not even here. I don't want to be a bother." This conversation repeats itself day after day.

This massive houseguest took up an entire drawer in the fridge by itself, wrapped in a plastic bag, with a wadded up wet towel rubber-banded around its stump. I half-hoped that it would shrivel up and die before I got to use it, because it scared the crap out of me. The other (better) half of me hoped it would last long enough for me to at least try it. Well, this mofo has been going strong all week. I haven't seen any shriveled up leaves on it at all! It's still crisp and hardy in the fridge drawer. Yesterday, I got a chance to use it, and it was delicious! Curly endive, you are welcome in this house. I just had to get to know you first.

This is the first of a few recipes I am trying this weekend, and it comes from Ingrid Hoffman, of Food Network's Simply Delicioso.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup raspberry vinegar

2 tsp honey

2 tsp Dijon mustard, smooth or whole grain

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 head chicory (curly endive) or other bitter leafy green, chopped

1/2 cup lightly toasted hazelnuts, coarsely chopped

1 cup fresh blueberries

4 oz aged Manchego cheese, shaved (Adrienne's Note: I looked for Manchego and couldn't find it, so I substituted Parmiggiano Reggiano)

Directions:

In a jar with a tight fitting lid, combine the olive oil, vinegar, honey, and mustard. Season with salt and pepper. Shake vigorously to mix well. Put the chicory in a large salad bowl. Drizzle the dressing all over the greens and toss gently with your hands to coat the leaves. Top with hazelnuts, blueberries, and cheese. Serve immediately.

Beet Chips

This recipe comes from Fix Me A Snack:

Ingredients:

2-3 medium beets;

Salt (optional)

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Wash the beets thoroughly. Cut off both ends and peel. Keep a towel on hand or do your peeling under running water in order to keep the juices under control. Slice the beets very thinly (about 1 mm with a mandolin). (This is a rare instance where the mandolin is actually necessary. Uniform thickness in the chips is required in order for them to bake evenly). Lay the sliced beets out onto parchment-lined baking sheets. They can be placed close together as they will shrink during baking. Sprinkle with salt, if desired. Bake for 15-20 minutes keeping a close eye on them after 15 minutes as they burn easily. The beets will still be pliable when done and will crisp up as they cool.

Adrienne's Note: I didn't use parchment paper, so maybe that is where I went wrong. I used aluminum foil. My beets stuck to the foil and oxidized, turning an unappetizing gray color where they were stuck. If I do use foil next time, maybe I should toss the beet slices in olive oil so they don't stick? Also, my beets remained pliable even after they cooled. Hmmm..... a bunch of things to think about for next time.

Rainbow chard leaf pesto

Look at these rainbow chard! Nice, huh? I had a grand plan this week. I was going to make a rainbow chard lasagne using the leaves and stems in different ways. The leaves would be pulsed into a green pesto. The stems would be sauted in olive oil and garlic. The stems would be further cooked in the leaf-pesto-cream sauce before being layered with ricotta and mozzarella in a vegetable lasagne.

If it worked right, the finished lasagne would be an explosion of color: the light green of the pesto cream and the bright yellows and fuschias of the chard bits. Well, it totally did NOT work out as I planned. The leaf pesto came out fine, so I am including that recipe here, below. The stems, on the other hand, turned black! I had sauteed the stems ahead of time and refrigerated them, hoping to just combine the lasagne layers the next day. I cooked the lasagne anyhow, including the black chard bits, and it was a total FAIL! Oh, well, lesson learned. We will try to cook the chard into the lasagne on the same day next time.

In the meantime, here's the rainbow chard leaf pesto recipe from Pantry Eats:

Ingredients:

2 cups lightly packed chard, torn and ribs removed

1/4 cup toasted walnuts

2 tsp fresh lemon zest

2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1/4 to 1/3 cup olive oil

1/8 to 1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

1/3 cup fresh shredded parmesan cheese

Directions: Process chard, walnuts, lemon zest, and lemon juice until paste starts to form. Gradually add oil and blend until creamy. Stir in parmesan cheese and salt and pepper.

Fennel Frond Pesto

What can you do with all the fennel fronds? Make pesto! It will have a bright lemon flavor and slight anise flavor, which I thought would pair well with fish. Here's the pesto recipe, from Recipe, interrupted:

Ingredients:

1/3 cup pistachios, toasted

1-2 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped

1 oz (about 1/2 cup) freshly grated parmesan

1 tsp salt

ground black pepper, to taste

2 cups lightly packed fennel fronds (usually from about 2 fennel bulbs with a good amount of fronds on them)

optional: 4-5 mint leaves, torn

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

juice of half a lemon (or to taste)

Directions:

1. Put the pistachios, cheese, garlic, salt and pepper in a food processor. Pulse a few times to grind slightly.

2. Add fennel and mint, if using, to the food processor. With the motor running, drizzle in the olive oil until the mixture is reduced to a paste and has a spreadable, but not greasy, consistency. Taste and add salt if necessary. Squeeze in a little bit of lemon juice to taste.

Adrienne's note: We had this over sauteed salmon. To cook the salmon, salt and pepper the fleshy side of it. In a saute pan over medium heat, heat up about 1-2 tbsp of olive oil. Place the fish flesh-side down for about 6-7 minutes (this was a big slab). Watch the cooking process as the fish flesh turns from dark to light pink. When the fish is cooked midway through, flip it over so that the skin-side is in the pan. Cook for another 6-7 minutes so that the skin becomes crispy. Top with fennel frond pesto.

Fennel and Orange Salad

In 1995 or 1996, an English professor invited us (her "Asian American Women Writers" class) to her Upper West Side apartment for a potluck. Someone brought a fennel and orange salad. I went back to seconds, thirds, fourths, fifths. Yeah, no shame. What were we even discussing? Books? Politics? I don't think I was even paying attention. My single-minded focus at that gathering was eating more fennel salad. Ever since then, I have been wanting to make this salad. Guess what came in the CSA box and what will be coming for the next few weeks? Fennel! Here's that salad, courtesy of Martha Stewart (but we'll be trying different takes on this salad in the future!)

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

2 tablespoons olive oil

coarse salt and ground pepper

5 navel oranges

3 to 4 fennel bulbs (about 2 lbs total), ends trimmed, quartered lengthwise, cored and thinly sliced crosswise, plus 1/4 cup roughly chopped fennel fronds (optional)

Directions: 1. In a large bowl, whisk together vinegar and oil. Season with salt and pepper.

2. Using a sharp knife, slice off both ends of each orange. Following the curve of the fruit, cut away the peel and white pith. Halve orange from top to bottom; thinly slice crosswise. Transfer oranges, along with any juices that have accumulated on work surface, to bowl with dressing. Add fennel and, if desired, fronds. Toss to combine.

Collard Green Laulau

This recipe is a simple twist on "Fast and Easy Chicken Laulau." Wash collard greens and remove the stems from them. You'll end up with crescent shapes of various sizes. Layer these crescents to form an "X" shape. Place one chicken thigh in the middle of the X. Season on both sides with salt, pepper, and a few dashes of liquid smoke. Bundle up the chicken in the collard leaves. Wrap bundle tightly in aluminum foil. Place in a loaf pan (if you're making one or two of these bundles), cover the loaf pan with aluminum foil, and bake in the oven for an hour at 350 degrees. Serve over white rice.

Mojitos, Mo' Problems!

Willie's Mojito We first had mojitos in Key West (at Turtle Kraals) in 2001. Willie the bartender has recreated the recipe here: Muddle some mint leaves at the bottom of a shaker container. Add in some crushed ice. Throw in a jigger of Bacardi light rum. Throw in an equal amount of simple syrup (1 part white sugar and 1 part water, dissolved on the stove). Squeeze in some lime. Shake!!! Pour into drink glass, top with club soda, and garnish with lime and mint sprig.