Sunday, November 28, 2010

Homemade oven dried fruit, with some store bought dried papaya for color

















A couple of weeks ago, I blogged about oven dried pineapples from Mark Bittman's latest cookbook: The Food Matters Cookbook.They were a huge hit; I ate some of them plain, and then I built a salad around what was left. Last week I tried the same technique with some too-tart plums I bought way too many of. It's a magical technique, turning ho-hum produce into sweet candy.

Today, I thought I'd try it with a bunch of apples that weren't looking so great, and a pear and mango that were beginning to get mushy. The apples and pears were perfect - sweet, moist, wonderful. The mango was kind of weird, possibly because the mango was too far gone to salvage. I spread the apples and pears out out on a pretty plate on the kitchen table and an hour later they were gone. I think the kids ate them without realizing they were fruit. :)

Oven Dried Apples and Pears
Heat the oven to 225*. Peel a combination of apples and pears - use about five for each baking sheet. (I have tried this successfully with pineapples and plums, too. Be daring! Try it with other fruit and let me know how that goes!) Cut the fruit into slices, not too thin. (You can see what size I made them in the photo below.)

Place the fruit on wire racks atop a large baking sheet. Leave the fruit in the oven for a few hours. I left mine in for about six hours. The longer you leave them, the more dry they'll get, and the more concentrated the flavors will become.

Let them cool (or not) and either eat them right away or put them away for another time. Mark Bittman says to refrigerate them if they're at all soft, or store them in the pantry if they're completely dried out.












Submitting this for the Tackling Bittman Giveaway Submission over at Girlichef and A Moderate Life

Posted on Sunday, November 28, 2010 by Rivki Locker

3 comments

Monday, November 22, 2010



















I have a SERIOUS addiction to fresh beans. Yes, the dried beans that you buy in a bag and reconstitute in water actually started off fresh, growing on a bush. And the taste is incomparable. I usually find fresh cranberry and fava beans at the farmer's market for just a few weeks in the summer. But I discovered a new source! A supermarket nearby carries them throughout the fall. If you have never had fresh beans, you MUST. They are so simple to prepare, and are melt-in-your-mouth delicious.

Simple Cooked Cranberry Beans
1 lb. fresh cranberry beans, shelled
1 teaspoon butter
1-2 tablespoons soft fresh herbs such as basil, parsley or dill
Salt and pepper to taste

Put the beans in a medium saucepan with enough water to cover them generously. Cook them until tender. This can take anywhere from 20-40 minutes, depending how fresh they are. Check frequently so they don't become mushy.

Drain the beans. Stir in the butter, herbs, and salt/pepper to taste. Eat immediately.




Cranberry Bean on FoodistaCranberry Bean

Posted on Monday, November 22, 2010 by Rivki Locker

1 comment

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

An Indian-inspired Spinach Mango Salad
An Indian-inspired Spinach Mango Salad

















This is an Indian-inspired salad with some of my very favorite flavors in the whole wide world. Baby spinach is a miraculous ingredient, and when you pair it with coconut, lime, and mango, it just comes alive. If you have never used coconut oil, please go out and get some. I use it in baking and cooking whenever I want to infuse things with an extra hint of coconut flavor. I wasn't sure if it would work in a dressing (I usually cook or bake it) but it was perfect! This salad made my taste-buds dance!

Spinach Mango Salad
A handful of shredded unsweetened coconut
3 cups raw baby spinach, washed and thoroughly dried
1 mango, peeled and chopped or julienned

2 teaspoons coconut oil
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
Salt and pepper to taste

In a small frying pan, toast the coconut over medium heat for a couple of minutes, stirring occasionally, till the coconut is fragrant and beginning to brown. Remove from the heat and let cool.

Place the spinach and mango in a large bowl. Sprinkle with coconut.

In a separate small bowl, combine the lime juice, coconut oil and seasonings. Mix well and then toss with the salad. Eat within a couple of hours. (Spinach takes a while to wilt, so you can actually prepare this in the morning and take it to work for lunch without worrying about soggy salad! What a treat.)

Posted on Wednesday, November 17, 2010 by Rivki Locker

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Saturday, November 13, 2010

yogurt with fruit
A lovely mound of yogurt, drizzled with honey & coconut, surrounded by fruit
























Presentation, presentation, presentation. I may be ordinary :) but I love a pretty plate as much as the next person. With an extra thirty-second investment of my time, yesterday's lunch - a simple serving of yogurt and fruit - became a gourmet dish. What humble fare have you made glamorous meal just by presenting it artistically? Post your comments below.

I want to take just a moment to wax eloquent about yogurt before I share my recipe with you. It's one of my very favorite foods in the world and it pains me to see it abused the way it often is. Here is my advice for enjoying the taste and health benefits of yogurt. 1) Please don't use sweetened yogurt, especially not artificially sweetened stuff. Buy ONLY plain yogurt, and buy organic if you can. (I like Stonyfield Farm brand.) Try it unsweetened. If you do prefer it sweetened, add some dried or fresh fruit, or a little drizzle of honey or maple syrup. 2) If at all possible, drain your yogurt before eating it. This requires a bit of advance planning but is well worth it. Line a colander or strainer with a piece of cheesecloth or a paper towel. Put the colander over a large bowl. Put the yogurt into the prepared colander and cover it with plastic wrap or foil. Leave the yogurt in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight. The liquid will drip into the bowl and your yogurt will become thick and lovely. Discard the liquid and enjoy your Greek style yogurt.


Yogurt and Fruit
1 cup of plain yogurt
1 ripe mango (or other fruit, like peaches, melon, or anything that strikes your fancy), cut in chunks
a handful of toasted or candied pecans
some honey
some unsweetened shredded coconut

Place the yogurt in the center of a pretty, large plate. Surround the yogurt with the mango. Lay the pecans carefully around the mango. Drizzle some honey over the yogurt and then some coconut over that. Enjoy immediately.

yogurt with fruit

Posted on Saturday, November 13, 2010 by Rivki Locker

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Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Those amazing pineapples I made yesterday from Mark Bittman's newest cookbook, The Food Matters Cookbook, have another fantastic use (besides for noshing plain): I built a salad around them! I used two heads of romaine and ate the entire bowl myself!


2 heads romaine lettuce, chopped coarse
A generous handful of oven dried pineapples
A handful of toasted or candied pecans (I have a great recipe for candied pecans which I'll share another time)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon or apple cider, apple juice, or orange juice if you have it
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine the lettuce, pineapple and nuts in a large salad bowl. In a separate bowl or jar, combine the oil, vinegar, maple syrup, juice (if you have it), salt and pepper. Toss the dressing with the salad. Serve immediately.

Posted on Tuesday, November 09, 2010 by Rivki Locker

3 comments

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Fresh pineapple, chopped and resting on wire racks

















Thank you, Mark Bittman! You are my hero! I cut up a pineapple last week that was really not especially sweet. I didn't have the heart to throw it out but no one was eating it. Today, I bought Mark Bittman's new cookbook: The Food Matters Cookbook. And I discovered an amazing recipe that will change my life. It's on page 422, a recipe for Oven-Dried Tomatoes or Fruit. I prepared the pineapples as instructed, and WOW. The not-so-sweet fruit was transformed into a sweet, caramelized miracle. Unbelievable. I can't wait to try this with apples, peaches, plums. WOW.

In short, the technique is as follows : Heat the oven to 225*. Clean the pineapple and cut it into cubes. (You can see what size I made them in the photo above.) place the fruit on wire racks atop a baking sheet. Leave the fruit in the oven for a few hours. I left mine in for about six hours. The longer you leave them, the more dry they'll get, and the more concentrated the flavors will become.

Let them cool (or not) and either eat them right away or put them away for another time. Mark Bittman says to refrigerate them if they're at all soft, or store them in the pantry if they're completely dried out.Thank you, thank you!!!

Posted on Sunday, November 07, 2010 by Rivki Locker

2 comments

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Humble yellow onions sauteing on the stove

















I eat LOADS of vegetables. At least 4-6 cups a day, some days a lot more. A friend of mine was asking me recently how I find variety. She wanted to know how many cucumbers and tomatoes I can eat.

Salad vegetables are great, and I actually love cucumbers and tomatoes, but there are so many veggies out there; I never get bored. One of my very favorite, not-at-all-exotic vegetables is the onion: the yellow onion. I never tire of this simple way of preparing this humble and inexpensive vegetable.

This weekend I prepared this dish with the last few sprigs of lemon verbena left in my garden (sob, sob) and served it next to simple roast chicken. I even had a little bit leftover which I'll toss into a green salad tomorrow.

Sauteed Onions with Herbs
3 yellow onions, sliced in rings (not too thin)
1 tablespoon of canola oil
1 tablespoon of finely chopped fresh herbs (try basil, dill, parsley, or - my favorite - lemon verbena)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

Heat the oil in a large frying pan (preferably cast iron) and then saute the onions until golden, mixing from time to time so the onions don't burn. If you have time, leave the heat low and saute the onions for about 45 minutes. If you're rushed, turn the heat up to medium and they'll be done in 20 minutes or so.

When you're ready to serve them, stir in the herbs, salt, and vinegar. These are delicious hot, warm, or at room temperature.

Posted on Saturday, November 06, 2010 by Rivki Locker

1 comment

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Freshly chopped vegetable salad, dressed and ready to be eaten

















Amazing how tantalizing a simple combination of fresh vegetables, herbs and seasonings can be. My basil died in the first frost last night, but I still have quite a bit of parsley. I decided to make a simple vegetable salad to put all of those herbs to good use. It may be simple, but we ate every last bit.


Simple Vegetable Salad
1 pint cherry tomatoes, sliced in halves or quarters if large
1 Holland pepper (use yellow for a wonderful combination of colors), chopped
1 Persian cucumber, chopped
1 scallion, minced
about 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon olive or canola oil
1 teaspoon lemon juice, preferably fresh squeezed
salt and pepper to taste

Combine the vegetables and parsley in a large salad bowl. Add the oil, lemon juice and seasonings. Mix well and serve immediately, or refrigerate for up to a day.

The last of my homegrown herbs

Posted on Wednesday, November 03, 2010 by Rivki Locker

2 comments