Green garlic and pistachio pesto crostini

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Asparagus and spring garlic are here! I almost cried when a dear friend brought me a bunch of asparagus from McGrath Farm a couple weeks ago. Something freshly grown to eat. And now they have spring garlic!

Spring garlic seems to be fussed over in places with long winters. We will eat almost anything with gusto if it comes out of the ground this month. None of my California friends even knew what I was talking about when I told them about my green garlic find.

It’s a warm day filled with energetic weed pulling and tomato planting and dirt hauling, so dinner is going to be light. Along with a hearty salad, I’m making green garlic and pistachio pesto crostini, with optional burrata on top.

This pesto has mild garlic flavor, which makes it a delicious topping for toasted bread, and it also would be very satisfying tossed with linguini, as a pizza topping, or in a sandwich with roasted vegetables. It’s also easy to make, if you can get some green garlic.

Green garlic and pistachio pesto crostini
4-5 stalks of green garlic, washed
1 heaping TBS pistachios, shelled and toasted
1/4 cup plus 1 TBS olive oil, or more
1/2 tsp of salt, or more to taste
1 small baguette or other bread of your choice

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prep the green garlic by trimming the white bulb end and removing any of the outer layer that is browned. Cut the green ends, so that you are only left with the part that is firm, and set aside a couple of the green ends. Gently remove the outer layer from the firm part, and cut the inner part into segments that are each about 2 inches long.

2. Put the cut pieces of green garlic, and 2 of the green ends into the food processor, and add the pistachios and salt. Process until roughly chopped. Scrape down the sides of the processor with a spatula, put the top back on the processor, and pour in the olive oil and process until smooth. Taste and add more salt if needed.

3. Slice the bread into 1/2-inch thick slices, put on a cookie sheet and toast for about 5 to 7 minutes, turning about halfway through.

4. Top each slice with pesto, top with cheese (if desired), and serve to hungry friends.

The pesto can be made a day in advance and refrigerated and it can be frozen. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Polenta and roasted vegetable pie for Mother’s Day

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Getting dinner on the table

 If you ask any of my three brothers to tell you about a time when they laughed the hardest as a child, they will either recount watching the Cheech and Chong “Up In Smoke” movie with my dad, or they’d recall one specific family dinner.

My mom cooked for our family of six every night, kept track of my three brothers and me, and did all the housework. This was before feminism came to our Los Angeles suburb, so my mom just did her job and tried to get us to help when she could. But sometimes we didn’t do our part (and who could blame us–we were 6, 8, 10, and 12 at the time of this memorable meal). My mom would yell and we might or might not be more helpful next time. Eventually she came up with a better strategy.

Dinner prep that specific night went like this:
Mom: “Chuck, please set the table.”
Chuck: “OK, coming,” as he adds another Lego structure to a massive Lego housing development.
Mom: “I need you to set the table. Dad will be home soon.” Chuck: “Ok, coming,” as he frames another Lego house.
Mom: “Chuck, come set the table.”
Chuck: “OK, coming.”

My dad came home and my mom called us to dinner. We all rushed to the table and sat down. Then we noticed. There were no plates or forks or knives or napkins. Clumps of salad covered in ranch dressing were served up for each of us, right on the table. All eyes turned to my mom in puzzlement.

She shrugged and said, “Who wants mashed potatoes? Pot roast?” And then she spooned a glop of mashed potatoes in front of each of us. We were wide-eyed. Then she shoveled a chunk of pot roast to each of our places, spooning gravy over each serving. The gravy ran all over the table and dripped onto the floor.

My mom cracked a hint of a smile. My dad started laughing. Then we all started laughing. We couldn’t stop. Soon we were laughing so much our stomachs hurt and tears dripped down our faces.

It was clear that no one would get forks or knives. My mom took the lead, picking up strings of pot roast with her hands and putting them in her mouth, and we followed suit, with gravy dripping down our arms and all over our shirts. Eating the mashed potatoes took some creativity, with some of us using cupped fingers to scoop them into our mouths and my brothers bending over to eat mouthfuls directly off the table. Salad was best eaten one leaf at a time. Our faces were plastered with gravy and mashed potato.

We couldn’t stop talking about our funny dinner. We liked not having to cut our meat or do manners. We were stunned at my mom’s bold move, and this made her cooler than the other moms, who wouldn’t do something messy like this.

For weeks afterward, one of us asked my mom if we could have dinner right on the table again. We never did (or at least not yet), but Chuck never skipped out on setting the table again.

Looking back, this dinner was just one of many of my mom’s independent and creative acts that probably kept her sanity. Later bolder ones included becoming a belly dancer and refashioning rooms in our house to look like a sheik’s palace, and her decision more than a decade ago to follow a strict vegan diet. She motivated my dad to join her, which resulted in their founding a highly successful vegetarian Web site and publishing vegan cookbooks.

This polenta and roasted vegetable pie is what I would serve for mother’s day lunch, if my mom lived close enough to come over for lunch. Mom, thanks for being you. I love you.

Polenta and roasted vegetable pie
1 medium eggplant, about ½ pound
10 ounces cherry or other small tomatoes
2 large cloves of garlic, minced, divided
Olive oil
1 ½ cups coarse cornmeal
1 15-ounce can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
½ tsp dried rosemary
3 small zucchinis, about ½ pound
Handful of fresh oregano, basil, parsley, chopped, for garnish
Salt and pepper

  1. Prepare the vegetables: Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Thinly slice the eggplant into ¼-inch thick rounds. Brush a baking sheet with 1 tsp olive oil, put the eggplant slices on the pan, brush them with the oil remaining on the brush, and sprinkle them with salt and pepper. Slice the tomatoes in half, put them on a rimmed baking sheet, toss them with 2 tsp olive oil and half of the minced garlic and salt and pepper. Put both pans into the oven. After 7 minutes, remove the tomatoes from the oven. Turn the eggplant slices over and bake for 5-7 minutes or until lightly browned. Keep the oven warm to finish baking the pie.
  2. Make the crust: Brush a 10-inch pie pan lightly with oil and set it aside. In a small bowl, add the cornmeal, 1 tsp of salt, and 1 ½ cups of cold water. In a medium sauce pan, bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Slowly stir in the cornmeal mixture, using a whisk. Turn heat to medium low, and stir mixture until it gets too thick to continue stirring, about 5-8 minutes. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pie pan, using a spatula to bring the polenta up the sides of the pan and even out the polenta. Set aside.
  3. Make the bean mixture and prep the zucchini:  In a small sauté pan, heat 1 TBS olive oil over medium heat. Add the remaining garlic, cook for 1 minute, add rosemary, beans, and ½ tsp salt and sauté, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and put in a food processor. Add 2 TBS water and 2 tsp olive oil and process until smooth, adding more water or oil if needed. Taste and adjust salt or pepper if needed. Slice the zucchini into 1/4-inch thick coins and set them aside.
  4. Assemble the pie: Spoon the bean mixture into the crust, using a spatula to spread it evenly. Next, place the eggplant slices, overlapping them so there are multiple layers. Add the tomatoes in an even layer. Starting from the outer edge, place the zucchini slices, overlapping them tightly because they will shrink when they are baked. Top the pie with 1 TBS olive oil and a sprinkle of salt. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 15-20 minutes or until the zucchini is cooked and lightly browned.
  5. Garnish with fresh herbs and serve with a green salad. The pie can be assembled in advance, brought to room temperature, and baked before serving.

Edamame pesto and roasted beet crostini recipe

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We are in the home stretch of winter, and even though it’s been one of the warmest winters in New England and the forsythia is blooming nearly 2 months early, it’s still slim pickings, food wise. We are many weeks away from garlic scapes or asparagus or peas at the nearby farms. I’ve had quite enough kale and winter squash and now I long for spring and fresh vegetables.

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Foolproof turkey and sweet potato chili

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Chili makes for an ideal cold weather dinner. It’s my standby when I’m having friends over, not sure exactly what time we will eat, and I want to make it in advance. It’s also hard to mess up.

To make it special, you can serve it with all kinds of fun toppings (avocados, sliced jalapenos, olives, etc.), with a salad and cornbread to round it out. And it’s happy to to simmer on low heat as you wait for your guests to arrive. Continue reading →

Sweet potato chips and yogurt harissa dip recipe

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So, if you came over yesterday to watch some football, I might have hung up your coat, offered you a beer, and immediately set out a warm plate of these chips and this dip. And five minutes later, when the chips were gone, you might have asked for the recipe, after acting impressed that I made these chips, and from scratch.

Can I even call this a recipe, since the chips are only 3 ingredients, and one of them is salt?

We discovered it when my mom and I were making a fancy vegetarian torte topped with these lovely slices of sweet potato draped and arranged like a big flower. We had slices left over and baked them with a tiny bit of olive oil until crispy. We were surprised we had never made sweet potatoes like this before and polished off the pan of crispy slices in a quick minute. Continue reading →

Greens, sweet potatoes, and cannellini beans with harissa recipe

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greens, sweet potato, and cannelini beansWhat was I thinking when I bought a bag of “southern greens blend,” which is a pound of mustard, turnip, and collard greens–stuff I probably would throw away, not knowing it’s edible–and some spinach?

I was thinking its probably good for me and everything else looked kind of tired after a  long drive from the west coast. Flash forward four days, and this bag of trimmings is the only thing in the vegetable drawer. And, right about now I’m thinking this blog should be called the root vegetable kitchen. But, I have hope for a decent healthy dinner in 60 minutes less.

The way some people use bacon to fix food or myriad other situations, I add sweet potatoes. So here’s a quick weeknight healthy vegan dinner that would make Aunt Nettie proud. Continue reading →

Ma po tofu and rice bowl recipe

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Hello first really cold day of winter! All thoughts of a brisk walk in the woods or a climb up a big hill went away after I stepped outside to get the newspaper. Last I checked, the temperature was trying to climb into the double digits.

When it gets this cold, I want to curl up with the cat and read a book. I want to eat something warm, saucy, filling, and savory. And, a trip to the grocery store or anywhere in a cold car is not for a wimp like me. So this is one of those pantry and freezer cooking challenges days.

Fortunately, I had enough of the ingredients to make a version of Mark Bittman’s ma po tofu. I changed some of the proportions, left out green onions, and added red bell pepper and crushed peanuts. Continue reading →