Twenty-Dollar, Twenty-Minute Meals

It's very easy to make cooking whole, healthful ingredients seem hard, time consuming or expensive. What's hard though, is making it look easy—easy, affordable, absolutely doable every night of the week. Few people do that better than Caroline Wright, author of the new book Twenty-Dollar, Twenty-Minute Meals. 

Caroline is the kind of thoughtful friend who just sends things in the mail—surprises—like a hand-knit baby blanket (when you're expecting your first babe), or a hand-written note on a notecard with a pair of Wellies on the front (because she pays attention to what moves you). So I wasn't entirely surprised when I got a slim, black and white bound book in the mail called Twenty-Dollar, Twenty Minute-Meals that she had written, photographed and published herself as a gift to her friends. Amazing. Who does that? 

While that savvy, slim book sat on my nightstand as a reminder of all the things I believe in (creating, giving, chasing dreams), Caroline turned around and got that very book published by Workman Publishing and it's hitting the book stores this week. So now this very thoughtful collection of recipes is available to you, too. 

When I saw the finished book, this time remade with a bright red cover and the same kind of creative recipes inside, my first thought was, yes! Omelets with Asparagus and Goat Cheese, Roasted Haloumi with Scallions, Cherry Tomatoes and Couscous, and Polenta with Mushrooms and Tellegio? Yes, please. This is the kind of simple, satisfying food cooks, like she and I, make at home at night, make for our friends, and want to get the next generation cooking, too. Because this is food to build a life on. 

This food has gumption. Kind of like Caroline. (that's what it takes to write and publish your own cookbook in your spare time, and get it noticed by a serious publisher).

And this food is thoughtful. Kind of like Caroline. It minds your time and your dishes (one step, one-dirty-dish-only kind of meals), and rewards your effort with bright, surprising, delightful meals.

Take this dish, for example, that I cooked in honor of her Twenty-Dollar, Twenty-Minute Meal book launch party: Zuchini Ribbon Salad with Potatoes, Ricotta Salata, Dill, Peas + Radishes (recipe below). It has almost every one of my favorite foods in it, and puts them together in their easiest form. The potatoes are steamed, the radishes sliced, the zucchini shaved on a simple vegetable peeler. And the peas? No shelling required. Just pert, frozen peas brought to room temperature and tossed in raw. Easy. Peasy. And so, so good.

This is the kind of dish you'd happily make for one (and hoard the leftovers for your weekday work lunch), create to feed a young family (my toddler loved this!), or turn into an easy, spring-inspired dinner party fare. That's kind of the feel of all her food—it fits our modern lives, no matter who we are.

As for me, it's time to pack up that snap ware with the leftovers and head to work. I'll be looking forward to lunch even more than usual today. 

Zucchini Ribbon Salad
 with Potatoes, Ricotta Salata, Dill, Peas + Radishes

Excerpted from Twenty-Dollar, Twenty-Minute Meals

Fill a large saucepan with water to a depth of 2 inches, add salt, and bring it to a simmer over low heat.

Arrange 8 small new potatoes (about 12 ounces total), halved, in a steamer basket and set the basket
in the pan. Cover and steam the potatoes until tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer the potatoes and 1 cup frozen peas to a colander and run under cold water until the potatoes are cool and the peas hae thawed.

While the potatoes cook, use a vegetable peeler to shave 4 zucchini and/or yellow summer squash into a medium bowl in long, thin strips.

Add the potatoes and peas; 4 ounces ricotta salata, sliced; 1 cup sliced radishes; 3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill; 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil; and 
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper, toss, and serve.

 Copyright 2013 by Caroline Wright

Used by permission of Workman Publishing Co., Inc. New York

All Rights Reserved    

            

For more easy, delicious recipes like this one, check out these bloggers today as they celebrate Caroline's book! 

• Food 52
• Weelicious
• Sassy Radish
• Matt Bites
• Seven Spoons
• Devour Blog (CookingChannel.com)
• Gastronomer's Guide
• The Wright Recipes

Barley Risotto with Swiss Chard, Radishes, and Preserved Lemon

It doesn't matter where you go or get to in life, in my world getting published in Martha Stewart Living is always a thrill. She's an icon, and her pages has inspired so much beautiful living. In this month's April issue (with the gorgeous red + white painted eggs on the cover), is my first ever Living piece, one I developed last spring out of the inspiring greens (Tuscan kale, purslane, sorrel, mustard greens, mache and arugula) I plant in our garden each year. 

The leading recipe, pictured here, Barley Risotto with Swiss Chard, Radishes and Preserved Lemon, is beloved in two senses. First, it stars my very favorite spring ingredient: tiny pert radishes, and Swiss chard, the two things I pick first from my garden each year. Second, it is one of the first recipes I developed for my new book, Feast: Generous Vegetarian Meals for Any Eater and Every Appetite. 

And then there is the dreamy combination of photos by Con Poulos and styling by Susie Theodorou, two uber talents who make me want to run every meal I create through their creative lens and put it to print. They make this, and the other six images on these pages sing. 

Thank you Lady Martha, for sharing a few of your pages with my recipes this month. 

BARLEY RISOTTO WITH RADISHES, SWISS CHARD + PRESERVED LEMON || SERVES 4

From Feast: Generous Vegetarian Meals for Any Eater and Every Appetite

This modern, vegetable-lover’s risotto is made with barley, a homey whole grain that is easy to love, and one that will love you back with extra iron and minerals. Bright radishes and tart preserved lemon, both bold in texture and flavor, soften into the creamy texture of barley that’s been cooked like risotto. When the season changes from spring to late summer, make this again with multicolored young carrots instead of radishes.

4½ cups/1 L vegetable stock (see recipe below) or water

2 tbsp unsalted butter or extra-virgin olive oil

1 cup/200 g pearl barley, rinsed

8 to 10 small radishes

1 bunch Swiss chard, stemmed and torn into large pieces

1 preserved lemon, seeded and thinly sliced

Sea salt

Small handful fresh dill, coarsely chopped

8 large fresh mint leaves, coarsely chopped or torn

Bring the stock to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low to keep warm. Heat the butter in another medium saucepan over low heat. Add the barley and stir to coat, toasting it lightly in the butter. Add 2 cups/480 ml of the stock and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer until the stock is mostly absorbed, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes.

Add the radishes and remaining stock, ½ cup/120 ml at a time, stirring frequently, until the barley is tender, about 45 minutes. Add the chard and stir until wilted, about 5 minutes. Stir in the preserved lemon and add up to ¾ tsp salt, depending on how salty your broth or lemons are.

Remove from the heat. Stir in the dill and mint. Serve warm or at room temperature.

oh holy eggplant: aida mollenkamp's keys to the kitchen

Is it just me, or is there some sort of hiatus in Hollywood? Like, no blockbuster run-away hit movies to dream about going to (in all my spare time), not even a lousy romantic comedy to overpay for on hulu. No matter, because if you ask me, this is the year of the cookbook. They just keep landing on the shelves, one stunner after another. Ever since my own came out, I'm guilty of pre-ordering every hot-new release on Amazon, so they literally land on my front steps on release day. I know, indulgent.  I celebrate every one by putting it aside on the couch and waiting until everyone is sleeping before nestling in with it on the couch. And like a good movie, my kind of cookbook can really take you somewhere. Somewhere you've never been, but dream of. Or somewhere you have been, but want to return to again. An exotic destination, a feel-good moment. A ridiculously good meal at your very own table. 

This new book, this splendid book, Aida Mollenkamp's Keys to the Kitchen, did that for me. 

Full disclosure, Aida and I go way back to a funny day in the Food Network Kitchens when we found ourselves on camera together for a fleeting moment. That moment led to her Food Network and later Cooking Channel shows Ask Aida, and my favorite FoodCrafters. But if you ask me, this book is where Aida really shines. I thought I knew Aida's food--fun, flavorful, a touch of the exotic. Delicious, mostly healthful, sometimes indulgent. A bit of LA and San Fran and enough style to spare. But in this book, Aida shares even more of herself, the parts even some of her friends (who, sadly on the other coast, don't have a chance to sit down at her table too often) don't know. This girl, and her food, have soul. Soul that seems to come from all over the world. Peanut Butter-Banana Bread? Buttermilk Biscuits with Black Pepper Brown Butter? Sage-Maple Skillet Corn Bread? (oops, did I just get stuck in the Breads and Doughs chapter? Oh yes I did.) Charred Chile, Corn and Zucchini Tacos? Pistachio Carrot Cake with Brown Sugar-Cream Cheese Frosting? Yep, that's food to make a soul feel downright giddy.

Some of our food pals and I are celebrating Aida's book launch today, and every day this week, with a little online party to which you're invited. I must say, I had a hard time picking just one recipe to cook and share with you all, but this one struck me dead on with one glance. It's from a whole chapter of recipes I'm going to love on in the coming weeks called Meatless Mains. Aida, thanks for that. You all probably know by know how this household thinks that's the goods. With recipes like Smoked Mozzarella, Zucchini and Arugula Lasagna, Triple-Mushroom Stroganoff and this one, Eggplant Casserole with Pine Nut-Yogurt Sauce, I think we'll be set for a while.  

Since Aida's one of the most generous people I know, truly, she's sharing this recipe and, thanks to Chronicle Books, one copy of her brand-new book with you on my site today. Leave a comment to win {official rules below} and help me wish Aida a happy launch day. I know nothing that would make her happier than hearing that you all are heading to your own kitchens to cook tonight. 

~

Eggplant Casserole with Pine Nut—Yogurt Sauce

From Keys to the Kitchen

Reprinted with permission from Aida Mollenkamp and Chronicle Books

Poor eggplant, it always seems to be typecast in the kitchen, being constantly fried or breaded. In this healthy yet hearty Mediterranean-flavored casserole, it combines with tangy yogurt, earthy pine nuts, nutty bulgur, and a sweet tomato sauce for a new starring role.

Recipe With in a Recipe: Use the red pepper tomato sauce in place of normal tomato sauce.

Goes Well With: Serve with a simple green salad and some crusty bread.

Difficulty

Easy

Yield

6 servings

(4 cups/1 L sauce)

Total time

1 hour, 15 minutes

Hands-on time

40 minutes

Bulgur

¾ cup/180 ml water

½ tsp kosher salt

¾ cup/150 g cracked bulgur wheat

Red Pepper Tomato Sauce

2 tbsp olive oil

½ yellow onion, finely chopped

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 roasted red peppers, minced

6 garlic cloves, finely chopped

One 28-oz/800-g can pureed tomatoes

¾ cup/30 g thinly sliced fresh basil or chopped Italian parsley, plus more for garnish

1⁄3 cup/45 g dried currants

Sugar (optional)

Eggplant Casserole

2 lb/910 g eggplant, cut into ½-in/12-mm slices

2 tbsp olive oil

Kosher salt

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup/240 ml plain, whole-milk, Greek-style yogurt

½ cup/47 g slivered almonds or pine nuts

For the bulgur

Combine the water and salt in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the bulgur, stir to combine, and remove from the heat. Cover and let sit until the bulgur is tender and swelled up, 20 to 30 minutes. Meanwhile, make the sauce.

For the sauce

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. When it shimmers, add the onion, season well with salt and black pepper, and cook until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add the roasted peppers and cook, stirring occasionally, until they just begin to color, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and tomato puree and bring to a boil. Decrease the heat to a simmer, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is slightly thickened and flavors are melded, 15 to 20 minutes. When the sauce is ready, stir in the basil and currants. Taste and, if necessary, season with sugar, salt, or pepper. Remove from the heat and set aside. Meanwhile, cook the eggplant.

For the casserole

Heat the broiler and arrange a rack in the top of the oven. Brush the eggplant with oil and season with salt. Arrange the slices on a rimmed baking sheet and broil until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside. Decrease the oven temperature to 375°F/190°C/gas 5.

To assemble the casserole, spoon one-fourth of the sauce (about 1 cup/240 ml on the bottom of a 9-in/23-cm square baking dish. Lay one-third of the eggplant slices over the sauce. Spread all the bulgur over the eggplant. Repeat layering sauce and eggplant, ending with the sauce (you’ll have 4 layers of sauce and 3 of eggplant, with a layer of bulgur in the middle).

Place the garlic on a cutting board and sprinkle a pinch of salt on top. Chop the mixture until it is a rough paste. Stir the garlic into the yogurt. Spread over the sauce in an even layer on top of the casserole. Scatter the nuts over the yogurt. Bake until cooked through but not bubbling, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest 5 minutes.

Serve hot or at room temperature.

Riff : Replace the bulgur with 1½ cups/360 ml cooked ground meat.

Notes

Cracked bulgur is cracked wheat that is the same size as cornmeal and is used to make tabbouleh. If you can’t find it, you can use quinoa (cook according to package directions) or leave it out.

Dried currants are a seedless grape that has been dried. It is not the same as the fruit that's related to the gooseberry.

Greek yogurt is a strained yogurt that is thicker and tangier than regular yogurt. It has become more and more widely available, but if you can’t find it, regular plain yogurt will work too.

The bulgur can be made up to 2 days ahead. Store refrigerated until ready to use.

The sauce can be made up to 2 days ahead. Store refrigerated until ready to use.

The casserole can be assembled up to 2 days before baking and can be baked up to 2 days ahead. Bring to room temperature before serving.

And if that recipe's not enough to knock you into blissful hibernation in your kitchen for the next few hours, watch Aida's darling cookbook trailer here and get inspired:

// Amazon // Anthropologie // Barnes & Noble // Chronicle Books //

Okay friends, here's how the giveaway works: 

Giveaway Details

Prize:

To help you get , Chronicle Books is providing one (1) lucky reader with a copy of just-released, Keys to the Kitchen by Aida Mollenkamp.

Duration:

This giveaway is open to USA visitors and will be open until Wednesday, October 31, 11:59pm PST.

Who Can Enter:

Open only to residents of the USA 18 years old and older.

How to Enter:

Leave a comment below — one entry per email address only please. For a second chance to enter, pin {to Pinterest} or tweet a link to this post with the has tag #keystothekitchen and let me know via comments. 

How Winner Will Be Chosen:

The winner will be chosen at Random.org and will be notified via email, so please make sure the email address you list in the comment section is correct. You will have 48 hours to respond, or a new winner will be chosen.

---

Fine Print: I am hosting this giveaway so you can experience this book for yourself. I am in no way being compensated for this giveaway and Chronicle Books has generously provided the prize copy of the book.

---

Photos are by Alex Farnum and styling by Lillian Kang and are copyrighted material.

And, New Yorker's, don't miss your chance to meet Aida at Anthropologie next month. Details here:

Keys To The Kitchen NYC Book Signing

Saturday, November 10, 2012 11AM to 1PM

Anthropologie Chelsea Market 

75 9th Avenue, NY, NY 10011

{clean eating} Black Radish Salad with Kale, Tokoyo Turnips, Almonds and Parmesan Cheese

This past weekend Greta, András and I were in Virginia and North Carolina, and we were bad—really bad. I’m talking buttery grits, sweet tea, biscuits and Nutter-Butters bad. So this week I’ve been craving nothing but kale salads and beet juice, the kind of cleansing food that gets me back on track, mentally and physically, from my sugar-induced slump. But then, there’s this cold that’s creeping in. And hot chocolate calls.

Sigh.

It’s nothing a good trip to the farmer’s market can’t fix. Here’s how it went. Greta and I set out for our weekly Wednesday trip to our teeny market, just two strides out my front door— our neighborhood’s greatest gift. I had two facts in my head as we went: First, the market is just week’s away from its winter hiatus, which starts after Thanksgiving, a deadline I don’t take lightly. And second, today we had just $20 cash, half our usual market stipend that has us in a week’s worth of fresh fruits and vegetables, a jug of cider and one cider donut apiece. What can you buy with $20 at the market? Amazing, intriguing vegetables—always cheaper than fruits—bunches of greens and piles upon piles of roots. Beets. Potatoes. Black Radish. Kale. Broccoli. Tokyo Turnips.

I saw a salad coming on.

Last week at an incredible dinner at Il Buco, I had a Grilled Filet of Spanish Mackerel with filet beans and raw Tokyo Turnips, a bracing, surprising success that I haven’t stopped thinking about since. The turnips were calling my name, as were the black radishes whose brooding, elephantine skin conceals their gleaming white core.

I had a vision of a clean salad forming, full of crisp, fall flavors, knobby bits of aged crystalline Parmesan cheese, and roasted almonds. All crunch, substance, flavor. Back home, as I worked my way around the roots with my camera, I got hungrier, so I threw a few potatoes and some garlic in the oven to roast. And the smell.... well, you know the smell of roasted garlic and potatoes.

What’s left, after my split personalities went their separate ways, is two different but equally delicious salads: one pure and raw, the essence of every vegetable, the other, warm and raw melting together, the give of roasted potato between every bite of earthy kale and crisp radish. Both alive. Both the kind of salad you might enjoy, say, as a lunch or a first course, of if you’re still in the mood for being bad, as an easy meal eaten along side a few fine slices of charcuterie with a glass of Chimay. So much for clean. Either way, lean or lux, both are at home on any table—carnivore or vegetarian. Take your pick:

~

Black Radish Salad with Broccoli, Tokyo Turnips, Kale, Almonds and Parmesan Cheese

Serves 2 to 4

½ head Tuscan/ Black Kale/Cavolonero, cut in bite-sized pieces

3 tablespoons high quality extra virgin olive oil

Juice of ½ lemon

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

1/2 small head fresh broccoli, florets and stems, thinly sliced lengthwise

1 large black radish, thinly sliced or cut in bite-sized pieces

2 small Tokyo Turnips, thinly sliced

4 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, broken in bits

1/3 cup roasted, unsalted almonds, roughly chopped

Fleur de sel or sel gris, for garnish

Toss the kale together with the olive oil and lemon juice in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Massage the kale, squeezing and rubbing the leaves together with your hands, working the oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper into the leaves to flavor and tenderize them. Toss together with the broccoli, turnips, parm, and almonds. Divide between plates. Garnish with fleur de sel and more ground pepper; serve at room temperature.

~

Black Radish Salad with Tokyo Turnips, Roasted Potatoes, Apples, and Manchego

Serves 2 to 4

1 handful fingerling or banana potatoes, halved lengthwise
4 cloves garlic, in their skin, smashed

5 tablespoons high quality extra virgin olive oil

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

½ head Tuscan/ Black Kale/Cavolonero, cut in bite-sized pieces

Juice of ½ lemon

1 small crisp, tart apple, thinly sliced

1 large black radish, thinly sliced or cut in bite-sized pieces

2 small Tokyo Turnips, thinly sliced

1/3 cup roasted, unsalted almonds, roughly chopped

2 ounces Manchego cheese, thinly sliced

Fleur de sel or sel gris, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Toss the potatoes, garlic, 1 tablespoon olive oil, salt and pepper together until coated and spread onto a baking sheet in a single layer. Roast until soft with golden brown edges, about 30 minutes.

Toss the kale together with the remaining olive oil and lemon juice in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Massage the kale, squeezing and rubbing the leaves together with your hands, working the oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper into the leaves to flavor and tenderize them. Toss together the roasted potatoes, turnips, apples, and almonds. Divide between plates. Scatter the cheese over the top. Garnish with fleur de sel and more ground pepper; serve at room temperature.

Photos and Recipes © Sarah Copeland 2012

Please credit source when using on Pinterest. All other uses require permission via email.

cooking with love + paprika

When it comes to family, András and I couldn't have been born into better ones— we adore our own parents, and each other’s. But while we're fortunate to see my family four, five, sometimes six times a year, the 4,000-odd miles between us and Hungary, where András is from, means that will never be the case for him. We do our best. We visit once a year and stay as long as we can, we Skype each Sunday and email photos back and forth. But still, truth be told, I take for granted that they—these four healthy grandparents Greta has, András parents, and my own, will still be there, strong and lively as ever on the one day when we hope we can stay a little longer, visit more often.

Recently, we had a scare with Anya, András mother, and it made me look those 4,000 miles straight in the eye. Everything turned out to be just fine, but it softened my too-rare sensitivity to the concession that for András, a life spent together with me would be a life apart for his family, too.

There's not a great deal I can do about that big ocean between us, but if there's one thing I know that brings home a little closer to him, it's cooking with love and paprika.  Lecsó--a stew of onion, pepper, and tomato that’s loaded with the heady aroma of rich paprika, is the one meal we always eat when we’re in Hungary, no matter the season. And when we miss Hungary, and the people it holds, it is Lecsó I cook, serving it as his mother does, over thick slabs of rustic brown bread. If it is bread with flecks of caraway like the one she makes fresh most days, all the better.

Lecsó is not the most beautiful food on the planet, but its flavor can blind you. And it couldn’t be simpler to make. The trick is finding the right peppers. Hungarian long green peppers are most like banana peppers or Italian frying peppers, thin and crunchy, and melt into the stew. You'll need a few hot Hungarian wax peppers—small, green and spicy—which for lack of ever finding them, I'm committed to growing in my garden forever more. I always use Hungarian paprika for this dish because of the round, rich flavor and depth it lends. 

Lecsó is great served warm or cold (though I prefer it warm), and because it keeps well for days in the fridge or freezer, I always make a big batch...maybe one even big enough to last until Thanksgiving.  

~

Lecsó

Serves 2 to 4

3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced

4 long Hungarian, banana, or Italian frying peppers, seeded, deribbed, and thinly sliced

1 to 2 hot Hungarian wax peppers, seeded, deribbed, and thinly sliced

5 large firm, ripe tomatoes, chopped

2 tbsp Hungarian sweet paprika

1/2 tsp Hungarian hot paprika (csípős)

sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Whole-grain bread

Butter, at room temperature

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and just golden brown, about 6 minutes. Add the peppers and stir to coat with oil. Season with about ½ tsp of salt. Cook the vegetables until softened, stirring often until they seem to melt together, about 10 minutes. Stir together the tomatoes and paprikas in a medium bowl and stir them into the vegetables in the pan. Continue cooking, seasoning with salt and pepper, stirring often until everything is soft, a roasted red color, and deeply flavored, about 10 minutes more. Serve warm over fresh buttered bread. 

All Photos + Recipes © Sarah Copeland 2012

Please credit when posting on Pinterest. All other uses require permission via email.