As luck would have it, it turned out to be a very, very good salad that I will be making many more times. When my guests asked for the recipe, I had to demur. I had not even written down the ingredients. So I promised to re-create it as soon as possible and pass along the recipe.

I am not a big fan of raw kale by itself or in big pieces, but shredding it and balancing it with cabbage makes a salad that’s pretty, good for you, and great tasting. I used clementines but if you can’t find them, you can use oranges. At home, I don’t normally supreme my citrus (by which I mean take off all the pithy white bits) but if you want to do that then I recommend this tutorial from Coconut and Lime. I think you could top this with grilled steak or chicken for a main course salad. Enjoy!

Recipe: Kale & Cabbage Salad with Miso Dressing 

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 bunch kale (I used Tuscan, but any kind is fine)
• 1 small head cabbage
• 1-2 avocados, cubed
• 4-5 seedless clementines, peeled and segmented
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds
• 3 Tblsp olive oil or vegetable oil
• 2 Tblsp white miso paste
• 2 Tblsp rice vinegar
• 1 Tblsp honey
• 2 tsp very hot water
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp smooth Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• salt and pepper to taste

METHOD:

• Wash and dry kale well. Grasp each kale leaf at the bottom of the stalk between your thumb and forefinger, and run your fingers up the stalk to separate the leaf from the stalk. Discard the stalks and stack the leaves. Fold the leaves lengthwise and  shred finely with a large knife. Place in a large salad bowl
• Remove outer leaves and stalk of cabbage, then cut into quarters. Use a large knife to shred as finely as possible. Add to the bowl with the kale. Combine with your hands or salad tongs.
• Top kale and cabbage with clementine segments, almonds, and avocado.
• In a small bowl, whisk remaining ingredients together well, ensuring miso is well broken up and combined. Toss about half the dressing with the salad. Add more dressing if desired. Serve immediately.
• Note: you can make the dressing up to 24 hours in advance if desired. Store in the fridge and whisk well before serving.

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The trick with these is to stir them super vigorously so the sugar starts to crystallize and help the spices cling to the nuts. Once they start to get sandy and sugary, you’ll know they are ready to go. I remember learning learning to make these in pastry school and not seeing them get sandy, despite what I thought were my best efforts at stirring them. The instructor came by and sneered, “you call that VIGOROUS? You need to stir VIGOROUSLY!” So I always think of that and smile while I’m stirring them. Vigorously.

And since you get a mini arm workout, you can justify eating a few extra nuts.

You can easily double or triple this recipe or play with the spices to your liking. If you don’t have a candy thermometer, here’s a guide to help you get to soft ball stage without one.

Recipe: Sweet & Spicy Holiday Nuts
makes 1 1/2 cups nuts

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon allspice
• Large pinch of cayenne pepper
• Large pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 cups unsalted shelled nuts of your choice

METHOD:

• Combine sugar and water in a saucepan on the stove over medium high heat. Meanwhile, combine spices and salt in a bowl.
• Insert a candy thermometer into the sugar and when it reaches 238 degrees (soft ball stage) turn off the heat and add the spices and the nuts.
• Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon for 2-3 minutes, until the nuts start to get a sandy texture.
• Pour nuts out onto a sheet of parchment paper or foil to cool. When they are cool enough to handle, gently break the clumps up with your hands.
• You can store them for up to a week in a sealed plastic bag or tightly closed container.

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If you haven’t worked with fresh lemongrass before, here’s a helpful post about how to prepare the stalks for cooking.

Recipe: Toasted Broccoli Soup with Coriander and Lemongrass

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 2 bunches baby broccoli, roughly chopped
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• 6 cups chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 stalk lemongrass, trimmed and roughly chopped
• 3 inch piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
• pinch of chili flakes (or more to taste)
• 1 Tblsp rice vinegar
• juice of 1 lemon

METHOD:

• Heat sesame oil in a medium-large pot over high heat. When oil is hot, add chopped broccoli and toast in the oil about 5 minutes, until the edges start to brown.
• Add garlic and coriander seeds and cook about 20 seconds, until garlic is fragrant.
• Add chicken broth, lemongrass, ginger, and chili flakes. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and cook about 15 minutes. Crack the lid slightly to let the steam off.
• Add rice vinegar and lemon juice. Puree very well in batches until smooth. Taste and add soy sauce or salt to season if necessary.
• Serve with additional chili flakes and a drizzle of sesame oil.

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What can I say about Yosemite that hasn’t already been said? We got to see the beginnings of fall colors, with vibrant yellow and orange leaves contrasted with the towering granite grays and misty white waterfalls…

Sun glinting through the pine trees as if they were daytime fireworks…

And of course, the always heart-stopping view of that most famous of Yosemite landmarks, Half Dome.

The icing on the cake: dinner in the dining room of what is ostensibly the masterpiece of all national park lodges, the 1927 WPA-era Ahwahnee Hotel, and a brandy by the oversized fireplace to top off the evening.

Recipe: Granola Bars with Dried Cherries, Almonds, & Cocoa Nibs
makes about 16 granola bars

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups rolled oats (not quick-cooking)
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/4 cup wheat germ
• 1/2 cup sliced or slivered almonds
• 1/2 cup almond butter
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 Tblsp flaxseed oil
• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 tsp freshly grated ginger root
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup cocoa nibs
• 1/2 cup dried cherries (cut in half if they are large)

METHOD:

• Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment or foil.
• Combine oats, sunflower seeds, wheat germ, and almonds. Spread on baking pan and toast in the oven for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and pour into a large mixing bowl.
• Meanwhile, combine almond butter, honey, maple syrup, flaxseed oil, brown sugar, ginger, cinnamon, and salt in a saucepan. Heat over medium heat, whisking, until the mixture is melted together and fully combined.
• Pour melted mixture into oats. Add cocoa nibs and dried cherries and mix everything together until fully combined.
• Lightly oil your hands. Press mixture on to the baking sheet, pressing the mixture down and squishing it tightly together, forming an even rectangle that’s about 18 inches by 24 inches.
• Bake 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for at least 2 hours.
• Use a large sharp knife to cut into bars. Store in an airtight container , with pieces of parchment, saran wrap, or foil in between.

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It’s a little sweet, a little spicy, and a lot delicious. You can put it on toast with a little ricotta or cream cheese, you can put a little dish of it on a cheese platter, you can put a dollop on a pork chop or some chicken, or you can eat it straight from the jar. No judgment here.

If you just make it and put it in the fridge, it will keep for about a week. I like to make a sextuple or octuple batch and pressure-can it so I can save it for later and give little jars as gifts. If you want to make a big batch, you can bargain with your local tomato seller- they’ll usually sell you a bunch of the overripe ones for a much cheaper price.

Sweet and Spicy Tomato Jam

makes about 1/2 pint

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The weird thing is you can make really terrific granola with no oil, so it’s unclear to me how that practice got to be so commonplace. You do need something sweet, or else you just have some dried-out oats, so let’s not be crazy here. But you actually don’t need very much sweet stuff to make good granola. Also, making it yourself is really cheap, especially if you’re like me and you use it as a way to clean out the hodgepodge collection of nut remnants that lurks in your freezer. (Or am I the only one who has miniscule amounts of 15+ different kinds of nuts leftover from other projects?)

This is more of a how-to than a recipe, because you should be allowed to put whatever you like in your granola. I mean, it’s a free country so if you hate raisins then by god you shouldn’t have to wake up to them. This is a basic formula I use that can be adapted depending on which types of dried fruits, nuts, and seasonings you like. Compared to store-bought granola, this version is a lot cheaper, it’s a lot less caloric, and it tastes better because you can make it just how you like it.

Oil-Free Granola Made Exactly to your Liking
makes about 7-8 cups

INGREDIENTS:

• 5 cups rolled oats
• about 1 1/2 cups dried fruit, raisins, etc. of your choice (I used a medley of dried cherries, dried apricots, dried bananas, and dried mango)
• about 1/2 cup chopped or sliced nuts or seeds of your choice (I used sliced almonds)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (could substitute date sugar, white sugar, raw sugar, your choice)
• 1/4 cup maple syrup or honey
• 1 tsp vanilla (more or less as you like it)
• big pinch of salt
• 1-2 tsp cinnamon or other spice of your choice (powdered ginger, pinch of cloves, allspice, etc.)
• optional: handful of flax seeds, dried coconut, sunflower or pumpkin seeds, etc.

METHOD:

• Preheat oven to 275 F. Prepare a half sheet pan or other cookie sheet with sides with a piece of parchment or foil. Spray with cooking spray or brush lightly with oil. (If you are super anti-oil you can skip this without too much harm, but it does help it prevent sticking.)
• In the microwave or on the stovetop, heat the brown sugar and maple syrup or honey with 1/4 cup of water until the sugar is melted and combined. Add salt and any seasonings like vanilla or spices to the mixture and stir to combine.
• Toss the sugar mixture with the oats to coat well. Add the nuts, seeds, and dried fruits and toss again.
• Pour onto prepared pan and flatten into an even layer. Bake 15 minutes at a time, stirring well in between. After 45 minutes, test a few oats to see if they are crunchy. When oats are crunchy, remove from the oven. Total cooking time should be about 1 hour.
• Let cool to room temperature, tossing occasionally during cooling process. Store in an airtight container.

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Padron peppers are one of the most exciting vegetables you can buy, because about 95% of them are sweet and delicious, with maybe just a hint of spice, while the other 5% are super spicy. You can’t tell which is which, though, until you take a bite. This makes them fun to share with friends, and the risk/reward really livens things up. They are almost always served in some variation of the same preparation: sauteed in a pan. When I saw them at the Farmers Market recently, I bought a whole mess, rinsed them off, and quickly seared them with salt in a hot pan of olive oil. They only take about 5 minutes, and you just eat them whole off the stem.

So thanks, restaurant mafia- without you, I may have died not knowing what a padron pepper was or how to eat one. They’re so easy and tasty, and their spice variance provides a nice conversation point. These are definitely becoming part of the regular last-minute side dish repertoire.

This is too easy to be an actual recipe, so I’ll just explain how you make them. Rinse whole padron peppers off well and leave to dry in a colander. Heat a little olive oil in a pan on high heat and heat to very hot. Add peppers and season with salt. Cook, tossing or stirring often, for about 5 minutes, until peppers have some blistered and blackened bits and they are soft enough to eat. Serve immediately with an empty bowl on the table for discarded stems.

A quick note: I don’t really like bell peppers, especially green ones, but I like these.

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Thus was born the easiest recipe of the summer, the laziest chilled soup you will ever make, the healthiest lunch you will ever eat… but I’m not sure what to call it. Guacspacho? Salspacho? Gazpicodemole? Faux-zpacho? I’m open to suggestions. Anyway, here’s what you do:

1. Buy some delicious, fresh, perishable salsa/pico de gallo (remember, it should look something like this) – a pint container for every 2 people.
2. Buy some delicious, fresh, perishable guacamole (or just a really ripe avocado) – about 1/4 as much volume as the salsa.
3. Put in a blender and puree until smooth. If it’s too thick, add water or tomato juice. If it’s too thin or if you just want to go crazy, add a tablespoon or two of nonfat Greek yogurt and blend that in.

For the record, I used the mild heirloom tomato salsa from Swank Farms in Hollister, CA. You can find a link to where they sell (all over Northern California) on their website. The guacamole was from 360 Gourmet Burritos which is not the best guacamole in the world, but it’s fresh so it fit the bill just fine.

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Although I had a vague recollection of photographing and writing about why kale chips are good and how to make them, I realized I had never shared the recipe here–as I had codified the process over on Rookie Moms instead.

Since I like science and research, allow me to share data from an unofficial poll of three generations of family members:

• 1 out of 2 grandparents enjoys kale chips, as long as that 1 is on the Atkins Diet and therefore can’t eat regular chips
• 1 out of 3 parents of small children enjoys kale chips, although that would most likely jump to 2 out of 3 if one hadn’t been taking a nap when all the kale chips got eaten
• 2 out of 2 childless San Francisco yuppies enjoy kale chips (obviously)
• 1 out of 3 children under 13 enjoys kale chips
• 1 out of 3 dogs enjoys kale chips

So I guess you can’t please all the people/dogs all the time. But getting even one person in the family to eat kale chips and like them enough to ask for the recipe is a big success in my book.

You can find my recipe on Rookie Moms, although lately I like to add a splash of red wine vinegar with the oil. If they’re for adults only, you can add a dash of cayenne, too.

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I imagined they’d be like the usual flesh-toned chickpeas, except smaller and darker. Not so. After some experimentation, I learned that these little guys are nuttier and less prone to mushiness than other beans, and they hold their shape better during cooking. The effect is somewhere around 20% corn-nut and 80% cooked bean. Cooking them in aromatic coconut milk in the oven and finishing them on the stove with fresh herbs and lime is a reasonably no-fuss way to make the best of this hearty, nutty, unusual legume. The Thai-inspired flavors compliment them well.

I like this on its own or as a side dish with simple grilled chicken skewers or slow-cooked salmon. For an attractive one-dish presentation, you can lay the chickpeas on a platter and top with meat or fish. For a hearty vegetarian meal, you can make the recipe all the way through, let the beans come to room temperature, then add some diced tomatoes and cucumbers and mix it all together.

I bought a 14 oz. bag at Golden Natural Foods here in San Francisco, but you can buy the same brand online.

Thai-Style Black Chickpeas

serves 6 as a side dish

Ingredients:

• 14 oz dried black chickpeas
• 1 13 or 14 oz. can coconut milk
• 2 cardamom pods
• 20 black peppercorns
• 1 tsp whole cumin
• 1 tsp whole coriander
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 bunch green onions, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup packed cilantro leaves, finely chopped
• zest and juice of 1 large or 2 small limes
• sriracha or other hot sauce, to taste

Method:

• Preheat oven to 325.
• Rinse chickpeas well and drain. Place them in a heavy 4-5 qt. pot with a tight-fitting lid, like a dutch oven or Le Creuset. Add the coconut milk plus 2 cans of water.
• Using a spice grinder, mortar and pestle, or food processor, grind the cardamom pods, peppercorns, cumin, coriander, and salt together. Add to the pot.
• Place in the oven and cook about 2 hours, until beans are soft enough to eat but still firm. There will still be some liquid in the pot.
• Place the pot on top of the stove over medium high heat and continue cooking until all liquid has been absorbed, scraping down the sides frequently with a spatula.
• When there is just a little bit of liquid left, remove from heat and stir in green onions, cilantro, lime juice and zest, and sriracha to taste. Add salt if needed.
• If using as a side dish, remove to bowl and serve immediately. If making as a salad, let cool to room temperature and add 1-2 chopped tomatoes and 1 peeled, chopped cucumber and mix well before serving.

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