Deliciously Vegetarian: Black-Eyed Pea and Soybean Salad with Lime and Avocado

It's hard to stop eating this simple salad

I saw a recipe recently - the first-place winner in the Vegetarian Times Reader Recipe contest - that inspired me to make this salad for lunch yesterday. It was delicious! This is a recipe to satisfy any number of your vegan, high-fiber, low-carb, low-fat desires. My only problem is that I wanted to eat the whole bowl myself.

Black-Eyed Pea and Soybean Salad with Lime and Avocado
adapted from Greens (aka Vegetarian Times) magazine October 2007

makes 6 servings
1 (14-ounce) can black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained
1 (14-ounce) can soybeans, rinsed and drained
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 avocado, diced
1 small tomato, diced
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup finely chopped shallot or red onion
1 serrano chile pepper, finely chopped (You could use a jalapeno, but I love serranos because they have a dependable heat level, unlike jalapenos which are sometimes very bland)
1 small garlic clove, finely chopped
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon low-sodium teriyaki sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1. In a large bowl, layer the peas, beans, bell pepper, avocado, tomato, cilantro, shallot, chile pepper and garlic.

2. Whisk together the lime juice, oil, vinegar, teriyaki, sugar, salt and cayenne in a small bowl.
Pour dressing over the bean mixture and toss gently to avoid smashing the avocado.



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Copyright (c) 2007 FamilyStyle Food

Quick Summer Side Dish: Spicy Corn with Mustard Seeds

Fresh corn sauteed with chiles and mustard seeds

When did weekends become all about running around and less about sitting around? A few months ago, almost ten years after our first baby arrived and we'd parted ways with leisurely weekend mornings, we resubscribed to the Sunday New York Times. I like seeing the blue plastic bundle waiting for me on the front stoop - it gives the impression that I am a person who has time to read the newspaper.

I can't say I've ever managed to read the whole paper; a half hour spent with the Book Review and the Arts and Leisure section on Sunday mornings seems to be my limit before I'm off and on with the day.

This past Sunday, my promise to grill ribs for dinner had to be postponed at the last minute, as I found myself at Home Depot shopping for home improvement projects right around dinner time. Time for Plan B! I made a quick dash to the store to buy some chicken to throw on the grill and fresh corn for 25 cents an ear.

I was inspired by this recipe which appears in the July issue of Sunset magazine. It's from a new cookbook by Ruta Kahate called 5 Spices, 50 Dishes: Simple Indian Recipes Using Five Common Spices.

It was delicious! I used just one chile pepper, and found it gently spicy. I also added some lime juice for a little extra flavor. This is a 5-minute recipe, especially if you use frozen corn.

Slicing the kernels off the cob can get a little messy, though. I managed to splatter corn juice all over T and his Times crossword puzzle.

Spicy Corn with Mustard Seeds
makes 4 servings

6 to 8 ears corn (or use 4 cups thawed frozen corn)
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon brown mustard seeds
1 or 2 serrano chiles, thinly sliced
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
Salt
1 tablespoon minced cilantro
1 -2 teaspoons fresh lime juice, to taste

1. Slice kernels off corn, if using fresh.

2. Heat vegetable oil in a wok or sauté pan over medium-high heat, add mustard seeds, and cover. When seeds stop popping, lower heat to medium and add chiles; stir 30 seconds.

3. Stir in turmeric. Add corn and salt to taste. Toss, turn heat to low, cover, and cook until corn is tender, about 5 minutes (cook frozen corn about 1 minute). Stir in cilantro and lime juice. Serve warm.

Ruta Kahate, Sunset, JULY 2007 5 Spices, 50 Dishes

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601 Cookbooks

Spring Greens

Question of the day: Which of your cookbooks is your absolute most favorite, page-worn and splattered from use?

People who collect cookbooks seem to enjoy counting their spoils. Since I’ve been collecting cookbooks for more than 20 years now, the other day I thought I’d count them (it must have been a very quiet day). I counted the books in the kitchen, strewn around on tables and floors, and in the dining and living rooms. I got up to 320. I didn’t venture down into the basement, where I know I have at least that many, and probably more, nor did I figure in the stack that lives next to my bed. After all that counting, I decided it would be much more useful if I’d spent my five minutes of free time cataloging my cookbooks.

This is what J would say, and for once I agree: Counting is so boring.

Admittedly, I don’t use every single one of my cookbooks. Sometimes they sit on the shelves for years before I notice them. And, every once in a while I actually have to let some go to good causes, to make room for new ones.

Out of the 600-plus cookbooks I own, I’d estimate I use or look at the same two dozen or so over and over again. One of them is Nigella Lawson’s How to Eat. I have all of her other books, but this is her best, in my opinion. It doesn’t have any photographs or illustrations at all – none of those money shots of Nigella licking chocolate off a spoon – just lots of personal writing and recipes.

My copy is paperback, and pages are falling out even after I’ve taped and glued them back in. The book falls open to one of my very favorite recipes, Lemon Linguine on page 230.

I’ve made many versions of this recipe, but my current version, with crème fraiche and lots of fresh vegetables, seems so Spring-y.

Pasta Shells with Green Vegetables and Lemon Cream
Serves 4

1 cup each trimmed asparagus, green beans and broccoli, cut into bite-size pieces
1 pound dried pasta shells (conchiglie)
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup crème fraiche
Zest and juice of 1 large lemon
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
4 tablespoons unsalted butter (try using a premium brand like Plugra for this – it’s worth it)

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Throw in a good handful of salt. Add the vegetables and cook 3 minutes; scoop them out with a slotted spoon and plunge into a bowl of ice water. Drain.

Add the pasta and cook until al dente.

While the pasta is cooking, find your biggest serving bowl. In the bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, crème fraiche, lemon zest and juice, cheese, salt and pepper. Just before draining the pasta, scoop out about 1/2 cup of the cooking water and add to the egg yolk mixture, whisking.

Drain pasta; add to the bowl with the vegetables and butter, tossing gently to coat with sauce.




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Spaghetti with Arugula and Pecorino: Friday Night Home Date

Red Chili Pepper Spaghetti with Arugula and Pecorino Romano

Tonight we’re dining on pure comfort food.

I think I would eat pasta of some kind every single day if I didn’t have any regard for culinary diversity. In fact, I’m pretty sure that when I was young, single, and living in my first apartment, pasta was my daily sustenance. All I needed was a cheap aluminum stockpot from the hardware store, some olive oil, and fresh gratings from the hunk of hard cheese - Parmigiano-Reggiano, Pecorino Romano, or Asiago - that I always had in the fridge.

I’m sure it comes from growing up in an Italian-American family, and being spoon-fed pastina with milk and butter when I was a baby.

Now that I’m grown up and far away from the place I came from, pasta is the only food I crave when I’m sick, or traveling, or just plain tired.

In other words, perfect for a late night Friday dinner. The kids will be in bed, so we’ll sit by the fire with a bottle of wine and big bowls of this spaghetti.

Chili Pepper Spaghetti with Arugula and Pecorino Romano

Serves two tired, hungry people, with a little leftover for snacking

12 ounces imported Italian spaghetti
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 fresh red chili pepper, seeds intact if you like it hot, sliced into thin rings
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
2 plump garlic cloves, finely chopped
4 cups prewashed baby arugula
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese, to taste


Bring a big pot of generously salted water to a boil. Put the spaghetti in the water and cook until just tender, but firm in the center - al dente.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over moderately low heat. Add the chili and onion and cook until slightly golden brown. Stir in the garlic and cook a few minutes, until fragrant, but be sure not to brown it. Add the arugula and toss gently. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Toss the drained spaghetti with the olive oil mixture; the arugula will wilt. Serve in large shallow bowls topped with some cheese.

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