As I mentioned in a previous post, there was once a time when I feared all purple foods. But no worries, I have gotten over my phobia to such a degree that I now often seek out and buy purple food just for the novelty of it all. It's great to finally be able to add another dimension of color, flavor and texture to my dishes with these poor misunderstood ingredients. Who knew that the pickled beets of the 80's and the ghastly purple potato soup of the 90's could have such an effect on an impressionable young girl?
Never mind the past, because I've made progress. No longer do I run screaming from deep purple fruits and veggies, or cry at the sight of borscht. In fact, just the other day I was intrigued by a mysterious row of brown paper bags at the small farmers market in the lobby of my office building. Only the plum colored pointed ends of their contents were visible, but there was something alluring about about their darkness amidst the shadows of the bag. A better look inside revealed what appeared to be purple string beans. A mere few months ago, I would have passed out then cried under my desk for an hour, but on this day I was so jazzed at the sight of something new and fun that I bought them immediately.
Some quick research on these unusual little guys proved that they are in fact quite common, can grow pretty much everywhere, and that they're actually not all that unusual. I was happy to learn ahead of time that they actually lose their dark pigment while cooking, so if you want them to be purple you have to eat them raw (they're green on the inside though, which is really pretty). That was no problem for me since I love raw snap peas as a snack, and have been known to down half a bag of green beans before they're even cooked. I decided to compromise for the salad I was making and blanched half of them and left the other half raw. Besides the color contrast there was also a great mouthfeel to the contrasting textures and flavors. I still had a few mini-heirloom tomatoes so I sliced those up and made a citrus-green olive dressing to pour over the salad. The dish was delicious and super refreshing on a crazy hot evening. So if you have a weird food phobia, get over it! You never know what you might be missing.
Purple String Bean Salad with Citrus-Olive Vinaigrette
2 cups purple string beans
2-3 miniature heirloom tomatoes (or 1 large), cut into wedges
juice of 1 lemon
2 Tbsp fresh orange juice
1 tsp lemon zest
1/2 tsp orange zest
1/4 cup roughly chopped pimiento stuffed green olives
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
extra virgin olive oil (1/4 - 1/2 a cup)
pinch of salt
pepper
1. Blanche half of the string beans in boiling salted water until tender-crisp. Remove to a bowl filled with ice water to stop the cooking.
2. Meanwhile, combine lemon juice, orange juice, lemon zest, orange zest, olives, mustard, salt and pepper in a bowl. Slowly whisk in olive oil until vinaigrette forms.
3. Toss cooked beans, raw beans and tomatoes in a bowl with half of the vinaigrette. Plate and drizzle with the remaining vinaigrette. Enjoy!
-Laura
There are some nights, as I'm sure it happens with most people, that there just isn't time to make a full meal. Sneaking in anything for dinner on these nights seems like an accomplishment, even if it's a slice of American cheese or an apple on the way to the train. Yesterday I actually planned exactly enough time to make a great meal, but my plans were thwarted by my handyman. Only two of the burners on the stove were working and there was a suspicious gas smell emanating from the kitchen, so I quickly complained to my landlord. When I came home last night, I knew I had just enough time to change my clothes and make dinner before my volleyball game, but when I came into the kitchen, it was clear that this handyman was not very tidy.
There was black schmutz all over the stove, counter and sink, and he hadn't replaced any of the items that normally live on the edge of the stove. I wouldn't generally expect him to be Mr. Hospital Corners, but the last handyman that came to my house (god bless him for closing up each and every mouse hole) had to take apart my entire kitchen--cabinets, shelves, stove and fridge included. And if it hadn't been for a note left on my chopping block, I'd have had no idea he was even there. Back to the point at hand, although my stove was finally working, now I had to spend a decent amount of time cleaning the entire kitchen and putting everything back where it belonged. By the time I was done I was not only short on time, but I really didn't want to make anything that would get the kitchen too dirty again.
So, I made half of what I'd intended, and then of course ran out of time to write up the blog as I'd wanted to. But, what I did make an excellent dish of citrus French beans that I'd been working on for a long time. It's nice and fresh and can definitely be chilled and served as a salad. There's no mayo or anything that goes bad in the heat so it'd be perfect for a picnic too. I used three kinds of zest, lemon and orange juice, and some delicious toasted pine nuts as well. Here's the recipe:
Citrus French Beans With Pine Nuts
French long Beans (I used about 2 1/2 cups)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp butter
2 garlic cloves, gratedJuice of 1 Lemon
Juice of half an orange
1 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp orange zest
1 tsp lime zest
1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
1. Cook French beans in a large pot of salted water until tender-crisp, about 2-3 minutes. Drain and set aside.
2. Heat olive oil, butter and garlic in a large skillet. When garlic becomes fragrant, add lemon juice, orange juice and zests. Cook for a minute then add beans and season with salt and pepper. Add pine nuts, toss to coat and serve. To serve as a salad, chill for 2 hours in the fridge. Enjoy!
-Laura
It was widely rumored that when Victoria Beckham was asked how she liked living in Spain, she responded by saying that the whole country smelled like garlic and paprika. While I can't say that I agree, I think it's pretty obvious from my recipes that they are two of the most prevalent ingredients in Spanish cooking. That's why it shouldn't be a surprise that they make an appearance twice over in today's recipe.
Since yesterday we had a vegetarian Thanksgiving side dish, I thought today we'd do one Spanish style, with slightly meatier tendencies. The dish includes chorizo, a pork sausage seasoned with both paprika and garlic, making it a wonderful ingredient to pep up any soup or vegetable side dish. Paprika and garlic are also used in seasoning the whole dish, so they're doing double duty today. I used long, pre-washed green beans not only to speed up the recipe, but to make sure that I could use them all up before leaving the house for Thanksgiving.
My mother always made a similar recipe around the holidays, but unfortunately, I wasn't able to buy the serrano ham that goes into her version, since I didn't want to add anything else to my fridge that might spoil over the weekend (it's soooo not in my budget right now anyway). But by all means, add some ham or bacon in with the chorizo, you'll be happy you did. This dish cooks pretty quickly because there are two methods of cooking at play. First, the green beans are sautéed with olive oil, and then they're steamed in a bit of stock. Naturally, since I was without bacon, I used pork stock, but it's perfectly fine to use vegetable or chicken stock as I usually do.
This recipe doesn't just have to be a side dish, it can also be a pasta dish. If you leave the paprika out of the oil, all you have to do is toss in your favorite kind of cooked pasta and you're done! Maybe add in some chickpeas, or mushrooms, or green peas...the add-ins are endless. I've always thought of green beans as the second class citizens of Thanksgiving, but I definitely feel like this recipe would stand out and bring them to the forefront of dinner like they did at my house for so many years. Give them a try and let me know what you think. Here's what you need:
Green Beans with Chorizo
12 oz long green beans (about 3 cups)
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 chorizo sausages, diced
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cumin
1/2 cup stock (pork, chicken, or vegetable)
3 Tbsp olive oil
salt
pepper
1. Heat olive oil and garlic in a medium pan. When the garlic just starts to get golden, remove pan from heat and allow oil to cool.
2. Once cooled, add the paprika and return pan to heat. Once the oil starts to bubble, add the chorizo, green beans, salt and pepper. Sauté for 5 minutes, then lower heat to medium and add stock. Cover the pan and allow to steam until liquid is evaporated, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep garlic from sticking.
3. When the green beans are done, check for salt (I've always had to add a little more) and plate. Enjoy!
**This will be the last post until after Thanksgiving. I know, I know, what will you read when you're hiding from your extended family? Well, I guess it'll be something else, but feel free to check out my archives :) Don't fret though, I will be documenting my Thanksgiving dinner, complete with deep fried turkey. Seriously, I plan on eating all of that crunchy skin. Try and stop me! Also, I always make the mashed potatoes, so stay tuned for that recipe, and we'll see if I can't get in on the green beans as well. Happy Thanksgiving!!
-Laura
