It figures that just as we began to see the true signs of spring and even the tiniest preview of summer, April showers reared their ugly head to help usher in May. While it's by no means cold here in New York, it does seem like we went from 80 degrees and sunny to rainy and dismal in no time at all. The dreary weekend weather may have put the kibosh on my traditional Saturday morning farmers market visit, but it also inspired me to create a comforting and light dish for those warmer, stormy days and nights of spring. As I've been researching healthy and delicious dishes this year, I've been reading a lot about veggie rich chicken soups that take advantage of spring's bounty, and I've been excitedly waiting for the season and its vegetables to catch up. So last night, after four straight days of rain, I knew it was time to put a recipe to the test.
In researching recipes the last few weeks, I kept coming across ajiaco, a chicken soup popular in Colombia that involves a delicious cilantro infused broth. Unfortunately for my waistline, it also involves heavy cream, a big bowl of white rice and a sack of potatoes. So, I decided it'd need a little lightening up. It's not quite corn season yet, so I couldn't include that in the recipe (as it traditionally requires), but you better believe once summer rolls around I'll have a summer-ready ajiaco recipe in my back pocket. But for now, I'll just call this an ajiaco inspired recipe so I don't get jumped by a pack of angry Colombian foodies. I decided to eliminate the side of rice for today, and instead leave the potatoes as the only starch. Traditionally in Colombia you'd have a variety of local indigenous potatoes and tubers in the stew, but for the sake of my needing to be healthy for at least a short period of time, I went with just one type of potato. The next thing I added was fresh asparagus, just blanched for a few minutes right in the soup broth. The chicken cooked similarly, just poaching itself in the delicious clear broth, infusing it with it's essence. At the last minute I tossed in a few fresh fava beans since I could still get them, then served it all up in a bowl over potatoes (boiled separately and added to the pot), topped with fresh and cooling avocado.
The dish ended up being better than I expected and not bland at all (as I had momentarily feared) despite removing a few delicious ingredients. In fact, it had great fresh flavor and a nice textural contrast from the crisp asparagus, firm potatoes and soft, poached chicken. The avocado was a perfect foil for the whole thing, soft and creamy and slightly nutty, it added a wonderful new layer of flavor and texture. I must admit that I'm excited to give this recipe a whirl in the summer when I'll have fresh corn at the ready. Also, it'd be great with a dollop of crema or sour cream instead of adding cream to the broth. In my first test run of the soup I made it with a scoop of brown rice on the bottom of the bowl, which I will definitely resurrect when summer rolls around. In the meantime, here's the light version, chock full of springtime veggies:
Spring Chicken Soup
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 bunch (about 1 lb) fresh asparagus, chopped, ends trimmed
1 lb white potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 cup fresh fava beans, shelled
6 cups chicken stock
juice of half a lemon
1 avocado, diced
1. Bring a small pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until tender but firm, about 15 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, bring chicken stock to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and add chicken pieces, cooking until done through.
3. Add cooked potatoes, asparagus and fava beans. Cook until asparagus is tender-crisp, then add lemon juice. Stir to combine and plate, topping each with avocado. Enjoy!
-Laura
Just like an underrated actor, some ingredients have a way of getting typecast. There is no better example of this than the avocado. I think very few people look at the avocado in their kitchen (because they should never go in the fridge) and think anything but "Guacamole tonight!" Sure, this delicious dip is an excellent showcase for the flavor and texture of the luscious avocado, but it hardly does the versatility of this delicious fruit justice. It's also a perfect topping for sandwiches, a wonderful emulsifier for dressings, and certainly my favorite part of any salad.
That's why, when I was offered some avocados leftover from a photo shoot, I jumped at the chance to bring one home. I was then, of course, faced with the dubious task of figuring out what to make that wasn't incredibly cliché (like, say... guacamole). After giving it some thought I was torn between one of my favorite sandwiches and a simple avocado and bean salad. It turns out that one avocado is actually more than enough to make both dishes, so I went for both. The sandwich was just toasted whole grain bread smeared liberally with chipotle mayo, a nice neat stack of bacon, and cool, tender slices of avocado. It was quick, easy, and perfectly balanced.
The salad was something I'd been eager to try for some time, since avocado is more often than not paired with black beans. I decided to pair it with one of my favorite beans, the soft, plump, and mild flavored cannellini. I threw in some chorizo, one finely chopped jalapeño, half an avocado and dressed the whole thing with lime juice and olive oil. It was simple and light with really clean flavors, and actually made a great companion dish for my sandwich. I served it at room temperature, but certainly you can chill it in the fridge for a bit, or even add some tomatoes and cilantro and make it a bean salsa (it would look great with blue corn chips in particular). Since the sandwich was basically just an assembly job, here's what I came up with for the salad:
Avocado and White Bean Salad
1 16 oz can cannellini beans, drained, rinsed and dried
1/2 cup cooked chorizo, chopped
1/2 an avocado, chopped
1/4 cup lime juice
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
extra virgin olive oil (to taste, but about 2 Tbsp)
coarse salt
pepper
1. Combine beans, chorizo and avocado in a bowl and drizzle with lime juice (this will keep avocado from going brown) and stir to combine. Drizzle with vinegar and olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Stir to combine and serve. Enjoy!
-Laura
There are some foods that as a child I convinced myself I did not like. Although they were few and far between, they were varied. They also all at some point became some of my favorite foods and ingredients--lentils, fried eggs, and avocado among them. Avocado was something I particularly hated, even though I never really gave it a chance. Not surprisingly, I eventually convinced myself that I hated guacamole. I don't know why I had these strong feelings, but fortunately they reversed completely. My winters are now filled with lentil soup, and my summers with bacon, lettuce and avocado sandwiches.
My mother also held a similar disdain for the avocado, but like me, has grown to love it. So it is that I found myself with several leftover avocados (we made salsa fresca and guac) after her departure. Not wanting them to go to waste, I continued my search for recipes that would make good use of the avocados and the rest of my holiday leftovers. It was just my luck that this weekend Nigella Lawson made what she called "Roqueamole" on her new show, Nigella Express. It's a creamy dip that combines avocados with Roquefort--a perfect use for several ingredients in my fridge. The recipe seemed simple enough, so I tried it out as a light and easy dinner on a busy night of running errands after work.
Sadly, I was not thrilled with her recipe. It was a bit simplistic, lacking in flavor, and the measurements were a bit off for my taste. I've often made dishes from her cookbooks and her television programs with great success. The recipes from this new show, however, I am finding fall a bit flat. As I understand it, these recipes are meant to be easy and quick, but flavorful. Unfortunately, they fall short in the flavor department and are lacking the complexity to make them truly tasty. I'd go deeper into my thoughts on how quick-cooking shows are the death of real cooking, but I left my soapbox at the office, so you've been spared.
Instead I'll tell you what I did to remedy the bland situation before me. The first thing was to change the ratio of blue cheese to avocado. How could you possibly mask the buttery sweetness of avocado with so much Roquefort and spring onions? The flavors were too overwhelming, losing what I think is a key flavor and texture. As a result, I added more avocado and eliminated the spring onions altogether. Something was still missing, so I added cilantro and lime juice, but wasn't quite happy yet. After digging through everything in my kitchen, I came upon a container of spicy olives that I though would pair well with the Roquefort element of the dip, without overshadowing the avocado. I'd finally achieved the well rounded flavor I'd been going for. Here's how to make it my way (And it doesn't have much in common with guacamole, so I won't be calling it Roqueamole):
Roquefort, Avocado and Olive Dip
2 avocados, inside scooped out and roughly chopped
1/4 cup Roquefort, crumbled
3 tsp cilantro, minced
1 lime
2 jalapeños, finely diced (I removed ribs and seeds from one)
1/2 cup green olives, finely diced (spicy olives if you have them)
1/8 tsp paprika (optional)
salt
pepper
1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl, except for the lime and paprika. Mash with a fork.
2. Add the lime juice half at a time--you may not need the whole thing. Taste for salt and season accordingly. Dust with paprika. Enjoy!
-Laura
