Recipe (Re)creation: Green Gazpacho with Marcona Almonds

This creation was inspired by a lovely marcona almond gazpacho I had at Contigo recently.  While mine is not a white gazpacho, I did decide to add marcona almonds to a more traditional green gazpacho.  I adapted a recipe that I came across in Bon Appétit and the final result will not disappoint.  Serve as an appetizer or as a light lunch.  It is the perfect chilled summer soup!

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup marcona almonds, plus more for serving
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 cup plain greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup olive oil, plus more for drizzling
• 2 1/2 cups ciabatta, torn and crusts removed
• 1 medium cucumber, peeled and cubed
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 4 tomatillos, husked and sliced
• 4 scallions, sliced
• 2 jalapeños, seeds removed and chopped
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• kosher salt

Directions:

-Whisk together the vinegar, lime juice, yogurt, and 1/2 cup oil in a bowl.

-Add the bread, cucumber, bell pepper, tomatillos, scallions, jalapeños, garlic & almonds.

-Toss to coast, cover, and chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

-Purée the mixture in a Vitamix or high powered blender until very smooth.

-Transfer to a large bowl and season with salt, as needed.

-Ladle soup into bowls, drizzle with olive oil, and top with the remaining almonds.

Enjoy!

Recipe (Re)creation: Crushed Beets with Greek Yogurt + Herbs

I came across this lovely crushed beets recipe in my June edition of Bon Appetit.  I fell in love with the combination of greek yogurt, lemon zest, herbs and perfectly roasted beets.  I just made a few changes and added toasted hazelnuts and a drizzle of balsamic reduction at the end.  Otherwise, I stayed pretty true to the original recipe. This is one dish I will be adding to the regular repertoire for sure!

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. small or medium beets
• 5 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 tbsp. lemon zest
• 2 tbsp. lemon juice
• 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves
• 2 tbsp. freshly torn dill
• 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
• Maldon sea salt & pepper
• 2 tbsp. toasted hazelnuts
• Balsamic reduction

Directions:

-Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and line a baking sheet with tin foil.

-Place scrubbed beets on the foil and drizzle with 1/2 tbsp oil.

-Season with salt and paper and wrap the foil around the beets.

-Roast beets for 40-50 minutes, depending on their size.

-Let cool, remove the skins of the beets with a paper towel and crush.

-Meanwhile, whisk the lemon zest, juice and 2 tbsp. oil in a bowl and set aside. 

-Heat 2 tbsp. oil in a large skillet, add beets, and season with salt and pepper.

-Cook the beets until browned, about 4 minutes on each side. 

-Transfer the beets to the bowl with the vinaigrette and toss.

-Add the mint, dill, and hazelnuts to the bowl and mix.  

-Add the remaining 1/2 tbsp. oil, and sprinkle with Maldon sea salt and pepper. 

-Serve with dollops of greek yogurt and a hefty drizzle of balsamic reduction.

Restaurant (Re)creation: Terzo's Roasted Salmon with Farro, White Corn + Cherry Tomatoes

I always love dining at Terzo, but on my most recent visit, I had one dish in particular that I could not stop thinking about.  It was a perfectly roasted salmon over a bed of sweet corn, tomatoes and farro.  It was mild, buttery, and disappeared within minutes.  I looked across the table at my friend, Courtney, and she said, "you must recreate this."  You ask and you shall receive!  Luckily, I was able to find a great recipe from Bon Appétit to use as a starting point.  Then I swapped out the couscous for farro, and added sautéed white corn.  Though this dish does have a few moving pieces going on at once, it's a relatively simple one-dish meal and is both healthy and totally delicious.  Plus, you'll have plenty of corn and tomato farro for leftovers the next day.

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

For yogurt raita:

• 1/2 cup greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup plain yogurt
• 1 tbsp. chopped dill
• 1 tbsp. chives
• 1/2 tbsp. lemon zest

For salmon:

• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 1/4 bunch dill fronds
• 1/4 bunch thyme sprigs
• 1 lb. wild king salmon
• Kosher salt
• 4 oz. cherry tomatoes

For farro:

• 8 oz. cherry tomatoes, halved
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tbsp. chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1 tbsp. za'atar
• 1 1/2 tbsp. butter
• 2 ears white corn, cut off cob
• 1 cup farro
• Kosher salt

Directions:

-Preheat oven to 325 F and begin mixing the yogurt raita ingredients in a small bowl.

-Next, pour 2 tbsp. olive oil in a small roasting pan and top with a bed of herbs.

-Place salmon on the herbs and drizzle with the remaining oil.

-Season with salt, top with tomatoes, and roast in the oven for 25 minutes.

-Meanwhile, sauté the corn in 1/2 tbsp. butter and remove from heat.

-Mix the tomatoes, parsley, za'atar, corn, 1 tbsp. oil and salt in a medium sized bowl.

-Bring a pot of salted water to boil, add farro, and cook for 20 minutes.

-Drain farro, transfer to a large bowl, and stir in the remaining oil and butter.  

-Add the tomato and corn mixture to the farro and season with salt.

-Check the salmon and broil for 1-2 additional minutes, or until tender. 

-Cut the salmon and serve on mounds of farro topped with a generous dollop of raita.

Terzo

3011 Steiner Street

San Francisco, CA

(415) 441-3200

www.terzosf.com

Recipe (Re)creation: Na'ama's Fattoush

This recipe is from Ottolenghi and Tamimi's long-awaited cookbook, Jerusalem.  I never thought I'd say it, but I like this cookbook even more than Ottolenghi's other cookbook, Plenty.  This one features both Jewish and Arab dishes, and there are both vegetarian and meat-laden dishes to keep just about everyone happy.  This fattoush salad reminds me of my trip to Lebanon and fattoush was one of my absolute favorite discoveries from the trip.  This recipe is delicious as is, but I just added a few twists to make it slightly more satisfying.  I used pita instead of naan and I toasted it so that it kept its integrity and didn't get soggy.  I also topped the salad with a little crumbled feta for some added salt and creaminess.  You can serve this salad with some grilled sausage or extra pita and hummus and you are all set for a perfect weeknight meal.

ps. Buy the Jerusalem cookbook- you won't regret it.

Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 large pitas, toasted
• 3 large tomatoes, diced
• 4 radishes, thinly sliced
• 3 mini cucumbers, peeled and diced
• 2 green onion, sliced thinly
• 5 mint leaves
• 1/2 bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic
• 3 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp sumac
• 1/4 cup crumbled feta (optional)
• salt & pepper

Directions:

-To make the buttermilk dressing, start 1 hour in advance.
-Whisk the milk and yogurt together in a bowl.
-Set aside, or place in the fridge until bubbles form to the surface.
-Tear the bread into bite-sized pieces and place in a large mixing bowl.
-Add the buttermilk dressing, and all the other ingredients and mix well.
-Allow flavors to mix for 10 minutes and then spoon the fattoush into serving bowls.
-Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt & pepper.
-Garnish generously with sumac and a sprinkle of feta cheese.

~Enjoy~

Recipe (Re)creation: Crispy Low-Sodium Sweet Potato Wedges with Lemon-Chive Yogurt Dip

I developed this recipe for a LOVE YOUR HEART RECIPE RALLY that a friend of mine does annually.  Her blog, SODIUM GIRL, is totally inspirational and full of mouthwatering low-sodium dishes. This recipe rally was particularly challenging for me because I happen to LOVE salt. However, many people (and their bodies) do not love salt and obviously need to find other flavor boosters to make up for the absence of salt.  That is where herbs and spices enter the picture!  I usually cook with herbs and spices anyways, but if you kick them up a notch, you don't even miss the salt.  I promise.

Our recipe rally mission was to take a typically salty, crave-worthy dish and create a low-sodium version of it.  I chose sweet potato wedges since they are a current obsession of mine and I wanted to see if I, the lover of salt, would still like a salt-free version.  After seasoning the sweet potatoes with different combinations of herbs and spices (and doing a lot of taste testing- thank you husband!), I decided on not one, but two different versions that I just had to include.  One is a hot and spicy version, and one is a mixed herb version.   The cooling yogurt dip is also low-sodium and pairs beautifully with those savory little sweet potato wedges.  So easy, breezy, and totally low-so (haha, and no one will even know).

Serves 6, as a side

Ingredients:

For sweet potato wedges:

3-4 medium sized sweet potatoes, unpeeled
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp chipotle chili powder
1 tsp chili flakes
2 springs of rosemary, stems removed and chopped
1 tbsp fresh thyme
1/2 tbsp dried (or fresh) oregano
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp corn starch
Olive oil

For yogurt dip:

1/2 cup greek yogurt (Fage 2%)
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp fresh chives, chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Slice sweet potatoes in even wedges (about 8 wedges per potato).

Generously brush each wedge with olive oil and a little sugar and a little corn starch (it helps them caramelize and get crispy).

Put the spices on one plate and the mixed herbs on another.

Rub half of the wedges (individually) in the spices and half of the wedges in the herb mixture.

Make sure that each wedge has ample spices or herbs covering it.

Place wedges on a baking sheet and spread out evenly.

Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, then take the sheet out, rotate the wedges and return them to the oven for another 10 minutes, or until they start to brown.

Reduce the oven temperature to 200 degree F and bake for another 5 minutes, or until crispy.  Remove from oven to cool.

Meanwhile, scoop the yogurt into a small bowl and mix with lemon juice and most of the chives.  Garnish the top with the remaining chives.

Serve the sweet potato wedges with the lemon-chive yogurt dip.

Who knew low-so could taste so good?