moroccan carrot salad with citrus and spice

oh hey, look, it's almost march. time flies when you're unemployed! (no it doesn't) 

i've been trying to make the most of this interlude of working part-time. i tend to be one of those people who really doesn't do that well with enforced time off (i get antsy), but it's been nice to have time to do various cooking-related projects (i seasoned a new wok!), take the dogs on long walks, and finally get around to planting a small herb garden. actually "herb garden" sounds fancier than it is - it's just a couple of plastic bins, really. but i'm super-excited about the culinary possibilities of my new endeavor - now i'll have italian parsley, basil, oregano, chives, orange and chocolate mints, pineapple sage, and mexican tarragon (aka mexican mint marigold) at my fingertips. 

unfortunately the garden came about after i made this moroccan-y carrot salad, or i'd definitely have used some of the orange mint in it. even sans orange (or any) mint, though, it was well worth making and it brightened up an otherwise dreary february day with its citrus-spicy carrot ribbons and non-homegrown herbs.

i tend to keep a lot of dried spices around, as they're easy to get in small amounts in the bulk section of our fancy local supermarket. if i could only get whole bottles at a time, i'd probably have fewer. so if you don't have some of these, nbd. just leave them out or add more of what you do have, to taste.

here i used about 1/8 of a teaspoon each of ginger, cinnamon, cumin, sumac, and coriander and perhaps 1/4 teaspoon each of za'atar and kosher salt.

then i added juice from 1/2 a lemon and 1/2 a small orange and a couple of teaspoons (aka a "glug") of olive oil and maybe a teaspoon each of honey and pomegranate molasses. ta da! dressing! it's totally to taste, though, so play with it a bit.

you could cut the carrots in whatever way you prefer. i was going to grate/julienne them with my mandoline, but i can't find it and now i'm not sure if i've even seen it since we left portland. it's possible that my mom threw/gave it away, as i'm not sure she's forgiven it for chopping the tip of my finger off a couple of years ago (lesson: be so SO careful with those things. they WANT to hurt you. also brussels sprouts are hard to cut on a mandoline.). 

so i used a peeler to cut them into long ribbons instead. because pretty!

a little bit of chopped shallot or scallions wouldn't be out of place here in addition to the herbs, but not having any, i just tossed in a big handful each of chopped parsley and cilantro. because in adversity we make do. just like the pioneers.

this will keep well in the fridge for at least a few days. the dressing pools in the bottom of the bowl a bit, but you could add some chickpeas or other beans or some chicken or hard-boiled eggs  or feta and make a very pleasant little lunch for yourself.

*ingredients* for maybe 4 servings
4 large carrots
1/8 teaspoon or so cumin, coriander, ginger, cinnamon, sumac
1/4 teaspoon or so za'atar and kosher salt
2-3 teaspoons olive oil
juice from 1/2 lemon and 1/2 small orange (~1/4 cup or less total)
1 teaspoon  honey and 1 teaspoon pomegranate molasses (or just 1-2 teaspoons honey)
1 handful each chopped parsley and cilantro (and/or mint) - maybe 1/2 cup total

listening to: a pandora station for MIA's paper planes, so kate nash, lily allen (wow, do not cross that kid) and (perhaps inevitably) MIA herself.

springy lentil salad with citrus-mustard vinaigrette

lo, it is spring! the flowers are flowering, the birds are singing, and the chilly rain is still falling. but in between the cold and rainy days are drier, warmer days that stay light longer and longer and make you feel like maybe things won't be so bad.

i make a lot of variations on this salad, because lentils and mustard go well together and it's a nice, filling, and portable lunch that only gets better after you make it. i usually make a very large batch and we eat it (on and off) all week. also, it's vegan, which is nice. although sometimes we eat it with sausage, which is not vegan. usually.

these are french green lentils (or "lentilles du Puy") and they are the best for lentil salads because they keep their shape much better than the yellow or brown lentils that are always hanging shiftily around bulk bins. those lentils are great for dals or lentil soup, but for a salad these are really worth seeking out. i usually find them in the bulk section as well. they have a great texture and a bit of a peppery taste that i really like. fancy lentils! who knew?

because the dressing and vegetables add so much flavor to this salad, you don't really need to cook the lentils with much - just rinse them and put them in a big pot with water covering them by a few inches. i also usually add a bit of salt. then just bring the water to a boil, turn the heat down to low-medium, and let them cook for maybe 30 - 40 minutes, or until they're tender. the cooking time depends on how fresh they are, so just keep trying them. then drain them and add them to the vegetables that you have thoughtfully been preparing while the lentils cook.

you can use various vegetables - some fennel would be good, as would a little broccoli. i liked the orange and green color scheme that was going on with this batch, though.

just chop whatever vegetables you like into smallish pieces. i quartered the thicker parts of the carrots and halved the thinner ends, then cut them into pretty thin slices - maybe 1/8" or so. it doesn't have to be exact, of course. i sliced the celery lengthwise into maybe 3-4 strips per stalk, then cut it into thin pieces as well. the asparagus i cut into coins, for the most part, but left the ends whole. finally, i just diced up the orange bell pepper (green bell peppers are the devil and are not fit for human consumption).

oh! and a large shallot also got in there, but not in time for initial picture-taking.

you can just leave the vegetables raw, if you like, but i prefer to cook everything a bit to take the edge off. heat up like 2 teaspoons of olive oil in a large pan (medium heat). then add the shallot (you could use onion instead, but shallots are a little milder and more garlicky), let it cook for a little less than a minute, then add the carrots and celery, let those cook a bit (2 minutes?), then the pepper. at this point, i also added a few tablespoons of chopped italian parsley and perhaps a teaspoon of dried thyme. fresh thyme would be good, but i didn't have any. other herbs would be nice as well - marjoram, any of the famed herbes de provence, etc.

let everything cook until the carrots lose their rawness - maybe 5 minutes or so, depending on how thick they are. add the asparagus towards the end, so it doesn't get too mushy - asparagus is so wonderful right now, you barely need to cook it at all.

then just stick everything in a bowl to hang out for a bit while you make the dressing.

i love when we're almost out of mustard because the jar makes a perfect vehicle for dressing and you don't have to try to scrape out the dregs of the mustard. lots of dijon mustard is good in this, because mustard and lentils are basically the chocolate and peanut butter of the savory food world. they just go together SO WELL.

since we're still in winter-spring crossover mode here in oregon, this salad really fits with both seasons. citrus is great right now, so i used the juice of a whole orange and a whole lemon, along with most of the zest of each. these, plus olive oil, the mustard, garlic, and salt are all you need for a very tasty dressing that brings everything together.

with the garlic, it's nice to make it into kind of a paste so it mixes in well. chop it fairly finely with about 1/2 a teaspoon of coarse salt, then use the side of your knife to slide across the cutting board, which helps the salt and garlic grind together. the rough salt crystals help speed up the process. once you get the hang of it, it's really fast. here's a video if that doesn't make sense.

everything goes into your mustard jar, then you can just shake it up, et voila!

it's best to have the dressing ready by the time the lentils are done, so that you can put it on while they're still warm - it seems to help the dressing get absorbed better. start with maybe 1/2 the dressing, toss everything together, add more if you like. i ended up using all of it, but there were a lot of vegetables and lentils to cover. add more salt as well, if needed. undersalting things makes them gross and bland. it's probably a good idea to add a little more fresh parsley and other fresh herbs, if you have them. sometimes it needs a little more acid, too - more lemon juice or some apple cider or sherry vinegar would be good. it just depends on what you like.

this is one of those salads that just gets better as it sits, so it's great for bringing to work all week. you can add things like goat cheese, sliced sausage, hard-boiled eggs, etc., if you want to bulk it up a little, but it's really quite filling on its own. it's also great for a picnic or potluck, since basically anyone of any dietary persuasion can eat it - vegan, gluten-free - it's got it all! or rather, doesn't have it, if "it" is animal products or gluten.

*ingredients* for A Lot of salad - you can cut it in half if you want

1 pound (~ 2 cups) dried french green lentils

1 large shallot

2 large carrots

2 celery stalks

1 orange, red, or yellow bell pepper (NOT GREEN)

1 bunch (more or less) of asparagus

thyme, other herbs

2 -3 tablespoons dijon mustard (i like it pretty mustardy)

juice & zest of 1 orange

juice & zest of 1 lemon

1 small/medium garlic clove

1/2 - 1 teaspoon salt (to taste)

maybe 1/3 - 1/2 cup olive oil (also to taste - i like more citrus and mustard and less oil, myself)

listening to: nothing, really, but i've had simple song by the shins in my head all day. and, of course, the weight. rip, levon helm.

roasted root vegetables with mustard/shallot/dill sauce

pity the poor parsnip. its name sounds like an old english measurement (a parsnip of your finest brandy, my good man!) and it looks like a pallid and misshapen carrot. even in the notably unattractive root vegetable family, the parsnip got hit with the ugly stick. its saving grace is that it is quite tasty. well, i guess that's actually its downfall - otherwise we'd probably leave it alone.

i had never cooked parsnips before making this dish. they were featured in a vegetable hash brunch dish i had last week, though, and despite being slightly undercooked, they were delicious. when i noticed them at the produce market later, i snapped some right up.

i decided to roast them, because that's what one should do with any vegetables and especially knobbly root ones. they get all caramelized and soften a little and toast up a little and just generally become much more friendly.

the members of the illustrious allium family are also well served by a trip to the oven. i like to roast scallions with most of their green tops still on - they get all melty and imbue the rest of the vegetables with a pleasant low-key onion flavor that won't attach to your breath like garlic does. you can eat roasted scallions and still go out on a hot date that night!*

*of course, by "go out on a hot date" i usually mean sit on the couch with three snoring dogs taking up most of the cushions, watching parks and recreation. is that not everyone's idea of a hot date? okaaay, then. nevermind. it's still not nice to have garlic breath.

you'll probably want to throw some carrots in there, too. mine were giant monster carrots, so i only used two, but use however many you need in order to end up with about the same amount of carrots and parsnips.

shallots! shallots are awesome in everything. i would probably even give shallot ice cream a try. i doubt that i'd like it, but i'd be willing to try it. that's how awesome shallots are. in everything.

so. alls you do is peel and cut up the carrots and parsnips. actually, first you should turn on the oven so it preheats. for some reason, i set mine at 415. just a little resistance to the oven temperatures-at-25-degree-increments hegemony, i suppose. if you want to do what The Man tells you, go ahead and set it at 425 or 400 and you may have to slightly adjust times accordingly (down or up, respectively, but you knew that, right? i'm sure you did - you're very clever. everyone thinks so).

cut the carrots and parsnips into wedges - i cut the larger parsnips into 1/6ths and the smaller ones in quarters. the carrots i cut in half crosswise and then into quarters. take the little whiskery bits off the bottoms of the scallions and maybe also the outer peel, if they're looking scroungy. trim the tops a bit, but you definitely want to leave most of the greenery intact. peel the shallots and cut them into chunks. shallots come in wildly different sizes, so just use your best judgment. i had mediumish ones and cut them in quarters. take this time to also mince one up for the sauce. you'll need about 2-3 tablespoons, minced.

toss everything together on a large sheet pan with a tablespoon or so of olive oil and plenty of salt and pepper. then stick it in your now-hot oven and let it go for 20 minutes. if your vegetables are very small, you might check them after 15, but 20 was perfect for mine. then toss everything around a bit so some of the other sides get a chance to brown. it was at this point that i also added some (already cooked) chicken sausages that i'd halved lengthwise. if you don't have any sausages, i'm sorry, because they were good. put everything back in the oven for 10 minutes.

time to make the sauce! cook the minced shallot over medium heat in about a tablespoon of butter. once it starts smelling really good and getting the tiniest bit brown, add a tablespoon or two of vermouth (or white wine or chicken stock), a tablespoon of dijon mustard (ours happened to be grey poupon), a couple of squeezes of lemon juice (less than a tablespoon, more than a teaspoon), a tablespoon or two of fresh dill, and some salt and pepper. turn the heat down to medium-low and let it cook for perhaps 5 minutes. by then your roasty things should be just about done. if the sauce seems too thick, add some water or broth.

we had our deliciousness over rice, but i think it would also be good with mashed potatoes or some nice crusty bread. the sauce on its own would be good with things like roast chicken or salmon, too. from start to finish, the whole thing takes less than 45 minutes, half of which are unsupervised. not too shabby for a nice wintry roasted dinner to keep the cold at bay. not too shabby.

(you can't really see the sauce in this picture because it isn't there. but picture a nice sauce with lots of dill)

*ingredients*

equalish amounts of carrots and parsnips (i used 5 small parsnips and 2 gigantor carrots)

1 bunch scallions (6?)

a few shallots

1 tablespoon olive oil

salt & pepper

sausages, if desired

for the sauce:

1 tablespoon butter

2-3 tablespoons minced shallot

1-2 tablespoons vermouth, wine, or stock

lemon juice

1 tablespoon dijon mustard (this made it quite mustardy, so feel free to use less if you want to tone it down)

1-2 tablespoons fresh dill, torn into bits

honey/brown butter/bourbon-glazed carrots with crispy sage

omg you guys, thanksgiving is just around the corner! luckily, we at chez living awesomely are part of the best thanksgiving tradition ever - a group of food- and drink-loving pals gets together every year to try to out-dazzle each other with tastiness.

potluck is totally the way to go for thanksgiving, by the way - you get to taste different people's traditional family dishes and bring your own favorites, ensuring that it's never boring and that no one has to do everything (only to become bitter when guests don't fully appreciate the work that went into the puff pastry swan placecard holders that took 17 hours to make).

in that spirit, this is an easy and quick little side dish that would be more than welcome at any holiday gathering (or a regular old weekday dinner - it only takes like 15 minutes). sage, carrots, brown butter, honey, bourbon - what could be more autumnally appropriate? nothin', that's what!

first, peel the carrots. or don't. i prefer them peeled, and if you have a good peeler it doesn't take long. you also get all the joy of watching your dogs fall over themselves to grab up the peelings, never realizing that they have like 10 stuck in their fur at any given time. let the hilarity ensue!

you can cut them up however you like, although personally i find discs to be rather kansas-city-split-level-1987, but maybe that's just me. i was going to do this faux tourné cut, but apparently i lack the basic sense of spatial relationships that this requires, so i just made ~45 degree cuts facing alternate ways down each carrot. does that make sense? the picture above is meant to demonstrate this, but you could always try the other way (particularly if your parents acceded to childhood demands for a video game system - that might give you better hand-eye coordination than i ended up with).

once they are all cut up in whatever way you figure out for yourself, heat 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat in a pan big enough for all of the carrots. once the butter melts, add some small sage leaves, stirring a little to make sure they aren't sticking together. this isn't an absolute requirement, and i think the carrots would still be good without it, but the little crispy sage leaves are really pretty delicious and provide a nice counterpoint at the end.

my sage leaves got crispy just as the butter was starting to brown, which was rather perfect. you may remember brown butter from such desserts as brown butter cherry berry clafoutis. it is a delicious marvel in everything it touches, and these carrots are no exception. it adds just the right nuttiness to bring out the sweetness of the carrots and honey.

so when the butter browns and the sage leaves crisp, remove the leaves and set them aside on a paper towel or something. then add the carrots, 1 tablespoon or a little more of honey, 1 tablespoon (or more) of bourbon, a cup of water, and some salt and pepper. you don't want to totally overdo it on the salt at this point, since the water will be evaporating and might make it too salty. i put in probably less than a teaspoon. i also put some more sage in - another 5 or so leaves.

then you turn the heat to high, cover the pan, and cook those beauties on up - it only takes 10 minutes or so. stir it pretty frequently - every couple of minutes is probably a good rule of thumb. you might have to kind of see what works for you with the lid - basically you want the water to evaporate enough to make a glaze and the carrots to cook through all at the same time.

once the carrots are done enough for your taste (mine were in fairly large chunks and took 12 minutes), take them off the heat and add a couple of teaspoons or so of lemon juice and some more salt, if it needs it. this'll brighten the whole thing up.

when you're ready to eat these, sprinkle them with the fried sage leaves - they add crunch and a lightly sage-y buttery flavor that brings it all together into a perfect distillation of the holidays.

*ingredients*

~ 1 1/2 pounds carrots (~5 large)

2 tablespoons butter

10 or so sage leaves

1 tablespoon honey (+)

1 tablespoon bourbon (+)

1 cup water

2 teaspoons lemon juice

salt & pepper

other good thanksgiving dishes:

mike's famous pecan/chocolate/bourbon pie

spicy carrot cake

sweet & spicy roasted squash

the best kale salad

also, pretty much any cocktail here would be good, particularly pear/ginger/lemon/bourbon. word on the street is that we will be having some kind of pear/rosemary/prosecco concoction at our festivities. i am All Sorts of excited.

spicy carrot cake and a trip to arizona

i was on a plane last week! it went over mountains, which always makes me nervous, because whenever planes crash it seems to be over mountains. or the ocean. i guess i should be grateful we weren't over an ocean as well. anyway, we didn't crash, so it's sort of moot.

i made it safely to phoenix, which, no offense, is not one of my favorite cities. luckily i wasn't going to phoenix, though - i was going to prescott to surprise my dad for his birthday. my brother and i took the shuttle up and surprised him but good. unfortunately, we didn't do the whole jumping-and-bouncing-and-yelling-SURPRISE kind of surprise, but it's probably just as well because he isn't as young as he used to be. he's still pretty young, though.

see? he hikes! old people don't hike. he probably could have stood a more shouty surprise than he got, actually. oh well, next time. watch out, dad!

it snowed lots when we were there, which was exciting for me, since it's only snowed twice in portland in the last two years. it was very pretty.

i also got to meet the dog that they'd adopted since i last visited. isn't he the cutest?! i almost smuggled him home in my bag, but i refrained. it took some major strength of character to refrain, though, as you can imagine. plus, he is pocket-sized, so he is eminently portable. they would probably have missed him, though. and i already have three dogs, so i shouldn't be greedy, i guess.

we ate lots of nice things when we were there. my mom had a bunch of green cherry tomatoes that she wasn't doing anything in particular with, so i sliced some up, dredged them in flour with salt and pepper, and fried them. delicious! i liked the thinner crunchy layer better than the thick breading i've had on some fried green tomatoes. i think they were a success.

on the morning of my dad's birthday, they went on their daily constitutional and i made some hash with roasted root vegetables and leftover roasted salmon. the vegetables were carrots, purple potatoes, turnips, and onion. there were some beets in the original roastings, so everything was a delightful medley of pinks and oranges and purples. fancy!

i just sautéed the diced vegetables in a little olive oil and let the edges get a bit crunchy. then i added some salt and pepper, a little sour cream, and the salmon, just to let it warm up a bit. we ate it with over easy eggs and some ridiculously good biscuits made with my mom's sourdough starter. i didn't even know you could use sourdough for biscuits, but damned if they weren't fantastic. in case you have your own starter, i used this recipe. i just patted the dough down rather than rolling it out, though.

i used some more of the green tomatoes (and some ripe ones) to make some little tomato and sharp cheddar free-form tarts/galettes for the party that happened that evening. i cut the tomatoes super-thin and salted them and let them drain for a bit on paper towels so they weren't too watery. then i put them on top of the grated cheddar on little rounds of tart dough.

they look cute in the picture, but i wasn't crazy about the dough recipe i used. it had sour cream in it and when i baked them there was a lot of deflation and grease that i was not anticipating. i let them rest on paper towels, though, and they were eaten up quickly, but i don't know. i would use a different crust next time. i think the idea's solid, though, so if you have some tomatoes you don't know what to do with, it may be worth some experimentation.

here is the point of birthdays and, incidentally, this post - CAKE. i asked my dad what kind of cake he wanted and he sort of hemmed and hawed for awhile. he is very easygoing and i'm pretty sure he would like basically any kind of cake. finally i narrowed it down to spice cake or carrot cake and decided to combine the two.

for the basic recipe, i turned to good old epicurious, which has tons of recipes from gourmet (rip) and bon appetit (not my favorite, but sometimes okay), among other publications. i used this carrot cake with marmalade as a base recipe, since my dad loves marmalade. i made a few significant changes, however.

for one thing, my parents don't have any pans with which to make a layer cake, so i had to use a 13" x 9" one instead. i also lowered the sugar a little and added many more spices than the recipe called for. the actual recipe uses 2 teaspoons of cinnamon, but i also added about 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves, 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger, 1/2 teaspoon allspice, and a few grinds of black pepper. you can play around with the amounts - i think it could actually have stood up to even more in the way of spices. some fresh grated ginger would have been great as well. i also used pecans instead of walnuts and added more than were called for. they were in bigger chunks, too - i just crushed the pecan halves in my hands as i added them and used probably 1 1/3 cups or so in all.

because it was in the larger pan, it took longer to cook than the recipe states. i started checking it after 40 minutes, but it took a solid 50+ in all. you can tell it's done when you stick a knife or something in the center and it comes out clean. i think if you bake cakes with any degree of frequency you can kind of tell by feel and smell, too. if you press the middle down with your finger a bit and it bounces back rather than staying sunk in, it's done.

for the frosting, i used my go-to basic cream cheese frosting recipe/method - cream together 3 packages of softened cream cheese (a total of 24 ounces) and 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) of softened butter (i left the cream cheese and butter on the counter overnight to make sure it was soft enough). then add powdered sugar until it tastes sweet enough. i usually start with 3/4 of a cup or so, mix that in, then add 1/3 of a cup at a time, mixing in between until it's right. i like it to be on the not-as-sweet side, so i used probably a little over a cup in total. maybe 1 1/3. you also might want to add a little vanilla extract - 1 teaspoon or a little less.

once the cake is baked, let it cool in the pan on a rack. if you'd like, you could just frost it in the pan. that is the easiest method. you can also flip the cake out and frost it (fancier). i covered the whole cake with frosting, then put some in a plastic bag with a hole cut out of a corner and made a diamond pattern. then i filled alternating diamonds with finely chopped toasted pecans and marmalade. the marmalade is easiest to use if you heat it up first, so it's soft. then just dab it in the diamonds. pretty! i also put some chopped pecans along the edges for extra-fancy.

this would actually be a great addition to your thanksgiving table for those who eschew pie. i like some pies, myself, but if my choices were this or pumpkin, i would choose this every time. it has a lot of nice spicy fall flavors and colors and who doesn't like cream cheese icing? no one, that's who.

no trip to visit my folks would be complete without an obligatory dash down memory lane - it seems i used to be less particular about both sharing food with animals and my sartorial choices. although that shirt is sort of amazing, in a giant-lapeled, hideous color scheme sort of way...

*ingredients*

(adapted from epicurious.com)

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

~ 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 large eggs

3/4 cup vegetable oil (you could probably swap out some of this with applesauce, if you want to be healthyface)

1/2 cup sugar

2/3 cup brown sugar (i don't pack it - you can if you want)

1/2 cup orange marmalade (i used this one)

1/2 cup orange juice

3 cups lightly packed grated carrots (thanks for grating them, mom!)

1 1/3 cups crunched-up or chopped toasted pecans

frosting:

3 8oz containers cream cheese, softened (i've never noticed a difference using that lower-fat neufchatel cheese, so i usually do that)

1/2 stick (1/4 cup) butter, softened

1 - 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, to taste

1 teaspoon vanilla

preheat the oven to 350. butter and flour a 13" x 9" pan. sift the dry ingredients (1st 8) together (or just put them in a bowl and whisk to get them mixed). in a separate bowl. mix the eggs, oil, sugars, marmalade, and orange juice. add this to the dry ingredients and stir/mix just until combined. then add the carrot and toasted pecans and mix a tiny bit until things are somewhat evenly scattered throughout.

pour into the pan and bake for 45-50+ minutes, until a knife or toothpick comes out clean or you can just tell it's done with your 6th sense of cakes. let it cool on a rack. then mix together the frosting ingredients, frost that puppy and eat it up! (singing happy birthday optional)

spicy-sweet carrot-ginger jam/chutney

carrot jam is wonderful.

you can have it on toast. you can have it in a cocktail. you can make it into salad dressing. you can do that thing where you put it all over some goat cheese or cream cheese, like people do with jalapeño jelly in texas.

whatever you want to do with it, make it today!

this is how i cut up the carrots. i used 6 medium-sized carrots, which made like 3 cups-worth when diced. something like that, anyway. but yeah, you should dice them up. or you could probably use a food processor or grater or even buy pre-grated ones, if you like. i like the texture of the diced ones, though, and felt like chopping, so i went old school with it.

this shows all the spices i used. i think it is barely legible if your eyes are young or your computer is large. however, you can also look at it here. it is much better and easier to read that way.

you definitely do not have to use all of these spices. if you have them all, great. otherwise, use what you have. i happened to have lots of ginger, so i used powdered, fresh, and crystallized. one could also just use one of these. also, instead of ras el hanout and za'atar, you could use more cumin and cinnamon and maybe some dry thyme and/or oregano. it won't be exactly the same, but it should still be good.

by way of measurement, it's more a proportional thing, but that's a pretty small plate, so it was about a teaspoon or so of the larger amounts of spices, and maybe a tablespoon and a half of the crystallized ginger and like 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon of coriander. i also used 1/4 of a lemon, cut up into smallish pieces (skin and all) and 1/4 - 1/3 cup of brown sugar. finally, i put in a few grape tomatoes, cut in 1/4s (maybe 8 or 9 tomatoes).

the main point is that this can be as complicated as you want - if you just want to make it with a few spices and no tomatoes, i think it would still be good. you could also add dried fruit if you like that sort of thing.

so. once you have all of your stuff chopped up and your spices gathered, heat up a smidge of oil in a saucepan (medium heat). then add the garlic and fresh ginger, if you're using that. after 30 seconds or so, add the spices and let them toast for a few seconds. things will start smelling exciting and exotic.

then add the carrots, sugar, lemon, tomatoes, etc. also some water - enough to cover the other ingredients, but not too much more than that. turn up the heat until it boils, then turn it down to medium-low and let it cook, stirring occasionally, until the carrots are super tender and everything is nicely cooked down.

mine took a couple of hours or maybe an hour and a half or so. don't let this intimidate you though! it is mostly time in which you are not doing anything in particular with the carrots. you can watch an episode of murder, she wrote or read your new issue of sunset magazine or otherwise behave like an old lady. or you could do something hip. the old lady stuff's just what i did. you only have to stir it every 15 minutes or something. also you may need to add a little more water at times, if it is looking too dry. it's not a big deal.

once the carrots and lemon are soft and the tomatoes have kind of melted into the other stuff, use a potato masher to smush everything together. the lemon will be all soft and will just mix in with everything else easily. you can also use a food processor or immersion blender if you are not poor like me. although i do like the texture you get with the potato masher.

then let it cool and put it in a jar in the fridge. it should keep at least a week or so, i imagine.

and yes, i did put it in a gin & tonic and yes, it was delicious.

for a nice salad dressing, add a tablespoon of carrot jam to a couple of teaspoons of olive or other oil and a teaspoon or so of dijon mustard. add water to thin it out and that's it! it's good on those salads with cheese in them - like goat cheese or blue cheese and walnuts.

it would also make a fine sandwich spread for turkey or duck or a salmon burger or things of that nature.

you can also just eat it out of the jar.

soba noodle salad with sweet potatoes and quick-pickled vegetables

yes, i am afraid that is more rhubarb in the above picture. since it's only around for a relatively short time each year, i tend to use it lots when i can get it. this dish is not all about rhubarb, however, and it shows its more savory side here to good effect.

i wanted to make a cold noodle salad and i thought quickly pickling some of the vegetables would add some nice flavors. i cut up four small carrots, half a stalk of rhubarb, and one small spring onion (though you could use whatever onion you have, or even scallions or shallots). i tried to make the carrots and rhubarb pretty thin, since they don't really cook.

then you want to boil some water - maybe 1 1/2 cups or so, add a tablespoon of sugar, a teaspoon or two of black peppercorns, another teaspoon-ish of coriander seeds, and whatever other spices sound good. fennel or mustard seeds would also be nice, i think. also vinegar - i used like 1/3 of a cup or so of rice wine vinegar, but you could use other kinds (though something like balsamic might be weird, cider or white wine vinegar would be good). let the whole thing boil for a minute or so and then pour it over the vegetables. they can just sit there stewing for awhile - you could even make them ahead and put them in the fridge for a few days. it's good to leave them for at least an hour or so, so they get nice and pickley. you can also add more vinegar, if you want them to be more intense.

they would be good in tuna salad or a slaw. but i used them in this soba salad.

soba noodles are made out of buckwheat, which has a distinctive earthy flavor. you could also use other noodles here, but i really like the soba ones. they should have cooking directions on them, so just cook them and then rinse them in cold water and let them dry a little. you don't want them making your sauce all watery.

for the sauce/dressing, i used 1/4 cup tamari (basically like soy sauce), 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar, 1/4 cup (or maybe more like 1/3 - it's to taste) peanut butter (you could also use almond or cashew butter and it would be great), 2 teaspoons sugar, 1 teaspoon molasses (you could definitely leave this out, but i had it around and i like the dark caramelly thing it adds), juice from 1/2-1 lime, and 1 tablespoon (or so) of sesame oil. i also added some of the pickling liquid - just enough to make it not too salty from the tamari.

then for the rest of the salad ingredients, i used about 2 cups of sugar snap peas that i cut in half diagonally, one jalapeño (or 1/2 or whatever - it's pretty spicy with a whole one), cut as thinly as possible, and two small sweet potatoes.

the sweet potatoes were cut into little 2 inch matchsticks (if matchsticks were thicker and we still used matches for things).

then i cooked them with a couple of teaspoons of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat until they were browned in spots and cooked through. it took about 6 minutes, and they were still a little al dente. i didn't want them to be too mushy.

it's important to not mess with them too much while they are cooking - just let them sit for a few minutes and brown up a little before stirring them. it's also important not to crowd the pan too much - otherwise they will just kind of steam and won't brown.

then you just mix it all together - the potatoes, the noodles, the dressing, and the (drained) pickled and raw vegetables (this mixing is easiest if you just use your hands, actually), taste it, and adjust whatever flavors need adjusting. this is really just a matter of taste. i also added some fresh mint that i cut into little strips. i think fresh herbs really make this. if you don't have mint, basil (particularly thai basil) and/or cilantro are also good options.

this is a great make-ahead dish that would be welcome at any summer potluck or picnic. it will make all those boring potato salads look like worthless crap.

it could be a side for some kind of simple salmon or chicken thing, or you could get a rotisserie chicken and put some of that in here. you could also add tofu to make it more substantial. the vegetables are changeable as well - it just depends on what you like and have around. i think red bell peppers or tomatoes or green beans would all be great.

this is a refreshing and tasty way to welcome summer. it's also nice since it doesn't require you to turn on your oven.

*ingredients*

pickles

1/2 stalk rhubarb

4 small or 2 large carrots

1 small onion or 1 bunch scallions or two large shallots

1/3 cup vinegar

1 teaspoon coriander seeds

1 teaspoon peppercorns

1 tablespoon sugar

salad

2/3 pack soba noodles

pickled vegetables

2 cups sugar snap peas

1 jalapeño (or other spicy pepper)

2 small or 1 large sweet potato

mint/basil/cilantro

dressing

dressing

1/4 cup tamari

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

1/4 -1/3 cup peanut, almond or cashew butter

2 teaspoons sugar (or more, to taste)

1 teaspoon molasses (optional)

1/2-1 lime

1 tablespoon sesame oil

pickling liquid (optional) to taste