savory strawberry salad with buttermilk dressing
I’ve always been a bit dubious about savory strawberry preparations. With such subtle flavor, it seems the sweetness could easily be leached out of the delicate berries. But the other day, for whatever reason (chalk it up to a pregnancy craving) I needed some strawberries in my salad. Also, two eggs and buttermilk. Lucky for me, it was really simple to put this satisfying salad together. read more »
mango and avocado salad
To start this post, I’d like to pay tribute to the apple. This humble fruit was made to last–how an apple picked in November could still taste juicy and delicious in May, May!, is one of nature’s great mysteries. But this is the time of year for saying goodbye to apples. They’ve been good to us, but now there are blueberries, strawberries, and cherries on the horizon. And the occasional tropical fruit from the grocery store. These sweet and fleeting fruits lack the apple’s constancy, but it is their very impermanence that makes them so wonderful. Really, summer fruit is the main reason I put up with hot weather at all.
This vivid avocado and mango salad was created against a backdrop of impending over-ripeness–tropical fruits being among the most fleeting. You get some mangoes and avocados and they’re hard as rocks for three days, ripe for ten minutes, and then they’re soon on their way to the trash. Lucky for us, this salad used the needed fruit, and was really, really good. read more »
radicchio salad with lime vinaigrette
And so here we are, in the absolute middle of winter, with cold winds blowing and month-old, sooty snow piled high outside. My initial zeal for fresh root vegetables, citrus and kale is waning. But the things is, the year more than most, I want fresh vegetables and the creamy, buttery gratins of the season just don’t sound appealing. So, for now at least, we are still eating vegetables, even as they become harder and harder to procure.
Unless you go to the grocery store–there you’d hardly know it was winter at all. They even have tomatoes! But you know, I have my standards, so I walked right by the tomatoes and picked up a beautiful purple radicchio. And then this salad was born. I wasn’t sure what I was after, I just wanted something bright, crisp, and fresh. And that’s just what we have here. A vivid salad with tender leaves, a hint of lime, a little bit of pecorino, and a classic mustard-lime vinaigrette. A perfect counterpoint to the heavier dishes of the season. read more »
kale salad with grapefruit and pomegranate seeds
So Brooklyn Supper has never been completely strict about local food. We drink a lot of coffee and zest a lot of lemons, but this winter, we’re actually trying to eat a little more non-local fruit in order to eat more local vegetables. Winter cooking in the Northeast can really start to wear on you–braises and stews, gratins and cream sauces, root vegetables and tough greens. It gets to be a bit much, and we’ve found in the past that as soon as the Brussels sprouts stop showing up at the farmer’s market, we stop really eating vegetables. There only so much collards, kale, and beets you can take.
This winter, in an effort to eat more seasonal vegetables, we’ve been mixing in a little more fruit to mix things up, and this pomegranate, grapefruit, and kale salad is a perfect example. read more »
fennel and kohlrabi salad
When fennel and kohlrabi arrive in your CSA, it can be hard to know what to do. As we transition into fall food, I am still really craving the fresh, crisp foods of summer. So I was glad to stumble on a version of this fennel and kohlrabi salad recipe in the awesome Frankies Spuntino Kitchen Companion & Cooking Manual. Crispy julienned vegetables, sliced onions, plenty of parsley and a hint of lemon make for a bracing, palate cleansing slaw-type salad. A nice bit of color, bite and crunch to contrast with the season’s golds and oranges. read more »
brussels sprouts with lemon and parmesan
Last week our daughter spent a week with her grandparents. It was great–Brian and I explored Brooklyn and pretended we were young and childless again. Friday night, despite the deluge, we ventured out to Frankie’s in Carroll Gardens for dinner with friends. We all really enjoyed the simple and elegant food. I had the house-made tagliatelle bolognese; the sweet potato and sage ravioli, and the pork braciola marinara were also enjoyed. We all started the meal with some roasted cauliflower and shaved brussels sprouts with castelrosso.
Everything we had was delicious, but I thought there was something particularly fascinating about the sprouts. Delicately shaved brussels sprouts with a robust lemon and rich cheese flavor–I couldn’t stop thinking about it. So, we picked up some brussels sprouts on Thursday and I made what turned out to be more of a lemon sprout slaw. It was ok. We picked up some more sprouts on Friday, and I finally got it right. Using the mandoline slicer on my food processor, the prep was super easy, and the results were delicious.
We had the sprouts as a satisfying side with dinner, and then I enjoyed the leftovers with my eggs and toast for breakfast. It’s nice to have a taste of spring from a vegetable that has been around since October. Grow spring vegetables, grow!
Brussels Sprouts with Lemon and Parmesan
1 lb brussels sprouts, washed with core removed
1 tablespoon diced preserved lemon if you have it, or zest of 1 lemon if you don’t
juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon white wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon or more sea salt
1/4 cup grated parmesan
pepper to taste
Use the mandoline attachment on your food processor, a mandoline slicer, or simply chop to reduce the sprouts to fine ribbons. Sort through and slice up any sprout rounds. Put the sprouts into a large serving bowl.
In a small bowl or glass, combine the preserved lemon or the zest, the juice, salt, vinegar, and olive oil. Whip with a fork until everything is nice and emulsified. Drizzle half of the dressing over the sprouts. toss, and wait five minutes. Taste, and then add more dressing or salt as needed. I ended up using all of the dressing, but the sprouts absorb the dressing and wilt rather well, and it is best to avoid over-dressing the dish. When the sprouts are dressed to your satisfaction, toss in the parmesan and pepper, and serve.
This salad with keep very well overnight, though it’s best eaten within a few hours of making it.
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