Caesar Salad

1/2 loaf bread (sourdough or something bakery-like)

Greens: romaine, lettuce, chicory, endive, kale, and/or shaved Brussels sprouts

4 anchovies or 8 filets

3/4 cup mayonnaise (or 3/4 cup olive oil and 1 egg yolk) 

1 garlic clove, grated or pounded

3-4 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp white wine vinegar

3/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce

about 1 cup grated Parmesan (about a 3 oz chunk)

black pepper

Tear the bread into pieces, toss with olive oil and salt, bake at 400 for 20 minutes or until toasted into croutons.

Make mayonnaise by gradually whisking olive oil into the egg yolk.

Pound anchovies into a paste. Stir together with all the other dressing ingredients. Adjust salt and acid. Mix with the croutons and greens.

Source: Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samin Nosrat

Punch Romaine

1 egg white

1 oz white rum

1/2 oz simple syrup

1/2 oz lemon juice

1 oz orange juice

champagne or sparkling wine

Shake everything but the wine without ice, then add ice and shake again. Pour over crushed ice in a snifter or rocks glass, top with wine, garnish with orange peel.

Source: Spritz by Talia Baiocchi and Leslie Pariseau

Squash and eggplant sambhar

1 1/4 cups lentils

4 tbsp oil

1/4 tsp fenugreek

2 tsp coriander seeds

1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds

3/4 tsp mustard seeds

12-15 curry leaves

4 big shallots, thinly sliced

1/2 butternut squash, chopped into 1 inch cubes

1 medium eggplant, chopped into 1 inch cubes

4 ripe tomatoes, chopped, or 1 can diced tomatoes

2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp sugar

2 tsp tamarind paste

1 1/2 tsp red chile

1/2 lb green beans, trimmed and cut to 1-2 inch lengths

Wash lentils and simmer with 3x the amount of water for ~25 minutes.

Toast fenugreek, coriander, and cumin in 1 tbsp oil, then grind with mortar and pestle.

In a big pot, heat oil. Fry mustard seeds and curry leaves, then shallots. Cook about 10 minutes or until golden.

Add squash and a little water, cover, cook 5 minutes.

Add eggplant and a little water, cook 5 minutes.

Add tomatoes; the toasted and ground fenugreek, coriander, and cumin; salt, sugar, tamarind, red chile; cover, cook 5 minutes, until tomatoes have broken down and squash is tender.

Add lentils, then green beans and water to the texture you want, cook 5 minutes. Adjust salt, sugar, and tamarind to taste.

Source: Fresh India by Meera Sodha

Lemon ricotta apple pancakes

Servings: Makes about twelve 3- to 4-inch pancakes.
 

4 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
2 tablespoons (30 grams) unsalted butter
3 tablespoons (40 grams) sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
fresh lemon juice to taste

4 large eggs, separated
1 1/3 cups (340 grams) ricotta
1 1/2 tablespoons (20 grams) sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons freshly grated lemon zest
1/2 cup (65 grams) all-purpose flour
Melted butter for brushing the griddle

Saute apples in butter for 5 min, add sugar and cinnamon, cook 5-10 min more, add lemon juice.
 

In a bowl whisk together the egg yolks, the ricotta, the sugar, and the zest, add the flour, and stir the mixture until it is just combined.

Beat egg whites to stiff peaks, whisk 1/4 of them into the ricotta mixture, fold in the rest gently.

Cook pancakes on medium heat. Serve with apples and whatever else you want: greek yogurt was good, maple syrup is probably fine

 

Source: https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/lemon-ricotta-pancakes-with-sauteed-apples-12793 via https://smittenkitchen.com/2007/11/lemon-ricotta-pancakes-with-sauteed-apples/

Sabzi polo

or, herbs rice

 

1 1/4 cup basmati rice

2 tsp salt

1/2 cup finely chopped green onion

2 cups finely chopped dill

2 cups finely chopped parsley

6 cups finely chopped cilantry

3 tbsp oil

1 small potato, peeled and thinly sliced

3 tbsp water

1 cup greek yogurt

1/2 cup sour cream

2 tbsp olive oil

Rinse and soak rice 1-2 hours.

Put rice and soaking liquid in a pot; add a little extra water so rice is covered. Boil, simmer 1 min, then add onions and herbs and stir. Simmer 1-2 minutes, not until the rice is done. Set aside.

Rinse and dry the pot. Pour in oil, heat over medium, fry potato slices just about 2 min to get a little color. Cool.

Drizzle 2 tbsp water over potatoes, then put the rice on top of them in a centralish heap. Try to keep the rice from touching the sides of the pot. Then make 5 holes in this heap, down to the potatoes, to be little chimneys.

Drizzle rice with a little oil and 1 tbsp water, reduce to low, cover, cook 20 minutes. Turn off heat and leave covered for another 20 minutes to continue steaming on residual heat.

Mix yogurt and sour cream. Fold in olive oil but don't fully mix. Serve with rice.

Source: Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi

Dan's note: there's some magic to the rice cooking here; mine keeps burning so I have to add more water. Also, the middle eastern store near us sells Sabzi Polo frozen herbs so I've made it with that a couple times to save a lot of time chopping herbs.

Quinoa sourdough salad

1/4 cup quinoa (or more if cooking such a small amount seems crazy)

4 slices sourdough bread

1/4 cup olive oil plus extra to brush bread

salt

4 medium tomatoes, diced

3 small cucumbers, diced

1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced

4 tbsp chopped cilantro

2 tbsp chopped mint

2 tbsp chopped parsley

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

2 garlic cloves, crushed

Preheat oven to 350. Cook quinoa (boil 9 min).

Brush bread with olive oil and salt. Bake slices for 10 minutes, flipping halfway, until dry and crisp. Cool and break into croutons.

Mix everything.

Source: Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi

Gardeners' Pilau

1 1/2 cups basmati rice

1 cup fava beans, shelled

2 cups hot vegetable stock

2 tbsp canola oil

1 tsp cumin seeds

2 inch cinnamon stick

2 onions, finely sliced

2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated

4 cloves of garlic, crushed

2 green chiles, finely sliced

1 broccoli, broken into florets

1 zucchini, sliced

1 1/2 cups peas

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp salt or to taste

large handful of fresh dill

large handful of fresh mint

 

Wash the rice, soak 20 min.

Cover fava beans briefly with boiling water, then put in cold water, then remove each bean's skin.

Boil stock, add rice, cook for 10 min, cover, let it rest and steam.

Pour oil into large pan, add cumin and cinnamon, let sizzle until fragrant, add onions, cook 7 min until translucent and softening but not yet colored, then add ginger, garlic, chiles, cook 5 min. Add broccoli, stir, add about 1/4 cup water and cover to steam. Add zucchini, a little more water, fava beans, peas, salt, pepper. Cook for a  minute or two, then remove from heat and add in the rice. Cover with herbs and serve.

Source: Fresh India by Meera Sodha