Baked Jerusalem Artichokes with Bread Crumbs, Thyme and Lemon

I overheard a woman in the school yard yesterday saying how she was so bored with winter that she couldn't even find anything she wanted to eat.  It's easy to feel that sense of malaise in March, when winter feels interminable.  There may be a few more solid weeks of cold, so I'm trying to use this time to eat some really delicious warming foods.  Before long we will all be basking in the possibilities of really fresh salads and a new crop of Spring fruits and vegetables.

Sunroot, Jerusalem Artichoke, aka sunchoke.  It's not an artichoke, but it kind of tastes like one.  It's worth seeking it out and making this gratin before this winter passes us by, which surely it will.

As tubers go, this one is pretty special, coming from a sunflower. Knobby like ginger, so it takes some persistence to peel.  But a little stick-to-itiveness sometimes makes a dish even more rewarding. 

Baked Jerusalem Artichokes, Bread Crumbs, Thyme and Lemon

From Jamie Oliver

This would be a great accompaniment to any roast meat or broiled fish. Don't slice the artichokes too thick or you will wind up baking the dish a lot longer than 30 minutes.

Serves 4-6

1 ⅓ cup heavy cream 

juice of 1 lemon

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped

1 good handful of fresh thyme, leaves picked from stems and chopped

3 handfuls of grated Parmesan cheese

salt and freshly ground pepper

2 ¼ lbs Jerusalem artichokes, peeled and sliced as thick as a pencil

2 good handfuls of fresh bread crumbs (I made mine in a food processor using rosemary sourdough bread)

olive oil

Preheat your oven to 425 F.  In a bowl, mix your cream, lemon juice, garlic, half the thyme and most of the Parmesan and season well to taste.  Throw in the sliced Jerusalem artichokes.  Mix well and place everything in an ovenproof baking dish. 

Mix the breadcrumbs with the rest of the thyme and Parmesan and some salt and a little olive oil.  Bake in the oven for around 30 minutes, until the artichokes are tender and the bread crumbs are golden.  

Cold Sesame (Garlicky) Noodles

For almost a year, since the birth of my second son, I've been cooking for the lowest common denominator, meaning my three year old.  My husband and I reach for the hot sauce to make things more suitable to our palate. I'm not talking chicken nuggets and fries here...I pack as many vegetables into the food processor as I can, sauté, add coconut milk or tomatoes, simmer with some fish- you get the idea.  Roman will generally accept this type of preparation over rice or pasta, and I feel like it's a healthy enough way to ensure he's getting nutrients without forcing foods on him.  But lately I would like to regain a bit of my adult identity and I've started to think about the foods that can help me do that.

It's funny to think about being able to eat whatever I want, do whatever I want, wear what I please again. Everything has become tailored to my marathon days of schlepping two kids around the city. From park to park, then home again, we eat a lot of pb&j's, pizza, hummus and cucumber, muffins, things that are easy to tote around. So when I thought about making these cold sesame noodles, Roman (almost 4) was not who I had in mind to be the consumer. However, when there is pasta involved, he perked right up with interest and before I knew it he was reaching for his own bowl-- teaching me that the more chances I give him to like something out of his comfort zone, the more he might surprise me. Because parenting is, after all, full of surprises.

There are those dishes that tempt a brave palate.  If you value the taste experience and don't mind the way raw garlic tends to linger, this is a dish you are likely to enjoy.  
Fresh garlic stirred into silky sesame noodles, chilled for a delightful summer meal.  
Eat it with people you love and you won't have to be concerned about the aftermath of the raw garlic.  

Cold Noodles with Sesame Sauce
A recipe my mom used to make, with the addition of red bell pepper because it's still hard for me to think about eating something without a vegetable.
1 lb. linguine or spaghetti
1 teaspoon plus 1 tablespoon sesame oil
1/4 cup sesame paste
3 tablespoons brewed tea or water
2 tablespoon chili oil (optional but recommended!)
3 tablespoons light soy sauce
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
Salt to taste
1/4 cup peanut oil
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 red bell pepper, diced (optional)
Sliced scallions and cilantro for garnish
1 tablespoon sesame seeds for garnish

 Boil six cups of water and cook the noodles until tender. Drain and run cold water over them to chill them. Sprinkle with the teaspoon of sesame oil. To make the sauce, place the sesame paste in a bowl and add the tea or water, stirring with chopsticks or a fork. Stir in the remaining ingredients and the 1 tablespoon sesame oil. Toss the noodles in the sauce and red bell pepper, if using. Serve cold, garnished with fresh scallions, cilantro and sesame seeds.

Spicy Mango Black Bean Salad with Roasted Corn

In a few weeks, we will be in Massachusetts.  Applying sunscreen, bug repellent, rinsing out bathing suits, licking ice pops, splashing in a baby pool.  Waiting for the corn to grow as high as an elephant's eye, see our laundry blow in the breeze, feel the cool grass sneak up between my toes, slightly prickly but also sort of soft.  Natural grass, not the very manicured kind, a nice shade of green.

Dad is positioned by the grill, watching it all. We are definitely singing.  Maybe he throws on some kabobs with marinated shrimp, certainly a sausage or two.  "Janma" offers me a glass of chilled white wine.  She takes Ethan and bounces him on her lap, making him laugh with paddy cake.  Lisa and the cousins come over and beach balls fly in the yard.  The kids start a game of badminton.  Yes, we should do that this year.  Dirty feet climb up onto the deck for dinner.

Perhaps we'll get to stay up late enough to see the fireflies come out.  I wonder what time they appear.

Spicy Mango Black Bean Salad with Roasted Corn

Lime juice, cumin, cilantro and heat from jalapeño peppers make this salad highly satisfying for sophisticated (grown up) palates.  Enjoy with any grilled fish, chicken, or pork on a gorgeous summer night.

1/2 red onion (about 1/2 cup)

Juice of 1-2 limes

1 red pepper

2 jalapeño peppers (start with one, or go for two if you like a lot of heat)

2 ripe mangoes

1 can of black beans, rinsed

2 ears of fresh corn

1 handful of cilantro

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

2 Tablespoons of good olive oil

Dice the red onion and let it soak in the lime juice for several minutes.  Add the diced red peppers, jalapeño peppers (remove the seeds, or leave them in for full heat.) Cube the mangoes, add the rinsed beans.  Shuck and roast the corn either on a grill or grill pan for several minutes.  (If you can't do this, just microwave it for two minutes and run it under cold water to cool it.)  Cut the corn off the cobs and add to the salad.  Chop the cilantro, then stir it in with the cumin and salt.  Drizzle in the olive oil and stir to combine all the ingredients.  Serve immediately or chill slightly.  

Radish, Fennel and Apple Salad

Spring is about awakening, being reborn, growing, transitioning. It's about bright colors and sharp tastes. Surprises in the form of complex flavors and textures. This salad is all of that.

This salad is like taking the covers off your bed and sleeping under a crisp, clean sheet that was dried in the sunshine. This salad is like walking barefoot on blades of green grass and feeling the cold, damp ground under your feet. This salad goes crunch and zing, then sweet and tart. It says "wake up, taste buds, it's time to play."

Radish, Fennel and Apple Salad

Serves two as a light main course, or four as a side. Serve along side a simple fish or chicken filet. This salad will left you feeling cleansed and fresh.

For the salad

2 bunches of radishes, or about 20 small radishes each cut into quarters

1 bulb of fennel cut into bite size pieces

2 golden delicious apples cut into small chunks

1/2 small red onion diced

For the dressing:

1 clove of garlic

Fresh ginger (a piece about the length of your thumb and twice as wide)

4 tablespoons rice vinegar

5 tablespoons olive oil

salt to taste

Sesame seeds and poppy seeds

Combine all of the salad ingredients. For the dressing, grate the garlic and ginger into a bowl using either a microplane grater or one with small holes. Add the rice vinegar and olive oil, then salt to taste. Sprinkle the dressed salad with sesame and poppy seeds and serve with some of the fronds from the fennel to garnish.