zhoug risotto with fresh tomatoes, onions, and za'atar

it might be risotto season. i don't know, i don't really go outside these days unless it's to see macaroni or to pull an onion from the ground. minnesota is at its peak buggiest. so everything i know about the weather, i know from your tweets or what eggboy tells me about it (or i smell it on him). the two have kind of been giving me conflicting results these days because apparently it's hotter than hot in new york but cool enough to avoid sweating in other places (like here). but by my calendar, fall is around the corner and that means risotto season! so, here: your green light to go stand above a stove for 45 minutes. 

this risotto is inspired by the yemeni lahoh stand in tzfat that i love so very much. lahoh is a sour flatbread, similar to injera, and at this particular stand, they top it with cheese, za'atar, tomatoes, onions, fresh herbs, and zhoug. zhoug is a suuuuuper spicy yemeni condiment that is dangerously hot but also oddly refreshing because a lot of it is made up of fresh cilantro and parsley. i really like it on all things, but i avoid saying the word "zhoug" out loud at all costs because it is by far the most difficult word i've ever tried to pronounce. you have to inhale and exhale at the same time and do some acrobatics with your throat to really get it down. i'm working on it. i just tried googling a pronunciation video to show you but it doesn't look like there are any online... one day i'll periscope my zhoug pronunciation practice sessions, or something. 

zhoug is super easy to make. you just put a bunch of stuff in a blender, you don't even have to rip any herbs off of their stems. and then whatever you don't use for this recipe, you can store in the fridge for your morning eggs or you could even freeze it into little cubes and defrost it bit by bit.

so this dish is indeed what would happen if a yemenite and an italian got together and made a food baby. and whyyyyyy the sudden italian influence? (other than i love risotto and risotto season is here?) i'm going to tuscany! with davinci wine! just for a bit, i'll be back by beet harvest, but alana and brandiego and rebecca and i are headed off on saturday to be davinci wine storytellers and i am so gosh darn excited. after seeing celeste's tuscany photos from when she was a storyteller, i couldn't not go. so here i am, packing all of my dark colored clothes to allow for plenty of wine stains, and they're also stretchy to allow for pizza and pasta and, yes, risotto!

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zhoug risotto with fresh tomatoes, onions, and za'atar

makes 2-4 servings

ingredients

4 c chicken broth

1/4 c olive oil, plus more for serving

1 small onion, finely chopped

kosher salt

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 c arborio rice

1 c davinci pinot grigio

1 c shredded parmesan, plus more for serving

2 tb zhoug (recipe below), or to taste

black pepper

chopped fresh tomatoes, chopped fresh onions, fresh cilantro and/or flat leaf parsley, and za'atar, for serving

zhoug

5 jalapeños, deseeded

4 cloves garlic

1 bunch flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped

1 bunch fresh cilantro, roughly chopped

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/4 tsp cayenne

a good pinch of salt

1/4 c olive oil

clues

bring the chicken broth to a low simmer and allow it to stay simmering while you prepare the other ingredients.

in a large pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. add the onion and a pinch of salt and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. add the garlic and cook for 2 more minutes. add rice and cook, stirring, for a few minutes until it is slightly toasted. add one cup of broth and cook, stirring, until it is absorbed into the rice. repeat this process with the remaining 3 cups of broth and the cup of wine. 

stir in the parmesan cheese and zhoug. taste and add more zhoug, if desired, as well as salt and pepper. spoon into bowls, drizzle with olive oil, and top with tomatoes, onions, fresh herbs, za'atar, and more cheese. enjoy with davinci pinot grigiot!

to make the zhoug:

put all of the ingredients in a food processor and blend until it has the consistency of pesto.

store leftovers in the fridge for a few days, or freeze.

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-yeh!

as a davinci wine storyteller, this post was created in partnership with davinci! follow along on my travels with #davincistoryteller!

cauliflower, two ways: cauliflower swiss soup + cold curried cauliflower

we are in the midst of sugar beet pre-haul right now!

eggboy and his crew are working on opening up the sugar beet fields and doing little harvest test runs to make sure that all of the equipment is running smoothly before sugar beet harvest officially starts on october first. this is a super important step because sugar beet harvest is the mother of all harvests: it's so intense, it goes for 24 hours a day, and it can be really unpredictable. last year's harvest was a dream because the weather was perfect, but who knows what this harvest is going to bring. luckily, i've still got a month to prepare myself mentally for the long eggboy-less hours. (and you've still got a month to plan your trip to visit me and keep me company!)

of course, even during pre-haul, eggboy needs a lunch! this week, cauliflower is on the menu. sometimes i question cauliflower and need to google it to make sure that it's actually healthy because aren't healthy foods supposed to be really colorful?? whatever, the internet says it's healthy so i'm gonna go with it. i am slowly but surely expanding my arsenal of cauliflower recipes, which until recently has just included dan barber's cauliflower steak and smitten kitchen's cauliflower fritters, but this summer i got some inspiration in california via an alarmingly good curried cauliflower salad at lemonade. so this cold curried cauliflower recipe is totally based on that. it's sweet and nutty and curry-y and great. and then this soup represents my excitement about soup season being around the corner. it's pretty simple to make and packs creaminess and flavor thanks to the addition of swiss cheese and paprika. so go get thee some heads of cauliflower! 

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cauliflower swiss soup

makes 4-6 servings

ingredients

2 tb unsalted butter

1 yellow onion, chopped

2 large carrots, chopped

2 stalks of celery, chopped

kosher salt and black pepper

2 cloves garlic, smashed

1 tb sweet paprika

5 cups chicken broth

1 head cauliflower, chopped

1 c shredded swiss cheese

Hot sauce, to taste

clues

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium high heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery, a good pinch of salt, and a few turns of black pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 7-10 minutes, until soft. Add the garlic and paprika and cook, stirring, for 1-2 more minutes. Add the broth and cauliflower and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes, until the cauliflower is tender. Add the swiss and then use an immersion blender or food processor to blend until smooth. Taste and adjust seasonings as desired. Serve with additional swiss and a few shakes of hot sauce.

enjoy!

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cold curried cauliflower

makes 4-6 servings

ingredients

1 head cauliflower, chopped into florets

2 tb olive oil

1 tsp kosher salt

 curry vinaigrette (ingredients below)

1/2 c golden raisins

1/2 c toasted almonds, roughly chopped

curry vinaigrette:

1/2 c canola oil

1 small onion, chopped

1 tb curry powder

1 tb dijon

1 tb honey

1 tb apple cider vinegar

1 tb lemon juice

kosher salt and black pepper

clues

Preheat oven to 400. Toss the cauliflower in the olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Spread out on a sheet pan and roast for 20-30 minutes, until brown and tender.

to make the vinaigrette, first make a curry oil: coat the bottom of a pan with about a tablespoon of the canola oil and then cook the onion over medium high heat for 5-7 minutes, stirring, until soft and translucent. Add the curry powder and cook, stirring, for 1-2 more minutes. Pour in the remaining oil and let it sizzle over medium heat for 1 minute. remove it from heat, let it cool, strain out the onion and allow the curry to sink to the bottom.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the dijon, honey, vinegar, lemon juice, and a good pinch of salt and pepper, and then pour in the oil (carefully as to not disturb the curry at the bottom). Whisk together the vinaigrette. add the roasted cauliflower, raisins, and almonds, and toss to coat. Chill until serving.

enjoy!

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-yeh!

i'll be packing up eggboy's cauliflower lunch in genuine thermos brand®'s new dual compartment food jar, which has two separate compartments, one for your soup and one for your curried cauliflower. it is super sturdy, holds enough for a filling meal, and is perfect for the tractor. for more info on this great new thing, check out genuine thermos brand®'s site.

thanks so much for providing compensation and products for this post, genuine thermos brand®!

eggs benedict salad with dill hollandaise dressing

something that doesn't show through on the internet is my chicago accent. i have been told that it's very strong. i won't admit that it's strong, but after hearing myself talk on video a few months ago, i'll admit that an accent indeed exists.

no one growing up ever thinks that they have an accent, right?

chicagoans don't have accents right? (lol!)

i was first informed of my accent towards the end of high school when i started spending my summers on the east coast, at tanglewood. it was the first time in my life that a majority of my time was spent with people who weren't from chicago, and suddenly i was *different*. i couldn't say "practice" or "alex" or any word with an "a" without being giggled at! and what really gave my chicagoness away was my pronunciation of "salad." i could not order an effing salad without a percussionist saying "syaaaaaalad? do you want a seeeyaaaaalad? what's a seeeyalad anyway???"

so i stopped eating salad altogether.

i stopped using the letter "a" altogether.

i stopped talking altogether. 

i mean, no, i didn't actually do that, but i still can't order a salad without holding my breath for a moment and waiting for someone to mock me.

so, here's a salad that's worth every unit of mockery on the east coast. an eggs benedict salad that's basically all of the great eggs benedict ingredients, tossed with fresh greens: soft cooked eggs, warm canadian bacon, a hollandaise drizzle that's got a nice bit of dill, and the best part, english muffin croutons. here, i've used homemade english muffins from the huckleberry cookbook because they are the absolute best english muffins in the world, but if you want to use another english muffin, go ahead.

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eggs benedict salad with dill hollandaise dressing

makes 4 servings

ingredients

2 thick english muffins, chopped into cubes

6 slices canadian bacon

4 large eggs

8 oz mixed greens

1/4 purple onion, thinly sliced

kosher salt and black pepper

hollandaise dressing:

1 large egg yolk

1/4 c unsalted butter, melted

2 tsp lemon juice

1/4 c olive oil

1 sprig fresh dill, chopped

kosher salt and black pepper

clues

make the croutons: spread the english muffin cubes out on a baking sheet and bake them at 400 for about 15 minutes or so, until they reach your desired crispiness. i like em still a little soft.

cook the bacon: brown it on both sides over medium high heat, and then chop it into 1/2-inch pieces.

boil the eggs: bring a large pot of water to a boil, carefully add the eggs, and cook for 7 minutes. transfer them to an ice bath, peal them, and then slice them in half. 

place the greens, onions, croutons, bacon, and eggs on a serving platter. sprinkle everything with salt and fresh pepper. 

to make the dressing, add the egg yolk to a food processor or blender. blend the yolk, and then gradually drizzle in the butter, lemon juice, and olive oil, and then add the dill. season with salt and pepper to taste.

dress the salad to your liking and enjoy!

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-yeh!

thank you to the american egg board for sponsoring this post! america’s egg farmers launched the good egg project to educate americans about where eggs come from and encourage people to eat well and do good every day. check out the good egg project site to learn about hen nutrition, environmental improvements that have been made by egg producers in the past few decades, and to see a slide show illustrating the steps that eggs go through to get to the grocery store.

one bunch of mint, three courses: ras el hanout chicken pitas + tabbouleh + yogurt sundaes

i have a really complicated relationship with herbs because, 

1) i love them

2) but apparently not enough to be able to keep them alive when i grow them myself

3) and apparently not enough to use them up before they go bad when i buy big massive bunches at the store.

this summer, eggboy has officially put me to shame in the herb growing department because he has been spearheading our garden and suddenly these past few days we are up to our ears in basil and rosemary. (get at me, pesto!) i kind of get it because he is a farmer. but one problem this doesn't solve is our love of fresh mint because we have been told *multiple* times not to grow it, since once it starts growing it does not stop until your whole yard is covered in mint. so fresh mint coffee, fresh mint milk shakes, fresh mint everything else doesn't make it into our lives as much as i'd like it to, but when it does and i spring for the big bunch from the store, we have to use it up, quick like a bunny. 

does anyone else have this problem with herbs or just me?

so taking a cue from these one ingredient, five dinners articles, i've got three (3!) fresh mint recipes here! the first is a tasty chicken pita that uses a hefty dose of my new favorite spice mix, ras el hanout, which is common in moroccan cooking. each spice maker has a different (secret) recipe, but it is often heavy on the coriander, cinnamon, and cumin. to give you your ancient grain fix for the day, the pitas are paired with a nice refreshing cucumber and tomato tabbouleh with mint. and for dessert: a fresh mint sundae, complete with homemade chocolate magic shell and yogurt in place of the ice cream for a healthier twist.

two of these recipes, the pita and the tabbouleh, come from blue apron, the magic meal subscription service that i'm obsessed with because it is basically a grown-up lunchable in that you get perfectly portioned ingredients in cute individual packages. (in other words, the perfectly portioned ingredients is one of my favorite answers to my herb conundrum.) every time my box is delivered i squeal out of cuteness and sigh out of relief that i don't have to put on pants to go to the grocery store and clap in excitement, especially if there's mint involved. all of the blue apron recipes that i've had are so freaking good and there are a bunch that i'm still itching to try, like five spice pork buns and spring miso ramen. i'll get to the recipes now but see below for some more info on blue apron and a link to get some free meals!

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ras el-hanout chicken pitas

adapted from blue apron

makes 2

ingredients

1/2 c plain greek yogurt

1/2 cucumber, grated

1 clove garlic, smashed

juice of 1/2 lemon

salt and pepper, to taste

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 tb ras el-hanout

4 tsp flavorless oil

2 plain, pocketless pitas

a handful of mint leaves

1 tb pistachios

clues

first, make your yogurt sauce by mixing together the yogurt, cucumber, garlic, and lemon juice, and season with salt and pepper. set it aside.

pat the chicken dry with paper towels. season both sides with salt, pepper, and the ras el-hanout. heat 2 teaspoons of the oil in a large pan over medium-high until hot. add the chicken and cook, loosely covering the pan with aluminum foil, for 3-5 minutes per side, or until browned and cooked through. transfer to a cutting board and set aside to cool slightly. 

add the remaining 2 teaspoons of oil to the pan, let it heat up, and then heat the pitas for about 30 seconds per side, until warm. 

to assemble, thinly slice the cooked chicken on an angle. spread a layer of yogurt sauce onto each pita, divide the chicken between the pitas, and top with pistachios and mint leaves. enjoy! 

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cherry tomato & cucumber tabbouleh

adapted from blue apron

makes 2 servings

ingredients

1/4 c bulgur

4 oz cherry tomatoes, chopped into wedges

1/2 cucumber, chopped

a small handful of mint leaves

1 clove garlic, smashed

juice of 1/2 lemon

a drizzle of olive oil

salt and pepper, to taste

clues

heat a small pot of salted water over high heat. once it boils, add the bulgur and cook 12-14 minutes, until tender. drain it and return it to the pot. add the tomatoes, cucumber, mint (tear the leaves just before adding it), garlic, and lemon juice. drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste.

enjoy! 

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chocolate mint yogurt sundaes

makes 2

ingredients

3 tb chocolate chips

1 tb coconut oil

2 large mint leaves

1/2 c plain yogurt

clues

in a small microwave-safe dish, microwave the chocolate chips and coconut oil in 15-second increments, stirring after each, until melted.

chop up your mint leaves and divide them between two small bowls. using a muddler or the back of a spoon, crush the leaves and rub them all over the inside of the bowl. divide the yogurt between the two bowls and top with chocolate sauce.

enjoy!

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-yeh!

thank you soooo much, blue apron, for sponsoring this post! i love you guys! some additional information on blue apron: they offer two meal plans, one two-person plan that delivers three meals per week and one four-person (family-style) plan that can deliver two or four meals per week. pricing is under $10 per person per meal and shipping is always included. blue apron ships to most of the country (they just added texas!) and the meals come shipped in refrigerated boxes, so even if you're not home to receive the boxes, they'll keep for a bit until you get there. there are a ton of awesome recipes, which can all be prepared in 40 minutes or less and they're each 500-700 calories per person. the blue apron chefs are always adding new recipes as well and if you're wanting to skip a week or cancel, you can do that at any time.

if you're wanting to try blue apron, click here! the first 50 who do will get their first two meals free!