Black Bean and Shallot Salsa

Lately, I've been on a real Mexican food kick. It may be due to the fact that I'm doing my best to avoid eating peppers and corn, which makes eating authentic Mexican food quite a trick. Really, it's impossible to avoid both of those ingredients at a restaurant so I've been adapting many of our favorite foods to my dietary restrictions and, believe it or not, coming up with some really fabulous results!

There's also something about Mexican food that lends itself beautifully to the hot weather we've been having lately! Not to mention an excellent way to use up all those delightful, fresh tomatoes that I cannot seem to get enough of, buying them at every conceivable opportunity. I've been using those especially to make salsa (we got sick of just slicing them and eating them with salt and olive oil) and we currently have three kinds in the fridge. Ooops! I guess you can never have too much salsa; it is one of the vegetarian's favorite snacks after all and he makes sure to keep us well-stocked with chips.

This particular salsa is hearty due to the black beans and also a little sweet from the shallots. I was inspired by a Black Bean and Corn Salsa recipe from Eat to Live, a great all-but-vegan cookbook by Joel Fuhrman that has lots of neat, healthy tricks and ingredients that I don't use nearly as often as I should. Since shallots bring a sweetness, I used them as the other main flavor in the salsa and I really like the results! While wonderful with chips, we also enjoyed it over some sprouted-grain quesadillas. Bon appetit!

Black Bean and Shallot Salsa
inspired by Eat to Live

• 1 can cooked black beans
• 1 small shallot, quartered
• 4 slicing tomatoes, quartered
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 small yellow onion, quartered
• 3 large cloves garlic, halved
• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup cilantro
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin, ground
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

Place all ingredients except for lime juice, cumin and garlic powder in a food processor and pulse until just combined and desired consistency (this well be a softer salsa due to the black beans and olive oil). Remove and place in a serving bowl. Stir in lime juice, cumin and garlic powder. Serve with raw vegetables or tortilla chips, if desired. Enjoy!

Got leftovers? This is delicious mixed with scrambled eggs.

Links:

• Avocado-Lime Black Beans from The Kitchn
• Black Bean Salad with Corn, Red Peppers, Avocado & Lime-Cilantro Vinaigrette from Once Upon a Chef
• Mexican Cornmeal Pancakes with Black Bean and Pineapple Salsa from Midwest Living
• Corn and Black Bean Salsa with Lime Cilantro Vinaigrette from Made from Pinterest
• Easy Avocado-Lime Black Bean Salad from Oh She Glows
  
  

Lime Shrimp (or Tofu) "Ceviche" with Masala-Dusted Tortilla Chips

Happy Summer! I know -- we still have a few weeks astronomically-speaking but I just can't wait! And with temperatures in the 80s and Memorial Day behind us, I'll ignore the ever-present rain, slip on my sandals, open all the windows and start making summer meals!

Ceviche is, to me, a quintessential warm-weather dish -- barely-cooked light, refreshing fish or seafood mixed with refreshing vegetables and lime juice, what's not to love? And this was a perfect excuse to showcase those first heirloom tomatoes of the season. So why, you may ask, is this a "ceviche" and not just a ceviche? Well, although I have no problem eating raw fish, seafood and even beef in restaurants, I'm always a little nervous about making it myself. So I boiled my shrimp for not-quite two minutes before chilling them and marinating them with lime juice and other goodies.

For the Vegetarian, I used new (to us) tofu cutlets: organic tofu that's already been cooked so you just have to cut it up and either heat it up or eat it cold. Very convenient! 

The one note I'll make with this ceviche is to make sure you cut everything up as small as you can. That makes it easier to scoop up and eat with these homemade tortilla chips, see. Oh and do use fresh lime juice. I'm a big fan of convenience but, in this case, bottled lime juice just won't cut it. I guess that's two notes. Ah, well. Bon appetit!

Lime Shirmp (or Tofu) Ceviche

• 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined (or firm tofu)
• 3/4 cup lime juice, freshly squeezed
• 1 small red onion, finely chopped
• 1 small cucumber, finely diced
• 1 tomato, finely diced
• 1 avocado, finely diced
• 2 tablespoons cilantro, finely chopped

Masala-Dusted Tortilla Chips

• 6 sprouted tortillas
• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 teaspoons kosher salt
• 6 teaspoons garam masala

First, bring a pot of water to a boil and cook shrimp for 1-2 minutes, until they just turn pink. Drain and let cool, then chop them into pieces small enough to be scooped up with a tortilla chip. If using tofu, just cut up into small pieces and pat dry.

In a large bowl, coming lime juice and red onion. Stir in shrimp or tofu. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour.

After an hour, stir in cucumber, tomato, avocado and cilantro. Serve with tortilla chips (homemade are best).

For Masala-Dusted Tortilla Chips:

Preheat oven to 350. Lay a tortilla on a cutting board. Brush one side with olive oil. Top with another tortilla and brush it with olive oil as well. Repeat with remaining tortillas. Cut into 8 equal pieces. (Since they're all stacked one on top of the other, this becomes really easy as you can cut them all at once.)

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and lightly oil it. Place tortilla pieces on it in a single layer, oiled side up. You may need as many as 3 baking sheets or to cook these in batches.

Sprinkle with salt and garam masala. Bake for 10 minutes, until crispy. Enjoy!

Links:

• Tequila Shrimp Ceviche from We Are Not Martha
• Chipotle Chicken Salad from KUTV.com
• Tofu Ceviche Tacos from TonieGirl
• Shrimp and Avocado Ceviche from The Way the Cookie Crumbles
• Tofu Ceviche Tacos from Epicurious Community Table

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls with Tomato Cranberry Sauce

From the 1930's through the 1960's, the Upper East Side (where we live now) was known as "Germantown". In fact, East 86th Street was called the "German Broadway". The expression "to 86", used in restaurants to signify to stop serving something (or someone), possibly came out of anti-German sentiment during World War II. (Now, I have to admit, this was a story I always grew up hearing but could find no proof of it after an etymological search on the internet. Do any linguists care to enlighten me?)

In any event, we decided to celebrate our new neighborhood's former roots at our last dinner party by serving Stuffed Cabbage and Apple Streusel Egg Muffins. Always on the search for cookbooks that will support my diet rather than remind me of all the wonderful foods I'm now denying myself, I picked up a copy of Practical Paleo. Putting aside the health claims of going back to how cavemen ate (and, I'd venture to guess, none of these recipes bare any resemblance to cavemen's diets), the Paleo diet focuses on eating eggs, fruits, meat, nuts, seafood and vegetables and eliminates dairy, grains and sweeteners. Sounds familiar, no? (I haven't completely eliminated all grains but I do try to limit my intake of them so this seemed like an excellent jumping-off point.)

The biggest problem, in my mind, with a Paleo diet is that, realistically, it's not vegetarian-friendly. Sure, you can have lots of vegetables, but without legumes, grains or dairy, there's nothing there to really "bulk up" your foods and make them filling. There's also a heavy reliance on animal protein. That said, "vegetarianizing" recipes is now old-hat. So, it wasn't too hard to adapt the Stuffed Cabbage Rolls with Tomato Cranberry Sauce to both our tastes. I'm including the recipe for both the omnivore and vegetarian versions. Guten appetit!


*Vegetarian's Note:  Normally I handle the photographic elements of this blog, but this was one of the more enjoyable meals we've had the pleasure to serve.  As you can see from the picture here, this dish was a HUGE hit with our guests :)





Stuffed Cabbage Rolls with Tomato Cranberry Sauce

• 15 ounces fresh (or frozen and defrosted) cranberries
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon apricot juice
• 1 head savoy cabbage, leaves separated carefully (you'll need about 15 cabbage leaves)
• 1 teaspoon coconut oil
• 1 cup cauliflower, grated (do this in the food processor -- much easier)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper, ground
• 1 pound ground lamb (for omnivores)
• 1 pound beluga lentils, cooked (for vegetarians)
• 4 cloves garlic, grated (as long as you've already broken out the food processor ...)
• 1/2 yellow onion, diced
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes (roasted red peppers would be a delicious addition as well!)

First make the cranberry sauce: Cook cranberries and water together in a saucepan for 15 minutes, until all cranberries have popped. Stir in apricot juice. Remove from heat and let come to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Fill a large pot with a few inches of water. If you have a steamer basket, place it in the pot, filled with cabbage leaves. Bring water to a boil and steam cabbage leaves until soft and pliable, about 5 minutes. Let cool.

Meanwhile, melt coconut oil in a large skillet. Add cauliflower and saute, stirring, 3-5 minutes. Add 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper.

In a large mixing bowl, combine lamb (or lentils), cauliflower, garlic, onion, thyme and 1/2 teaspoon each, salt and pepper. (If you don't mind getting your hands dirty, that's the best way to ensure that everything's well mixed together.)

Fill the bottom of 1 cabbage leaf with 1/4 cup filling and roll, first the bottom, then the sides, finally tucking the ends underneath. repeat with remaining leaves. As you fill them, nestle cabbage leaves tucked side down, in a dutch oven.

Meanwhile, combine tomatoes and cranberry sauce together in a skillet over medium heat. Cook 5 minutes, until the flavors are blended together. Pour sauce over cabbage rolls.

Place dish in oven and cover with foil or a lid. Bake 45 minutes. Enjoy

Links:

• Stuffed Cabbage Rolls with Tomato Cranberry Sauce from Practical Paleo
• Cranberry Rolls with Tomato Cranberry Sauce from Ruby Reduction
• Alex's Mom's Stuffed Cabbage from smitten kitchen
• Stuffed Cabbage Leaves from The Shiksa Blog
• Floosh's Stuffed Cabbage from Hungry Girl
  

Green Beans with Heirloom Tomatoes, Shallots and Olives

Hello, Upper East Side! Believe it or not, the vegetarian and I have moved again -- this time to the Upper East Side. This is my first time living on the Upper East Side and, trepidatious as I first was, I'm now settling into my routines here and really enjoying myself. For the vegetarian, this is a homecoming of sorts -- his first apartment in NYC was only four blocks away from our current home. While a lot in the neighborhood has changed, much is also still the same and we've been having lots of fun discovering new places and rediscovering old ones.

My favorite new discovery thus far (surprise, surprise) has been the 82nd Street Greenmarket. Having grown up with the Union Square Greenmarket (and then spent time getting to know the various markets in Paris when I lived there), it's always been comforting for me to be able to walk to a market, talk to farmers and base my purchases on what's actually fresh and tasty and seasonal rather than whatever the supermarket managers decided to put on sale that week.

This Greenmarket is one of the best I've been to. It's mostly in a church courtyard but also spills out onto the surrounding sidewalk. Nowhere near as big as Union Square, I actually find it more manageable. There's fruit, vegetables, fish, goat (I got some goat merguez), baked goods (including some that are sugar-free and gluten-free!) and eggs. I went with a list and came home with two bulging bags -- including lots of surprises I wasn't planning on getting. Two things I was thrilled to get were green beans and heirloom tomatoes. This time of year, I can have tomatoes three times a day (and I often do) and they went wonderfully with the green beans. Alongside Mustard Greens with (Anchovy)-Garlic Dressing they were the stars of our Housewarming party. Bon appetit!

Green Beans with Heirloom Tomatoes, Shallots and Olives
adapted from Vegetable Literacy

• 3/4 pound green beans
• 1 shallot, sliced crosswise
• 4 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
• 10 dried black olives
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 heirloom slicing tomato
• 1 tablespoon + 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper, freshly ground
• 1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• handful basil leaves, torn into strips

Fill a large pot with water and bring it to a boil. While the water's boiling, prep your other ingredients: trim the tails (and tips, if necessary) from the beans. Stir the shallot together with the vinegar in a small bowl. Chop the olives and garlic together. Chop the tomato into small chunks.

Once the water comes to a boil, add 1 tablespoon salt along with the beans. Cook for 5 minutes. Drain and dry in a dish towel.

Put the beans into a large bowl and toss with olives and garlic. Add salt and pepper to taste. Drain shallots from vinegar, reserving both separately. Whisk olive oil into vinegar and pour over beans. Strew shallots on top, along with tomatoes and basil. Gently toss everything together. Serve room temperature. Enjoy!

Links:

• Green Beans with Onions and Heirloom Tomatoes from My Chic Life
• Sauteed Green Beans with Heirloom Tomato Marinara Sauce from With Food + Love
• Green Bean and Cherry Tomato Salad from smitten kitchen
• Sauteed String Beans with Heirloom Tomato Marinara Sauce from Groundworks Farm
• Heirloom Tomato and Green Beans with Ginger Vinaigrette from Parade

Go-To Tomato Sauce

Our first date, the vegetarian cooked me dinner. Of course, this was back in the days when I ate everything and he made a big batch of baked ziti, garlic bread and, because he wanted me to think the best of him, a green salad. Wanting him to think the best of me, I devoured everything (including the green salad). Truth be told, he's pretty famous for his baked ziti and it's the dish I miss the most in my current gluten-free and dairy-free diet.

It took me a month or two to return the favor and cook dinner for the vegetarian. In those days, I was a prolific meat-cooker and my signature dish was roast leg of lamb, closely followed by baked fish or rib-eye steaks -- none of which were suitable for the vegetarian, of course! Not to mention that, knowing what a notoriously picky eater he was, I didn't want to make anything too adventurous. I wanted to make something he (and I) knew he would like.

I thought about making my own version of baked ziti but that just seemed both obnoxious and cheating. So I thought back to our second date, when he took me to his favorite restaurant in Little Italy, Benito One. He had ordered spaghetti pomodoro and declared it hands-down his favorite meal. However, whenever he made spaghetti at home, I knew he always used canned tomato sauce. So I decided to make him a red sauce from scratch.

I don't remember the details (I believe I made an arrabiata). What I do know is that the vegetarian cleaned his plate, had seconds and the rest, as they say, is history. When I first went gluten-free, finding delicious gluten-free pasta was our first order of business. And whenever I have the energy, I make some variation of a red sauce to go with it (or at least doctor up a jar -- shh, don't tell).

May was very busy (and filled with Italian food) for us, with the vegetarian's birthday and both of us working on several projects. We returned to Benito One, where the vegetarian now orders Eggplant Parmesan with a side of Spaghetti Pomodoro, for his birthday. But we both missed having my homemade tomato sauce at home. So for our Monthly Cooking Adventure, I made Spaghetti and Meatballs, with quinoa spaghetti and chicken meatballs (on the side, of course). Our friends made a tiramisu and the vegetarian blew us all away with a new variation on his signature sangria.

Never one to rest on my laurels, I decided to adapt Gwyneth Paltrow's recipe for Tomato Sauce as I especially liked her addition of frying the basil along with the garlic. I also added in some dried basil along with the pepper to bring in that anise flavor I love. The vegetarian couldn't stop raving. Bon appetit!

Go-To Tomato Sauce
adapted from It's All Good

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 4 leaves basil
• 2 28-ounce cans whole peeled tomatoes and their juice
• 2 teaspoons dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over low heat. Add garlic and cook 5 minutes. Add 2 basil leaves and cook an additional minute. Add tomatoes (breaking them up with your hands) and their juice and remaining fresh basil. Turn the heat to high, bring the sauce to a boil, then lower the heat to a gentle simmer. Add dried basil, black pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, 45 minutes. Serve over spaghetti, meatballs -- whatever. Enjoy!

Links:

• Go-To Tomato Sauce from Courtney Miller Santo from The Secret Ingredient
• Go-To Tomato Sauce from Tammilee Tips
• Homemade Tomato Sauce from Allrecipes
• Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter from smitten kitchen
• Easy, Authentic, Homemade Tomato Sauce from Spinach Tiger
  
  

Winter Minestrone

Happy New Year! I hope you enjoyed some time off. We certainly did! We celebrated for two weeks with friends and family and even got some alone time in (a trip up to Poughkeepsie where we first met and where we discovered a fantastic 50's diner/juice bar). All in all, it was a great month!

The only thing wrong with it, in my opinion, was the weather. Brrr! I am not a fan of cold and so winter is always tough for me (as evidenced by all the braised beans I kept making). It's so hard to be inspired you're cold and there's no exciting produce at the greenmarket. This month, I'll definitely make an effort to bring greens back into our diet but, in the meantime, I want to share this fabulous minestrone with you.

A thick, warming bean soup, chock full of vegetables and even some quinoa pasta, this soup is a meal in itself. It's fantastic sprinkled with crispy pancetta but, if you're serving vegetarians or anyone else who doesn't eat pork, it's just as good without. Serve with garlic bruschetta and Cranberry and Vanilla Bean Mimosas. Bon appetit!

Winter Minestrone
adapted from Barefoot Contessa Foolproof: Recipes You Can Trust

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 ounces pancetta, diced (optional)
• 3 yellow onions
• 3 carrots, diced
• 3 stalks celery, diced
• 2 1/2 cups butternut squash, peeled and diced
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 stalks fresh thyme, leaves only
• 1 26-ounce box, chopped tomatoes
• 6 cups chicken stock (can substitute mushroom stock)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper, freshly ground
• 1 15-ounce can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 cups quinoa pasta (penne), cooked (1 cup dry)
• 8 ounces baby spinach
• 1/2 cup sparkling wine
• 2 tablespoons pesto
• 1 ounce Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

Heat olive oil in a heavy pot over medium heat. Add pancetta (if using), reduce heat to medium-low and cook 6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until crispy. Remove and set aside. Add onions, carrots, celery, squash, garlic and thyme, raise heat to medium (if you lowered it for the pancetta) and cook 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onion is translucent.

Add tomatoes, chicken stock, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Raise heat and bring to a boil then lower and simmer, uncovered, 30 minutes, until tomatoes are falling apart.

Remove bay leaf and discard. Add beans and pasta and simmer 2 minutes, until beans are heated through. Add spinach and simmer, stirring, another 2 minutes, until spinach has wilted. Stir in wine and pesto. Serve sprinkled with cheese and, if desired, reserved pancetta and additional extra-virgin olive oil. Enjoy!

Links:

• Winter Minestrone from Food Network
• Winter Minestrone Soup from Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free
• Sal Bizzarro's Winter Minestrone from The Colorado College Bulletin
• Slow Cooker Winter Minestrone from Once A Month Mom

Cranberry Bean Meatballs with Garlic and Allspice

When I was stuck at the airport in Burbank, trying to get home to the vegetarian after Hurricane Sandy,  I stopped into a 24-hour bar to get some dinner before my red-eye. It was the only place still open at the airport and I figured I could get a salad. But once I looked at the menu, the one thing that kept jumping out at me was spaghetti with meatballs. It wasn't gluten-free and it was overly rich and not very good but it was comforting, warming and perfect.

Since then, I've been thinking about how I can recreate spaghetti and meatballs for our gluten-free and vegetarian kitchen. The spaghetti part is the easiest -- we've become big fans of quinoa spaghetti and I'm (almost) starting to prefer it to some "regular" spaghetti. But meatballs? Neither of us likes using fake meat (although the idea of crumbled veggie burgers is one we still may try) and, anyway, I wanted these to be just as good (or better) than their meat counterparts -- not merely a substitute.


I made these with 2 cans of cranberry beans that I drained well and ground in the food processor. Unfortunately, they were softer than I had hoped and the food processor reduced them to more of a puree than a crumble. So next time I would use a harder bean (perhaps cannellini). So, even though these didn't stay together as well as we would have liked, the flavors were delicious. Serve over pasta with the Nero d'Avola you used in the sauce. Enjoy!

Cranberry Bean Meatballs with Garlic and Allspice
inspired by MyRecipes.com

"Meatballs"

• 4 carrots, shredded
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 cup cornflake crumbs
• 1 rice cake, crushed
• 1 tablespoon Italian parsley, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon basil, finely chopped
• zest of 1 lemon, grated
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice, ground
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
• 2 14-oz cans cranberry beans, drained and ground in a food processor
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Sauce:

• 1 28-ounce can fire roasted whole tomatoes
• 3 yellow onions, chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 2 ribs celery, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup Nero d'Avola
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
• 1 tablespoon basil, chopped
• 1 tablespoon Italian parsley, finely chopped

In a large bowl, mix together carrots, salt, cornflake crumbs, crushed rice cake, parsley, basil, lemon zest, allspice, chili powder, black pepper, cranberry beans and garlic. Using your hands, mix until very well combined. Shape into ping-pong sized "meatballs", packing them tightly together.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add olive oil and heat until it moves like water in the pan. Add "meatballs" and cook 1-2 minutes each side, until browned.

Add tomatoes, onions and garlic and cook 2 minutes. Add carrot, celery, red pepper flakes, Nero d'Avola, kosher salt and black pepper. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, 6 minutes. Remove from heat and serve, garnished with basil and Italian parsley. Bon appetit!

Links:

• Pork Meatballs with Garlic and Allspice from MyRecipes.com
• Garlic Meatballs with Red Potatoes & Yellow Wax Beans from The Realistic Nutritionist
• Black Bean "Meatball" Hoagie from Beard and Bonnet
• Quick Italian Sausage for Soups, Meatballs, and Sauces from Netplaces
• Two Bean Veggie "Meatballs" from Jinxy Knows Best
• Slow-Cooker Spaghetti and Meatballs from CooksRecipes.com

Monthly Cooking Adventure: Stuffed Potatoes

We have too many cookbooks. Which shouldn't be that surprising, considering my mom's a trained librarian (and cookbook author) and the vegetarian's parents are bibliophiles. Some might say that, really, it was inevitable. But when you live in an apartment and have resorted to piling books up next to the bookcase and have completely given up on arranging them in alphabetical order (I told you my mom's a librarian), it's time to admit you have a problem.

So I've made a rule -- I have to use my cookbooks more. And I'm not allowed to buy any more unless I'm planning on using that one within the week. Which brings us to this month's Monthly Cooking Adventure, affectionately titled "We survived Hurricane Sandy."

Now, really, what better way to celebrate surviving a natural disaster than with comfort food? And, to me, comfort food means Jewish food. I wanted something really celebratory but not tied to any particular holiday. So I bought a new cookbook, Jerusalem: A Cookbook, filled with Palestinian and Jewish recipes from that mythical city. Beautiful photography and evocative spices -- this is one of the most taste-inspiring cookbooks I've ever seen.

So for our Monthly Cooking Adventure, we made two dishes: Stuffed Potatoes and Latkes. Ottolenghi and Tammi stuffed their potatoes with beef but I vegetarianized ours with chickpeas (half I still stuffed with beef). We had some stuffing left over which was delicious fried up as mini veggie (and beef) sliders. Serve over couscous, rice or rustic white bread with a spicy Cabernet Sauvignon.

I'm submitting these to Slightly Indulgent Tuesday and Gluten Free Fridays.

Stuffed Potatoes in Tomato Sauce
adapted from Jerusalem: A Cookbook

Tomato Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 5 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 2 stalks celery, finely chopped
• 1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 chile colorado, finely chopped (optional)
• 2 1/2 teaspoons caraway seeds, ground in a coffee grinder
• 1 teaspoon allspice, ground
• pinch smoked paprika
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Hungarian paprika
• 1 28-ounce can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
• 1/2 tablespoon lime juice
• 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Stuffed Potatoes:

• 1 pound ground beef (or 1 can chickpeas, blitzed in a food processor until crumbly)
• 2 cups cracker crumbs (blitz crackers in a food processor)
• 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/2 cup Italian parsley, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, ground
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 13 Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and halved lengthwise
• 1 1/4 cups water
• 2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped

Start with the tomato sauce. Heat olive oil in a large, lidded frying pan (if you're doing two batches, do two pans) over low heat. Add garlic, onion, celery, carrot and chile (if using) and saute 10 minutes. Add caraway seeds, allspice and paprika and cook another 2 minutes, until very fragrant. Add tomatoes, lime juice, lemon juice, salt and pepper and bring to a boil then remove from heat and set aside while you make the potatoes.

In a bowl, combine beef (or chickpeas), cracker crumbs, onion, garlic, parsley, cinnamon, salt, pepper and eggs. Mix them very well, using your hands to make an even paste. The consistency should resemble meatballs or veggie burgers.

Using a teaspoon, hollow out potatoes (this is best done with a friend as it's mindless work but time-consuming), leaving a sturdy enough shell that the stuffing won't escape -- about 2/3-inch thick. Save potato innards for latkes or soup (they're in small enough pieces that you won't have to grate them). Stuff meat (or chickpea) mixture into potatoes, pushing it down so it's packed well and completely fills potato.

Return tomato sauce pan to a low flame and add potatoes, pushing them snugly into the sauce, filling facing upward. You will probably have to squeeze them very close together (or even use two pans). Just make sure they don't overlap. Add water (pour it gently!) to the sauce so that it just reaches the tops of the potatoes but doesn't cover the stuffing. Cover and let cook, simmering, for 1 hour. Remove lid and reduce 5 more minutes. Serve over rice (if desired), garnished with cilantro. Bon appetit!

Links:

• The Ultimate Stuffed Potato from Food Network
• Papas Rellenas Con Chorizo or Chorizo Stuffed Potatoes from Spicie Foodie
• Wonderful Stuffed Potatoes from SparkRecipes.com
• Vegetarian Stuffed Potatoes from Food.com
• Crockpot Cheddar Stuffed Potatoes from Southern Food and Recipes

Tuscan White Bean and Bread Soup

Do you have food crushes? I certainly do. They're usually seasonal; for instance, every August, when heirloom tomatoes are all over the Greenmarket, that's all I want -- morning, noon and night. These days, it's white beans. The vegetarian and I have monthly dinner parties (called our monthly cooking adventures) in which I try out exciting new recipes (i.e. recipes that require more work than what I'd make for an average meal) and keep them as seasonal as humanly possible.

While at the Greenmarket (my favorite source of edible inspiration) shopping for our adventure, I found the largest carrots I'd ever seen. I love cooking with carrots (especially in soups); they provide an unexpected level of sweetness without ever having to add sugar. And it's a lovely counterbalance to beans' earthiness. Carrots are also one of those wonderful vegetables that, to me, always seem to add a layer of freshness, no matter how long you cook them.

And, because I'd be hard-pressed to cook without it, I used 8 cloves of garlic. Again, it seems like a lot but this soup was really not spicy at all. And with three monstrous carrots, the garlic just kept the soup in a savory world.

This soup is my take on a ribollita, a Tuscan soup made out of, primarily, white beans and day-old bread. Since I try very hard to avoid waste in my kitchen, I buy only as much bread as I need so day-old bread is something I try to avoid. But the good people at Cook's Illustrated understood my dilemma and suggested baking the bread to dry it out so that is exactly what I did and it worked beautifully. I also arrived at the Greenmarket too late for kale (the traditional green for ribollita) but there was lovely, spicy arugula so that's what we went with and it came out delicious. Serve with a salad and some Beaujolais Nouveau. Bon appetit!

Tuscan White Bean and Bread Soup
adapted from The Best International Recipe

• 6 cups ciabatta (about 3/4 loaf), cut into 1-inch cubes
• 2 (15-ounce) cans cannellini beans (separated), drained and rinsed 
• 1/4 cup + 1 3/4 cups Pinot Grigio
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 3 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 yellow onions, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (plus additional if necessary)
• 8 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
• 4 cups water
• 1 pound arugula
• 1 russet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 sprig rosemary
• 2 teaspoons black pepper
• Drizzle lemon-garlic olive oil
• 8 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 300F. Spread out ciabatta cubes on a rimmed baking sheet and bake 30 minutes, until they have the consistency of day-old bread. Remove and set aside.

In a food processor, combine 1 can cannellini beans and 1/4 Pinot Grigio until mostly smooth (it's fine if there are a few lumps so long as there are no more whole beans). It should take no more than 30 pulses. Set aside.

Heat olive oil in a stockpot over medium heat until it runs like water. Add carrots, onions and salt and cook, stirring occasionally, 8 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook an additional 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes and cook another 2 minutes. Add pureed beans, whole beans, remaining Pinot Grigio, water, arugula, potato and bay leaves. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 40 minutes. Turn off heat and stir in rosemary and 2 cups bread cubes. Cover and let stand 15 minutes. Discard rosemary sprig and bay leaves and give everything a good stir to combine. Taste and add black pepper and, if necessary, additional salt. 

Place a small handful of bread cubes at the bottom of each serving bowl. Ladle soup on top. Drizzle with lemon-garlic olive oil. Serve, passing Parmesan cheese around separately. Serves 8.

Links to other white beans, carrots and garlic delicacies:

• Rosemary White Bean Soup from The Healthy Beehive
• Sausage, Potato, Veggie, and White Bean Soup from For the Love of Cooking
• Smoky Baked Beans from Momma's Meals
• Gigantes Plaki from Chef Marcus Samuelsson
• John's Grandmother's White Bean Soup from Beverly's Back Porch