No food in the fridge

I was faced with what seems to be recurring problem for me this week. After being away for a couple days- my refrigerator was nearly empty, this time it was special because my pantry was also sparse and my early morning attempt to make it to the Westchester Wednesday market appeared to be rained out. All in all, not a great start.

So after a little ingenuity and crossed fingers this is what I came up with:

Roasted red pepper chickpea pasta surprise (I always add the word surprise on any dish that is a little different, just because it’s fun). I found an onion, potato, pasta, dried chickpeas, and the surprise – roasted red pepper tapenade left from last weeks market. I ate it last week with crackers and this was my attempt to restructure the dip.

Ingredients

1 brown or sweet onion, chopped

1 ½ cup dried chickpeas or 2 cans

1 small potato (optional)

1 bay leaf

1 package of pasta

1 pinch of salt

1 pinch of cayenne ppepper

1 tbsp olive oil

4 tbsp roasted red pepper tapenade

Soak chickpeas (overnight is preferable but I went for two hours- just to soften a bit). Rinse chickpeas and cover with water in a small pot, add half of the potato and the bay leaf. Bring water to a boil and let simmer for about an hour and a half or until beans have softened. (You can always bypass these steps by using canned beans- I find them much faster, but dried beans are cheaper and don’t have any preservatives or added sodium to them).

Begin to boil salted water in large pot for cooking pasta. Finely dice onion into small pieces

Sauté onions in oil in a pan until they become browned and translucent.

Add chickpeas, cayenne pepper, salt, tapenade, and a ladle of pasta water. Simmer until pasta is ready.
Drain pasta and mix together. Surprise, it’s dinner!

Ribollita - An Italian Peasant Stew

Ribollita is a hearty Italian peasant soup I fell in love with years ago. It’s thicker than a minestrone and usually gets a lot of it’s tasty goodness from a dark cabbage called cavolo nero. Since we are in LA and not Italy I found kale to be a wonderful substitute for this classic stew. I started this dish with a basic reference from Jamie Oliver’s version of Ribollita and then made some changes (partly due to what was in my refrigerator and by merging some ideas from other recipes. As usual I made my version vegetarian, but many recipes include adding sausage to the soup.

Ingredients

1 can cannellini beans

1 bay leaf

1 tomato, squashed

1 potato

1 lrg brown onion

2 carrots, peeled

2 sticks of celery (including leaves)

3 cloves of garlic

1 lrg bunch of kale (don’t worry it reduces!), finely sliced

1 lrg diced tomato or 1 can of diced tomatoes (if winter)

a pinch of dried red chili flake

a pinch of ground fennel (can be excluded)

2 handfuls of good quality stale bread torn into chunks

salt and pepper to season

good quality olive oil and parmesan to top.

Bring to a boil the drained can of beans with the smashed tomato, half of the potato, and bay leaf and enough water to cover, for 25 minutes. Reserve 2 cups of cooking liquid, and drain beans.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Finely dice onion, carrot, celery, garlic, and remaining potato. In a large oven safe pot heat olive oil and add onion, carrot, celery, garlic, and potato with fennel seed and chili. Sweat on a low heat with the lid ajar for 15-20 minutes until the vegetables are soft (stirring occasionally). Add a small amount of the bean cooking liquid, and deglaze the pot, scraping any browned bits from the bottom.

Add tomatoes and bring to a simmer for a couple of minutes. Add the cooked beans, ½ cup of the remaining cooking liquid and stir in sliced kale. Wait for kale to begin to reduce for a few minutes. Add in torn stale bread and remainder of cooking liquid (you can also substitute this for stock), and stir all together. Bake stew covered for 30 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper, and top with splash of olive oil and parmesan cheese.

Not All Markets Are Created Equal

So, I went to the Santa Monica Farmer's Market a couple of weeks ago. I usually don't, because it's not close to where I live. But my friend was in town, so I met her there. There are pony rides and there's live music. It's a fun Sunday morning activity for sure.

However, when it came to the actual buying of produce, that's where it got a little suspect. My first stop was at a stand that sold fruit. I got three peaches and a couple bunches of grapes. When I went to pay the man said that it would be $11. $11?!? For three peaches and some grapes? WTF? I looked at him in shock for a second and then begrudgingly pulled out my cash.

At the markets that I normally go to, these items would have been half as much. I guess, like everything else, if you're in a high-rent district, you're going to pay more.

Lesson learned: Go to the Santa Monica Farmer's Market for the pony rides, not for the peaches.