Tag Archives: radish

Tuesday night and What’s for Dinner? Roasted Cod with Garlic Bread Crumbs

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Hyper-local radish toasts, Roasted Fresh Atlantic Cod from Iceland (ok, not local, but sustainable) with homemade garlic bread crumbs, and green salad with balsamic vinaigrette. The radishes are the last of this summer’s – proud to say we grew them in our recently moved raised bed. I read somewhere that radishes are the EASIEST vegetable to grow. We have had 3 or 4 failed crops until now. Clearly, I should stick to the kitchen. The cod is from Whole Foods (along with the greens), and the bread crumbs I made a few weeks ago.

This post will contain a few tips and one quick and easy weeknight recipe.

Surprisingly good: Radish Toasts

Tip #1: Radish toasts (or crostini or bruschetta if you want to get fancy) are an easy to make hors d’ouevres or starter that appears much fancier than it is (that is, if you like spicy, crunchy radishes). Slice up some baguette and some breakfast radishes, put a generous daub of butter on one side of the baguette slice, place a few slices of radish on top and sprinkle with good sea salt. Rinse, repeat, indulge. Yum!

Tip #2: You are literally throwing money out the window if you buy breadcrumbs in the store. I have seen a small bag sold for $5 or $6 in the specialty foods shop. Next time you have a day old baguette or Italian bread, don’t toss it. Hold on to it for another day or two until it is completely dried out/stale. Once it feels like a baton, take it to a box grater and go to town. It will make a bit of a mess, but grate the baguette like you would a carrot and ta-da, you’ve got homemade bread crumbs you can store in a glass jar on the shelf for months. The important thing is to make sure there is no more moisture in the bread, otherwise you’ll have mushy, and eventually, moldy bread crumbs. You can also cube it and put it into the food processor to make bread crumbs (less muscle), or make croutons out of them for your salad or soup (more effort).

Tip #3: Easy weeknight recipe that’s healthy to boot:

Roasted Cod with Homemade Garlic Bread Crumbs

  • 2 cod (or other dense white fish) fillets, about 6-8 ounces each
  • 1/2 cup homemade bread crumbs
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • few sprigs parsley, chopped (or other fresh herb)
  • Salt and pepper
  • Lemon slices (for garnish)

Instructions:

Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in small pan over low-medium heat. Once heated, add garlic and saute for 1-2 minutes until fragrant, but don’t burn it. Add bread crumbs, salt and pepper and any other spices you’d like. Sautee for 5-6 minutes until bread crumbs are toasted evenly, but again, be careful not to burn (apparently, I do this frequently). Add parsley and mix, set aside.

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Place cod on a baking dish and drizzle remaining olive oil on fillets, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place in oven. Turn 1/4 after 2 minutes, and repeat until last side is reached. Then remove baking dish and spoon bread crumbs on top. Bake cod for another 2 minutes, checking to ensure that bread crumbs are browning, not burning. Remove from oven and place on plate. Garnish with lemon, if desired, and more parsley.

Late Summer Crunchy Veggie Salad

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I had called this a vegetable and brown rice salad in an earlier post, and realized that it makes it sounds awfully boring. Very health food store-y, and not in a good way. So I’ve re-branded my headline in the hopes that it will encourage more folks to give this awesome, flavorful, deeply-textured, nutrient-dense dish a try. This was a perfect lunch dish, and one that you can prepare in advance, good for 1-2 days.

Late Summer Veggie Salad: Layered colors and textures

Here is an updated version of the recipe:

Summer Veggie Rice Salad
adapted from Bon Appetit June 2012

1 small shallot, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
2 cups cooked brown rice, cooled
2 cups bite-size pieces assorted vegetables  (I used radishes, steamed cauliflower, bell pepper, green beans)
1 jalapeno pepper, minced
3/4 cup torn mixed leafy greens, sprouts, and herbs (Optional – I didn’t have any on hand, so skipped it)
1/3 cup chopped red onion or scallions

Preparation

  1. Make the dressing: mix shallot, parsley and lemon juice together in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Slowly drizzle in oil and use whisk to mix dressing.
  2. Place remaining ingredients in a large bowl; drizzle with 3 Tbsp. dressing and toss to coat. Pass remaining dressing alongside for drizzling over.

 

And for those interested, origins of Ingredients:

– Cauliflower, bell peppers, jalapenos, onions, garlic: WSF

– Sauteed Green beans: Citarella Market (I cheated on this one, these were already prepared when I bought them)

– Breakfast radishes: our garden

Late Summer Veggie Salad

What’s for Monday Night Dinner? Insalata di Farro

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It’s hard to let go of summer. That, plus I had a half bag of pearled farro staring me in the face that I had smuggled back from Italy.

Farro Perlato imported from Italy in small batches. In my suitcase

Farro is an ancient Italian grain that is high in protein and retains a nice chewy crunch when you cook it. It is similar to barley or spelt, but not exactly either. Go figure. I know it’s odd to bring back grains as a holiday souvenir, but real farro is hard to find stateside. And, as you know by now, I hate to let anything go to waste.

I also had a hodgepodge of veggies left over from Saturday’s CSA pick-up, so I decided to make a simple Insalata di Farro, or Farro Salad. It is reminiscent of any other type of grain salad, like quinoa or rice salads.

Not to brag, but  carnivorous Hubs deemed this vegetarian meal “quite good.”

Insalata di Farro with radishes, tomatoes, peppers and scallions

You’ll see the recipe below, but consider this a starting point. You can use any cooked or raw veggies that you may have on hand, and you can also add some cut up cheese or meat for additional protein. While we were in Tuscany, our neighbor Chiara prepared an Insalata di Farro  with mozzarella, chick peas, tomatoes and potatoes. Delish.

Ingredients:

1 cup farro
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice [can use red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar if you don’t have any lemon]
1 – 2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped roughly
4-6 radishes, thinly sliced
4 scallions, chopped
1 bell pepper, seeded and chopped roughly
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Rinse farro well before use. Put in medium pot and add 4 cups of water. Bring to a boil, salt well, and then let simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. While the farro is cooking, you can chop up your veggies and make the dressing.

Chopped Veggies: Chef’s choice

Put lemon juice (or vinegar) in a small bowl and drizzle in olive oil while stirring to make the dressing. Add salt and pepper to dressing

Farro is ready when it has softened and the water has evaporated.

Almost ready: Farro on the stove

Keep an eye on it while it cooks. If the water absorbs too quickly and it’s not ready yet, you may need to add another 1/2 cup of water. Once it is ready, take it off the burner and fluff with fork. Let it cool. Once cooled, add to large bowl with the chopped veggies and dressing. Taste for seasoning. Garnish with chopped parsley or basil, if you like. A tavola!

Yield: 3-4 servings