Springy Mint And Fennel Salad

It's Spring!!! The mints are coming, the mints are coming!

This is my my all time favorite salad of the past two years, and I eat it whenever I can find spearmint. I can have it multiple nights in a row and not tire of it. I got the original recipe from a great cookbook called "Best of Gourmet 2001: Featuring the Flavors of Sicily." You can also (of course ;) ) find the original on Epicurious.com .

The first time I made it, I followed the recipe exactly. It combines frisee, watercress, mint, scallions, olive oil, lemon or vinegar and pine nuts. Although that combo is great and potentially addictive, my version takes it to the level of crack cocaine.

As I can hardly ever find a good frisee (not sure why, just happens to be that way), I use any sort of lettuce that I have around (barring iceberg). My favorite is a mix of green butterleaf...preferably the kind that comes with its roots still attached with a bit of potting soil. I then add a spring mix of baby greens. Watercress, if around and fresh is tasty.

Thinly slice fennel/anise. I primarily use the stalks and bulb, but also add some fronds.

Thinly slice some scallions

Tear lots of mint into smaller pieces.

Chop and toast almonds. (I love the taste of fresh pine nuts but am very sensitive to rancid oils and find very few pine nuts that haven't turned. Plus, I always have almonds around so the switch was easy for me. Plus they're quite tasty in this mix so a no brainer).

Put all together. Add a small amount of olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Toss until lightly and evenly coated No need for lemon or vinegar, nonono. The oil and the flavors of the pure salad are enough to fill your taste buds with unimaginable delight. Not only does it taste great, but the mint and fennel are both herbs that make digestion happier.

Happy tummy, happy tastebuds, happy you and me.

Picture of fennel from here Mint from here

Breakfast Hash

Noooo, silly goosies...not THAT kind of hash!!! The food kind (and no, not the food kind that comes from that kind of hash butter, either).

The kind of hash you used to (and probably still) get at Greasy Spoons but all dolled up and spiffified into healthy eats. Almost the same thing as a Breakfast Scramble, I delineate the two as follows: Scrambles always have eggs (or tofu if you don't eat them). I may or may not include eggs in a hash, but always include a sort of starch (regular or sweet potato) or grain. They are, in fact, great for using up those small bits of leftover grains or taters.

Rice and quinoa are both good. I'm sure barley, rye, millet or any of the other wonderful grasses of the earth would work really well, too. But barley and rye affect me the same way wheat does and while millet is OK, it does not give me orgasms. The grain that does is Steel Cut Oats. I cook them on the "al dente" chewy side so they fluff instead of goo. Plus, we know me and chewy. Vital stuff.

This morning's version:

Sautee leeks, kale, garlic, mushrooms in olive oil. I steamed them a bit so they wouldn't stick.
Add the precooked oats (if cooking fresh, I usually make a fair amount so they are handydandy for other meals) and stir until all combined.
Turn off stove. Add tamari/soy sauce, lots of fresh dill and cilantro. Add sprouts (my mix was home sprouted garbanzos, azukis, black beans, lentils). Mix up so all is coated and hashy.
Put in bowl. Add avocado slices, chilies, and chunked almonds.

Although I didn't have an egg this morning, I often do an over-medium egg and lay it on top so that the gooey goodness of the yolk flows over the hash.

Yum.

Kale, Feta and Sun Dried Tomato Scramble

The current favorite incarnation of the Sublime Scramble. If you've never made a scramble before or want some new tricks, see about the basics here.

I generally make this for one (that would be me. There is usually a bit left over for a mid-morning snack the next day...it's good cold, too):

Eggs- 2
Kale- 1 1/2 c raw...my current favorite is the curly variety. Dino is good, too....well...actually they're all good
Leeks- 1/2-3/4 c raw
Mushrooms- three large crimini or any other sort
Garlic- as much or little as the mood strikes you
Sun Dried Tomatoes-about 2 TBS...the best I've tasted are the Julienne Strip ones from Trader Joe's. Yum.
Feta- about 2-3TBS
Fresh basil leaves or pesto to taste
Walnuts- to taste...I generally do about 1/4 c
Hot chili peppers (if'n you like yer food spicy)- to taste
Oil- preferably olive or grapeseed..1-2 TB

Chop all veggies. Mince garlic if you use it. Put oil in pan. I put all the veg in at the same time for this one. Stir and cook, watching that the kale doesn't stick and burn...might want to add a couple of TB of water after a few minutes of sauteeing to steam it.

When veggies are cooked to your liking, add the eggs, the cheese and the tomatoes. Scramble until thickened to your desired tastey doneness.

Top with basil, walnuts, and chilis if you desire.

Great with green tea or a cup of good, strong coffee. Also goes great with a piece of Essene bread toasted, with almond butter.

Put on some nice classical music in the background, sit by a window looking out over the great Earth and enjoy this most wonderful way to start the day with all senses aglow and happy healthy food in your belly.

Picture of curly Kale from here This site looks great for gardeners!

The Sublime Scramble

Ah, breakfast. If we believe Jack and others, it's the most important meal of the day.

Scrambles. My favorite.

One of the things I like about them is that they can be the repository for that little bit of leftovers all mishmashed together with a bit of cheese and seasonings to create an endless variety of tasty breakfast meals. The end result is that they end up more than the sum of their pieces and parts. And what better way to get in a bunch of veggies?

In fact, mine are generally mostly veggies, with the egg barely holding them together. Since crunch is one of my favorite flavors, I almost always put in some sort of nut. Always a cheese. Usually an herb or two...when possible, sprinkled fresh over the top. Sometimes I even put in leftover grains. They truly do taste yummy with the egg, even though they don't sound like they would. I'll be sharing different combos I've developed, but would love to suggest that you be bold and give things a try. You might be really surprised at what you come up with.

Basic cooking directions-

Most of mine have some sort of allium- onion, shallot, garlic, scallion, etc. These days my allium of choice is leeks. I'm addicted. I know the most American's are most familiar with them in soups. But they're great sauteed. Just cut the greenest stem off and mince, cooking like you would any onion.

Chop other veggies. For a single serving, I generally use 1-2 eggs (two ends up being too much food for me, but they're good cold, for a healthy snack). Veggie amounts? Raw, I usually have 2-3 cups with every thing combined. They cook down. If you want meats, then get them together- cook your bacon and crumble, get your ham in bite-able hunks, whatever. Get out your nuts, cheese and herbs. Lightly whisk the eggs. Everything is now eager and happy to be combined to sublimeness.

Put oil in your pan (butter, olive, grapeseed, etc.). You want enough to give it some oomph, but you don't want overly oily scrambles. I usually use about a TB of oil for a single serving. I'm not that worried if there's a bit more because healthy oils are GOOD for me. But I want it to taste good. It's all about the taste.

Heat the oil...medium heat is OK, but watch it. Put in the allium(s) for a minute. Then add the other veggies. If you have veggies that take varying amounts of time to cook, put the more hardy ones in first and cook for awhile, like you would do with a stir fry. If I have kale (which I generally do), then I will often put in some water (2-3 TBS) for it to steam as I don't want it to stick and burn.

You want the veggies to be slightly undercooked, still having substance and taste. You can tell when they're ready when they are bright colored and/or you take out a piece and it's a little less cooked than you would normally like it. (If you aren't a cook, ultimately all this stuff becomes second nature, but everything takes time to learn.)

When the veggies are in their perfect state of delicious doneness, add your whisked eggs and the cheese. Cooking the cheese with the eggs( instead of adding it at the end to melt) renders a different quality to the dish. It's these subtle differences which all add up to something being amazing vs. good. These things are Important.

We all have our preferences in eggs. Some are quite passionate about it and will send their eggs back if a restaurant over or under cooks them. I, myself, prefer my scrambled eggs a bit on the side of overdoneness. Just watch them. When they are your verson of perfect, happy eggy goodness, serve, adding nuts either at the end in the pan or simply on top. I usually add my herbs after serving.

Voila...protein, veg, vitamin goodness all rolled up into a far better breakfast scramble than you can find at any high end restaurant. And oooh...the endless possibilities for discovering new, uncharted tasty combos...!!! Makes me very happy.

(And darn I wish I had a camera. Not much in the stock photo department with egg scrambles. Will post one when I get one)