Tangy Kale Salad With Dates & Toasted Nuts

This salad has become my go-to work lunch lately. It’s fast to prepare—you don’t even need to dirty a knife—it takes on additions well (sometimes I add garlic or anchovies), and it’s filling enough to hold me through the day.

I often switch out the toasted nuts for whatever I have on hand (walnuts, sliced almonds, slivered almonds, etc.). The only important part is that you toast the nuts. It doesn’t take long, just a few minutes in a skillet on medium low until they change color a bit and they start to smell delightful. Oh, and if you do decide to use minced garlic, go with half a clove—for the sake of your coworkers.

Ingredients

1/2 bundle of curly kale

1 tablespoon of olive oil

2 tablespoons of wine vinegar (I like white)

10 or so toasted nuts (walnuts, sliced or slivered almonds, etc.)

5 pitted dates

Salt and fresh ground pepper

Method

Take the kale bundle and use your fingers to tear the leaves into bite sized pieces. Put all the pieces in a to-go container or the bowl you’ll be using.

Add the oil and massage it into the leaves with your fingers, then do the same with the vinegar. Do one tablespoon, mix, then the other.

Add the nuts (feel free to add beans here for more protein if you like), and then tear the dates into pieces and toss them into the mixture as well. Season aggressively with salt and pepper and let it marinate for a few hours if you can.

What’s your go-to packable lunch?

Q&A with Kogi BBQ’s Roy Choi

Wondering about LA chef/cart genius Roy Choi’s daily life, his new book or what he eats at home? Head to Daily Blender to read my Q&A.

Photo courtesy of Alice Shin

 

2 Recipes: California Breakfast Pudding & Sriracha Broccoli With Honey Butter

I thought I’d give you two recipes this morning, since I was feeling indecisive about which recipe to blog. Enjoy!

California Morning Pudding

Adapted from Food and Wine, specifically by Grace Parsi

Have you had chia seeds yet? They’re sort of the kale chips of the online food world right now;­­­ they seem seem to be everywhere. Given their health properties (hello, fiber, protein and omega 3s), rich history and interesting texture, they were bound to show up in my cooking rotation eventually. The seeds become boba or tapioca-like when soaked in liquid (in fact, some just sip them in water as a refreshing drink), but more importantly, they give me an excuse to eat pudding for breakfast.

I call this California Morning Pudding because its toppings: dates, oranges and almonds, are all from my home state. Their contribution to the dish is a layer of acerbic sweetness, which is the just the right way to be woken up on a cold winter morning. Oh, and I hate to oversell you new ingredients here, but Cara Cara oranges are another thing you should seek out if you ever get the chance. They’re the less bitter cousin of grapefruit, who has still inherited that same gorgeous blush.

Ingredients

2 ½ cups unsweetened soy milk

½ cup chia seeds

2 tablespoons of honey

3 Medjool dates, pitted and torn into pieces

1 Cara Cara orange, peeled and sliced (you can sub grapefruit or any other orange)

6 or 7 almonds

Method

Mix together the first 3 ingredients in a quart container (I used a leftover yogurt container). Shake or stir the mixture, cover and let it sit in your refrigerator overnight.

In the morning, give the mixture a good stir. Spoon about a cup or so of the pudding into a bowl and top with the dates, oranges and almonds. The leftover pudding will last for a week.

Broccoli With Sriracha Honey Butter and Toasted Sesame Seeds

I’ve been working from my pantry a lot lately. And if this is “cooking with what you have”, I’m thinking I should do it more often. Honeyed and spicy with just enough fat to add some flavor, this dish is great on its own as well as stirred into a salad or noodles.

Ingredients

1 cup broccoli, steamed in a steam basket or the microwave

generous squirt of Sriracha hot sauce (or more)

1 teaspoon of honey

½ tablespoon of unsalted butter or olive oil

toasted sesame seeds (optional)

Method

Top hot broccoli with the rest of the ingredients, stir and enjoy.

Rustic White Beans With Spinach (Or, Leftovers In A Ziplock Bag)

I love the surprises that come from my leftovers. This recipe was born from a slightly barren fridge and a lack of to-go containers. It’s perfect for work consumption, works well from cooking ahead (try making the beans and sauce in big batches on Sunday), but also would be equally successful from twisting open a jar of marinara and a can of beans-all a matter of preference. This recipe, which is sweet from the tomatoes and toothsome from the beans, is comforting and healthful at the same time.

Speaking of, you may notice a lack of holiday recipes on my site, and it’s intentional. There are so many cookie recipes, dips for parties, cakes, fudges, etc. being covered everywhere that I like to cover the other 24 days of the holiday season. Recipes when you want uncomplicated and flavorful meals that aren’t for your in-laws (not to mention I’m a horrendous baker).

Ingredients

1 cup of white beans (cooked from scratch or canned)

2 cups of red sauce (recipe below or your favorite jarred kind)

2 huge handfuls of spinach

2 slices of bread for toast

Method:

If you’re taking this meal with you, simply load all the ingredients except the bread in a large ziplock bag or to-go container. When you’re ready to eat, microwave for three minutes or simmer on your stove at medium heat for 10-15. Serve with your favorite toasted bread drizzled with olive oil for scooping.

My Go-To Red Sauce

1/4 cup olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, minced

3/4 lb button mushrooms

Salt, pepper and red pepper flakes to taste

1 bay leaf

2 cans of whole tomatoes

Method:

Warm the oil in a large saucepan at medium heat. Add the onion and saute until soft, about eight minutes. Toss in the garlic and stir until fragrant, about one minute. Add the mushrooms and spices, stirring for about six minutes until lightly browned and some of the juices have released. Don’t be afraid to go crazy with the black pepper here-it’s the base of your sauce so it’ll pay off later in flavor after simmering away on your stove.

Next, open your cans of tomatoes and get messy–squeeze each tomato  with your hands in the pot (low so you don’t spill on yourself, which I have a habit of doing), or squish with a potato masher. Add the remaining tomato liquid and the bay leaf, and bring the sauce to a simmer at medium low heat. Now, walk away. The longer it cooks, the chunkier the sauce will be, my ideal time is about 30-40 minutes. When your sauce is at the consistency of your liking, fish out the bay leaf and serve.

Note: You can play with the flavors by adding wine, tomato paste, etc. based on what recipe you’re using the sauce for-this is just a base, make it your own!

Oven and Shaker Twists Traditions This Wednesday

Connoisseurs of cocktails often say that you must first master traditional drink recipes before you can move forward and alter them creatively. If this axiom

Photo by Jennifer Heigl

is true for pizza, Nostrana’s Cathy Whims can put whatever she wants on her pies.

Tomorrow night in the Pearl marks the opening of Oven and Shaker, a pizza and cocktail lovechild from Whims and Ryan Magarian, with help from ChefStable’s brilliant Kurt Huffman. While Whims stays true to Italian culture at her restaurant Nostrana, Oven and Shaker is more about sipping a great cocktail and eating dishes that aren’t always rigid with the traditionalism.

Last night at a preview event she told me, “This menu is more relaxed. We’re playing with our pizzas more, we’ve got things like Brussels Sprouts on them…we might even have one with pineapple at some point.” The menu’s pies are topped with combinations like chanterelle mushrooms, radicchio and fried sage and a cheese-less pie with white anchovies and fried capers. Sometimes, the menu even takes unexpected risks like adding a little wild honey to a Calabrese salami pizza. Other dishes take some inspiration from Sicilian street food (often in the fried variety) like three types of arancini (including one with a beef and pea ragu and saffron risotto) and fried cheeses like mozzarella in carozza with anchovy caper salsa. Perhaps the most impressive are the lamb lollipops (shockingly tender lamb chops lightly fried and squeezed with lemon).

And the “Shaker” part of Oven and Shaker is definitely something to be equally excited

Photo by Jennifer Heigl

about. Namely,a pineapple concoction titled the Pineapple Trainwreck with just enough spicy ginger to kick the usually cloying affect found in similar cocktails elsewhere. And like  Cathy’s food dishes, Magarian takes smart risks like his Pepper Smash- an Aquavit drink with bell pepper juice and mint leaves, and a Manhattan made with high-end tequila that’s not for quitters.

The restaurant will be open nightly for now, with plans for lunch in the future. And if you do go, please save me a seat—this is definitely the woodfire oven pizza spot I’ve been waiting for on the West side.

1134 NW Everett St 4pm-12 am, opens Wednesday November 30th

Week’s Eats-Because I Want To Talk Restaurants, Dammit.

I realize I read and talk about Portland’s food scene quite a bit and I thought I’d start sharing what I know. I’ve got plenty of reliable and talented sources, but I understand not everyone reads 6 food websites regularly to hear what’s opening, closing etc. So, I decided I’d start posting about new restaurants/chef changes/dishes I’ve tasted so you can read it all in one spot with a Kat twist. Any place you’re wondering about? Let me know in the comments.

 

November 14^th-18^th

Over the weekend:

Last Saturday Portland’s second Dick’s Kitchen opened in the NW 21^st  area. DK is a health-inspired (?) burger joint with dishes like grass-fed burgers and kale chop salads.

Last Saturday also brought in a drinking abode for fans of effervescence: Ambonnay had its grand opening in the same SE building that houses the first Olympic Provisions. The spot serves sparkling sips from around the world as well as vegetarian small plates (do I detect a little drinker stereotyping? Okay, they might be right….)

And lastly, the weekend also delivered  BJ Smith (formerly chef at The Original)’s Smokehouse 21 in NW 21st (no site that I could find, but here’s Eater’s preview.) The menu will be available for takeout and bike delivery as well as eating in. And it looks like it has the usual suspects, nice and smoke-ified: pork, brisket, and sausage, with some unexpected, like smoked trout and bacon molasses cornbread. An added bonus— there’s an abundance of housemade sauces (and a mustard one with my name on it).

Tuesday, November 14^th:

The much talked about, much sought-after beginning of the West Side Pizza Revolution has arrived (more on that in the coming weeks with Oven & Shaker, Sizzle Pie, etc.). Via Tribunali is a PDX version of a Seattle pizza hub (thanks to restaurateur bad-ass Bruce Carey) and I anticipate great things. Wood fire oven pies with calzones and cocktails open late for downtowners? I’m in, I’m in, I’m in.

And since this is my first restaurant post, I’ll direct you to the new spots I’ve liked recently:

Woodsman Tavern: Brought to us from the owners of Stumptown, this place has just as much Swank as Portland will allow. With a seafood-heavy menu (Someone! Finally!) and cocktail superstar Evan Zimmerman at the bar, this is definitely the place you’ll want to spend any extra money you might have.

Luce: Opened with not nearly enough fanfare, this is an intimate (and yes, small) Italian restaurant recently opened on East Burnside. The menu is shockingly well-priced and the dishes are what Italian food should be: simple and unfussy. I’d suggest the rich Bolognese to shake off any of that winter chill we’ve been having.

Well, that’s all for now, but don’t worry, there are plenty more openings in the Portland food forecast. Let me know if this was helpful or if you have any suggestions in the comments!

Melissa Clark’s Spicy Calamari With Israeli Couscous

I’m not one for posting other’s recipes unless I somehow riff on them. But tonight I am singing the praises from my apartment that smells like lemon, garlic, butter and the sea—and I only have NY Times writer Melissa Clark to thank.

Her book, Cook This Now was just released in October, and it’s everything I like in a cookbook. The recipes are fast (which is nice for after-work preparation), flavorful, and even a little healthy (yes, Ms. Clark I noticed all those whole wheat ingredients!). Each chapter is separated by month, so you cook with what’s in season. Even though this recipe is from the February chapter, it shouldn’t be missed at any time of the year.

Since copyright issues are sticky, I’ll just give you the basics and implore you to go out and buy her book. I’d offer to lend you mine, but I’m already making 3 recipes from it this week…I don’t think it’s going anywhere soon. This recipe reminds me why I love seafood-it’s light but not dull, and almost demands to be washed down with a glass of crisp white wine. The (kind of) recipe:

Cook Israeli couscous according to the package (I like Bob\’s Red Mill) and toss with  a little olive oil. Heat more olive oil in the largest pan you have, and throw in a pound or so of cut calamari, red pepper flakes, parsley, basil, garlic and butter. Toss until opaque, about 4 minutes. Finish with an abundance of lemon. Hide the leftovers from your dining partner.