White bean tostadas with blackberry salsa

This sounds super weird but it's fantastic, I promise! 

1 pint blackberries 

1 lime 

1 jalepeno (optional) 

1 tsp. maple syrup 

1 can white beans 

Oil for cooking 

1 ripe avocado, sliced 

8 corn tortillas 

 1. Cut blackberries in half 

2. Zest and juice the lime 

3. If using jalepeno, remove stem, ribs, and seeds and finely chop. 

4. Stir together blackberries, lime zest and juice, maple syrup, and up to half the jalepeno. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Let stand, stirring occasionally, while you cook the rest of the meal. 

5. Rinse the white beans 

6. In a medium sauce pot, warm a tablespoon of oil until hot but not smoking. Add the beans and season generously with salt and pepper. Mash the beans until softened and heated through, 3-4 minutes. 

7. In a large frying pan, warm 2-3 tablespoons of oil and cook tortillas in batches, turning once, until crisp (2-4 minutes per side). Transfer cooked tortillas on paper-towel-lined plate. 

8. To serve, spread mashed beans over tortillas and top with blackberry salsa and avocados. Add more jalepeno if desired.

Sugar Snap Pea and Blueberry Salad

1 pint of blueberries 

1 lb. sugar snap peas 

1 lemon 

2-3 green onions 

2-3 celery ribs 

olive oil 

salt and pepper 

 1. Cut blueberries in half and thinly slice snap peas on the diagonal 

2. Chop celery on the diagonal and thinly slice green onions 

3. Zest the lemon 

4. Toss blueberries, peas, celery, green onions, and lemon zest together. 

5. Add a squeeze of lemon, olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix together and serve.

Ginger Scallion Meatballs with Asian Apple Slaw

MEATBALLS: 

 10 oz. ground beef 

1 knob fresh ginger 

3 green onions 

 1. Chop green onions, separating whites and greens. 

 2. Peel and finely chop the ginger 

 3. Mix beef with white part of scallions, ginger, and salt and pepper to taste. 

 Place in fridge while you make the cole slaw. 

 4. When ready to cook, shape into meatballs and cook in a pan heated medium-high with a small amount of oil, turning once (approximately 3-5 minutes per side). ]

ASIAN APPLE SLAW: 

2 apples or Asian pears 

1/4 lb. shredded red cabbage 

2 tsp. sesame seeds 

Dressing (almond butter, coconut aminos or soy sauce, sesame oil, and apple cider vinegar, mixed to taste) 

 1. Core a slice the apples into thin slices. Toss with the cabbage. 

 2. Mix dressing to taste, then add to the cabbage. Top with sesame seeds and mix.

Artichoke Mushroom Frittata (plus arugula salad)

1 pack cremini mushrooms 

6 eggs 

3 ounces cooked quartered artichoke hearts 

1/2 - 1 full bag fresh spinach 

1/2 red onion (optional) 

butter for cooking 

salt and pepper 

 1. Chop mushrooms into bite-sized pieces and loosely chop artichoke hearts 

 2. Heat butter over pan until melted and pan is hot; add mushrooms and artichoke hearts and cook, stirring occasionally, for 2-3 minutes. 

 3. Add spinach and cook until just wilted; salt and pepper to taste. 

 4. While spinach is cooking, beat eggs in a bowl until blended 

 5. Spread vegetables around the pan then pour the eggs over them evenly; reduce heat to medium-low and cover the pan until eggs are cooked thouroughly (at least 5 minutes). 

 6. Cut into wedges and serve. 

 Tastes lovely alongside apple-arugula salad, which is 1 apple, a bunch of arugula, and a lemon and olive oil. Slice the apple and zest the lemon and toss them into the arugula. Top with olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste.

Shamelessly Stolen Crepe Recipe

Saving this here for safekeeping, because I have had some TRULY awful crepe recipes and this one is by far the best: 

2 cups milk (up to 1/4 of which can be water) '

4 large eggs 

3 Tablespoons butter, melted

1 Tablespoon granulated sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 

Toss it in a blender, let it sit in the fridge for 30 minutes, then cook. C'est tout!

Turkish Simit

These ubiquitous Turkish snacks (often called "Turkish bagels" despite the fact that, other than their shape, they are not even remotely related) can be found on every street corner in Turkey for a lira, sold by friendly Turkish gentlemen blowing cigarette smoke all about them. In America, however, they are significantly harder to find (not to mention significantly more expensive!). What to do? Make your own! They were surprisingly easy and forgiving, despite what maybe looks like a complicated recipe. I made the dough Saturday night and cooked a couple for a test run. They were nice. Not thrilling, but nice. The rest of the dough we shaped and seeded and stuck in the fridge overnight. When we cooked them in the morning, WOW, were they spectacular! So if you're in a hurry, feel free to cook right away, but do yourself a solid and leave them in the fridge overnight (it also makes sense from a timing point of view if you think about eating them for breakfast.)

For the dough (makes about 6):

2 1/4 cups flour (plus more for kneading)
1 tsp. salt
1 cup warm water
2 tsp. dry yeast
2 T. olive oil

For the outside:

1 T. molasses
2 T. water (or thereabouts; you want to thin out the molasses)
sesame seeds

1. In a small bowl, combine the warm water and yeast to allow it to bloom. In another bowl, mix together flour and salt.

2. Add yeast mixture and olive oil to dough and knead on a floured surface until smooth and elastic (about 5 minutes).

3. Place in a large bowl, cover with a wet cloth, and allow to rise until doubled in size (about 1 hour).

4. After an hour, remove dough and shape into a log; cut into 12 (relatively) equal-sized pieces.

5. Roll each piece into a rope approx. 12 inches. Twist 2 of the ropes around each other and form into a ring; pinch closed so you have something that does, admittedly, look like a twisted bagel.

6. Dip in molasses mixture to wet, then dip in sesame seeds to coat.

7. Place finished simits on a piece of parchment paper; cover lightly with plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight.

8. In the morning, preheat oven to 410 with a cookie sheet inside.

9. Spray or sprinkle simit with a little bit of water, then place in the oven for 15-17 minutes.


Serve with tea, olives, cucumbers, tomatoes and feta for a traditional Turkish breakfast.

Uzbek Pilav

This probably isn't close to authentic, but it was really yummy and surprisingly simple (and fairly idiot-proof!) Pretty much every ingredient is optional; just use what you have on hand! I had lamb stock and lamb chunks because we had lamb the night before and were using the leftovers, but honestly it would probably be fine without it. This is loosely based on the recipe found in Saveur.

Ingredients:

2 cups basmati rice
1-3 cups lamb/beef/chicken stock (or whatever you have on hand; optional)
1 cup carrots, diced
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 cup raisins and/or barberries (raisins are sweeter, barberries are more sour; I used both)
1/4 cup slivered or sliced almonds
1/2 cup lamb chunks, roasted and chopped
2 tsp. coriander powder
1 tsp. cumin powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cloves
salt and pepper
2 tsp. butter
oil for cooking

Directions

1. Add water to rice and let sit at least 20 minutes (while you get everything else together)

2. In a small bowl, mix together coriander, cumin, cinnamon, cloves, and pepper black pepper to taste. Set aside.

3. Add a little bit of oil to a pot and cook carrots with some salt on medium-high heat until slightly soft (10 minutes or so). Add onions and cook until translucent. Add raisins/barberries for the last 2 minutes or so to allow them to plump. Take off heat and set aside carrot/onion/raisin mix.

4. Drain the rice of the soaking water and place in a large cooking pot. Add butter, half the spice mixture, and 3 cups of liquid(water or stock or any combination thereof; I used 2 cups water and 1 cup lamb stock but it could have done with more stock) and bring to a boil. Lower heat, then cover and let simmer until water is fully absorbed (about 5-8 minutes).

5. Add carrot mixture, almonds, lamb, and the rest of the spices and stir to distribute evenly. Cover again and let simmer for another 10-20 minutes. Salt to taste before serving.