Hello from afar! In truth, I am much less “afar” than I have been the previous two months— I currently find myself in Paris! I haven’t been here since a rather stressful 6 month home-stay in college, so rediscovering this gorgeous city has been a treat.

Why the long absence? You might recall that when I last posted I was preparing for a trip, studying for the bar, packing up my apartment, and generally, uprooting myself (mentally and physically).  I knew at that time that continuing to post on Salty Girl would be next to impossible for a few months; but a few weeks into my trip, I felt like my explanation window had passed. The guilt grew, I delayed.

But I am here to say, I’ve been happily travelling in China for two months, eating amazing food, and generally taking a break before I start cooking school in the fall. That’s right, I’m taking the plunge!

I hope to continue posting regularly on Salty Girl once I return to the US, but that is months away now.  In the interim, eat well, be well, and happy spring! SG

Do you ever just feel like you are being left behind? Not in the creepy, Kirk Cameron movies about the apocalypse for teens kind of way, but in the, “life is going on around me and I am standing still at the moment” kind of way?  I don’t feel like this often (and never by choice) but lately, with the studying and the hamster wheel of plans made a long time ago, free will is sort of on the back burner.

My current diet is heavy on the five major food groups: decaf coffee from Java House, microwave popcorn, smoked salmon, citrus fruit, and seltzer water.

It’s not a pretty landscape, nutritionally speaking.  At least it’s not like the last time I took a bar exam, where I ate peanut butter sandwiches 89 times a day.  In the current regulatory climate, I can’t recommend that route.

I digress.  A few days ago I did fight my way into the kitchen, but wasn’t overly thrilled with the results.  Turns out vegetable stock is sort of gross.  Does anyone have anything nice to say about it?  The brand I used was cloyingly sweet and overpowered even the sweet potatoes. So, I’m writing the recipe with vegetable broth instead, because you know, I want the soup to be edible when you make it.

In unrelated news, it was Valentine’s Day yesterday… and that meant that the newspaper was chock full of a sappy articles.  But one that really was sweet was about a 9 year old boy who lost his twin several years ago. His way of facing the grief? Baking.  Check it out- it makes as good a case for kitchen therapy as any. 

Black Bean and Roasted Sweet Potato Soup

Ingredients

2 large sweet potatoes
4 c lower sodium vegetable broth
4 c water
 1 TB olive oil
¼ white onion, diced
1 14 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 TB tomato paste
¼ tsp dried rosemary
1/2 TB fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
4 dried red chili peppers (or to taste)
½ tsp whole peppercorns
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 400.  Wash the sweet potatoes and pierce each several times with a fork. Roast for about an hour, or until totally soft.  Remove from the oven, set aside until cool enough to handle (about 20 minutes).  Peel and chop potatoes. (I left the skin on; do what you prefer).

Meanwhile, add broth, water and potatoes to a large stock pot and bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add onion and sauté until soft.  Add beans, and tomato paste  and combine.  Turn heat off.  Add onion mixture to stock pot and turn heat down to medium-low.  Put rosemary, ginger, chile peppers, peppercorns and bay leaf in a large tea ball or cheesecloth for easy removal later. 

Add spices to soup. Cook on low for about 15 -20 minutes, or until beans are softened.  Remove spices.  Season with salt and pepper. Serves 6-8.    

Hello, dear readers! This is Tomás, the not-so-salty husband, filling in for our favorite culinaire as she powers through the eight weeks of Barbri in preparation for the ordeal that is the bar exam. Hopefully, we’ll be back to our regularly scheduled programming very soon, but, in the mean time, SG was gracious enough to let me try my hand at this newfangled blogging thing that all the kids are talking about…

This recipe was born when a couple of buddies and I were stuck for over half an hour on a broken chairlift this past Saturday (a day, incidentally, with some of the finest powder I’ve ever seen in my two decades of skiing on the East Coast). By the time they hooked up a backup generator to get us down, our legs were so cold we couldn’t enjoy the gorgeous, gorgeous snow that we spent so long hovering above. Luckily, we had managed to get in four good hours before the lift broke, so we can’t really complain.

Anyway, back on the chairlift, we got to talking about all the wonderful things in the world that keep us warm–our spouses/significant others, bourbon, burgers, cheese fries–you get the picture. And it occurred to us that no one had volunteered to make chili for the big Super Bowl party the next day. Well, being the men of action that we are, we quickly moved to rectify the situation. My contribution was this vegetarian black bean chili, based on this recipe I found on Epicurious.

I’m a big fan of the black bean-and-corn combination in so many things (salsa, burritos, pizza), and, though I figured there’d be a few spice-averse Mid-Westerners at the party, I couldn’t bring myself to just do green bell peppers. The relatively mild Anaheims, then, provided just the right amount of heat–barely there, but not completely flat, either. Cocoa powder added a slight undertone of bitterness and richness that I really liked.

I should also note that the proprietress of this blog was not too fond of the amount of cumin and chili powder I used, but others didn’t mind it, so your mileage may vary.

Ingredients

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400F. Toss corn on a baking sheet with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Roast in oven for 20 minutes, stirring once after 10 minutes.

Caramelize peppers on a grill or skillet over medium-high heat for 15 minutes on each side (until slightly charred). Cut peppers into 1-inch chunks and set aside.

Heat remaining olive oil in saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions and saute for 10 minutes, until caramelized. Mix in garlic, spices, cocoa powder and Dijon mustard. Stir about 1 minute. Add beans, tomatoes, orange juice, corn, and peppers. Simmer over low-medium heat for 30 minutes, stirring often.

Season with salt to taste. Serve with chopped fresh cilantro, hot sauce, and a dollop of plain yogurt or sour cream. Serves 6-8 hungry football fans.

“10:30am and not a minute later. Do not take ‘no’ for an answer.”  Those would be my wake-me-up instructions to my poor Husband, uttered on an otherwise made-for-sleeping Sunday. 

Thanks to BarBri and the NY bar exam for that sleepless morning, and so many others.

Sigh. I’m not feeling my usual perky self, but the snow today is helping. The first of the season, finally.  Between that and my orange ear plugs, I’m totally in cocoon mode. Or, “how many pots of decaf coffee can one woman drink in one day” mode. Either way. 

Any other year, where I wasn’t going to Albany for a two day exam in 27 days (who’s counting, what?) and then packing up all of my worldly possessions within 9 days of that, JanuFeb would find me making lovely stews, homey pasta dishes, and other comforting, cosy dishes.  OK. I know. I will stop the pity party.  But it does feel like a loss somehow, this alienation from the kitchen and sharing meals with people, especially my poor Husband, God love him.  

I did make this simple, healthy dinner a few nights ago, and I recommend it for when you feel like you need a bit of babying. It just tastes like you are taking care of yourself, the way all food should be.  I served the patties with sliced cucumbers (dreadfully out of season, I know) and plain yogurt, but they would be nice in pita as well. 

Curried Chickpea and Spinach Patties 

Ingredients:

1 TB olive oil 
1 onion, chopped
1/2 tsp curry
1/4 tsp yellow mustard seed
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 c frozen chopped spinach
2 TB tomato paste
2 14 oz cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
salt and pepper to taste
1 egg, beaten
1/2 c panko 
Cooking spray 

Preparation: 

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, curry, mustard seed and turmeric. Saute for about 5 minutes, or until onion is soft.  Add spinach, and cook until spinach has released all of its water.  Add tomato paste and chickpeas and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove mixture from stove and allow to cool off, about 20 minutes. 

Put mixture in food processor and process until some whole chickpeas still remain, but mixture is mainly smooth. Put mixture in a separate bowl, and add egg. Mix to combine.  Add panko, and mix until incorporated. Do not over-mix.  Using hands, form mixture into 6 patties.  Allow patties to set in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes prior to cooking. 

Spray a nonstick skillet with cooking spray, and heat over medium-high heat.  When skillet is hot, add patties, 3-4 at a time.  Cook for about 10 minutes a side, or until patties are easy to move with a spatula.  Serves 6.

See, See!! It’s happened. I said I wouldn’t succumb to fake meat, and it has totally happened. But don’t get me wrong, I didn’t enjoy it. I am posting this recipe in hopes that there are folks out there that actually enjoy “ground beef-style soy crumbles”. Count me out! 

In other news, my city is totally overrun. Overrun, I tell you! I always pitied the fools who were militant about the whole “stand to the right” bit, but, sorry to say, I’ve joined the tribe. There are multitudes of clueless humanity (S/V agreement?) stumbling around WDC right now. And we plan to join them… 7am tomorrow, down at the mall.

Sadly, this may not even be early enough to get in on the action. I have a friend in the ‘burbs who is hopping Metro #1 at 4:12 AM.  Pause. That’s right. A.M. To get down to the mall to get a place. I’m not all dedicated like that. Sure, we live 7 blocks from the White House, but we need our beauty sleep. 

In other news in the household, we are happy to announce that we have bought our one-way ticket to Crazy! Yes, that’s right. We’re really, truly, setting out on our adventure, come March 7th. We have the plane ticket to prove it. When we’ll return is anyone’s guess. After a few months in Asia, we’ll be volunteering on farms in Europe with WWOOF.  More on that in a later post, as it really deserves its own time in the sun.

Suffice it to say, change is coming.  I am still struggling with what to do about this site that I have come to love so much.  Right now, it seems that promising to post while I am on the road, sans kitchen, access to acceptable levels of sanitation or ingredients seems a little wacky.  But, at the same time, several months without cooking sounds kind of mind-numbing.  Is this the one downside to travelling? Not having a kitchen?

The good news (at least for me, anyway) is that due to various commitments, I know that by the end of next summer,  we’ll have our feet back in the US of A. And Salty Girl will continue then, if not while we are away.  Stay tuned for the final verdict… in the meantime, enjoy this pasta, if you’re into, you know, fake meat and all. 

Pasta with “Beef” and Veggies

Ingredients:

1/2 lb pasta 
 1 1/2 TB olive oil, divided
1 1/2 onions, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 lb assorted fresh mushrooms
1/2 c water 
2 TB tomato paste
salt and pepper 
1/2 lb gimme lean “ground beef”
dash cinnamon
3/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes (with juice)
1  14 oz can tomato sauce 
1 TB balsamic vinegar

Preparation:

Prepare pasta according to directions; drain and set aside. 

Heat 1 TB oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions, garlic and green pepper. Saute for about 7 minutes, or until green pepper is soft.  Add mushrooms, and saute until mushrooms have released all of their liquid.   Add water as needed to prevent mixture from sticking to skillet.  Turn heat to low and add tomato paste. Stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Set mixture aside.

Heat 1/2 TB oil in non-stick skillet over medium heat.  Add “ground beef” and brown, using a wooden spoon to break “beef” into smaller pieces.  Add cinnamon, nutmeg, and garlic powder, and stir to combine.  Cook until browned, about 5 minutes.  Add “beef” to veggie mixture. Add vinegar, and season to taste with salt and pepper. 

Heat veggie/beef mixture over low heat, and add diced tomatoes, and tomato sauce. Stir to combine. Cook on low for about 5 minutes.  Top pasta with sauce. Serve with grated cheese. Serves 4.

Hello 2009!  I hope this year is off to a great start for you & yours. I’m just back from a family trip to somewhere warm and ready to face the world again. 

I  do have a confession to make, however. (Cue sounds of collective breath holding).  The dish above, while divine, was not made in oh-nine. I know. Let it sink in. I made it last year (cringe!) I’ll thank you in advance for not getting upset about my utter lack of contemporaneousness (yeah, what?  I’m studying for another bar exam, they use words like that, OK?) Anyway, I promise to be more timely posting in the future. 

I got the idea for this dish from Fat Free Vegan Kitchen, but you’ll quickly note this is not a vegan recipe. 

But it fantastically flexible.  Ready for breakfast with a side of orange slices or dressed up for dinner with a crunchy green salad,  you’ve got options.  May your 2009 bring you endless possibilities, as well.  

Winter Vegetable  Pie with Brown Rice Crust

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c cooked brown rice

2 tsp turmeric, divided

2 tsp cumin, divided

Salt and pepper

Cooking spray

1 14 oz package extra firm tofu, drained and pressed of all water

1 egg

1 egg white

1 tsp lemon zest

1 c water

 1 TB olive oil 

1 onion, chopped

2 leeks, dark green part discarded, chopped into fine discs

1 lb assorted mushrooms

1/2 lb fresh spinach

1 tsp paprika

Preparation: 

 
In a small bowl, season rice with 1 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp cumin and salt and pepper.  Press rice into bottom of 9 inch pie plate, spray lightly with cooking spray and bake at 400 for about 10 minutes, or until rice is slightly browned.  Remove dish from oven, and let cool. Leave oven on.

In blender, blend tofu, egg, egg white and lemon zest until smooth.  Add water until mixture is consistency of very thick pancake batter.  Season with salt and pepper, and set aside.

In large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, 1tsp turmeric, 1tsp cumin and paprika to skillet.  Saute until onions are soft, about 4 minutes.   Add leeks, mushrooms and spinach, and saute until mushrooms have released all of their liquid, and vegetables are soft.   Add water as needed to prevent veggie mixture from sticking to skillet while sauteing.  Season veggies with salt and pepper.

Spoon vegetable mixture into pie plate in an even layer.  Spoon tofu mixture over vegetables.  Bake at 400 for 30-45 minutes, or until middle of pie has set.  Allow pie to cool slightly before slicing. Serves 6 as a main course.

Just back from a jaunt to Berkley Spring, WV! Love it there. Lot 12 is a winter tradition, and this year’s dinner did not disappoint.  Also, I love anywhere where the chef is having a glass of wine at the bar with you before dinner.  Great atmosphere!

The night that we didn’t eat at Lot 12, we had this tasty fish.  The Ras el Hanout came from the internet and was delicious! There is something about ordering spices on the internet that really drives home the point that you can truly find anything in the world these days, anytime.  To me it diminished a bit the magic of finding stuff on your own, without the help of Google, but hey.  Ras el Hanout is good stuff, and surprisingly hard to find, even in DC.   I’ll take what I can get.  The hint of cinnamon provided perfect warmth for a cold winter night.

Although this seabass was Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified, there is a lot of debate as to whether or not people should eat it.  My understanding is that this certification has been granted to sea bass fisheries mainly because the sea bass are being caught on long-lines or with special nets, with attention to reducing bird deaths and other by-catch.   According to MSC, the ‘sustainable‘ means three things: 1) sustainable fish stocks; 2) minimizing environmental impact; and 3) effective management.  However, sea bass is still an extremely slow maturing fish, raising questions about whether or not large scale commercial sale of it can ever truly be  sustainable. 

Some argue that the return a few years ago of  MSC certified sea bass to Whole Foods and other vendors merely served to confuse consumers, and that some might begin to buy Chilean Sea Bass again with abandon.  I don’t  much buy paternalistic arguments like that; I think the answer is to educate the consumer (Oh geez, that’s the tag line of a cheesy discount store  in Maryland, but anyway…) 

Simply removing choices because we are afraid of consumer confusion is offensive and ineffective.  People should get used to reading labels and asking questions about where the heck their food comes from.  We’re not that dumb, we’ll be able to wrap our head around the idea that some sea bass is bad bad bad and that some may be OK.

As for me, the fattiness of this fish was perfect with this dish, and it really was such a nice change from farmed tilapia. BUT. I don’t think we’ll be eating it again soon. Maybe it will be a special-occasion fish, but I believe it would probably be better to avoid it all together. 

Sea Bass with Ras el Hanout, Tomatoes and Carrots

Ingredients:

1lb seabass

1 TB Ras el Hanout, divided

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 TB olive oil

1 1/2 onions, chopped

5 cloves garlic, chopped

2 TB finely sliced fresh ginger

2 tsp turmeric

2 cans diced tomatoes, with juice

1 carrot, cut into matchsticks

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 400.  Rinse and pat dry bass.  Rub 1 tsp Ras El Hanout over top of bass.  Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat.  Add onions, garlic, ginger and turmeric and sautee for about 5 minutes.  Add tomatoes, and turn heat down to low.

Meanwhile, spray a cast iron skillet, or other ovenproof dish with cooking spray.  Heat over medium-high heat.  Add carrots, and sautee until fragrant and carrots are slighly browned.  Add carrots to tomato mixture in other skillet. Continue to cook mixture over low heat. 

Wipe oven proof skillet clean, and spray with more cooking spray.  Heat over medium-high to high heat.  Add fish, skin side down, and cook for about 4 minutes, or until skin is well seared. 

Remove from heat, and leave fish in oven proof skillet.  Add tomato mixture to skillet around  the fish.  Put skillet in oven and bake for about 15 minutes, or until fish flakes easily.  Serves 2.

Interesting topic, on which I have lots to say.  That will have to wait until later though, as right now I am “working”.  I might bring down the morale of the other person rattling around my (normally 50+ people) office on this Christmas Eve if I spend too much time blogging…

Also, I might note, that my new blog is sort of smarter than I am.  I’ll have to wait for the Husband to find and read this post, and then tell me how I am supposed to get stuff like this  (”news”) into its proper place in the right hand corner.  So close, yet so far.

For now, check this out:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/23/AR2008122302423.html

There may be some room for dispute, but I am pretty confident in my view that my living room does not look like a brothel.  But, we do have red lights strung everywhere, so I could see where you might get that idea.  After listening to me kvetch about how un-festive our apartment was, the Husband dutifully went downstairs to the basement and dug up our holiday lights. And I couldn’t be happier! 

After a trip to Brooklyn this weekend, I was mesmerized by the lights and the snow.  It was magical and lovely, and also lovely to leave such a frigid, frigid land at the end of the trip.  And now, I have lights of my own. Oh happy day.  

When preparing the recipe below, be sure to thoroughly wash the leeks.  Because it’s never too long in between times when your guests comment on finding dirt in their dinner, is it? 

Pasta with Leeks and Spinach

Ingredients:

1/2 lb pasta
1 TB olive oil 
1 whole onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4-6 leeks, dark green parts discarded, remaining light green and white parts chopped into small discs
1/2 lb fresh spinach
1/2 cup lower sodium vegetable broth
1/2 c grated parmigiano-reggiano 
salt and pepper to taste
zest of 1/2 lemon 

Preparation: 

Cook pasta according to directions in salted water.

Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat.  Add onion and garlic, and saute until soft, about 7 minutes.  Add leeks, spinach, and 1/4 c broth to skillet, and cook until spinach and leeks are softened.  Add more broth as needed to prevent leeks and spinach from sticking to skillet.  

When pasta is done cooking, use tongs to transfer it to skillet. Reserve 1 c cooking water.  Turn heat to low, and use tongs to thoroughly combine leek mixture and pasta. Remove skillet from heat.  

Add grated cheese to pasta, and use pasta water to achieve desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper to taste., and add lemon zest immediately prior to serving. Serve with additional grated cheese. Serves 4.

Do you love ketchup and mustard so much that you put it on everything that sits still for long enough? Me too!

But do you love ketchup-and-mustard-smothered things so very much that you can eat something called a “veggie link” (distant, distant cousin of something actually edible, the hotdog), if properly swaddled in said condiments? No, me neither.

Have you had these things? S-c-a-r-y. I guess it’s the fake smoke smell that really repels me, although it could also be the strangely Halloween-mask texture of the “links”. Whatever the case, count me out.

But count me in for this very easy salmon recipe. (Nice segue, Salty Girl!)

I served the salmon with lentils and sauteed onions. The lentils were seasoned with just a whisp of cinnamon for a little warmth.

Sweet and Salty Glazed Salmon

Ingredients:

• 1 lb salmon, preferable wild caught
• Cooking spray
• 3 TB marmalade
• 2 1/2 TB lower sodium soy sauce
• 1 TB lemon zest
• Pepper
• Lemon wedges

Preparation:

Wash salmon in cool water, and pat dry thoroughly with paper towels. Slice into two portions, if necessary. Set aside.

Preheat broiler, and set oven rack to highest third position. Spray a baking sheet lined with foil with cooking spray. Set aside.

Mix marmalade, soy sauce, lemon zest and pepper together in a bowl. Place salmon on baking sheet. skin side down. Spoon mixture over fish, reserving some for serving. Broil salmon for 7-10 minutes, or until it flakes. Serve with remaining sauce and lemon wedges. Serves 2.