Coming at you from BAJA BABY where I’m practicing the importance of what it means to LIVE what you LOVE (because when my best friend living here presented me with the opportunity to be a guest chef at his Food and Wine Festival, how in the world could I say no!?) So far lot’s of fish tacos, wine, surfing and dancing!
Cornmeal Crust Tarts with Baby Kale, Currants and Pine Nuts
Meatless Mondays: Every week I create a vegetarian seasonal menu of 5 dishes (also gluten free!) and deliver to 6 clients here in San Francisco. Last week I had the pleasure of cooking for a few wonderful local bloggers too: Vanilla Extract, vmac+cheese, Polish My Crown and Sweet & Spark.
I have really been enjoying coming up with a new menu every week and having a chance to get creative with local, seasonal, Bay Area flavors. If you are new to my site, let me quickly explain my cooking style and philosophy… I keep it simple, fresh, clean and easy. You don’t need a measuring cup, ingredients can easily be modified to fit your taste preferences and you most definitely do not need to allocate your entire evening to making dinner. I use the most basic ingredients and techniques so even the newbie-chef will have supper on the table in no time.
Check out Last Week’s Menu. Was so delicious and worth sharing a few of the recipes:
Balsamic Roasted Portobellos, Raw Kale, Lentil and Pecorino Salad (BEAUTIFUL PIC)
Preheat oven to 425. Drizzle Portobello mushroom with balsamic and roast for 15 minutes. Meanwhile combine chopped kale, cooked lentils and pecorino. Dressing: Lemon, Balsamic, Honey, Mustard, Garlic, and Olive Oil. Slice the Portobello and top with the salad.
Half Avocado topped with Fava Bean, English Pea Feta and Mint Salad (PIC)
Shell the English Peas Fava beans and blanch for a couple minutes. Drain and toss with lemon, olive oil, chopped mint and lots of lemon zest. Gentle mix with crumbled feta. Serve over an avocado
Asparagus and Ricotta Crustless Quiches (adapted from William Sonoma)
Preheat to 300 and grease muffin tins. I used mini tins. Chop and Sauté 1 onion and 1 bunch asparagus (minus tips) in coconut oil. In a bowl combine 1 cup Ricotta, 1/4 cup Goat Cheese and 2 eggs. Mix in cooked Asparagus and Onions. Pour into muffin tins and bake for 30 minutes. Meanwhile sauté the remaining aspargus tips. When the quiches are done cooking allow to cool in tins for a few minutes on a wire rack before inverting upside down onto a plater to cool completely. Serve with the sautéed asparagus tops.
Cornmeal Crust Pizza with Chèvre, Sautéed Baby Kale, Currants and Pine Nuts
Cornmeal Crust Recipe HERE (note: I made in a sheet pan and cut into squares)
Meanwhile, soak currants in a little boiling water. Sauté chopped garlic and shallot in coconut oil. Add the Baby kale in batches. Add the water from the soaking currants to help steam the greens. mix in currants. Spread chèvre over the crust is still warm. Top with the greens. Wipe out the sauté pan with a paper towel and toast the pine nuts. Garnish the pizzas with the pine nuts.
ENJOY! All of these recipes are perfect examples of meals that can be easily modified that ingredients swapped to fit your likes/dislikes… donot make it too technical… you can’t go wrong here… BE CREATIVE! Chard in place of Kale. Almonds in place of pine nuts. Parmesan in place of pecorino.
