Going for the Green Goodness

After an intense heart-stopping weekend of eating fried stuff and meat, I decided that enough was enough, and that I would go on a strict veggie/grain diet for a week after. I felt so much better with my home cooked meals, and gave myself cheese and egg allowances to feed that Umami cravings.

One of the best meals that I whipped up for the week was a quinoa over broccoli pesto, topped with coddled eggs (my favorite way to eat eggs!). The broccoli pesto was a breeze to make, and I used the leftovers to stir into my pasta, spread on bread to toast, or just put spoonfuls of it into my mouth for a quick tasting high protein snack!

Here's the recipe. I used frozen broccoli because it was cheaper and easier, but you could definitely substitute for fresh. The trick to cooking the broccoli is to steam it quick and dirty, or until the broccoli is just tender. Let the veggie cool to room temperature before buzzing in the processor.

Here's the recipe.

Broccoli Pesto
makes 1 pint

12 oz Frozen Broccoli
1/2 cup Grated Parmesan/Pecorino
3 cloves Garlic
1/2 cup Basil Leaves, Packed
2/3 cup Roasted Slivered Almonds
1/2 cup Olive Oil

Juice of 1 lemon
Salt & black pepper to taste

1. Bring 2 tbs of water to a boil in a saucepan
2. Add the broccoli and cover the pan
3. Cook till broccoli is just tender, about 5 minutes, strain any remaining liquid out
4. Reserve 2/3 cups broccoli for Quinoa
5. When the remaining broccoli has cooled, add to food processor
6. Add all the other ingredients, and process till fine
7. Add additional olive oil if necessary to maintain desired consistency (I like mine more pasty, instead of liquid)

Quinoa on Broccoli Pesto with Egg
serves 2

1/2 cup Broccoli Pesto
1 cup Cooked Quinoa (1/2 cup uncooked Quinoa with 1 cup liquid)
2/3 cup Cooked Broccoli (reserved from recipe above)
2 ea Eggs
2 Tbs Olive Oil

Salt & pepper to taste

1. Bring eggs to room temperature in warm water
2. Boil water in a sauce pot and remove from heat. Add the eggs, and let stand for 2 mins
3. Toss the quinoa, cooked broccoli, and olive oil together
4. Season the quinoa salad with salt & Pepper
5. Spread the broccoli pesto on the bottom of the plate
6. Top with the quinoa salad
7. Crack the soft cooked eggs on top of the quinoa & serve immediately

Light Bites at Night

I first came across Panzanella when I was at Masa's. We up-scaled it by using tomato water gelee and micro basil, then served it as an amuse bouche. Although yummy, I don't think it carried off the "Rustic Bread Salad" feel quite as well. My kitchen has recently been stocked full with piles of bread - it seems that I've kind of developed a liking to it, especially when drenched in fat and oven baked till crunchy (OMG, am I eating crunchy food now too?). I hadn't thought about Panzanella in a long while, but with this surplus of bread, I thought it best to make the most of out it.

Traditionally, Panzanella was made with bread, tomatoes, olive oil, and flavored with basil and salt & pepper. Leftover ingredients were commonly thrown into the salad, making it somewhat of a peasant dish when there was not a lot of surplus. Same idea here, I thought I would stick to the bread, tomatoes & basil, but instead of using only bread as a base, I sliced some thick chiffonade (ribbons) of Basil to bulk the salad up, and it made for a really interesting lettuce stand in.

I also remember that when I staged at Jardinaire, we served a similar (more rustic) bread salad, with a farmer's cheese that was soft & chewy, marinated in olive oil and balsamic - integrating some great texture into the salad. I wanted to replicate that as well, and chose to use Burrata, a fresh Italian cheese similar to buffalo mozzarella, but with cream on the inside. You could also use Buffalo Mozzerella, but I liked the creamy insides that soaked into the crunchy bread, preventing it from becoming too dry.

Another twist on the salad included it being served warm, instead of cold (reserved for summer nights), and I did this my roasting the tomatoes in a pan, which also gave me the opportunity to infuse flavor into the salad by warming garlic slices. It's an absolute winner for lite bites at night!



Here's the recipe!

Panzanella

Serves 2

5 slices Good thick Bread, cut into 1/4" cubes
2 Tbs Olive Oil

Salt & pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400F. Season bread well with salt & pepper and toss with olive oil. Bake in a single layer in the oven for about 10 minutes, or until golden brown

1 cup Cherry or Grape tomatoes, halved
5 ea Garlic Cloves, sliced thin
2 Tbs Olive Oil

While the bread is baking, heat the oil in a saute pan. Add the garlic cloves and gently cook until slices start to soften, but not brown. Increase heat to high and add tomato halves. Roaste tomatoes until skin starts to brown. Remove from heat


2 cup Loosely packed Basil Leaves from thick stalks, chopped into 1/8" ribbons
2 balls Burrata or Buffalo Mozzerella balls, halved, then sliced into rings

Toss the bread, warm tomatoes & garlic mixture, basil and cheese together. Serve immediately and with a sprinkling of freshly ground pepper.

Second City Bistro

What I had for lunch:

Pork tenderloin spinach salad, with roasted beets, gorgonzola, granny smith apples & carmelized apple vinagrette from Second City Bistro in El Segundo.

What I would have done differently:

1. Cook the pork a la minute - Pork just isn't good cold. Especially the tenderloin that can dry out pretty easily. It isn't like beef that can be served rare, marinating in it's juices while it cools.

Let rest for 10 minutes at least before slicing

2. Use golden & red beets for livelier presentation - Golden beets also turn slightly pink when their flesh comes in contact with the red beets, so a combination varieties always makes for such pretty amalgamation of colors. I would also have sliced them with a mandolin instead of cutting them up with quarters for easier eating.

3. Same with the Granny smith apples - a julienned cut after being sliced from the mandolin would make piercing the food with a fork easier, instead of having larger, chunkier slices.

4. Crush the roasted hazelnuts, to sprinkle over salad - have you ever tried to pierce a whole roasted hazelnut? This brings me back to point 2 & 3, where I firmly believe a well composed dish not only contains elements that come together well, but that are able to be savored together in one bite. The thing that annoyed me most about this salad was that I would take my fork and stick it into the salad, and all i would get was spinach leaves. Then, I'd have to knife a slice of beets, or scope a hazelnut into my fork to eat them separately.

Why force a deconstruction from a composed dish?

5. Since I also suggested serving the pork a la minute, I'd say to also say to serve the apples & beets at room temperature

Overall, it was a good salad - the flavors were well thought out and married well. Would I make it? Yes - with all the changes above!

Second City Bistro is located in El Segundo's Old Town, just outside LAX, and is open for Lunch Mon-Fru from 11:30am - 2:00pm, and for Dinner Mon-Sat from 5pm.