Bagel panzanella

I've been wanting to make bagel panzanella for several months. Now that the best summer tomatoes are here, it is time. Oh man, is it time.

You almost certainly know my love of bagels. Bagels are wonderful. Bagels are delicious. Bagels are the best breakfast on a holiday morning. You can put anything on a bagel. And while I usually discuss my love of bagels through a series of various cream cheese schmears, I thought it was time to mix it up in a more bready way, so I could shoehorn even more bagels into my diet. What recipe combines a delicious bread product and many tasty vegetables? Panzanella. And so bagel panzanella was born.

Probably the most important component of panzanella is the bread. It's supposed to be dry, so it can soak up all the vegetable juices and vinaigrette readily, yet not turn into a pile of soggy mush. So preparing the bread is critical. It also needs to be done a good 12 hours in advance, unless your bagel is already quite stale. You can get away with toasting your bread pieces gently in a low oven, but the texture is going to be a little different.

I chose an everything bagel, for optimal all-bagel flavor content. Cherry tomatoes came out of the garden; cucumber, red onion, and basil came from the CSA box. Actually, the basil could have come out of the garden too, since there's plenty of it out there. But it didn't.

To make this even more substantial (and bagely), you could serve big scoops of it over some tangy salad greens -- arugula would be my pick -- and scatter some chunks of cream cheese or goat cheese rolled in sesame and poppy seeds over the top to serve. For that matter, if you wanted to take the whole thing in a sweeter direction, you could go for a blueberry bagel, an assortment of halved berries, and fresh mint, give it a squeeze of lemon juice, and serve it all over a bed of spinach, with optional goat cheese. Panzanella!

Bagel panzanella
serves 2

1 savory bagel to make 2-3 cups cubed bread
2 cups chopped tomato (14 cherry tomatoes in my case)
1 1/2 cups chopped cucumber
3/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
1/2 bunch or up to 1 cup chiffonaded fresh basil
1/4 cup or more red wine vinaigrette

Cut your bagel into bite-sized pieces. I'd recommend going a bit on the small side, to create optimal bites with cucumber and tomato later.

Put your bagel pieces on a rack and let them dry out overnight. If your bagel is already a day old (mine was fresh from the bagel shop), I'd guess you only need 4-6 hours.

The next day, it's time to make your salad. Chop up your tomato and cucumber into bite-sized pieces; thinly sliver your red onion; chiffonade your basil. Combine your bagel pieces, tomato, cucumber, red onion, basil, and vinaigrette. Mix everything together well. Let sit on the counter (no tomatoes in the fridge) for at least a half hour, and up to four hours.

Taste, correct seasoning, and serve with the delights of your choice.

Red wine vinaigrette

1 clove garlic, crushed and minced
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
1/4-1/2 tsp salt
12 good grinds of pepper
1/2 cup olive oil

Put all the ingredients into a small jar. Lid the jar and shake well to emulsify. Voila! Red wine vinaigrette.

You'll have some vinaigrette left over, so put the jar into the fridge and use it on any salads you may be eating in the next week or so. Let the dressing come to room temperature before using.

It's so dramatic-looking with the black cherry tomatoes.

We had our bagel panzanella with slices of Spanish tortilla, but it would be pretty happy alongside a whole lot of different main dishes. Eat it for breakfast, with some scrambled eggs. Eat it for lunch, with a cup of Tuscan white bean soup. Eat it for dinner, with a burger of your choice, or maybe a seared steak if that's how you roll.

How are you eating your bagels lately?

Blistered shishito peppers

Shishito peppers are one of the highlights of late summer. While they look like a hot pepper, they are generally pretty sweet -- only about one in ten peppers will be spicy. So eating a plate of these is like a delicious, delicious game of chance, where no matter what, you always win.

When we got a pint of shishitos in our CSA share, we knew exactly what to do with them: blister them. One hot pan and five minutes later, we were ready to eat the entire pint in one fell blow.

I imagine these peppers would also be excellent grilled on the barbecue. Toss your peppers with oil, string them onto soaked skewers, and roast, turning to cook each side, until nicely blistered. Then salt and eat. I haven't tried this, though, so if you do, let me know how it goes! For science!

This method will work with shishito or padrón peppers.

Blistered shishito peppers

grapeseed oil or other cooking oil with high smoke point
shishito peppers
plenty of kosher or sea salt

Put a frying pan wide enough to hold all your peppers in a single layer over medium-high to high heat. Let the pan get hot before you start cooking. Test the temperature with a flick of water, just like you would if you were cooking pancakes; when the water sizzles away immediately, you're ready to go.

Add a generous slug of oil to the pan and let it heat up for a moment. Then add your peppers and toss or stir to coat. Let the peppers cook, stirring or flipping occasionally, until they are blistering and turning golden to dark brown in patches on all sides. This should take about five minutes.

When your peppers are done, remove them to a paper towel-lined plate or wire rack and immediately season with a generous amount of salt.

Serve hot. Eat them all. Hooray!

Blistered shishitos are great by themselves, but they also work well as part of an antipasto spread. A hard slicing chorizo or other spicy sausage and a chunk of manchego are the perfect match. Marinated olives would be pretty tasty too. Basically anything you'd get at a tapas bar is a good idea.

And of course you are going to want a glass of cold, cold beer on the side. Hot peppers and icy beer are one of the best possible combinations to eat on a hot afternoon.

What are your favorite late summer snacks?

Momofuku-style pickled torpedo beet, radish, and tokyo turnip

We've had the Momofuku cookbook for awhile, and I've never cooked anything from it until now. But I've been wanting to try these pickles for a few weeks, ever since I read a blog post that talked about how the beets in this recipe (or method, really) aren't cooked.

I've always made (and eaten) western-style beet pickles, so I've always boiled my beets. But shredded or julienned raw beets are excellent in a salad setting, or even as garnish for a hot soup or rich piece of meat, so I was officially intrigued. And we certainly had plenty of beets lying around. The CSA farm seems to have a had a bumper crop this year, and they've been coming practically every week. So many beets: golden, torpedo, and plain old red globes.

When I checked out the supply in our crisper, I found not only three beautiful red torpedo beets, but also three ordinary red radishes and a single solitary tokyo turnip. (Of course, later I found two more buried under a head of cabbage, so...yeah.) I decided to pickle them all together for a few reasons. First, beets and turnips are a usual match in Middle Eastern pickles; if you've had a falafel sandwich with pink pickled turnip, you've experienced this. Radishes are similar to turnips in texture, but also provide a pungent kick. Besides, all of these vegetables needed eating.

I considered adding some ginger to my pickles, because that's always super interesting. See: fennel pickle with lemon and ginger, which is SO GOOD and you should go make some right now. Actually, I need to go make some, because I have all the ingredients lying around, crying for me to use them. Anyway. I knew about that; I also recently read about Nami's pickled sushi ginger, which I need to try as soon as I can find some young ginger. But since I hadn't tried this particular pickle method before, I thought it might be a good idea to just go for the master brine recipe before I started fooling around quite so much. The fooling around will very likely happen later, though. Oh yes.

Momofuku-style pickled torpedo beet, radish, and tokyo turnip
Adapted from the Momofuku cookbook

brine:
1 cup hot water
1/2 cup rice vinegar
6 tbsp (3/8 cup) sugar
2 1/2 tsp kosher or pickling salt

veg:
3 torpedo beets
3 radishes
1+ tokyo turnip
or adjust vegetable proportions to fill your jars.

equipment:
2 pints or 1 quart mason jar with plastic storage lids
chopstick or spatula
optional canning funnel

For the brine, combine all the ingredients in a nonreactive pan or bowl. I used water that I boiled in the teapot and let cool down a bit, instead of the book's hot tap water. Stir until the sugar and salt are completely dissolved.

For the veg: wash, trim, and peel your beets. Wash and trim your radishes and turnips. Halve all your veg and slice into very thin half-moons.

Pack your vegetables into mason jars. Pour the brine over the veg to cover, filling up to 1/2 inch from the top of the jar. Use a chopstick or spatula to remove any bubbles. Cap your jars and put them in the refrigerator to cure overnight.

Store in the refrigerator and eat at your leisure. These guys should last at least a month, and probably quite a while longer. I usually keep refrigerator pickles for a good three months or so.

What are you pickling this summer?

Refrigerator zucchini pickles

Yay! It's summer squash season! Yes, that magical time of year in which suddenly everyone you know is trying to foist bagfuls of zucchini, pattypans, and yellow squash onto their friends and neighbors at the slightest provocation. If you're growing your own, the situation is even worse. Suddenly, YOU are the one wandering into the backyard to find that an apparently bare plant has somehow sprouted six fully grown squash -- and you have four more plants to check -- and there were already several zucchini in your crisper.

Now is the time to use up that squash any way you can. I like to slice up a few squash for a simple saute with garlic and olive oil, or to cube them and scramble them with eggs and a big handful of herbs. But when those strategies fail, it's time to go a step further and think about preserves.

The classic method of summer squash preservation is a simple shred and freeze. This works out very well if you are the kind of person who will eat zucchini bread for months on end. But I decided it was time to try something different, and that thing was pickled zucchini.

This is a very simple and delightful refrigerator pickle. There is a surprising hint of mustard taste in the finished product, which means that these go very well on sandwiches of all kinds. A jar of these is definitely a great way to get through some of a massive summer zucchini harvest -- or, in my case, the seven or eight zucchini at a time that have been arriving at frequent intervals via CSA box.

Refrigerator zucchini pickles

1 pint mason jar, washed and dried
4 medium zucchini or summer squash (~2 cups sliced)
1 halved garlic clove
1/2 tsp dried dill
3/4 cup white vinegar
3/4 cup water
1/4 tsp peppercorns
1 tbsp pickling salt or kosher salt
optional canning funnel

Wash your zucchini and slice them into rounds or spears. I chose rounds for easy sandwich application. Leave them raw.

Put your garlic clove and dill into your jar. Add your zucchini. You may have to shift the pieces around a bit to fit them all in there.

In a small saucepan, heat your vinegar, water, peppercorns, and salt. Put on the lid and simmer for about five minutes, or until the salt has completely dissolved.

Pour your hot brine into your jar, leaving 1/4 inch of headspace at the top. Use a chopstick or spatula to release any air bubbles, and top up with more brine as needed. Make sure you get all the peppercorns into the jar, even if you have extra liquid left over.

Lid your jar and put it into the refrigerator. Let your pickles cure for at least 24 hours before eating them.

Now it's time for voluminous sandwiches of all kinds. Pickles for every lunch! Hooray!

How do you use up the yearly summertime zucchini glut?

Samosa soup

We've been eating a lot of pinto beans lately. This is a thing that happens when you buy a 5-lb bag of said pinto beans and cook huge batches of them in your pressure cooker on a regular basis, both of which I absolutely do.

Refried beans are already on the table two or three times a week at our house, whether they're made from pintos or black beans. I also recently made a double batch of Good Good Things' bbq pinto bean burgers (along with a vegetarianized batch of Joy of Cooking bbq sauce to put in them). We now have a lovely stock of 11 burgers stashed away in the freezer for future consumption. But I still had quite a few beans in their broth hanging around waiting to be eaten afterward.

We'd more or less exhausted the classics, so I wanted to make something different. Soup is always good. Why not mix up a basic bean soup with the spices usually used in making samosas?

I looked up a couple of samosa recipes and went to town.

This soup is lovely and warming, with a hint of heat that can be increased as much as you like. The garam masala makes it a bit sweet, especially when eaten plain. Add a handful of crackers (or naan, if you're feeling semi-industrious) and a few salad greens, and you have a complete and very satisfying meal. The leftovers freeze very well.

Serves 4.

Samosa soup

oil of choice
1 large yellow onion
2 carrots
1-2 stalks celery
1-2 boiling potatoes
1 jalapeno or serrano
2 cups cooked pinto beans (in 2 cups of their broth if homemade, drained if not)
2 cups veg broth (+2 more cups if using canned beans)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground coriander seed
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp amchoor powder (or sub lemon juice)
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper or to taste
1 tsp garam masala
immersion blender or other pureeing device
plain yogurt/sub of your choice and cilantro to garnish

Warm a couple slugs of oil over medium heat in a large soup pot while you chop up your onion, carrots, and celery. When the oil is hot, add the chopped vegetables to the pan along with a shake of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about five minutes, or until the onion is beginning to turn translucent.

While you're waiting, chop up your potatoes and chile. Then add them to the pot, stir, and continue to cook for another five minutes.

Next, add your pinto beans and broth to the pot. Add all the spices except garam masala (and lemon juice, if you're using it). Bring the pot to a boil, cover, reduce heat, and simmer for about ten to fifteen minutes, or until your potatoes are entirely cooked through. This may take a bit longer if your potato pieces are on the large side.

Take your pot off the heat and puree your soup using an immersion blender. Taste and correct the seasonings. Then return the soup to the heat and cook it down until it reaches your desired texture.

When you're happy with your soup, turn off the heat and stir in your garam masala (and lemon juice). Serve plain, with chopped cilantro, or top with plain yogurt. Voila!

If you want more vegetables, you can saute some peas in olive oil with a little salt and put a big scoop of them over the top of your bowl of finished soup. Or put a handful of spinach or mesclun leaves in the bottom of each bowl before serving. Or have an actual salad on the side! It's all good.

What's your favorite thing to cook with pinto beans?

Chickpea, heart of palm, & roasted red pepper salad

One thing you do when you're going out of town -- especially if an abundant CSA box is on the way -- is to eat down as much of the food in your kitchen as you can.

Salad was definitely on the list, because we had romaine already, and we're going to get an influx of even more greens before we leave. So I went through the cabinets and pulled out everything I thought would make a great full-meal salad. That meant chickpeas, hearts of palm, and jarred roasted red pepper. Together, they make an excellent, highly flavored, and multitextural salad. Over plenty of crispy greens, this mix made a very satisfying lunch.

This salad is very reminiscent of one of my favorite restaurant salads ever: the heart of palm salad at Osteria in Palo Alto, CA. I'm super excited to have made something similar at home. And if any of you want good Italian food -- especially salads -- in Palo Alto, this is where you should go, hands down. Even their basic green salad is astoundingly good.

This recipe will make three meal-sized servings or 4-6 smaller servings. It's therefore pretty great to make on Sunday and bring to work for several days during the week, as long as you keep the salad greens separate from the marinated veg mixture.

Chickpea, heart of palm, & roasted red pepper salad

1 15-oz can or 2 cups cooked chickpeas
1 14-15-oz can hearts of palm
3-4 roasted red bell peppers
several big handfuls of chopped parsley
1 tbsp champagne vinegar
1 clove crushed garlic
4+ tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
up to 1 head romaine or other salad greens

If you need to roast your peppers, do that first. You can either roast them directly over the gas flame or halve them and stick them under the broiler. In either case, you want to blacken and blister the peppers on all sides. Then put them in a bag or sealable container for about ten minutes; this will trap the steam inside and loosen the skins. Then you can just brush the skin away with your fingers. Voila! Roasted red peppers!

Drain and rinse your chickpeas and deposit them in a large mixing bowl. Drain and rinse your hearts of palm, cut them into bite-sized pieces, and add them to the bowl. My hearts of palm were supposedly salad-cut, but they were still pretty large, so I cut them down a bit more. Chop your roasted and skinned peppers into similar bite-sized pieces and add them to the bowl. Add a couple big handfuls of chopped parsley, and the base of your salad is ready.

To make the dressing, mix together a tablespoon of champagne vinegar and a clove of crushed garlic, along with some salt and pepper. Whisk in about 4 tablespoons of good olive oil. Taste and adjust the seasonings to your liking. Then pour your dressing over your salad and stir well to coat and mix. You can sub about 5 tbsp of the vinaigrette of your choice if you prefer.

It's a good idea to let this salad rest in the refrigerator for at least an hour before serving, so the flavors have a chance to mix together nicely. I absolutely did not do this, however.

When you're ready to serve, wash, dry, and chop your salad greens into appropriate pieces. Spread a few handfuls of leaves over each plate. Top with a generous amount of your chickpea mixture. Sprinkle a little more pepper on top and go to town.

What are some of your favorite salads?

Strawberry banana chia smoothie

Strawberry banana: perhaps not the most creative smoothie combination of all time. But hey! It's still tasty and easy, and it's certainly strawberry season right now. Why not?

Besides, the chia seeds make up for it.

I've been experimenting with chia seeds for a few months. They're excellent as a simple oatmeal topping or made into a pudding such as Gena's basic chia pudding. But I think my favorite way to eat chia seeds is to soak them and use them to thicken smoothies.

It's easy to adjust the amounts of seeds and liquid to make a thicker or thinner smoothie. This time, since I was using the classic smoothie thickener, banana, I kept the amount of chia seeds fairly low -- 1 tbsp of seeds for 1/2 cup total of milk and yogurt. It would definitely be possible to double the amount of seeds, eliminate the banana, and add in a bunch of different fruits and vegetables, though. Experiment and see what you like!

I strongly prefer smoothies made with fresh banana to those made with frozen. However! If you happen to have a freezer full of smoothie-destined bananas, you could absolutely use them here. You may need to add some extra liquid or switch out the yogurt for milk to adjust for your desired texture, but otherwise, you should be good to go.

If you make this in a regular-mouth mason jar, you can screw it onto a standard blender base and blend in the jar itself. Fewer dishes = yes please. This also means you can always put a lid on your jar and save the leftovers for later. Super easy.

Strawberry banana chia smoothie

1/4 cup milk or non-dairy milk of choice
1 tbsp chia seeds
1/4 cup plain yogurt or non-dairy sub of choice (or more milk)
4-5 strawberries, chunked
1 fresh banana, sliced
1 tsp flaxseed meal, optional

At least two hours before you want your smoothie, mix your milk and chia seeds together in your jar of choice. Refrigerate. Stir to mix twice at rough 10-minute intervals. This will keep your seeds from sticking together in one big lump at the bottom of your jar. Then just leave the jar in the fridge for 2 hours or more. I leave mine overnight.

In the morning, your chia seeds will be ready to go. Add your yogurt, strawberries, banana, and flaxseed meal to the jar (or put everything in a standard blender). Blend until fully pureed.

Drink it! Breakfast!

Do you eat chia seeds? What's your favorite thing to make with them?

PS: I have a sprained ankle. WHY. (It's because the moles dug a hole right in front of the back door. Jerks.)

Carrot pinto bean chipotle soup

Because there's no reason to stop eating soup just because it's May.

I am doing nineteen things at once lately, so soup is actually one of the better choices I could make. It's super easy to make, delicious, cheap, and stores well in the freezer for future nights when I don't want to do anything but collapse into bed. Put some soup in a bowl, throw some lettuce on a plate (or into the soup), and you have a full dinner.

This particular soup is lovely and spicy and delightful. I will eat plenty.

Carrot pinto bean chipotle soup

olive oil or butter
1 onion
6 carrots
2 stalks celery
2 cloves garlic
1 boiling potato
2 cups cooked pinto beans
4 cups veg or bean broth
salt, pepper, bay leaf, cumin, oregano
1-2+ chipotles in adobo & sauce
optional garnish: green onion, cilantro, yogurt, etc.

Warm your oil or butter in a large soup pot while you peel (or scrub) and dice your onion, carrots, and celery. Add the vegetables and a pinch of salt to the pot, stir, and cook over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes, or until softened and beginning to brown.

Mince your garlic and dice your potato. Add these to the pot and continue to cook for another minute or two. Then add your beans and broth, season to taste with salt, pepper, cumin, and oregano, throw in a bay leaf, and bring the whole business to a boil. Reduce the heat to simmer, cover, and cook for about 15 minutes, or until all your vegetables are cooked through.

At this point you'll want to pull the pot off the heat, remove the bay leaf, and puree the soup to your desired texture with an immersion blender. I like a completely smooth soup, but it's fine to leave yours a bit chunky if you prefer.

Check out the texture of your soup. If it's too thick, add some water or broth. If it's too thin, put it back on the heat and simmer to reduce to your desired texture.

When you're happy with your soup's texture, taste and correct any seasonings. Then, off the heat, stir in as much finely chopped chipotle pepper in adobo as you desire. The amount can vary quite a bit depending on your spice tolerance, so it's a good idea to start off slowly and taste as you go. We like spice, so I used about 2 tablespoons of chopped chipotle and sauce.

Serve your soup with your choice of garnish. Chopped green onion works exceptionally well here, as does cilantro or fresh oregano. If you happen to be making this at the height of corn season, a handful of kernels fresh off the cob would be an excellent idea. You may also want to have some toasted corn tortillas or chips available for dipping.

What's your favorite thing to eat after a busy day?

Winter squash polenta with chipotle pinto beans

I've been thinking about the combination of squash and beans for a few weeks now. Black beans and sweet potato are a natural match in things like enchiladas and black bean-broccoli stuffed sweet potatoes, so why not try a variation with winter squash?

This is just a basic soft polenta with a big whack of delicious, vibrant winter squash puree added in. I still had some previously roasted CSA squash puree in the freezer, so this was the perfect way to finish it up. Of course, there are still two squash on our counter. Those need to get eaten soon too!

Polenta does take a bit of time to make, but it's such a delicious result that I think it's well worth it. The overall result is smooth and comforting, with a subtle sweetness (not to mention a BRIGHT ORANGENESS) from the squash and a hint of contrasting black pepper. And the combination with spicy beans? Yes. The experiment worked.

Wilted dark greens with garlic would be an excellent addition if you want more vegetables. Cilantro would be a great garnish here too.

Winter squash polenta

3 tbsp butter or olive oil
1/2 medium yellow onion
3 cups veg broth, water, or a mix
1 cup polenta and 1 cup water, combined
~2 cups winter squash puree
salt and pepper to taste

Melt your butter or oil in a 3-quart or bigger pan on medium heat while you dice your onion finely. Add the onion to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, for about five minutes, or until nice and fragrant and translucent.

Add your water or broth and bring the pan to the boil. I used 2 cups of vegetable stock and 1 of plain water, which worked perfectly.

If you haven't mixed up your raw polenta and water, now is the time to do so. Give it a few good stirs to break up any lumps. Then gradually add your polenta and water mix to the pot, stirring each addition in well.

When all your polenta has been added, it's time to settle in for the long haul. Reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring frequently, for about 25 minutes. Many polenta recipes will have you stir for the entire cooking time, but I don't think this is necessary, especially if you are also cooking some tasty pinto beans at the same time. Just keep an eye on your polenta and stir it frequently.

Your polenta will be cooked when it's thick and is pulling away from the sides of the pan as you cook. Taste it to make sure. Then add your squash puree, season well with salt and pepper to taste (start with 1/2 tsp of each), stir it all up, and cook for another five minutes, or until hot through and tasty.

Chipotle pinto beans

butter or oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
cumin, oregano, salt to taste
~2 cups cooked pinto beans
2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, finely minced
adobo sauce to taste
green onion to garnish

This is more or less a non-mashed version of basic refried beans. Saute onion and garlic in oil or butter until softened. Season with cumin, oregano, and salt. Add pinto beans and a bit of their broth (if homemade) and cook, stirring, for five or ten minutes, until everything is hot through and the beans are at your preferred degree of dryness. Correct seasonings and take the pan off the heat. Finally, stir in your chipotles, plus a couple spoonfuls of the adobo sauce to taste. (Chop the rest of the can of chipotles in adobo and freeze in an ice cube tray for future applications.)

Serve your beans over a big scoop of polenta and garnish with chopped green onion. Oh man, it's so good.

I spread the leftover polenta evenly into a casserole dish, pressed some parchment paper over the top, and left it to solidify a bit overnight. The next morning, I fried up a couple of squares in a little butter, then topped them with a fried egg. Plain romaine on the side.

This was an excellent plan and I highly recommend that you try it, either with neat squares of polenta or a couple of rough handfuls shaped into patties. Runny egg yolk with crispy polenta is definitely worth a few minutes of effort.

How are you eating the last of your winter storage vegetables?

Spring salad pita with sugar snap peas, avocado, and mushrooms

I have been putting raw sugar snap peas into pretty much everything I make lately. So good! So springy! So sweet and crunchy!

If it's still too early for peas where you are, I think some grated raw beet or carrot would be a good substitute. Those are pretty sweet and crunchy too.

This pita is just about the easiest lunch ever. Just chop up a salad's worth of vegetables, stuff them inside some warm pita bread, and go to town. It's such a good way to get plenty of fresh spring vegetables, snap peas or not.

Spring salad pita with sugar snap peas, avocado, and mushrooms

For 2 sandwiches:

2 loaves pita bread
3-4 large romaine lettuce leaves
1 medium avocado
~15 sugar snap peas
2 scallions
4-5 button mushrooms
~2 tbsp fresh parsley
salt & pepper to taste
olive oil or vinaigrette to dress
~4 tbsp hummus

Gently warm your pita in a 250F toaster oven (or just an ordinary oven) while you make the salad.

Wash your lettuce leaves and chop them into bite-sized pieces. Halve and dice your avocado. Finely slice your sugar snap peas, scallions, and mushrooms. Mince your parsley. Add all of these to a mixing bowl, season with salt and pepper, drizzle with olive oil or vinaigrette, and toss gently to combine.

When your pita breads are toasty warm and beginning to crisp up a bit on the outside, remove them from the toaster oven and cut them in half. Spread the inside of each half with hummus. Fill with your salad mixture, and you are ready to eat.

What sandwiches are you eating this spring?

Roasted beet and fennel salad with orange and dill

I've been meaning to make this salad for weeks, but life kept getting in the way. Well, both life and my own innate laziness, not to mention my desire to eat other things, such as big dishes of curry, that would not go very well with such a thing. But now I have made it and eaten it and it was delicious.

This is such a great salad for the middle of winter: full of bright and tangy flavors, but also the warmth and comfort of roasted vegetables. Adding some chickpeas or white beans would make it a full lunch with very little effort. And any leftover beets and fennel can just chill in the refrigerator for future salad endeavors. It's definitely a win all around.

It has been far too long since I've put citrus pieces in a salad. These orange segments were possibly the best contrast ever to the earthiness of beet and the gentle bite of roasted fennel. I know what I'll be doing with the next few oranges that fall off our tree.

This is also an excellent way to get random beets out of your crisper! Mine were these exciting torpedo-shaped monsters. I still have another bunch of beets hanging around. Maybe those will become salad mark II.

Roasted beet and fennel salad with orange and dill

1 large or 2-3 small beets per serving
1/2 large head fennel per serving
olive oil, salt, pepper
up to 1 orange per serving
1 handful chopped dill per serving (or sub fennel fronds)
Orange and shallot dressing

Start by preheating the oven to 350F to roast your vegetables. For the beets: trim off any beet greens, scrub well, and put in a casserole dish with 1/2 cup water. Cover tightly with foil. For the fennel: core, remove stems and fronds, and cut into bite-sized chunks. Toss with a glug of olive oil and a few shakes apiece of salt and pepper. Put them in a different baking dish, so they can caramelize a bit and not turn magenta while cooking.

Put your beets and fennel into the oven and roast for approximately one hour, or until they are tender to the point of a knife. Let your beets cool enough to touch before rubbing off the skins with your hands. Be careful, because there will be beet juice everywhere! Cut the peeled beets into bite-sized pieces.

Supreme your oranges. Start by cutting off the skins, removing the white pith as you go. Then, using a small paring knife, cut directly next to the membrane on one side of a segment, and then the other. This should let you remove the segment, completely free of membranes. Repeat until you've removed all the orange flesh. Save the core of the orange and any juice on the cutting board to make the dressing.

To assemble your salad, arrange your fennel, beets, and orange segments on a plate. Scatter a handful or two of chopped dill over the vegetables and fruit. Dress with orange and shallot dressing, add some extra pepper if you desire, and serve.

Orange and shallot dressing
Adapted from The Joy of Cooking

1 clove garlic
2 large pinches salt
1 large or 2 small shallots
1/8 cup orange juice (squeezed from the carcass of the orange)
2 tbsp lemon juice
several good grinds of pepper
1/2 cup olive or vegetable oil

Mince your garlic, sprinkle it with salt, and crush it to a puree by scraping it with the flat of your knife. Finely mince your shallot.

Put all your ingredients into a jar with a tight-fitting lid. Close the jar and shake vigorously until the oil is well emulsified. Taste and correct seasonings before serving. Refrigerate extra dressing for future salads. Makes approximately 3/4 cup.

What salads are you eating this winter?

How to cook beans from scratch & classic refried beans

Beans! They're the perfect food: cheap, delicious, versatile, easy, abundant, suitable for both vegetarian and vegan diets, and healthy. There is literally nothing not to love. So let's talk about how to cook a pan of dried beans from scratch and create a lovely pot of deliciousness.

How to cook beans from scratch

Dried beans should generally be soaked overnight. It's possible to do a quick soak using hot water, but that may require a longer cooking time later. I prefer the overnight soak.

Measure out the amount of beans you plan to cook, keeping in mind that they'll swell to twice their size after soaking and cooking. For this demonstration, I used a 1-lb bag of pinto beans.

Sort your beans before soaking them. Just pour a handful of dry beans onto a plate or other surface and quickly look through them. If you see any chunks of dirt, rocks, or beans that look really past their prime, pick them out and throw them away. Repeat this until you've looked through all the beans. It may seem ridiculous to look through all your beans, but it is 100% possible to find rocks! Get them out of there and avoid cracking a tooth, okay?

Put your sorted beans into a mixing bowl and cover them with twice their depth in tap water. Cover loosely and leave on the counter overnight, or for at least six hours. The beans will absorb the water and get bigger.

When you're ready to cook, pour out the soaking water and replace it with new water, covering your beans by at least an inch. Pour the whole shebang into a large saucepan with a lid. Add a bay leaf (optional, but nice) and bring the pot to a boil.

Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer gently for about 45 minutes to an hour, or until your beans are tender. Your beans are done if their skins split when you blow on them. The taste test is also reliable.

Now you are the proud owner of a pan of lovely cooked beans in their own broth. What will you do with them?

I decided to make classic refried beans with my beans, and to freeze the leftover bean broth for future soup purposes. If you want, you can also freeze your beans in their broth. It works beautifully.

Classic refried beans

olive oil or butter
onion
jalapeño or other hot pepper
salt, red pepper flake or dried chile of choice, cumin, oregano
cooked pinto beans
bean broth or water

In a wide skillet or saute pan, warm your oil or butter on medium heat. (For ultra-classic refried beans, I hear lard is the fat of choice.) Add a diced onion or two and saute until softened. Finely mince your jalapeño and add it to the pan. You can use as many jalapeños as you desire, depending on your spice tolerance.

Season with salt, red pepper flake, cumin, and oregano to taste. You'll want to be a little heavy-handed with all the spices because the beans are otherwise a big bland neutral palette.

When your onions and jalapeños are both softened, add your beans and enough broth or water to make everything a bit sloshy. Reserve a little liquid to add if needed. Cook your beans together with your onions and jalapenos, stirring frequently.

After everything is hot through, start crushing your beans with the back of a large spoon or with a potato masher. Mix and mash until your beans are the texture you desire; add more liquid if necessary. Taste and correct the seasonings, and you are done.

Classic refried beans are good in tacos, burritos, enchiladas, tostadas, or quesadillas, among other things. I used mine to make 16 bean and rice burritos (flour tortillas, beans, rice, salsa, scallion, cheese), which I put in the freezer for future dinner endeavours. The rest got eaten in quesadilla form almost immediately. So good.

What would you make with a big pan of freshly cooked beans?

Hot citrus drinks for cold winter nights

You guys, we finally have a fully operational furnace. YAY.

So now is the perfect time to talk about what I was drinking to combat the creeping cold over the past few weeks.

When you're trying to use a beverage to keep warm, tea is the clear winner. Coffee is way too full of acid and caffeine for constant consumption, hot chocolate is super sweet and can become oddly filling, hot toddies are a bad idea in any quantity over two. Tea, in contrast, includes a great variety of flavors and levels of caffeine, and is neither sweet nor alcoholic unless you actually add sugar or alcohol.

But even tea can pall when you're drinking it constantly for weeks at a time. I needed to find some other hot drinks.

At the same time, a storm front came through California, and the wind and rain knocked quite a bit of citrus (not to mention leaves and branches) off the neighborhood trees. Our backyard was suddenly full of oranges, ranging from tiny and green to black and shriveled. In between, an overabundance of perfect oranges needed to be eaten.

So, after eating a lot of oranges and drinking a lot of tea, I decided to combine the two into a new hot drink, and it was good. I tried it with a white grapefruit, and that was good too. And so the hot citrus drink was born.

These drinks are the easiest things ever and provide a nice change from whatever else you might be drinking this winter. All you have to do is mix the freshly squeezed citrus juice of your choice with hot water, and adjust to taste. Bonus: they are perhaps the most frugal drinks possible if you happen to have an orange or grapefruit tree!

These do bear a strong resemblance to the traditional morning hot water with lemon that has become a byword with many detox programs, but I'm not using them to detox! They're tasty, warming, and a welcome addition to my hot beverage library, and that's plenty for me.

Hot water with orange

Put your teapot on to boil. Juice a large orange and pour the juice into your mug of choice. Fill the rest of the cup with just-boiled water. If your orange is very sweet, add the juice of a quarter of a lemon too. Stir and drink.

Hot water with grapefruit

Put your teapot on to boil. Juice a large grapefruit (white or red -- our local grapefruits are white) and pour the juice into your mug of choice. Fill the rest of the cup with just-boiled water. If your grapefruit is particularly tart, swirl in a spoonful of honey. Stir and drink.

What are you drinking (or eating, or otherwise doing) to keep warm and toasty this winter?

New Year's cucumber pickles

Is cucumber in season? No. Do I have one anyway? Yes.

Our christmas and new year's morning traditions do not include the typical big pan of cinnamon rolls or stack of crisp waffles. Instead, we have plenty of bagels. I have mine with cream cheese, John has his with hummus, and we both have several big handfuls of crispy vegetables and fresh herbs -- various sprouts, red pepper, green pepper, red onion, spinach, parsley, and chives have all made appearances.

And what do you need to top off a big sandwich like that? PICKLES.

We lost a good four or five half-eaten jars of assorted pickles when the fridge went out a couple weeks ago. Yeah. It was not pretty. Replenishing the pickle supply was very high on the list of things to do before BIG SANDWICH MORNING arrived. So I bought a cucumber, simmered up some brine, and got going.

This is a crispy, tangy refrigerator pickle that cures quickly overnight. It takes about five minutes to make and produces some excellent results. If you want to fill your fridge with pickles, doubling or quadrupling the recipe is simple. And then you will have all the pickles in the land, for plenteous and delightful future sandwich-eating purposes.

Get pickling!

New Year's cucumber pickles
Makes 1 pint

3/8 cup water
3/8 cup apple cider vinegar or white vinegar
1 tsp pickling salt
1 English cucumber (or your choice of cucumber with few seeds & no wax)
4 peppercorns
2 cloves garlic, peeled & halved
1 tsp dill seed
1 pint jar and lid
optional canning funnel

Make your brine by combining water, vinegar, and salt in a small saucepan. Heat until the salt has dissolved. This should take 5 minutes or less.

Trim your cucumber's blossom and stem ends and cut into slices or spears. You'll need about half the cucumber to fill one pint jar if you cut it into spears, and about 3/4 of the cucumber if you cut it into slices. If you're using a smaller cucumber, such as an Armenian, you may need two to fill your jar.

Put your peppercorns, garlic, and dill seed into your jar. Pack your cucumber into the jar, pushing gently to fill as full as possible.

Using your funnel, pour your brine into the jar. Use a chopstick or rubber spatula to release any obvious air bubbles. Cap, cool, and store in the refrigerator. Age for at least 24 hours before eating.

Now you are ready to make the best possible sandwiches! FORWARD.

What are you eating for your first meals of 2015?

How to roast kabocha squash (and its seeds!)

Our CSA is starting to wind down, but in the meantime, it's been showering us with winter squash. We have received no less than four kabocha and six delicata squashes over the past two months. That's...kind of a lot of squash for two people to eat, especially when you consider the rest of the CSA veg supply.

Clearly, the solution is storage.

In traditional winter squash storage, you put your squash in a place where the temperature hovers around 50-55F, such as a garage or basement. Your squash should be dry, free from any punctures, and have short stems still attached. Then all you need to do is leave them there until you want to use them. Squashes will generally stay good for at least two months when stored this way.

Of course, there are a couple problems with this system. First, it assumes that you have an appropriate 50F space in which to keep your squash. Here in California, that can get iffy, and if you happen to live in an apartment, it's going to be nearly impossible. Second, you still have to process an entire squash any time you want to eat one.

So I decided I was going to get ahead of the game by roasting a couple of my squash and freezing the cooked flesh. I picked out a green and an orange kabocha, and I got to work.

This method should work for most large thick-skinned winter squash.

Roasted kabocha squash

Begin by preheating your oven to 400F.

Halve your kabocha squash carefully with a sharp butcher knife or chef's knife, working your way around from one side to the other. Scoop out the seeds and fibrous bits and reserve them for roasting separately.

Rub the flesh of your squash pieces with a little grapeseed oil, plain vegetable oil, or butter. Season with a sprinkle of salt.

Put the squash halves, flesh side up, on a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat. Bake for approximately 40-50 minutes, or until the flesh is soft all the way through when tested with a knife. Rotate the pan halfway through cooking.

When your squash is done, remove it from the oven. If you like, you can eat it now, right out of the shell, with some more butter and a little sprinkle of pepper and salt. Otherwise, let your squash halves cool enough to handle, and scoop the flesh out of the skins. Scrape with a spoon to get as much as you can. The skin will be fairly delicate by this point, but it's edible, so you don't have to worry too much about the occasional shred of skin in your squash flesh.

Now you can use your squash however you please. Mash it well with plenty of traditional mashed potato fixings! Make it into a not-actually-pumpkin pie, and another, and another! Try out a lovely squash soup! If you're feeling especially adventurous, try out a squash cocktail! Or just cool it and pack it into containers to freeze for later squash purposes!

You know which option I chose: eight cups of kabocha squash, safely packed away for future squashy endeavours. It's so satisfying to have a bunch of these in the freezer, just waiting for me to pop them open and create something delicious.

While my squash was in the oven, I started on the seeds. Bonus: these can absolutely roast at the same time as the flesh.

Roasted kabocha squash seeds

Wash your seeds well in a few changes of water, swishing to remove as much fibrous matter as possible. A little clinging shred here and there should be fine. Press your seeds in a clean tea towel to remove most of the moisture. You should have approximately 1 cup of seeds per squash; I had two squashes, so I was working with two cups of seeds (and two colors besides!).

Put your seeds in a large bowl. Toss with 1 1/2 teaspoons of grapeseed oil (or the oil of your choice) and approximately 3/4 to 1 teaspoon of salt per cup of seeds. Since I was working with 2 cups of seeds, I used 1 tbsp of oil and 2 tsp salt.

If you want to season your kabocha seeds more, now is the time to do it. I just went for the basic salt, so my finished seeds would be more versatile.

Spread your seeds in one layer on a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat. Bake at 400F, stirring every 5 minutes, until all your seeds have turned a pale golden brown and begun to snap and crack in the heat. My seeds took approximately 20 minutes to roast.

The finished seeds will be nutty, salty, and crunchy. Since they aren't husked, they will require a bit of chewing, but the effort is worth it in the end. Eat with a tall glass of frosty apple cider or beer, toss a handful into a batch of caramel corn, use a few to garnish soup, or serve a little bowl alongside a platter of cheese and olives.

Store the leftovers, cooled completely, in a sealed container in the kitchen cupboard.

Do you have a glut of CSA vegetables (or garden vegetables, or really any vegetables) to use up? What are you planning to do with them?

Capellini with kale, artichoke hearts, and red pepper

Sometimes you just want a giant plate of pasta and vegetables.

This time, I happened to have a package of capellini in the cupboard. Why not make a pasta dish comprised of long, thin vegetables to match the long, thin pasta?

To pack this with lots of serious flavor, I went for some serious vegetables: garlic, green beans, artichoke hearts, kale, and red bell pepper. Together, they mixed together into a lovely, intense dish that only took about ten minutes from beginning to end. Perfect.

This pasta is conveniently vegan. However, it is not filled with protein by any means. I would certainly have tossed in a can of chickpeas had there been any on hand, and I suggest you do the same. A salad of white beans and herbs tossed with a nice vinegary vinaigrette would be a excellent supplement as well.

Capellini with kale, artichoke hearts, and red pepper
Serves 1.

2-3 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic
handful of green beans
6-8 artichoke heart quarters
1/2 bunch kale
1/2 red bell pepper
salt, pepper, basil, oregano
capellini or other long pasta of your choice

Put a pot of salted pasta water on to boil before starting anything else. That way, it'll be ready to go when it's time to drop your pasta.

Warm your olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat.

Smash your garlic cloves with the flat of a knife, peel, and slice. Add your garlic to the oil and cook, stirring occasionally, until they just start to turn a light golden color. Season with salt, basil, and oregano to taste. You can also add some red pepper flake if you want spice.

Wash your beans and slice them at an angle to produce long, narrow pieces. If your artichoke hearts are whole, quarter them. Wash your kale, destem, and shred finely. Core your red pepper and slice it into long, thin strips.

Add your beans to the pan and let them cook for a few minutes before adding the artichoke hearts. Give it another few minutes before you add the kale, and another before you add the red pepper.

Capellini cook in about three minutes, so you'll want to start cooking them at the same time as you add the red pepper. Put them in the water and simmer until done, stirring once or twice to guard against sticking.

When your pasta is done, drain it and add it to the fully cooked vegetables along with a tiny splash of the cooking water. Toss together and let stand over low heat while you wash the pasta pot.

Season the finished dish with some pepper and a little more olive oil. Toss again to distribute. Eat.

If you want a garnish, fresh parsley or grated pecorino would be excellent. I just had some more black pepper.

This was such a good lunch for a grey day.

What are you tossing into your pastas of late?

The Derby cocktail

It's actually been starting to get grey and rainy on occasion here in otherwise super-sunny California. So, in honor of fall, let's put down the gin and start thinking about bourbon cocktails.

This drink is simple and nicely balanced, with echoes of the classic bourbon sour, and is a good use for that bottle of sweet vermouth that otherwise only gets broken out for Negronis. A great way to mark the seasonal transition.

And as an added bonus, I got a full ounce of juice out of one single, solitary lime. Yes! Leftover lime juice! This never happens. I'm going to credit leaving the lime on the windowsill to warm up for a day before making the cocktail, and also rolling it on the counter before juicing, to break the membranes inside. Yay!

The Derby cocktail

1 oz bourbon
3/4 oz fresh lime juice
1/2 oz sweet vermouth
1/2 oz Cointreau or other orange liqueur

Shake all ingredients well in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Strain into a lovely glass.

I think a lime twist would be a nice garnish. I myself had no garnish. It was still delicious.

What seasonal cocktails are striking your fancy lately?

Fennel pickle with lemon and ginger

So remember the fennel and orange pickle I made this summer? How about a fennel, lemon, and ginger pickle too?

The only correct answer is YES.

This refrigerator pickle is crispy, crunchy, tangy, and bright. It's super easy to make and so, so good on practically any sandwich you can think of. Okay, you might not want it on a classic peanut butter and jelly, but otherwise? Yes, please.

Putting together a cheese platter? Add some fennel pickle and get ready for something amazing. Is your crisp green salad a little boring? Not with fennel pickle, it isn't. Replace the typical relish and sauerkraut on a Chicago-style hot dog with fennel pickle and a touch of spicy mustard, and I promise, you will be in heaven.

It's possibly even better than the first fennel pickle. You've been warned. Try to give the other people in your household a chance to at least try some before you eat the entire jar yourself.

Fennel pickle with lemon and ginger
based on a recipe from The Joy of Pickling

2 heads fennel plus a couple decorative fronds
1 tsp pickling salt
zest of 1 lemon, julienned
1-inch piece ginger, shredded or julienned
4 peppercorns, roughly crushed
6 tbsp champagne vinegar
juice of 1 lemon plus enough water to equal 6 tbsp
1 tbsp sugar
pint jar
canning funnel
chopstick or flexible spatula

Cut each head of fennel into thin slices. Mix the fennel with the pickling salt in a medium bowl. Set aside for about an hour to let the salt draw out some of the fennel's liquid.

When the hour is up, drain off the accumulated juices. Toss your prepared fennel with your lemon zest, ginger, and fronds. Pack this mixture into your pint jar. It may look like a tight squeeze, but with some careful packing, everything should fit.

Next, it's time to make your brine. Put your peppercorns, vinegar, lemon juice, water, and sugar into a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for about five minutes, or until the sugar has dissolved.

Using your canning funnel, pour your brine into your jar. Leave 1/4 inch of headspace at the top. Use a chopstick or spatula to release any air bubbles, and top up the brine as needed. Now lid the jar, refrigerate, and let everything pickle for at least 24 hours.

Now break out your bread and cheese and lettuce and make yourself a sandwich of epic deliciousness.

How is your fall pickling going? Any new and exciting pickles on your plate?

Yellow split pea soup with kale and quinoa

We are just barely back from a whirlwind trip to a family wedding on the Florida panhandle. We flew into New Orleans, stayed for a day of beignets, coffee, and wandering around, and then set off for that most traditional of American pastimes: driving for several hours across several states to get as many family members as possible into one place at one time.

The wedding -- on a blindingly white and lovely beach -- was tiny but very happy, with toast after toast in both Spanish and English stretching on into the night at the reception. Yay!

We had a great time.

That said, do you know how much vegetarian food there is in the tourist areas of NOLA and the beach (and also the airport)? Not much. Almost not at all. I ate several platters of fish with fried shrimp garnish, a plateful of veal, and an excellent sausage with caraway, but the vegetables were few and far between, and the beans practically nonexistent, except in dishes that also contained large chunks of ham. There were multiple bags of delicious Michigan apples, however!

So when we got home John and I (especially John -- I like meat, even if my digestive system is not happy with me after I eat this much of it) were ready to get some beans and greens into our mouths as instantly as possible. We dug some split peas out of the freezer, got our hands on a big bunch of kale, and went to town.

The secret to making a delicious yet vegan split pea soup is liquid smoke. Well, liquid smoke and plenty of other herbs and spices. Actually, the use of herbs and spices is possibly the secret of vegan and vegetarian cooking in general. You don't have meat flavoring everything automatically, so spice application is super important.

Yellow split pea soup with kale and quinoa

1 cup yellow split peas (green will work too)
oil of your choice
1 yellow onion
3-4 cloves garlic
1 carrot
1 leek
~4 cups vegetable broth
salt & pepper
marjoram, paprika, smoked paprika, cayenne, red pepper flake
bay leaf
optional splash of dry vermouth or white wine
1 bunch kale
handful of fresh parsley with stems
1 cup quinoa
10-15 drops liquid smoke

Start by covering your split peas in plenty of hot tap water. Leave them to soak and begin softening for 15 minutes or more before you start cooking. This quick soak will help reduce the overall cooking time.

Warm a slug of oil on medium heat in the bottom of a 3-quart pot. Chop your onion and add it to the oil. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes, or until your onion has begun to soften.

Mince your garlic, scrub and chop your carrot, and wash and chop your leek. Add each vegetable to the pot as you finish chopping it.

Season your vegetables with a few shakes of salt, as well as some marjoram, paprika, smoked paprika, cayenne, and red pepper flake to taste. Toss a bay leaf in there too. If you don't have every single one of those spices, you can always rely more heavily on what you do have. I just like to use smaller amounts of a variety of different peppers for a nice depth of flavor.

Stir everything together and continue to cook for 5-10 minutes. When all your vegetables are nicely softened, drain your split peas and add them to the pot, along with your vegetable broth. If you would like to add some vermouth, now is a great time to splash some in.

Bring the pot to a boil, cover, reduce the heat, and simmer for about 45 minutes, or until your split peas are completely cooked and soft.

While you're waiting, wash, destem, and roughly chop your kale. Chop up your fresh parsley as well. Put your quinoa on to cook, so it'll be hot and ready when your soup is done.

When your split peas are cooked, take the pot off the heat, remove the bay leaf, and puree your soup to the texture you desire with an immersion blender. Or leave it chunky if you prefer. It's all good. If your soup is too thick, this is a good time to add some more broth or water to thin it.

Stir your chopped kale and about half of your parsley into the hot soup. Cook for another 2-3 minutes, or until all the greens are well wilted.

For the final seasoning, add your liquid smoke. This stuff is very potent, so be careful and add a little at a time. This is also the time to add pepper and correct any other seasonings.

To serve, add a scoop of hot quinoa to the bottom of a soup bowl. Top with a ladleful of soup and garnish with the extra parsley.

Hooray! Beans (or pulses anyway), greens, and quinoa, together at last.

Needless to say, we both felt miles better after eating this delicious veg-heavy dinner in our own house.

What's the first thing you want to eat when you get back to your own kitchen after a few days (or weeks) of traveling?

Tomato sauce showdown: Victorio strainer vs. immersion blender

When I've canned tomato sauce in the past, I've always gone through the arduous slog of coring and skinning all the tomatoes before cooking them down. This, as you might notice from my tone, is a huge pain in the ass. It takes forever and makes a mess -- and then I end up cooking the tomatoes down into slurry anyway. It's not like I need whole, intact skinned tomatoes! So this time I decided it was time to try a couple different methods.

1. The Victorio strainer.
2. The immersion blender.

The Victorio strainer is essentially a giant food mill. You feed tomatoes into the top while turning a handle. The strainer smashes the tomatoes and separates the skin and seeds from the usable tomato flesh. Then you cook down the tomato to the sauce consistency of your choosing and preserve it as you see fit. I did a basic water-bath canned tomato sauce, but you can always go for the pressure canner or freezer as you see fit. Be careful with food preservation! The USDA guide to home canning is a good resource here.

Anyway. I've had my mom's old strainer in the office closet for a few years, but I hadn't actually broken it out and used it before now. So this was a learning experience.

I got to learn how to put everything together. I got to learn that the clamp that holds the strainer upright was too wide for our dining table but too narrow for our kitchen counters. Eventually I found that it would fit the coffee table, which we then had to move into the kitchen to avoid getting tomato splashes all over the couch.

When we were ready to puree, I fed in the tomatoes and John worked the handle. Then we got to learn that trying to use a strainer set up on a knee-high table is a terrible idea if you have more than a small batch of tomatoes to process. There's nothing like hunching over for a full hour as you shovel chopped tomatoes.

We also got to learn that if you pad out the clamp with a towel, so as not to completely kill your table, the strainer is likely to come off square and start getting loose. We learned that some tomatoes were going to explode and rain juice all over the kitchen, no matter what we did. It was super exciting.

And afterward we got to learn how delightful it was to try to take apart and clean a strainer we'd had to wedge closed as tightly as possible -- while it was covered with all kinds of slippery tomato detritus.

On the other hand, the strainer certainly did make very short work of producing approximately 7.5 quarts of tomato puree -- less than half the time it would have taken to core and skin all the tomatoes. It required only the most minimal of prep work -- we only needed to remove the stems and quarter the larger tomatoes before pureeing.

We could use our grape tomatoes as well as the standard large tomatoes. We could feed the skins and seeds back through the strainer to squeeze out every last bit of tomato flesh. I got to rescue all the waste to make a huge batch of tomato broth, which turned out to be lovely and flavorful and full-bodied due to the pectin in the skins.

Overall, it was a reasonable trade.

The next weekend, I was not really up to mopping the kitchen again. Besides, I was thinking about that tomato broth and the pectin in the tomato skins. And then I remembered that Erica at Northwest Edible Life had written a post on actually making sauce from tomato skins instead of throwing them away. Erica was using the skins from her whole home-canned tomatoes; I was planning to sauce all of mine. Why even bother skinning the tomatoes in the first place, then? Why not just puree everything together at once?

So that's what I did. I washed my batch of tomatoes, chopped them roughly, removed any really seriously woody core pieces, and went at the remaining tomatoes with the immersion blender. Then I cooked the resulting slurry into delicious tomato sauce, ladled it into jars with the requisite lemon juice, and canned it all.

It worked very well indeed.

Since I already know how to puree things with the immersion blender, there wasn't very much to learn here per se. I just made sure to keep the head of the blender submerged, so I didn't accidentally splort random tomato bits all over the kitchen.

I also had to work in batches, so as not to overheat the blender. This is for sure the only time I've ever had to even think about that consideration when using our very nice and heavy-duty immersion blender! If I'd cooked the sauce down for a while and then pureed it, I think the overheating issue would have been less of a problem. But even so, the results were excellent.

This sauce cooked down a whole lot faster than the previous skinless batch. That is a real benefit when it's a minimum of 85F in your kitchen and you want to get past the heat portion of the day as swiftly as possible. You have to love fiber and pectin at work.

Even though this method defaulted to include skin and seeds, I was really happy with the finished sauce.

Tomato sauce showdown results

Victorio strainer:
- no seeds or skins in the sauce
- minimal prep required
- fast pureeing time
- long cooking time: 4-5 hrs
- technically fiddly, with lots of required setup
- equipment will not overheat
- can use grape and cherry tomatoes along with standard
- medium to high cleanup
- bulky equipment
- single-use, at least for the time being (maybe I will make applesauce sometime?)
- peels and seeds provide ingredients for convenient side-effect broth

Immersion blender:
- tiny seed and skin bits in the sauce
- slightly more than minimal prep required, but still not very much
- fast pureeing time
- faster (but still fairly long) cooking time: 2+ hrs
- not fiddly; no setup
- equipment can overheat; breaks are required
- can use grape and cherry tomatoes along with standard
- low cleanup
- more compact equipment
- definitely multi-use
- no secondary products produced

As long as no one cares about teeny tiny seed and skin bits -- and so far, I don't -- the winner is the immersion blender. Of course, if you cared very much about such a thing, it would be possible to strain your sauce after cooking it -- but I am just not going to go to that kind of effort unless I see a real need.

The other real issue is overheating your equipment. No one wants to blow out a blender just to get tomatoes processed into sauce. So if you're making a really huge batch, or don't have the time to take breaks between pureeing batches of tomatoes, the manual strainer is probably the best bet.

The end product is great either way, so choose what works for you.

How do you process your tomatoes before canning? What favorite tools do you use?