Food, Photography and Bon Mots
Harissa. What in the heck is harissa? Harissa is a middle eastern paste. It is made with hot chili peppers and a variety of spices. It is a common ingredient in dishes served across North Africa and is especially associated with the cooking of Tunisia.…
Every month Blue Cayenne features recipes from our archive of more than four hundred recipes. These recipes are our “Oldies But Goodies.” Today’s Oldie But Goodie recipe is perfect to celebrate spring. It’s a recipe for Hot Cross Buns: Hot Cross Buns. You don’t want to…
Interesting salads. I love interesting salads!
Clearly, I’m not alone.
Archaeologists have discovered the ruins of a “funeral garden” outside a rock-cut tomb on Dra Abu el-Naga hill in Luxor. Apparently, they have found four thousand year-old evidence of lettuce! There also are ancient tomb paintings that include lettuce representations. So, the Egyptians were noshing on salads alongside those beers they so famously enjoyed. Imagine that!
The Greeks and Romans also loved their salads. For them it was mixed greens dressed oil, salt and vinegar–a vinaigrette! The Romans, in fact, are believed to have introduced lettuces to the rest Europe.
Later, during the European Renaissance, the humanistic appreciation of beauty carried over to food. The “foodies” of that era often featured elaborate (and artful!, of course) salads composed of exotic ingredients on their tables.
As the age of exploration dawned, Columbus is believed to have delivered lettuce seeds to the Americas (along with garlic and onions–way to go Columbus!).
But…back to my table. When I was growing up, salad, if there was any on the table, was always a chopped salad with iceberg lettuce and Wishbone Italian Salad Dressing. Boring. Just boring.
Now, I seek out inventive salad courses whenever and wherever I can. A salad now catches my attention when it incorporates interesting (and sometimes unusual) ingredients and a variety of interesting textures. Plus points if the salad is beautiful. That is the magic of a Caesar Salad, for example.
This Red Potatoes With Lentils and Avocado Sauce salad is a very interesting salad, mixing as it does a creamy avocado sauce with succulent roasted potatoes, the bitter greens bite of arugula and toothsome black lentils. I used Rancho Gordo’s wonderful Black Caviar lentils (Rancho Gordo) for this dish and they added a perfect chew. They are a particularly beautiful little lentil, too. You could use puy lentils if you can’t find Rancho Gordo’s lentils.
This dish is based on one from Hetty McKinnon’s cookbook, Tenderheart. This cookbook can be ordered through your local bookstore or at Amazon here.
Best cookies in Los Angeles! Three years in a row! That’s what the cookbook author says about these cookies and we can’t disagree. This recipe is from Rose Wilde’s cookbook Bread and Roses. The cookbook is available through your local bookstore and from Amazon here. Here…
Every month Blue Cayenne features recipes from our archive of more than four hundred recipes. These recipes are our “Oldies But Goodies.” Today’s Oldie But Goodie recipe is for a warm and comforting Spinach and Potato Soup. It’s just the thing to warm up those…
Got ripe bananas?
Got a chocolate craving?
Can’t face one more banana bread?
These muffins are for you.
Eat them for breakfast, dessert, midnight snack, mid-morning snack, midnight and mid-morning snack, afternoon tea, party treat. Heck, slip one in your purse.
They’re a compact, very chocolaty, anytime treat.
This recipe is from Sarah Kieffer’s cookbook 100 Morning Treats. Kieffer’s book is available through your local bookstore or on Amazon here. She is also the author of the wonderful cookbook 100 Cookies.
Here is the recipe for Double Chocolate Banana Muffins as I prepared it in my kitchen:
