Two weeks ago Mr. B and I found ourselves in Boston for a long weekend. He was there on business and I tagged along to play tourist for a few days. It was my first time visiting this historic city and we were lucky to catch it in full Spring splendor. An unusual bout of warm weather sent everything into bloom and the streets were lined with pink and white blossoms.

After getting up at 3am to catch our flight (yeah that was painful) our first order of business was to find coffee and food. Anita, of the lovely blog Married With Dinner, had recommended Neptune Oyster, a seafood bar located in the North End. We arrived famished and were lucky enough to snag seats at a booth near the back of the restaurant. The restaurant is tiny and crowded but has a beautiful pub-like charm from dark wood, shinning tile, and mirrors reflecting the fresh oyster options for the day.

I may have mentioned a time or two (or ten) that I feel a bit seafood deprived living in the Midwest. When six varieties of fresh oysters arrived before us I could hardly contain my excitement. We tasted, we slurped, we sighed- it was marvelous. I wanted to do it all over again when they were gone, yet the meal was just beginning. Only minutes later the server placed in front of me a beautiful plate of seared scallops sitting atop a bed of duck confit with watercress, hazelnuts, and a touch of blue cheese tucked underneath. I was in heaven. Mr. B ordered an equally impressive grilled whole bronzini with basil pesto and fingerling potatoes sitting in a tomato-olive broth. Slightly loopy from the lack of sleep and giddy from the previously mentioned oysters, we dug in with glee. The scallops were cooked to perfection and are among the best I’ve ever eaten. Mr. B’s bronzini was moist and subtly flavored, allowing the fish to really shine. Both dishes disappeared promptly. It was a great way to start the trip.

We enjoyed the meal at Neptune Oyster so much that later we returned just before our flight left Boston for another round of oysters, mussels, calamari and a famous Maine lobster roll. (Can you tell it was our only meal of the day?) If you enjoy mussels, as we do, these are not to be missed. Bathed in a red curry broth and spiked by garlic, lime, and crunchy cashew nuts, they were fantastic. The lobster roll was quite delicious, but the scallops from the first day still haunt my thoughts. If you find yourself in Boston, I highly recommend a stop at Neptune Oyster for a seafood fix. (Be ready for a wait if it is during peak hours, for as I mentioned, it is a tiny space.)

With our hunger fully satisfied we walked up the street to grab an espresso at Boston Common Coffee, before joining up with a North End Market Tour to explore the shops and foods of this historic Italian district. Also recommended by Anita, this three hour tour (no joke!) was filled with fun stories, shops, and tastes throughout the North End. We started off at Maria’s Pastry shop, a hole-in-the-wall bakery filled with local residents sipping espressos amid aromas of anise and warm flour.

Exiting Maria’s the tour continued through Salumeria Italiana (home to a few handsome butchers), Monica’s Mercato (a source of luscious fresh burrata), V. Cirace & Son Italian wine shop (makers of marvelous limoncello since 1906), and many other stops. Each location included tastings and we nibbled our way through samples of balsamic vinegar, homemade limoncello, imported prosciutto, and several other Italian delights.

I don’t have many words for you today. The busyness of Spring has continued over the past week with a crazy amount of dirt moving and garden building. Beyond the Spring activity, something even bigger has been brewing: my parents are re-locating to the Dakotas! I think we are all still in a bit of shock that everything lined up perfectly for a cross-country move. After 30 years on the West Coast they are headed East for a major change of scene. Trading fish and forests for buffalo and prairies, it will be a whole new world to explore together! They stayed with us for the past week while house hunting and found a fantastic place that is within walking distance from our house. I cannot begin to tell you how excited I am to have them only minutes away instead of two time zones and 1,000 miles.

While my parents were visiting, I whipped up a batch of these Scottish oat cakes. Pulled from a recent issue of Vegetarian Times, this recipe comes together in minutes for a quick and healthy breakfast. The finished cakes are shaped like cookies (but not nearly as sweet), and are a wonderful portable breakfast for mornings on the run. Filled with rolled oats, buttermilk, and a little brown sugar they are a satisfying alternative to granola bars or cereal. Mr. B noted that “Without jam these cakes are doomed” which translates to, “These cakes are so healthy a good dose of sugar is necessary to call them breakfast.” However with a smear of your favorite jam or a drizzle of honey they are the perfect way to enjoy a weekday morning with family.

Scottish Oat Cakes (Printable Recipe)

Adapted from Vegetarian Times, February 2010

Makes 24

Ingredients:

2 cups old-fashioned oats

1/4 cup light brown sugar

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cups oat flour, plus more for dusting work surface

1/4 cup non hydrogenated shortening or vegan margarine, cut into small pieces (I’m a bad Vegetarian Times reader who used lard…but it was oh so good!)

3/4 cup nonfat buttermilk

Directions:

Pre-heat the oven to 325°F with two racks set a few inches apart near the center of the oven. Line 2 baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, stir together the oats, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Place the oat flour in a separate large bowl. Add the small pieces of shortening, and rub it into the oat flour with your fingers until the mixture is crumbly. Add the dry oat mixture and buttermilk to the large bowl, stirring well to combine.

Dust work surface heavily with oat flour, then pat the dough to roughly 10- x 8-inch rectangle 1/4-inch thick. The dough will be quite sticky. Dust additional flour on top of the dough as needed to form a rectangle. Use a knife or a 1″ biscuit cutter to cut the dough into circles or triangles. With a spatula, gently transfer the oat cakes to the lined baking sheet. Pat out the remaining scraps into another 1/4″ thick rectangle, and repeat the process until all of the dough is cut. Bake the oat cakes for 20 to 25 minutes, or until they are a light brown. Let the cakes cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. Serve with jam or honey.

This one-dish spicy kale and wheat berry salad has evolved over the past several months into one of our favorite vegetarian weeknight dinners. My experimentation with wheat berry salads began a while back with a delightful Greek wheat berry salad that is still on regular rotation. Then this winter I fell in love with kale, braising it with turnips and bacon, and even making the ubiquitous kale chips that have saturated the blogosphere. (For the record, I think that kale chips are a waste of perfectly good kale. I really don’t dig them.) Then one evening I had the fortuitous thought to sauté kale and leeks together with a bit of vegetable broth and a spices, poach a few eggs in the mix, and then spoon the whole concoction over a heaping pile of whole grains. To give the dish a fiery kick I added a spoonful of sambal oelek, which is a ground fresh chili paste used frequently in Indonesian cooking. (I found my jar at Cost Plus World Market, but you can also buy it online for only $2.99.)

A few bites into the dinner, and we were hooked. Chewy wheat berries support the savory kale and leeks, while a the lightly poached egg breaks open to give the salad a saucy dressing. The heat from the sambal oelek makes the dish anything but boring- add enough you may even break a sweat! If you want to round out the dinner even further, a few pats of goat cheese can be added to the pan while you poach the eggs, melting into the kale and adding a creamy tang to the entire dish. If you are looking to go vegetarian a few nights a week, this is a recipe that will keep a meat-loving spouse satisfied, and provide a savory and spicy kick to the routine. Paired with a glass of full bodied red wine, you won’t miss the meat at all!

Spicy Kale and Wheat Berry Salad (Printable Recipe)

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 cups Wheat Berries (In the dish above I used 1 cup Wheat Berries and 1 cup Kamut)

Water

1 Tablespoon Kosher salt

1 Tablespoon olive oil

2 leeks, rinsed and thinly sliced

1 large bunch kale, washed, stems removed, and coarsely chopped

3 large cloves garlic, minced

1-2 Tablespoons sambal oelek (2 is very spicy, start with 1 and add more as needed)

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika

1 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 cup vegetable broth

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 lemon, juiced

4 eggs

4 ounces goat cheese (optional)

Directions:

Rinse the wheat berries, and place them in a medium pot with a lid. Add water to the pot until it is about 3 inches above the wheat berries. Add 1 Tablespoon of kosher salt to the pot. Bring the water to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Cover the pot with a lid and cook the wheat berries until they are tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Drain off the excess water and cover the pot with the lid to keep the wheat berries warm until you are ready to serve them.

Place a large skillet with a lid over medium heat. Add the olive oil, leeks, kale, and garlic to the skillet. Sauté gently for 2-3 minutes, until the kale begins to wilt. Next add the sambal oelek, cumin, paprika, pepper, salt, vegetable broth, and lemon juice. Stir until the spices and vegetables are combined, then cover the skillet with a lid and cook until the kale is completely wilted, about 4 minutes. If the mixture looks too dry, add a bit more vegetable broth. Once the kale is wilted, use a spoon to make 4 indented “holes” in the mixture. Crack an egg into each hole, if using goat cheese add the sliced goat cheese around the eggs. Cover the skillet with the lid and continue to cook until the eggs are poached to your desired level of
doneness (about 2 minutes for a runny center). To serve, place the wheat berries on a plate, then spoon an egg and the kale mixture on top of the wheat berries. Serve hot with a sprinkling of salt and freshly cracked pepper on top.

Has Spring sprung where you live yet? Things were off to a slow start here but in the last week a combination of warm weather and loud thunderstorms caused everything to wake up and bust out in new shades of green. The cottonwood trees are exploding with neon green leaves that literally grow overnight. It is the strangest feeling to wake up in the morning and have the trees look noticeably different than the day before. One can’t help but to feel invigorated- ready to get outside and take on the world.

I have found that once the weather breaks the last thing I want to do is spend hours inside doing anything (even cooking). Yet my Spring cravings for fresh bright flavors and bouquets of daffodils are hard to resist. This recipe for a healthy yet satisfying bulgur salad called me back into the kitchen, if only for a brief thirty minutes. It was created by the handsome Turkish Star-chef, Mehmet Gürs, who likes to make it with his four-year-old son when they spend time together in the kitchen.

The vegetables are only lightly roasted, striking the perfect balance between deep roasted flavor and al dente freshness. You can steam the bulgur while the vegetables roast, and then all that is left is to fold in a bit of fresh cucumber and lemon juice. This recipe is so easy that I made it over my lunch hour, a feat that is hard to pull off with most recipes! We enjoyed the leftovers cold for lunch the next day, and it would be perfect for a weekend picnic in the park. Do you have a favorite fast and easy Springtime recipe? I’d love to hear about it!

Bulgur Salad with Roasted Vegetables (Printable Recipe)

Lightly Adapted from Food and Wine

Serves 6

Ingredients:

2 cups coarse bulgur, rinsed

2 cups hot water

1 medium zucchini, cut into 1/4-inch dice

1 medium carrot, cut into 1/4-inch dice

1 small red onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice

1/2 red bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch dice

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1/2 medium cucumber—peeled, seeded and cut into 1/4-inch dice

Crushed red pepper

Directions:

Pre-heat the oven to 400° with a rack in the middle. Place the rinsed bulgur in a large bowl. Pour the hot water on top of the bulgur and cover the bowl with a plate to trap the steam. Let the bulgur stand for about 20 minutes, until the water has been absorbed and the grains are tender.

While the bulgur is steaming, spread the zucchini, carrot, onion, and bell pepper out on a large rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle the vegetables with 2 Tablespoons of olive oil. Season the vegetables with salt and pepper, then toss them well with your fingers or a spoon. Place the baking sheet into the oven and roast the vegetables for about 15 minutes, or until they are slightly softened. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and set aside to cool slightly.

While the vegetables are cooling, fluff the bulgur with a fork and stir in the tomato paste. Next fold in the roasted vegetables, lemon juice, cucumber, and the remaining 2 Tablespoons of olive oil. Taste the salad, and season with more salt, black pepper, and crushed red pepper as desired. Serve the bulgur salad at room temperature or slightly chilled. (I also found it was delicious rolled up inside big leaves of bibb lettuce, lettuce wrap style.)

Have you tried a Peppadew? These small red bombs of flavor are often nestled next to rows of olives and antipasti in the deli section or tucked into a jar alongside rows of pickles. I spotted them recently at our local grocery store and realized that this delightful little pepper has finally trickled down from specialty stores to mainstream America.

Shaped like a large habanero but flavored more like a sweet red bell pepper, Peppadews are a unique pepper variety originating from South Africa. The story goes that in 1993, a South African man found a wild pepper bush growing in his yard and fell in love with the piquant sweetness of the small peppers. Since it is difficult to patent wild seeds, he instead devised the smart business plan to pickle the peppers and name them Peppadew. The production and growing of Peppadews is closely controlled by the corporation that now runs the business. This creates the benefit of ensuring consistent quality to consumers but is a downside for gardening enthusiasts (like myself) who would love to grow these gems at home.

The brine is both sour and sweet, carrying the tang of pickle juice with a mild heat and viscous consistency. Peppadews are delicious to eat straight out of the jar but also combine well with other flavors. I have used them to create a wonderful relish for salmon or pork and have even included them in a tuna salad.

This recipe for stuffed Peppadews is as simple as it gets. Requiring only 4 ingredients and a few minutes to assemble, the result is a beautiful plate of bite-size appetizers. Peppadews, feta, cucumber and mint come together in your mouth creating an explosive combination that is all at once sweet, tangy, spicy, and refreshing. As the summer cocktail season stretches out before us in a warm happy haze, this is the perfect recipe to whip up when your evening plans are nothing more than lounging on the deck with a gin and tonic nearby. Oh, and did I mention each stuffed Peppadew has only 14 calories? Make that two gin and tonics!

Feta Stuffed Peppadews (Printable Recipe)

Makes 24

Adapted from Vegetarian Times, February 2010

Ingredients:

24 fresh mint leaves

24 Peppadews, drained

1/2 small cucumber, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/4-inch cubes

4 Tbs. feta cheese, cut into small (aprox. 1/4 inch) cubes

Directions:

Slip 1 mint leaf into the open cavity of 1 Peppadew. Stuff 1 or 2 cucumber cubes into the cavity, then stuff 1 cube (aprox. 1/2 teaspoon) of feta into the Peppadew.

Repeat this process with the remaining ingredients. Chill the stuffed Peppadews until ready to serve.

The recipe started off with the expected salting, draining, and rinsing of eggplant slices. I gently patted each piece dry and then they took a turn underneath the broiler, where the water cooked off and the eggplant slices softened into a silky roasted state. A quick mix of ricotta, mint, egg, and Swiss chard created the filling while the eggplant slices cooled. Then I simply rolled up the filling inside the eggplant slices, set the rolls on top of tomato sauce, and layered thick pieces of mozzarella cheese on top. This entire process can be completed a day ahead of time, leaving you with nothing more than to turn on the oven and bake the casserole an hour before dinner.

I live in the land of beef and pork. Highway billboards still shout the 1990′s slogans “It’s What’s for Dinner” and “The Other White Meat”. Restaurant menus feature caveman size slabs of pork ribs and 32oz cowboy steaks. Local fresh fish is tasty but usually limited to the freshwater catch of walleye and bass, and when the ponds are frozen over that can be hard to find too. (We haven’t taken up ice fishing yet!) During my first few years, I managed to get by, eating fish on a limited basis, mainly when we were in a big city or could source a fresh supply. However the more I cooked dishes like pinot noir braised salmon, salmon in a dijon cream sauce, and cod with micro greens and bananas, the more I craved the fish of my childhood.

Then I discovered Costco’s Wild-Caught Alaska Sockeye Salmon. Individually flash frozen in roughly 3oz portions, a bag of these salmon steaks have quickly taken up residence in my freezer. The quality is among the best I’ve found for frozen fish. Once thawed, the salmon does not have an ‘off ‘ fishy odor or taste, and it handles itself well both in a skillet and under the broiler. I am happy to say that fish is now a regular part of our monthly menu rotation. Yet as is true with most fresh foods, after being frozen and thawed, the fish needs a little help. This is not the time for a simple salt, pepper, and squeeze of lemon preparation. Instead this is where creative sauces, rubs, and marinades can play a star role in carrying the fish to new heights.

A simple recipe for homemade teriyaki sauce and a quick cucumber pickle results in the mouthwatering combination of salmon teriyaki with sweet and sour cucumbers. Making your own teriyaki sauce only takes a few minutes and the result is a balanced and savory sauce which avoids the cloying sweetness of many bottled teriyaki sauces. The salmon cooks beautifully under the broiler, where the edges turn slightly crisp as the sticky sauce caramelizes. Served on top of a steaming heap of jasmine rice and brightened by the clean taste of cucumbers, this salmon dinner is so easy and delicious I think it deserves a slogan of its own. “Salmon- It makes you happy.”

Salmon Teriyaki with Sweet and Sour Cucumbers (Printable Recipe)

Adapted from Food & Wine

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1/2 small seedless cucumber, thinly sliced

1 small daikon radish (about 4 ounces), peeled and thinly sliced

1 garlic clove, crushed

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon unseasoned rice vinegar

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 teaspoon Kosher salt, plus more to taste

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce

1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch dissolved in 1 tablespoon of water

Four 6- to 8-ounce salmon or cod fillets, rinsed and patted dry

Steamed rice, for serving

Directions:  

Combine the cucumber, daikon, and garlic in a small glass bowl. Place a small saucepan over medium-low heat, and add 1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons of rice vinegar, 1 teaspoon of salt, and the granulated sugar to the pan. Heat until the sugar and salt are just dissolved. Turn off the heat, and pour the warm liquid over the cucumber mixture and gently squeeze the vegetables to help soften them. Set the empty saucepan aside to use later. Place the cucumber mixture into the fridge and chill, at least 15 minutes or longer.

Pre-heat the broiler on high heat, with a rack 6 inches below the heat. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil.

In the set-aside saucepan, combine the brown sugar, soy sauce and the dissolved cornstarch with the remaining 3 tablespoons of rice vinegar. Bring the liquid to a boil, and whisk until the glaze is thickened, about 2 minutes.

Dip the salmon into the teriyaki glaze, getting an even coat across the top. Then set skin side down on the foil-lined baking sheet. Place the sheet underneath the broiler and cook, watching carefully for 10 minutes or until the salmon is cooked through. Baste the fish once or twice while cooking. If the glaze starts to burn and the fish is not cooked through, cover the top of the fish loosely with foil. It is normal for the edges of the glaze and fish to burn slightly, do not worry about those, they are tasty bits!

Transfer the salmon fillets to plates and spoon rice on the side. Use a slotted spoon to set the sweet-and-sour cucumber salad on the plates. Drizzle any remaining teriyaki glaze over the top of the fish.