Four Nights A Week

Adventures in Eating

recent posts

Amy’s Writing, Photography and Art can be found at amybisson.com

  • 18 August 2022: Spinach Casserole with Thyme

    From the time we were first married, Adrien and I had a Boston Globe newspaper (print edition) delivered to our home. While we no longer subscribe to the Globe for a variety of reasons, when we did, I used to look forward to each Wednesday because of the Food focus.

    Unfortunately I cannot give credit other than to cite the Boston Globe sometime between 1977 and 1990, but this recipe was one I came across while weeding my recipe collection which was preserved in a recipe box. One of us took the time to cut out the recipe so that it fit neatly on a 3 x 5 inch index card. The card is both aged, yellowed and stained, a testament to how frequently we cooked from it. Also, Adrien’s handwritten asterisk in the top right corner was our shorthand for something we enjoyed cooking, and undoubtedly cooked again and again.

    After digging this card out of the recipe box, I of course had to try it once again. Not only was this a quick and inexpensive recipe to pull together, it is vegetarian – all of which explains why we must have made it frequently.

    So, here goes -if anyone does have the original sourcing, I’d love to give them credit!

    Spinach Casserole with Thyme

    Boston Globe

    Ingredients

    • Butter to grease casserole
    • 2 TBSP butter (I used coconut oil)
    • 3 eggs
    • 1 package (10 oz) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
    • 1 cup small curd creamed cottage cheese
    • 2/3 cup (about 2 oz) coarsely grated Cheddar cheese
    • 3 TBSP flour
    • 1/2 tsp salt
    • 1/4 tsp thyme

    Method

    1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and 1-1/2 quart casserole and set aside.
    2. Melt the 2 TBSP butter in a small saucepan and set aside to cool slightly (or use coconut oil as I did).
    3. Beat eggs in a large mixing bowl.
    4. Add spinach, cottage cheese, cheddar cheese, flour, salt, thyme and melted butter. Stir until ingredients are well combined. Pour mixture into casserole.
    5. Place casserole in oven and bake until mixture is set and slightly puffy, about 1 hour. Serve immediately.

  • 06 Aug 2022: Summer Corn and Barley Salad

    Mollie Katzen’s recipes are always a hit in our house and this one, from 2013’s The Heart of the Plate, was no exception. It is the perfect summer salad as fresh cukes and tomatoes are in abundance, and it is easily adaptable – as I quickly discovered when I neglected to buy fresh corn at the farmstand this week.

    The recipe calls for pearl barley, red onion, scallions, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, a sweet red (or orange pepper) and corn. My substitution for the corn? A half-and-half mix of thawed frozen peas and thawed riced cauliflower (a leftover ingredient from another recipe).

    Mollie Katzen’s Summer Corn and Barley Salad recipe, found on page 120, suggests more enhancements: edamame, cilantro, parsley, avocado – and more. You get the picture. And we can personally vouch for the deliciousness of this salad on the day after.

    We’ll definitely be breaking this one out again before corn season is over.

    The serving dish is a piece from Edgecomb Potters in Edgecomb, Maine, a must-stop whenever we are traveling in the Mid-Coast of Maine.

  • 03 August 2022: Jacques Pépin’s Tomato Potage with Basil

    This delicious soup – served hot or cold – comes from Jacques Pépin’s Simple and Healthy Cooking, written in 1994. One of the best things about this cookbook, besides the usual amazing dishes Chef Pépin shares, is that the nutrition information has already been calculated. That makes it easy for folks who need to monitor particular kinds of foods.

    While I’ve had this book for quite a while and have made several recipes from it, this was the first time I can recall making this delicious Tomato Potage. On a hot summer night with ripe tomatoes and basil in plentiful supply, it was a perfect centerpiece for a light supper.

    Only one of the 3 lbs. of fresh tomatoes needs to be peeled, making this truly an easy recipe as well as a tasty one. The recipe can be found on page 53 of Simple and Healthy Cooking.

  • 26 Jul 2022: A Low(er) Calorie Muffin

    I usually stay away from breakfast pastries, but every once in a while, I need to fulfill a craving. This week, I wanted to make a muffin – one that I could bake and that would allow me to account for what I ate.

    Sally’s Baking Addiction was the jumping off point for this muffin which uses nonfat Greek yogurt (yay!) and chocolate chips. Sally’s muffin recipe (linked here) yields 36 mini muffins. I however, had a larger muffin tin with just 6 muffin cups. While Sally’s muffins clock in at 45 calories per muffin, the larger ones I was able to bake would be 45 x 6 or 270 calories. A treat, for sure, but one I could account for.

    I also skipped the chocolate chips. I know that’s sacrilegious, and a little crazy for this chocoholic, but, I had a small portion of King Arthur Baking’s cinnamon bits to use up.

    If you are thinking of making these muffins for yourself, here is the link to Sally’s Baking Addiction. Be sure to read through the notes as they are a terrific resource for adapting this to your own taste.

    Ingredient List (my substitutions are in italics)

    • All purpose flour
    • Baking soda
    • Ground cinnamon
    • Maple Syrup
    • Light Brown Sugar
    • Nonfat Greek Yogurt
    • Melted butter or coconut oil (I used the coconut oil)
    • Egg white
    • Vanilla extract
    • Mini Chocolate Chips (I used cinnamon bits, not cinnamon chips)

  • 23 Jul 2022: Flour Bakery + Cafe’s Chunky Lola Cookie

    How have I missed this cookie perfection in Joanne Chang’s 2010 book, Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston’s Flour Bakery + Cafe? This buttery (of course), chewy blend of dark chocolate, coconut and nuts is exactly the kind of cookie to perk up a day.

    Found on page 110, the ingredients include

    • Butter (lots of it)
    • Brown AND cane sugars
    • Rolled Oats
    • Sweetened shredded coconut
    • Toasted pecans
    • Dark chocolate
    • Eggs
    • All-purpose flour

    If you aren’t fortunate enough to live near a Flour Bakery, get your hands on the book and try this out. You won’t regret the effort (or the calories).

  • 09 July 2022: Roasting Beets

    Roast Beet, Caraway and Crème Frâiche Salad with Arugala from Melissa Clark’s Dinner in French

    Today, July 9th would have been my Dad’s 104th birthday, and so, in his honor I give you… roasted beets. (Just kidding. Dad really did not like beets one bit. As kids, we sometimes threatened to “hide” them in his mashed potatoes, thereby tricking him into eating beets, Ahhh kid-logic. It never occurred to us that the bright red beets might be quite visible in those creamy mash potatoes.)

    Roasting beets can be a really messy prep. My modus operandi is generally to peel the beets before roasting which always resulted in a bit of a mess: stained hands, stained cutting boards, stained EVERYthing. Despite that inconvenience, I love the darn things, raw or cooked, and so I continued to put up with the messiness.

    Recently I came across an easier and foolproof way to roast beets. Here’s it is:

    • Preheat the oven to 400 Fahrenheit. (Also good is to oil a dutch oven with a lid – more cleanup but also more environmentally friendly)
    • Scrub and trim the greens from the beet roots. Use the greens as you want – but make sure to scrub those beets well.
    • Oil the beets (skin on) lightly and sprinkle with salt. I put a bit of olive oil on my hands and rub the outside of the beet.
    • Wrap the beets in foil packet OR (see above) place in a single layer in the dutch oven with the lid on. The main idea here is to keep the beets in a single layer.
    • Pop the pan into the preheated oven. If wrapping the beets in foil, putting them on a baking sheet makes it easier to pull in and out of the oven.
    • Depending on the size of the beets, roasting can take 25 minutes (small beets) to an hour (larger beets). Check for doneness from time to time – they’re ready when you can stick a sharp knife through them with no resistance.
    • Let the beets sit until they are cool enough to handle. I usually use a paper towel or sharp paring knife to slide the skins off the beets. (Your fingers could still sport that beautiful red color so wear gloves if you wish).
    • Trim away any extra root or stem and slice them up (or leave whole and refrigerate for when you want to use them).

    This recipe for Roasted Beet, Caraway, and Crème Frâiche Salad with Arugala, from Melissa Clark‘s Dinner in French (pictured above) is a great way to make an elegant salad with beets as the main character.

  • 07 July 2022: Vegan Potato Salad

    Vegan Potato Salad with Tahini from NYT’s Melissa Clark

    Melissa Clark is one of my favorite food writers at the New York Times. In fact, her book, Dinner in French, is one of my go-to’s for inspiration and French cuisine.

    With our granddaughter’s egg allergy, I am always looking for egg-free dishes that are delicious and appealing. This creamy potato salad, which we rolled out for our Independence Day lunch, was terrific – I’m sure no one missed the hard boiled eggs or mayonnaise.

    Ingredients

    • 1 ¾ pounds yellow potatoes, such as Yukon Gold, cut into 1-inch chunks (I used a mix of smaller potatoes and threw in some Yukon Golds left from a prior cooking experience)
    •  Salt and freshly ground black pepper
    • 2 bunches scallions, trimmed
    • ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
    • 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, plus more as needed
    • 1 to 2 garlic cloves, finely grated
    • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
    • ¼ cup tahini
    •  Ice water, as needed
    • ½ cup soft herbs, such as cilantro, parsley, mint, dill or a combination

    Method

    1. Place the potatoes in a large pot with enough salted water to cover by 1 inch. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook until potatoes are just tender, 10 to 15 minutes, depending on the kind of potato. Drain very well. (I did this step the day before and then rewarmed the potatoes before assembling)
    2. Heat the broiler. Arrange 1 bunch scallions on a sheet pan. Thinly slice the other bunch, reserving the slices for serving.
    3. Season the whole scallions in the pan with salt and pepper, and very lightly drizzle with olive oil. Broil until charred, tossing occasionally, for 3 to 7 minutes (keep your eye on these – my broiler needed only 3 minutes). Transfer to a cutting board to cool. Coarsely chop scallions and set aside.
    4. In a large bowl, whisk together lemon juice, garlic, cumin and a large pinch of salt. Let sit for 1 minute to mellow the garlic and dissolve the salt.
    5. Whisk in tahini, then gradually add ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time (about 3 to 6 tablespoons total), until the sauce thickens and is smooth enough to drizzle. The sauce can take 30 seconds to 1 minute to thicken so keep whisking; if it gets too thick, thin it down with a little more water. Taste and add more lemon juice and salt if needed.
    6. Transfer hot potatoes and charred scallions to bowl with tahini dressing. Drizzle in the remaining 1/3 cup olive oil and toss until potatoes are well coated. Taste and add more salt and lemon juice if needed.
    7. Let cool to room temperature for at least an hour before serving, or refrigerate for up to 24 hours. The potatoes will absorb the dressing as they sit.
    8. Just before serving, taste and add more salt or lemon juice if needed, and toss with the raw scallion slices and herbs.

  • 04 July 2022: Fizzy Watermelon Mocktail

    Fizzy Watermelon Mocktail from allshecooks.com

    While I’m not a terrible home bartender, I’ve discovered that my mocktail game really needs some work.

    This morning I was in search of a refreshing mocktail that would offset the heat of Independence Day. And put to good use some of the very large watermelon that was taking up space in my fridge.

    This Fizzy Watermelon Mocktail comes from All She Cooks, a food, travel, and lifestyle blog. The website is full of great recipes including this one for a refresher that uses just 5 simple ingredients.

    Link to the Fizzy Watermelon mocktail here. And then take a look at some of the other offerings Nicole, the recipe creator and blogger has posted on her website, All She Cooks.

  • 01 Jul 2022: Chilled Cucumber-Yogurt Soup

    Chilled Cucumber-Yogurt Soup from Moosewood Cookbook

    On this 90-plus degree day, we turned to our cherished Moosewood Cookbook for a cool, refreshing, and light summer’s night dinner. Made early in the day, the soup had plenty of time to chill. It was also simple to pull together – add everything to a blender and blend.

    Chilled Cucumber-Yogurt Soup

    Recipe from Mollie Katzen’s Moosewood Cookbook

    Ingredients

    • 4 cups peeled, seeded, chopped cucumbers (this was about 2 1/2 good sized garden cukes for me)
    • 2 cups water
    • 2 cups yogurt (I used 2% Greek yogurt from my local Greek grocery)
    • 1 clove garlic
    • Several fresh mint leaves
    • 1 TBSP honey
    • 1 1/2-2 tsp salt
    • 1/4 tsp dill weed
    • Chopped chives or scallions for garnish

    Method:

    Puree everything together in the blender (save the scallions/chives for garnish). Serve very cold.

  • 27 May 2022: Broccoli Salad

    With grocery roulette becoming more pronounced, I’ve been looking for some new salad ideas, particularly ones that don’t involve using lettuces.

    Hetty McKinnon, cookbook author and a food and recipe contributor to the New York Times, is the creative force behind this salad recently published in the New York Times. For more terrific food ideas and to become a subscriber to her veggie/salad based newsletter, click here.

    This broccoli salad was a hit in our house. Unfortunately, the week I decided we should try it was the week my food store’s broccoli looks pretty awful. Undeterred, I bought some frozen florets (2 bags is more than enough for this recipe), which I thawed ahead of time. Fresh broccoli will, of course, have way more crunch to it, so I’m looking forward to revisiting this recipe when our local farmstands have the real stuff.

    Broccoli Salad

    By Hetty McKinnon in the New York Times

    Ingredients

    FOR THE DRESSING:
    • ½ cup golden or black raisins or dried cranberries (I used dried unsweetened cranberries)
    • ½ red onion, finely sliced
    • ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
    • 4 teaspoons granulated sugar
    •  Kosher salt
    • 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
    • 1 tablespoon sesame oil
    FOR THE SALAD:
    • 1 ½ pounds broccoli-about 2 heads (I used frozen broccoli florets)
    • 1 apple (any variety), cored and cut into ½-inch cubes
    • 2 scallions, white and green parts, finely sliced
    •  Kosher salt and black pepper
    • ½ cup toasted sliced almonds, pepitas or sunflower seeds (I used sunflower)
    • 1 cup red or green grapes (optional), halved crosswise (IMHO, this was a great addition)

    Method:

    1. Make the dressing: Place raisins and red onion in a small bowl. Add vinegar, sugar, ¾ teaspoon salt and 2 tablespoons of water, and toss to combine. Leave to pickle for 10 minutes while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
    2. Peel the woody exterior from the broccoli stalks and discard. Chop the stalks into ½-inch pieces. Chop the broccoli florets into ½-inch pieces. The pieces do not have to be uniform or the same shape. Place all the broccoli into a large mixing bowl.
    3. After 10 minutes, finish the dressing by adding the olive oil and sesame oil to the bowl with the pickling raisins and red onion, and stir well to combine. Taste and season with more salt if needed. It should be tangy, slightly sweet and a little salty.
    4. Add the raisin-and-onion dressing to the broccoli along with the apple and scallions. Using two large spoons, toss well so that everything is well coated. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and black pepper to taste. Taste to make sure you are happy with the seasonings, adding more if needed.
    5. When you are ready to eat, add the almonds (or nuts/seeds) and grapes (if using), and gently toss. Serve at room temperature.