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large patches of wild miner's lettuce

make buttery, tender, little salads

(rainy day harvest & conversation with deer)

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Soba Noodles with Bok Choy & Ginger

It's overcast and cold out today. Mom was baking her famous cookies for my brother's upcoming art show in Santa Barbara, and I got sucked into major pantry organization; consolidating bulk teas and grains and baking stuff, throwing old things out, and putting new things in jars. We were dancing to this and were both in the mood for something warm and delicious for lunch. I put together this simple pasta dish with buckwheat soba noodles, sprouted tofu, and bok choy.

Roughly chop 1/2 yellow onion. In a medium sized pot, heat 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp curry powder, 1 Tbsp cumin, and 1/2 tsp ground ginger with 2 Tbsp sesame oil. After 1-2 minutes, add chopped onion. Turn heat to low and cover, remembering to stir occasionally. In a smaller pot, boil water for noodles. While onions are slowly cooking and water is heating, cut 1/2 package firm sprouted tofu into small cubes, and roughly chop 1-2 baby bok choy. Set aside. In small mixing bowl, combine 1 heaping tablespoon white miso paste, 2 cloves minced garlic, 1 Tbsp brown rice vinegar, 1 Tbsp brown sugar, 2 Tbsp mirin (rice cooking wine), 1-2 Tbsp minced fresh ginger (depending on how spicy you like it), 1 Tbsp sesame oil, and 1 tsp soy sauce. When water is boiling, add 1 bundle (about 3.5 oz) soba noodles. Add tofu and bok choy to onion pot, give a good stir, and turn up the heat to med-high, leaving uncovered. When noodles are cooked through, strain and transfer them to vegetable pot, along with sauce mixture. Cook for another minute or two (until excess liquid evaporates and ingredients come together), then remove from heat and serve. Garnish with chopped toasted peanuts (I used pinenuts since I had no peanuts on hand and they were great), and/or chopped green onions. Serves 2.

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new beaded necklaces

(brass, bone, glass, leather)

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a pair of horses appeared out of nowhere

(our neighbors don't even have horses)

silhouettes camouflaged

against the night sky

appropriately, later that night

he drew the Horse card

from the deck

i stopped running

to collect fifty grey feathers;

they were scattered in piles

in the middle of the trail

some had blown into the grass.

the sun was quickly disappearing,

these were its parting gift

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((( ! )))

new website for my artwork

allisonriegel.com

(and a new moon)

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a common scene

 these days

the communal cutting board

i'd like to do a time lapse video

of its constant evolution

beauty in haphazard configurations

ps. on repeat

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leather bracelet

for Donald

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happy day of

l o v e

((( exude it give it spread it welcome it )))

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Buckwheat German Pancake

(adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

Five or six years ago, German pancakes used to be an almost weekly staple in my breakfast routine. It's been awhile since the last time I've watched one magically puff up in the oven. But going along with the buckwheat theme, here is my new favorite version.

3 tablespoons buckwheat flour
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon table or fine sea salt
1-2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
1-2 teaspoons ground cardamom
1/2 cup whole milk
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
 

Heat oven to 400F. Whisk the flours, sugar, salt, milk and eggs together in a medium bowl. Melt butter in a 12-inch cast skillet, preferably cast iron but any heavy ovenproof skillet should work. Roll the butter around a bit so it goes up the sides. Pour in the batter and transfer skillet to the oven. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes, until the pancake browns lightly at the edges and rumpled. Cut into wedges and serve immediately. You can add whatever you like to the top. (Today I topped with Straus plain yogurt, bananas, blueberries, and chopped raw almonds mixed with lemon zest and maple syrup.)

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Jerusalem Artichoke Soup with Cumin-Orange Walnuts

Made this one up. I suppose it's fitting to make a dish with Jerusalem artichokes after my recent time spent in the beautiful ancient city. I love love the flavor of these delicious tubers.

Chop 8 large (16 small) Jerusalem artichokes (aka sunchokes) and 6 medium fingerling potatoes into fairly uniform-sized pieces (about 1/2" thick). Roughly chop one onion and mince 3 cloves garlic. Add 2 tsp each of: ground cumin, coriander & nutmeg to a large pot. Toast spices on medium for a few minutes. Add a few tablespoons olive oil and onion. Cover and cook on low-med heat for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add sunchokes, potatoes, and garlic; stir & cook for 5 minutes. Add chicken stock to just above the level of the vegetables. Bring to a boil and then reduce to low heat. Cover pot and simmer for about 30 minutes, until potatoes and sunchokes are tender. Remove from heat. In batches, transfer mixture to a blender and puree everything until smooth. Add pureed soup back to pot, keep on low heat. Add salt to taste and 3 leaves chopped kale or chard (optional). In small skillet, lightly toast 1/2 c chopped walnuts with 1 tsp honey, 1 tsp olive oil, & 1/2 tsp ground cumin. Transfer to small bowl and toss with the zest of one medium orange. Garnish soup with walnut-orange zest mixture.

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Gnocchi with Shiitakes, Kale & Parmigiano

Gnocchi is one of my favorite things to eat and it is surprisingly easy to make by hand. The only thing that takes a long time is baking the potatoes. I like to bake them ahead of time to have on hand for later that evening or the following day. 

 

For gnocchi: Bake 2 medium sized russet potatoes in foil for about an hour at 400F. Once cool, remove potato flesh from skins and place in large bowl. Using the tines of a fork, finely mash potatoes. Add about 2 tsp salt, 2 tsp fresh cracked black pepper and 1 Tbsp ground nutmeg. In a small bowl, beat one egg. Add to potato bowl and incorporate. Add 3/4-1 c all-purpose flour and gently incorporate using your hands until dough comes together. Dough should remain fluffy/pillowy. Turn dough onto flat surface & separate into quarters. Roll dough into long rolls about one inch in diameter. Working from one end to the other, chop 1/2" pieces to form individual gnocchi. (It's optional to roll each dumpling over the tines of a fork to create decorative ridges.) Scatter gnocchi evenly on baking sheet until ready to cook.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil (for the gnocchi). Chop one onion and add to a second large pot with 2 Tbsp olive oil. Cook onions, covered, on low heat for about 10 minutes. In the meantime, slice about 2 1/2 c shiitake mushrooms, de-stem & chop 3 large leaves of kale, and mince 3 cloves of garlic. Once onions have slightly caramelized, add mushrooms & garlic. Turn up heat to medium-high. Cook with lid off, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms cook down a bit. Add kale to pot. Deglaze with a splash of sherry. Add salt to taste, a dash of champagne vinegar and about 1/4 c pinenuts. Remove from heat. Once pot of water is ready, add gnocchi (in 2-3 batches) to water. Gnocchi will float to surface of water when done cooking, so using a slotted spoon, gradually remove gnocchi from water and spoon directly into vegetable pot. Repeat until all gnocchi is cooked. Toss gnocchi with mushroom mixture & add a generous drizzle of olive oil. Serve with freshly grated parmigiano reggiano.

 

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Romanesco with Purple Kale & Capers

This romanesco at Whole Foods was so gorgeous, I couldn't resist! Made this dish up to serve as an accompaniment to baked salmon. The only thing I could have added (didn't have on hand) was some plumped golden raisins.

Break apart one large head romanesco into small florets. Remove ribs from 4 kale leaves, and roughly chop kale. Chop one yellow onion. Put about 2 tsp dried chili flake in pot along with 2 Tbsp olive oil. Toast for 2 minutes, then add chopped onion. Cover pot with lid and allow onions to caramelize on low heat for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add romanesco and about 1/2 c water, replace lid and cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes. Continue to cook (add a little more water if necessary to create steam) until romanesco is tender but still has slight crunchy bite. Add 2 Tbsp capers, 2 cloves minced garlic and chopped kale, cook a few more minutes, until kale is wilted. Deglaze pan with a drizzle of champagne vinegar. Remove from heat & finish with zest of one lemon, juice of 1/2 lemon, 1/4 c raw pinenuts, and salt to taste.