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Food Lover’s Cleanse Day 6

Day 6 of the Food Lover’s Cleanse started out in a very familiar way – a bowl of oatmeal (soaked with water and whey) topped with fruit. I replaced the banana with organic blueberries and raspberries. I added cinnamon but forgot to add the nuts.  Oh well.

Lunch was very interesting – I had no leftovers, which was too bad, so I bought lunch out (at a place I regularly go).  The food was completely unremarkable and frankly, tasted a little gross.  I’m not going to say what I ate or where I bought it, it was so meh.

Dinner was a different story altogether. It featured Itamar’s Bulgur Pilaf, oven-roasted broccoli, and 2 fried eggs in grass-fed butter. I also added a mâche salad with the shallot dressing. So delicious! The pilaf comes from Yotam Ottolenghi again, and was simply fantastic. It was very easy to put together, and by soaking the bulgur all day in water and raw apple cider vinegar, that greatly sped up the most substantial step. Plus, it makes wheat more digestible. I was thrilled to be able to use the red peppers from the CSA that I froze this summer, and the coriander seeds I saved from the cilantro I grew this summer. Loved the pink peppercorns in it as well – just so fun!

Originally, I was to include cauliflower with the roasted broccoli, but I just haven’t been feeling the cauliflower lately. I do love broccoli, and had not roasted it before, and I loved the outcome! It really transforms the broccoli. I tossed the florets with both olive oil and a little walnut oil (broccoli and walnuts go well together, so I thought, why not?!), a little kosher salt, then sprinkled on a bit of fleur de sel after they came out of the oven.

Poached eggs were on the original menu, and while I love poached eggs, I really wanted to up the fat content of this meal, so I fried (sunny-side up) two pastured eggs in grass-fed butter. NOM. So good.

The mâche salad with shallot vinaigrette rounded off the meal, and was simple and fantastic.

I loved how quick this meal came together. I started at about 6pm, and sat down to eat at 6:40pm. This is a meal worth repeating, as it is both highly delicious with the bonus of being relatively quick to prepare.

And good thing that it was quick, as I had to scoot out of there to attend a meetup with the Queens Community Kitchen folks for a viewing of Food, Inc.  I’ve seen this movie before, but I thought it would be a good opportunity to be reminded of that which is discussed within.  Some of the images are really hard to watch, but seeing such things just reinforces my desire to continue buying as much food as I can from my CSA, buying club, and the greenmarkets.

It was a really nice group of folks and I look forward to more QCP meetups this year.

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Spinach by Yotam Ottolenghi

ottolenghi spinach

I first came across the name “Ottolenghi” on the 101 Cookbooks site, where Heidi featured a recipe from Ottolenghi: The Cookbook.  The recipe consists primarily of Bhutanese red rice and quinoa, along with aromatics, pistachios, dried apricots, and arugula.  I remember making and really enjoying this dish, especially entranced with the red rice, which was unusual to me but so delicious.  FYI, “Ottolenghi” is the last name of Yotam Ottolenghi, who with Sami Tamimi are behind Ottolenghi, a very popular food shop and catering company in London, UK.

Last month, I discovered another Ottolenghi recipe that looked fantastic.  It’s very simple – spinach, pine nuts, ricotta, and some aromatics and spices.  I was particularly intrigued by the use of sumac, which I’ve only come across in middle eastern restaurants here in town (most notably at Kabab Cafe).

Sumac spice, not to be confused with the more toxic sumac like poison ivy, is a dark red spice derived from a wild bush in the Mediterranean.  The spice has as tart, lemony flavor.  It’s really delicious, and since I have so much of it left over, I look forward to trying other dishes that require it.

So, this lovely spinach dish.  I thought it was very good, really tasty, and easy to make; and I’d make it again in an instant.  I loved the use of fresh, mild cheese alongside the tart sumac, plus the cheese and nuts boost the protein content. I was happy to be able to take advantage of buying fresh, locally made ricotta at my neighborhood salumeria.  This cheese is so fresh and clean tasting, it’s a joy to use.  This dish is also good the next day.

You can find the recipe for Spinach with Sumac, Pine Nuts, and Fresh Cheese over on Design Sponge.