Provence in Austin, to the best of my abilities

The south of France is my favorite part of the world that I've never visited. When I lived in Paris, the money and the time off from work never seemed to work out in my favor, but there was this one Provencal restaurant that I loved in the 6th arrondissement. They served kirs made with rose liqueur instead of chambord, and the aromas and flavors of lavender, thyme, goat cheese, and olive oil made me forget the cold and rainy weather. Provencal cooking is much more Mediterranean than Northern French cooking, and relies more on fresh veggies and less on cream sauces and meats. The perfect compromise for a vegetarian Francophile.

photo by Andrew Lee Dolan

A couple of weeks ago I was strolling around Whole Foods (it was a Friday, so no market) with no idea of what I wanted to eat besides "seasonal." I came home with some heirloom tomatoes, a couple of eggplants, a bunch of basil, some goat cheese, and a loaf of French bread. What I came up with was this:

Provencal Gratin

2 heirloom tomatoes, thinly sliced
2 Chinese eggplants, thinly sliced (I prefer using these to the more common Italian eggplants. Their smaller size makes them so much more... buttery.)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup goat cheese
1 1/2 cups French bread, cut into cubes
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup sliced basil, reserve some for garnish

Preheat the oven to 375.
Layer the tomato and eggplant in concentric circles around a 9 inch round baking dish.
Drizzle the olive oil and sprinkle the garlic over the vegetables.
Cover and bake for 25 minutes.
Remove from the oven. Add about half the bread cubes and the basil, then bake for 10 min. longer, uncovered.
Remove it again, then add the rest of the bread crumbs and the goat cheese. Bake for another 1o min., or until the cheese browns.
Remove one last time. Once the gratin is cool, serve it topped with basil.

I found this to be a pretty complete meal in itself... we just enjoyed it with a bottle of dry rose!

First meal of spring!

It's spring here in Austin! As you can tell, this makes me inordinately happy! We've got about a month to enjoy the cool breezes and sunshine until summer muscles its way in, and I intend to enjoy every minute of it.

I also intend to document lots of it with my snazzy new D-SLR camera, which I am slowly but surely learning to manipulate. This includes awkwardly asking farmers if I can photograph their stalls. One jokingly told me he needed to check with his agent.

In addition to the beautiful greens and radishes below, this stall was selling the season's first pea shoots! According to peashoots.com, pea shoots "have been a well kept secret for many years but they are now set to take the food world by storm and revitalise salads all around the UK!" Sounds like a very can-do, won't-take-no-for-an-answer kind of vegetable. In addition, they're very high in vitamins A and C and folic acid.The pea shoots had such a wonderfully grassy, fresh, flavor. They really tasted like spring. I wasn't in a stir-fry kind of mood, which was the preparation called for by most recipes I found, so I made a barley risotto with fresh mint (also from the market) and parmesan cheese (not from the market.) The technique for making barley risotto is similar to standard risotto, but the barley has a nutty, whole-grain flavor that I thought would balance the assertive herbal taste of the greens. I'm learning a little about macrobiotics and becoming more conscious of balancing meals, both nutrition-wise and taste-wise.

Barley Risotto with Pea Shoots and Fresh Mint
6 c vegetable stock
3 tbsp olive oil, divided
1 white onion, diced
1 1/2 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp minced ginger
1 tsp lemon zest
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup dry white wine (I used sauvignon blanc)
2 c pea shoots
3 tbsp chopped fresh mint
2 tbsp butter and parmesan to taste
1. Heat the stock in a saucepan. Keep warm over low heat.
2. Saute the onion in 2 tbsp olive oil for about 4 minutes, until the onion is translucent.
3. Add the garlic and ginger, cook for 1 minute.
4. Add the barley, stirring until the grains are coated in oil.
5. Add the wine. Stir frequently until the liquid is absorbed.
6. Add a ladleful of stock. Stir often until absorbed. Repeat until all the stock has been absorbed, one ladleful at a time, about 40 minutes.
7. When the barley is almost done, cook the pea shoots in 1 tbsp olive oil until just wilted, about 3 minutes.
8. Mix pea shoots, lemon juice, mint, butter, lemon zest, and parmesan into risotto.

And there's our meal! Andy made a delicious salad of sunflower sprouts, red pepper, and walnut to accompany the risotto. We ate Jesse's rhubarb crumble for dessert, which was so good we forgot to take a picture!

A 30 minute dinner

Quick: it's 6 p.m. You've just finished a 5 mile run. You're starving, with mostly odds and ends in the fridge. What do you do?
Go to Amy's and eat a sundae for dinner!
Just kidding on that one, but it's happened before, more than I care to admit. Ice cream has calcium! It's healthy!

No, in all seriousness I put together this mint-pecan pesto over broiled tofu and Israeli couscous. Total experiment, but it worked.
Broiled tofu is pretty easy. I recommend marinating it, but I didn't have time, so I just brushed it with olive oil and broiled it for 10 minutes on each side.
For the pesto, I had some leftover mint from last week's radish, blood orange, and mint salad, and these wonderful local pecans that I bought from a super-friendly farmer at the market a few weeks ago. I've been putting them with brown sugar and raisins in oatmeal:

Mint and pecan pesto (makes about 1/2 cup, doubles easily)

1 cup fresh mint leaves, packed
1/3 cup pecans
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
2 cloves garlic

It's easy. Mix it all up in your handy food processor. You don't even have to chop anything.

Israeli couscous with peas

1 cup Israeli couscous
1 cup peas (frozen, cooked according to package instructions)
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp ginger
salt and pepper to taste

Boil 1/4 cup water, add couscous. Cook for about 8 minutes, until all water is absorbed, over medium heat.
Mix in peas, lemon, ginger. Serve under broiled tofu with mint-pecan pesto.

There you go, a healthy weeknight dinner in less than than 30 minutes. Almost as good as an ice cream sundae.

Crummy pic, I know. I had take a really nice one, and then genius that I am deleted it accidentally from my camera.

And now, I'm off to some Brazilian-themed dance party on the east side. Don't really know how to dress for this (I'm low on feather headdresses and spangled bras) so I'm wearing blue shimmery eyeshadow and basically all the jewelry I own.