chard stems, parsley & arugula salad-smoked whitefish, beets & almonds

At least global warming gets us outside to play this winter. otherwise we'd be stuck inside without food adventures to new places. Julian and I wanted to get inspired and went to the Fat Radish for some slooow cooking. Possibly the best, and prettiest chicken pot pie I think I've ever eaten. dijon never tasted like such a good [main] ingredient.

Fat Radish

chicken pot pie

Next we took the L to the Morgan Ave stop to Bushwick to find a place called Roberta's which is like a hideout in the woods version of Freemans. Total Brooklyn vibe and you really get to revel in the coolness. or warmness. you can tell in the warmer months this place gets exciting with a nice sized roof garden that supplies the restaurant which specializes in beer and brick oven pizza. But now in Feb, each room, not counting heritage radio station which uses their glass room to broadcast during service, is decorated with old furnaces giving it that lodge feel that keeps spilling into new rooms. Coffee's up front at the cafe if you want that. Or the Tikki, an bar army tent out back, for a change of pace.

Bushwick

Roberta's 

heritage radio in the background

I learned about liquid chlorophyl through Julian who started taking it to clear away his acne. its LIST of benefits makes it definitely worth looking up. It boosts red blood cells, it cleans your stomach and acts as a deodorizer for the body. Julian uses the Bernard Jensen brand Chlorophyl with mint and adds 1 TBSP to a cup of water and the juice of half a lime. you can also just use straight up as a mouth wash. I made a glass and put it up to the light and limes acidity made a cool little picture with Frida.

since I started pickling last week theres one too many rice vinegar bottles sitting around the apt. not counting the 8 bottles of Chef Jonathan Sawyers homemade vinegars I was sent home with. And Ive been also trying to get a version of a very good beans and greens recipe down. Swiss chard or dandelion greens sautéed with some beans. canellini beans are always a good choice as they get creamy when they get soft. The vinaigrette i made is a simple Asian combo. rice vinegar, honey [ forest honey ] and a dash of regular or toasted sesame oil. that combined with my pickled ingredients like my beets that I can cut into small moons makes for a perfect opportunity for a nice winter salad.



Best Winter Salad
whitefish, beets, feta, marcona almonds with asian vinagraitte. This is a leftover salad. If you don't have beet and chard get creative and trust yourself with anything laying around your fridge. kidneys, lentils, celery ends, a sliced up hard boiled egg, pomegranate seeds, nuts. whatever suits your style.

Roasted beets
preheat your oven to 400.  toss 3 whole, preferably small (tangerine sized) scrubbed beats in tinfoil big enough to be able to fold beets into like an envelope. season with a dash of olive oil and any vinegar. season with salt & pepper, wrap up and toss on the top rack of the oven for an hour. when done they should be able to easily stick a fork inside. give them a toss and let cool. peel them. they should come off easy. slice and quarter beets and quarter again until you have mini half moons. it makes a nice shape for a salad. or a pickle. or save for snacking.

Red Chard and Cannellini Beans. Sambal and red vinegar

swiss chard
any color of chard is slightly bitter and varies slightly in taste depending on the variety.
I cooked with the red chard but didn't use my stalk which is just fine to do. The stalk is just as tasty and a little sweeter so save them if you don't use. heat up a nonstick pan. just cut them up into rough inch sized pieces and toss in the pan with a glug of olive oil (any light oil works). season with salt and pepper while tossing around and getting it color for about 5 minutes. for the last 30 seconds, toss in a few dashes of rice vinegar which will caramelize it nicely. season to taste and save for the salad

Rice Wine Vinaigrette
in a small mixing bowl combine 1 T rice vinegar, 1 T sesame oil, 1 t honey and whisk together.

Into the bowl toss beets, a handful of roughly chopped marcona almonds, and a handful of canned and drained cannelloni beans. add a few handfuls of washed and dried baby arugula, a few tears of washed flat parsley and the warm chard. I had some leftover smoked whitefish salad and crumbled some feta overtop and tossed it in together. In nyc you can get a good whitefish salad at the lobster place in Chelsea Market. It gives a great smokiness to the salad. tuck in and enjoy