ribollita salad

real talk (does anyone say that anymore?): i love kale. i will refrain from going on and on with all the reasons i adore it so, and just state finally that it is my favorite green vegetable on this planet. everything you need to know about why kale is king veg are clearly illustrated here. its emerald frills are welcome in every savory dish i can imagine, but i think i like it best in a pure state: sauteed with garlic and lemon, or better yet - raw in a salad. yes, raw! when its inside-scrubbing powers are at their most potent.

to paraphrase my friend allison,
"even being in the same room as kale makes you healthier"

last thursday sister lauren and our pal annabell came over for dinner. before they arrived i started prepping a salad whose concept had occurred to me earlier while i was browsing this awesome food blog. one of the featured recipes on that site was for ribollita, a hearty and simple tuscan peasant soup. i ate ribollita constantly awhile back, when i worked for an italian cafe that makes consistently top notch stuff, including killer soups. you probably already know that white beans and kale are best friend ingredients, but they meld extra well together against the tomato broth-y backdrop in ribollita. i scanned the Food52 recipe and excitedly realized that all the necessary elements were already waiting in the fridge at home! but thursday was one of those spring preview days: warm and cheery and decidedly not a soup day. and then a little idea bubbled up from my cooking-brain, and there it was: ribollita salad!

the ingredients await their fate

note- when i make this salad again i will do one of a few things to improve it:
1. make the salad a full 24 hours in advance to let the marinating powers really take over.
and/or
2. seek out younger, more tender kale. 2 bunches of farmer's market lacinato kale in the summer will be just the ticket.
and/or
3. toss the kale with still-hot vegetable broth to wilt it ever so slightly (this is reflected in the recipe below).
as it was, the kale in this salad was still very raw by the time it was served, and kind of intense in texture. for true kale-o-philes such as ourselves it wasn't a big deal, but for the uninitiated, it might be a less pleasant chewing experience.

but otherwise, the end product was indeed a cold and crunchy version of the soup, just as i'd envisioned. this also made a monster batch, but was perfect for lunch for the next few days, as the dressing dutifully worked its magic on the tougher bits.

Ribollita Salad
~takes about 30 minutes, plus marinating time~
~serves 4-6, or lunch for days~

ingredients:
1 large bunch of kale, cut off the rib and torn or cut into bite sized pieces/ribbons
2 tomatoes
2 stalks of celery
2 carrots
2 shallots
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 15 ounce can of white beans, drained and rinsed
4 tablespoons vegetable broth, warmed
1 tablespoon tomato paste, tomato juice, or the watery tomato stuff from canned tomatoes
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
the juice of 1/2 a lemon
salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and dried italian seasoning to taste
1/2 cup homemade breadcrumbs (do not use pre-made here! too sandy, blech)
parmesan reggiano (optional)

- put the prepped kale in a large salad bowl.

- heat up the veg broth, either in the microwave or on the stove top. while it's still hot, whisk in the garlic, tomato paste, vinegar, and lemon juice. add the olive oil in a slow, steady stream, whisking to emulsify best you can. season with salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and oregano/basil/marjoram. taste to adjust. if the dressing has cooled by this point, re-heat gently til medium warm.

- toss the kale with the dressing, making sure all the leaves are coated. cover with a lid or towel and set to the side. you want this to marinate for at least 30 minutes before eating. if you're making something else for lunch or dinner as well, now is a good time to start working on that.

- chop up the rest of the vegetables for the salad. if you want to get fancy and shred the carrots, or soak the shallots in cold water for a few minutes to tame their bite, go for it.

- prep the breadcrumbs. if you're making your own from a heel of stale baguette (bravo!), rub the bread with the cut edge of a garlic clove, then blast apart in the food processor. toast gently in the toaster oven or in a pan, til golden and fragrant.

- taste the marinated kale. add a splash more vinegar, or more s&p, or another secret weapon (caper juice? dry vermouth?) if you desire a bolder flavor. otherwise, toss in the rest of the vegetables and the beans. before serving, dump the breadcrumbs on top. for the dairy eaters, some shaved parm is called for here.


a craft beer in a frosty can is rarely out of order with dinner, and the citrusy crispness of the avery white rascal was a fine companion beverage to the kale salad, the roasted brussels with tempeh bacon (team Lauren), and red rice and root vegetables (team Annabell) that made up the vegan feast that we three sat down to. you know, if i'd been cooking and eating alone (as happens a bit more often now), i probably would have called the salad dinner and left it at that. but working in the kitchen alongside two other creative, confident, considerate cooks meant that while i was making my dish, other delicious things were simultaneously just happening. annabell even did the dishes! and for dessert, we watched pop videos on youtube...

love,
emily

motto: friendship

lauren, halimah and i recently got back from a westerly sojourn to visit our dearest friend mary in houston,tx where she is studying architecture at rice university. besides little overnight trips here and there, this was my first real experience with a ladies only vacation. and let me tell you - it was amazing! we bonded deeply over serious confessions, embarrassing stories, nonsense jokes and sex talk. we stayed up late, whispered once the lights were out, slept in daily, traded accessories, shooed off male suitors in bars, and drove around listening to oldies.

but, perhaps most importantly, we ate and drank our asses off. from the high brow to the low brow, we left no culinary stone unturned. during a week when most americans are cursing themselves for their holiday indulgences, and swearing to do better this time around, our appetites took houston by storm. we scarfed trashy tex mex at chuy's, gorgeous waffles at baby barnaby's, light-as-a-feather gourmet pizzas at dolce vita, and simply perfect avocado tacos from the truck adjacent to possibly the best dive bar that side of the mississippi, the west alabama ice house.

my favorite meals, though, were the ones we prepared for ourselves in mary's tiny, charming kitchen. except for sunday brunch, we made breakfast each morning, small, balanced little meals, much like the ones i make at home before work. toast, coffee, yogurt, fruit.

there were a few lovely home cooked dinners, as well, usually preceded by a hasty trip to the nearby h-e-b for ingredients and beer. buying a 12-pack of cheap craft beer in a grocery store is such a succinct pleasure for a pennsylvanian. back at home base, we'd share the prep work with jangly tunes from the college radio station as our soundtrack. the fragrance from the simmering pot filled the small apartment, and a voice from the couch would pipe up, "what smells so good?" while i whipped up the salad dressing, mary would spread out her prized vintage place mats, and uncork the wine. finally, we would all sit down together, a tender ritual that recalled the glory days when we all lived under one roof in west philadelphia.

my favorite dinner was on saturday night. at that point, we'd been in houston for a few days and had all fallen into an easy groove with one another. there were still a few days standing between us and our departure, and if i stretched my imagination a bit, i could pretend that we'd never have to say goodbye. earlier that day, we drove out to galveston to rest our eyes on the gulf of mexico and explore the meager town. standing with my bare toes in the sand in early january, the wind whipping through the beleaguered palm trees, felt cinematic and intense.

as we returned to houston, restless from the sluggish highway traffic, we pulled off for late afternoon milkshakes from a charming diner. an hour later, overloaded on sugar and a bit regretful for it, we were all craving something inoffensive and clean for our pummeled palates. mary, who somehow always knows what's right for every occasion, suggested a fennel-studded tomato soup recipe from a homemade life, the beautiful memoir and cookbook from one of our favorite bloggers, molly wizenberg. lauren gifted me this book for christmas and i'd devoured nearly all of it on the plane ride from philly to houston just days before, so it seemed extra fitting. single handedly and with the grace of a true cook, mary put together the most splendid meal i've had in ages.

alongside the tomato fennel soup was a salad of lightly dressed bitter greens with apples and shaved aged provolone, a hunk of 3-seeded bread, and roasted cauliflower with a pungent, citrusy sauce. it was flawless. after the plates were cleared and the dishes done, we played rounds and rounds of our favorite card game, which became increasingly rowdy with each beer we drank. at some hazier point in the night, we popped a bottle of prossecco, and toasted to our love, which is especially appropriate in texas, where the state motto is "friendship."

Tomato Soup with 2 Fennels

from "A Homemade Life," by Molly Wizenberg

~serves 4-6 (generous helpings)~

~takes about 40 minutes~

ingredients:

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 yellow onion, thinly sliced

2 medium fennel bulbs, trimmed and thinly sliced (save some of the fronds for garnish)

4-5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 teaspoon fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp dried thyme

2 28 ounce cans whole or chopped tomatoes

water

3/4 teaspoon salt

sugar, to taste

pepper and vinegar, to taste

- in a dutch oven or soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. add the chopped onions and fennel, and sautee for 5 minutes.

- add the garlic, thyme and fennel seeds. cook, stirring occasionally, for another 5-8 minutes.

- if using whole canned tomatoes, crush them in a food processor, with your hands, or however else you'd like. if using pre-crushed, no need to crush further. in any case, add the tomatoes and their juices to the pot and stir everything together.

- fill one of the now empty tomato cans with water and add to the mixture.

- turn the heat down, and let the soup gently simmer, uncovered, for 40-45 minutes.

- when the fennel is very tender, and the tomatoes have reduced to make the soup taste full-bodied, it's done! add salt and pepper to taste. if the soup is too acidic for you, a pinch of sugar will mellow it out. if you want a little more bite, add a small splash of red wine vinegar.

- ladle into soup bowls, and top with a pinch of fennel fronds, and a dollop of yogurt or sour cream (optional, of course!).

- serve, very hot, preferably to a table of your best friends.

love,

emily

mind your b's and q's

we don't need to extol the joys and virtues of outdoor grilling to you all - you probably rocked the coals all summer long! well, to celebrate our recent move as well as the summer's end (oh, and what a summer it was), ryan and i threw a little bbq in our new backyard last weekend! our new place is small, so we couldn't host the rager of years past, but i still think it turned out pretty grand.

the best part? a few hours before the bbq was slated to start, a handful of friends (lauren, michael, halimah and stina) presented us with a wedding/housewarming gift that made our jaws drop: a brand new gas grill! what a generous, thoughtful and rad gift that truly will keep on giving. ryan and michael set it up right then and there, and we proceeded to use it all though the night! it was such a luxury to be able to fire it up for the 2nd and 3rd waves of guests, or when people wanted midnight snacks. that kind of spontaneity just isn't possible with the charcoal grill.

as for the food, we wisely kept it pretty simple: some chips, a few salads (green salad, pasta salad and a guest vegan potato salad from our brother steven!), and grillables. chicken and steak for the meat eaters, and homemade vegan sausages and bbq'd tofu for the vegetarians, featuring BBQ sauce that ryan whipped up from scratch. when that dude's southern roots shine through, they really shine! the sauce was killer, the beers were cold, the mood was high. we ate, drank, told jokes, watched baseball, played cards, and no doubt kept our neighbors up until saturday turned into sunday and we all fell into our beds.


dang, just look at those sexy grill marks! anyway, it really is time to let the summer go, isn't it? the autumn is here, so let's embrace it! unpack your leggings and sweaters, and expect some cozy recipes to come....

love,
emily

a la campagne

summer fact:

every girl needs to get out of the city once in awhile. i'm not normally a big complainer, but the humidity, the crowds, the noise, the bummer air quality - you know, they can really get to ya. every foray out of the house is cause for a change of t-shirt. a quick game of tennis and you need to drink a gallon and a half of water. august rolls around and it's time to scoot. even a few days can provide weeks of relief.

so a few fridays ago, lauren, halimah and i packed up the car with groceries, beers, bathing suits (and stripe-y, cotton-y vacay clothes) and all trekked out to our aunt and uncle's charming cabin in rhinebeck, new york. the drive was lovely, winding through verdant back roads and past farmland and rickety general stores that sell pizza and ice cream. a lovelier feeling can not be found than cruising across state lines on a sunny friday afternoon (not at work!), windows down, easy conversation and the laughter of your friends wafting on the breeze. we arrived around 3PM, settled in, and took a quick dip in the lake. the city grime just melted away.

friday night we cooked a light but hearty meal of pasta w/ sauteed veggies and a generous handful of fresh mozzarella, fresh corn, and a big, green salad. a dozen beers and a raucous game of "would you rather?" it was time for bed. to the tune of crickets and nothing else, we all drifted off to sleep.

on saturday, we drove into the town of rhinebeck, an adorable (too adorable, maybe?) town with all the things you'd expect from a little enclave where new yorker city folk frolic throughout the weekends and summers. these types of environments can be a bit saccharine sometimes, especially in contrast with from whence you came. but our moods were light in the crystalline sunshine, and we set off in search of interesting finds. first we spent a good solid hour in an antique store, where amongst amazing but way expensive furniture, random objects and framed art i found and bought this kick ass jacket with puffy sleeves and metallic plaid:

nestled amongst one overpriced boutique and lame gallery after another, one other really awesome store in rhinebeck was a small market called grand cru. this store carried literally 4 kinds of things: craft beers, artisinal cheeses, random sweets and pickles - what else do you need? i think the store is relatively new, and seemed a little empty, but otherwise it was pretty damn cute.

they carried Monk's Beer. woot!

the sweet country air and our shopping ventures worked up our appetites. the ladies and i lunched (it's ok to use silly verbs like "lunched" when on vacation) at the gorgeous and well respected terrapin. halimah ordered a fried cod sandwich, and sissy and i went halvsies on a farmer's market salad, a cup of corn soup and a plate of nachos.

sweet corn, fingerling potatoes, peas, pattypan squash, heirloom tomatoes, and ricotta

chilled corn soup (coconutty and clean) w/ simple nachos

on the way back to the car, we stopped for ice cream cones, and the results were too decadent to photograph. not really, but we did have to walk it off for a few minutes before the sugar buzzed car ride home. more rowboating and swimming and languishing in the hazy afternoon.

a mixed veggie grill was served up for dinner, and then we headed outside to build a fire. with halimah's direction, we built actually quite a nice fire, and talked around it for awhile. we even sang. we sang! a sure sign that it's about time to head back to the city.

a quick sunday morning breakfast was followed by a vigorous cleaning session. magazines were placed back into neat stacks, records returned to smooth sleeves. we set out on the road around noon, headed toward new jersey. we had one more stop to make before settling back at home - 3rd annual making time pool party! a batty idea to throw that ruckus on our relaxing weekend, perhaps (and the day was gray and drizzly), but we had an awesome time nonetheless. my camera was out of batteries by then, and i got chatty and distracted anyway, so i didn't take any photos.

i slept so hard that night and woke on monday morning, a little tanner, somehow a little tired-er, and yet still refreshed. the edges of the city were softer, and i felt ready for the weeks, and the months ahead.

love,

emily

saint francis' land of the oaks

big bikes for big trips! ryan and i are in california right now, visiting our BFFs john & mary, who currently live in the mostest adorable apartment in oakland.

we arrived late on thursday night after a 10+ hour day of traveling (don't even want to discuss the food eaten along the way, including a hilariously awful lunch in the detroit airport at a hockey themed bar called slapshotz). mary picked us up in their trusty old volvo, and spirited us to their house, where john was waiting with a hearty seitan stew and much needed beers. we enjoyed each others' company for a few hours and then finally got horizontal and passed out.

on friday, we woke around 10, and went out to coffee at a great little place on telegraph called mama buzz. mary was at work, so it was just john, ry, and me. so some strong-ass coffee and bagels with hummus enjoyed in an outdoor courtyard got things started off right. i forgot how much outdoor eating and drinking space there is in california, but when i'm here, i really appreciate it. also, the bay area weather, though reportedly colder than usual, has been sunny, clear and damn near perfect (especially compared with the dreary, chilly philadelphia we left on thursday morning).

we cruised down telegraph toward the BART station, feelin fine.

trained into san francisco, and kicked it around the mission. what better is there to do in SF on a gorgeous friday afternoon? 22 oz bottles of craft beer purchased in a creaky deli, on our way to dolores park. i rocked a boonts, ry got a lagunitas IPA, and john got a racer 5. commence the afternoon tipsies.

don't you love dolores park? i really do, and i come here every time i'm in san francisco. dogs, hippes, super cute dudes and ladies, everyone's drinking and probably smoking, too. paradise.

after the creeping afternoon shadows chased us out by cold, we wandered back into the neighborhood and briefly popped into a thrift store (i bought a fantastic gary numan & the tubeway army record). then, we stumbled across this alley full of beautiful murals:

our bagels long forgotten, we stopped for burritos at taqueria cancun, and spent the next few hours visiting a series of great bars, happily killing time, waiting for mary to finish with her 6 o'clock soccer game. first to zeitgeist, then to the elbo room, then to shotwells where we finally met up with mary and bert.

we were trying to get into a new, much lauded artisinal pizza place called flour + water, but it was taking forever. it seemed like the restaurant's priority was seating yuppies on spendy dates, and not our motley 5-top, so we decided to skip it. while we were waiting for another 1/2 hour to get seated at weird fish, we went to a raging dive bar - the uptown - to jam PBRs, all the day's booze finally sinking in...

back at weird fish, packed in at a cozy table, we ordered much needed plates of wonderfully fried vegan eats: seitan "fish" and chips, a pitcher of anchor steam...

we sat there for awhile, chatting non-stop with our beloved friends, loving every second of this california trip. trying not to succumb to the ever-present thoughts of "why don't we live here?" and just enjoying the present moment, so far far away from home...

more soon!!

love,

emily

it's my birthday and i'll blog if i want to

ok, so let's be clear here. my birthday, for me, is not about the presents, the "loot" or the giftcards. my birthday is about hosting some sort of event where i can cook a lot of (probably too much) food, get all stressed out the day before, have everything be fine, all the food get eaten, and then get drunk.

yesterday's memorial day/b-day bbq/potluck/kegger proved to be rather foodielicious as i made the following:

+chorizo sausages from vegan brunch (by way of julie hasson)
+black bean burgers from veganomicon
+seitan with backyard bbq sauce from veganomicon
+jello shots with vegan jello available at whole foods for $1.29 a box. who knew?!
+vegan coffee ice cream served a la mode atop the best damn vegan brownies ever, all from a vegan ice cream paradise, a newly discovered vegan ice cream recipe blog
--i'm going to be honest, because we're not perfect here at vegan royale, and say that my vegan ice cream attempts were not so successful. i believe some steps were, ahem, mis-executed, and we got more of a coffee ice cream slushy than actually ice cream. i'm going to give it another go while the ice cream maker is in our possession. (props to elisha for letting us borrow this awesome appliance!)

in addition, potluckers brought: ryan's famous potato salad with pickled onions and cucumber, more black bean burgers and brownies (i'm ok with repeats!), corn, TONS of grillables - dogs, burgers, etc. (the gracious hosts, i.e. my housemates and i even let some of our friends grill bbq chicken, because we're not fascist vegans. however, the grill was thoroughly scraped clean before more vegan goodness went back on), SEVEN LAYER DIP (can i name all seven? refried beans, tofu sour cream, guacamole, corn, fresh salsa, cilantro - hint, it's not actually seven layers, the maker tells me), fresh guacamole, more beer and watermelon!

some shots of the table and its wondrous offerings:

hammy's 7 layer dip


seitan skewers

ry's potato salad

karina's guac

the table!

i think i would call it "a successful barbeque". the keg was finished, the food was demolished (i didn't even get a bbq seitan skewer! luckily though, i snagged a snausage and a black bean burger before those went). only one person got trapped in the downstairs bathroom with the broken doorknob, the house wasn't trashed, everyone left by midnight and the housies and i had a mini dance party and then watched super troopers. NOT TOO SHABBY!

plus, ok, i did get some sweet presents:

cutie pie kitchen timer
vegan cupcakes and a vegan cake from my coworkers!:

a-dang-dorable green bean button and a shirt with patch:

a future dinner date with/from my sis (should we go here, here or here?)
border's giftcards! who doesn't love buying books?
a batch of banana-chocolate chip cupcakes with peanut butter icing:


can't wait to do it all again next year!

love,
lauren