Author Archive for ellen

Shrimp Tikka Masala

shrimptikkamasala

This is a repeat, but it’s been a while.  The sauce is from scratch, consisting of tomatoes, thick yogurt, coconut milk, lots of spices, cilantro, onions, scallions, garlic, and lemon juice.  It’s an old standby in our house – easy and delicious.

Served with brown basmati rice and naan.

Green City Market Day

fernfrittata

So I think that, once a week, I’m going to try to make the entire lunch with ingredients sourced from the market.  Today, I came up with the idea of frittata and salad – pretty simple.  I found some wild fern shoots on my way out of the market today and decided to use those, along with crimini mushrooms, green garlic, free-range eggs,  and a Wisconsin farmstead cheese in the frittata.  A few gorgeous heads of bronze leaf lettuce dressed with a simple dijon vinaigrette and ciabatta loaves rounded out the meal.

The fern shoots were deliciously reminiscent of asparagus when simply sauteed with the green garlic.  And the cheese, from Saxon creamery, was delicious – I’ll be returning to that.  One observation that John and I shared – the eggs were really “eggy”.  Which they should be, of course.  Have our tastes been so altered by the flavor of supermarket eggs that the true flavor of fresh eggs overwhelms somewhat?  Should the egg flavor be more of what we’re used to – a background note, almost more of a flavorless binder?  What do you think?

All in all, I hope this will be a fun experiment this summer.  Great for us to support the market and hopefully, we will all enjoy…

Chicken Pesto Salad with Fingerling Potatoes

chickenpestosalad2

I had overbought basil last week for the banh mi, so to use it up, I very creatively made pesto.  Actually, this whole salad has a bit of the “kitchen sink” quality to it, as my main objective was to clear the fridge because – hallelujah – the Green City Market opens tomorrow.  It might not quite yet be time for “hallelujah”, but I am looking forward to asparagus, lettuce, and garlic scapes, if nothing else.

Banh Mi Redux; Quinoa Salad

banhmiquinoa1

By special request of Lucas, whose company we have enjoyed all week.  Today’s grain salad had red quinoa, hearts of palm, cherry tomatoes, avocados, and a lime-mint vinaigrette.

Curried Smoked Chicken and Wild Rice Salad

curriedsmokedchicken5

OK, this recipe supposedly served 12.  Not here.  It was decimated by 9 of us.  Apparently I needed to pay closer attention to the fact that the menu it was originally developed for was a “bridal luncheon”.  Aha – lesson learned.

Meyer Lemon Risotto with Shrimp, Fennel, Asparagus, and Parmesan

lemonshrimprisotto2

A really nice blend of flavors.  The gulf shrimp from Whole Foods are worth the extra cost, both for their fresh flavor and the fact that they’re wild caught.