Sides Archives - America's Table

Three Fruit Muffins

America's Table — Mon, 02 Sep 2019 09:00:01 +0000

Do you remember the Big Breakfast Cookies from the old Silver Palate cookbook? This is the muffin version of those beloved ‘meal-in-a-cookie’ treats. These banana/blueberry/raspberry muffins are made with spelt and whole wheat flour to be extra healthy, and sweetened with maple syrup (including a generous lashing of syrup across the muffin tops to assure perfect moistness).

These are the perfect eat-in-the-car-on-the-way-to-school or work muffins. Each bite delivers a mouthful of fresh banana and berries that feels like pure indulgence. They’re easy to put together the night before and then zap in the microwave the next morning before heading into your day.

Three Fruit Muffins
Prep time: 35 minutes
Makes: 6 large muffins

Ingredients

1 cup blueberries, raspberries (or blackberries)
1 ½ cups mashed bananas (4)
1/3 cup oat bran
¼ cup milk
½ cup maple syrup
1 cup vegetable or coconut oil
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup spelt flour
3 teaspoons baking powder

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease inside of muffin tin and set aside.
Put mashed banana, oat bran, eggs, oil, milk, maple syrup, vanilla and cinnamon in a bowl and mix. Add flours and baking powder and mix until combined. Gently stir in raspberries and blueberries, and pour batter into muffin tin. Top with banana slice, blueberry and raspberry.
Bake for 35 minutes for large muffins.
Allow to cool and remove from tin; brush tops with maple syrup and serve.

The post Three Fruit Muffins appeared first on America's Table.

Sideways Deviled Eggs

America's Table — Mon, 24 Jun 2019 09:00:05 +0000

I’ve always loved deviled eggs, but can’t help but think of them as food from the Fifties. Like you’d expect to see a plate of them being artfully arranged by June Cleaver as the Beaver comes home from school and asks if he and Whitey can go outside and ride bikes. Deviled eggs are a classic, and all classics can benefit from an occasional gussying up so I’ve turned these eggs on their sides – literally.

They’re still comfort food, but they look cool. The bit of bacon on top makes them absolutely mouthwatering (full disclosure, I’ve been trying different types of vegetarian bacon in an effort to be healthy, but none of them are good enough. You need the real thing here.) Add a few quail eggs for variety; they also make a chi chi little pop-in-your-mouth hors d’oeuvre at cocktails.

It’s like taking a bite of a particularly good egg salad sandwich, with the sriracha preventing any possible opportunity for blandness. Mrs. Cleaver would approve.

Sideways Deviled Eggs
Serves: 10-12
Prep time: 1 hour

Ingredients

1 dozen hen’s eggs
1 dozen quail eggs
5 strips well-cooked bacon
1/3 cup shredded arugula
½ teaspoon sriracha (unless you like it hotter)

Directions

Boil eggs for 10 minutes over low heat. Cool and peel eggs carefully, slicing the hen’s eggs in half at the widest place on the egg. Slice the top third of the quail eggs off and set aside. (Eggs are easier to eat when they’re cut across the width because they’re smaller.)
Remove yolks from the eggs and place in a bowl.
Roughly break up yolks and lightly mix in sriracha. Put yolks back into egg whites, and top with bacon and arugula. Serve.

The post Sideways Deviled Eggs appeared first on America's Table.

Spring Panzanella*

America's Table — Mon, 22 Apr 2019 09:00:29 +0000

*With secret ingredient

Hidden within this perfectly delicious spring panzanella salad is a secret ingredient you should know about: toasted croutons, made of sunflower seed bread. The mind reels at how this could change the concept of salad forever; crunchy and substantial, these croutons have heft to them. They make you feel like you’re taking good care of yourself with every bite.

This is a true dinner salad, or in small portions an appetizer, and I find myself thinking about it when I’m hungry and haven’t eaten much – or well – all day. It’s like a superhero salad that swoops in to restore the digestive equilibrium of your body, leaving you feeling healthy and wise. I make the sunflower seed bread croutons in batches now and save them for other things (especially snacking,) and you only need a few to satisfy a hangry moment. You’re gonna love these!

Spring Panzanella Salad with Sunflower Panzanella
Adapted from Food and Wine, 2016
Serves: 4-6
Prep time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

½ pound sunflower seed bread, cut into ½ inch cubes
1 ½ cups shelled fresh peas
½ cup olive oil
¼ cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoon chopped dill
2 tablespoons minced shallots
Salt and pepper to taste, plus ½ teaspoon salt for croutons, plus 1 teaspoon salt for salad dressing
4 Persian cucumbers, thinly sliced
½ pound baby asparagus, chopped into ½-inch pieces
1 cup sunflower sprouts
2 tablespoons sunflower seeds
Labnah, for garnish

Directions

To make the asparagus: Blanch asparagus in a pot of salted boiling water for one minute. Strain and plunge into ice water. Strain and pat dry.
To make the croutons: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spread cubes of bread on a baking pan and drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil and ½ teaspoon salt. Bake ten minutes until golden brown and set aside to cool.
Bring salted water to boil in a small pot and cook the peas until tender – only a couple of minutes. Drain and transfer to bowl of iced water to stop the cooking. Drain well and pat dry.
In a large bowl, whisk olive oil, vinegar, dill and shallot, and season with salt and pepper.
Reserve half the dressing for later. Add cucumbers, asparagus, peas and croutons to the bowl and toss to coat.
Mound the salad on plates and top with sunflower seeds and sprouts, and dollop a spoonful of labneh on each salad, serving remaining dressing on the side.

The post Spring Panzanella* appeared first on America's Table.

Chicken Kale Caesar with Chickpeas

America's Table — Mon, 25 Mar 2019 09:00:03 +0000

Surprise! This is a healthy recipe for a dinner salad that tastes like something you’d actually want to eat. It takes real effort to eat clean and eat really good food. There are so many recipes and cookbooks geared to the health-conscious eater now, but in the rush to be different some occasionally lose track of the ‘being delicious’ part. Or maybe you don’t like a particular food, and there’s no way it can ever be prepared that will make you like it, so you need more recipe ideas. (Don’t ever look for anything with anise on this site – never gonna happen.) I’m here to try all the healthy recipes (except anise) so you don’t have to. I know you have your standards.

This entree salad has so much flavor and substance that it’s completely satisfying, full of great flavor and texture. The chickpeas are surprisingly crunchy, and those things that look like croutons? They’re actually chunks of grilled chicken that stand up to the garlicky Caesar and kale base. You’re going to love it!

Chicken Kale Caesar with Chickpeas
Adapted from GOOP
Serves: 2 for an entrée
Prep time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

1 bunch kale
1 cooked chicken breast, cubed
1 15-ounce can chickpeas
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon garlic powder

To make the salad dressing:

1 cup cashews soaked overnight in 1 ½ cups of water
2 ½ tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup of water
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2/3 cup olive oil
Juice of one lemon
3 anchovy filets (if you like them)

For the chicken breast:

1 chicken breast, skinless and boneless
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Drain and rinse chickpeas and dry with cloth. Transfer chickpeas to a baking tray and drizzle on olive oil, garlic powder and salt. Bake for 25 minutes until chickpeas are crunchy.
While the chickpeas are baking, combine chicken, salt, garlic powder, olive oil and pepper for grilling chicken and grill until chicken is cooked through. Cut chicken into cubes.

To make the dressing:

Drain cashews and liquify in blender with mustard, lemon juice, salt, pepper, optional anchovies, water, and olive oil. Blend until creamy.
Cut up rinsed and dried kale in a large bowl with 3 tablespoons of the dressing. Mix well, add chicken and croutons, salt, and pepper. Add additional dressing as desired, and serve.

The post Chicken Kale Caesar with Chickpeas appeared first on America's Table.

Cranberry and Orange Relish

America's Table — Mon, 19 Nov 2018 09:00:57 +0000

This is one of my mother’s recipes – a cold, sweet-and-tart cranberry relish that we all love because it’s like a palate cleanser on your Thanksgiving dinner plate. There’s no cooking required – just an assemblage of raw cranberries, apples and oranges (and orange rind!) with a little sugar to balance the flavors. And did I mention that this is the fastest dish you’ll make all Thanksgiving day? In the time it takes to whirl the ingredients up in the blender, you’ll have the most refreshing cranberry relish you’ve ever tasted.

I started this blog almost five years ago, with a recipe for my great-grandmother’s fried chicken. It was in a letter she wrote me when I was a teenager, written in the spindly handwriting of a very old lady. America’s Table has been an absorbing part of my life, and I’ve enjoyed getting to know so many different people through our mutual interest in food, flowers, and treating people well. Now it’s time for me to take a break from the blog. Thank you to all the people who’ve helped me along the way, and to the followers who keep me on my toes. I hope you’ve enjoyed America’s Table as much as I’ve enjoyed creating it.

Happy holidays,
Lea

Cranberry and Orange Relish
Serves: 4
Prep time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

1 bag (1 pound) fresh cranberries, washed and drained
2 apples, unpeeled and washed
1 large or two small oranges, including the rind of one small orange (or one half of a large orange rind), washed
1/2 cup sugar

Directions

Pour cranberries into blender in batches until they are well-chopped. Place cranberries into large serving bowl and add sugar.
Chop apple into segments and chop finely in blender. Cut oranges into segments and toss in blender, and include the rind of one small orange, or half of the rind of a large orange in the mix. Chop finely.
Combine ingredients with a spoon in serving bowl and correct for sweetness. The relish should be tart, but not so tart you pucker up. Adjust flavor by adding sugar, or additional chopped cranberries.
Refrigerate so relish is well-chilled before serving. Enjoy!

The post Cranberry and Orange Relish appeared first on America's Table.