Food: Roasted Broccoli and Shrimp

The following recipe by Melissa Clark actually ran in the New York Times in January but I only discovered it recently via The Wednesday Chef. In looking at photos of the dish, I thought it looked a little plain. As a result, I was concerned it would be lacking flavor and made a raisin vinagrette for the shrimp. But I should have trusted the rave reviews. It didn't need anything extra, except for a little bit of rice on the side.


Even though this meal is so simple and fast, both the process and the end results are extremely gratifying. For example, just grating citrus involves all of your senses...hearing the rasping noise the fruit makes and feeling the vibration in your fingertips when pushing the lemon across the grater while smelling the fresh, bright scent of lemon filling the air and watching little bits of bright yellow light up some olive oil. The other gratifying bit about making this dish is watching the shrimp turn from boring, transparent gray into hot and enticing coral. And you can't believe how plain and simple broccoli is transformed into something warm, juicy and intensely flavorful thanks to some exotic spices. This is definitely a dish you will make over and over again. May I mention again how quick and easy it is to pull together?

Roasted Broccoli with Shrimp

Adapted from The Wednesday Chef

Ingredients

• 2 heads of broccoli, cut into bite-size florets
• 4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon chili powder
• 1-1.5 lbs large shrimp, shelled and deveined
• Finely grated zest from 1 lemon

Directions

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a large bowl, toss broccoli with 2 tablespoons oil, coriander, cumin, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper and chili powder.
• In a separate bowl, combine shrimp, 2 tablespoons oil, lemon zest, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and remaining 1/2 teaspoon pepper.
• Spread broccoli in a single layer on a baking sheet. Roast for 10 minutes.
• Add shrimp to baking sheet and toss with broccoli. Roast, tossing once halfway through, until shrimp are just opaque and broccoli is tender and golden around edges, about 10 minutes more.

Food: Artichoke Torta

I wanted to post some photos of a lovely artichoke torta I made a couple of weekends ago. It combined store bought puff pastry (hence the pieced-together base), frozen (yes, frozen!) artichoke hearts, ricotta and nutmeg, and made the whole house smell heavenly. I think everyone at some point should cook artichokes in a pan with some olive oil - you would not believe how incredible they smell! I served the torta along side a summery salad consisting of tomatoes, spring mix, and kalamata olives with lemon and olive oil dressing. It was a perfect, light meal.

The recipe is from The Wednesday Chef (a.k.a. Luisa Weiss) and can be found here: Pietro Gangemi's Torta di Carciofi. Although recommended to serve cooled but not cold, the torta was actually quite delicious straight out of the fridge the next day. I even started picturing myself making one to take to the beach at the end of the month, but then decided it would be silly to try to transport it such a long, long way. It would also make an impressive presentation for a Sunday brunch and you could take guilty pleasure in hearing the many compliments, knowing the pastry was actually super, super simple to construct.

Food: Roasted Rhubarb and Yogurt

One of my favorite things about spring isn't the fact the weather is getting warmer or the flowers have begun to bloom (even though I look forward to both of these). Instead, it has to do with the availability of one of my favorite vegetables - the ruby pink, celery-looking sticks of the rhubarb plant.

It's interesting to me that anyone ever thought to try rhubarb stalks since their roots and leaves are poisonous and an initial passing of the raw, crunchy veggie on your tongue would make your mouth pucker in disdain over the not-so-pleasant experience.

And no, to those of you who think you've really tasted rhubarb before, if you're counting the one time you had Strawberry Rhubarb pie, it doesn't count (in my opinion, when cooking with rhubarb, it should always be the main star of the dish or sauce, not a seeming afterthought).

So how did I become to love rhubarb so much? It starts with my mom. Although I love to cook, my mom and sister are the bakers of the family. And my mother is a queen when it comes to making pies. Over the years she has completely perfected pie crust. Hers is an amazing, light, flaky shell that makes you never want to attempt to try store-bought or restaurant pie ever again. But my favorite element of any pie she makes is the filling - particularly rhubarb. She probably gets tired of asking me what kind of pie I would like when my answer is always, never failingly, "rhubarb, please." I could probably eat an entire rhubarb pie in one sitting (although it probably wouldn't be a good idea).

Since I haven't learned my mom's craft and the favorite part of a rhubarb pie to me is the filling, I was estatic when I found this recipe for Roasted Rhubarb on the Wednesday Chef's blog. Yes, it's shown here in a plastic container - I brought it to work with my lunch one day (which if you do this, be sure to pack the yogurt and rhubarb separately and combine them right before eating to avoid watery yogurt). I'm sure some of my co-workers (male management consultants where are definitely not foodies) were looking at what I was eating like I was a little strange. I mixed it here with Dannon 100% Natural Vanilla yogurt and I'm sure it would be even more decadant with Fage yogurt (although this time I was looking for something low-in-fat).

Rose Gray's and Ruth Rogers's Roasted Rhubarb
via the Wednesday Chef

Ingredients

• 14 ounces rhubarb
• 1 blood or navel orange (or 1 lemon)
• 2 vanilla beans or 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract (or more to taste)
• 3 tablespoons Demerara sugar (more if you're using the lemon)

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Cut the rhubarb into 2-to-2 1/2-inch pieces and place in a medium bowl. Finely grate the zest of half the orange over the rhubarb and then squeeze the juice of the whole orange into the bowl. Split the vanilla beans and scrape out the seeds and place both in the bowl. Add the sugar and stir to combine.
• Pour the rhubarb into a baking dish and arrange the pieces so that they lie flat. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the vanilla pods.