Farro and Lentils with Braised Greens and Bacon

In my quest to eat more consciously – both for myself and for the environment – I’ve attempted to relegate meat to a mere seasoning in most dishes, rather than a main component. Moving a bit down the food chain is both good for health and exerts less stress on the planet.

That does not, however, mean that food must be tasteless and bland. Just as many people recommend buying more expensive, flavorful cheeses and using them in moderation rather than using copious amounts of the near tasteless cheap stuff, such is the case with meals like this. Most people can agree that bacon is the wunderkind of meats – if it can turn hardcore veggies back to meat, it’s good in my book.

Here I’ve taken farro (or wheat berries, depending on where you live) and French green lentils and topped them with braised mustard and turnip greens, bacon, and mushrooms. It takes some nutritional powerhouses and gussies them up with the luscious fattiness we crave. I’m almost positive that my heart won’t take issue with the bacon fat once it realizes it’s coating super-healthy greens…right?

Even for those who aren’t fans of greens in general (which is a travesty, FYI), this dish is sure to please with the big chunks of bacon and flavorful mushrooms. If you’re not too keen on the toothsome farro (much like my husband is not) just boil it for about 5 minutes before you add the lentils to the pot of salted water.

Farro and Lentils with Braised Greens and Bacon

½ cup farro

½ cup French green lentils (Lentils du Puy)

2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed

4 slices thick cut bacon, cut into chunks

16 oz chopped mustard and turnip greens, chopped into bite size pieces (in your produce section)

8 oz sliced mushrooms

Shaved Parmigiana Reggiano for garnish (optional)

Combine the farro, lentils, and garlic cloves in a pot and cover completely with water. Bring to a boil and cook for 15-20 minutes, depending on doneness desired.

Meanwhile, brown the bacon in a heavy bottomed pan over medium-high heat until most of the fat is rendered. Add the greens and cook for a few minutes (you might have to add in batches to get them to fit). Cover the pan and let cook for 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook for a further 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally until done to taste.

Drain the farro and lentils, discarding the garlic cloves. Top with the greens and mushrooms and shave some cheese to garnish if desired.

 

Grilled Ham Steaks with Corn-Tomato Relish

“Eat Local.”

It’s a brilliant concept, but much harder to execute than most realize. Unless you’re living in the year-round salad-bowl that is Central California, it can be incredibly difficult to find a large enough variety of all local foods to satisfy even the most one-dimensional of palates.

Summer makes it much easier. There’s a bounty of produce and goodies available in almost every corner of the country. But it can still be pretty hard to find stuff that you actually want to eat.

I recently moved a little bit farther west in Maryland, about halfway between the District and Baltimore (Which is offering much more in the way of interest than I ever thought possible – urban foraging classes, anyone? Yes, please.). Here I’ve found local farms galore. The farmer’s markets are a little few and far between, but what they do offer is enough to keep me going.

I stumbled across Copper Penny Farm on Local Harvest about two weeks ago. I went out to meet the owners, Nancy and Chuck, and was positively delighted at the operation they’ve got going. It’s a small venture, but I look forward to supporting them as much as my little family of two possible can in the coming years. That gorgeous ham-steak in the picture above is compliments of one of their Large Blacks.

They sent me out to the Briggs-Chaney farmers market in Silver Spring. It’s small, but it has just about everything one needs from a farmers market. If they were to add a bread stand and an eggs/dairy stand I wouldn’t even need to go to the grocery store but for commodity goods. I found Knopp’s Farm from Severn, MD there – and they produce some of the most divine corn one could imagine.

So we sat down to dinner tonight and ate an almost entirely local meal. Ham from Copper Penny Farm, corn and tomatoes from Knopp’s Farm, whole grain mustard from a Mennonite community in Southern Pennsylvania – the only store-bought ingredient was the rice vinegar.

And it was amazing.

Eating local might take a bit more effort, but once you taste the difference and feel the pride of supporting local business you’ll probably never go back.

Go check out Local Harvest to see how you can get started in your own community.

Grilled Ham Steak with Corn-Tomato Relish

2 Ham Steaks

1 ear of fresh sweet corn, cut from the cob

Handful of cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1 tablespoon whole grain mustard

Grill the ham steaks, either on a grill or in a heavy-bottomed pan like cast iron. Meanwhile, toss the corn, tomatoes, rice vinegar, and mustard together in a bowl. Top the grilled steaks with the relish.

borscht

The first time I ever had borscht was at the Russian Tea Room in NYC. It was meaty and had an amazing depth of flavor – the beets married with the beef perfectly. The restaurant itself may be kitschy and odd, but the food was outstanding. I tried another borscht not too long after that, I don’t remember where, and was sorely underwhelmed.

What I realized was that the trick to perfect borscht is the broth. You absolutely must have a highly seasoned, deeply flavored beef broth to really pull it off. My secret is using the broth left over from braising short ribs. Once you’ve braised the short ribs with plenty of veggies and red wine, remove the ribs and use and then puree the remaining mixture in the bottom of the pot and throw it in the fridge overnight. The next day chip off all the solidified fat on top and you’re left with the thickest, heartiest soup base you could ever ask for.

Some recipes call for shredding the short ribs and using them in the borscht, but I prefer not to do that. Better yet, make some short rib pirogues to go with it. If you don’t plan on making short ribs, you can always just use regular old beef stock. Just be sure to add a little extra bouillon paste to up the flavor.

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Charoset

Unlike the majority of our gentile celebratory foods, which gain a spot on our tables simply for being delicious, Jewish cuisine is notorious for the symbolism of each item present.

Matzo and only other unleavened breads because the when the Jews left Egypt they didn’t have enough time for leavened (chametz) bread to rise and/or because it was easy to carry with them on their journey back to Israel.

Bitter greens to symbolize the embittered life of enslaved Jews in Egypt and salted water to represent the tears of the people.

There are many other symbolic dishes that represent various struggles and tribulations in Jewish history, but I admit the most appealing (speaking only of taste) is charoset.

Charoset is said to represent the mortar the Israelites used while bonding bricks in Egypt. There are two different kinds: Sephardi, which is cooked and usually paste-like to more closely resemble the mortar of ancient times, and Ashkenazi, which is more rustic and always contains nuts, apples, cinnamon and sweet wine – ingredients King Solomon used to describe the children of Israel.

I like the Ashkenazi version because, well, I’m not Jewish and I can pick on taste alone. I’d like to try making it with pistachios instead of the traditional walnuts, but I’m not sure if I get in trouble for messing with the recipe too much.

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tomato soup

Basic, chunky tomato soup – no frills. Goes well with grilled cheese and a glass of milk.

Remember that when making vegetable soups you’re always going to need more salt than you think. Our tongues are accustomed to a high amount of sodium when it comes to soups – but don’t fret too much, no matter how much salt you put in at home it will likely still be far less than your average canned soup.

Tomato Soup

2 carrots, chopped

3 celery stalks, chopped

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

28 oz crushed tomatoes

28 oz diced tomatoes

2 ½ cups vegetable stock

1 cup buttermilk

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Sweat the vegetables in a heavy bottomed soup pot over medium heat with a little olive oil. When partially softened add the garlic and cook until fragrant. Stir in the crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, and vegetable stock. Bring to a simmer. Remove from heat, stir in the buttermilk. Season to taste with kosher salt and black pepper. Puree if desired.