Meatless Monday: Risotto With Walnuts And Winter Greens (Plus Music On Tap Featuring Camera Obscura)

It's all about risotto.

It's the first serious dish I learned to cook from Jaime Oliver in fact, right after I'd moved to Los Angeles.  When I was younger, I acquired a taste for it after my mother, The Original Diva, returned from a trip to Italy with a recipe for beet risotto in tow.  Obviously, it had a big impact on us kids, as risotto is one of my favorite dishes to make and a specialty in my Top Chef brother's restaurant (they do risotto fresh on the half hour).  And actually, it's at his urging that I've been blogging more risottos for Meatless Monday.

The great thing about this creamy rice dish is that it's one of the most versatile things you could possibly learn to cook, and once you have a basic recipe down pat, the variations are literally endless.  If you ask me, it's a must have in every divas repertoire!

This special meatless risotto utilizes a vegetable that's currently peaking in season: winter greens!  Right now, winter greens are all over the markets from kale to collard greens to rainbow chard, which is what I used in this recipe.  But any variety will work!  Then to add some protein and nuttiness to this recipe, I finished the risotto by whipping in roasted walnuts, parmesan reggiano and roasted walnut oil (instead of butter as is used in most restaurants).

Umm... delicious doesn't begin to describe it!  The nuttiness of the walnuts pairs superbly with the other flavors in the dish, making this a hearty, rich, but also nutrient dense meal (both winter greens and walnuts are considered superfoods with a stunning array of health benefits).

So try this risotto!  You won't miss the meat.  I promise.

Also, don't forget to click click click away on my blog!  In conjunction with Blog Away Hunger, I'm donating 100% of my January ad revenue to the World Food Program's disaster relief efforts in Haiti.  So browse through my archives - the more you view, the more money gets donated.

Risotto with Walnuts and Winter Greens
Serves 4 people
Cooking time: 40 minutes

Ingredients
1 bunch rainbow chard or other winter green such as kale (about 4 cups), chopped
1/2 cup walnuts
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cups vegetable broth
1 shallot, chopped or half small Spanish onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 cup arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup parmesan reggiano, grated
2 tablespoons walnut oil
salt and pepper

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

To cook the walnuts, arrange them in a single layer in a pie pan or other oven proof dish.  Toast them in the oven until golden, about 4 minutes.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool.  Then, chop them.

To make the risotto, heat 2 tbsp of the olive oil in a heavy bottomed pan over medium heat. Add the shallots or onion and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and stir for one more minute. Then add the rice and stir for another two minutes. Pour in the white wine and stir until absorbed. Once the wine has been absorbed, slowly add the vegetable stock 1/2 a cup at a time, stirring until absorbed before adding more stock.

Once the rice is almost cooked (you've used about 1/2 to 3/4 of the stock), stir in the chopped greens.  Continue adding stock and cooking until the rice is al dente and the greens are tender (note: you may not use all of the stock).  Finish the risotto by stirring in the walnuts, parmesan and walnut oil.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

To plate, either serve family style or spoon some risotto into the center of a plate.  Top with a little fresh chopped parsley.  Enjoy!

Source for ingredients
organic rainbow chard, organic shallots, organic garlic, walnuts and walnut oil from the Hollywood Farmers Market

arborio rice, organic olive oil, parmesan reggiano and organic vegetable broth from Whole Foods 

Music On Tap

Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career

My current favorite album which I'm blaring on heavy rotation while I cook, this Scottish band brings fellow Scots Belle & Sebastian to mind as well as indie favorites The Smiths.  I simply LOVE it.

Click here to check out Camera Obscura!

Kale With Currants And Pine Nuts (Also Music On Tap Featuring The National)

Kale.

This one little four-letter word has the power to strike fear into the heart's of even adventurous veggie eaters.  Of all the cooking related questions I get asked, "How do I cook kale?" has to be in the top five.  Maybe even the top two.  It's fear-induction may be related to its bitterness and toughness, or maybe to the fact that few people liked it as kids, or that the Southern preparation involves cooking the hell out of it with bacon, thus transforming this vegetable into a heart attack on a plate.

That said, it's also one of my very favorite single ingredients to cook, especially deep in the heart of winter.  Alright, I live in LA, so the heart of winter most likely only involves a paltry amount of rainfall, but you get the point.  It's a hearty winter green, after all.  I love serving kale as a side dish, or adding to pastas, or serving it under fish and meat.  It's great raw in salads, too.  It cooks up quickly and has unsurpassed health benefits.  Rarely a week goes by that I don't have kale in my fridge. 

So it should come as no surprise that when my monthly book club rolled around last week and I perused my fridge for what to bring, my eyes fell on a big bag of organic baby kale I'd bought at the Hollywood Farmers Market earlier that week.

"Hmm... I wonder if people will eat kale," I pondered to myself.

I pictured the book club girls eying it nervously, before gingerly placing a single leaf on their plates.  Even worse, I wondered if it might actually be considered insulting to show up to my friend's house with a big bowl of cooked leaves, when everyone else was toting bottles of wine and big bags of cookies. I even worried that I'd be thought of as the weird kale girl from then on.

I took a deep breath to shore up my nerves, grabbed the bag of kale from my fridge and vowed to make a batch of the stuff so delectable, so mouthwateringly amazeballs (without cheating by adding bacon or guanciale), that even the most greens-a-phobic eater would discover their deep-rooted love for kale. As I've often stated, I believe that a lot of people's food aversions (not allergies) exist because they've never had the product prepared properly.  And kale is one of those things that can go really wrong, or really right.

So what happened at my book club?

It went really right!  To prepare the kale, I'd sauteed it first with garlic and chili flakes, and then finished it with lemon juice.  For crunch and richness, I added toasted pine nuts, and for little bursts of sweetness, currants.  I'd theorized that the texture and slightly bitter, caramelized flavor of the sauteed kale would contrast beautifully with the currants.  Yup, it did. 

And then something happened that night that had never happened in the history of kale.  People were fighting over the last leaves left in the bowl!  I even forked some of my portion to another kale-hungry girl (I'd taken a lot, but only because I figured I'd be the only one chowing down).  One of my book club girls who is self-admittedly not a veggie fan even got seconds!  It was like the whole world had turned upside down.  Kale was suddenly the star of the evening, like the ugly duckling who turned into a swan.

By the end of the night, my heart felt all warm and fuzzy.  You see, it's easy to make macaroni and cheese, or steak, or anything cooked in butter taste delicious.  What's really challenging is working with a difficult product and transforming it into a dish people love.  I figure that's why the French prize their offal (organ meats) so highly!

Not that I'll be serving calf brains at my next book club, though I do have this fabulous Mario Batali recipe...

A few additional notes on kale:

I can't finish this column without extolling on its health benefits, so here it goes. Kale contains powerful antioxidants, and thus has anti-inflammatory properties.  It's also a rich source of beta carotene, vitamin K, vitamin, lutein, zeaxanthin and calcium, which is especially important for women. Kale, like broccoli and other members of the brassica family, contains sulforaphane, a chemical believed to have potent anti-cancer abilities, which is strongest when the leaves are eaten raw.

When cooking kale, or anything for that matter, make sure to season it properly!  Just properly salting and peppering a dish can take it from lackluster to revelatory.  Taste everything before you serve, and adjust seasoning as necessary.

Kale with Currants and Pine Nuts
Serves 6 people
Cooking time: 10 minutes

Ingredients
1 big bunch of kale (about 6 cups raw), washed and chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 teaspoon chili flakes
1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped
2 heaping tablespoons pine nuts, toasted and salted
2 heaping tablespoons currants
salt and pepper

Directions
Heat the olive oil in a saute pan over medium high heat.  Add the garlic and chili flakes and saute for one minute.

Add the kale and reduce heat to medium and continue cooking for about three more minutes.  Next, add the lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of water and continue cooking until the kale is tender, but not overcooked (about five minutes).  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

To serve, remove the kale to a serving bowl.  Top with the currants and pine nuts.  Enjoy!

Source for Ingredients
organic baby kale, organic lemons and organic garlic from the Hollywood Farmers Market

currants and pine nuts from Whole Foods

Music on Tap

The National - Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers

An indie-rock band from Cincinnati, Ohio, this is the album that first put them on the map.  It was released back in 2003, but I just picked up a copy this week and absolutely love it! I also adore 20005's Alligator and 2007's The Boxer, which many music publications picked as one of the best albums of the year.

Click here to check out this album!

Great Collard Greens Recipe in The New York Times!

If you read my blog regularly, then you know I'm a huge proponent of loading your diet up with plenty of dark, leafy greens!  I always have a stash of kale, Swiss chard, spinach, broccoli rabe, arugula or collard greens on hand!  I mix them into salads, rice dishes like this one I posted yesterday (CLICK HERE), soups, serve fish and meat over them, or simply saute them up for breakfast, eating them alongside eggs and toast. Just this morning I cooked up some gorgeous organic baby Lacinato kale with chili flakes and lime juice!

So I was thrilled to stumble upon this Collard Greens article and recipe in the New York Times this morning!  For those you who have asked me how to make greens taste delicious, here is one of many answers to that question!

CLICK HERE FOR THE COLLARD GREENS RECIPE!

Pan-Seared Wahoo with Clams, Cranberry Beans, and Kale

Happy Friday Divas!

So far, I've had a great start to my day! 

I managed to drag my sorry ass out of bed for my 7AM cardio class at my gym, no small feat.  While getting up is freaking hard - even the busting with crazy puppy energy at all times Adorable Monster isn't ready to wake up at the dark hour of six o'clock - I always feel fantastic after an hour of climbing up and down steps with weights.  It's such an ass-kicking class, that I only have to go a few times a week to stay in excellent shape.

Simple Suppers: Mahi-Mahi with Garlic Spinach

Happy Monday!

First I'm very sad to report the demise of the Adorable Monster's beloved frisbee (CLICK HERE to read about it).  After months of chowing down on it, he finally chewed a huge whole through it!

I now request a moment of silence on behalf of the frisbee.

R.I.P. Frisbee

The Monster's first birthday is coming up next month!  Wow, time sure flies!  So I think I know what his present is going to be! A brand new frisbee for him to chew up!

Now onto more important business!  Today, I'm back with another "Simple Suppers" recipe in support of Jaime Oliver's cause to teach American how to cook!  When I conceptualize dishes, one of my main goals is to include:

1) 4 oz. of high quality, lean protein (mostly fish)
2) at least one organic vegetable (often leafy greens)
3) whole grain

From careful study and practice, I've found that this balance of foods is the healthiest way to eat!  This is a simple, inexpensive dish that I make all the time at home.  I love Mahi-Mahi - it's a clean, delicious protein source that usually costs around $14/lb or less.  It also only contains moderate mercury, making it safe to eat a few times a month (CLICK HERE for detailed mercury information). It's great broiled or thrown on the grill!

I bought the Mahi-Mahi used in this recipe from J&P West Coast Seafood, one of my favorite vendors at the Farmers Market! They always have super fresh fish and seafood and the BEST smoked salmon on the planet Earth which they make in-house!  I'll be bringing you more recipes using their product coming up!  Here's what makes their seafood so great:

Most restaurants and grocery chains buy their fish prefiltered to keep costs down, which compromises the quality.  By keeping the fish whole, as J&P does, the excellence is maintained, yet it requires the committment and several caf'e lattes to jump start the process of filleting on site.  Pete is up at the crack of dawn to meet the fishing boats that bring in whole fish for him and his staff to fillet.  Fish are beheaded, gutted, and cut just hours before they arrive at the farmers market for purchase. J&P only purchases fish caught within twenty-four hours.  The best way to select your fish is to check the moisture - the more moisture the better.  If its dry, it's been sitting for too long.  This is often the fate of supermarket purchased fillets. 

To round out my meal, I paired it with garlic spinach, which cooks up in a literal flash, and served it over a whole grain wild rice, but it would be great over any sort of whole grain from quinoa to barley, depending on your preference.  Try this dish out at home!  I promise you'll love it.

Domestic Diva's Mahi-Mahi with Garlic Spinach

2 Mahi-Mahi fillets (I serve 4 oz per person)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
salt & pepper

garlic spinach:
4 cups spinach
4 garlic cloves, sliced
1 tsp chili flakes
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
salt & pepper

Directions:

To make a quick marinade for the fish, pat the fillets dry and place on a plate.  Season both sides with salt and pepper and then drizzle with the olive oil and 1 tbsp of the lemon juice.  Allow to rest for about 15 minutes, both to absorb a little marinade and to come up to room temperature.

Place the fish under the broiler and cook for about five minutes, or until cooked through.  Alternately, the fish may be grilled for a few minutes on each side.  Remove from the heat and allow to rest for a few minutes.

Meanwhile, to make the garlic spinach, heat the olive oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat.  Add the garlic and chili flakes, reduce heat to medium, and saute for a minute.  Add the spinach and stir it for about three minutes, until it's cooked down.  Add the lemon juice and season to taste with salt and pepper.

To plate, place the spinach on the plate and top with the fish.  Enjoy!

Businesses Mentioned:

J&P West Coast Seafood, Inc.
2210-12 Signal Pl.
San Pedro, CA 90731
(818) 681-9748 

A fantastic seafood vendor, I make sure to hit their booth every week when I venture to the Hollywood Farmers Market.  In fact, they are always one of my first stops (I always buy proteins first)!  Not only do they have a large assortment of super fresh fish and shellfish, but they also have the BEST smoked salmon on the planet Earth!  They make it in-house, which must account for the quality and the fact that it's much less salty than most other cured salmon I've tried.  Stop by and ask Marilyn (owner) for a free sample.  I promise you won't be able to leave without buying some!  CLICK HERE FOR THEIR WEBSITE!

Source for Ingredients:

Mahi-Mahi from J&P West Coast Seafood (Hollywood Farmers Market)

organic baby spinach from Kenter Canyon Farmers (Hollywood Farmers Market)

organic garlic & organic lemons from Whole Foods

Music on Tap:

Air - Love 2

One of my favorite bands, this "French duo" has a brand new album out!  I've been cooking up a storm to it all week long!  CLICK HERE TO CHECK IT OUT!

Grilled Organic Pork Tenderloin & Spinach Salad

Hey divas, as always, my life has been full of wonderful, healthy foods. So many in fact, that I have to share them with you! If you read my blog, then hopefully you caught my fantastic grilled organic pork tenderloin recipe I posted this week (click here to read). The pork, rubbed with herbs and olive oil and cooked to medium rare perfection on the grill, was positively delicious. Lucky for me, I also ended up with some leftovers after the meal was finished.

The next night as I prepared my braised white bean cassoulet, Kuzak mentioned that he was starving. "When's dinner?" he asked hopefully. I glanced at my timer and noticed that well over an hour was left (braising takes some serious time!). So to satiate our hunger, I threw the leftover pork together with spinach and served it with a sherry shallot vinagerette. It was great, light, refreshing and perfect to tide us over until dinner.

Domestic Diva's Grilled Organic Pork Tenderloin & Spinach Salad

1 cup grilled pork tenderloin, diced (click here for recipe)
4 cups spinach
2 tbsp sherry vinegar
1/4 olive oil
1 shallot, chopped
parmesan reggiano
salt and pepper

Directions:

In a small bowl, whisk the olive oil slowly into the sherry vinegar. Add the shallots and season to taste with salt and pepper. Heat a small skillet over medium high heat. Add the vinagerette and the pork, sauting for a few minutes until warmed. Toss with the spinach, sprinkle with some parmesan and serve. Enjoy!

Cajun Spiced Catfish w/ Sauteed Chard & Parmesan Grits

Hey Divas! Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend. Kuzak and I found ourselves feeling pretty sluggish most of the weekend and OD'ing on Los Tacos, which did not help the sluggishness. The Monster, on the other hand, had an active two days, first with puppy class and then at the Laurel Canyon Dog Park, where he ran with a pack of other miniature, white fluffy dogs. On the culinary front, I made some great meals over the weekend that I'm excited to share this week! First up, I bought some beautiful catfish fillets and decided to give them the Cajun treatment. I served them with local, organic sauteed chard and parmesan reggiano strewn yellow corn grits. The combo was positively divalicious! Not only is this a healthy meal, it's also fast to whip together. So Divas, give it a shot!

Also, we paired this dish with a great bottle of Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir, so make sure to read to the bottom for my tasting notes!

"I love the Diva's grits!" said The Adorable Monster.

Domestic Diva's Cajun Spiced Catfish w/ Sauteed Chard & Parmesan Grits

2 catfish fillets
2 tbsp Cajun seasoning
1 tsp fresh thyme
2 tbsp grapeseed oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
3 cups chard, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
pinch chili flakes
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cups grits, cooked
1/4 parmesan reggiano
salt and pepper

Directions:

To make the grits, stir in the parmesan reggiano and season to taste with salt and pepper. Then, to make the chard, heat the olive oil in a saute pan over medium high heat. Add the garlic and chili flakes and saute for 1 minute. Then, add the chard, stirring until cooked. Drizzle with 1 tbsp lemon juice and season to taste with salt and pepper.

To make the fish, coat both sides of the catfish fillets with Cajun seasoning and sprinkle with the fresh thyme. In a large saute pan, heat the grapeseed oil over medium high heat until almost smoking. At the fish, sauteing for a few minutes on each side until cooked. Remove from heat.

To plate, place some grits in the bottom of the disk. Top with a heap of chard and place one fillet on top. Drizzle with the remaining 1 tbsp lemon juice. Enjoy!

"Yum, more grits for me! Now, if only I can get them
off the bottom of this pot!"

Wine Tasting Notes: Rivers-Marie 2005 Occidental Ridge Vineyard Pinot Noir

Diva Rating: 4 stars (out of 5 stars)

Today I was reflecting on how blessed we are to have both amazing local food and local wine. If you've been following my blog, then you've noticed that we drink mostly local, California wines. It's not that we don't love the wines produced in other areas of the world, it's just that we love the connections we form through what we eat and what drink to where we live. I've often blogged about Rivers-Marie, one of our favorite boutique Sonoma Coast producers. They make both excellent pinor noir and cabernet, and this particular bottling was no exception. A lovely Burgundian style wine, full of cherry and blueberry fruit up front. Light bodied with just enough structure to support the fruit, and a smooth, delicate finish. It drank well all night, down to the last drops I pilfered from Kuzak's when he fell asleep on the sofa. I highly recommend checking out Rivers-Marie!

Breakfast of Champions: Eggs, Spinach & Grilled Polenta

Hey Divas, continuing with the polenta theme and because you guys know I don't like to let good food go to waste, my fav breakfast this week has been an egg over sauteed spinach & grilled polenta. The flavors work beautifully together - the garlicky, lemony spinach - the creamy, crispy polenta - the rich egg yolk. It's a twist on grits, the classic southern delicacy, for breakfast. So give it a whirl and let me know what you think!

Click here for Domesitic Diva's Grilled Polenta Recipe!

Click here for Domestic Diva's Greens Recipe with garlic, chili flakes and lemon!

Slow-Cooker Lentil Soup with Quinoa, Kale & Fresh Ginger

Everyone hates getting sick, and I'm no different, having come down with a sore throat that has progressed to a cough. Just lovely! But often, I think we get sick precisely so we can appreciate what it's like to be healthy. Like anything in life, it all depends on how you look at it, and usually, I think of sick days, the ones where you sit around in your PJ's all day watching daytime television you would usually never subject yourself to, give us a chance to take a time out from our hectic lives. Of course, it's better if we can do that without needing to be sick to take a day off work or have a night with no social commitments, but few of us would ever slow down otherwise.

So even though my boyfriend, Kuzak, and I are both on injured reserve today, much to my puppy, the Adorable Monster's, chagrin, that's no excuse to eat bad food! We all know how great a bowl of hearty soup tastes when you're under the weather. When I know I'm not feeling great, I often throw a big crock pot full of soup on first thing in the morning. That way, with minimal effort, there's something healthy to eat all day long that will help me get better faster! (At least I think it will!) This morning, I settled on making a classic lentil soup. It's fast cooking, hearty, and full of protein when paired with a grain. I also decided to add quinoa, an ancient high protein grain. To juice up the health factor, I chopped up some kale. Finally, to season the broth, I used fresh ginger, tumeric and cumin.

The resulting soup was positively divalicious, even by my standards. The flavors blended beautifully, making this a great winter soup, full of protein, fiber and vitamins. The fresh ginger infused the broth with a ton of spicy flavor, and the cumin and tumeric gave it even more character. Not to mention, using my crock pot, it was a cinch to make. I highly recommend trying this recipe. It's great for lunch, or filling enough to be eaten for dinner. So hopefully you won't have to get sick to have an excuse to try this recipe out!!

Note: If you don't own a crock pot, this could be made traditionally on the stovetop. Just begin by sauteing onions, carrots and celery in olive oil before adding the other ingredients.

"Hey Diva, if you're not gonna give me a big walk,
can I at least try some of your soup?"
-The Adorable Monster

Domestic Diva's Slow-Cooker Lentil Soup with Quinoa, Kale & Fresh Ginger

1 1/2 cups lentils
1/2 cup quinoa
2 carrots peeled and chopped
2 celery stalks chopped
1 garlic clove chopped
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp fresh ginger minced
2 cups kale chopped
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp tumeric
4 cups vegetable stock
4 cups water
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Throw all the ingredients together in the crock pot. Turn it on and allow it to cook, covered, for several hours until the lentils and vegetables are cooked through.


Salt and pepper to taste. Told you it was a cinch! Enjoy.

Breakfast of Champions: Greens & Eggs!

Did you know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day? Those who eat breakfast actually lose weight and have more energy throughout the day. Experts agree that having a balanced early morning meal, including a protein source, will cause you to eat less the rest of the day. Tired of the same old thing, here's what I had for breakfast this morning! An organic, omega-3 egg fried over Domestic Diva's Sauteed Kale (click here for recipe). I added a piece of sprouted whole grain Ezekiel toast for a complete breakfast. Try it out - it's positively divalicious!

Why We Should All Eat Green Eggs and Ham!

We all know that Dr. Seuss was a visionary when it comes to children's books, but it turns out that he may have also been a culinary genius! If you ask the Diva, every breakfast should have some green pigment coloring the dish. In fact, I think what Dr. Seuss really meant to write instead of Green Eggs and Ham was Greens, Eggs and Ham! Almost every morning, without fail, I have greens with my breakfast. I could make something as simple as a piece of Ezekiel Bread, an egg and some sauteed spinach (see DD's Sauteed Kale Recipe). The egg and the greens taste amazing together. Don't believe me? Have you ever tried Eggs Florentine? My Top Chef Brother of the esteemed restaurant Picco's in the Bay Area taught me that salad isn't just for lunch. Try it for bfast! Often, I make a simple salad of mixed greens sprinkled with good olive oil and a little sea salt topped with a poached egg. Another delicious option is an omelet or frittata filled with chopped kale or chard. You can scramble an egg with spinach in under two minutes. Prefer to gulp your bfast? Try making a juice drink with greens, or grab a shot of wheatgrass. Either way, you'll be improving your health and your palate in no time! Thank you Dr. Seuss...