Grilled Chicken & Polenta with Nectarine-Blackberry Salsa

"Grilled," in my case, means grilled in a grill pan on my stove, but if you're the outdoor-grilling kind, this would be equally tasty cooked al fresco.

I got this recipe from EatingWell.com, and except for cutting the whole thing in half, I really didn't change it. I just added a little green onion and upped the fruit ratio from two nectarines for four servings to two for two, and added about 6 or 8 raspberries, since they are one of my all-time favorite foods, and also a berry, so why not. I don't know what "coarsely chopped" means when it comes to berries, so I just sliced them in half vertically, and that worked out just dandy.

Yum.

I found the instructions from the original recipe to be written in kind of a confusing way, so here's my redo:

Ingredients:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 nectarines, halved and pitted

1/2 tube of plain prepared polenta

1/3 pint of blackberries, and a palm-full of raspberries

1 1/2 tsp. cumin

1 1/2 tsp. lime juice

about 1 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

1 green onion, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced

Hot sauce, to taste (I used 1/2 tsp Sriracha)

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

Directions:

1. Combine 1 tablespoon olive oil, cumin, and a bit of salt and pepper in a small bowl. Rub the mixture on polenta, and both sides of the chicken. Then cut the polenta into discs, about 1/2 inch thick, and rub a little olive oil on the cut side of the nectarines.

2. Place the chicken, polenta slices and nectarines on the grill, or in your grill pan. [If you are using a real-life grill, you should oil the grill rack before doing this.] Grill the polenta until hot and slightly charred, 3-4 minutes, then transfer it to a plate and tent it with tin foil to keep polenta warm. Grill the nectarines, turning occasionally, until tender, 6-8 minutes total. Grill the chicken until cooked and no longer pink inside, 6-8 minutes per side. Transfer chicken and nectarines to a cutting board. Coarsely chop the nectarines. Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes, then slice.

3. While the chicken rests, combine the lime juice, hot sauce, and a bit of salt in a large or medium bowl. Then add the chopped nectarines, blackberries, cilantro, and green onion. Gently combine.

4. Serve chicken and polenta on a platter with salsa over the top, or individually.

I have to be honest about a couple of things. For one, my nectarines were tiny jerks. They were definitely ripe. They were slightly soft to the squeeze, fragrant, colorful... ripe. But when it came to giving up those pits, they were totally unwilling. So I ended up quartering my nectarines, in favor of mushing them into a pulp trying to remove the pits. I can't imagine that this made much of a difference to the dish, but still. Full disclosure. Also, because I know my taste, I used more cilantro - maybe 1 3/4 tbs instead of 1. I served this dish with just a little bit of green salad, but with all the fruit, you almost don't really need it.

This fruit salsa was super, super delicious. The combination of sweet and just the tiniest bit spicy is a fantastic combination. I would make this again with a variety of other main dishes. Also, grilling nectarines is a brilliant idea! (It wasn't my idea, so I can say that). Sometime soon I will serve warm grilled nectarines with whipped cream. And someday I will try the salsa sans the Sriracha and onion over waffles for a weekend breakfast. (Wow, that's a really exciting idea...)

I know that a grill pan isn't the same as the real deal, but if you don't have access to a grill, you should really consider getting one of these pans. You can get those satisfying grill marks, create crispy skin on your chicken and blacken veggie kabobs with the best of them. For this dish, the pan made a huge difference. Happy grilling!

Quote of the Day: Grilling is like sunbathing. Everyone knows it is bad for you but no one ever stops doing it. ~ Laurie Colwin, 'Home Cooking' (1988)

Last Night's Dinner: Bean & Veggie Wraps with Guacamole

In some ways, I am super proud of this dish. It's fresh, easy, healthy, and meat-free. In other ways - specifically, the fact that I used canned beans and purchased guacamole - I don't feel it's fit to post. But I made it, and it was good, and I'm going out of town to see Brady's grandparents this weekend, so I'm going to tell you about it.

I'm not sure if this can properly be called a "burrito," or if it more properly a wrap, as I've called it. Since I used "wraps" instead of tortillas it seems more like a wrap to me, but the overall effect is definitely that of a healthied-up burrito. This recipe serves up to 4 people, or 2 if they are very hungry.

Ingredients:

1/2 onion, chopped

1 bell pepper, chopped

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1 can black beans, rinsed well

1-2 cups lettuce, cut into strips

2-4 wheat wraps, depending on number of people

1 package guacamole, or home-made, or 1 fresh avocado, chopped

1 tomato, chopped, or 1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered

Grated cheese (optional) - We used Monterey Jack
Dash of lemon or lime juice (optional)
Few shakes of cumin

Your favorite salsa

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

Directions:

1. Saute onion in olive oil. When onion begins to soften, add pepper and garlic, and continue to cook for a couple more minutes. Add a few shakes of cumin.

2. Add salt and pepper to taste, then add the beans and cook until they are heated through. Add lemon or lime juice, if using.

3. Spoon bean mixture onto tortilla, and serve with remaining ingredients as toppings, family-style.

This is one of those add-whatever-you-like things. You can use more and/or different veggies in place of the pepper, queso instead of the grated cheese, and hot sauce, if you want to. If you've got some fresh cilantro around, you can chop it up and serve it with your toppings. Overall it was quick, tasty, healthy, and also kind of fun. Make these! You'll like them!

Clark Park Farmer's Market at 43rd & Baltimore, Philadelphia

One of the best things about where we live is our close proximity to the Clark Park Farmer's Market. Five short blocks away (through a very sweet neighborhood, I might add) is the perfect place to score some local produce, dairy, and yes, Amish baked goods. Vendors accept vouchers from local food assistance programs, and some, like Landisdale Farms from Jonestown PA, travel over 100 miles to be here each week.

Detail of a photo (C) Conrad Erb

This market is year-round, but I have to admit that in this particularly harsh and snowy Philadelphia winter, we haven't made it down since the fall. It takes place on Saturdays throughout the year, and also on Thursday afternoons from May through November. There is also a funky flea market that takes place inside the park itself (the farmer's market is on the edge) on certain Saturdays, but it wasn't in action today.

On this visit, I was hoping to score some local goat cheese for whole-grain pasta shells with goat cheese and walnuts that I will be making this week, but I didn't get lucky with that one. Still, there was plenty of local, organic, "raw" dairy present, among many other treasures. One guy was even selling beautiful hand-thrown ceramics.

I can't be sure, but I get the sense that though it's a year-round market, the true summer produce boom has not yet begun. Greens, asparagus, onions and spring garlic are plentiful though, and I got in on a little bit of the action.

Two yellow onions, one red onion, a fab-looking bean soup mix, hot salsa from Landisdale Farms, and some dried chilies.

There is no doubt that we'll become more frequent customers as the season goes on. I can't wait to get my hands on some fresh summer tomatoes!

Quote of the Day: "It's bizarre that the produce manager is more important to my children's health than the pediatrician." ~ Meryl Streep

Peach & Mango Salsa with Quinoa and Swiss Chard

I'm back! My mom, sister and I had a fabulous weekend with lots of laughs, relaxation, and yes, delicious food. More on this very soon.

Re-entry into real life after a vacation can be totally disorienting. Which explains why I am totally disoriented. And with another short getaway coming up for Easter, my schoolwork, regular-work and personal time are all quite compacted this week. But a girl (and her boyfriend) still gotta eat.

I have been meaning to try quinoa for some time, and since it seemed to be a quick and healthy route, I thought I would make some with dinner tonight. And, since its a good source of protein, I was free to pair it with just about anything. I think I am at the beginning of a long and beautiful relationship with the odd little things.

I decided to make a fruit salsa with mango (the smaller and more tart, yellow-fleshed variety, sometimes called "Champagne" mango), peaches, and just a sprinkle of chopped green onion, about one small one. Since my grocery store didn't have fresh peaches today, I picked up a cup of chopped peaches packed in 100% juice. I've used these little fruit cups before, and I find them really convenient. This particular cup was packed in a mix of pomegranate, peach, and white grape juice. I drained the fruit almost completely, but saved about two teaspoons to mix with the mango. In a perfect world I would still make this with fresh peaches, but I was a bit too committed to this salsa, and a bit too tired to think creatively while physically in the store, so I went with it.

I know, the mood lighting in this photo is a little bit out of control. 

The Swiss Chard I chose mostly for the sake of variety, because I wanted to cook a leafy vegetable, but have plans for a dish involving spinach later in the week. Besides being absurdly nutritious, I thought the Chard would add a more earthy - that is, less fruity - flavor to the meal. I just trimmed it, washed and dried it, and sauteed it with some olive oil over medium heat for about 3-5 minutes. Just a little salt and pepper is all we added.

I won't pretend: This is sort of an odd combination. But, we both thought that it "worked." The fruit salsa is definitely a winner, and with the quinoa I think it would make a great summer lunch or snack. The fruit with the Chard was certainly a contrast, but the slightly bitter greens with the tart mango and sweet peaches was pleasant. Tasty!

Last Night's Dinner: Mexican-ish Frittata & HotHot Salsa

Last night I got home from class around 8:45 feeling the way I often do after class: Exhausted, starving, and very tempted to order a pizza. But thankfully I had lined up an easy (though admittedly not as quick as I would like) dinner. I could lament that I was too tired to remember to add the can of diced tomato with green chilies to the frittata, but there would be no point. I think it turned out better the "mistake" way. And anyway, I'm not sure there would have been room!

As much as I am irked by the task of defrosting and (endlessly) straining frozen spinach, I do think it makes a great addition to frittatas. Last night, the concoction included:

1/2 a yellow onion, chopped

1/2 of a green bell pepper, chopped

1 clove of garlic, minced

About a 1/3 cup of zucchini, chopped (it had to be used for something)

10 oz package chopped frozen spinach, thawed and strained. Endlessly.

6 eggs, beaten, with a little water added for fluff and beaten some more

3.5 oz package (two small sausages) of chorizo

Small handful of shredded "Mexican" cheese

In a 10 inch round cast iron pan (or you can use any oven-proof pan) over low heat, I lightly caramelized the onion in olive oil, about two or three turns of the pan worth. Then I added green pepper, zucchini and garlic, and cooked the veggies until they were just barely tender.

Then I added the chorizo to the pan, to cook for another two or three minutes. This is probably around the time that I preheated the oven to 400 degrees.

I find it is easiest to mix the spinach with the egg before adding the egg to the pan. I'm not sure if this is "right," but it works! You just have to work kind of quickly here: Add the egg to the pan, sprinkle in the cheese, and combine to be sure that the cheese, vegetables and spinach are distributed evenly throughout the frittata. 

                          

                                           Before:

This is around the time I realized I forgot about the tomato and chilies.

Then I thought, it's basically salsa already, why not heat it up and reduce it a bit, and have it be a spicyhot-temperaturehot* sauce. Obviously I couldn't resist adding some Sriracha, also. Honestly I wasn't sure, but it turned out to be a good idea! A nice balance of tomato and spicyness brought out the slight heat of the chorizo in the frittata but didn't overwhelm the other flavors. I might actually do this on purpose next time.

The actual cooking of the frittata remains somewhat of a mystery to me, in that I seem to do it differently every time. Generally, though, I leave it on the stove over low heat (so the bottom doesn't burn) for about 5 to 10 minutes, then stick it in the oven until it passes the "run" test. That is, it is done when tipping the pan does not cause an avalanche of goop and runny egg matter. (Sounds delicious, right!?). This usually takes about 10 minutes. Personally I find there to be something remarkably disgusting about even slightly overcooked eggs, so I watch it pretty closely.

  

                                           After:

A nifty thing about many dutch ovens, like the Lodge one that I have, is that the lid can be used as a shallow pan, which is what I used for this dish. It is also great for baking, although my one brush with Pineapple Upside Down Cake was a sticky-sweet disaster. Still, it's a useful thing to have on hand, and I find that I use it much more than I expected I would. Just note that the first few times you cook eggs in it, they will stick no matter what you do, even if it claims to be "seasoned" already. No pain no gain!

A note about cast iron in general: If you own it, don't make yourself crazy reading every article you can find about how to "season" your pans, like I did. The rules are simple. Remove crusty stuff with a metal spatula, DO NOT use dish soap, wipe clean with a lightly-oiled cloth (vegetable oil or, disgustingly, lard is best), and set it over medium/low heat for a few minutes after use. Sometimes a little oil in the pain over medium heat is necessary to dislodge all the crusty bits. If you ABSOLUTELY MUST use dish soap for some reason, stick it on the stove over low heat for 10 minutes to make sure it is completely dry. If you put cast iron in a dishwasher... Just don't do it. The Gods will cry, and so will I.

*My Italian grandmother was famous for the funny way she said "spicyhot!," which my mercilessly hilarious brother used to get her to say at every opportunity. A holiday meal wasn't complete without it.

Quote of the Day: "Love and eggs are best when they are fresh." ~ Russian proverb