Green Beans with Lemon, Garlic, and Parmigiano Gremolata

This is another LRK recipe. I made a half-batch, as the original recipe is written as a side dish for a Thanksgiving meal. If you make the whole batch, use two pans. Slowly steaming the green beans lets them soften without getting mushy. These are fabulous at room temperature, so they are a great make-ahead dish. I stupidly forgot to by a nice block of Parmigiano-Reggiano to grate, so I punted with grated stuff from a can; frankly, I don't think the taste suffered.

Ingredients

Beans:

• Good tasting extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 pounds green beans, stem ends trimmed
• Salt and fresh-ground black pepper
• 1 cup water

Gremolata:

• 5 large garlic cloves, crushed
• 1/3 cup water
• Shredded zest of 2 large lemons (organic preferred; after all, you are eating the entire rind)
• 1 tight-packed cup Italian parsley leaves
• Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
• 1-1/2 cups coarsely-grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Instructions

1. Lightly film the bottom of 2 straight-sided 12-inch sauté pans with oil. Heat them over medium-high heat. Add the beans and generous sprinklings of salt and pepper, and sauté for 2 minutes, or until the beans begin to brown. Add 1/2 cup of water to each pan and immediately cover it. Turn the heat to medium-low. Cook the beans for 15 to 20 minutes, checking them often for burning and adding a little water if necessary. You want the beans very tender.

2. As the beans cook, make the gremolata. Put the garlic and 1/3 cup water in a coffee mug and microwave 1 minute, or simmer in a small saucepan to 1 to 2 minutes (this mellows the garlic just a little). Then, in a food processor, mince together the garlic (with its liquid), lemon zest, and parsley. Salt and pepper the mixture to taste.

3. When the beans are tender, uncover them, cook off any liquid in the pan, and turn them into a serving bowl. Toss the beans with the gremolata and the grated cheese.

Serves 10-14 as part of a large meal.

Tabouleh

Tabouleh is one of my favorite salads. I had it for the very first time on one of our family road trip vacations to California back in the 80s. We had this at a stop in--Oklahoma City--who knew? Tabouleh is perfect for when you want something filling, but you don't want to make a big production in the kitchen. All you need is a bowl, a knife, and a cutting board. (Also a spoon would be handy.)

One of the best things about this salad is you get a healthy dose of your greenery, plus the added bonus of a whole grain. It also keeps for a while in the fridge, so it makes for a great lunch the next day. You can also transform this as a filler for endive leaves for a party appetizer, or wrap it up in a butter lettuce leaf as a low-carb burrito, or even use it as a topping on a veggie patty.

Like pretty much anything I make, you can mix and match the ingredients to go with what you've got on hand or what you're feeling like for the day. For example, some other herbs you could use are marjoram, tarragon, basil, or arugula. One thing that is a must, the greenery must outweigh the bulgur wheat. The salad should be more green than tan.

Tabouleh

Ingredients:

1/2 c. bulgur wheat

1 c. boiling water

2 lemons

1 bunch of parsley

1 c. mint leaves

1 English cucumber

grape tomatoes, halved

olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Method:

• In a heatproof bowl, mix bulgur wheat and boiling water. Cover and let sit.
• Meanwhile, chop the cucumber into a small, bite-sized dice. And finely chop the parsley and mint.
• Once the bulgur has absorbed all of the the water, zest one of the lemons into the bulgur.
• Halve both lemons and squeeze the juice over the bulgur. Add a healthy pinch of salt, several grinds of pepper, and a tablespoon or so of olive oil. Toss well to combine.
• Add in herbs, cucumber, and tomatoes. Gently toss and taste for seasoning. You may need to add more salt.

You can either serve this as is, or it will hold for a while at room temp.

Paella

Paella is one of those dishes that I always assumed was difficult and not terribly friendly to the herbivores. I ran across a recipe in Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. It is now one of my go-to meals. You do need a pan that can go from stovetop to the oven, but other than that, no special equipment necessary. I use my enormous cast-iron Le Creuset braiser, but I'm sure my 12-inch stainless skillet would also do the trick.

I've made this recipe many different ways, using whatever I have on hand. The version I'm posting now, is for spinach & lemon, but you could certainly mix up the flavors. Some combos I've tried successfully have been oranges & green olives, mushrooms & thyme, shrimp & oranges, tomatoes and capers.

Lemon-Spinach Paella

adapted from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian

Ingredients:

One medium-sized onion, minced

2-3 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed

2 c. arborio (or any short grain) rice

1 T. tomato paste

1 T. smoked Spanish paprika (also called pimenton)

4 c. vegetable stock (or whatever stock you have on hand, even water will suffice)

1/4 c. Olive oil, divided

1 bag pre-washed spinach

zest and juice of 1 lemon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

2. Heat 3 T. of olive oil in a large skillet (with tall edges) over medium heat.
3. Add in the onions and garlic, stirring occasionally until they turn translucent.
4. Meanwhile, in a large bowl combine spinach, lemon zest & juice with remaining tablespoon of olive oil, salt & pepper to taste. Toss to coat the spinach leaves with olive oil & lemon juice.
5. Add the rice, tomato paste and paprika to the skillet. Add a little sprinkling of salt here too.

6. Once rice has started to become fragrant (1-2 minutes), add the stock.
7. Turn off the burner heat and add spinach mixture to the top of the skillet.
8. Move skillet to the oven for 15 minutes.
9. After 15 minutes if the liquid has mostly been absorbed, turn off the temp in the oven and let the paella sit inside the turned off oven for an additional 5 minutes. (if the liquid has not been absorbed, let it go in an active oven for another 4-6 minutes, or until absorbed).

10. Enjoy.