May 2010 Archives

Israeli couscous is a small couscous with grains the size of peppercorns.

• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced, divided
• ½ teaspoon finely grated lemon peel
• 1 and 1/3 cups Israeli couscous (6 to 7 ounces)
• 1 and ¾ cups (or more) vegetable broth
• 14 ounces slender asparagus, cut diagonally into ½-inch pieces
• 8 ounces sugar snap peas, trimmed and cut into ½-inch pieces
• 1 cup shelled fresh green peas or frozen, thawed
• ½ cup chopped fresh herbs — a mixture of your choosing
• ½ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

Whisk 2 tablespoons of oil and next three ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside. (Use just one garlic clove here.)

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add couscous, sprinkle with salt, and sauté until most of couscous is golden brown. Add broth, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium low, cover and simmer until liquid is absorbed and couscous is tender, about 10 minutes. Add more broth, a little at a time if too dry.

Meanwhile, heat rest of oil in a heavy nonstick skillet over high heat and add veggies including remaining garlic. Season with salt and pepper and sauté until crisp tender, about three minutes.

Transfer veggies to large bowl, add couscous and drizzle with dressing. Add herbs and cheese and toss. Season to taste and serve. Serves 6.

• 3 pounds of red or Yukon gold potatoes, cubed and boiled in a large pot of heavily salted water for 5 to 7 minutes till just done
• 1 pound green beans, sliced into inch-long pieces, blanched for three minutes in the same water with the potatoes
• Three to four ears of cooked corn, kernels removed after cooking
• 1 pint halved or quartered cherry or grape tomatoes

These ingredients are all approximate and can be varied according to your taste. Just make sure that the potatoes remain the main ingredient by weight and volume.

Make a lemon-juice based vinaigrette using 1/3 cup of fresh lemon juice, one teaspoon of salt, one teaspoon of freshly ground pepper, and one tablespoon of Dijon mustard. Whisk into this mixture 2/3 to 1 cup of your favorite olive oil and about 1/4 cup of thinly sliced basil leaves. (Basil is easier to slice with small scissors than with a knife.)

Pour dressing over the warm salad ingredients and let sit five to ten minutes to soak up the dressing. Serve warm or at room temperature. Serves 8 to 12. You may not need all of the dressing, but you may use it on any of your favorite summer salads.

(This assumes you are using about 2 lbs. pork tenderloin.)

Dry Rub

• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoons fresh ginger, chopped very fine
• 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped very fine
• 1 tablespoon fresh orange peel, grated or chopped very fine
• 1 teaspoon black pepper

Crush garlic and salt together in a mortar or with the side of a large knife on a chopping board; mix in other ingredients to form a dry marinade. Brush tenderloins with about 1 tablespoon olive oil each and then spread the dry rub evenly over the meat with your fingers or a spatula. Place tenderloins in a non-reactive pan and pour the marinade (recipe follows) over them; let sit at room temperature up to one hour or marinate in refrigerator at least 2 hours or overnight. Grill tenderloins as you normally would, brushing the pork with any marinade left in the pan. Slice about ¼ inch thick on the diagonal for serving. This should serve 4–6 people depending on weight of pork.

Marinade

Add to the juice of one large juice orange or two small (approximately 1/3 cup) enough fresh lemon juice to make ½ cup liquid; add 2 tablespoons honey; l large or 2 small garlic cloves, finely chopped; 2 tablespoons chopped, fresh rosemary; 1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger; ½ teaspoon salt; and ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper and mix well. With a whisk or in a blender, slowly add ½ cup olive or canola oil to create a good emulsion. Pour over meat.

Pasta and Green Bean Salad with Orange and Honey Dressing

For salad, combine gently in a large bowl:

• 8 ounces pasta bows, cooked, drained and cooled
• ½ lb Roma green beans (the flat ones), cut or broken into 1-inch pieces and blanched
• 1 medium fennel bulb, chopped
• ½ large sweet onion, chopped
• 1 small sweet red pepper, chopped
• 1 cup fresh, cooked corn kernels

Dressing

If you are making the salad to serve with the pork, make double the recipe for the marinade and reserve ½ of it for the dressing. Do not use leftover marinade for the dressing.

Pour dressing over the salad ingredients and mix gently. Serve soon as citrus will discolor the green beans over time. Serves 4–6 as a side dish.

Personal Note: I actually created the salad recipe in order to utilize leftover pork tenderloin that I already had on hand and which I then added to the salad to serve as a one-dish meal. I didn’t write down any of the measurements as I went along; I just tasted. So what you read here is a re-creation that may not taste exactly as it did the first time. But that is what cooking is all about, and you may adjust any of the ingredient measurements, add or subtract ingredients, or make more or less as you like to end up with something your family will enjoy. The idea here is to do a little creating yourself!