Radish, Cucumber, Beet Salad

One of the best parts about becoming grown ups (that happened already, right?), is that we love more foods.

When I was younger, I gagged over asparagus, brussel sprouts or beets. Now, I adore all three. And whenever I gravitate toward beets in the grocery store, I imagine my 11-year old self casting me a scornful glare. If she were here, we would NOT be allowed to make this dish. Eye roll.

But grown up me loves beets, and really loves this salad -- in which they play a starring role. Supporting actors include radishes (it's their debut into our cooking repertoire) and cucumbers (type cast as the mild-mannered salad ingredient). We sought inspiration from this salad on Serious Eats.

Pretty as an appetizer or very light main course salad, you can serve this over lettuce as we did, or on its own.

Ingredients:
1 bunch beets
1 English cucumber
1 bunch radishes
1/2 red onion
salt to taste
pepper to taste
3 tbsp olive oil (plus more for roasting beets)
1-2 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp chopped fresh mint (or more or less to taste)
1 head romaine lettuce

(balsamic vinaigrette)
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
2/3 cups olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
Wash beets, and place them in a roasting pan. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and olive oil. Add a little water to the pan to prevent beets from sticking. Roast in the oven at 350 until beets are easily pierced with a knife, about an hour. Let cool, then peel off the skins and slice into quarter-inch slices. Prepare cucumber salad by removing seeds from cucumber, then cutting the cucumber into very thin slices. Place cucumber in a bowl, then thinly slice radishes (you can use a peeler for this) and red onion, and add to the bowl. Add mint, olive oil, and red wine vinegar. Make the balsamic vinaigrette by whisking together ingredients. Divide romaine among four plates, top with beets, then cucumber and radish salad. Drizzle balsamic vinaigrette over top, and serve.

Fontina and Fig Pizza

It's so easy to crank out blog posts that are uninteresting.

For example, a few minutes ago I typed up a quick description of the fig and Fontina cheese pizza that we made last week. I was about to click publish, but I decided to scan it one last time, during which time I discovered that the post was awfully drab. I wrote something about serving the pizza with friends, and another something about where we found the recipe, and I won't bore you with the rest because the point of rewriting is to avoid the mundane business, and to instead share something interesting.

Like, for example, pizzerias constitute 17 percent of restaurants in the U.S. Likely relatedly, the average person in the U.S. consumes 23 lbs. of pizza per year. I found those facts here. Interesting, no?

So here's the recipe. You can use pre-made pizza dough if you like, but we chose this recipe from Mark Bittman. Since we're not providing a cheesy (haha) description, you'll just have to trust that it's delicious. It is.

Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour, more as needed
2 tsp instant yeast
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus a little more
2 teaspoons coarse kosher or sea salt
1 cup shredded Fontina cheese
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (or a little Gorgonzola works, too)
1/2 lb. black mission figs, halved

Instructions:
Combine flour, yeast, 2 tbsp oil and salt in a food processor. Process ingredients, and add 1 cup water through feed tube. Process for about 30 seconds, adding a little more water if necessary until mixture forms a slightly sticky ball. Turn dough onto a floured work surface, and knead to form a smooth, round ball. Put dough ball in a bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until dough doubles in size, 1-2 hours. Divide dough in half and roll it on baking sheets. Rub a little olive oil over the doughs, and divide cheese and figs among them. Bake in the oven at 400 for 8-10 minutes, until golden. Cut into squares and serve.

Benihana Dressing with Salad

Remember Benihana? You went there for your 11th birthday party with 12 of your best friends for life? You caught a piece of chicken teriyaki in your mouth, or maybe it landed on your new outfit? Now try to remember the salad dressing -- sweet and gingery, subtly tangy, as brightly colorful as it flavorful? It's one of the best salad dressing recipes out there, and somehow my mom found a copy and shared it with us. It goes great on any salad, but we tried to compose one with flavors that we thought would compliment the dressing perfectly.

We served this salad as an appetizer to our first sushi FAIL. Yes, we sadly failed at an attempt to make one of our very favorite foods. I think it's because we did a bit of a rush job, but also because we didn't have all of the proper tools and the soy sauce we used tasted funky. One of these days, we'll get our acts together and post some beautiful rolls, because I know we have it in us. So this salad actually ended up as the highlight of the meal, and the dressing was the highlight of the salad. I think it could actually outshine anything that accompanies it, though, because it's just that good.

Ingredients (serves 2):
(dressing)
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup olive oil
4 tbsp rice vinegar
4 tbsp water
2 tbsp chopped, peeled ginger
2 tbsp chopped celery
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp tomato paste
3 tsp sugar
2 tsp lemon juice

(salad)
1 head of romaine lettuce, cut into bite-sized pieces
about 10 cherry tomatoes
1 avocado, sliced
1 orange, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces

Instructions:
To make the salad dressing, combine all of the ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Divide salad components between two plates, pour dressing over salads, and serve.

Mock Ceviche

We made this several months ago at my house, and went crazy over it. We were all like, "Ahhh! Where's the camera? We have to blog this! It's so good!" But we were at my house and Alex's camera was out of batteries and we could only get a few shots with my mom's camera before discovering that we had eaten it all.

We made it again last night for guests, and just as we were spooning it onto plates, we were all like "Ahhh! Waaaait! We have to blog it this time -- it's so good!" Sadly, once again, we only got a few quick shots before discovering, once again, that it was all gone. This time, however, we've decided to go ahead and post the recipe anyway.

The mock ceviche is from Mark Bittman's The Best Recipes in the World, but you can also find it here. It's a brilliant way to get the flavors we love from ceviche, without the risk of getting sick from grocery store-purchased fish. Prepare it in advance and let it sit as long as you like, but we'll bet you can hardly make it until serving time.

Ingredients:
Salt and pepper
1/2 lb. shrimp, any size
1/2 lb. sea scallops
1/2 lb. cleaned squid, cut into rings (tentacles left whole)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 small chili, like Thai or jalapeño, seeded, stemmed and minced
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1 small clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp minced red or yellow bell peppers, optional
1/4 cup diced tomato flesh, optional
1/4 cup diced avocado, optional
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/2 cup cilantro leaves, barely chopped

Instructions:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add a dash of salt. Add shrimp, reduce heat to medium, and cook about 4 minutes, until pink and firm. Remove, run under cold water. Peel and set aside. Cook scallops and squid together in same water for 2 minutes, or until scallops are firm and not quite cooked through and squid is fairly tender. Remove and run under cold water, then combine with shrimp. Toss seafood with olive oil and, if you like, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve (up to 24 hours). Toss with remaining ingredients except cilantro, then taste, and adjust seasoning. Stir in most of cilantro, garnish with remainder.

Avocado and Blood Orange Salad

Sometimes, we feel silly posting recipes like this one. I never know how to write instructions for a salad: Put ingredients on plate? Pour dressing over lettuce? It seems self-explanatory. But as I was looking at the picture of this salad deciding whether we should post it, I thought about how rarely we remember to make such simple and beautiful dishes. Salads like this one are so easy to make, but too often we think of them as too fancy for a weeknight, or too much effort for something not very substantial (case in point: Alex made this as part of my birthday meal). Usually, we make salad as a main dish, or not at all, opting instead to quickly steam a side vegetable or to throw one in with whatever else we are making. After this salad, though, I'd like to change that.

When we make salad as a main course, we feel pressure to weight it down with nuts, cheese and other proteins to make sure it is filling enough. While I love dinner salads, I think there is still something to be said for just lettuce, avocado and blood oranges. Add a simple citrus dressing, and just enjoy the combination of those three ingredients. I found myself surprised at the combination of textures, something I hardly notice when other ingredients bog the salad down. If you haven't done a salad like this in a while, consider it, and I bet you'll be surprised too.

Ingredients (makes 2 small salads):
(salad)
2 cups mixed greens
1 avocado, sliced
1 blood orange, sectioned

(dressing)
1/2 c olive oil
1/3 c lemon juice
1 tbs sugar
1 small shallot, diced
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Mix dressing ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until combined. Assemble lettuce, avocado and blood oranges on a plate and dress.

Chilled Roasted Red Pepper Soup with Croutons

Our birthdays should actually be called "get pampered by food days." We use them as an opportunity to go crazy at restaurants and in our own kitchens, not restricting ourselves by anything but the size of our stomaches (and sometimes not even that.) For my birthday yesterday, I put in a tall order: I wanted Alex to cook me dinner. Although my expectations were high, I was really blown away by some amazing dishes that I'd like to share. He photographed them as always, but insists that I write so that I can "talk about how delicious they were." They were very delicious.

Take, for example, this lovely chilled roasted red pepper soup with croutons. I'd been yapping about making this soup for ages since I love the Trader Joe's version, and Alex made a delicious recipe from Epicurious. It had a sweet, smoky flavor, and arrived topped with his signature crunchy, homemade croutons. The soup was simple, pretty, smooth and refreshing. Yesterday was abnormally chilly for late April, and I imagine it would be especially welcome on a warm summer day.

Ingredients (serves 4):
(soup)
4 large red bell peppers
2 tbs olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cups chicken stock
1/8 tsp dried crushed red pepper

(crutons)
1 1/2 cups of 1/2-inch French bread cubes (stale bread works great!)
2 tbs olive oil
salt and pepper

Instructions:
To make the soup, roast peppers under the broiler until blackened on all sides. Wrap peppers in a paper bag and let stand 10 minutes. Peel and seed, then cut into 1/2-inch pieces. Heat 2 tbsp oil in large saucepan, add onion and sauté until brown on edges, about 6 minutes. Add peppers and 3 cups stock. Simmer until vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Transfer peppers, onions and stock to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Mix in dried red pepper. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and chill until cold. (Can be made 1 day ahead.) For croutons, toss bread, olive oil, salt and pepper in a bowl until well coated. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 min until bread achieves the desired crunch. Spoon cooled soup into bowls. Top with bread and thin slices of basil if you desire.

Borscht

It always surprises me when people associate Borscht with Jewish grandmother cooking, because, for me, it was never like that. My borscht has always been cool and velvety with a dolop of sour cream, and I like it that way. I never understood the reason for potatoes and cabbage in a soup that is so beautifully and simply pink.

After finding beets at our farmer's market this morning, we created a delicious borscht based loosely on a recipe from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. I love this version because it calls for roasting the beets, which give them a distinctly sweet flavor. Also, the recipe is extremely basic: just beets, onions, broth and lemon juice. We swirled in yogurt instead of sour cream for an all-around healthy and vibrant soup.

Ingredients:
approximately 3 lb. beets
1 onion, chopped
juice of 1 lemon
4 tbsp olive oil
approximately 6 cups chicken broth
yogurt to garnish
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350. Peel and halve the beets. Place in a roasting pan and drizzle with 2 tbsp olive oil. Roast for 20-30 minutes, until soft enough to pierce through easily with a fork. Let cool, then chop into small pieces. In a large pot, heat remaining 2 tbsp oil. Add onion, and cook for about three minutes until soft, then reduce heat and cook until golden, about 10 minutes. Add beets, and enough chicken broth to cover, about 6 cups. Bring to a boil, then let simmer for about an additional 20 minutes. In batches, transfer soup to a blender and blend until smooth. Return to pot, chill if you want, and serve with yogurt or sour cream.

Favorite Soup: Vegetable and Matzo Ball

This is my great grandmother's recipe for vegetable soup with matzo balls. My mom has been making it for as long as I can remember, mostly on holidays and sick days. I think that it is the best soup in the world. It's far heartier than most matzo ball soups, which consist of a few lumpy balls in clear broth, and the vegetables blend together so subtly and intuitively that its truly harmonious. I’ve only recently begun attempting it on my own (and by that I mean with Alex, who does most of the intensive labor) but I know that I will continue making it for the rest of my life.

There are so many things to love about this soup. It tastes super healthy, and with its strong kick of ginger, it has healing effects on bellyaches, colds, stressed minds or pretty much anything. Plus, the steps are simple: Throw stuff in a pot and let it simmer for two hours before blending. In fact, if you ask my mom for further instructions, she gets very ambiguous. When I was younger, I was convinced that this was because she was hiding a secret ingredient or step that perfected the soup, but now I think that its because no matter what you do, it still tastes delicious.

The vegetable soup is amazing alone, but we always add matzo balls. My favorite brand is Streits, but since my local grocery stores doesn’t carry it, I used Manischewitz. The trick to making perfect matzo balls is to make sure that your hands are very wet, and to only lightly bring the matzo meal together. Try not to pack them; it doesn’t matter if they aren’t perfectly round. I’d take a light and funky-shaped matzo ball over a heavy one any day.

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken, cut into its parts
5 carrots, peeled and cut into very large chunks
3 parsnips, peeled and cut into very large chunks
top 1/3 of a celery bunch, cut into very large chunks
1 potato, peeled and cut into very large chunks
2 onions, cut into very large chunks
4 garlic cloves
3 inch piece ginger, peeled
1/2 bunch parsley
1/2 bunch dill
1 can stewed tomatoes
1/2 cup tomato sauce

Instructions:
Put all ingredients in a large pot and fill pot with water. Add a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer for two hours. Remove chicken pieces and set aside for later use (makes great chicken salad). Using a strainer, remove remaining solids and separate any leftover chicken from the mass of vegetables. In a blender, puree vegetables in batches with a bit of the broth, and add back into the soup. Adjust seasonings (salt) and add matzo balls, as per instructions on the box.

Egg Drop Soup with Egg Noodles

As far as college campuses go, Penn's offers some great eating-out options. Pod, a Stephen Starr restaurant, is just 2 blocks away from Alex's apartment, and favorite local-food haven White Dog Cafe is just a block beyond that. Plus, we have three Starbucks and an impressive range of Vietnamese, Japanese, Indian, Thai, Middle-Eastern and other ethnic restaurants. Somehow, though, we're seriously missing decent Chinese food. That's not to say that there aren't Chinese restaurants, but rather that the dishes served at many of them are more greasy than flavorful, and known to induce nausea and self-loathing after consumption. So when we wanted the comfort of Chinese take-out without the aftermath of ordering locally, we decided to try making a classic egg-drop soup ourselves.

We were surprised to learn that the dish is very simple -- both in flavor and production. We based our recipe on one from Cooks Illustrated that called for cilantro, which we thought added a nice complexity to an otherwise basic broth-based soup. We ended up adjusting the seasonings even more to give the soup more flavor. And because we planned it as our main course, we added yolk-less (why not?) egg noodles, which went nicely.

Ingredients:
(broth)
3 quarts low-sodium chicken broth
2-inch piece of ginger, unpeeled and sliced thinly, lightly smashed
3 medium scallions, halved lengthwise and lightly smashed

(soup)
3 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp water
2 medium scallions, finely chopped
3 tbsp cilantro, minced
6 large eggs, beaten
1 package egg noodles

Instructions:
Make the broth by placing all of the ingredients in a large saucepan and simmering them for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, cook the egg noodles according to package instructions (should take about 10 minutes) and place them aside. Discard the solid ingredients in the broth (you can do this by pouring the soup through a strainer). Return the soup to its pot, and bring it to a simmer. Add soy sauce to taste. Combine cornstarch in water in a small bowl and stir until smooth, then whisk this mixture into the soup until it thickens slightly, about one minute. Add scallions and cilantro. Whisk the eggs into the broth by stirring the broth gently in a circular motion and adding the eggs in a continuous stream. Then, let the soup stand until the eggs set, about one minute. Once they have set, break up egg ribbons with a fork. Divide egg noodles among bowls and pour soup over them. Serve immediately.

Salad with Roasted Pears, Walnuts and Gorgonzola

Our friend Danny showed us this cartoon about words for the internet. Sorry for our brief hiatus from the intertubes. We haven't had much time for the blogonet since leaving Penn. We headed to Alex's home in Connecticut and did some cooking, but we've been pretty lazy about getting the recipes to the webosphere. Enough.

Really though: We are officially on winter break, which will likely mean very few posts over the next couple weeks. Keep checking though, happy holidays, and we'll be back full-force during the second week of January.

In the meantime, here's a favorite salad that we conjured up for Alex's family. The warm pears make it perfect for winter, and the way we cut them makes the salad look really, really pretty. The dressing is unique and light, so this works well as a first course. The recipe is a four-star from Epicurious, and we offer some slight modifications here.

Ingredients:
(salad)
3 bunches fresh thyme sprigs
4 bartlett pears (about 2 1/2 pounds), halved and cored
1/4 cup honey
8 oz. spring mix lettuce (or your fave, butter lettuce works well too)
6 ounces blue cheese, sliced
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted

(dressing)
4 tablespoons white grape juice and 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup grapeseed oil
1 large shallot, finely chopped
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400. Place thyme sprigs on a baking sheet. Place pear halves, cut side down, on work surface. Starting 1/2 inch from stem and leaving pear half intact, cut each lengthwise into scant 1/3- to 1/2-inch-wide slices. Press pear to fan slices; place on the thyme sprigs. Drizzle pears with honey, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 15 minutes until pears are tender. Let cool on baking sheet. To make the dressing, whisk ingredients together. Plate the lettuce, top with cheese and nuts, place pear alongside greens. Drizzle with dressing.

Tunisian Eggplant on Anything

Some things go with eveything. The color black, for example, hummus, pesto.

Here's another for the list: tunisian eggplant, which consists of small eggplant chunks cooked with onions in tomato paste and red wine vinegar, then tossed with olives and marinated artichoke hearts. Serve it as hours'devours on endive leaves or crackers, or for a main course over pasta or rice, or in a sandwhich with melted provolone. I could go on.

Our recipe is a minimally-adapted version of one we found in Alex's new vegetarian cookbook, The Vegetable Dishes I Can't Live Without, by Molly Katzen. It's simple and delicious. Unbelievably versatile.

Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 cups onion, minced
1 1/2 lbs eggplant, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic, minced
2 tbsp tomato paste
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 cup green olives, pitted chopped
1 small jar (6 oz) marinated artichokes, coarsely chopped
1 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano
more salt, pepper to taste

Instructions:
Heat the olive oil. Add onions and cook for 5-8 minutes until soft. Stir in eggplant, salt and garlic, cover the pan and cook for 15 minutes, or until eggplant is very soft. Add small abouts of water by the tbsp if eggplant appears to stick. Stir in tomato paste,vinegar, basil and oregano, and cook for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat (do not let boil for more than a few seconds) and add olives and artichokes. Season and serve at any temperature on anything.

Shrimp Potstickers

Nothing exacerbates the urge to cook and nest like exam season. After hiding in library carrels all day, sustained primarily by coffee and diet coke, we rush home with the overwhelming desire to create obscene amounts of comfort food.

Yesterday, we did shrimp potstickers for the semester finale of our ex-DP editors' Gourmet Club. We bought the wrappers in Chinatown, which kind of constitutes cheating, but, again, it's exam season -- slack, please. They turned out so beautifully, and tasted just like the ones we love from Chinese restaurants/Trader Joe's.

For a dipping sauce, combine soy sauce and rice wine vinegar together with a pinch of sugar to taste.

Ingredients:
1 pound shrimp, no shells or tails, chopped finely
1/4 head napa cabbage, shredded
4 carrots, shredded
1 bunch scallions, finely chopped
4 one-inch cubes ginger, shredded
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/8 cup sesame oil
50 wonton wrappers

Instructions:
Combine everything but the wrappers in a large bowl, mix thoroughly through with your hands. If you want, fry up a bit to make sure that you like the seasoning, then adjust. Scoop a tsp-sized ball of filling into the middle of a wrapper. Fold over and press wrapper together. Then, fold the edge of the wrapper back over itself and press down again. Repeat for all of the wrappers. Steam the dumplings for about 10 minutes, cool and serve.

Hummus, Hummus and Hummus

The new food processor is like our puppy. We excercise it daily, wash it, and even clean up after it when it makes a mess all over the kitchen floor. We want to challenge it, but it can do no wrong. Sometimes, we sit and talk about its shiny and finished coat -- er, surface.

Today's trick was hummus, a food-processor classic. Not to sound hideously un-foodie-ey, but my favorite hummus has always been Costco's. My mom buys it by the tub. Partly because I didn't want to betray my #1 love (Alanna + Costo hummus 4Evah) and partly because we make everything more complicated than necessary, we skipped the classic version and shot the moon with roasted red pepper, roasted garlic and spicy black bean varieties. Alex liked the black bean best, and I liked the roasted red pepper. Okay, so they all tasted moderately similar. Similar, but delicious.

We made a basic hummus, separated it into three bowls, and then re-processed each with its different ingredients. The basic recipe is on Epicurious here, but I've re-written below with some minor tweaking, plus our own additions. We served it with couscous tabouleh in pita with lettuce.

Ingredients:
2 cups canned chickpeas (save the liquid)
1/2 cup tahini (sesame paste)
1/4 cup olive oild
1/2 tbsp ground cumin
1/2 tbsp paprika
3 lemons, juiced
salt and pepper to taste
and for special varities...
Black Bean: 1/3 can black beans, chili powder
Red Pepper: 1/3 cup roasted red pepper
Roasted Garlic: 3 garlic cloves, roasted (cook in a pan without oil until aromatic and slightly brown)

Instructions:
Combine all of the basic hummus ingredients in the food processor and blend. If you want a lighter, fluffier consistency, drizzle in about a tsp of water or chickpea liquid and re-process. Divide the mixture into three bowls, and re-process each with its extra ingredients.

Fig Spread with Blue Cheese on Crackers

Alex deserves complete credit for this recipe -- he invented it from scratch and the internet. We set a bunch of these out on a plate before dinner with some friends last night, and they disappeared within seconds. We re-plated about 10 times, and had to force ourselves to stop there.

In technical terms (we've been reading Michael Ruhlman's The Elements of Cooking, which is as humbling as it is inspiring), the spread is a food-processed reduction. That means we basically cooked figs in some stuff for a while, and played with our favorite toy some more. The spread is designed to be sweet, but the pomegranate juice lends it a light tang, and it all goes perfectly with the creaminess of the cheese.

We didn't intend it, but the colors make it perfect for holiday hors devours. Bring the beer. We mean cheer.

Ingredients:
12 dried figs, chopped
1 cup wine
1/2 cup pomegranate juice
3 lemon slices
2 tbsp honey

Instructions:
Combine all of the ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer the mixture for 15 minutes, until only a bit of liquid remains. Remove from heat, remove the lemon slices, and let cool. Spoon the mixture into the food processor (a blender would probably work as well) and pulse until smooth. Spread over crackers (preferably multi-grain) and top with miniature slices of blue cheese.

Warm Salad with Potatoes and Lemon Dressing

After a semester's worth of superb produce, we said our goodbyes to Penn's on-campus farmer's market this afternoon. Though the market will return once more next week before closing until spring, we will be home for Thanksgiving. We decided to plan a fully locally-produced dinner to honor the occasion, and found everything we needed for a mere $7.50! There's probably a joke to be made here about "market price," but I'm an English major ... so yeah.

We love the warm potatoes, string beans, eggs and lemony dressing that compose a salad nicoise -- but we're a bit more lukewarm about the tuna and olive business. We found some beautiful brussel sprouts at the market, and thought it would be interesting to try throwing them into the mix. Since we steamed them for a bit before pan-cooking them in a touch of smart balance and salt, they added a great buttery flavor to the dish. The whole ordeal took about 30 minutes, which was perfect for a busy weeknight (Project Runway Season 4 @ 10, please!). Definitely recommend this.

Ingredients (serves 2):
1 head lettuce (romaine, butter lettuce or frisee)
4 hardboiled eggs (we removed the yolks)
2 red potatoes
1 quart brussel sprouts
1/2 1b. string beans
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper

for dressing:
1/3 cup olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
3 tbsp white wine vinegar
2 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tsp herbs de provence (rosemary and thyme)
salt and pepper

Instructions:
Steam the string beans and brussel sprouts (takes about 10 minutes each). Peel the potatoes and boil them (takes about 15 minutes). Set aside string beans and potatoes. Heat olive oil, and cut the brussel sprouts in half. Cook them in the oil with a pinch of salt and pepper for about three minutes. When the potatoes are cooled, slice them. Slice the hard boiled eggs as well, and add the toppings to the lettuce. For the dressing, just wisk the ingredients together and pour over the salad.

Bloggers Meet-Up, and other excuses for Onion and Pepper Toasts with Blue Cheese

It happened -- the night we'd been anticipating for almost two whole weeks: Philly food bloggers united.

At 6:50 p.m., we packed up our toast points and pumpkin-pie blintzes, hailed a cab, and made the 10-block trek down Chestnut Street. We were extremely nervous; I quizzed Alex on the names of expected guests and their respective blogs during the ride, and we eavesdropped outside the apartment door for a long minute before knocking. Hearing only some chatter and laughing -- no screams or other indications of ax-murdering -- we entered into a warm apartment with a bunch of mostly twenty-somethings sitting around drinking wine and munching on homecookings. Despite the initial awkardness of introductions (so... what's your blog?), we quickly started loving it. And as we expected, the food tasted insanely fine. These were our kinds of peoples. Check out their sites by clicking the links from our blogroll, to your right.

Being two people, we brought two dishes: an appetizer and a dessert (will post next!). We'd made the appetizer once before, but it originated in Alex's family as a Christmas dish. It's very simple, but for some reason we just think it tastes really good. These are easy to make en masse, and great to set out at cocktail parties as well.

Ingredients:
3 onions, sliced into thin strips
2 peppers, sliced into thin strips
1 baguette
2 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp olive oil
4 oz. blue cheese
1 bunch of scallions, finely sliced
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350. Slice the baguette into thin toasts, about 1/4 inch thick, and spread them out on a baking sheet. Toast them in the oven until they begin to brown, about 15 minutes. In a large pan, Cook the peppers and onions in the olive oil over medium heat, sprinkling them with the sugar and salt and pepper. Remove them from the heat after about 15 minutes, when onions have begun to brown and the peppers have softened. Scoop spoonfuls of the onion and pepper mixture onto the toasts, and top with a small piece of blue cheese (maybe about the size of a fingernail) and some pieces of scallion. If you want, you can throw the toasts back in the oven for a few minutes to melt the cheese, or just serve.