Printer Friendly

Email to A Friend

Friday January 12, 2007

Take a moment to be thankful for your pantry full of food

by rebecca ets-hokin

Some resolutions are easy to adhere to; I gave up alcohol for 2006 and stuck to it. Other promises are more difficult to keep; in 2005, I vowed to eat a healthy, animal-free diet — that lasted three weeks. For this year, 2007, I’m making two resolutions: The first one is to write my book, and I’m writing a page a day — by the summer, I should have over 200 pages.

In this week’s column, I’m offering recipes that require very little shopping; they tie into the appreciation of a “pantry full of food.” The penne salad is awesome for a Shabbat lunch, and the spinach soup is perfect for a “No Time to Cook Night.” I whipped up the herbed walnuts the other day, when we had some visitors drop by for a New Year’s Day cocktail. The few that were left made it into our salad, and were delicious.

Penne, Apple and Chicken Breast Salad | Serves 8

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, poached and diced
2 small apples, peeled and diced
juice of 1 lime
3 stalks of celery, peeled and chopped
1 lb. penne, or other shaped pasta, cooked and drained

In a large bowl, toss the chicken, apples and celery with the lime juice. Add the cooked penne and toss well. Gently mix in the jalapeno-lime aioli (recipe follows) and toss all ingredients together.

Jalapeno-Lime Aioli

1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 tsp. fine sea salt
1 tsp. sugar
1/4 cup lime juice
zest of 1 lime, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped
2 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, through the press
Whisk all ingredients together until smooth.

Fresh Spinach Soup | Serves 8

2 lbs. spinach, large stems removed and well washed (this is equal to 6 bags of baby spinach)
4 Tbs. unsalted butter
2 cups vegetable stock
2 cups milk
1?4 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
2 oz. grated Parmesan cheese
fine sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Rinse and chop the spinach coarsely.
Heat the butter in a soup pot, add the chopped spinach and sauté for 1 minute. Add the stock, milk and nutmeg. Add the Parmesan and cook for 1 more minute. Taste and adjust for seasoning. Serve hot.

Herbed Walnuts | Makes 1 pound

2 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted
2 Tbs. toasted walnut oil
1 lb. walnut halves
5 Tbs. chopped rosemary
1 tsp. Hungarian sweet paprika
2 tsp. fine sea salt
Place butter and walnut oil on a baking sheet. Sprinkle the walnuts in the pan and stir to coat. Spread them out in a single layer. Scatter the rosemary, paprika and salt over the nuts. Bake for 20 minutes in a preheated 325-degree oven, shaking the pan and stirring several times until the nuts are golden brown but not burned. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Rebecca Ets-Hokin is a certified culinary professional. Visit her Web site at www.GoRebecca.com. She can be reached at Rebecca@GoRebecca.com.

Did you find this article interesting? Subscribe to our FREE newsletter and you'll be notified each week when "J." goes online. We'll tell you about the most important stories of the week and give you a link to each one.

This page contains a BETA version of Amazon contextual links. They are marked by the dashed underline.  Your purchases support our site. At times they point to items which are not related to the actual link. Please alert us by email if you discover objectionable links.