Tag: Spring

California Crab Rice Bowls

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If you’ve known me for more than five minutes, you know I absolutely lose it for Dungeness crab. I will prepare and eat it in all its permutations, and one of my favorites is this rice bowl, which is basically an elevated California roll in bowl format. It’s healthy and delicious, so eat to your heart’s content.

Ingredients:
  • 2 cups cold water, divided
  • 1 (5 by 3-inch) piece kombu
  • 1/4 cup loosely packed katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes)
  • 1/4 cup chopped peeled ginger plus 1 teaspoon grated peeled ginger, divided
  • 2 cups uncooked sushi rice, rinsed
  • 1/2 cup sake
  • 2 1/4 teaspoons salt
  • 2/3 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup soy sauce
  • 1 garlic clove, grated
  • 2 cups Dungeness crab meat
  • 1 avocado, thinly sliced
  • 1 Persian or 1/2 English cucumber, seeded and diced
  • Smelt roe or tobiko, thinly sliced nori, and toasted sesame seeds, for serving
  1. Place 1 1/2 cups cold water and kombu in a small saucepan; heat over high until steaming. Remove from heat; sprinkle katsuobushi over broth, and steep 3 minutes. Strain dashi into a bowl; discard solids. (Alternatively, make 1 cup dashi using instant dashi granules.)
  2. Process remaining 1/2 cup water and chopped ginger in a blender until smooth, about 1 minute. Pour ginger water through a fine wire-mesh strainer; discard solids.
  3. Prepare a rice cooker: combine rinsed rice, 1 cup dashi, ginger water, sake, and salt, and cover. Cook rice according to rice cooker instructions and set aside, keeping rice warm.
  4. Meanwhile, bring brown sugar, soy sauce, garlic, and grated ginger to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-low. Boil until sauce thickens to a syrup consistency, about 5 minutes. Let cool, and reserve.
  5. Divide rice among four serving bowls, and top with crab and avocado. Top evenly with cucumber, roe, nori, and sesame seeds, and serve immediately with sweet soy glaze.

Marinated Portobello Mushroom and Pesto Sandwich

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I’m not a huge sandwich person, and I rarely seek them out, but I haven’t been able to stop thinking about this flavor bomb of a sandwich I made recently. Garlicy pesto, meaty mushrooms, tangy sourdough, vinegary peppers, creamy mozzarella — this sandwich has it all.

Maybe I’m a sandwich person after all.

Ingredients:
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons prepared pesto
  • 1 pound portobello mushrooms
  • 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons avocado oil
  • Salt
  • 1 12-inch wide sourdough baguette or boule, halved lengthwise, toasted
  • 1 garlic clove, halved crosswise
  • 4 ounces fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
  • 1/4 cup sliced pickled cherry peppers
  • 1/4 cup basil leaves
  1. Place pesto in a large bowl. Remove stems and gills from portobello mushrooms. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a medium heavy skillet over medium-high. Arrange half of mushrooms in a single layer in skilled and cook until they start to sizzle, then wrap the bottom of a second heavy skillet that is small enough to nestle into the first with foil and use it to press down on mushrooms evenly. Cook, pressing down, until mushrooms shrink and are deeply browned underneath, about 3 minutes. Remove top skillet; season mushrooms with salt. Turn mushrooms over, add 1 teaspoon oil to pan, and re-cover with foil-lined skillet. Cook, pressing, until second sides of mushrooms are well-browned, about 3 minutes. Transfer mushrooms to bowl with pesto. Repeat process with remaining mushrooms and 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon oil. Toss mushrooms in pesto to coat.
  2. Rub cut sides of baguette with garlic. Arrange mushrooms on bottom half of bread, then layer mozzarella on top. Top with cherry peppers and basil. Close and cut in quarters to make 4 sandwiches.

Tequila-Pineapple Shrub

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I make a peach-bourbon shrub that’s one of my favorite cocktails: it’s tart and sweet and summery in the best way. The thing about shrubs is that they’re endlessly riffable, so why not replace the bourbon with tequila and the peaches with pineapple? It turns out they’re a winning combination too. Make this drink in the late spring and summer, when pineapples are in season.

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 1/2 pounds pineapple, peeled, cored, and chopped into medium pieces
  • 3 tablespoons white vinegar
  • 6 ounces blanco tequila
  • 2 ounces lemon juice, preferably Meyer
  1. Bring sugar and 3/4 cup water to a boil in a saucepan and add pineapple pieces to pan. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit 30 minutes. Strain syrup into a bowl (reserve a few pieces of the pineapple for using as a garnish); stir in vinegar. Cover and chill shrub.
  2. Set out 4 ice-filled cocktail glasses. For each cocktail, shake 2 ounces shrub, 1 1/2 ounces tequila, and half an ounce of lemon juice in an ice-filled cocktail shaker until frosty. Strain into glasses and top with reserved pineapple.

Avocado, Mango, and Orange Salad

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This is the perfect tropical-esque salad to bridge that time of spring when the weather is intermittently cool and warm. Got some winter citrus leftover in the fridge? Toss them in with creamy avocados and mangoes and you’ve got a bright, tart and slightly sweet salad that comes together in a matter of minutes.

Ingredients:
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup lime juice
  • 2 tablespoons orange juice
  • 1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 mangoes, peeled, pitted, and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
  • 2 avocados, peeled, pitted and cut into 1-inch cubes
  • 1 orange, peeled and cut into 1-inch segments
  • 2 teaspoons unsweetened shredded dried coconut
  1. Whisk together parsley, oil, lime and orange juices, jalapeno, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Add mangoes, avocado, and orange and toss gently to combine. Cover and refrigerate for one hour.
  2. To serve, transfer salad to a serving bowl and sprinkle with coconut.

Thai-Style Chicken and Rice

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This recipe is by no means authentic, and I’ve turned it into a sort of easy red curry-meets-larb situation but the results are delicious and healthy. All you need is 20 minutes and a skillet and you’re set.

Ingredients:
  • 1 red onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 3-inch piece ginger, peeled and cut into thin matchsticks
  • 2 cups cooked jasmine rice
  • 1 tablespoon Thai red curry paste
  • 3 tablespoons lime juice
  • 1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons fish sauce
  • 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons avocado oil
  • 1 pound ground chicken
  • 1 serrano chile, thinly sliced
  • 1 cup salted dry-roasted peanuts
  • 1 cup cilantro leaves
  • 1/2 cup mint leaves
  • Lettuce leaves and lime wedges, for serving
  1. Place red onion and ginger in a medium bowl of ice water and let soak while you prepare the chicken and rice.
  2. Using your hands, toss rice and half of curry paste in a medium bowl to roughly coat. Set aside.
  3. Stir lime juice, fish sauce, and sugar in a large bowl until sugar is dissolved.
  4. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high. Add chicken and spread into a thin, even layer; season with salt. Cook, undisturbed, until golden brown underneath, about 5 minutes. Add remaining curry paste and cook, stirring and breaking up into bite-size pieces, until chicken is cooked through, about 2 minutes. Transfer to bowl with dressing.
  5. Heat remaining 2 teaspoons oil in the same skillet. Add reserved rice mixture and cook, undisturbed, until slightly golden underneath, about 5 minutes. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and add to bowl with dressing and chicken.
  6. Drain red onion and ginger; add to bowl with chicken and rice, along with chile, peanuts, cilantro, and mint. Mix to combine.
  7. Transfer rice mixture to a platter. Serve with lettuce for wrapping and lime wedges for squeezing over.