Carrot White Bean Dill Salad

When I ditched my Swedish Lamb Stew the other night, I needed an outlet for my dill--the CSA produce on the menu for that evening. I Goggled it and found a recipe from a blog I'd heard of, but never really checked out before, 101 cookbooks. For those not familiar with food blog history, 101 Cookbooks is one of the food blog pioneers, starting way back in 2003. (I am not a food blog historian, by any stretch of the imagination, this is my own distinction that I came up with almost no research). 101 Cookbooks focus is on natural foods--a lot of unrefined grains and sugars and all vegetarian recipes. It hasn't made my bookmark bar yet, but it still may. The pictures are beautiful and the layout is great (versus, say, this blog). :)

Curtis and I loved this salad (again, this was the evening our kids ate just beets for supper). It does a great job of using ingredients that are in season together.

These proportions will serve about 3 - 4 people as a side. (The original recipe would serve 6 - 8).

Carrot White Bean Dill Salad
from 101 Cookbooks

2 T extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 T fresh lemon juice
dash of salt
2 T - 1/4 c thinly sliced shallots, to taste (I am not a huge raw onion--even shallot--fan).

1 c carrots, sliced 1/4" thick on deep bias (which means diagonally)
1 (15-oz) can white beans
2 T fresh dill, chopped
1 T brown sugar
3 T sliced almonds, toasted

Combine olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and shallots in a small bowl. Stir and set aside.

In a large skillet over medium high heat, toss the carrots with a little olive oil. Spread them out in a single layer in the skillet. Cook them 12 minutes, tossing every three to four minutes, or until carrots are very browned.Add the beans and dill to the skillet, and cook another 5 minutes, or until beans are heated through. Add more olive oil to the pan if the pan looks dry and the beans are sticking.

Transfer beans/carrots mixture to a medium bowl. Sprinkle with brown sugar and pour 3/4 of the shallot/olive oil dressing over top. Toss gently. Let sit for 10 minutes, then toss gently again. Taste and adjust seasonings if needed. Sprinkle with almonds just before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Not Chicken Tetrazzini

I started out attempting to make this recipe, Mustard Chicken and Orzo Casserole with Dill and Capers. However, the farther I got in the recipe, I the farther I strayed. It turned out I only had lemon herb seasoned chicken breasts, I didn't have enough fancy mustards and just had yellow deli mustard. I didn't have enough orzo or enough celery. I was explaining to Curtis how I had changed the recipe and his response was twofold: "Then I can call it chicken tetrazzini." and "At some point, you have to admit the man is bald." (as in, you've changed it so much, it's not the same recipe any more).

Despite all that, we liked it pretty well. I'll probably make it my way next time as well. It uses lots of fresh dill, which is why I chose it. This makes 4 - 6 servings.

Not Chicken Tetrazzini
based loosely on a recipe from Gourmet

3 c water
1 3/4 - 2 lbs chicken breasts (you can use lemon-herb marinated chicken breasts)
3 T butter
3 T all-purpose flour
3/4 c heavy cream
4 T mustard (yellow, dijon, and coarse-grain mustard or a combination)
3 T bottled capers, rinsed
1/2 t salt
1/4 t black pepper
1/8 t freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 - 1/2 c fresh dill, chopped
1/4 c sour cream
2 - 4 celery ribs, cut diagonally into 1/4" slices
1 c fideo (vermicilli) or orzo

Bring water to simmer in large heavy saucepan over moderate heat. Add chicken and simmer very gently, turning once, 6 minutes total. Remove pan from heat and cover, then let stand until chicken is just cooked through, about 15 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate to cook and keep broth warm, partially covered. When chicken is cool enough to handle, shred with your fingers.

Melt butter in a 3 quart heavy saucepan over low heat, then add flour and cook roux, stirring, 3 minutes. Add warm broth all at once, whisking, and simmer gently, whisking occasionally, 10 minutes. Whisk in cream and simmer, whisking occasionally, 5 minutes. remove from heat and stir in mustards, capers, salt, pepper, nutmeg and dill (to taste). Transfer 1/2 c sauce to small bowl and stir in sour cream to make a topping. Set aside. Stir chicken into sauce (not the sauce with sour cream).

Meanwhile, cook celery and vermicilli in a large pot of boiling salted water, for 6 - 8 minutes. Drain. Stir pasta and celery into chicken mixture, then transfer to a gratin dish (or a 11 x 7 shallow dish), spreading evenly. Spoon sour cream topping over top and spread evenly. Bake, until heated through in a preheated 350 degrees oven, until sauce is bubbling around edges, 25 - 30 minutes.

Roasted Salmon with Orange Sauce

Oranges aren't just good in desserts. They also make a good sauce for fish. This recipe was easy and used three things from our CSA box this week--some dill, some green onions, and a couple of oranges. We'll repeat this recipe. With the exception of J, we all loved it. Curtis said it reminded him of summer (he grew up in the Atlantic Provinces of Canada and ate salmon in the summer) and M informed us once again, that she LOVES fish.


Roasted Salmon with Orange Sauce
from Bon Appetit

1 large orange, unpeeled, sliced
1 large onion, halved, thinly sliced
1 1/2 T olive oil

4 4-oz skinless salmon fillets
3 T fresh dill, chopped

1/2 c orange juice
1/4 c thinly sliced green onions
1 1/2 T fresh lemon juice

Place orange slices in single layer in 13 x 9 x 2-inch glass baking dish.

Top with onion slices and drizzle with oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.


Roast until onion is brown and tender, about 25 minutes in a preheated 400 degrees oven. Remove from oven and increase oven temperature to 450.

Push orange and onion slices to side of baking dish. Arrange salmon in center of dish. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and 1 1/2 T dill. Spoon orange and onion slices atop salmon. Roast until salmon is opaque in center, 8 - 15 minutes depending on thickness. (If salmon seems to be cooking very slowly, removed oranges and onions from over top for a few minutes). Meanwhile, mix orange juice, green onions, lemon juice, and remaining 1 1/2 T dill in small bowl.

Transfer salmon to platter. Spoon onion alongside; discard roasted orange slices. Pour orange sauce over fish. Garnish with additional orange slices.

Greens with Beets and New Potatoes

I am finding our CSA box isn't going as far as it once did. At first I thought it was because the box size was smaller. I've since realized that I am feeding more people with the box than I did when I first started several years ago (feeding three instead of five!). I am needing to supplement with finds at the farmer's market. I love that Johnson's is at both of our area farmer's market and I support them there as well. Last weekend, I found beautiful bunches of small beets there and bought three bunches since my family loves beets. I also had this recipe in mind.

At one point, I had been planning on using my dill in this, but having using the whole bunch of dill in the lamb stew earlier in the week, I had to leave it out. I think next time, I may clip some of my fresh cilantro (all my herbs survived the freeze--yippeee!!!) to add a little more flavor. I varied greatly from the original recipe--I made the whole thing less fussy and more simple. It made me happy to know the whole salad came from Johnson's.

Curtis and I thought it was great. Again the vinaigrette was nice and light. I set some roasted veggies aside for M, J, and I to eat alone. It's a great salad which reminds me slightly of the nicoise summer salads. With these proportions, this recipe should serve 6 - 8. I made a whole recipe of beets, potatoes and vinaigrette. However, I only used as much lettuce as I thought Curtis and I would eat and saved the other ingredients for salad another day.

Greens with Beets and New Potatoes
based on a recipe from Gourmet

2 medium beets (1 lb with the greens, 14 oz without the greens), stems trimmed to 2 inches
1 lb small new potatoes, scrubbed well
1 t olive oil
1/8 t salt
7 oz (14 c) greens (Bibb, red leaf lettuce, green leaf lettuce, baby arugula, meslun, baby spinach or a mix)
1/3 c fresh chevril, dill, and/or cilantro leaves, chopped (optional)
1/3 c fresh tarragon leaves (optional)

1 1/2 T white wine vinegar
1/4 t dijon mustard
1/2 t salt
1/8 t black pepper
1/4 c extra virgin olive oil

Wrap beets in foil and roast on a baking sheet in upper third of a preheated 425 degrees oven 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Once beets have roasted for 30 minutes, toss potatoes (whole) with oil and salt, place on a baking sheet, and roast in lower third of the oven until potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes. Carefully unwrap the beets, cool slightly, and slip off and discard skins and stems.

Meanwhile, whisk together vinegar, mustard, salt, and pepper. Add oil in a slow stream, whisking until emulsified (or use the shake in a little jar method---add all vinaigrette ingredients and shake vigorously until well blended).

Cut beets into 1/3 inch dice and put in a large salad bowl. Cut potatoes into 1/3 inch slices (cutting the slices in halves or quarters if they are rather big) and add to the bowl. Add the greens and herbs (if using). Add vinaigrette and toss gently to coat.

Swedish Lamb Stew with Dill Sauce

As you may have noticed, the theme for recipes lately have been using dill. Yes, seeing the little glass full of dill sitting on the windowsill makes me happy, but I figured I could get even better use out of it. Yesterday, I commented on recipes only calling for a tablespoon here and maybe a 1/4 c there of dill. This recipe solved the problem, calling for an entire bunch of dill. I didn't want to throw the baby with the bathwater though (isn't that a great saying?) and before I threw the bunch in the pot, I cut off some from the top so I would 1/4 c dill for my sauce. My windowsill is now missing it's pretty dill, but the lamb from last night enjoyed it.

I used lamb in this dish, you could use chunks of pork or beef (stew meat or whatever else you have handy) if you prefer. Curtis doesn't like the strong gamey taste of lamb, but I've found that is easy to temper by removing a lot of the fat from the lamb before cooking it. We all enjoyed it, even baby I. I think next time I will try beef stew meat instead of lamb (because, well, it's a whole lot cheaper and already in my freezer). We had a slight sauce problem due to switching chefs in the middle of dinner making for a last minute grocery store run for noodles. Thin sauce or not, we loved it! The dill wasn't overpowering, but wonderful. This makes 4 servings. While this takes a lot of simmering time to make, hands on time is very short, making this a relatively easy meal.

Swedish Lamb Stew with Dill Sauce
adapted from Bon Appetit

2 1/2 lbs boneless leg of lamb, cut into 1-inch cubes (or pork or beef)
4 c water
1 lg onion, chopped
1 lg carrot, chopped
1 large bunch of fresh dill (reserve 1/4 c of this for the sauce)
2 large pinchs of pepper
2 t salt

2 T butter
2 T flour
1 T white wine vinegar
2 t sugar
1/4 c fresh dill, chopped
2 T whipping cream

Place lamb, 4 c water, onion, carrot, bunch of dill, pepper and salt in a heavy large pot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, skimming off foam. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until meat is tender, stirring occasionally, about 1 1/2 hours (you can do this as long as you want, really, or even in a slow cooker, but for a longer time). Strain broth into a small saucepan. Boil until reduced to 2 1/3 c (if you end up with less than this, just add a little water to get to 2 1/3 c), about 8 minutes. Meanwhile, remove the dill from the lamb.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and whisk 1 minute. Whisk in 2 1/3 c reduced broth. Cook until sauce thickens and boils, whisking constantly, 6 minutes (or longer in our case). Whisk in white wine vinegar, sugar, and 1/4 c chopped fresh dill. Simmer 3 minutes to blend flavors. Stir in cream and lamb an simmer until heated through about 2 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to a serving bowl and serve over noodles.

Baked Fish Sticks

It's difficult to find a recipe that uses a lot of dill. One tablespoon here, one tablespoon there.....makes the dill bunch diminish really slowly (which I guess there is nothing wrong with this, as long as the dill stays fresh).

I made this for dinner when it was just the kids and I. I was sure this would be a kid-friendly meal. M, in particular, loves fish. I forgot to account for the homemade challah bread that came out of the oven about 15 minutes before supper was ready. All either kid wanted for dinner was challah with jam. Sigh. When I refused more challah without eating fish, M ate all of hers and J ate part of his. However, she didn't ask for seconds.

Nonetheless, I will make this again. I still think that on a normal day, when it is not competing with warm challah, the kids will love it. I plan on reheating the leftovers, putting them with those pickled onions and making some pseudo fish tacos for lunch. This original recipe had a bit of spice to it. I omitted it because I hoped the kids would eat. I am sure the recipe would be fabulous with the cayenne. Next time, I will also serve this with tartar sauce---it was begging to be dipped in something.

Baked Fish Sticks
from Bon Appetit

6 T butter, melted
1 T dijon mustard
1 T fresh lemon juice
1 T chopped fresh dill
1 c plain dried breadcrumbs
1/2 t cayenne pepper (optional)
1 1/2 lbs white fish fillets, cut into 3 x 3/4" strips

Whisk together butter, dijon, lemon juice, and dill in a pie plate. Mix breadcrumbs with cayenne in a another shallow dish.

Heat 2 baking sheets in preheated 475 degrees oven until hot, about 5 minutes (I skipped this step, I suspect this would make the fish sticks crispier than mine came out).

Dip fish, 1 strip at a time, in butter mixture, then in crumbs. Turn to coat. Place 1 inch apart on prepared sheets. Bake until crumbs are golden and fish is opaque in center, about 6 minutes per side (12 minutes total). Garnish with lemon wedges and serve.

Chicken in Dill Mustard Sauce

Mmm...fresh dill. Problem is, I think of dill with summer dishes like cucumbers. No cucumbers here in December. I was excited to find this recipe--it was easy and adaptable for kids (I just left off the dill sauce). I used 1 lb of chicken breasts instead of the chicken legs and kept the rest of the proportions the same.

Curtis and I thought it was really good. I'll make this again next time I have dill in December. I served it over rice and with a side salad.

Chicken in Dill Mustard Sauce
adapted from Gourmet

1/4 c flour
1/2 t salt
1/2 t black pepper
4 whole chicken legs (2 lbs) or 1 lb chicken breasts
3 T oil
3/4 c onions, chopped
1/2 c white wine
1 c chicken broth or water
2 t dijon mustard
1/4 c fresh dill, chopped

Stir together flour, salt, and pepper in a shallow bowl. Pat chicken dry, then dredge, 1 at a time in flour, shaking off excess. Heat oil in 12" heavy skillet over moderate high heat until hot. Brown chicken, skin sides down first, turning over once, 6 - 8 minutes total. Transfer chicken to a plate, then pour off all but 1 T fat from skillet. Add onions to skillet and saute, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, 2 - 3 minutes. Add wine and deglaze skillet by boiling, stirring, and scraping up brown bits. Add broth, mustard, and remaining salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer, then return chicken to skillet, skin sides up, along with any juices from the plate, and cook over moderate heat, covered, until chicken is cooked through, about 25 minutes (10 - 15 minutes for chicken breasts). Transfer chicken to a platter and boil sauce until reduced to about 1 c and slightly thickened, about 3 - 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in dill, then pour sauce over chicken (or serve beside chicken if it is questionable if everyone will like the sauce).

Greek Fish

I bought a beautiful bunch of dill fronds at the Farmer's Market last Saturday on a whim. Upon getting it home and in a cup on my counter (absolutely beautiful!!), I realized there is no way I could possibly use all that dill without making lots and lots of dill pickles (alas, there are no cucumbers in February). I searched for a recipe that would use at least little dill and adapted one to my liking.

For those of us who ate (J boycotted food tonight for some reason--let's blame it on being almost 2), it was a great hit. M ate an entire fillet plus a little more, as did Curtis and I. I served it over rice. As often happens, I realized as I was dishing the meal, that I had forgotten my vegetable so we had orange slices with dinner as well. M didn't eat the goat cheese (which she called cream) or onion slices, but that was fine with Curtis and I. We served it over a bed of rice. The picture is before the fish was cooked, sometimes it is easiest to take pictures before everyone is sitting at the table, ravenous.

Greek Fish
1 1/2 lb white fish fillets (tilapia is good)
1/2 sweet onion, thinly sliced
2 T dill fronds, chopped
2 - 3 T black olives, chopped
1/4 c (or up to as much as 1/2 c) goat cheese, crumbled
juice of one lemon

Lay fish in a 9 x 13 (or larger) lightly oiled baking pan. Layer sweet onion slices on top, followed by dill, black olives, and goat cheese. Sprinkle with lemon juice.

Bake in preheated 350 degrees oven for 20 - 30 minutes, depending on thickness of fish, until fish flakes with a fork.