Once or twice, not so long ago we had an empty refrigerator and an empty wallet and I made this dish with carrot top greens.  It satisfied.  Carrot tops! And you know, times are tough.  This recipe is very forgiving.  Try them here if you need to.    Otherwise choose a thick-leafed green like kale, kohlrabi leaves, chard, beet tops, or collards and be thankful.

This very simple pasta relies on contrasting textures and a couple of bold flavors to give you a lot for your effort and dollar.  It’s has lightly creamy pasta, with a garlicky breadcrumb topping.  If you’ve ever been wary of leafy greens, this is the place to start.  The texture is outstanding -crisp on the edges, tender in the middle.

You might not have a jar of preserved lemons sitting around, but this recipe itself is reason enough to prepare one.  And if you do so,  I’ll give you a few more reasons in a month or so when they are cured and ready to use.   Until then, substitute the juice of 1 fresh lemon. Chopped fresh whole lemons won’t work.

pasta with preserved lemons, fried greens and breadcrumbs

serves 3-4

1 large bunch of greens or equivalent mixed greens, such as kale, chard, kohlrabi leaves, collards, beetroot tops
1/2 cup of olive oil, or more as needed
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4-1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
3/4 cup fresh bread crumbs
8 oz. cream cheese or mascarpone
1/4 preserved lemon, chopped
1 lb. pasta

Julienne the greens a little fatter than normal.  Heat the oil in a frying pan over fairly high heat.  Add the greens in batches and cook until tender and crispy.  Remove from the pan.  Add or pour out the olive oil if necessary to result in about 2 tablespoons of oil in the pan.  Turn down the heat to medium-low and cook the garlic and red pepper flakes until the garlic starts to soften.  Add the breadcrumbs and cook stirring until the oil is absorbed and the breadcrumbs turn golden brown.  Set aside.

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling water that has been generously salted.  While the pasta is cooking, whisk the cream cheese until smooth and softened (if you have a stand mixer, use that).  When the pasta is almost done cooking, add a little pasta water to the cream cheese and continue whisking and adding pasta water until thinned to a sauce consistency.  Stir in the preserved lemon.

When the pasta has cooked, drain and return to the pan.  Toss thoroughly with the cream cheese mixture until evenly coated.  Top with the bread crumbs and greens and toss gently.  Serve immediately.

Years ago Romeo went to Malta for a study abroad program and brought me back a tiny book: Cooking with Maltese Olive Oil by Matty Cremona.  It seemed like a pretty lousy gift, even to Romeo, whose best thought was “well, I guess this fits the bill.”  For being a cookbook, it doesn’t have much in the way of recipes, and even the 18 or so salads she explains read more stream-of-consciousness than detailed-guide to a particular dish.

It took me years to finally dig in -you have to know your shit to make some of these suggestions work.  But what I see now is a hundred clever ideas disguised with boring names like “courgette (zucchini) salad.”  Under this particular entry is list of ingredients for one of the best marinades/salad dressings I’ve ever tasted.  You can use it to simply marinate zucchini.  But I wouldn’t stop there.  I’m using it to marinate mushrooms, pour over lightly boiled vegetables, brush over vegetable (and meat) kebabs on the grill and to marinate lamb or chicken.  If you find another favorite way to use it, let’s hear it.  If your the type who just wants a nice-and-neat recipe, you can’t go wrong with the warm vegetable salad spelled out below.

Maltese dressing
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup parsley leaves, chopped
1/4 cup mint leaves, chopped
1 1/2 - 2 lemons, depending on size and juiciness
1 cup olive oil
kosher or sea salt, to taste
freshly ground pepper, to taste

In a large mortar and pestle, crush the fennel and coriander seeds.  Add the garlic and pound to a paste.  Add the chopped herbs and the zest of one lemon and mash together.  Juice both lemons and stir in with the oil.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Alternately, grind the spices and then place all ingredients in a blender, or use a jar and a hand-held immersion blender.

Warm Maltese Vegetable Salad

Don’t be afraid of boiling vegetables.  As long as you check them often and don’t forget about them, they don’t have to be soft and mushy, lose their flavor or leech their nutrients.  They come out very cleanly flavored and delicious.

1 head cauliflower (this is a nice place to use yellow or purple varieties)
1/2 bag frozen peas
1/2 bag frozen fava or lima beans
1 zucchini
3-4 oz. feta or 2-3 oz. sheep’s milk feta, to taste (optional)
approximately 1 recipe Maltese dressing

Halve the zucchini lengthwise, then thinly slice into semicircles.  Add enough dressing to cover slightly and refrigerate for about 2 hours.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and salt generously.  The water should taste as salty as a tasty soup broth.  Cook peas until just tender and tasty.  Remove from the water with a spider-skimmer or slotted spoon to a medium bowl.  Repeat with the fava or lima beans, taking care that they are no longer dry and starchy.  Repeat with the cauliflower, until just tender.  Do not over cook.

Add the marinated zucchini and all the dressing to the bowl with the cooked vegetables.  Crumble the feta into the bowl, add more dressing if necessary -don’t skimp- and toss. Serve with crusty bread.

I tagged along with my parents on a trip to Louisville, KY a couple of weeks ago.  Louisville is a charming city, and my parents are good company, especially with two little ones in tow.  So I know it’s going to sound crazy when I tell you that the highlight of the trip was lima beans.  Bruce Ucán, chef at Mayan Cafe serves them up blistered in sesame oil with toasted ground pumpkin seeds, parsley, and green onions.  I found his recipe on a local tv station website, and he was gracious enough to let me reprint it here for you.

Mayan Tok-Sel Lima Beans

courtesy Bruce Ucán, Mayan Cafe

(Tweaked a little because the recipe seemed to not scale down correctly for the home cook.  Origanal version here.)

Ingredients

serves 4:

10 oz. of frozen lima beans  (Fordhook, if you can find them)
1 bunch of green onions
1/2 bunch of parsley
Salt to taste
Lemon juice to taste
6 oz. (about a cup) of shelled pumpkin seeds
1/2 oz. (a tablespoon or two) of sesame oil

Defrost lima beans and set aside to dry.  Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Chop (fine to medium) the green onions and parsley. Set aside.

Roast the pumpkin seeds in the 350 degree oven, then grind them (again, fine to medium) in a food processor.

For the next step, have all the ingredients ready as this is a quick process, similar to using a wok.

Put the sesame oil in a skillet on medium heat. When the oil starts smoking, throw the lima beans in first. Sauté them until they are brown and roasted.

Add all the other ingredients except the lemon juice and sauté for another minute. Then add lemon juice.

Ready to serve.

While I was in Ghana at 16 years of age, I was served many sandwiches filled with an African brand of Spam. Luckily(?) for those three weeks, I had packed 5 BOXES of breakfast bars in my suitcase.

During the last week, my traveling companions and I convinced our hosts to prepare a traditional Ghanaian meal. Ten years later, I was pregnant and craving something like corn, but sour. After a couple of days I realized I wanted that traditional meal in Africa: fish and kenkey (fermented white corn) served on a banana leaf with tomatoes and onions. Thinking I was out of luck, I let my craving go. But then a couple of weeks ago, I visited Baobab African Grocery in Indianapolis, where I found the fermented corn flour to make Kenkey, along with fonio.

Making kenkey from the pre-fermented flour couldn’t be easier. This was the quickest and most satisfying meal I’ve made in a long time. That said, it has a certain exotic taste that may take a few bites to get used to. And the kenkey really must be served with the fish, tomatoes and onion, dipping it in the juices as you go. Oh my, please dig in. This is comfort food at it’s most comforting.

Ghanain kenkey with fish, tomatoes, onion and lime
Serves 3-4

kenkey
2 cups kenkey flour
5 1/2 cups water
several pinches of salt

Mix ingredients together in a bowl and wisk until smooth. Pour in a saucpan and cook over medium-high heat. The kenkey will need to thicken considerablly, to the consistency of very thick mashed potatoes. You’ll need to stir it constantly toward the end. This takes about 15 minutes, but look more at the progress than the clock. It may seem inconcievable at this point that you could form them into balls. Don’t worry. Add more salt to taste and turn off the heat. Prepare the fish. When the kenkey has cooled a little, form into rounds a little bigger than golf balls, using wet hands if necessary.

fish
1 lb. tilapia fillets or other white fish
flour to coat fish (for GF use chickpea flour)
salt and pepper
oil
2 onions, sliced, not too thinly
2 tomatoes, chopped
2-3 limes

Heat the oil in a cast iron pan over fairly high heat- the thinner the fillets, the higher the heat. You want the exterior to brown by the time the fish is cooked through. Rinse and pat the fish dry. Season the flour with salt and pepper, and dredge the fish in the flour mixture. Fry the fish in batches until golden brown and still very tender. The fish is done just before it flakes, not after.
When the last piece of fish in done, remove from the pan. Add more oil and/or turn down the head to medium high if neccesary. Add the onions. When they have wilted, add the tomatoes and cook until the onions are still a bit crunchy, but translucent and the tomatoes are juicy. Add the fish back to the pan to re-warm and squeeze the juice of one lime over the whole dish. Cut the other lime(s) into wedges and use to garnish. Serve the fish with the kenkey, using the kenkey to sop up the juices.