JUNE/JULY FOOD

When I teach cooking classes, I have two philosophies I like to share. One is that cooking should be fuss-fee, stress-free and fun, and that when we spend time in the kitchen and around the table with people we love, we get in on something soulful and basic and gloriously human. We get fed, body and soul.

My other basic philosophy is that whenever possible, we should be in control of what's in the food we eat, and that really no food should be off-limits in a smart diet. Over time we've become accustomed to the edging-out of whole, real foods on grocery store shelves and in restaurants by an ever-dizzying variety of new, improved, more convenient, more kid-friendly, more artificially flavored, more cleverly-packaged choices -- all of them designed to take our money and leave us with little or nothing of nutritional value, and because we tell them that's what we want! If we didn't want it, we wouldn't keep buying it -- right? Maybe not.

We're busy these days. Frazzled, anxious, pulled in a zillion directions by the minutiae of daily choices and duties. We have less and less time to spend making decisions about what to eat or even enjoying eating it. Whatever it is, it better be quick. The modern marketplace pays attention to our buying habits and responds to them tenfold, with convenience rather than nutritional interest as the goal. Although it's up to us to regulate our nutritional needs, it's becoming more and more difficult for us to do that. Keep reading.

In recent decades, convenience foods that are high in sugar, salt, chemical additives and processed ingredients have thus become the basis of our diets, although they were originally introduced after World War II to play only a supplementary role in the daily cooking chores of busy homemakers. Who could have predicted our eventual slide into distracted complacency about commercially processed food, our silent agreement to elect it as the new paradigm for the modern diet, dollar by dollar?

As people become more aware of the detrimental physical and emotional effects of a chemically overcharged diet, we often see a backlash in the form of fad diets and overzealous recoiling from high-risk foods like fat and simple carbohydrates. These trends have a momentum that I find alarming. Once again, the marketplace reacts to our mindset and uses it as an opportunity to market and sell us things we really don't need. The problem isn't the high-risk foods, but the ways they sneak into our daily diets in overwhelming proportion as we continue to eat for convenience, serving one legitimate need at the expense of another. Keep on reading.

Another result I'm noticing from the growing awareness of the importance of chemical-free foods is a wider availability of non-processed meats and vegetables and healthier options in prepared convenience foods. This is actually the best news to me. When we think "healthy," it doesn't have to mean an elimination of the convenience foods we enjoy. What it probably should mean, though, is a deliberate effort toward returning to a diet paradigm of unprocessed, whole food, with the processed stuff shoved back into its rightful corner. Can't we enjoy it without basing our diet on it? We can. It takes a little planning, but it's fun to do. Really.

I taught the following summer recipes at Lake Austin Spa and Resort last week. I developed all the recipes and tested them personally, with the exception of the Egyptian Eggplant Salad, which was published in a magazine I read at about 30,000 feet somewhere. I enjoyed teaching these dishes for their attention to healthfulness, and for how they demonstrate the use of convenience items and a few juicy "high-risk" ingredients in very modest portions. The result is exciting, fantastic food that both glamorizes the healthy, low-risk ingredients and exalts the naughty ones that make it such a pleasure to eat.

And the best part? Each of these was ready to eat in exactly 30 minutes, with minimal prep time.

Egyptian Eggplant Salad with Tomato, Fresh Mint and Warm Flatbreads Serves 4-6

1-1/2 lbs. eggplant, cubed (peeled if desired)
1/2 cup olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 lb. Tomatoes (14 ounces canned)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint leaves
1 tablespoon sugar

Fresh flatbread or pita bread for serving

1. Place the eggplant cubes in a large colander or scatter them onto a towel-covered cookie sheet. Salt them evenly with sea salt and let them rest in the sink or countertop for 30 minutes. Rinse them if desired, and pat thoroughly dry.

2. In a large skillet, fry the chopped onion in the olive oil for 8 minutes over medium heat, until it is slightly browned. Add the eggplant and cook 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 3 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and simmer together, covered, for another 15 minutes. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Salmon Cake Salad with Sweet Potato Flash-Fries and Bacon-Molasses Dressing Serves 4

Salmon Cakes
1 lb. Cooked fresh or canned sockeye salmon
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup crushed saltines
1/4 cup chopped chives
1/4 cup finely chopped celery leaves
1 tablespoon chopped pimientos
2-3 tablespoons olive oil

For the salad:
1 package baby spinach leaves
1 ripe tomato, sliced into wedges

For the fries:
1 sweet potato, peeled and left whole
peanut or vegetable oil for frying

Dressing:
1 teaspoon bacon drippings
1/4 cup mild salad oil (walnut, sunflower, etc)
3 tablespoons chopped shallots
2 tablespoons molasses
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
pepper and salt

PREPARATION:

1. Prepare the fries: Heat oil in a small wok or saucepan. Using a vegetable peeler, peel off long slivers of the sweet potato into a bowl. When the oil is hot, carefully place a small cluster of potato slivers into the hot oil. Fry them for about 20-30 seconds or until the bubbling subsides. Remove them quickly with tongs to a towel-lined plate and salt lightly. They should be tangled and curled together. Repeat until all potatoes have been fried.

2. Prepare the salmon cakes: Combine all ingredients except the olive oil in a large mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly with a fork to combine. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Press the salmon mixture between hands to form 6 cakes about palm size. Brown thoroughly on each side and remove to a platter.

3. While salmon cakes are cooking, scatter the spinach into a large salad bowl and prepare the dressing: Heat the bacon fat and salad oil over medium heat, and add the shallots. Cook briefly until slightly golden in color. Add the molasses, cook briefly until well combined, then pour directly onto the spinach and toss well. Add the vinegar and toss again.

To serve, arrange a bed of spinach onto each of 4 plates. Top with two salmon cakes and a nest of potatoes. Garnish with tomato wedges.


Summer Leek Salad with Canellini Beans, Shrimp and Lemon Zest Serves 4

1 lb. Leeks, washed and left whole
1 lb. Fresh shrimp, large variety, peels left on
1 can Progresso white canellini beans
1 small Roma tomato, diced
1 lemon
1/4 cup imported extra virgin olive oil
freshly ground pepper and sea salt

1. Trim the leeks and remove any damaged outer leaves. Heat about 2² of water in a large stockpot. When the water is boiling, add a generous dash of salt. Add the leeks, cover them and let them cook until they are softened but still bright in color, about 5-7 minutes. Drain them, and when they are cool enough to handle (you can cool them quickly by dipping them in a bowl of ice water), slice them into rings, combine them with the tomato and set them aside or refrigerate.

2. Fill the stockpot half full with fresh water and place it over high heat to boil. When the water boils, add a generous dash of salt, add the shrimp, and turn off the heat. Cover and allow to sit for 2 minutes. Test a shrimp for doneness, and if needed, allow them to sit a bit longer. When they are just cooked through, drain them immediately and plunge them into cold water to halt the cooking process. Peel them and place them in a deep bowl.

3. Drain and rinse the beans, and add them to the shrimp. Add the olive oil, the grated zest from the lemon, and finally the lemon juice. Add a generous grinding of fresh black pepper and toss to combine. Taste and correct for salt if needed.

4. To serve, mound the leeks onto plates and top with the bean and shrimp mixture. Serve with additional black pepper.


Saltwater Catfish Salad with Creamy Jalapeno-Lime Slaw
Serves 4

For the fish:
1 lb. Fresh saltwater catfish filets or catfish nuggets
juice of 1 lime
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup flour
1 tablespoon chili powder
dash of garlic powder
1 teaspoon each salt and freshly ground pepper
2-3 tablespoons oil for baking

For the salad:
1 small head fresh green cabbage
1 small jicama, peeled
shredded carrots if desired

Dressing:
1 packet ranch dressing powdered mix
2 cups plain yogurt
1 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
1 lime
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves
dash of sugar if desired

1. Prepare the dressing: Combine all dressing ingredients except the lime in a food processor. Grate the zest of the lime and add this to the mixture. Halve and squeeze the lime, adding the lime juice to the mixture. Process until smooth and pale green in color. Refrigerate until ready to use. 2. Slice the catfish fillets into strips about 3 inches long. Toss them in a bowl with the lime juice. Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Roll each catfish piece in the dry mixture to thoroughly coat. Place on a well-oiled baking sheet and bake at 400F. until cooked through, 15-20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, wash and dry the head of cabbage, removing the tough outer leaves. Cut in half and remove the core. Slice as thinly as possible and scatter into a large bowl. Slice the jicama into matchsticks and combine with the cabbage and the carrot, if using. Dress the salad with just enough dressing to coat lightly, and toss well. 4. To serve, place a generous serving of slaw onto 4 plates and top with the catfish strips.

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