spring salad

here's a fresh, hearty side dish that we served along side the pineapple glazed ham at urban family easter this year. wheat berries are a fairly new grain to us but we just love the nutty taste and find them very similar to farro. the addition of tender young asparagus, fresh pea shoots and chopped mint screams spring and is a testament to the beautiful greens at farmer's market this month. we used this pesto recipe from a past post but decided to replace the parsley with basil for a more traditional flavor. enjoy!

Spring Wheat Berry Salad with Spinach Pesto

serves 8

2 cups wheat berries

2 leeks, white & light green parts only, thinly sliced and washed

1 bunch asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces & blanched

1 cup chopped pea shoots

1/4 cup chopped mint

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 cup spinach pesto (see recipe here)

2-4 tbs olive oil

salt & pepper to taste

3 oz crumbled goat cheese

in a large pot, combine wheat berries with 4 cups water and bring to a boil. reduce to a simmer and cook until tender but left with a little chewiness, about 1 hour. drain well and set aside. meanwhile, heat 1 tbs olive oil in a saute pan and saute leeks until translucent and softened, about 8 minutes. in a large bowl, combine wheat berries with leeks, asparagus, pea shoots, mint, lemon juice and pesto and toss to coat. add extra olive to loosen the pesto if it is too thick and season with salt and pepper to taste. serve at room temperature and garnish with crumbled goat cheese.

favas

here is another delicious starter from urban family easter - a fava bean puree crostini. fava beans are a lot of work between the shelling, blanching and shelling again, but in our opinion they are one of nature's perfect tastes of spring. this recipe is an adaption of suzanne goin's fava puree in sunday suppers at lucques, an essential addition to any cookbook library. favas are fresh and light, creamy and flavorful and really shine through in this simple preparation.

Fava Bean Crostini with Pecorino

2 lbs fava beans in the pod

1 whole grain demi-batard or baguette, thinly sliced

1/4 cup plus 3 tbs olive oil

2 cloves garlic, roasted in oil until soft & browned

1/2 lemon, juiced

salt & pepper to taste

1 small wedge pecorino romano, shaved with vegetable peeler

bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. remove beans from their pods and blanch for 2 minutes. drain and rinse with cold water until cool. slip them out of their pale green shell with your fingers and set aside. heat 1/4 cup olive oil in a medium saute pan and add fava beans. lightly saute for 6-8 minutes until tender. set aside to cool slightly.

preheat oven to 375 degrees F. spread crostini in a single layer on a sheet pan and brush with remaining 3 tbs olive oil. bake until lightly brown and crisp, 12-15 minutes.

transfer cooled beans and oil to a food processor and puree. add garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper and puree until smooth. spread about 1 tbs of fava puree on each crostini and top with a thin shaving of cheese. enjoy! 

urban family easter

as another year starts rushing by, easter comes screaming in.  we love easter for many reasons, and besides the obvious we love it for our yearly tradition of urban family easter.  we are on our 4th year and it gets better every time.  we always have the same system; friends bring the champagne and we do the food.  as we speak, we are cooking away, full of great tastes.  here are just a couple of sneak peeks of what we will blog about all week.  the bowl from mixing chocolate for a sweet and salty cake from the guys of baked in new york, and a sink full of dirty dishes from a bunch of other fun recipes.  we are making a martha stewart inspired ham to a bunch of sides we will share with great pics throughout the week, so stay tuned.  happy easter!!