green beans with caramelized onions and almonds

This past weekend I took the Trainer home to Michigan for a quick visit. We got to watch Mom perform in the local ice show. I enjoyed showing the Trainer around the town I grew up in. Dad and I took him to Meijer's and almost lost him in the huge store. We drove him past my huge high school and my elementary school.

We walked around my neighborhood and I showed him where my grandmother lived and the 'closest' grocery store to our house. We toodled around downtown with my friend B and his fiancee J, stopping for coffee at the original Borders. The Trainer was amazed at how quite Ann Arbor is; he decided that he liked downtown but would have trouble adjusting to my quite and relative (compared to New York) isolation of my neighborhood.

Saturday night I pulled out several photo albums, showing the Trainer pictures of same of the litters of gerbil pups I raised in high school. Of course I also showed him pictures of myself when I was a babe. Our photo albums run out shortly after I turn 2, I must have kept Mom pretty busy. As I was looking through a book of all my awards and certificates I found what might have been my first two recipes.

Since Mom was so busy with the figure skating club and ice show I knew that Dad had been alone for dinner most nights for almost two weeks. Friday night we had some great post roast that Mom cooked in her clay pot and left for us but Saturday I fixed a special dinner for my two best guys.

Green Beans with Caramelized Onions and Almonds

1 lb green beans, cut into inch long pieces
1 small white onion, coarsely chopped
3 gloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup slivered almonds

In heavy pan or skillet pour in olive oil, garlic and onion. Turn heat on to medium and saute until onions are translucent. Add greens beans and raise temperature to high. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes. Add almonds and stir briefly. Turn off heat and serve.

This was big hit, especially with Dad, since he loves caramelized onions and Mom rarely uses any extra oil in her cooking.

honey mustard roasted brussels sprouts

After last weekend's beautiful sunny days March has returned to remind us that it's not quite spring yet. The nights are still cold, but the clear days are bright, chilly in a way that allows the sun to kiss your face with the promise of warmth to come. Two days of dreary weather prepared me for today's clear briskness.

Having been shuffled around by the boss, I found myself with Thursday off rather than Tuesday. This left me with a fair number of things that needed to be done today. The Trainer and I had an appointment to have our taxes prepared, only to find that both of us likely owe money. The tax preparer was generous enough to advise us to file ourselves and didn't charge us. I suppose he makes plenty of money this season, but it was still kind of him.

After that disappointment, and smoothing the Trainer's ruffled feather's, I walk home under the clear blue sky. For lunch I wanted something warm and comforting, but with a a bright little zing, just like the day. After roasting my brussels sprouts I settled in to finish a few other projects and to plan my attack of our taxes.

Honey Roasted Brussels Sprouts

serves 2

1 10 pkg of brussels sprouts
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
3 teaspoons ground yellow mustard (I use Coleman's)
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 cup water
salt
freshly ground pepper
Preheat oven to 450°F and line a loaf pan with aluminum foil. Wash the brussels sprouts and trim stems, removing any outer leaves that look damaged, and cut in half. In a large bowl whisk oil, vinegar, honey, mustard, ginger, turmeric and a few grinds of fresh black pepper until combined. Add brussels sprouts to bowl and stir until covered in mustard mixture. Transfer to prepared pan and scrape all mustard out of bowl, lightly salt sprouts and out in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes stirring once halfway through. Remove from oven and places brussels sprouts in a bowl. While pan is still warm, use water to deglaze pan, scraping everything from the bottom of the pan, to use as extra sauce.

garlicky greens

People often say that food is the stuff of which memories are made. Many, many gatherings, both of family and friends revolve around food or involve food in some way. Folks reminisce about family Thanksgiving feasts, Christmas suppers or Easter dinners. But it's funny what can trigger your memory.

As long as I've been living on my own I've been cooking my greens, especially spinach with lots of garlic. That's how Mom used to cook spinach, and after the atrocious cafeteria food I wanted foods that were familiar. When I was little, fixing spinach with Mom, she used to tell me how her mother used to cook the spinach with a few whole cloves of garlic in an attempt to get Mom and my uncle to eat the spinach, but Mom and Ken used to fight over who would get the garlic, and still avoid eating the spinach. After that, for the sake of familial consistency, I cooked my spinach with garlic.

Now, I fix greens every week to carry to work with me. Spinach, swiss or red chard and collards. Lots of vitamins and fiber. As I was rolling and cutting my collards into ribbons to saute I remembered, as I often do, my late uncle Ken who taught me to cut leafy vegetables this way. I remember standing with him in out kitchen on one of his rare visits and learning to chop basil for pasta sauce. He lined all the leaves up and rolled them into a tight tube, this way he was able to easily hold the roll while slicing ribbons. More importantly, it was much easier me, with my small hands, to hold the vegetables and help in the kitchen.

After thinking of my uncle, who passed away in 2003, I knew exactly how I had to cook my collards. Chopped to ribbons and with lots of garlic. This makes a great side for any dish, a bed for fish or chicken, as well as great mix-in for soup.

Garlicky Greens

1 bunch collard greens (or any other type of greens)
3 cloves garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
salt

Wash and drip-dry the collards. Peel and mince the garlic. Place a large skillet on the stove and add olive oil and garlic. Turn on heat as low as possible. While oil and garlic are heating cut the greens in ribbons: taking 3 or 4 leaves at a time, cut off the bare length of stem, laying the leaves on top of each other, fold and roll the leaves, parallel to the stem. Holding the roll of leaves cut thin ribbons from the roll, either in a straight line of on an angle, in relation to the stem. As the leaves are cut, add them to the skillet, stirring each time. When all the greens have been added to the skillet, mix everything well and turn the heat up. Continue stirring until the greens are all bright green.