A Tale of Two Sauces: Yogurt & Salsa Verde

So I know I said I would post the Bouchon Au Thons recipe from the book I am currently reading, A Homemade Life: Stories & Recipes From My Kitchen Table by Molly Wizenberg ( also known to many as the Orangette)but instead I am going to post a different recipe from her book: Lamb Meatballs with Yogurt Sauce and Roasted Cauliflower with Salsa Verde. The Bouchon Au Thons (basically mini tuna quiches) weren’t bad, I have already made them twice, but I feel like the following recipes are a better crowd pleaser overall. If I am going to post something, I want it to be a dish (or in this case two dishes) that can be shared and savored, making someone want to “kiss the cook“, so to speak. Plus I love the idea of reinventing classic dishes and jazzing them up with sauces to bring them out of the ordinary everyday. These two recipes were written about separately but I thought the two would go well together to make a meal. I also happened to have a lot of cilantro on hand that needed to be used. But honestly, it is really hard not to read this book and want to make everything in it right away! However, I will probably make these dishes separately from now on, mainly so that I can enjoy each one on its own. It was too much of a dilemma trying to decide whether to fill my belly with the meatballs or with the cauliflower…..

The meatballs take a little time to cook, but are well worth it. Plus, they can be assembled raw a day ahead and then cooked the next night. They would make a great appetizer for a dinner party. I used lamb, but you could also use chicken or turkey. If you are using chicken or turkey make sure to use half dark & half white meat. Cooking with cumin is something I have tried to avoid, due to the fact that it has a tendency to smell a bit like body odor and I have flashbacks to an overcrowded Parisian subway (yes, the stereotype in my experience has proven to be true!) Now doesn’t that make you want to cook with it? Seriously though, cumin does wonders to ground meat dishes, so don’t be afraid, even if you are not accustomed to the smell. The little bits of golden raisins are the secret ingredient, creating the perfect balance between sweet and savory, and the yogurt sauce is the perfect accompaniment, making the dish come together. There will be some yogurt sauce leftover and I suggest saving it for another meal with some warm flat bread and fresh veggies , maybe steaming an artichoke….. Trust me you won’t want to waste any of this sauce!

The roasted cauliflower was the big eye opener of the evening. It was so tasty with the salsa verde that I made it again the very next night. (Alongside the hodgepodge meal of flat bread, veggies and the leftover yogurt dip!) I had roasted cauliflower before but never with a dressing, much less a dressing with these kind of flavors. This dish was a real aha! moment for me (I know it is an Oprah quote, but it works!), before this I thought the only thing to do with cauliflower was to drown it in melted cheese…..The salsa verde is the definitely the sumthin’ sumthin’ that takes this roasted cauliflower to a whole new level. Between the three of us (and let me add that the 3rd diner is a 1 year old) there wasn’t a crumb left!

Meatballs with Pine Nuts, Cilantro and Golden Raisins
Makes 30 Meatballs

½ cup finely minced yellow onion
¼ cup chopped cilantro leaves
½ cup chopped pine nuts
½ cup golden raisins, coarsely chopped or halved
1 large egg, lightly beaten
½ cup fine bread crumbs
½ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon ground pepper
1 pound ground lamb , turkey , or chicken
4 tablespoons olive oil (for cooking)
Yogurt Sauce
1 cup plain yogurt (not low or nonfat)
1 medium garlic clove, finely minced
3 tablespoons lemon juice (from about 1 large lemon)
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon salt

First, make the yogurt sauce, you will want a little time for flavors to develop. In a small bowl, combine yogurt, lemon juice, garlic, cumin , and salt and whisk together. Set aside while you make the meatballs.

To make the meatballs, combine all the ingredients except the meat and olive oil in a large bowl. Add the ground meat and using your hands, break it up into small pieces and then gently kneading the mixture to incorporate all the ingredients. Be careful not to over mix, or the meat will get tough! Pinch off hunks of the mixture and roll into 1 inch balls. Set aside on a large plate. (These can be made a day ahead and refrigerated.)

Warm 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add about half of the meatballs, taking care not to overcrowd the pan. Let them color on each side, turning them gently with tongs. The meatballs are ready when they are evenly browned and feel firm but not tough. Cut a meatball in half, just to be sure. Transfer the meatballs to a paper towel lined plate. Add the 2 remaining tablespoons of olive oil and repeat with the remaining meatballs. This part takes some patience, and it will be tempting to turn the heat up a little, but if you do, you will end up with the outside of the meatball cooked and a raw inside, so let them hang out and do their thing. Serve with the yogurt sauce!


Roasted Cauliflower with Salsa Verde
Makes 4 side dish servings

Salsa Verde

1 medium jalapeno, ribs and seeds removed, finely chopped.
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
2 medium garlic cloves, minced with a pinch of salt
2-3 tablespoons fresh limes juice (I found 2 ½ to be about right)
4 tablespoons olive oil
Salt to taste

Roasted Cauliflower

1 medium cauliflower (2 to 2 ½ pounds)
2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt to taste

First prepare the salsa verde. Just like the yogurt, you want it to sit. In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients, whisk together and set aside for up to an hour.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Wash and dry the cauliflower well. Put it on a cutting board, stem side down and slice it vertically from the top down into ¼ inch slices. You will get a bunch of cauliflower crumbs and only a few intact slices, this is fine. Put the cauliflower in a bowl and toss with olive oil until all the pieces are lightly coated. Spread the cauliflower in a single layer on a heavy baking pan. If too crowded, use two pans! Salt lightly. Bake until the cauliflower is golden and tender, even browned in spots, turning once with a spatula 20 to 30 minutes. Salt lightly again. Serve with the salsa verde. I just tossed the warm cauliflower directly in the salsa verde bowl like a salad rather than served on the side, but you could do it either way.

Footnote: Radishes with Unsalted Butter and Sea Salt

Another snack that this book made me want to try: Radishes with Butter and Salt on Toast. This snack is not a new concept, it is very popular with French mothers everywhere, but reading Molly describe it, gave that extra push to try it. It also helps that radishes are in season and also super cheap! My grocery store has them on sale 2 bunches for 88 cents, you really can’t beat that! Now I am hooked and have been enjoying these just about everyday. These make a great afternoon snack or appetizer.
Here is what you do: Take a slice of bread/baguette, either plain or toasted (about 1/3 inch thick) spread with unsalted butter (chilled works great, enabling you to taste thicker chunks of butter) and then top your bread with thinly sliced radishes. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt. Be careful these are addicting!

Potato & Parsnip Puree

The weather in the Northwest this time of year can be a bit manic depressive. For example yesterday was sunny and a balmy 67 degrees. I say balmy, because at temps in the high 60’s, Portlanders will come outside in droves, busting out their barbecues, new running shoes, and filling up the sidewalks of outdoor cafes. This took a lot of getting used to when I first moved to Oregon. Growing up in California, anything in the 60 degrees mark would be sweatshirt weather, but after several years in Oregon instead of the sweatshirt, I bust out my flip flops too. So yesterday was spent outside all day soaking up the Vitamin D, but this morning I woke up to dark skies, drizzly rain , and temps in the 40’s. What can I say? Spring in Oregon. The weather shapes the selection at the farmers markets too, so while there are some asparagus and herbs, there are still the root vegetables and dark greens from winter hanging around. We are kind of stuck in the middle with it not being quite time for the produce bounty of late spring and summer, and the enthusiasm for root vegetables is about zapped up.This can keep you in kind of a cooking rut, so this time of year I am always looking for ideas to jazz up dinner. I came up with this potato and parsnip puree because I was tired of boring potatoes and the ubiquitous roasted parsnips. I decided to combine the two. By doing that, I add a little dimension to the potatoes, and my tato loving husband still gets his mashers. Roasted parsnips taste a lot like a roasted carrot but not as sweet.

Using a ricer is essential to making this dish. I discovered ricers about 2 years ago and it has changed my potato making forever. You know how restaurants always have creamy, starch-less mashed potatoes? Well it is because they use ricers. You can buy a domestic, handheld metal one for less than $15. I got mine from a local kitchen store. How you use the ricer is simple. You take your boiled potatoes/roasted parsnips (still hot) and push them through the ricer. The ricer retains all the starchy skin from the vegetables, creating creamy spirals that come out, resulting in smooth mashed potatoes, no masher required. The best thing about using the ricer? Eliminating the starchiness, enables you to use less butterfat, etc to have creamy mashed potatoes. Using the ricer just makes the potatoes taste better, it changed my potato making life, and I hope it changes yours……

I served this puree alongside Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts and asparagus, which will be my next post!

Serves 4!

4 Yukon Gold Potatoes
4 Parsnips
3 Tablespoons Salted Butter
6-8 Tablespoons Whole Milk (Cream or ½ & ½ can be substituted, but with a 1 year old we go through whole milk like it is going out of style.)
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper

Boil Yukon Golf Potatoes over medium heat until tender. (About 45 minutes.) Toss Parsnips in Olive Oil & roast at 350 degrees in a covered baking dish for 60 minutes. Pass potatoes and parsnips through a ricer (food mill will work too.) while still hot. Put Puree in pot on low/med heat. Add butter and milk. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir and serve!

Carrots, Carrots, Carrot Tops?

I have always found carrots to be boring and lacking of flavor, unless of course they were covered in ranch dressing. (I will save my proclivity for all things ranch and mayonnaise for another post though.) That was until I discovered using fresh carrots in season and roasting them. All you do is lop off the tops and clean the carrots. Next, put them on a baking sheet and toss with olive oil , salt and pepper. (If you have it on hand some chopped fresh thyme is nice too.) Bake at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes depending on size of carrots to desired doneness. I personally like them to cook longer about (35 minutes) because then they start to caramelize, but it is really a matter of preference. The carrots will be soft & tender, sweet & savory! My favorite way to serve these is as a side dish to roasted chicken. My weeknight roasted chicken is simple and easy to do with a baby on your hip or the phone at your ear. First off, I don’t do the whole roasted chicken. (This eliminates the mess and cleanup of the giant roasting pan.) Instead, I use a package or two of the split half breasts with rib meat. Economical at $2-4 a package depending on store sales. Note: Foster Farms is my go-to brand. No, they are not organic and free range BUT they are fresh, hormone and antibiotic free. Plus they are a good company that employs a lot of people in Oregon and California. I always buy Foster Farms because it makes me feel that I am indirectly supporting friends and family. Okay, I will now get off my stump post and continue about the chicken..... Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Take the breasts, wash and clean, pat VERY dry. Place on baking sheet. (Line with foil for easier cleanup.) Liberally season with Kosher salt and pepper. I also like to sprinkle with fresh thyme. Put enough salt that you can actually see the salt crystals on the skin. (This is what makes the skin so tasty, and lets be honest, isn’t that the reason we make roast chicken in the first place?) Some people like to put a pat of butter under the skin , but if you are like me and watching your hubby’s cholesterol don’t do this…..Plus, I feel this can create steam, which you don’t want if you like really crisp skin! Anyway, roast chicken at 400 degrees for 45 minutes and enjoy your weeknight chicken! As for the aforementioned carrot tops….I always thought carrot top greens were just fodder for the likes of Bugs Bunny, and well it turns out I was right. I searched around on the internet looking for recipes using carrot greens and found surprisingly few. (That should have been my biggest sign!) Even with this foreshadowing, I decided to experiment cooking with them anyway. I sautéed finely minced celery, yellow onion , and garlic in olive oil until translucent. I then added the greens and a little chicken broth until wilted down and then seasoned with salt and pepper. Okay, so the taste was not bad, fresh & herby tasting kind of like parsley BUT the texture was terrible, scratchy and chewy. Maybe you could get rid of that texture by boiling them for 2 + hours or more but next time I would let the clerk at the market cut the tops off for you or take them home and feed them to your rabbit………….