Zucchini Ricotta Tart

D and I host Friday night dinner pretty regularly. Being the slight lunatic that I am, prep usually starts on Tuesday, if not earlier. I start thinking about themes, poking around online and in my cookbooks for possible main courses, and trying to decide what vibe I want to create. Is this an apps and wine crowd, or more of a straight-to-the-table kind of meal? Are we going meat or dairy? (Usually we do dairy; I simply can't part with butter for dessert.) Is it cold enough for soup or even a one-pot-meal? Etc.

This past weekend, D and I were so pooped from the long week that we decided to do just the two of us for dinner. Our friends Kira and Dina also wanted something low key, so we decided to combine forces. K and D would bring salad and a vegetable side, I'd make soup, some sort of tart, and dessert. We had challah in the freezer and plenty of wine on the rack.

Plans to cook notwithstanding, the week was absolutely crazy and I had only enough time to make soup (ginger carrot, on the blog soon) and a cake (fig-polenta, kinda great, also up soon). The tart just didn't happen. I rushed home from work on Friday with not much time, not much time at all to spare, and scrambled to put something together. Spotted: one yellow squash in the fridge. Half a tub of ricotta. Some pecorino romano cheese. A bit of fresh mint. Frozen puff pastry. Each tasty on its own, but would it all go together? Oh Hell Yes.

Of course, the meal I threw together most haphazardly was actually my favorite in quite a long time. Maybe I'm just a fan of al fresco cuisine, but seriously -- what could be better than a simple soup, a light, fresh salad, and an easy puff pastry tart? Not much, in my opinion.

As a shout-out to my dear friend Sarah, who strives to be a more instinctive cook, let me point out that puff pastry is a wonderful blank slate on which any number of delicious tarts can be made. Zucchini/pecorino-ricotta/mint was great, but here are some other ideas:

• onion, feta mushrooms (sound familiar?)
• mushroom and goat cheese -- saute mushrooms in olive oil; either cover tart with mushrooms and sprinkle goat cheese overtop, or put mushrooms and goat cheese (and maybe some ricotta) into a blender, and spread that on top of the puff pastry -- and then top with some grated parmesan or bits of goat cheese. yum.
• spread tart with a thin layer of ricotta; top with thin slices of zucchini, red pepper, and tomato, with slices of parmesan or mozzarella and basil leaves interspersed.

As I write this, I'm realizing that any of the ingredients above would be great with any other. If you don't like olives, love red peppers, dig pesto, and want to skip the zucchini, just go for it. I'd say the key is to have a layer of something smooth, topped with a layer of thin vegetables, and topped with something super savory and strong (herbs, hard cheese, etc). Feel free to leave other tart ideas in the comment thread.

Zucchini Ricotta Tart

• 1 8x8 (or larger) square of puff pastry, thawed and unrolled according to package directions
• 1/3 cup ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup grated pecorino romano cheese
• grated zest of one lemon
• 1 zucchini or yellow squash, sliced as thinly as possible (I did not use a mandoline -- you can, but definitely don't need to
• 1/4 cup kalamata or other greek olives, halved
• salt and pepper to taste
• handful of mint leaves, julienned

Preheat the oven to 350. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and put the puff pastry on top.

In a small bowl, mix the ricotta, lemon zest, and a small handful of the pecorino. Add salt and pepper to taste. Spread mixture onto puff pastry, leaving a 1/4-inch border around the edge.

Slice the zucchini very thinly; lay slices slightly overlapping in rows, again leaving a border. Sprinkle with olive slices, and top with the remaining pecorino.

Bake for about 30 minutes (or according to package directions), until golden at the edges and crisp all the way through. Slice into quarters for a main dish, eighths for a side or app; sprinkle with mint, and serve warm or at room temp.

Yam, Zucchini, and Chickpea Salad

I'm definitely a bag-luncher. While I enjoy the occasional salad-bar salad or panini, I find that bringing my lunch to work is often healthier and more cost-efficient than the alternative. Especially since I work in Georgetown, where lunch joints are pretty high-end, and (as you all surely know) I'm not the biggest fan of Subway, bag lunches are my speed.

As someone who routinely brings my lunch to work, and I'm always on the lookout for recipes that are simple to make, easy to nuke or tasty at room temperature, and pack in servings of carbs, vegetables, and protein. Needless to say, there are plenty of these recipes floating around the blogosphere, which has given me ample opportunity to experiment.

I was poking around on 101 cookbooks, which is a truly fabulous source for healthful and vegetarian recipes, and I found this chickpea and zucchini stir-fry recipe that looked great: lemon was the main seasoning ingredient, and the flavors looked clean and fresh. I'd been chomping on the recipe for a few days, mentally adding a few more elements and dressing up the whole thing a bit more complexly. Yams for sweetness and substance, scallions and parsley for color, "green" flavor and bite, and tahini and garlic to add to the lemon for a thicker, protein-filled dressing. I also figured I'd slow-roast the vegetables in order to caramelize them.

The resulting salad was everything I look for in a pack-your-own lunch dish: it had plenty of carbs and protein, pronounced caramel undertones from the browned vegetables, and a tangy, nutty bite. Honestly, I could take this for lunch several days in a row and not get bored (much like the cauliflower I took last week). In fact, I took it last Friday and yesterday, and I'll be taking it again, you can bet on it.

Yam, Zucchini, and Chickpea Salad inspired by 101 Cookbooks

For the salad:

2 yams or sweet potatoes, diced into 1-inch pieces 1 zucchini, diced into 1-inch pieces 1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained 2 garlic cloves 3 sprigs parsley, leaves finely chopped 2 scallions, thinly sliced on bias olive oil

For the dressing:

1 tablespoon tahini zest and juice of 1 lemon salt and pepper 1 tablespoon olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment or silicone.

Spread diced sweet potatoes in a single layer on prepared baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Roast 35-40 minutes, then add zucchini and roast an additional 10-15 minutes, until both vegetables are softened inside and caramelized in spots. If vegetables haven't caramelized at that point, pop them under the broiler for 3 minutes, and they'll brown plenty.

In a small frying pan over medium heat, saute chickpeas and whole garlic cloves in 1 tablespoon of olive oil (just enough to moisten) for about 3 minutes, until the chickpeas dry out a bit and are warmed through. Remove garlic cloves, chop finely, and reserve for dressing.

In a medium bowl, mix chickpeas with yams and zucchini. Add parsley and scallions, and toss to combine.

In a small bowl, combine tahini, lemon juice and zest, olive oil, and half of chopped garlic. Add water by the teaspoon until the dressing is smooth and runny. Taste, and add additional chopped garlic if necessary. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour over vegetables, toss to coat, and serve warm or room temperature.

Housekeeping

Hi readers!

Just a couple of quick items:

• As you can see from the picture above, the lovely Jan should be receiving my Menu For Hope Big Ole' Box of Sweets today, lucky lady that she is. Jan, hope you enjoy -- and to the rest of you, hopefully you won something in MFH as well. I didn't -- just the chance to bake for a reader -- but maybe next year!
• I finally got my tush off the couch to create an archives page. This info is all available straight from the home page, in one of the sidebars, but now archives have their very own home. The link to the archives page is in that little navigation strip above my header, and you'll see once you click on it that you can browse recipes by month and by category. Hope this feature is useful!
• I've officially drunk the Kool-Aid, and am posting (very irregularly) on twitter. If you've got a strange inclination to know when I'm eating leftovers at my desk or dreaming of hot chocolate, check out my sidebar widget, where you can follow my tweets to your heart's content.
• Lastly, one of my new years resolutions this time around was to add new kinds of content to NDP. Nothing will replace the recipes, but I'm hoping to spruce up the site with posts on other topics. To that end, I would love your feedback on ways I can improve this site. You hear me out there? Yes, you! Please don't be shy -- NDP is only as good or useful as its readers deem it, and your feedback will really help me sort through new ideas and pick the agenda items that'll be most useful, interesting, funny, tasty, etc. Do you want restaurant reviews (or gripes about waiters' and diners' missteps, of which I have many)? How about tips on getting sought-after reservations? Thoughts on eating locally, organically, sustainably, affordably? Ideas for using leftovers creatively? Advice on scoring the free appetizer that you really deserve when the chef accidentally slips some ham in your farmer's salad? You name it, I'll do it. I'm realizing that I have a bit of knowledge and a whole lot of opinion about many of these things, and I'd love it if you could help steer me in the best direction! If you're too shy to de-lurk and comment, just send me an email: Rivka(at)NotDerbyPie(dot)Com. Would love to hear from each and every one of you.

Best Cauliflower EVER

Before you get annoyed that the title of this post is dramatic without being descriptive, consider the following: this recipe has 6 ingredients, including salt. It takes 25 minutes start to finish and is easily the most delicious cauliflower dish I I've ever had ever ever. Ever. Better to tell the world how wonderful it is than to try to name what can only be described as good, yes?

Now then, let me tell you about cauliflower with capers and sherry vinegar. That's all that's in this -- save for a drizzle or two of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt -- but it's good, lip-smackingly good. No surprise that it comes from the king of simple, Mark Bittman, and his wonderful bible "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian." Having cooked from it and read many chapters straight through, I think I can safely say that it's the best $23.10 you can spend in the cookbook section. Check it out here.

No recipe, really -- here's how it works. Slice a whole head of cauliflower into florets, and put them in a reasonably wide (8x8 or 9x13 are both fine) shallow baking pan. Drizzle with a couple tablespoons of olive oil, toss to coat, and roast in a 400-degree oven for about 25 minutes, tossing a couple times during roasting, until a fork pierces the florets easily and they are deep brown in spots. Remove from the oven, and sprinkle with 1/2 a tsp. of salt, 1 clove of chopped garlic, 2 tablespoons of sherry or red wine vinegar, and 2-3 tablespoons of capers. (I just discovered the ones preserved in salt: you need to rinse them thoroughly, but they have such a wonderfully strong caper-y flavor that's not overwhelmed as the traditional vinegar-preserved capers often are.) Put them back in the oven for 3 more minutes, toss, and serve warm or at room temperature. It truly doesn't get easier than that, now does it?