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3.12.21

Light and lovely

When the sun is in Pisces, I can’t get enough seafood. Fin fish. Shrimp. Crab. Oysters. Could it be the prospect that with any luck, we’ll be liberated soon from our baggy pandemic sweatpants and emerging from the shadows into the light?

But first, let’s talk soup!!!

Soup of the Week: Chloé’s Vegan Gumbo Z’herbes

Get your winter greens while they last! This vegan gumbo z’herbes, created by Chloé Landrieu-Murphy to accompany her story about the Southern Louisiana tradition, is packed with whatever greens you have on hand — and lots of ‘em. Homemade Cajun spice blend gives it verve. Whether you’re Catholic and observing Lent, or you just love those greens, this soup will float your streetcar. It’s classic with rice rice; if you’re a health nut like me, try it with brown basmati.

Recipe Preview!

I was about to make the same-old-same-old simple roasted asparagus a couple nights ago, when Wylie suggested something a wee bit snazzier: roasting them with some spring onions. Nice idea, I thought. And it was! This will definitely go into the spring rotation. Soon as I can manage, it’ll be a an actual formal recipe on Cooks Without Borders. (Will try to achieve by next week!)

But for now, here it is, just for you:

Roasted Asparagus with Spring Onions

Ingredients

1 pound skinny asparagus, tough ends trimmed

2 spring onions, trimmed and cut lengthwise into quarters

2 teaspoons olive oil

1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 425 degrees. Place the asparagus and spring onions on a sheet pan, drizzle with the olive oil and salt, and roll the vegetables around to coat.

2. Roast for 17 minutes, shaking the pan halfway through. Test for doneness: You want the asparagus to be tender and the spring onions to be lightly charred. If that hasn’t start happening after another 5 minutes, turn up the oven to 450 and roast until you see a little charring, as in the photo. Transfer to a serving plate and serve immediately, or at room temperature.

Seared Halibut (or almost any fish!) in Ginger Vinaigrette

👇👇👇

I love this simple ginger vinaigrette — it’s easy to toss together and goes with just about any fish you can think of. It would be excellent with grilled or seared chicken breasts as well. I was going to make the simple version shown directly, but Wylie had a slightly cheffier vision, which is what you see at the top of the email. He added an emulsion of scallions, cilantro, sesame oil and I don’t know what else, and smeared a bit of that on top, to wonderful effect. He also added carrots in with the ginger: Great for the color, but honestly it didn’t add much taste-wise. Anyway, I think you’ll love the super versatile sauce, which I wrote about here.

Delicious and slightly renegade alt guac!

Avocados have been wonderful lately, and guacamole cravings abound. This unusual guac from Josef Cento’s Amá cookbook is lightened and brightened with grated celery and garnished with red onion. Deliciously different! Diana Kennedy would probably not approve.

Blood Orange Panna Cotta with Blood Orange Compote

Here’s one you’ll want to make before blood oranges disappear. The panna cotta itself is super easy; the work is mostly juicing the oranges and cutting supremes. It’s well worth the effort, though, and you can slice the fruit if you don’t want to negotiate supremes.

Have a delicious weekend. Stay safe — if you haven’t already, get a vaccine, if you can! It won’t be long now. Hang in.

Lots of love, Leslie

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Have a comment, or want to tell us about something you’d like to see covered here? Drop me a line at leslie@cookswithoutborders.com.