BitterSweet

Sweet Musings with a Bitterly Sharp Wit

Tag Archives: picnic


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More Than a Hill of Beans

Sunshine floods the open field with warmth, kissing every blade of grass as it rises to greet the day. Work and school are but a passing thought, quickly swept away by the gentle breeze. It’s summertime, and the day is primed for a picnic. Spread out a blanket, open up the carefully packed basket, and unveil the savory spread crafted to power a full day of play. Everything is perfect… Until the bean salad hits the bench.

Swampy, limp green beans slither throughout the miasma, already looking well past their prime. Watery dressy hemorrhages outward, pooling at the bottom of the bowl in a murky sludge. Fresh vegetables are scant, if at all discernible, limited to stringy chunks of celery at best. Though perpetually invited to these outdoor excursions for its stability at any temperature, the average bean salad is a terrible, ungracious guest. Mere blandness would be a blessing in most cases, but the list of culinary crimes committed to this dish could fill a novel. After so many years of innovation in food, why does it still have to be this way?

It’s high time we take a stand to build a better bean salad. Traditionalist and adventurous eaters alike can benefit from the very same sturdy base, constructing unique legume dishes to suit every occasion. Select each ingredient with intention rather than just slapping together the standard formula, and you’ll never be disappointed by the result. Infuse real flavor into the mix each step of the way for the very best side dish your summer cookouts, barbecues, and road trips have ever seen.

Like any strong master plan, the following suggestions are just that; a guide, not a formula recipe, meant to inspire your own bean salad adventures. Mix and match your favorites, incorporate new ideas, color outside the lines! My only golden rule? No canned green beans. Quite frankly, they’re an insult to vegetable preservation and have no place in the modern grocery market.

In case you’re still feeling stuck in the same old bean salad rut, here are some of my greatest hits…

Spicy Southwestern: Black beans, pinto beans, cilantro, red onion, bell peppers, lime juice, avocado oil, chipotle pepper, grilled corn kernels, avocado

Mideast Feast: Chickpeas, lentils, parsley, shallots, cucumbers, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, olive oil, black pepper, cherry tomatoes, kalamata olives, crumbled vegan feta

Asian Persuasion: Edamame, lima beans, cannellini beans, scallions, rice vinegar, sesame oil, shredded carrots, crushed red pepper flakes, diced mango, sliced almonds

Don’t let a bad bean salad ruin your summer celebration! It’s just as easy to throw together a bright, bold, and refreshing blend fit for a real party. Start mixing it up and tell me, what’s your favorite blend?

Basic Bean Salad Blueprint

3 (15-Ounce) Cans Beans, Rinsed and Drained or 4 1/2 Cups Total Cooked Beans (Cannellini Beans, Chickpeas, Black Beans, Kidney Beans, Pinto Beans, Lima Beans, Black-Eyed Peas, Lentils, and/or Shelled Edamame)
1 Cup Loosely Packed Fresh Herbs, Finely Chopped (Parsley, Cilantro, Dill, Mint, and/or Basil)
1/2 Cup Alliums, Finely Chopped or Thinly Sliced (Red Onion, Sweet Vidalia Onion, Shallots, Scallions, or Leeks)
1 Cup Crisp Vegetables, Finely Chopped (Celery, Shredded Carrots, Cucumbers and/or Bell Peppers)

1/3 Cup Vinegar or Citrus Juice (Red Wine Vinegar, Apple Cider Vinegar, Rice Vinegar, Balsamic Vinegar, Lemon Juice, Lime Juice or Orange Juice)
1/4 Cup Oil (Olive Oil, Avocado Oil, Rice Bran Oil, Grapeseed Oil, Sesame Oil, or Peanut Oil)
3/4 – 1 1/2 Teaspoons Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Pepper (Ground Black Pepper, Cayenne Pepper, Chipotle Pepper, or Crushed Red Pepper Flakes)

Bonus, Optional Mix-Ins (Avocado, Halved Cherry Tomatoes, Pitted Olives, Corn Kernels, Chopped Walnuts, Sliced Almonds, Diced Mango, Shredded or Crumbled Vegan Cheese… Get Creative!)

Preparation couldn’t be simpler: Once you’ve selected your star players, toss together the beans, herbs, alliums, and crisp vegetables in a large bowl. Separately, whisk together the vinegar or citrus, oil, salt, and pepper. Pour the dressing over the goods and toss to coat. Mix in as many bonus ingredients as your heart desires. Enjoy right away or stash in the fridge until you’re ready to serve. Try it both chilled and at room temperature!

The finished bean salad should keep for 2 – 4 days if kept refrigerated, depending on the selected components.

Makes 4 – 8 Servings (4 as an Entree, 8 as a Side)

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A Top Picnic Pick

“Summer is over, summer is over!” the masses cry, pointing to the calendar as the days advance past Labor Day, deeper into the heart of September. Sure, school is back in session and thoughts do naturally turn to the future, preparing for the changing of the seasons sure to come, but that doesn’t mean that it’s a done deal already. I don’t know about you, but for us east coasters back here in New England, the weather has turned more hot and humid than ever, finally feeling like the summer we’ve been anticipating for months. The thick, moist air, dense enough to swim through on particularly sultry afternoons, isn’t exactly my idea of perfect weather, but pouring rain will inevitably break through the clouds, washing away that oppressively muggy atmosphere for at least a few enjoyable hours. Seize those fleeting opportunities and make the most of the lingering sunshine- Now is the time to go for a picnic if there ever was one.

The most impressive picnic spread I’ve ever had the fortune to enjoy was lovingly composed by Cobi, the mastermind behind Veggietorials. Just about anything would have tasted divine while sitting on one of Oahu’s few white sand beaches, enjoying the perfect 80-degree afternoon in the middle of January, but her lavish spread far surpassed all prior picnic experiences. The highlight amongst her numerous fresh fruit and veggie options were the inari sushi, stuffed with tender sushi rice and richly umami braised shiitake mushrooms. Based on her classic recipe that originally called for quinoa, it set the standard for a whole new world of picnic fare in my mind, and got me thinking about additional alternative fillings. If the grain could be swapped out so seamlessly, why not shake up the flavors too? Nostalgic for Hawaii, there couldn’t be a more fitting filling than Mahalo Macadamia Quinoa Pilaf, guaranteed to inject a bit of sunshine into even dreadfully overcast days. Always well-received on the Passover table and beyond, Pistachio-Quinoa Pilaf cleans up quite nicely in these tiny tofu pouches, converting effortlessly into a grab-and-go lunch that’s more memorable than the norm. Summer Corn Salad shines with prime summer produce, foregoing the grains in favor of juicy, tender-crisp kernels of sweet corn. My so-called “Halloween Rice” could be a delightful way to transition into more autumnal flavors though, if you’re still convinced that fall is already upon us.

The possibilities are limited only by one’s imagination. Proper inari care and management is the key to success here. Although they’re designed to be edible straight from the can or plastic packaging, your dishes will fare much better with a tiny bit of additional prep work. Take the tofu pouches and simmer them gently in water for just 5 – 10 minutes, removing the tinned taste that canned food can sometimes acquire and draining off the excess oils absorbed by those porous soy sponges. For an extra savory punch, you can use vegetable broth instead, or add a touch of tamari to the cooking water.

It’s never too late for a good picnic, especially when you bring some irresistible edibles to share. No matter where or when you decide to partake, make sure you don’t miss your opportunity for at least one leisurely, luscious picnic lunch this year.


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Marvelous

Criteria: the marvelous is a mental spark created when two radically different realities make contact. For example, the sentence, “Beautiful as the chance meeting on a dissecting table of a sewing machine and an umbrella.” The marvelous is often accompanied by a disorienting feeling. Think of it as poetic dislocation.

Art School. What a joke, I scoffed internally, reading through yet another nonsensical assignment. Having carefully critiqued a few too many blurry photos of anonymous crowds and underexposed shots of twisted ribbons, all passed off as “art,” the concept has lost some of its original reverence in my mind. Is it “art” when something truly transcendent has been created, or merely when the perpetrator doesn’t know how to define it otherwise? Did the photographer miss the decisive moment, forcing them to slap this label of “art” on it and just keep on shooting for something better? This dismissal of all fine art will surely create a bit of dissent among the believers, but trust me: After more than four years of trying to dissect the intent of a photo containing nothing more than three blueberries lined up in a straight row on a white table, for example… You would get pretty burned out on the concept, too. (And that was one of the better ones.)

And yet, though absurd, something about the proposed definition of marvelous stuck with me, rattling around in my head. It was laughable, and yet it still resonated. Perhaps I’m guilty of my own artistic sins as well.

Dreaming of hanami as the cherry blossoms all across Japan explode in joyous whites and pinks, it’s the time of year that I miss the island nation most. Though always beautiful, the way that the delicate petals rain down through the early days of spring is unmatched in its charm. No one could sit beneath the sakura and not smile. Food is also a huge component of hanami, so it goes without saying that it’s an added attraction for me. Picnic lunches are simple, traditional, typically consisting of bento boxes or at least a few delicate triangles of onigiri.

That’s where the marvelous struck me, insidious thing that it is, and suddenly it made perfect sense of add some middle eastern flair to this beautiful mental image. Mujaddara, one of my favorite dishes of savory spiced rice, tender lentils, and sweet caramelized onions took root in my mind and could not be shaken. Why? The only common element to unite them was rice, and that connection was tenuous at best. Just to prove myself wrong and get back to more time-honored hanami dishes, I went ahead and committed this crazy culinary mash-up. Sticky rice swapped for the fluffier long grains, the rest simply fell in place.

And can I tell you something, honestly? The results were pretty damn marvelous.

Mujaddara Onigiri

1 1/2 Cups Sushi Rice
2 Cups Water

3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 1/2 Pounds Onions, Chopped (About 4 Cups Chopped)
3/4 – 1 Teaspoon Salt, Divided
1 Tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar
1/2 Teaspoon Ground Cumin
1/4 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1/2 Teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
1/3 Cup Chopped Fresh Parsley
2 Cups Cooked Brown Lentils

Bring the water to a boil in a medium saucepan over moderate heat on the stove. Once at a lively bubble, stir in the sushi rice and immediately reduce the heat all the way to low. Cover and let cook gently for 15 – 20 minutes, until the water has been fully absorbed. Turn off the heat and let stand, covered, for an additional 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a medium skillet with high sides over moderate heat. When hot and shimmering, add the onions and turn the heat down to medium low. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until translucent. When they begin to brown around the edges, add 1/2 teaspoon salt and reduce the heat further. Continue to cook over low heat, stirring every now and then, for about an additional 30 minutes to caramelize the onions. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the pan thoroughly to prevent pieces from sticking and burning. The onions should take on a deep amber brown color at this point, and a be very aromatic. Remove the pan from the heat, mix in the balsamic vinegar and all the spices, and let cool.

When both the rice and onions are cool enough to handle, just above room temperature, mix both together in a large bowl along with the parsley and lentils. Stir well to thoroughly distribute all of the ingredients. Add remaining 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon of salt, to taste.

Scoop out approximately 1/3 – 1/2 cup of the mixture for each onigiri, gently pressing it into triangles in the palms of your hands. If the rice isn’t quite holding together properly, let it sit and continue to cool for a bit longer. Serve immediately, or wrap each individually in plastic to save for later. When properly stored in the fridge, the prepared onigiri can be reserved for up to three days.

Makes 1 1/2 – 2 Dozen Onigiri

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