A love letter to May
To coconut rice, Israeli condiments, and more
As we enter June, I wanted to share some of my favorite things I made in May. I’ve been cooking a ton recently and really enjoying the shift into warmer weather produce. The farmers market is blossoming—tomatoes are starting to pop up, arugula and little gem are back, I bought beautiful purple radishes the other day, and strawberries are everywhere in sight. Plus, I got a new fridge and I’m not ashamed to say that it is my new personality. It’s roomier, has much more storage than my old one, and most importantly, it’s making me even more excited than I already am to grocery shop and cook. So, today is basically a show-and-tell of the dishes I’ve been cooking and obsessing over as of late!
I have been making this coconut rice on repeat and I seriously cannot get enough. It’s not too thick and creamy so the rice grains are still loose and it’s perfectly fragrant from the freshly ground cardamom seeds. The recipe is from Ottolenghi and I promise that once you make it, you too will be hooked. The best part is that it’s truly a perfect accompaniment to so many dishes. I made it twice last week for dinner! The first time I paired it with gochujang-glazed tofu lettuce cups with pickled radish and cucumber, avocado, and herb sprigs. Another night, I paired it with scallion trout sliders, green curry chicken salad, and a little gem and first-of-the-season sungold tomatoes with basil vinaigrette. I’m dreaming about making it with lemongrass and ginger, for a twist.
Another recipe from Ottolenghi because I went on a deep dive of his website’s recipe index the other day and obviously left with endless new recipes and inspiration. These pistachio lamb burgers are better than I could have imagined. Pistachios, arugula, onion, and garlic and finely blitzed and folded into the ground lamb. I paired it with a charred snap pea and pomegranate salad that while I was prepping the pomegranate, I realized should have been cherries. So, mark my words, I will be making a charred snap pea and cherry salad at least once this summer. I think it would be amazing with bulgur or pearl couscous, hazelnuts or pistachios, and shaved celery or fennel. Tossed in a lemon vinaigrette with either maple syrup, pomegranate molasses, or date syrup?! Or even preserved lemon vinaigrette!
Puttanesca of all kinds is constantly on my mind these days. I made a spicy shrimp puttanesca with squid ink fettuccine for a client a few weeks ago and I haven’t stopped dreaming about it since. My clients clearly agreed because they emailed me saying, and I quote, “I want to take a bath in the puttanesca”. Thank you Andy Baraghani for a winning recipe. More recently, I made a salmon puttanesca with green beans and spring onions (also from Ottolenghi) for another client. The moment I saw I it on Instagram, I immediately ran to his website for the details.
And finally, for my May book club dinner, I made a mini Israeli feast, inspired by Tahini Baby, and consisting of laffa, chopped salad, and shawarma salmon & chicken kebabs. However, in my opinion, the very best part was the trio of sauces—a perfect cherry on top of the whole meal. I made the celery zhoug and grated tomato from Tahini Baby along with a garlicky tahini sauce and garnished the plate with store-bought Israeli pickles. These pickles are another one of my newfound obsessions—they’re thinner and smoother than Kirby cucumbers, saltier than your average pickle, and preserved in brine. But back to the sauces. Having a melange of sauces on hand just adds to every single thing you’re making. I have used the leftover trio and mixed dollops of each sauce with roughly chopped soft-boiled eggs multiple times for breakfast this week. It’s been absolutely divine. I just love that feeling when you don’t want your meal to end while you’re in the middle of eating it.