Happy Earth Day!
When we first started Kitchen Caravan, we filmed an entire season of episodes that never aired. We were aiming for a Spring launch, yet we were not able to get the site up until mid-June. We ended up with what we like to call "the lost season" of really great recipes that we never got to show. Some of those recipes have been recycled into new themes; our Chocolate Avocado Tambor, Opulent Mung Bean Balls, Basra Date Tarts, and Halloumi Bundles of Love all made it into the program eventually.

Our 2007 Earth Day episode was going to be about raw chocolate. We were all about munching on cocoa nibs in those days; everything had raw chocolate on it. We wanted people to see beyond sugar-laden milk chocolate candies, and start eating raw cacao nibs. Raw chocolate gets a lot of publicity for being a powerful antioxidant, as well as a great mood enhancer. But more importantly, I think, is the fact that chocolate only grows in a fully functioning rain forest. That means that buying organic, fair-trade chocolate helps support farmers preserve rain forest land that would otherwise be converted to grazing land for cattle. Never forget that you as consumers have a lot of power.

This recipe goes back to our roots, and is a great appetizer for the more adventurous eater. By all means, substitute the Taleggio for any strong meltable local cheese that you can find.

Mesclun Greens with Taleggio and Raw Chocolate

4 cups mesclun greens
2 tablespoons cacao nuts (otherwise known as cocoa nibs)
Handful of sun-dried tomatoes
A few Gaeta olives, or another dark and briny variety
2 thick slices of Taleggio cheese (however much you want really)
½ lemon and a splash of vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
Pinch of salt

Soak the olives in water for about 5 minutes. Change the water and soak again.
Rinse the lettuce and dry well.
Chop up the sun dried tomatoes into slivers.
Drain, pit, and slice the olives.
Roughly chop the cacao nuts.
Toss all of the above ingredients with the olive oil, salt, and lemon juice.
Slice the cheese and place on a baking tray.
Melt in oven or toaster-oven until melted.
Meanwhile, whisk together the lemon juice, vinegar, olive oil, and salt. Toss together the first four ingredients with the dressing and divide among two plates.
Using a spatula, transfer one slice of cheese to each salad. Watch as the melting cheese solidifies over the lettuce. The cheese drippings will add a deep undertone to the dressing.
Serve with bread.

Grilled Halloumi with Za'atar

This is now my fourth post about eating meals based in foods bought at the Greenmarket while on a budget. The point of these is not that you would copy my recipes exactly, but that you get a sense of how easy it is to put something local together for an inexpensive meal.

I often buy my yogurt from Patches of Star Farm at the Union Square market. They sell a variety of goat milk yogurt and cheese products, but I usually just stick to the yogurt. I once bought their low-salt chêvre, which is an excellent creamy cheese for sandwiches, for my local New York cheese tasting. They have always sold Halloumi cheese, a Cypriot grilling cheese with a unique flavor and strangely delightful rubbery texture, but for some reason I had never bought it. And I love Halloumi cheese. It is up there in my top 5 for sure. Well, for some random reason that only God knows, the other day I picked up a $5 pack of the Halloumi. A small price to pay for a slice of bliss, I thought. I did not quite know what I was going to do with it, besides the usual flambé with brandy and lemon juice, so it sat in my fridge for a good 2 weeks.

Yesterday I realized that I had a bunch of dandelion greens in my fridge, and that I would just eat the Halloumi with the greens. I prefer my greens steamed over sautéed (always), so I just tossed them with some lemon juice and olive oil. I sliced the rubbery Halloumi and grilled it in a pan until it got the little marks on it (totally unnecessary but visually satisfying). I then topped it with my favorite spice blend, za’atar. I have industrial quantities of za’atar from when I went a little crazy ordering from a Lebanese food company, not realizing that 1 kilo goes a very long way. Oh well, this was the perfect moment to mix it with some olive and flax oil and drizzle it atop the cheese. And that was it. Steamed Dandelion Greens with Za’atar and Halloumi. Dandelion greens are very bitter, which might be considered an acquired taste, but it is also a seasonal taste for Spring. What is good about the cheese is that it is mellow and almost sweet, which counters the bitter greens nicely.

As a treat for myself after, I grilled more of the cheese and topped it with a mixture of lemon and honey, sliced mint, and chopped walnuts.

Anyway, the total cost of my lunch was probably $7 or so. How much do you pay for a salad at Cosi? ? ?