Picnic Grail: Mediterranean white bean salad

Spring has sprung! Or so they tell me; I haven’t had much opportunity to get away from my desk of late. What little I have seen, however, makes me desperate to put on some sandals and get me to the park with a picnic and a paperback. Seriously. It’s an explosion of cherry blossoms and greenery around here! Crocuses and fresh asparagus! Magnolias! Hay fever! All kinds of things that make me want to slap on some sunscreen and abuse some exclamation points! And, as I mentioned above, pack up a picnic and go to the damn park.

Which, of course, begs the eternal question: what to bring on the picnic?

Now, in my mind, there are two major criteria to consider when planning a dish for a picnic: 1. it needs to be able to languish happily in the sun without creeping risk of salmonella poisoning, and 2. it needs to be simple to make–bonus points if 95% of the cooking means throwing everything in a bowl. If you can also achieve bonus criterion number three (it gets better the longer it sits in a bowl marinating, which means you can make it a few days ahead of time), then you have stumbled across Picnic Grail.

And that’s what this dish is. Mediterranean white bean salad=Picnic Grail. It’s mayonnaise-free, ludicrously simple to make, and gets better the longer it sits in your fridge–it’s amazing. It’s also fantastic on toast or tossed in some pasta–but really it’s best when inhaled directly from the bowl. And it really couldn’t be easier–silky white beans tossed with seared asparagus, cubes of fresh mozzarella and grape tomatoes, woken up with a bright rosemary-garlic-lemon dressing. I personally tend to make my dressing kind of lethal–the garlic is raw, and I use lots of it. Those of you with a more delicate palate (and all you vampires out there) might want to dial back the amount you use–and you adventurers may want to add more! Just mess with it until it tastes the way you want it to. It’s light, bright, and perfect for a searing hot Saturday picnic.

Just add sunshine.

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Cusp-of-Spring Black Bean Chipotle Salsa

The day I’ve been waiting for has finally arrived–we ate our first outdoor meals this weekend. Local eggs scrambled with creme fraiche and scallions, big mugs of coffee and the newspaper in the morning, coconut-water lemonade and a giant bowl of chips with guacamole in the afternoon…every bite made me happy, and every minute of sun on my skin.

Of course, as much as I’m ready for warm weather dining, there isn’t actually much fresh produce yet, so I couldn’t make the homemade tomato salsa I perfected last summer. Instead, I riffed with what we had on hand–a bag of frozen corn, a can of black beans, a frozen canned chipotle pepper and some citrus to add a little sweetness and brightness.

You could pile this substantial salsa on carnitas or a hunk of fish, but we just ate scoops of it balanced on tortilla chips, filling our stomachs as we began the state-by-state India Pale Ale showdown (stay tuned on Serious Eats.) Sure, it was dark outside before we finished, but with enough sweatshirts and enough candles, it felt like summer was just waiting in the wings.

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Beyond Pork and Beans: Lamb and Duck Cassoulet

Matt and I rented a studio apartment a few years ago for a week in Paris—Montmartre to be exact. We bought cheeses from the store across the cobblestoned street, picnicked outside the Louvre, and wandered around until we’d exhausted ourselves.

At a casual bistro up the block from our little apartment, we ordered cheap wine and a giant cassoulet. There was something so elemental about it, so rustic and warming and luscious, I couldn’t get it out of my mind. I’ve made a number of attempts to duplicate it with mixed results.

I hosted an evening of beer tasting the other night, and I needed a main course to serve after the tasting that could wait patiently in the oven until we had rendered our verdict. This is often the case when entertaining: whatever you’re serving needs to be flexible, in case someone is caught on the train, or stuck in the office, or you’re just serving leisurely appetizers. It’s good to have a list of dishes like this: not necessarily low-maintenance, but definitely low pressure in the hour before serving.

Since some of my guests don’t eat pork, I was determined to create a rich, decadent spin on cassoulet without it. I’m a bit surprised to say this, but we didn’t miss the pork at all. (A little lamb belly and duck confit do a bit to calm that particular yearning.) This cassoulet isn’t going to win any beauty contests, but it was darn tasty.

I cooked the beans according to a quick no-soak method I learned on The Paupered Chef. If anything, the beans ended up overcooked—you’re probably safe leaving them quite al dente at first, since they’re going to keep cooking in the stew.

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Pod People: Kale and Fresh Cannellini Bean Soup

It seems that I’ve become one of those pod people. I just can’t help myself— fresh legumes show up at my local farmer’s market and I’m spineless. Shells full of chickpeas are too adorable for me to resist. I find myself grabbing pods and pods of flageolet beans when I’m not even planning on being home for dinner! And the other day, I fell for these sweet cannellini.

Unlike my slightly less-than-lifechanging fresh garbanzo experience, it turns out that fresh cannellini beans are quite distinctive and delicious. They get a beautiful creaminess with perfect firm skins after about 20 minutes of simmering.

I threw them into one of our standard sick-day soups: homemade turkey broth, a few smashed cloves of garlic, assorted greens. I added some tortellini, too, though you could also try any other pasta or dumpling.

I grew up in a chicken-soup house—my mother’s matzoh balls would be quite confused to find themselves in any other broth. But Matt grew up in a turkey-soup house, and that’s not a bad thing. Turkey stock is much more flavorful than its chicken counterpart—it has a richness and depth that is unmatched. I made my broth the day before our soup dinner with wings and necks from the farmer’s market, but if you don’t seek those out, at least keep this in mind for your Thanksgiving leftovers.

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Secrets and victories: Tangy Barbecue Baked Beans

I think I’ve done it. I’ve figured out the purpose of pomegranate molasses, at least within the context of my life. It’s amazing, and so simple. It’s a secret weapon, the kicker in–

Wait. I’m getting ahead of myself. Let us begin the story properly.

Once upon a summer, you may recall that I had the good fortune to spend a sunny saturday in Central Park with a small phalanx of fellow food bloggers. You may also recall that our spread was, unsurprisingly, entirely awesome. Of particular note (to me, anyway) was a tray of baked beans–piquant, tangy, smoky, baked beans. Beans that have haunted me ever since, because the man responsible would rather not divulge his secret recipe! Which, you know. I understand. But it has not stopped me from trying to crack the code myself!

And so, I researched, I tested, I poked and prodded and finally –FINALLY–came up with a recipe that is, if not the twin to the mysterious beans of the potluck, a reasonable substitute (not facsimile, but substitute). Tangy! Smoky! Sweet! It’s like barbecue in a bowl! And the secret ingredient?

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