Reflections From a Murky Pond

Foole Meze is a Greek fava bean appetizer or starter course. In point of fact my name for the dish translates as “fava bean appetizer.”

Foole Meze (Serves 4 - 6)

Ingredients

3 cups frozen fava (broad) beans
1/2 cup kalamata olives
4-6 marinated artichoke hearts, quartered
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced
4 teaspoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 teaspoon sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Cook the fava beans in rapidly boiling water for 4 minutes, then rinse under cold water.
Remove the leathery outer skin from the fava beans and discard.
Mix together the shelled fava beans, olives, and artichoke hearts in a bowl.
Mix together the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and sea salt in a small bowl.
Place equal amounts of the fava bean mixture on serving plates, drizzle with the dressing, and top with the parsley and a little freshly ground black pepper.

I especially like this dish served with good feta cheese and a loaf of crusty bread to sop up the seasoned olive oil.

I hope you enjoy!

This is a great spring and summer salad that can also be used as relish with summer meat and fish dishes.

Fresh Corn Salad (Serves 4 - 6)

Ingredients

6 - 8 ears of sweet corn
4 - 6 mild to medium chilies (Anaheim, red, orange or yellow bells, banana peppers, etc…)
1 bunch of scallions
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 small basket of grape or cherry tomatoes
Fresh herbs to taste (sage, oregano, cilantro, dill, thyme, etc…)

Directions

Shuck the corn and cut the kernels from the cob
In a large bowl (glass, ceramic or stainless steel preferred) combine all the ingredients except the tomatoes.
Allow salad to sit for 30 minutes to allow the flavors to marry.
Adjust seasoning to taste
Serve sprinkled with the tomatoes

Variations & Additions

Add crumbled feta cheese and sliced roasted beets

Add grated sharp cheddar and diced Granny Smith green apples

Add 1/2 cup diced jicama and substitute diced tomatillo (husk tomato) for half the grape or cherry tomatoes

Substitute rice wine vinegar for cider vinegar. Add 1/2 cup grated daikon (Japanese giant white radish) and 2 tablespoons ponzu (Japanese citrus sauce)

Dice and drain the tomatoes and fold them into the salad. Use as relish or condiment for summer dishes.

This salad goes very well with seafood dishes - especially shrimp, octopus and scallops - and with cold meat salads such as chicken salad, ham salad or tuna salad. As a relish it adds a nice component to fish tacos, quesadillas and - believe it or not - hot dogs.

I hope you enjoy!

Balducci’s, a gourmet market in New York’s Greenwich Village, accidentally found itself in an embarrassing situation. Sometime over the weekend a store clerk mistakenly put a sign over a set of hams describing them as “Delicious for Hanukkah.”

Manhattan novelist Nancy Kay Shapiro, a self-professed unobservant Jew, noticed the advertisement of trafe - unclean, forbidden foods - for Chanukah. Instead of being offended, Ms. Shapiro took photographs and posted them on the web.

I just thought it was funny, I wasn’t offended in any way. I just thought, here’s somebody who knows nothing about what Jews eat.

– Nancy Shapiro
Author of What Love Means To You People

When Ms. Shapiro returned to the store on Tuesday, the first night of Chanukah, the signs had vanished. A manager at the Balducci’s gourmet grocery store apologetically said that the sign had been a mistake and blamed it on a stock clerk.

Thank you, Ms. Shapiro! Where many people would have been grossly offended, you showed good humor and tolerance for other’ ignorance and fallibility.