Barley and Pomegranate Salad

This is another great recipe from Plenty. It's super light and flavorful and perfect after a weekend of eating too much. The pomegranate seeds add such a nice, sweet pop. Looking forward to eating leftovers for lunch this week.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 cup barley

6 stalks celery, leaves removed and saved, in a small dice

1/4 cup olive oil

3 tbsp white wine vinegar

2 small garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

2/3 tsp ground allspice

salt and pepper

3 tbsp chopped dill

3 tbsp chopped parsley

seeds from 2 large pomegranates

Roasted Eggplant with Buttermilk Yogurt Sauce and Pomegranate

My friend Alice got me Ottolenghi's Plenty cookbook for my birthday (thank you, Al!!). I couldn't wait to test it out. I made the roasted eggplant last weekend and it's delicious. The soft roasted eggplant is tangy and almost meaty tasting from the bits of char, and the buttermilk yogurt sauce, za'atar, and pomegranate are such a great mix of flavors. The sweetness of the pomegranate is really nice. We had this as a main because we had a huge lunch, but I think it would also be great as a side dish to some grilled meat. Also, very pretty presentation! 

The picture is also the cover of the book. So pretty.

Grilled Rack of Lamb

These lamb chops are fantastic! The flavors are so great, and it's really simple. I took the ingredients from this lamb rib recipe and converted it for a rack of lamb (basically just changing the cooking time/method). Can't wait to make it again. The vinegar baste adds a great tang, and I love pomegranate molasses with lamb for a sour sweetness. The sugar in the rub adds a crispy, flavorful crust when charred. It only needs an hour at room temperature to marinate in the spice rub, so it's a great weeknight dinner or pretty easy weekend dinner party meal. 

Ingredients:

1 rack lamb chops

1 tbsp cumin

1 tbsp ground coriander

1 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp kosher salt

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar 

1 tbsp pomegranate molasses

Roasted Eggplant with Saffron Yogurt

Here's another Ottolenghi. This was the first I tried and I was very impressed. It has the tartness of the eggplant, the brightness from the pomegranate seeds, the creamy yogurt, freshness from the basil, and the earthy pine nuts. I'd never tried anything with a yogurt dressing and it's great.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

a small pinch of saffron threads (thanks, Alice, for the Zanzibari saffron!!)

3 tbsp hot water

3/4 cup Greek yogurt

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 1/2 tbsp lemon juice

3 tbsp olive oil

coarse sea salt

3 medium eggplants, cut into 3/4" slices

olive oil for brushing

2 tbsp toasted pine nuts

Pomegranate-Garlic Lamb

This is delicious and pretty easy and impressive for a dinner party. We had our very good friends, Stephen and Kara, over last night to test out the new china. It was all very grown up. Thank you to all of our great friends for getting us all of those amazing candlesticks, plates, platters, vases etc - they will all be well used!

I've been making lamb a lot lately, using pomegranate molasses. It's a great ingredient. It's tart and sweet. I got two racks or lamb from Trader Joe's (they actually have really nice, Frenched racks of lamb) and marinated them in a mixture of pomegranate molasses, lots of garlic, some fresh ginger, and some dried herbs. The lamb was juicy and so flavorful.

I served it with some sauteed asparagus and Israeli couscous.

Pomegranate-Glazed Seared Duck Breast with Ramps and Crispy Potatoes

I went to the Union Square market yesterday to see what looked good and I decided to try ramps! I've always wanted to cook with them but have never tried. I love garlic, so I figured I couldn't go wrong. I also got a duck breast. I had potatoes at home. I figured I could make something good with this. (Potatoes + duck fat = yum yum yum yum) I saw a good looking recipe from Anne Burell with how to perfectly sear the duck breast, and she used pomegranate molasses (a totally awesome ingredient). I thought hers sounded a little too syrupy sweet, so I changed it up a bit. It was delicious! I highly recommend this for impressing someone for dinner. The pomegranate molasses is tart and sweet and sticky and the duck is rich and salty. The ramps look beautiful on top, and the potatoes are perfect to soak up the extra juice. Make it while there are still ramps!

Serves 2
Ingredients:
3 ramps (bulb and leaves) roots removed, 1 finely diced
1 duck breast, fat scored in a crosshatch pattern
1/2 lb small potatoes
1/4 cup pomegranate molasses
1/4 cup reduced chicken broth (I used a cups worth of bouillon with 1/4 cup water)
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/8 tsp (big pinch) cumin
1/8 tsp (big pinch) coriander
1/8 tsp (big pinch) chipotle powder
2 sprigs fresh thyme

Directions:

Mix the pomegranate molasses, chopped ramp, stock, and herbs in a bowl or measuring cup. Heat a skillet to medium-low and put the duck breast and the ramps in (duck skin-side-down).