Nigella-Tarragon Rice Pilaf

After writing about nigella recently, I’ve been thinking about other non-bread uses for the spice. The most obvious idea was to make a rice pilaf. Then as I was making the chicken salad with spinach and tarragon mayonnaise, I had some tarragon left over that I didn’t want to waste. As I was chopping the tarragon for the salad, the aroma reminded me of the nigella. And I wondered if I could use the tarragon in the nigella rice pilaf. I don’t know what made me put the two together but it was an intriguing idea that was worth a try.

It turns out to be an interesting combination. I used basmati rice, which stands up to the bold flavors of the nigella and tarragon, but the overall effect is not overpowering. As is, this pilaf makes a very unique side dish. But I think there is huge potential to add other ingredients (meat? vegetables? other flavorings?) to create a fully rounded main dish.

Nigella-Tarragon Rice Pilaf (6 servings)

• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 ½ tsp. nigella seeds, crushed lightly with your fingers
• 1 ½ cups basmati rice
• 3 cups water
• 1 tbsp. chopped fresh tarragon

1. Heat the oil in a large pot. Add the nigella and cook for about 2 minutes. Add the rice and toast, stirring constantly, until the rice is coated and has become translucent, about 2 minutes.
2. Add the water and turn heat up to medium high until liquid begins to boil. Reduce heat to medium low, cover, and cook until all the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender.Stir in the tarragon.

Crab and Artichoke Lasagna

Lasagna is one of those great dishes that can be deconstructed and then reinvented in completely new ways. I’ve experimented and created a lot of unusual lasagnas, such as chicken paprika lasagna and balsamic chicken lasagna to name a few. My latest attempt was inspired by hot crab and artichoke dip. I wanted to keep the flavors simple so you could actually taste the crab and artichoke. I opted for ricotta cheese to bind the filling together. I omitted the sour cream that is often used in the hot dip because I didn’t want it’s tangy flavor to overwhelm the crab. I used a little light cream to loosen the filling and scallions to give a light onion flavor again without overpowering the star ingredients. This lasagna is surprisingly light but filling. It’s very elegant and is great for a dinner party. Just assemble it a day or two in advance then pop it in the oven; you can focus on your guests rather than fuss over the stove.

A note about lasagna noodles. For those of you who dread the cooking and draining (and sticking together)… you don’t have to do that anymore! There are no-boil lasagna noodles available and they are great. But here’s the big secret: you don’t have to boil the regular lasagna noodles either! I haven’t boiled lasagna noodles for more than 15 years. In addition to being much easier to use, there is an additional benefit. Because the uncooked noodles absorb liquid from the filling and sauce rather than plain water, they also absorb lots of flavor. (You know how lasagna always tastes better the second day? This technique gives you that second-day flavor right from the oven.) I do often use the no-boil noodles, however, because I prefer their shape. But it really doesn’t matter; it’s your choice entirely.

Crab and Artichoke Lasagna (one 9” x 13” lasagna)

• 1 lb. crab meat
• 2 15-oz. cans artichoke hearts, drained and quartered
• 3 scallions, thinly sliced
• ¼ cup Parmesan cheese
• 1 15-oz. container ricotta cheese
• ¼ cup light cream
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 tbsp. butter
• 3 tbsp. flour
• 1 ¼ cups milk
• ¾ lb. mozzarella cheese
• Lasagna noodles

1. Preheat oven to 375°.
2. In a large bowl, combine the crab, artichokes, scallions, Parmesan cheese, ricotta cheese, cream, and salt and pepper. Stir gently to combine.
3. Make a béchamel by melting the butter in a small saucepan. Add the flour and whisk together. Cook for 1 minute. Add the milk and whisk to ensure no lumps form. Heat the milk, whisking occasionally, until it thickens.
4. Spread 1/3 of the crab and artichoke mixture into a 9” x 13” baking dish. Cover with uncooked lasagna. Pour 1/3 of the béchamel on the noodles. Place 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese on the lasagna. Repeat the process two more times.
5. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and bake, uncovered, for another 10-15 minutes until the top is golden brown.

Not Your Average Chicken Salad

I love quick “salads” like chicken salad, tuna salad, ham salad etc. that can be a side dish or turned into a sandwich. This chicken salad uses a tarragon mayonnaise that my father recreated from a tarragon mayonnaise he had years ago at Houston’s. I also added spinach because I love spinach and also because I love to as many delicious nutrients to food as possible. You could certainly mix just the chicken, spinach, and plain mayonnaise together and this would be a good sandwich. But the tarragon mayonnaise – which gets better and better as it sits in the refrigerator – makes it really special. I particularly like this chicken salad on a homemade croissant roll but it would be equally good on store-bought croissant, baguette, or ciabatta.


There are lots of ways to cook (or purchase) chicken for chicken salad. My favorite method is uses boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I put them in a glass baking dish with some chicken broth. I cover with aluminum foil and bake in a 400° oven until they are cooked. This poaching method keeps them from drying out and using chicken broth rather than water keeps the flavor.

Chicken Salad with Spinach and Tarragon Mayonnaise (6 servings)

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tbsp. finely chopped fresh or 2 tsp. dried tarragon
• 1 clove garlic, pressed
• 1 tsp. anchovy paste
• 1 to 1¼ lbs. chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
• 10-oz. box frozen spinach, thawed and excess water squeezed out

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, tarragon, garlic, and anchovy paste.
2. In a large bowl, add the chicken, spinach, and tarragon mayonnaise. Stir to combine. Let sit in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.

Brown Rice Pilaf with Celery Seed and Garlic

Every once in a great while I just want to throw together a quick dinner with ingredients I have on hand without getting too fancy. And sometimes that leads to surprising results. Recently I had such an evening. I had an orange roughy fillet in the freezer. That's easy, just season it with a little Old Bay (which I love) and steam it. The Old Bay led me to thoughts of celery seed and that started me off. I threw together a brown rice pilaf that I seasoned with garlic and celery seed. It was fantastic; good enough, in fact, to add to my personal recipe collection. The nuttiness of the brown rice works really well with the stronger flavors of the garlic and celery seed. It's a great, simple side dish to add bold flavor to a lightly seasoned steamed fish.

Brown Rice Pilaf with Celery Seed and Garlic (6 servings)

• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tbsp. celery seed
• 1 clove garlic, pressed
• 1 ½ cups brown rice
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup water

1. Heat the olive oil in a pot. Add the celery seed and garlic and toast about 1 minute.
2. Add the rice and toast, stirring, 2-3 minutes. Add the chicken stock and water and bring to a boil. Lower heat, cover, and simmer until rice is cooked.

Brik à l'oeuf

When we lived in Tunisia, I discovered a fantastic dish called brik à l'oeuf. It consists of a thin dough, called “malsouka” filled with meat (usually ground lamb or tuna) and an egg (“l'oeuf”). The whole thing is fried in oil until the brik is crisp and the egg is cooked just to sunny-side-up consistency. It takes practice to eat a brik à l'oeuf with dignity because as soon as you bite into it, the egg runs everywhere.

There are a variety of fillings for brik à l'oeuf but I'm partial to ground lamb seasoned with salt, pepper, and parsley. Brik à l'oeuf is rather involved to make, they don't make good leftovers, and since you can really only fry up one or two at a time (unless you have a serious production line going in your kitchen) you can't have a group of people sitting down at the same time to eat brik à l'oeuf. Nevertheless, they are so tasty that it is worth the effort every once in awhile.

This is an authentic Tunisian recipe that came from a little recipe booklet my mother got in Tunis.

Brik à l'oeuf (6 servings)

• ½ lb. ground lamb
• 1 onion
• 2 tbsp. finely minced parsley
• 7 sheet of malsouka (eggroll or phyllo dough can be used)
• 1 tbsp. (or ½ oz.) butter
• 6 eggs
• salt & pepper to taste
• olive oil for frying
• 2 lemons

1. Sauté the onion and the lamb and season with salt and pepper.
2. When all of the water has evaporated from the pan, add the parsley and butter and simmer over low heat.
3. Take a sheet of pastry (fold in the sides to from a square if necessary) and reinforce the middle with a piece taken from the extra (7th) sheet.
4. Put 2 rounded tbsp. of filling and a whole raw egg in the middle, fold one corner over on top of the other corner to form a triangle and then slide the brik into a frying pan with enough hot oil to deep-fat fry.
5. Spoon the hot oil over the top of the brik to make it swell.
6. Serve with quartered lemons to be squeezed over the brik as they are eaten.

Good Old-Fashioned Popcorn

One of my favorite snacks in the evening – especially when sitting down to watch TV – is popcorn. I remember when microwave popcorn first came out. We all loved it. It was easy, it was fun. At some point, however, I missed the taste of old-fashioned popcorn and the microwave variety started to taste very chemical to me. So I went back to the old way: popping it in oil. I know that’s not the healthiest alternative (Kevin likes to use a hot air popper but the result is just to bland for me) but you really only use a tiny bit of oil. Of course, I don’t stop there. I like to add a little flavoring to my popcorn. Usually I’ll just sprinkle it with Parmesan cheese for a salty, tangy flavor. Sometimes, if I’m feeling really decadent, I’ll go with the classic butter and salt. And every once in awhile, I’ll sprinkle my popcorn with Old Bay seasoning; I just love the celery seed flavor and it gives a little bit of a kick to the snack.

Apples, Apples

I’ve been roasting vegetables for years. The technique is so easy and it concentrates the flavors of the vegetable and makes for really wonderful side dishes. It recently occurred to me that I could use the same technique on granny smith apples. First I debated whether to use olive oil or a more neutral-tasting canola oil. I decided to try the olive oil. I could always rule it out if it didn’t work. But I found I really liked the fruitiness of the olive oil with the tart sweetness of the roasted apple. I often roast a single apple for myself as a simple dessert. Roasted apples are also a very nice addition to salad with apple cider vinaigrette.

Salad with Apple Cider Vinaigrette and Roasted Granny Smith Apples

Roasted Granny Smith Apples

• Granny Smith apples (one apple for every two people)
• Olive oil to drizzle

1. Preheat oven to 425°.
2. Core and cut apples into wedges. Place apples wedges on a foil-lined baking sheet. Drizzle with oil and toss to coat. Arrange the wedges skin side down and roast for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool.

Apple Cider Vinaigrette (makes 1 ¼ cups)

• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 1 ½ tsp. fresh or ½ tsp. dried thyme
• 3 tbsp. apple cider
• 3 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
• ¾ cup olive oil

1. Combine the garlic, salt, pepper, and thyme in a bowl. Mix in the cider and vinegar. Whisk the olive oil in a slow stream to form an emulsion.

Toss salad greens with the vinaigrette. Arrange salad on plates and top with the roasted apples.