I made two olive mixtures using mostly green olives, a traditional Moroccan salad using black olives, and took advantage of the season to buy a few pounds of green olives to try curing.

Cracked Green Olive, Walnut, and Pomegranate Salad

This recipe comes from Paula Wolfert's the Cooking of The Eastern Mediterranean. She calls it an olive salad that in Turkey is used to accompany grilled meat or slices of ripe melon. I fiddled just a bit to make it slightly lower fat. I tried it with melon, on an arugula-orange salad, and on its own with pita. I think I liked it best just with pita for scooping, so it doesn't compete with any more things. I'm looking forward to trying it with simple grilled chicken or beef. This is another mixture that needs to sit so the flavors can develop, and she recommends it be made the day before serving. I thought this was a very neat combination, with salty, sweet, and tart flavors hitting the tongue at once. This is one for adventuresome eaters.

1/2 pound cracked green olives, drained
1 tsp. olive oil
1/4 cup shelled walnuts, finely chopped
2 scallions, minced
1/4 cup minced parsley
1/4 tsp. Aleppo pepper or other mild chile powder
2 tsp. pomegranate molasses (available in Middle Eastern stores)
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
cracked black pepper

1. Make the salad at least one day before serving. Pit the olives, and roughly chop.

2. Mix the olives with the rest of the ingredients in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate at least 20 hours, more is better.

3. Bring to room temperature and serve.

Artichoke Tapanade

This is a combination of several recipes I found online. We liked this, and could also see using it with grilled vegetables, as a sandwich spread, or to top grilled fish. (This made about 1 1/2 cups tapande, and the whole recipe came in at just over 300 calories; but fairly high in sodium.)

1 can artichokes packed in water, rinsed and well drained
1/4 cup or so (more if you like) mixed pitted olives
1/2 roasted red pepper (optional-I just happened to have some on hand)
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp. anchovy paste
1 tsp. capers, rinsed
1-2 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. ground chile powder
black pepper to taste
1 Tbs. minced parsley

Put everything in a food processor, and chop to a coarse puree. You want a bit of texture. Don't taste at this point, as the flavors need to develop.(I tasted as I made it, said, ehh, but found after a few hours it was delicious) Cover and refrigerate for at least two-three hours. Taste, add more of anything you wish. Serve with crostini, crackers, or vegetables like red peppers and fennel. I loved it with the sweet red peppers complementing the tapanade.

Moroccan Black Olive and Orange Salad

I've had this in restaurants, in homes in Israel, but had never thought to do it at home. It's a delicious Winter salad. Too simple--slice the peel off a few seedless oranges, slice thinly, arrange on arugula, and top with crushed black olives (I chopped 2 kinds of black and reddish-black olives in the food processor) and if you wish dress with a drizzle of olive oil.

Water-Cured Green Olives

So, each Fall I'd see crates of olives at my local produce store, with loads of little Italian, Greek, and Middle-Eastern grandmothers scooping them up. Olives are full of a nasty chemical called oleuropein, which makes the harvested olives horribly bitter until cured. I did some Googling, and decided I didn't want to fuss with lye, but would use a water bath for the initial curing. Essentially, you cut a slit into each olive, cover with water and a weight so the olives stay submerged, drain and soak, repeat again for 7-10 days until the bitterness is out. Then you put the olives into a brine with flavorings, and refrigerate for up to a year. I'll update when I think the olives are cured and ready for brining.

Let me tell you my sad, sad story.

I immediately knew what I wanted to try making for this week's ingredient, pumpkin. Many years ago there was a Lebanese restaurant nearby that made a pumpkin kibbeh that I loved. Kibbeh (or kibbe, kibbee, you see it spelled different ways) is a Middle-Eastern appetizer made from bulgar wheat that is pressed around a filling, formed into an oval, and fried. There are also versions where the bulgar is pressed into a pan, the filling spread on top, the rest of the bulgar forms the top crust, and the dish is baked then cut into small triangles or squares.

I found a recipe in Paula Wolfert's "The Cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean" for a pumpkin kibbeh filled with spinach, chick peas and walnuts, but it was the fried variety. I adapted the recipe for a baked version, added some seasonings I found in an online version, but did not use the huge amounts of oil called for in the baked kibbeh recipes in Wolfert's book.

The results were disappointingly dry, to say the least. Sawdust around a tasty spinach and chickpea filling. (the recipe for the filling is in my previous entry) But isn't it pretty? Even my husband, notoriously cheerful about all my cooking, even the low-fat efforts, pushed it around his plate before asking "is it supposed to be like this?"

Let's face it, there are reasons why so many recipes call for frying; why oil, butter, all those lovely things were used by the gallon in the days when people physically toiled 18 hour days to put a dish on the table every night. It makes the food taste better, especially the humblest foods. They needed the calories. I do not. This, children, was not one of the dishes where the fat calories could be taken out and the eater wouldn't notice.

OK, on to pumpkin number two. Simpler, and this one was a keeper. The roasted pumpkin was a really nice addition to peppery greens. Great Fall salad!

Pumpkin, Pomegranate, and Pine Nut Salad
serves four, increase as needed

1/2 small sugar pumpkin (or butternut squash)
spray cooking oil
salt and pepper

fresh spinach and arugula (I used a mixture) or mesclun
1 pomegranate, seeds removed--use 1/4 to 1/2 cup seeds (TJ's often has containers of the seeds)
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted (or use pepitas, toasted hulled pumpkin seeds)
1/4 cup fresh goat cheese

Dressing:
3 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
1 Tbs. honey
1 Tbs. dark nut oil--pumpkin seed, toasted hazelnut, or pistachio
2 Tbs. vegetable or chicken broth

1. Get out your machete. Or your sharpest knife. Cut, peel, and dice the pumpkin. Spray a cookie sheet with oil, toss the pumpkin cubes on, spray with more oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast in a 450 oven for 20-25 minutes, until browned and soft.

2. Combine dressing ingredients, mix well.

3. Put salad greens in a bowl, and toss with most of the dressing, reserving some. Put some of the dressed greens onto serving plates.

4. Top each pile of greens with some of the roasted pumpkin, pomegranate seeds, pine nuts, and chevre. Drizzle on just a bit more dressing, and serve.

Larry brought home half the farmstand on Sunday.

First up--Swiss Chard. I was a chard virgin, although I've liked it in restaurants. Here's what I did, and we really enjoyed it. Chard, how have I avoided you all these years?

Chard with Onions, Orange and Chili

1 large bunch swiss chard, thoroughly washed
Cooking spray
1 tsp. olive oil
1 onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small seedless tangerine or 1/2 orange, peeled and segmented
3 Tbs. orange juice
a few shakes chili flakes
salt and pepper

Using a sharp scissors, cut the green leafy part of the leaf away from the thick chard stems. Chop the stems, and shred the leaves. Keep them separate. In a large skillet, spray some oil, then heat the 1 tsp. olive oil. Add the onion, and cook until just starting to brown. Add the garlic, oranges, and chili flakes. Put the chard stems into the pan, and 1 Tbs. of the orange juice. Cover and let cook for 5-10 minutes, stirring every now and then, until softened. Add more juice if needed. Add the leaves in batches, and cook until wilted. Season with salt and pepper, mix well, and serve.

For the squash, I made the curried roasted squash soup that's a standard in my house. Cut squash, scoop out seeds. Roast squash for an hour or so at 425, till soft and the cut side is caramelized. Meanwhile, saute 1 diced onion in 1 tsp. oil in a soup pot, add curry powder (I used a tablespoon) and a bit of cumin and chili. Put 2 boxes of veggie or chicken broth into the pot, let onion soften. When the squash is done, scoop out the flesh from the skin, and put the squash into the pot. Let cook a few minutes, then puree. Add 1/2 a can of light coconut milk, the juice from one lime, some chopped cilantro, and salt to taste. Done.

The beets got lightly rubbed with oil, then put into a dish and covered with foil. They went into a 400 oven for about two hours, till soft but not squishy. I then peeled them, sliced, and dressed them with some orange juice, balsamic, salt and pepper, diced onion, fresh mint, and a few orange slices. I didn't have any goat cheese or feta in the house, but I usually toss some into the salad before serving. And since I am the only one who loves beets, I get them all to myself

Still puzzling over the turnips; and there's also the two heads cauliflower (thinking Aloo Gohbi to also use some garden potatoes) and another butternut squash. I saw a recipe for butternut-Farro "risotto" with sage that looked good.

Here's my dirty little secret. In spite of my cultural heritage, I am indifferent to most smoked salmon. From hand-sliced nova to hot-smoked flaky Alaska salmon, I just much prefer the fresh to the smoked. And since I've been avoiding as much sodium as possible for the past few months, my tastes have changed so that even a tiny piece just screams "SALT!" to my taste buds. I looked around for a recipe where the salmon would be used for the salty counterpoint to the rest of the ingredients, and by chance, stumbled across this recipe for little appetizer cups of a cucumber-apple-radish salad topped with smoked salmon, here: http://www.latartinegourmande.com/2009/08/19/verrine-cucumber-yogurt-smoked-salmon/

As I followed the recipe, I thought the radishes would overpower the delicacy of the cucumber and apple so ended up leaving them out. I also made the slaw more about apple than cucumber. What resulted was a light little slaw-type thing, topped with tangy yogurt and lime and the salty salmon. I loved the contrast between the apple and the salmon, and think that's the strength of the dish.

Apple, Cucumber and Smoked Salmon Salad

Makes four appetizer portions

* 2 small cucumbers, peeled and seeded
* Salt
* 1 lime
* 1 sweet red apple, not peeled
* 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
* 1 teaspoon chopped fresh mint
* 1 tablespoon chopped dill
* 4 slices of smoked salmon, diced

Steps:

* Grate the cucumber (I used a food processor) and place it in a bowl. Sprinkle with salt and let rest for 30 minutes.Use your hands to squeeze out the excess water.
* Grate apple, and drizzle with lime juice from half the lime to prevent oxidation. Transfer to a bowl. Combine with the squeezed cucumber.
* Add the fresh herbs (reserve a bit of dill for garnish) , and 3-4 tablespoons yogurt. No need to add more salt as the cucumber is already seasoned. Taste and adjust for balance as needed--a bit more apple for sweetness, some pepper, maybe more lime juice?
* Divide between four glasses.
* Top with another spoon of yogurt in each glass and finish with the diced smoked salmon.
* Sprinkle with a bit more dill. Serve with more lime juice to taste.

I adore Indian food. But Indian restaurants generally use enormous amounts of oil, and so eating at them has become a very seldomly indulged in treat. I recently bought the cookbook 600 Curries by Raghavan Iyer, loaded with an amazing variety of recipes. http://www.amazon.com/660-Curries-Raghavan-Iyer/dp/0761137874/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1254572254&sr=1-1 He has cut down on a lot of the oil in traditional recipes, but still insists on the techniques of roasting and grinding fresh spices. If you thought all Indian food tasted and looked the same, you're in for a revelation. There are several large Indian grocery stores in neighboring Waltham, so a shopping trip and an inexpensive spice grinder will give me lots of opportunities to explore the cookbook further. Yum.

I made his Chicken with Chilis and Coconut last night, but added vegetables to the mixture,, simplified a bit, and cut the oil even further. It was fantastic, with layers of flavor. I served it with a minty raita, roasted cauliflower with cumin, and brown rice. I used a shortcut with some of the spices, using a wonderful fresh curry blend I bought at the Indian grocery.

1 large onion, divided in half, chopped
4 cloves garlic
1/2 inch fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
2 jalapeno chilis, seeded
1 Tbs. good quality, fresh curry powder
1/2 tsp. turmeric

1 tsp. vegetable oil
1/2 tsp. mustard seeds
1 cinnamon stick

1 cut-up chicken, kosher or natural
1 Tbs. garam masala (Indian spice blend)

1/2 cup chicken broth
1 can coconut milk, "light" or regular (I used light)

2 cups fresh green beans, cut in half
1 cup chopped carrots
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 sweet potato, peeled, halved, and cut into slices
1 cup frozen peas
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

1. In a food processor, process the 1/2 chopped onion (save the other half), garlic, ginger, chili, curry and turmeric until its a thick paste.

2.Remove all skin and fat from the chicken pieces. Sprinkle with the garam masala, and rub into the flesh.

3. In a large skillet, heat the oil. Add the mustard seeds, cover the pan, and wait for them to "pop." Then add the onion-spice paste and the cinnamon stick, and cook while stirring for a few minutes until it just begins to color. Add the rest of the chopped onion, and saute some more. Add the chicken pieces, and turn them to coat well with the mixture. Cook for a few minutes, turning once.

4. Add the beans,carrots, and mushrooms to the skillet. Let the mushrooms give up their liquid. Add the chicken broth. Cover the pot, and simmer gently for 1/2 hour. Add more broth if necessary if starts to stick to the pan.

5. Add the coconut milk and sweet potato. Cover and cook another 20-30 minutes or so, until sweet potato and chicken is tender. I removed the breast pieces after just 5 minutes so they would not get overcooked.

6. Uncover pot, stir well, and simmer another few minutes or until chicken is very tender. Add the peas, the white meat if you've removed it, and let heat. Sprinkle the cilantro over before serving, if desired.

Raita with Cucumber, Tomato and Mint

2 small cucumbers, seeded
1 tomato, quartered
1 cup plain thick yogurt (I used TJ's 0% Greek)
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves

In the food processor, coarsly chop the cucumbers. mint and tomato. Put into a bowl, and stir in the yogurt. Let sit in fridge for 1/2 hour to let flavors blend before serving.