Ben's Kale & Prosciutto Soup

by Anja

Ben is one of my oldest friends. We met more than a decade ago in a friend's house here in Switzerland. Ever since we've shared a special friendship, exchanging many thoughts via old fashioned letters or emails. And over coffee when meeting in New York or Miami. Ben is a true New Yorker, loving his city. Whenever I visited he showed me favorite places of his and I got to see the city through his eyes. What a great experience! It's been a while now since my last trip to NYC, but I hope to be back soon.

Ben is a great, incredibly talented artist - capturing life so wonderfully detailed with his camera, his pencils and colors, and with his typewriter. Unfortunately, Ben never decided to publish all his amazing short stories - so I am one of the few lucky ones who've had a chance to read a few of these jewels. Every time Ben sends one of his famous "PL's" (picture letters) I get to enjoy great photography, fantastic sketches along with some brilliant musings and often fun observations and thoughts.




But Ben is not only one of the most inspiring friends I have, he also is a great cook, going for simple, full-of-flavor-no-fuss meals, enjoying food straight from the farmers' market, fresh corn, tomatoes... He recently shared one of his favorite recipes, a kale & prosciutto soup. And since I found this great organic kale the other day, I just had to try.



Here Ben's recipe, in his own words:

Reminiscing of Winter Dishes from Back Home

by Marjan

I love to listen to my father’s reflection of the traditional foods he used to eat growing up in Iran. He imparts with such fondness of a happy childhood. With a tender voice, a sparkle in his eyes, and a sweet smile, he shares with me his memories of the dishes his mother lovingly prepared for him. I guess now I know where I inherited my love of food!

I know it’s hard to believe, but here in Southern California, we have had extremely cold weather lately. Every morning, we wake up with frost! At nights, my father prepares a raging fire in the fireplace to fill the house with crackling sounds of wood burning, heat, and crimson glow. To please him, my mother on this one cold night prepared a traditional dish my father had as a child during cold, snowy, winter nights. Nestled warm by the fireplace, sometimes it feels refreshing to have something cool as a snack. Ice cream is too cold and after a while, how much hot cocoa can one drink? A healthy alternative is always good option!

My mother brings to a boil water, organic beets (mostly from our garden), and a dash of salt in a pot until they are well cooked and yet still firm. Remove beets from the hot water and cool. Once the beats are cold, remove the skin and cut into bite size pieces and place in a bowl. Add Greek yogurt and crushed walnuts to taste. Sprinkle a dash of salt and mix all ingredients well. Place in the refrigerator and serve thirty minutes later to experience a cool, healthy, winter dish. The crunch of walnuts, subtle natural sweetness of the beats, and soothing texture and taste of yogurt is a perfect snack to be enjoyed on a cold winter’s night by a roaring fire.

Enjoy!

Savory Roasted Potatoes

by Marjan

In the United States, unfortunately we don’t have very tasty potatoes like the ones I have experienced in Europe. To accent the natural flavors of potatoes, I have concocted a tasty blend of herbs and spices to add robust flavor.

Instead of potatoes being the ‘starch side dish’ to your next hearty meal, why not flavor it to highlight your meal. Or if you’re like me, on days in which I dine alone at home, there is nothing like potatoes to satisfy my hunger. I always have a bag of potatoes in my pantry and an abundant of herbs and spices. I have found Yukon potatoes to be slightly tastier than others. Therefore, feel free to experiment with a variety of potatoes.