Pecans are not spoken of as much as other nuts. Mostly associated with Thanksgiving and Christmas dishes such as pecan pie, or sweet potato casserole with pecans. A bit of a shame really, because they have such a distinct and lovely flavor. Not too long ago I found myself with a small batch of pecans in the back of the cupboard. About a cup I would say. I toasted them up and ground them into a rough butter. The taste was magical! I mean, like best kept secret magical. I especially liked it in this earthy Grain Bowl. I used Farro, thinly sliced purple Brussels sprouts and broiled some broccoli to some slightly charred crispness.
Topped with an Excellent No Oil Dressing
I topped the whole thing off with some Creamy Lemon Dressing straight out of my cookbook. The whole effect is a lemony, smokey, chewy, crunchy, snappy meal. The dressing is one of the simplest and more versatile recipes in the book. It’s one of the best for making in larger batches and keeping on hand for sandwiches and salads. Also awesome on steamed artichokes.
Now that I have been in one kitchen for more than a week, I find myself getting pretty familiar with contents of my cupboard. I am am a great collector of ingredients from literally all over the world. With time to play I have been systematically pulling one thing out a day or so to investigate. I am already in the kitchen making a mess, so why not do a little experimenting while I’m at it?
A Great Time to Play In the Kitchen
Of course, not everything is successful. That’s okay. For instance, I had some sourdough discard and remembered a bread I had had in Ireland that had a salty crust. I could not convince the hotel to tell me how they achieved the crunchy shell. I had some ideas though, so I tried it out on the discard. The experiment was a not unsatisfying B/B+. Not nearly good enough to share or repeat, but as Einstein said, The victory is not in the solution, it’s in the 1000 mistakes you made the get there. OK, maybe he didn’t say exactly that…. The point is that given the time and necessity of staying in, it’s a good time to experiment. Get out that tagine cloche you have somewhere. What about that pasta machine? Brought home some Rose Harrissa from your last trip? All good things to play around with.
It’s also a good time to work on some fun alternatives to your lunch boxes- because someday we will return to some form of our previous normal. The Grain Bowl is a great place to practice. So get out some of the odds and ends and enjoy!
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the Pecans on a baking sheet and roast for a few minutes until you can just smell them, taking care not to scorch or burn them. Remove from the oven and transfer to a bowl to cool, turn the heat to 400. Place the broccoli florets on the baking sheet and roast for 10 minutes until crispy and slightly charred. Make the dressing: Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blitz until smooth. In a food processor add the pecans and a hefty pinch of salt and puree into a rough paste. You can keep going to make it smooth, but I like the rustic texture here. Once the broccoli is done you can compose your salad. Take 2 tablespoons of the pecan butter and swipe the side of the bowl with it. Add the farro, sprouts, radishes and broccoli. Add a tablespoon or two of the dressing and enjoy. The remaining pecan butter can be stored in an airtight container in the pantry for up to a month. The remaining dressing can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for 1 week.
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes