Happy Norooz (aka Persian New Year)!
Our Sofreh Haft Seen for Norooz
Happy first day of Spring and Persian New Year! Around this time of year, my Facebook feed is filled with friends and relatives posting photos of their sofrehs for Norooz. Remember mine from last year?
This year’s sofreh is even more obscure…
Recipe: Classic Caesar Salad & Dressing
I’ve spent most of my life judging people who order Caesar salads. Why would you opt for a salad that barely has any toppings on it? Romaine lettuce and croutons does not a meal make, friends.
Then I met Margaret.
Ingredients: Romaine lettuce, juice from a lemon, dijon mustard, minced garlic, one egg yolk, day-old bread and butter for croutons, Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, extra virgin olive oil, Worcestershire sauce, and anchovy paste.
Or, as I call her, Maggie (also Mags, Magnes, Maggles, Marge, Magglestiltskin, Margetasticness, Margarine, etc.). We met in college, bonded over both being unbearably bubbly, and have been BFFs ever since. When she first moved into her apartment in LA, she invited me over for one of her signature dishes: The Maggie Caesar Salad with Crab Cakes (paired with a glass or three of rosA�).
Recipe: Nico’s Sauce – Sun Dried Tomato & Anchovy Dipping Sauce
Last week, I shared some fun highlights from my recent coastal California road trip that I took with none other than my momma. Today, you get the pleasure of learning how to make the very best dish I had on the trip: Nico’s sauce.
Actually, I take that back. I can’t make Nico’s sauce the way he does. And, honestly, neither can you. No one can. But damnit, we will try!
Ingredients: dry sun-dried tomatoes, fresh garlic, fresh rosemary, extra-virgin olive oil, any dry white wine (plus a swig for the chef), pepper, crushed red pepper, coarse sea salt, and anchovy filets
Let’s rewind a little. On our evening in Carmel, mom and I opted for a healthy splurge and had dinner at a little Mediterranean restaurant called Nico. We were greeted by the bubbliest, Italianest host you could imagine, and were seated right away. Our (incredibly handsome) server introduced himself and placed a small ramekin of red sauce and some fresh bread in front of us. I think back at that moment, before I’d taken a bite of that fateful sauce, and recall how innocently I looked at the bowl. “Oh,” I must have thought, “look, a simple tomato dip for our bread before the meal comes. How quaint.” That opinion changed when I took my first bite.
Road Trip: California Coast
I recently took a road trip across the California coast with my mom. It was a precious picture: a five-day long mother-daughter vacation where we became one with nature (and my car).
If you’re a Californian and you haven’t yet trekked either up or down Highway 1 (aka the Pacific Coast Highway, aka PCH, aka all roads lead to Malibu), then for Barbara Millicent Robert’s sake, what are you waiting for?! The coastline is stunning, with red succulents blanketing the steep cliffs that lead down to slowly crashing waves. And ita��s even prettier when we have more rainfall than we did this year (sigh).
The trip is a rite of passage for all West Coasters. This time around, my mom and I left LA and headed straight to Walnut Creek to see family. Then we took our sweet time coming back home by way of Tiburon, Santa Cruz, Monterey, Carmel, Pebble Beach, Big Sur, San Simeon, and Morro Bay.
Charming handicrafts in Carmel, photographed while window-shopping. Had the store been open, I’d have been tempted to get that Berkeley pillow!
Recipe: Sesame Citrus Kale Salad
I have something to admit: I LOVE salads. No lie, I can eat salads all day, erryday (just ask my coworkers). And I’m not talking iceberg lettuce with a single, sad cucumber slice… I mean hefty salads with some serious weight to them. To me, a salad is just leaves unless it has more ingredients than I can count one one hand. This particular dish is one of my top 3 salads of all time. We marry orange vinegar with sesame oil to find blissful matrimony in the dressing, while the rest of the fixin’s support with varied texture and flavor.
Ingredients: baby kale, slivered almonds, green onion, mandarin orange slices, Persian cucumber, avocado, cilantro, furikake seasoning
Some people may call this an “Asian” salad, which is quite an ambiguous name considering the hundreds of different cultures on the world’s biggest continent. If anything, I like to think of this as a quintessential LA salad: we’ve got kale, LA’s most ubiquitous ingredient; Persian cucumbers to represent the huge population of Iranians in Tehrangeles; avocado, our region’s most prized native fruit; cilantro, which was transplanted to North America from Europe (like many LA residents!); and furikake, the miracle seasoning that you can get from Japanese markets all over the city.
Recipe: Mushroom Quinotto
Sometimes a gal just wants a decadent meal. Something creamy, something savory, something so unbelievably flavorful that you’d never believe it might actually be good for you. I get this hankering every now and then, and I turn to this recipe to hit that spot!
Ingredients: parsley, mushrooms, half & half, garlic, white wine, beef broth, quinoa, onion, parmesan cheese, goat cheese (Not pictured: garlic salt, pepper, butter)
This quinotto recipe is a (relatively) healthier twist on risotto. Its staple is protein-rich quinoa in place of arborio rice, and it gets its creaminess from (this is where the “relatively” comes in) cream & cheese.
Recipe: Dal Adas,A�Lentil Stew from the South of Iran
This red lentil stew a�� Dal Adas a�� is insanely delicious and holds a special place in my heart. It’s something I make almost weekly and it’s one of the few Persian dishes I can whip together quickly with the utmost confidence a�� most other Persian recipes require more calculated, concentrated technique. It’s a simple lentil “khoresht” (the standard word for “stew” in Farsi) from the south of Iran. The dish is noticeably inspired by Indian dal; it made its way to Iran thanks the many Indian merchants who’ve done trade at the southern port cities.
Ingredients: basmati rice, tomatoes, white onions, potatoes, garlic, red lentils, mushrooms, tomato sauce (Not pictured: salt, pepper, broth/water, and optional lime & turmeric)
My mom taught me this recipe and my grandmother taught it to her. From her adolescence until today, my mom’s been the perennial feminist, rebel, and artist. Before I was ever so much as a glimmer in her eye, she was off getting multiple college degrees in Iran, traveling through Europe, perfecting her disco hustle, and working in the office of The Queen. Throughout it all, she’s always made this recipe as an easy go-to that satisfies.
Happy Norooz! (Or Nowruz, or Noruz, or Nowrooz)
What better way to introduce the world to Shireen & Savory than through the Persian New Year? March 20th this year marked the coming of spring – the vernal equinox. Iranians all over the world celebrate the new year (or “Norooz”, which actually translates to “new day”) on the first day of spring and throughout the ensuing weeks. When you think about it, isn’t that the best day to start the year? Instead of celebrating a new year smack dab in the middle of winter, Persians figured that it’s best to let the cold come to rest and start a new year with a new season. With spring comes new beginnings, flowers blossoming, and the sun shining for longer. I’ve always loved celebrating this occasion with my family. It’s a celestial holiday, not religious, and it places humanity, hope for the future, and the contemplation of time over all else.
The portrait of Persian New Year will always be the Sofreh Haft Seen, or “Seven S” spread. I’ve made my interpretation of the Sofreh Haft Seen this year and included all the fixin’s – mung beans, dried oleaster, you name it! Each item on the spread represents a different hope for the new year.