We’ve been watching Freaks and Geeks, the best show on earth.  Alex owns the complete DVD set and brought it to my apartment.  His roommate owns another complete set, which stays at his apartment.  This means that we never have to worry about not having an episode, because I don’t think we could handle that.

So the show follows two groups of friends at a high school in the 80s.  Freaks and Geeks.  It’s caused us to start thinking about everything in terms of these to categories.  Our friends: freaks or geeks?  Celebrities: freaks or geeks?  And today, the purple potato: freak or geek?  Both.

The purple potato is a freak because it’s a rebel and, often, people don’t really know what to do with it.  But its a vegetable, which registers automatic geek points.  But like Lindsey, who so amazingly captures the best of the freak and geek worlds, these potatoes rock.

We threw them into a Spanish tortilla, which surprised us by tasting deliciously authentic, and took very little effort.  We found it freakishly good.

Ingredients:
3 purple potatoes
1 white onion
9 eggs
salt and pepper
5 tbsp olive oil, divided

Instructions:
Slice potatoes and onions very thinly.  Heat 3 tbsp olive oil in a large pan.  Add potatoes and onions, and cook about 15 minutes, until ingredients are soft but not brown.  Break eggs in a large bowl, and beat them for about 2 minutes.  Pour potatoes and onions into the bowl, and stir them into the eggs.  Add remaining 2 tbsp olive oil to the pan, then pour the mixture back into the pan. Preheat the broiler on your oven. Cook on the stove over medium for about 10 minutes, until nearly all of the egg has set.  Place pan in the oven, and broil for 1 minute until eggs are firm.  Remove tortilla from pan, and let cool to room temperature before serving.

Whenever there’s no picnic in our future (which is most of the time), we always come up with brilliant ideas for picnic dishes. Yet of course when we finally decide to have one, we end up staring blankly at each other, wallowing in our own inability to think of a single thing to bring.

We’re like: Seriously? We have to pack up food to go? Has that even been invented yet?

This all happened yesterday afternoon, after we agreed to meet friends in the park for a lovely dinner date. We love double dates to an embarrassing degree (if you want to go on one with us, the answer is yes, yes, yes!), and this one was particularly exciting because we were meeting my very close friend’s new boyfriend for the first time. No question – the dishes had to impress.

After leafing through our entire cookbook collection, we settled on making the three dishes that we’d come up with before we began searching. Our favorite was this pearled barley salad – a variation on one with wheat berries that we’ve eaten before.

The flavors are so citrusy and fresh, and it’s easy to throw together last minute. We imagine that the almost any grain would work here, even wild rice. Perfect for, well, a picnic.

Ingredients:
3 cups uncooked pearled barley
zest of 2 lemons (reserve 1 for juicing)
zest of 1 orange (reserve for juicing)
¼ cup olive oil
6 scallions, finely sliced
2 cups dried currants
1 cup cashews, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup mint, chopped
1/3 cup parsley, chopped
salt and pepper, optional sugar to taste

Instructions:
Cook barley according to package instructions (we put ours into boiling water, and simmered for about 40 minutes). Drain and let cool. Whisk together lemon and orange juice with zests and olive oil. Toss barley in dressing, and then gently stir in currants, cashews, scallions, mint and pepper. Add salt, pepper, and optional sugar to taste, and serve.

We’re in New York for keeps!

After being completely uprooted all summer, we’ve settled into our respective apartments to begin preparing for the grueling graduate studies that lay ahead. Eek! Thank goodness for the stress relief of cooking. I’m hoping it will keep us (read: me) sane.

Of course, discovering our new kitchens was among the most exciting parts of the moving process. I think that mine is pretty typical of this city — it’s narrow and small but with lots of cabinet space and a great stove and oven that I can’t complain about. Alex’s opens into a living room, with less counter space, but seating nearby. And oh yeah, neither of us have dishwashers. Bother.

Now for the recipe, which I’ll admit we cooked pre-move in Connecticut.  It doesn’t really have anything to do with anything else I’ve written about today, so I’ll spare you a clever (or not) transition.  We made these because they taste delicious, and this is by far the best preparation for artichokes that exists.  They’re a hit with even those who are a bit artichoke shy, and will absolutely stun those who already love them.

Ingredients (serves 6-10):
6 artichokes
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tsp sugar
2 tbsp Italian seasonings (or just oregano and fennel seeds)
2 tbsp mayonnaise
1/4 tsp cayenne

Instructions:
Wash and prepare the artichokes by clipping off the sharp tips of the leaves with scissors.  Boil a large pot of water, and place artichokes inside.  Cover, and let cook for about 20-25 minutes, until leaves are soft enough to pluck easily.  Remove artichokes from water, and let cool.  Meanwhile, whisk together oil, vinegar, Italian seasonings and sugar.  Once artichokes are cool, cut them in half, and divide them between two large zip log bags (or anywhere else where you can marinate them, like a pyrex container or a wide bowl).  Divide vinaigrette between bag (or pour over all the artichokes), and let marinate for at least one hour.  Preheat grill to high, place artichokes on grill (reserve marinade), and cook on each side for about 3-5 minutes, until artichokes become crispy.  While artichokes are cooking, pour leftover marinade into a bowl.  Add mayonnaise and cayenne, and stir.  Taste and adjust seasonings, then serve dipping sauce with artichokes.

When we’re bored, we sit around and ask each other questions like: What’s your favorite preparation of sausage? And also: Do you think you could eat an entire stick of butter in one sitting?

Until recently, we also used to frequently discuss what magically regenerating food item we’d choose to take with us to a deserted island. In this fantasy, there’s no nutritional variation between chocolate and broccoli. Obviously.

This particular question became somewhat less fun, however, when we learned the correct answer, which is quinoa. I know! Quinoa?! But yes — quinoa has a ton of protein, fiber, iron and other important nutrients. It’s sometimes called the The Super Grain. Or even The Mother Grain. (Even though, shhh, it’s not actually a whole grain, but rather a seed).

We’ve experimented with quinoa a little bit before, and thought it would be perfect for stuffing when we found these gorgeous summer squash at a roadside farm stand in Maine. These ended up being filling enough, while still featuring beautiful and fresh seasonal produce. We could have just eaten the quinoa alone we loved it so much, and with the summer squash, this was a stunning and healthy addition to an outdoor evening meal.

Ingredients:
4 round summer squash
2 cups cooked quinoa (cooked according to package instructions)
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1-2 cup button mushrooms, sliced thinly and halved
1/2 onion, chopped
2 tbsp red wine
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp cumin
1/2 smoked gouda cheese, grated (optional)
salt and pepper (to taste)

Instructions:
Carefully cut along the top edge of the squash and remove the top with its stem. Scoop out more flesh of the squash if the cavity does not seem big enough to stuff. You can cut up the flesh and add it back in with the vegetables and quinoa later. Preheat oven to 350, place squash in a baking dish, and cook for about 40 minutes, until insides have softened. Heat olive oil in a large pan, then add onions and cook until soft, about three minutes. Add pepper and any additional squash, cook for another 1-2 minutes, then add mushrooms and wine, and cook until all vegetables are almost cooked entirely (about another 2 minutes). In a large bowl, gently stir together vegetable mixture and quinoa. Add cumin, and salt and pepper to taste. Spoon quinoa into squash, top with cheese, and bake for an additional 10 minutes, until cheese has melted and squash is completely soft. You can mix quinoa and cheese together once the squash is removed from the oven, or just serve.

Recently, people have been asking us how we’ve have so much time to cook. We explain that we’ve literally had nothing else to do this summer. Cooking and relaxing have been our two primary activities, with some occasional reading and movie watching. We’re trying to be prolific bloggers now, as we predict a drop-off in cooking opportunities once school commences in a few weeks.

In the spirit of summer, we’re going on vacation today, and the recipes that you will see posted this week have been written in advance. We will still have some internet though, so please continue to write comments so that we can see them and be happy. We love comments. Hint.

Anyway, the lentil salad that we made last night night is the easiest dish we’ve made since we first made this incredibly easy side dish last week. The ingredients are simple, but the flavor is fresh and delicious. You can even buy pre-cooked lentils at Trader Joe’s for an under 5-minute assembly. Serve it in romaine leafs if you like, or alone for a healthy lunch or dinner side.

Ingredients:
2 cups lentils
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup mint, chopped
about 1 cup crumbled feta
1/4 cup olive oil
3-4 tbsp red wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
romaine leaves (optional)

Instructions:
Cook lentils according to package instructions (if they don’t exist, just put lentils in a pot and cover with water, then bring to a boil and cook until lentils are soft, about 15 to 20 minutes). Drain lentils if water remains, and pat them dry with paper towels. Let cool. Combine lentils, mint and tomatoes in a bowl. Whisk together oil and vinegar, then pour over lentils. Add feta, and salt and pepper to taste. Serve in romaine leaves or don’t.

This salad is inspired by our favorite method for roasting potatoes — rosemary, thyme, a dash of olive oil, salt, pepper, done. We both love potato salads as a summery side dish, but heavily mayonnaised versions are TheVom.com. For our less lingo-savvy readers, that means they make us nauseated.

Our version is tossed in a lemony vinaigrette, so it’s refreshing and light. We served it as a side dish to the open-faced vegetable sandwiches that we wrote about earlier, and it came together in almost no time. You can refrigerate the salad before serving so that the flavors really come together, or even serve it warm.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
3 scallions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup rosemary, finely chopped
1/4 cup thyme, finely chopped
2 1/4 pounds small red-skinned potatoes, unpeeled

Instructions:
Whisk oil, lemon juice and zest in small bowl to blend. Season with salt and pepper. Mix in scallions, rosemary and scallions. Cook potatoes in large pot of boiling salted water until tender, about 25 minutes. Drain and cool for 15 minutes, then quarter the potatoes. Add potatoes to bowl with dressing and toss. Let stand 10 minutes. Refrigerate or serve.