Kim Dannies: Lifestyle & Adventure writing

In the Moment at the Market
October 14, 2004

Sure, the haunted forest is a frightening experience, but if you really want to scare yourself to death, go shopping for Halloween decorations. You’ll be thoroughly spooked at the multi-season orgy going on in the aisles of your local store. Ghosts mixed with pilgrims mixed with santas, it’s three seasons on steroids, a confusing message of “hurry up and celebrate.” My holiday anxiety was compounded when I picked up my mail: on the cover of an October cooking magazine sat a fat glistening roasted turkey. Enough! Don’t we have forty-two days before we have to think about that meal?

This is harvest season when the freshest and best food we are going to have for a while is still available. Garden-fresh herbs, tomatoes and late leafy greens are still delicious. Grapes, the signature food of the harvest are peak. Create your own rhythm of the seasons, attuned to the flavors and kinds of foods your palate naturally craves as the calendar gently moves you forward. Make those last bittersweet visits to the local farm stands and savor the moment, it will have to last you all winter (or at least until you start seeing the 4th of July decorations for sale!)

Simple Harvest Supper
This dish roasts tomatoes and grapes to create a tangy sauce that is served over individual portions of couscous. Each diner then tops off their meal with desired amounts of feta cheese, pine nuts, mint, scallions and chicken. Recipe serves six.

Sauce: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Toss together 3 cups of seedless red grapes, and 3 cups of cherry tomatoes with 2 tablespoons olive oil, 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, and 2 good pinches of kosher salt. Place in a glass roasting pan and roast 45 minutes; gently turn the batch twice during the 45 minutes.

Couscous: Place 3 cups of whole wheat or regular couscous in a large bowl. Pour enough boiling water over the couscous to submerge it, but don’t drown it. Let it set for 5 minutes, then fluff with a chopstick.

Toppings: Toast one cup of pine nuts on a tray in the oven for 5 minutes or less- watch them carefully they burn quickly! Crumble 1 cup of feta cheese. Thinly slice 4 scallions. Grill 4 chicken breasts, slice thinly. Chop 1 cup of fresh mint or parsley.