Coleslaw

I know we didn't receive cabbage this week, but I would like to share "my" coleslaw recipe in case you find yourself with cabbage at some point in the future or still have some in the fridge (it lasts!). I put "my" in quotes because I feel like this recipe has become mine, even though I haven't really altered the original.

I have never really been a fan of traditional mayonnaise-based coleslaw as a standalone dish; I think it serves its greatest purpose alongside barbecue sauce on a pulled pork sandwich. What I like about this version is that the dressing is fairly light and the slaw is dressed fairly lightly on top of that. I also like the contrasting sweetness from the sugar in the dressing. It's something I can enjoy as more of a salad, on its own and it has become a part of our standard BBQ dinner party fare.

You can find the recipe here. I typically shred the carrots and cabbage on a box grater, though a food processor with a grating attachment certainly makes quick work of it and is essential for large batches.

CSA Week 7 - July 21st, 2016

CSA Week 7 includes kale, lettuce, parsley, celery, tomatoes, squash, zucchini, cucumbers, jalapenos, carrots,green onions, onions, garlic, and beets. 

Note that you can freeze celery stems to make stock and dehydrate the leaves to use as an herb (or use them fresh).

Carrot Miso Soup

This carrot miso soup from Smitten Kitchen is so simple and satisfying. It calls for 2 pounds of carrots so you will need to use a couple weeks' shares, source elsewhere, or scale it down. Watch the saltiness of your broth since the miso is quite salty. Remember not to boil miso if you can help it (it depletes the health benefits). I always think this soup is better the day it is made, unlike many soups. Find white miso at Fresh Thyme, Jungle Jim's, or CAM (among others).

Find the recipe here.

Salad turnip salad with avocado and quinoa (Don't skip over this post!)

Sometimes it happens that I come across something so great that I feel guilty for every second that I don't share it here. So it was with this salad, which uses salad turnips, cucumber, cilantro, lemon, and red onion. The original recipe (written originally for spring radishes) came from a blog post by a Food Corps member. Her enthusiasm about this dish  is palpable in the blog post and completely warranted; it is hands-down the best way I have prepared salad turnips to-date and one of the best things I have cooked  in a while. 

The amount of red onion in here is alarming, but necessary to balance out (overpower?) the mustard-y flavor of the salad turnips. Be sure you chop everything very small so it can marinate in the lemon juice. 

Striving to turn the dish into a meal I combined it with avocado and quinoa and topped it with an egg in the vein of Sleepy Bee Cafe's wonderful Warm Quinoa Bowl. I am thinking about serving this for a bbq by combining the salad with the avocado and quinoa ahead as more of a grain salad. The salad would also be good eaten with tortilla chips, like a salsa. 

By the way, if you are looking for more ideas on how to use radishes and salad turnips check out this daikon cake (parts 1 and 2) and radish kimchi from last year (both projects) as well as this kimchi noodle bowl. There's always pizza crust (just sub in whatever)!

Salad turnip salad with avocado and quinoa 
Adapted from here
Makes about 3-4 bowls (though you may need to make more quinoa)
Ingredients

• 2 cups finely chopped  peeled salad turnips (about 4)
• 1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeds removed, finely chopped
• 1/2 medium red onion, diced
• 2 tbsp. (or more to taste) cilantro, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1-2 tbsp. lemon juice
• Salt
• Ground black pepper
• For the "bowl" 
• 1/2 cup quinoa
• 1 avocado, chopped 
• Optional eggs for each bowl cooked over-easy or over-medium (or however you prefer), ideally cooked in bacon fat

Directions

Cook the quinoa. Rinse it well in a colander and combine it with 1 cup water and some salt in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook for 10 minutes, then remove from the heat and allow to stand for about 10 minutes. Uncover and allow to cool slightly before serving. 

Prepare the salad. Combine the onion and garlic with the lemon juice in a medium bowl. Toss frequently, allowing the lemon juice to mellow out the onion and garlic while you prepare the other ingredients. Add the salad turnips, cucumber, and cilantro. Add a few grinds of black pepper and a few shakes/grinds of salt. Toss. Eat right away or allow to marinate at room temperature or in the fridge.

Combine the salad with some quinoa and avocado in a bowl. Top with an egg. Sprinkle the whole dish with a little extra salt. 

Cold Spicy Kimchi Noodles

Jonathan and I love noodle bowls. I'm pretty sure I would make noodle bowls for dinner every night if I had the time and energy. We also love kimchi. Actually, we are obsessed with kimchi. Needless to say, the decision to try this kimchi noodle bowl, from David Tanis of the New York Times, was a no-brainer.

I keep a relatively well-stocked Asian pantry, but if you don't, look for kimchi along with gochujang, gochugaru, red miso, and fish sauce at Jungle Jim's or CAM. You can also get kimchi at Kroger and various other stores, but it is often so much more expensive and not as tasty as the Korea-brand stuff (which I have only ever seen at Jungle Jim's)! The 64-oz jars don't last long around here (though they would last long). Thanks to Chris and Barbara for turning us on to this brand. Try Whole Foods, Fresh Thyme, and Fresh Market if you want for some of these things, though, again, you'll probably be paying more and have less selection.

The time estimate on this dish is definitely off in my opinion; it takes much longer than 30 minutes to prepare. But, given you have time, it is completely worth it. The noodles are definitely spicy, but chock full of flavor. It uses cucumbers, green onions, tomatoes, and radishes (you could probably sub salad turnips) from the CSA. You can vary amounts and substitute the vegetable components as desired.

Find the recipe here.

CSA Week 5 - July 7th, 2016

CSA Week 5 includes salad turnips, beets, jalapenos, summer squash, zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes(!), carrots, celtuce, parsley, green onions, 'sugar loaf' chicory, cabbage, kale, green beans, basil and lettuce.

Ideas include kale Caesar salad, saag paneer, grilled green onions, celtuce and potato coconut curry, celtuce stir fry, radicchio with sausages, cucumber salad, cucumber yogurt sauce, falafel, green beans with almond pesto, beets with curry sauce, carrot salad, carrot coconut curry soup (you would have to supplement the carrots or scale down the recipe), and caprese salad/sandwiches.  

Celtuce and potato coconut curry

I have recently coined "coconut curry" as a verb. As in, I am going to coconut curry this celtuce tonight. I use it all the time as a technique for using large amounts of just about any vegetable in combination with just about any other vegetable and making it taste absolutely delicious. There are tons of versions of this out there. On this blog you can find it here, here, and (in soup form) here. This is my own adaptable version, with techniques and ingredients gleaned from countless sources (including those mentioned above). Basically, you saute an onion, add a can of your favorite curry paste (I use the Maesri stuff you can get at CAM for super cheap - my favorite so far is masaman) and a can of coconut milk, simmer whatever veggies you like in that mixture (I used celtuce, potatoes, and greens this time), and serve it all over rice. There is very little way to go wrong. The coconut milk and curry paste give everything a rich mouthfeel and an excellent flavor. 

Celtuce and Potato Coconut Curry
Ingredients

• 1-2 tbsp. cooking oil (coconut is especially good)
• 1 large onion, peeled and chopped
• 1 large clove garlic, minced
• 4 oz (1 can) Maesri Masaman curry paste (or whichever one you like) (you could use less than a full can for a less intense flavor) 
• 1 (14 oz) can coconut milk
• 1 tbsp. brown sugar 
• 2 tsp. fish sauce, or to taste (this is kind of a lot) 
• Vegetables, chopped. For example, the above had
• 4 medium red potatoes
• 2 celtuce(s), peeled and chopped 
• Kohlrabi and beet greens from one CSA
• Juice of 1/2 lime, or to taste.
• Cilantro for serving.
• Rice for serving. I prepare rice as follows:

• Combine 1 cup rinsed long grain or basmati rice, 2 cups water, 1 tbsp. unsalted butter, and 1/2 tsp. salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes, then remove from the heat and let stand at least 5 minutes before serving. 

Directions
Saute onion in oil over medium heat until slightly browned. Add the garlic and curry patse and saute a minute or two, until fragrant. Add coconut milk and a coconut milk can full of water. Add 1 tbsp. brown sugar and 2 tsp. fish sauce. Simmer 10 minutes. Add the veggies in reverse order of the time they take to cook. In this case add the celtuce first, cover, and simmer for a few minutes. Then add the potato, cover, and simmer. Once those are pretty much tender add the greens, cover, and simmer until wilted. Taste and adjust seasonings if needed. Remove from heat and add lime juice. Serve over rice and garnish with plenty of cilantro.

Grilled green onions (Cebolitas asadas)

We have been receiving a lot of green onions in the CSA. It's great to have a seasonal version of onions available to add flavor to an array of dishes. Working through the generous bunches can be a bit of a challenge, though, when the onions aren't taking center stage. Grilling them reduces their volume significantly and makes them a standalone item. With some butter and soy sauce in the mix they take on a wonderful mild flavor, almost luscious. They would make a great side dish for a barbecue. One disclaimer - the thinner dark green parts of the onion charred a bit too much for my liking. You may want to remove them or just be particularly careful. Maybe grill them separately? The thicker white and light green parts were great. 

Grilled Green Onions (Celbolitas Asadas) 

Adapted from here 

Ingredients

• 20 or so green onions (large ones), washed and trimmed
• 2 tbsp. butter, cut into small chunks
• 2 tbsp. soy sauce

Directions

Place onions on a large sheet of foil and evenly distribute butter and soy sauce. Seal securely in the foil. 

Grill in the foil for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from the foil and place across the grate of the grill. Grill for 5-10 minutes on each side, until soft and lightly charred. 

Note: The recipe also says this can be done under the broiler in a similar way. 

Curry sauce for beets and more

I discovered this recipe in Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. Though I've had the book for years now (thanks, Caitlin!), for some reason I never discovered the awesome list of salad dressings (though to my credit, the book does have over 700 pages). After being introduced to beets with curry sauce by Kristen when she was at Gabriel's Place and to a wonderful curry dressing by the chefs at the New School, I had been trying to make something that could compare. This was my first success. The sauce has intense flavor and a little lingering bite from the lemon juice (which you could mellow with more oil or sour cream if you wanted) that pairs so wonderfully with roasted beets. Madison also suggests pairing the sauce with asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, and grain-based salads. It is, without a doubt, the best way to eat roasted beets. When I roast beets I chop them quite small, about 1/2" x 1/2", toss them with oil and salt, and bake at 400F for about 20 minutes, tossing half way through.

Curry Sauce
From here
Ingredients

• 1 garlic clove
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 tbsp. yogurt, mayonnaise, or sour cream (I used sour cream and can't speak to the other two)
• 2 tsp. curry powder (my favorite is this) 
• 1 1/2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
• 5 tbsp. neutral-flavored oil 
• 2 tbsp. finely chopped cilantro

Directions
Press or mince the garlic or pound in mortar and pestle with the salt. Add the salt if you didn't yet. Mix with the sour cream and the curry. Stir in the lemon juice. Whisk in the oil. Let stand for 15 minutes, then stir in the cilantro. Let stand for at least 15 minutes for the flavor to develop. Adjust flavor if necessary.