You know how it’s time to get out of the water when your fingers turn into prunes? Well, I loved red wine vinegar so much as kid that the only sure way I knew to stop consuming it was when my lips would turn white. Back in the no-fat nineties I used to order oil and vinegar dressing, “hold the oil.” I just could not get enough of the stuff.
By the way, If you are interested in learning about more fads from the 1990’s click here. Be prepared that the information is from the perspective of people who were most likely not born until this century.
I still enjoy red wine vinegar as much as the next gal, and I am so thankful for the mainstream popularity of salt and vinegar potato chips (Clearly, I am not as opposed to fat as I was back in the day). However, through the years I have branched out with my dressing choices.
Which brings me to this incredible lemon dressing. It is another winner from Didi Emmon’s Entertaining for Veggie Planet. This dressing is great on a bowl of greens, or you can pretty much put it on top of anything, like tofu or chicken. You can make the whole batch and keep it in the fridge for a week. If you are serving it with greens, be sure to have a good loaf of bread ready…You’ll need something to sop up the extra dressing that gets left in the bowl, and it is not polite to use your finger.
Ingredients:
Finely grated rind and juice of one lemon
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1 teaspoon honey (you can use sugar if you want)
1 garlic clove
1/2 cup canola oil or olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
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In a food processor (if you have s mini one that would work), combine lemon rind and juice, mustard, honey and garlic and process until smooth. With the machine running, slowly add the oil through the feed tube. Season with salt and pepper.
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THE CSA
These days I am making most of my salads from the vegetables that come from Sang Lee’s CSA. The salad pictured above is made with Red Boston Lettuce, cucumbers, and snap beans. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. Members of a CSA pay in advance for all their produce for the season, and get weekly shipments of fresh food from a local farmer. Our CSA also has cheese and fruit shares; others have meat, eggs, flowers, and more. Its all about what the community wants. Last night was my volunteer shift for the season. There is not much better than spending a beautiful summer evening in a courtyard greeting your neighbors, and ogling fruits and vegetables. If you are interested in learning more about this particular CSA, click here. If you are interested in learning more about CSAs in general, check out Just Food’s site.
Here is a spin on an American classic. I started with Alton Brown’s recipe, and adapted it. Depending on your preference, you can use either regular bacon or soy bacon instead.
The turkey bacon comes from Applegate Farms. I highly recommend taking a few minutes to look around their website. We got the eggs at the Carroll Street farmer’s market, and they came from Bar None Ranch in Berlin, NY.
I am writing the steps in the order that makes sense to share some pans and hopefully cut down on the cleaning time. You need to use at least three burners for this recipe, so be prepared. I know the several steps and multiple burners seems daunting, but the steps are mostly quick and easy. The whole thing should take 30 minutes or so.
Do you have a spin on a classic American Salad? Maybe you do a cooler Cobb or a whimsical Wedge…Or maybe you have a classic that you are looking to spin but are not sure how. Send your ideas and I’d love to try them out!
Ingredients:
5 ounces baby spinach
Olive Oil (I lost count of how much)
2 Large Eggs
6 pieces of turkey bacon
3 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 large white mushrooms, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup white wine
1/2 cup red onions, thinly sliced
1 small baguette, cubed
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1. Place the spinach in a large mixing bowl.
2. The Eggs
Hard boil the eggs. I did it this way: Place the eggs in a saucepan and cover completely with water by one inch. Bring the water to a boil. Then, turn off heat and cover. Set timer for 15 minutes. When a few minutes are left, prepare a bowl of ice water.
Remove from heat and immediately place eggs in ice water. Chill for a few minutes. Carefully peel. Then, slice and set aside.
3. The Turkey Bacon
While the eggs are cooking, start to fry the turkey bacon. Fry until crispy, turning when you feel like it (Clearly, I am still a novice with meat…just cook it until it’s done.) Then, crumble it, tear it, or cut it into small pieces.
4. The Mushrooms
Add one tablespoon of olive oil to a small saute pan, and heat it up over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the mushrooms and stir. Add the white wine. Stir occasionally until mushrooms cook down and are slightly browned.
5. The Croutons
Once the turkey bacon is done, clean out the frying pan and put a few tablespoons of olive oil over low/medium heat. Spread the cubed bread onto a single layer on the frying pan. Cook bread for 10-15 minutes, turning every so often. Taste a few pieces as you go because there is not much better than baguette frying up in some olive oil. Plus, you thought you were just making a salad, so why is it taking longer than you expected?! (Don’t worry–you will soon be happy with the results.)
6. The Dressing
Once the eggs are ready, start making the dressing: In a small saucepan, heat 3 Tablespoons olive oil over low heat. Whisk in the vinegar, mustard, and sugar. Season with salt and pepper.
7. Putting it all together!
Add the mushrooms and onions to the spinach, and toss. Add the bacon and dressing, and toss to combine. Top the salad with sliced egg and croutons.
There are some days when I just crave a big salad. I know I am not alone, and there is that famous Seinfeld episode to prove it.
And here’s the commentary on that episode
You don’t need a ton of ingredients to make a great salad. For example: Fill up a bowl with crunchy greens. Add whatever vegetables are fresh and happen to be in your fridge. Today I did not have much–just cucumbers, tomatoes and red onions. Sounds boring, huh?
But a good vinaigrette is like a fairy godmother to a ho-hum salad. The vinegar/oil emulsion magically swoops in at the Cinderella salad’s saddest moment, and dresses up a plain old bowl of greens so that it is fit for royalty.
The Vinaigrette
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
pinch dried oregano
pinch dried thyme
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Whisk vinegar, salt and herbs until salt dissolves. Whisk mustard. Slowly drizzle in olive oil and whisk constantly until dissolved. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Variation: Add a bit of fresh minced garlic and/or squeeze of fresh lemon juice when you add the spices
The overflowing farmer's markets in NYC are a sure sign that its time to get pickling.
If all my cookbooks had a contest to see who was the most fun, Karen Solomon’s jam it, pickle it, cure it and other cooking projects would win hands-down. Some of her cooking endeavors are complicated and time-consuming. This one is quick and easy, so easy a child can do it. In fact, I’ve made these pickles with children, and they think its a blast. Solomon recommends garnishing a Bloody Mary with these green beans (skip this step if you are making them with children). They also make a great topping to a salad. You can substitute other vegetables as well: I’ve made pickled carrots, beets, cauliflower, and cucumbers. This recipe is a keeper.
You’ll need 3 clean pint jars with lids. Or if you only have a few green beans, cut the recipe in thirds and make one jar. I just stuck this batch in the fridge, so I did not need to obsess about readying my equipment and keeping a sterile laboratory-type environment. I’ll post more on canning another time. For now, here’s an amazingly easy recipe to try.
Ingredients:
3 pounds green beans, stems intact, washed and dried
9 cloves garlic, crushed
3 cinnamon sticks
3 bay leaves
3 tablespoons yellow mustard seeds
3 tablespoons brown mustard seeds
6 tablespoons dill seeds
3 tablespoons black peppercorns
6 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 to 2 1/4 distilled white vinegar
Directions
Add one third of the green beans, garlic, spices and salt to each jar. Fill each halfway with vinegar (about 1/2 to 3/4 cups). Top off each jar with cool water. Seal each jar with a lid, and shake gently to dissolve the salt and distribute the spices. Refrigerate for at least 3 days.
The green beans will be ready to eat in 3 days, but will taste the best in 2 weeks. They should stay good in the fridge for about 1 month.
Here is another great grain salad from Peter Berley’s Go With The Grain cooking class at The Brooklyn Kitchen.
http://www.thebrooklynkitchen.com
In the class, we used freekah instead of bulgur. You can also substitute Israeli couscous. This salad can be served hot, warm, or cold.
1 cup medium or coarse bulgur wheat
1/3 teaspoon of salt
One 14 ounce can chickpeas, drained
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced (about 1 cup)
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 bay leaves, halved
1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon smoked or sweet paprika
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a small saucepan over high heat, bring 1 1/4 cups of water to a boil. Stir in the bulgur and 1/2 teaspoon salt, cover the pan, and simmer for 1 minute. Take the pan off the heat and let rest, covered, until all water has been absorbed, about 20 minutes.
3. In an 8 to 10-inch oven-proof saute pan over medium heat, stir together the rest of the ingredients and season with more salt. When the chickpeas begin to sizzle, transfer the pan to the oven. Roast for 20 minutes, stirring halfway through.
4. Remove and discard the bay leaves, and stir the bulgur into the chickpeas. Season with salt to taste, and serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.
It has been my experience that the topic of tofu brings up assorted emotional reactions. Some people are afraid of it, and stay as far away as possible. To those of you who fit in that category, there is help. Try this recipe. Perhaps it will convert you.
As a vegetarian for practically my whole adult life, soy was a major staple in my diet. I made dips out of edamame, ate soy-filled energy bars, my freezer was filled with Morningstar Farms products (fake chicken, fake rib, fake you-name-it, I piled my salads high with “chik’n” and “soy medallions” from the Whole Foods salad bar, I used tofu in stir fries, and looked forward to eating my “not dog” with sauerkraut at summer bar-be-ques. However, after hearing some controversial and conflicting ideas about soy’s health effects, I stopped eating soy cold tofurkey in January. It was kind of like an experiment: Can a vegetarian go without soy?
Side effects might include:
1. Eating more than your fair share of rice and beans. Guess the consequence.
2. Missing tofu terribly, and gazing at it longingly in the supermarket freezer.
3. Plummeting stock of Morningstar Farms (I am just assuming).
4. Eating even more rice and beans.
5. Eating meat.
So, although I no longer label myself as a vegetarian, I still think carefully about incorporating lots of meat-free protein-rich sources into my diet, such as quinoa, nuts, and, well…rice and beans.
When I got the napa cabbage and scallions from the CSA this week, I thought back to one of my favorite tofu recipes. The recipe below is adapted from Did Emmons Entertaining for a Veggie Planet. I began to wonder if perhaps eliminating something 100% was not necessary. Maybe, just maybe, moderation is the key to a healthy diet. And then I broke down, went out the the store, and bought myself some tofu. I know, I am such a rebel that I can hardly believe it myself.
Ingredients
3 cups very thinly sliced napa cabbage
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 16 ounce carton firm or extra firm tofu
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 cup bean sprouts
3 scallions, white and green parts, coarsely chopped
1 cup raw,unsalted peanuts
1 tablespoon chile paste (or minced small chiles)
1 tablespoon peeled and minced fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons white vinegar
The Slaw
1. In a large colander, combine the cabbage and salt and toss to coat. let stand for 30 minutes in the sink to leach out excess water. Rinse well with cold running water and drain. Pat dry with clean kitchen towels.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place peanuts on rimmed baking sheet. Cook until toasty, 12-15 minutes. Then, chop and keep the peanuts aside for now.
2. Wrap the block of tofu well with a clean dishtowel and press firmly until you feel the towel become damp. Unwrap the tofu and cut it into 1/2 cubes. In a large, well-seasoned skillet, heat the canola oil over medium-high heat. Add the tofu and salt it liberally. Fry the tofu undisturbed until it forms a dark golden crust on the bottom, then use a spatula to turn it an brown it well on at least one more side. Drain well on paper towels. Transfer the tofu to a large bowl and add the cabbage, bean sprouts and scallions.
The Dressing
In a small bowl, whisk together the chile paste, ginger, garlic, sugar, and vinegar until sugar dissolves.
***
Right before serving, pour the dressing over the slaw and garnish it with the peanuts.
Every month, I get a package of fresh organic fruit as part of the fruit of the month club. (Thanks, mom and dad!) This month, I received a giant box of sweet and juicy nectarines. I made a fruit salad with some of them, mixed with blueberries and raspberries from the CSA. I also wanted to incorporate the nectarines into a savory salad as well. This salad is protein-packed, vegan, and gluten free. A triple threat.
Grain salads can be a little bit more work than green salads because you need to cook the grains. I recommend making a large batch of grains ahead of time, and keeping it in the fridge. Then you have ready-to-go grains which you can use for salads throughout the week.
The Salad
1 cup quinoa
1 2/3 cups water
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
1/3 cup chopped parsley
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1/4 cup pepitas (green pumpkin seeds)
2 ripe nectarines, cut in 1/2 inch cubes
1/4 cup raisins
The Dressing
zest of 2 limes
juice of 2 limes
2 tsp honey
2 tsp rice vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp paprika
2 tablespoons olive oil
additional salt and pepper to taste
1. Let quinoa soak in a bowl of water for 15 minutes to 1 hour. Rinse thoroughly and allow to drain. (This step takes out the bitter flavor of quinoa. If your quinoa is pre-rinsed, you can skip this step.)
2. Boil 1 2/3 cups water and then add quinoa. Bring to a boil again, and then reduce heat to a simmer and cover. Cook for 20 minutes, or until the “halo” separates from the seed and all of the water has been absorbed. Spread quinoa out on a baking sheet, and allow to cool completely.
3. Toast the almonds and pumpkin seeds on a skillet over medium heat, tossing occasionally. They are ready when the almonds start to turn golden, and the green pepitas begin to turn brown .Watch closely, as they will both burn quickly. Remove from heat and let cool.
4. Mix the quinoa with the rest of the salad ingredients.
5. To make the dressing, combine all the ingredients through paprika. Then, slowly whisk in olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste.
6. Toss dressing with the salad, and serve room temperature or chilled.
On a hot, hot day, nothing can cool you off quite like a cucumber.
1/2 cup peanuts
4 cucumbers, peeled, cut in half length-wise, seeded, and chopped into 1/4 inch pieces
1 tablespoon salt
2 jalapenos, seeded and chopped (adjust according to your spice tolerance–I’m looking at you, El Diablo)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1. Set oven to 325 degrees. Place peanuts in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet, and roast for 15-20 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 minutes. Chop peanuts (You can briefly pulse in a food processor).
2. Toss cucumbers with salt and let sit in colander for 30 minutes. Drain excess water, rinse thoroughly, and pat dry between clean kitchen towels.
3. Mix sugar and vinegar until sugar dissolves. Stir in cucumbers, cilantro, jalapeno, and peanuts.
I have a few strong beliefs about Indiana sweet corn:
1. Indiana Sweet Corn is the Great Equalizer
Horace Mann said that education is the great equalizer. However, on a muggy summer evening in northern Indiana, when the fireflies light up the sky and the crickets start to play their nightly symphony, corn can certainly level the playing field as well.
My love affair with Indiana sweet corn began soon after my love affair with my husband started. We sat down to a wonderful dinner with his family on a hot Indiana night several years back. This was before we were married. I was just getting to know his family. Of course, I was feeling nervous about eating with the right fork, talking at the right time, and passing my food in the right direction.
When the corn got passed to me (from the left), I gingerly selected an ear, and quietly panicked. How am I supposed to eat this thing? No one was passing the corn holders from left to right. Reluctantly, I began to tackle the corn. It took me way too long to peel the husk off, as I was trying painstakingly hard to remove every single fiber. I delicately began nibbling at my corn, being careful not to get any stray kernels on the corner of my lips or between my teeth. Should I floss mid-meal?! I was about to take a knife to start cutting the kernels off the cob, when I finally looked around me.
I saw everyone else eating corn with gusto! Husks were being nonchalantly tossed to the middle of the table, and ear after ear was being devoured with no utensils or apparent concern for dental floss. Everyone was busy eating their corn type-writer style. It seemed that my future father-in-law had especially mastered this technique. He glanced at me for a moment, and smiled. I picked up my corn with two hands, started chomping away, and smiled back with a corn-toothed grin. It was then I learned the power of corn to bring people together.
2. Indiana Sweet Corn Can Be Eaten Raw
Before I tasted Indiana sweet corn, I used to only eat corn when it was slathered with butter and salt, or hidden under a mound of a mayonnaise/cheese/spices to make Mexican street corn. While I still adore the street corn at one of the numerous street fairs in NYC in the summertime, I enjoy eating Indiana sweet corn just as nature made it. If you’ve never eaten raw corn before, I recommend only doing so if the corn is as fresh as possible. We get our Indiana sweet corn from none other than Sweet Corn Charlie’s farm stand:
http://www.sweetcorncharlie.com/
And a quick quiz, for my fellow city slickers. How many ears of corn grow on a single stalk? (Scroll down to find the answer)
Indiana Sweet Corn Salad
This recipe is from Real Simple magazine
1 cup walnuts
4 cups fresh corn kernels: To cut the kernels off the cob, first cut it in half crosswise. Then, Place one half cut end down on a rimmed baking dish or shallow bowl. The rim will keep the kernels from falling all over the place. Use a sharp knife and cut as much of the kernel off as possible. Avoid cutting too close to the cob, or you will end up with tough pieces.
2 jalapenos, seeded and thinly sliced
2 Tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
1/2 cup crumbled feta
1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Spread the walnuts on a rimmed baking sheet and toast until fragrant, 6 to 8 minutes. Let cool and roughly chop.
In a large bowl, combine the corn, jalapenos, lime juice, oil, walnuts, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspooon pepper. Sprinkle with feta before serving.
Quiz Answer: One! (sometimes 2)
You can enjoy this corn salad with some beer can chicken. These lovely ladies are organic Amish chicken from northern Indiana.
Beer Can Chicken
Thanks to Peter Berley for this amazing recipe!
I had the pleasure of attending Peter Berley’s “Go With the Grain” class at the Brooklyn Kitchen earlier this week. He is the author of The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen, and The Flexitarian Table. I learned how to create a variety of grain salads from a real expert. My friend JL and I teamed up to create the tiny vegetable salad. This was my favorite, and not only because of my love of all things miniature. We sharpened up on our knife skills, and then diced our way through the class to create this beautiful and healthy salad. I re-created it this morning to bring to a vegan-hosted July 4th BBQ.
I learned a lot about making grain salads. Here are a few take-aways from the class:
1. “Water is the flavor killer in salads, ” according to Berley. In order to avoid this, I patiently drained and dried all vegetables in colanders and between clean kitchen towels. I preemptively murdered the heck out of the water. The results are very flavorful!
2. When making grain salads, the ratio of acid to oil should be equal, or even add more acid. The grains soak up a lot of the flavor. This is way different from making a green salad, where the ratio is typically much more oil to acid.
Serves 6
Cook barley: I put 1 cup of barley into 2 1/2 cups of boiling water, and then let simmer for 35-40 minutes. Then, rinse and drain completely. His recipe says to add 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the water when you add the barley. I omitted this salt.
1 medium yellow squash, seeded and diced
1 medium zucchini, seeded and diced
1/3 c diced red onion
1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced
1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and diced
2 T thinly sliced scallion
2 T minced parsley and dill (or just one of these)
3 T extra virgin olive oil
2 T umeboshi vinegar (this is a delicious vinegar which is a by-product of pickled plums)
2 T freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 t fresh black pepper
1 or 2 bunches of watercress, for garnish
Add the squash, zucchini, and onion to a steamer, and steam for 3-4 minutes. Shock the vegetables in a large bowl to stop the cooking. Drain thoroughly. I let sit between clean kitchen towels to get as much water out as possible.
In a large bowl, combine the steamed vegeables, barley, cucumber, bell pepper, scallion, and dill/parsley.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, 1 teaspoon of salt, and black pepper to taste. Pour the dressing over the salad and mix well. Garnish with watercress.
fresh from brooklyn 