Tabbouleh
I like my tabbouleh good and green. I use a lot of mint if I have it, or I just use flat leaf parsley if I don’t. If tomatoes are in season, I use them as well. If not, well-I just don’t use them, but only use good tomatoes as there is nowhere for a lousy tomato to hide here. I find tabbouleh a great way to use up the lemons on my Meyer lemon tree when it goes into overdrive, and tabbouleh keeps for a couple days so it helps when I need something fast. Look for bulghur in bulk bins instead of boxes. It is usually fresher and tends to be a slightly larger grain which I prefer.
White Balsamic Vinaigrette
To me, “white balsamic vinegar” is a bit of a misnomer as one of the things that give balsamic vinegar its particular flavor is the succession of barrels it goes through over time. The white balsamic version is lighter and subtler than regular balsamic vinegars, and makes a nice dressing or sauce for when you want to complement more delicate flavors.
Shrimp and Fava Beans with Thyme
Pink shrimp look beautiful next to pale green fava beans in this recipe adapted from Elizabeth Schneider’s Uncommon Fruits and Vegetables
Green Garlic-Fava Bean Sauce
8 cup home-made chicken stock
2 stems green garlic chopped and sautéed
2 Tbs. butter
1 Tbs. freshly-squeezed lemon juice
Salt to taste
Freshly-ground black pepper to taste
½ to 1 cup cooked fava beans
Place stock and sautéed garlic in a medium saucepan and reduce to 3 cups. Strain into a clean saucepan and bring to a simmer.
Whisk in the butter and lemon juice and season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the fava beans (from 1/2 to 1 cup, depending on desired consistency) and cook for 1 minute.
Serve with roasted chicken or other meat, or over rice or polenta.
Japanese Style Spinach Crown Salad
This recipe comes from my sushi bar days. This is based on the frugality typical of Japanese Buddhist cuisine. We used a lot of spinach and had a lot of stems sitting around. I had seen a recipe where the “root crowns”-the cluster of stems that gather into the root at the end of the bunch- were blanched and dressed and served as a little side dish. We served these as a little gift from the chef when people first sat down. The hardest part of this recipe is cleaning the crowns. Lots of water is the trick here. You won’t get a lot of these from a bunch, but they are worth doing as the take little time and are very good.
Lentil Stuffed Chard Packets
These packets are three recipes rolled into one. It seems like a long recipe, but it is not really hard. It does require a little time, but the rewards are great, and the steps can be broken up over a couple days or more. This is an easy recipe to expand, and all elements of the dish freeze well, so making extras is a good idea. You can freeze the lentils alone or combined with the vegetables, or freeze the entire packets for another meal. Once you have done this dish you will find shortcuts or variations of your own. The recipe is three parts; the lentils, the vegetable hash, and the assembled finished timbales (another name for the finished packets). When cutting up vegetables for the recipe, just remember that everything should be around the size of the lentils-keeping in mind the lentils will expand a little when cooked.
Easy Ohitashi (Japanese Spinach Bundles, easy version)
Ohitashi are a classic of Japanese cuisine. Typically, they spinach is marinated in a broth based on “dashi”, which is a broth made of dried smoked bonito flakes and seaweed. This is a simpler version using water. To make this even easier, simply remove the stems entirely from the dish, then microwave the spinach to wilt it. This keeps in the refrigerator for a couple days.
Baja Marinade
This recipe just sort of happened one afternoon in summer long ago. It is still a favorite. Originally used on top sirloin steaks, this marinade is very versatile. This makes for great tacos, so make extra of whatever protein you choose. It also works on tofu, but it is best if you press the tofu overnight and then marinate it all day before grilling. Add 2 more tablespoons of oil for one block of pressed tofu to keep it from sticking to the grill.
Strawberries with Pastry Cream and Black Pepper
Strawberry-Feta Salad
What a marvelous way to use that lovely salad mix AND the strawberries together.
Orecchitte with Lemon Rapini “Sauce”
I like the idea of using vegetables as the sauce on pasta. This is a perfect example.
Another Mei Quin Choi and Shiitake Sauté (with Chinese “miso” sauce)
Here is another mei quin and shiitake recipe. This version has a little more depth of flavor that comes from the Ground Bean Paste, and the shiitake flavor is less prominent. Although based on traditional Chinese techniques and ingredients, I doubt you’ll find it in any restaurant. My family loved it, even the kids.
Thousand Island Dressing
Sometimes I just get in the mood for something from my childhood, and when it comes to salads, this does it. This is based on a taste memory of the Thousand Island dressing from the now defunct Marshall Field’s Department store in Chicago. This dressing is great on turkey sandwiches or salads with lots of chunky veggies in it.
Beef brisket with beets, turnips and carrots
Talk about a comfort dinner that will fill your kitchen with aromas of your favorite Grandmother.
Grilled Beets with Yogurt and Sour Cream
I love grilling stuff. As soon as it warms up and the grill comes out, I almost never cook in the kitchen until it starts raining again. These beets are easy and incredibly yummy
Mei Quin Choi (Baby Bok Choy) and Shiitake Mushrooms
Although this seems like a lot of ingredients, this recipe utilizes two components that are then combined for the end product. The second set of ingredients is used to flavor the choi and uses the stems that would usually be discarded, which bothered me. When I first did this recipe, I was tossing the stems into a small teapot that “was there” to keep them out of the way-thus the genesis of this idea.
Vinaigrettes- Salad dressings and cold sauces
Vinaigrettes are usually thought of as oil and vinegar dressing. In actuality, vinaigrettes can be used as a sauce, especially for fish and poultry, on sandwiches, as a marinade, or even as a pasta sauce. Vinaigrettes are great poured over roasted vegetables such as potatoes, parsnips, and beets, while still warm so the flavors are absorbed. This makes an excellent salad, and is, in fact, how German potato salad is made.
Honey Cilantro Dressing
This makes a great salad dressing, but also works as a marinade for chicken, meats, and tofu. Nice on sautéed shrimp as well.
Light Creamy Lemon Coriander Dressing
I was in the mood for salad, but wanted something a little creamer than the usual vinaigrette. I also wanted something a little light as I was dressing baby greens. My Meyer lemon tree had just given me an abundance of fruit also, so all these things were playing in my mind as I opened the refrigerator. Here is the result.
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