Cauliflower Salad with Olives and Capers

30 07 2009

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For years, all I did with cauliflower was cut it up in salads or roast it with a mustard sauce. Then I received Alice Waters’ The Art of Simple Food and discovered this salad. The saltiness of the capers pairs nicely with the richness of the extra-virgin olive oil, and the green parsley adds a welcome pop of color.

This last point isn’t a minor one, since many people object to the sheer whiteness (read: blandness) of this veggie. Somehow, the cauliflower becomes more palatable by mixing it with the dark olives and green herbs. Just take care not to overcook the florets, or it won’t be enticing to anyone, even cauliflower fans!

If you’re using local, farm-fresh cauliflower grown, as I did, you might find it a little strong to eat raw. The woman who distributes for my CSA told me this is because our farm-fresh, organic cauliflower is extra high in vitamins and minerals. She recommends boiling it longer than normal and other farm-share members I know favor it in casseroles for this reason, but I found any stronger taste was masked by this simple lemon vinaigrette.

P.S. As an olive-lover, I can’t understand people who don’t like olives. But I live with one of them, so I’ve made this salad without the olives and it is still good.

Cauliflower Salad with Olives and Capers
Adapted from Alice Waters’ marvelous book The Art of Simple Food

Boil a pot of salted water. Cut cauliflower into bite-sized florets and cook until done. While it’s cooking, mix the juice of one lemon, a few tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil, and salt and pepper. Toss with cooked cauliflower, then add a few tablespoons each of chopped parsley, chopped olives and capers (more or less, depending on your preferences). Taste, then add more lemon juice, olive oil , salt or pepper, as needed. Serve cold or at room temperature.


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Thai Root Vegetables in Creamed Coconut

28 07 2009

Hurray to Lorienne Schwenk of The Singing Kitchen for sending in this recipe! Lorienne stopped by my stand at the Boulder Farmers’ Market and we started chatting. When I mentioned how I want this blog to be a forum for all of us to share our favorite recipes, she told me right away about this one. I haven’t tried it yet, but it looks wonderful. To all you cooks out there, please follow in Lorienne’s footsteps and send along your favorite seasonal recipes so we can all benefit! What follows is from Lorienne. — SeedtoSpoon.com

Thai Root Vegetables in Creamed Coconut

2 large kohlrabi, trimmed and chopped into medium dice
6 medium golden beets, scrubbed and diced
Greens from the beets, washed and rough chopped
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 bird’s-eye red chilies, chopped
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. ground black pepper
1/2 cup coconut milk
1.5 cups vegetable stock
chopped fresh cilantro (Vietnamese) or Thai basil, to garnish

1. Place the kohlrabi and beets in a pan with the onion, chili, salt, pepper, and creamed coconut. Stir in the stock.
2. Bring to a boil stirring, then lower the heat, cover, and simmer gently, stirring occasionally until the kohlrabi and beets are tender.
3. When the root vegetables are tender, add the beet greens after washing and chopping them. Continue cooking until they wilt, about 2 minutes.
4. Adjust seasoning to taste, then sprinkle with the chopped cilantro or basil.

This recipe works beautifully with other root vegetables, especially what is all over the farmers market right now. I have done this for a crowd and doubled it. I used two big kohlrabi and six medium golden beets. Very pretty and tasty. The sweetness of the beets was delicious with the coconut milk and the golden beets did not color the whole dish as red beets would. Chiogga beets would work well too.

Just a brief rave about using kohlrabi. It is in the brassica family with all the crucifers like cabbage and kale. The benefits of this family include carotenes, vitamins C and B6, good dietary fiber, minerals, and B vitamins (Murray, Encyclopedia of Healing Foods), and anti-cancer fighting properties. Beets are high in folic acid, fiber, and potassium and promote health in the liver as well as fighting cancer.

If you haven’t tried coconut milk, this is a great recipe to introduce yourself to it. The fat in coconut milk is nothing to worry about. It is in the form of health-promoting medium-chain fatty acid that is easy to digest. It does not contribute to heart disease or higher cholesterol. Feel free to email me (Lorienne@thesingingkitchen.com) if you have concerns about coconut milk. If you just won’t use it, replace with fresh whole milk yogurt and don’t add the yogurt until the end of the cooking.

Serve this as a main vegetable entree or a side along with other Thai dishes. Enjoy! Thank you Gretchen for letting me contribute this recipe.


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Beets with Goat Cheese, Walnuts and Honey

26 07 2009

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I learned to love food as a child, both from my grandmothers who were excellent cooks, as well as from my parents. We traveled a lot, and as I grew up, one of our favorite games (especially when we were home with nothing good in the house) was If I Could Eat Anywhere.

Back then, the dishes were always at restaurants far away, in other states and in other time zones. It’s a sign of progress that now when I think of what I’d like to be eating, I often think of a restaurant in my neighborhood called Tables. Last summer, I enjoyed a fantastic salad there made from golden and red beets, cheese, walnuts and honey (I believe theirs was imported from New Zealand or maybe Australia).

Now I make a more local version with the beets from my farm share, goat cheese from Colorado’s Haystack Mountain, toasted walnuts and Colorado honey. Sure, eating at home with chatty children doesn’t have quite the same atmosphere as dining at Tables, but these days, I have a lot more beets than babysitters.

Beets with Goat Cheese, Walnuts and Honey

Cook beets either by boiling them whole or by wrapping them in foil and roasting at 400 degrees for about an hour, depending on size. Cool and peel. Slice them and put on salad plates. Dot with goat cheese (plain, not flavored), sprinkle with toasted walnuts and drizzle with honey.


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Caramelize Your Extra Onions

24 07 2009

Onions are the backbone of so many dishes, they’re an absolute must in the pantry. Until I joined a farm share, I would buy them a few at a time, one for the recipe I had in mind and a few more for good measure. But now I’m getting five or six onions at a pop, and find myself with a glut.

What to do with so many onions?

In the past, I’ve diced them and frozen them in a Ziploc inside another Ziploc. Even so, the odor lingered in the freezer. This time I decided to go a step further and caramelize them. I was home and could let them slowly do their thing while I did, well, other things. This way, when life gets hectic, I’ll be able to make some of our favorite dishes calling for caramelized onions, like Frittata with Caramelized Onions, Ham and Potatoes, or flatbread with chicken, feta and caramelized onions, in a fraction of the time.

To caramelize onions, peel them, then cut them in half from root end to the top. Slice each half into thin rings. Put several tablespoons of olive oil (more or less, depending on how many onions you have) in a saute pan over medium-high heat. When hot, add the onions and stir. Turn down the heat to medium after a few minutes and cook for 20-30 minutes, or until light brown and sweet. If you’re short on time, you can cook them for 20 minutes then deglaze the pan with a bit of balsamic vinegar, which will intensify the flavor and deepen the color.

Take them off the heat and let them cool completely, then divide them into portions you think you’ll use in a recipe and freeze them in a Ziploc bag sealed inside a second Ziploc.


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Zucchini Stuffed with Cheese and Corn

21 07 2009

IMG_1405“Wow, mom, this is an awesome dinner,” my seven-year-old daughter raved as she reached across the table, arm outstretched. “High five on this one.”

What got her so excited? Was it noodles with butter and parmesan (a long-standing favorite) or chocolate cake with white frosting (another one)? No, it was scrambled eggs with smoked ham, Cheddar and parsley; organic green beans (from our CSA); and her favorite dish on the plate…stuffed cue-ball zucchini. I know this because right after she said the words above, she followed it up with, “and my favorite is the zucchini!”

Honest truth.

Given the state of kids’ meals in this country, you’d think that kids would only gush about chicken nuggets and fries and spaghetti with red sauce. But my oldest proves what they’ve long known in Europe: kids can eat — not to mention love — grown-up food. Even somewhat unusual food like stuffed zucchini.

I admit, the intensity of her reaction took me by surprise. I’d half expected the kids to pull out the line we’ve taught them to say when facing something they’re not crazy about, which is, “This isn’t my favorite but I’m glad I tried it.” But instead Katie gobbled it up and asked for more.

Zucchini Stuffed with Cheese and Corn
Inspired by a recipe in Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison
Serves 2-4, depending on if you cut them in half or serve them whole

2 cue-ball zucchini (large green zucchini work well, too)
1 1/2 T butter
1/2 onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon chopped basil
1 tablespoon chopped parsley (or use 2 tablespoons of one of them)
1 1/2 cup cooked corn kernels
1/2 cup cooked rice (leftovers from take-out Chinese work well)
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella
2 T parmesan

Boil a large pot of salted water and cook zucchini until just tender, about 5 minutes. Drain and run under cool water. When cool, cut off the tops and scoop out the flesh, then finely chop it. In a saute pan, saute the onion in the melted butter about 7 minutes, then add the garlic and cook about 30 seconds, or until fragrant. Add the zucchini and saute until tender and browned in places. Add the herbs, corn, rice and cheeses, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Stuff back into the hollowed-out zucchini and microwave until hot. These can be made a day ahead and kept in the fridge.


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Roasted Potatoes with Rosemary

18 07 2009

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We live in an old house with no air conditioning, so in general I have a summertime aversion to all things roasted. (Roasted in my oven, that is. I still love ‘em cooked someplace else.) But with so many red potatoes in our CSA delivery and with six people coming over for dinner, I decided to break the rules. Besides, by breaking that rule, I was actually keeping another more important one. And that is, “When entertaining, keep half the dishes simple.”

I didn’t always follow this rule. Before kids, and even with one kid, I happily cooked fancy everything, appetizer through dessert. But with three kids ages 7, 4, and 2, I can’t keep that up and keep my sanity. Hence the rule about simple food.

For this dinner party, I started with teacups of creamy zucchini soup with sour cream, basil leaves and chili powder for a garnish. An easy recipe, but not exactly simple. To even the score, I needed a quick side dish that would pair well with the marinated flank steak that would go on the grill. That’s where the roasting comes in.

Armed with a sinkful of dirt-covered small red potatoes, I scrubbed them just enough to remove the dirt, then diced them, sprinkled them with olive oil, kosher salt and cracked pepper, and put them on a cookie sheet in a 425-degree oven. Before serving I tossed them with chopped fresh rosemary. Definitely simple.

Yes, the kitchen was hot that night. But we had a cool sauvignon blanc to start, and when dinner was over we headed out to the patio to finish with Mariah’s marvelous oatmeal-chocolate chip bars with vanilla bean i.c. and discussion of rafting trips and upcoming excursions to the Galapagos (theirs, not ours).

That’s the beauty of simple food. It takes the pressure off entertaining, so you can spend more time with the friends you’ve invited over.

Roasted Potatoes with Rosemary
Preheat the oven to 425 (or 450 if you’re short on time!). Start with as many new potatoes as you need; I hesitate to give a number because they vary so much in size. Wash them gently so you don’t tear their skins, then pat them dry. Dice, then drizzle with olive oil and toss to coat. Sprinkle with kosher salt and cracked pepper and put them on a cookie sheet or in a shallow roasting pan for 35-45 minutes, or until golden and crisp in places. Before serving, chop three large sprigs of rosemary and stir it in. Season with more salt and pepper, as desired, and serve hot. Incidentally, leftover potatoes are excellent in frittatas or with fried eggs.


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Pasta with Sauteed Zucchini

16 07 2009

If you’re part of a farm share, you’ve probably exhausted your supply of zucchini recipes by now. In the past two weeks, I’ve made several loaves of zucchini bread, creamy zucchini soup, zucchini pie and sauteed zucchini with garlic and parsley. Just when I was feeling smug that I’d used up all the cue-ball zucchini, yellow squash and green-skinned zucchini in my fridge, six more arrived in my bag. What’s a cook to do?

Arriving home later than expected and with little time to cook dinner, I opted for Noodles with Sauteed Zucchini. If ever there was a slam dunk meal — both for the kiddos, who love noodles, and for busy cooks — this is it. In the time it takes to boil the water and cook spaghetti you can put the whole thing together. As is the case with many of my recipes, what follows is part technique, part recipe, since the idea is to make use of the produce you have on hand. Adjust portion sizes accordingly.

Incidentally, for health reasons unrelated to anything Atkins, my husband isn’t supposed to eat carbohydrates. Whenever I serve noodles, he throws chicken or sausage (or whatever protein we have on hand) on the grill. Tonight it was chicken, and when it was done I cut some up and added it to my pasta. My four-year-old liked what he saw, but wanted the chicken “next to the noodles, not touching.” Seeing it on his plate underscored just how versatile this recipe really is. You can serve it as a main course, with a green salad and crusty bread. You can toss in some chicken for heartier fare. Or you can serve it alongside the protein of your choice as a side dish. Now that’s a slam dunk.

Pasta with Sauteed Zucchini
Put a large pot of salted water to boil. In a separate saute pan, gently color a few cloves of minced garlic in a hearty pour of olive oil. Take several zucchini (or a mixture of yellow squash and zucchini, for aesthetic purposes), quarter them lengthwise and slice them, and saute until tender. When the water boils, add whole wheat noodles and cook al dente. Drain, reserving some of the cooking water. Add the pasta to the zucchini, then toss with a generous amount of parmesan cheese (a half-cup or more). If the pasta is too thick, thin with a few tablespoons of the cooking water, and season to taste. Serve with additional parmesan and lots of chopped basil.
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How to Cook Kohlrabi, Part II

14 07 2009

IMG_1387Maybe it’s the economy, but I’m finding myself growing increasingly careful about what I throw away. Now when a recipe calls for half an onion, I’ll dice and freeze the other half. So when I was cutting the stems and leaves off two kohlrabi bulbs, I decided to break with tradition and keep them. Unwashed, the greens stayed in a plastic bag in the fridge for a few days.

When I had time to come back to them, I pondered what to do. I knew they would cook down tremendously, so I’d have to stretch them with something. And I had a hunch they’d be tough, so I knew they’d need some cooking. In the end, I decided to make one of my favorite vegetarian side dishes: Beans and Greens.

First I de-stemmed the leaves, then chopped them coarsely and boiled them in salted water until tender. This took a while, so I recommend doing something else and coming back to check in periodically. When cooked, the kohlrabi tasted just like collards, so I knew I was on the right track.

Next I sautéed a clove of garlic and tossed in the greens. I also added a few handfuls of leftover navy beans and heated things through. Right before serving, I toasted some bread crumbs in butter and sprinkled them on top. The dish would also work without the beans, but it wouldn’t go nearly as far; like any leafy green, the kohlrabi leaves really do cook down.

Beans and Greens
Note that this is more of a technique than a recipe and can be adapted to any kind of greens and any number of people.

1. Cut the leaves from two kohlrabi bulbs. Coarsely chop them, then boil in a pot of salted water until tender. Drain and pat dry.
2. Put a few tablespoons of olive oil in a saute pan over medium-low heat and add one clove of minced garlic. When fragrant, turn up the heat to medium-high and add the cooked greens and as many white beans as you want (a can of cannellini beans would work well).
3. While everything is heating through, melt a few tablespoons of butter in a small saucepan and add a quarter-cup or so of bread crumbs. Toast over medium heat until golden. When the beans and greens are hot, drizzle extra-virgin olive oil over the top, season with salt and pepper, and top with toasted bread crumbs. Serve the remaining bread crumbs at the table.


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Warm Potato Salad

12 07 2009

Potatoes remind me of house guests who have overstayed their welcome. Perhaps this is because I did a winter share at my CSA and saw more of them from November to March than I knew what to do with.

Soups and mashes — two staples of winter cooking — don’t seem right after a day of popsicles and swimming pools. But potato salad certainly does. I’ve never been a fan of the yellow kind sold at the grocery store. But this recipe, full of vinegar and parsley, is as far from that as Wonder Bread is to a baguette. Next time you’re invited to a potluck, take this. The recipe is quick and easy and hey, there’s nothing artificially yellow about it.

Warm Potato Salad
Serves 4-5

2 pounds red new potatoes, quartered (unless they’re very small)
6 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons red wine or cider vinegar
1/4 cup chopped parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

Put potatoes in a large saucepan, cover with water and bring to a boil. Let simmer 10-15 minutes or until tender but not mushy. While the potatoes are cooking, whisk the olive oil and vinegar together. Drain the potatoes when they’re done and put in a large serving bowl. Toss with half the dressing and parsley and season to taste. If the salad seems dry, add the remaining vinaigrette.
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Boulder, Beets and Basil Seeds

11 07 2009

Many thanks to everyone who stopped by my SeedtoSpoon booth at the Boulder Farmers’ Market today. I really enjoyed talking with you and swapping tips about how to eat locally and seasonally. Thanks especially to Michele for helping me set up and the Hickman family for filling my hot Camelbak with ice water when I was wilting in the 92-plus heat!

If you happened to come by, you’ll know that I love it when folks share their favorite recipes. Many of you told me you love to cook, so please contribute. And if you’re the one who told me about that yummy-sounding curry with kohlrabi in place of potatoes, by all means send it in!

Here’s a great recipe idea for beets from a visitor from Grenada. She marinates chicken kebabs in garlic, chives, red pepper flakes, lemon juice and olive oil, then puts them on the grill with onion slices. When they’re done, she puts them in pocket bread and tops them with shredded cabbage, diced tomatoes and boiled-then-grated beets. Sounds delicious! If anyone tries it, please write in to tell us what you think.

Finally, if you picked up a packet of organic basil seeds, here’s some growing information:

Organic Genovese Basil (classic Italian Basil)

Planting depth: 1/8 to 1/4 inch
Plant spacing: 8-12 inches
Days to maturity: 65-75
Soil Temp for germination: 70-85 degrees
Days to germination: 6-12
Sun: Full sun
Water: Moderate water

Dorothy Eberhard, a longtime volunteer at the Denver Botanic Gardens, shared the following tips with me earlier this season:

Start the seeds indoors in a soil-less, seed-starting mix. Sprinkle the seeds on top of the mix, then cover with 1/8 of an inch of seed-starting mix. “If they float to the surface when you water them,” she said, “just push them down.” Keep the soil moist and when they have sprouted about an inch or so high, transplant them to potting soil.

Dorothy puts seedlings into plastic four-pack containers (the kind you get nursery plants in) and places them in a foil tray in a sunny, south-facing window. She puts water in the bottom of the tray and also feeds it from above to encourage strong growth. Keep the plants indoors until all threat of frost has passed, which in Denver is late May (so you’re safe now), then transplant them to your garden or to a container outside. Good luck, and thanks again for visiting SeedtoSpoon.com!


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