Inspiration - Week #18

In the Grande box this week:   Red potatoes, leeks, broccoli, kale (or swiss chard), red daikon radish, dill, acorn and carnival squash, bok choy, mixed salad greens
I hope you like the menu ideas I have come up with this week.  This post will have more links than usual. I hope you don't mind having to click on some links - but there is a method to my madness.  I want to help you find and bookmark favorite recipe web sites.  It isn't good for you to depend on me too much, you know.  Part of my job is to push you out of the nest - see if you can flap your wings a bit in the kitchen. 

I am sure many of you, when stumped or just when you want some new ideas,  just google a vegetable.  I do.  Well that is fine as far as it goes.  But then what happens once you get over half a million hits?  How do you know what to choose?   Better to assemble a list of web sites you trust and enjoy.  Most have search features if you are trying to find something to do with one or two particular ingredients.  They also often have "recipe boxes" where you can save your favorites.  Then you can gradually collect some of your own "tried and true" recipes.  And you can pass them down to your children or someone else you love.

MENUS  (Sorry - no cute little headings this week.  It was just too hard.)

Mixed green salad with simple oil and vinegar vinaigrette; pasta with broccoli and chickpeas*; something chocolate - a brownie would be nice.  Go on.  After salad and broccoli and chickpeas you deserve it.  Maybe even with a little glass of cabernet sauvignon.

Radish salad (sliced or grated radish in rice vinegar, sugar and soy dressing- maybe a teeny bit of toasted sesame oil)  Or something else with radishes - see radish recipe link below; Bok choy with rice noodles and cherry tomatoes*; Fresh orange slices

Barley broccoli salad (with dill and radishes)*; Potato-Leek Gratin*; fall fruit compote*

Bok Choy Slaw*; Baked stuffed carnival squash (stuff with bread crumbs, sauteed onion or other veggies chopped small, herbs, melted butter or olive oil.  Add some nuts, grated cheese or meat for extra protein if desired. Remember to bake the halved squash upside down until partly done before stuffing and baking right side up.); the juiciest and sweetest fresh pear you can find.  Serve sliced on a plate and drizzled with a little honey or maple syrup and take your time eating it.

Meat loaf or other meat, fish or chicken; baked acorn squash; mashed potatoes and kale*  (I have given you two recipes for mashed potatoes and kale, a classic Irish dish also known as colcannon.  This is a lesson in how the same basic recipe can be subject to widely different interpretations.  Like music.); ice cream or sorbet  (I think a good life rule is whenever you eat kale for dinner you can have ice cream for dessert.)

Pasta and Bean Soup with Kale; whole grain bread; apple pie a la mode (You can eat ice cream with the pie because you ate kale in the soup.  Isn't this a nice rule?)  I am going to write about apple pie for
Saturday morning's post.  And do a short video on pie crust for posting on Thursday.

RECIPES

Pasta with broccoli and chickpeas
This link is to Martha Rose Shulman's series in the New York Times, Recipes for Health.  You will find articles on a long list of fruits and vegetables and grains and more -- each article usually has about 6-8 excellent recipes.  I highly recommend spending some time with this website.  http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/23/health/nutrition/23recipehealth.html?ref=broccoli

Bok Choy with Rice Stick Noodles and Cherry Tomatoes
This is from another Martha Rose Shulman article - this one about stir fries.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/10/health/nutrition/10recipehealth.html

Radish recipes - Twenty seven recipes - Editors' picks from food52:
There are some great ideas in this assortment.  If you get a Featherstone winter share - you will be needing more ideas for radishes.
http://www.food52.com/recipes/search?filter=p&search=radishes

Barley Broccoli Salad
I like this recipe because it is full of fiber and nutrition and flavor.  It includes dill and radishes too - both in your box this week.  You could substitute other grains for the barley: wheat berries, quinoa, bulgar, brown rice.

Potato Leek Gratin
This recipe requires a long baking time - save it for a quiet evening at home.   If you don't like the cumin seasoning suggested, thyme would be excelent.  As long as you have the oven on that long - plan some other baking or roasting.  Maybe bake some banana bread or cookies.  Or some rice pudding.  Or baked apples.  Or a fruit compote.   http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/22/health/nutrition/22recipehealth.html?ref=potatoes

Fall fruit compote
Plan on no more than about 1/2 cup per serving.  Combine cut up fresh and dried fruit in a 2 to 1 ratio in a covered baking dish with enough apple, orange or other fruit juice to barely cover, sweeten with honey or brown sugar.   Add a few cloves or a cinnamon stick or both or neither.  A little freshly ground cardamom would be nice if you use pears.   A tablespoon or two of spirits adds a lot of flavor - such as rum, cherry brandy or orange liqueur.  Bake, covered, in a 350 degree oven for about an hour.  Stir once or twice during baking time.  Best served the next day after flavors have a time blend.  Here are some possible fruit combinations to get you started.
apple/calymyrna fig
pear/dried apricot
rhubarb/raspberry (good to have in your freezer)/golden raisin (when using rhubarb, add extra sugar or honey)
apple/cranberry/prune (also use a little extra sugar with cranberries)

Bok Choy slaw
This recipe is from the kitchen daily web site. It has a feature for saving recipes as well as a nice how to section and of course a recipe search section.  Search "kale" on this web site just for fun.  I found this recipe by searching for "bok choy".  It is a good basic recipe.  Bok choy is quite good raw as well as cooked.  http://www.kitchendaily.com/recipe/crunchy-bok-choy-slaw-920

Mashed potatoes with kale
This first link is to the food blog - 101 cookbooks.  It is a very popular food blog and when you go to this link you will see why.  http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/001566.html
And here is another version of the same dish - from the Recipes for Health website:  http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/21/health/nutrition/21recipehealth.html?ref=potatoes

Pasta and bean soup with kale
This recipe is from an interesting web site - food52 - that has weekly recipe contests.  The site also has a blog.  This recipe looked pretty reliable to me and can be varied if you wish.  I could see a soup like this becoming a staple in any household.  Kale or other greens like chard, spinach or even collards are often paired with beans in soups, stews, casseroles or even salads.   Here is another way to do it.
http://www.food52.com/recipe/72_pasta_and_bean_soup_with_kale

Barley broccoli salad

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/05/health/nutrition/05recipehealth.html?ref=broccoli

Focus: BOK CHOY (Brassica Rapa var. Chinensis)

Bok choy is a delicately flavored Asian cabbage, native to China, where it has been eaten for over 6,000 years!    It is sometimes known by names such as Chinese cabbage, pac choi, bok choi or bak choy - and so people can get confused over the many varieties and names.   Some people refer to it as Chinese chard.  Both the stems and the leaves are edible and you can use bok choy in any recipe calling for Swiss chard.  Very small bunches are called baby bok choy and may be cooked whole or cut in half - braised, steamed or grilled.   Sometimes you will find bunches with small edible broccoli-like florets called flowering bok choy. 

Bok Choy is very commonly found on Asian restaurant menus.  It is still considered a "specialty vegetable"  but that is changing as more and more American households discover its charms.   It has a mild and sweet taste,  is very nutritious and can be eaten either raw or cooked.  It can be used in stir fries or added to soup - allow about 1/2 pound per serving because it cooks down considerably.  The stalks can be used like celery.

Here are ten ideas for how to use Bok Choy from the Fruits and Veggies More Matters website (our federal tax dollars at work)  http://www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org/?page_id=7494

Nutrition
One cup of raw chopped or sliced bok choy has only 10 calories.  It also has one gram of protein, two grams of carbohydrates and one gram of dietary fiber.   One cup contains 50% of the daily requirement of vitamin A, 50% of vitamin C and 7% for calcium.  Like most fresh vegetables - it is very low in sodium - 45 mg per cup.

Storage and cleaning
Store your bok choy in a perforated plastic bag in the refrigerator up to a week.  Don't wash it until ready to use.  To wash regular sized bok choy- separate each stem and rinse well. Make sure the stalks are clean, because dirt and grit can accumulate near the bottom insides of the stalks.  Just rub under running water or if the dirt is stubborn, use a soft vegetable brush to clean the stalk.    

Preparation

Cut the leaves from the stalks or ribs.  Slice stalks into pieces on the diagonal - usually into 1/2 to 1 inch slices.   Cut leaves into strips - about one inch wide.  The leaves will cook more quickly than the stalks.  The smaller the slices, the quicker they cook.   Don't overcook bok choy - it will get watery.   Half inch slices of stalk, covered and boiled in a small amount of liquid, will cook in 4 minutes.  One inch slices of leaves will cook in about two minutes.  If steamed, stalks will cook in 6 minutes and leaves in 4 minutes.  Two cups of raw sliced leaves will yield about 1/2 cup cooked greens.  When I stir fried a medium bunch - 4 cups sliced stalks and 4 lightly packed cups of strips of leaves- I ended up with 3 cups cooked vegetable - about six servings.


Serving suggestions (These come from the Featherstone Farm Cookbook - Tastes from Valley to Bluff)
Swirl leaves and stems into stir fries

Use tender stalks raw with dip or spread with peanut butter as you would with celery

Wilt in a salad as you would spinach, with warm bacon dressing

Braise or stir fry with mushrooms - the flavors combine well

Thinly slice or shred raw bok choy for a crunchy Asian salad with ramen noodles (use a sesame-ginger-soy vinaigrette)

RECIPES

Basic stir fried bok choy (without mushrooms)

Stir-fried bok choy with mushrooms (adapted from the Joy of Cooking)
Pour 1/2 cup boiling water over 6 dried black or shitake mushrooms.  Stir and let soak about 30 minutes.  Strain the soaking water and save.  Cut the softened mushrooms into 1/4 inch slices.
Cut 1 1/2 to 2 pounds bok choy - stalks and leaves -  into one inch pieces.  Keep stalks and leaves separate.
Warm in a small saucepan: 1 cup chicken stock, 1 T. soy sauce, 1/2 t. sugar
Mix in a small bowl: 2 T. mushroom soaking water, 2 t. cornstarch, 1/2 t. ground white pepper, 1 T. Shaoxing wine (this is a Chinese cooking wine and worth having around your kitchen.  It is easily found in Asian markets.  Joy of Cooking says you can substitute 1 T Scotch Whiskey.  Sherry would do too.)
Heat 2-3 T. peanut or other oil in a wok or large skillet.  Cook mushrooms and bok choy stems about four minutes over high heat, stirring often.  Add leaves and chicken broth mixture.  Cover and steam about 2 minutes.  Uncover.  Quickly stir in the cornstarch mixture, bring to a boil to thicken.  Add 2 t. toasted sesame oil.  Serve.
(variation - add one teaspooon each of minced garlic and ginger to the bok choy stems when stir-frying.)

Japanese noodles, tofu and bok choy
This is a good recipe that can be found at Epicurious.com.  Good for summer - not too heavy.  While you are there you can check out other bok choy recipes.  http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Japanese-Noodles-with-Bok-Choy-and-Tofu-103624

Simple steamed bok choy
Steam about a pound of bok choy until tender - about 5 minutes.  (You can slice stalks and leaves before steaming or steam whole.)  Cool.  Mix with a simple marinade of 1 T. soy sauce, 1 T. sesame oil, 1 T. rice vinegar and 1 t. sugar.  Garnish with toasted sesame seeds.  Serve as a side dish with noodles or rice.

Inspiration - Week #11

In this week's grande box:  sweet corn, tomatoes (yellow pear, red cherry, big and small slicers,  Roma type), zucchini, cucumber (slicers), bok choy, honeydew melon, cilantro, eggplant, leaf lettuce

Corn and tomato season is truly upon us. Embrace it.  I hope you and yours lap up every little drop of red and golden juice and flesh and swallow every toothsome corn kernel.  Compost the cobs and any tomato skins and seeds that you don't eat.  Help build soil somewhere.  It is always a good idea.

I am again recommending BLT's and corn as a menu idea.  Just like last week.  I hope that is not a problem for you.  I personally think that meal repetition is acceptable.  It is comforting.  It is relaxing.  And tell the truth now - how many times has your family had pizza three or four or more weeks in a row?  Or macaroni and cheese?  Or hamburgers or hot dogs?  Or carry out roasted or fried chicken?  And nobody minds.  In fact, most people like to eat the same things over and over. When it comes to food,  most of us are definitely creatures of habit. (Why do you think Saturday morning TV is so full of food commercials aimed at children?)

LEFTOVERS - a challenge
Have you noticed the trend of increasing numbers of retail stores that specialize in "gently used, previously owned, repurposed, reconditioned, vintage (that means old), or recycled" clothing, furniture or household goods?  Buying new is so 20th century.

So why can't we get more excited about cooking our food twice?   The word "leftover" has such a bad connotation.  I think this needs to change.  Until I coin a better word I think I will try "repurposed".  As in "We had some great fried rice last night with some repurposed chicken that we roasted three days ago."

This is all about attitude.   Do not furtively or apologetically heat up leftovers.  Repurpose them.  Think of the leftovers as a platform upon which you will build a whole new taste sensation!  With food just sitting around your kitchen!  You are an artiste!  An innovator!  An imagineer!

If I can do it so can you.  Remember the recipe for roasted cherry tomatoes from last week's Inspiration post?  Well, we still had about a cup of roasted garlic and tomatoes in the refrigerator last night and I needed a meal for three.  So  I repurposed the tomatoes and garlic.  I added about a cup of fresh chopped tomatoes (which also happened to be "leftovers"), a tablespoon or so of olive oil, 1/2 cup thinly sliced fresh basil and a small amount of salami, sliced into thin strips.  Stirred it all together and voila -- enough pasta sauce for three servings.  We each had a cup of gazpacho for a starter, a simple ear of boiled corn and then the pasta with roasted cherry tomato sauce.    I saved the corn boiling water for cooking the spaghetti, so that was repurposed too. 

See how this works?    I just know you have a cup or two of this or that sitting in your refrigerator - waiting for you to breathe new life into it.  Sometimes you don't need to change the dish itself.  You just need a different context.  Maybe a frittata?  And don't forget soup -- many foods can be repurposed that way.  Wine, broth, perhaps a blender?  Add a little grated cheese and homemade croutons and no one will even know they are eating (sshhhh) leftovers.

Menu ideas for this week (items marked with an asterisk have recipes below)

BLT's Again.   BLT; corn on the cob; cucumber salad.  Since you have fabulous slicing tomatoes AND leaf lettuce in your box - then by all means eat some more BLT's.  You could even get creative.  How about a CLT?  (cheese, lettuce, tomato)  Or a HLT? (hummus, lettuce and tomato)  Or even a TLT?  (turkey, lettuce and tomato)  Or a CBLT?  (Canadian bacon, lettuce and tomato)  Maybe add some fresh dill or cilantro to plain mayonnaise.   Or add a generous dollop of caramelized onions.   Try different kinds of breads.  Toasted, of course.

Summer veggie cooperation.  Cold cucumber yogurt soup (make a double batch - enough for two meals); Mediterranean style vegetable medley* on rice or polenta; sliced honeydew melon.  (If you make rice - make a double recipe so you can reheat it for stir fry another night)

Stir fry of the week.  Chicken (or other favorite protein) and Bok Choy Stir Fry with rice  (Note - To prepare the bok choy, first wash and shake dry - separate leaves to get at any dirt hiding on the lower inside stalks.  Separate stalks and cut diagonally into 1/4 inch slices.  Slice the leaves into strips.  Add the stalks first.  Add the leaves near the end of cooking time - they will cook quickly.  That great big bunch of bok choy in your box will cook right down - don't be afraid to use it all.  Use plenty of fresh ginger and garlic in the stir fry.  Good quality soy sauce and a bit of toasted sesame oil will add good flavor.  I will be talking more about soy sauce tomorrow and about bok choy on Friday.)

If you end up with more cooked bok choy than you can eat - Repurpose it!!  Add some chicken broth and cooked rice or wheat noodles, some chili paste and lime and maybe some fresh bean sprouts and basil or mint and you will have a whole new meal.

Ole.  Refried bean and cheese burritos or tacos or enchiladas,  fresh corn-tomato salsa*; sliced honeydew melon

Kabob Night.  Marinate some cubes of meat in a little oil, garlic and vinegar and lemon juice - overnight or a few hours at room temperature.  Thread on skewers with 2 or 3 inch chunks of corn on the cob, chunks of zucchini and cherry or pear tomatoes.  Chunks of onion are good too. Grill until done over medium coals or flame.  Serve with cold cucumber yogurt soup and rice, barley or bulgar (wheat) pilaf.

RECIPES

Mediterranean style vegetable medley - serves about 6, with rice.  Proportions of vegetables may be varied according to taste or availability.
Ingredients
2 - 3 cups tomatoes, 1-2 cups zucchini squash, 1 cup onion, 1- 2 cups eggplant, 2-3 t. minced fresh garlic, 2 cups cooked or canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed, parsley, salt and pepper to taste.  (add fresh basil or a spoonful or two of basil pesto if you have it.  If not, some dried Greek oregano would be good.)

Chop fresh vegetables into uniform medium sized chunks (no need to peel). Saute onion, eggplant, squash and garlic in about 1/4 cup olive oil until softened.  Add tomatoes and chickpeas.  Simmer covered in oven (350 degrees) or on top of stove until vegetables are very tender - about 1 hour. Add fresh parsley, salt and pepper to taste.   Can be served hot or at room temperature.  Even better served next day. Garnish with feta cheese if desired.

Fresh corn tomato salsa
Ingredients (amount and size of each to be decided by cook - according to taste and availability)
Chopped fresh tomatoes (squeeze out most of juice and seeds - save for soup)
Chopped onion
Chopped cucumber, peeled and seeded (optional)
Chopped fresh cilantro - about 1/2 cup per 2 cups vegetables
Finely minced jalapeno pepper - more or less depending on desired heat intensity)
Corn kernels (Boil or steam ears of corn, cut off kernels when corn is cool)
Fresh minced garlic (about 1 t. per two cups of vegetables)
Red wine vinegar, lime juice or lemon juice - about 1/4 cup per two cups of vegetables
Salt to taste