Main Dish Salads

This time of the year, when lots of salad greens are coming in my CSA share box, and I don’t want to turn on the oven, I love to have a refreshing and satisfying salad for dinner. This is not a new idea; salmagundi was the colonial name for what we call a chef salad today. The French have the salade nicoise. And in Thailand, they enjoy a spicy beef salad called laab. Here is a simple formula for assembling main dish salads when it’s too hot to cook.

A few tips for success:
1. Use fruits and vegetables that are seasonally available.
2. Plan ahead to save leftover cooked meat, chicken, lentils, and beans so they are ready when you want to assemble this salad for dinner.
3. Keep certain ingredients on hand in the freezer (frozen peas and edamame) and cupboard (tuna, beans, artichoke hearts, sun dried tomatoes, and olives)
4. Use a theme to decide what to use in each layer. For example, if you have leftover leg of lamb, follow a Greek theme including spinach, olives, and feta cheese. What about a BLT salad with low fat blue cheese dressing and rye croutons?
5. Assemble the salad in a wide shallow serving bowl or on individual plates.


Layer 1: Lettuce base
Wash, dry, and tear into small pieces, whatever kind of lettuce you have (a mixture of colors and textures is ideal), including baby spinach, tender beet leaves, mint leaves, and other fresh herbs. Plan for about a cup of lettuce per person.

Layer 2: Raw vegetables
Wash, and slice or dice the raw vegetables and scatter uniformly on top of the lettuce. Right now, I would use: sprouts, cucumber, radishes, celery, green onions, snap peas, snow peas or shell peas, strawberries. As they become available, you can also use tomatoes, blueberries, apple slices, fennel, peppers, and zucchini. Here is where you can add defrosted peas and edamame, too.

Layer 3: Cooked vegetables
Blanch, drain, and chill any of the following as they are available in season: asparagus spears, green beans, sliced carrots, quartered beets, quartered red skin potatoes, corn, and broccoli or cauliflower florets.

Instead of scattering this layer, I am more inclined to place each type into a neat pile on top of the previous two layers.

Layer 4: Protein
Try one or two of the following items, arranged in neat piles on top of the previous layers:
• Al dente cooked lentils (Cook 1 cup of lentils in 1-1/2 cups water or broth for 45 minutes until the liquid is absorbed, and the lentils are tender but not mushy.)
• Leftover cooked chicken, ham, beef, or lamb. Cut into strips or cubes.
• Canned tuna or crabmeat
• Canned garbanzo beans or black beans
• Leftover cooked sausage, sliced
• Hard cooked eggs, sliced or quartered

Layer 5: Extras and toppers
Finish your salad with any of these additional items, but be careful to not overdo it with those that are high in fat:
• Blue or feta cheese crumbles, Parmesan shavings, Swiss cheese strips
• Olives, artichoke hearts, pickles
• Pumpkin or sunflower seeds, toasted walnuts or pecans
• Raisins or dried cranberries
• Bacon
• More fresh herbs or edible flowers
• Homemade or store-bought croutons.
• Homemade or store-bought low fat dressing. My favorites from the grocery store are: Ken’s Steak House lite varieties and Marie’s yogurt dressing.


Serve your salad family-style with tongs or on individual plates with bread or rolls on the side.

Summer Herb Recipes

Three Herb Sauces

While summer is the perfect time to make a batch of pesto, you can also make a variety of other delicious herb sauces to save the fresh and fragrant taste of summer for the winter ahead. These easy and versatile sauces freeze very well.
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Safety tip: when chopping and seeding hot chilies, wear a latex or plastic glove on the hand holding the chili to avoid getting the volatile oils on your skin. Wash your hands well after you are finished handling the chilies.

Cilantro Salsa

Makes about 2/3-1 cup which you can freeze in 1/3-cup portions. Freezes very well.

Ingredients
1 jalapeno chili, seeded
a large bunch of cilantro, tough stems removed
½ cup mint leaves
2 cloves garlic
½ cup olive oil or grape seed oil
Juice of a lime
½ tsp cumin
½ tsp ground coriander
salt to taste

Procedure
Place coarsely chopped chili, garlic, cilantro, and mint into food processor. Puree with the oil. Then add the lime juice, cumin, coriander and salt.

Use this to give a summery, Mexican taste to a variety of foods, or as the seasoning for tomato salsa or guacamole. It is excellent with eggs, potatoes, and rice.



Basic Green Herb Sauce
2 tbsp chopped shallots or green onions ( including some green part)
1 tbsp chopped garlic
½ cup chopped parsley
½ cup copped mixed herbs (dill, tarragon, thyme, mint, whatever you have)
2-3 tbsp capers, drained
grated zest of a lemon or lime
2-3 tsp juice from the lemon or lime
¼ to ¾ cup olive oil

Procedure
Place the onions, garlic, parsley, herbs capers, zest, and juice in your food processor and pulse until the desired level of puree is reached. Then in small amounts, start to add the olive oil until you have the thickness you want. This cause can be looser or tighter depending on how you plan to use it.

Suggestions: a great seasoning for roasted vegetables or spread on top of goat cheese and crackers for a snack.


Green Curry Paste
Makes 2/3-1 cup, enough for 2-3 dishes. which you can freeze in 1/3-cup portions. Freezes very well.

Ingredients
4-8 hot green chili peppers (jalapeno, serrano, whatever you have)
1 medium yellow onion
½ cup fresh cilantro
2 tbsp chopped garlic
1 tbsp chopped fresh ginger (or use crystallized ginger)
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp shrimp paste or fish sauce or anchovy paste

Procedure
Chop and seed the chilis. Leave more seeds for more heat. Coarsely chop the onion. Combine the chilies, onion, cilantro, garlic, ginger, coriander, cumin, pepper, and shrimp paste in a food processor. Pulse until you have a paste.

To use the paste for green curry sauce: For a family meal, use 3 to 4 tbps of curry paste. Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet then add the paste and cook for about 30 seconds. Add a 14-ounce can of coconut milk (I use light coconut milk). Stir and bring to a boil. Add a cup of broth (chicken, vegetable, or seafood based on what you are including in the curry), 2-3 tbsp fish sauce and 2-3 tbsp sugar, if desired. Then add the meats and or vegetables you wish to the sauce to cook for about 10 minutes.

Suggestions for green curry: chicken, shrimp, or tofu and green beans, eggplant, zucchini and fresh basil leaves for a garnish. Serve with basmati rice.

Sautéed chicken with kohlrabi and peas CSA Share Week 3

This recipe makes use of the garlic scapes, chives, kohlrabi and shell peas in my sharebox. For the sake of time, I’ve abandoned the mise en place approach I usually follow and used the time the chicken requires to cook to prepare the other ingredients. I had planned to make something with chicken thighs in my freezer, so I placed them in the refrigerator the day before to thaw. With a little forethought and working without distraction, this dish can be on the table in 20 minutes, and you will also have time to assemble a simple side salad (perhaps a beet salad if you cooked your beets the day before.)

Serves 4

Ingredients
4-6 boneless and skinless chicken thighs
1 Tbsp olive oil
2-3 garlic scapes
1/2 -3/4 cup chicken or vegetable stock as needed
1-2 Tbsp fresh chives
1 large or two medium kohlrabi
1 cup fresh peas
salt and pepper

Procedure
Using paper towels, pat dry the chicken and season both sides with salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil on medium high in a nonstick skillet. Add the chicken. While the chicken is browning, chop the garlic scapes and chives, then add to the pan. Turn the chicken and add ¼ cup of the chicken stock.

While the chicken continues to cook, peel the kohlrabi, cut it into quarters, and then slice thinly. Add the kohlrabi slices to the chicken. Shake the pan to ensure the kohlrabi is in contact with the bottom of the pan. You may also need to add a little more stock at this time.

While the chicken and kohlrabi continue to cook, shell the peas. Add the peas to the pan. You may also need to add a little more stock at this time. Cover, reduce the heat to medium, and cook until the chicken juices are clear and the Kohlrabi is tender. Check for seasoning and serve.

About Kohlrabi. Kohlrabi is part of the cabbage family. The part we eat is the bulbous stalk, although the leaves are also edible. It is crisp and mild in flavor.

Kitchen Notes: In my recipes, the amount of fresh vegetables noted in the ingredients list is a guideline. If you are using frozen peas, you can easily measure 1 cup exactly. When using the produce from your sharebox, you may have 2/3 cup peas or 1-1/2 cup peas. Whatever you have will work.

Beet Greens with Raisins and Nuts Over Soft Polenta, CSA Sharebox Week 3

Greens such as beet greens, spinach, chard, sorrel, kale and others are among the first and very abundant types of produce available in the spring, so I find them in my sharebox regularly. That means coming up with a variety of recipes for enjoying them.

Four servings

Ingredients
For the Polenta
1 Tbsp butter
4 cups water
1 cup cornmeal
1/3 cup hard or semi soft cheese such as a Wensleydale or a Farmhouse Jack
salt to taste

For the Greens
1/3 cup raisins or dried cranberries (soaked in hot water for 10 minutes to soften)
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts (or other nuts, such as hazelnuts, chopped)
1 pound beet greens (washed and stems removed)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
salt and black pepper

To make the polenta, bring the water and butter to a boil and slowly add the cornmeal. Reduce the heat to low and stir and cook until the polenta is very thick and leaves the sides of the pan. Add the cheese, and check for seasoning.

To prepare the greens, fry the nuts until they begin to turn a golden color. Add the beet greens and garlic, turning quickly just until the greens wilt. Drain and add the raisins. Season with salt and pepper. Serve on top of the polenta.

Composed Beet Salad, CSA Sharebox Week 3

In a recent post, I used the leaves from my beets in a mixed greens stir fry but I saved the beet roots for later. The following recipe for a beet salad is beautiful when composed on a large serving platter or individual plates. The beets glisten like jewels, and their earthy sweetness is balanced by the tartness of the dressing and the saltiness of the other ingredients.

Four servings

Ingredients
2 pounds beet roots
1 clove of garlic
pinch of salt
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp olive oil
4-6 cups mixed leafy and peppery lettuces
12 Pitted and halved calamata olives
a wedge of parmesan cheese

Procedure

Cook the beet by placing them in a covered baking dish with some water. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes for small beets to an hour or longer for large ones. Once the beets are tender, place them in a bowl of cold water. Then you can remove the skins. Quarter the beets and set aside while you make the dressing. ( That step can be done the day before)

Make the dressing. Using a mortar and pestle, mash the garlic clove with the salt until you have a paste. Add the lemon juice and then the oil, whisking continuously. Pour this dressing over the beets and place in the refrigerator for an hour. When you are ready to serve, arrange lettuce on a large serving platter, then distribute the beets and their dressing on top. Scatter the olives around and finally, using a vegetable peeler, shave strips of parmasan cheese evenly over the salad.

About Beets: Beet roots provide many important nutrients including folate, manganese, potassium, fiber, vitamin C, magnesium, tryptophan, iron, copper, and phosphorus. A cup of cooked beets is about 75 calories and has about 3 grams of fiber. Learn more about beets

Lowfat Buttermilk Scones for Strawberry Shortcake

I mentioned the incredible strawberries we received this week by special order. I prefer a biscuit- type of shortcake over sponge cake or angle food cake. Here's a quick and easy and lowfat recipe that I made for a potluck on Friday night.

Makes about 10 individual shortcakes.

Ingredients
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1/4 cup sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 egg beaten
1 cup buttermilk
3-1/2 Tbsp melted butter
additional sugar

Procedure
Preheat the over to 400 degrees and lightly grease a baking sheet.

Combine the dry ingredients. Combine the wet ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and fold together gently until you have a springy sticky batter. Use an ice cream scoop to drop the batter into mounds on the baking sheet. Sprinkle with sugar and bake for 12-15 minutes. Serve warm with strawberries and whipped cream.

Curried Goat Stew with Herbed Rice, CSA Sharebox Week 2

No, a goat did not come in the share box this week. But the next best thing: While waiting for my husband at Home Depot this weekend, I walked over to the North Atherton farmers market set up in the parking lot. The first stall was selling goat meat (I know their web site does not mention goats, but it's them). I had to try it.

This Jamaican-inspired recipe also makes use of the green onions, cauliflower, and herbs I received in my weekly share. The key to tender goat is cooking it at a low temperature.

Serves 4

Ingredients
1 pound cubed goat meat (or you can use pork or lamb)
1Tbsp curry powder
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 clove garlic, minced
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp salt
½ tsp ground black pepper
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
½ cup chopped celery
½ cup chopped onions
1-1/2 cup vegetable or chicken stock
1 bay leaf
1 cup sweet potato or yam, cubed
1 cup cauliflower, separated into florets
1 cup basmati rice
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp each, minced fresh herb: cilantro, dill, mint


Procedure
Combine the goat meat with the curry power, red pepper flakes, garlic, cinnamon, salt, and pepper. Ensure each piece of meat is coated. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven on medium-low heat and then add the meat, browning on all sides. Remove the meat to a dish and set aside, then cook the onions and celery until tender. Return the meat to the pot along with the stock and bay leaf. Simmer covered on low for an hour.

After an hour add the sweet potatoes and cook for 15 more minutes.

Now is a good time to cook the rice. To 1 cup of rice add 2 cups of water and 1/2 tsp salt, bring to a boil, cover and lower the temperature to low. When the rice is done, fluff with a fork, then finish with the butter and herbs.

After the sweet potatoes have been cooking for about 15 minutes, add the cauliflower. Cook for another 10-15 minutes until everything is fork-tender. Serve with the rice.

This recipe is dedicated to my friend Naana who told me how she misses goat meat, a common ingredient in her native country Ghana.

Why did the ram run over the cliff?
Answer: ...He didn't see the ewe turn.