Finally Back! Shaved Root Vegetable Salad With Scallions

I'm back- yes, it has been a long time since I last posted in August!  The only excuse/explanation I have is that life got busy with kids gearing up to start school, then the holidays, and the next thing I know, here we are, 7 months later and halfway through the school year!  I know I never did finish my 3-part series on zucchini, and it's just as well- there I got tired of it myself, and besides that, I already posted my favorites here.  So, I am trying to get back on the bandwagon.  Cooking, yes, and documenting.  Call it a late New Year's resolution.

So, it's March, and this part of the world is only just beginning to wake up from the dead of winter.  I was out for a walk yesterday, and the promise of spring is out there- buds on trees, bulb shoots sprouting from the cold ground, and warmer (if only slightly) temperatures.  Here in Oregon, it will be another month at least until spring can be declared officially arrived, and it will be awhile yet after that before we see the results of that on the grocery store shelves.  Whatever faint signs we see of spring now, we are still deep in winter when it comes to available produce.  This last month has been difficult, as prices for most foods have increased sharply, and I have felt it the hardest in the produce department.  Broccoli, which I usually buy for between $1.79 and $1.99 per pound, is up to $2.79 per pound.  Even celery, usually a good, cheap staple, was twice as much last time I was at the store than it usually is!  Don't even get me started on lettuce....no way can I fathom paying $2.59 for a skinny head of romaine lettuce.  As such, salads are NOT happening much at my house these days!  Well, not green salads, anyway.  I have a nice winter salad to share today that is all at once seasonal, tasty, and economical, as well as a little bit different.

 

 

This salad is adapted from this Shaved Rutabega and Turnip Salad with Scallions from Fine Cooking magazine, posted on the Bitten Word blog a few weeks ago.  I love these guys!  They cook recipes they find in cooking magazines and then blog about them, giving honest reviews and occasionally suggestions on how to make them better.  After seeing that blog post, I picked up a turnip on impulse one day at the grocery store, but nixed the rutabega because, well, I don't know why.  Except maybe because turnips are prettier.  They taste fairly similar to me, and I didn't want a glut of them, so just got the one turnip.  And there it sat in my fridge, until clean-out day came this past weekend.  I had gone to Costco and the grocery store and loaded up on goodies, so took out all of my produce and spread it out on the counter to see what needed to be used most urgently before it went bad.  That'll teach me to shop more carefully- turns out that I had a TON of broccoli!  I bought ahead, fearing another price hike, then hit a big sale where it was actually back down to its regular price, so bought more at that price, and ended up with way too much.  So I made a broccoli soup and two pans of roasted veggies, some of which I used in a nice couscous salad.  But I digress. There was this turnip, staring me in the face as if to say "you've had me for nearly a month- when is it going to be MY TURN???"  Remembering the salad from the BW blog, I set about to make a similar salad with what I had.  I found a largeish carrot and a handful of big radishes, and figured I'd make a take-off of the Fine Cooking recipe.  I used a vegetable peeler to shave paper-thin slices of the turnip and carrot, and a regular knife to slice the radishes as thinly as possible.  The rest of the salad came together very easily: a simple dressing of mustard, rice wine vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper, and a sprinkling of chopped scallions.  The result is a delicately crunchy raw vegetable salad with a bright, tangy flavor, a nice departure from the typical heavier taste of braised or roasted vegetables.

The only thing I would do differently again is to do a better job measuring my ingredients.  I tend to eyeball things, and as such, sometimes get it wrong.  I substituted stone-ground mustard for the dijon that the recipe called for, and that was fine...but I used too much.  I also added too much of the chopped scallions, which were very  strong to begin with. The delicate flavors of the root vegetables were a bit overpowered by both the mustard and scallions.  I still enjoyed this salad, but now that I know what a delicate balance it is between the vegetables and dressing, I will more carefully measure next time.

 

 

Shaved Root Vegetable Salad With Scallions

Adapted from Fine Cooking, via the Bitten Word Blog

1 medium turnip, peeled
1 large carrot, peeled
About 6-8 large radishes
2 medium scallions, thinly sliced
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1/2 tsp stone ground mustard
3 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

1.  Slice turnip in half.  Use vegetable peeler or mandoline to shave paper-thin slices from the cut ends.  When you reach the point when you can't shave any more without also shaving off your fingertips, place the turnip piece on the cut edge on a cutting board and continue to shave slices off until you have sliced as much of the turnip as possible.  Use a knife to thinly slice the remainder.

2.  Shave thin strips from the carrot in about 2 inch sections.

3.  Slice radishes in half and then slice as thinly as possible with a knife.

4.  Combine shaved vegetables in a large bowl.

5.  Whisk together vinegar, mustard, olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Pour over vegetables.  Add sliced scallions and toss to incorporate well.

6.  Serve at room temperature or refrigerate and serve cold.

Fiesta Black Bean Salad

Well, we've had a taste of summer..had a couple of days that were in the mid-80s, but nothing to write home about just yet.  Still, I'm gearing up for summer cooking, which means grilled meats and veggies, and lots, LOTS, of salads.  All kinds of salads- not just the tossed greens variety!  I've spent years experimenting with different types of salads, and while I'm always searching for new ideas, we definitely have our favorites here.  This one is my husband's favorite.  I have been making this for at least 10 years, possibly longer.  I remember bringing it to a 4th of July potluck when my daughter was just a baby, and she is almost 12 now!  In any case, it is delicious and stands the test of time.  Most importantly, it is very easy to put together, and pretty darned healthy too!  It's a great side for grilled meats, or alongside any Mexican-themed dinner.  This past weekend, we went camping, and I made it to accompany grilled chicken tacos.  Packed with beans, corn, and bold flavors, it stands well on its own as well.  I sometimes mix this with pasta if I need to stretch it to feed a crowd, but it is equally good and hearty without the pasta.  This is best if it has a few hours to marinate before serving.

Mexican Fiesta Bean Salad
Servings: at least 6

2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed well
1 can shoepeg corn, drained
about 1/2 cup prepared fresh salsa, either homemade or store-bought (such as Rojo's), drained of excess liquid
4 green onions, sliced thinly
about 1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Dressing:
1/4 cup lime juice
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp Mojito Lime seasoning (made by McCormick.  I am not affiliated with McCormick, I just like their grill seasonings.  If you can't fnd this, substitute a mixture of garlic powder, red pepper, and dried grated citrus peel.)
1 large clove garlic, minced
3 tbsp vegetable oil
Salt/pepper to taste

1.  Combine drained and rinsed black beans and corn in a large bowl.  Add  drained salsa, cilantro, and green onions and toss to mix.  Set aside.

2.  In a small bowl, whisk together lime juice, seasonings, and vegetable oil.

3.  Pour dressing over bean salad and toss to incorporate.  Allow to sit in refrigerator for at least an hour before serving.

Linguini With Prosciutto and Peas, For One

Life is so crazy busy these days, I barely have time to cook, let alone remember to snap pictures of what I do cook!  This has been another one of those weeks with more take-out than I would like.  My daughter has had extra dance rehearsals in preparation for their upcoming recital, and three nights in a row for 2 weeks is taking its toll!  Yesterday, I ended up getting take-out pizza for the kids, but didn't partake myself because I'm really trying to watch what I eat.  I did not even have time for dinner before we had to leave for dance class, so I was starving by the time we got home after 8pm.  I threw this dinner together for myself in about 15 minutes, and I can't decide what made it more delicious- the fresh peas I picked up from the farmer's market on Wednesday, or the fact that I was so danged hungry that ANYTHING would taste good!  Seriously, this is some great comfort food, and not *too* bad on the diet.  I looked for whole grain linguini in the grocery store, but could only find spaghetti, and really felt that a thicker noodle would be best in this one, so went with regular linguini here.  Seems like a trip to Trader Joe's is in order- I bet they have some variety of whole grain linguini!


Linguini with Prosciutto and Peas

I made one serving of this, and I didn't measure anything so for more, increase the ingredients.  It's ok, I trust you. ;)

Ingredients:

- Dry linguini noodles, whole grain if you can find them.  I don't know how much.  Enough for one nice bowl.
- About 3/4 cup freshly shelled peas.  Use frozen if you can't get ahold of fresh.
- 2 slices prosciutto, fat from edges removed, chopped
- 2 green onions, sliced thinly
- Olive oil- a drizzle or two
- Splash of half-n-half
- Squeeze of fresh lemon juice from a small lemon wege3
- Freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.  However much you want.  Or however much you can get away with without feeling guilty, but still enough to make you feel like you are getting a treat after a very very long day.
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Handful of chopped parsley.  I didn't have any, but I was thinking how very lovely this dish would have been if I did.

1.  Heat salted water over high heat to boiling and add linguini.  Cook according to package directions.  Mine took about 10 minutes to al dente.

2.  In the last minute of cooking, throw the peas into the water with the noodles.  Cook 1 minute, then remove from heat and strain noodles and peas.

3.  Return pot to burner and reduce heat to medium.  Drizzle a little olive oil and add prosciutto.  Stir and cook a minute or  two, just until it gets a little color on it.

4.  Add noodles and peas back to pot, along with half and half.  Heat until a little bubbly, then add salt, pepper, and cheese, reserving a little for garnish.  Add green onions, toss to incorporate.

5.  Serve with additional cheese on top.  And parsley if you have it.  Enjoy with a glass of wine as you think about how 3 days in a row of dance class really is too much, and maybe you've lost your mind since you already signed your daughter up for more of it for the entire summer.

UPDATE 5/20/12: Pictures!  I made this dish again today, this time with some whole-grain linguini I found at another grocery store, and I also added a little squeeze of lemon juice, which really brightened up the flavors!  I've added that onto the ingredients listed in the recipe.

Curried Couscous Salad

Ever have one of those weeks (or two, or three) that is just non-stop activity, where you barely have time to breathe, much less cook?  That's how it has been around my house for the past couple of weeks.  The closer we get to the end of the school year, the more we seem to have going on.  This past week was absolutely crazy!  I did not cook a single family meal all week, unless you count the one night I scrambled a few eggs for my son on his way out the door to youth group and reheated leftover spagetti sauce for my daughter.  I will admit to having those weeks when we rely on take-out, even though it is expensive and pretty unhealthy.

Today, I have had a little time to breathe (and cook), so have spent a couple of hours in the kitchen prepping some foods for the coming week and cooking a few things for lunches.  I have sliced some lean pork for stir-fry, and mixed up some ground chicken for kefta meatballs, along with tzatziki.  I decided to make a salad to go along side the meatballs, and dug a recipe out of my file for Curried Couscous and Garbanzo Bean Salad, which I found on Epicurious a couple of years ago.  The first time I made it, I did according to the recipe, however, this time I made some of my own modifications.  The original recipe calls for cooking the vegetables in curry-spiced water, but I decided to roast mine instead.  I added the curry powder to the dressing, which makes for a lighter, less intense curry flavor, but still very tasty.  If I were to do this again, I would probably toast the curry powder in a pan before adding it to the dressing.  The original recipe calls for this, and I meant to do it myself, but forgot.  I did not have any fresh ginger, so used powdered ginger instead.  Finally, instead of the white wine vinegar that the recipe calls for, I used a mixture apple cider vinegar and lemon juice.  It works just fine, but feel free to use white wine vinegar if you want.

Curried Couscous Salad
Adapted from Bon Appetit, June 2004 via Epicurious.com
Makes about 6 servings

6 cups vegetables, cut into bite sized pieces (I used carrots, cauliflower, asparagus, and onions)
1 tbsp vegetable or olive oil
1 10 oz box plain couscous, prepared according to package directions
1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
4-5 green onions, thinly sliced
1 cup crumbled feta cheese

Dressing:
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup olive oil
 2 tbsp curry powder
1/4 tsp ground ginger
Salt and pepper to taste

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Spread vegetables on a baking sheet and drizzle with oil.  Mix to coat vegetables.  Roast 10 mintues, stir, and roast another 5 minutes or until vegetables are just tender.

2.   Toast curry powder in a pan over medium heat for a minute or so, or until fragrant.  Place in a bowl and add vinegar, lemon juice, ginger, and olive oil.  Whisk or stir to incorporate.

3.  Place cooked couscous in a large bowl and fluff with a fork to separate and break up any clumps.  Add vegetables and garbanzo beans and toss toss gently.

4.  Drizzle dressing over salad, add salt and pepper to taste and toss gently to incorporate.  Cool to room temperature.  Add green onions and feta cheese and toss.

Serve either at room temperature or chilled.  The flavors will meld and become a little more intense with time in the refrigerator.

Spring Scramble

I know that technically spring started last month, but here in the Pacific Northwest, it doesn't *really* start until early to mid-April.  We still get a lot of weather waffling- one day will be in the 60s, and the next we have a high of 45 degrees.  I am happy to report that spring seems to finally be here, although still a bit tentatively.  The temperature varies, but everything is in bloom, promising that one of these days soon, we can finally put away our coats and boots!

My and my husband's wedding anniversary was this week- on Monday the 9th, to be exact.  It was 18 years for us- seems like such a long time, but at the same time, it seems like just last week!  We usually try to take a weekend away together for our annivesrary- it was a tradition we started on our very first anniversary, which we spent in Coos Bay, Oregon, back in 1995.  We vowed then to always take a trip, however short, to force ourselves to take time out to appreciate our marriage and each other.  It has worked out well, and we have enjoyed some very nice and memorable weekends together doing just that.  Last year was really special- we went to Manzanita, a small town on the north Oregon coast just south of Cannon Beach.  Manzanita is a very small, quaint town, and just perfect for celebrating a low-key occasion.

On our last day there, we had breakfast at a local bakery called Bread and Ocean, which was just up the road from the hotel where we stayed.  They had incredible baked goods, and also sandwiches and select breakfast specials.  I ordered their egg special of the day, an egg scramble with spring vegetables.  It was a simple dish with complex flavors, and I was blown away.  Eggs were scrambled with tender asparagus, peas, and fresh herbs, and served over a bed of baby arugula, with a touch of cheese.  The proportions were such that there were more veggies than eggs, which made the dish feel completely guilt-free!  The dish was fantastic no matter what- it was the perfect balance of soft egg, tender spring vegetables, and tangy cheese.  It stayed with me for weeks, and I vowed to make something similar at home.  Of course, life intervened, and I never got the chance before summer arrived.  Now, however, here we are in April again, and since our anniversary just passed, I began thinking again of those delicious green spring vegetables mixed with delicate eggs.  Time to finally, FINALLY re-create that experience at home.

I made this dish using what I already had at home, which meant substituting fresh spinach for the arugula.  I think either works in this dish, however, I do think the arugula holds up to the heat a bit better, as it is a hardier green.  The spinach did wilt on me a bit- and that is ok- but when I had this dish in Manzanita, I enjoyed the fact that the arugula stood up to the heat of the eggs when served with them hot out of the pan.  As with the original, I used asparagus and peas (frozen), and I decided to add some mushrooms since they were in the fridge.  I do not recall what kind of cheese was used by Bread and Ocean, but I used Gruyere, as I think that goes so nicely with asparagus.  For herbs, I added chopped chives from my garden, since that is all that is sprouting at the moment (apart from the rosemary, which has taken over my herb garden and needs to be trimmed, but I digress.)  The result is a very nice light, fresh, springy dish that is also healthy and delicious.

Spring Scramble

Servings: 2

Ingredients:

2 tsp vegetable oil or butter
3-4 stalks asparagus, bottoms trimmed, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
4-5 mushrooms, sliced
4 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup peas (thawed if frozen)
1/3 cup grated cheese (gruyere, parmesan, etc)
1 cup fresh baby spinach or arugula
salt/pepper to taste
chopped herbs for garnish

1.  Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.  When hot, add asparagus.  Cook and stir 1-2 minutes.

2.  Add mushrooms.  Let stand in skillet 2 minutes, then stir and cook 1 minute more.  Reduce heat to low-medium.

3.  Add eggs and stir gently.  Do not allow eggs to brown- keep stirring so that they slowly congeal.

4.  When eggs are about halfway cooked, add peas, 1/2 of the cheese, and salt and pepper, and stir into eggs.  Cook about 1 minute more.

5.  When eggs are just done, remove pan from heat.  Add spinach or arugula to pan and toss with eggs to just barely warm.  Add salt/pepper as necessary.  Add remaining cheese on top.  Garnish with chopped herbs before serving.

Sweet Potato and Mushroom Casserole

I promised a side dish last time, and then I got to thinking that I hope that everyone is not tired of sweet potatoes, having just gotten through the holidays!  I am going to post it anyway, because it really is yummy.  It would be great as a side dish, or as a vegetarian main course.

This dish was inspired by a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant that used to be in downtown Salem called the Soup Cellar.  It was run by Marc, who made everything from scratch, right down to the salad dressings and sauces.  It was phenomenal food!  He operated there for several years before suffering burnout from the long hours and the high overhead cost of running a restaurant, and sold the establishment to someone else who could not hold a candle to the original, and soon went out of business.  I sure miss that place!  He had a few regular specials that he rotated on the menu, and one of them was a baked sweet potato, topped with sautéed mushrooms and onions, fresh chopped herbs, and his own yogurt-tahini sauce.  It took me awhile to work up the nerve to try it. Growing up, my experience with sweet potatoes was confined to the syrupy-sweet marshmallow-topped variety on the Thanksgiving table, which just never appealed to me.  I confessed my misgivings to Marc one day, and he assured me that I would like his sweet potato.  He was right- it was the perfect combination of sweet and savory.  I have since renounced my prejudice of sweet potatoes and have enjoyed them in a number of savory dishes, including this one, which is now a Thanksgiving staple at my house.  But the one I am sharing today, I think, has to be my favorite.

Now, I have baked sweet potatoes before and had them with the mushroom-onion sautee, and it's...fine.  It's never quite as good as Marc's was though.  One problem I have is that most of the sweet potatoes in my grocery store are way too large for a single serving.  They take a long time to bake, and then they are not practical for bringing to work for lunch because of their size.  What I wondered was if it would be possible to create a casserole dish that would incorporate these ingredients, and if it would be similar enough in flavor to the original.  I began to envision a casserole of layered thinly sliced sweet potato, baked until tender, topped with the mushroom and onion sautee.  But how to do this without drying out the sweet potato?  Perhaps a gratin?  or something along the lines of a skillet casserole, like a Pommes Anna, only with sweet potato instead of potato?  My research began.

First, I looked up sweet potato gratin recipes.  A gratin is basically a vegetable baked with a cream and/or cheese, which certainly is very flavorful, but not really what I was going for.  For one thing, I was looking to keep the fat content low for my dish, I didn't want anything saucy, and I also wanted the flavor of the sweet potatoes to be unchallenged by a sharp, tangy cheese sauce.  Next I looked at recipes for Potatoes Anna.  For this dish, thin slices of potato are layered with butter in an overlapping spiral in a skillet and cooked until the bottom slices form a crispy crust, while the slices above it cook through to become soft and tender.  Inverted onto a plate, it forms a lovely presentation, and the contrast of the crispy potato crust with the tender middle is enjoyable and delicious.  This method did solve the problem of cooking the sweet potato without the use of cream or a sauce, but again, not really what I was going for.

Still, I ran across this recipe from the New York Times for Sweet Potatoes Anna, and it looked promising.  Instead of being cooked on the stovetop in a skillet, the layered slices of sweet potato were tossed in melted butter and then layered in a round gratin dish, weighted down, and then baked at a high temperature.  Brilliant!  Tossing the sweet potato slices with melted butter keeps them from becoming dry while cooking, although it does add a lot of fat.  I thought that I could probably reduce the amount of butter and substitute with canola oil and achieve the same results.   So this recipe became the basis for my own, with some modifications, of course.  This recipe uses thyme, which reminded me of the fresh herbs that Marc used to sprinkle over the topped baked sweet potatoes, so I incorporated that into my recipe as well.

I should mention that my initial run of this dish was on quite a small scale.  Since I knew that I was the only one in my family who would eat this, I did not want to make a huge dish.  Do keep that in mind, and consider doubling or tripling the amounts to make a larger batch, as well as increasing the time in the oven.

This was a success for me- the flavor came very, very close to the memory of Marc's baked sweet potatoes.  Next time I will probably use more mushrooms and onions than I did this time.  The amount I had did cover the top of the casserole, but barely.  I think it would be better with a good inch layer of the mushroom/onion sautee.  The tahini sauce was ok, but was too thick, so I will be reworking this in the future.

Ingredients:

1 large sweet potato, peeled and sliced very thinly

2 tbsp. butter, melted

2 tbsp canola or other vegetable oil

Salt/pepper to taste

Thyme- a couple tsp fresh chopped, or couple dashes of dried

Mushrooms- about a dozen, washed and sliced.  I used regular white, but you could use a mix of different ones

1/2 of a large onion, diced

1 shallot, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp canola or vegetable oil

1 tbsp butter

Salt/pepper to taste

Instructions:

1.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2.  Place sweet potato slices in a large bowl and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Add thyme, melted butter, and oil, and toss until slices are well coated and seasonings are distributed.

3.  Spray the bottom of a 9 inch round casserole, baking dish, or oven-proof skillet with cooking spray.  (I used a Pyrex deep-dish pie dish.)

4.  Place sweet potato slices around the outside of the bottom of the dish, slightly overlapping the slices to form a ring around the outer edge of the bottom of the dish.  Then make another ring just inside the first one, slightly overlapping the outer one.  Continue adding additional rings until you reach the center, so that you have one layer of sweet potato slices covering the bottom of the dish.  Repeat with a second layer on top of the first, until you have used all of the slices.

5.  Place a sheet of foil directly on top of the sweet potatoes.  Place a baking dish or skillet slightly smaller in diameter than the one the sweet potatoes are in on top of the foil, to weigh down the sweet potatoes.

6.  Place in preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes.  Check after 15 minutes.  Sweet potatoes should be tender but not mushy.  If still too firm, bake for another 5 minutes and check again.

7.  While sweet potatoes are baking, sautee mushrooms and onions.  Heat 1 tbsp canola oil over medium-high heat in a skillet.  When hot, add onions and reduce heat to medium.  Cook 5 minutes or until onions are translucent and tender, then add mushrooms, shallots and 1 tbsp. butter, mix to incorporate with onions, and distribute over the bottom of the pan.  Do not stir for at least 2 minutes.  (This is the secret to great sauteed mushrooms- leave them alone!)  After at least 2 minutes, stir a bit with a spatula and then let them be for another minute or so.  Mushrooms should brown before each stir.  Continue to cook until most of the liquid has evaporated and add garlic, thyme, salt and pepper.  Stir and cook 1 minute, then remove from heat.  Set aside.

8.  Remove weight and foil and place back into oven, uncovered, for 10 minutes.  Sweet potatoes should begin to caramelize on top.

9.  Remove mushroom mixture from skillet using a slotted spoon and spread on top of sweet potatoes, covering them completely.  Put casserole back into the oven for 8-10 minutes, until mushroom mixture begins to bubble.  Remove from oven and rest 10 minutes.

10.  Slice into wedges.  Serve with yogurt-tahini sauce (below) to drizzle on each serving.

Yogurt-Tahini Sauce

1 cup plain yogurt

2-3 tbsp tahini (taste as you go, adding more until the balance is right)

4 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp soy sauce

Whisk all ingredients together.  Can be served immediately, but it's better if it is made ahead.  Add more liquids (more lemon juice, or water) if necessary to thin, but be careful not to add too much soy sauce or it will be too salty.

I will be posting again soon with a favorite soup recipe.  I scored a great sale yesterday at the grocery store on bone-in chicken breast halves, and that means soup!  Check back later this weekend for that one!