Say Yes to Salad » weekend herb blogging

Golden Beets & Wheat Berries (Weekend Herb Blogging, Macrobiotic)

Maggie — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 02:17:51 +0000

I think I misspoke in my last post! I didn’t mean that I can’t have any fruit on the macrobiotic diet – I can have some (I’m thinking 1 piece a day is a good goal). Currently I eat at least 5-6 pieces per day so it’s hard for me to cut back to just one. You’re also not really supposed to have citrus fruit, which is why I mentioned the oranges. Sorry for all of the confusion.

I made this macrobiotic (I think? Correct me if it’s not please!) dish for dinner last night with some delicious Golden Beets that I picked up at the farmers’ market yesterday morning. I’m entering this recipe to Weekend Herb Blogging, hosted this week by Cheryl @ Gluten Free Goodness. My “herb” is Golden Beets – a beautiful, golden-orange variety of the more common red beet.

Golden Beets & Wheat Berries

Ingredients

3 medium golden beets
~1 cup bean sprouts
1-2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1/3 cup dry wheat berries – cooked this comes to almost a cup
turmeric, chili powder, garlic powder (no salt)
freshly ground sea salt (optional), to taste
a splash of apple cider vinegar, which I actually forgot, but it would be really good

Directions

Cook the wheat berries. This can be done in advance.
Chop the beets into ~1cm cubes. Save the greens for later – they can be cooked like any other greens!
Steam the beets, sprouts, and ginger for about 10 minutes or until the beets are tender.
Reheat the wheat berries and mix them together with the steamed veggies, spices, and vinegar.

This dish is really good, as long as you like beets. Beets are definitely a rather odd vegetable, and I had never had golden ones before. I liked them a lot – they’re a little bit sweeter than the normal dark red variety, and make for much easier cleanup – no staining! Bobby does not like beets but he did like the wheat berries and sprouts.

Other macrobiotic meals I’ve had… Breakfast (heart healthy 3/4 c. oatmeal with a few T raisins, miso soup, and tea which I had afterwards).

Snacky lunch thing (heart healthy oatmeal with cinnamon, lots of sauteed beet greens, organic farmers’ market salsa, and the rest of the beets & wheat berries – unpictured).

Do you like beets? Have you ever tried the Golden kind?

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Okra Squash Shrimp “Gumbo”

Maggie — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 18:16:02 +0000

I’m submitting this recipe to Weekend Herb Blogging, hosted by Valentina of Trembom – English Version, and created by Kalyn of Kalyn’s Kitchen. My herb of choice – OKRA!

I made a delicious and light version of “gumbo” for dinner the other night. It was kind of a clean-out-the-refrigerator gumbo, but it was so good!

Okra Squash Shrimp “Gumbo”

Ingredients

3 cups chopped okra
1-2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cloves of garlic, crushed and chopped
1-2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 cup green beans, chopped
1/4 of a butternut squash (about 1.5 cups, peeled and chopped)
1 cup spaghetti sauce
1.5 cups water
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
black pepper, to taste
1.5 cups frozen shrimp, thawed (just let them sit in water for a few minutes; when the water gets cold keep replacing it)

Directions

Saute the okra over medium heat in 1-2 teaspoons of olive oil for 8-10 minutes. Set aside.
In a medium or large pot, saute the onions and garlic over medium-high heat in 1-2 teaspoons of olive oil for 3-4 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and add the okra, beans, squash, tomato sauce, and water. Mix well. Add the spices and let it cook, uncovered, for 15 minutes.
Add the shrimp and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
Serve with rice, salad, or topped with yogurt.

Sauteed okra:

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Mint Chutney (Weekend Herb Blogging)

magpie — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 22:08:00 +0000

I’m submitting this recipe to this week’s Weekend Herb Blogging, hosted by Ulrike of Kuchenlatein and created by the lovely Kalyn of Kalyn’s Kitchen.

Mint is a fabulous herb. Interesting mint fact: it’s known as a “companion plant” – one that repels bad insects and attracts good ones.

Mint chutney is the perfect accompaniment to fresh ciabatta bread, a tomato and cheddar sandwich, potatoes, naan, yogurt, fresh fruit salad, and pretty much anything you can think of! Ever since Bobby brought home a container of mint chutney from the farmers’ market, I’d been dying to try to make my own version of it. Here’s my attempt – it came out really well. The mix of mint, apple, and ginger is completely divine. I used raw honey as the sweetener and it really added a nice warm flavor.

My mini blender is a bit too small to fit everything in together all at the beginning, so I just continually added the ingredients as they would fit (you get more room as you blend the ingredients). You can use more or less water as needed – just know that you can always add, but never subtract. Try to pulse the blender and judge how much more liquid you need to make this a smooth/creamy (but not watery!) spread.

Mint Chutney

Ingredients
1 bunch of mint (about 3 cups)
1/3 medium onion
1 tiny apple (probably the equivalent to 1/2 medium apple)
2 tablespoons grated ginger
1/2 – 1 teaspoon of chili powder (to your taste)
salt and pepper, to taste
1 teaspoon honey
2-3 tablespoons water (I used a little more than 2)
juice from 1/2 lime
juice from 1/4 lemon
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Directions
Mix everything in a blender and puree until smooth. Add more or less water as needed to make this the consistency of your choice.

Enjoy! It’s best fresh

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Baby Artichokes (Weekend Herb Blogging)

magpie — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 04:40:00 +0000

This post is being submitted to Weekend Herb Blogging, hosted this week by Marija from Palachinka and created by the lovely Kalyn of Kalyn’s Kitchen.

Baby artichokes are, in fact, the same variety as the full-sized artichokes. They are fully mature, but they are picked from the bottom of the artichoke plant.

If you carefully trim them, you can actually eat the entire baby artichoke whole (without having to deal with pulling off the meat with your teeth). You simply trim the bottom of the stem, pull off the few lower leaves, and trim off about 1/2 inch from the top (getting rid of the tough top parts of the outer leaves).

I decided to leave mine whole, because I like the ritual of peeling and eating an artichoke – but if you’re looking for a sophisticated and easy addition to a pasta dish, definitely try trimming them before cooking – you’ll be in for a treat.

Some other ways of cooking baby artichokes are: microwaving, sauteing, grilling, and boiling. Here is a great site that has more information on these little cuties.

Steamed Baby Artichokes

Ingredients
Baby Artichokes
Water, for steaming
Juice from 1/2 lemon
2-3 tablespoons of butter, melted (for dipping)

Directions
Cut off the very bottom of the artichoke stem. Steam the artichokes with water and lemon juice for up to 20 minutes. They should be quite tender at this point. Dip the leaves in melted butter and pull away the meat with your teeth. Eat the heart whole.

Baby artichokes are fantastic because they are so tender, and the center is so easy to get to! The heart is most of the artichoke, unlike normal-sized artichokes. You don’t have to make a terrible effort to get to the best part. Enjoy!

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Watermelon Blue Cheese Salad and WHB – amazing.

magpie — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 03:19:00 +0000

After seeing watermelon salads pop up on several of the blogs that I follow, I decided I had to make my own. I picked up crumbled blue cheese at Milk Pail Market for $1.20 (this place is ridiculous!) and went to work… I served it on Sunday for Bobby, my brother, his girlfriend, and my old housemate, Paul. I think Paul loved it He kept saying how he should eat over here more often. I made another version last night with orange bell peppers instead of tomatoes – it was good, but not as good as the tomato version!

Since this dish is completely dependent on a good watermelon, I’m submitting it to this week’s Weekend Herb Blogging, hosted by Archana of Archana’s Kitchen and created by the lovely Kalyn of Kalyn’s Kitchen.

Watermelon Blue Cheese Salad

Ingredients
1/3 of a large watermelon, chopped
1 large red tomato, chopped
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions
1. Mix together the watermelon, tomato, and cilantro.
2. In a separate bowl, mix together the vinegar and cheese. Mix just enough so that the vinegar starts to become creamy, but there are still crumbles left.
3. Mix the dressing into the watermelon and gently toss until the dressing is distributed. Top with salt and pepper, to taste.

Another option: replace the tomato with two small orange bell peppers, chopped. Picture:

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Rosemary Roasted Vegetables and WHB

magpie — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 06:50:00 +0000

Last week I had so many veggies in my fridge that I just had to make roasted vegetables. This recipe was inspired by my mom’s roasted rosemary vegetables, but I cut way back on the potatoes. I don’t like them and always picked them out! This time I picked out the few potatoes and gave them to Bobby, who was much more receptive to them.

The key ingredient in this whole dish is the rosemary… Which is why I’m submitting this post to this week’s Weekend Herb Blogging, hosted by Simona of Briciole and created by Kalyn of Kalyn’s Kitchen. It’s a wonderful event and I encourage all of you to participate!

Without further ado…

Rosemary Roasted Vegetables

Ingredients
2 cups chopped broccoli
2 small potatoes, chopped
2 carrots, thinly sliced (these are great!)
1 orange bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons dried rosemary
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons oregano
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
dash of cinnamon (totally optional, but a great addition)
1 teaspoon each of sea salt and cracked pepper

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. Mix together all the ingredients, making sure to distribute the olive oil well.
3. Spray a baking tray with nonstick cooking spray and spread out the veggies. Roast for 25 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.
4. Enjoy plain or with a bit of balsamic vinaigrette!

I made this again tonight, but with some different veggies – zucchini, yellow summer squash, and turnips! Of course I used orange bell peppers and new CSA potatoes as well – they are fantastic roasted. My brother and his girlfriend are visiting, and we all (the boyfriend especially!) loved this dish. Enjoy

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Mei Quin Choy (Baby Bok Choy) and WHB

magpie — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 03:52:00 +0000

Last week’s CSA delivery brought many greens, including Mei Quin Choy, more commonly known as Baby Bok Choy. Bok choy is rich in vitamin C, fiber, folate (folic acid), and calcium – a true gem. Tired of the salads and stir-frys that I usually make when I have greens, I decided to try something new – roasted greens!

This is kind of a non-recipe because of its simplicity, but I thought I should post it as my entry to this week’s Weekend Herb Blogging, and because it was quite delicious. WHB is hosted this week by Pam of Sidewalk Shoes, and was started by Kalyn of Kalyn’s Kitchen.

Roasted Mei Quin Choy (Baby Bok Choy)

Ingredients (serves 2 as a small side dish)
2 heads of Mei Quin Choy
2 teaspoons olive oil

spices
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
dash of cinnamon
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions
1. Turn the broiler on high. Mix together the spices.
2. Slice each head of choy in half; brush with olive oil. Place them in a baking pan and sprinkle them with the spice mix according to your own preference. Before cooking:

3. Broil for about 10 minutes, or until the choy starts to get crispy.
4. Serve as is, or with some Asian ginger dressing – any kind will do!

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Fennel Bulgar Waldorf Salad & WHB

magpie — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 01:55:00 +0000

This post on fennel is my entry to this week’s Weekend Herb Blogging, hosted by Kalyn from Kalyn’s Kitchen.

This salad arose due to the fact that I had fresh CSA fennel sitting in my crisper, begging to be used in a new recipe. I managed to use about half of it; the other half will go into crabcakes tonight.

Fennel apparently grows year-round (according to Wikipedia), though I rarely see it in the produce section of my local stores. It has a very strong, anise-like flavor and I love it in Italian salads and soup. It pairs well with fruit but is also delicious on its own, simply dressed in some olive oil. Since I’m a bit of a linguistics nerd, here is its etymology: “from O(ld).E(nglish): fenol, finugl, from L(atin). feniculum, from fenum “hay,” probably literally “produce”. Apparently so called from its hay-like appearance and sweet odor”. Pretty cool!

I have always loved Waldorf salads – dried fruit, nuts, and apples mixed into fresh greens and topped with a savory dressing. I decided to try something a bit different this time: I’m using bulgar as the base! Though this salad lacks the greens that typically set the stage for the fruit and nuts, it was still satisfying yet light. The fennel was crisp and crunchy, and merged well with the sweetness of the apples.

Fennel Bulgar Waldorf Salad (serves 2 )

Ingredients
1/2 cup bulgar
1 cup water
dash of salt
1/3 of a sweet onion (about 1/3 cup, chopped)
1 whole apple, chopped
1/2 small bulb of fennel, very thinly sliced (about 3/4 cup)
2 tablespoons sunflower seeds
1/4 cup chopped dried berries (I used a cranberry/blueberry/strawberry mix)

dressing:
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon agave nectar
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (important!)
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions
1. Prepare the bulgar. Boil the water and a dash of salt; add the bulgar and reduce heat; let simmer for 15 minutes.
2. Whisk together the dressing ingredients. Mix everything except the bulgar together (dressing + veggies, fruit, and nuts).
3. Let the bulgar cool and then mix in to the salad. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

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Happy Birthday, Bulgar Salad, and Weekend Herb Blogging (Bacon Avocado)

magpie — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 05:43:00 +0000

Happy Birthday sweetie!

Though the day got off to a rough start, I think it ended on a good note. We got Japanese for dinner (Fuki-Sushi in Palo Alto) and Gelayo Gusto for dessert.

Today’s post is an entry to Weekend Herb Blogging, hosted this week by Astrid of Paulchen’s Food Blog.

Last week in our CSA delivery we got an interesting variety of avocado – the bacon avocado. Though initially excited about this curiously named fruit, we were slightly disappointed after the first taste. This fruit is milder than a regular avocado, and to be perfectly honest, a bit bland. Ours did not ripen properly, although I put it with bananas for an entire week (normally a fantastic way to ripen almost anything). I ended up using the avocado in the bulgur salad that I mentioned in this week’s menu plan – the salad turned out quite well, though I wish the avocado would have been more flavorful. A truly ripe avocado would have been perfect.

Apparently avocados must reach maturity while on the tree itself; but they don’t soften while they’re on the tree. The trees can actually be used as “warehouses” for avocados – the fruit can remain on them, mature but not yet ripened, for months.

Here is my recipe for bulgur salad using the bacon avocado…

Bulgur Salad

Ingredients
1.75 cups water
dash of salt
1 cup bulgur
1 small RIPE bacon avocado, chopped
1/2 cup edamame beans
1.5 cups corn
1/2 ripe mango, chopped
3/4 cup cilantro, chopped
2 tablespoons lime juice
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions
1. Boil the water and salt; add the bulgur, reduce heat to low, and simmer for about 15 minutes.
2. Fluff the bulgur with a fork and mix in the rest of the ingredients (except the salt and pepper). Finally, season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Simple and easy, but so delicious! The mangoes really add to the flavor and make this a salad that will be repeated often.

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Lemon Garlic Agretti (Weekend Herb Blogging)

magpie — Tue, 13 May 2008 00:57:00 +0000

Last week I came across a new vegetable – agretti. It’s a type of green; crunchy and fresh. It brings to my mind a skinny cactus plant, minus the prickles. I got the agretti from D&D, my CSA partners.

Agretti is reminiscent of spinach, but a bit brighter tasting. It’s more common in Italian cuisine and it’s typically grown in coastal regions. I believe it can even be watered with salt water. In Japan they call it “land seaweed”. Very interesting things to be found on Wikipedia.

This week’s host for Weekend Herb Blogging is Gay from A Scientist in the Kitchen. I hope my agretti makes the cut!

Lemon Garlic Agretti

Ingredients (Serves just one)
2 teaspoons sesame oil
3 cloves of garlic, sliced
zest from 1/2 lemon
1 bunch of agretti, washed and chopped in 1-inch lengths
juice from 1/2 lemon

Directions
1. Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the garlic; saute for 2-3 minutes or until the garlic starts to brown.
2. Add the lemon zest; cook for another minute.
3. Add the agretti and lemon juice; cook for about 10 minutes or until the agretti is soft.
4. Serve as a side dish – double, triple, etc… the recipe for more people; my bunch was only big enough for one serving, so that’s how I’m writing the recipe!

I started eating the finished agretti, then realized I had some iceberg lettuce that I needed to use up, so I chopped up the lettuce and mixed in the agretti. What a good salad idea! I wish I’d had some roasted cashews or almonds to top it off; they would have been divine.

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