Lovely Summer Salad

Every week I get a bounty of vegetables from my CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). I don't usually find out what I will bring home until I show up at the farm-- I love a good culinary mystery.

Here's what I brought home: two salads, swiss chard, beets, two different types of radishes, turnips, artichokes, broccoli, collard greens, scapes, garlic, edible flowers and snap peas. My first creation was a wonderful, refreshing, little salad made out of Beets, Daikon radishes and carrots.

Beet, Daikon, Carrot Salad(serves 6)

In a bowl combine:
1 cup of shredded Daikon Radish
1 1/2 cups of shredded raw Beets
2 cups of shredded carrots
3/4 cups of finely chopped parsley

Dressing

In a jar mix:
1 tablespoon of agave nectar
1 tablespoon of soy sauce (you can find Gluten-Free soy sauce in health-food stores)
1 tablespoon of dark toasted sesame oil
2 tablespoons of brown rice vinegar
2 cloves of garlic passed through a press

Close jar with lid and shake until combined. Pour over the salad and mix well. Refrigerate salad for at least 30 minutes. Serve nice and cold. It goes great with poultry or grilled fish.

Cream of Black Lentil Soup with Kale and Turnip Chips

I love soup. Lucky for me, no matter what the weather is outside, my family is always excited at the idea of having it for dinner. This one combines some of my favorite ingredients: lentils, Kale and some home-made turnip chips.

Black Lentil Soup with Kale and Turnip chips

for the soup:
1 tablespoon of olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 cup of finely chopped onions
1 cup of finely chopped celery
1 cup of diced carrots
1 tsp of cumin
1/2 tsp ginger powder
2 cups of kale leaves cut into thin strips (julienned)
8 cups of chicken broth (vegetarian broth okay)
2 cups of black lentils, picked over and rinsed
salt to taste
1/2 tablespoon garlic mustard (dijon is fine)
1/4 cup of finely chopped parsley

for the turnips:
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 or more small turnips, cut into paper-thin slices
salt to taste

In a large size pot warm the olive oil for the soup. Add the garlic, until oil becomes slightly fragrant. Add the onions, celery, and carrots. Saute under medium heat, stirring once in a while, until mixture caramelizes a bit (light brown color) and add the cumin and ginger. Combine with a spatula. Add kale, chicken broth, black lentils. Bring to a boil and simmer covered for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Add 1/2 tablespoon of garlic dijon mustard (plain dijon is fine too). Carefully taste and adjust for salt. Blend the soup with an immersion blender until desired consistency.


In a nonstick pan on medium heat, add 2 tablespoon of olive oil. When oil is ready, add the slices of turnip in batches. Cook each batch until the turnip starts to golden on the edges. Turn them over for a minute or so on the other side. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel and salt to taste. Those chips add a wonderful flavor to this soup-- You might want to make some extra ones for any leftover soup.

Serve the soup in a bowl and garnish with the turnip chips and some fresh parsley on top.

What I do When I am not Cooking

As much as I love spending one on one time with my food, I have to admit that I do other things besides invent, explore, and discover recipes. Here's a picture of my latest art project an altered mini box (this is the top view). I started out with an Altoid box and then used a variety of materials to make it my own. I made a handsewn mini book to place inside.
This started out as a group project when some of my friends and I gathered for an informal art day. All of our kids made a box as well. There was so much creativity that the next day was followed by endless thunder and a downpour of rain worthy of the best deluge. Oh, wait... maybe that was the oppressive heat not the creativity.

Happy 4th of July!

Friends-Family-Good Food- Fireworks
Have a Wonderful 4th of July!

Breakfast is Served

I am one of those people who goes to sleep longingly thinking about how wonderful breakfast will be. As I am saying goodbye to yet another day, the smell of fresh brewed coffee is alive and real in my mind. I think it's fair to say that there are two types of people in the world: the ones that dream up their breakfast while falling asleep the night before and the ones who could skip breakfast all together. Which one are you?

Baked goods have always been a big part of my life. I went straight from formula to Baguettes and Croissants. Overtime, my repertoire and nutritional knowledge increased and as a result I turned to whole-grains. So when I recently found out my health required me to erase wheat from my diet, it took some playtime to make it work for me. The strange fact is that I don't miss wheat at all. I am still puzzled as to how something so important to me could be so irrelevant now. This restriction has propelled me into a creative adventure, and in there lies my salvation: I enjoy a good challenge-- especially when it involves food.

Banana Chocolate Mini Muffins (makes about 21 mini-muffins or 12 regular)

Those muffins are delightful for a snack or breakfast. I make them once week. The almond meal gives them a feathery, delicate taste and the banana is not too overpowering. The flours used are Gluten-Free but it's always a good idea to check the ingredient list on the other components as well.

Oven
Preheat over 375F

In one bowl combine with a whisk:
1 cup Sorghum Flour
1/2 cup of Brown Rice Flour
1/2 cup of White Rice Flour
1/2 cup of Tapioca Flour
1/2 cup of Almond Meal
2 tsp of Baking Powder
1/4 tsp of Salt

In another bowl mix well:
1/4 cup of Canola Oil
4 oz of Unsweetened Applesauce
1 Large Egg
1/3 cup of Egg White (or another Whole Egg)
1/3 cup of Brown Rice Syrup (Or Agave Nectar or Honey)
1/4 cup of Vanilla Soy Milk or Regular Milk
1 tsp of Vanilla Extract
2 large very ripe Bananas, mashed to a smooth paste

Measure:
1/2 cup of chocolate chips

Combine the wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients. Mix until barely combined. Add the reserved chocolate chips. Divide the batter into pre-oiled muffin pans. I used two regular muffin pans and filled the cups half the usual amount which yielded 21 mini-muffins. If you would rather have normal size muffins, fill a 12 muffin pan with the batter instead.
Bake for 20-30 minutes (depends on oven), checking after 20 minutes by inserting a toothpick in the center of muffin. It should come out clean.

From the Farm to my Table

We spent the day at our CSA yesterday. It was so beautiful and relaxing. The kids got the scoop on how things get done in the barn, a hay ride and the pleasure of fresh strawberries still warm from the sun.
I love getting this bounty of veggies every week: the colors, the smells and the taste of it all. This week lot was fresh spinach, beets, radishes, salad greens, turnips, cilantro, broccoli, artichokes, and snap peas. We snacked on the peas right away, focusing on their sweetness, the perfect crunch and how lucky we were to experience such delight. One of my daughters exclaimed: "These are so sweet, we should give those out on Halloween!" Won't we be the most popular house on the block...

Once we were back at home, I started to prepare my treasures for immediate use and food storage. It takes me about two hours every time to sort, wash, and prep our share for the week. I don't mind though and I have grown to enjoy the moment. This ritual is a wonderful therapy-- the perfect communion between myself and the food I feed my family.

Last night we feasted on:
Beet Salad, with Beet Greens and Walnut Sauce
Radish, Goat Milk Feta Salad with Olives and Parsley
Roasted Garlic Broccoli
Pickled Red Onions
Coarse Sea Salt, to taste

We all marveled as the conversation flowed freely around the food, our day, and the firework of flavors painting our plates. It was a perfect ending to an even more perfect day.



Radish Feta Salad with Olives and Parsley

This salad is wonderful: the embodiment of Summer. The cheese and dressing mellow out the spiciness of the radishes. You'll still feel a hint of it but it's delightfully balanced by the creaminess of the Feta.

1 1/2 cups of thinly sliced radishes
1/4 cup of goat (cow is fine too) Feta cheese
1/4 cup of slices Kalamata olives
1/2 cup of finely chopped parsley
1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoon of high quality olive oil

Place the radishes in a medium size bowl
Crumble the Feta on top
Add the olives and parsley
Sprinkle the lemon juice directly on top, then the olive oil
Salt to taste.
Mix well to combine and let stand in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Worthy Read

It has been hot as hell here, which means that about the only thing I feel like doing is reading. I have been making my way through Gluten-Free Girl by Shauna James Ahern--more like inhaling it actually. Shauna is the author of an awesome blog: Gluten-Free Girl. I am already 2/3 of the way done and I just started it two days ago. It makes for a very interesting read even for people who are not Celiacs. In the book, she discusses her journey from suffering without a diagnosis to embracing the discovery that she had Celiac Disease. She writes in a fun, light, friendly and yet passionate manner about her love for food, and how it was expended and not limited by her health. Seattle has a lot to offer food-wise and she brings it home to you in a delightful way.