cucumber town.

So, it was a Saturday afternoon and I was hungry. I had cucumbers, cucumbers and more cucumbers. And some tomatoes too. I turned to Heidi Swanson and said, "Heidi, what should I do with all these cucumbers." She said, "if I were you, I'd make raita and a cucumber lime cooler." So I did. She wasn't actually here but luckily I recently got her cookbook "Super Natural Every Day," so it was pretty much like she was here. So, I made the Cucumber Lime Cooler, which I realized, after making it, that it's basically like the drink that Megan posted earlier. It's delicious. Very refreshing, and also good with a shot of Hendrick's. If you want to make something very healthy just a little unhealthy.

Next, it was time to make the Raita:

1 1/2 small cucumbers, unpeeled, halved, and seeded

1 clove garlic, peeled

1/4 tsp fine-grain sea salt

1/2 cup walnut halves, toasted and coarsely chopped

grated zest of 1/2 lemon

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

big pinch of red pepper flakes

1/4 cup plain yogurt

Shred the cucumbers using the large holes of a box grater. Squeeze out excess water and put in small bowl.

Put the garlic on the cutting board, sprinkle it with the salt, and work the garlic into a paste by chopping and smashing with a knife. Add this to the cucumber, along with the walnuts, lemon zest, lemon juice and red pepper flakes. Stir until combined, then fold in the yogurt. Set aside for a few minutes to let the flavors meld before serving.

I added a little more yogurt than the recipe called for. And I made pita chips, also from the same cookbook, which were easy and really delicious.

Highly recommended. Thank you, Heidi.

Brazil Nut Stuffed Date

Dilly Beans

From the fermentation chronicles because, hey, why stop with pickles?


What you need:
Enough beans to fill your chosen vessel
salt
whey (if you're into it)
jalapeno (again, if that's your jam)
garlic, mustard seeds, onion, pepper, and whatever other spices you want to add (but stick with whole spices as powders can get slimy)
Bruce Springsteen album (I like The River, but Born in the USA will do in a pinch)

What you do:
Cook the beans in boiling water for 2-3 minutes, until they turn bright green (or bright yellowish white, I guess). Drain and cool in a bowl with ice and water. Pack them into your vessel, along with your other spices, peppers, etc. Mix a 3.6% brine solution (1T salt per 2 C water) and pour it into your vessel. Add your whey (I'm just guessing here, but I threw in about 1T per cup of water) if you want. Put the lid on and shake it up a bit. Check the beans to make sure they're still submerged in the brine. Let the jar sit on your counter, releasing the pressure every now and again, until they're satisfactorily tasty (about a week). Throw them in the fridge where they will continue to ferment, albeit much more slowly.

Artichoke and chickpea salad

Hi, WFDM! I have been cooking a lot lately and have several recipes to share. I've been delayed due to...shameless plug coming...my new blog. Megan encouraged me to have a cute tie-in, but alas, I just couldn't stretch this recipe to be about something dog-related. Oh well. Dogs dogs dogs!

Anyway, I got this great new cookbook called Vegan Yum Yum (based on the blog by the same name) and have been working my way through it. I am normally not really a fan of chickpeas, but I actually loved this recipe. So fast and so easy!

1 T. oil
1 15-oz. can chickpeas (or non-canned ones, obvi)
5-7 artichoke hearts, drained and sliced
1/4 to 1/3 c. sliced almonds
1 t. lemon juice
Salt to taste
Fresh chopped parsley

Heat the oil in a wok or cast-iron skillet. Add the chickpeas and cook on medium-high for 10 minutes (stirring to prevent burning) until they're golden brown. I deviate from her recipe a bit here and add the artichokes directly to the pan, along with the almonds. Cook until lightly browned, then remove, put it in a bowl, add the lemon juice, parsley, and salt, and serve!

Warm summer salad

This salad recipe (like Andrea's recent post!) features some of the best summer veggies: zucchini, tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers, and corn. This salad was inspired by a similar dish my friend Kate made for me many years ago. I was impressed by how simple and flavorful it was - the fresh veggies just showcase themselves! The amount of each ingredient is not as important as the way it is prepared - I gave an estimate, but consider it very flexible.


Summer Salad, serves 4-6
One ball fresh mozzarella (optional, mild feta might also be nice)
1-2 c. cooked wild rice
2 med. zucchini
2 med. cucumbers (or 4 pickling ones, in my case)
2 ears of corn
1+ c. tomatoes, diced
2 big handfuls of green beans
fresh herb (basil or rosemary)

First dice the mozzarella, tomatoes and cucumbers and put in a large bowl with the wild rice. Add any chopped herbs.

Prep the rest of the veggies: shuck corn; trim the green beans and cut into 1-2" pieces; quarter zucchini the long way (making 4 spears), cut each spear at an angle - turning the spear 1/4 turn at each cut (this will give each piece multiple flat edges that will sear in the pan).


Using whatever steam method you use, put water on to boil for corn and green beans. When it is boiling, put corn in the steamer basket for 4 minutes, and remove. Put green beans in the basket and steam for 5 minutes, then remove. Cut corn off of cob and mix both corn and beans into the salad.


While water is heating in steamer, heat a dry cast iron pan on med-high for zucchini. In a small bowl, drizzle zucchini with olive oil and salt; toss well to coat. Once cast iron is hot, put zucchini on pan to sear in a single layer (let it sit a minute, it won't sear if you move the pieces around too fast), then toss or flip pieces to sear other edges. Add zucchini to salad and toss all ingredients well. Pour dressing over the top, and serve immediately to get a nice blend of cool and warm ingredients.

dressing:
1 part honey
1 part olive oil
1 part balsamic
stone ground mustard
salt

Potato, Green Bean and Tomato Salad

This potato salad is the best of summer. Red potatoes from the CSA, beans and basil from the farmer's market, and sun gold cherry tomatoes from the garden.

2 lbs small red potatoes, quartered
1/4 lb green beans, halved
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

Vinaigrette:
Blend 2 T. champagne vinegar, 4 T. olive oil, 1/4 cup (or more) chopped basil, 1 clove minced garlic, 1/2 t. salt

Steam potatoes until just tender, adding beans to blanch for the last minute or two of steaming. Put potatoes, beans and tomatoes in a bowl and toss with the vinaigrette.

Ginger overload

About a week ago, I got some free cabbages from a friend (thanks, Butter Nut!) and thought I would make them into kimchi. I bought a crap ton of carrots, ginger, garlic and scallions in preparation and then ... nothing. For some reason, I couldn't get over the 12-hour soaking period required by the recipe I wanted to use. Thankfully, soon came a better cabbage-fermentation idea (what's up, kraut party people?) and life went on. Except I still had a crap ton of carrots, ginger, garlic and scallions. Enter: Mark Bittman and his wonderfully searchable cookbooks. All of these recipes come from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian.

1.) Carrot ginger orange soup

What you need:
1/1/2 lb carrots, sliced
2 T butter
1 t sweetener (sugar, maple, honey, etc)
6 C vegetable stock or water
1 T minced ginger
1 T grated orange zest
3/4 C orange juice
Cream, sour cream, yogurt, etc. (if you're into that sort of thing with your soup)

What you do
Put the carrots, orange juice, zest ginger, and sugar into a skillet/saucepan and bring to a biol on high. Cover, turn heat to medium low, and cook 5 more minutes. Uncover and raise the heat to boil off the liquid. Lower the heat again and continue to cook until carrots are tender. Add the stock and bring to a boil again. Simmer until the carrots are tender enough to smoosh with your choice of immersion blender or regular blender.

2.) Spicy cilantro ginger pesto


What you need
2 C cilantro leaves
salt
2 cloves garlic
3 T oil
1 T lime juice
1 T chopped ginger
1 jalapeno or other hot pepper to taste

What you do
Throw it all in a food processor and blend until tasty.

3.) Pickled ginger (because when you're unsure what to do with something you happen to have a lot of , why NOT make a pickle?)


What you need
enough ginger to fill your jar (For this recipe, I used a fist-sized piece for 1/2 pint)
1/4 C vinegar (the original recipe calls for rice, but I used cider to no ill effect)
1-2 T sugar
1/4 C water
1 T salt

What you do
Thinly slice the ginger and toss with salt. Let sit in a bowl for 1 hour. Rinse *thoroughly* and pack into your jar. Heat equal parts vinegar and water with sugar to taste. Let cool a bit and pour over ginger into jar. This is a refrigerator pickle, so stick it in the fridge.

Raw Kale Salad

I know I am not the only one with lots of dark greens growing in abundance. I notice that mine tend to sit there for a long while - which is fine, they will last long into the fall - but I think it is because I keep thinking I need to eat them cooked. And as it turns out, this summer is not my summer for cooked greens. I try to eat them along with breakfast or dinner and I am not into it. I'm done after a few bites, and even those seem a bit forceful. But raw greens - that is a different story!


I looked up some basic raw kale recipes, and settled on Kale Salad with Pecorino and Lemon. The basic difference to eating raw kale versus cooked seems to be it needs to marinate for an hour or more to soften it up a bit. It actually felt like I was making a version of pesto when I made this salad, but without the food processor...similar smells. Which is maybe why I ended up adding in some roasted pistachios too. It was the only nut I had, though had I seen this before sticking them in the oven, I would have brined them first. Yum!


In the end, I also decided to use a different green than kale (my kale is way small, not enough sun)...I used Mustard Spinach Komatsuma - a new green I planted this year (which is delicious btw). It is not as tough as kale - more spinach-y. (That link has some recipe suggestions, including a kimchi that I am intrigued by.) Anyhow - the salad turned out amazing! The flavor is really nice - the lemon somehow compliments the slight bitter taste of the greens. I think the nuts add a really nice crunch to the salad too. These greens really sucked up the lemon and olive oil, and I wonder if kale would be a little less absorbent. I actually ended up using the juice of just one lemon and only 1/4 c. olive oil - and that was plenty for the komatsuna. Raw greens!

pickles!

While Megan has been making cucumber drinks, I've been fermenting those little suckers. And they're so delicious and easy. Get yourself a quart jar and a little tray of pickling cucumbers (you know, the tiny ones with thick skin). Can you use normal, larger cukes? Meh. I tried it, slicing them thinly, but they're just not so tasty. You've been warned. I've also been using whey to kick start the fermentation process. You could just add extra salt, but "making" whey is, uhh, whey easy.



Ingredients:
enough cukes to fill your quart jar
1 T mustard seeds
2 T fresh dill
1 T sea salt (non-iodized, unrefined)
4 T whey (or an additional 1 t salt)
1 C filtered water

I've also added some whole peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon stick, garlic, celery seed, etc. to batches. Stick with whole spices, though, as the ground kind tend to turn into a slimy film at the bottom of the jar.

To get the whey:
Plop a bunch of whole milk yogurt into a clean dish towel and let it sit over a bowl for a day or so. The yellowish liquid that ends up in your bowl is your whey. You also have a bunch of really thick yogurt, which is delicious in these.

To make the pickles:
Pack your cukes into the jar along with spices, dill, etc. Add the salt, whey and filtered water. The top of the liquid should fully cover your cukes and be at least one inch below the top of the jar. Put a lid on the jar and let it sit on your counter for 2-3 days. I always cover mine with a dish towel, as I've heard that sunlight can hinder the fermentation process. If your cukes are fermenting particularly rapidly, you might want to let off some pressure by quickly unscrewing the lid and then screwing it back on. If you like a sour-er pickle, let it sit on the counter longer. When the pickles are pickled to your liking, transfer them to the fridge. They'll continue to ferment in there, but much, much slower.

Cucumber-Lime Drink

This humidity is helping me to become very familiar with all kinds of chilled beverage options: iced tea, kombucha, coconut water, la croix... But sometimes I want something more festive. I was thinking about this while staring into the fridge on one of the recent 90 degree days when my eyes landed on the cucumbers.

These cukes are just starting to take off at the northside homestead - soon they'll be competing with the zucchini for garden space. They are already jack-and-the-beanstalk-like on the back trellis; that trellis is as tall as me, but the plants are reaching to get to the fence, the green beans, anything really. And the leaves are so thick it's hard to find the fruit - note the particularly large one that was hiding! ha.

Anyway, some internet searching lead me to this recipe from Bon Appetit. It uses fresh green grapes and mint along with the cucumber and lime. I used coconut water instead of grapes, and I added in a little sweetener. It was slushy-like and totally refreshing! After freezing what was left in a jar, I took it out the next day to de-freeze. Being too thirsty and hot to wait, I added sparkling water to facilitate the melting process. I actually liked that even better. Really, this is like a better version of lemonade...or at least the local version (um, if we had lime). I made it one more time, this time with 1 part cucumber blend to 1 part seltzer water. So refreshing!!