Coban Salad

I recently checked out a really lovely cookbook from the library: Bought, Borrowed, Stolen. The British author has re-created recipes from 20 different countries, with stunning photos and really aesthetically nice layout. The recipes I found myself most drawn to were ones from Turkey, Burma, and Morocco. I copied a few of them out, so they will find their way to the blogosphere once I get to making them. The one I've made a couple of times already is Turkish: Coban Salad. It uses veggies and herbs that are all plentiful right now, plus some olives and a light lemon juice and olive oil dressing. I substituted some things because of what I had in the garden or fridge (cherry tomatoes, italian parsely, banana peppers, etc) and it all tasted amazing.

Coban Salad
1 lb. 2 oz. good quality, ripe tomatoes, quartered, seeded, diced small
1 lg. green pepper, diced small
1 red onion, diced small
big handful flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
medium handful mint, finely chopped
2 1/2 oz. stoned olives, roughly chopped
juice of 1 lemon
3 oz. extra virgin olive oil
salt/pepper
(feta cheeze is optional to add here too, I left it out)

Mix all of the veggies, herbs and olives in a large bowl. Squeeze lemon juice over everything and drizzle the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Charred Eggplant, Zucchini, and Tomatoes

Lately I am really loving eggplant?! I am not sure when this transformation happened, but I think it was sometime right after the Roasted eggplant and tomato curry last spring. Now I just cook it up any old time - no reservations or worry that it will have a weird texture. And they are so beautiful right now! Long thin purple orbs, fat squat lavender ones, large bulbous plum ones...

My favorite veggie combo of late is Zucchini, Eggplant, and Tomato. I keep envisioning some kind of layered terrine of these three, with basil and olive oil drizzled over the top. But that has not yet happened - I think I am reluctant to do some major oven roasting until it is just a little bit cooler. Instead I am making a "charred" medly of the three, cut small, with some onion. This is so simple and it tastes amazing - the sweet tomato with the creamy eggplant and the savory zucchini.

Served with lamb burger and tahini sauce = woah. really good.

Charred eggplant, zucchini, and tomatoes
1 eggplant - the long narrower kind
1 zucchini - similar in size to your eggplant
1/2 onion (optional) - cut in short, fat strips
tomatoes - any kind will do, chopped large
olive oil

The whole trick to making these veggies taste so good is to really sear them. This means two things: a hot cast iron pan, and well cut veggies with multiple edges to char.

1) You want to cut your veggies so that they have multiple edges on which to sear. Cut your eggplant and zucchini into quarter-spears the long way. Work with one quarter at a time and cut with your knife at an angle, turning the spear a quarter turn each time you cut. This will miraculously result in pieces that have several flat edges. (Feel free to cut it other ways too, just get a few large flat sides)
2) Start heating your largest cast iron skillet - make sure it is dry and there is no oil in the pan. While it is heating, toss your zucchini, onion and eggplant pieces into a bowl. Pour a long glug of olive oil over the top, and sprinkle generously with salt. Stir.

Freshly cut veggies starting to sear - it's a wee bit crowded.

3) Once pan is hot, dump all the veggies in and arrange so that they are in one layer on medium-high heat. Let them sit! Don't touch them for 3-4 minutes!
 4) Cut cherry tomatoes in half, or chop up any other kind. Put these in a bowl and pour on olive oil and a good bit of salt, and give a stir. Spread them in a single layer on a pan, and put under the broiler. They will get done right about the time of the other veggies.
5) After the zucchini and eggplant have sat still, flip the pieces over - making sure to give them all some chances to char on each side. Repeat as needed - making sure you let them sit and sear on the pan. Less turning is better!
6) Remove everything once the zucchini and eggplant are blackened, and the tomatoes are browning. Pile up on a plate and serve. These are excellent as is, or chop up some basil to go on top, or toss in pesto. I made a really nice dressing/dip for mine: tahini, lemon juice, salt and water. Mint might be nice too.

Zucchini Pasta

Vegetables are abundant right now and it is so fun to walk through the market and pick up all kinds of colorful veggies.  Once I get them home I have to come up with a multitude of ways of using them before they go bad.  Enter zucchini pasta.  Summer squash are my favorite food right now and with the help of a julienne slicer you can turn zucchini, or any summer squash, into pasta noodles.  I haven't eaten actual pasta in a long time, so I don't even notice the difference.  The sauce mixes with the noodles and it is just a plate of veggie deliciousness.

Zucchini Noodles: I always peel the zucchini, but I don't think this is totally necessary.  I think it makes the noodles softer and closer to a pasta type consistency.  Then use the julienne slicer to create beautiful long noodles.  Sautee them in a pan with a little butter/oil for about 2 minutes to soften them just a bit.

Sauce:  The options here are endless.  I like to use ground pork, but ground beef would be good as well.  Brown the meat in a sauté pan with a little oil.  You can add some garlic and onions if you want.  Next comes the veggies.  Since fresh tomatoes are so abundant right now I use fresh garden tomatoes, but canned tomatoes would work, too.  I also like to add red peppers and green onions for some extra flavor and veggie goodness.  Chop and toss the veggies in with the meat and let is cook together for about five minutes.  Toward the end of the cooking process add some sweet basil.  This is the do not miss ingredient.  It is such a wonderfully fresh and fragrant addition to the pasta. Right now fresh basil is cheap and all over the place.   I keep buying it and then need ways to use it up throughout the week.  This pasta pile up is a great solution.  It is so sad to throw past it's prime basil into the compost heap.

Have fun with all those beautiful summer vegetables.

Roasted Seaweed snack

I just re-watched Terri Wahl's "Mind your Mitochondria" Ted Talk - she is the doctor who basically "cured" her MS with a diet of tons of veggies, especially greens. Tons as in 10 cups a day or three dinner plates piled high. Woah. She also talks about the health benefits of seaweed. I have not eaten it much except in nori form: in sushi and in those little snack packages of Roasted Seaweed that are overly-pricey.  I want to explore some other options, but in the meantime, I stumbled across a way to make those little roasted snack sheets! I think they are so tasty and chip-like.

I have not tried storing these yet - my guess is you would have to keep them in a zip lock or tupperware type item to keep the crispness.

Make as many as you want, but for each sheet you need:
1 sheet of nori seaweed paper
1/2 tsp olive oil (or sesame or coconut oil)
sprinkle of salt

1. Brush olive oil on one side of the nori.
2. Sprinkle salt on the olive oil.
3. Turn your gas stove on medium heat and wave the nori over the flame. You will do several passes over the flame - each time you do the nori sheet will crinkle up a bit. It is done when the whole sheet is toasted and crispy - it only takes 20 seconds or so. You can toast either side this way - I did the oil side down, but it seems like either way works.
4. Eat as is in big bite-fulls, or cut them into squares with a scissors if you want a more refined experience.

After doing a quick search, it looks like you can also bake sheets of oiled nori and get a similar result. They just take 2 minutes, so this might yield higher quantities!

Paleo Bibimbap

You know that really tasty cucumber noodle recipe I posted last month? I've been making it fairly non-stop ever since, especially eating it with bibimbap.  Bibimbap is a korean dish that is traditionally rice with a variety of vegetable dishes and meat all together in a bowl, with an egg on top. I have been having a version of that dish pretty much every week - sometimes twice. It's a meal that can use whatever you've got around, which makes it an easy weeknight dinner...or breakfast. Or lunch.

Though you can use whatever veggies you want, I recommend that for the paleo version you DO use the sesame cucumber noodles, since it provides a sort of base/extra flavor for all the other veggies. It sort of takes the place of the rice in that way - tying everything else together.

Here are some recommended veggies for my version of Paleo Bibimbap (serves 2) - primarily selected because they grow in my garden. But see other options and inspirations here (includes more precise measurements than I use) and here.

• Cold Sesame (cucumber) noodles
• Sliced Zucchini - Use a mandoline or sharp knife to thinly slice 1 smallish zucchini. Salt with 1 tsp salt and let sit in a colander over a bowl for 30 minutes. Squeeze and pat slices dry. Splash with olive oil and stir to mix.
• Julienne carrots - Cut 2 smallish carrots to matchsticks. Flash cook them in a pot of bowling water for about a minute. Remove from hot water, rinse briefly to cool. Season with salt.
• Sauteed greens (or red cabbage) - Grab a handful of kale or collards or mustard greens, roll up and thinly slice. Saute in coconut/olive oil with a little water for several minutes, until greens are wilted and bright. Season with tamari, olive oil, sesame oil, and vinegar.
• Seared green beans: Saute green beans in oil/fat for a few minutes, letting them brown on the pan over high heat before stirring. Sprinkle with some pepper flakes and sesame oil.
• Kimchi
• Meat (optional): Any thinly sliced leftover steak/pork would be great, or bacon is good too.
• 2 Fried or poached eggs
• Toasted sesame seeds and sliced green onion or chives (optional)
• Sriracha (is my cop out - the sauce can be made from the above inspiration links)

To assemble your dish: Each ingredient is dished between two large bowls. I generally put the big pile of cucumber noodles (which will be the largest quantity ingredient) in the center, with all of the other veggies/meat piled around it. Top the whole thing with the egg, and then sprinkle on the toasted sesame seeds and sliced green onion or chives. Serve with sriracha. YUM!

Babaganoush

I don't remember ever making babaganoush before, though I remember the first time I had it as a kid - I thought it was SO delicious. Way better than hummus. I got a big eggplant from my friend's CSA (thanks KT) last week, and decided to roast it and make a batch of babaganoush. It's pretty easy - just roast the eggplant and blend it up with a few other things. It turns out it tastes a little weird warm, so make sure you chill it after you are done! I had it with roasted tomatoes, zucchini, lamb and peppers tonight and it was really good.

Babaganoush
1 large eggplant, or 2 medium small ones
1/4 cup tahini
juice of 1 lemon (maybe a little more)
2 T olive oil
1+ tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne

1. Prick the eggplant all over with a fork. Roast it in a 400 degree oven for 30-35 minutes. It will look soft and deflated when it is done. (*I read that before roasting it, you can "char" the skin over a gas flame for 5-10 minutes to get a nice smoky flavor. I will try that next time!)

2. Let the eggplant cool, or put it in a cold water bath for 5 minutes. Once it is cool enough to handle, peel off the skin and chop the eggplant into big chunks - set aside.
3. In a food processor, blend the tahini with the olive oil, lemon and spices to "fluff up" the tahini. This will help make the mixture extra light. Add in the eggplant and blend again, until it is creamy with some texture. Taste and adjust seasoning as you want. I added in a little more lemon to mine because I like it a little tangy.
4. Chill in refrigerator and serve! Try it with roasted veggies, or as a dip for raw cucumber and carrots. It would also be nice with some paleo crackers, but I am not feeling so ambitious even though she says they are really easy. Tomorrow I am going to try it on a burger....
*Fresh parsley would also be good in there if you have it!

Chicken Tomatillo Stew

Oh the market is filling up with tomatillos!  I actually still had some frozen ones in my freezer from last summer, so I thought I'd use them up in this stew. The recipe is from Paleo Comfort Foods, and it is pretty simple and makes a big batch - which means good freezing for lunches later. And I got to use the first green pepper out of the garden, and poblanos from the farmer's market!

The flavor in the stew is nice and spicy - not too hot, and your kitchen will smell like a good taqueria. The tomatillo sauce I had in my freezer did have some jalepeno blended in, so that added a little extra heat to mine. For the chicken, I just got some large chicken breasts, coated them in oil and a little flavored salt rub, and stuck it under the broiler for 15 minutes (flip halfway through). Then I shredded it up and added it to the pot.

Chicken Tomatillo Stew
1-2 T coconut oil
1-3 poblanos, chopped
2 yellow onions, chopped
2 garlics, minced (opt)
2-3 green or red peppers, chopped (opt)
1 cubanelle pepper, minced (opt - I used a habenero from my garden instead)
2 t chipotle pepper
2 t chili pepper
1 T cumin
2 t smoked paprika
1 1/2 lbs fresh tomatillos, husked and chopped small/crushed in food processor
1 24 oz can tomatoes (or fresh ones!)
4 c chicken broth
2 lbs cooked chicken, shredded (pulled pork would work too)

1. Heat oil in a large pot.
2. Add onions, poblanos, peppers, and garlic and saute until onions turn translucent.
3. Add spices and minced hot pepper if using. Stir to mix.
4. Add tomatillos, tomatoes, broth, and chicken. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 1-2 hours.
(I opted to move everything to the crock pot to simmer - and I left it in there for a bit longer.)

Carrot Cashew Soup

I have been on the hunt for a new soup recipe that will help me use some of the chicken stock I have been accumulating lately.  I stumbled upon this carrot cashew soup recipe today and decided to give it a try.  I am huge fan of cashews because they are so creamy when pureed and make a great dairy substitute.  The recipe author says she loved this soup so much that she wanted to drink it with a straw, and I have to agree.  I haven't had very many carrot soups, but this one is really good.

I had a hard time deciding how many carrots to use.  The recipe calls for 1 lb. but when I had them peeled it just didn't look like very many carrots, so I did 2 lbs.  It turned out to be a good choice because 1 1/2 cups of cashews is a lot and I needed more carrots and stock in order to off-set them.  If you want to use 1 lb. of carrots I would recommend doing only 3/4 cup of cashews.  I think this is a good way to go because I ended up making a huge batch of soup.  Although, I put a lot of it in the freezer and will be able to pop it out for heat ups, which is super awesome.

I found the recipe here.  The recipe includes roasting the carrots, onion, and garlic, which I think is one of the main secrets to the tastiness of the recipe (that and the cashews).  It took extra time and effort, but I think it was well worth it.

Kimchi

I first had kimchi in 9th or 10th grade - I would go to my friend's house after school and we would pile the kimchi on top of rice and eat it with chopsticks (me very haphazardly). I remember having to keep my mouth wide open after bites because the combo of the hot rice with the spicy kimchi made my mouth feel like it was on fire. I liked it so much that I got my mom to drive me to the korean grocery store across town so that I could buy my own, which my family then made me eat outside on the porch because they didn't like the fermented garlic smell. (This was not a familiar scent in my German/Irish/Czech/Norwegian home!)

I didn't eat kimchi again for years and years, and only in the last 5 or so did I realize I could make it myself. I've tried it a few times now, and am still working to perfect my own favorite version. There are so many recipes and ways to salt the cabbage! This time I modified a recipe from 2 places: a blog called Eating and Living - A Korean American mom's home cooking, and Anna's Korean Kitchen Diary - both had easy directions and nice photos. The kimchi turned out really good. It was also a bit saltier than I like, so I will use Anna's salting amount and method next time. Hers is what I include in the recipe below. My recipe changes include: no garlic, a food processed onion instead of rice powder, and anchovy paste instead of salted shrimp/raw shrimp/fish sauce. I have made kimchi without any fish sauce/anchovy/shrimp before and it has still turned out good, so if that sounds better for you, just take that out.

Kimchi (makes 2 quarts)
1 large napa cabbage (6 pounds)
1/2 c. course sea salt
5 c. water

1 daikon radish, cut into matchsticks
3 scallions, cut in 1-2" pieces
1/2-1 cup (korean) chili red pepper flakes*
2 T anchovy paste
1/2 onion minced in food processor
2 t. grated ginger
1/2 c. water
 *Korean red pepper flakes are recommended, but mine turned out fine with the kind sold at the co-op. I used 1/2 c. and it turned out mildly spicy. Like a 3 on a 1-5 heat scale.

See Anna's recipe for preparing the cabbage - the napa does need to sit for about 2 1/2 hours, so allow that much time. While the cabbage is pickling, you can prepare the "sauce". Cut the daikon and scallions and put in a bowl. Mix the remaining ingredients together (you could start with the onion in the food processor, and once it is well minced, add the other ingredients - or just do that in a bowl by hand).

Once your cabbage is ready, it needs to be well rinsed (several times) to get the salt off. You will then stuff the radish mixture into the cabbage leaves (as in Anna's blog post). Notice that she keeps the entire quarter of the napa together so that the radish mixture can be stuffed inside. I found that it is really hard to pull out the cabbage (once it is all finished) and eat it this way, so at this point I would chop up the stuffed napa and fill up my quart jars. However you want to do it - just get all the stuff in the jars!

Once the jars are stuffed, make sure to press the filling down so that it is submerged in water. They will continue to "juice" water as they sit out, so you can leave extra space or be prepared for them to overflow. I just covered mine with the canning lid (without the screw on part) so that they were covered, but could still breathe.  Let them sit out 24 hours or more - taste to see when it is fermented to your liking, then refrigerate the jars. They will keep a super long time - more than a year.

Tilapia

My favorite new fishy discovery is tilapia.  I can't believe it took me so long to try it.  I have never been a big fan of cod and a couple other types of white fish, so I thought it would be in that same taste category, but it's not.  It is so much tastier, at least to me.

I'm sure you can get really fancy when preparing tilapia but my favorite thing to do is pan sear it with butter and lemon juice.  It's easy, light, and flavorful.  Plus, the other bonus about fish is that it cooks very quickly, so if you are hungry, it won't take long to get this yummy meal on the table.

I like to pair my fish with a green vegetable.  In the picture I have the stems from some baby bok choy sautéing next to the tilapia.  This was a good combination.  I have also done green beans recently since I have been getting some really beautiful beans from my garden.

Ingredients:
1-2 tilapia filets
a few lemon slices
1 Tbsp butter or ghee
sea salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Heat some of the butter or ghee in the pan.  Put the rest of the butter on the fish along with salt and pepper.  I like to slice the lemon and lay it on top of the fish as it cooks.  The lemon flavor slowly infuses, and then I squeeze the lemon on top right before eating.  It only takes 5-7 minutes for the fish to cook.  If the fish is larger I flip it over and cook both sides, but if the fish is thin this isn't necessary.  The crispy edges are especially tasty.

Enjoy!

Cucumber Kimchi

A couple of months ago I ate at a new restaurant in the Global Market called The Left Handed Cook. Though not paleo, they do label/make GF versions of stuff on the menu - which I find eases my mind to trust that the food will in fact be GF. The food was amazing, and the pair of (assumed) owners exceptionally charming. I was particularly in love with their cucumber kimchi, which I set an intention to try and make when my cucumbers came in. Which is now!

I think that part of why I loved this dish is because traditionally there is a little sugar in there and it is a wee bit sweet. I did not add it, but you could definitely do that for a sweeter taste. Without, it is a crisp, light form of kimchi that is not quite as hot or meaty as the napa cabbage version. It also (apparently) tastes best shortly after the fermentation process is done. I guess the cukes lose their crunch the longer they refrigerate. The recipe I modifed is from a blog called Aeri's Kitchen. The recipe there is for a pretty large batch, so I quartered it and changed some things (like I don't eat garlic, and didn't have fish sauce). I also did not have the traditional korean red pepper spice, which apparently has a really distinct and slightly sweeter flavor than american red pepper powder/flakes. It may also be stronger, since mine was a little mild. All of the blogs recommend that you get the actual korean variety, but I had not done that. Alas. One other post with nice photos and a slightly different recipe (with radish in it) that is worth checking out: Beyond Kimchi.

Main stuff:
6 pickling cucumbers
1/4 c. sea salt
3 c. water
1 green onion

Sauce:
1/4 c. red pepper flakes
1/2 onion, minced (I did mine in the food processor to get it more liquid-like)
1 T. anchovy paste or minced anchovies
1/2 t. minced ginger
2 T. water
(2 t. honey, optional)

1. Cut off both ends of the cucumbers. Then cut an x in the cucumbers, lengthwise, all the way down to about half an inch from the bottom; you could also cut all the cukes in half to make mini ones - but still do the same x cut.

2. Bring 3 c. water to boil with salt. Pour over cukes in a large bowl and let soak for 50 minutes. (The boiling water helps the cukes stay crunchy.)
3. Rinse cukes once and drain in colander. Pat dry if you are inclined.

4. In a bowl, mix all of the sauce ingredients.
5. Chop green onion into 1/4" pieces; add to sauce and mix well.
6. Put on some latex gloves to stuff the cucumbers: gently pull apart the four pieces of the cuke and put some of the sauce in there, and rub the cuke surface with it. Eyeball your sauce amount and try to use it evenly between the 6 cucumbers.

7. Put your cucumbers in a large mouth quart jar (or lay them down in a glass dish, whatever you have) and sit out at room temp overnight to ferment and then refrigerate. Mine actually fermented almost 24 hours til they got a taste I liked, so see what works for you. These will continue fermenting a little longer in the fridge, but very slowly. *These do not get covered with brine! Every other fermentation recipe I have made requires brine to cover the mix, but I read a few recipes and none of them covered the cukes...these do continue to fill with some liquid as they sit though, so I like to set them upright so the filling does not come out.

These will last up to a month in the fridge, so say the blogs, and are best a couple of days after refrigeration. These are great as is, or I had some this morning with some other veggies (sweated zucchini and steamed greens) and topped with eggs, and it was super tasty. I think I will make them spicier next time - and actually get the right red pepper.