September 2011 Recipe Roundup

I'm a huge fan of the Dinner: A Love Story blog; the recipes, the writing, the loving banter between husband and wife. When I read that the She in DALS had been keeping a log of their dinners for years, I decided that I had to so, as well. I was already deep into weekly meal planning (I have no idea how working families get dinner on the table without it), so it took little effort to commit the logs to a monthly note on my iPhone. I'd always intended to post these logs for my own use, so that I could refer back on a seasonal basis to see what had worked. But look at that, my logs go back to November 2010 and I've yet to regularly post. It seems a bit OCD to go all the way back, so I'm going to start today with September 2011, and hope to make this a regular thing. It was good month, filled with recipes worth making again.

1: Camp Tawonga
2: Camp Tawonga
3: Camp Tawonga
4: Picante w Friends
5: Labor Day: BBQ w Friends
6: Tuesday Recipe halibut w corn, potatoes and cherry tomatoes: A keeper! This dinner was outstanding.
7: BTS Night/Cook's Illustrated lentil and escarole soup: Another keeper
8: A&R out/Spaghetti w marinara and TJs Meatless Meatballs for MZ
9: Shabbat: Roasted skinless, boneless chicken thighs with artichokes, cherry tomatoes, capers and olives (a riff on a Donna Hay recipe, definitely a keeper!), couscous, caprese salad
10: BBQ w Friends: grilled Bi-Rite merguez and chix-apple sausage, lentil-brown rice risotto, smitten braised Romano beans (delicious!), butter lettuce-roasted corn-nectarine-toasted almond salad w mint chutney buttermilk dressing
11: Baked farfalle w ricotta and fresh tomatoes: a riff on this, using ricotta, and adding a pound of roasted roma tomatoes in place of both the broccoli and the chickpeas. Very popular!
12: Maya Kaimal tikka masala simmer sauce with Whole Foods frozen vegetable medley and leftover chicken over basmati rice, w cucumber-scallion raita: This might be MZ's favorite meal right now
13: Mana & Papa grilled tuna, served it with broccolini and roasted potatoes
14: New Chinese place on Monterey is just okay
15: Family dinner w Bubbe: Grilled salmon, soba noodles, stir-fried napa cabbage, bittman's sesame soy tomatoes (outstanding!)
16: Papa's rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes w Cook's Illustrated pan gravy, leftover Romano beans
17: A&R out
18: Dinner with Friends after apple picking
19: shesimmers spicy apple tomato salad w leftover chicken and romaine (great transformation to an entree salad)
20: A&R out/Mana & Papa take MZ to GFC
21: Tri-tip over Food Blogga Warm Quinoa Corn and Arugula salad (added cherry tomatoes, and blue cheese FTW!)
22: TJs veggie burgers and Whole Foos mahi mahi burgers w napa cabbage slaw w apples, carrots, scallions in Penzey's Green Goddess Dressing
23: Shabbat: Dinner Files Manti lamb pasta (over farfalle! this was delicious!), green salad, challah w honey
24: A's Work BBQ
25: Spaghetti dinner at Friends'
26: Indian Slow Cooker Punjabi curried kidney beans w basmati rice, napa cabbage stirfried 5 Spices, 50 Dishes-style -- except I added 1/2 chopped red onion. MZ devoured this dinner!
27: A&R out: Opportunity Fund Taste of Microfinance event
28: Erev Rosh Hashanah family dinner: Paulie's Pickling pickled herring, chopped liver, and Zesty Original dill pickles; Bubbe's brisket, mashed potatoes, string beans, honey cake
29: Rosh Hashanah, SM's birthday dinner: Foreign Cinema
30: Cod Puxa Vida w Vallarta beans and rice: this sauce is incredible!

Other successes:

• wee cranberry bran muffins came out great this way
  
• three many cooks BTS granola bars made nut-free with pepitas and coconut: next time I'd whir the oats in a food processor for a few seconds before assembling
• America's Test Kitchen slow cooker applesauce
• Oven-roasted roma tomatoes roasted by the flat-full and frozen to last the year
  
• Bistro Cooking's Maggie's Peppers (a late summer favorite)
  

Post-Caprese Tomatoes

Our family doesn't typically get sick of tomatoes. We wait impatiently for tomato season, then gorge ourselves on heirlooms, cherries, roasted San Marzanos... In those heady early weeks we savor our tomatoes thickly sliced and topped simply with salt and pepper, or on a bagel with a light smear of good cream cheese. Then comes the basil, oil and vinegar treatment, augmented occasionally with some fresh mozzarella or sweet corn. Really, we can do this 2-3 times each week and never get tired of the tender sweetness of a perfectly ripe tomoto.

But this year I bought a flat of heirlooms that did us in. I couldn't look at another basil leaf, I thought I was done. Fortunately we were rescued by the redoubtable Mark Bittman, who offered up this Asian take on tomato salad.

Sesame-Soy Tomato Salad

Slice 4-5 heirloom tomatoes 1/4-1/2" thick and arrange on a platter. Combine 1.5 tablespoons toasted sesame oil with 3 tablespoons soy sauce, and drizzle over tomatoes. Finely slice 2 scallions, sprinkle over tomatoes and serve.

Spicy Green Apple Salad

This recipe is a brilliant intersection between North American summer and fall, from the shesimmers.com blog -- a gorgeous blog with wonderful recipes, very much worth checking out. We made this salad with San Marzano tomatoes from our farm box and apples from our Rosh Hashanah foray to Petaluma's welcoming Chileno Ranch.

She recommends this salad as a topping for grilled or pan-fried fish. We added shredded leftover rotisserie chicken and a chopped heart of romaine and enjoyed it as an entree salad, topped with the recommended chopped cashews. Delicious! Makes about 2 cups without the added chicken and lettuce.

1 medium Granny Smith, Gravenstein or other very firm, tart apple
1 medium shallot
3-4 roma tomatoes, cut into ¼-inch dice
lime juice, to taste
fish sauce, to taste
dried red pepper powder or chili flakes, to taste
2-3 T of chopped cilantro leaves
¼ c coarsely chopped roasted cashews (optional)

Put 2-3 cups iced water in a bowl; keep the bowl handy. Core the apple and cut it in half. Slice each half lengthwise into thin slices. Make stacks of 4-5 apple slices and cut them lengthwise again into thin matchsticks. Soak the apple matchsticks in the prepared iced water.

Thinly slice the shallot lengthwise. In a mixing bowl, toss together the shallot slices, tomatoes, the well-drained apple matchsticks, and cilantro. Season to taste with fish sauce, lime juice, and dried red pepper powder. Serve immediately.

Shrimp with Green Beans in Coconut Milk

This dish is adapted from a Ken Hom recipe and another found in Anita Loh-Yien Lau's Asian Greens. The Ken Hom recipe has been a favorite every time I've made it, so I adapted that sauce to the ingredients I had on hand. The addition of the shrimp paste really made it, MZ devoured the green beans, R bogarted the shrimp and I was satisfied with the whole dish: the lovely pale yellow sauce contrasted with the green beans, the aromatics and the soothing flavors.

I used a bag of frozen white shrimp from Ikea of all places, an impulse buy for sure. What exactly is the carbon footprint of those shrimp, I dare ask? They were fully cooked, making this dish a snap to prepare in just 20 minutes.

4 large shallots, peeled and finely diced
1 pinch chile pepper flakes
1/2 t Thai shrimp paste
1 T coconut, vegetable or peanut oil (if there isn't enough coconut cream in the can)
1 lb green beans, trimmed and cut to 1.5" lengths
1 14 oz can coconut milk
1/4 t salt
1/4 t tumeric
1 t sugar
1 T fish sauce
1 lb large bay shrimp, cooked

Open the can of coconut milk -- do not shake before opening. If there is any thick almost-solid cream at the top, place that in a warm broad saucepan. Substitute oil as needed to reach ~1.5 T. When the coconut cream is melted, add the shallots, chile pepper flakes and shrimp paste. ry till fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the green beans, sugar, salt and tumeric and stir to coat. Stir-fry about 1 minute. Add the coconut milk, bring to a simmer and cook until the beans are to your liking. Add the shrimp and fish sauce, stir, and simmer till the shrimp are fully heated.

Serve with mounds of white or brown rice.

Smitten Kitchen's Zucchini, Ham and Ricotta Fritters

Fritters? Latkes? Pancakes? Whatever you call them, these are delicious! Light, savory, they make a lovely brunch or light supper with an arugula salad, or probably any green salad but the peppery greens were perfect. Don't want to lose track of this one.

Best of Summer Recipe Roundup

Although summer was crazy, with fewer opportunities to cook than I would like, several recipes joined our list of favorites. Summer 2010 will go down as the year we realized we like zucchini, that we can't keep up with a farm box, and that you really can't have too much baba ganoush.

Simple Steamed Zucchini
Up to now, most of our go-to zucchini recipes have involved a lot of spice. We all thought we really disliked the taste of plain zucchini. But it turns out that simply steamed zucchini is a treat! The key is avoiding those bitter one, one bite of bitter zucchini can ruin us for the whole summer, delicate squash flowers that we are. Look for smooth-skinned, straight or gently curving squash. If it has bulges down the body, that means it was watered irregularly and it's bound to be bitter. Then cut it in 1" half moons, or quarters if they are larger squash. Lightly oil your steamer pan, add the squash, sprinkle with kosher salt and crumbled oregano and steam a few minutes till done to your preference. We actually like ours slightly soft rather than perfectly al dente. The squash gets a lovely creamy texture that pleasantly surprises us each time.

Pesto Trapanese (Tomato-Almond Pesto)
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

When I saw this recipe, I was smitten with its simplicity -- wonderful summer ingredients, no cooking, and a nice change after weeks of traditional pest. Plus I am guaranteed to love anything with pecorino cheese and I had lovely roma tomatoes from our farm box that needed using and about a handful of basil that hadn't yet wilted. We gobbled it up, but to our tastes it needed something, a little contrast to the rich almonds, olive oil and cheese. I added a touch of vinegar at the end and also ground the almonds more finely. They don't break up the way pine nuts do. Here's my modified dish, no longer very traditional but it's won rave reviews.

3/4 cup toasted slivered almonds
1 large handful fresh basil leaves
2 to 3 large garlic cloves
Several sprinkles of sea salt
Several grindings of black pepper
8 ripe plum tomatoes, quartered
1/2 cup grated Pecorino
1/4 to 1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 t red wine vinegar

1 pound linguine or spaghetti

In a small skillet, toast the garlic cloves *in their skins* until they take on light brown patches on all sides. Allow to cool, then peel. Place the basil inside a folded piece of wax paper and pound lightly with a meat tenderizer.

Grind the almonds in a food processor until they are somewhere between a grain of shortgrain brown rice and good-sized breadcrumbs. Add the basil, peeled garlic and a few pinches of sea salt into the food processor and chop. Add the tomatoes, cheese and olive oil and whirl briefly. Season with freshly ground black pepper and the vinegar.

Cook the linguine until it is al dente. Reserve one cup of pasta cooking water and drain the rest. Immediately toss the hot linguine with the pesto and mix quickly so that it drinks the sauce up a bit, adding more pasta water if needed. Serve with freshly grated pecorino and a glass of wine.

Israeli-style Baba Ganoush

Pierce the skin and roast one globe eggplant till it is very soft, either in a 500 degree oven or over a grill. This can take as long as one hour, but it is totally passive, you can do it while you're eating dinner and the rest of the recipe comes together in minutes.

Make a deep slit in the flower end of the eggpant and allow it to drain in a colander in the sink for ~10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat a small cast-iron or other heavy pan over medium-high heat. Toast 2 unpeeled garlic cloves until the skin is browned on all sides. Cool and peel.

Scoop the eggplant flesh away from the skin, removing any large seed clusters and place it in the bowl of a food processor. Add the garlic cloves, 1/2 t salt, 1 T lemon juice, and 2 T mayonnaise. Whirl it till it's smooth, maybe 4-5 long pulses. Adjust the balance of lemon and mayonnaise until you are satisfied, then enjoy garnished with chopped parsley and a drizzle of flavorful olive oil, or keep on hand for a quick snack when you are too ravenous to cook dinner. Better yet, make something for dinner like lamb burgers or garbanzo patties and serve the baba ganoush alongside in a whole wheat pita.

Ravioli with Corn, Spinach and Pancetta

This recipe is based on a recipe from one of my favorite, food blogs, Dinner: A Love Story. I've been happy with every recipe I've cooked from this blog (and their Time for Dinner cookbook is fantastic), but that doesn't mean I don't fiddle a bit, and here are the results, a perfectly easy after-work meal that takes very little prep. Even MZ liked it, once she could be convinced to try everything on one fork full instead of plucking out various ingredients with her fingers. This recipe handily serves 4 people.

1 lb. fresh cheese ravioli or 1/2 bag dried cheese ravioli*(TJs)
1/2 T olive oil
1 package diced pancetta (TJs)
1/2 large onion, diced
Freshly shucked corn from 2 ears or 5 oz (1/2 bag) frozen white corn
4 cups fresh spinach, leaves roughly chopped
1/2 cup finely grated parmigiano cheese
1 cup low sodium chicken broth

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Heat a large saute pan over medium heat. Add olive oil and pancetta to the pan, stir and go change out of your work clothes. Then dice the onion and shuck the corn, if using fresh.

Generously salt the boiling water. Add the ravioli and cook for 15-16 minutes till a little more firm than al dente. If using frozen corn, add it to the water, stir, cook for 1 minute and add the spinach. Stir and drain into a colander with a mesh strainer.

Meanwhile, when the pancetta is crisp, remove it from the pan and discard all but 1 T of the oil/fat. Saute the onion. Add the drained ravioli mixture and the chicken broth and bring to a simmer. Stir in 1/4 cup grated parmigiano reggiano cheese and a generous grinding of black pepper. Serve with additional cheese.

*These are a matter of personal taste. I prefer fresh but I do think these little raviolis have a flavor all their own, their size is nice here and they couldn't be more convenient, although keep in mind they take almost 20 minutes to cook.

Zucchini Bread (sweet) and Zucchini Muffins (savory)

I know it's summer when I'm desperate to find a good zucchini recipe. All through my childhood, summer meant lots and lots of squash, there was always more than most of us wanted to eat. I remember my mom's zucchini bread, zucchini soup, zucchini cake, zucchini in tomato sauce and a whole lot of steamed zucchini. So much of it that not a single one of those recipes holds any appeal.

Fast forward to adult me, an urban non-farmer but CSA subscriber. And yes, there is plenty of zucchini. None of us are that partial to it, but since I don't have pigs to feed, find a recipe I must. Here are two that are outstanding, thanks to the brilliant Heidi Swanson at 101 Cookbooks.

The first is her "My Special Zucchini Bread" and it is without a doubt the best zucchini bread I've ever had. Gone is the cloying cinnamon dullness, replaced by curry powder and ginger, with poppy seeds, chopped nuts and whole wheat pastry flour for texture. It makes two loaves, so 1 stick of butter is pretty moderate in the fat department. I used almonds instead of walnuts and would half the amount of crystalized ginger next time, as MZ and others loved it for a few bites and then had enough. It's strongly flavored. With those few changes, I will happily make this recipe for as long as the zucchini lasts. This isn't a super-moist quick bread, but it goes down easy with a cup of coffee or a glass of milk. Delicious!

The second is a riff on two of Heidi's recipes, the Zucchini Ricotta Cheese Cake and the Cottage Cheese Muffins. I'm not fond of dill, and muffins work better for the quick meals we require around here. I'm also not as much of an ingredients purist. I've made this hybrid with almond meal, but since nuts aren't allowed at MZ's preschool, I use flax meal instead, hoping she'll warm to them as they would be perfect in her lunch box. These light, quiche-like muffins make a great breakfast, and an even better lunch lightly warmed with a crisp green salad.

Zucchini Ricotta Muffins

2 cups zucchini, unpeeled & grated

1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 15 oz. container part-skim ricotta cheese
1/2 cup lowfat cottage cheese
1/2 cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese
2 shallots, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
4 large eggs, well beaten

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup ground flax seeds
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 T water

Preheat oven to 400F degrees, place racks in the middle of the oven. Line a muffin pan or two (this makes 18 muffins) with medium-sized silicon or paper baking cups.

In a strainer, toss the shredded zucchini with the salt and let sit for ten minutes. Wrap the zucchini in a clean cotton kitchen towel and wring out as much moisture as possible. Fluff lightly and set aside.

In the meantime, combine the ricotta cheese, cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese, shallots, garlic and basil in a medium bowl. Stir in the eggs and continue mixing until well combined. Add the flour, flax seed meal and baking powder and stir lightly to combine, then add the shredded zucchini.

Fill the muffin cups with the mixture and place in the oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until set, slightly risen, and golden brown. Serve as hot or at room temperature. Makes 18 muffins.

Dinners Week of 08/09

Sunday: Dinner out in Berkeley after Peter Pan

Monday: Korean Braised Tofu*, soba noodles and pan-roasted pimientos de padron and shishito peppers; blackberries, plain yogurt and brown sugar for dessert

Tofu recipe was a definite keeper, riffed off of a recipe from Quick and Easy Korean Cooking, from my beloved Chronicle Books series. The pimientos de padron have been running hot, so the folks at Happy Quail Farms suggested we buy Shishito peppers, which she described as "just like the padrons but never hot." "Really?" I asked. "Really," she assured me. Not so, they have a different, floral but slightly more bitter profile and much tougher skins. The padrons win hands-down.

Tuesday: Shrimp Egg Foo Young

We had been talking about old school childhood foods. Mana made a lightened up version with just eggs, shrimp, bean sprouts and green onions, and a light oyster sauce. It was delicious with brown rice.

Wednesday: Tacos los Altos with friends

Too hot to cook.

Thursday: Shrimp, Pea and Orzo Pasta, Green Salad and Banana Bread

Aunt D brought her A game for sure. I used the Cook's Illustrated Banana Bread recipe as usual, but replaced half the flour with w/w pastry flour. Absolutely the best ever.

Friday: Grilled flank steak, potato-stuffed pasilla and bell peppers**, cherry tomato couscous***

Shabbat dinner with friends combined with major fridge cleaning in anticipation of vacation. I came across the two sides recipes this week, each made ample use of something that needs using from the CSA box. Both were outstanding, totally worth making again. R LOVED the peppers, MZ went for the couscous salad.

Saturday: Zuni Cafe for our anniversary

*Korean Braised Tofu

This recipe should be quite spicy, but since MZ isn't there yet, I changed the recipe quite a bit and we added gochujang at the table. So this is hardly Korean at all anymore, but it is very very tasty. It was great served over soba noodles, but I really would have loved it with short-grain white rice.

1 block firm tofu

2 T canola or grapeseed oil

2 T warm water

1 t white miso

2 T soy sauce

1 T mirin

2 garlic cloves, minced or run through a garlic press

4 green onions, sliced thin on the diagonal

1 T sesame seeds

Wipe the block of tofu dry and slice the tofu into 1/2" slices. Set the slices out on a jellyroll pan lined with paper towels while assembling the rest of the ingredients. Pat the tofu slices dry on top and sides.

Heat a 10-12" nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Add the oil and when it is very hot but not yet smoking, add the tofu slices. Brown on each side ~5 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the warm water and miso, whisk, then add the remaining sauce ingredients.

When the tofu is browned on both sides, pour the sauce over and around the slices, flip any pieces with a lot of garlic on top, cover and turn heat to medium. Cook for 3 minutes and serve. Garnish with additional green onions for a shot of color.

**Potato-Stuffed Pasilla Peppers

Adapted from a recipe on the Happy Quail Farms website, this recipe reminds me of the best street tacos we've ever had, served from a cart in Mexico City's main Zocalo. The tacos included grilled steak, peppers and onions with a smear of mashed potatoes, topped with cotija cheese. They were so addictive we went there on our last night instead of someplace fancy. So it was a natural to serve this with grilled flank steak. Serves 6

6 pasilla or green bell peppers
5 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into ½ inch cubes
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
¼ cup chopped cilantro

1/4 cup crumbled feta
salt and pepper
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350° and lightly spray a shallow baking pan that is big enough to hold peppers snugly together, holding each other upright (use balled up foil if they need propping). Slice the top (stem end) from each pepper and set aside. Keeping pepper shells intact, remove seeds and ribs. Arrange shells in prepared dish and bake while making the filling.

In a large skillet, over medium heat, sauté onion in olive oil while chopping the flesh of the pepper tops, discarding stems. Add peppers to pan and sauté while peeling and slicing the potatoes. Add potatoes and 1/4 cup water, cover and cook 8 to 10 minutes, stirring half-way through, until potatoes soften.

Remove from heat and stir in mustard, cilantro, feta, salt, and pepper. Remove partially baked pepper shells from oven and fill with potato mixture. Return to oven and bake, uncovered, until filling is golden brown and peppers are tender, about 25 minutes.

***Cherry Tomato Couscous

The perfect foil for high summer produce, this recipe came together easily, was ridiculously tasty when freshly made, and overnighted well in the fridge for a delicious cold salad the next day. I made very few changes: I used whole wheat couscous; I added 1/4 t Dijon mustard to the citrus juice mixture in the bowl prior to whisking in the EVOO to emulsify the vinaigrette; and I added three thinly sliced scallions (which, incidentally, were extremely popular with the 4 yos at the table). Another winner from 101 Cookbooks!

Dinners Week of 07/26

This week's challenge: how to turn MZ into a chile head? I am craving good hot food, where the heat is cooked in rather than added at the end. But what would MZ eat? I know she could get used to chile if I made consecutively hotter dishes over a few intensive weeks, but I don't think she'd enjoy the ride. So I continue to dumb the recipes down, and hope that she develops an appreciating for the sensation of hot food on her own.

Sunday: Dinner at Friends' house

Monday: Grilled Lemongrass Beef Noodle Salad (Bun Bo)

Lemongrass-marinated grilled flank steak sliced over a layered salad of rice vermicelli, julienned zucchini, cucumber, shredded carrots, thinly sliced romaine lettuce, chopped mint, cilantro, Thai basil, green onions and crushed roasted peanuts. I marinated the meat, made the nuoc cham and prepped the veggies (all except the herbs) the night before. When I got home from work, I marinated the carrots and zucchini in the nuoc cham, boiled the noodles and chopped the herbs while R grilled the meat. MZ enjoyed hers deconstructed.

Tuesday: Grilled halibut, boiled new potatoes with butter, steamed broccoli

Wednesday: "Spicy" Grilled Chicken, "Spicy Eggplant with Tomatoes", Whole Wheat Chapati, Cucumber Raita

The chicken was from Madhur Jaffrey's Quick and Easy Indian Cooking, minus most of the cayenne. I made the marinade and put it in a zip lock with the chicken the night before. We received both eggplant and roma tomatoes in our farm box, so this quick recipe from 5 Spices, 50 Dishes was perfect. When I got home, I quickly cut up the eggplant and tomatoes. I added 1/2 t garam masala at the end to make up for the missing cayenne, thinking otherwise it might be bland. Definitely a make-again dish. The chapati, purchased from the frozen case at our local pan-Asian market, was an easy accompaniment. I made the raita from a diced cucumber and some yogurt and spices while the vegetables and chapati cooked. R and I added lime pickle for heat, MZ prefers the sweeter taste of tamarind chutney.

Thursday: Slow Cooker Tacos - FAIL

Wow, this estofado recipe did not work at all. When I started it in the morning, I thought it needed more liquid, but then thought more would be created as the pico de gallo salsa cooked down. R called me at 5 pm to suggest that it hadn't quite gone to plan, but was very polite and so I just thought it wasn't a lot of meat. It was shoe leather. Very salty shoe leather. We ate it in warm tortillas with a lot of sour cream and salsa.

Friday: Lemongrass Chicken, Asian Slaw and Judy D's fabulous Coconut Lime Rice

Angie's lemongrass marinade was outstanding! The chicken went really well with this new slaw recipe. I made brown Kalajiri rice in the rice cooker and stirred in a can of light coconut milk, some lime zest and the juice of one lime at the end. Also on the table: delicious heirloom tomatoes and good bread to start, grilled corn, teriyaki flank steak, edamame, and Mitchell's ice cream for dessert. A feast with good friends.

Saturday: Leftovers for MZ, NOPA for the adults

Asian Slaw

This recipe is based on the Ginger Pickled Red Cabbage Slaw in the China Moon Cookbook. I love this cookbook, but rarely have all her house-made pantry items on hand these days. To compensate for the lack of handmade pickled ginger, I added handfuls of fresh, tasty herbs and some carrots for contrast. This salad is gorgeous and tasty. It was great with grilled meats and hot rice, and would be good on a SE Asian-flavored burger.

2 T minced pickled ginger (sushi ginger)

1/4 cup ginger pickling liquid

1/2 cup rice vinegar

2 T sugar

1.25 t kosher salt

1 lb red cabbage, cored and cut into fine strands

2 medium carrots, grated

3 green onions, finely sliced on the diagonal

2 T each chopped mint, cilantro ad Thai basil

1 T black sesame seeds

Combine the first five ingredients in a nonreactive, shallow bowl. Toss with the cabbage. Toss again in 15-20 minutes, cover and refrigerate for a day, tossing occasionally. The mixture will turn hot pink. Just before serving, add remaining ingredients, reserving some sesame seeds for garnish. Serve.

Dinners Week of 07/19

Robert away, but MZ and I ate well...

Sunday: Potato-Sorrel Soup and Heirloom Tomato Salad

A Greens recipe, completely violated by a bit of pancetta and low-sodium chicken broth. Potatoes from the farm box and sorrel from the garden!

Monday: Moki's with friends

Tuesday: Mission Beach Cafe for Barbecue Night! (MZ at g'parents)

Wednesday: Slow Cooker Chile con Carne with Salsa Cruda, red cabbage coleslaw and corn muffins

The basic chile recipe from Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook made with lean ground beef, cooked all day. Salsa from the tomatoes, cilantro and red onions from the CSA box. Mana made the cornbread, but next time I'll prep the wet and dry ingredients in the morning, the muffins bake in just 18 minutes.

Thursday: Teriyaki pork tenderloin, microwave-baked yams, stir-fried zucchini and Korean cucumber salad

Friday: Hula's in Monterey (definitely worth a return visit)

Saturday: Roasted cherry tomato and shredded chicken pasta

Leftover roast chicken, a dozen or so cherry tomatoes, sauteed scallions and garlic and some chicken broth worked well together. I topped mine with goat cheese, MZ opted for Parmigiano.

Summer Vegetables: Cucumber and Zucchini

We've been getting tons of cucumber, zucchini and red onions in our farm box lately. I love cucumber, but am less fond of zucchini. Both these recipes worked well enough to make again, MZ loved the zucchini. I prepped them the night before and served with microwave "baked" yams and pan-grilled teriyaki pork tenderloin.

Stir-fried Zucchini with Red Onion and Black Soy

3 large-ish zucchini cut in 1/4" half-moons

1/2 red onion, feather cut

1/4 t salt

1 clover garlic, thinly sliced

1/2 t minced ginger

1 T soy sauce

1 T chicken broth

1 t black soy

1/2 t sesame oil

Heat a wok to hot hot. Swirl in a scant 2 t canola oil, add onion, sprinkle with salt and stir and fry until the onion softens a bit. Add garlic and ginger, stir and fry 30 seconds and move mixture to upper edges of wok. Add zucchini, spread out across bottom of wok and allow to char around the edges. Stir and allow the other side to char. Add soy sauces and broth, stir and cook to desired doneness. Drizzle with sesame oil and serve.

"Korean" Cucumber Salad

This recipe is riffed from a salad from Growing Up in a Korean Kitchen by Hi Soo Shin Hepinstall. We need to work MZ up to the spice level she recommends... I used a combination of Persian, lemon and standard cucumbers because that's what I had on hand. I seeded the lemon and standard cucumbers with spoon before slicing. No seeding required for the Persian cucumber. Serves 4-6 as a side dish

3 lbs. cucumbers, peeled, halved and thinly sliced

1.5 T sea or kosher salt

1 pinch red pepper flakes

1/2 cup rice vinegar

1 T vermouth

2 T sugar

2 T fresh lemon juice

1 clove garlic, pressed

1/2 t freshly ground black pepper

1/2 red onion, feather cut

1 T sesame oil

1 T toasted sesame seeds

1 T slivered almonds

Place the sliced cucumbers in a strainer and sprinkle with the salt. Toss to cover. Let sit for 15 minutes. Meanwhile. combine ingredients through black pepper, whisking till sugar dissolves. Add red onion and toss to combine.

Wrap cucumbers in a dish towel and squeeze out liquid. Place in a bowl with dressing ingredients, stir to combine, drizzle with sesame oil and refrigerate one hour or overnight. Toss with sesame seeds and almond slivers and serve.

Watermelon and Cucumber Salad

This is based on a recipe from Eating Well, I added cumin and cayenne to make it work with our turkey fajita taco dinner, but if I wanted to serve it with Southeast Asian food, I'd add mint instead of cumin. It was easy and delicious! A tiny dice for the cukes and watermelon would make it a great salsa for grilled shrimp.

2.5 t sugar dissolved in 2T rice vinegar

Add 1/4 t ea ground cumin and salt

A wee pinch of cayenne

Add 1.5 cup ea. diced watermelon and cuke

1/4 c chopped cilantro

Thinly sliced white part of two scallions

Delicious immediately.

Yum, Squash?

Neither R nor I are that fond of zucchini and summer squash. I think in my case it's because there was always so much of it from my dad's garden every summer, so much that I even got sick of all the recipes for hiding squash. So when we get squash in our CSA box, I'm always tempted to just give it away.

But this week our zucchini came with a neat little recipe called Greek Taverna-style Summer Squash, from an old SF Chronicle Food Section (05/06/98). The squash is supposed to be cut into large chunks and boiled to a softness in salted water, then dressed with garlic, oregano, black olives, EVOO and lemon juice. I decided to roast largish bite-size pieces at 425 degrees, dressed in EVOO, salt, pepper, some coarsely chopped garlic and some crumbled dried oregano. Once it was done, I stirred in coarsely chopped oil-cured black olives, and squeezed lemon juice over all.

It was delicious! Our table of four adults all liked it, although MZ still refused to try it. She insists she doesn't like squash, although it's probably been more than a year since she last tried the stuff.

I may try quartering the squash next time and preparing according to the original recipe, but the roasted squash will definitely come into the rotation again.