Posts filed under 'salad'
Tonight I went over to my friend Sandy’s house for falafel, and I agreed to bring the fixin’s. Stewart and I love falafel with Jerusalem salad, lettuce, hummus, and extra tahini sauce. We skipped the hummus this time, but I thought you might like the recipe for the sauce and the salad.
First thing’s first: tahini. It’s both a paste and a sauce made from crushed sesame seeds. The paste is similar to peanut butter in consistency, but it’s not as sweet. I quite dislike the paste straight up; I find it kind of bitter. But don’t base your judgment on tahini solely on how it tastes straight from the jar. I much prefer it in hummus, or mixed into creamy sauces for a nutty, almost cheesy flavor boost.
Tahini is also a sauce, but you really only run across this variation when you’re eating middle eastern food, like falafel. It’s simply tahini paste mixed with water, lemon juice, salt and sometimes olive oil and garlic. The simple additions do wonders for the flavor, turning into a great dressing. You’ll need the sauce for the Jerusalem salad, but make extra and keep some in the fridge.
Basic Tahini Sauce
Makes enough for Jerusalem Salad, plus extra for drizzling over falafel
1/4 Cup Tahini (paste)
1/4 Cup Water
2 Tbs Fresh Lemon Juice
1 Tbs Olive Oil
1/4 tsp Salt
Mix water and tahini until smooth with a whisk. Whisk in remaining ingredients and set aside (or chill).
Jerusalem Salad
Makes enough for 4-6 falafels in pitas
1 Medium Cucumber, peeled and diced (about 1 1/2 cups total)
3 Firm Plum Tomatoes, seeded and diced (about 1 cup total)
1 Handful Parsley, roughly chopped
3 Tbs Tahini (sauce)
Fresh Black Pepper
Extra Lemon
Extra Salt
Toss cucumbers, tomatoes and parsley in a bowl. Add tahini and toss to coat - salad should not be soupy. Grind fresh pepper over the top. Season with an extra dash of salt or squeeze of lemon if desired. Serve as a filling for falafel, or as a refreshing summer side salad.
March 29th, 2007
This is a test recipe for VCON, the new PPK cookbook. I had never made blintzes before, and I must say, I’m glad these were my first ones! They are so delicious. The crepes are easy to make (imagine that), the filling is simple, and they’re pretty!
I served them with a simple mushroom gravy, some sour cream, and some fresh thyme. A little salad on the side made a wonderful meal.
The other great thing about these blintzes is that they are easily made ahead of time. If you fill and fold them up, you can cover them with plastic wrap and store in the fridge until you’re ready to pan-fry them. I made them early in the day, so when it came time for dinner they just needed a few minutes on the griddle and they were done. It was so nice to be nearing dinner time having everything already prepared.
Stewart and I split the leftovers for lunch, along with the rest of the grilled tofu on the last of the salad. I think these were the best leftovers I’ve ever had. They were most certainly were the prettiest!
I used a simple sweet miso salad dressing, one of my favorites, for the salad. If you’re interested, the recipe is after the cut!
Sweet Miso Salad Dressing
Dresses one head of lettuce
1 tsp. Balsamic Vinegar
1 Tbs Sweet White Miso (heaping)
1 Tbs Dijon Mustard (heaping)
1 Tbs Granulated Sugar
2 Pinches Salt
Fresh Cracked Black Pepper, to taste
3-4 Tbs (approx) Peanut or Veg Oil
1 Tbs Hot Water
Add balsamic vinegar, miso, mustard, sugar, salt, and pepper into a bowl. Use a whisk to mix ingredients thoroughly. Slowly drizzle in the oil while whisking constantly, creating an emulsion. Dressing should turn shiny and thick. Taste and re-season if necessary. Whisk in hot water to thin.
Let stand for a few minutes and whisk again before serving
March 23rd, 2007
Hi! I had a nice trip, but boy am I glad to be back with my husband, my kitties, and my kitchen. I decided to make some old favorites for dinner tonight. We usually make kale mashed potatoes, but we had sweet potatoes so I used those instead. If you’re not a fan of kale (gasp! say it ain’t so!), this is a great way to “sneak” it into a meal. Simply steam, shock, and chop your kale before adding it to your potatoes.
The green bean salad is simple but tasty, and you can use whatever nut you like - we usually use pine nuts, but I think the original recipe called for walnuts. Peanuts or almonds would also be delicious, and I can even imagine pistachios or cashews, so really, use whatever you want!
Green Bean Salad
Makes two large sides
12 oz Green Beans (Haricots verts if you can find them)
1/2 Cup Nuts, dry toasted and crushed (walnuts, pine nuts, almonds…)
1 Tbs Sugar
1 Tbs Tamari
1 Tbs White Wine
Trim ends off the beans at a 45º angle. If the bean is long, cut it in half, also at an angle. Blanch them in boiling water for 2 minutes, no longer! You want them to still be crunchy. Drain, shock in icy water to stop the cooking, and pat dry.
Whisk the sugar, tamari and wine together until the sugar dissolves. Poor over beans, add nuts and toss. Serve at room temperature or chilled. This dish can easily be made ahead of time.
March 8th, 2007
I’m sure cooked cabbage has its merits, but this is how I like it best, raw and shredded. We don’t buy cabbage often, so when Stewart came home from the store with a small head of the purple variety, I wasn’t quite sure what to do with it. I’m happy with this salad since it’s pretty, easy and tasty, my favorite combination of adjectives when it comes to food.
The dressing is quite peppy - you really only need just enough to coat everything, which is nice because it won’t cover up the beautiful colors of this salad. If you have a food processor with a shredding and slicing disc, this really couldn’t be easier to make. Without it it’s pretty east too, so don’t worry. A sharp knife and hand held grater will suffice.
Purple Cabbage Salad with Currants, Carrots, and Almonds
Makes 4-6 Servings
1 Small Head Purple Cabbage, about the size of a softball
4 Carrots, shredded
Sliced or Slivered Almonds
Dried Currants* or Raisins
Dressing (Makes enough for two large-ish servings)
1 Tbs Balsamic Vinegar
2 Tbs Seasoned Rice Vinegar
1 Tbs Water
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Sugar
1 tsp Maple Syrup
2 Tbs Canola Oil
Trim off a small amount of the bottom of the cabbage, where the stem was. Quarter the cabbage, and cut out the thick white cores on each piece. Process through the slicing disc of your food processor, or slice thinly to make strips. Shred carrots by hand or via processor. Toss cabbage and carrots together in a large bowl. This makes a lot, I put half of it in a 1 gallon ziplock bag for the next day since there was only two of us eating it.
Add currants and almonds in whatever amounts please you. I did about 2 handfuls of almonds and 1 handful or so of currants after I cut the carrot/cabbage mixture down by half.
Whisk all the dressing ingredients together save for the oil. Slowly drizzle the oil in while whisking to emulsify. I’ve found that balsamic vinegars vary drastically in flavor. Some are tart and thin, some are sweet and thick, so adjust the dressing as needed to suit the vinegar you have.
*Dried currants in the U.S. are usually not currants. You’re most likely going to find something called “Zante Currants”, which is just a variety of small seedless grape made into raisins. The currants I bought at Whole Foods were indeed labeled “zante”, but sometimes you won’t find this distinction at all, leaving you to guess if you’re purchasing real, tart currants, or sweet miniature raisins. This recipe really calles for miniature raisins, so the regular-sized ones would be a good substitute. If you make this with real currants, let me know how it tastes (and where you found them!).
February 13th, 2007
This salad got a little out of hand. I had some leftover baked orange tofu from last night that I wanted to use for lunch, and I thought a salad might be nice. I’m not sure what happened after that. A few minutes later, I was roasting sweet potatoes, making millet, and whisking together some dressing while trying to find a can of mandarin oranges. I don’t know what happens to me in the kitchen. Sometimes I get a little carried away.
I was really happy with how this turned out. The addition of the millet and sweet potatoes really helped it feel more like a meal that a regular salad does (in fact, it probably would have been better as a dinner than a lunch), and the sweet mandarin orange slices provided a nice burst of juiciness. Not that this salad needed more things added to it, but I think sprinkling some cashews on top would have been nice, too.
Millet Orange Tofu Salad with Sweet Potatoes
Makes two large meals
For the Salad
1 Medium Head of Romain Lettuce, washed and chopped
1 Medium Sweet Potato, peeled chopped and roasted (see below)
1/2 Cup Dry Millet, Cooked (see directions)
1/2 Cup Mandarin Oranges (the kind packed in light syrup)
1/2 Block Baked Tofu*, cut into triangle
For the Dressing
1 Tbs Orange Juice
1 Tbs Soy Sauce
1 Tbs Seasoned Rice Vinegar
1/2 tsp Sugar
1/4 tsp Salt
2-3 Tbs Mild Veg. Oil, like canola
Seasoning for the Sweet Potatoes
1 Tbs Soy Sauce
1-2 Tbs Toasted Sesame Oil
2 tsp Sugar
Preheat the oven to 425º F.
Toss the sweet potatoes in the seasoning and place in a 8×8 square baking dish. Cover with foil and place in oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes until tender but not falling apart.
Meanwhile, place millet in the bottom of a hot sauce pan with a drizzle of oil. Cook until toasty, two to three minutes, then add 1 cup of water and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, cover, and turn heat down low. Cook for 20 Minutes. The Sweet potatoes and the millet should finish at about the same time.
While millet and potatoes are cooking, chop, wash and spin dry the lettuce. Place in the refrigerator to crisp up. Whisk together all the ingredients for the dressing, except the oil. Then add the oil slowly, drizzling it into the sauce while whisking constantly to emulsify. Set aside.
When the millet is done, remove from heat and remove cover. Fluff with a fork and allow to cool. When the sweet potatoes are tender, remove foil and place under the broiler for a few minutes until they brown in some places.
To assemble
Toss the lettuce and the millet together and plate. Evenly distribute sweet potatoes, tofu, and mandarin oranges over the top of each salad. Pour dressing over each salad and serve.
*You can use any kind of baked tofu that you want, homemade or pre-made. I baked mine in orange juice, orange zest, white wine and tamari.
February 9th, 2007
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