Light, fresh produce and dishes this week to match the perfect late spring weather. Enjoy!

Green Garlic Notes
Radish and Scallion Slaw “Bruschetta”
Arugula, Strawberry and Scallion Salad
Scallion Pancakes
Arugula Quesadillas
Collard Greens with Miso and Soy Sauce
Mixed Greens, Avocado and Radish Salad with Toasted Pumpkin Seeds
Spaghetti with Green Garlic and Parmesan

Green Garlic Notes:

Green garlic, the immature stalks and just forming bulbs that look much like green onions are sweet, mild and tender. You can use much of the stalk, but remove a few outer layers which can be fibrous, depending on the age of the green garlic. You can be more generous with green/new garlic than regular, cured garlic as it’s milder.

Radish and Scallion Slaw “Bruschetta”

I made this up for lunch this week and it was too good not to add to the week’s packet mid-way through. The adaptations are manifold–different herbs, other vegetables, different base–goat cheese in stead of hummus. . . .

Serves 4

5-6 radishes, washed, trimmed and grated on the large holes of a box grater or finely sliced
1 scallion, trimmed and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons chopped parsley (optional) or mint or basil or cilantro
1 tablespoon or so quick-pickled onion (thinly sliced onion macerated in red wine vinegar) (optional), chopped
A little lemon or lime juice or vinegar
Hummus (or other spread–see headnote)
4 slices good crusty bread, toasted
Olive oil
Sea salt 

In a small bowl mix the grated radish, scallion, pickled onion (if using), parsley, a little lemon juice (or lime juice or vinegar) and salt. Taste and adjust seasoning. Spread the toasted bread generously with hummus.  Top the bread generously with the slaw and drizzle with a little olive oil. Enjoy!

Arugula, Strawberry and Scallion Salad

Serves 4

I just love this combination. Scale up or down, as usual, and substitute different cheeses if you’d like. Toasted almonds would be a good addition or substitute for the cheese.

1 bunch arugula, washed, trimmed and dried
1 cup hulled strawberries, quartered or sliced
2 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced into rounds
2 ounces feta, crumbled or blue cheese or pecorino, diced or crumbled or ricotta salata
Juice of half a lime (or more to taste) or combination of lemon and lime juice or sherry or balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil (more to taste)
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Tear or cut the arugula into pieces. Toss everything but the cheese in a salad bowl and taste. Adjust seasoning. Add the cheese and toss again gently. Serve immediately.

Scallion Pancakes

Serves 4

Quick, addictive and fun!

1 large bunch scallions, washed and trimmed of roots
2 eggs
1 cup all purpose flour
1 3/4 cups water
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
Oil for pan-frying

Dipping Sauce:

1/3 cup soy sauce or tamari
1/3 cup rice vinegar
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 clove garlic or 1 stalk green garlic, minced

Cut the scallion greens into 1-2-inch lengths and the white part into thinner rounds. In a large bowl whisk the eggs with the flour, water and salt. Add the scallions and mix well. Taste for salt. It may need more. The batter should be fairly runny, a bit thinner than regular pancake batter.

Stir together all the dipping sauce ingredients in a small bowl.

Lightly cover the bottom of a large, heavy skillet with oil and heat over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot fry the pancakes, either in typical pancake size or large, to fit the pan. If doing the latter you’ll cut them in wedges to serve. I tend to make small ones. Fry for about 3 minutes per side or until golden. Serve with the dipping sauce.

Arugula Quesadillas

I’ve never thought to put arugula in quesadillas but a parent made them at my son’s school event recently and they were delicious.

Your favorite tortillas
Your favorite cheese (sharp cheddar is mine)
Arugula, washed and dried and any tough stems removed and coarsely chopped
A little oil

Assemble you quesadillas and fry in a lightly oiled skillet on both sides until browning.

Collard Greens with Miso and Soy Sauce

This is a simple, quick dish and can be embellished or adapted to suit your tastes. You could sauté a bunch of green garlic before you add the collards back to the pot. You could make it into a meal by topping grains or beans with it, adding sliced scallions, some baked or seared tofu, etc. You could also add the radish tops to this dish. Just blanch them for a few seconds, right before you take the collards out, if using. 

I ate it both with and without the toasted sesame seeds and can’t decide which I prefer. The seeds take about 2 minutes to toast.

Serves 3-4 as a side

1 bunch collard greens, washed, tough stems removed and leaves stacked, cut in half lengthwise and then cut in crosswise into ribbons
1 or 2 bunches radish tops (optional), washed and chopped
Salt
Olive oil or coconut oil
1 scant tablespoon red (or yellow) miso
2 teaspoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon hot collard green cooking water or a little more
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds, optional (see headnote)

Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook the collards for about 3 minutes and toss the radish tops in for the last few seconds, if using. Drain, reserving just a little of the cooking water and run under cold water to stop the cooking. Squeeze dry, more or less.

In a small bowl mix the miso, soy sauce and reserved cooking water into a smooth sauce.

Return the dry pot to the stove and add a little oil. Add the collards and sauté for 3-4 minutes. If things are too dry add just a little water. When the green are tender to your liking stir in the miso mixture and cook for another 30 seconds.

Remove from the heat and serve with or without toasted sesame seeds.

Mixed Greens, Avocado and Radish Salad with Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

Serves 4-5

Radishes add a juicy crunch and sweet peppery flavor to this springy salad for which you can use any kind of salad green you have–and arugula and lettuce are perfect this week. 

6 cups or more arugula and lettuce (or however much you have/want to use)
3-4 radishes, sliced or diced
1/2 large or 1 small avocado, diced
2 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced, greens and all
1/3 – 1/2 cup toasted pumpkin seeds (either on stove top in dry skillet for about 8 minutes until browning and puffed up a bit or roasted at 300 degrees for about 12 minutes until nice and toasty), cooled
2-3 tablespoons good olive oil
Lime juice (start with half a lime and you’ll likely want more but depends on juiciness of lime and size of your salad and your taste
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Toss the lettuce, scallions and radishes with the dressing ingredients. Add the avocado and pumpkin seeds and toss again gently. Taste and adjust seasoning.  

Spaghetti with Green Garlic and Parmesan

Serves 4

Gently sweating plenty of green garlic in a little butter makes for a lovely, quick pasta dish.

1 head green garlic (or more depending on how big the cloves are) and any of the stalk if it’s still tender after peeling away the outer layers, minced
2 tablespoons butter
½ cup (or more) grated Parmesan
¾ lb spaghetti
¼ cup host pasta cooking water, reserved when you drain the pasta
Freshly ground black pepper
Sea salt

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt generously.

While the water is heating very gently cook the garlic in the butter in a skillet or pan large enough to hold the pasta as well. Cook the garlic, stirring often and taking care not to burn it, until soft and fragrant, about 8 minutes.

Cook the spaghetti and drain it, reserving a little of the hot, starchy cooking water. Add the drained spaghetti to the pan with the garlic and toss in the grated cheese and some of the cooking water. Stir well. You should get a thin, creamy, glossy sauce to coat the spaghetti. Season with pepper and salt, if needed. Serve immediately with a big green salad.  

Lots of warm soups and stews and comforting dishes for this chilly, final week of the 2013 season. Enjoy and happy cooking! Its been a pleasure sharing recipes with you all this year.

Pan di Zucchero Notes
Pan di Zucchero Caesar Salad
Roast Chicken with Grilled Chicory (and parsnips and potatoes)
Panfried Delicata with Sage and Garlic
Parsnip and Potato Hash with Parsley and Fried Eggs
Velvety Parsnip Soup with Cheesy Toast
Lentil Soup with Carrots and Potatoes

Pan di Zucchero Notes

Pan di zucchero is a chicory, not as strong as radicchio and the name means sugar loaf in Italian. It’s a bit like a denser version of escarole. It’s crisp and sweet and complex and a definite treat. You can use like Romaine for a Caesar like salad (I’ve included my recipe for that here again).

It also takes well to braising with a little broth and/or white wine and some thinly sliced garlic and salt and pepper.

You can also grill it, cut into wedges and brushed generously with olive oil and sprinkled with salt. Then you can serve it with thinly sliced pears or apples and a soft, pungent cheese like gorgonzola or other blues or feta or goat cheese even. Delicious! For even more decadence add some diced, rendered bacon or prosciutto.

Pan di Zucchero Caesar Salad

Serves 4-6 depending on appetites and what else is being served

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2-3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 tablespoons good olive oil
4-5 garlic cloves, finely chopped
4-5 flat anchovy filets (or more to taste)
1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon sea salt (or more to taste)
Freshly grated black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard (optional)
1 head (or only part of one if they’re huge) pan di zucchero, washed, leaves cut in half lengthwise and then cut into 1 1/2 inch ribbons
¾ – 1 cup croutons or toast a slice or two of good crusty bread and tear it into bite-sized pieces

You can either use a food processor or a mortar and pestle. If using the latter, put the garlic, anchovy, pepper and salt in it and pound it into a smooth-ish paste. Scoop the paste out of the mortar and put it into a bowl. Then whisk in the lemon juice and egg yolk and then slowly add the oil and finally the Parmesan. If using a food processor start with the garlic, anchovy, lemon juice and salt and then add the ingredients in the same order. Stir the parmesan at the end after you’ve removed the dressing from the processor.

Toss with pan di zucchero, top with croutons and some more freshly grated Parmesan.

Roast Chicken with Grilled Chicory (and parsnips and potatoes)

Grill or broil the pan di Zucchero in large wedges, brushed lightly with olive oil and sprinkled with salt, until browning around the edges and tender.

Roast a chicken, however, you like to. This is the easiest way I know of and a funny blog post to boot–by cookbook author and blogger Michael Ruhlman. You could add some diced potatoes and/or parsnips and add them to the pan in which you’re roasting the chicken for a very complete meal.

Roughly chop the grilled chicory and serve with the chicken and drizzle any pan juices over the greens. If there isn’t enough juice drizzle with good olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice and salt and pepper. Simple, delicious food!

Panfried Delicata with Sage and Garlic

I made this the other day when I had little time and little in the pantry. It’s hardly a recipe but here you are.

I tend to only think of baking delicate rings or slices but cooking them over high-heat in a cast iron skillet on the stove top is even faster and just as delicious.

1-2 delicata squash, scrub well and halve lengthwise and remove all seeds and strings (keep the seeds to roast if you’d like)
Olive oil
Salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon (or more) fresh minced sage (or dried)

Cut the squash halves into 1/3-inc half rounds (skin on)

Heat 1-2 tablespoons olive oil in the largest, heavy skillet you have over high heat. Add the squash slices and toss briefly to coat. You probably won’t be able to manage a single layer and that’s fine. Sprinkle with a few pinches of salt. Turn the heat down to medium high and cover the pan. Cook undisturbed for about 4-5 minutes or until to smell what might be considered scorching squash. Toss carefully trying your best (without driving yourself crazy) to flip most of them so the other side can brown. It will all work out in the end. Cover again and cook some more. You can decide when to take it off the heat. You can let it get quite soft or leave it with a bit of bit. The important thing is to get some good color.

Meanwhile finely chop the sage and mince or mash the garlic into a paste with some coarse salt. When the squash is done to your likely carefully stir in the garlic and sage and a good drizzle of olive oil. Let it all sit in the hot pan for a few minutes before you serve it to mellow the garlic just a bit. You can serve with a drizzle of sherry vinegar or lemon juice or just as is. I dare you not to eat one whole squash worth yourself.

Parsnip and Potato Hash with Parsley and Fried Eggs

This is the simplest of comfort foods for me this time of year. You can add carrots or even grated winter squash if you like. Quantities are just suggestions. This technique scales up and down easily as long as you have a big enough skillet (if you’re scaling up that is!)

2-3 parsnips, scrubbed and trimmed and grated on the large holes of a box garter or with the grating blade of a food processor
2 potatoes, treated same as the parsnips
½ an onion, diced
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Olive oil (or butter or combination of the two)
Chopped parsley (or cilantro), for serving
Squeeze of lemon juice (optional)
4 eggs, fried (or poached)

Heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil (or combo of olive oil and butter) in a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and sauté for a just a couple of minutes and then add the grated vegetables. Toss well and add a few pinches of salt. Cook over fairly high heat for the first 5 minutes or so to get some good color and then turn down if things are starting to burn. It will only take about 10 minutes to cook through. Meanwhile fry or poach your eggs (if you have the space in the hash skillet you can scoot the hash to one side and fry the eggs in the empty space.

When the vegetables are tender and nicely browned in places toss in the parsley, black pepper and taste and adjust seasoning. Serve topped with eggs and a squeeze of lemon juice if you’d like.

Parsnip Purée
–from Tender by Nigel Slater

Peel, roughly chop and boil parsnips. When they are tender, process in food processor until smooth. Put into bowl and beat in enough butter and crème fraiche (or whipping cream or sour cream or Greek yogurt) to achieve a consistency you like. Season with salt, pepper and little Dijon-style mustard. Perfect with braised, garlicky kale and/or any roasted meat.

Velvety Parsnip Soup with Cheesy Toast
–inspired from Tender by Nigel Slater

This is a bit of an unusual combination of flavors and it comes together beautifully. The original recipe does not include the toast but instructs you to pour the hot soup over diced cheese. I love to dip a crusty crouton in my soup but feel free to try the original.

1 large onion, diced
1 leeks, well washed trimmed and cut into thin half rounds (optional or use another half an onion)
2 large parsnips (or 4-5 small ones), well scrubbed and trimmed and cut into chunks
2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
A little flour
½ teaspoon (or more to taste) red pepper flakes
½ teaspoon turmeric
4 cups vegetable stock
½ cup whole milk or cream
2 tablespoons whole grain mustard

4 slices good crust bread
1 clove of garlic
Sharp Cheddar, Gruyere or the like

Melt the butter in a large, heavy pot, add the onions and leeks, if using and, once they soften, add the parsnips and garlic. Cook over medium heat, lid on, until the leeks have colored lightly and the edges of the parsnips are mostly golden. Resist disturbing the vegetables too much as they cook: a slight browning of the parsnips here and there is essential to the flavor of the soup.

Sprinkle a dusting of flour into the pot, stir in the red pepper flakes and turmeric, then cook for a minute or two to remove the raw taste of the flour. Add the stock, stir, and bring to a boil. Decrease the heat to let the soup to sit at a light boil and continue until the vegetables are soft, about twenty minutes.

Pour into a blender or food processor and whiz to a creamy puree. Add the cream and mustard and salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

Toast the bread and rub immediately with the clove of garlic. Top with a thin layer of cheese and broil until bubbly and golden round the edges. Serve the soup hot with the cheesy toast.

Lentil Soup with Carrots and Potatoes

I make lentil soup year-round, though it certainly is prime soup weather now. This is a good warming dish for this crazy cold week we’re having. And it’s such an easy, fairly quick one-pot meal that my six-year-old happens to love, in pretty much every incarnation. In this version I add turmeric, ground cumin and coriander as well as a little ginger. This makes a lot of soup – great the next day or freeze a quart of it for later.

3 medium carrots (or whatever you want to use), diced or cut into thin rounds
½ onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon finely grated, fresh ginger
1-2 bay leaves
1 ½ teaspoons each ground cumin and coriander
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
¼ – ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 cups lentils (either the little French green ones or regular larger, brown ones)
2 sausages – optional (I use the Italian pork sausages from New Seasons or Pastaworks but chicken or turkey sausages would be fine too)
about 6 cups water or vegetable broth
2 medium potatoes, scrubbed and cut into ¾-inch dice
2 teaspoons soy sauce (seems strange but is very good!)
Salt & pepper

Sauté carrot, onion and garlic in 1 ½ tablespoons or so of olive oil in a big pot. Slice sausages (if using) into rounds, then cut those in half. Add them to the onions and carrots after they’ve softened, about 7-8 minutes. Also add the spices and ginger and cook, stirring frequently for about 2 minutes until the spices are fragrant. Then add lentils and about 6 cups of broth or water. Salt generously if you’re broth if not salty. Bring to a boil then turn down the heat to med/low and simmer covered for 15 minutes. Add the potatoes and cook for another 20 minutes or so until everything is tender. Add the soy sauce and adjust seasoning.