Welcome to the recipe posts for the 2016 Summer CSA Season! This is Katherine Deumling of Cook With What You Have and I will be creating weekly posts with recipes, ideas and tips for storing and using the produce in your share. Many of the recipes and ideas I will provide throughout the season will encourage you to adapt the quantity or spice level or substitute different vegetables and herbs, add meats, etc. Your taste and experience will be your best guide and I look forward to hearing about how you use or alter these recipes. Please send me feedback or questions at any point. Throughout the season you’ll see favorites from year’s past and new ideas and techniques, all written with an eye toward adaptability–to suit your taste, dietary needs, or what’s in your pantry and herb garden. Here’s to a wonderful season of the best produce money can buy, creative cooking and happy eaters!
Green Garlic Notes
Mizuna Notes
Basic Vinaigrette
Mizuna and Scallion Pancakes
Baked Kale with Green Garlic, Radishes and Tahini Dressing
Bok Choy Yakisoba
Mizuna and Radish Slaw with Roasted Peanuts
Green Garlic Notes
The green garlic is so sweet and tender that you can use it more abundantly than the cured/mature garlic. You can also use the tender outer layers and bit of stalk, just chop them finely. Use the garlic in some of the dishes below or anywhere you could normally use garlic or sauté a whole bunch of it gently in a little butter or olive oil and then scramble a few eggs in it or toss it with fresh pasta and plenty of Parmesan.
Mizuna Notes
I love the tender, peppery mizuna and this time of year it is sweet and the stems so tender and juicy. I like to top bowls of beans or bean soups with a mini salad/garnish of sorts of finely chopped mizuna, minced garlic, olive oil and little lemon juice and salt. You can add mizuna to any other salad green or use it as the central ingredient like in the savory pancakes below. You can also stir it into a soup or dhal at the very end. You can use it like lettuce in a sandwich or use the above suggestion for a soup garnish. You could sub a little mayo for the olive oil in that case and make it hold together a bit better. Add slices of hardboiled egg and some sharp cheddar and have yourself a lovely sandwich!
Basic Vinaigrette
I like to keep a good, basic vinaigrette on hand in my dressing jar. I keep it in the fridge ready for any lettuces, vegetables–raw or cooked–or grains or beans that might need enlivening. It literally is often the key to quickly turning something into a meal.
You can make this version or use a different vinegar, oil, herb(s), etc. I typically make a batch and then continue topping it off, as needed, for 2 weeks or so and then use it up, clean the jar and start over. Dressing ingredients (vinegars, oils) keep very well so you can do this less often too.
Add fresh tarragon or dill, chives, basil, parsley or most any tender herb to offer some variety when using it.
1-2 cloves garlic, minced or 1 stalk green garlic, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon-style mustard
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar (see above)
5 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt (you may need more)
Freshly ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon fresh or dried thyme
Put all dressing ingredients in a pint jar with a tight-fitting lid. Shake well until emulsified. Taste and adjust with more vinegar and/or salt or whatever else you think it needs. It should be bright and strongly flavored.
Use the vinaigrette on most any salad you can think of.
Mizuna and Scallion Pancakes
Light, bright and tender. . . these are such a treat. I typically serve mizuna raw in salads or added to soups at the very end. In this preparation they stay fresh despite the quick visit to the pan.
Yields about 10 4-inch pancakes
3 eggs
1/4 cup flour
Scant 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1 bunch mizuna, washed and shaken dry, roots discarded and stems and leaves chopped
1 small bunch scallions, trimmed and white and green parts thinly sliced
Oil for pan frying
Optional dipping sauce
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons soy sauce
2-3 teaspoons Sriracha or other chili sauce
In a large bowl whisk the eggs with the flour, salt and sesame oil until smooth. Stir in the mizuna and scallions. The batter will just barely coat the vegetables.
Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons oil in large heavy skillet. Cook patties, about 1/3 cup each, until golden brown on both sides, just a couple minutes on each side. Serve with optional sauce.
Baked Kale and Green Garlic with Tahini Dressing and Radishes
5-10 minutes in a hot oven and kale turns crispy and chewy, a nice alternative to raw kale salads. Toss in something crunchy, like radishes here, or use carrots or snap peas or salad turnips, some toasted seeds or nuts and a tahini dressing and you have a hefty salad.
Serves 4+
1 bunch kale, washed and shaken dry and coarsely chopped, any tough stems removed
1 tablespoon soy sauce
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 stalks green garlic or 2 regular cloves garlic, minced, divided
4-5 radishes, washed, trimmed and cut into matchsticks
1/4 – 1/3 cup toasted sunflower seeds, or pumpkin seeds or toasted and chopped walnuts or almonds
2 tablespoons tahini
Juice of half a lemon, more to taste
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Preheat oven to 425 degrees
Toss kale, soy sauce, 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 stalk minced green garlic or 1 clove regular garlic in a large bowl until well mixed. Spread on a sheet pan and bake for 5-10 minutes until some leaves are crisping and browning around the edges. Toss once during baking if you’d like to help it cook evenly, however, the variability in texture is fun so you can skip this step too.
In a small bowl mix the tahini, lemon juice, remaining minced garlic, salt and pepper and olive oil until smooth.
When the kale is ready remove it from the oven and put in a serving dish. Add the radishes and toasted seeds and drizzle over the dressing. You may not need all of it. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and/or lemon juice.
Bok Choy Yakisoba
A quick, not-very-authentic version of this Japanese stir-fried noodle dish with lots of bok choy, garlic and green onions. You can also add diced tofu or leftover meat of any kind.
Serves 4
1 8-ounce package soba noodles
2 tablespoons oil (I particularly like peanut oil)
4 scallions, green and white parts, sliced and kept separate (you’ll use the green parts, raw for garnish)
1 stalk/head green garlic, trimmed and any fibrous layers removed and minced (or 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced)
6 shitake mushrooms, sliced (optional)
5 cups bok choy, stalks cut in half lengthwise and then cut crosswise into thin strips and leaves thinly sliced, stalks and leaves kept separate
For the sauce:
2 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce, tamari or Shoyu
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons mirin (Japanese sweet, rice cooking wine) or 2 teaspoons sugar and 2 tablespoons water
1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (depending on how spicy you want it)
Prepare soba noodles according to package directions. Drain and set aside. Mix the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
Heat oil in a large skillet or wok over high heat. Add the white parts of the scallions, mushrooms, if using, bok choy stems and garlic and stir fry for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add bok choy leaves and cook for another 30 seconds. Add drained noodles and stir will and cook for just a minute to heat up. Add the sauce, stir well and cook for another minute or two. Serve hot, topped with the scallion greens.
Mizuna and Radish Slaw with Roasted Peanuts
You could certainly add herbs or other vegetables to the salad or toss in some cooked grains. It’s just a good, quick, template. The peanut oil is really nice here but if you don’t have it you could substitute a neutral oil and add 1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil.
Serves 4
4 radishes, washed, trimmed and cut into match sticks
3-4 cups mizuna, washed, dried and finely chopped
1/2 cup roasted peanuts, chopped up a bit
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons peanut oil (see headnote)
Juice of 1/2 lime (or use a bit more vinegar if you don’t have a lime)
Salt
Put vegetables and peanuts in a salad bowl. Dress with rice wine vinegar, peanut oil, salt and lime juice. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve immediately.