Posts Tagged salad
Pak Choi or Chinese Cabbage with Coconut Lime Dressing
Posted by castironidaho in Recipes on May 6, 2012
City Gardens’ CSA started up last week, the first of May! Good work, Farmer Marty, on getting the produce rolling so early! He might be able to add a couple more members if you’re still interested, click on City Gardens CSA.
If you’re already a member, you might be wondering what to do with that gigantic head of Chinese cabbage. Beautiful, but maybe not something you eat every day. And maybe something you’ll get again this week! There are lots!
I made this recipe with it. Originally a Bok Choi recipe from my Thai cookbook, but it works with any kind of cabbage. (You also got pak choi, but a smaller head.)
Pak Choi/Cabbage with Coconut Lime Dressing
- 2 Tbsp Oil
- 3 Fresh Red Chilies (or red pepper flakes to taste, about a tsp?)
- 6 spring onions
- 1 large or two small heads Pak Choi or Chinese Cabbage
- Chopped sweet red pepper (optional, I added it for color in the photo above)
- 2 Tbsp (or more) crushed peanuts.
Dressing:
- 2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
- 2 Tbsp Thai fish sauce (maybe less if you don’t have a taste for it, it’s pretty strong. Maybe add 1 Tbsp and taste.)
- 1 cup coconut milk.
Make the dressing by whisking the 3 dressing ingredients together.
Lightly stir-fry, chilies, garlic, onion, red pepper, and anything else you want to add, in the oil. You can add the greens directly to this stir fry and saute them until wilted, or, steam them in a separate pot and then combine. Add the dressing and sprinkle with crushed peanuts. Serve hot or cold.
– Katie
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Eat More Kale.
Posted by castironidaho in Farm and Garden, Recipes on July 13, 2011
Kale is such a wonderful vegetable. I think everyone should eat more of it. Our CSA members may have noticed this, since they get it every week. Here are just a few reasons why I like kale.
- It grows for many months of the year in our cold climate, and unlike spinach and lettuce, holds up in the hot weather too. Plant it indoors in March, eat it by May, and harvest off of the same plant until November. Cut the larger leaves and let the smaller ones grow.
- It may even survive the winter, and you can eat from the same plant the following spring, before anything else is ready, until it goes to seed.
- You can freeze it to add to soups in winter. Dunk in boiling water, cool with cold water, bag and freeze.
- It comes in several gorgeous varieties and colors. We grow Green Curly and Red Curly, (actually called Winterbor and Redbor), Tuscan, and sometimes Red Russian.
- It’s fast and versatile to cook. Stir it into almost any soup, stew, vegetable or egg dish.
- It’s healthy, the “most nutritious vegetable in the world,” according to Wikipedia. Who wouldn’t want that?
Here is one of our favorite kale recipes.
Grilled Kale Caesar Salad
- One or two bunches of kale
- Olive oil
- Salt
- Caesar Salad Dressing
- Croutons
- Grated Parmesan Cheese
Wash kale and lay on a baking sheet. (Optionally, you can remove the stems from the kale. I usually skip this step, but it’s supposed to make the kale less bitter.) Drizzle oil over it, sprinkle with salt, and use your hands to coat both sides of each leaf in oil and salt. Using tongs, grill both sides of each leaf on a hot grill until soft. It can take longer than you think, but don’t let it burn. It helps to keep moving it around.
Remove from the grill and let cool. Chop and toss with Caesar dressing, croutons, and grated Parmesan.
A note on croutons — good ones can be hard to find! You can make your own by cubing up stale bread, tossing with olive oil and whatever herbs you want, and baking them in your oven until crunchy. The Co-op also sells some kind of long toasty stick bread, I forget what they call it, but it makes perfect croutons if you cut it up into little pieces.
This gorgeous recipe is also served at Red Feather, one of Boise’s finest restaurants, who happen to buy produce from us. We did indeed get the idea from them. Delicious there or at home, try it out!
More Kale recipes coming soon!
Katie
Mizuna Salad with Fish and Mango
Posted by castironidaho in Farm and Garden, Recipes on May 29, 2011
Spring is here! And so are the greens from the garden. If you’re a regular reader, you’re probably starting to catch on that I make a lot of salad with fish on it. It’s a quick and delicious dinner, especially when greens are plentiful.
Everybody’s eaten lettuce and spinach, but maybe if you’re in a CSA this year, especially City Gardens CSA, you’re seeing some more unusual greens. Here in Idaho, a number of delicious cold-weather-loving greens are available only in the spring. Mizuna is one of those! Mizuna is a mustard green with a very mild flavor, not bitter like some other mustards. To grow mizuna, you should direct seed it in very early spring, in mid March. Mizuna will bolt as soon as it gets hot, so you can plant it in a partially shaded area of the garden. The bugs also love it, so we cover ours with row cover to keep them off, and can help keep it from bolting, too.
You can mix it with other salad greens, and the pointy leaves will make your mix really attractive, or make your whole salad from mizuna, as we have here. Don’t cut the white stems off though, those are the crunchiest and most flavorful part.
Ingredients:
- Nest of Mizuna or other salad greens
- Sole or other white fish
- Dusting of flour
Mango dressing:
- One mango
- One small onion
- Handful of Cilantro
- Handful of Basil leaves if you have them
- Juice of 2 limes
- Splash of rice vinegar
- Salt and pepper
To make the dressing, chop mango, onion, and herbs. Squeeze 2 limes over the mixture and mix, add rice vinegar to get the desired amount of liquid in your dressing. Season with salt and pepper. You could really use any chunky dressing, or substitute another fruit for the mangos, maybe strawberries if you want something in season.
Arrange a bed of mizuna on a plate. Drag the sole fillet through flour and pan fry in butter. It doesn’t take long at all to cook, as sole is very thin. You could use other fish, we’ve also used trout. Top with dressing and serve.
-Katie
Blackened Salmon on a Salad
Posted by castironidaho in Recipes on April 6, 2011
We wanted to test the blackened seasoning that Paul sent us, so I prepared a blind taste test: Paul’s seasoning on one piece of salmon, and the blackened salmon concoction I usually use on the other! This recipe originally came from a magazine, and I’ve used it for many years. Both were actually great, maybe mine was a little spicier but they were pretty similar. You can try this recipe, or try a pre-made blend from a local food artist near you.
Ingredients:
- Salmon fillet
- 3 Tbsp. chili powder
- 1 Tbsp. oregano
- Salt and Pepper
Mix chili powder, oregano, salt and pepper in a shallow bowl. Cut salmon fillet into desired size pieces and drag through spice mixture, coating on all sides. Fry all sides in cast iron skillet until blackened and until fish is cooked (it will become flaky), or cook on the grill. Use a tiny bit of oil to fry, if your pan isn’t well enough seasoned.
Serve over a green salad, or with a side of any kind of green veggies!
Our salad layer included:
- Mixed greens or spinach
- Strawberries
- Avocado
- Goat Cheese
- Almonds
So easy, and slightly fancy….enjoy!
– Katie
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Today’s Salad #2
Posted by castironidaho in Recipes on January 21, 2011
Here’s the salad we ate with Rosemary and Shallot Encrusted Venison:
- Mixed greens
- Pomegranate kernels
- Smoked Salmon (made by my boss Jan as Christmas gifts for the staff! We have to figure out how to do this.)
- Carrot shavings
- Grated Asiago Cheese
- Oil, Balsamic, and Grapefruit juice dressing
