Simple Bean Salad

Gosh I really love beans! Growing up, my family never ate many beans... if fact I can't remember my family ever serving or eating beans. I started eating rice and beans as a teenager, having been influenced by friends and neighborhood culture, but they just weren't a family thing. Now I go through about a dozen cans of beans a month. Chick peas, aka garbanzo beans, are easily one of my favorites. They are mild flavored, a nice round shape and certainly nutritionally great offering fiber and protein, as well as a slew of nutrients. They work very well in salads.

Any bean would do fine in this salad though, black beans, white beans, lima beans, black-eyed peas, even green beans (although you'd be well advised to cut those up, and perhaps blanche them).

Any vegetables would work here as well. In fact usually my 'go-to' veggies for this kind of salad would be celery, onion, pepper and carrots. But it's CSA season and while I do in fact have celery, onion and pepper in my refrigerator at the moment, I wanted to stick with my organic CSA stuff. Any herbs work for the dressing as well, but again I was going for my CSA stuff, hence this particular blend. But really that's the beauty of a bean salad and what makes it so very simple - its very adaptable.

I had used the bulbs of my fennel last night to make Caramelized Fennel with Goat Cheese (my review: it was ok, but not my favorite fennel preparation. I think it would work really well as a brunch side, more so then a dinner side.) This left me with all the stalks today, about 8 or 10 or them, having used 3 bulbs for dinner. I had also purchased some fresh organic dill for that recipe, so even though it wasn't in my CSA share, I figured I was still being a purist by including it in my salad since ti was fresh and organic (heck the beans aren't CSA anyway, they are out of a can!

The salad couldn't be easier. Basically rinse and drain the beans. Then chop the crunchy veggies into pieces about the same size as the beans. Make the dressing and mix it all together.

I made the dressing in my mini chop, although certainly you could chop the herbs by hand and whisk in the liquids. I put my herbs in the mini chop first and gave it a good whirl. I scraped down the sides, added the vinegar, oil, salt and pepper and gave it another good whirl in the chopper. I then poured that over my beans and veggies and stirred it up. Voila! Bean salad. 

I fixed myself a bowl immediately, and divided the rest into containers and put them in the fridge. Really this kind of salad tastes best after a 30 minute to 24 hour wait, as the flavors meld and soak into the beans, but hey, I was hungry! You can eat this as is, or over lettuce, or even stuffed into a pita - really however you like it.

I used:

Salad
Stalks of 3 small fennel (about 8-10 stalks)
3 baby carrots
2 salad turnips
1 can chick peas

Dressing
Fluffy part of 3 small fennel
1 garlic scape
parsley (just leaves off of two stalks)
Dill (just the leaves off 1 stalk)
Rice vinegar (about 2 tbsp)
Olive oil (about 1 tbsp)
Sea salt, fresh cracked black pepper

Fried zucchini, gluten free

Recently I started doing a 21 day detox cleanse.  Having the CSA and access to lots of organic veggies definitely makes it easier.  And the timing was great - my father & step mother are on vacation for a week so I got their share last week and will again this week - TONS of organic veggies.

I don't want to get too into detail about the cleanse as it is a program that was purchased and there's probably copy-write infringement issues, but I can easily say its essentially an elimination diet with a focus on eating 'clean' foods; which is to say non-processed, organic, low allergen foods.

The list of what not to eat is pretty long, but I actually was unfazed by much of it - I don't eat a lot of processed foods, or packaged items, or sweeteners or sweetened things, or many of the other items listed.  Going wheat/gluten free is somewhat challenging but not terrible - I eat a relatively low gluten diet normally.  And I'd actually been cutting back on caffeine on my own for the last few months.  Going alcohol free for 3 weeks is a slight annoyance, only in that its a restriction, but in reality I go 3 week stretches without a drink all the time out of mere circumstance.  No nightshades could be a challenge, but luckily they aren't in season yet, so even though they are staples in my diet, lately not so much anyway.  But dairy?  Dairy free?  That one is hard.  I eat and cook with dairy daily; I love cheese!  And butter!  And milk!  Cheese in salads, and on sandwiches, and eggs, and with veggies, and on pasta. My usual lunch protein comes at least in part via a daily yogurt.  No dairy is my challenge.

But I committed to this and dang it I'm going to do it.

Dinner day 1 was actually rather regular.  Chicken breast, with a healthy sprinkling of curry powder, pan fried in coconut oil, served with brown rice and sauteed (in coconut oil, not my usual olive oil-butter (dairy!) blend) mixed veggies (chard, zucchini & onion).  Tasty, simple and typical.  And oh man cooking in coconut oil has the best smell!

Dinner day 2 dinner was, well less inspired for me.  I had some ground bison (a great choice of meats as US law required bison never be given antibiotics or hormones) which I cooked up with some kidney beans and garlic, some fresh thyme and a drop of oil (bison is very lean).  I served my fiance his on a roll with a few slices of delicious forbidden pepper jack cheese.  Mine I had over brown rice.  It was still delicious though, and probably if I hadn't had the pepper jack in the house I wouldn't have missed it so terribly.

Dinner day 3 was both lazy and experimental, and actually quite awesome.  Fried zucchini.  I sliced up a zuc and prepared two bowls - one with beaten egg and one with a blend of flax meal, chia seeds, garlic powder and salt.  I heated up some more of the delectable smelling coconut oil in a large pan and dunked my zucchini medallions in to egg, then my dry mix (both sides) and then into the pan.  They took about 7 minutes to cook, flipping mid-way through.  I transferred them onto a paper towel and then onto a plate for munching.  

They had a nice nutty flavor and the chia seeds added a bit of crunch but not in an unpleasant way.  I ate them as is, with no dipping sauce or adornments as I couldn't think of any non-processed, nightshade or dairy sauces to make.  The chia seeds and flax meal added protein as well as adding to the fiber, and overall it was like having a decadent appetizer for dinner... minus a chipotle aioli dipping sauce (chipotles are alas, nighshades).

Herbed quinoa & zucchini

The early warm weather and ample rains this spring have led to another bounty summer at my CSA.  Plus this year for the first time I signed up for an herb share. Luckily this year also marks my household having 2 people instead of one – an extra mouth to feed is a good thing when swimming in produce!

But also, sadly this year saw the closing of my beloved local grocery store, Keyfood.  Sure I still have H-Mart a few blocks away or giant supermarkets Pathmark and Waldbaums a bit further, but none have the convenience or proximity Keyfood had.  Or the awesome staff I’d gotten to know over the 10 years I’ve lived in the ‘hood.

No grocery store means living off of stores of food and less last minute quick trips for fresh protein sources.  That’s ok, I have quinoa to last several meals; I stocked up on non-perishables during the 25% off sales during Keyfood’s last days.  It was bittersweet savings, but that didn’t stop me.

My herb share brought me two herbs I’d never had before, SummerySavory and Lemon Thyme.  I'd of course had regular thyme before though, and this wasn't too different, except the thyme had flowered, which made it lovely and aromatic… but geez what a hassle to pull the tiny little leaves off without getting any flowers.  The summer savory at least was easy – it looked and worked much like rosemary, although it certainly had its own distinctive flavor – almost sharp.

I set some quinoa going in the rice cooker in vegetable broth.  While it cooked I pulled herb leaves and put them in the food processor along with a handful of cilantro left from the week before.  I processed the herbs, along with some fresh cracked black pepper, a drizzle of olive oil and about 2 ounces of munster cheese.  On the other side of the kitchen I sliced up zucchini and cipollini onions (bulb and greens), and melted some butter in a large pan with olive oil.  I sautéed my zucchini and onion, with some Kosher salt and it was done just about the same time as my quinoa.  I folded the herb-cheese mixture into the grains, and there you go, dinner. 

I wondered a bit if my fiancé would mind a vegetarian meal, but decided to not make mention of it.  He didn’t either and just said it tasted great.

Green pancake

The thing about trying to eat more fresh vegetables is the amount of cooking it requires.  And I’ve been busy with weekend social engagements, meetings, and appointments after work.  So my veggies were piling up; I eat a salad every day at lunch but that just doesn’t make a big dent.   

With another CSA share rapidly approaching I had to step to it.  Yesterdy, after getting home late, I used my bok choy, from the previous week’s share, by grilling it on my counter top compression grill along with some reduced fat kielbasa, and I chopped some scallion which I mixed into a side of brown rice.  The whole meal took 15 minutes to prepare and was balanced enough but I had plenty of greens left. 

Not surprisingly, what I had left were my least favorites.  My beloved toscano kale was long used up but beet greens and carrot tops?  Those I had.

Cheese to the rescue.  

Trust me, its hard to make carrot greens taste good.  In fact there are plenty of people who just don’t ever bother with carrot tops; at my old CSA they were collected at our pick up area (an environmental center) as rabbit food, not for human consumption. Not only are they not all that tasty, but they are a hassle.  Somehow carrot greens have a super power ability to stick to everything: the bowl, the pot, the spatula, the knife, the sieve, the sink and most annoyingly, your hands.  So why bother?  Well simply put: they’re good for me, and I have them.

Carrots are super healthful.  Carrots have been shown to aid in warding off cardiovascular disease and colon cancer.  Admittedly the studies pretty much focus on the root, the carrot, of the plant not the greens. But I figure there has to be some carry over to the leaves.

Mixing the carrot greens with the beet greens and cilantro helped cut their bitterness, and the onion rounded it all out.  The rice and flours were added just to give it some body and add a grain element to the meal, the egg as a binder.  It was the cheese blend (NY white cheddar and Parmigiano Reggiano) that really made the flavor tip over into tasty, complimented by the deliciousness of pan frying in butter (and olive oil) – what doesn’t taste great when cooked to a crispy golden?

Green Pancakes (6 pancakes, 3 servings)

1 bunch beet greens, stems trimmed

1 bunch carrot greens, stems trimmed

1 bunch cilantro, stems trimmed

¼ red onion

1 cup mixed whole grain flours (whole wheat, buckwheat, flaxmeal)

1 cup brown rice with scallions

1.5 cups shredded cheese

2 eggs

butter & olive oil

Quickly boil the beet and carrot greens.  Drain and add to the food processor along with cilantro, onion, and rice. Process until finely chopped.  In a bowl, mix the veggies with the flours until fully in corporated.  Then mix in cheese.  Once its well mixed, add the eggs and mix in well.  Heat the butter and olive oil in a large pan. Form greens into patties and put in pan.  Cover and cook 4-5 minutes, then flip and cook another 4-5 minutes covered, over medium high heat.

Enjoy hot.

Cilantro chicken, and some pesto

Spring and early summer are leafy green season, which brings us kale and arugula and lettuce and spinach, and cilantro.  Now I like cilantro alright, but this year is a particularly cilantro-y year.  See, my lovely stepmother also a CSA member, is one of those people who has (or is missing, however it works) the cilantro gene.  Apparently there is a long evolutionary explanation, but some people genetically dislike cilantro – to them it tastes like, well, I don’t know because I’m one of them, but not like food is probably a fair description they would all agree on.  To me, it just tastes like not-quite-as-good oregano.  Not my favorite, but definitely tasty food.  Well anyway since I do eat it, I got not only my own bunch of cilantro in my last CSA share, I got my stepmothers as well.  That’s a lot of cilantro!

One sure fire way to use excessive herbs is with chicken.  I mean “herbed chicken” – could there be a more classic sounding food?  I think not.  And so simple – just finely chop (or have a food processor finely chop for you) a big handful of whatever fresh herb you have, along with a bit of olive oil and a nice pinch of salt.  Use chicken with skin still on and rub the herb paste under the skin, gently breaking the membrane holding the skin to the meat.  Bake at 350 for about 30-45 minutes.  The skin with have a nice golden crunchy look and the juices will be coming out clear.

Since I certainly had the greens on hand, I served it with some sautéed spinach & onions (spinach, onion, olive oil & butter and a pinch of salt).  It was a simple meal, and very green,  and bursting with the taste of spring.

The rest of my cilantro was used sparingly in some salads, and then to make a pesto.  The cilantro pesto was delicious although odd looking mixed with quinoa, to make a nice side dish to some chicken sausage a few days later.  It made a great salad dressing thinned out with some vegetable broth.  And there’s still some left in a jar in the fridge.  

Pesto is traditionally made with basil, pine nuts, Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and olive oil - and that's certainly a delicious way to prepare it. But really "pesto" just means ground herbs.  I made mine with cilantro, almonds, Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and vegetable broth.  I put everything except the broth in the food processor and start it going, then slowly drizzle in the broth until its a paste-like consistency (stopping occasionally to spatula down the sides).

Its tasty and a fun ingredient - use it as a sauce, thin it out and use it as a dressing, use it on sandwiches as a condiment, mix it in with grains like rice or quinoa for a squishy green tasty side dish.

And lucky me, there’s two more bunches of cilantro coming this week.

Greens pie, revisted

I made these little greens pies Sunday, knowing I had a busy week ahead of me.  They take a lot of time, but its not hard to make them, and you can do just about all of it in advance. With meetings Monday and Wednesday, and my fiance's band playing Tuesday, and then veggie pick up and dinner plans Thursday I wanted something on hand I could get ready without too much effort.

They are packed with a cup of cooked greens each, full of flavor and a super handy side dish. I can just pop them in the oven and go about my other chores and have an elaborate serving of nutrient dense vegetables.

I've made greens pie in the past and looking back, I simplified the recipe quite a bit, increasing the greens and cheese, while reducing the egg, and of course using leek and onion.  I have also over the course of multiple tries found letting the greens cool before mixing with the egg and cheese, and increasing baking time results is a flakier crust.  I've probably made 20 different versions over the years, I just use whats on hand. Its also tasty with a good, hard Italian cheese instead like Romano or Asiago, or with peppers cooked in.

My one caution is to watch the salt, as feta and other cheeses can be very salty to begin with, especially if you are using salted butter as well.

Greens pie, again

1 bunch turnip greens, stems removed

1 bunch red kale, stems removed

1 medium/small leek, chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed, minced or through a press

1 cup crumbled feta (I used fat free)

1 egg

Salt, pepper, seasonings (roasted tomato, crushed green jalapeño)

4 sheets filo dough, defrosted

Olive oil, butter

4 8oz ramekins

Pre-heat oven to 350.

Chop and rinse turnip greens and kale. Put in a large pan and cook in the water clinging to the leaves, over low, covered, for about 3-5 minutes, until well wilted. Push the greens to the perimeter of the pan, add a dab of butter and a drizzle of olive oil to the center.  Add chopped leek and crushed garlic and sauté.  Once the leek is softened, mix in the greens and cook it all together another few minutes together.  

Remove from heat and let cool.

Mix greens, feta, seasonings and the egg.

Take a piece of filo dough and mist with olive oil. Fold in half. Mist with olive oil and fold in half again. Tuck into a ramekin, fill with greens mixture. Fold down one corner, mist, fold the next clockwise, mist, repeat, to seal.

Bake 1 hour and serve.  Or bake 30 minutes, let cool and wrap in plastic wrap and store. When ready to serve, bake at 350 for 10 minutes, carefully tip out of ramekin and bake upside down for another 20 minutes, serve.

Rhubarb compote

Ahhh rhubarb.  What a very peculiar piece of produce you are.  Rhubarb leaves are slightly poisonous but the stalks are edible.  But edible and delicious are two very different terms.  And as such rhubarb is typically served with lots of sugar, whether it be straight white sugar or sugary other ingredients like strawberries, such as the American classic strawberry rhubarb pie. Although I have read its quite nice sliced thinly and tossed into a savory salad… an application I have yet to try.

My CSA farm provided a recipe for rhubarb cake and I know many of my fellow CSA members made it.   I opted for an easier recipe as I don’t keep white flour on hand and a whole wheat rhubarb cake really just wasn’t calling to me; I made rhubarb compote.  I got this recipe off the Golden Earthworm Farm’s site my first CSA year, and made it then.  Last year I actually bought some rhubarb at my local grocery and made this. Then and now, I did not re-refer to the recipe, I just remade it from memory.

Normally and ideally one would make this recipe with lemon juice as the acid.  And I really should have just walked the 2 blocks to the store to buy some.  But I didn’t, and opted for vinegar instead.  Having made the recipe previously I knew the acid didn't make a huge flavor difference.  And really if using vinegar, one should probably use a sweet one like apple cider vinegar, but I didn’t, again because I didn’t have any on hand.  Now mind you I didn’t go crazy and use the hot pepper infused rice vinegar, at least my odd substitutions took a turn for the mild – I used regular white vinegar.  And it’s still really tasty.  But really, if you have lemon (or lime) juice, use that.

Compote is super easy to make and super versatile.  Serve it over ice cream, or plain cake, or swirl it into oatmeal, or spread some on toast – its good anywhere gooey sweetness is welcome.  And it can be kept in the fridge for… well at least 2 weeks.  I’ve always eaten it up by then, so I can’t really tell you how long it would take to turn.

Rhubarb Compote

6-7 stalks of rhubarb

1 cup sugar

1 tbsp acid

Mix in a pot over medium heat, cover and cook until goo. Enjoy hot or chilled.