Soba Noodles with gingered bok choy

The bok choy from my CSA has inspired me to adapt a recipe I found for bok choy over soba noodles. A big fan of these Japanese buckwheat noodles,  I can never seem to get enough of them. For two days in a row, I have made this dish for my lunch. But the recipe still isn't quite right, so I have to keep trying before I have a recipe I  want to share.

If you happen to have Rip Esseltyn's "Engine2 Diet: the Texas Firefighter's 28-day Save-Your-Life Plan that Lowers Cholesterol and Burns Away the Pounds," you will find a recipe in that book. I prefer not to have the flavors of the brown rice vinegar and mirin Rip uses in that recipe. However, that is such a matter of personal taste that you may find Rip's recipe perfect for you just the way he wrote it.

Rip was one of the great presenters at the Healthy Lifestyle Expo I attended last month in Woodland Hills, California. It was so worthwhile and inspirational that I hope to attend again in 2010.

Food memories of Schav

Anna’s Schav

For years my husband has talked about his memories of schav, a cold Russian soup his mother made for summer time meals when he was growing up. She also made Borscht, which he liked but not as much as he liked her schav. Neither of those soups were in my cooking repertoire and concerned that no soup I made could make would live up to the soup of his memory, I never tried. Until yesterday when I received a large bunch of Swiss Chard from my CSA.

I researched schav recipes in my cookbook collection and on the web. I interviewed Jerry about what he remembered of the soup. I knew the recipe I ended up with would not include the traditional sour cream or the optional eggs and milk. I thought I could create a close approximation to the remembered soup using the chard instead of the more traditional sorrel. And it worked. I was surprised and pleased that my soup received praise for being so much like Anna’s soup of decades ago.

Anna cooked without recipes, carrying her ideas entirely in her head. The family says that wherever Anna was became the family gathering place. Although I never had the opportunity to meet her, I think it would please her to have others enjoying her schav.

Schav

4 cups water
½ teaspoon dried dill
5 scallions, 2 chopped for cooking, 3 chopped for garnish
1 pound Swiss Chard
salt and ground black pepper to taste
1 small cucumber, chopped for garnish
3 radishes, chopped for garnish

Wash the chard well by partially filling the sink with water, gently swishing the chard around and then lifting the chard from the water. Repeat 2 more times. This method leaves the sand and dirt behind. Remove the tough stems and chop the leaves into pieces about one-inch square.

In a soup pot, bring the water to a boil and add the chard, dill, 2 of the chopped scallions and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the chard and simmer for about 10 minutes or until the greens are very soft, but still holding together well.

Remove from the heat and season with salt and pepper.

Chill and serve in bowls with the chopped cucumber, radishes, and scallions.

Serves 3-4

Veggies4U (make that for me!)

The area just north of where I live is called Boynton Beach and in Boynton Beach there is a CSA, Community Supported Agriculture. The Florida Department of Agriculture and Community Services describes a CSA as

"a partnership between farmers and consumers. In conventional agriculture, the farmer bears all the risk of production, but CSA allows farmers to share farming’s risks—and its rewards—with consumers. CSA revolves around a community of people who pledge their financial support to a farm. At the beginning of the growing season, members pay a fee to cover the cost of the farm’s operations and the farmer’s salary. In return, each member receives a weekly share of the farm’s bounty—typically a box of fresh vegetables and herbs, though the box might also include fruit, honey, eggs, and even meat. For farmers, CSA offers a fair, steady source of income—and a way to revitalize the small family farm. Consumers, on the other hand, get fresh, great-tasting produce grown in a sustainable manner by someone they know and trust."

It lists only 10 CSA's in all of Florida, so I am really lucky to have one nearby. Last year I applied to become a member of Green Cay Produce/Farming Systems Research Inc., the CSA in Boynton Beach. There are more people who want to be members than the Farm can accomodate, however, so I was placed on a waitlist and never did get a chance to join. This year, I was watching for the announcement that applications for membership were being accepted and this year, I was in time. Hurray! I am now a member of a CSA.

I will receive a box of just harvested vegetables on an established schedule and I opted to pick up at the Farm myself rather than have the box delivered to my home. I received driving directions from the Farm and was astonished at the location. The Farm nearly adjoins the gated community I live in. My produce is going to have an incredibly low number of miles to travel from growing field to my kitchen!

So I will receive really fresh produce grown with minimal chemicals (this is Florida!) and I will be supporting a local farm. When my farmer son starts a CSA in upstate New York, I hope there will be lots of people like me who sign up to support him.

35 new salads to make

Now that your garden and your local farmers' market are overflowing with with fruits and vegetables, you have a perfect way to eat the bounty in salads. Mark Bittman, in his New York Times Minimalist column, has written 101 "recipes" of just 2 or 3 lines describing inventive combinations of ingredients and dressings. Many of them are vegan and most are vegetarian.

The first one combines cubed watermelon with tomato chunks with basil and vinaigrette. The second features wedges of tomatoes, peaches, slivers of red onion, crushed red pepper, and cilantro with an oil and citrus dressing.

There are 33 that I want to make! This could be half of my menu planning for the rest of the summer and beyond.

What is your favorite?

Addicted to Green Beans

How can it be possible that I am addicted to green beans? Have you ever experienced a craving for a food that is so strong it is almost an addiction?

I suppose I am not exactly addicted to green beans, but in reality I just cannot get enough of green beans prepared in a manner that I am calling Greek because it makes me remember our great meal at Scholarhio in Athens. The recipe is in Donna Klein's "Vegan Italiano." I tried improving on the recipe by making the dish with grape tomatoes since I have long had a recipe for green beans using those little tomatoes. For some reason, the little ones just don't release the strong flavors the way a large beefsteak tomato does. This recipe is changed from the original only in halving the olive oil and tilting the bean/tomato ratio more toward tomatoes. Calling for just a few ingredients, the recipe's flavor payoff comes from cooking for an hour. You would think that by the time the beans had stewed for that long you would have a mushy mass turning grey and lacking in taste. Fortunately, the green beans remain quite green and the taste takes me back to the Plaka.

I served the beans with oven-roasted Greek potatoes and a Greek salad.

Here is Donna Klein's recipe. If you like this one, you will like many others in the Italiano cookbook and "The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen."

1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 pound fresh green beans, trimmed
1 large tomato, seeded and chopped
2 large garlic cloves, pressed
½ teaspoon dried oregano
grind of sea salt
grind of black pepper
water as needed

In a large non-stick skillet with a lid, cook the green beans in the oil over medium-high heat, stirring and tossing often, about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the remaining ingredients, stirring well. Cover and cook until beans are very tender, about 1 hour, stirring occasionally and adding water as necessary to keep the mixture from drying out. Tastes fabulous warm or at room temperature (Florida room temperature!)

Off to The Boys Farmers Market to buy... green beans to make this again!

Farmers' Markets

Last Fall's Selection

The top reasons to visit a farmers' market near you

1. You help grow the local economy. Money spent locally tends to remain in the local community.

2. You support small farmers who are committed to providing you with fresh, high quality food.

3. You get to personally know the people who grew the food, baked the bread, and knit the sweater.

4. You take home fresh and probably healthier produce and products.

5. You will have fun.

6. You don't need a shopping list. Just take home the freshest and the best and plan meals around your purchases.

7. If you are lucky enough to be in the Albany NY area, you can visit the Capital District Market at 381 Broadway in Menands.

The Menands market is open to the public on Saturdays from May through October from 8 AM to 1 PM. In addition to Schoharie Valley Farms (The Carrot Barn), other vendors include an Amish baker, several crafts vendors, a bread baker, and other fruit and vegetable vendors. Saturday, July 25 will be the Corn Festival, but every weekend there are wonderful reasons to visit.

At the Schoharie Valley Farms booth, in addition to the vegetables, Stony Brook Farm sells pasture-raised and grass-fed pork, lamb and chicken. And the handsome young farmer who raises the animals is my son, so say hello from The Quilted Cook.

Pizza!!

Vegan pizza and so easy. As much as I like to cook, I have never been happy with pizza I have made at home. So I am always glad to hear J say that it is Tuesday and pizza is on sale at our favorite local pizzeria.

While J orders and picks up the pizza, I brown sliced onions on a baking sheet in a tiny bit of oil in a 350 degree oven. When the onions are nearly done, I halve grape tomatoes and put them on the baking sheet to sit in a turned off oven until we are ready to eat. I chop and steam broccoli florets.

When the pizza arrives, I top it with a sprinkle of Nutritional Yeast, a very little crushed red pepper, chopped black olives, capers, cooked broccoli, and the onions and tomatoes. And I even have time to take a photo and blog about it.

Every cook deserves a day off once in a while, don't you think?

Sukiyaki

I first cooked sukiyaki in the early 1970's. Of course, back then as a serious carnivore, I started with slicing beef. I think the recipe was originally one of Craig Claiborne's in The New York Times Cookbook, but I have changed it over the years. A fan of quick cooking meals, my son still phones me from a grocery store to ask me what ingredients to buy to cook sukiyaki.

Today's recipe is a healthier version of sukiyaki with vegetable broth and tofu instead of meat. Without the meat and meat flavored broth, the taste of the fresh vegetables shines through. A one-pot stew served over either noodles or rice, this is a fast and easy meal to prepare. I served it over half a package of soba noodles, thin Japanese noodles made from buckwheat flour. The recipe with a whole package of noodles is supposed to serve 4 people, but 2 of us ate it all.

Sukiyaki

8 ounce package of soba noodles
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 large onion, peeled and sliced in rings
1 bunch scallions, cut on the diagonal into 3-inch pieces
8 large white mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1 can sliced bamboo shoots, drained and rinsed
½ cup Tamari or soy sauce
½ cup Mirin
1/2 cup low-sodium vegetable broth (optional)
1 large bunch fresh spinach, well-washed and thick stems removed
1/2 pound extra-firm tofu, drained and cut into 3/8 inch slices

Boil water in a large pot to use to cook the soba noodles. The noodles will take only about 6-8 minutes to cook, so during the time you are cooking the vegetables, you will put the noodles into the boiling water and cook according to the package instructions. After the noodles are cooked, you will drain them and set them aside until the stew has finished cooking.

In a large non-stick skillet over medium heat, cook the onion slices in the oil until they begin to soften. Add the scallions, mushrooms and bamboo shoots and continue to cook for about 3 minutes. Stir in the Tamari and mirin. Layer the spinach on top. If you would like more broth, you can add 1/2 cup vegetable stock. Cover the skillet and cook about 10 minutes until the spinach is wilted. Place tofu on top and cook covered until the tofu is warm.

Serve over the cooked noodles.

Too many bananas!

Here in Delray Beach, The Boys Farmers Market is famous for the outstanding selection of produce, the high quality prepared foods and baked goods, and the insanity of the crowds in such a small space. Outside The Boys, there is a stand where they sell their overstock and over-ripe produce for $1 a bag. Jerry always stops and checks it out to see what kind of bargains he can find. And they are bargains, perfectly usable food - if you can consume them right away. Often there are bananas in bags there and we do eat a lot of bananas. But, with half a dozen bananas waiting in the freezer to be used, this most recent purchase may have been too many bananas. I am trying not to waste food, which means I have to use up those overripe fruits today!

Breakfast was the first meal of my attempt and although we usually eat a lighter breakfast, this morning we had banana pancakes. My neighbor just yesterday gave me a copy of "La Dolce Vegan" by Sarah Kramer. I always try to research recipes on the Internet as well, and found several sites with recipes for banana pancakes, supposedly from the same book. However, the recipe in the book varies significantly from the recipe online attributed to Sarah Kramer's book. I have rewritten a recipe as I made it this morning.

Banana Pancakes

1 ½ cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
dash of salt
1 cup “milk”
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 banana
2 tablespoons sugar
maple syrup
fresh blueberries

In a medium bowl, stir the flour, baking powder and salt together. In the bowl of a food processor, add the milk, oil, banana, and sugar and buzz until smooth. Pour the wet mixture into the flour mixture and stir gently until just combined. (About 20 circles around the bowl with a spoon.)

Heat a non-stick griddle or lightly oiled or non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Using a 1-cup measure or ladle, pour about 3/4 cup of batter for each pancake onto the pan. Be sure to leave enough room for the pancakes to expand and for flipping them over. Cover the pan and cook over medium heat until the centers start to bubble. The bottoms should be golden brown. Flip the pancakes over and cook on the other side for a couple of minutes. Keep cooked pancakes warm and repeat cooking process until the batter is gone.

Serve with maple syrup and a garnish of fresh blueberries.

Now what else am I going to do with nearly a dozen bananas?

A week's menus

Possibly the best cornbread I ever made

Ingredients for my traditional chili

As promised yesterday, I am going to list what I had to eat during the past week beginning with today's dinner: chili made with beans and lots of chopped red and green peppers and cornbread made from a recipe in Real Food Daily Cookbook: Really Fresh, Really Good, Really Vegetarian by Ann Gentry and Anthony Head (link to Amazon, but the copy I used was borrowed from the public library). Lunch was leftover pizza with grilled vegetables and breakfast was a bowl of blueberries and sliced strawberries and a bowl of oatmeal with raisins and walnuts. Do you wake up as hungry as I do?

Another day the menus included
Breakfast: bowl of blueberries and sliced peaches and a bowl of oatmeal with raisins
Lunch: tostadas as posted yesterday
Dinner: Pizza with grilled vegetables and a salad

Dinner: quorn roast, baked potato with onion and mushroom gravy, corn on the cob, and spinach salad

Dinner: gazpacho, fakin' bacon club sandwich

Dinner: potato salad, coleslaw with rice vinegar, leftover gazpacho, salad with vegan ceasar dressing

Other meals were leftovers of the above and we ate out one night at a meet the artist reception for the opening of a show of photographs taken by the daughter of friends.

Avocado and mango tostada

No, sorry, but that is not chocolate! But these tostadas were so delicious I just have to share them with you even though it is not the most photogenic food. There is a more appealing photo of a tostada on Wikipedia.

At about noon every day I get hungry, really, really hungry. I don't want take the time to cook in the middle of the day, but I admit to being a picky eater. That means I have to at the very least prepare some food. I can't just grab a piece of bread with a smear of something and be satisfied. I like to reheat leftovers whenever they are available. If there are no leftovers in the refrigerator, I try to have a sandwich and fruit or sometimes a fruit sandwich. This might be called a Mexican fruit sandwich. Not by a Mexican of course, but that is the way I thought of it.

I often toast corn tortillas made by La Banderita and sold at Publix stores where I live and at Wegmans where I often visit. Even though the tortillas contain those chemicals that I can't even begin to pronounce, they are the only grocery store corn tortillas I like the taste of.

In the refrigerator I found the tortillas, left-over refried black beans, spicy tomato salsa, a few leaves of Boston lettuce, half an avocado and a mango. The avocados and mangoes available right now are outstanding so as soon as I saw them I knew I had lunch. I put the cut up fruit and lettuce in a small bowl and splashed on some seasoned rice wine vinegar. In the microwave, I reheated the refried beans while the corn tortillas were toasting and assembled my Mexican open-face sandwiches.

It has taken me longer to write this than it took to prepare lunch!

6 Steps to answer the dinner question

Big questions of the day: what to wear and what's for dinner. I can't help you with what to wear, but I do have some help for answering the what's for dinner question.

The other day I realized that great recipes are everywhere. They are online, in books, in magazines, in your head, on little cards at the grocery store. A search on Amazon for books using the term cookbook yields 102,622 results. And we are still looking for recipes. A lack of recipes is not the problem with deciding what to eat for dinner. The problem is menu planning, especially if you are focusing on wellness and eating more healthy foods. At least for me that is definitely the hardest part.

If I wait until I am hungry and it is time to eat a meal, I end up choosing whatever is fast and is easy to prepare. Even with vegan foods that often means I will be eating the more processed and least healthy choices in the kitchen.

Now that I know what is the most difficult task between me and a healthy meal, I have been putting more effort into planning menus for the week. I am naturally quite a planner and list maker, so I have easily found a system that works for me. I need to plan three meals a day.You might not need to plan so many meals, so you may have an easier task than I do. Even if breakfast is oatmeal with fruit (again) and lunch is leftovers from dinner (ideal), I need it in writing. Dinner is what takes the most effort to plan and prepare, but 3 meals a day must be in my own plan.

1. On my paper I write the seven days of the week and "B", "L" and "D" with enough space to add a brief list of the dishes for each meal. This should all be on the left side of the page so you can put your grocery list on the right.

2. It helps if at least some of the days are set meals. For instance on Monday or Tuesday, we go to the local pizza store to take advantage of their really great prices on those days. We order a pizza with just tomato sauce, stop at The Boys Market for a box of grilled vegetables, and finish our own pizza in the toaster oven. Sometimes when I really feel like cooking, I grill my own veggies. I gave up on the homemade pizza years ago because I just can't compete with a professional oven. Or maybe you have plans to eat out for lunch or dinner during the week and know you won't have to be shopping for ingredients for those meals. So that is one day.

3. Choose two menus that you like to prepare that will provide enough food to give you leftovers for dinner. That is four days more.

4. Think about what vegetables are in season and plan a dinner and lunch around them. Now we have 6 days of dinners planned.

5. Choose one more dinner based on beans, pasta, or rice depending on the other selections you have made so far.

6. Now you have menus written on your piece of paper for 7 dinners and any other meals you have planned. Look at the recipes you will use or review the ingredients in your head. Check your supplies in the kitchen to see what is missing. Write the items for your shopping list to the right of the menus.

If you need a little more help, check back tomorrow and I will share my meals from last week's menu planning.

Warning! This video may lead to change

I want to see the new movie Food Inc., but I can't find where it is/will be playing. I did find this trailer, a little over 2 minutes long and promising. To find out more, look at the movie's official website.

Remembering Athens

Tower of the Winds, Athens Greece

Scholarhio Restaurant, Athens

Ever since we had lunch at Scholarhio Restaurant, I have been remembering the wonderful meal we had there. Of course the location had something to do with it. The restaurant is in the Plaka at the foot of the Acropolis and we sat on the balcony at a charming table for two. The owner spoke enough English to assure that we had a pleasant experience. On the menu there is an option to select about 8 out of 11 or so vegetarian dishes for two people to share. With so many choices, it is easy for anyone who wants only vegan selections. All of the dishes we chose were delicious - my mouth is watering thinking about it. One of the most memorable was the Greek salad. Surely some of the taste is a result of the fresh tomatoes, the olive oil, and the olives themselves. Even so, last night I decided that since I will not return to Athens for some time, I would try to duplicate the taste at home with a Greek salad with produce fresh from The Boys.

My version was simple and reminiscent of Scholarhio's salad without the Feta cheese. The ingredients were torn romaine, chunks of cucumber, very fresh local tomatoes, and a lot of pitted Kalamata olives. For the dressing, I looked in How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman, but I ended up just creating my own dressing with half lemon juice and half red wine vinegar, whisked with more extra-virgin olive oil than usual. I might make it again tonight it sounds so good to me.