Made an Asian slaw last night as part of dinner: green cabbage, red bell pepper, purple carrot, and this beautiful watermelon radish! Fresh, crunchy and delicious
Does anyone know how to cook choi sam? We had it at a Vietnamese restaurant and thought it was great so bought some. First attempt I blanched by putting it in a colander and pouring a kettlefull of boiling water over it followed by a stir fry. Stems were okay but the leaves were chewy and stringy. Second time I blanched for a minute in boiling water, drained well and stir fried. Better than last time but still kind of tough and stringy.
Who knows how to stir fry this vegetable? I love the flavour but am struggling to get a palatable texture. Or is this a shopping problem (young shoots vs old plants) rather than a cooking problem?
This week's farmers market haul - still lots of good stuff here in mid-Michigan even though we've had some localized frost here. Some of the supplier farms have row covers, greenhouses, and other season-extenders.
This would be a huge head of mustard greens (put a bunch in lentil soup last night, so good!), Tuscan kale, apples, Roma-type and yellow cherry tomatoes, baby eggplant, Romaine, Hakurei turnips, radishes. Also still have a head of cabbage on hand from earlier, plus *lots* of carrots, parsnips, and spaghetti squash that my neighbor gave me. I think I sort of over-bought greens this week (given that I can eat the turnip and radish greens in addition to the mustard, kale and romaine), but I'll do my best not to waste any. it's way too easy to get carried away when I see all the yummy veggies/fruits on display, and extra temping when we're reaching the tail end of the most bounteous season.
Does anyone know how to cook choi sam? We had it at a Vietnamese restaurant and thought it was great so bought some. First attempt I blanched by putting it in a colander and pouring a kettlefull of boiling water over it followed by a stir fry. Stems were okay but the leaves were chewy and stringy. Second time I blanched for a minute in boiling water, drained well and stir fried. Better than last time but still kind of tough and stringy.
Who knows how to stir fry this vegetable? I love the flavour but am struggling to get a palatable texture. Or is this a shopping problem (young shoots vs old plants) rather than a cooking problem?
I wonder if one could cook it as some do asparagus, standing upright in a narrow-ish pot, so that the stems get some simmering/boiling, the leaves just a steaming (with potentially some control over the steam via lid/no lid). Haven't done this, just speculating. I'm lazy, I usually cut thick stems out of leafy veggies, and start them before the leaves. Not as pretty, though. 😉
The really strange thing about the choi sam was that the first time I did a very short blanch, and stems were file but leaves were unpleasantly chewy. The second time with the longer blanch the leaves were nice but the stems were stringy. Completely againt my intuition.
Vegetable pie w spinach, radicchio, egg, and feta cheese.
What is your crust, @snowflake954? It's hard to tell from a photo, but it looks more bread-like than a pastry crust, but "shorter" (more fat) perhaps than a bread variant. (Perhaps I'm misreading it, but it looks really yummy - as does that filling - so I'm curious.)
Necessity mother/ingenuity.
Haven’t grocery shopped yet after being away.
Pea shoots from my garden, golden beet carpaccio as plate base.
Chopped snap peas, mandolin purple carrot oblique cut, matchstick persimmon from said garden. Dill because needed to use up. Avocado, poorly plated bc cutting around not great bits.
Matchstick persimmon from my yard.
Pepita/sunflower sprinkle.
Pile of dry oil cured olives in the fancy herb mix because bougie.
Beet is vinegar cured in my fave local white honey balsamic.
Vegetable pie w spinach, radicchio, egg, and feta cheese.
What is your crust, @snowflake954? It's hard to tell from a photo, but it looks more bread-like than a pastry crust, but "shorter" (more fat) perhaps than a bread variant. (Perhaps I'm misreading it, but it looks really yummy - as does that filling - so I'm curious.)
Hi Ann, I buy the crust--the ingredients on the package are: flour, sunflower oil, water, salt, yeast, concentrated lemon juice. Calories: 394 per 100g. The package was 230g total. Cut in 6 pieces the portion of crust is 151 cal. If I were to make the crust, I would probably play around and try to reduce the calories. The crust is crunchy.
I use the basic recipe to use up vegetable leftovers. Chop up whatever you've got, mix with 2 eggs, cream (I had feta that was getting old and couldn't put it in a salad anymore), 2 tbls parmigiano, and pour into the crust. Bake at 375° until the crust is browned a bit. It's fast, and the leftovers keep in the frig for quite a while.
The greengrocer still had artichokes but they were tiny. I normally steam artichokes and dip leaves in hollandaise but there won't be much flesh on these. Anyone have experience cooking tiny artichokes?
Carnival squash! I got them each for a dollar in the clearance produce section. Basted with a mix of EVOO, salt, pepper, mustard, Worcestershire, and maple syrup. Roasted until soft. Excited to have one of these halves with dinner!
I'm a displaced European so my broccoli is white aka cauliflower, ha ha
during the weight loss phase I believe in eating green vegetables with a protein, so chicken and green beans, or salmon and broccoli, or steak and spinach, (no filler carbs like white rice) or you get the idea mix it up
This looks really delicious. Many people don't think of cooking lettuces, but they are great. Would you be willing to share the basics of the recipe/process? Mmmmmm.....
This looks really delicious. Many people don't think of cooking lettuces, but they are great. Would you be willing to share the basics of the recipe/process? Mmmmmm.....
Sure--happy to. This is a traditional recipe that I came across while throwing out old papers. It's from Central Italy.
Wash and dry the endive heads and pull off the harder leaves on the outside. The smaller and tenderer the heads, the better. Prepare the "stuffing", for each head 5 black olives without stones, whole or chopped, a garlic clove minced, 4-5 cherry tomatoes chopped. Place in the heart of the head and salt and pepper and throw some grated Pecorino or Parmigiano on top. Close the head and tie it closed with string.
In a large flat pan with at least 5" sides, put in some EVOO, a garlic clove, and a piece of red pepper. Heat this up and when it's hot throw in the endive bundles. Cover and cook on low 20-30 min. Turn carefully during cooking (I used a fork and spatula). They throw out a lot of liquid and the stuffing escapes. Cut the string and remove.
There was quite a bit of flavorful liquid in the bottom of the pan so I took the tougher leaves, chopped them up and threw them in. They cooked up well.
This is the basic and it came out very tasty. You can also add pine nuts, raisins, or chopped almonds.
I'm a displaced European so my broccoli is white aka cauliflower, ha ha
during the weight loss phase I believe in eating green vegetables with a protein, so chicken and green beans, or salmon and broccoli, or steak and spinach, (no filler carbs like white rice) or you get the idea mix it up
Plates of sadness. Sorry.
But if this works for you, you do you.
Replies
Made an Asian slaw last night as part of dinner: green cabbage, red bell pepper, purple carrot, and this beautiful watermelon radish! Fresh, crunchy and delicious
Who knows how to stir fry this vegetable? I love the flavour but am struggling to get a palatable texture. Or is this a shopping problem (young shoots vs old plants) rather than a cooking problem?
This would be a huge head of mustard greens (put a bunch in lentil soup last night, so good!), Tuscan kale, apples, Roma-type and yellow cherry tomatoes, baby eggplant, Romaine, Hakurei turnips, radishes. Also still have a head of cabbage on hand from earlier, plus *lots* of carrots, parsnips, and spaghetti squash that my neighbor gave me. I think I sort of over-bought greens this week (given that I can eat the turnip and radish greens in addition to the mustard, kale and romaine), but I'll do my best not to waste any. it's way too easy to get carried away when I see all the yummy veggies/fruits on display, and extra temping when we're reaching the tail end of the most bounteous season.
I wonder if one could cook it as some do asparagus, standing upright in a narrow-ish pot, so that the stems get some simmering/boiling, the leaves just a steaming (with potentially some control over the steam via lid/no lid). Haven't done this, just speculating. I'm lazy, I usually cut thick stems out of leafy veggies, and start them before the leaves. Not as pretty, though. 😉
What is your crust, @snowflake954? It's hard to tell from a photo, but it looks more bread-like than a pastry crust, but "shorter" (more fat) perhaps than a bread variant. (Perhaps I'm misreading it, but it looks really yummy - as does that filling - so I'm curious.)
Necessity mother/ingenuity.
Haven’t grocery shopped yet after being away.
Pea shoots from my garden, golden beet carpaccio as plate base.
Chopped snap peas, mandolin purple carrot oblique cut, matchstick persimmon from said garden. Dill because needed to use up. Avocado, poorly plated bc cutting around not great bits.
Matchstick persimmon from my yard.
Pepita/sunflower sprinkle.
Pile of dry oil cured olives in the fancy herb mix because bougie.
Beet is vinegar cured in my fave local white honey balsamic.
Tahini dressing.
Hi Ann, I buy the crust--the ingredients on the package are: flour, sunflower oil, water, salt, yeast, concentrated lemon juice. Calories: 394 per 100g. The package was 230g total. Cut in 6 pieces the portion of crust is 151 cal. If I were to make the crust, I would probably play around and try to reduce the calories. The crust is crunchy.
I use the basic recipe to use up vegetable leftovers. Chop up whatever you've got, mix with 2 eggs, cream (I had feta that was getting old and couldn't put it in a salad anymore), 2 tbls parmigiano, and pour into the crust. Bake at 375° until the crust is browned a bit. It's fast, and the leftovers keep in the frig for quite a while.
Carnival squash! I got them each for a dollar in the clearance produce section. Basted with a mix of EVOO, salt, pepper, mustard, Worcestershire, and maple syrup. Roasted until soft. Excited to have one of these halves with dinner!
during the weight loss phase I believe in eating green vegetables with a protein, so chicken and green beans, or salmon and broccoli, or steak and spinach, (no filler carbs like white rice) or you get the idea mix it up
This looks really delicious. Many people don't think of cooking lettuces, but they are great. Would you be willing to share the basics of the recipe/process? Mmmmmm.....
Sure--happy to. This is a traditional recipe that I came across while throwing out old papers. It's from Central Italy.
Wash and dry the endive heads and pull off the harder leaves on the outside. The smaller and tenderer the heads, the better. Prepare the "stuffing", for each head 5 black olives without stones, whole or chopped, a garlic clove minced, 4-5 cherry tomatoes chopped. Place in the heart of the head and salt and pepper and throw some grated Pecorino or Parmigiano on top. Close the head and tie it closed with string.
In a large flat pan with at least 5" sides, put in some EVOO, a garlic clove, and a piece of red pepper. Heat this up and when it's hot throw in the endive bundles. Cover and cook on low 20-30 min. Turn carefully during cooking (I used a fork and spatula). They throw out a lot of liquid and the stuffing escapes. Cut the string and remove.
There was quite a bit of flavorful liquid in the bottom of the pan so I took the tougher leaves, chopped them up and threw them in. They cooked up well.
This is the basic and it came out very tasty. You can also add pine nuts, raisins, or chopped almonds.
Plates of sadness. Sorry.
But if this works for you, you do you.