Here I go again with barbecue ideas. And this time it actually has to do with stuff you can cook on the grill!

Whether your source of grilling heat is a barbecue in the back yard or a campfire in the woods, the following recipe should work nicely. The one after that can accompany your grilled treasures or any other main dish.

To bring these recipes on a camping trip, pack the veggies and tofu in the marinade in a container with a tight-fitting lid. Let marinate until ready to grill. Reserve extra marinade to pour over or dip the veggies and tofu later. That’s right — unlike marinades and sauces used to flavor meat for the grill, you don’t have to toss it out. Raw veggies aren’t going to spread any nasty bacteria into your saucy goodness.

Here they are… Continue reading →

I have been meaning to post this recipe for a while. Amaranth, from the wonderful farm/orchard/dog heaven where I WWOOFed in Mexico, is the creator.

This is a good moment to share this, I think, because I’ve seen carrots boasting those delicate furry tops at farmers’ markets lately. Enjoy, and let me know what you think!
CARROT SOUP WITH CARROT TOP PESTO

This is a delicious soup for when you’ve just harvested carrots.

1/4 coconut oil, olive oil or butter
6-8 medium carrots, chopped
1 cup onion or leek, sliced

2 garlic cloves, minced
fresh thyme
fennel seeds
5 cups of water, broth, coconut milk

Saute vegetables and herbs over medium-low heat. Add broth and simmer until
carrots are very tender. Cool slightly and puree soup in blender. Season
with salt and pepper.

PESTO

Remove all stems from the carrot tops using only the leaves.

In a food processor process:
1/4 cup or more of olive oil
1 cup of walnuts
1/4 cup of raisins
half a log of goat cheese
4-5 cups of carrot tops
Salt

When I made this I didn’t measure so I’m approximating the amounts. Adjust
to taste

Also, you can vary the flavoring for the carrot soup using ginger, nutmeg
and lemon instead of the thyme and fennel.

Ladle soup into bowls and swirl the pesto. Very pretty bright orange soup
with a paisley swirl of green.

Whereas, it is the time of year for barbecues and picnics;

Whereas, vegetarians are often left out, or driven to the point of madness by questions like “so what do you eat at barbecues anyway?”;

Whereas, everyone I mention this site to asks with bright eyes if there will be recipes and I answer in the affirmative;

Be it resolved that I shall give you recipes that you can use this summer!

I now present Choose Your Own Adventure Potato Salad and Mac ‘n’ NYF. Continue reading →

After years of eating these tasty buckwheat creations, I learned to cook them the proper way. This is how you prepare them so they’re al dente–the way they’re supposed to be eaten:

In a medium to large pot on high heat, boil water (as much as you’d normally use for pasta). Add noodles to the boiling water and cover.

When it comes to a boil again, add a cup of cold water, cover the pot.

The third time it boils, add another cup of cold water and cover.

When it comes to a boil once again, the noodles are done. Remove from heat, drain, and rinse in cold water until the noodles are cool. Toss with toasted sesame oil.

Serve at that temperature with a soba dipping sauce. Tamari or soy sauce with garlic, ginger, and wasabi works well if you don’t have any ready-made stuff.

Nummers!

I’m growing herbs! Take that, you pavement haven! Take that, 5-story apartment building! That’s right — I’m gardening.

Granted, it is a window box of herbs that I keep on my friend’s balcony, plus a potted lemon balm plant (see below) and a very sad-looking sage plant. But still! Fresh herbs in the urban jungle! Ha!

Proof:

So in the window box, I’ve got basil (both Thai and Italian), thyme, marjoram, sorrel (though not for long — it needs more space than it can get there), dill, more sage, and probably a few other things I’m not thinking of. I got the plants as small seedlings from my CSA.

And speaking of the CSA, today was the first pickup! I had a moment of panic thinking I could never use all of those veggies — mezuna, pok choi, kohlrabi, sorrel, garlic scapes… and that’s a small order at the beginning of the growing season! But I already managed to deal handily with some of them. I steamed the pok (bok?) choi ever so slightly so it’s still a little crunchy about the stems. I sauteed the mezuna and other tough salad greens with the garlic scapes, regular garlic, and olive oil. I was going for the feel of Chinese sauteed watercress and I think I got it. Then some of the sorrel went into my simmering black-eyed peas.* Oh, and I got herbs, too. They will serve as good role models for the little ones I’m growing.
*I haven’t done a recipe in a while, so here goes:

Black-eyed pea and sorrel stew

What you need:

2 Tbs olive oil

1/2 large or 1 small onion, diced

a few cloves garlic, minced

3/4 cup dried black-eyed peas, picked over for stones and aliens

Enough water to cover the peas and then some

A few inches of kombu seaweed (optional)

1 handful sorrel leaves, coarsely chopped
Salt, to taste

What to do:

Heat oil in a medium saucepan on med-high. When hot, add onions. Cook for a few minutes, stirring occassionally, then add the garlic and stir again for about 30 seconds. Add the peas, water to cover the beans plus another 1/2-1″, and the kombu.

Cover and bring to a boil. Let simmer for 25-35 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding water to keep the water level about 1/2-1″ above the roiling stew. Oh, add the salt somewhere in there, preferably when the beans are getting soft and not before. Check the beans for doneness and cook more if necessary. Adjust salt and add other seasonings if you so desire. Add the sorrel and simmer another 2 minutes, then remove from heat.

 As far as the kombu goes, when the stew is done, I recommend fishing it out and then either chopping it up and throwing it back in or eating it right then and there. You can also throw it away. At that point, it’s done its job of adding flavor to the beans and making them more digestible, but I think there’s still more life to it.

That’s all, folks! Enjoy this stew over rice or just dig in with a spoon. I predict you’ll feel very Southern.

As my last hurrah before I go without leavened, wheaty foods for a week in observance of Passover, I’ll talk about injira. There are a lot of flat breads in the world (my friend Suzanne has an entire cookbook with just flatbread recipes), but injira is special. Injira has a unique tang to it, a way about it that makes it finicky and challenging whether you choose to cook or buy it, and a miraculous way of creating new friends. Continue reading →

A little PSA for you:

Whole Foods offers weekly podcasts to compliment their Flavors e-newsletter. You can listen to it while you’re cooking up a storm, or while you’re riding home on the metro thinking about what to make for dinner. Or you can read the e-newsletter while you should be working (not that I practice or advocate such behavior).

Here’s a recipe from a recent issue of the e-newsletter: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/dessert/cookie_pbcc.html. If you’re a fan of Teaism’s salty oatmeal cookies, this looks like the recipe for you!

Check ’em out!