Napa Cabbage, Radish & Celery Salad

with Buttermilk Dressing

French Breakfast Radish

So, I could not help but notice that many of the shareholders at the Grainery yesterday swapped their radishes. "We are just not eating them", one person said. Now they may not be as glamorous as a tomato or as necessary as lettuce, but I really think you should make more of an effort to appreciate these little gems & expand your culinary horizons.
What seems to me the simplest way to eat radishes is to slice, butter & salt em up. If you don't trust me, check out what a bunch of foodies have to say here
If that doesn't grab you, try these:
Butter-Poached Radishes
Quick Radish Pickles
or stir fry a la Smitten Kitchen

Zucchini Chocolate Indulgence

A quick scan through the posted recipes and I see there are lots of creative uses out there for zucchini! I'd like to add a favorite in our family. It's quick and easy and a big hit with kids in the kitchen.

It comes from one of my favorite books, "Crazy Plates"

Isn't She Loafly? - Chocolaty, chocolate chip zucchini loaf

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce (I used baby food prunes)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups grated zucchini
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

- Preheat oven to 350. Grease two 8x4 loaf pans

- Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl

- In a medium bowl, whisk together sugar, eggs, applesauce, oil and vanilla. Stir in zucchini. Add wet ingredients to dry and stir until just moistened. Add chocolate chips.

- Spread batter into pans and bake for 50 minutes.

I baked all my batter in a 9x13 pan instead and created a sort of "snack cake". No need for frosting on this one. My little guy was thrilled of course, wondering whose birthday we were celebrating. No special occasion, but a perfect treat on an ordinary day (and a great way to sneak in another serving of veggies with the wee ones).

Enjoy (:

Radish on the Grill and Zucchini Bread

Thanks Brenda for these.

Radish on the Grill

Wash cut in half radish, place in glass bowl microwave for 1 min. ( radish will become less red, idea is to tenderize, and it will lessen the sharp taste)

Large piece of tinfoil ( piece large enough to allow ingredients to be placed in the middle of the sheet and the four sides to fold into the middle closing the tinfoil, to be somewhat flat without too much thickness as this package will go on the grill, place ingredient on the shinny side tinfoil, helps absorbs heat )

Arrange thinly sliced onions in two rows in the middle of the tinfoil, ( cut a whole onion into slices leaving as rings, may require two whole onions)

Garnish with spice ( can add garlic cloves chopped/shallots, peppers thinly chopped or sliced- with what ever spices you enjoy, pepper, celery, etc or commercial blends to your own taste)

Place radish on top of onion layer, sprinkle with spice.

Place onion layer on top of radish, close the tinfoil making a sealed package.The tinfoil package should be relatively flat not too thick)

Place the tinfoil package on the grill, (10 min or less) do not need to turn over, if you are bbq/grilling meat, can move the radish to top shelve of grill for the rest of the time it takes to cook the meat.

Open tinfoil and serve. ( onions will be steamed, spice/onion flavor will infuse the radish)

Variations: Using crushed Chili peppers/chili powder will compliment/enhance radish taste. ( If you like hot)

Can wash the radish greens (tops) cut in half, lay on top of the first onion layer with the radish and prepare as directed above using a bit more spice on the greens before placing onion layer on top. The greens will steam cook within the tinfoil.

Zucchini Bread (low fat/salt)

Ingredients

1	cup oats
1/2	c plain no fat yogurt
2	c zucchini (shredded)
1	egg ( or egg substitute)
1/4	c unsweetened applesauce
2	c flour
1/4	c vegetable oil/ or oil of your choice, not olive
2	tsp baking powder
1/2	tsp salt
1/2	baking soda
1/4	c walnuts/ raisins (optional) 2 tbsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp nutmeg 1 tbsp sugar if desired Mix yogurt, oil, egg, applesauce together with a Wisk, add walnuts/raisins then baking soda, powder and salt with cinnamon and nutmeg, one tbsp sugar if desired, Wisk together add oatmeal, stir, then zucchini stir, then two cups flour mix all together, batter will be heavy, if flour hard to mix in add small amount of water, tbsp perhaps. Bake in a greased bread pan, for 30 -40 min at 350. Check center of bread if moist bake longer checking every 5 min or so until done. I have also baked this in a square pan (9 x12) Note that the baked cake with be moist. Freezes well. Can garnish with fresh fruit and serve. Object of recipe is to be a low fat/salt, moderately sugar free, nutrious with flavour.

Japanese Chicken & Cucumber Salad (Or how Lorrie learned to like cucumbers)

Okay ..Its Japanese, I learned it from Harume, my japanese flamenco dancing friend:

Cukes: Cut them in diagonal rounds and then in groups of 3/4 , like hickory sticks. Is this julienning? Salt em.

Chicken: Boil meat chunks in a little water and a dollop of sake for flavoring (approx 2/3 Tbs.) Once cooked and cooled, separate the strands of meat by hand.

Onions: Cut in rings and soak to remove hot.

Place on platter: bed of finely julienned cukes, meat and then onion rings.
Top with sliced up green onions.
Dressing is apporximately : rice vinegar, sesame oil, sesame seeds, sugar, salt, and soy sauce.

Best chilled on a hot day. Add the sauce at the last minute.

Salad Salad Salad

I think the New York Times may have heard about our abundance of greens.
For some serious salad inspiration check out 101 Simple Salads for the Season

quick zucchini sauté

From Smitten Kitchen, a foodie site I like to visit, I am going to try this simple zucchini dish tonight.

Honey Mustard-Glazed Salmon with Lentils and Kale

1 cup brown lentils, picked over and rinsed
8 oz (about 8packed cups) kale, chopped
4 6-oz wild-caught salmon fillets
1 tbsp honey
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
ground black pepper and sea salt, to taste
olive oil cooking spray

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 F
2. In a large saucepan over high heat, bring 4 cups water to a boil. All lentils and kale. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove lid and simmer 5 to 10 minutes more or until lentils and kale are tender. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
3. Meanwhile, place salmon fillets on a baking sheet lined with foil and coated with cooking spray. Season salmon with salt and pepper, to taste. Bake for 12 minutes.
4. In a small bowl, stir together honey and mustard. When salmon is ready, remove fillets from oven and coat thoroughly with honey-mustard glaze. Return to oven and bake 10 to 15 minutes more or until cooked through.
5. Divide lentil mixture among 4 plates. Top each with a salmon fillet and serve immediately.

This recipe is from the March/April 2009 issue of Clean Eating

Zucchini Hummus

This is an easy and yummy use for zucchini, that my kids (ages 5 and 7) gobbled up in one sitting:

2 cups unpeeled zucchini
2/3 cup tahini
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
juice of 2 fresh lemons
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 tsp sea salt

Preparation:
Place all ingredients in food processor. Puree and serve with chopped veggies, crackers or pita.

This recipe is from The Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook by Tosca Reno

Garlic Scape Pesto sent in by Lisa P

http://www.whatgeekseat.com/wordpress/2007/06/16/garlic-scape-pesto/

zucchini casserole

This is an old family favourite, but great once tomatoes are ripe. Serve with really fresh bread to mop up the juice.

2-3 zucchini (depends on size)
2 large tomatoes
1 red onion
1/2 c or more grated cheddar
2 T or more basil
2 T or more oregano
salt and pepper

Slice the zucchinis and put two layers in the bottom of a casserole dish. Layer sliced tomatoes on top. Sprinkle 1 T basil and 1 T oregano (I've only ever used dried, but I imagine fresh would be good too). Add two more layers of zucchini and one more of tomatoes. Sprinkle more basil and oregano, salt and pepper - don't go scanty, this is better with lots of herbs. Layer sliced red onion on top. Sprinkle over cheddar cheese. Cook at 350 until zucchinis are really soft (about 20-30 mins).

Zucchini Pasta Bake

At our house, in order to increase variety & also to address the complaints department (... do I have to eat the greens?) my kids each have one night per week to choose our dinner meal. Oscar has Mondays, Amaya has Wednesdays. We have done this for years & originally they were expected to help prepare the meal as well, however that part of the deal has fallen by the wayside a bit. They are welcome to help, but usually they don't want to & I kind of prefer cooking alone.

So, last night was Amaya's night & she wanted pasta & cheese sauce. As we are all allergic to milk & try not to eat a lot of carbs, this is a rare meal in our house, but it was her night after all. I do consider it fairly obvious to toss some veggies in with the noodles, add cheese & bake, but it turned out yummy (how could it not) and I managed to slip in quite a few delicious Tap Root veggies, so I thought I'd post.

I fried a couple of strips of bacon chopped into small pieces (you could easily skip this & just start with some veg. oil)
chopped & added to the bacon a big fistful of garlic scapes
wilted the entire bag of arugula into the bacon drippings
tossed all this together with pre-cooked noodles and put in the bottom of a baking pan
then I sliced my zucchinis very thinly with a mandolin and drizzled the zucchini with a bit of olive oil & salt & arranged the zucchini slices on top of the noodles
I did not make a cheese sauce, though it would have been yummy
I just threw a bunch of crumbled cheese (cheddar & blue) on top of the zucchini with several basil leaves & some salt & pepper
I baked it at 375 F for about 45 min.
My friend Katie & her 2 boys came by for a spontaneous visit & we had a little pasta party.

Pickles

My husband really likes Strub Pickles so I have occasionally made them using this recipe on their website. I have never managed to get them as crisp as we like them, but I have learned that soaking the cukes in icy water for a couple of hours before making the pickles will give a crunchier crunch.

As a rule of thumb, for dill pickles, you need one pound of cucumber per one quart jar. So if you want 8 jars, order 8 pounds.

Happy cooking.

Swiss Chard Pizza

I posted this as a comment, but now that I'm an official contributor I'll repost ... especially since we seem likely to get lots of chard (yay!)

I became a fan of swiss chard when a friend made me his Majorcan Swiss Chard pizza. When we make pizzas this disappears faster than anything - including pepperoni & cheese. I don't know if it's authentically Majorcan but my friend ate it lots in Majorca.

Marc's Majorcan Swiss Chard Pizza

-2 med. onions, chopped
-2 red sweet peppers, chopped
-5 cloves of garlic (or to taste) minced
-1 bunch swiss chard
-lots of salt and pepper
-pizza crust or flatbread
-olive oil
-feta or cooked chicken pieces if desired

Chop the onion and saute with the garlic in a little olive oil in a large pan or wok. Chop the stems of the chard and add; chop red peppers and add. Cook low-med about 10 minutes. Chop the leaves of the chard and add, stirring, until just wilted. Spread olive oil on the pizza base or flatbread, top with the mixture. Add lots of salt and pepper (put what you would expect then double it - this recipe needs salt). Top with feta and/or chicken if desired. Cook in a high oven (425) until the crust is cooked.

We make our own pizza crust - if anyone wants the recipe let me know.

Good things to do with Garlic Scapes

I am so excited that the garlic scapes are ready. The season is brief folks, so enjoy them while you can. Some folks at the Grainery pick up wondered how to use them. They are tasty added to stir fry or tomato sauce but don`t cook them long or they lose their glossy green colour and crunch. They really only need to be added near the end of cooking. They are delicious in potato salad (lightly cooked or raw & finely sliced). I added a bit to homemade mayo this week & used for hamburger topping. They can also be used to make pesto, alone or combined with basil.
good eating!

Garlic Scape Soup

2 tablespoons clarified butter or extra-virgin olive oil
2 dozen garlic scapes (or as many as you have), flower buds discarded and green shoots chopped
3 large potatoes, cut into ½ inch dice
5 cups vegetable stock or water
2 large handfuls spinach leaves or swiss chard, stemmed
Juice of ½ lemon
½ teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup heavy cream (optional)
Chive blossoms, for garnish (optional)

Heat the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat, then add the scapes and sauté for 2 minutes. Add the potatoes and stock, cover, and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked through and beginning to break down.

Remove from the heat, add the spinach, and puree using a hand blender. (If you must use a conventional blender, be careful; the hot liquid can burst out the top and make a huge, potentially painful mess. Try leaving the lid slightly ajar to allow steam to escape. Cover the top with a kitchen towel and blend in batches at low speed.) Season with the lemon juice, salt, and a few grinds of pepper. Whisk in the cream for a silkier texture. If the soup tastes flat, add salt a few big pinches at a time until the flavors really pop. Serve garnished with the chive blossoms.

Serves 4 to 6.