Scurry

In West Texas, spring has sprung: the weather is doing that back and forth thing, but most days are lovely; the trees and bushes, including the red buds, are starting to peek out; and my stomach is yearning for something besides winter foods. But, there is still a chill in the air in the evenings, so I also want something warming. What to do?

Vegetable curry! There are a million curries in the naked city, but this one is simple, delicious and straddles the seasons well by combining root vegetables with those skinny little green beans that are so very yummy. And the gravy? It's tomato-based, simmered with ginger, garlic, pepper and spices and married to a healthy dose of (light) coconut milk for a creamy finish perfect with rice or sopped up with some naan. Leftovers? You'll have a few to see you through a couple of lunches for the week. Plus, this recipe is easily adapted to whatever veggies you like or have on hand. Enjoy.

Recipe: Delicious Vegetable Currrrrry

2 tablespoons canola oil
1 small onion, finely diced
2 tablespoons finely minced fresh ginger
1 jalapeno, seeded and cut into thin strips
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp chili powder
1, 16 oz can petite diced tomatoes with juice
1, 16 oz can tomato purée
1, 16 oz can garbanzo bean, drained and well rinsed
One 14-ounce can light coconut milk
3 carrots, peeled, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 pound sweet potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 pound small green beans, cut into thirds
Salt and pepper to taste
Cilantro for garnish
Brown rice for serving


In a large, dutch oven, heat the oil. Add the onion and cook for five minutes, until it begins to soften. Add the ginger, jalapeno and garlic and cook over moderate heat until softened, about another five minutes. Add the spices cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant; about two minutes

Add the tomatoes and tomato puree and cook for five minutes, until the tomatoes begin to soften. Add the coconut milk, season with salt and pepper and bring to a simmer.

Add the carrots and sweet potatoes, cover loosely and simmer for about 20 minutes. Add the green beans and garbanzo beans, cover and simmer until all the vegetables are tender, about 10-15 minutes longer. Taste and adjust the season. Serve with brown rice and garnish with cilantro.

Six servings.

First Market Trip

Last Saturday we went to Bloomington, IN with friends to go to the farmer's market, hit Farm Bloomington for brunch and of course pop into Target. There were so many delicious things at the market! I bought baby squash, baby sweet potatoes, salad greens, asparagus, tomatoes and cherries.

I made a delicious market salad with some of the produce...

...and used some of leftovers for a 'hippie' lunch with tofu and quinoa.

So very glad summer (and cherry season!) is here. And also happy to have friends who like to shop, eat and cook.

Red Quinoa Salad

This isn't so much a recipe, as it is an idea: a delicious quinoa salad that is easy to prepare and perfect to pack in lunches for the week. I tossed red quinoa with roasted veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, mushrooms and parsnips) and a creamy garlic vinaigrette then added chopped celery, sliced green onion and walnuts. Delicious and simple.

I also roasted more veggies than I could use in the salad so I could use the rest in wraps or toss with greens for a simple salad. For the quinoa salad, use about 1 cup uncooked quinoa, 2 1/2 to 3 cups roasted veggies, 2-3 ribs of celery, 3 green onions and 1/4 cup coarsely-chopped walnuts.

Recipe: Creamy Garlic Vinaigrette
1/4 cup mayonnaise (I used Vegenaise)
2 cloves crushed garlic
4 tbsp Champagne vinegar
3 tbsp olive oil
Salt

In big yellow bowl, whisk together the mayo, garlic, vinegar and salt to taste (about 1 tsp, you can add more later). Continue whisking as you drizzle in the olive oil. Taste and adjust seasoning; I always want a little more vinegar than most people. And remember, not too much salt as I assume you salted your veggies when you roasted then! You can adjust again after you get it all combined.

Add the veggies; toss and add the celery, green onions and walnuts; finally, fold in the quinoa. Taste and adjust seasoning, including freshly ground pepper.

Four serving.

I guess it is a recipe after all! Enjoy.

Pickling Beets

When I was growing up, my dad had a very nice garden in our backyard. He also helped my Mam-ma and Pap-pa with their garden at the house where he had grown up, about a mile and a half from our house. They had a much bigger space and it seems like between the two growing spaces, we had every vegetable you could want: beans, okra, asparagus, squash, corn, zucchini, tomatoes, melon, and so on and so on. Every year, some of these would be put up and we would vegetable to eat during the winter. And my favorite of the pickly variety? The beets.

I'm not sure if it was childhood memory or not, but pickled beets from the store just cannot compare to the thoughts in my head about the ones my dad would make. But, he hasn't put up any beets in who knows how long, so the flavor in my head has remained a mystery and a memory. Until this year.

I guess my brother and I were persistent enough in lamenting the state of pickled beets in US supermarkets because this year, Sam (dad) put in a little patch of beets in his garden. As it so happened, when I was in Tulsa in August I got to assist in the beet pickling process. And now I understand why he doesn't do it anymore! Time consuming and tiring.

Sam says that he would pickle beets every other year because it was such a long process. And his trick was/is to pull all of the beets at once and just get the thing done, not doing a small batch here and there. He also told me he would make special jars for his grandmother (and very good grandson, this one) with little, baby beets all stacked perfectly in the jar and she would give him perhaps the highest compliment from an Oklahoma farm girl, "those are pretty enough to go to the county fair." Or something to that affect.

So, here is a photographic how-to on pickling beets. I'd be happy to share the recipe with you on one condition: if you pickle beets, I get a jar. A large jar!

The first step is pulling all of beets. Dad was out and in the garden before I could even finish my coffee, so I didn't pull any beets. But, we ended up with a wheelbarrow overflowing with a giant mound of beets.

Then, all of the greens have to be trimmed (compost pile) and the root end trimmed as well. The giant wheelbarrow was transformed to two little buckets.

After they are trimmed, the beets are boiled. This cooks them and also makes it possible to remove their skins. As you can see, we did all of this outside because it is incredibly messy. Otherwise, my mother would have a blood red kitchen! After they were cooked, we tossed the hot beets into a cooler filled with ice and water. Then began to peel and trim, peel and trim, peel and trim. It took forever! I don't have a photograph of that part of process because my hands were covered in plastic gloves covered in beet juice.

After they are all trimmed, the beets are sorted to size, with the larger ones cut down. A delicious brine made with sugar, spices and vinegar is poured over them.

After that, they are sealed and are processed in a hot water bath.

From a giant wheelbarrow of beets to seven quarts. Yes folks, that is what you get from a wheelbarrow full of beets and six hours of hard labor! Seven jars of dark red deliciousness. I got to keep three of the jars which had to sit for a while before they could be opened. Finally, after all of that work and all of the waiting (years of waiting!) I opened a jar of beets and served them to friends at dinner the other night. Are they better than store bought? You betcha. More spice, less sugar and all about the beets. When I finish the jar, I'm going to make pink pickled eggs! Just wait.

Vegi Wokery

Vegi Wokery--all vegan versions of your favorite Chinese food. BBQ 'pork' and Peking 'Duck.'

Food: Okra Chips

When I saw this box of okra at The Fresh Market, I admit I thought it was just dried-out pathetic Yankee okra, saying to myself, "This is my choice if I want fresh OKRA?!" But, I was in the bulk section and should have realized this was something altogether different: okra chips.

I've written about okra before and the variety of ways it can be prepared. It's thought of as a Southern food and either you like it or you don't. I guess that isn't quite true: some people will eat okra that is fried, but no other way. I will eat it anyway you prepare it:

• Stewed with tomatoes? Check.
• Cooked in a gumbo? Check. (As long as its veggie!)
  
• Fried in cornmeal? Check.
• Little okra patties? Check.
  
• Pickled? Check.
• Homemade double-hot pickled? Double check.
• Boiled and topped with butter and coarse salt? Check.

You name it and I will eat it. Story is, when I was a babe my dad would pick okra from the garden and leave the stems long so I could grasp them in my very fat hands and cram the boiled okra into my fat little face. Supposedly, I ate twenty-something (small) pieces of okra in one sitting. In other words, I was born to eat okra.

And these okra chips might possible be the best preparation of okra ever invented. The pods, a relative of the hibiscus which is why their green grassy flavor is accented by a slightly floral note (something only an okra connoisseur would say), are flash fried resulting in a crispy, crunchy non-greasy piece of deliciousness. Okra chips have all of the amazing flavor of fried okra, but none of the slime that is the primary objection most people give about the vegetable. Light, green and delicious. I wish they had a little bit of heat, but since the chips are just okra it would be difficult to do. No matter, I'll serve them with a little bit of sriracha sauce for dipping.

If you don't have the Fresh Market in your neighborhood, not to worry: you can order the okra chips from them online.

Mangez!

First Box of Organic Love

Today I picked up my first box from the Hairston Creek Farms CSA. It was chocked full of organic, delicious goodness: tomatoes, small onions, new potatoes, Japanese eggplant, small bell peppers, hot peppers, okra, cucumber, squash and a cantaloupe. So what did I create with it? What any good, southern boy raised eating out of the garden would cook:



-A tomato salad with onion dressed with a little pomegranate vinegar, a drizzle of olive oil and some blue cheese to sprinkle on top.
-Steamed new potatoes with a little butter and some dill.
-Oklahoma hushpuppies a.k.a. okra pancakes. Fried and fried.

I bought some popcorn tofu from Wheatsville Co-op earlier this week and it was the perfect accompaniment to the fresh veggies. It was all delicious and I can't wait to cook and eat the rest of the box.

Mangez!

CSA

What is a CSA? Community Supported Agriculture. It's basically a subscription for food. You pay a small farmer a certain amount and in return receive a share of the harvest. Its like going to the farmers market, BUT you don't have to go to the farmers market. Instead, you pick up your weekly or bi-weekly share at a neighborhood location. Some even deliver. Its good for the farmers because they have guaranteed income. It's good for you because most are organic and you're eating seasonally and locally. What could be better?

I've been reading about CSAs for a while now, but Michael Pollen had a link to Local Harvest in one of his blogs for the New York Times. Local Harvest was started by Guillermo Payet, featured in this months Gourmet in an article about Peru and its return to native foods. (More about Local Harvest here.) You can search for stores, farmers markets or CSAs in your area by zip code. Easy!

From the site, I found several CSAs in the Austin area and corresponded with one to work out the details of a subscription. Next Wednesday, I pick up my first box from Hairston Creek Farms. They've been growing organic certified produce since 1993 and it sounds wonderful. I'll keep you posted not only on what is included, but also what I make with it. Can't wait!

Mangez!