Random Vegetables with Savory Peanut Butter Sauce

I had some “Thai” peanut and sesame baked tofu in the fridge. I wanted to serve it with the spaghetti squash and beet greens from last week’s Farmer’s Market. The problem was I had already stirred quite a bit of basil pesto into the spaghetti squash the night before and I needed a sauce that was compatible with both pesto and sesame peanut tofu. I must have looked in five different cookbooks for inspiration when I came across Deborah Madison’s Quick Peanut Sauce in Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. (I have said it before,” If you want the best vegetarian cookbook out there, that is the one.)

The random vegetables are just that—whatever you have on hand, whatever you feel like eating, or whatever you find in your CSA box or Farmer’s Market. Garlicky and tangy and sort of sweet, this, my variation of Ms. Madison’s sauce, enriches an assortment of vegetables, as well as grains and proteins. Serve it cold, spooned over your choice of goodies.

Heaping 1/3 cup chunky (unsweetened) peanut butter

¼ cup rice wine vinegar

2 or 3 cloves garlic, minced

1 ½ tablespoons tamari soy sauce

2 teaspoons brown sugar or honey

1 teaspoon chili oil

2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

¼ teaspoon Real Salt, or to taste

¼ cup water

In a bowl, mix the peanut butter, vinegar, garlic, soy sauce, brown sugar, chili oil and water with a fork. Taste and add the salt if you deem necessary.

Makes about 1 cup.

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Pesto Grilled Tofu

Let’s make pesto with the lemon basil and sweet “Genovese” basil in our Ranui Gardens CSA box and this time slather it on tofu, like I described in the last post. But let’s grill instead of bake the tofu out of respect for the heat—it’s just too hot to turn on the oven.

Start steaming brown rice before even pulling the tofu from the fridge so it will be cooked and ready to serve with the hot-off-the-grill tofu.

14 ounces (or thereabouts)  extra firm tofu

1/3 to 1/2 cup fresh basil pesto

Prepare the tofu. Turn the block on its side and cut into three thinner blocks, 1/2 to 5/8-inch thick. Keep the blocks in a stack and cut all the way through to make six triangles. Press out excess water: place the tofu triangles in a large shallow dish on top of a clean tea towel (without terrycloth nubs.) Cover with another towel or paper towels. Place a second dish on top, one that fits inside the first, and place something heavy in the dish–I use my blender. After 5 or 10 minutes the tea towels will have absorbed excess water, and the tofu triangles will be easy to pick up.

Brush oil on the grill grates and preheat the grill to medium heat. Remove the tea towel and arrange the tofu on a plate. Spread generously with pesto.

Cook the tofu triangles, pesto side down first, 5 to 10 minutes. Spread pesto on top of the triangles and turn them over. Cook a few more minutes, then spread with more pesto. Turn off the grill and let the residual heat melt the pesto into the tofu. Serve on a bed of brown rice.

Makes 3 to 6 servings, depending on how much you like tofu.

Pesto tofu on rice with salad

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Pesto Potatoes

Pesto Potatoes on the Grill

Earlier today at work, as I walked from a busy bakery to my office, I passed one of the cooks opening tubs of tofu. I notice tofu, more than I would a pot of turkey chili, mostly because it’s not on the menu everyday at Deer Valley and more so because I love tofu! Before going home, I watched the same cook arrange those triangles of tofu, hot and emerald green with pesto, on a bed of arugula. At his urging, I helped myself to the extra piece on the back line—even knowing I was going to have pesto potatoes before the sun had set behind the mountain.

Robbie mentioned pesto potatoes this morning and he says he thought about them all day. He must have thought well, because the ones he made us for dinner were perfect.

Early Rose Potatoes

He used Early Rose potatoes from our Ranui Gardens CSA box and dipped into the stash of basil pesto  tucked away in our freezer. (Every time we’ve had basil in the box we make up a batch of pesto.)

Pesto Stash in random containers

Any time you cook potatoes, if you have organic ones, by all means scrub them and leave the skin on. The Early Rose potato has a thin and smooth skin.  If you don’t know your farmer and her growing practices, ask. Potatoes make the Dirty Dozen pesticide list, so it might be best to peel them if they have been sprayed. These are so good you can eat them with your fingers.

 Pesto Potatoes

4 to 6 potatoes, sliced crosswise 1/2- to 5/8 inch thick.

Olive oil, as needed

Basil Pesto, as needed

Par-cook the potatoes in a steamer or nuke them in the microwave until they have begun to cook but are still pretty firm. (You can cook them entirely on the grill but it takes a lot longer. The par-cook step helps get dinner on the table sooner.)

Heat the grill to high if the potatoes are par-cooked, to medium high if not par-cooking them.)

Brush both sides of the potato slices with olive oil. Arrange them in a single layer on a grilling tray.  and cook until the potatoes are fork-tender and have some golden grill color, turning the potatoes to cook both sides. Brush one side of the potatoes with pesto and cook about 10 minutes more, until the pesto becomes part of the potato.

Serve immediately.

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Basil and Cilantro

Sometime the herbs are what are left from the box when next CSA week rolls around. But if you took them out of the bag last week and placed them in a small jar of water, refrigerated or decorating your kitchen counter top, cilantro, basil and chives are just about as sprightly as a week ago. I try to be aggressive and use up the beet greens or any other leafy greens first, before the weekend, because I know I can continue to enjoy the herbs right into the next week. And there are so many international dishes that benefit and shine from their pungent flavor—from Latin American and Caribbean to Thai and Indian.

For us the basil is easy because we squirrel it away made into pesto. I keep walnuts and fresh Romano cheese on hand this time of year in hopes that John will bless us with his beautiful basil. If I feel like I am swimming in cilantro, I turn it into Latino pesto with toasted pumpkin seeds.

About a week ago I was cruising the deli counter at the Salt Lake Whole Foods and spied a fruit and jicama salad with a cilantro lime dressing. I was thinking about making such a salad over the weekend when supper in a hurry became a priority and since we had been gifted some beautiful farm fresh eggs—chilaquiles frittata (with ¼ cup of chopped cilantro) made the cut. Here is last night’s supper, which uses almost ½ cup of cilantro, a bit of basil and spinach greens as well as last week’s scapes. Deborah Madison once again provided the inspiration. In her book Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, she describes this as a Vietnamese dish, though I am not sure about my version with turmeric curry powder and almonds.

Tofu in Curry-Coconut Sauce

1 pound firm tofu, cut into cubes

1 huge handful fresh spinach or other green, thick stems removed

1 tablespoon coconut oil or peanut oil

1 small onion

1 large handful garlic scapes

2 carrots

1 to 2 teaspoons Thai curry paste, red or green

1 to 2 teaspoons curry powder

½ cup canned unsweetened coconut milk

½ cup vegetable stock

½ teaspoon Real Salt

1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped cilantro

2 tablespoons chopped basil leaves

Pinch cayenne pepper

1/3 cup chopped roasted whole almonds or peanuts

Bring a saucepan of lightly salted water to a boil. Gently drop the tofu cubes into the water and let them simmer gently for 5 minute. Remove the tofu with a slotted spoon onto a plate draped with a couple of paper towels.

Drop the spinach leaves into the simmering water and blanch a minute or so. Drain and chop coarsely. Set aside.

Slice the onion thinly. As you would with asparagus, snap the tops and bottoms off the scapes, then cut them into ½-inch lengths. Cut each carrot in half lengthwise and then slice into 1/8-inch half moons.

Heat the coconut oil in a large skillet or wok. When it is hot, add the onion and scapes and stir-fry for a minute. Add the carrots and stir-fry a few minutes. Stir in the curry paste and powder, then add the coconut milk, vegetable stock, salt and tofu.

Simmer several minutes, then stir in the spinach, 1/3 cup of the cilantro and the basil. Season to taste with more salt and cayenne pepper.

Serve over quinoa rice*, garnished with the remaining cilantro and chopped almonds.

Makes 2 to 3 servings.

* Quinoa rice is half quinoa and half rice, steamed as you would for rice.

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Yogurt Cheese with Garlic and Parsley

Yogurt cheese is easy to make—it just takes preparing ahead—18 to 24 hours. So if you want yogurt cheese for tomorrow—make it today, if you want yogurt cheese for today—too late, too bad. This recipe uses parsley, because that is in our box this week. If you have that freezer stash of basil pesto, it is perfect for flavoring yogurt cheese; mix in 1/4 cup of pesto in place of the garlic and parsley. You can use other herbs too—cilantro, basil, dill—depending on what you have or prefer.

In the era when many were cooking their way through Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volumes One and Two, I was throwing dinner parties and cooking out of Anna Thomas’ Vegetarian Epicure, Books I and II.  Know that it’s true when I say that Anna’s recipes were just as time-consuming and calorific as Julia’s. In 1996, Anna published a new cookbook, with dinner-party ideas and recipes of a lighter fare—this Yogurt Cheese comes from her The New Vegetarian Epicure.

1 quart high-quality plain non-fat yogurt (no starch or gums added)

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley

1/8 teaspoon Real Salt, to taste

Freshly ground black pepper

Line a large sieve of colander with a triple thickness of damp cheesecloth, Dump the yogurt onto the cheesecloth and place the sieve or colander over a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate about 18-20 hours. Check under the sieve, especially in the first hours, and drink or throw away (sic) the whey that has drained into the bowl.

Turn the thickened yogurt cheese into a bowl and mix in the garlic and parsley, or pesto, as well as salt and pepper, to your taste. If you have the time, refrigerate for a few hours before serving, letting the flavors meld.

Serve with crackers or crostini, as an appetizer, or with baked Ranui Charlotte potatoes for dinner.

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Basil Pesto

If you were to peek into our freezer in January, you would find several recycled cottage cheese or miso containers labeled and dated Pesto; from this summer’s harvest they will read Pesto 2009. I dip into the tubs for pasta sauce, as seasoning for soup and the times when an interesting recipe calls for fresh herbs and I don’t have any.

Stashing a bit of frozen pesto is the most squirrel-like thing I do. And because I use a food processor there is very little time involved–the work is in stripping the basil leaves off the stems. Purists be appalled, but any flavor or texture nuance lost by not using the traditional mortar and pestle is more than made up for with timesavings. You say it still seems like too much work and you can buy pesto in jars at the store—to me that is like saying dried parsley or cilantro, or basil, is an adequate substitute for the fresh leaf.

Here in Park City the sports shops have all the summer gear on sale and over Labor Day weekend they switched over—to skis, boots and winter clothing. I’m getting ready for winter in the kitchen; I’m stocking my pesto larder using the fresh basil in this week’s CSA box. I like this recipe—it calls for more garlic and less olive oil than many. In the middle of winter, a dollop of basil pesto reeking of garlic will bring a rich punch to our dinner. Today, harvest day, I’ll make basil pesto around dinner hour, reserving a little of the emerald opulence. I’ll mix it with an equal amount of pasta water, making sauce for pasta just boiled.

2 large garlic cloves

3 ounces Parmesan cheese, broken in pieces or already grated (don’t even think of using that sawdust in the green can)

2 cups tightly packed, stemmed fresh basil

1/2 cup walnuts (or pine nuts to be extravagant)

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Add the ingredients in the order directed for efficient use of the food processor. With the motor of the food processor running, mince the garlic by dropping it through the feed tube. Process until it is very fine. Add the cheese, basil, walnuts and salt. Process for about 10 seconds, stopping to move things around if they get hung up. With the machine running, pour oil through the feed tube in a thin stream, processing until everything is well blended.

Makes about 1 cup. Scrape into small containers immediately and freeze. To use in winter, thaw the pesto only enough so you can scrape some out.

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Incredible Shrinking Greens and Spaghetti with Beet Greens

Do you feel as if you’re overwhelmed with greens? Besides salad greens, you have spinach, kale, chard, beet greens, radish greens, collards, mizuna, mustard greens, arugula—you name it. What to do? Shrink them. Wilt your greens down to manageable, edible amounts. A pound of greens, occupying half of the veggie bin in the fridge, cooks into just about 2 cups of tangy cooked sweetness.

Spaghetti with Beet Greens

You want to trim the center rib and stem off most greens. With chard and beet greens, reserve these ribs, dice into pieces and sauté with onion and/or garlic. Last night I made Spaghetti with Beet Greens and the beet ribs tinted the spaghetti pink. I still have a stash of Pesto 2008 in the freezer so I added 3 large dollops of pesto for seasoning. If you don’t have any pesto, add a couple of minced garlic cloves with the onion and beet stems.

1 large bunch beet greens

8 ounces whole wheat spaghetti

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/2 yellow or red onion, sliced

About 1/4 cup basil pesto

1 tablespoon sherry wine vinegar or other vinegar or lemon juice

Sea salt and red chile flakes

Wash the beet greens. Trim the leaves from the ribs. Cut the ribs into 1/4-inch pieces. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the spaghetti until it is tender to the bite (al dente).

Onions and Beet Stems

Over medium high flame, heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the onion and beet stems and cook and stir until the beet stems soften a bit. Add the garlic, if using. Chop the beet greens into 1-inch ribbons and add to the skillet. Reduce the heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the greens wilt and shrink. Stir in the pesto, and gently toss in the cooked spaghetti, stirring to mix well. Sprinkle with the vinegar. Season to taste with salt. Serve red chili flakes at the table for those who like some heat.

Makes 2 or 3 servings.

Beet Green Ribbons before shrinkage

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