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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Soba Noodles with Chard and French Green Lentils

This might be my very favorite recipe using chard. It’s a variation on one from my very favorite cookbook author–Deborah Madison–from The Greens Cookbook.

French green lentils are the little dark ones that hold their shape well; as opposed to the larger brown ones I grew up with, made into lentil ham soup from the leftover ham bone. To further differentiate, there is an elegant specialty appellation-controlled French green lentil called Lentilles de Puy that makes it onto menus of high end restaurants as “lentil caviar.”

8 ounces soba (Japanese buckwheat noodles)

1/2 cup French green lentils

1 bay leaf

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon plus 1/4 cup virgin olive oil

Fresh ground pepper

1 bunch red or green chard

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 carrots cut into 1/4-inch squares

3/4 cup vegetable stock

1 tablespoon parsley, chopped

5 ounces goat cheese, optional

Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the pasta. Rinse the lentils, checking them over for little rocks masquerading as lentils. Put them in another pot with water to cover plus 2 inches, along with the bay leaf and salt. Cook until tender, about 30 minutes at Park City altitude. Drain them, saving the liquid for stock. Toss the lentils with a tablespoon of the oil. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper and set aside.

Wash the chard well. Cut the leaves away from the stems. Cut the stems in 1/4-inch pieces and set aside, and then chop the leaves into 1-inch strips.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet on low heat. Cook the garlic about a minute. Add the carrots and the chard stems and cook over medium heat another minute. Season with salt; add the veggie stock, the chard, and the lentils. Cook until the carrots are tender.

Cook the noodles in the boiling water until they are just tender. Drain and add them to the chard. Toss with the parsley and more freshly ground pepper. If you are using the goat cheese, crumble it into the pasta and vegetables at the very last minute.

Makes 2 to 4 servings.

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Green Barley and Kale

Teri with kale and rhubarb harvest

This dish is going around Park City these days. Teri heard about it from Patricia, and since Teri has Deborah Madison’s cookbook, Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, she made the recipe with her garden kale, which is lacinato kale.

Red Russian Kale, stripping leaves from stems

Teri sent me a photo this week of kale in her arms, making its way from the garden to the kitchen, for green barley and kale round two. In my copy of the book, I wrote a note next to the recipe on 6/30/98, ”wow! wild!” It’s about the vivid green color, and probably also because I love the chewy-soft texture of barley. I remember making it for St. Patrick’s Day one time—a perfect wearin’ of the green. Today’s version includes mushrooms and the gremolata flavors of garlic, lemon zest and parsley. Substitute 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice for the cheese if you want the dish to be vegan.

1 cup pearl barley, rinsed

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 large bunch kale, any variety, stems removed

2 tablespoons butter

6 ounces sliced mushrooms

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups veggie stock

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

1/4 cup minced fresh parsley

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Bring 1 quart of water to a boil. Add the barley and salt; reduce the heat and cook, uncovered, until the barley is tender, about 30 minutes. Drain. Meanwhile, cook the kale in boiling water until it is tender, 6 to 10 minutes. Drain, saving 1/4 cup of the cooking water. In a food processor, puree the drained kale with the water until smooth.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Melt the butter in a saucepan. On medium-high heat, cook and stir the mushrooms until they take on a light golden color. Make a roux by stirring in the flour, and cooking a few more minutes. With a wire whisk, stir in the veggie stock and cook, whisking constantly until the mixture thickens. Stir in the garlic, lemon zest and parsley. Mix in the barley and kale and the cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Put in a lightly buttered baking dish. Bake 30 to 40 minutes, or until the top is just browned.

Makes 4 to 6 servings, though Robbie and I have made it dinner for 2 served with a large salad.

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Cucumber Salad with Ginger

I learned a new trick this summer that makes zucchini more enjoyable—a Deborah Madison suggestion to improve the texture and flavor of squash by salting. It takes more time, but I have decided it’s worth the hassle. The trick is to sprinkle the diced or sliced squash with salt and let it stand in a colander over a plate for 15 to 30 minutes, until a pool of liquid drains out. Deborah says to rinse and squeeze dry, but I have just been rinsing and draining on a towel. The cooked squash doesn’t turn translucent and watery—undesirable characteristics to me and, I think, many more cooks and eaters.

This recipe uses the same salting technique with cucumbers. It is from Tassajara Dinners & Desserts by Dale and Melissa Kent, adapted in an article in September 2009 Vegetarian Times magazine. I have adapted it further, using my mother’s habit of scoring cucumbers for visual appeal.

1 pound cucumbers, about 3

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

1 tablespoon tamari soy sauce

2 teaspoons mirin (rice wine)

2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon toasted black sesame seeds

Peel the cucumbers and trim the ends. Run the tines of a fork in parallel lines down the length of the cucumbers to score what will be decorative lines on the slices. Slice thinly, about 1/8-inch thick. Sprinkle the slices with salt; let drain in a colander over a plate about 20 minutes. Rinse and drain the cucumbers on towels.

Make a dressing with the vinegar, soy sauce, mirin, ginger and red pepper flakes. Toss the cucumber with the dressing and the sesame seeds. Refrigerate to marinate about an hour.

Makes about 6 servings.

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Green Bean Salad with Summer Savory Vinaigrette

We have made these beans the last two weeks with our fresh wax beans—we’ve just varied the vinaigrette according to the current flavor on the refrigerator door.  Use a different acid, like key lime juice, or rice wine vinegar or white wine vinegar. Try also switching the oil—using walnut or other nut oil, and changing the ratio of oil and acid to your taste preference. Deborah Madison says savory is so closely associated with fresh beans that it’s nicknamed the bean herb.

Green or yellow wax beans

2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 to 2 tablespoons finely chopped savory leaves or other herb

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper as needed

Snap the tips and tails off the beans. Blanch them in boiling salted water about 5 minutes, keeping them firm to your bite but no longer raw. Drain and “shock” the beans in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking and guard the bright color. Drain when cold.

Whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil and savory, and season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Just before serving, toss the cold beans in some of the vinaigrette dressing and scatter over salad greens.

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