Cucumber - Chickpea Salad with Lemon and Mint

I made cucumber salad last night. Bill requested the addition of chickpeas. Have I mentioned Bill's addiction to chickpeas? It seemed a reasonable addition and one that would guarantee that Bill's interest.

2 Large cucumbers, seeded and cut in 1/2 " pieces
1 15 oz can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2 scallions, white and green bits, finely sliced
1-2 tsp dried mint (or 2T fresh)
1/4 C lemon juice
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Prepared Blue Cheese Dressing for garnish (Optional)

Put cucumbers through pepper in a bowl with a tight fitting lid (1 1/2 qt capacity). Toss everything by shaking the container. Let sit in the refrigerator for several hours. Serve with a small dollop of dressing.

Summer is flying by

This week's CSA share
Arugula
Beets with greens
Cauliflower
Chinese cabbage (1 head)
Cucumbers (1 regular and 2 Asian long)
Italian frying pepper
Peaches (3 lbs)
Red leaf lettuce
Scallions
Spring onions

ROT REPORT: 2 casualties
This evening, I discovered 2 cucumbers that didn't get used in time. I failed them. They were going slime/mush/mucky, so they were tossed.

I've actually been doing very well compared to past seasons. At this point, when it seems like I'm getting behind, I try to preserve something. So far the fridge contains (shelf life in brackets)

Broccoli with garlic, lemon juice, raisins and toasted pine nuts (up to a week)
Kimchee (up to 2 months)
Pickled Daikon sushi condiment (indefinitely)
Chopped, cooked red chard- 1 qt freezer bag full (up to 6 months)

So tonight, I will chop some cucumbers for a salad

Peach Melba My Way and Weird Slaw

This week, it finally feels like summer.

Peach Melba My Way
2 peaches, peeled and cut up as you like
1 t sugar
pinch of salt
1/2 container of raspberries
cream
Divide peaches between two dessert dishes. Sprinkle with sugar and salt. Top with raspberries, cover and refrigerate. Just before serving, pour about 1 T cream over each portion.
Weird Slaw

• 
  
  White Radish
• 
  
  Red radish
• 
  
  kohrabi
• 
  
  carrot
• 
  
  snow peas

Shred the vegetables (use food processor) and toss with salt, sugar, and a bit of lemon juice. It will last a few days as is. Serve with salad, rice, make sushi rolls, or as a filling in summer rolls. If you want a more traditional slaw, add mayonnaise, more sugar and vinegar.
Other meals from this week:
-Codfish with Greens using black kale and red chard, served with pasta and pesto. Used this recipe, but substituted cod for the scallops.
-Salmon burgers, and green chard served with toast with smoked mozzarella.
-Pasta with pesto, Sicilian Squash Pickle, and steamed broccoli with a bit of julienned bresaola.
-Frittata with bresaola and BB Artichoke pesto served on bruschetta.

Kim Chee

A crock of kim chee is resting in the fridge. I can't believe how easy it is. Adapted (simplified the process) from Madhur Jaffrey's World of the East Vegetarian Cookbook. The hardest part was finding a suitable jar. I use a half gallon jar that held marinated artichokes from costco),

1 lb bok choy, cut in 2" sections, or whole if using baby
1 lb white radish, peeled, halved then cut crosswise in thin slices
3 T salt
2 T finely minced fresh ginger
1 1/2 T minced garlic
5 scallions with greens, sliced
1 T cayenne or hot Korean pepper (I have used crushed red pepper flakes and sricha)
1 t sugar

Combine 2 T + 2 t salt and 5 cups water, stirring to dissolve salt. Place choy and radish in a crock, large jar or a bowl if that's what you have. Pour salt solution over veggies, stirring and dunking them in water a few times. They tend to float. cover loosely (I rubberband a papertowel over the top) and let rest on the counter for 12 hours or so, dunking the cabbage back into the liquid if you think about it.

Combine remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Pour off most of the soaking water into a large glass measuring cup or other container. Stir spices into cabbage, then add soaking water to cover (about 2 C). Give the mix a final stir, cover loosely, and let ferment on the counter for 3 - 7 days, depending on the air temp (summer will be quicker than winter). Taste after 3 days to check sourness. When it's to your liking, cover the jar and store in the fridge.

Serve about 1/4 C per person. You can use the pickling liquid to flavor soups.

MSL Spring Onion Soup (for H)

Here's a way to use up lots of onions. It's pretty good. For a delicate appetizer, serve as suggested, with 'crisp flatbread.' For a more substantial meal, serve it with (or over) grilled cheese.

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
2 pounds spring onions (or yellow onions), trimmed and thinly sliced
2 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
1 1/4 cups homemade or low-sodium store-bought chicken stock
2 cups water
8 pieces crisp flatbread, for serving

Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onions, and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent but not brown, about 15 minutes.
Stir in salt, stock, and water. Bring to a simmer, and cook for 15 minutes.
Remove from heat, and let cool for 20 minutes. Working in batches, puree in a blender, starting on low speed and gradually increasing to high, blending until soup is smooth.
Divide soup among 4 bowls, drizzle with oil, and serve with flatbread on the side.

Cucumber Cream Salad

I saw this recipe in Good Housekeeping Cookbook ca 1963 that Bill rescued from somewhere. I couldn't reisist. We served it on Bill's Gigantic Lettuce, Rotisserie Chicken and Radish Salad with Chickpeas. It's kind of like wobbly dressing.

1 3 oz package of lemon gelatin (YES! respect the JELLO MOLD!)
1 t salt
1 C hot water
1-2 T vinegar
1 t grated onion (dry onion flakes or powder would be fine, this ain't haute cuisine)
1 C sour cream
1/4 C mayonnaise, plus garnish (I omitted on principle; Bill garnished with blue cheese dressing)
1 C drained, finely chopped cucumber
Salad greens

Early in day: Dissolve gelatin and salt in water. Add vinegar, onion. Refrigerate until syrupy, then beat in sour cream, mayonnaise and cucumbers. Pour into 6 individual molds. Refrigerate until firm. Unmold on salad greens; top with mayonnaise. Makes 6 servings.

Saturday morning

A summer cold has hit the Barnacle household, which has slowed the pace of cooking adventures. During the week, Bill was inspired by gorgeous basil at the local supermarket, and made a batch of pesto with thin linguine. It was delish.

I'm feeling a bit better, Bill is feeling a bit worse. I felt like cooking, so this morning's adventure, I made pickles with the yellow squash, more Spicy Radish Leaf Furikake (recipe from Just Hungry website), and started a batch of Kimchee.

Yellow Squash Pickle - Sicilian style
2 yellow squash, sliced in rounds
olive oil
garlic scape, minced
salt
pepper
lemon juice

Brown squash, and set aside. Saute garlic scape in the same pan, adding oil if necessary. Turn off the heat, and add lemon juice to deglaze pan. In a wide mouth jar, layer squash, salt, pepper, spoonful of scapes, and pouring the remaining juices from the pan over the last layer of squash. Refrigerate. Serve with toast, over macaroni or with salad.

Today's haul

broccoli, lettuce, peas, scallions, bok choy, red chard, cucumbers, daikon, pint of blueberries



Today's lunch

Brown rice with leftover Kohlrabi slaw (enhanced with carrots and peas)

Last of the cherries



Rot Alert:

cucumbers, 5 from last week

Antipasto Bento Dinner and Teriyaki Chicken Balls lunch

Last night I was pretty beat. In the morning, I threw this together in the rice cooker.

No Think Lunch
8 Aidell's teriyaki chicken meatballs (costco)
1 C sushi rice
1 1/4 C water
pinch of salt
Spicy Radish Leaf Furikake (made last week, all CSA)
Kohrabi & Bok Choy Slaw (made last week, all CSA)
Cherries (CSA)

Chuck frozen meatballs in rice cooker (preferably touching the pan), add rice, salt and water around the balls, flick the switch and go back to bed. An hour later, jump out of bed, pack rice and meatballs in 2 lunch boxes, add slaw and a couple of tablespoons of radish furikake. Pack cherries in 2 other containers.

Antipasto Bento Dinner
Ok, I really should have taken a picture of this. Since I didnt, imagine this: a black bento box (think lunch at sushi palace) packed with caprese salad, carrot sticks and radishes, olive salad, pickled beet salad, and fresh cherries. I put it together after work, but BB and I were to tired to eat. So we had it for tonights dinner. Most of the items were not from the CSA (indicated by /).

/Homemade Pickled Beet salad (beets, onions, vinegar)
/Caprese (tomato, smoked mozzarella, basil)
/carrot sticks
/olive salad (straight from the bottle)
Red Radish halves
Cherries

Dish & Bitch
lunch:
rice cooker pot and lid
rice paddle
spoon
2 larger lunch containers
2 smaller containers (for cherries)
2 forks

dinner:
Cutting board
knife
2 spoons
2 bento boxes with lids
2 glasses for seltzer
2 forks

Happy Interdependence Day

Well, we went away for the holiday, and it's taken a bit of time to get back into the routine.

Before leaving, I made cherry amasake pudding. It's pretty good. Amasake is rice milk, so this is suitable for vegans or those who are lactose intolerant/ dairy allergy. The original recipe calls for unsweetened amasake, so it can be considered sugar free. I admit, I added a 1/4 C sugar for my sweet tooth.

Cool Amasake Cherry Pudding (from The Changing Seasons Macrobiotic Cookbook by Aveline Kushi and Wendy Esko)

1 quart amasake (rice milk)
pinch of salt
1/4-1/3 C kuzu (arrowroot starch) or scant 1/2 cup of cornstarch
1 c cherries, pitted and halved

Dissolve starch in a little amasake, then add to remaining amasake in a suitably sized pot (add sugar here if desired). Bring up to a simmer, slowly, whisking occasionally. Simmer for 2 or 3 minutes, until thickened. Let cool a few minutes then stir in cherries. Pour into dessert dishes and chill.

Dish & Bitch
Pot
measuring cup
cutting board
knife
wooden spoon
pot
6 custard cups

Thursday July 2 Share

This week's haul:
scapes
bok choy
red chard
Snow peas
2 kohlrabi
2 summer squash
5 cucumbers
2 qts cherries

And the Rot Report- what's left from last week:
snow peas
!1/4 head of romaine!
1/2 head Bok Choy
red radish
white radish
scapes
green onions
kohlrabi

Comfort food

Thursday's Meals

Potato and Egg Hero Redux
When I was a kid, my dad took my brother and I fishing. Sometimes we'd fish from a very small boat, sometimes from the beach. On early mornings, we'd stop at the local deli and buy a potato and egg hero to share. It was huge, made with an entire loaf of bread, and delicious.

1 tsp each butter and olive oil
2 fingerling potatoes, finely diced
1 large green onion, thinly sliced
1 small garlic scape, thinly sliced
salt
pepper
2 eggs, beaten
2 slices cheddar cheese
1 large pita, split into two very thin rounds

Over medium high flame, heat butter and olive oil in a small cast iron pan. Add onions, garlic and potatoes, add a pinch of salt, then cook until golden brown. Pour eggs over vegetables in pan, and lower heat to medium. Sprinkle with black pepper, cover and let cook a few minutes until set is set. place 1 slice of cheese to top of eggs, and place pita half on top. Flip out of pan onto cutting board, pita side down. Top with the remaining slice of cheese and pita. Let cool for a few minutes, then cut in half and pack in wax paper bags to go. Serves 2.

THE DISH REPORT
cutting board
knife
bowl
frying pan
spatula

LUNCH
Rice Cooker Jambalaya
olive oil
2 small green onions, sliced
1 garlic scape, minced
1 white turnip, diced
1/2 green pepper, diced
2 soy chorizo links, sliced diagonally
1/2 T Old Bay seasoning
3/4 C short grain brown rice
2 T tomato paste
2 1/2 C chicken broth

Turn on cooker and add olive oil. Add vegetables to rice cooker and cook until softened. Add soy-rizo slices and continue to stir/ saute until golden. Stir in Old Bay seasoning and continue to cook. Combine broth, paste and rice, stirring to dissolve tomato paste, then pour into cooker. Stir until combined. Cover and cook until the cooker finishes its cycle, stirring occasionally. Let cool and pack into bento boxes. Serves 2.

THE DISH REPORT
Knife
cutting board
wooden spoon
rice cooker bowl and lid
2 bento boxes

Well, I'm skipping the pictures for this post. I'm going to try and recruit Barnacle Bill aka Muscles aka dear husband, to take future pictures. He is talented with a camera.

Wednesday night, he made dinner:

Barnacle Bill's Salad served with Sourdough toast with BB's artichoke pesto

Romaine lettuce (csa)
red radish (csa)
green onions (csa)
green pepper
carrots
chickpeas
blue cheese dressing


The Dish Report
Large bowl
salad spinner
cutting board
knife
2 bowls
1 small plate
2 forks
1 spoon
1 butter knife

Enchanted Broccoli Bentos

Looks like a lush green Northeastern forest? Hm.

After some hemming and hawing over what to make for lunch, I decided to use the !russian kale! and the broccoli before it earned the !rot alert! tag. Based on Mollie Katzen's recipe, "The Enchanted Broccoli Forest" from the cookbook of the same name.

1/2 T olive oil in rice cooker

1 scape, finely chopped

1 large scallion, finely sliced

Russian kale, finely chopped

broccoli stems, chopped

pinch of salt

2 T? lemon juice

spoonful of Barnacle Bill's artichoke pesto

pinch of crushed red pepper

freshly ground black pepper

3/4 C brown rice
1 1/4 C water

Turn on the rice cooker, add oil and saute scape, and chopped broccoli stems until tender. Add salt and kale, cover and steam until wilted. Add rice, and let cook a minute or two, stirring when you feel like it. Add lemon juice, BB's pesto and peppers. Stir to combine. Add water, stir again. Cover and cook until done. When the switch turns off, place broccoli florets on top of the rice, then cover to let steam.

Carefully remove florets from rice and set aside. Divide rice between two containers, smoothing the rice. Poke the florets into the rice to form the forest.. Yeah it's supposed to look like an enchanted forest.

THE DISH REPORT

cutting board

knife

4 C glass measuring cup (staging area for veggies, measure rice, water)

Rice cooker pot and lid

spoon

2 lunch containers

2 sporks for lunchboxes

LAZINESS QUOTIENT: HIGH
Few dishes, some chopping, set it and forget it.