Quick Pickles

If you were to ask my grandmother (or my mother -- or myself, for that matter) if she was "making chicken for dinner," she would grin and then reply, "Only chickens can make chickens. I am cooking chicken for dinner, though." The same would go for "making eggs" or "making bacon."

And so I think it is rather funny and odd that this same grandmother had a recipe for "cucumbers." It would seem to me that a recipe is for something you make, not something you grow. The cucumbers are sliced thinly and pickled ever so slightly in vinegar and sugar. And therefore, as far as I am concerned, by the time you are done, you have taken a cucumber and made something else altogether. 

The other day a friend mentioned that she makes "quick pickles" with her cucumbers, and although I am not sure her process is the same as my grandmother's, I think it is a perfect name and I am stealing it.

They aren't exactly pickles. But they aren't just cucumbers either. They are just sort of pickly cucumbers. In this recipe, the vinegar is diluted with water, and I think that stops them from pickling all the way. Instead, they get a little limp and a little sweet, and although they are still very recognizable cucumbers, they need a new name.

When I was young, and my mother would check my forehead to see if I had a fever, I got one of two reports back from her. If I was indeed running a fever, she would say "Oh, you're burning up." Otherwise, she assured me I was "Cool as a cucumber." (Which is either good news or bad, depending on if I was recovering from the flu, or trying to get out of going to school).

These cucumbers are just like the idiom. Cool. They are refreshing and tasty, especially on a hot summer day, and are great alone as a snack or used as a relish or in a salad. I like to eat them with a sandwich, or a hunk of cheese and some nuts at lunch time.

Quick Pickles

1 large cucumber, sliced very thin

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup vinegar

1/4 cup sugar

Bring the water, vinegar, and sugar to a boil. Pour over the cucumber slices and refrigerate for at least a day before eating.

Roasted Smashed Potatoes

Oh yes. Summer is here. It was 100 degrees today, and the kids only have 2 weeks left of school. I am officially giving over to summer brain. They've been staying up well past bedtime, we have been swimming at least three times a week, and I am letting my kids (completely against my usual policies) madly scramble to use up all the free homework passes their teachers gave them, before it's too late.

This is the crazy time of year, when there is a performance or banquet or party or ceremony several nights a week. Every group we belong to wants to celebrate the closing of the season. I have signed up to provide refreshments, snacks, equipment, pot luck dishes, and my service in three different classes, for the baseball teams, the cub scouts and the girl scouts, the orchestra and at work.  However, I have also tried my darndest to make sure that we are getting a decent dinner, even on nights when we rush from one place to another.  That having been said, though, it has been over a week since we sat at the dining table. (And I know this because the mountain of schoolwork that came home from Open House night at school is still sitting there. Nine days later). Instead, we have been eating on the back patio. And eating outside goes best with cooking outside, no?

Tonight we had sliders for dinner. I am not sure exactly why, but my kids would prefer to eat a few sliders rather than one larger burger any day of the week. So, fine then. Little burgers and yummy sides. And the sides were indeed soooo yummy. I made the zucchini carpaccio that I tried last summer (heaven!!) and I also made these potatoes.

I found this recipe on the website for America's Test Kitchen, and I have to say that I almost decided to pass on a burger of any size, and just eat potatoes for dinner instead. They were so very much the exact way that I like to eat potatoes. Salty and seasoned, crispy on the outside and soft in the middle. Potato heaven.

Take some small red potatoes (any number will do... make as many as you can, in my opinion!) and scrub them well. Then, boil them in some salty water just until they can be easily pierced with a fork. You don't want them fall-y apart-y, you just want them crushable.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.

Then drizzle a pretty decent amount of olive oil on a baking sheet. Think of this: The more oil, the more crispiness, and the less sticking. Place the potatoes on the baking sheet, and with the bottom of a glass, crush each one until it is about 1/2 inch thick.

Next, drizzle more olive oil all over all of the smashed potatoes. Again, remember that the oil will contribute to the crispiness. You will be glad you did. Sprinkle some dried thyme over all of the potatoes, and some salt and pepper. I went heavy on both, and boy was I glad I did!

Now, place the sheet of potatoes in the oven (even if your husband came home from work and stole one and told you that you can stop there, he loves them the way they are... it's going to be okay. Just roast the rest of them). Let them brown and crisp for about 25-30 minutes, and then pull them out and enjoy! They are good before you roast them. But after? They are excellent.

Really simple broccoli side dish

We are at a bit of a crossroads in my house. My kids like their vegetables to stay plain. They'll eat only a few different veggies, and no sauces or dips or really anything else. They like them just simply steamed. Steamed broccoli, steamed asparagus, steamed peas. They don't want any cheese, cream, garlic, or anything else coming near them.

On the other hand, I want food to be much more complex than that. I want each bite to offer me a few different layers of flavor. Broccoli is good, but it begs to be combined with cream and garlic and thyme. Asparagus is lovely, but asparagus with lemon or cheese is amazing. Carrots are fine. But carrots with ginger or baked into a pot pie or simmering in a thick stew are a whole new vegetable.

I decided to attack this little "problem" of the warring taste preferences in my house by getting the kids over to my side little by little. I am going to treat their veggies with just the slightest, lightest, mildest sauces, and increase over time until my kids become full-fledged humans, who were born to be omnivores and actually like a variety of foods.

I know there must be some sort of amazing metaphor for my job as a parent and raising my kids to be independent contributing members of society in there, but right now it's Monday morning and I am just getting into my first cup of coffee. I'll be ready to wax eloquent much later today.

For now, I'll tell you about the broccoli that the kids ate, somewhat willingly, even with three actual ingredients in the dish.

It is a nice, light, easy side dish. I made it in the morning and kept it refrigerated all day. I pulled it out of the fridge about an hour before we ate, so it could come back to room temperature. The flavors are mild, but sweet and salty enough to give it some interest. This one will probably grace our table a few more times during the current broccoli season.


Sweet Asian-ish Broccoli

1 or 2 big heads of broccoli
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons brown sugar
3 teaspoons sesame seeds

Steam the broccoli on the stove or in the microwave.
In a large bowl, whisk together the sesame oil, soy sauce, vinegar and sugar until the sugar dissolves. Add the cooked broccoli and toss. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top just before serving.

Asparagus Pesto

I have to admit, I am a fool for anything with the name pesto in it. I adore basil (as much as any person can adore an herb), and by the time you add some garlic to it, I am in flavor heaven.

I also happen to be a fool for asparagus. I was thrilled to see it it my Abundant Harvest Box this week. I have read that there are many cultures who see the first asparagus as the official start to spring, and hold festivals to celebrate its arrival. I totally get it.

When two worlds collide, and I see a veggie I love and a recipe that intrigues me on the same day, I know the vegetable gods are asking that I make it. Who am I to defy the gods?

This pesto is everything I hoped for. The salty, garlic-y, basil-y nutty flavors were perfect. It's not a sauce so much as a paste, and it seems perfect for spreading on crackers or crostini for an appetizer, or with chicken, pork, or fish for a delicious main dish. If you wanted to toss it with pasta I would recommend adding a bit more oil, and letting it puree finer. I served it with chicken breasts that I grilled. A big salad and some fresh strawberries and orange slices, and it was a perfect spring dinner.

Asparagus Pesto
(Adapted from here)

one pound asparagus, tough ends trimmed
3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup cashews
3/4 cup fresh basil leaves, packed
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

First, steam the asparagus until tender. I used a microwave steamer that I love for its handiness, but you can do it on the stovetop as well. Set aside to cool.

In a food processor, whir the garlic cloves until they are chopped pretty finely. (This way no big chunks will be left to overpower any one mouthful). Add the remaining ingredients, and pulse until they are all chopped finely and mixed well, but not pureed into a sauce. You want some bite to it.

That's it! Serve it with your favorite accompaniment!

rutabaga fries

Did I ever tell you about rutabaga hell week?

For a couple weeks in a row, I got a total of about 10 large rutabagas in my Abundant Harvest box. I wasn't sure that I was going to get along very well with rutabagas. I am not much of a turnip gal, and the rutabagas have the coloring of over-grown turnips, which made me pretty sure that they were going to tasted similar.

The first week I had rutabagas, I very carefully put them at the bottom of the crisper drawer and let them serve a prison sentence. The second week when I got more rutabagas, I realized that they weren't going anywhere unless I was willing to set them free. Mind you, the previous stash were happy and edible as you please, still living out their term in the refrigerator penitentiary. So now my inmate population had doubled, but my desire to reform them had not.

So, I decided to shred, dice, shop, and puree them into just about anything I could. They made a guest appearance diced into a broccoli and cauliflower salad, and they were shredded into cole slaw. They got mashed with some potatoes (and those potatoes themselves made two appearances on our table, once alone and once topping a Shepherd's Pie). They were added to a pot of stew. I was trying anything I could do to get myself and my family to eat the rutabagas without having to actually taste the rutabagas. One day, as we sat down to dinner, I was giggling silently to myself, as I noticed that there were three dishes on the table... and every single one of them had some rutabaga hidden in it!

Finally, I relented, stopped trying to hide the blessed things, and took the last two rutabagas and peeled and cut them and roasted them with a chicken. Rutabaga as rutabaga? It was a novel idea.

And it turns out, I like them! They're yummy!

Rutabagas are sweet and mild flavored. They take on their seasoning well... I have now roasted them with rosemary, thyme, and plain old salt and pepper, and I like them all.

I decided to go ahead and make some rutabaga "fries." I figured that my kids would be mush more likely to willingly try "fries" than they would be to try "roast rutabaga." Whether my logic was true or not, I am glad to report that all three kids cleaned their plates, and one even asked for seconds... and I did admit to them that they were eating rutabaga. Score one for the veggies!

The idea is the same as roasting any root vegetable... get the oven nice and hot, cut the rutabaga up (in this case, into sticks), and coat it with oil. I then sprinkled them with salt and pepper and laid them out on a baking sheet in a single layer.

I let the rutabaga roast for about 20 minutes, turned it all over, and then roasted it for another 20 minutes or so. Let it get nicely browned, then let it drain any excess oil onto a paper towel, and enjoy!

greens gratin

I finished off my week of following Tamar Adler's advice from The Everlasting Meal, and the last two dishes I made with her guidance and my roast vegetables were a gratin with the sautéed greens, and a pasta sauce with the odds and ends left over from chopping the raw veggies back on the first day of vegetable prep work.

Both were, once again, delicious.

The gratin was a very basic dish. Other than needing to be able to put it in the oven an hour before eating, there isn't much to do.

First, make a basic white sauce.

Melt a tablespoon of butter in a medium pan over medium heat. Add a tablespoon of flour and stir together. Add a cup of milk and stir and simmer until it thickens up a bit. To this, add a small handful of parmesan cheese and season with salt and pepper.

Combine the cup of cooked white sauce with a cup of cooked greens. Spread it into a small buttered baking dish, and bake for about an hour at 350.

It came out creamy and sweet and delicious! It was a great side for chicken breasts.

Pumpkin cheddar muffins

When I was a kid, we used to go fishing with my uncle. We caught mainly perch, which were pretty easy to catch in Lake Michigan. Since there was much more catching happening than there was waiting for a bite, it made for a very fun day. We learned how to bait our hooks, how to cast, how to unhook our catch, how to string it up on a line. I got out of learning how to clean the fish, but I don't think my big brother was so lucky. There were enough fish to keep busy and feel successful, but still it felt like a little bit of luck and a little bit of skill when you did catch one.


Where we camp every summer, there is a creek that is stocked with ... umm, I think trout? (I am not a fisher, and I am definitely not well versed in fish species). Anyway, the creek is stocked with fish on a schedule, meaning that the fish are deposited at specific spots, on specific days, at a specific time.  


In other words, if you want to catch a trout in this creek, you go to the spot where the fish have been released, just after they are deposited there. It makes it pretty easy to catch a fish, since you know that there are tons of fresh, befuddled, fish all in one spot. The poor little fish, who just came from a hatchery, gets to swim his little heart out in a big pool, for just a few minutes, when he finds a big juicy worm (or a smear of weird-looking florescent bait stuff) floating in front of him. He takes a big bite of this opportune treat, and some fisherman gets dinner.


It hardly seems fair. It really doesn't seem like sport at all at this point. I really don't see how you can be proud of outsmarting a trout, let alone a trout that has been put there just for you to catch him.


And that is sort of how I feel about eating meat. I am certainly not opposed to eating meat. I have no problem at all with consuming animal. I strongly believe the human is meant to be an omnivore. However, I also strongly believe in buying sustainable, fairly-treated meat.


It doesn't really seem fair, though, to raise a chicken or a cow in a box barely larger than himself, and then march him up the chute at the slaughter house. There are so many things wrong with that. I know that even if a cow is raised in an open field, eating and drinking a natural cow diet, and getting natural cow fresh air and exercise and a real cow life, he still doesn't stand a chance. He is still going to be forced to the slaughter house. Short of making myself a bow and arrow and heading out to the plains, I can't think of a way to make it a fair fight between myself and the animals I consume. However, some time passes between a cow's birth and his slaughter, and it seems like he ought to at least enjoy the life he does have.


With the abundance on vegetables, and the price of free-range organic meat, there are far more vegetarian days in my house than there are meat days.


Tonight, we are eating a pot of vegetarian chili, along with these butternut squash - cheddar muffins. It was originally a pumpkin muffin, and I got the recipe from A Sweet Swiper, and she got the recipe from Chocolate and Chakra, and she got them from the book Baked Explorations. Rather than make you backtrack through all that, and since I made a couple changes, I am going to just give you my version of the recipe here. 

These muffins are delicious! The squash and the sugar add some sweetness, but the cayenne, black pepper, and sharp cheddar cheese balance them with a punch of spice and savory-ness. They make a perfect side dish with chili, soup, or stew.


And while we are on the topic of butternut squash, look for lots more recipes this week! I got a butternut squash the size of a hippopotamus, and with it I made these muffins, 5 loaves of "pumpkin" bread, a batch of "pumpkin" waffles, and a batch of "pumpkin" cupcakes. Phew!


Pumpkin -- or Butternut -- Cheddar Muffins
1 cup butternut squash or pumpkin puree
3 tablespoons plain yogurt
2 eggs
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 1/4 cups (about 4 ounces) grated sharp cheddar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly oil a 12-cup muffin pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together the squash and yogurt. Add the eggs and butter and whisk until combined.

In another large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cayenne pepper, salt, black pepper and brown sugar.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and fold until just combined. Fold in three-quarters of the cheese.

Divide the batter among the muffin cups. Sprinkle the remaining cheddar on top of the muffins. Bake them for 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Let the muffin pan cool on a rack for 10 minutes before turning out the muffins. Serve them warm. Makes 15 muffins.

sautéed yu choy sum with plum sauce

I know you may be wondering what the heck yu choy sum is, but I will get to that in a minute.

First, let's talk about me.

I was craving vegetables this week. Abundant Harvest Organics took the last two weeks off from delivering veggies for the holidays, and I used the time to clean out what we have stored. (There seems to be a problem with our secondary freezer, and we are hoping that defrosting it helps). I also wanted to make sure that we were at zero veggies in the fridge, so that there would be room (in our crisper drawers, our bellies, and our hearts) for AHO to come back. So, by the time we got our delivery this last Saturday, I was more than ready to eat something fresh and green.

As I was emptying the box (an event which truly does seem like a little mini Christmas every Saturday), I had to stop halfway through and start eating. There was a bunch of yu choy sum that was begging to be enjoyed as fresh as possible.

I learned, on my visit to Peterson Family Farm (the headquarters of Abundant Harvest), that the veggies that I get every Saturday morning were picked on Thursday, sorted on Friday, and head off the farm at the break of dawn on Saturday morning. Since the farm is some 150 miles from my house, and since I receive my box at 8:00 in the morning, I suppose those truck drivers actually leave long before dawn breaks.

Anyway, I know that the vegetables I receive are, at the most, two days out of the ground. It seems like some of them ought to be eaten right away, and others (say, turnips) deserve to sit around in my fridge a while before I decide what to do with them.

The yu choy sum didn't spend a second in my house before it was on its way to the lunch table.

So, what is yu choy sum, you ask? Let me tell you what I learned.

First of all, it isn't yu choy, of course. Yu choy would just be the leaves, silly. What I had included stems and flowers, and therefore was yu choy sum. (I learned that choy sum translates to "flowering stem.")

It is related to bok choy, of course. They are both members of the choy family, and the choy family is related to cabbage. And I love cabbage.

Let me put it to you mathematically:

I like cabbage. Yu choy sum is cabbage. Therefore, according to the transitive property of addition, I like  Yu Choy Sum.

And you should too.

So, given that I had some yu choy sum that I was destined to love, I dove right in. I sautéed it and had it for my lunch Saturday (such was my craving for a vegetable), but it would really make a better side dish, especially with an Asian meal.

That was the best lunch I have had in weeks! (Except, of course, the chicken salad you made for our picnic the other day, Mom. Ahem.)

I took the tender yu choy sum, and sautéed it lightly in olive oil. Don't use too much oil, or the sauce won't stick at all. Once it is getting a bit tender, and starting to brown on the leaves, turn it over and let the other side get some heat. When both sides are a teeny bit brown, take it out of the pan, and drizzle it with plum sauce. I used the sauce I made during the great plum invasion last summer, but you can buy it in most supermarkets. Just drizzle a tablespoon or two (depending on how you like it).

The yu choy sum is sweet and tender, and delicious! Enjoy!

grilled broccoli and lemons and parmesan roasted broccoli and onions

This week is "Broccoli Ten Ways in Five Days" where I am trying out all 10 recipe suggestions Real Simple Magazine highlighted for broccoli in their September 2011 issue. Today is day five. You can browse day one, two, three and four if you'd like.

 Yes, indeed, I woke up this morning, Black Friday, the day after I went to bed in a food stupor, and did I rush out to buy the latest and greatest for those I love? No, I did not. I got up and cooked broccoli. For breakfast. 

Do you see how much I love you people? I didn't want to disappoint you by not finishing off the tenth broccoli recipe from Real Simple Magazine.  That, and I hate to not finish what I started.

Anyway, I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, full of family and fun, love and laughter. I know I did.

Grilled Broccoli and Lemons

This recipe was the last one I made (just 20 minutes ago). I was only avoiding it because the thought of getting the girl fired up seemed like so much work. As it turns out, I wouldn't get the grill fired up just for this broccoli probably, but if I were planning to grill dinner, this is an excellent side dish.

Cut 1 bunch broccoli into 8 large spears and cut 2 lemons into quarters. In a large bowl, toss with 2 tablespoons olive oil; season with salt and pepper. Grill the broccoli and lemons over medium heat, turning occasionally, until tender and lightly charred, 10 to 15 minutes. Squeeze the lemons over the broccoli and drizzle with additional olive oil.

Parmesan Roasted Broccoli and Onions

This was the family favorite of the 10 broccoli recipes. As a matter of fact, my daughter asked "Can we have this a lot more often?" For something so simple, folks, we have a winner!

Toss 1 bunch broccoli (cut into florets, 6 cups) and 1 small red onion (cut into wedges) with 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1/2 cup grated parmesan on a rimmed baking sheet; season with salt and pepper. Roast at 425 F, tossing once, until tender, 20 to 25 minutes.

Sautéed broccoli, tomatoes, and bacon ... and ... broccoli gratin with crispy onions

This week is "Broccoli Ten Ways in Five Days" where I am trying out all 10 recipe suggestions Real Simple Magazine highlighted for broccoli in their September 2011 issue.

The two recipes I used for today are both side dishes, but they are very different. One is sautéed in bacon grease, and the other is slowly simmered in a basic white sauce.

I was really looking forward to the Broccoli Gratin with Crispy Onions. The photo in Real Simple made it look so creamy and yummy, and as much as I hate to admit it, I really really like those freeze-dried onion thingies that are sprinkled on top. I can't say I didn't like the finished product, but I will admit this one disappointed me a little bit. The fontina cheese they asked for just doesn't have much flavor to it. I think if I was going to do this one again, I would try swiss cheese, or at least a combination. Other than being a tiny bit bland, I can't complain. The broccoli remains crunchy enough, the recipe is certainly easy to do, and those onions? Just what they always are. Yummy.

Broccoli Gratin with Crispy Onions

Cook 2 tablespoons each butter and flour in a saucepan over medium heat, whisking, for 1 minute. Whisk in 2 cups whole milk. Add 1 bunch chopped broccoli (6 cups); season with salt and pepper. Simmer until tender, 8 to 12 minutes. Add 1 cup grated fontina, transfer to a baking dish, and top with 1 cup French-fried onions. Bake at 350 F until browned, 5 to 7 minutes.

The other recipe, Sautéed Broccoli, Tomatoes and Bacon, wasn't amazing either. Don't get me wrong, bacon is just good. Good, good, good. But somehow, sautéing the broccoli in the bacon grease just made it taste a little bitter. Or maybe the acidic tomatoes didn't mesh well? Either way, this was a dish that was just fine to eat, but nothing I would try again. I was hoping for some kind of new BLT epiphany, and I got a decent side dish, but nothing to write home about.

Sautéed Broccoli, Tomatoes, and Bacon

Cook 4 slices bacon (cut into 1-inch pieces) in a large skillet over medium heat, stirring often, until crisp, 6 to 8 minutes; transfer to a plate. To the skillet, add 1 bunch broccoli (cut into florets; 6 cups) and 1 cup cherry tomatoes (halved). Cook, tossing often, until the broccoli is tender, 8 to 10 minutes; season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with the bacon.

curried broccoli couscous and mashed potatoes and broccoli

When we got our first box from Abundant Harvest Organics last November, we were headed into the long winter months. Lots of citrus and greens, lots of root vegetables, and LOTS of tubers.

One other thing there was lots of was broccoli. I thought I remembered there being a few weeks in a row where I got 8 or more heads of broccoli in my box. Then I thought surely I was mistaken. Eight heads? That's pretty ridiculous.

Still, I knew it was coming, and whether my memory was making a mountain our of a molehill or not, we would soon be getting at least a molehill of broccoli soon.

So, when the September issue of Real Simple magazine had a two-page spread called "10 Ideas For: Broccoli" I was sure to keep it.  If you don't get the magazine, this is a regular monthly feature. It always highlights one common food (chicken breasts, ground beef, tortillas, cupcakes) and provides 10 quick recipes using that ingredient. In September, they chose broccoli.

And as it turns out, my memory was not faulty. I did remember a mountain of broccoli.  I indeed got eight heads of broccoli last week and another 7 this week. Oy vey.

I decided I would try all of Real Simple's suggestions. After all, I certainly have enough broccoli to go around! The question is, which of these ideas will I like enough to use again with my remaining 5 heads?
And which will end up in the round file?

So, this week is going to be called (drum roll, please)

Broccoli: Ten Ways in Five Days
Here are the other four days:
day two
day three
day four
day five


First up, we have Mashed Potatoes and Broccoli

I thought this was kind of a stretch. Why make "Mashed Potatoes and Broccoli" when you could just make mashed potatoes and broccoli? It seemed like a pretty weak tenth idea.

I have to admit, though, I was wrong. This is one instance where the sum is more than the parts. The broccoli gives the potatoes an almost creamier texture, and together they taste great! (However, I have to admit my kids would rather have eaten the broccoli and mashed potatoes separately).

Directions:
Steam 1/2 bunch finely chopped broccoli (3 cups) and 1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes (peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces) until very tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Drain well and mash with 1/4 cup sour cream and 4 tablespoons softened butter; season with salt and pepper.




As our second entry for broccoli week, we have: Curried Broccoli and Couscous


This one really impressed me and will definitely become a part of the regular rotation. My kids liked the sweetness of the curry powder and raisins, and I like the healthy factor, and the fact that it is super easy to put together.  This could be a main dish for lunch, or a side dish with dinner. However, it only uses 1/4 bunch of broccoli, which hardly puts a dent in my fridge.

Directions:

Cook 1/4 bunch finely chopped broccoli (1 1/2 cups) in olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat, tossing, until tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Add 1 cup canned chickpeas (rinsed), 1 cup after, 1/3 cup golden raisins, 1 teaspoons curry powder, and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and bring to a boil. Stir in 3/4 cup couscous, cover, remove from heat, and let steam for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork.

crispy daikon radish cakes

I am beside myself with excitement over broccoli. 

Okay, maybe that came out a little too strongly. I am having a decent time fixing broccoli this week for my family. Which is good, considering the 16 heads of broccoli I got in the last two installments of my Abundant Harvest Organics box.

However, before I can tell you about all the amazing broccoli feats that are happening with lightning speed around here, I feel it is my duty to discuss other things first.

So sorry to get your hopes up and then dash them like that. I know you may not sleep well until the broccoli news hits the stands, but just think of how this delayed gratification is making you a stronger person.

Before I can move forward with anything else, really, I feel I have an obligation to discuss the daikon radish.

The who?

The Daikon Radish.

It came in my box this week.

You don't need to peel these. You can sort of see here how the
 little hairs all grow in a line down the radish? I just scrubbed well,
scraped off that one line on either side, and left the rest intact.

These three daikon radishes are each about 18 inches long. The sizeof them sort of shocked me. I thought they seemed awfully tiny. You see last year, about our second week into subscribing to Abundant Harvest (but before I thought to regale you with my tales of vegetable heroism), we received the first daikon radish of my life. And it terrified me. I had never seen or heard of daikon radish before that guy landed in my kitchen. And, measuring approximately thirty inches long and about 8 inches around, he was about as big as my arm. There is a daikon recipe in this post, I swear. I am eventually going to get around to sharing it with you, really. But to first give you perspective, the three daikon radishes above make one batch. That giant I had last year? He himself made three batches of crispy daikon cakes. No lie.

I wonder what is more typical. I only have had two polar-opposite experiences with daikon radishes, and I can't begin to imagine what an average daikon looks like. It's like putting my five year-old and Shaquille O'Neal next to each other and saying "These are males."

Anyway, all of this is to tell you that when I saw these junior daikon, I wasn't even fazed. I know just what to do with them, and they seemed so small as to be laughable.

However, over the course of the past year, I seem to have talked 5 or 6 of my friends into subscribing to Abundant Harvest (hi guys!). I am really not a salesperson. The way I talked them into it is through such luring statements as "Dammit. I have to go pick up my veggies tomorrow morning and I am not even halfway done with the last box. And I still have potatoes form weeks and weeks ago. And I just don't feel like dealing with it all!"

Somehow that got them to want to jump on the bandwagon. 

But, I remember clearly my first daikon of last year, and I remember that feeling of bewilderment and befuddlement.  And since I know that a lot of my friends have a daikon radish languishing in the fridge, I can't in good faith wait another day to help them out with a little suggestion of what to do.

And so, my fellow box getters, and all of you out there in the world who want to try out a daikon radish, I have for you this very yummy recipe. These little cakes are similar to a latke, but made with radish instead of potato, and with a little more Asia and a little less Israel. The radish flavor, although there, isn't nearly as strong as your average little red radish. They are divine dipped in a bit of soy sauce, and if you plan to make them, please invite me over!

Crispy Daikon Radish Cakes

I got this recipe from the gal who distributes my box for me each week. I have no idea where she got it, sorry!

Enough daikon radish to make 3 packed cups when grated (about three of these sized daikons)

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 green onions, minced

1 egg

2 Tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1/4 teaspoon white pepper

About 1/2 cup panco bread crumbs

Vegetable oil for frying

Run the daikon through a food processor, or grate by hand. Put it all in a colander with the salt, mix well, and let it sit for 30 minutes (no longer -- it will become something like sauerkraut).

Squeeze the water out of the daikon with your hands.  You want the daikon really dry.

While the daikon is draining, in a large bowl, beat the egg, and stir in the green onion, flour, sesame oil and pepper. Stir the squeezed daikon.

Form cakes, about 1/3 cup of this mixture each,  that are about 1/2 inch thick.  You will make about 8-10 cakes.

Scatter some panko on a plate and bread the top and bottom of each cake with a layer of panko.

Heat a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil (I use a combination of olive oil and a little more sesame oil) in a nonstick skillet over medium heat.

Pan fry the cakes until the bottoms are golden brown.

Flip the  cakes over and add a little more oil and continue to pan fry until golden brown.

Serve with soy sauce.

zucchini-apple bread

oh my. November?

Already?

I am not sure I was actually here for the month of October, because I don't really remember it.

I have been busy busy busy. There were Halloween Parties for all three kids in their classrooms, which meant some baking, shopping, prepping, and playing.

There were three Halloween costumes to create.

There was a school carnival (for which I somehow got in charge of two booths), testing for the next belt level in kung fu for two kids, and oral surgery for one.

There were Halloween parties to attend, to drop off and pick up from, and to help out at, and of course there was trick-or-treating.

There were many many fundraisers for Breast Cancer awareness month. I am leaving in just two weeks (egad!) for San Diego, where I will be walking 60 miles with seven of my very best friends in the whole wide world. It's no coincidence that they make up more than 50% of my blog readership. Without these people I would truly be lost. One of them is Jason of The Jason Show. If you didn't come to my blog from him, you should head over to him. He can tell you more about my besties in his post after the 3-day walk last year, and you can read about some of our fundraisers in his post from last week. So there, my alibi for why I haven't been blogging has a witness.

The one that was probably the most fun was the Goodwill Truck... Goodwill paid us to collect junk previously loved objects from our friends and fill up a truck with them. For a few weeks, we sought and received lovely items from just about everyone we know, and then for one long day we made trips back and forth, emptying our garages and filling up that truck. Doesn't that sound like a good time? Okay, you would have to know my friends to understand why a day of driving, loading, carrying and hauling other people's crap is fun. They are the funniest, warmest, kindest, happiest people I know. Spending a day shoveling dog poop would be okay by me if I was with my team.

One of our other fundraisers was a bake sale. We have a local pumpkin patch/farm that is the coolest place around at Halloween time. For a city girl who grew up getting a pumpkin from the local grocery store, Lombardi Ranch feels like a wonderland to me. The kids get to wander through acres of pumpkins of all different shapes, sizes and colors, to find just the right one. They get to climb on antique farm equipment, scale towers of hay bales, visit the animals, take a wagon ride, make their way through a corn maze, and check out Scarecrow Alley. It's no wonder that just about every child in our city makes his or her way to Lombardi Ranch at least once during the month of October.

Lucky for us, the owners of the joint set up a booth and allow one charitable group per day to host a bake sale, and to keep all of the profit. Since we were lucky enough to sign up for the last Friday before Halloween, we had a busy day and sold over $700 of cookies, brownies, cupcakes and breads. Going for $1 apiece most often, that translates into lots of baking beforehand!

I spent the last two days before the sale baking:
10 loaves of zucchini apple bread
3 dozen mummy pops
2 dozen brownies
2 dozen cupcakes
7 dozen cookies

It was exhausting! But my house sure smelled good!

Here are the mummy pops I made:

Aren't they cute? Hop over here to my very cute baking friend for the details on these guys. She is amazing! She actually let me invade her kitchen for the morning, gave me a private tutorial, and didn't laugh at all my mistakes. A good friend, indeed! While you're there, check out everything Kirsten does... she's ten times the baker that I am.

And here is the zucchini-apple bread.

 It is not as cute, but it is very delicious. The apples and the applesauce give it a nice density and make sure it isn't too dry. It actually lasts a few days, because all the zucchini and apples help it not get stale the by the morning after you bake it.

Zucchini Apple Bread          
I got this recipe here, before I changed bits and pieces of it.
(this makes two loaves... but it doubles and even triples easily!)

The zucchini and apple can be grated in a food processor. You don't even need to peel the apple!

butter (for the pans)
1 cup grated zucchini (about 1 medium zucchini)
1 cup grated apple (about 1 apple, cored)
1 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
1 cup apple sauce (I used my own, but a jar of apple sauce form the store works just as well)
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Coat 2 standard loaf pans (or more smaller loaf pans) with butter.

Combine the zucchini, apple, brown sugar, apple sauce, eggs and vanilla in a large bowl. Add flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg and mix well.

Divide the batter between the loaf pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean... about 50 minutes for a standard loaf pan, about 40-45 minutes for a smaller loaf.

Remove the breads from the loaf pans and let them cool on a wire rack.

green bean casserole (with real green beans!

Isn't it funny how different families interpret traditions differently? Like almost everyone I know has Santa come down the chimney on December 24, but not at all in the same way. Does he wrap his gifts or doesn't he? Doe he give the children all of their gifts, or are some of them from Mom and Dad? Does he leave a note on the cookie plate or just some crumbs? Does he bring everything the kid asked for and more? Or does he pick and choose from the wish list?

And then there is Thanksgiving. While nearly everyone has a turkey, there are those families who wouldn't dream of veering from a standard set of side dishes, and those who like to try something new every year. Cranberry sauce or cranberry relish? Canned or fresh? Should the stuffing go int he bird or in a casserole? Can you believe my husband's family doesn't care whether there is a pumpkin pie or not, as long as the chocolate pies are fresh and plentiful?

Anyway, I had never heard of green bean casserole until I met my husband. You know the one, with the French's dried onions on top and the recipe that comes on the side of the onion can? (I mean the casserole has onions on top, not my husband). Well, apparently, in his family that has almost no traditions whatsoever for any holiday, the green bean casserole is not to be left out of Thanksgiving.

So, when I mentioned to my mother that my new boyfriend would come to Thanksgiving and he really loved this green bean casserole stuff, she said, "Just the one with the Campbell's soup and the fried onions? No problem. I can make that." What? You know about that stuff, Mom? I've never eaten it!

Anyway, for better or for worse, the green bean casserole with the mushroom soup and the freeze-dried onions graced the Thanksgiving table unfailingly for many years. Somewhere in the ensuing 18 years it got, ironically, dropped from Thanksgiving at my in-laws. My mother, however, will always make it for my husband if we are going to be at her house on Thanksgiving.

So when we got our first green beans in our Abundant Harvest box at the beginning of the summer, my husband said "We could make green bean casserole!" I made stir-fry. When we got our next batch my husband said "We could make green bean casserole!" I made green bean fries. And one week I made a green bean salad and one week I even wrapped green beans into little bacon-y bundles.  I roasted them and blanched them and sautéed them. But I didn't make green bean casserole. I mean, the point of green bean casserole is to take a bag of green beans out of the freezer, a can of soup and a can of onions out of the pantry, combine and bake. It really doesn't taste good and it is really unimpressive. Why invest a lot of time and effort into that?

Well of course you know where this is going. When I got the fresh box this last Saturday, I went to put the green beans away in the refrigerator... right next to the green beans from the week before. Okay, I said to myself, this is silly. Whatever am I going to do with TWO huge bags of green beans? And then this little voice in my head (that sounded eerily like my husband's voice) said "You could make green bean casserole."

Oh, okay!!! I'll do it!

So I googled it, and I found Alton Brown's recipe for "The Best Ever Green Bean Casserole." I think that is a little like saying "The best ever blank sheet of paper." Or "The best ever square of sidewalk." I'm not going to argue that it isn't the best ever, but really winning that title doesn't give you too much in the way of bragging rights. 

However, (and I feel like I say this a lot on this here blog) although I went into this a little dubiously, I was very pleasantly surprised. This turned out to be very different from the traditional old frozen beans and mushroom soup standard, despite the fact that it is made with green beans, soupy mushrooms, and crisped onions. It is, of course, fresher and crisper. It is creamy and mushroomy, but lighter, and the beans actually taste like beans. I know, it's a strange concept.

At any rate, it was a hit at our house, and I guess if you are going to make green bean casserole, this is the one to make. It is delicious, for a casserole. It is far crisper and more flavorful than the name casserole might connote. And the onions are to die for. It just doesn't hold a candle to green beans wrapped in bacon. But then, bacon is a very unfair competitor.

So, here is Alton Brown's recipe. I didn't change a thing.

Ingredients

For the topping:

• 2 medium onions, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons panko bread crumbs
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• Nonstick cooking spray

For beans and sauce:

• 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
• 1 pound fresh green beans, rinsed, trimmed and halved
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 12 ounces mushrooms, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 cup half-and-half

Directions

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F.

Combine the onions, flour, panko and salt in a large mixing bowl and toss to combine. Coat a sheet pan with nonstick cooking spray and evenly spread the onions on the pan. Place the pan on the middle rack of the oven and bake until golden brown, approximately 30 minutes. Toss the onions 2 to 3 times during cooking. Once done, remove from the oven and set aside until ready to use. Turn the oven down to 400 degrees F.

While the onions are cooking, prepare the beans. Bring a gallon of water and 2 tablespoons of salt to a boil in an 8-quart saucepan. Add the beans and blanch for 5 minutes. Drain in a colander and immediately plunge the beans into a large bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Drain and set aside.

Melt the butter in a 12-inch cast iron skillet set over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms, 1 teaspoon salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms begin to give up some of their liquid, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and nutmeg and continue to cook for another 1 to 2 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the mixture and stir to combine. Cook for 1 minute. Add the broth and simmer for 1 minute. Decrease the heat to medium-low and add the half-and-half. Cook until the mixture thickens, stirring occasionally, approximately 6 to 8 minutes.

Remove from the heat and stir in 1/4 of the onions and all of the green beans. Top with the remaining onions. Place into the oven and bake until bubbly, approximately 15 minutes. Remove and serve immediately.