Amelia, our Community Connections Coordinator, presented these three salad dressings at a workshop in our cafe last Saturday. She stands by the health-supportive properties of all three. Don't forget the vegetables!
DRAGON DRESSING (adapted from Appetite for Reduction, Isa Chandra Moskowitz) (serves 4) 1/2 cup roasted almonds (or 1/2 cup almond butter) 2 tablespoons chopped shallot 1 small clove of garlic finger-tip size chunk of fresh ginger 1/4 cup fresh squeezed lime juice 1/2 cup water 2 tablespoons honey 2 tablespoons soy sauce 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes Pulse half the almonds along with the shallots in a blender. Add in all the other ingredients (holding back the remainder of the almonds) until blended smooth. Pulse the remaining almonds until incorporated but still chunky. Taste and adjust accordingly. SIMPLE, CLASSIC VINAIGRETTE 1 small garlic clove, very finely grated 2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar 2 teaspoons Dijon Mustard 1/2 cup olive oil good pinch of kosher salt In a bowl combine garlic, mustard, vinegar and salt. Add olive oil and whisk until emulsified. Taste for seasoning and add more salt if necessary. BLUE CHEESE DRESSING 1 cup sour cream 1/2 cup mayonnaise 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar 1 teaspoon lemon juice 1-2 cloves garlic, minced 3/4 cup crumbled blue cheese 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper (or a little less if you don't like it hot!) In a small bowl, stir together sour cream and mayonnaise. Add red wine vinegar, lemon juice and minced garlic. Stir in blue cheese crumbles. Season with salt and pepper and taste. Adjust seasonings if needed. Store dressing in a container with a tight fitting lid. Store any leftovers in fridge for up to 5 days. MAYONNAISE 1 large egg yolk at room temperature 2 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice Salt 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard 3/4 cup olive oil Whisk together the yolk, lemon juice, mustard, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a bowl. Slowly add the oil, in a stream, whisking quickly and constantly, until all the oil is added and the mayonnaise has thickened.
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Fiddleheads employee and holistic health coach Amelia Lord shared this recipe for an easy kale salad that she made for a recent workshop at the co-op. This is a great way to enjoy curly green kale if, like me, you're not exactly in love with the stuff (chard is the leafy love of my life) otherwise; one taste of it had me practically licking the bowl. It's a perfect spring or summer recipe.
I used a red onion rather than the white onion the original recipe called for; the slightly sweet bite went well with the mild avocado and tart lemon flavors. Amelia's recipe didn't suggest emulsifying the lemon juice and olive oil before adding to the kale but I found it easier to deal with the liquids by combining them first. The recipe is intended to make 2-4 entree servings, or is the perfect size for a party/potluck, etc. If you intend it as a side-dish, especially for 1-2 people, I suggest halving the recipe or adjusting as needed. You can contact Amelia for more recipes, and holistic nutritional information and health coaching services at [email protected] or via her website. RAW GREEN KALE SALAD WITH APPLES & AVOCADOS 1 bunch organic curly green kale 1 large organic apple, chopped 1/2 medium white or red onion, finely chopped 1 ripe avocado, chopped 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for garnish Freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, or kelp/sea salt blend 1/4 cup slivered almonds or chopped walnuts Strip kale leaves from stems; discard stems and tear kale into bite-size pieces. In a large mixing bowl sprinkle kale with salt and massage well with hands (as you would when making kale chips). Add chopped apple, avocado and onion to kale. Emulsify or blend lemon juice and olive oil, then pour over kale, massage all ingredients again with hands. (This gets messy but is a lot of fun.) Mush and squish around until well-combined and much of the avocado is incorporated as part of the dressing. Top with almonds or walnuts and serve immediately, and/or store in the fridge in an airtight container; it's great the next day. ETA: Try substituting fresh sliced strawberries for the apples, as FH customer Pat Flynn Brune did. Time: 20 Minutes Yield: 2-4 entree-sized servings The lovely ladies of our Produce Team: Amelia Lord, Sue Guida & Wendy Jakobski at the Mystic Marriott, 04/16/12. (Photo courtesy of Wendy Jakobski.) On Monday Chef Paul Krawic invited Fiddleheads to do a tasting at the Marriott in New London to sample the Produce Dept's wares. Richard Virgin, Wendy Jakobski, Sue Guida and Amelia Lord were the "prep chefs" for the evening. Dishes sampled included a vegetarian stiry fry done by Richard, Sue's wheatberry salad, and sweet potato-lentil stew from Alicia's Silverstone's book The Kind Diet, brought to us by Alison La Bella. Sue told us her recipe for wheatberry & fruit salad came from Cooking Light Magazine, April 2010**; she has made it with and without the goat cheese listed, and each versions has it's devoted partisans here at the co-op. In other words, it's delicious either way, and the folks who got to taste it Wednesday night at the hotel certainly agreed. Amelia, Sue and Richard Virgin "represent" Fiddleheads at the Marriott, with humor and style to spare. (Photo courtesy of Wendy Jakobski.)
We had a lot of requests for the sweet potato and lentil stew recipe from folks who sampled it that night, and we promised to share it here: Alicia Silverstone's Sweet Potato & Lentil Stew From The Kind Diet (Rodale Books, 2009) 1/4 cup safflower oil 1 medium onion, diced 2 small tomatoes, diced, or 2 Tbsp tomato paste 1 tsp. fresh ginger, minced 1 1/2 tsps. turmeric 1 tsp. cumin 1 tsp. ground coriander 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon 1/8 tsp. cayenne fine sea salt 2-3 medium sweet potatoes,peeled and cut into 3/4 inch cubes 7 cups vegetable broth 1 cup lentils, brown or multi-colored Heat the oil over medium in a large, deep pot. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, for 2 minutes or until the onion starts to soften. Stir in the tomatoes or paste and ginger and cook for 3 minutes. Stir in the turmeric, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, cayenne, and a small pinch of salt. Cook and stir for 2 minutes, then taste for seasonings; try to use only enough salt to heighten the flavors. Add the sweet potatoes, broth, and lentils. Stir well, and bring to a boil over high heat. When the mixture comes to a boil, reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 30 - 40 minutes or until the lentils and sweet potatoes are soft. Serve on its own, or over rice or couscous. Serves 4-6. **Earlier today I listed Women's Day Magazine as the source of the wheatberry salad recipe; Sue corrected me and that has been fixed. -J- (This and all over blog recipes can also be found on our recipe archive page, "Here's Linkin' at You, Kid.") Kiwi is one of those items that have rarely made their way into my kitchen, and I'm not sure why. Their taste, fragrance and texture reminds me of nothing so much as strawberries, which I do love, but which can be difficult to find truly ripe and intensely-flavored. The fragrance is in fact a bit more subtle than strawberries with floral as well as fruity top-notes. So why have I ignored them for so long? Is it their year-round ubiquity at the co-op, unlike red starkrimson pears, cherries, blueberries, persimmons, etc: items whose season and availability always ends too soon? Is it their thoroughly unprepossessing exterior appearance - a hairy fruit? Those dark, follicle-coated little ovals don't exactly pop out and scream at you, as they sit in the produce section, "BUY ME!" the way more brightly-colored oranges and berries and apples do. And yet, we do have them at the co-op year round, so apparently - a lot of our customers have heard the siren call and discovered the pleasures under those ugly surfaces, so I've got some catching up to do. To that end I bought a couple of kiwi at the co-op the other day, along with blueberries, bosc pears and mandarins, with no particular plan in mind. I can't stop myself from buying up fat handfuls of blueberries and several bosc pears every time I'm in the store lately; unlike the kiwi, they are not avaiable year-round. This is so easy you don't need a strict recipe, but let's give it a crack anyway. You can change ingredients around to suit your liking as well as seasonal availability. With both the kiwi and the pears, select ripe fruit that yields slightly to the touch with gentle pressure but are not mushy or soft; with the bosc pears, look for skins that are more brown rather than green. As there are several types of oranges and citrus at the co-op right now, you could try a hamlin orange, a blood orange, or a tangelo in place of the mandarin; you want a variety that is juicy, sweet and intensely flavored. (If you try limes or lemons instead, be sure to adjust the sweetener or the blueberries in the sauce to balance the sourness.) Kiwi, Blueberry and Pear Fruit Salad, with Blueberry-Orange Sauce 2 ripe kiwi, peeled, cut in half lengthwise then sliced 1 cup (approx) ripe (or thawed frozen) blueberries, divided into halves 1 ripe (but not overripe) bosc pear, cut into bite-size chunks, skin left on 1-2 small mandarin oranges or other juicy, sweet orange (such as blood orange or red cara cara), tangelo or tangerine, cut in half, plus grated zest 2 T - 1/8 cup dark (Grade B preferable) maple syrup and/or agave nectar (I used blue agave but any variety should work, esp if combined with the maple syrup) powdered coriander to taste (optional) pecans or walnuts, toasted, whole or broken in to pieces, for topping (optional) Put prepared kiwi slices into a bowl with half of the blueberries and the pear chunks. Squeeze the juice from 1/2 of the mandarin orange over the fruit and lightly sprinkle ground coriander on top, as well as some freshly grated orange zest if desired; toss all ingredients gently. Drizzle with Blueberry-Orange Sauce (below); if desired, top with toasted pecans or walnuts just before serving. Serves 2 as a dessert or side-dish (or breakfast, lunch, etc...) You can substitute or add other fruits according to availability and preference, such as strawberries, bananas, etc. Blueberry-Orange Sauce In a microwave-safe measuring cup or bowl smash approximately 1/2 cup of the remaining blueberries with a fork, then squeeze juice and pulp from other half of the orange into cup, and some fresh orange zest. Add a couple of tablespoons of the maple syrup and/or agave, and a dash of coriander if desired, and mix thoroughly, continuing to smash blueberries if they are not already soft and broken-down. (Show them no mercy, my friend, no matter how much it hurts.) Put the cup or bowl with the sauce in the microwave and heat on low 1-2 minutes, stirring as necessary. Sauce should be not overly-sweet or gummy, and have a rich, deep blue-ish ruby-red color. You can strain out the blueberry skins but I prefer to leave them in; they add to flavor and color. The sauce thickens very quickly as it cools into an almost jelly-like consistency; if you want it to be a little thinner, simply squeeze in a bit more of the orange juice and stir. There will be more sauce than you need for the fruit salad, so store any left over in refrigerator. Note: If you don’t wish to make the sauce from scratch, try adding orange zest and juice to blueberry jam, instead. Produce team associate Sue Guida was good enough to share her personal recipes for Creamy Tomato Soup after I begged her for the recipe. ("Ain't too proud to beg, sweet darling...") We posted this on the Fiddleheads FB page nearly a month ago, but it's worth revisiting as the weather has taken a definite turn toward something colder and crisper...sorta-kinda-maybe resembling late autumn/early winter. (Maybe.) The recipe incorporates chickpeas rather than dairy products to give it it's texture, and substituting veggie broth for the chicken makes it vegan. (The vegans and vegetarians amongst us already know that, of course; some of us are still finding our way there.) Included is the escarole salad she recommends as an accompaniment; I wasn't going to post the salad recipe here as I thought we weren't carrying any more escarole, until I walked into the co-op today and saw several heads of it that Anita Kopchinski and Bill Sokol had brought us from Hidden Brook Gardens in Ledyard on Friday.
Sue's specialty, IMO, is recipes that are almost Zen-like in their simplicity, no fuss, no frills and nothing unnecesssary. Simple, satisfying and just plain good. Sue Guida's Creamy Tomato Soup olive oil for sauteeing veggies 1 small onion, chopped 3 garlic cloves, minced 1 28oz can undrained diced tomatoes (Muir Glen is good) 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed well 2 cups low-sodium, gluten-free chicken (or vegetable) broth dried rosemary to taste, chopped (or double the amount fresh), basil and oregano to taste 2 tea. sugar freshly ground black pepper, to taste Heat the oil in you heavy-bottom pot and saute the onions for a couple of minutes, add garlic and sautee a bit more (do not brown). Stir in the tomato and the drained chickpeas; add the broth, herbs and sugar. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes. Cool enough to handle, then puree in blender or food processor in batches until smooth. Return to pot and heat through; season with pepper. Escarole or bitter greens salad makes a nice accompaniment. Note: Instead of dried rosemary you could add one sprig of fresh and not bother chopping; remove before pureeing soup. Escarole Salad Wash as much escarole as you want, drain a little, break it up and put in bowl; sprinkle with a little sea salt and black pepper. Pour some EV olive oil over escarole. Just as you're sitting down to the table and NOT before that, squeeze fresh lemon juice over the salad. EAT. (The lemon juice cuts the bitterness of the escarole just a bit.) |
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Text and photos copyright 2011-2013 Janice Janostak unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved.
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