Asian Style Root Slaw

Here we are deep in winter and it is the perfect time to make root vegetable based slaws. My favorite way is this Asian version, super simple and works with any root vegetable. It's great on tacos, and this version is inspired by Korean flavorings.

Grate any of those knobby roots - turnips, celery root, carrot, daikon radish - and add cabbage if you like, some red or green onion, sprinkle on some rice vinegar, a little sesame oil and soy sauce and presto! You have a fantastic slaw that is delicious, and packed with nutrition! All of those roots are high in potassium as well as great sources of fiber, so they fill you up and keep you hydrated. Win win!

Tuscan Kale Salad with Miso Lime Dressing

Now that we are fully into Fall weather, even here on the northern California coast, I find myself craving heartier salad greens, specifically Tuscan kale, also known as black kale. 

For me, black kale is tastier and has just that much more juice to its leaves than curly kale and is great for Asian style dressing such as the miso lime soy dressing used here. 

At this time of year, shredding in some root vegetables such as turnips, carrots, or radishes of any sort is always a good choice. Even adding some shredded apple would be fun!

This dressing will taste strong on its own, but I find that it melds well with the shredded veggies which mellow out its sharpness, and its acid really tames the bitterness of the kale.

Grilled Escarole with Caesar Dressing and Sungold Tomatoes

If you have not yet discovered how delicious grilling your salad greens is, now is the time!

Sure, you can be like the crowd and grill your romaine or your kale but why not step way outside the box and get some escarole. Yes! Escarole!

Escarole is part of the bitter green family, which is so nutritious and good for you but sometimes hard to swallow because it is literally bitter, at least when it is raw. But grilling almost anything will not only wilt the greens bring out its hidden sweetness. Drizzle it with the delicious caesar dressing and even the most skeptical of eaters will be won over!

While you can definitely grill on the stovetop, which I do in the wintertime, grilling over wood charcoal gives it a great smoky flavor that only wood imparts.

Gado Gado Salad

Gado Gado sounds like baby talk but this is not for babies, no sireee! This is a classic Indonesian salad that is a great way to use up all of those scraps of veggies you've got in the crisper bin. Little bits of cabbage, celery, few potatoes and a couple of green beans just hanging around taunting you? Whip up some peanut sauce or the like and you've got some Gado Gado!

Actually, it was the appearance of some free peanut sauce that inspired this meal (another freebie expired item from the co-op, courtesy of my hubbie).  But whipping up some peanut sauce (or other nut butter) is easy to do, especially as the water is boiling for making the eggs, potatoes and green beans.

This is an especially great meal when you realize that veggies have been AWOL from your meal plans in a while. Giving the cabbage a quick blanch makes this meal slightly warmed and less of a plate full of salad. Add whatever protein you choose, tofu is traditional and here I seared some and place it in the middle. Use what you have on hand.

Nicoise Inspired Chopped Salad

This is one of those dinners that was thrown together with what was in the fridge and because it "looked pretty" according to my hubby, I took a picture. And thinking that more people should do likewise in using up odds and ends from the frig, it has now become a blog post.

Nicoise inspired because there is fish on it (that would be leftover cooked salmon and anchovies), boiled potatoes and eggs, but the sauted zucchini, avocado and feta is just what was available and looked tasty. This is one big satisfying salad, and I have made it with canned sardines, cooked asparagus, radishes and cucumbers. Make it with whatever is in the pantry to bulk up your meal. Try it, you'll like it!

Cucumber and Radish Salsa

While I know little about Ayurvedic food preparations, it doesn't take that kind of specialized knowledge to know that cooling fresh salads or salsas are necessary to balance out the spicy richness of certain dishes. I created this one for the tofu peanut satay featured in last week's post. And it was a match made in heaven, even for those who think they don't like radishes!

While basil is the herb featured here, feel free to substitute cilantro or parsley or Thai basil if you can find it.

Cutting the vegetables in different shapes was an aesthetic call; some people might go for all the same shape just for ease of slicing.

The dressing on this is really up to you; add more vinegar if you like or more sesame oil. What is listed is really just my preferences.

Thanksgiving Entrees and Sides - Veggie Friendly

Vegetarians (and vegans!) get so much flak at Thanksgiving, and quite often their entree options are boring or nil. Be kind to the plant eaters and make them an entree to remember, and lots of sides that everyone will love!

Entrees

Wild Mushroom Nutloaf with Porcini Gravy sounds like a scary throwback from the early hippie food of the 1970s, but this is decadence and deliciousness that everyone will love. Make enough so the carnivores can try it, they will be pleasantly surprised!

If your diners are primarily omnivores, these Chick Pea Parmesan Cutlets are easy to make ahead of time and then heat with some tomato sauce and presto! Delicious vegetarian or vegan entree without much fuss.

My personal old standby favorite whenever I was eating with my omnivore family was the Seitan Sautee with gravy. Here's a version with Fieldroast Marsala with Mushrooms.

Sides

Whether I eat turkey or not, my favorite part of the meal are the vegetable side dishes. Some people are crazy for stuffing but what I can't wait for is...Brussels Sprouts! Truly, and without bacon! Just sauteed with some olive oil and salt and sometimes a little balsamic vinegar. And then there's cauliflower gratin and beet salad and green beans...Ok, I'm drooling all over the computer. Suffice to say the veggies win the day for me!



Basque Beet Salad with Parsley and Garlic

Sweet and Savory Brussels Sprouts

Cauliflower Gratin!

Creamed Spinach 

(Use butter and cream instead of non-dairy ingredients if you like).

Pan Roasted Mushrooms with Wild Rice

Apple, Walnut and Cabbage Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing

Happy Eating!

Nora's Avocado Potato Salad

My friend Nora Herold was my spiritual guide for many years and she is also a great cook! Occasionally she will share a recipe with me and it lands here so that I can share it with you. (Check out these raw brownies! AMAZING!!)

She often posts recipes on her facebook feed, which currently is the only place to find them (until she publishes a cookbook as she's always threatening to do!) Inspired by her faerie friends, she usually is creating vegan or raw or some combination of those cuisines. Here's a potato salad that sounds super delicious and fresh!

In case you are not familiar with the creamy properties of avocados (especially those super ripe ones), add this to your repertoire where it subs for mayonnaise. Puree it with mustard, lemon juice, cucumber and season well. Pour it over cooked potatoes, fresh herbs and cherry tomatoes and it's a summer party in your mouth!

I've recorded the recipe as she did on Facebook - it gives you a flavor of her personality which is fun, open and totally accessible!

Thanksgiving Inspiration Part I - Hors d'oeuvres and Desserts

It's been a while since I've done a holiday suggestion round up, but since the blog just featured a great vegetarian option for Thanksgiving, it made me think it would be worth putting together a guide. Although my blog is flexitarian, these suggestions are vegetarian and vegan in focus. So here, in no particular order, are my humble suggestions!

Hors d'oeuvres

Easy snacks for arriving guests are the name of the game here. These are do ahead treats that go great with wine and require little from you on turkey day. 

Fermented Cashew "Boursin" cheese. Yup, vegan, dairy free, delicious. If you want to shock your eaters, make this amazing "cheese." It's amazingly mind-blowing!

Olives are always easy and fun and when you marinate them yourself, you can taylor the flavors. Here's my version of them Moroccan Style.

Nuts are always a great snack to serve and these Maple Rosemary Glazed Walnuts will be a huge hit. But truly heed my warning and triple the batch, they are seriously addictive!

Desserts

I have to admit that desserts are very much an afterthought for me, except at Thanksgiving! While my sweet tooth is general MIA, pumpkin pie is one of my favorite foods, probably because the sweetness factor isn't too high! That being said, if you are cooking for a crowd, it is good to have some variety. So beyond the traditional pumpkin and pecan, here are some suggestions.

Limoncello Macaroons with Lemon Icing are definitely not traditional turkey day fare, but they are easy to make and improve with age and will keep well in the refrigerator! Oh, and deliciously addictive to boot!

Chocolate is usually de rigor in some sort of dessert, and last year I had a sinfully rich chocolate pecan pie, but it really was a recipe for a bellyache! Try this Chocolate Ricotta Tart instead. Rich dark chocolate taste with the creaminess of ricotta!

Lastly, a fruit pie of sorts, inspired by the French: Goat Cheese, Walnut and Pear Galette. Rustic in look but elegant in taste.

Happy meal planning

Hugs!

Polynesian Inspired Red Cabbage Slaw

Here's another fun cabbage salad. It's easy to make and deceptively delicious with the addition of pineapple and its juice. I know it's kind of tacky calling anything Hawaiian or polynesian just because it has some sort of tropical fruit in it, but it captures the spirit of the salad even if it's wholly inauthentic!

Polynesian Inspired Red Cabbage Slaw
(serves 3-6)

2 cups red cabbage, shredded
1/2 cup corn
1/2 cup pineapple, diced
1 carrot, sliced in thin rounds
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1/2 cup cashews, toasted
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted
1/2 cup cilantro, minced
1 serrano, deseeded, minced
1/4 cup pineapple juice
1 lime, juiced
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt

Combine all ingredients and toss well. Allow to sit or serve immediately.

Hugs!

Recipes currently inspiring me:

Grilled Eggplant and Mint Salad at Sidewalk Shoes
Dosa Spring Roll at Holy Cow!
Plum and Marzipan Crumble Pie at Eats Well With Others

Waldorf Salad for the 21st Century

I love cabbage. Really. Green, red, I love it all. My mom used to pack wedges of it in my high school lunches and I ate it without shame, despite the heckling. My current family is slowly warming to my cabbage love, but making salad like this one certainly speed the process!

Waldorf is one of those salads that got stuck in the time-warp of the 1970s - thick mayonnaise dressing with lots of sweetness that often made it cloying and reverse mouth-puckering for me - too sweet! It was an attempt to make fruits and vegetables more palatable by adding, of course, more sugar. Here I've toned it all done with a honey mustard vinaigrette (hey, it's vegan!) and added the cabbage for a little more veggie heft. The raisins didn't make it to the party simply because they weren't in the pantry and sometimes (often!) I'm lazy. But feel free to add them in if you like or any other dried fruit of that size - blueberries, cherries, cranberries - all would work well.

It's apple season in much of the Western Hemisphere so when you're tired of eating them plain as a snack, make this updated Waldorf salad with those delicious, crisp and juicy apples. Your taste buds (and diners) will thank you!

Classic Nicoise Salad

Nicoise salad is one of those classic dishes that I usually trust from any decent restaurant. And most of the time I don't think to make it at home since it requires quite a bit of preparation - all of those different ingredients that make it such a fun dish to have someone else prepare! But a few brunches ago the beau and I were wanting a more green meal rather than potatoes and eggs, and since I had potatoes and green beans on hand, Nicoise it was!

This prep is made quicker if you boil the potatoes first and then in the last few minutes of cooking them add the beans and voila, both are done! Be sure to drop the green beans in cold water to stop the cooking process so that they don't go limp on you.

If you can, buy the highest quality canned tuna you can afford, it makes such a difference. I happened to have some leftover aioli in the fridge and we used that to dress the lettuce. This didn't seem too far fetched since a quick internet search of Nicoise dressing turned up three different ones, all of which claiming to be authentic. So use what you like! 

Corn, Red Cabbage and Avocado Salad with Lime Vinaigrette

Corn season will soon be full blown and here's and easy and fun salad to enjoy corn to its fullest!

Cut fresh corn off the cob, saute with some jalapenos, garlic and onion and toss with a lime vinaigrette and add cabbage and cilantro and presto! Delicious side salad bursting with summer freshness!

I was inspired to create this because we had leftover roasted corn from our 4th of July party, but only 1 ear of roasted corn. So instead of firing up the entire grill (which does not mean flicking a switch, we're hardwood grillers!) I resorted to my cast iron pan and stovetop. Great flavor even if it lacked the smokiness of hardwood grilled corn. But don't let that stop you from roasting a bunch of ears and making up a picnic size portion of this beautiful salad!

Radish, Carrot and Snow Pea Asian Slaw

Ahh, fresh vegetable salads. Too many of the uninitiated think they're boring or only eaten to fulfill some sort of "healthy" quotient.

Dear readers, don't fall into this trap! Feed them this salad and behold the transformation!

Often, I will confess, that tossing a bunch of random chopped vegetables into a salad is my idea of a great veggie side. But sometimes you have to wow people to woo and win them. That's when you go for the good stuff, like snow peas and pink radishes, the exotics that actually are worth the extra trip to the produce department.

The truth is that the dressing on this salad can transfer to other chopped salad options, but it really does work best with Asian centric vegetables, such as radishes, snow peas and carrots. If you're catering to a more gourmet crowd who are not afraid of vegetable salads, toss in some julienned daikon radish or some bean sprouts or even green beans cut on the bias and lightly steamed. But stick with the dressing, it's what makes it all worth while.

Caesar Salad with Aioli and Garlicky Prawns

Ahhh, homey, delicious, slightly decadent but actually really healthy. Does a meal get any better than that?

My man loves caesar salads, and he loves shrimp. So what better way to make his day when he's had an extra long one than to serve him a crisp caesar with homemade dressing and some garlic sauteed shrimp on top. I love it because it's relatively quick and easy. He's super appreciative of the homemade croutons and aioli. And the fact that it's mainly lettuce means that we eating a very healthy meal that is gourmet without any fancy sauces!

Making aioli (or homemade mayonnaise) is really easy once you follow these key steps:

1. Chill your metal bowl and whisk in the freezer for 30 minutes prior to using
2. Place a dish cloth on the counter and use it to rest the bowl when whisking
3. Drop the oil in the aioli using a tablespoon, at least for the first 1/4 cup of oil

Trust me, this is virtually a foolproof recipe and will make you and your diners so happy that you'll be thrilled to realize how easy it is to make, because they will be begging for more!

Homemade croutons are also simple, and with the salad as your main dish, really worth making. You can use the same pan to make the shrimp in after sauteing the croutons; so much less to clean up!

Kale Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing

Not all kale salads are created equal. Yes, I'm sure you've endured the minimalist version, lemon juice, salt, olive oil, maybe some avocado to sooth the harsh bitterness of kale, particularly the curly kind. And you felt virtuous and healthy as your stomach protested the harshness of the roughage entering your system. Everything has its place, and so does a delicious kale salad. Really, it's ok to eat the tasty salads as well.

Bitter greens are great for you but that doesn't mean you need to have a bitter or overly acidic dressing. This honey mustard dressing provides the balance that I believe bitter green salads should have. Adding in the radishes brings a bit of pepper and crunch to the salad. Shaving some hard cheese like Asiago, Parmesan or even Pecorino Romano into the salad is completely optional, but the creamy nuttiness adds another level of flavor complexity.

And if you love your minimalist kale salads, good for you! Just remember those people with less hardy stomach might actually enjoy kale salads when they're dressed with something a little more enticing!

Quinoa, Corn, and Jalapeno Salad

Fads of any sort just don't register with me. Maybe it's the cynical attitude my mom raised me on - decoding and demystifying advertizing and commericals - but I just don't buy the hype for anything. So while so many folks are coocoo for quinoa, it's still just another grain (or rather seed) that is fun to cook up. No effusive, gushing from me on this supergrain, just a fun recipe that seems exotic but is just plain tasty.

This is Moroccan in style to the extent that the heat of the jalapeno is tamed with pomegranate molasses, one of my favorite secret ingredients. Mint and cilantro are herbs frequently sprinkled in North African cuisine.

Even if you are just inching your way into Moroccan cuisine, this is a great dish to use to introduce this fascinating cuisine to your family!

Pan Seared Cabbage with Honey Mustard Dressing

Ahh, cabbage, truly one of my favorite vegetables...not yours? Or your kids? It gets a bad rep, just like eggplant, which I usually attribute to the lack of artful presentation and preparation. But just like the girl next door who suddenly wows you when you see her dolled up or wearing a pretty dress, here's a recipe that will win hearts and palates.

Searing cabbage - yeah, you read that right. Searing cabbage will bring out the sweetness that is always lurking if treated right (the girl metaphor still seems to apply, strangely enough, treating her right that is). Add a luscious honey-mustard dressing to warm cabbage and sprinkle on some toasted seeds and your diners will be incredulous that the vegetable is in fact the lowly cabbage.

Don't over cook the slices; think of it as similar to searing beef or ahi tuna. You just want to brown the edges, not heat it all the way through. And tell your unsuspecting diners that it's a steak...the vegetable kind!

Spicy Corn and Cucumber Salad

Wow! The dog days of summer have hit! Time for some cooling summer salad to accompany whatever you're putting on the grill to stay out of the kitchen.

Cucumber is a super cooling vegetable that makes your body feel good and just seems to cool off my melting brain, even if I've been hiding out in AC all day. Add in some fresh corn and herbs and a bit of chili powder for some zing, and you may forget about your grilled stuff!

When sweet corn is in season you can eat it raw right off the cob, no need to mess with boiling water. Just cut the cob in half and place the flat side down on the cutting board and use a sharp knife to slice off the kernels. Tossing it with lime juice is a traditional Mexican preparation and the citrus I used here since I love it with cucumber as well.

Feel free to add in some bell pepper - colored ones would be pretty - or even some fresh chili peppers. This salad was whipped up with what was in the fridge and I decided it was worth sharing since it was so good!

Cucumber, Mint and Beet Salad

I love salads, particularly what are known as "chopped" salads, which of course involves a lot of chopping. I find chopping vegetables very soothing and zen. Not everyone shares my affinity so I try and limit my chopped salad postings to only the really good ones.

And this one is a doozy.

On a whim I combined cucumber, fennel, and mint and tossed in some leftover beets and what an amazing combination! Adding the balasmic vinegar created a beautiful balance of earthy sweetness and the mint just brought it all together!

So without further ado, here's the recipe!