Fun with Rhubarb

Know what else is in season here in Northern California? Rhubarb! Never heard of it? Don't know what to do with it? Great - this post will explain it to ya!

Raw rhubarb stalks

Rhubarb is a plant that has pink/red stalks and green leaves at the top. Unless you grow rhubarb yourself, you will never see the leaves as sellers take them off before displaying them. The leaves contain oxalic acid, which is toxic. However you would need to eat a LOT of them for the toxic effects to be apparent. Oxalic acid is common in plants, it can also be found in small amounts in spinach leaves, black tea, and sorrell - all delicious things!

Anyway, eating the rhubarb stalks is perfectly safe. And while I've heard of some savory recipes, my favorite way to enjoy rhubarb is to make a pie! Even a health coach has to give in to her sweet tooth every once in a while, right? When I heard the other day that rhubarb was in season, my mouth started watering for my mom's rhubarb pie recipe. While many recipes will combine rhubarb with strawberries, I prefer the taste of rhubarb by itself. It has a deliciously tart flavor that I really enjoy. I scoured the markets to find some so that I could recreate my memory. If you have a pie crust recipe you like go ahead and use it here, but I prefer to buy a pre-made crust. And apparently EpiCurious agrees with my choice for the best tasting traditional pie crust!

I almost forgot to take a picture of a slice, we gobbled it up so fast!

Mom's Rhubarb Pie

Just out of the oven - smells SO good!

Ingredients:
2 9" Pie Crusts
3C Rhubarb, rinsed and cut into small pieces
1C Sugar
2T Flour
1 Egg

Directions:
- Prepare pie crust. If using frozen, allow it to thaw.
- In large bowl, combine the sugar, flour, and egg.
- Mix in rhubarb.
- Put mix into a 9" pie crust.
- Top with a second crust.
- Bake for about 40 minutes at 425 degrees.
- Allow pie to cool for a few hours (or day before) before eating, this lets the inside set instead of being liquidy.

Baked to deliciousness

I had a little extra rhubarb left over, so I experimented with some strawberry and rhubarb crumbles. No recipe for these as I just threw them together, but I thought I'd share the pictures.

Before baking

Oven Steamed Halibut & Stir-Fried Bok Choy

With all the bok choy our CSA has been sending us in our boxes recently, this meal has quickly become one of our favorite ways to enjoy it. Both recipes in this post, the Oven-Steamed Halibut and the Stir-Fried Bok Choy, are quick and easy to make. If you're eating grains, brown rice served on the side is a great way to soak up all the delicious sauce...it tastes so good, it's a shame to let the extra sauce go to waste!

Halibut - just out of the oven

Oven Steamed Halibut (serves 4)
Ingredients:
4 Scallions
2" Fresh Ginger, peeled and sliced thin
4 4oz Halibut Fillets (or other delicate, white fish such as sole, flounder)
2T Soy Sauce
2T Sherry/Rice Vinegar
1t Sesame Oil
1/2t Sugar

Directions:
- Put 1/3 of the scallions and ginger in a 9x13 glass baking dish.
- Place fish fillets on top, then scatter the remaining scallions and ginger on top.
- Mix the sauce in a bowl, and pour over the fish.
- Let marinate about 15 minutes.
- Seal with foil, bake for 15 minutes at 375 degrees. (You  might need more or less time depending on the thickness of your fish.)
- Fish is cooked when the color has turned white, and easily flakes with a fork.
- Plate pieces of fish and spoon sauce on top to serve.

Bok Choy - almost done

Stir-Fried Bok Choy
Ingredients:
2-4 bunches of Organic Bok Choy (depending on size)
2T High heat oil (such as sesame, safflower or peanut)
1T Soy Sauce
Optional: sliced mushrooms, onions, garlic, ginger, chili paste

Directions:
- Chop the ends off the bok choy, so that the leaves fall apart. Rinse all leaves well, as dirt can accumulate in there. Dry off the leaves as best you can, but some water is okay.
- The exact size is up to you, but separate the white part of the leaf from the green. As you chop, put the white and green parts into separate piles, as they require different cooking times. I like to do roughly bite-sized pieces, because then I can use chopsticks with my meal instead of needing a knife.
- If you're using any of the optional ingredients, slice those up now.
- In a fairly large saucepan, heat the oil over med-high heat. Once it is hot, add the white parts of the bok choy. (If you're using garlic/ginger/onions, add those first and heat til fragrant. Do not brown them!)
- Stir everything well, so that the oil is well distributed.
- Cover the pan, and cook for a couple minutes.
- When the white part of the bok choy is soft, add the green parts. If you're adding mushrooms, do that now.
- Continue to cook, uncovered, until green parts have wilted.
- When vegetables have cooked, turn down the heat and add soy sauce/chili paste to taste. Stir to coat.
- Serve immediately, and enjoy.

Potato Leek & Spinach Soup

What to do when your CSA box (or local market) provides you with leeks, potatoes and spinach all in the same week? Let's also pretend that it's a cold, foggy day and you want to curl up on the couch with something warm in your hand. Well, what I did is learn how to make Potato Leek Soup!

In keeping with one of my intentions for 2012, which was to make more soups at home, I looked through many recipes trying to find the "perfect" one to try. Some use broth, others use water. Some include cream while others do not.

The recipe I made is a blend of a few different versions I came across, but what was most exciting to me was that I came across a recipe that included spinach in the soup. The addition of spinach excited me, as I always get excited when I can throw more veggies into one dish! Plus, the added nutrients from the leafy green make this hearty soup even better for you! Spinach is rich in anti-oxidants, minerals and Vitamins K, A and Folate (a B vitamin). Be sure to chose organic for this recipe, especially the butter, potatoes and spinach. Also, for you vegetarians/vegans out there, this recipe could easily be made vegan by replacing butter with oil, chicken broth with veggie broth, and omitting the cream. I'm sure it would be delicious that way too!

Cook up a pot tonight, and enjoy!

Potato, Leek & Spinach Soup (serves 6)
Ingredients:
3T Organic Butter
3 Organic Leeks, sliced thin
1 Organic Onion, chopped
2 Organic Garlic Cloves, chopped
4-6 Organic Potatoes, washed and cut into 1" cubes (more = thicker soup)
4C Organic Broth (chicken or veggie - homemade is even better!)
1/2t Ground Nutmeg
1 Bay Leaf
1C Organic Spinach, roughly chopped
1C Heavy Cream
Salt & White Pepper to taste

Directions:
- Over medium heat, melt butter in large, heavy-bottom soup pot. Add leeks, garlic and onion and cook until just tender. Try not to let them brown!
- Add potatoes, stir to combine. Heat for about 5 minutes.
- Add enough broth to cover the potatoes. Also add the nutmeg and bay leaf. Bring to a boil.
- Once the soup is boiling, lower the heat and cover. Simmer for about 30 minutes, until potatoes are soft.
- Remove the bay leaf.
- Working in batches, blend the soup. Add a handful of chopped spinach (yes, it's uncooked) to the blender.
- Return the blended soup to the pot, add the cream and stir. Heat another 15 minutes.
- Add salt and white pepper to taste. Remove from heat.
- Serve hot and garnished with parsley, if you have any.

Butternut Squash, Chard and Leek Risotto

It was a dark and stormy night...the perfect weather for a warm, hearty meal! Okay, so it wasn't actually stormy, but it was dark and it was cold outside. In deciding what to make for dinner, I looked in my fridge and around my kitchen and thanks to my CSA I had squash, chard and leeks (among other things). After scouring the internet for inspiration on how to use these three ingredients, I came across some ideas for dinner, and ended up with this risotto. With a few minor tweaks, it could easily be made vegetarian or even vegan. It can be a stand-alone dish, or you could serve it with a side salad. Like most risotto recipes, this makes a LOT of food, and we all know I'm a huge fan of leftovers!

A hearty serving of risotto.

Besides being delicious, this recipe provides you with a lot of helpful vitamins and nutrients too! Check it out:
Butternut Squash: Low in calories, high in fiber, has TONS of Vitamin A (used by the body to repair skin and mucus membranes, and essential for good vision), Vitaminc C, is rich in many B-complex vitamins (folate, riboflavin, niacin, thiamine, and pantothenic acid), and it contains essential minerals. It's a bonus if you eat the seeds, as these have vitamins and minerals too, as well as the essential amino acid Tryptophan (this converts to GABA in the brain, which can help to stabilize moods).
Chard: A dark leafy green high in anti-oxidants and anti-inflammatory agents, Vitamin K (needed for calcium absorption), calcium, and may help regulate blood sugar.
Leeks: An Allium vegetable (like it's cousins garlic and onion), supports our cardiovascular system, folate, manganese, iron, flavonoids, and antioxidant polyphenols.
Butter: Yes, butter is actually good for you if it comes from organic, pasture-raised cows. It contains the fat-soluble vitamins A, E, K and D, and also selenium and iodine (needed by our thyroid). It contains fatty acids that boost our immune system and are easily broken down for energy and not stored as fat. Butter does have cholesterol, but did you know our bodies require cholesterol for intestinal, brain and nervous systems?

But anyway, on to the recipe...

Butternut Squash, Chard and Leek Risotto (serves 4-8)
Ingredients:
1 Butternut Squash - peeled, seeded and diced
3T Olive Oil
2 Leeks - sliced thin
2 Cloves Garlic - chopped
1 Bunch of Chard - remove stems
4C Chicken or Vegetable Broth, plus 1C Water
4T Organic Butter
2C Arborio Rice - rinsed
1 1/2C Dry White Wine
3/4C Parmesan Cheese - freshly grated
1/4t Nutmeg
2T Fresh Sage - minced
Toasted Pine Nuts as garnish

Directions:
- In a large skillet or heavy-bottomed soup pot, heat 2T oil over medium heat. Add Squash and cook until soft, about ten minutes.
- In a separate saucepan, bring the Broth to a simmer, then keep warm over very low heat.
- When Squash is done, put it in a bowl and set aside for now.
- In the same (hot) pan over medium heat, add 1T Oil and coat the bottom. Add the Chard and cover. Let the chard steam for a couple of minutes, then uncover and continue to cook until the chard is wilted. When done, put chard into a strainer.
- After removing the chard, into the same pan put 3T of butter. Melt completely, then add the Leeks and Garlic. Also add some Salt and Pepper to taste. Saute, stirring frequently, until leeks are softened.
- Add the Arborio Rice to the pan, and stir until rice is translucent. This should only be a few minutes.
- Add the Wine, and continue to stir until all liquid has been absorbed.
- When all wine has been absorbed, add 3C of Broth and the squash and stir to combine.
- Let the mixture simmer, and stir every few minutes. When the bottom begins to get sticky, add more broth a half cup at a time, stir and simmer. Continue like this until the rice is al dente.
- When the rice is done, turn off the heat and add: 1T Butter, Parmesan, Nutmeg and Sage. Stir to combine.
- Squeeze any excess liquid out of the chard, and roughly chop. Add to the rice and stir.
- Taste the risotto, and adjust any spices, if necessary.
- Plate the risotto in shallow bowls, and top with freshly toasted Pine Nuts.

"Everyone Loves It!" Kale Salad

The yummy Kale Salad

I've been seeing a lot of people eating kale salads recently. And in the winter, it's a great way to get all those vitamins from your leafy greens! I've bought some pre-made kale salads from the market before, and while some were tasty, others weren't so good, and either way, they were expensive and didn't last more than one meal! I'd been looking around for a good one to make at home, and then one day my Dad told me about this kale salad that my Stepmom makes. His main selling point was that "everyone loves it!" For a family that includes some people who aren't usually kale lovers, that statement was what made me want to give it a try!

This recipe has a lot of ingredients, but most are probably already in your kitchen. You can also play with it, leaving out things your don't like or don't have, and adding in other things that sound good to you. Be warned, it does take some advance planning to make this, as both the kale and the onions need to "marinate" for a few hours before you mix everything together and you'll need to cook the orzo or quinoa (if you're using them) in advance. But when everything is said and done, you'll have enough salad to serve 4-6 people as a main course, or more if it's a side. We enjoyed eating it the night I made it for dinner, and also very much enjoyed the leftovers a few days later. The great thing about this salad is that the longer it sits, the more the flavors blend together. I hope you love it as much as we all do!

"Everyone loves it!" Kale Salad

Ingredients:

5C Kale (any variety is fine), chopped into thin slices

4T Fresh Lemon Juice

¼ Red Onion, thin/small slices

3T Balsamic Vinegar

1-2 Carrot, sliced into matchsticks

1-2 Celery, sliced into matchsticks

4T Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2t Cumin

2t Turmeric

Pinch Cayenne

1/4C Sunflower Seeds

1/4C Hemp Seeds

1/2C Toasted Almonds (or other nut of choice)
1C Dried Cherries/Currants/Cranberries

1/2C Sun-Dried Tomatoes, sliced into strips

2T Toasted Sesame Seeds

1T Toasted Sesame Oil

2C Cooked Orzo (or Quinoa), cooled to room temperature

1/2C Feta Cheese, crumbled

Salt, Soy Sauce, Honey to taste

Directions:

2-4 Hours Ahead – Slice the kale, massage with lemon juice, let sit in fridge

1 Hour Ahead – Marinate onions in vinegar, discard any leftover liquid

- In large bowl, combine kale, onion (minus the extra vinegar), carrot, celery, olive oil, cumin, turmeric, cayenne. Toss to combine. Be careful of the turmeric getting on your hands, fabrics, or other surfaces, it will stain!

- Add seeds, nuts, fruit, sesame oil, grain. Toss to combine.

- Add feta, gently toss.

- Add salt or soy if desired. If the onion is too strong, add some honey to counter it.
- Serve and enjoy!

Teriyaki Salmon

Wild Salmon, Brown/Wild Rice, Roasted Broccoli, and Maitake Mushrooms

This Teriyaki sauce recipe has been in my family for a while. I remember a very kind family friend giving us their recipe after we'd been at their house for dinner, and all of us loved it so much. Growing up, my Mom would make this sauce almost every time we made salmon. It's not nearly as sweet as the store-bought teriyaki, so I much prefer it on fish!

Wild Salmon marinating in the Teriyaki Sauce

The longer the fish can marinate, the better it will taste, so make the sauce as far in advance as you can. No more than 24 hours, but try to let it sit at least an hour before cooking. When it's time to cook the fish, scrape off as much of the sauce as possible so it doesn't burn during cooking, then cook the fish your favorite way: grill, bake, or in a pan on the stove. I like to bake salmon in my toaster oven (325 for about 10 minutes, depending on thickness) and serve it with brown rice, as this allows me to scoop up even more of the yummy sauce!

Teriyaki Sauce:
Ingredients:
1/2C Dry Sherry
1/4C Soy Sauce
2T Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1T Brown Sugar
1t Flour
1/2t Dry Mustard

Directions:
-Boil all ingredients in medium-sized pot, whisking to avoid clumps.
-Once mixture has reached a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 3 minutes.
-Let cool
-Pour mixture over fish, let marinate as long as possible.
-When it's time to cook the fish, scrape off the sauce and pour it back into the pot.
-Cook fish however you'd like (grill, bake, pan saute, etc.), and bring the sauce to a boil.
-Serve sauce alongside the meal, or just pour on top!

Pumpkin Pie Spice

Don't spend money on pumpkin pie spice when you can most likely make it at home with items already in your spice cabinet! Use either a new spice bottle, or wash and re-use an old one. Make sure you dry thoroughly before using.

To make 4T of Pumpkin Pie Spice:

Ingredients:

2T cinnamon

4t ground ginger

1t ground cloves

1t ground allspice

1t ground nutmeg

pinch of cardamom

Directions:

- Increase or decrease amounts depending on how much you need

- Combine spices, shake or stir til mixed well

- Use in your seasonal holiday recipes, or sprinkle some on your morning oatmeal!

Vegan (or not) Pecan Pie

A perfect, delicious pecan pie right out of the oven.

The holidays are over, and as I reflect back on the delicious food I made (and ate) between Thanksgiving and New Year's I'm proud of all the new things I tried in the kitchen. Some of my experiments flopped, but others turned out fantastic! One recipe that I plan to make every holiday from here on out, and just have to share with you all, is for Pecan Pie that can be made vegan or not. As someone who is allergic to eggs, I usually find that when it comes to baking, vegan recipes are the easiest for me to modify. It's easy to replace margarine with butter, for example. In my search for a pecan pie recipe, I found a great vegan recipe resource: Post Punk Kitchen. This woman seriously has a recipe for anything!

The story about the pie goes like this. I was planning to attend a post-Thanksgiving pot-luck, and really wanted to make a pecan pie. I had not yet had one this year, and really craved it. However, I cannot eat store-made pecan pie because they have eggs, and I really did not want to use Karo Syrup. Besides the fact that I just prefer the taste of real sugar, I also am doing my best to avoid corn, as most is genetically modified. If you want to learn more on that subject, do a search for "gmo corn" and read some of the results. I made the pecan pie for the party, and it was delicious. I was a little afraid the filling wouldn't set, as it seemed very liquid-y going into the oven, but it turned out perfectly!  And don't be scared of the recipe calling for tofu in the filling, I PROMISE you will not ever know it's there. Seriously.

Maple Pecan Pie
Ingredients:
1/2C sugar
1/2C brown sugar
1/2C pure maple syrup (the real stuff!)
1/4C margarine (I used butter since I'm not vegan)
6oz extra firm silken tofu
1/4C cold, unsweetened, plain, non-dairy milk (I used almond)
2T cornstarch
1/2t salt
1t vanilla extract
2C pecan halves
1 prepared pastry crust (do not parbake)

Directions:
First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Then,
1. Make a caramel: in a saucepan over medium heat, mix together sugars and maple syrup. Stir often with a whisk. When bubbles start to form rapidly, stir consistently for about ten minutes (mine took more like fifteen). The mixture will become thick and syrupy - give it time! If it boils up the sides of your pot, lower the heat.
2. Once the caramel is thickened, add butter/margarine and stir til melted. Turn off the heat, and transfer mixture to a mixing bowl.
3. Work quickly here! Prepare the rest of the filling: crumble tofu into blender or food processor. Add milk, cornstarch and salt. Puree until completely smooth.
4. With caramel still warm, add to the mixing bowl the tofu mixture and vanilla. Mix well. (Mine got really watery at this point, but it turned out fine!)
5. Fold in the pecans.
6. Pour the mixture into the pie crust, bake for 40 minutes. It should appear to be set and no longer watery.
7. Let cool for a few hours (it will continue to set as it cools), then slice and serve!

Whisking the caramel - yum!

The pie before baking.