Green Carrot Club

Love the colors!  They definitely look better chopped and roasted.  I added the purple bell pepper just because I had never tasted one before.  It pretty much tasted like a green bell pepper, which turns out is what color it was inside.  They didn’t add much flavor, but they added great color.  Parsnips are similar to carrots, but perhaps less sweet.

Brussel sprouts are my favorite.  A food processor may make slicing these up easier, but I just did this by hand.  First by halving each sprout, then thinly slicing each half with the flat side down.  This is very easy and surprisingly fast.  Sauteing the thin strips is my new way to cook them, eaten hot or cold.

Ingredients

makes 4 servings

• 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 2 large parsnips, peeled and sliced
• 1.5 lbs brussel sprouts, thinly sliced
• 1 cup purple bell pepper, thinly sliced
• salt & pepper

Dressing:

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• juice from 1/2 lemon
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 375.  Chop and slice sweet potatoes and parsnips.  Toss with a drizzle of olive oil and salt and pepper.  Roast on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper for 35-40 minutes, until vegetables are tender, but not mushy.  When done, allow to cool (best if in refrigerator overnight).

Thinly slice brussel sprouts.  Toss with a drizzle of olive oil and salt and pepper.  Saute in a pan on the stove top until they become soft and slightly browned, about 6-8 minutes.  Then allow to cool (best if in refrigerator overnight).

Mince garlic and whisk together with olive oil and lemon juice.  Slice up purple bell peppers.  Toss dressing with roasted vegetables and bell pepper.

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I sometimes don’t get around to posting recipes until several days or even weeks after we’ve actually eaten them.  So sometimes I’m rather surprised at the ingredients once I actually read them.  This one, for instance, has nutritional yeast.  I had no idea what this was.  Apparently it’s a source of protein mainly used by vegans and vegetarians, and comes in the form of a yellow powder.  Sounds kind of gross….but the dressing did taste good.  I’m questioning if we actually used the yeast in the dressing.  If I find out otherwise I will post an update.

Sidenote:  I went to see the smitten kitchen book signing today at Omnivore Books.  It was insane.  The book sale line wrapped around the corner probably 150 people deep.  The book signing line wrapped the other way with even more people.  I still can’t comprehend why this can’t be streamlined into one continuous process (stand in one line, buy book, get book signed)??  I got my Super Natural Every Day book signed by Heidi Swanson here a few years ago and it was not nearly as crazy, but I did have to stand in two lines and was there for over an hour.

The salad is our original recipe.  The dressing was adapted from oh she glows.

Ingredients

makes 5 servings

• 1 10-oz. bag chopped kale
• 10 oz. cherry tomatoes, chopped
• 6-10 oz. shredded carrots
• 1 red onion, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 yellow bell pepper, diced
• 1 English cucumber, diced
• 3-4 stalks celery, diced
• 1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

Dressing:

Combine all dressing ingredients in a food processor or blender. Blend. Combine salad ingredients in a large bowl. Toss salad with dressing. Store dressed salad in the refrigerator for at least eight hours or overnight to allow flavors to come together.

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Not sure if you’ve noticed, but some posts have more preparation photos and tips than others.  The ones that include more details are the salads that I  made and the ones that usually just include a finished salad picture are the salads that my club members made.  I can’t be in everyone’s kitchen taking pictures while they make salad.  By the way, we’re up to five members now, not sure if I mentioned that.  I kind of feel like I should change our slogan, but I like it too much.

Also, whenever a salad recipe is based on or adapted from another recipe found online or in a cookbook I give credit where credit is due.  If no source is listed, this means we created the recipe all by ourselves.  All photos are taken by us of our actual salads.

A few notes about this salad:  It was a little too sour for my liking.  We must have got sour instead of sweet mangoes.  If this happens, dial down the amount of lime juice used or alternatively add a little honey to the dressing.  One trick for getting the most out of your limes is to squeeze them once they are at room temperature.  If you pull them directly from the fridge, microwave them for a few seconds (20-30) to warm them up, then squeeze.

A friend got me the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook for my birthday, but I haven’t received it yet.  I hope I get it in time for her Bay Area book signing November 4.  This is the holy grail for food bloggers, congrats Deb.

Salad found on smittenkitchen.

Ingredients

makes 5 servings

• 2 mangoes, peeled, pitted and julienned
• 1 to 1 1/4 pounds Napa cabbage, halved and sliced very thinly
• 1 red pepper, julienned
• 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh mint leaves
• 1/4 cup toasted cashews, coarsely chopped

Dressing:

• 6 tablespoons of fresh lime juice, from about two limes
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Toss mangoes, cabbage, pepper and onion in a large bowl. Whisk lime juice, vinegar, oil, salt and red pepper in a smaller bowl and pour over slaw.  Let sit in the fridge for at least an hour before serving to let flavors soak in.  Toss with mint leaves and sprinkle with cashews right before serving.

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This salad is definitely one of my favorites.  We thought it might be too garlic-y or chive-y but it turned out fine.  This one will for sure be made again in the future.

Adapted from thekitchn.

Ingredients

makes 6 servings

• 5-6 cups cooked brown rice 
• 1 1/4 cups frozen peas
• 2 apples, diced 
• 3/4 cup dried cherries 
• 2/3 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
• 1 bunch of chives, chopped

Cook the brown rice according to package directions to yield 5-6 cups cooked brown rice (We used about 1 ½ bags of frozen 365 everyday value organic whole grain brown from Whole Foods).  Fluff and cool to room temperature.  Microwave the frozen peas for 1 minute to thaw. Combine the peas, apple, cherries, walnuts, chives, and cooled rice in a large bowl.

Combine all dressing ingredients except sesame seeds and agave nectar in a food processor or blender.  If garlic is minced up well, whisking together might do just fine.  Add the sesame seeds and stir/shake to mix.  Add the dressing into the rice mix until all the ingredients are coated.  If apples or cherries are too tart, add agave nectar or honey as needed (We used ~1 tablespoon agave nectar).  Store dressed salad in the refrigerator for at least eight hours or overnight to allow flavors to come together.

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Back when I was on a soba noodle salad kick, I bought some dry udon noodles that were next to the soba noodles at the store.  Turns out the noodles aren’t real udon noodles since they were actually made of wheat flour instead of rice flower, but they were still really tasty.

Ingredients

makes 5 servings

• 1 package of dry udon noodles
• 1 shredded carrot
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• 2-3 cups of sugar snap peas
• 4-5 persian cucumbers, chopped
• 4-5 green onions, thinly sliced
• 2 Tablespoons of sesame seeds

Dressing:

• 3 Tablespoons of rice vinegar
• 5 Tablespoons of soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon of sesame oil

Cook noodles according to package.  In the boiling water, blanch the sugar snap peas for the last 30 seconds of cooking, rinse with cold water.  Chop/shred all vegetables.  Whisk together dressing ingredients and toss with noodles and vegetables.  Top with sesame seeds.

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This one I built around wild rice.  A trip to the farmers market resulted in apples and grapes.  This salad screams fall.

Ingredients

makes 5 servings

• 3 apples, cored and chopped
• 2 cups of grapes, halved
• 1 cup of wild rice (uncooked)
• 1 package arugula

Dressing:

• juice from 1 lemon
• 3/4 cup of olive oil

Cook wild rice according to package.  My package said to add 1 cup of uncooked rice to 2 cups of boiling water, simmer for 45 minutes and then drain.  Slice fruit.  Whisk lemon juice and olive oil.  Toss fruit, rice, grapes and arugula with dressing.

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Sorry for not posting in a long time.  I have a huge backlog that I hope to get to in the next week or so.  For this one, I had leftover celery that needed to be used.  Cut celery into thin slices at a deep angle, in order to get larger pieces.

Slice cucumbers into half moons.

Recipe inspired by Martha.

Ingredients

makes 5 servings

• 1/2 a head of celery, thinly sliced
• 1 lb of cucumbers, sliced into half moons
• 1 red pepper, thinly sliced
• 1/2 package of pasta
• 1 package of spinach

Dressing:

• 2 teaspoons poppy seeds
• 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Coarse salt and ground pepper to taste

Whisk together dressing ingredients.  Toss dressing with sliced vegetables, pasta and spinach.

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I wanted to make a salad with brussel sprouts, but I wasn’t sure if everyone liked them or not.  Therefore I didn’t want the whole salad to be just brussel sprouts.  I looked up some recipes, but couldn’t find any that didn’t have brussel sprouts as the main ingredient.  I made this one up based on what I found at the farmer’s market (curly endive) and what I had left in the fridge (carrots, celery and tomatoes).  Today at lunch we had a discussion on what this green I used was.  I told them I thought the sign at the market said endive, but then we all associated endive with those long yellow scoop-like leaves.  Turns out what I bought was endive, but it’s called curly endive, aka frisee.  The yellow scoops are Belgian endive.  They are of the same genus, but different species.  Mystery solved.

This head of endive was huge.  I forgot to take a picture of the whole thing before I started chopping it up, this is only half:

I sliced the brussel sprouts thinly, by first slicing them in half.  Buy larger ones if you can.  Dice the carrots and celery pretty small.

I heated a saute pan and first toasted the almonds dry.  Using the same pan, I sauteed the brussel sprouts, carrots, and celery with olive oil.  I did the brussel sprouts separately, thinking I’d keep them separate in case someone didn’t like them, but then they got mixed with the carrots and celery in my tupperware anyway.  And everyone ended up liking brussel sprouts.  Yay!

Ingredients

makes 5 servings

• 1 head curly endive, chopped
• 1/2 pound brussel sprouts, thinly sliced
• 3 medium carrots, diced
• 2 celery stalks, diced
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, diced
• 1 cup sliced almonds, toasted

Dressing:

• juice from 1/2 lemon
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• salt & pepper to taste

Toast almonds in a saute pan, dry.  Using the same pan, saute the brussel sprouts, carrots, and celery with olive oil.  Cook just until brussel sprouts turn bright green and start to brown.  Don’t wait until they get really wilted.  Allow to cool (refrigerate overnight if possible).  Whisk together dressing ingredients.  Toss endive, brussel sprout-carrot-celery mixture, tomatoes, and almonds together with dressing.

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This is just a classic Greek salad, minus the olives.  We served this on top of a bed of greens and also with a side of muhammara, which is a red pepper dip, and pita.  Unfortunately I didn’t get a picture of the dip.  If we make it again, and I’m sure we will, I will take one.  Muhammara is absolutely delicious and it’s very addictive.

Ingredients

makes 5 servings

• 1 bag of salad greens
• 1 box of cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 English cucumber (peeled, seeded and chopped)
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper (seeded and chopped)
• ~1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
• 1 cup kalamata olives (optional)

Dressing:

• 3/4 cup olive oil
• juice from 1 large lemon
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 2 cloves fresh minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Inspired by greek.food.com.

Whisk together dressing ingredients.  Toss all salad ingredients with dressing.

Recipe for Muhammara:

• 3 – 4 red bell peppers (roasted) or 16 oz. jar roasted red peppers (recommended)
• 1 serano chili pepper (seeded if less heat is wanted)
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes (optional if using serano)
• 1 tsp cumin
• 2-4 cloves of garlic
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ – 1 cup bread crumbs
• ½ – ¾ cup chopped walnuts
• 1 – 4 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 – 2 Tbsp pomegranate molasses
• 1 Tbsp harrisa (middle eastern hot chili paste)
• ½ cup olive oil

Using a food processor (or mini chopper), process everything together except the olive oil.  Add the oil slowly, once the mixture is smooth.  The ingredient ranges can be adjusted to how thick or what texture you like.  It may take a few times experimenting to get the proportions just right.

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This salad was delicious.  It tasted as good as it looks.  This is probably only the second thing I’ve ever eaten with dried currents.  The first being Zuni Cafe’s bread salad with roast chicken.  I was always curious about israeli couscous and finally looked it up.  It was made as a rice substitute when rice was scarce.  Interesting.

Inspired by Chloe’s Kitchen.

Ingredients:

makes 5 servings

• 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 2 cups ½ inch cubes peeled butternut squash
• Sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups Israeli pearl couscous
• 2 ½ cups vegetable broth
• 1 cup arugula
• ¼ cup currants
• ½ cup slivered almonds, toasted
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

In a large bowl, toss 2 tablespoons oil with squash and season generously with salt and pepper. Transfer to a large rimmed baking sheet and roast for 30 to 35 minutes until squash is fork tender, turning once or twice with a spatula. Let cool.

In the meantime, combine 1 tablespoon oil, couscous, 1 teaspoon salt, and broth in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes until tender. Remove from heat and let sit, covered, for 5 minutes, or until all liquid has been absorbed. Toss couscous with remaining 1 tablespoon oil and spread on a large rimmed baking sheet to cool.  Not sure if this step is necessary, especially if serving the next day.

Toss cooled couscous with cooled butternut squash, arugula, currants, almonds, and mint. Adjust seasonings to taste and serve.

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