It's pasta salad, without the pasta. You could call it Low Carb Pasta Salad, if you were a carb-driven sort of person or you could call it All Vegetable Pasta Salad, if you were a vegetable-driven person, or you could stop lying to yourself about the pasta and just call it salad. You're in charge here. First, do up a spaghetti squash. Slice it in half longways, then into the oven at 400 for about 40 minutes. Then leave the kitchen because it's warm in there and you don't want to spend this time cooking. Take the squash out, let it cool until you can handle it (5 mins?) and scoop out the seeds. I use my melon baller for this, because I like to make sure my melon baller keeps busy and isn't just waiting around for melon. That'd be a waste of space. Then with a fork, shred the squash. It falls apart into "spaghetti" pretty easily. Put the spaghetti in a bowl. Next, I just chopped up some veg and called it a salad. A bell pepper. I had little sweet peppers but either way. Some pickled jalepeño. Fresh is great too, but I pickled all of mine. Some unphotographed onion and some tomatoes. I had cherries, so I cut them in half, but chopped tomato would be great too. All into a bowl. Plus black beans, which should be pre-cooked, defrosted or canned. I used two cups. The cheese is optional and honestly, didn't really change much about the dish so don't feel like you'll be missing some key flavor if you skip the cheese and call this dish vegan. I used some cheese curds we got from Greensgrow, but queso fresco would be great here, or cotija. Crumble that cheese on top, if you so choose. Toss it together and all you need is a dressing. I went with honey lime vinaigrette. I started with a good jar that sealed well, added a quarter cup each of red wine vinegar and safflower oil, a tablespoon each of honey and lime juice (use real lime if you have it), a pinch (1/8 teaspoon?) salt, and a bit (1/4 teaspoon?) of both cumin and ground chile pepper. I used these Aleppo peppers - they're not quite as hot as cayenne, but cayenne works too. Drizzle overtop and toss. Chill and serve cold. This recipe is cross-posted at Saturday’s Mouse, where I’m working on making food out of food.   Spaghetti Squash and Black Bean Salad Ingredients

• 1 spaghetti squash
• 2 cups black beans, cooked or canned
• 1 cup bell pepper, chopped
• 1/4 cup onion, chopped
• 1-2 tablespoons jalepenos, diced
• 3 ounces mild cheese, crumbled (optional)
• 1 cup tomatoes, chopped
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup safflower oil (or other mild oil)
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon lime juice (fresh is best)
• pinch salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon chile pepper

Instructions Bake the squash, let it cool and string it with a fork. Toss squash with other veg.Add dressing ingredients to a jar and shake until well combined. Drizzle over salad and toss. Chill and serve cold.

• Prep time: 10 minutes
• Cook time: 40 minutes
• Total time: 50 minutes

Yield: 4 servings

Baba Ghanoush?

Baba Ganouj?

Eggplant dip.

Smoky, creamy eggplant dip. Thick and smooth, I don't want to knock hummus, but when I'm served hummus and baba ghanouj on the same plate, it's the eggplant dip that goes first. And, much like hummus, baba ghanouj is really easy to make. Even better than hummus, baba ghanouj is really easy to freeze, so you can have the goodness of eggplant season whenever you need it.

But I'm not being fair to hummus, and that's not why we're here.Baba ghanouj is typically what I make when I'm afraid an eggplant isn't going to last long enough to use in something else. It's easy to bring with some pita and a salad for lunch. And, as above, it freezes.

Preheat the oven to 350.

I could see the merit in roasting garlic for this, but at the same time, that means its 40 minutes longer - with a hot kitchen - before the baba ghanouj is ready. So I don't go as far as roasting it until it's smooth and nutty. If you have pre-existing roasted garlic, this would be a great time to use it. Instead, I toss a few cloves into the oven while I'm prepping my eggplant, and leave them in the while I bake my eggplant. It all works out.

The real action starts off with a mess on my stovetop. Just like when I'm grilling corn or roasting a red pepper, this takes place right on my gas burner. If you have an electric range, or are just horrified at the prospect of doing this, you can go outside and grill it. What you want is for the eggplant to take on some smokiness. You'll finish cooking it in the oven.

Place a whole, washed eggplant right on your washed burner. Turn the stove on.

Use tongs to rotate the eggplant and make sure that it's not on fire.

After about 10 minutes, depending on the size of your eggplant, it should have sort of collapsed. It'll be difficult to attack with tongs.

This is when you put it in the oven, to join those garlic cloves from earlier. Give that 20 minutes to a half hour in the oven until soft throughout.

You might want to spend this time cleaning your stove.

After the eggplant is done cooking, take it out and set it aside to cool. You want it to be comfortable to touch. While it's cooling, if you haven't already, you might want to use that time to clean your stove.

Once the eggplant is cool, regardless of the condition of your stove, peel the skin off and discard it.

Dips, like salad dressings, aren't all that pretty, so if you're someone who might get upset at an eggplant that's all smushy, don't look.

Ok, you can handle it, right?

Cut off the green part at the top of the eggplant and take the eggplant and the garlic and put them in your food processor or mini chopper or blender.

I'm not a huge tahini fan, and I use considerably less of it in both my hummus and my baba ghanouj than other recipes call for. If you do it my way and find yourself missing that sesame goodness, just add more. It's a pretty flexible recipe.

I add two tablespoons of tahini per eggplant.

Whirr that together in the chopper or processor and see if you need more.

And if you have a lemon on hand, that's way better, but I use a tablespoon of this stuff.

Also, olive oil, cumin and salt, which somehow managed not to be photographed. Start with a tablespoon of olive oil and add more if needed. Some people garnish the top with olive oil but I don't think that's necessary.

I used a quarter teaspoon of both salt and cumin. Then whirred it again in my chopper.

This made enough to be a hearty side dish in four lunches, or an appetizer for eight or so.

This recipe is cross-posted at Saturday’s Mouse, where I’m working on making food out of food.

 Ingredients

• 1 eggplant


• 2 tablespoons (more if needed) tahini paste


• 1 tablespoon (more if needed) olive oil


• 1 tablespoon lemon juice


• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin


• 1/4 teaspoon salt


• 2-4 cloves garlic (to taste)

Instructions

• Turn oven to 350 and add garlic to a pan large enough to hold the eggplant.


• Cook the garlic during next steps. Roast the eggplant over gas burner or grill, turning frequently until it loses it's structure.


• Finish in oven with garlic (20-30 minutes, until very soft).


• Let eggplant cool to the touch and then peel and discard skin and stem.


• Blend eggplant and garlic in a food processor, blender or chopper.


• Add two tablespoons of tahini and blend. Check texture and add more if needed.


• Add two tablespoons of olive oil, a tablespoon of lemon juice, and a quarter teaspoon each of salt and ground cumin. Whirr in processor until smooth and combined.


• Serve cold or at room temperature with pita bread or crackers.

Details

• Prep time: 15 minutes


• Cook time: 40 minutes


• Total time: 55 minutes

Yield: 8 appetizer servings

 

 

Baba Ghanoush? Baba Ganouj? Eggplant dip. Smoky, creamy eggplant dip. Thick and smooth, I don't want to knock hummus, but when I'm served hummus and baba ghanouj on the same plate, it's the eggplant dip that goes first. And, much like hummus, baba ghanouj is really easy to make. Even better than hummus, baba ghanouj is really easy to freeze, so you can have the goodness of eggplant season whenever you need it. But I'm not being fair to hummus, and that's not why we're here.Baba ghanouj is typically what I make when I'm afraid an eggplant isn't going to last long enough to use in something else. It's easy to bring with some pita and a salad for lunch. And, as above, it freezes. Preheat the oven to 350. I could see the merit in roasting garlic for this, but at the same time, that means its 40 minutes longer - with a hot kitchen - before the baba ghanouj is ready. So I don't go as far as roasting it until it's smooth and nutty. If you have pre-existing roasted garlic, this would be a great time to use it. Instead, I toss a few cloves into the oven while I'm prepping my eggplant, and leave them in the while I bake my eggplant. It all works out. The real action starts off with a mess on my stovetop. Just like when I'm grilling corn or roasting a red pepper, this takes place right on my gas burner. If you have an electric range, or are just horrified at the prospect of doing this, you can go outside and grill it. What you want is for the eggplant to take on some smokiness. You'll finish cooking it in the oven. Place a whole, washed eggplant right on your washed burner. Turn the stove on. Use tongs to rotate the eggplant and make sure that it's not on fire. After about 10 minutes, depending on the size of your eggplant, it should have sort of collapsed. It'll be difficult to attack with tongs. This is when you put it in the oven, to join those garlic cloves from earlier. Give that 20 minutes to a half hour in the oven until soft throughout. You might want to spend this time cleaning your stove. After the eggplant is done cooking, take it out and set it aside to cool. You want it to be comfortable to touch. While it's cooling, if you haven't already, you might want to use that time to clean your stove. Once the eggplant is cool, regardless of the condition of your stove, peel the skin off and discard it. Dips, like salad dressings, aren't all that pretty, so if you're someone who might get upset at an eggplant that's all smushy, don't look. Ok, you can handle it, right? Cut off the green part at the top of the eggplant and take the eggplant and the garlic and put them in your food processor or mini chopper or blender. I'm not a huge tahini fan, and I use considerably less of it in both my hummus and my baba ghanouj than other recipes call for. If you do it my way and find yourself missing that sesame goodness, just add more. It's a pretty flexible recipe. I add two tablespoons of tahini per eggplant. Whirr that together in the chopper or processor and see if you need more. And if you have a lemon on hand, that's way better, but I use a tablespoon of this stuff. Also, olive oil, cumin and salt, which somehow managed not to be photographed. Start with a tablespoon of olive oil and add more if needed. Some people garnish the top with olive oil but I don't think that's necessary. I used a quarter teaspoon of both salt and cumin. Then whirred it again in my chopper. This made enough to be a hearty side dish in four lunches, or an appetizer for eight or so. This recipe is cross-posted at Saturday’s Mouse, where I’m working on making food out of food.  Ingredients

• 1 eggplant
• 2 tablespoons (more if needed) tahini paste
• 1 tablespoon (more if needed) olive oil
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2-4 cloves garlic (to taste)

Instructions

• Turn oven to 350 and add garlic to a pan large enough to hold the eggplant.
• Cook the garlic during next steps. Roast the eggplant over gas burner or grill, turning frequently until it loses it's structure.
• Finish in oven with garlic (20-30 minutes, until very soft).
• Let eggplant cool to the touch and then peel and discard skin and stem.
• Blend eggplant and garlic in a food processor, blender or chopper.
• Add two tablespoons of tahini and blend. Check texture and add more if needed.
• Add two tablespoons of olive oil, a tablespoon of lemon juice, and a quarter teaspoon each of salt and ground cumin. Whirr in processor until smooth and combined.
• Serve cold or at room temperature with pita bread or crackers.

Details

• Prep time: 15 minutes
• Cook time: 40 minutes
• Total time: 55 minutes

Yield: 8 appetizer servings    

The thing that stresses me out in the kitchen is measuring, so I try to avoid it. Over the winter, I made my version of the conversion chart/art "(ch)art?" I saw on The Kitchn, and that helps with some of it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But there are other measurements that I keep having to Google*. As I mentioned when I first posted that (ch)art - and I'm going to have to trademark that word and make it my own - I often have to Google the conversion from packet of yeast to jar of yeast (it's 2.25 teaspoons).

Here are links to some nifty online conversion tools and printables that you can tack up on the inside of your cabinet door.The one that really hangs me up is the butter. I don't buy my butter in sticks, so I have to weigh it. I have no idea what a stick, or a cup, or three tablespoons of butter is.

I'm never going to have a brick oven, or need brick oven cooking advice, but I've bookmarked TraditionalOven.com (and it's exactly that) because of their awesome butter converter. I could convert ounces to teaspoons, or grams to cups, or cups to grams, or sticks to fathoms. Ok, not fathoms.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the right side of that website there are more than 30 other converters, for everything from flour to temperature to precious metals. But whoa do I use that butter converter.

Similarly, Convert-me.com has everything from ounces/spoons/liters to measures of radioactivity and fuel economy.

These online converters are great if you have a tablet in the kitchen or your hands aren't so dough-covered that you can't run to the computer. When online tools just aren't the answer, it's handy to have something printed and within easy reach.

Cookbook People has a downloadable PDF that looks a bit busy because it has everything - pan dimensions to volume, how much solid cheese you need to start with in order to end up with the right amount of grated cheese, and cooking time for hardboiled eggs.

I wouldn't usually link to this but I keep seeing references to it - Martha Stewart has some downloadable measurement tools... everything from ounces and cups to candy-making temperatures.

If Martha's not your type, Remodelaholics has a pretty printable that includes metric conversions, so we can cook like the rest of the world**.

One more like that - ishouldbemoppingthefloor has a nice downloadable printable conversation chart that includes bushels to pecks as well as safe meat temperatures.

TipNut has a full page of substitutions. Sure, I've clabbered milk before to sub for buttermilk, but I've never made faux soy sauce with molasses, ginger, worcestershire and flour. Seriously? Where's the salt?

If you have an old-timey, classic cookbook, the back pages often have conversions and substitutions.  These are much handier than the tables of random numbers you'll find in the back of your old statistics text.

This is cross-posted at Saturday’s Mouse, where I’m working on making food out of food.

*Conversions remind me of the old Saturday Night Live commercial - series of commercials, actually- for First CityWide Change Bank. There are three of them. They're 25 years old and still entirely hilarious.

**We're one of three countries that isn't metric.

The thing that stresses me out in the kitchen is measuring, so I try to avoid it. Over the winter, I made my version of the conversion chart/art "(ch)art?" I saw on The Kitchn, and that helps with some of it.                   But there are other measurements that I keep having to Google*. As I mentioned when I first posted that (ch)art - and I'm going to have to trademark that word and make it my own - I often have to Google the conversion from packet of yeast to jar of yeast (it's 2.25 teaspoons). Here are links to some nifty online conversion tools and printables that you can tack up on the inside of your cabinet door.The one that really hangs me up is the butter. I don't buy my butter in sticks, so I have to weigh it. I have no idea what a stick, or a cup, or three tablespoons of butter is. I'm never going to have a brick oven, or need brick oven cooking advice, but I've bookmarked TraditionalOven.com (and it's exactly that) because of their awesome butter converter. I could convert ounces to teaspoons, or grams to cups, or cups to grams, or sticks to fathoms. Ok, not fathoms.                   On the right side of that website there are more than 30 other converters, for everything from flour to temperature to precious metals. But whoa do I use that butter converter. Similarly, Convert-me.com has everything from ounces/spoons/liters to measures of radioactivity and fuel economy. These online converters are great if you have a tablet in the kitchen or your hands aren't so dough-covered that you can't run to the computer. When online tools just aren't the answer, it's handy to have something printed and within easy reach. Cookbook People has a downloadable PDF that looks a bit busy because it has everything - pan dimensions to volume, how much solid cheese you need to start with in order to end up with the right amount of grated cheese, and cooking time for hardboiled eggs. I wouldn't usually link to this but I keep seeing references to it - Martha Stewart has some downloadable measurement tools... everything from ounces and cups to candy-making temperatures. If Martha's not your type, Remodelaholics has a pretty printable that includes metric conversions, so we can cook like the rest of the world**. One more like that - ishouldbemoppingthefloor has a nice downloadable printable conversation chart that includes bushels to pecks as well as safe meat temperatures. TipNut has a full page of substitutions. Sure, I've clabbered milk before to sub for buttermilk, but I've never made faux soy sauce with molasses, ginger, worcestershire and flour. Seriously? Where's the salt? If you have an old-timey, classic cookbook, the back pages often have conversions and substitutions.  These are much handier than the tables of random numbers you'll find in the back of your old statistics text. This is cross-posted at Saturday’s Mouse, where I’m working on making food out of food. *Conversions remind me of the old Saturday Night Live commercial - series of commercials, actually- for First CityWide Change Bank. There are three of them. They're 25 years old and still entirely hilarious. **We're one of three countries that isn't metric.

There are a handful of store bought condiments that are always in my pantry. No matter how easy it sounded when I read Make the Bread, Buy the Butter, I'm not making my own worcestershire sauce. I'm probably not even making my own mustard. There are always pickles, and sometimes they're things that I've just doused in vinegar and sugar and salt and other times they're store bought. And there are always jalapeños, which are very easy to make yourself.

We make a lot of tacos and burritos and nachos and such. It's pretty easy to throw together whatever veg and protein you have on hand, cover it in cheese and call it dinner. We typically add jalapeños to those meals. We make banh mi.* Jalapeños are important.

I had a big bowl of peppers, because my CSA announced it was pepper season and I asked my husband to buy all the peppers. Apparently, he was the rational one and he bought only one large bowl full. Good enough.

I sliced the jalapeños into standard nacho-style rings.

I had 9 jalapeños, which was quite a bit, all sliced up. I sliced but did not photograph about six cloves of garlic. You can leave these whole, and while they won't flavor the peppers that much, they're delicious pickled and not "garlicky" at all. Anyway, toss the garlic in with the peppers.

I also had three cherry peppers, which I chopped into narrow wedges.

Jars with good lids for both, and then the brine. I started Googling the recipes, because I tend to eyeball mine, but since I'm telling you about it, I thought it was best to make sure I was doing it "right."

The very first hit on Google is pretty close to what I do, it's just measured more precisely. Other recipes mix water and vinegar, some skip the turmeric, skip the garlic, add onions, so this is pretty flexible. The only hard part is making sure that you have the right amount of brine for your peppers, and that's going to vary each time you make a batch.

The brine trick --and I think I saw this attributed to Mark Bittman at some point, but I can't find a link-- is to put your jalapeños or whatever you're fridge-pickling into a jar, then fill the jar with liquid. Dump out the liquid and measure it, that's how much brine you need. What I do is significantly less elegant: make just about enough brine, and if it's not enough, add more vinegar.

So the brine is vinegar, salt and turmeric. I tend to do about two cups white vinegar and a teaspoon each of salt and turmeric, and then yeah, if it's not enough, more vinegar.

Bring your brine to a boil, then turn it off and pour it over your peppers.

Let it cool until it feels like your jars won't explode in the fridge, seal it and fridge it. It's food, so you can eat it immediately, but you'd rather wait a day, and if you can handle it, a week.

Here they are after four days. They're softer and more olive colored than on day one. They're a little bit milder, in terms of pure jalapeño heat, but they have that vinegar perkiness that picks up on flavor and amplifies it, so they're milder but still have a lot going on. They'll mellow a bit more in time.

My husband tried one on the world's least innovative nacho (below) and was surprised at their heat, but that's going to vary pepper to pepper and based on how long they've been fridged.

This is very vinegary and should keep for weeks, but if you notice it smells bad or looks fuzzy, it's no longer good.

This recipe is cross-posted at Saturday’s Mouse, where I’m working on making food out of food.

*About banh mi: Sure, they're easy to make, but a friend of mine brought me some pickled carrots and daikon from Fu Wah in West Philly, and now they're even easier. I had no idea they sold pre-pickled carrots and daikon, but that's the thing that keeps me from making banh mi every day, the pickling of the veg. They sell these little tubs and it's awesome, so if you're looking to make some banh mi, here's a shortcut.

 

(Refrigerator) Pickled Jalapeños

Ingredients

• 9 (or however many you have) Jalapeños


• 2 cups (or more for more, less for less) White Vinegar


• 1 teaspoon Turmeric


• 1 teaspon Sea Salt

Instructions

• Boil the brine ingredients, turn off.


• Slice the peppers and put in a jar with a good lid.


• Cover peppers in brine, let cool a bit, seal and put in fridge.


• Better after 24 hours, even better after a week, keeps for several weeks.

Details

• Prep time: 10 mins


• Total time: 10 mins

There are a handful of store bought condiments that are always in my pantry. No matter how easy it sounded when I read Make the Bread, Buy the Butter, I'm not making my own worcestershire sauce. I'm probably not even making my own mustard. There are always pickles, and sometimes they're things that I've just doused in vinegar and sugar and salt and other times they're store bought. And there are always jalapeños, which are very easy to make yourself. We make a lot of tacos and burritos and nachos and such. It's pretty easy to throw together whatever veg and protein you have on hand, cover it in cheese and call it dinner. We typically add jalapeños to those meals. We make banh mi.* Jalapeños are important. I had a big bowl of peppers, because my CSA announced it was pepper season and I asked my husband to buy all the peppers. Apparently, he was the rational one and he bought only one large bowl full. Good enough. I sliced the jalapeños into standard nacho-style rings. I had 9 jalapeños, which was quite a bit, all sliced up. I sliced but did not photograph about six cloves of garlic. You can leave these whole, and while they won't flavor the peppers that much, they're delicious pickled and not "garlicky" at all. Anyway, toss the garlic in with the peppers. I also had three cherry peppers, which I chopped into narrow wedges. Jars with good lids for both, and then the brine. I started Googling the recipes, because I tend to eyeball mine, but since I'm telling you about it, I thought it was best to make sure I was doing it "right." The very first hit on Google is pretty close to what I do, it's just measured more precisely. Other recipes mix water and vinegar, some skip the turmeric, skip the garlic, add onions, so this is pretty flexible. The only hard part is making sure that you have the right amount of brine for your peppers, and that's going to vary each time you make a batch. The brine trick --and I think I saw this attributed to Mark Bittman at some point, but I can't find a link-- is to put your jalapeños or whatever you're fridge-pickling into a jar, then fill the jar with liquid. Dump out the liquid and measure it, that's how much brine you need. What I do is significantly less elegant: make just about enough brine, and if it's not enough, add more vinegar. So the brine is vinegar, salt and turmeric. I tend to do about two cups white vinegar and a teaspoon each of salt and turmeric, and then yeah, if it's not enough, more vinegar. Bring your brine to a boil, then turn it off and pour it over your peppers. Let it cool until it feels like your jars won't explode in the fridge, seal it and fridge it. It's food, so you can eat it immediately, but you'd rather wait a day, and if you can handle it, a week. Here they are after four days. They're softer and more olive colored than on day one. They're a little bit milder, in terms of pure jalapeño heat, but they have that vinegar perkiness that picks up on flavor and amplifies it, so they're milder but still have a lot going on. They'll mellow a bit more in time. My husband tried one on the world's least innovative nacho (below) and was surprised at their heat, but that's going to vary pepper to pepper and based on how long they've been fridged. This is very vinegary and should keep for weeks, but if you notice it smells bad or looks fuzzy, it's no longer good. This recipe is cross-posted at Saturday’s Mouse, where I’m working on making food out of food. *About banh mi: Sure, they're easy to make, but a friend of mine brought me some pickled carrots and daikon from Fu Wah in West Philly, and now they're even easier. I had no idea they sold pre-pickled carrots and daikon, but that's the thing that keeps me from making banh mi every day, the pickling of the veg. They sell these little tubs and it's awesome, so if you're looking to make some banh mi, here's a shortcut.   (Refrigerator) Pickled Jalapeños Ingredients

• 9 (or however many you have) Jalapeños
• 2 cups (or more for more, less for less) White Vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Turmeric
• 1 teaspon Sea Salt

Instructions

• Boil the brine ingredients, turn off.
• Slice the peppers and put in a jar with a good lid.
• Cover peppers in brine, let cool a bit, seal and put in fridge.
• Better after 24 hours, even better after a week, keeps for several weeks.

Details

• Prep time: 10 mins
• Total time: 10 mins

It's zesty. It's perky. It's dill and it's creamy. I got dill in my farmshare haul the other week and it really wanted to be salad dressing.

Start with a good pile of dill. This was like two tablespoons.

Keep it green and bright and fresh with some parsley. This is like one tablespoon.

Make it creamy. A quarter cup of mayo (I used vegenaise) and a quarter cup of buttermilk. I keep my buttermilk frozen in cubes.

Make it tangy with a splash of red wine vinegar. Maybe a teaspoon. Add salt (just a pinch) and black pepper (two pinches). Add a small garlic clove, if you're feeling it. Whirr until it's blended together, or shake vigorously.

Put it in a jar in the fridge. This was so flavorful that it worked very well on simple salads. This one here is just tomatoes and lettuce.

This recipe is cross-posted at Saturday’s Mouse, where I’m working on making food out of food.

 

Creamy Dill Salad Dressing

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped


• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped


• 1/4 cup mayonnaise or vegenaise


• 1/4 cup buttermilk


• 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar


• 1 small clove garlic


• pinch of salt


• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

Put it all together in a jar and shake. The fresh herbs really make a difference here.

Details

• Prep time: 5 mins


• Total time: 5 mins


• Yield: 6 servings

It's zesty. It's perky. It's dill and it's creamy. I got dill in my farmshare haul the other week and it really wanted to be salad dressing. Start with a good pile of dill. This was like two tablespoons. Keep it green and bright and fresh with some parsley. This is like one tablespoon. Make it creamy. A quarter cup of mayo (I used vegenaise) and a quarter cup of buttermilk. I keep my buttermilk frozen in cubes. Make it tangy with a splash of red wine vinegar. Maybe a teaspoon. Add salt (just a pinch) and black pepper (two pinches). Add a small garlic clove, if you're feeling it. Whirr until it's blended together, or shake vigorously. Put it in a jar in the fridge. This was so flavorful that it worked very well on simple salads. This one here is just tomatoes and lettuce. This recipe is cross-posted at Saturday’s Mouse, where I’m working on making food out of food.   Creamy Dill Salad Dressing Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise or vegenaise
• 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
• 1 small clove garlic
• pinch of salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions Put it all together in a jar and shake. The fresh herbs really make a difference here. Details

• Prep time: 5 mins
• Total time: 5 mins
• Yield: 6 servings

Kohlrabi is one of those veggies that makes people anxious. It's weird looking. It's not one of the ten vegetables* I grew up with. It's actually pretty easy to just peel it and throw it in a salad. It's sort of like a mild radish, or a bland, crisp apple. So when we got the kohlrabi in our CSA haul, the first bulb was eaten raw, off the cutting board, while we prepped other veg. It didn't even make it into a salad. You can use the greens, just pretend they're collards and you're all set. But one quick answer for dealing with unusual veg is to shred and crisp. We've done this with parsnips, we can do it with kohlrabi. Enter the potato pancake.First I got those greens going in a pan just with some water. If I had a microwave, I'd "steam" them in there, but you're just looking to soften them a bit. Pay no attention to them, and go about the rest of your cooking. I shredded three small red potatoes, from Week 4 of the CSA. Skin and all, just be sure to scrub. Then I shredded up two kohlrabi bulbs right in there with it. I shredded a whole onion as well, which produced onion snow. I also shredded a garlic clove. I spooned all of the shredded veg into a tea towel, wrapped it up tightly and drained it over the sink like it was homemade ricotta. Then I remembered the greens and added them in as well. You want this dry, so you wring and squeeze, wring and squeeze, shuffle around and wring again. So for about three cups of shredded veg (pre-squeeze) I added three beaten eggs and three tablespoons of rice flour. Rice flour makes things crispier than wheat flour. If I didn't have rice flour, I might use two tablespoons of all purpose flour and a tablespoon of corn starch. Also some salt and pepper, maybe a quarter teaspoon each. More salt later. I worked the flour and eggs into the shredded veg with my hands--no photos, but it was as unattractive as you might imagine. Then I formed the mixture into balls, bigger than a golf ball, smaller than a tennis ball. If they didn't hold their shape, I'd add more flour, but we were all set. I heated less than a quarter inch of oil in a skillet and when it snapped when hit with a drop of water, it was ready for a drop of kohlrabi potato pancake. It's safer and more reasonable to just put the tip of a wooden spoon or chopstick in there and look to see if the oil bubbles around the edges of the wood, but hey, water's fun too. I slowly lowered one ball in, knowing the fun of having hot oil snap back onto my forearm, and smushed it down a bit with a spatula. Once I saw that the oil was hot enough, as in there were tiny bubbles all around the edges of the pancake, I added another and smushed it as well. I also turned the oven on to warmish, so that I could stash mid-batch pancakes in there while I made more. Also, you can see some toes down there. Wear socks when you fry. When they were golden around the edges, like the guy in the bottom right here, I flipped them. I actually flipped each pancake four times: once when they were just getting golden, once when the other side caught up, then again to crisp the entire exterior of side one and again for side two. I'm an anxious fryer. Maybe two minutes per flip, for a total of four minutes per side? The color and crispiness should be your measurement. Once they're golden brown all over, remove to a paper towel, or if you're more on top of your laundry than I am, move them to a regular kitchen towel. We have good days and bad days. Hit them with a sprinkle of kosher salt while they're hot and slightly damp from the oil, so the salt sticks. The into the oven (sans towel) to wait. When I made potato pancakes, or fritters, or anything else like this, I make extra to freeze. It's not every day I'm willing to fry my forearms and toes, so reheating last week's (ok, month's) fritters or pancakes is a welcome break. They're all golden and crispy, but on the inside they're almost creamy, with exciting bits of greens. Two of these and a salad and you might not quite hate yourself over it. One is a decent appetizer. Add sour cream, if you're like that. *Alphabetically: broccoli, carrots, celery, corn, cucumbers, green beans, lettuce, peas, potatoes, spinach. This recipe is cross-posted at Saturday’s Mouse, where I’m working on making food out of food. Kohlrabi Potato Pancakes Ingredients

• 2 bulbs kohlrabi, peeled
• 3 medium red potatoes
• 1 medium onion
• 1-2 cloves garlic
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 3 tablespoons rice flour (or sub 2 tbsp AP flour and 1 tbsp cornstarch)
• 1.5 teaspoons, divided kosher salt
• .5 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/3 cup oil (more if your pan is bigger)

Instructions Chop greens and simmer in some water, or microwave-steam, just to soften a bit, while you're doing other things. Peel kohlrabi, and shred along with potatoes (with skin), onion and garlic. Drain greens and add to other veg in a pile in a tea towel. Squeeze and drain, quite a bit, to get them as dry as possible. Mix three eggs and three tablespoons of rice flour (or sub 2 tbsp AP and 1 tbsp corn starch) with half a teaspoon each salt and pepper. Reserve remaining salt for later. Mix this in with the drained shredded veg mix. Form into small balls (bigger than golf, smaller than tennis). Heat oil in a skillet - less than a quarter inch of oil, until it spits at you when you hit it with a drop of water, or bubbles around the edges of a wooden spoon or chopstick. Add a veg ball to the hot oil and squish with a spatula until it's about a half-inch thick. If the oil bubbles all around the edges, you're set, add another and squish. Fry until golden brown on both sides, maybe four minutes total per side, but until done. Drain on a towel, sprinkle with additional salt and keep warm in the oven until serving time. Makes 8 pancakes, and they freeze very well. Details

• Prep time: 25 mins
• Cook time: 25 mins
• Total time: 50 mins
• Yield: 8 pancakes