Your recipes!!

From one of our members, under the pen name: Vegetarian Kate.

What I did with my veggies last week:

Mustard Green pilaf with Oranges and Olives

½ pound Southern curled mustard greens

1.5 T olive oil

1 garlic clove, minced

½ tsp cumin seeds

1 c long grain aromatic white rice

1 c Orange juice

½ tsp grated orange zest

1 T lemon juice

½ tsp kosher salt

1 T honey

¾ c water

3T sliced green olives

1 orange, sectioned & diced

3 T of roasted, chopped cashews, almonds or sunflower seeds

1. Discard any dry or yellowed leaves, then wash mustard in several changes of water. Strip off stems. Without dryi8ng leaves, chop fine. Cook mustard in non-aluminum pot, covered, over low heat, stirring often, until just softened – about 5 min

2. Meanwhile, heat oil in heavy medium saucepan over moderate heat. Add garlic and cumin and stir. Add rice and cook, stirring often, until golden, about 6 minutes.

3. Combine OJ and zest, lemon juice, salt and honey in a bowl, stirring to blend, add to rice, with greens, water and olives. Bring to a boil, stirring. Reduce heat to lowest point, cover and cook 20 minutes. Without uncovering, remove from heat; let stand 15 minutes.

4. Fluff rice into a dish, incorporating orange dice & nuts.

è I used all of the mustard greens that I had, I didn’t scale back anything to match the amount of greens. I didn’t have OJ, so used water. I used medium grain brown rice. I used agave instead of honey. I used sunflower seeds. I found that the rice needed to cook much longer than the 15 minutes noted above – probably about double the time. Very tasty.

Creamy Curried Turnip Greens with Coconut

About 2 lbs turnip greens

1/3 c unsweetened dried coconut shreds

1 garlic clove, minced

½ c coconut milk

½ tsp curry powder or garam masala

¼ tsp turmeric

¼ tsp kosher salt

About 1.5 c broth or water

1 T cornstarch

Lime or lemon juice

1. Strip stems from greens; discard. Wash greens in several changes of water until no grit remains. Drop into a large pot of well-salted boiling water and return to full boil. Drain. Chop or slice fairly coarse (to make about 2.5 cups)

2. In a skillet large enough to hold all ingredients, stir coconut shreds over moderate heat until they tan, 4-5 minutes. Scoop out and set aside.

3. Combine garlic with 2 T coconut milk in same pan and stir over low heat to soften a bit. Stir in curry, turmeric, and salt. Add 1.5 cups broth and bring to a boil, stirring. Add greens, cover, reduce heat, and simmer until tender to soft, stirring occasionally. Timing varies, but 15 minutes is likely for young leaves.

4. Blend cornstarch with a little of the coconut milk to make a smooth cream, then gradually add remainder. Uncover greens and cook down if there is more than about ½ c liquid. Add starch mixture. Stir now and then over low heat until flavors blend, about 5 minutes. If necessary, add more broth or water for preferred consistency.

5. Add lime juice to taste, and season. Sprinkle each serving with toasted coconut.

è I used all the turnip greens that I had, I didn’t scale back anything to match the amount of greens. I used the curry powder and the lime juice. I also added all toasted coconut into the dish directly, vs. sprinkling on top.

Credit for both recipes: The Essential Reference VEGETABLES from Amaranth to Zucchini(2006), by Elizabeth Schneider

It’s a great book for people who like to grab the unusual from the farmers market or store, then try to figure out what to do with it. She also wrote Uncommon Fruits & Vegetables, A Common Sense Guide (1986). I have that as well & enjoy it, though ‘essential’ has photos of every vegetable in color while the other is black and white sketches of the vegetables.

(Neither book has garlic scapes in it though! I was disappointed that the books met their match.)

The lemon mint was great in the salads that we made from pretty much everything else in the basket last week. I like to use a little lemon flax seed oil and salt & pepper on my salads – so that was a great compliment.

Keep the great veggies & herbs coming!

Thanks, Vegetarian Kate! Keep your ideas coming!!