Grilled Strawberry Salsa

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Excerpts from my column in the Register Star and Daily Mail:
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Grilling the strawberries brings out their sweetness and adds a nice hint of smokiness. It’s a tasty, colorful topping for grilled chicken, fish or pork.

Ingredients
12 large strawberries
Juice from 1/2 lime
1/4 cup chopped Vidalia onions
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon chopped jalapeno
1 tablespoon of sugar
Salt and pepper to taste

Method
-Wash and remove caps from strawberries and place onto skewers (if using bamboo skewers, soak in water for 20 minutes before using to prevent burning).
-Place skewered strawberries on grill over a medium-hot heat for about 6-7 minutes, turning once. Set aside.
-Place chopped onions, chopped jalapeno in lime juice, let sit for 10 minutes.
-Chop strawberries and add to lime mixture.
-Add sugar and cilantro, mix lightly. Salt and pepper to taste.
-Let flavors meld for at least 10 minutes.

Serve over grilled chicken, fish or pork.

Crispy Seaweed Snacks

Ever since our friend Melanie visited a few weeks ago and told us about snacking on seaweed, I’ve been intrigued. I decided to give this healthy snack a go. I tried two types. Nori and alaria. The nori chips were a little too, well, seaweedy for me. The alaria chips were nice, light, crisp and only slightly reminiscent of the sea.

If it is humid where you live (believe me, it is humid here) you’ll need to eat the chips shortly after you make them or they will get a bit soggy.

Crispy Alaria

Ingredients
2-3 strips of Alaria
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

Method
- Using kitchen shears, cut the seaweed into bite-sized pieces.
- Place in skillet with toasted sesame oil and cook over medium heat. The color will change from black to a dark to mid green.
- Let cool, then eat!


Crispy Nori

Ingredients
2-3 sheets of nori
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
sea salt

Method
- Using a pastry brush lightly coat the nori with toasted sesame oil
- Cook nori in skillet over medium high heat 15 to 20 seconds each side.
- Sprinkle with crushed sea salt.
- Cool, cut into bite-sized bits and enjoy.

Sesame Ginger Chicken with Roasted Radishes on Radish Greens

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Excerpts from my column in the Register Star and Daily Mail:
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I love a good spicy raw radish, but I only think of them as just nice crunchy additions to my salad. Turns out, I had a very myopic view of radishes. Not only are there endless salad variations for the brightly colored globes, but you can also cook them. To be frank, cooking a radish never crossed my mind. I just didn’t think it was done. Thank goodness for the Internet to broaden my culinary horizons.

Radishes are a member of the cruciferous family, which includes health-star siblings like cabbage, kale, broccoli and Brussels sprouts. Radishes are a good source of vitamin C, they are high in antioxidants, high in dietary fiber, and low in calories. Radish greens pack even more vitamin C than the globes. Radishes are purported to be beneficial for respiratory problems, digestive disorders, asthma, bronchitis and liver and gallbladder troubles. All of that in a pretty pink little package.

Our radishes are still growing. I have pulled a few very tasty gumball-sized one. The radishes at the farmer’s market give ours something to which to aspire. They are beautiful indeed. So I grabbed several bunches and decided to experiment.

Sesame Ginger Chicken with Roasted Radishes on Radish Greens
I like this recipe because it satisfies my frugal nature by using all the parts of the radish. In fact, the radish greens in this dish are my favorite part.

Ingredients
4-6 pieces of chicken, skin on (plan on 3 ounces per person)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger root
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup sake (optional)
1/4 sesame seeds
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup water
2 bunches of radishes (with greens)
Dash of Cayenne pepper

(Serves 2-4)

Method
-Rinse chicken pieces in water and pat dry.
-Mix soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, sesame seeds, honey, ginger, garlic, sake, lime, rice vinegar and water. Set aside 1/4 cup and pour the rest over the chicken. Let marinate for 20 minutes (or longer if you have the time).
-Preheat oven to 400°F.
-Wash radishes and radish greens well. Remove greens and set aside.
-Cut radish globes into fourths and toss in the reserved 1/4 cup of marinade until coated.
-Brush the bottom of a roasting pan with olive oil.
- Arrange chicken pieces skin-side up in roasting pan. Pour marinade over chicken.
- Add radishes around the chicken.
-Cook for 30 minutes at 400°F. Then lower the heat to 350°F and cook for 15-20 minutes more until juices run clear or until the internal temperature reads 170° F.
-Remove and chicken and radishes from the roasting pan and set aside leaving the liquid in the pan.
-Toss the washed radish greens in the pan.
-Return pan to oven for 3-4 more minutes or until the greens are wilted.

To serve, place the greens on a plate, top with the chicken and radishes. Drizzle the pan drippings over everything. Coconut rice from last week’s column will go nicely with this dish.

Crispy Kale

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Excerpts from my column in the Register Star and Daily Mail:
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I am a late bloomer to kale. In my mind I used to lump all greens together as something you cook all day in a big pot with a hambone. Maybe that’s just my Southern roots showing. As a kid, I steered clear away from anything green stewing in a pot. As a health conscious adult, I started to get interested in greens but didn’t have a clue how to cook them.

Several years ago, while visiting Washington, D.C., I was standing in front of the produce section trying to figure out which greens to choose. They had mustard greens, collard greens and kale. I happened to overhear a lady say something to her husband and was happy to hear a melodic southern drawl. I thought that she would be a good one to ask. So I did.

She said, “Well, some people like kale because it is mild. Some people like the collards because it’s more flavorful. I like mustard greens because they have a bit of bite.” She paused then continued, “But you really almost have to be Southern to cook them right.”

I grew up in Virginia. To my Deep South relatives, I am a Northerner and to my Northern friends I’m Southern.

I tried to impress her with my Southern lineage. “I’m from Virginia and most of my relatives are from Georgia.”

“Well” she said as she turned to walk away, “maybe you ought to get them to cook them.” Clearly, to her, Virginia wasn’t far enough south.

Maybe I’ve been on a vendetta to prove the Southern lady in the grocery store wrong, because since then, I put kale in everything. Everything… soups, meatloaf, tomato sauce, mac and cheese, scrambled eggs, smoothies. It’s not the taste I’m going for, since kale is rather innocuous and blends in with the other flavors, it’s the nutritional boost. It is a true superfood.

Crispy Kale

Vegetables that taste like potato chips…what’s not to love? This recipe is adapted from Bon Appétit. I experimented with different greens, including Swiss chard, collard greens and radish leaves. I liked kale the best, though all variations were interesting. The radish leaves tasted like crunchy, salty air (but tended to burn easily).

Ingredients
Kale leaves, rinsed, dried, cut lengthwise into 2-inch strips, center rib and stem removed
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt, pepper, cayenne pepper to taste

Method
-Preheat oven to 300°F.
-Toss kale with oil in large bowl.
-Sprinkle with salt, pepper and a dash of cayenne pepper.
-Arrange leaves in single layer on a baking sheet.
-Bake for 10 minutes; flip and bake for an additional 10 minutes or until crisp. When done they will be light and airy.
-Transfer leaves to rack to cool, then serve.

Dress that Salad

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Excerpts from my column in the Register Star and Daily Mail:
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The salad days are here. The garden is young, green and hopeful. Our salad bed is quite jubilant. We’ve been harvesting our dinner salad almost everyday. Though I rarely get tired of freshly plucked greens, it helps to have an extensive salad dressing repertoire to ward off potential boredom.

I usually quickly whip up a salad dressing fresh for each salad. Most of the recipes listed are just enough to dress a salad for four. A couple of the recipes will make enough extra to keep on hand.

Balsamic Vinaigrette
Everyone should have a solid vinaigrette recipe in his or her arsenal. This is a nice one from my friend Dori. You can substitute other herbs for the thyme. Rosemary and basil both make excellent substitutions.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1-2 garlic cloves
1 - 2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Squeeze of fresh lemon (about 1/2 tablespoon)
Fresh thyme - 3 fresh sprigs, stripped (or 1/2 palm dried)
Freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Method:
Place all ingredients it in a mini-prep or blender. Blend until it creates a nice emulsion and let sit for at least 1 hour.

Makes enough for several salads. Keep refrigerated for up to two weeks. Bring to room temperature before using.

Simple Lemon Dressing
I’m particularly excited about our arugula crop. The peppery leaf is by far my favorite salad green. To dress it, I like to keep it very simple, allowing the flavor of the leaf to shine through.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1-2 teaspoons sugar or honey
Salt/pepper to taste.

Method
Mix all ingredients well and toss with salad.

Yogurt Blue Cheese Dressing
This is a good one to make on the fly. It’s a nice creamy change from the vinaigrettes we usually have.

Ingredients
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
Dash or two of cayenne pepper
Salt, pepper to taste.

Method
-Mash the blue cheese with a fork. Mix all ingredients until the consistency is creamy. Toss with salad.

Lemon Vinaigrette
My friend Jan made this one day last summer. We are both from Virginia but now she lives in California and I live in New York. We met at Bonnie and Earl’s farm in Wake, Virginia. I’m not sure if it was the idyllic setting or the toasted cumin that made this dressing so delightful.

This goes traditionally on a Fattoush salad but toss it with any fresh greens and vegetables, throw in some feta cheese and you have a winner.

Ingredients
1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic (about 1-2 cloves)
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon white rice vinegar
3/4 teaspoon toasted ground cumin
5 ounces extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method
-Toast cumin in heavy small skillet over medium heat until fragrant, about 30 seconds. You can toast the ground cumin, or toast whole cumin seeds and then grind them.
- Whisk the remaining ingredients together and toss in salad.

Lemon Tahini Dressing
I love this simple dressing on a spinach salad tossed with chic peas.

Ingredients
2 tablespoon Tahini
2-3 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon sugar or honey
1 tablespoon water
Salt/pepper to taste

Method
-Mix all ingredients well and toss with salad.

Vanilla-Pear Vinaigrette
My friend Sydney first made this vinaigrette for me a couple years ago. I was hooked at first bite. Luckily she gave me a bottle of it and the recipe so I could eat it to my hearts content. This dressing is great tossed with mixed field greens, thinly sliced red onions, walnuts and goat cheese.

Ingredients
1- 15 oz can pear halves in natural juice, undrained
1/3 c. white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Dash ground red pepper

Method
-Drain pears, reserving 1/3 cup juice
-Combine pears, juice, vinegar, and remaining ingredients in a blender, process until smooth
-Makes two cups and will keep for a couple months refrigerated.