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The Crunch Craving: Granola without Oil

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

Posted by Kelly

My boss April is a new mom, trying to keep up with breastfeeding her three-month-old twin boys. When she told me that her lactation specialist told her to eat more almonds and oats, I immediately thought of granola! It is a win win for April who likes oats but not oatmeal and finds that grabbing just yogurt in the morning leaves her hungry for something to actually chew. Speaking of breast milk, did anyone notice it is all over the headlines? First one woman assaults a police officer with her milk, and now a chef in New York City has made cheese from his wife’s breast milk. This morning on LIVE with Regis and Kelly (Andy Richter was guest hosting) they actually ate the cheese!! April has assured me that she will do nothing of the sort. :)

Continuing on, Kristin and I only have one issue with most granola recipes out there, they contain oil. Some recipes over 1/3 cup! In our minds, the best part of granola is the high nutritional content, why would we go and put all that canola oil on it? There had to be a better way. We used some guidelines in Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian as a starting point and off we went!

We have been eating this granola all week with fruit and yogurt, and sprinkled on top of our smoothies. We hope you enjoy our delicious, crunchy and oil free granola!

Granola in a mason jar

Crunchy Granola

6 cups of rolled oats

1 1/2 cups almonds

1 1/2 cups walnuts

1/2 cup flax seeds (ground)

2 ripe bananas, mashed

1/2 cup honey

1  tablespoon vanilla

2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut

1 tablespoon molasses

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a small saucepan over low heat, mash together bananas, honey, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Stir until combined.

2. Add all remaining ingredients to a large bowl and mix these together. Little by little add your wet mixture to your dry, stirring to combine.

3. Place entire mixture on large jelly roll pan lined with a Sil Pat or parchment paper. Every ten to fifteen minutes, remove from oven and stir the mix. You want to remove the moisture, so constant attention is necessary!

4. After about an hour, your granola should be lightly brown and dry. Remove from oven and stir one last time. Then bring to room temperature before storing in an airtight container.

** We actually meant to add raisins to this, but forgot to mix them in at the end. Now on second thought we think this might be better with some sort of tropical dried fruit added or perhaps a combination of dried fruits like mango, pineapple and bananas.

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Posted in Uncategorized, beef dishes, grilling, vegetables, vietnamese | 1 Comment »

When I googled sauerkraut flavors I got sauerkraut flatulence … a sign from God? I think so.

Friday, March 5th, 2010

Posted by Kristin

At the farmer’s market last weekend, I tasted some raw cultured sauerkraut. The sauerkraut is made the traditional way by lacto-fermentation. In case you are wondering, lacto-fermentation happens when friendly bacteria turn the sugars and starches in the vegetable into lactic acid. The resulting product is preserved, develops a sour flavor and contains beneficial bacteria and added vitamins. And get this: most of the sauerkraut you can buy already made isn’t actually cultured—it’s just shredded cabbage that has been pickled in brine. So the stuff I’ve been eating all this time isn’t really sauerkraut. It’s cabbage pickles. The grocery store has been ripping me off for YEARS. I feel violated.

The farmer’s market vendor had several different flavors, which gave us the idea to make our own flavored kraut. I tried googling “sauerkraut flavors” for inspiration and this is what I got:

Needless to say, my HBO on demand doesn’t work right now and I can’t watch all of my new DVRed episodes of Big Love until I watch season 4 episode 6, but that’s not the point I was trying to make. And that point is: obviously, there is a lack of internet content on this particular subject (flavored sauerkraut, not the hopelessness that is Time Warner Cable … although it seems that lots of people want to know about sauerkraut flatulence). So we decided to wing it.

Taking our inspiration from the farmer’s market kraut, we decided to make traditional sauerkraut with caraway seeds, a lemon dill sauerkraut, kimchi and a spicy jalapeño sauerkraut—which Kelly lovingly labeled “Tex Ass.” Sweet isn’t it?

So off to the grocery store we went to collect our ingredients, including eight heads of cabbage. And thanks to our purchase of eight heads of cabbage, we have now been red flagged us as suspected bioterrorists. Well, maybe not, but you never know what you can get in trouble for in this day and age. When we came home, we got to work shredding cabbage and somewhere along the way I realized I had yet another head of cabbage in the refrigerator (who’s counting? that makes nine, y’all). So we threw it into the food processor. Even with the machine doing most of the manual work, it still took a lot of time to shred all that cabbage.

food processor with cabbage

The hardest working food processor in Austin.

And despite Buster’s best efforts to eat up all of the little pieces we dropped on the floor—because in his tiny chihuahua world, anything that falls onto the floor is most likely special and off limits, therefore he should eat it—when we finished shredding, there was cabbage everywhere.

And here’s a picture of the little angel for you to look at while we clean. Isn’t he precious? And chock full of fiber.

We threw the shredded pieces into my giant bowl from the restaurant supply.

bowl of cabbage

Even after adding sea salt and allowing the cabbage to shrink, it wouldn’t all fit in the bowl at once. There was a really good tip on the blog where we found our basic instructions—salt the cabbage until it tastes “pleasantly salty, like french fries.” Not everyone knows how much salt is enough salt for sauerkraut, but everybody knows what a french fry tastes like.

In a smaller bowl, we combined cabbage with flavoring agents and then stuffed each flavored batch into 1 quart canning jars.

The first bowl got the traditional treatment with a tablespoon or two of caraway seeds. We hit the second bowl with some fresh dill, lemon juice and lemon zest. The third bowl got Korean chili powder, green onions, shredded carrots, fresh garlic and ginger. Finally we mixed up our special Tex-Ass sauerkraut with some shredded carrots, green onions, cilantro, hot sauce, cumin, fresh jalapeno, lime juice and a generous pinch of sugar.

flavored sauerkraut in jars

We stuffed the jars and topped each one with a small narrow glass filled with water to press the cabbage down. It’s important that the cabbage stay submerged in juice as it’s fermenting. Cabbage that’s exposed to air is subject to spoiling.

Then we faced a problem… where the heck were we going to put all of these jars? Somewhere dark with a relatively cool and steady temperature. I emptied a cabinet in the hallway and we put them inside, draped with cheesecloth so dust wouldn’t get into the kraut.

Day 1

The cabbage is producing a definite odor. In fact, the odor is so definite, I was pretty sure we needed to get it out of the house before Shawn smelled it and put and end to our kitchen experiments. So we moved it to the garage into one of those giant coolers that is supposed to keep stuff cold while you’re camping for 7 days. Problem solved. It hadn’t even been 24 hours and the cabbage had already produced a significant amount of juice, and was even producing bubbles on its own. Sort of cool, sort of creepy.

Day 2

The smell is really strong. Good thing we put the jars outside. I was pleased to find that there wasn’t any mold floating on top of any of my jars of kraut. If you find mold, you’re supposed to remove it. The idea of nonchalantly removing mold from something I plan to eat later is sort of revolting. I checked the water levels of each jar making sure there was a good amount of brine on top. A few hadn’t produced enough to suit me, so I added a little salty water to them. From this point on, don’t add any more salty water. The water is going to evaporate some from the jars, but the salt will stay behind. So if you need to add more liquid, use fresh water only. I removed the glasses that were sitting on top, packed down the cabbage and replaced the glasses (after rinsing them and refilling them with fresh water). Then I put them back in the cooler.

Day 3

Everything is starting to smell more and more putrid pungent. Sorry y’all. I’m working on using more appetizing words in my posts.

So anyway, lots of smells going on in that cooler. Hopefully that means it’s working.

Day 4

Day 4 is a milestone. Once I tried to make sourdough starter. I cared for it lovingly for 3 days—stirring, feeding, talking to it softly. I kept it in a safe spot on top of my toaster oven. On day four, I decided to bake potatoes in that very toaster oven … at 400 degrees … for an hour. By the time I realized what happened it was too late. My precious little baby starter was dead. Cooked to a crisp. I never attempted another starter or anything else for that matter that requires careful tending and feeding. This is why I don’t grow plants—only dogs and cats—because plants can’t follow you around and go “Hey lady! I’m drying up! How about some water?”

You know if you are at all worried you will forget to check on your little kraut babies, you have got another think coming. Wait until you smell this. Forgetting to check on fermenting cabbage is like forgetting to feed your cat. Your cat will be up your ass chasing you all over the house as you drag yourself out of bed, yowling in your face up to the very moment that you serve his majesty’s breakfast. The sauerkraut is the same way. Every time you walk by, the smell will follow you … it doesn’t let you forget. So today, I added more fresh water to the jars to replace what had evaporated. And again, we wait.

Day 5

I don’t know what’s going on. The jars are practically bubbling over with what I hope is sauerkraut juice. And, maybe I’m just getting used to the smell, but it actually doesn’t smell all that bad to me anymore. Is that bad? Of course, it could smell like skunks and I would never know … because I can’t smell skunks. It’s my super power. Bear with me people! One more day and we will know how this story ends. And considering I have about 14 quarts of possibly skunky cabbage hanging out in my garage, I hope it ends well.

Then again having to actually eat 14 quarts of sauerkraut could be a disaster in itself. I’m probably not going to have many friends when this is all over.

Day 6

When I came home from work and got out of my car the whole garage reeked of sauerkraut. I opened the lid to the cooler to find that my little kraut babies were bubbling over even more. Our Tex Ass kraut was especially bubbly (that’s right … everything is bigger in Texas) one of them had what appeared to be mold on top. (Don’t worry y’all. The mold turned out to be an ugly green onion.) It kind of made me want to pass out so I demanded that Kelly come over to help me deal with it.

sauerkraut scum

After I let the garage air out it wasn’t so bad. I even worked up the nerve to taste one of the traditional ones. It was awesome. It tasted exactly the way I wanted it to taste. I boiled the lids to the jars (as a precaution … Shawn said I was being overcautious) and I screwed them on, storing them away in the fridge. Shawn wants me to mention that he was more than happy to provide me some space for the kraut in his beer fridge that I bought and that I also supply the electricity to. I would just like to take this moment to say, I am floored by his generosity.

kraut in the fridge

Anyway, I guess that’s about the end of flavored Saurkraut 101. Kelly is on the way over—I left the scummy jars for her to deal with. I’ll post an update later on how each of the flavors taste. We’re cooking some dogs to go with our kraut for dinner tonight.

*Update*

The sauerkraut was great with our hot dogs and beer brats. It was soured just enough and was still very crunchy, which we liked. We cooked some dogs and brats on the grill and then tossed them into a skillet with some Shiner Bock and caramelized onions. Then we served them on toasted buns with lots of kraut.

Later we cooked up some corned beef and made reubens with seedless rye, swiss cheese and kraut. They were pretty awesome.

The kimchi and traditional flavors were almost unanimously the favorites. We stirred some crushed, toasted sesame seeds and a little toasted sesame oil into the kimchi to give it some extra flavor (although, it would have been good without this addition).

The “TexAss” flavor was Shawn’s favorite (he is not a fan of caraway seeds or dill) and it was also the one that soured the least.

I would consider this batch of sauerkraut to be a big success and I would definitely make it again in smaller quantities.

Posted in budget recipes, gluten free, side dishes, vegan, vegetables, vegetarian | No Comments »

Healthy Summer Squash Gratin Recipe

Friday, July 31st, 2009

I am in love with squash. All kinds of squash. But especially the summer variety. It wasn’t that many years ago that I proclaimed that I could never be vegetarian because I don’t like vegetables. Obviously, that’s no longer the case, but for some reason squash was always different. My memaw used to boil it until it was soft, mash it up and melt cheese over the top. To me, this was comfort food at its finest.

Now, when summer rolls around, yellow squash and zucchini play second fiddle only to the homegrown tomato. Since it came into season this year, I have made it every way imaginable. I’ve made grilled squash, mashed squash, baked squash, two kinds of squash pasta, squash pizza and squash quiche. I’ve even eaten squash in a taco. I have tried every semi-healthy squash recipe I run across, mostly to distract myself from wanting to prepare it this way. And I’m telling you right now, I’m about to give in. Dear lord sweet baby jesus, please save me because I can’t stop thinking about all that cheese.

So in an attempt to further distract myself with another semi-healthy squash preparation, I give you this delicious summer squash gratin, inspired by 101 Cookbooks. The squash comes out light and herby and gets a little bit of crispiness and tanginess from a topping of whole wheat bread crumbs and feta cheese. It was so good, it almost made me forget about that other squash.

Summer Squash Gratin Recipe

1 1/2 lbs of summer squash (yellow squash, or zucchini or both)

1/2 lb of yukon gold potatoes

Herb Mix:

1/4 cup minced fresh parsley

1/4 cup minced fresh oregano

zest of one lemon

1 large clove of garlic, minced

1 teaspoon kosher salt

freshly ground pepper

1/4 cup olive oil

Topping:

2 slices 100% whole wheat bread

1 tablespoon olive oil

salt to taste

1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2. Slice the squash into 1/6 inch rounds. Slice the potatoes into 1/8 inch rounds (a mandoline is helpful for these steps). If you can’t cut the potatoes that thin, saute the slices in some olive oil for a minute or two before tossing them with the squash. Since the squash cooks more quickly than the potatoes, the idea is to ensure that the potatoes get thoroughly cooked in the oven.

3. In a large bowl combine the ingredients for the herb mix. Add the squash and potatoes and toss well to ensure that the slices are well coated with oil.

4. Place the bread slices in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to create coarse crumbs. Pour the crumbs into a small bowl and use your fingers to combine them with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and a pinch of salt.

5. Pour the mixture into an 8 x 8 glass casserole dish and top with the crumbled feta cheese and bread crumbs. Bake 50 minutes. The topping should be browned and there should be little to no liquid from the squash visible in the bottom of the pan.

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Posted in budget recipes, mediterranean, side dishes, vegetables, vegetarian | 2 Comments »

A Lucky Accident

Sunday, March 1st, 2009

A few years ago I signed up for The Good Cook Book Club. I had received an advertisement in the mail that said if I signed up I could have 4 books for $1. Chump change! As a self-proclaimed cookbook addict, how could I resist? So I happily picked out my four books and placed my order. And when they finally arrived in the mail I was pretty psyched … that is until I picked up one of the books. It was ‘Mexican Everyday’ by Rick Bayless. No, no! This was all wrong. This is about healthy Mexican food. Ugh! You see in my haste to order, I chose this book thinking it was one of Rick’s other books, ‘Mexico: One Plate at a Time.’ I had borrowed it once from the library and loved it. It never crossed my mind that Rick Bayless had written another book (do you see how young and naive I was?) So I flipped through it, decided it was way too much hassle to send the stupid thing back and I put it on the shelf. Lo and behold, it began to make its way off the shelf and into my kitchen … often. The recipes are not entirely authentic. You will not find any recipe in ‘Mexican Everyday’ that calls for “1 small udder.” And no, I’m not going to tell you where you can find a recipe that calls for “1 small udder” (you sicko). But the recipes are delicious, healthy and simple enough to cook every night of the week.

And so, over time, quite a few of the recipes from Mexican Everyday have made it into my repertoire. The chipotle chicken salad tacos have become a favorite way to use up leftover rotisserie chicken at our house. All of the main course salads are delicious and make really satisfying light dinners. Every mexican cookbook has a recipe for tortilla soup, but the one in this book is different and it’s perfect. I was surprised to see a recipe for a crusty bean, avocado and fresh cheese sandwich (tortas) and for the meatballs flavored with chipotle. They were a refreshing change from the typical mexican entree, and they were both very good.                          

Each time I cook a new recipe from this book I’m in awe of how Rick Bayless is able to combine a few simple ingredients to create something that always seems to be just the thing I am hungry for. The salmon with spinach and creamy roasted peppers was no exception.

     

This dish is basically a piece of grilled salmon sauced with some wilted spinach in a creamy pepper sauce. In keeping with the healthy theme of the book, the sauce has no cream. It’s made with milk and thickened with a little masa harina (a corn flour that is the base for corn tortillas and tamales). Basically what you do is this:      

Roast two poblano peppers. Peel and discard the skins, seed pods and stems and toss the peppers into your food processor. Then slice a few cloves of garlic in half lengthwise and cook them in a few tablespoons of oil until they are browned all over. Remove them from the oil with a slotted spoon and add them to the food processor also. Add a tablespoon or two of masa harina and a cup and a half of milk (I used 1%, but whatever you have will work) and blend the whole thing up until the sauce is smooth.                 

Season four salmon fillets with salt and pepper and sear them in the pan with the leftover oil from cooking the garlic (I like to undercook my salmon just a little). Remove the fillets and keep them warm in the oven. Add 10 ounces of cleaned spinach to the hot skillet and cook until wilted. Set it aside and add the sauce to the pan. Bring it to a simmer so it thickens. If it’s too thick, add more milk. Stir the spinach into the sauce and remove it from the heat. Season to taste with salt and pepper. 
 
Plate the salmon and ladle the sauce over the top. This was great served along side the Pioneer Woman’s crash hot potatoes, but it would be just as good with a salad.

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Posted in main dishes, mexican, seafood, vegetables | 3 Comments »

Good news about the Economy and $75 a week

Wednesday, February 11th, 2009

I don’t have to tell you that the economy sucks right now. Everybody knows that already. You can’t watch TV without hearing it, you can’t open a paper or a magazine without reading it and we talk constantly about who is going out of business or who has lost a job. And I don’t have to tell you that people have been cutting back and saving their money to prepare for the worst. It’s all a little extremely depressing and scary.

But, for me, there has been a bright side to all of this gloom and doom. In an effort to scale back our budgets and pad our savings accounts a little, I have put a limit of $75 a week on our grocery spending. According to the IRS, the national standard for food expenses in a two-person household is $528 a month. That’s about $132 a week. In contrast, some people claim that $62 a week is the poverty level for two people (I’m still not sure how that figure was determined and it seems a little high). In any case I’ve decided that $75 a week is a realistic amount for us and we are now two weeks into our $75 a week experiment. 

Okay, okay, I know what you’re thinking. Cutting back your food budget? That’s not good news. Hang in there while I explain. Cutting back would be difficult (and possibly detrimental to our health) if we had to sacrifice quality. So instead, I decided that I can continue to buy the quality ingredients I love if I swear off most prepared foods. The key here is to buy ingredients. And with that in mind, I began making cuts with some guidance from this list.

The good news in all of this mess is this changes how we eat for the better. Here’s why:

1. Foods made from scratch are generally healthier than prepared ones. They only include what you choose to put in them, and all of those things will have names you can pronounce.

2. Cooking from scratch does require some extra effort, but most of the prepared foods you can buy are far inferior to what can be made at home from scratch, so to me, they are well worth the extra effort (think homemade mayonnaise, homemade yogurt and fresh-baked bread).

3. Buying food with a limited budget also limits the amount of meat you can buy. You’ll get more food for your money when you spend the bulk of your budget on things that come from plants: fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and beans. We should all be eating more of these anyway:

Fresh fruits and vegetables

This means fewer meals will be centered on meat and as a result you’ll likely consume more fiber and plant derived nutrients and fewer saturated fats. Doesn’t that sound great? Sure does! Sign me up!

So what does this mean for the blog?

Well, as I begin to learn how to make some of the prepared foods I normally buy at the grocery store, I’ll write about it so you can learn right along with me. I’ll also be working on a list of tips that will help you eat well on a limited budget. It will soon be located to the right under “Pages on De Nacho.” Stay tuned folks—good things are coming up!

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Posted in fruit, vegetables, vegetarian | No Comments »

Unsung hero? Maybe.

Friday, February 6th, 2009

Tyler Florence calls cauliflower “the unsung hero of the vegetable world.” I would have to say the phraseology “unsung hero” is pushing it. I do agree, however, that cauliflower doesn’t get the attention it deserves. You don’t just sit around and wish you had a big steaming bowl of cauliflower to snack on (maybe not unless it’s used as a vehicle for eating liquified cheese). And it’s not always the most appealing choice in the produce isle, especially when it’s surrounded by so many other pretty vegetables that don’t resemble a brain.

When I came home with a head of cauliflower last week, and Shawn declared, “I hate cauliflower,” (surprise surprise) I knew I was going to have to puree that sucker. So it became soup. And you know what? He ate it. He said it tasted sort of like potatoes. He loves potatoes. Maybe the idea of heroic cauliflower isn’t so far-fetched.

Creamy Cauliflower Soup

1 medium head of cauliflower, cut into florets
 
1/2 of a large onion, sliced
 
4 sprigs fresh thyme (or 1/2 tsp dry)
 
1 bay leaf
 
3 Tablespoons butter
 
4 cups of chicken or vegetable stock
 
1/3 cup half and half, cream or whole milk
 
salt and pepper to taste (white pepper if you have it)
 
fresh herbs for garnish (optional—I used dill)
 
1. Simmer cauliflower, onion, thyme, bay leaf and stock until the cauliflower is very tender (about 15 minutes).
 
2. Remove the bay leaf and thyme stems. Puree the soup with an immersion blender (or puree it carefully in a regular blender)
 
3. Reduce if necessary to get desired consistency. Add the cream and remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper to to taste. Garnish with fresh herbs.

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Posted in budget recipes, soup, vegetables, vegetarian | 1 Comment »

Beans and greens tacos, with salsa verde and queso fresco

Saturday, January 24th, 2009

I love beans. I love all kinds of beans. And the great thing is, beans are pretty economical food. They’re cheap and filling with all their fiber and protein. Unfortunately I have developed a taste for more than your average 99 cent bag of supermarket pintos (although there will always be a special place in my heart for you little pintos). Once you’ve had heirloom beans, you will never be the same. And I’m actually not even that fond of beans out of a can anymore. Have you tasted the difference between canned garbanzo beans and the ones made from dry beans at home? It’s shocking. That’s why I bought a pressure cooker. I can have beans in like 30 minutes flat, which opens a whole new world of bean possibilities. Like cooking beans for dinner on weeknights!

This week I needed to use up a head of curly kale and I had a recipe on file from Amy Scattergood of the L.A. Times for Christmas lima beans tacos with wilted dandelion greens. Well, I had kale. And frankly, I had a rather traumatic experience with the only bunch of dandelion greens I have ever attempted to cook which I really don’t want to get into right now. So Christmas lima beans and kale tacos it would be. Sounds exciting doesn’t it? I know, it doesn’t, but trust me. These were really good. Shawn ate seven of them.

Now, about the beans: I don’t know exactly why they are called Christmas limas. Maybe it’s their speckled red and white coloring. Or maybe it has something to do with their meaty chestnut flavor. Steve Sando of Rancho Gordo says that if you think you don’t like lima beans, you owe it to yourself to give these a try. Needless to say, you can’t buy these beans just anywhere. You can order them from Rancho Gordo (if you do, be prepared to place an order to try out several varieties of their beans to justify the hefty shipping charge). You may also be able to find them at a well stocked grocery store like Whole Foods or at Central Market if you live here in Texas. I got mine at Central Market for $4.99 for a 12-oz bag. You could also try this application on a different variety of bean. Black beans, pinto beans, or borlotti/cranberry beans would also be good.

To get started, cook your beans. If you are using the Christmas limas, follow along with me. If you are using a different kind of bean and you have a favorite way of cooking them, that’s fine. If you are cooking the Christmas limas, all they really need for flavor is a generous cup of diced onion and a few cloves of garlic. Sweat the aromatics, add the beans and about three cups of water (or enough to cover) and cook 45 minutes or 15 minutes or so in the pressure cooker on the highest setting.

At this point add about a tablespoon and a half of kosher salt to the pot, add more water if needed to keep the beans covered and put the lid back on. There are all sorts of arguments about when to salt the beans. I don’t really think it matters. If you think that is blasphemy, do it your way. Bring the beans back to a simmer (or back up to pressure if you’re using the pressure cooker), put the lid on and cook for 45 minutes to an hour more or another 15 minutes on high in the pressure cooker.

In the meantime, wash your kale really well and wilt it in a pan with some garlic and olive oil. Add a small amount of water and a lid and cook just until the greens are tender. Add salt to taste.

To assemble each taco:
1. Place 2 corn tortillas per taco on a plate (or 1 flour tortilla per taco if you prefer) 
2. Fill each taco with about 1/3 cup of beans and some of the kale
3. Top each one with a little prepared salsa verde (I used Herdez in a small can)
4. Crumble some queso fresco on the top or another cheese of your choice. Goat cheese or feta maybe?
5. Squeeze some lime juice over the whole thing

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Posted in budget recipes, main dishes, mexican, vegetables, vegetarian | 1 Comment »

Vietnamese Spring/Summer/Winter rolls

Friday, January 23rd, 2009

Vietnamese salad rolls or Goi Cuon make a light, refreshing meal. In the spring. That’s why people call them spring rolls. But don’t get them confused with Chinese spring rolls, which are fried crispy. They’re also good to eat in the summer, which is why some people also call them summer rolls. Get it? And now it’s winter so … sorry. I know that was lame, but I couldn’t resist. Apparently this has been a topic of some contention. Really, I don’t know what the seasons have to do with these crunchy, fragrant little rolls, but if you took the wrapper out of the equation you would be left with … salad. Not only does the name “salad roll” make the most sense, but apparently this is also the literal translation of “Goi Cuon.” Besides, you’re supposed to eat them year round.

I have been meaning to make these for some time. The first time I ever made them we used rice noodles that were too thick and they were quite chewy. And to further add to the naming confusion, my very clever father in a fit of hilarity dubbed them, “rubber rolls.” We rolled and chewed and chewed and giggled and then chewed some more. We even took a nice photo.

When I got this lovely book in the mail a while back, I saw there was a recipe for rubber … er salad rolls and also vietnamese baguette sandwiches or Bahn Mi. They call for a lot of the same ingredients, so recently when I decided to try my hand at salad rolls again, I made plans to have Bahn Mi the next day to use up the leftover herbs and vegetables.

These were really tasty. In fact they were so tasty and I was so hungry that I failed to take a clear photo. In the midst of eating them I decided I had better get up and take a picture, but I didn’t have the patience to make a nice pretty roll for the photograph. Instead I took a big bite out of the fat, lop-sided roll that was sitting on my plate, held it still (I thought) and snapped a photo in my dark kitchen. I didn’t zoom in to make sure it was clear. I just put the camera away and continued to polish off my dinner as if I were a starving child in Africa (my apologies if any starving children in Africa are actually reading this). So I present to you this seemingly chubby hand (and why is it that my hand always looks chubby in photographs?) holding a half-eaten lop-sided blurry salad roll. Taa daaa!

I know. Hold your applause. I also meant to mention before that I was inspired to make salad rolls again when I saw this post at ChezUs. Notice the pretty pictures, the nice even rolls and the non-chubby hands.

Vietnamese Salad Rolls

Disclaimer: This is not really a recipe. It’s more like a starting point for how to make your own salad rolls written in recipe format. People put all kinds of things in salad rolls. The most basic recipe includes cucumber, carrots, a few herbs and boiled shrimp or pork (or both). Add or substitute other meats, herbs, veggies, or fruits, keeping in mind color, texture and flavor. Many rolls are made with bean sprouts or bell pepper. Jicama might be a nice variation and I’ve even heard of adding mango. P.S. A mandoline is a good thing to have for julienning the vegetables. Watch those fingers!

Rolls

1 large carrot, julienned 

½ english cucumber, julienned 

2 large radishes, julienned 

1 head boston lettuce 

4 oz rice vermicelli 

1 lb shrimp, peeled and de-veined 

fresh mint 

fresh cilantro 

2 tablespoons hoisin sauce 

1 clove garlic, minced 

1 fresh jalapeno or serrano, minced 

1 package of rice paper wrappers

Dipping Sauce

⅓ cup lime juice 

2 tablespoons sugar 

3 tablespoons fish sauce 

1 tablespoon soy sauce 

1 clove of garlic, minced 

1 fresh jalapeno or serrano, minced

1. In a small bowl combine the shrimp with the hoisin sauce, garlic and jalapeno. 

2. Place the vermicelli in a large bowl and add boiling water to cover. Soak for 15 minutes or until the noodles are tender. Rinse in cold water and set aside. 

3. Prep the veggies and carefully wash and dry the herbs and lettuce. Cook the shrimp in a small skillet until they just turn pink. Allow to cool. 

4. In a small bowl combine the dipping sauce ingredients. 

5. To serve, assemble all the fillings. Place a large, shallow bowl of hot water on the table and allow each person to make their own. 

6. To make a roll, dip a rice paper round into the water for a few seconds to soften and then lay it on a plate. The wrapper should not be softened entirely in the bowl. It will continue to absorb residual water and soften as it sits on the plate. 

7. In each wrapper place three shrimp, a lettuce leaf, some rice noodles and a small amount of each of the veggies and herbs. Fold the sides of the wrapper in and roll like a burrito. It may take some practice to create a tight roll without tearing the wrapper. Rolls that are not pretty still taste good (see chubby hand photo as evidence). 

8. Dip in sauce and eat.

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Posted in appetizers, asian, seafood, vegetables, vietnamese | 1 Comment »

The End of Cabbage, At least for now

Wednesday, January 7th, 2009

Coleslaw doesn’t happen in my house very often, because oddly enough, everyone I cook for outside of my immediate family has a ridiculous aversion to cabbage—especially it its raw state. This is why New Years Day is one of my favorite meals of the year. As a good-standing citizen of the American south, I can make the people I love eat the vegetables they hate under the threat of suffering a whole year of poverty and misfortune.

On the rare occasions that coleslaw does make it onto the dinner table, it is usually alongside fish tacos or pulled-pork sandwiches. Because I had so much cabbage to use up, we had it with both. If you’ve been doing the math (and I truly hope you have better things to do than keep track of how much cabbage I have), I had one head of cabbage left from Greenling. So I made two separate batches of coleslaw.

The first batch was served on top of some delicious pan fried grouper inside warm El Milagro corn tortillas. The second batch gave a little crunch to our New Years Day feast of pulled pork that Shawn smoked for eleven and a half hours. And to satisfy me, everyone ate at least one bite of their coleslaw, collard greens and black-eyed peas. Someone did try to ruin my fun by telling my friend Ryan, who is by far the biggest baby of all when it comes to eating cabbage, that he could secure his financial future with collard greens alone. Not on my watch. Tisk, tisk.

Jalapeno Coleslaw

½ head of cabbage, shredded

2 carrots, grated

4 radishes, grated

2 green onions, thinly sliced

2 jalapenos, minced

½ bunch cilantro, chopped

Dressing

⅓ cup mayonnaise

2 teaspoons dijon mustard

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (about 3

key limes or one regular)

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

½ teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon cumin

dash of hot sauce

1. In a large bowl, combine the dressing ingredients.

2. Add the coleslaw ingredients to the dressing and toss.

3. Refrigerate one hour to blend the flavors. Taste before serving and adjust seasonings. Serve as a barbecue side dish, on a pulled pork sandwich, or in a fish taco.

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Posted in seafood, vegetables | 1 Comment »

Fried Green Tomato Salad—Jaden’s Way

Monday, December 29th, 2008

Okay, so I know I promised you lemon bars, but you really should eat your vegetables first. When my Greenling box arrived with green tomatoes in it, I was really excited. I had been eyeballing this recipe by the incredibly sweet and good-looking Jaden Hair of Steamy Kitchen for the longest time, thinking I would make it if I could just get my hands on some green tomatoes.

We used to have tomatoes out the wazoo in the summer, back when my dad used to have a garden. But now homegrown tomatoes are a rare and precious commodity. They come only from the farmers market, Greenling, and generous friends with green thumbs.

I thought maybe this year would be different since we started our own garden. So you can only imagine my disappointment when my six tomato plants yielded two, count ‘em TWO, tomatoes the whole season that were not even as big as a golf ball. Not that this small yield was any thanks to me. I just bought the plants. Shawn put them in the ground while I was wailing and carrying on about stepping on a gardening tool and whacking myself in the face. He diligently watered and cared for them every day in the sweltering summer heat. And for what?!? Two stinkin’ tomatoes! 

But, none of that was important that day when the green tomatoes arrived at my front door. I knew the moment I saw them that they would inevitably be covered in panko bread crumbs, fried to a crispy golden brown and drizzled with sweet chili sauce. This recipe is almost identical to the original, except that I’ve simplified the fried green tomatoes and I added sliced avocado for some creamy contrast to the tart tomatoes and dressing.

Fried Green Tomato Salad with Sweet Chili Dressing

Adapted from Steamy Kitchen who adapted it from others. Leftover fried tomatoes make delicious breakfast tacos. Cut them into small pieces and warm them up in a pan with a scrambled egg. Serve in a warm tortilla with hot sauce.

Salad

3 medium, firm green tomatoes

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup milk

2 beaten eggs

2/3 cup panko breadcrumbs

1/4 cup olive oil (for frying)

1 tsp kosher or sea salt

1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper

large pinch of chili powder

1 avocado, sliced

salad greens

Dressing

1 tablespoon bottled sweet chili sauce (use an asian brand)

1 tablespoon tomato ketchup

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon water

1 tablespoon lime juice

1 teaspoon minced cilantro leaves

1. Slice unpeeled tomatoes into 1/2″ slices. Season both sides with salt, pepper and chili powder and let sit. The salt will draw some of the moisture out of the tomatoes. In the meantime, combine dressing ingredients and prep the following in separate bowls in this order: milk and egg mixed together, flour, panko.

2. Heat a large skillet with olive oil on medium-high heat. Dip tomato slices in milk, then flour, then eggs, then panko. In skillet, in small batches, fry slices 3-5 minutes each side until golden brown. Add more olive oil as needed for each batch.

3. Serve the tomatoes over salad greens with the sliced avocado and sweet chili dressing.

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