Drinking My Greens

The Newest Box of Fun

A new box has arrived and while braising, sauteing, and blanching are all good ways of using the various types of greens, I've been thinking about them in smoothie form. Coming from a yoga class I felt inspired to experiment.

Bloomsdale Spinach

Using about 2-3 cups of loosely packed spinach
A cup of orange juice (from about 3 oranges)
A package of frozen mango puree, I bought at Trader Joe's, it has four individual packages of puree.
Half a banana, I don't like a lot of banana because I find it can overpower everything.
A little water, to cut the thickness.

It tuned out great. It was filling and refreshing. The mango, just tasted sweet but because it was frozen it made the drink cold and delicious. The spinach didn't really taste, I knew it was in there because it turned everything green, and there were little emerald specks of green. This is something I would make again and there are so many ways to modify it, that smoothies with greens could become a staple.

The spinach gave it a bright green color but that didn't translate into the photo.

Mustard Salad

Red Mustards

If you have never had red mustard greens, I think the best description I can come up with is if arugula met horseradish and they had a giant red leafed baby. They have a great flavor raw or if they are just too spicy they lose some of the bitterness when cooked. They also, when cooked in water, make really cool bright green water.


 The newest issue of Bon Appetit has a whole section of what to do with all sorts of winter greens. I saw this recipe for Raw Mustard Green Salad and was intrigued. This is an easy fast salad, the most work I had to do was make the anchovy croutons, which were everything I love about croutons. Salty, crunchy and a little cheesy. The salad dressing is made from anchovies, lemon, olive oil and garlic. With a little sprinkling of Gruyere at the end, this salad was a hit, and something to make again, especially since most of the items I usually have at my disposal.

Salad of Red Mustard Greens with Anchovy Gruyere Croutons.

Potato Party

In the heart of winter, even in Southern California,  I find it easy to just stay inside and just want to eat warm foods, preferably some sort of starch. What better way to enjoy the quintessential starch, then the potato. My friends hosted a potato party, where everyone brings a dish using potatoes  in one of the many various forms that potatoes can be found. I knew I wanted to use something from the box in combination with the potatoes and it had to be something easy, that I could bring as is, because I would be coming from work.

Little French Radishes

My Little Roasted Radish Potato Salad

 Food52 comes through again, with a recipe for Roasted Radish and Potato Salad. Radishes have such a distinct flavor that I was a little weary of putting them with potatoes. Using little tiny Yukon gold potatoes I roasted them  with the radishes. This recipe is flavorful everything working together and having all sorts of earthy, spicy, sweet flavors. It's somewhat healthy using yogurt instead of mayonnaise and just for kicks I sauteed the radish leaves and added them as well.  My only complaint about the recipe is that it makes enough for two or three servings. For the potato party this was plenty because there was more than enough tubers to go around, but if I were to make this again it would need to be doubled or tripled.  To see what other people made for the potato party, check out my friend Jillana's blog.

Easy Side

A new box is here. The greens are still coming strong amidst a few root vegetables. That white thing that looks like a carrot is daikon. Which is a Japanese radish that I never know what to do with. I keep thinking about pickling it, but we will see how far I get. Under the daikon, if you can tell, is a head of cauliflower. That looks like this.







Cauliflower, like broccoli goes bad quickly, and this one had just a little bit of brown specks on it, so it needed to be used immediately.

Cauliflower in olive oil before they go in the oven.

I have recently become obsesesd with this food website called Food52. Everything that I have found  looks interesting to eat and all the recipes are submitted by home cooks. I found a recipe for Roasted Cauliflower with Gremolata Bread Crumbs. This recipe is easy, quick, and is a great side for a Monday night. I decided to include the cauliflower leaves in the roasting because it seemed like a waste to not use them. Which turned out to be a nice crunchy treat. A light crispness with a hint of the cauliflower. The breadcrumbs were good but I didn't mix them enough so they were a little uneven tasting. Not all of them came out tasting of lemon and or garlic. I would even maybe forgo them next time. I think roasting them is all that is really needed.

Roasted Cauliflower on the side of tilapia

Cooking In A Green Year

Broccoli

 A new year is upon us and I am excited to eat lots of leafy greens. I love Christmas and everything that it brings but, I am happy to have the time to cook again.  The above photo is the most recent box, all those greens are chasing away memories of cookies, bacon wrapped dates, and the never ending parade of cheeses paired with something cured or pickled.
It has been uncharacteristically cold and rainy here  lately, and as a result I've been on a soup kick. I first made Broccoli Soup from this amazing looking Broccoli.  I have learned that Broccoli is one of the first things I need to use from the box because it goes bad really fast. I combined two recipes to make the Broccoli Soup. Using the Joy of Cooking: 75th Anniversary Edition - 2006 and a recipe from Food & Wine. I overcooked the broccoli and it didn't come out the prettiest of colors but it tasted good.

A week later I made kale soup testing out a new Christmas gift

Forgotten Skills of Cooking: The Time-Honored Ways are the Best - Over 700 Recipes Show You Why
I am completely obsessed with this book. I am already making a mental list of what I want to make. And if I feel like a challenge it has sections on preserving and how to build your own smoker, out of a metal trashcan. I wonder if smoking vegetables would work. The soup was easy, simple, and delicious. It has potato in it, which gives it a thicker consistency and I managed to not let the greens overcook.

We enjoyed both soups with a slice of bread, or my favorite popovers.

Red Kale

Overall I think both the soups, while using two different vegetables, were really similar. If the weather keeps up perhaps I will start turning other greens into soup. Or some other delicious dinner to be had. All I know is that I am glad to be cooking in this new year and await the surprises that come in the new vegetable box

Broccoli Soup

Kale soup

Christmas Colors; Red, White, and Greens.

Greens overflowing from the box.

Vegetables beneath the greens.

A new box has arrived filled with more winter greens, some of them the same as before, and some new ones added to the mix.  There is something about beets that make me think of Christmas. Perhaps it's the deep crimson color, or that they have a sweetness to them. Or maybe because they are a winter vegetable, but feeling festive I decided to make Beet Risotto with Mustard Greens and Goat Cheese. Instead of using all the red mustards I used the beet greens as well. The recipe also says to just throw everything in a pot and let it reduce which is not how risotto is made normally. I opted to make it the real way, adding a little bit of broth

at a time. The end result has a nice sweet earthy flavor and the goat cheese gave it a good tang   This would go good with a nice roast chicken.

The finished product

Thankful For Greens and Vegetables

This is a picture of what I was calling the Thanksgiving Pillow.

Over the past few years, at Thanksgiving, we add a new dish into the mix along with the traditional sides  that go along with turkey. This year I made the new dish, which was Curried Greens with Golden Onions and Cashews using the plethora of  greens that I had. It was a good spicy mix sandwiched between the other salty, crunchy, mashed, flavors that come together to make up a plate of Thanksgiving food. I don't know if it will become part of the regular rotation of sides, but I would make it again. The greens would work well with any type of roast meat.

Curried Greens with Golden Onions and Cashews

I also had a small bunch of turnips. With them we made Winter Vegetables With Horseradish Dill Butter. Which is a great dish that pairs well with roasted meat or a Thanksgiving meal. The recipe calls for steaming the vegetables but we always roast them. All in all it was a Thanksgiving filled with wonderful food.

My little turnips, magically turned into this wonderful vegetable dish. It was a Thanksgiving miracle.