Garden Dinner Basket

We just spent the past 48 hours in the back yard - weeding both gardens, working on installing the new hot tub, and putting in yet another garden - this time a tropical one complete with banana trees, elephant ears and cannas. My vegetable garden is currently exploding with mustard greens, Swiss chard, and green onions. The first crop of green beans is in, and a few peppers are making their way to my kitchen. In the herb garden, it's all I can do to keep the dill, parsley, oregano and cilantro from bolting. I'm cutting them back and also harvesting daily to keep them at bay!

After picking our dinner last night, I decided to take a picture of the garden basket - that's mustard greens and green onions in it, along with our garden hats beside it! Since I am literally drowning in mustard greens, I've done A LOT of experimenting with them the past few weeks. When most people think of greens, they often think of the over-processed ones you buy in a can in the grocery market. Or, they think of the mushy, 'cooked to death' ones on the cafeteria line at Luby's. Handled correctly, fresh greens are no where near those in appearance or, more importantly, taste and nutrition.

I like mustard greens raw, in a simple salad, and tossed with a warm dressing until just slightly wilted. Or, I like to briefly saute them. Last night I paired them with black-eyed peas and balsamic vinegar. The result was "a winner", so I thought I would share how I prepared them. My camera is a bit old, and doesn't take good quality close up food photographs, or I would have taken a picture of the finished product. I'm hoping to get a better camera soon, so I can start posting photos of my food.

Mustard Greens with Black-Eyed Peas and Balsamic Vinegar

4 Tablespoons bacon bits substitute (Chef's note: I prefer Whole Food's bacon bits substitute sold in the bulk bin area)

2 teaspoons caraway seed

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 small jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced

4 green onions, sliced, including all green tops

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

8 cups torn mustard greens

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 can organic black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed

Heat olive oil in large skillet. Add bacon substitute, caraway seed, garlic, jalapeno and green onions. Cook until onion is tender. Add black-eyed peas and cook a few minutes until beans are warm. Stir in vinegar and bring to a boil. Add greens, tossing to coat until slightly wilted. Plate and serve.

Please let me hear your favorite way to eat greens - mustard or otherwise!

Potato Salad

It's that time of the year for burgers and hot dogs on the grill, and, what goes better with burgers and dogs than old-fashioned potato salad?! Of course, on my grill, the burgers and dogs are meatless ones.

We were invited, recently, to attend a family cookout and I asked to bring the potato salad. Instead of making just regular, old-fashioned potato salad, I opted to make a newer version chocked full of fresh herbs and just the right amount of zingy lemon zest. The result was light and refreshing and proved to be the perfect twist on everyone's standard potato salad.

I choose to use new potatoes because they are lower in starch than Russets or Yukon Golds, which means they retain their shape when tossed and mixed with a creamy dressing. I look for the tiniest new potatoes possible. If available, it's fun to use several different colors - red, purple, gold - they will turn your salad into a colorful rainbow! And, yes, the fresh herbs and green onions I used were from one of our gardens.

Try this refreshing spin on potato salad at your next cookout! I promise it will be a hit!

Lemony Potato Salad with Fresh Herbs

3 pounds baby red potatoes

3/4 cup veganaise

3 tablespoons rice vinegar

4 medium green onions, thinly sliced

1/4 cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

2 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel

Bring potatoes to boil in large pot of water. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until potatoes are tender. Drain; let stand until cool enough to handle. In the meantime, make the dressing with the remaining ingredients and set aside. When potatoes are cool, cut into 3/4-inch pieces, place in a bowl and season liberally with salt and pepper. Add dressing, toss well.
Cover and chill. Can be made a day ahead.

Capers

I love capers. I suppose they could be considered a love/hate ingredient. People either love 'em or hate 'em, kinda like tarragon or cauliflower. I happen to Love 'em with a capital L. What is a caper, exactly, you wonder? Well, let me enlighten you regarding these tasty green pearls that pack a big ol' punch of salty flavor.

A caper is the immature flower bud of a low growing vine found in the Middle East and Mediterranean regions of the world. Fresh caper blossoms are not especially flavorful, but after sun-drying and brining in vinegar, or curing in salt their sharpness increases dramatically.

If the buds are not picked to become pickled capers, they turn into caper berries, which bear some resemblance to olives. Caper berries are not used in the same way as capers in recipes - they are more likely to be eaten alone, as a snack. Most recipes call for the small caper buds, not the larger and less salty caper berries.

Capers are categorized and sold by their size, with the smallest size being the most desirable and hence, more expensive: nonpareil (0-7 mm), surfines (7-8 mm), capucines (8-9 mm), capotes (9-11 mm), fines (11-13 mm), and grusas (14+ mm).

I prefer the smallest variety possible, the nonpareils, which are grown in the South of France. I buy capers at the international market, not in the conventional grocery store. The jars you get at a regular grocery store are tiny - only an ounce or two and quite expensive. At the international market I can get a 16 ounce jar of capers pickled in brine for about four dollars. You might be wondering which international market, but I'm saving that for another blog post about where I shop in the Metroplex (stay tuned!).

The nonpareils have a delicate texture and more pronounced taste than the larger varieties. Capers are a perfect substitute for anchovies - they impart the same saltiness and a similar "fishiness". I use capers in my vegan Caesar salad dressing in place of anchovies and it works beautifully. Another dish I like to make with good, quality capers is Pasta Puttanesca.

We had William and Judith over last weekend for cocktails and hors d'oeuvre's and one item on the buffet was grilled asparagus and carrots served with a creamy caper dressing. I grilled the vegetables early in the day and then chilled them in the ice box. Note: Robert said I should mention that I refer to the refrigerator as the ice box! I guess that's a part of my Southern upbringing because that is what it was called when I was growing up.

The dressing was super simple, but it was a big hit. I'm going to share the recipe with you, so you can try it yourself. Make sure you serve it well chilled. It is good as a dip or dressing with any grilled or raw vegetable, but it is particularly well paired with asparagus and carrots. I have a little left over from the gathering, so I plan on steaming a couple of artichokes this weekend. I'll stuff them with fresh herb couscous and will use the caper sauce as a dipping sauce for them, instead of butter. Along with a fresh picked salad straight from our garden, they'll make a light and delicious dinner.

Super Simple, Yet Very Delicious, Creamy Caper Dressing

1 cup vegan mayonaise (I used Veganaise)
1 cup vegan sour cream (I used Tofutti Sour Supreme)
1/2 cup capers (do not rinse)
6 Tablespoons fresh dill (must be fresh, don't substitute dried)
Fresh cracked pepper to taste (coarsely cracked)
2 teaspoons lemon juice

Put everything in a food processor except the pepper and twirl until combined. Season to taste with the coarsely cracked pepper.

Chef's Note: You can add even more capers if you really love them like I do and want even more pronounced caper taste. Or, you can add some of the brining liquid to impart more flavor. Just be careful to not add too much brine because you can thin the dressing out too much.

Chill and enjoy over your favorite grilled or raw veggies.

The French Room

We celebrated a very special occasion recently at the Adolphus Hotel. We checked into a luxury suite early in the afternoon and in the evening were joined by our closest friends in the suite for a bottle of bubbly and much celebratory toasting. Later in the evening, we all dined in the French Room - which, in my opinion, is one of the top dining destinations in Dallas.

You might wonder how well the French Room accomodated a vegetarian chef? The answer is - very well, very well, indeed! When our reservations were made, we notified them that one in our party of four was a lacto-vegetarian (I decided not to go the vegan route on this particular evening), and were told we would be easily accomodated.

Once seated in the opulent dining room, (By the way, do you see the beautiful lady in the picture above? Her hand is on a chair at the exact table we were seated at. It was a wonderful table because it was in the center of the room!) we were presented with menus. I was given a personalized menu outlining a four course dinner selected by the chef. I was told that I could either choose the chef's menu or that I was welcome to create my own menu by picking and choosing items off the "regular" menu.

I decided to place myself in the more than able hands of the French Room's Executive Chef ~ Jason Weaver, by selecting his specially designed vegetarian menu. Note ~ always trust the chef, even if you are one!

This is how my menu was written (it had no descriptive wording, just ingredients, which I thought was interesting):

White Asparagus Soup, Mercona Almonds, Orange

Dandelion Greens, Sherry Vinaigrette, Asparagus, Chives, Tomato

Intermezzo

Root Vegetable and Portabella Mushroom Gratin, Herb Oil

Tropical Fruits and Berries, Coconut Syrup, Tropical Sorbet

When I first examined the menu, one thing jumped out at me - "Why am I being served asparagus in two courses - both the soup and the salad?" Instead of questioning our table captain, I decided to again, trust in Chef Weaver's judgement, sit back and see what happened to my palate.

My, oh my, was I NOT disappointed!

My first course, the white asparagus soup, was deeply rich in both taste and creaminess. It was all I could do to give one tiny spoonful to Robert to taste. I savored every drop - it was unbelievably delicious.

My salad course was comprised of micro dandelion greens. They were teeny tiny and therefore exquisitely tender. The tomato was also micro diced into perfect squares (I was jealous of the sous chef's knife skills and the precise execution of the tiny tomato dice!). The green asparagus in the salad did not, in the least bit, conflict with the white asparagus in the soup. It worked! The Sherry vinaigrette was well executed with a perfect balance of sweet and sour. In all, the entire second course proved a crisp and refreshing follow-up to the heaviness and richness of the first course.

The Intermezzo course for everyone in our party was the same ~a small scoop of sorbet served inside a frozen, crystal orchid. Let me attempt to describe it better - imagine an orchid bloom carved out of crystal, and in the center where the stamen would normally be is a perfectly formed, small ball of sorbet. The crystal bloom was freezer chilled, which helped the sorbet from melting before we could eat it. It was a two or three bite portion, which was sufficiently enough to cleanse our palettes before the main course.

My main course was excellent. It was very "earthy" because of the root vegetables (which included one of my favorites ~ parsnips) as well as "meaty" from the use of portabella mushrooms. The herb oil was not prominent, and was the only item included on my menu that was not identifiable.

While everyone else indulged in heavy desserts which included chocolate cake and bread pudding, my ending was light and refreshing. I am not a big lover of sweets, so for me, it was the perfect ending. The tropical fruit was mango (once again the kitchen's knife skills shone in the perfectly diced mango) and the berries were raspberry. A sweet fresh coconut syrup pulled everything together.

At the end of our leisurely evening, we all agreed that we'd probably be talking about this particular night, and the incredible food we experienced, the rest of the year.

Peter's Garden

There's a place

I can get to

Where I'm safe

From the city blues

And its green

And its quiet

Only trouble was I had to buy it

(Chorus)

And I'll do anything I got to do

Cut my hair and shine my shoes

And keep on singin' the blues

If I can stay here in Johnny's garden

As the swift bird

Flies over the grasses

Dipping now and then

To take his breakfast

Thus I come and go

And I travel

And I can watch that bird
And unravel

(Chorus)
And I'll do anything I got to do
Cut my hair and shine my shoes
And keep on singin' the blues
If I can stay here in Johnny's garden

With his love

And his carin'

He puts his life
Into beauty sharin'

And his children

Are his flowers

There to give us peace

In quiet hours

(Chorus)
And I'll do anything I got to do
Cut my hair and shine my shoes
And keep on singin' the blues
If I can stay here in Johnny's garden

~Johnny's Garden by Stephen Stills

Just as Stephen wrote the above song about his gardener - John, and his garden at his estate in Elsted, Surrey in England, I could have just as easily penned it for our friend Peter, and his incredible back yard garden in University Park.

The first time I met Peter, we instantly connected. He's a gourmand, a witty conversationalist and extremely knowledgable about all things related to food and wine and gardening. I really enjoy conversing with him and talking "shop". Peter knows all about the history surrounding cuisine and cultures and I always learn new things when we visit.

Robert and I had the pleasure of being the guests of Peter, and his wife Julie, at their lovely home last weekend. We enjoyed a personalized tour of their wonderful garden as well as feasted on a gourmet four course dinner.

Peter's garden is quite spectacular. So many of the plants were new to us, and so many were edible! As we walked about the garden, Peter recited each plant's name, told us a fact or two about it, and promptly snapped off a leaf and instructed us to taste it. Most of the plants in his garden look to be strictly ornamental, but surprisingly, they were also edible. They were unlike anything I had ever seen or tasted and I didn't hesitate to ask if we could leave with a cutting, or two, for our own garden.

Happily, Peter agreed, and we were given cuttings of Sedum Spectabile

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedum_spectabile

as well as a sample plant of Hoja Santa (Piper Auritum)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoja

Peter had his "crop" of Sedum Spectabile growing in a wheelbarrow. I have a beautiful picture of it, but I cannot figure out how to post more than one photo to a blog entry, so until I master that connundrum, you'll have to just trust me on how breathtaking it was. Sedum Spectabile is a lovely succulent.

The Hoja Santa plant is like a very small elephant ear . Peter says it can take over a garden as easily as bamboo, so you have to be very careful where you plant it. I am excited about getting a sample of it, as we are in the middle of planting a tropical garden alongside the property line. It will have banana trees, hostas, elephant ears and now Hoja Santas. Not only is it hardy and tropical looking, it is also amazingly delicious! I have a picture of Peter's bed of Hoja Santas as well, and will work on getting it added to the blog so you can see it.

After our garden tour, we were wined and dined by Julie and Peter for several hours in their lovely home. As I said, Peter is an excellent cook, and although he admitted early in the evening that he had been intimidated to cook for me, he did a fantastic job.

Here is Peter's menu:

First Course ~ Mexican Caldo in a traditional spicy tomato broth served with crusty bread and fresh butter

Second Course ~ Fresh Tropical Fruit and Vegetable Salad with Papaya, Avocado and Tomato

Third Course ~ Sauteed Portabella Mushrooms served over Rice Spiced with Garlic, Tumeric and Cumin

Fourth Course ~ Black Cherry Swirl and Chocolate Chocolate Chip Gelato (from Paciugo ~ http://www.paciugo.com/)

The meal was only surpassed by the stimulating conversation and warm fellowship shared in their dining room.

We always enjoy spending time with Peter and Julie, and thanks to their generosity, we now have a bit of their spectacular garden growing in ours!

All Hail Kale

We attended a potluck/fundraiser last weekend. This wasn't specifically a vegetarian potluck, so I went prepared to not be able to eat very much. I fixed a huge platter of Pesto Pasta Primavera and knew that I could, at least, eat a bit of that, although frankly, I rarely like to eat my own cooking.

Shhhh---don't tell anyone! It's a common chef syndrome, not eating your own food. It's partly because we've lived and breathed the ingredients and preparation all day, and partly because, quite frankly, it's always nicer to eat a meal prepared by someone else, rather than yourself. Thankfully, on the days I can't face my own food because I'm bleary eyed from cooking 24/7, Robert enjoys cooking for me. He's also good at it, so I am blessed.

Anyway, back to the potluck...I was actually able to eat pretty well. There was hummus, a corn dish, a frittata and between them and a small portion of my pasta, I fared quite well. One guest arrived late, when we were already fairly satiated. I watched as she placed her potluck contribution on the buffet table and removed the foil. She announced, "This is organic kale I grew in my garden". I couldn't resist, so I quickly grabbed another plate and served myself a helping of her beautiful, home grown, emerald green kale.

I took one bite of it and immediately had to ask how she prepared it - it was that good! Her preparation could not have been more simplistic, nor the result more delicious. She told me she had lightly steamed it then tossed it with toasted sesame oil and sprinkled it with sesame seeds. It was fresh, it was flavorful, it was fantastic!

Since the potluck, I've put my own spin on her dish. I made Jasmine Fried Rice one night this week with green onions, asparagus, baby bella mushrooms, and diced tofu. I wanted something "clean tasting" to accompany it, and the sesame kale was the perfect fit. I washed the kale in a sink of cold water, removed the thick stems and cut the leaves into a chiffonade. I steamed the greens over boiling water until barely tender. In the meantime, I thinly sliced three cloves of garlic and sauteed them very slowly over a low heat in a small amount of roasted sesame oil in a saute pan. When the garlic was nicely carmelized, I removed the pan from the heat and added regular and black sesame seeds to the warmed oil. They soon began to pop, releasing their essence. I timed the steaming of the greens to finish at the same time the seeds finished popping. I drizzled the flavored oil over the greens, tossed everything lightly to coat and served it alongside the Jasmine Fried Rice.

Kale might not be a comman ingredient in your kitchen. This quick and simple way to prepare it makes it easy to work it into your diet. Why not try a helping of sesame kale over a bowl of your favorite rice? For added protein, top with tofu lightly sprinkled with Five Spice Powder and pan fry in a dry skillet until crisp and golden.

Kale is an excellent source of vitamin A, vitamin C and manganese. It is also a very good source of dietary fiber, copper, calcium, vitamin B6 and potassium.

For an in-depth nutritional profile click here: Kale.

Dining Review - Urban Taco

I really enjoy the food at Urban Taco in Mockingbird Station. The food is impeccably fresh and the prices are extremely reasonable. You order at the counter, are given a number to place on your table, and your food is delivered to you. No matter how busy they are, every time I’ve dined there my food has always arrived promptly.

You can just about make a meal out of their “Warm Chips & Salsa Trio” for three bucks. You’ll have trouble choosing only 3 from their list of 8 different mouth-watering salsas. They are ALL good, and I would know, I’ve tried every last one of them! My hands down favorite is the “Roasted Peanut Habanero” – make sure you try it. I also really enjoy the “Poblano Pepita Pesto”, “Avocado Lime Crema” and their “Black Bean and Roasted Corn Pico”. As I said, they are ALL very good, so you can’t go wrong. UT’s chips are never greasy, and are cut into long thick strips making for easier salsa dunking!

Pair up the chips and salsa with a UT cocktail - which are icy cold and not too sweet. I’m not a fan of sweet, tropical drinks - I'm happy to say my Pina Colada days are WAY over, thank you very much! I enjoy UT’s “Paloma” - a cocktail consisting of tequila, grapefruit soda and lime. They also offer Mojitos which are great if you find yourself eating on their patio on a hot day.

If you are still hungry after eating chips, sampling salsas and swilling cocktails, order a “Roasted Corn and Lime Crema Taco”. UT’s tacos are quite small - you might be surprised how small the first time you order one, but after the salsa trio, one of their tacos is all you will need to top off your tummy! My second favorite taco choice is the “Potato, Zucchini and Poblano”, it’s delicious. But, if you only have room for one, go for the roasted corn taco.

Some sides worth noting are the “Blanco Beans”, which are vegetarian and quite good, and the “Mango-Jicama Slaw”. The slaw is nicely done - light and bright, slightly sweet and not swimming in dressing so the cabbage retains its crispness.

I think you will enjoy the veggie-friendly menu at Urban Taco and will appreciate the freshness of their ingredients. And, here’s a bonus to know about -- if you go to their home page – http://www.urban-taco.com/ and sign up for their “Urban Taco Exclusives” you will immediately be sent a coupon for a free order of their “Warm Chips & Salsa Trio”– you can’t beat that!