Vegetables + Salads – Page 14 – Writing With My Mouth Full

Ginger-Mint Chicken with Mizuna and Arugula Salad

I walked to my desk this morning and a box was waiting. Anna sent me my annual supply of greens from her garden. There were two Ziploc-fulls of arugula and of Japanese mizuna. There was also a bunch of ginger-mint leaves. Chives and Texas tarragon were also included. They were an absolutely nice surprise to start my day.

I was famished after my third session of bootcamp in Central Park. When I got home, I wanted to make and eat something quick but filling at the same time. This recipe may look long, but if you have an Asian family pantry, I bet you already have most of the ingredients listed here. Of course, if you don’t have someone in Chicago sending you fresh ginger-mint leaves from her garden, feel free to substitute with regular mint leaves and a knob of peeled and grated fresh ginger. If you can’t find mizuna, try baby spinach, chicory or mustard greens–it’s important that your greens are bitter and spicy at the same time because the chicken is a tad sweet with the brown sugar. As for the corn, I added them at the last second because I found them cooked in the fridge. Using a serrated knife, I cut the kernels off the cob. You can use raw or canned corn kernels, too. The fried onions were a nice touch, but again, if you’re feeling lazy, just sautÃ© them with the chicken.

When everything was done, Anna’s fresh greens made this dish even more nourishing. An hour-long of lunges, crab-crawls and push-ups weren’t so bad after all.

Ingredients:
4 boneless chicken thighs, cut in small pieces
2 portobello mushrooms, cleaned, cut in small pieces
1 cup corn kernels
a handful of baby carrots, halved
fresh ginger-mint leaves
1 small jalapeÃ±o pepper, seeded and chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsps brown sugar
2 tbsps fish sauce
2 tbsps rice vinegar
olive oil

For the fried onions:
1 larged red onion, sliced thinly, rings separated
1/4 cup of flour
peanut oil

For the salad:
a handful of Japanese mizuna greens, torn
a handful of arugula, torn
juice from half a lemon
1 tbsp red hot sauce
2 tbsps soy sauce
3 cloves of garlic, minced
olive oil, salt, pepper

1. Make the fried onions. In a large bowl, toss the onions in the flour to coat. Using a skillet, heat some peanut oil and fry the onions in small batches without overlapping. When golden brown on both sides, remove with a slotted spoon to a plate lined with paper towel. Set aside.
2. In another small bowl, combine brown sugar, fish sauce and vinegar. Stir until sugar is dissolved.
3. Heat a large wok over high heat. Add some oil and stir-fry the chicken for about 10 minutes with the carrots. Add mushrooms, corn, pepper and garlic. Add the fish sauce mixture. Stir in the fried onions and the ginger-mint leaves. Turn off the heat and make your salad.
4. In a salad bowl, combine the lemon juice with the soy sauce and olive oil. Stir in the garlic and the hot sauce and season with salt and pepper. Toss in the greens. Serve with the ginger-mint chicken.

Roasted Duck and Plum Salad

I first served this roasted duck and plum salad from delicious. Magazine last summer when I invited about ten people from work over for dinner. I prepared several dishes to accommodate even the vegetarians, but this one was my favorite. It’s even easier if you just buy the roasted duck from Chinatown.

This is a great salad to celebrate the beginning of the summer because plums are readily available in the market. In New York City’s Chinatown, a pound of bean sprouts cost 50 cents. You can get plum sauce from the Asian aisle in your grocery store. I’ve used two small packets of Chinese takeout duck sauce as an alternative, too. Another time, I found a jar of orange marmalade in our fridge and used two tablespoons of it instead.

Ingredients:
half of a roasted duck, chopped into small pieces
6 plums, halved and seeds removed
a handful of bean sprouts
2 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
1/3 cup white sugar
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 small red chili, finely chopped
2 tbsps plum sauce
1 tbsp lime juice
a handful of basil leaves
a handful of cilantro
salt, pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350Âº. Place plums, anise, cinammon and sugar in a baking dish with 1/4 cup of water. Cover with foil and roast for 35 minutes until plums are soft. Remove from the oven, drain and save the juice. Set the plums aside to cool. When plums are cool enough, peel and slice into smaller halves.
2. In a small bowl, make the dressing. Combine the plum juice with the garlic, chili, plum sauce and lime juice. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Using your hands, shred the duck meat off the bones. Combine the duck and the peeled plums in a large salad. Toss with sprouts, basil, cilantro and sprinkle with the dressing.

Ramps with Minced Chorizo and Strawberries

When I begin to see ramps for sale in the farmers’ market, I only think of one thing: it’s spring. I bought a couple of bunches last Wednesday and stopped by the High Hope Hog tent to pick up a package of their spicy chorizo. For the last few ramp seasons, I’ve sautÃ©ed them with bacon or pancetta. This time, I wanted to try something slightly different. I’m loving the fruit-in-my-salad thing lately, maybe because we East Coasters have been deprived of fruits all winter, but there have been beautiful strawberries in the market and I wanted to add a little bit of sweet and tart to this dish. The result? The ramps balanced the perfect combination of subtle fruitiness and pork saltiness.

Ingredients:
2 bunches of ramps
3 pieces of spicy chorizo
a handful of fresh strawberries, sliced thinly
a bowl of ice water
salt, pepper, olive oil

1. Add thoroughly washed ramps in boiling water for four minutes. When they’re done, drain and shock them in ice water to stop its cooking.
2. Using a large skillet, heat some oil and fry the sausages until brown on all sides. While cooking, crush the sausages in smaller pieces with a wooden spoon.
3. Using the same skillet, add the ramps and toss them in the rendered fat with salt and pepper. Plate and serve with strawberries.

Insalata Caprese, Tomato and Mozarella Salad

A recent visit to the farmers’ market introduced me to hydroponic tomatoes and basil. It was the Shushan Valley Hydro-Farms’ first day at the market and one of the organizers walked me to their stall after I expressed disappointment that there were no vegetable vendors around. Sure it was a rainy day but a girl needs her vegetables!

I’ve only heard of the term hydroponic in relation to a certain addictive herb, so when the owners showed me a photo of their farm, I was intrigued. A variety of techniques exist in hydroponic gardening. Instead of soil containing silt and clay, mineral nutrient solutions are introduced to the plants’ water supply. Because plants absorb essential mineral nutrients as inorganic ions in water, soil is no longer required for the plants to thrive when the minerals are artifically added. Their tomatoes were happily plump and the basil leaves all had a nice shade of healthy green. I love the idea that I don’t have to wait for Mother Nature to make up her mind about the weather before I can buy tomatoes.

I bought a basil plant for less than $3, picked several of its leaves for this caprese recipe and three weeks later, it’s still thriving in a water-filled small plastic cup on my window sill. I can’t say the same for the tomatoes though; I bought five of them and they were all gone by next morning.

Ingredients:
2 plum tomatoes, thinly sliced
fresh mozarella, sliced
fresh basil leaves, thoroughly washed, patted dry, chiffonade
salt, pepper, olive oil

1. Arrange tomatoes and mozarella on a plate. Top with basil leaves and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Soba Noodles with Vegetables

When I want to prepare something quick but substantial, I always turn to Asian noodles. You can see me at Sobaya slurping my soba noodles most Sunday afternoons. Before Honmura An closed, it was the best place to watch a Japanese soba maker perform his art. But it was in Chicago where I first tasted a soba dish tossed like a salad with vegetables and mushrooms. Four years later, I can still remember how Anna made it for the Dr. and me.

In some small way, I wanted to bring back the old with the new by making this familiar recipe the first for this new Web address. For my take, I used carrots and sweet peas. They complemented the soba’s buckwheat color. Soba is one reason why dried mushrooms are great to have in your pantry. You can just soak them in warm water a few minutes before you need to use them. The nori, or dried seaweed, provided an extra crunch. You can make this dish your own by adding any of your favorite vegetables; just julienne them for a prettier presentation.

Ingredients:
soba noodles
dried shiitake mushrooms
1 small carrot, peeled and julienned
a handful of sweet peas, roughly chopped
2 stalks of scallions, finely chopped
nori, or dried Japanese seaweed
sesame seeds, toasted
sesame oil
rice vinegar
light soy sauce

1. If using dried mushrooms, soak shiitake in a bowl of warm water for thirty minutes. After soaking, drain shiitake mushrooms and squeeze out excess water using a paper towel. Slice in strips. Set aside.
2. In a small bowl, mix equal parts sesame oil, soy sauce and rice vinegar.
3. Cook soba noodles in boiling water for about 5 minutes. When done, drain and fluff with a fork to keep the noodles from sticking together.
4. Pour sesame sauce little by little over soba noodles. Toss with the mushrooms and the vegetables. Mix in sesame seeds and crushed nori. Top with chopped scallions.