Tag Archives: arugula

Quinoa Salad with Arugula, Radishes, and Corn

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There are no new recipes under the sun, or something like that.  I love the flavor combination featured in this salad enough that I’ve featured a similar recipe before.  But this variation is even simpler because instead of making that creamy oil-free dressing (which is, by the way, well worth making), you just squeeze a lime into the salad with a pinch of salt for clean, bright, summertime flavor.This recipe is also worth revisiting at this time of year because it’s a great way to use up any odds and ends from your CSA or exuberant vegetable shopping.  Do you have a clean-out-the-fridge day of the week?  It’s Saturday around here, both because there’s time to cook and because I need to make room for the next CSA box in the fridge. Continue reading →

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Sauteed Greens with Garlic

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Although it’s only been a few weeks, I’m feeling pretty proud of myself for staying on top of both of our CSAs.  A CSA is a great motivator to cook vegetables because the more the veggies pile up, the less room I have for my extensive condiment collection and the really good stuff, like chocolate sauce and enough feta cheese to last me until fall.  (What?  It’s pickled.)

At this time of year, our veggie box is full of leaves, and this recipe is my go-to solution for cooking them down to a manageable size for storage or immediate consumption.  These silky greens are great alone or as a component of another dish (try whole wheat pasta with these greens and basil pesto).

This treatment works well for softer greens, including tender kale, and would also work for briefly simmered collards or tough kale.  I made one batch with rainbow chard this week, pictured below, and a separate batch using beet greens, arugula, and radish tops.  Whatever greens you use, start with a lot; one bunch of greens looks awfully puny after a few minutes in the pan. Continue reading Sauteed Greens with Garlic (click for recipe)

Fava Bean and Arugula Crostini

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I love many vegetables.  Most vegetables, even.  But I do not love fava beans.

Sure, they’re the color of springtime.  And at their best, they do taste like something that color green should taste.  But they are so much work.  (Every year around this time, someone acts like it’s a new idea to grill whole fava beans, but that can’t really work.  Does that really work?)

So I only cook fava beans when they appear in my CSA box.  One or two pounds can be manageable if you have half an hour to kill: string the pods and pull them open, push out the beans with your thumb, simmer them for a few minutes, drain and run them under cold water, then peel the bean-skin from each and every individual bean.

Then see if you find yourself admiring the fava’s color and flavor, or if you find yourself vowing to just steam some broccoli next time.  If you forget your vow and find yourself with another pound of favas, though, this recipe is one of my favorites.

Continue reading Fava Bean and Arugula Crostini (click for recipe)

Quinoa Salad with Radishes, Peas, Arugula, and Cilantro-Sweet Corn Dressing

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Today is one of those nice days where a lot of people I love are together under one roof.  My in-laws are visiting, and my brother and his wife are passing through town with our favorite nephew (also, yes, only nephew).  I got to putter around in the garden for a while, sneaking up on weeds and picking ingredients for this salad while my mother-in-law, who is an amazing cook, made the rest of the meal.

I know I once said I couldn’t tolerate a one-color meal, but it turns out that maybe I can if the color is springtime green.  I wish that I had taken a picture of it all together, but you will just have to imagine how lovely the table looked with this salad alongside a bright green pea-and-basil soup and followed by an equally brilliant avocado mousse.  So green!

The top left picture below is the creamy cilantro and sweet corn dressing that I used for the salad.  It’s just corn, cilantro, lime, and salt, but it has such a creamy texture and bright, sweet flavor that I’m already thinking about how else I’m going to use it this summer.  Suggestions, as always, are warmly welcomed–you guys have such good ideas, thank you for sharing them!

Continue reading Quinoa Salad with Radishes, Peas, Arugula, and Cilantro-Sweet Corn Dressing (click for recipe)

Lentil and Yogurt Salad

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It’s no secret that parents find themselves doing things that they wouldn’t have expected of themselves before having kids.  Today alone, I patiently explained to my kids over and over why they couldn’t play with a ball that they’d thrown into the chicken yard (it was covered in chicken poop), calmly told my one-year old to take a huge rock out of her mouth (we were inside; where did that come from?), and rejoiced along with my three year old when we found a small stuffed toy that she was desperately looking for (it was stuffed down into her pants leg, of course–yes, that’s right, the leg of the pants that she was wearing).

Today our entire family also attended a preschool “graduation” ceremony celebrating the fact that our three-year-old had finished this year of preschool…and will be starting another year of preschool in the fall.  Is that crazy?  I definitely would have thought so before becoming a parent.  And I guess I still think it’s a little bit silly now.  But you know what?  It was just darling to see her pride and excitement as her class filed in, to hear her voice ring out above the others as she belted out the word “chrysalis” in a song about a butterfly, and to see the smile on her face as she accepted her “diploma,” posed for a photograph, and then sprinted to us, beaming.  And even if it’s making too much of a not-much milestone, I love to see my girls learning to love school, which I know will serve them well in life.

Afterwards, we stayed for the school picnic.  I brought this salad, but don’t be fooled into thinking that the kids even tried it–they had sandwiches instead. Continue reading Lentil and Yogurt Salad (click for recipe)