Farm Fried Rice

Photo by Julia Mueller of her  vegetable fried rice from her blog, The Roasted Root.

When Sally and JP told me that  farm share from  Glade Road Growing  this week was slated to include baby bok choy, carrots, sweet peppers, lettuce mix and garlic this week, I suggested that I come up with a recipe for fried rice (which will use everything except the lettuce.)  Mueller's  recipe, which she developed for the spring features broccoli, spinach and green onions and is a side dish, but her photograph was so beautiful and her blog so in line with the kinds of recipes I develop that I decided to feature it here.  Like hers, my fried rice is mostly veggies with some rice, rather than the reverse proportions that you will find in your typical Chinese restaurant.  Mine is more yellow, as I use turmeric and olive oil to flavor the rice.

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Serves 4


Ingredients
2 cups brown rice
4 cups water
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
5 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, divided
1 teaspoon of ground turmeric

1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 baby bok chok, sliced thin on the slant
2 cups shredded carrot
1  piece fresh ginger, finely chopped to make 1 to 2 tablespoons
8 cloves garlic, smashed peeled and finely chopped

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 onion, chopped (or green onion, if you make this in the spring)
2 cups green peas (fresh if you make this in the spring, frozen this time of year)

8  duck or large chicken eggs, well beaten (you can substitute 1 cup of cooked chicken for 4 of the eggs, if you prefer.)

4 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
4  tablespoons miso, thinned with an equal amount of water
Chopped roasted peanuts

Instructions

1. To cook the rice, in a medium saucepan with a heavy bottom and a tight-fitting lid, combine the rice and water and bring to a boil.  Rinse.  Return to pot, add teaspoon sea salt, 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil  and ground turmeric and bring again to a boil again.  Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.  Turn off heat and leave for 40 minutes until water is absorbed.

2. While rice is cooking, saute the vegetables. Add the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil to a large skillet, wok, or saucepan and heat to medium-high. Add the bok choy, bell pepper and onions and cook 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 3 to 4 tablespoons of water, cover, and continue cooking until the bok choy  is bright green and the peppers and onions have begun softening, about 3 to 5 minutes.

3.  Add the shredded carrot, ginger, garlic and pepper flakes. Continue cooking until garlic and ginger are very fragrant, about 3 minutes.

4.  Transfer the cooked rice to the skillet with the veggies and add the peas.  Stir everything together well and reduce the heat to medium-low. Allow the rice mixture to sit.

5.  Scramble the the eggs in a separate skillet and add to the fried rice.  Turn off the heat and stir in the miso, toasted sesame oil and peanuts. 

Baingan Bharta AKA Northern Indian Eggplant Curry

Photo by Sabra Krock for the New York Times.

Ingredients:

1 large eggplant
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil


1/2 tsp gound cumin 
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon ginger, finely chopped
4 cloves smashed, peeled, finely chopped
1 green chili finely chopped, seeds removed (optional--for extra heat)
1 tomato, diced
2 cups cooked garbanzo or chicken (optional)
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup of cilantro or basil, finely chopped
 
Directions:


1.  Prick the eggplant with a thin-blade knife. Grill over very high heat, turning as necessary until the skin is blackened and the eggplant collapses. Or broil, or roast on a heated cast-iron pan or in a counter-top convection oven at 450 degrees F.  It will take about 20 minutes.

2.  When the eggplant is cool enough to handle, peel (this will be easy) and trim away the hard stem. Chop or mash in a bowl, with lime juice.

3.  Toast spices in a dry skillet and set to the side.

4.  Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat; add the onion. Cook, stirring often, until the onion is golden brown, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger  (and green chili, if you'd like) and cook for another minute. Add the tomato, toasted spices and salt. Cook until the tomato is soft, 5 minutes or so.

5.  If you would like for this to be a main dish, you can add two cups cooked garbanzo beans or  chopped cooked chicken. 

6. Stir in the eggplant purée and cook, stirring, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the cilantro and cilantro and turn off the heat. Serve hot with warm chapati bread or pita, or over cooked rice quinoa. 

Kale and (Of Course Avocado) Guacamole

Photo by Ian McSpadden for Fifty Shades of Kale by Drew Ramsey, M.D. and Jennifer Iserloh.

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Sally, JP and Jody will be on vacation, but Sally tells me that the  Glade Road Growing farm share for September 6 will include kale, sweet peppers, eggplant, head lettuce, basil, tomatoes and garlic. 

Inspired by Dr. Ramsey's suggestion, I decided to add kale to my guacamole recipe.  While I usually used cilantro, I decided to try basil, since that's what available.  (His recipe calls for red onions and jalapeños, while mine uses garlic, sweet peppers and cumin. I also use fewer avocados and add cooked beans to increase the protein and fiber and cut the fat.)

Ingredients:

2 cups kale leaves
2 Hass ripe avocados, cut in half, pits removed
2 tablespoons of lime juice
1/2 cup of cooked white beans
3 ripe tomatoes, finely chopped
1/4 cup sweet red pepper,  stem and core removed and finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic  smashed, root end cut off, peeled and chopped

1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup fresh basil chopped
1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin


1.  Steam the kale over boiling water for a couple of minutes.  Rinse in a cold water bath, to maintain the bright green color, drain and chop finely.

2.   Scoop out the flesh out of the avocado and place in a large bowl, along with the cooked white beans and immediately coat in lime juice to keep the avocado from browning.   Add salt and mash with the back of a wooden spoon until it is still a bit chunky.it chunky.

3.  Stir in kale, tomatoes, red peppers, garlic, cumin and   basil.  Cover and store in the refrigerator up to 10 hours.

4.  Serve with whole grain tortilla chips, toasted whole wheat pita wedges, or toasted soft corn tortillas.

Savory Leek Crêpes

Photo from  the site Good To Know (no photographer credited)

Sally tells me that this week's farm share from Glade Road Growing will include leeks, so I thought I would come up with a recipe for crêpes.  On weeks when you don't have leeks this  recipe would be good with either spinach or broccoli.

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Serves  6

Crêpe Batter:

1 cup white whole wheat, sprouted whole wheat or unbleached white flour
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter, melted
Filling:

1 ir 2 leeks, washed, root end removed, drained and chopped
1 1/4 cups milk
1Tablespoon + 2 teaspoons butter
3 Tablespoons flour
2 Teaspoons wholegrain mustard
2/3 cup shredded Gruyère or extra sharp Cheddar cheese
Sea salt and ground nutmeg to taste

If you want a heartier recipe.  You can also add 1 cup cooked chicken, chopped or one cup of cooked white or black beans, slightly mashed, to the filling.

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1.  To make the crêpe batter, combine all the batter ingredients in a blender  and pulse for 10 seconds. Place the batter in the refrigerator for 1 hour. This allows the bubbles to subside so the crêpes will be less likely to tear during cooking.  (If you want to make the batter ahead of time, you can store it for up to 48 hours in the refrigerator.)  If you don't have a blender, you can whisk together the eggs, milk and butter in a small bowl.  In a large bowl, make a well in the flour and sprinkle on the salt.  Fill the well with the liquid mixture and then whisk together until fairly smooth and refrigerate.

2.   To cook the crêpes, heat a lightly oiled cast iron skillet on medium  until a bead of water evaporates.  Spoon 1/4 cup of batter into the middle of the pan.  Tilt the pan with a circular motion so that the batter coats the surface evenly.  Cook for 30 seconds and flip. Cook for another 10 seconds and remove to the cutting board. Lay he crêpes out flat so they can cool. Continue until all batter is gone.  This will make about 18 crêpes.  (After they have cooled you can stack the crêpes and store in seal-able plastic bags in the refrigerator for several days or in the freezer for up to two months. If you are using frozen crepes, you will need to thaw them on a rack before gently peeling them apart.

3.   To make the filling, first melt the butter in the bottom of a saucepan and saute the leeks for 2 minutes, cover and cook for a further 3-4 minutes or until tender. Transfer to a plate.

4.  Mix flour with a bit of milk to make a paste.  Add remaining milk to the saucepan and bring to a rolling simmer.   Gradually stir in butter and the flour paste until it thickens. Turn down to warm and stir in the cheese to melt.  Stir in  mustard, cooked leeks, salt and nutmeg, and, if desired, chicken or beans.

5.  Divide the filling among the cooked crepes,, putting a bit in the center and then folding in half and then half again, as shown in  photograph.

6.  Serve warm.  This would be good with a salad, made from this week's baby escarole, with chopped tomatoes and sweet peppers.

Heirloom Tomato and Onion Pie

Photo from Emily Hilliard's pie blog, Nothing in the House.


When I was at Glade Road Growing on Friday picking up my farm share, JP suggested an onion pie recipe this week,  I had just seen a recipe for tomato pie thanks to my friend writer and artist Angelyn DeBord of Appalshop, who got it from WV State Folklorist Emily Hilliard, who, in turn, adapted it from that wonderful Eastern Kentucky (Corbin) native Ronni Lundy's cookbook, Shuck Beans, Stack Cakes, and Honest Fried Chicken.  So in answer to JP's request, I've added more onions to Ronni's recipe and made some other changes.

Lundy believes that tomato pie is derived from that southern restaurant favorite stewed tomatoes. Many other recipes for tomato pie include mayonnaise, but I prefer otherwise, as does Hilliard.   My pie crust adds  cornmeal and grated Parmesan cheese. I also prefer my tomatoes and onions sliced, rather than chopped, since they are so pretty.

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Serves  6

Crust:3/4 cup white whole wheat  or sprouted wheat flour
1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 T cold butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces or you can substitute extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup buttermilk (or 1/4 cup yogurt + 1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon water or milk)


Filling:
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter or extra virgin olive oil
1 cup red or white onion, sliced thin
3 cups fresh tomatoes, sliced and left to dry a bit on the counter for a half-hour
1 cup milk
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 or five fresh basil leaves, rolled and sliced thinly
1/2 teaspoon sea salt


1. To make the crust, whisk together in a medium bowl, the flour, corn meal and salt, then use your fingers to work in the butter or olive oil.  Pour buttermilk into the flour mixture and stir until well blended but still damp. Roll into a ball, cover and refrigerate, which will allow the fat to form layers that make for a flakier crust.

2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Melt the Tablespoon of butter into a large skillet. Add onions and cook until softened.

3.  Drain the juice from the tomatoes and add milk to the juice. Add a bit of the liquid mixture to the cornstarch and stir to make a smooth paste.  Whisk the sugar, cornstarch paste, and spices into the remaining liquid mixture until well blended.  Pour into the skillet with the onions and turn heat to medium.  Bring to a boil, stirring constantly for for 1 minute, then remove from the heat and let cool slightly.

4.  Layer the tomato slices on top of the onions and liquid mixture.

4.  Turn the pie crust dough out onto a floured board and roll into a circle the size of your skillet.  Cut into strips about an inch wide for the lattice top.  Lay the strips of dough over the top of the filling,  weaving to make a lattice, if desired.

4. Place skillet in the oven and bake for 25 minutes until the dough is golden-brown.

Grilled Eggplant and Fennel

Photo from Gibbet Hill Farm

Sally tells me that tomorrow's farm share from Glade Road Growing is slated to include fennel, eggplant, sweet pepper, garlic, beets and tomatoes.  Continuing with the hot weather recipes, here's one for grilled eggplant and fennel.




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Serves 4


1 large eggplant or 2 small eggplants cut into 1/2 inch thick rounds
1 fennel bulb, stalks and fronds away and reserve for another use, with core trimmed until there is
      just enough to hold the fennel together, cut into quarters.   Slice one of the more tender stalks on a       slant and chop up a few fronds for garnish in this recipe.
2 tomatoes, cut into eights

Dressing:
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves of fresh garlic, peeled, smashed and minced
1 teaspoon cumin
1 dash paprika
sea salt
freshly ground pepper

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1.  Prep vegetables.

2.  Combine the ingredients for the dressing in a large bowl.  Add eggplant and fennel and toss until covered.

3.  Grill eggplant and fennel on medium grill 5 - 8 minutes per side.  Fennel should retain some crispness.  Eggplant should be tender.  If you don't have a grill, you can roast the veggies in the oven on a parchment paper covered baking sheet at 450 degrees F.  It will probably take 10 minutes on each side.

4.  Drizzle with some more balsamic vinegar and serve warm on separate plates, garnished with tomato wedges and a few fennel fronds. If you would like for this to be a meal, rather than a side, you can combine with 2 cups of cooked beans or or 2 cups of cooked chicken or 1/4 pound of  feta cheese and 4 tablespoons of pine nuts, walnuts or peanuts.

Heirloom Tomatoes with Arugula, Onion and Basil

Photo from Christine at Fresh Local and Best.

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Sally tells me this week's share from Glade Road Growing  will include eggplant,  a sweet pepper, a red onion, tomatoes, arugula and basil.  Add some zucchini and you have the makings for ratatouille. Or, if you want, you can grill the eggplant and pepper outside and serve it with this salad.

If you like, this would be good topped with crumbled feta cheese and pitted kalamata olives.  To make it a main course, you could add 2 cups of cooked garbanzo beans (cooking directions) and 4 hard-boiled eggs quartered.


Serves 4


Ingredients

1-2 pounds of heirloom tomatoes, cored and sliced crosswise into disks
4 cups fresh arugula, loosely packed
1/2 onion, finely chopped
8 or more fresh basil leaves,  chiffonade-cut (stacked, rolled and sliced thin into ribbons)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste


1.  In a large bowl, add the arugula and drizzle with olive oil, 1 teaspoon of balsamic vinegar and a pinch of sea salt.  Toss gently to coat the leaves.

2.  Plate the arugula.   Top with tomatoes and basil.  Season with pepper.

Raw Beet Slaw

Photograph from Crissy Cavanaugh's recipe collection at her blog.

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When I went by Glade Road Growing last Friday to pick up my share, Sally suggested I continue the no-cook option with a beet slaw this week.  I took my inspiration from the above photograph.

Serves 4

2 raw beets, peeled and shredded
2 carrots, grated
1 Granny Smith apple, diced
1 green onion, root end removed and chopped
½ cup pecans
1/2 cup of chopped cilantro
juice of 1 lime
1/2 cup raw shredded coconut
1 TB orange juice concentrate
1 teaspoon cumin
1 TB extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1.  Combine the green onions, oil, horseradish, lime juice, orange juice, cumin and pecans  together in a large bowl.

2.  Fold in the beets, carrots, apples and cilantro.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

3.  Chill for at least an hour or overnight.  


For a bonus, take a look at Freya Bellin's recipe for raw beet tartare I found at Mark Bittman's site. I think it would be really good with goat cheese on pitas!

Stuffed Fresh Tomatoes

Photo from Richmond-based food writer Tim Vidra's recipe for Aftertaste.

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The tomatoes are in!  While they've been on sale at Glade Road Growing's farm stands for weeks, they've finally arrived in sufficient quantities for the vegetable share, along with basil, garlic, summer squash, onion and a pepper (plus a beets or kohlrabi, which I'm not including in this recipe, as I featured them last week.

If it were cooler, this might sound like the perfect time for ratatouille.  But, arrgh, it was in the nineties this weekend and will still be high eighties now that the heat wave is "over."  Who feels like cooking?  I don't.  Last week, in her newsletter, Sally suggested grilling or using a crock pot in the evening to keep the house cooler, but I thought, why not something raw?

If the tomatoes in your bag are the large heirloom slicers, as shown above, great.  If not, no problem.  I'm not sure how many tomatoes you'll be getting, so, if there are fewer, enjoy what you get and use any extra stuffing in pitas or tossed with cooked pasta and/or beans that have been chilled.  The original recipe called for cukes and dill (and no squash, sweet pepper, onion, garlic and basil) so I made some changes.

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3-4  tomatoes, topped and cored with a paring knife
1 summer squash, stem and end cut off and diced
1/4  sweet pepper, stemmed, seeded and diced 
3 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons fresh basil, chopped, divided into two portions
2 teaspoons onions, chopped finely
1 garlic clove, peeled, smashed and diced finely
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

1.  Sprinkle the inside of each tomato with salt. This will pull the juices from the tomato and into the well.

2.  To make the dressing, combine olive oil, vinegar, garlic, onion and a pinch of salt and pepper, whisking to combine.

3. Dice the tomato top/core and add to the prepped squash, sweet pepper, crumbled feta and half of the  basil. Pour the dressing over the diced ingredients and stir to combine.

4.  Scoop the salad into the cored tomatoes and garnish with remaining basil. 

Roasted Veggie, Chickpea and Collard Salad with Tahini Dressing

Photo accompanied Rachel Schwartzman's recipe at  Lillian Zhao's site, Further Food.


The July 19 farm share from Glade Road Growing will include potatoes, onion, kohlrabi, beets and collards.  Here's a roasted salad inspired by Rachel Scwartzman's recipe (she had sweet potatoes, beets and collards to work with.)

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Serves 4

Ingredients:

Salad:
1 cup dried chickpeas
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 bay leaves
potatoes, washed and cut into quarters or eights, depending on size
beets, washed and quartered
kohlrabi, washed and cut into eights
1 onion, washed, peeled and cut into eights
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
collard greens, washed and  coarsely chopped

Dressing:
1/3 cup sesame raw sesame seeds
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup water

1 large garlic clove
1 tablespoon of orange  juice concentrate
1/2 teaspoon of cumin
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 tablespoon of cilantro leaves
1 teaspoon miso paste

Instructions:

1.  The night before, cook 1 cup dry chickpeas,  in a medium saucepan with a heavy bottom and a tight-fitting lid, cover with 2 cups water, and and bring to a boil.  Rinse.  Return to pot, add ½ teaspoon sea salt and 2 bay leaves and bring again to a boil again.  Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Let stand over night or for at least one hour. Rinse a second time two cups of water and bring to a boil again and simmer on low heat until soft, about 1 hour.

2..  Prep  potatoes, beets, onion and kohlrabi.  Toss in a bowl with olive oil, salt and pepper to coat.  Roast in 425 degree F oven for 15 minutes. 

3.  While the vegetables are roasting, chop collards.   Remove vegetables from oven, and when cool enough, peel beets and kohlrabi, discarding peel.  Toss in chopped collards and return to oven to finish roasting, 10 minutes more.

4.  While the vegetables cook, to make dressing,  toast sesame seeds in a hot, lightly oiled cast iron skillet, until they just begin to pop.  Reserving 1 TB for garnish, combine the remaining roasted seeds with  water, garlic, orange juice, cumin and cilantro in blender and process until smooth.

 3.  Toss vegetables and chickpeas in dressing and refrigerate.  Serve chilled garnished with roasted sesame seeds and cilantro. (In the winter, you may want to serve this as a hot dish.)



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As a bonus, here's Emily Horton's recipe for a raw (or lightly blanched) collard salad with potatoes and chickpeas  (photo by Deb Lindsey for the Washington Post.)

Fennel and Lemon Salad

Photo from Bistrot Cenisio 10, Milan, Italy

1 fennel bulb, sliced thin (use a mandoline, if you have one).
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped; can also chop 1/2 cups of fennel fronds, if they are included with the bulb and reserve the rest for another use.

Whisk olive oil, lemon juice, and cilantro (and fennel fronds, if available) in a salad bowl until blended. Add the sliced fennel and toss until coated. Let stand at room temperature at least 30 minutes before serving.

If you'd like you can also include 1 cup of fresh blueberries and top some shaved goat cheese or crumbled feta.

Creamy Coleslaw

Photograph by Samantha Fromm Haddow from her food blog, Carpe Cibus (Seize the Food.)

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The July 5 share from Glade Road Growing will include cabbage, kohlrabi, carrots, bunch onions, kale and golden beets.  Here's my recipe for cole slaw. The cabbages this week are green.  This also looks lovely with red cabbage.  Some folks like their coleslaw with vinegar.  My mother always made hers with lemon juice and I follow her example, substituting lime juice on occasion.

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Serves 6

Ingredients

2 cups of cabbage, cored and shredded
2 cups of carrots shredded
2 cups of Granny Smith apples shredded
1/2 cup of green onions, chopped
1/2 cup of cilantro, chopped
1/2 cup of mayonnaise or 1/2 cup of yogurt plus 1 1/2 tsp. corn starch
juice from 1/2 lemon or lime
sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1.  In a large bowl combine cabbage, carrots, apples, green onions and cilantro with mayonnaise and juice.  Season with salt and pepper.  If you are using the yogurt, to keep it from separating first mix the corn starch with an equal amount of yogurt and then stir into the rest of the yogurt.

2.  Cover and chill for at least a half an hour to meld flavors.

3.  Serve cold.

Aloo Ghobi Chana Masala (Curry with Potatoes, Cauliflower and Chickpeas)

Photo from Cook's Illustrated

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The expected vegetables in the Glade Road Growing farm share for the week of June 28 will include cauliflower and potatoes.  Here's a recipe for one of my favorite Indian curries.

Serves 4




Ingredients:
1 cup dry chickpeas
1 cup raw basmati brown rice
1 onion. peeled and chopped
4 cloves fresh garlic, mashed, peeled and chopped finely
1 T fresh ginger, chopped finely
1 pound of  tomatoes chopped or cherry tomatoes halved or 1 can diced tomatoes
4 T of tomato paste
1 pound of potatoes chopped
1 cauliflower, separated into florets
1/2  pound of green peas (frozen will work)
1/2 tsp ground cumin 
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, reserving 4 for garnish
1/2 cup of plain yogurt

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1.  To cook 1 cup dry chickpeas,  in a medium saucepan with a heavy bottom and a tight-fitting lid, cover with 2 cups water, and and bring to a boil.  Rinse.  Return to pot, add ½ teaspoon sea salt and bring again to a boil again.  Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Let stand over night or for at least one hour. Rinse a second time two cups of swater and bring to a boil again and simmer on low heat until soft, about 1 hour.

2.  In a medium saucepan with a heavy bottom and a tight-fitting lid, combine 1 cup basmati brown rice , 2 cups water, and and bring to a boil.  Rinse.  Return to pot, add ½ teaspoon sea salt and bring again to a boil again.  Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.  Turn off heat and leave for 40 minutes until water is absorbed. 

3.  While rice is cooking, prep the veggies as described above.  Steam the cauliflower and potatoes separately for 5  minutes until slightly soft.  If you are using raw peas, rather than frozen, you can steam them also.

4.  Measure out the spices (except for the salt,  black pepper and basil leaves) and toast in a dry cast iron skillet and set to the side.

5.   Heat 1 TB extra virgin olive oil in the skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 4 to 6 minutes. Sauté garlic and ginger until soft. Add to the bottom of a lidded heavy-bottomed pot.  Stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste, cauliflower, potatoes,  spices, 1 teaspoon sea salt, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add 2 cups water and bring to a boil. Stir in the cooked chickpeas.  When the pot has returned to a boil, reduce heat and simmer,  covered,  for about 15 minutes. Add cooked or frozen peas and warm through.  Remove the curry from heat and stir in 1/2 cup of fresh basil leaves.

7.  Uncover the rice and fluff with a fork. Divide among four bowls and top with curry and a garnish each bowl with a dollop of  plain yogurt and  a basil leaf.

Come On Dems, (and R's) Let's Have a Smart Gun Bill

In the wake of the latest gun violence in Orlando, Democrats in House of Representatives--led by civil rights icon John Lewis--seemed to be rising up on their collective haunches as they staged a protest to demand gun control legislation.  The R's called the protest a "stunt" and "anti-democratic," blocked a vote and turned off the cameras (so that C-SPAN couldn't air its coverage.) The feisty  D's started broadcasting via cell phone. 

It turned out "NoBillNoBreak" was an empty threat when the R's adjourned in the middle of the night.  Lewis tweeted:

We got in trouble. We got in the way. Good trouble. Necessary Trouble. By sitting-in, we were really standing up.

A friend with a long history of civic engagement had "just called John Lewis' DC office to thank him for his acts of bravery and determination."  I went in search of media coverage on the content of  the Democrats' legislation.  I came up only with a June 22 post by Gawker's editor-in-chief Alex Parene, "The Democrats Are Boldly Fighting for a Bad, Stupid Bill.  Despite any reservations you may have with colloquial title and the site's  click-bait and copyright violaiton habits and its focus on celebrities, I'd encourage you to  read the piece.

Parene writes,

The no-fly list is a civil rights disaster by every conceivable standard. It is secret, it disproportionately affects Arab-Americans, it is error-prone, there is...no effective recourse for people placed on the list, and it constantly and relentlessly expands. As of 2014, the government had a master watchlist of 680,000 people, forty percent of whom had “no recognized terrorist group affiliation.” This is both an absurdly large number of people to arbitrarily target in gun control legislation, and far, far too few to have any meaningful effect on actual gun ownership, let alone gun violence.

To Parene's links to the ACLU,  I would add its critique of proposed gun legislation here and I've asked the organization, via twitter, for an update on the statistics on the watchlist. 

Also, watch Jon Oliver's brilliant video on gun control and the influence of the NRA.  (You'll need to watch it on YouTube, if it's disabled here.  It's at the head of the episode (S03E06).  The segment labelled NRA there is truncated.)  As he says, the NRA doesn't have very many members and its opinions are not popular, but they are persistent.  "If you want serious changes, you have to show up every f*cking day."

Parene his piece like this:

Since the San Bernardino shootings (or even before), an easy, cynical predication has been that the only form of gun control with a realistic shot of being enacted in the near future would be measures that would ban only Muslims from purchasing guns. As is too often the case, Democrats seem determined to prove cynics right.

Lewis tweeted:

This  is not over. We have more work to do. Keep the faith and keep your eyes on the the prize.

I'd ask Lewis to go after a better prize. Why channel rage about Orlando towards the No-Fly List?

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If you want to call, Congressman Lewis's number is: (404) 659-0116. His direct email is johnlewis@mail.house.gov.  You can also write his chief of staff, Michael E. Collins: michael.collins@mail.house.gov.

Call your own members of Congress (you can find their contact info via thepeoplegov.org. 

At while you're at it, call Paul Ryan (paul.ryan@mail.house.gov, 202-225-3031) and Mitch McConnell (senator@mcconnell.senate.gov, 202-224-2541), too. Ryan's Chief of Staff since last year, is revolving door lobbyist David Hoppe: dave.hoppe@mail.house.gov.  McConnell's is Brian T. McGuire: brian_mcguire@mcconnell.senate.gov

Roger May: Laid Bare

EDITOR's NOTE:  Photo and text copyright photographer Roger May for his current project, "Laid Bare," used by permission.  All rights reserved to the author.

Last night Roger posted on Facebook this photo and interview with the woman portrayed.  When I saw it this morning,  I found it eloquent and heart breaking: the last of the subject's  words evoke the Old Testament of Job-ian dimensions, the first echoes Esau being conned by Jacob: “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?" 

With Roger's permission I've combined part of his explanation of the project from his website with post from last night.  If you’ve been "impacted by mountaintop removal mining or worked in the fight to end it," he'd love hear your story and photograph you (nude) in your ravaged landscape.  And, by the way, before he asked ask anyone else to pose nude for him, he went first in this short video.)

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My point of entry as a photographer was an attempt to photograph the large-scale destruction of mountaintop removal mining in the coalfields of Central Appalachia. Overwhelmed and frustrated by the magnitude of what I was up against, the enormity of strip mining and the perceived threat of anyone speaking out against it, I stopped trying to make those pictures and moved on, but the issue was something I’ve never been able to move on from.

Now, I’m returning to the visual conversation of mountaintop removal mining with the series I’m tentatively calling Laid Bare, which introduces the nude form into the decimated landscapes left behind from this kind of mining. Framing form and land together to explore loss and vulnerability, I hope to collaborate in creating moments of beauty in the midst of vast destruction as a form of protest.

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This past Saturday, in Mingo County, West Virginia...[a woman] told me part of her story. I trust you'll find it as powerful as I do.

The lawyer for Hobet Mine Company called me to say that, by the time the home place was divided amongst all the living heirs, there’d barely be enough land for each of us to have space for our own graves. I was a newly-separated mother of three living far away in Texas, trying to scrape up enough money for daycare and my kids’ school lunches. I sold my share to Hobet for $178.

Twelve of my childhood summers unfolded in that holler, in the house of my dead daddy’s parents—the closest thing to home I knew. The last time I’d been there before the lawyer called, both my granny, grandpa and great-granny were already dead, and kudzu was snaking up the outside walls of their houses, threatening attic windows. That day, as I drove out of there, carrying photographs, old land deeds and one of my grandpa’s mine pay envelopes with a forgotten dime pressed into its corner, a gigantic construction crane loomed over the mountain like a creature in a Japanese sci-fi film.

That was twenty-odd years ago.

Now, on the King Coal Highway, time has been carved away from these mountains until there is too much space, too much sky. I find myself in another country, thinking that we are not meant to be navigating these mountaintops so effortlessly. We were never meant to be up here at all, so near the sun in restless, rarified air that has become a constant wind. It’s as if the churned up ground has surrendered it stories into an eternal sigh that worries the leaves of trees we cannot name.

Let me lie down in these trembling grasses. Let the scouring wind find my skin. I will let the harsh sun burn me. I will listen for the pulse in the wound and answer it with my own.

Chris Cook's: Organic and Agroecologic Farming CAN feed the World

According to a new report authored by journalist Chris Cook and staff members of the Friends of the Earth, scientific evidence of the last forty years shows that agroecological farming, including diversified organic agriculture, is the most effective way to promote future food security, given threats such as climate change, soil erosion, water scarcity and loss of biodiversity.

Quinoa and Chard Fresh Spring Rolls

Photo by my one of my favorite food photographers and stylists, Andrew Scrivani, for the New York Times' Martha Rose Shulman's recipe (which is different than mine, but also delicious.)

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Sally tells me that the Glade Road Growing bag share for June 21 will include  rainbow chard, broccoli, carrots, bunch onion, basil, and summer squash.  I thought I'd come up with a recipe for spring rolls that uses the chard as a wrapper rather than rice paper.

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Serves 8


1 bunch rainbow chard
2/3 cup of raw quinoa
4 hard boiled chicken or duck eggs, peeled and sliced into in half lengthwise, as you would slice them for deviled eggs.
1 summer squash, cut into matchsticks
2 large carrots, cut into matchsticks
fresh basil leaves, reserve 8 for garnish
2 green onions, sliced thin, reserve some of tops for garnish
1 tablespoons miso, thinned with water
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced ginger


1.   Make dipping sauce(s).  You will find the ingredients and recipes for a sweet  miso sauce here and/or a peanut sauce (with other nut substitutes, if you are allergic) here.

2.  Cook the quinoa.  You can find the directions here.

3. Wash and prep the veggies.

4.  Remove the large stems from the chard. Break the spine with a fork, Blanche chard for one minute. Set aside to cool and drain.

5. Mix quinoa, garlic, ginger, vinegar and miso in a bowl.  (If you have extra, you can refrigerate the excess tossed in salads.)

6.  On the large end of each large end of a chard leaf,  put a 2 T of the quinoa mixture in the middle of the leaf.  Nest half of a hard boiled egg in the center with the white side down.  Layer on matchstick veggies crosswise, green onions.  Top with basil leaves.  Fold in the sides and roll like a burrito.

7.  Refrigerate for  one hour before slicing in half, cross wise.   They will look something like this.   (If you prefer your veggies cooked, you could steam the rolls for six minutes and then refrigerate. If you do not have a steamer. you can use a pot of water with a colander and some foil for a lid. 

8.  Serve on plates garnished with extra basil leaves and green onions.  I like to put the dipping sauces in individual ramekins on the plates or you can set out in small bowls with a spoon for sharing.

Loundon Wainwright III's Sings of The Trumpster (with an official video by Judd Apatow)

Screenshot of Loudon Wainwright III from his video "I Had A Dream," produced by Judd Apatow for Funny Or Die.

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May 27, 2016, singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright III  released his newest song on Soundcloud (of which I was the 31,880th listener) and as a single on Story Song Records. 

Initially I didn’t want to write a song about Donald Trump but sometimes in the course of human events things get so weird that you can’t look a gift horse in the mouth, especially if the horse has a real mouth on him. In the past, I’ve taken pot shots in song at political figures of fun like Jesse Helms, Newt Gingrich, Bill & Hill, Bush, Cheney, et al., but folks - this is serious. We hold some truths to be self-evident and apparently Mr. Trump does not.

Soon, his frequent collaborator, filmmaker Judd Apatow had produced a video, which Funny or Die released  June 13.  (H/T to Rory O'Connor for pointing it out to me via Facebook.)  According to Paste Magazine, Apatow explains,

I got involved because I love Loudon Wainwright as much as I don’t love Trump....Hopefully this song will not make sense in a year—when Trump is back to running his prestigious university full time.

Here are the lyrics:


I had a dream - I don’t know what it meant,
But I dreamed Donald Trump was our president.
There on election night, right by his side -
His flunky Chris Christie, along for the ride.
But it gets worse - just wait, there’s more -
He made Jeff Sessions Secretary of War,
And, just like he promised, he built him that wall.
He blew up Cuba and he carpet bombed Montreal.


I had a dream - I woke up in a cold sweat -
The Donald was elected in a huge upset.
He made a bad deal with Putin, a secret pact with Assad.
He told the pope where to go - I swear to God.
As for the Supreme Court, he got to choose -
He filled the vacancy up with lyin’ Ted Cruz.
His face was bright orange, and his hair was just weird,
But we were made great again, embarrassed and feared.


Yeah, I had a dream, and here’s how it went -
I dreamed that the Trumpster was the president.
His little finger on the button, he was doin’ his thing -
Our new national anthem was “My Ding-a-ling.”
We were bought and sold, like in Monopoly -
He had the most hotels in the land of the free,
Locked up the opposition, and the demonstrators, too -
That would be me, and it might be you.


I had a dream - I’m not sure what it meant
When I dreamed Donald Trump was our president.
And it wasn’t even close - he won it in a landslide.
Our new hot First Lady - she was beaming with pride.
If you think that’s cool, don’t fool yourself -
He made Ben Carson Secretary of Health,
And Sarah Palin Secretary of Stealth,
And If you think that’s scary, well just you wait -
He made Newt Gingrich the Secretary of State,
And Rush Limbaugh the Secretary of Hate!


Dreams come true, and there’s prophesy,
And sometimes a nightmare is a reality.

Split Pea Soup

Photo from a 2009 post to the anonymous student blog, "Fried or Sizzlin: America's Economy."

One of my favorite soups is split pea and this week's bag share from Glade Road Growing has many of the ingredients:  carrots, celery, bunch onions and garlic.  (There will also be bok choy and lettuce mix.)  All you need to add for my version is some bay leaves, potatoes and miso.

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Serves 4

Ingredients

1 cup of dried split peas
2 bay leaves
1/2 # of carrots, washed and trimmed and cut on a slant lengthwise
4 ribs of celery, washed and cut on a slant lenthwise (discard any strings that free themselves).  reserve some of the leaves for garnish.
1 bunch of green onions, washed, trimmed, separated into the bulb portion and the greens and chopped.  Reserve some of the greens for garnish.
1/2 # of potatoes, washed and sliced thin
4 garlic cloves, peeled, crushed and chopped finely.
Extra virgin olive oil
4 TB miso, thinned with a little cold water.
Freshly ground black or white peppercorns, to taste

1.  To cook peas, the night prior or at least two hours before serving, place dried peas into a pot with a heavy bottom (which comes equipped with a tight lid and a steamer insert.)  Cover with 2 cups of water.  Bring to boil, cover and turn down and cook for five minutes. Drain and rinse in cold water.  Refill with 2 cups of water and return to boil in a covered pot  Add bay leaves.  Cook, covered, over low heat, until the peas are soft. 

2.  Prep the vegetables as described in the ingredients.  In a well-oiled skillet, saute the bulb portion of the onions, the garlic and the celery.  Add the sauteed veggies to the bottom of the pot with the peas while they are cooking. Add another two cups of water and return to a boil. Insert the steamer to the pot and in the steamer, add the carrots and potatoes, and turn down to cook them  over the steam from the peas for at least 10 minutes until soft. Add the carrots and potatoes to the bottom of the pot and stir.

3.  I like to put about half of the soup through a blender and add it back into the remaining soup with intact veggies to thicken the soup.  When it has cooled a bit,  stir in the miso.  You can serve this soup hot or chilled.

4.  Divide the soup into individual bowls.  If you like, you can  top each serving  with a dollop of yogurt. Garnish with reserved raw celery leaves and chopped green onions.  Sprinkle with fresh ground black or white pepper.  I like to serve it with whole grain bread or you can grilled sandwiches made of  sharp cheddar or your other favorite cheese.

Fresh Lumpia (Filipino Egg Rolls) with Sweet Miso Garlic Sauce

Inspired by a recipe at Epicurious by Mark Bittman, food columnist for the New York Times.  Photo by Keith Ferris of the Culinary Institute of  America.

Serves 4

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Lumpia are Filipino egg rolls, similar to crepes.  I prefer them fresh.  You can also deep-fry them.  Some folks use pre-made wrappers, but the homemade ones are easy, I promise.

Ingredients:

Wrappers:
1 duck or chicken egg
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1 cup water
extra virgin olive oil

Sauce:
1/2 cup of water
2/3 cups demerara sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 TB miso
4 T   roasted peanut, chopped


Filling:

extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves,
2 green onions minced
1/2 cup shredded carrot
1/2 cup shredded Napa
1 pound of roasted chicken or pork removed from bone and shredded or tempeh, sliced thin
2 teaspoons black pepper
2 teaspoons dry sherry
1 c. cilantro leaves, trimmed from stems and chopped

To make 8 wrappers:

1. Pre-heat over to 200 degrees F.  Whisk egg until slightly beaten.  Whisk in 1 cup water and 1 cup flour until very smooth. 
2. Heat an 8- or 10-inch well seasoned cast iron over medium heat. When a drop of water skitters across the surface before evaporating, add a teaspoon of oil and spread over pan.  Ladle 2 tablespoons of the batter into the skillet and swirl it around so that it forms a thin layer on the bottom of the pan. Pour the excess batter back in the bowl. When the wrapper is just cooked through and the edges lift away from the pan, remove it without turning it over. Transfer to a ovenproof plate, cover and place in the oven to keep warm.
3.  Repeat with the remaining batter, separating the  lumpia wrappers with parchment paper to keep from sticking and cover with large lid to keep from drying out.

To make sweet garlic miso sauce:

1. Stir sugar and water in a saucepan and cook over low heat until slightly caramelized and thickened, about 5 minutes. 
2. Remove from heat and stir in garlic and peanuts.  After it cools slightly, stir in miso. Set aside.

To make filling:

1.  Coat a large skillet in oil and turn the heat to medium.
2.  Heat a minutes and then add garlic and green onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until fragrant, 15 to 30 seconds. 
3. Add the napa and carrots and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. 
4. Add the meat or tofu and heat through. Add the salt, pepper, and wine and remove from the heat.

To assemble:

1. Lay a lumpia wrapper flat on a work surface and place 2 tablespoons of cilantro leaves on top. 
2. Line 2 heaping tablespoons of stir-fry mixture on top of the cilantro. Fold in the sides and roll tightly, sealing the seam  with a few drops of water spread your fingertip. 
3. Serve two on each plate, garnished with more cilantro and accompanied by a ramekin of the  sauce.