December 4, 2014

Edible Greens to go with the Holiday Decorations

I know it is the time to deck the halls and fill our homes with living greenery. Though they smell and look great, these are not good to eat.  I would like to discuss some edible greens today.  These might be ones that grow where it is still warm, where folks mean it when they sing of a white Christmas.  For those of us who actually live with the white stuff, however, we must either pick our greens from our storage bins, or head to the store.  Fresh is good, but frozen is also fine.  Foods that are frozen at the store were picked at the height of their goodness and then quickly frozen to lock in the nutrients.  They may actually have more nutrition than the fresh veggies that traveled for several days to get to your store. 

The rule generally is, “The darker the green, the more concentrated the vitamins,” but not always.  For instance, celery is chock full of vitamins and minerals.  Cabbage too has antioxidants and other goodies for our bodies.  It is a good source of fiber, folate, and Vitamin K.  Kale and Spinach are great sources for Vitamins A, C and K, and folate as well as calcium and magnesium. 

A good way to prepare these vegetables is to make coleslaw.  Chop up the cabbage, carrots and greens finely.  Mix a healthy dressing and pour it over the vegetables and enjoy.  Here are two recipes that are easy to make and delicious to eat.

The first recipe is as basic as coleslaw can be.  The second one is fancier, but still easy to make. I was specifically asked to bring it to our Thanksgiving meal.   The beautiful thing about these recipes is that there isn’t a need for a high-fat creamy dressing.  Try these this winter to add some crunch to your meal. 

Cranberry Walnut Coleslaw

(from the Cooking Matters cookbook)

Ingredients:

            1 pound of cabbage, either green or purple

            3 medium carrots

            1 cup walnuts

            1/3 cup cider vinegar

            ¼ cup vegetable oil

            1 TBSP sugar

            1 tsp. celery seed

            ¼ tsp. salt

            1 cup dried cranberries or Craisins

Directions:

            Rinse and thinly slice cabbage.  Rinse, peel and grate or thinly slice carrots.

            Chop walnuts

            In a large bowl, whisk together cider vinegar, oil, sugar, celery seed and salt.              

           Add other ingredients and mix well.  Serve immediately or up to 1 day later.

Cashew-Spinach Coleslaw

Ingredients:

            1 (16 oz.) coleslaw or broccoli slaw mix (this is an easy way to get broccoli in                                                people who claim not to like it)

            3-4 oz. fresh spinach leaves or baby kale

            2 carrots cut into skinny carrot sticks, about 3 inches long

            ¼ cup sugar

            ½ tsp ground ginger

            ¼ tsp salt (optional)

            ¼ tsp ground black pepper

            ¼ cup rice vinegar

            3 tbsp roasted or toasted sesame oil

            3 tbsp soy sauce*

            ¾ cup roasted cashews or almonds

            ¼ cup raw sunflower seeds

* For those who cannot eat gluten, in place of soy sauce, use tamari.  It is gluten-free and can be found in the Asian department of most supermarkets.

Directions:

           

1.     Empty the package into a large mixing bowl or ziplock bag.

2.     Remove thick stems from spinach.  Roll a handful of spinach leaves into a tight mound on cutting surface.  Chop the spinach/kaleinto thin strips and add it to the coleslaw mix.  Continue until all of the spinach/kale is thinly sliced, or shredded.

3.     In another jar, mix the sugar, ginger, salt, pepper, vinegar, oil and soy sauce.  Whisk to mix thoroughly. 

4.     Pour the dressing over the salad and allow the flavors to mingle and mellow for at least an hour.  This can even be made a day in advance.

5.     Just before serving, add nuts and seeds and toss to combine.

           

It's time to learn some French!

As Mom talks about coleslaw, I will be talking about some of the knife cuts used in the components.

First we have what is called Chiffinade. To make this knife cut, you need a leaf of some kind, like kale. You then will roll this up from tip to tail so that it looks like a sushi roll. You will then take your chef’s knife and make very small cuts running from one end to the other of this roll. You will know when you got it right when after it’s unrolled, it becomes a series of strips.

The other main knife cut is called a Fine Julianne. This cut looks like a pretzel stick when done. What one does is they take the carrot, first peeling and cutting both ends off.  Then cut it into sections about 2inches long.  Next, you take your knife and cut the carrot section into planks about 1/4 inch thick. A good way to get this size every time is to use a mandolin. After the carrot is in planks, stack 3-4 planks high and make a cut lengthwise 1/4inch wide. There is your Julianne, also known as skinny carrot sticks.

Happy holidays to everyone!

Viki and Devin