Notes from Debbie's Kitchen
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I am excited about this week's box... purslane! fennel! green beans! cucumbers! spinach! All sorts of goodies. I hope by now you are all learning to not be afraid of trying new things. Every year we get more 'converts' to purslane... some are even fanatical about it ("When is the farm going to have purslane again??"). And our green beans... ooh, you will not be disappointed. They are succulent and snappy-fresh. I love to nosh on them raw when I'm preparing them for cooking. Heck, I even use them as a raw veggie for dipping! But I digress... or do I? I don't know; you get me started talking about food and I can go on and on... but then I guess talking about food is my job! Ah, life is good. ;-)
 - Debbie

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Purslane Discussion
I know just about everybody knows how to cook with green beans (though I'll still throw in a recipe!), but purslane is another story. Once again, think simple. You can cook it or use it raw; you can add it to lots of things like scrambled eggs, burritos, quiches, sandwiches, stir-fries, potato salad... more, I'm sure. Purslane is a succulent-like plant, with oval, silvery green leaves along a fleshy stem (see picture in Tom's blurb, above). I like to pinch off the tenderer end-of-the-stem clusters and toss them into salads. Both leaves and stems can be eaten, raw or cooked. As with many things, I always recommend simply tasting it, raw and plain, just to see what it's like. Let that guide you. To my palate I taste a hint of lemon. If you're going to cook purslane, it doesn't require long cooking. Probably akin to fresh spinach in timing. It can be chopped and added to scrambled eggs (saute it with a little garlic or onion, maybe some herbs and/or add a little cheese at the end).  Because of its succulent nature, I wouldn't recommend trying to freeze it for later use unless it were already cooked into a dish of some sort.

Two years ago I ran a recipe for Potato Salad with Mei Qing Choi, Purslane and Dill; we don't have dill this week, but you could substitute dry dill, or fresh basil if you have some from last week (I chopped my basil up and immersed it in some olive oil in the fridge; I expect this should be good for a couple weeks, and the oil will become infused with the basil too!). Here's a great sandwich idea (and I hope this tempts you to try purslane in any sandwich, in place of lettuce!):

Ham and Purslane on Rye
(found online at "the Recipe Cottage")

2 slices rye bread toasted or plain (or whole wheat, pumpernickel, or sourdough)
a few slices good quality ham
handful of fresh purslane, stems included
mustard/horseradish mix
Instead of lettuce or pickles on this ham sandwich, you're using fresh purslane. It's quite flavorful. The slightly crunchy flavor of the crisp, succulent purslane stems helps to make this a satisfying sandwich.


And I've said this before, but it is worth repeating: chop up your Mei qing choi (incl. leaves) and use it where you might use celery, especially in tuna, chicken, and potato salads, or grain salads like tabbouleh. Here's a chicken salad recipe I made up a few years back:

Debbie's Chicken Salad with Mei Qing (or Bok) Choi
diced or shredded cooked chicken
diced choi
sure, go ahead and add some purslane too!
diced green onion
toasted chopped walnuts
bleu cheese (a little bit, crumbled)
plumped dried cranberries (soak 'em in boiling water a few min.)

dressing (I'll try to give you proportions; they're not exact measurements!):
a combo of walnut oil and flaxseed oil (or a plain canola if you don't have either of these) ~ 2 tbsp.
orange zest/oil* - zest from 1/2 to a whole orange, depending on how big it is
dab of honey ~ 1/4 to 1/2 tsp.
dab or Dijon mustard ~ 1/4 to 1/2 tsp.
balsamic vinegar ~ 1 tbsp.
some mayonnaise ~ 1 1/2 tbsp.
salt and pepper to taste

bed of lettuce or arugula for serving

Combine dressing ingredients. Toss chicken, choi, nuts, cheese and cranberries with dressing, then serve individually, on beds of lettuce or arugula, or make into a sandwich!

*here's a trick: before making the dressing, zest the orange over the cup you are going to make the dressing in. Point the orange/zester in such a way that the orange oil that sprays out when you do the zesting is captured by the cup along with the zest. Remove zest from cup, mince up, and return to cup; add oils and swirl to mix - the orange oil will then commingle with the other oils and enhance the overall flavor!


Our other Asian green, Tatsoi, is slightly higher on the bitter green scale than mei qing choi, and it is quite delicious! Here's an utterly simple recipe I made up a few years back as well:

Tatsoi in Coconut oil with Soy and Garlic
This one I made up! - Debbie

I discovered coconut oil for cooking; this healthy saturated tropical vegetable oil contains large quantities of lauric acid (which is also found in mother's milk; strong antifungal and antimicrobial properties) and is stable and can be kept at room temperature for many months without becoming rancid. [For more information about this, and lots of other good information, I recommend a book called "Nourishing Traditions - the cookbook that challenges politically correct nutrition and the diet dictocrats" by Sally Fallon.] Anyway, the other thing I like about it other than its healthy qualities, is the fragrance and flavor it adds to stir-fried veggies!

So, have your tatsoi washed and standing by (a little water still clinging is good). Melt a spoonful of coconut oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat (it smells great!); crush a clove of garlic into the fat and stir/sizzle a few moments, then add the greens and stir-fry until they have mostly wilted. Splash in some soy sauce and stir-fry until wilted to your liking. Turn off heat and hold until you're ready to eat. This is so good!


As for fennel, here are some ideas from the April 2008 issue of Bon Appetit, sent to me by Anna S. Certainly good for getting the creative juices flowing:

Four Quick Fennel Recipes

Salad Toss thinly sliced fennel with pomegranate seeds, parsley leaves, your favorite olive oil, salt, and pepper.

Gratin Nestle thinly sliced fennel in a buttered baking dish with sauteed leeks, sliced red-skinned potatoes, and grated Parmesan. Add a blend of chicken broth and cream. Bake at 375°F until tender.

Saute Substitute chopped fennel for chopped celery in a mix of sauteed vegetables that serves as the base for stews and meat sauces.

Soup Add thinly sliced fennel to the other vegetables to be simmered and pureed into a leek and potato soup.


And member Piper McNulty sent me the following:

Fennel and Tatsoi salad with lemon-mustard dressing
Piper says, "I adapted this from a 2007 database recipe -- we made a raw salad with slivered fennel and tatsoi, dressed with the following, and it was exceptionally wonderful." [Piper also had mizuna in this salad, but since we don't have mizuna this week, it would be fine to leave it out. If you wanted, you could substitute some... what else... purslane!]

1 + tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
3 tbsp. olive oil


Another member, Sue Burnham, sent me this great idea for spicy cucumber popsicles! Read on, and be inspired:

Cucumber Popsicle Idea
"While taking a walk over to the Japanese Friendship Gardens we got popsicles from one of the guys that walk the carts around.  Peter got a tamarind and I got a chile one just because I had never seen that flavor.  It was actually not bad.  Its ingredients were: water, cucumbers, high fructose corn syrup (of course), sugar, chili powder, lemon juice, salt and citric acid.  They did have a bite to them. I would change the amounts of the salt and chili powder and change the kind of sweetener.  This has got my imagination going.  I do have the plastic popsicle forms.  I would never have thought of using cucumber.  It could be an interesting way to use veggies and fruits during the hot spells. Anyone out there with a juicer could have fun.  Kids might even like playing with the idea and eating their creations."


I said I'd include a green bean recipe, so here goes: this was something I made up last summer, when we had fresh green beans and fresh apricots! I know not many folks are getting apricots (I bet this'd be good with plums as well), but if you are, give it a try - you'll be surprised! (And if you don't get 'em, you could substitute cut up dried apricots which have been plumped in hot water.)

Debbie's Green Beans and Fresh Apricots (or Plums)
Steam green beans
Cut apricots into quarters or wedges
Combine beans and apricots, then drizzle with roasted walnut oil and sprinkle with salt.

Yum!!


Lastly, a little something for those lowly, under-appreciated collard greens; again, a favorite from the recipe database, worth repeating...

Dolmas using collards instead of grape leaves
Well I followed through on my intuition and made 'stuffed cabbage' using collard leaves (see Winter08 Week 2 newsletter), and it was declared a success by the friends to whom I served it for dinner! So naturally, as I was eating them I noticed how very much like dolmas they looked... so that in turn inspired me to come up with this week's collards recipe! I think this is a win-win recipe too: everyone loves dolmas, and it's a great new way to use your collards, and I don't know about you but I rarely make dolmas because it's the grape leaves that tend to be hard to come by... so now I'll have no excuse not to make them! And I tell you, people will be hard pressed to notice they're made with collards instead of grape leaves (the only possible difference being that collard-dolmas will be bigger/longer than grape-leaf-dolmas, and the leaves will be a darker green).

1 bunch of collard greens (about 16 leaves)
½ C olive oil, divided
2 C cooked rice
4 scallions, finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
¼ C fresh mint, chopped (or 2 tbsp. dried)
zest from one lemon, minced (use the Meyers we got last week!)
juice of one lemon (ditto!)
Salt to taste
½ C pine nuts, finely chopped
(optional filling additions: ground lamb or beef [sauté with onions; reduce volume of rice proportionally]; diced red sweet pepper; cayenne; dill; parsley; another recipe flavored it's filling with cinnamon, allspice and currants!)
(also optional: using chicken or veggie broth instead of water in cooking step)

Prepare collards:
Bring a big pot of salted water to a boil; stick the collards in stem-ends up and boil until just softened, barely a minute. Grab them by their stem 'handles' and at the sink, pull them out and rinse under cold water a moment or so to stop cooking. Shake well to remove excess water. Lay leaves one at a time on a cutting board and carefully cut out stem from leaf (only partway up into leaf; don't bisect the leaf, you want it whole).

Prepare filling:
Heat ¼ C of the olive oil in a medium skillet. Add the onions and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and mix in the rice, mint, lemon zest, salt to taste, and pine nuts (and any additional ingredients or different combination of spices - just don't leave out the mint and lemon zest). Mix thoroughly, making sure the rice is well coated with oil.

Assembling the dolmas:
Spread a collard leaf out, stem side up and (former) stem end towards you. The collard leaves will be different sizes, so use your judgment as to how much filling to put in each, but I'd recommend sort of spooning it on in more-or-less a log shape roughly an inch in diameter, perpendicular to the stem. Fold the stem end over the filling, bringing the sides of the leaf towards the center and then roll tightly, forming a cylinder. Repeat until all the filling and leaves are used.

Cooking the dolmas (stovetop):
Place the dolmas close together and seam side down in a large skillet, snugly (so they don't unroll) and in a single layer. Drizzle the lemon juice and remaining ¼ C olive oil over the dolmas and add boiling water (or broth) to cover. Cover the pan tightly and simmer for 1 hour. Let dolmas cool in the liquid, then transfer them to a serving platter. Serve at room temperature.

Cooking the dolmas (oven):
Prepare as described above except in a glass baking dish (or enameled cast iron) and cover tightly with a lid or foil*, then bake in a moderate oven (350 degrees) about 45 minutes to an hour.

*you don't want the foil to touch the dolmas; the acid in the lemon juice can pit the aluminum (the same will happen with a tomato sauce) and you don't want to ingest the aluminum. It won't poison you, but you just want to avoid this is all.

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