(Temporarily) Lonely-hearted Ginger soba noodle and bok choy salad

I've mentioned my delicious CSA on the blog before, but mostly in praise. One thing that blokely doesn't like so much is the preponderance of bok choy. I like bok choy, but it's hard to incorporate into western style* dishes. Mostly we did bok choy with pan-fried tofu and brown rice, which got boring. He left last Saturday, which is very sad, but this means I can eat sea vegetables, sesame oil, and garlic like its going out of fashion and not offend anyone.

Garlic from the CSA. Some lady said, "I didn't know garlic looked like this!"

This is really good dish, and best of all, it's gluten and dairy free, for the allergic types. It's got sea vegetables, which are good for women.
Also, see the pictures of a very simple iceberg lettuce salad I made. Not because iceberg lettuce salad is so interesting, but because our farmer gave us the greenest, most vibrant iceberg lettuce I've ever seen. It still tasted like nothing though, so I threw in some argula for good measure

"I belong to a Bok Choy Share" Ginger Soba Noodle Salad
serves 2 hungry fools, or a dinner and a lunch for the lonely-hearted
(about 20 minutes, if you love to chop)

Ingredients:
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1" ginger root, peeled and grated/chopped finely
olive oil (2 Tbs?)
2 Tbs sesame oil
1 Tbs or to taste soy sauce
2 heads of baby bok choy (or 1 big bok choy)
3-5 shitake mushroom heads, sliced
8 slivered and dry roasted almonds (say 2 Tbs of the prepackaged stuff, or substitute toasted sesame seeds. I bet cashews would also be delicious)
1 carrot, cut into matchsticks (or grated); or use a bag of rinsed mung bean sprouts (also common supermarket item)- just need it for the crunch
2 pieces of nori seaweed, cut into strips (optional)
2 green onions, chopped all the way up to the top
2 servings of soba noodles (buckwheat noodles, found in Asian section- if you can't find them, use whole wheat noodels instead)
cayenne (pinch)- also optional

Method:
1. Boil water and make your soba according to the directions. I throw the seaweed here for good measure.
2. Cut up your bok choy. The trick to crisp bok choy is cooking the ends first. You have to wash those suckers out, then separate leafy bits from the stems. Slice about 1/4" (or a little more) strips (they should be shorter, not along the length).
3. Heat oil in a pan over medium heat, add garlic and ginger, after 1 minute, add the mushroom bits. In a couple more minutes at the chopped bok choy stems, stir. After 2 minutes, add the leaves as well. Cook an additional few minutes until they are wilted and yummy. Turn off the heat.
4. When noodles are done, drain. Add them to the pan with the bok choy. Add sliced green onions, carrot matchsticks, and season with sesame oil and soy sauce. I am bad for my blood pressure so I probaby should have used less soy sauce.
5. Since its so good for you, try not to eat it all once.

Seaweed-licious

*If Indian, Mexican and Middle Eastern dishes are "western". I suppose they are in comparison to East Asia.

Summer Baking

is a stupid thing to do, but when you bake in the late hours, because you've mostly adapted to the owl-like schedule of your live in blokey (like a good, accommodating Azian grrrrl), it's maybe not so crazy.

I baked a pound cake and a some whole wheat bread for a bake sale at the CSA and my own toast-gratification in the past few weeks. The pound cake was mostly Betty Crocker, with a quick soymilk substitution because that's what Bloke likes in his fair trade directly from the African Farmer coffee. I think I tend to just slightly overbake my goods, but no one has complained thus far to me.

Ingredients:
3 c King Arthur unbleached all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 sticks of butter (1 c.) softened
5 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 c. soy milk

Method:

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease and flour 12-cup fluted tube cake pan (I picked my up in Chinatown for a song), 10-inch angel food (tube) cake, or 2 loaf pans.

Mix flour, baking powder and salt; set aside

Beat sugar, butter, almond extract and eggs in large bowl with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on high speed 5 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Beat in flour mixture alternately with milk on low speed. Pour into pan.

Bake 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (50 minutes for cake pans). Cool 20 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

Bake sale was today, in support of the low income grants for the Crown Heights Community Supported Agriculture organization.

Bread:

The bread is a varaiation of "Volkorenbrood", a really dense, hearty whole wheat Dutch bread (which I believe translates into Whole grain or Wholemeal bread). I have been experimenting with Jim Lahey's No Knead Bread and Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day (although the second one has been a challenge since I lack sufficient refridgerator space in the shared apartment). Lately, I've been desiring a good, non High Fructose Corn Syrup filled toast bread, and found this recipe on about.com (which can really be a good resource). I was also impatient and did not want to "no knead" and wait forever for the bread.

It was pretty good. I don't know if I kneaded it long enough (you're supposed to be able to stretch it out into a window without the dough breading as indication that you've kneaded enough, but it's hard to tell with whole wheat dough). The bread was dense like that hard core German stuff you see in the deli. It made excellent toast and went well with eggs, jam, and butter. Highly recommend (if you have aggression and would like to work the deltoids in a food-related way).
Vollkorenbrood (adapted from recipe on dutchfood.about.com)

4 cups whole wheat flour

2/3 tbsp salt

1 1/5 cups water

1 1/2 tbsp live yeast

Additional 1/2 cup lukewarm water

olive oil

Proof the yeast (in a glass container, you "wake" it up), in the 1/2 cup of water. Wait until it bubbles. Next, mix the yeast/water mixture with flour, salt, and 1 cup of the water in a large mixing bowl. It should be kind of tacky and wet. Knead for 15 minutes (or use a dough hook on a Kitchen Maid mixer). I hand knead by pushing the ball of my hand into the ball of dough, and the fold it back, rotate it 90 degrees, and push down again. You can add up to 1/2 c more of water (I used about 1/4 cup). Knead until you can make a window (which means that when you hold up a small amount of dough, you can stretch it out like a window between your fingers that you can see through, without the dough breaking). The kneading process activates the gluten, something that would get activated during a longer rising period.

Next, form the dough into a ball with the dough and wrap it with a warm, damp non-terry cloth towel (I used a cloth napkin). Let the dough rise for 30-45 minutes (it should about 1/3 larger). Remove the towel, punch down the dough with your fist, and then form it back into a ball, wrap in the tea towel and again allow to rise for 30-45 minutes.

Grease a loaf pan with olive oil. Take the dough out from the towel and shape it into a the for form the pan. Place the dough in the pan and cover the it with the warm moist tea towel and allow the bread to rise for another 30 minutes until it has increased by 1/3 in volume. I like to cut the bread with a cross pattern on top and dust with more flour (not necessary with sandwich bread).

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 450 degrees. When you're about to bake the bread, place the pan in the oven, and throw in a cup of water (this will create steam). Reduce temperature to 400 degrees F. Bake for 35-40 minutes. Bread is done when it sounds "hollow" when you knock it. Allow to cool on a wire cooling rack.

workers' granola

This is Sampson, whom I am kitty-sitting for another professor this week. I call him Henry, George, and sometimes Thomas because I like colonial English style names. S/h/G/T's a magnificent beast. He lives uptown and has been slowly taking in the sights of Eastern Parkway, and he likes to supervise me on my cooking projects. He seemed pleased with yesterday's breakfast project.

I love granola but I can't find natural style granola (minus high fructose corn syrup or soybean oils) anywhere in this town for less than $5.50 for a little bag that barely lasts a week. But granola is so simple, I tried my hand yesterday morning.

"There's a bleeding financial crisis going on" Granola recipe

Ingredients:
5 cups of old fashioned oats (not the steel cut kind)
1 cup of raw almonds
1 cup of raisins
1/2 cup of wheat germ (didn't use, but this stuff is amazing for you)
1/4 cup of honey (or brown rice syrup or agave nectar)
1/3 cup of orange juice
1/4 scant of neutral oil (safflower oil would be good)
cinnamon (or any other spices you might like: cloves, cardamom, ground ginger)
brown sugar (to taste)
other add-ins: pumpkin seeds, flax seed (ground or whole)

Preheat oven to 350. Measure oats in a large bowl. Warm the honey over low heat in a small sauce pan (for pourability), add juice and oil. Drizzle over the oats while mixing slowly, until well coated. Add cinnamon and spices (maybe 1 teaspoon total). If it doesn't seem sweet enough, you can add a bit of brown sugar (but it will likely be quite sweet, but that's OK. It gets less sweet in the baking procers).
Arrange on baking sheet and cook about 20-25 minutes, opening every 5 minutes to stir. Take out when golden and crispy.

granola after five minutes

The end result is a well toasted, not too sweet granola that's perfect for eating with plain yogurt and fruit in the morning. Beats the $5.50 Bear Naked business I've been buying.

Dr. J's detox

I am all Protestant guilt when it comes to food, fun, work, etc. So you can imagine what my Thursday was like. Alot of dry, whole grain business, beans, fresh vegetables, and anything that a rabbit might enjoy ingesting. Hence, Thursday's dinner resembled what my buddy J told me was the appropriate diet after a week of socially binging on cheese.

Dr. J's "I should start caring about my long term health" Brown Rice pilaf and roasted Brussels sprouts.
serves 2, but I ate all the sprouts in one sitting. They taste like artichokes when they are roasted like this. Not a hint of bitterness, only golden roasted goodness.

Pilaf:
1 c. basmati rice (I used brown, its good for your insides)
olive oil (1 1/2 Tbs.)
1/3 chopped onion
2-4 cloves of garlic
2 tsp. cumin
salt to taste
broth or water to cook

Brown onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat in a saucepan with a lid, until soft. Add cumin until fragrant. Add rice and stir gently, until each kernel is coated with oil. Add appropriate amount of chicken or veggie broth, or water (usually 1 1/2 c. for white basmati, 2 cups for brown). Bring to boil, then simmer with lid for 20/40 minutes (for white/brown respectively). In the mean time, make the sprouts.

Brussels Sprouts:
about 1 lb of Brussels Sprouts, with the ends cut off and cut in half, lengthwise, rinsed
olive oil (1 -2 Tbs)
salt
2-3 garlic cloves, slivered

Heat oven to 400 degrees (It's still a bit cold at night in Brooklyn). Add oil to a cast iron skillet (or any oven proof relatively shallow pan). Add slice and cleaned sprouts and garlic and toss until well covered. Roast in oven about 20 minutes, until the sprouts are golden and slightly browned/blackened. You may open the oven after 12 minutes or so to stir.

Ginger-garlic kale

Serves: 2-4 as a side dish (one if you're starving and desiring a large, leafy snack)
Time: about 15-20 minutes

This is a really simple, quick side that you can make after endless days of cheese on carb type lunch and dinners (oh but its so good). It goes well with brown rice and a can a chickpeas mixed in. I ate it for my later lunch and stunk up the whole apartment, but those kids like me for my body, not my cooking smells.
Kale is cheap, great for you, chock full of iron, vitamin C, and fiber (every [former] grad student's friend. You can stir fry it, you can crisp it in the oven (like chips), you can boil it to a mushy death (OK, it's not that bad), put it in curries, etc. Versatile but if you haven't tried it yet, I highly recommend. I tried to woo the Fella early in our relationship by serving him my version of a North African style soup with kale from FatFree Vegan Kitchen.

(this was very fresh on Saturday)

Ingredients:
2-4 cloves garlic (minced)
bunch of kale (pick crisp and bright green leaves, with no wilting or soggy bits)
1" gingerroot, minced
soy sauce (about 1 Tbs)
sesame oil (about 1 Tbs)
olive oil
lemon juice (optional)
toasted almonds (optional)
sesame seeds (optional)
pepper (cayenne or black) also optional

(sometimes my ginger root dies a slow death in our fridge)

Wash and break kale into bite sized pieces. They recommend that you remove the ribs, but I am too lazy to do that well. Since the leave if curly, I suggest that you wash it in a big pan first to get the dirt to sink to the bottom and then transfer to the colander.

Add about 2" of water to a large pot. Set to high heat until it simmers, lower heat, and add kale. Cover and cook about 5 minutes, and then drain.
While this is cooking, add olive oil to a large pan over medium heat, add garlic and ginger and let brown. When this is sufficiently fragrant, add the partially cooked kale and stir over the ginger and garlic. Add soy sauce and sesame oil, stirring to coat the leaves. Taste and add more as per you preference. Season with pepper and lemon juice (if you want some acidity, but I didn't use it this time). Spring sesame seeds or almond slivers on top. Serve, eat, and feel redemption for your many nutritional errors.