Chinese Cabbage Salad

4 cups thinly chopped Chinese cabbage
¾ cups diced radish
1 ¼ cup noodles (Asian, old pasta, crispy chow mein, whatever)
1 cup crushed peanuts
¼ cup toasted sesame seeds (the black ones look cool if you can get them)
2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
4 Tablespoons sesame oil
3 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon dry mustard (*not essential)

Combine cabbage, radishes, noodles, peanuts, and sesame seeds in a bowl. Mix the remaining ingredients and toss with the vegetables a little at a time. Add only enough of the wet mixture to suit your taste.

Steamed Cabbage with Poppy Seeds

Half to three quarters of a cabbage head, quarter the head, remove the core and chop coarsely into half inch lengths
2 to 4 Tablespoons melted butter or toasted sesame oil
3 to 4 Tablespoons poppy or sesame seeds
salt and fresh pepper

Steam the cabbage until tender but not mushy, 5-10 minutes. Remove the cabbage to a bowl and blot quickly with a clean towel. Add in the butter, seeds, salt, and pepper and toss to coat.

Spring Radish Salad

Fresh, simple and spring.
This recipe is great for cucumbers too.

6 radishes, sliced thinly, chop the greens if they are in good shape
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil
toasted sesame seed
salt

Toss radishes in vinegar and oil and chill for ½ hour. Add the greens and toss again with a pinch of salt and garnish with sesame seed.

Spicy Kale

1/2lb. Red Russian Kale (about what you are taking home today)
1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
4-5 Garlic Cloves, minced
Crushed Red Pepper
1/3-1/2 Cup Chicken or Vegetable Stock

Boil 2 quarts salted water. Add kale and simmer for 4 minutes.
Drain and immediately rinse in cold water to stop the cooking process. Squeeze water out of the Kale (between 2 dishtowels). Heat olive oil in the same pan and add garlic and red peppers flakes to taste. Sauté for a minute then add the kale and broth and simmer for 3-4 minutes and serve.

Dilly Beans

1 and one half cups water
2 cups green beans (purple and yellow work too)
2 Tablespoons chopped dill
2 large garlic cloves
quarter teaspoon red pepper flakes
third cup cider vinegar
half teaspoon sugar or honey
half teaspoon olive oil (optional)

Boil water in a small pot with a good lid. Add the beans and cook until bright green add barely tender, 3-5 minutes. Drain the beans and toss them with the dill while they are still hot. Combine garlic, red pepper, vinegar, sugar/honeyin a saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer for 2 minutes

Pepperonata

Quarter cup of olive oil
2 diced onions
3 garlic cloves, sliced thin
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon thyme, chopped
6 bell peppers –red and/or green, sliced
Salt and fresh pepper
4 ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and diced

Heat the oil in a large skillet and add onions garlic, bay leaves, and thyme. Sauté over medium heat until the onions soften and color. Add the peppers and a pinch of salt; raise the heat and cook vigorously until the peppers begin to soften. Add the tomatoes and lower the heat. Simmer until the excess water from the tomatoes has steamed away and season with pepper.

Oven Roasted Peppers

Preheat oven to 400. Cut the tops from the peppers and halve them lengthwise. Remove the veins and seeds; brush the skins with olive oil and lay out flat on a cookie sheet with the skin side up. Bake at 400 or broil 5-6 inches from the top element/burner in your oven until the skins are wrinkled but not charred, 10-20 minutes. Remove and stack peppers to steam in a pile for 15 minutes.

At this point you can rub off the skins with your hand or the help of a paper towel. A cold water bath can help this process but washes away a lot of flavor.

These flat peppers are easy to freeze by stacking them with wax paper between each layer and slipping them into ziplocks. Remove as much air as possible and freeze flat.

Potato Latkes

2.5 pounds russet potatoes, peeled
3 eggs or 1 egg and 2 whites, beaten
1 white onion, grated or chopped finely
Quarter cup flour, toasted bread crumbs, or cracker crumbs
Salt and fresh pepper
3 Tablespoons clarified butter, vegetable oil, or a mixture

Coarsely grate peeled potatoes into a bowl of water. When ready to cook drain the potatoes and squeeze out excess water with a towel. Add them back to the dry bowl with eggs, onion, flour, 2 teaspoons of salt, and pepper to taste. Mix into a batter.

Preheat the oven to 200. Heat a heavy skillet on medium-high heat with a film of butter/oil. When hot, drop in large spoonfuls of batter and cook over medium heat until browned, about 6 minutes. Turn over and cook until browned on the second side. Put the finished latkes on a plate in the warm oven while you prepare the rest. Serve with sour cream and apple sauce.

Rutabaga Fries

Preheat oven to 400. Peel rutabagas and slice into fries a quarter to a half and inch thick. Soak in water for 30 minutes, drain and towel dry Toss in vegetable or peanut oil to coat lightly along with a few pinches of salt. Spread them out on a sheet pan without the fries touching. Bake until golden and tender, turning occasionally. Toss them with a bit more salt and fresh pepper and enjoy.

Roasted Parsnips

2 Tablespoons butter or nutty oil

3 medium parsnips, washed and cut diagonally across the root
into 1 inch pieces

1 Tablespoon honey or maple

Pinch of cayenne or a dash of hot sauce

Salt and Pepper

Heat oven to 375. Melt butter in a medium saucepan or skillet that will also fit your cut parsnips.
Soak the parsnips in hot water to bring them up to room temp.
Once butter is melted, turn off the heat, add the honey and blend the two.
Drain the parsnips and empty them onto a dishtowel to remove the excess water.
Add the parsnips, cayenne, salt and pepper to the pan and turn it all over until everything is mixed and coats the parsnips.
Empty the contents into a baking dish and bake for 20 minutes.
Turn with a spatula and increase the oven temp to 400 degrees.
Turn again in ten minutes and cook for another 10. The parsnips should be browning around the edges and soft through.

Serve hot. Carrots can be added to this preparation with no changes.