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Honey Lemon Refridgerator Pickles

6 cups thinly sliced cucumbers
2 cups thinly sliced onions
¾ cup honey
1 cup lemon juice
½ teaspoon mustard seed
½ teaspoon celery seed

Place cucumbers and onions in large glass bowl. Combine remaining ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook and stir until honey is dissolved. Pour hot liquid over cucumbers and onions, toss well, and let cool. The cucumbers will give off some of their juices; keep them submerged in the liquid while they cool. Transfer pickles to 3 pint jars, cover tightly, and refrigerate for at least 24 hours before serving. They will keep for a week or so. Makes 3 pints.

Five-Minute Beets

3-4 beets, about 1 pound
1 tablespoon butter
Salt and pepper
Lemon juice or vinegar to taste
2 tablespoons chopped parsley, tarragon, dill, or other herb

Grate beets into shreds. Melt butter in skillet, add beets, and toss them with ½ teaspoon salt and pepper to taste. Add ¼ cup water, then cover pan and cook over medium heat until beets are tender. Remove lid and raise the heat to boil off any excess water. Season with lemon juice or vinegar (balsamic or red wine is good) and toss with the herb.

If you don’t mind the shocking color, you can stir in a tablespoon of yogurt or sour cream.

Braised Turnips

3-4 turnips peeled and if large quartered
1 cup chicken or veg. stock
3 Tablespoons butter or olive oil
Salt and fresh pepper

Boil turnips on high heat for 6 minutes and drain. Add to a large heavy skillet on medium heat with butter/oil, stock and salt and pepper. Simmer for twenty minutes or until turnips are tender but not soft and remove them from the liquid. Continue to boil the liquid down to a syrup consistency and pour over the top of the turnips and serve.

Celeriac and Apple Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette

This is the old world way to enjoy this great vegetable.

Vinaigrette
1 tablespoon stone ground or Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon red onion, minced
Salt and Fresh Pepper
1/3 cup Olive oil
2 tablespoons sour cream

Add vinegar, garlic, onion and salt to a bowl and let sit for 15 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and whisk together.

Salad
1 celery root, thickly peeled and sliced into eighth-inch rounds and then cross-ways into matchsticks (julienned)
1 large tart apple peeled, cored, and sliced thinly

Bathe celery root in boiling water for 1 minute (start counting immediately, don’t wait for reboil. Remove and rinse with cold water. Dry thoroughly and toss with remaining ingredients and vinaigrette.

Mashed Rutabaga and Apples with Onions

1 large Rutabaga, peeled and cut into 1” cubes
1 mild to sweet apple, peeled, cored, and quartered
3 Tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon light oil
2 medium onions, halved and thinly sliced
Quarter cup milk
Salt

Heat one tablespoon butter and the oil in a large skillet and add onion. Continue to sauté over medium heat until the onions brown. Add salt and set aside covered.
Add rutabaga and salt to a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil and reduce heat, simmering for 15 minutes. Add apple and continue simmering for 10-15 minute or until both are soft. Drain and return to the saucepan with 2 tablespoons butter and mash well. Stir in milk and serve topped with onions.

Delicious paired with the Celeriac Salad.

Kale and Garlic Scapes

1/2# Red Russian Kale (about what you are taking home today)
Sliced into ½ inch ribbons
2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
6-10 garlic scapes, chopped finely
salt and fresh pepper to taste
¼ cup white wine or dry vermouth

Heat olive oil to almost smoking and add scapes. Sauté for a minute until browing begins, then add the kale and toss quickly in the hot oil. One kale is coated add white wine and cook until all the liquid is reduced to a broth.

Serve immediately.

Try adding a dash of turmeric, red pepper flake or cumin as well.

-Tatsoi and mei qing choi work great in place of kale for this recipe.

Pan Seared Snap Beans

Here’s the simple and delicious answer to all of those beans…and it’s exciting to cook. (you may want to turn off the fire alarm)

Half pound of beans (2 handfulls)
1 Tablespoon oil –peanut and or sesame are best
1 clove garlic chopped coarsely
salt
2 table spoons soy sauce or white wine

Wash beans and set aside, don’t worry about drying them. Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan/skillet on high until oil begins to smoke slightly. Add the beans and toss until covered with oil, keep heat on high. Toss every 30 seconds or so or when beans begin to brown in the intense heat. After 2 minutes add garlic and toss in to mix. Heat for 30 seconds and add soy sauce or white wine, tossing again. The soy/wine will steam the beans a bit. Remove and serve when all the liquid has evaporated.

Carrots and Seaweed

2 cups dried Hijiki, Arame, or any other not flat seaweed varieties (ask at your local health food store)
Soy Sauce or tamari
2 Tablespoon dark sesame oil
2 tablespoons Grated fresh ginger
3-4 medium Carrots, julienned or run through a grater so that they end up coarse
Salt
Toasted sesame seeds

Follow the direction of cooking/preparing seaweed and toss with a tablespoon soy sauce. Heat oil in a skillet and add carrots and ginger, stir-fry until the carrots begin to color around the edges, about 2 minutes. Add the seaweed and cook 5 minutes more, tossing frequently. Add 1 tablespoon soy sauce and continue cooking until the moisture is gone. Taste and season with salt. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds.

Braised Savoy Cabbage and Apples

One savoy head, quartered, cored and sliced thinly and soaked in water
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons finely chopped onions
1 large green apple, peeled cored and sliced into matchsticks
4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon salt salt
1 teaspoon cumin seeds.

Heat oil in a large stainless steel/non-reactive skillet. Add onions and cook until golden. Add cabbage directly from water to pan with the onions along with the remaining ingredients. Cover and cook of very medium-low heat until the cabbage is very soft, about and hour and a half, adding boiling water if needed during the process.

Tomato, Watermelon, and Feta Salad

One small watermelon
2 large tomatoes or a few medium ones. Try an heirloom for this recipe.
1 cup crumbled feta or goat cheese. (this is optional…but its so good)
Third of a cup coarsely chopped basil and cilantro tossed together
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic or white wine vinegar
Salt and fresh pepper

Slice and seed the water melon into three-quarter inch pieces. Core the tomatoes and slice into the same size pieces. Stir together lightly the toms, watermelon, herbs, oil and vinegar ( if using balsamic drizzle it over the top after mixing everything else so as not to muddy the colors). Serve with salt, fresh pepper, and cheese on top.