Archive for the ‘Salad’ Category

Brazilian Orange Raw Kale Salad

Friday, July 22nd, 2011

citrus kale salad, Brazilian Greens, easy kale salad

The first time I ate feijoada, it was served with an excellent collard green salad. It was the perfect compliment to the rich and thick black bean stew.

After doing a little research, I learned kale is also used to make Brazilian greens. Since I grow kale in my garden and I know that many of you are looking for additional ways to use this healthy leafy green (kale is a rich source of vitamins and minerals and is touted by health advocates as having anti-inflamatory benefits), I created this super easy Brazilian kale salad with oranges.

Kale was introduced to Brazil during Portuguese colonization along with other food stuff like: figs, citrus fruits, coconuts, rice, watermelon, Guinea pumpkin, mustard, cabbage, lettuce, coriander, cucumbers, watercress, eggplant, carrots, according to the Encyclopedia of Food and Culture.

Since Brazilian greens and feijoada are served with orange wedges, it was obvious to me to combine the greens and oranges into a more-modern version.

Nearly all the recipes for Brazilian green salad that I could find in cookbooks and online called for cooking the kale or collards – either boiling, blanching, or sautéing them. In our house we prefer to eat our kale raw, so this salad is one of the raw kale versions in our rotation. If you haven’t eaten raw kale, don’t be alarmed.  The citrus in the dressing tenderizes the greens and also removes the bitterness – much like the ever-popular lemon-parmesean-based one that populates the internet.  If you like or if you’re greens are super bitter, give them a quick saute before adding them to the salad.

You could also use collards or swiss chard as a substitute. As far as all things kale, I prefer the lacinato variety over others. Lacinato kale can also be found under the names cavolo nero, black cabbage, Tuscan cabbage, Tuscan kale, and dinosaur kale.

Whether you make feijoada or not, you’ll want to try this salad. By the way, it’s one of those salads that’s better the next day or two after the flavors have melded and the greens have fully softened.

Best Latina Food Blog – Please Vote

I’m one of the finalists up for Best Latina Food Blog sponsored by Blogs By Latinas. I appreciate every single vote of support nominating Fork Fingers Chopsticks to get me this far. Would you vote for FFC in the final round?

  • Vote at Blogs by Latinas before midnight Tuesday, July 26, 2011.
  • When you go to the site, you’ll need to fill in a vote in the other categories (I’m obviously in the FOOD category)
  • To submit, scroll down near the blue “quit” box, then use your right arrow button to find the “finished” button to submit.

For almost two years, this blog has been the space where I combine my creative talents and passion food. Thank you, not only to those who voted or who will vote, but to all of you who follow my kitchen escapades as I explore ingredients and culture.

Happy eating!

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Apple: Charoset – Jewish Apple Dried Fruit Nut Salad

Wednesday, October 27th, 2010

Apples are not only tasty and good for you, over the thousands of years that they’ve been around, they’ve grown to have cultural and religious significance.

For instance, this Jewish apple salad – charoset is eaten during the Jewish Pesach (Passover) festival. Charoset is also spelled “charosset,” “charosses” or “haroset”  and pronounced ha-ROH-ses or ha-ROH-set.

Depending on the provenance, the salad ingredients and texture will vary.

In the Ashkenazi (Eastern European) version, ingredients traditionally include apples, nuts, cinnamon, sweet red wine and honey – in a finely chopped salad spread over matzos. For the Sephardim (Mediterranean), the salad generally includes dates, other dried fruit, and spices like ginger – pureed into a paste and sometimes rolled into sticky balls eaten with sweetmeat throughout the holiday.

Charoset recipes are typically family recipes that also reflect an ethnic influence. Some recipes add bananas, pine nuts, chiles, cilantro or other local ingredients.

However, whether the salad is finely chopped or paste-like – it symbolically represents the mortar used by Hebrew slaves to build ancient Egypt and the salad is one of six items on the Sedar Plate along with bitter herbs.

Since I’m not Jewish, I’m inclined to eat this salad throughout the fall and winter months, when apples are at their peak and dried fruit is abundant. This version is more tart than sweet, made sweeter with the sweet red wine. However, I think the salad would also be lovely using olive oil in lieu of sweet wine and adding some fresh parsley and cilantro for a more savory salad. Or, I may make it simply using orange or apple juice and eat the leftovers in my oatmeal.

I’d love to hear your thoughts about apple salads or your family’s charoset version.

Tidbits on Apples:

  1. There are over 7,500 known varieties of apples.
  2. In some cultures, an apple is a symbol of immortality, love or sexuality. For example, throwing an apple at a person’s bed was an invitation for something racier than apple pie in ancient Greece.
  3. Some folklore credits apples with increasing a woman’s chances of conception.
  4. Apples have also been rubbed on skin to remove birthmarks.
  5. The proverb an apple a day keeps the doctor away, has some truth to it primarily because it helps aid digestion.

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Purslane: Raw Purslane Weed Salad

Tuesday, July 20th, 2010

Purslane Verdolaga Weed - ForkFingersChopsticks.com

Call it a weed if you want. Purslane is still good eating.

Every summer growing up, my family planted a backyard garden with tomatoes, calabacitas (zucchini), chiles, cilantro, onions and a few other standards found in most Mexican family gardens. Yet, part of the bounty we enjoyed was something we didn’t plant . . .  weeds.

We would chow down on verdolagas. You might know the weed as “purslane.”

Purslane is a long, red-stemmed succulent with fleshy oval flowers.  It grows all over the world and is eaten in many cultures – in Egypt and Sudan it is used as a medicine and as a vegetable, in France it is served with fish, in Holland it is used in winter salads, and in Mexico, it is frequently eaten with pork.

Despite this, it has a bad rap with most gardeners, who consider it an invasive weed.

Purslane is also known by some unattractive names like pigweed, Little Hogweed and pussley. Not too enticing, eh? After reading this post and its nutritional value (see Tidbits below), I hope you’ll be persuaded to try the little succulent. Know that some folks consider it a superfood.

Purslane has a mild flavor and is slightly lemony. It reminds me of nopales (cactus), without as much mucilage.

This summer as purslane grows in my garden and in the cracks of my sidewalk, I’ve allowed some areas to grow. I prefer to pick it when the stems are about 5 inches in length – the longer the stems, the tangier. On the occasions when it is longer, I discard the thick stems or at least make sure they are cut into small bite size pieces.

The recipe below is for a quick, raw salad I’ve been making this summer. It’s been a hit at several potlucks including my community garden workday. Fellow gardeners were thrilled to find a use for the “edible weed” pervading their gardens.

Hip me up to your favorite uses for purslane.

Tidbits on Purslane:

  1. Purslane has been a go to food during hot weather since before Christ. It is believed to sooth the head and cool the body.
  2. Pigs, apparently, go mad for purslane. I suspect the reason for calling it “pigweed.”
  3. Nutrition:  it’s one of the best vegetable sources of omega-3 fatty acids and some suggest it should be considered a super food. “It is a good source of Thiamin, Niacin, Vitamin B6 and Folate, and a very good source of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Riboflavin, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Copper and Manganese.”

Source:  Hints & Pinches by Eugene Walter, a mini-reference book about herbs and spices; GourmetFood.Suite101.com.

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Parsley: Sun-dried Tomato Quinoa Tabbouleh

Thursday, June 24th, 2010

Sun-dried Tomato Quinoa Tabbouleh_ForkFingersChopsticks

Parsley is one of my favorite herbs.

Growing up, however, the only time I remember parsley on my plate was as a green garnish that I pushed to the side. Then, years ago when I began eating Middle Eastern foods like tabbouleh, the herb found a regular place in my heart and garden.

I grow both curly and flat parsley and prefer the curly version for tabbouleh.

Parsley’s exact origin is uncertain but is believed to have been in the Mediterranean region, from Spain to Greece and its use has spread throughout the world for both culinary and medicinal uses.

There is also much folk lore surrounding its use – one particular belief was that the herb would only flourish in gardens where a strong woman presides over the household.  Snap!

The herb is a key ingredient in several cultures including those from the Middle East and North Africa. It’s essential in the refreshing salad tabbouleh (also spelled tabouleh, tabbouli, tabboule) that has its roots in Lebanon and Syria.

Traditionally the dish has parsley, mint, tomatoes, bulgar wheat, lemon juice, olive oil and seasonings such as allspice and cinnamon. It’s often eaten by scooping it up in lettuce leaves. In the Middle East, it is more of a green salad than a grain salad.

Over the last several decades the salad has grown in global appeal, which has led to a variety of interpretations – such as in North Africa where the cracked wheat is substituted with couscous – and, here in my Colorado kitchen, where this recipe uses quinoa. When I don’t have garden fresh tomatoes, as in now, I use sun-dried. My tomato plants are growing at a snails pace, or so it seems. I created this recipe for a local magazine spread and for those eating gluten free.

Tabbouleh makes a great snack, side dish or a complete meal with hummus or falafel.

Tidbits on Parsley:

  1. There are three common varieties of parsley: curly, flat (Italian) and Hamburg. Parsley is rich in vitamin C and iron.
  2. Parsley is related to carrots, parsnips, and celery.
  3. Parsley has an honored place in folk lore and history:  parsley was used in Greek and Roman ceremonies; it was sprinkled on corpses to abate stench, Greek athletes were crowned with parsley and during the Middle Ages it was credited with lethal powers – pulling parsley root from the earth while calling out an adversary’s name could cause death. It was also believed to promote menstruation, facilitate childbirth, and increase female libido.

Sources: “Parsley,” The Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine, Ed. Laurie J. Fundukian; Encyclopedia of Spices at theepicentre.com; the Encyclopedia of Food and Culture

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Popcorn: Rosemary-Garlic Popcorn – Snack or Croutons

Friday, May 7th, 2010

Garlic-Rosemary Popcorn Croutons_ForkFingersChopsticks.com

The modern American palate considers popcorn snack food. However, the other night I watched a flick where the leading lady fed her family popcorn for breakfast. In the movie, she was broke. Nonetheless, it was way out of the box for me. Popcorn cereal?

It may seem kitschy now, but decades ago, popcorn cereal was avant-garde.

According to the history of popcorn cookery, popcorn was on the verge of becoming a staple ingredient in the early 1900s – commonly eaten at every meal. The upper and middle-class are credited with developing this broader recipe repertoire, which was later adopted by the less affluent and farmers.

Besides cereal (cold and hot), popcorn was used to make puddings, bread, popcorn balls, and stuffing.

Popcorn was also used as a replacement for croutons and crackers. The crispy texture was a perfect garnish for soup and salads.

Like most of you, I fall in line with the majority of people who snack on popcorn – usually just salted and buttered. But, with just a little more effort I’ve created an herbed popcorn that can be eaten as regular snack food or as a topper for soup and salad.

The recipe below for rosemary-garlic popcorn is a lovely addition to a hot bowl of tomato soup. Add the popcorn to your dish just before eating, especially with soups.

The recipe is flexible – your favorite herbs and seasoning could be substituted. How about garlic and chive, basil and sun-dried tomato, or chile and lime? At your local spice store there is a plethora of seasoning mixes that could be used and some include powdered cheese – which makes for even tastier popcorn croutons.

If you eat herbed popcorn or use popcorn for something other than a snack, please share in the comments. I’d love to hear from you.

Tidbits on Popcorn:

  1. Popcorn consumption rose in the United States after World War II, when grains were sent to Europe.
  2. The precursor to today’s microwave popcorn evolved from popping the entire cob with kernels in an early model of the  “microwave oven” around 1945.
  3. Popped popcorn is a very profitable business product. It is bought by weight and sold by volume. The aroma of freshly popped popcorn significantly induces sales at movie theatres. Therefore, they regularly pop it.

Source: Popped Culture: A Social History of Popcorn in America by Andrew F. Smith; Corn: Meals & More by Olwen Woodier; Crazy for Corn by Betty Fussell.

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Lentils: Lentil & Plantain Salad – Ensalada de Lentejas Y Platanos

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010

Ensalada Lentejas con Platanos - Lentil Plantain_ForkFingersChopsticks.com

Apparently, lentils and bananas are combined more commonly than we think.

I came upon a Banana-Lentil Salad recipe while browsing Nuevo Latino: Recipes that Celebrate the New Latin-American Cuisine by Douglas Rodriguez, a James Beard award-winning chef. His salad trails back to the Spanish Canary Islands.

In Mexico, as well as in other Latin American and Caribbean countries, lentejas y platanos (lentils and plantains) are frequently eaten as a soup usually stewed with pork. And, in places like Puebla, Mexico, pineapple is also added to the mix, according to The Art of Mexican Cooking by renowned cookbook author Diana Kennedy, who links the savory/sweet combo to Moorish Spain. The combination can also be traced to some African recipes.

This salad recipe, however, is my version of lentejas and platanos. It’s loosely inspired by Rodriguez and traditional lentejas recipes.

If you’re leary about the lentil/plantain combo – have the salad without the plantains, it’s still plenty flavorful and healthy. However, you’re on notice that it’s those platanos fritos (fried plantains) that makes this salad special.

The caramelized plantains have sweet, tender insides that are also a tad bit tangy and a perfect contrast to the crunchiness of peppers, onion and celery, and the nuttiness of wild rice and lentils.

It’s an unusual twist that’s not so unusual.

Tidbits on Lentils:

  1. Before cooking lentils, be sure to sort the legumes to remove any debris such as dirt and stones. Then rinse well in a colander and drain. It is not necessary to pre-soak lentils before cooking.
  2. Store unused lentils in an airtight container in a cool, dry location for up to one year.
  3. Lentils are high in soluble fiber and recommended for people with diabetes and cholestoral problems.

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Quinoa: SAME Cafe’s Golden Sunshine Quinoa Salad

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

SAME Cafe - Denver Nonprofit_ForkFingersChopsticks.com

This post is my introduction to quinoa. It’s a little out of the ordinary because SAME Café is out of the ordinary . . .

It’s a sunny winter day in Denver, still several minutes before the doors open at SAME Café and there’s a line of people forming outside on this East Colfax sidewalk. The group is a mix of sorts – several in tattered clothes, others in suits, and a few hip folks with piercings and tattoos. They are here for lunch. This, however, is no regular café.

SAME is short for “So All May Eat” and the unusual mode of business here is that people pay what they want. Yeah, that’s right, there’s no set menu price. And, for folks who can’t pay, they can work in exchange. There’s no cash register, just a donation box where people pay what they feel their meal was worth. And, if a person can, leave a little more to help out someone less fortunate.

The nonprofit has been open for three years. In 2009, SAME served over 18,500 meals; since it opened – almost 35,000 meals. It is not a soup kitchen. It’s a communal concept based on dignity with good food at its core. A typical menu looks something like this:  Zuppa Tuscana Soup, Beer Cheese Soup, Chicken Salad, Golden Sunshine Quinoa Salad, Sausage & Mushroom Pizza, Apple Walnut & Bleu Cheese Pizza, and cookies. The menu changes daily and focuses on seasonal ingredients with vegetarian options always offered in the daily menu of soups, salads and pizzas.

This month SAME Café was recognized with the Channel 7 Everyday Hero Award and also an impressive MSN Hometown Heroes Award, an online viewer voting contest connected to their NBC Nightly News segment with Brian Williams (watch the video).

SAME is the brainchild of Brad and Libby Birky who were concerned about the hunger issue here in Denver. The two work full-time at the café, along with one part-time employee and the many volunteers who help with meal preparation, cleaning and numerous miscellaneous tasks.

Notably, Libby is also the “Salad Queen” and she generously allowed me to come observe her in action as she prepared the quinoa salad. Her recipe is below with my measurements/ratios (she made a gargantuan bowlful; the recipe is adjusted for a smaller quantity). The salad is refreshing with the citrus-based dressing, fresh parsley and sweet raisins. For those unfamiliar with quinoa salads, this version is tabouleh-esque.

How to Support SAME:

2010 is off to a busy start at SAME. The economic downturn is one reason, as is the season – when the temperatures drop the café sees more people in need of a warm meal. Here’s how you can support their mission:

  • Go in to eat. The food is lovely, particularly the salads and soups!
  • Email them about volunteering
  • Make a donation, financial or in-kind (see their wish list in their weekly blog)
  • Spread the word (share this post with friends and colleagues – see the green icon below). Their meal count helps their funding prospects.

Golden Sunshine Quinoa Salad - Parsley Quinoa - Summer

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Pears: Sweet & Peppery Pear Salad

Wednesday, November 4th, 2009

Sweet Peppery Pear Salad

Sometimes cooking and eating should be simple – allowing fresh, seasonal ingredients to stand on their own without a belabored process. That’s what this recipe is about. And, also that I’m craving lighter, raw food the past few days.

It’s pear season and, like most of you, I enjoy eating pears as a healthy snack – whole. However, pears are also a tasty addition to a mixed green salad during the fall and winter months.

This time of year there is a good selection of pears at the market, most common varieties in the United States are Bartlett, Bosc, Anjou, Comice and Asian/Nashi. For this salad, I opted for Comice because they are creamy, juicy and sweet when eaten raw, a nice contrast to the other ingredients that make up this salad:  peppery arugula and mixed greens, creamy shaved manchego cheese, walnuts and balsamic dressing.

This is a satisfying salad either as a full meal or as a side paired with a warm bowl of soup. Last year, this salad was a hit at Thanksgiving.

Tidbits on Pears:

  1. Pears were cultivated over 4,000 years ago and are believed to have originated in the Caucasus region from where they spread west to Europe and east to Asia.
  2. The fruit can be generally categorized as European pears and Asian pears – European are eaten ripe and soft after harvest, while Asian pears are eaten more crisp like an apple.
  3. Pears are picked and shipped unripe because of their fragile nature. Buy them a few days before you want to eat them, selecting ones without blemishes or bruises. Allowing them time to ripen at room temperature improves their texture and flavor. If you are not ready to eat or use soon, store in the refrigerator.

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