Celeriac and Kohlrabi Salad

Our decision to go grain free means that vegetables play a huge role in our meals.  Many nights I open the fridge, toss vegetables out onto the counter, study them intently for a few minutes while a way of using them takes shape in my mind, and then start chopping.

The resulting creations are usually tasty, and always very nutritious, but only occasionally blog-worthy.  I honestly didn't expect this salad would make it to the blog, but one taste and my eyebrows went up and I fetched my camera.

The beauty of this salad is its unexpected combination of tastes. Who knew that kohlrabi and cilantro would  get along so well with each other, much less make a happy threesome with celeriac?  I suppose because celery is naturally higher in sodium than most vegetables, no salt was needed.

The only dressing is lemon juice.  It seemed that oil would only weigh down this lovely, light and crisp salad, so I stopped ... like an artist has to do at some point with every painting ... when I felt perfection had been achieved.
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CELERIAC AND KOHLRABI SALAD

1/4 cup lemon juice
1 small (about the size of a large grapefruit) celeriac, peeled
2 kohlrabi, peeled
3/4 cup diced red onion
1 cup chopped cilantro

Place lemon juice in large bowl. Cut peeled celeriac into pieces sized to fit into your food processor, and shred using medium shred blade.  Immediately toss shredded celeriac in the lemon juice to coat well.  This will keep the celeriac from turning brown.

Shred kohlrabi on medium shred as well, and toss it, along with red onion, into the bowl with the celeriac.  Stir well until all the veggies are coated with lemon juice and are well mixed.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.  Just before serving, stir in cilantro.

Delicious the moment it's made, even better and still fresh the next day.

Serves 4 to 6.

Cranberry Pluot Sauce

Rummaging in the freezer, I found cranberries from last year.  And beside them, a container of pluot sauce frozen this summer.  Combine them?  Why not! 

I usually make cranberry sauce with orange juice concentrate, but these fruity things seemed drawn to each other by some invisible force of culinary serendipity.  It happens!  It's fun, momentarily at least, to free oneself from the same old combinations of things and take a risk. 

In this case the payoff was an amazingly great cranberry sauce with summery pluot undertones.  I used a little honey to bring a not-too-sweet balance to the sauce and harmonize the flavors.

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CRANBERRY PLUOT SAUCE

8 cups frozen cranberries
3 cups pluot sauce (plum sauce would work, too)
1/3 cup honey

Put cranberries and pluot sauce in a large pot.  Add a little water to get things started.  Heat over medium heat until pluot sauce is fully incorporated and berries start to pop.  Cook, stirring, about 10 to 15 minutes more until sauce thickens and most of the berries have burst.  Stir in honey.

Makes about 8 servings.

Basil-Mint Sorbet

Nothing evokes the essence of summer like basil--you know that sudden wave of sunshine that washes over you in winter when you open a freezer bag of the pesto you made in August? This sorbet goes even further ... it's transporting, ambrosial; the mint and basil combine in a heavenly taste that opens eyes in surprise and conducts a symphony on the taste buds.

I discovered the recipe in Frances Mayes' admittedly hedonistic book about life in her Tuscan villa. I make it every time my friend Judy comes to visit from Maine. It's the kind of thing you need to eat with someone who also hears the music of the taste bud orchestra! Some people (you know who you are) refuse to try this dessert, saying it looks like pond scum. Their loss! More for us!

Depending on my mood and the state of the basil and mint plants, I sometimes greatly increase the amount of basil and mint. And sometimes I strain the blended herb liquid, but you don't need to.
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BASIL-MINT SORBET
Adapted from Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes

3/4 cup sugar
3 cups water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup mint leaves (or lots more)
1/2 cup basil leaves (or lots more)

Boil 1 cup water with the sugar for 5 minutes, stirring little if at all. Cool.

In blender, blend remaining two cups water with mint and basil leaves until thoroughly pureed. Add lemon juice and cooled sugar syrup, and chill well.

Freeze in ice cream freezer, or if you don't have one, use the ice-cube tray/repeated blendings method.

Serve in little bowls that you've put in the freezer for a while.

The sorbet is best made and frozen about 4 or 5 hours ahead of serving; long-term freezer storage hardens it.

Serves six or eight, depending on size of serving.

Asparagus, Avocado and Arugula Salad

Last Wednesday's asparagus curry, which I made up, was very good. But before deciding to make it, I considered an avocado that I had in the fridge. (Yes, refrigerating avocados is a good thing. They ripen more slowly in there.)

Anyhoo, I really, really wanted to make a salad with the asparagus AND the avocado. Green, right? I was kind of in a monochromatic mood. And I adore the thrill of making something memorably tasty with just what I have on hand. But I just couldn't picture avocado and asparagus getting along with each other. I was pretty convinced that in the history of cooking, no one had combined them. So I turned away.

Little did I know that once again, I'd be shown that courageous cooking is the better way. The very next day, I stumbled across this book at our local Barnes and Noble, and there it was! The very salad I thought could not exist!

But it does.

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ASPARAGUS, AVOCADO AND ARUGULA SALAD
Adapted from The Art of Eating In by Cathy Erway

What a glorious triumph of farmer's market greenery. The original recipe called for watercress rather than arugula. They're both peppery, so either will do. I thought the lemon peel would add, too ... and it does. This is a rich-tasting, lemony, peppery salad that is worthy of a role in a special dinner.

1-1/2 pounds asparagus, tough ends trimmed, cut into 1-inch lengths
1 avocado, diced
3-4 spring onions, white and a little of the green parts, sliced
4 cups arugula, washed, spun and sliced

1 organic lemon

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper

Toss the asparagus into boiling water for a few minutes, until it's tender-crisp but still bright green. Drain and set aside.

Into a large bowl, grate the peel of the lemon. Then cut the lemon in half and juice it.

In a small bowl, toss the avocado thoroughly with 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice. This prevents the avocado getting brown.

Into the large bowl with the lemon peel, whisk the remaining lemon juice with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Add the asparagus and toss well, then add the arugula and onions and toss well. Lastly, add the avocado and toss lightly to mix.

Serves 6 to 8.

Update: Two days later, this salad is as attractive and delicious as when it was made. I attribute this to the step of mixing the avocado thoroughly with lemon juice. It didn't get even a little brown!

Braised Lentils with Saffron

I'm not sure what variety my CSA lentils are, but they're petite and brown .. I'm guessing they're French.

We first tasted this unusual combination at Taverna Tagaris. When I decided to try to make it at home, I found online that the combination of saffron and lentils isn't unusual at all. Some recipes include meat and vegetables, but I like the simplicity of the just the lentils and seasonings. The saffron seems to lift and compliment the flavor of the lentils. And that's no small feat ... lentils are quite mild flavored.

This recipe is adapted from several I found online. Red lentils give a lovely final presentation, but brown lentils work, too. The important thing is not to overcook the lentils. They should not break down, but remain whole, swimming in just a bit of broth.

This recipe makes 5 or 6 hearty servings.

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BRAISED LENTILS WITH SAFFRON

1-3/4 cup lentils
1 tablespoon olive oil or butter
1/4 cup white wine
1 teaspoon saffron threads
2-4 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
salt

Sort and rinse the lentils. Place them in a bowl and soak for about 6 hours, then rinse again and drain.

Heat chicken stock in a separate pan. The amount of stock needed will vary depending on the lentils.

Heat the olive oil or butter in a skillet over medium heat, and add the drained lentils, stirring to coat. Heat for a few minutes, stirring occasionally, then stir in the wine and saffron. After the wine has mostly evaporated, add hot chicken stock to just cover the lentils. Cover and simmer gently for 12 to 20 minutes, adding broth if the lentils become dry. Taste for salt and texture. The lentils should retain their shape and be slightly chewy, but not hard. Remember that they should be swimming in just a bit of broth. Serve immediately in individual ramekins.
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