Summer Corn and Peach Salad

peaches

A couple weekends ago, I had the pleasure to do a cooking demonstration at the Socrates Greenmarket. I did a demo last year and loved the experience, so it was nice to be back doing it again. I love Socrates Sculpture Park, and arrived about a half hour early so that I could get a tasty XXX Coffee iced coffee and sit and relax at the park before show time.

Since it was in the middle of summer, I chose to do a raw salad featuring corn, since it is at the height of its season. Fresh summer corn is so sweet, even uncooked. I chose to add peaches, also in season, for extra sweetness, with the bright flavors of lime and green pepper, the aromatic element from the fresh basil, and saltiness of the feta cheese. Everything went well together and people loved it! I was pretty happy about that. I also think it’s delicious.

meg-cotner-cooking-demonstration-socrates-greenmarket-astoria-queens

Here I am in the middle of my cooking demo. Image source: Queens Greenmarkets on Instagram.

I also learned that this demo had one of the highest number of attendees, so that also made me pretty happy. People asked a lot of questions and it was fun to answer and interact with everyone. I plan to return to the Greenmarket in the fall and make something appropriate to the season, so keep an eye out for that news later this year.

Summer Corn and Peach Salad

This salad is a beautiful combination of sweet, tangy, and salty flavors. A smoked element would also go well with this, either in the form of smoked paprika or some kind of smoked meat product, like bacon or speck. Another variant would be to roast all the vegetables—and the peaches— which would up the sweetness quotient.

4 ears of sweet corn, kernels removed
juice of 2 medium limes, about 4 tbs
1 small onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced, or 1 hot pepper, diced
1/2 cup basil leaves, finely sliced (chiffonade)
2 peaches, peeled and diced
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
ground black pepper

Juice two limes into a large bowl. Remove the husks and silk from the corn and cut off the kernels with a knife. Let corn and lime juice sit together while you prepare the rest of the vegetables.

Dice the onion and add to the corn and lime juice.

De-seed and remove the white ribs from a bell pepper, then dice the remaining pepper. If you would like to make this dish a little bit spicy, use a hot pepper and remove the seeds and ribs (keep any amount of the ribs and seeds in if you want more heat). Add that to the corn and lime juice.

Slice/chiffonade the basil and add that to the mixture. Lightly stir.

Peel and dice the peaches, and add them to the rest of the vegetables.

Stir everything together and add the feta, mixing it in until it’s incorporated. Add ground pepper to taste.

Yield: 4-6 servings

Cooking Demonstration at Socrates Greenmarket, August 10

socrates-greenmarket-j-glebocki farm-greens-potatoes-astoria-queens

This weekend, Saturday, August 10, I’ll be doing a cooking demonstration at the Socrates Greenmarket, located in the Socrates Sculpture Park in Astoria. I did one last year, which was really fun, where I prepared a Mexican Panzaella. This year I’ll be making a corn and peach salad. Yum, summer.

The cooking demo will be from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. It should be fun and delicious! Yes, there will be samples. Plus you can check out the rest of the market, which sells everything from produce to cheese, juice to coffee. The bread is also awesome. I’m definitely going to stick around and enjoy the day. The park has some works on display, too.

Socrates Greenmarket, Socrates Sculpture Park, Broadway and Vernon Blvd., Astoria, Queens, 11106 (map)

Farro and Summer Vegetable Salad

farro summer vegetable salad

I did not plan this salad.  It just sort of came to be through improvisation; I like to cook in this way.  Recipes are great, don’t get me wrong, and I enjoy using them, but it’s also nice to take what you have and come up with something delicious, which this most certainly is. Or, was – I ate it all within a 24 hour period.  It was that good.

First, though – what is farro?  Farro is an ancient whole wheat grain also known as Emmer; it’s also related to spelt.  It looks like large barley or even a bit like freekeh, and is medium brown in color.  It has a toothsome texture and mild, nutty flavor.  It has slightly less protein than quinoa, but has almost twice the fiber. You cook it like most grains – soak then simmer in a pot til the water (or stock) absorbs.  My farro comes from Cayuga Organics via my CSA.

So, Tuesday morning I decided I wanted to cook some grains.  I looked in the pantry and the first grain I spied was the farro.  So, I brought it down, put it in my soaking bowl, added water and raw vinegar and let it soak while I was at work.

That night I picked up my CSA shares – the veggie share was full of summer vegetables, and I knew their robust flavors would go well with the farro.

I took what I had – red peppers, leeks, zucchini, tomatoes – and mixed it with the cooked farro, along with some feta and lemon juice.  The salad was so delicious!  It was hearty and satisfying without weighing me down.  The flavors were sharp and clear and they all mixed together to make an excellent dish.  It was wonderfully savory.

I would make this again… in fact, I probably will make it again next week!  It was fantastic the next day, too – the flavors had married and tasted a bit deeper.  Definitely a good dish to bring as leftovers to work.

Farro and Summer Vegetable Salad

1 cup dry farro
soaking water and an acid (I used raw apple cider vinegar; lemon juice would work, too)
juice and zest of 1 lemon
kosher salt
1 leek, finely chopped
1 small red, orange, or yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 small zucchini, julienned, then the matchsticks cut in half to the length of an inch or so
1/4 cup feta cheese (Bulgarian feta is my favorite), crumbled
2 tablespoons pine nuts (raw or toasted)
1-2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, each cut in half

Put the cup of dry farro in a bowl, cover with water and a splash of acid, and let soak for 8-10 hours.  When the soaking time is up, drain the farro and put in a saucepan with 1 cup of water.  Bring it to a boil, then let it simmer until almost all the water has been absorbed, about 20-25 minutes.  Rinse and drain and set aside.

While the farro is cooking, cut up the leeks.  The way I do this is that I cut off the top fibrous green leaves, leaving the tender white parts.  Then cut off the root end.  Slice the leek in half from root to tip, and rinse the leeks in a way to be sure there is no dirt stuck between the layers.  Put the cut side down and slice thin half moons.  You’ll have a pile of cute skinny half moon leeks – then chop them until they meet your standard for finely chopped.

Add the bell pepper and zucchini.  Add the lemon zest and squeeze the lemon onto the mixture of leeks, pepper, and zucchini, sprinkle with salt (I used about 1/4 tsp) and let that macerate until the farro is ready to be added.

Add the farro and mix with the vegetable lemon combination.  Crumble your feta and add the pine nuts. Pour the olive oil over it all. Last, add the sliced-in-half tomatoes. Mix it all together.  Adjust seasonings as you like.

Serves 4-6, or two servings for some very hungry people.

Fresh Pea Salad

in the bowl

Last week I was fortunate enough to have shelling peas in my CSA share. Usually we get sugar snaps or snow peas in a season, but hadn’t gotten shelling peas before.  I really wanted to find a recipe that highlighted the fresh pea flavor.

peas peas peas

It was also hot last week, so I wanted to find something that involved minimal cooking.

I found this pea salad recipe on the 101 Cookbooks site, which is a great source of recipes with a true vegetable focus.  Heidi Swanson, the site owner, is from the SF Bay Area, so a lot of her recipes remind me of home. Anyway, I found the date-mint combination in the dressing to be quite intriguing, and since I have access to amazing medjool dates here in town, that was a no-brainer to make it.  The mint is refreshing, and I love how the lemon and chile give it a pleasant kick.

date mint lemon spicy dressing

Beware, though – aside from the pepitas, this recipe has virtually no protein, nor is there much fat in it.  Perhaps a little olive oil could be added, but I think even that might weigh things down.  So, this dish is best paired with something containing plenty of good fat, like pastured eggs, a selection of raw cheeses, or perhaps even a grass-fed burger!

pepitas and peas

It is a delicious salad.  So refreshing and a wonderful combination of flavors.  It also allowed me to use up some of my lettuce, always a challenge for a CSA member this time of year.

salad put together

This salad makes a lot, and I ate it for three days, almost finishing it off.  It’s a wonderful salad to share with friends and loved ones.

Fresh Pea Salad
From 101 Cookbooks

I used a hand blender and it worked great! As you add more water to the dressing, it definitely gets easier to grind up.

1 cup fresh mint leaves (just leaves, no stems)
2 dried dates, pitted
1/2 of a small serrano chile, stem removed (half a jalapeño also works)
a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and zest from that lemon

1 1/2 cups fresh peas
1 small head of romaine lettuce, cut into shreds
1/2 cup toasted pumpkin seeds
fine grain sea salt

To make the mint-date dressing, puree the mint, dates, chiles and lemon juice and zest using a food processor or hand blender. Blend until uniform in texture. Thin it out by adding a tablespoon of water at a time until it is a consistency that you can drizzle. Taste and adjust for lemon and spiciness.

When you go to cook the peas, the key is not overcooking them. Fill a big bowl with ice water and set aside. Add some salt (as you would pasta water) and the peas. Bring six cups of water to a boil in a medium saucepan. You are just going to boil the peas for a very short time. Don’t leave the stove. Somewhere between ten and twenty seconds.You want them just barely tender, so they still pop in your – mouth. Quickly drain and dunk the peas in the bowl of ice water.

Just before serving gently toss the peas, lettuce, and pumpkin seeds with about half of the dressing and a couple pinches of salt. Taste and add more dressing if you like. Finish with a pinch or two of your favorite finishing salt (I like fleur de sel).

Serves 2 – 4

The Best Chicken Salad

chicken salad on csa lettuce

Earlier this spring, I rediscovered chicken salad; I’m not actually sure why I had forgotten about it.  I used to love chicken salad sandwiches I’d eat from the deli while at grad school (the bread was always a little stale), but I wonder now what exactly was in those sandwiches…

I’ve made this particular chicken salad a half dozen times since May already.  It is just so good.  The list of ingredients isn’t extensive, which is probably why it works so well for my taste.  I’ve made a few adjustments, including making the mayonnaise from scratch.

mayo

I used the mayonnaise recipe from Nourishing Traditions and I love it!  I didn’t have any whey handy, so this mayo will only last a couple of weeks; I have plans to make lacto-fermented mayo soon.  I used a combination of extra virgin olive oil and expeller pressed organic sunflower oil, which are much better fats than the canola and soybean oil you’ll often find in commercial mayo.  I once made mayonnaise with all olive oil and didn’t really like it – it was too intense for me and didn’t taste much like mayo.

The mayo is also a wonderful yellow color, thanks to the excellent pastured eggs I have access to.

One of the predominate flavors in this chicken salad is tarragon, an herb I never paid much attention to.  I was never a real fan of it, but since I’ve been making this salad, I’ve become its champion.  I got a beautiful bunch of it in the first week’s CSA share, and was happy to use it in the chicken salad.  In fact, I pumped up the amount of tarragon, I love it so much.

I also switched out the original cranberries for apples.  I think the apples are so perfect in this salad, giving a level of sweetness that I think is absolutely delicious.  Apples and walnuts are a classic pairing, too.

topped with mayo

Chicken breasts work well in this salad (I poach them) but really any leftover chicken will do, be it roasted, grilled, or whatever.

chicken salad

Apple-Walnut Chicken Salad
Adapted from smitten kitchen, who adapted it quite loosely from Gourmet

4 cups cubed (1/2 inch) cooked chicken (about 1 3/4 lb), pastured if possible
1 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
1 celery rib, diced into small bits (1 cup)
2 or more tablespoons finely chopped shallot
1 apple, cored and cubed (no need to peel it)
2/3 to 3/4 cup mayonnaise (homemade is best)
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
4 tablespoons finely chopped fresh tarragon
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Toss together all ingredients in a large bowl until combined well.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

This post is participating in Fight Back Friday hosted by Food Renegade.

Radish, Orange, and Mint Salad

radishes

Usually, I am not a big fan of radishes – they are bitter-spicy and taste a little like dirt.  I’ve always wanted to enjoy them, mostly because my grandma loves them and I love my grandma; she will eat them raw, out of hand, like tiny apples.

So, I’m happy to say that I’ve found a way to enjoy these round red radishes – finally!

orange

These radishes star in a salad I first tasted at an underground supper club called The Sunday Night Dinner, run by my friend Tamara.  The whole meal was fabulous, but this salad stuck out in my memory as spectacular.  It presented an amazing combination of flavors – earthy, sweet, bright, perfumed.  It was made with minimal ingredients: oranges, radishes, mint, and orange flower water.  The combination is simply amazing.  And addictive.  I had three servings that night.

orange blossom water

As I was planning out my meals for the week, this salad came to mind, and I knew I had to make it.  I searched the internet for it and came across a recipe from Saveur that resulted in this same salad I loved from that original dinner.  The orange juice really ameliorates the spicy nature of the radishes without breaking their spirit, and the mint is another refreshing touch.  The orange flower water perfumes it all beautifully.

This will be the primary way I eat radishes from now on, I expect.

radish, orange, mint

Radish, Orange, and Mint Salad
adapted from a recipe by Saveur

1 to 2 bunches red radishes, about 1/2 lb., washed and trimmed
1 1/2 tbsp. unrefined sugar – rapadura or sucanat work well
1 tsp. orange flower water
1 1/2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp. fresh orange juice
salt
1 seedless orange
4 sprigs fresh mint, chopped

Shred radishes or slice thinly and julienne. Place in a small bowl and sprinkle with sugar. Stir and set aside to macerate for 15 minutes. Drain off excess liquid, if any. Cover and refrigerate, about 20 minutes, until well chilled.

Whisk together orange flower water, lemon juice, and orange juice in a small bowl, and season to taste with salt. Pour dressing over radishes and lightly toss.

Peel and section orange. Add to radishes.

Chop the mint and add it, mixing everything together.

Serves 2-4.

Larb

larb plated

So, I’ve had a package of ground pastured pork in my freezer for a while and I’ve been itching to use it. It’s delicious stuff, from pigs raised by Alan and Nancy Brown at Lewis Waite farm. I could have made burger with it, but I wanted larb. Larb!

What is larb? It’s a Southeast Asian ground meat salad that can be made with pork, beef, chicken and other poultry, or fish. In Laos, it’s made with a bit of ground toasted rice, but the recipe I used didn’t specify that. The version I made was basically meat and some seasonings, served over lettuce with cucumber.

It was delicious, and had that wonderful mix of tangy-salty-fresh-and spicy flavors that I love so much in Southeast Asian food.  It was also well-received by our resident picky eater, so I see that as a good sign.  It would be an excellent summer dish, perhaps paired with some fresh spring rolls, or perhaps just with a side of papaya salad.  Fresh fruit would be perfect for dessert.  I expect to make it again.

larb

This post is participating in Food Renegade’s Fight Back Fridays.