What is with this broccoli slaw craze??  I keep hearing people mention it, “you can buy it already prepared in a bag – just add whatever dressing you want!”  I’ve looked countless times when grocery shopping but had never seen it… until the other day.  In with the bagged lettuce in [...]]]>

Thai Broccoli Slaw and Wrap

What is with this broccoli slaw craze??  I keep hearing people mention it, “you can buy it already prepared in a bag – just add whatever dressing you want!”  I’ve looked countless times when grocery shopping but had never seen it… until the other day.  In with the bagged lettuce in the produce section of a large health food grocer, there it was – a package of “broccoli slaw.”   I picked it up to look at the ingredients – “broccoli, carrots.”  That’s it!  It was $2.99 for 8 oz.  Sheesh!  I can buy a head of broccoli and carrots for less than that and run it through the shredder blade of my food processor or just grate it by hand.  For that matter, I can add other interesting veggies to boot.

I decided I would make a healthy, all raw dinner wrap.  Instead of using the food processor, I decided to do it all by hand just to see how long it would take.  Not really such a big deal – I may have shaved off 10 minutes if I had used the food processor…

I served this as a salad with the slaw placed on a bed of greens and as wraps.

shredded veggies

Thai Broccoli Slaw

3 broccoli stems, shredded

1 medium carrot, shredded

½ small jimcama, peeled and shredded

Dressing

½ cup cashew butter

1 tablespoon Nama Shoyu

1 tablespoon agave syrup

1 tablespoon grated ginger

Thai Dressing

juice of 1 lime

½ jalapeño pepper, finely minced

¼ teaspoon sea salt

1/4 mango, sliced into strips

Place shredded veggies in a large bowl and mix together.

With a fork, whisk dressing ingredients together in a medium bowl.   Slowly add dressing to veggies and mix thoroughly.  May need to thin dressing with a little water if too thick.  Store in fridge.

Broccoli Slaw

To make wrap:

Collard Green Leaves

Take collard green leaf and slice down the middle, close to the stem, removing it.  You should now have two halves.  Place a spoonful of broccoli slaw near bottom half of leaf (on the inside part of the leaf) and a couple slices of mango, then roll up.  Place on plate, seam side down.

Tamarind Dipping Sauce

1/3  cup tamarind concentrate

1 -2 tablespoons agave syrup

1 teaspoons Nama Shoyu

1 teaspoon olive oil

Whisk ingredients together in a bowl.  Adjust to taste and store in fridge.  Serve with wrap.

Thai Broccoli Slaw Wrap

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As Thanksgiving quickly approaches, thoughts of meal meal planning and shopping are overwhelming.  The turkey is a given (unless you’re vegetarian).  Over indulgence and a little gluttony take over with the amount of food we prepare and eat…. but how else are we supposed to have leftovers???

Here a couple of very easy side dishes, [...]]]>

Lemon-Garlic broccoli

As Thanksgiving quickly approaches, thoughts of meal meal planning and shopping are overwhelming.  The turkey is a given (unless you’re vegetarian).  Over indulgence and a little gluttony take over with the amount of food we prepare and eat…. but how else are we supposed to have leftovers???

Here a couple of very easy side dishes, not overwhelming or heavy to send you into that carb coma.  Both are cold sides and can be prepared a day ahead to lessen the load on the big turkey day.  For these recipes, I don’t measure… I just kinda eyeball it…  you can easily adjust the amount for the number of people you are serving.

Lemon-Garlic Broccoli

2 heads/crowns fresh broccoli

several cloves of garlic

extra virgin olive oil

1 – 2 lemons

Sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Rinse broccoli and cut off most of the stalk.  With a sharp knife, separate the spears of broccoli.  Steam broccoli in a large enough pot to accommodate until it’s al dente.  The steaming time is variable – not sure why…. some broccoli is “tough” and just takes longer.  Be careful not to overcook – no mushy broccoli allowed!  Place the broccoli in a baking/serving dish in one layer… best to avoid the aluminum pans – they discolor the broccoli and garlic.

Here’s where the eyeball method comes in – we love a lot of garlic in our family but some don’t tolerate it as much as others.  Chop garlic into large pieces and place over the broccoli in the pan  (the large pieces can easily be avoided for those that don’t want to eat that much garlic).  Drizzle olive oil over the broccoli and garlic.  Squeeze the lemon on top, being careful to keep the seeds out…. if they fall in, you can just pick them out – no one will know.  Add salt and pepper to taste and voila!!!  That’s it.  Just cover and place in the fridge until you’re ready to serve.

Steamed String Beans with Red Onion Salad

String Bean and Red Onion Salad

1 lb fresh string beans, rinsed and stems removed

1 small red onion, sliced thin into half moon

extra virgin olive oil

balsamic vinegar

sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Steam string beans until they are al dente (should only take a few minutes) and  please don’t over cook. Place string beans in a  medium – large bowl (you want to make sure there’s enough room to toss the string beans without them flipping over the side).

Add red onion.  *To make half moons slices, cut onion in half from top to bottom, then lay cut side down and slice cross-wise.

Drizzle olive oil, then balsamic vinegar over beans.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Gently toss string beans in dressing until well coated.  Place salad with dressing in a cover container (or large plastic ziploc) and refridgerate until ready to serve.  Every so often, I toss the beans in the covered container (with lid on) to mix the beans in the dressing.

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The benefits of buying local produce are numerous.  The most important – helping to support local farms and bring fresh, in season produce to your table.  Nothing beats being able to speak to the folks that actually grow your food.  Not only can you ask about their growing methods but [...]]]>

Farmer's Market, Union Square in NYC

The benefits of buying local produce are numerous.  The most important – helping to support local farms and bring fresh, in season produce to your table.  Nothing beats being able to speak to the folks that actually grow your food.  Not only can you ask about their growing methods but also get the low-down on how crops are growing during the current season  and a heads up for produce in the coming weeks.  Your local farmer may even have a suggestion you try something new.  I’ve even had the pleasure of starting up conversations with other shoppers on the various produce currently available and sharing how I used it in a recipe.  At the market, everyone’s a chef.

Growing up in Southern California, we had one orange tree and enough room in the back yard to grow a small garden.  We grew monster zucchini and tomatoes.  The neighbors that lived behind us had an apricot tree with branches that draped over the back wall… I remember keeping an eye on the fruit, just waiting for it to drop into our yard.  Much of my summer time was spent at my cousins house where they happen to have avocado, peach, nectarine, apricot and plum trees and a large garden every year.

As a child, I didn’t appreciate being able to grow your own food, tending a garden and bringing it right to your table… and now many years later,  living as an adult in NYC in a small apartment with no direct sunlight, I long to have enough space to grow even a container garden on a window sill.

At least I have the next best thing – access to one of the best Farmer’s Market in the country!

To find out more about NYC’s local greenmarkets:

CENYC.org

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