Salad Season

Warmer weather means colder food and salads perfectly fit the bill. Variations are endless. You can even clean out your hydrator bin by cutting all the veggies into "salad" instead of winter soup. We used to do that at my cafeteria and call it "cold vegetable salad."  It's good to let go of lettuce for a while. It doesn't like heat and you eat it most of the year anyway so take a break. Here are a few ways to have a full meal salad in summertime. Sorry, not many pics this post. Where I live it's been way too cold for salad.

American Fattoush
Ok, this one has lettuce. It's totally vegetarian, the bigger is better American version of the common Levant salad on every kitchen table in Lebanon, Syria and the Palestinian areas. I took inspiration from the salad created at Insalata's Restaurant in San Anselmo, CA. It's heartier than basic Greek salad and has become my favorite mid summer lunch.

Serves 4

2 sm pita breads, split, with each piece cut into 6 triangles

1 head Romaine lettuce, washed and shredded

1 handful fresh arugula, washed and stemmed

1 bunch cilantro, leaves only chopped

3-4 sprigs fresh mint, leaves only minced

6 sprigs flat leaf parsley, leaves only coarsely chopped

8-10 cherry tomatoes, washed and thinly sliced

6 pitted Kalamata or similar olives, thinly sliced

1 small red onion, peeled and cut into thin rings, then cut rings in half to make strings

3 oz fresh Feta, crumbled or cut into small pieces

2-3 Persian cucumbers or 1 sm English cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped

Salt to taste (remember olives and feta can be salty)

Put pita on a baking sheet and bake at 350º until crisp and dry. Cool and break into smaller pieces.

Toss all ingredients together in a large salad bowl.

Dressing:

1 clove garlic mashed

¼ tsp ground cumin

juice of ½ lg lemon

½ cup olive oil

Freshly ground black pepper

Whisk it together and when ready to serve, pour over salad.

Chicken Salad with Raita and Lentils
This is my longtime company's coming favorite summer luncheon star. Served with a plate of sliced tomatoes, a spiced,  chutney and good flatbread, the Indian inspired chicken salad makes a memorable, colorful and healthful meal. It's not sandwich chicken salad.
 serves 6

16 oz plain yogurt
8 oz sour cream
1 1/4 c peeled, seeded and grated cucumber (drain it)
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
pinch ground cayenne or arbol pepper
2 1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp chopped fresh dill fronds (you can alternatively use mint)
1 tsp fresh lemon juice

This is the dressing. In a medium sized bowl, combine all the ingredients and refrigerate.

2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, poached with 2 cloves
1 1/2 c dried green/brown lentils
2 c broccolini, cut into bite sized pieces and blanched in salty water 3 min.
1 bunch scallions, cut into 1/4" thick disks
1 c thinly sliced cucumber
1 c carrots, peeled and grated
1 1/2 c cashew nuts, coarsely chopped
1 lb spinach leaves

 Boil the lentils in salted water until tender (maybe 10-15 min depending on lentil size). Drain thoroughly and cool.
  In a large serving bowl, combine chicken, broccolini, lentils, scallions, cucumbers and carrots. Blend in the raita dressing. 
   Serve on a bed of spinach greens and top with the cashews.

Pasta, Peas and Shrimp with Pesto 
Everybody needs a good pasta salad recipe and this is early summer's best.  
serves 4-5

1/4 c pine nuts, toasted
1/2 c mozzarella, shredded
1 lb small shrimp, cooked and peeled
1 c fresh peas, shelled
3 1/2 c shell shaped pasta or rotini
2 tbsp grated Parmesan, Romano or Locatelli cheese 
Dressing
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp wine vinegar
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
salt to your taste
1/4 c pesto sauce
1/3 c good quality olive oil

Blanch the peas in just enough salted water to cover them. (This means cook them 1-2 minutes in boiling water.) Remove the peas, save the water for the pasta and drain the peas well.

Cook the pasta according to package instructions using the pea water in the mix. Drain the al dente pasta and immediately run it under cold water to refresh and cool. Drain carefully and lightly salt it.

In a large serving bowl, combine the pasta, shrimp, grated cheese, peas and pine nuts. 

In a small bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients. 
Pour over the salad. Sprinkle on the grated cheese and season with freshly ground black pepper.

Serve with cherry tomatoes and black olives.

Omelet Salad
This was my invention for my cafeteria: we made a lunch salad out of all the things we would've cooked up into omelets if we had the stove space. The potatoes in it are usually served beside omelets. This concoction was a huge hit!  Serve it with great rye or black bread and salted butter.
serves 4
1/2 lb new potatoes, boiled until tender and peeled
5 extra large eggs, hard boiled and peeled
1/2 lb baked ham in thick chunks
1/2 small red onion, minced
1/4 lb shredded cheese (Gruyere, cheddar, Jack or any cheese you'd melt into an omelet)
6 mushrooms, cleaned and dried and lightly sauteed in butter.
1/4 c flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
1/4 lg green bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1/2 c baby spinach leaves, cleaned
6 cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 tsp freshly ground or cracked black pepper
pinch of salt (remember ham is salty)
1/4 c dill fronds, finely chopped
Dressing
1 tbsp mayonnaise
3 tbsp good quality olive oil
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 sm garlic clove, minced

Slice the potatoes and mushrooms thinly. Quarter the eggs, then half the quarters. Cut the ham into bite sized chunks. Combine all the ingredients but salt and pepper in a large serving bowl and toss to mix. Season with salt and pepper. Just before serving blend the dressing ingredients and use as much as you want on the salad.

Vietnamese Cabbage and Chicken Salad
I made this for a San Francisco party and spent the next few days sending the recipe out to everyone who was there. I included it in the updated version of How to Fix a Leek... where it also got a lot of rave attention. Sweet, sour, salty, colorful, crunchy and soft--it's everything you need for the perfect summer meal. With a fresh baguette along side.
serves 4

2 chili peppers, seeded and mince
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
3 tbsp fresh lime juice
3 tbsp vegetable oil (not olive)
3 tbsp fermented fish sauce (Nam pla)
1 medium onion, sliced into thinnest disks
freshly ground black pepper

Combine these ingredients into a dressing and let it stand 30 minutes.

2 c poached chicken breasts, shredded (2 lg boneless breasts)
4 c white cabbage, shredded
1 cup carrot, shredded
1/2 c fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
1/2 c fresh cilantro leaves, finely chopped

Combine every ingredient but the cilantro leaves in a large serving bowl. Toss with the dressing. Garnish with the cilantro leaves and serve.

Avocado and Smoked Turkey Salad 
 Creamy avocado and smoked anything make a marvelous marriage.
 serves 4
2 lg red bell peppers
4 ripe avocados
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 sm red onion
5 ears fresh corn
1/2 lb smoked boneless turkey
2 doz black olives, pitted if you have them
1 lg grapefruit
1 c mayonnaise
1/2 c plain yogurt
pinch crushed red pepper flakes
2 tbsp cilantro leaves, finely chopped
1 sm garlic clove, smashed and minced
dash Tabasco sauce
Salt to your taste

Arugula leaves to make a serving bed. 

Hold the red peppers over a flame or under the broiler to char on all sides if you can. Run them under cold water and peel off the skin. Cut the peppers in half, remove the seeds and veins. Cut the pepper into small cubes.
    Half the avocados, remove the pits and peel off the skin. Cut the flesh into small cubes. Put them in a bowl with the lime juice and toss.
    Peel the onion, half it and cut it into very thin half moon rings.
    Boil the corn in salty water 5-8 minutes depending on how fresh it is. Drain and cool.  Cut the kernels from the cob.
   Cut the turkey into small cubes. Peel the grapefruit and remove the white fiber. Separate the sections and cut each in thirds.
   Combine all these salad ingredients in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

Put the mayonnaise, yogurt, pepper flakes, cilantro, garlic and Tabasco into a small bowl and blend well.  Pour over the salad and blend it in. Serve immediately.


If you didn't find anything here you can use, stay tuned. I have more meal worthy salads to post later in June: Mexican corn salad, Italian tuna bean, curried chicken, Chinese bean sprout, Moroccan couscous, Portuguese salt cod and chickpeas, club sandwich salad.
 

Why You Should Be at your Local Farmers' Market

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/may/28/organic-food-what-to-buy-produce-meat-dairy


https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/may/28/bread-additives-chemicals

Lunch for the Lama

Vegetarian and vegan
Seasonal and Himalayan
A memorial day feast for the priest!

Chard torte
Leek fritters
Bhutanese cucumber cheese salad
Bhutanese style fiddleheads
Asparagus escabeche
Lima Bean Plaki
Not pictured: Korean carrot salad
Rhubarb ginger crisp
Date bars

Many recipes from Veggiyana, the Dharma of Cooking, (Wisdom Publications).

The Last Spring Tonics that Energize

The energy of plants is usually in the roots or shoots. That's why all the Spring tonics turn out to be shoots (stalks are the same thing). These early sprouts have the zip to break through icy or muddy ground and we absorb that energy when we eat them. I've posted about asparagus, the spearheads of Spring, and about rhubarb which I hope to convince you to eat by slipping another recipe into this post that's moving on to the endgame: green garlic (the "scallions" of garlic), scallions, fiddleheads (fern shoots) and the tastiest of the bunch, pea shoots. Green garlic and pea shoots are relative newcomers to farmers' markets, more showing up each year as word spreads about how delicious and nutritious they are and savvy cooks ask for them. (That's how I got them brought to markets in Maine: continually requesting some and promising to buy lots.)

Rhubarb Crisp

I love the pink color and gingery flavor of this dessert, perfect with vanilla ice cream or not. I also love to freeze one or two to enjoy in winter. It's not too sweet, can be gluten-free, and the perfect palate cleanser after grilled foods. Leftovers make a great breakfast treat topped with yogurt. Oh, and did I say it's ridiculously easy to make. If you want strawberries, throw a few in but you don't have to. What seems the inevitable combination is based on a linguistic mistake: much rhubarb due to its pink color is identified as "strawberry rhubarb" and that led cooks to think the you shouldn't serve one without the other.
serves 8
2 lbs rhubarb
1/4 c turbinado, raw or light brown sugar
1 tbsp maple syrup
1/3 c white raisins (use dark if that's all you have)
2" fresh ginger root, peeled and grated
pinch ground cloves
2 tbsp all purpose flour (to be gluten free use corn starch)
Optional: 8-10 whole hulled strawberries
3/4 c chopped walnuts, lightly toasted (you can do in the toaster oven)
1/2 c oats
6 tbsp unsalted butter, softened is best
2 tbsp turbinado, raw or light brown sugar
1/8 tsp (lg pinch) ground cinnamon 

Heat oven to 375º. Get out a 9-10" pie plate (glass one is good here).
Wash and chop the rhubarb stalks into 1" pieces (aim for the smaller side). Put in a large bowl and combine with the sugar, maple syrup, raisins, ginger and cloves. Stir to blend. Stir in the flour or cornstarch so it absorbs the watery juice the rhubarb will emit. Pour everything into the pie plate and level the top.

Make the topping in a medium bowl. Cut the butter into pieces. Add the chopped walnuts, oats, sugar and cinnamon and with your hands blend this into chunks.  Distribute the chunks evenly over the top of the rhubarb. There may be spaces but that's okay. Try to keep them small. 

Bake at 375º 35-45  minutes until the topping is golden brown and the rhubarb juices bubbling at the edge are syrupy thick. If the nuts are browning/burning too quickly cover the top with foil.  (I often put a sheet pan on the shelf below in case the juice bubbles over.)  You can make this ahead and reheat it in a warm oven to serve. You can cool it, wrap it in tin foil and put it in a large freezer baggie and freeze for winter.

And now moving ahead in the season,

Green garlic is the "scallion" of the young garlic bulb that comes to market when farmers' thin the garlic patch. The younger ones distinguished by a bulb that hasn't begun to swell wider than the stem are best. Some farmers pull them much larger and they're tougher. The point is to eat the bulb and stem, like a scallion. 

The easiest way to enjoy them is to sprinkle on some olive oil and sea salt and roast them at 450º 10-12 minutes. They'll become meltingly soft and sweet and you can just eat them that way. Or you can mash them once they've roasted and blend them into hamburgers/meatloaf or mashed potatoes or whatever you want a taste of garlic in.  
Pasta with Green Garlic and Ricotta
serves 4-5

1½ cups fresh whole-milk ricotta
1/2 cup finely minced green garlic
2 tbsp minced parsley
1 lb dried penne or fusilli

2 tbsp butter

¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste plus grated Parmesan for the table

Combine ricotta, green garlic and 1 tbsp parsley in a large bowl; season with salt and pepper. Cook pasta according to package until al dente. Just before it’s there, take out ½ cup of the boiling water and whisk in a steady stream into the ricotta to make a smooth, creamy sauce. 

Drain pasta and put in the sauce. Add butter and toss to blend. Add Parmesan and toss again, adding a little more boiling pasta water if needed to thin the sauce. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve topping each portion with some remaining parsley. Pass additional Parmesan at the table.

Fiddleheads, the delicacy of late Spring, are the sprouts of the ostrich

fern gathered when it's still in spirals and hasn't yet unfolded as an upright stalk. They grow in the Himalaya, in northern New England and the Canadian Rockies as wild woodland plants that must be foraged. They are rich in vitamins A and C but should never be eaten raw. Sometimes they're available pickled in a jar. Otherwise they're best steamed for 6-8 minutes with a cut lemon and sea salt and served with a few grinds of fresh black pepper. If you put a pinch of baking soda in the steam water, they'll keep their bright green color.  Once steamed you can throw them in salads or toss them in with stewed Spring chicken or over pasta with olive oil, lemon juice, pitted black olives and pancetta.

I found fiddleheads popping through snow ground in Bhutan and found out this is how the locals cook them.  

 Himalayan style Fiddlehead Ferns

for 4-6

1 sm. red onion, peeled, finely chopped

4 tbsp. unsalted butter

½ lb. fiddleheads, cleaned

3 new potatoes, cleaned and sliced into thin disks

1 cup water

1 med. fresh green chili (about ½ oz.), seeded and sliced in thin strips

¼ tsp ground coriander

8 oz fresh soft sheep cheese, farmers’ or feta cheese or soft ricotta, crumbled

1/8 tsp. salt

freshly ground black pepper to taste

Melt butter in a large saucepan. Add onion and sauté until translucent and soft. Add fiddleheads, potatoes and water. Simmer over low heat about 10 minutes until vegetables are tender.  Add the chili, coriander, cheese and salt, stirring to blend. Continue to simmer until cheese melts into a smooth sauce, about 5 minutes. Add freshly ground black pepper to your taste and serve hot.  The Bhutanese would do that with roast pork.

   
The other name for a scallion is "Spring onion" because it's the first shoot of an awakened bulb. East Asian cultures use lots of them because they can't wait for the full onion. We have choices but if we're sticking to the seasons, now is the time for the Spring onion. Fall is for the fat ones that keep.

Quick scallion pancakes

These are Korean style.

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup boiling water

1/8 tsp salt

1 cup minced scallions

1 tbsp sesame oil

½ cup corn or canola oil

Sift flour with salt into large bowl or food processor. Add water in a steady stream, continually mixing with a wooden spoon until a dough ball forms. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let it sit 30 minutes.

Combine the sesame oil with 1 tbsp corn or canola oil. Flour a flat surface and roll dough into a thin rectangle. Brush with the oils and spread the scallions evenly on top. Now carefully roll the dough up tightly like a jellyroll. Cut it across into 4 equal pieces. Twist each piece 3 times and wrap it itself into a spiral. Roll each spiral into a flat 5” pancake. (If it’s a little bigger, okay.) Coat a nonstick skillet with some of the corn or canola oil and pan sear the pancake on both sides until they brown. Use fresh oil for each pancake if you need to. Cut into wedges to serve.

Make a sauce out of soy sauce, rice vinegar, minced ginger and scallions with a fleck of Asian chili sauce.

Pea shoots, a Chinese favorite, are what you get when you thin out

the pea patch as the tendrils begin their climb. They are startlingly tasty, with perhaps more flavor than peas themselves and you can eat them raw. They are perfect in an egg or tuna salad pita pocket, on crostini particularly if a paté is underneath (the picture here is on top of a smoked salmon paté), and with cold poached salmon. I sometimes stick them in the cream cheese on my bagel. In other words, they are no trouble. 
   You can toss them in vegetable or chicken noodle soup and in just about any stir-fry. The Chinese simply stir-fry them with lots of garlic and dig in.
Chinese stir-fried Pea Shoots

The Chinese use snow pea shoots which are thicker than garden pea shoots and work best in this recipe.

serves 2-3

1 lb pea shoots

3 tbsp vegetable oil

3-5 cloves of finely chopped fresh garlic (depending on how much you like)

1/2 tsp salt or 1 tbsp soy sauce

grind of fresh pepper

1 tsp sesame oil

Wash and thoroughly drain the pea shoots.

Using very high heat, heat oil in a wok until smoking. Quickly add the garlic and pea shoots constantly stirring. After a minute, add salt or soy, pepper, and sesame oil. Stir and mix well. Cover the wok and cook 1-2 minutes. Remove lid, stir briefly, and transfer to serving dish.

Fritter it away

Asparagus is sprouting in the colder climes and starting to show up at farmers' markets and in supermarkets labeled "local."  If you're looking for what to do with those spearheads of Spring, check out an earlier April post for some sensational ideas: asparagus bread pudding, asparagus escabeche, asparagus clafoutis, asparagus pilaf, pickled asparagus and more. Pictured here: bread pudding, escabeche and clafoutis.

Many other vegetables springing to life and coming soon can feed everybody's love of fried food-- tasty, crunchy and filling--when turned into fritters.  Fritter comes from the Latin for "fry"  as does the French word "frites" translated as French fries (deep fried potatoes), and it signifies some sort of fried batter ferrying fruit (remember apple fritters?), vegetables or meat. A fritter can be round like a falafel ball, or triangular like a samosa, or flat like a pancake and called a patty or pancake if not a fritter.  I find the patty fritter the most congenial to make because it doesn't have to be deep fried (some you can actually bake and they will appear fried) and the prettiest to serve. So as summer and vegetables roll in, here are ideas to save and savor for frittering them away.

Fresh pea fritters with mint and feta

I've recently and earlier posted the fresh pea "hummus" recipe and in my book Veggiyana, The Dharma of Cooking, the kids' favorite smashed peas recipe. I also recently posted a wonderful Sicilian fish recipe with fresh peas and tomatoes.  Well here's a brand new way to handle all those fresh peas: smashed peas  frying into fritters in the photo. What a side for salmon!
This makes about a dozen patties.

1 lb shelled fresh green peas

4 1/2 ounces whole-milk ricotta cheese

3 large eggs, beaten

Finely grated zest of 1 lemon, and lemon wedges for serving (cut after zesting)

3/4 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Optional: 1 tablespoons Israeli za'atar

1/2 tsp mild chili like Aleppo pepper or chipotle

2/3 cup flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup packed mint leaves, finely chopped

7 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

About 3 1/3 cups corn or safflower oil, for frying

Smash the peas in a food processor so they are coarsely crushed. Put them in a large a mixing bowl. Stir in the ricotta, eggs, lemon zest, salt, a good grind of pepper, optionally the za'atar, ground chili, flour and baking powder. Mixing until they are blended. Gently fold in the mint and feta.

Heat the oil in a medium skillet or frying pan over medium heat. Line a plate with paper towels.

With a large flattish spoon, make large balls you flatten into patties or make patties about 2” wide. Fry as many as fit in one layer in the pan 3 to 4 minutes, then with tongs, turn them and brown evenly. Use a slotted spatula to transfer them to the lined plate while you cook the remaining batch.

Serve warm, with lemon wedges and garnish with fresh mint leaves.

Leek Patties with Dill

The subtle intriguing flavors made this a friends' and family favorite. These fritters can be served warm or at room temperature, as a meal in themselves, as a first course or as a side dish. I often make them when I don't know what else to cook.  

Makes 12, serves 6-8

6 lg leeks, white and light green parts only

1 tbsp fresh chives, minced

1/4 c fresh dill, finely chopped

2 eggs, beaten

½-2/3 cup dried breadcrumbs

1 tsp coarse sea salt

½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

2 tbsp corn or canola oil for frying

1 lemon

boiled, pureed leeks

Cut the leeks in half lengthwise and crosswise and rinse to clean.

Put leeks in a large saucepan, cover with water and bring to a boil.

Lower heat to simmer and cook uncovered about 25 minutes, until leeks are soft. Drain well. Wrap leeks in a heavy towel to squeeze out as much excess water as possible.

Coarsely chop the leeks. Put in a bowl with the chives, dill, salt and pepper. Stir in the breadcrumbs. (Enough to take up any remaining moisture in the leeks.) Blend in the eggs. 

Make 8 patties that are about ½ inch thick.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Arrange the patties in the pan so they don’t touch (you may have to do this in two batches) and cook until brown on the bottom side, about 2 minutes. Flip and cook another 1-2 minutes so both sides are evenly browned. Remove from the pan and drain on paper towels.

Serve with a squirt of lemon juice and a wedge of lemon.

Optionally sprinkle minced fresh flat leaf parsley on the plate.

Can be served warm or cold.

Greek Zucchini Fritters

What I love about these Kolokithokeftedes as they are known in Greece, along with the flavor, is the way they use up those baseball bat sized zucchini. But I also love them because I figured out they could be baked and come out looking fried. This makes them not only easier and less messy to prepare but healthier to eat. They look elegant on a large plate with a bowl of tsatsiki (the Greek yogurt, dill and cucumber mix also known as raita in Indian cooking) in the center and lemon wedges all around.

This makes a mass of fritters.

2½ lbs zucchini, grated

1 red onion, grated

2 spring onions, finely chopped

2-3 tbsps fresh mint, finely chopped

2 eggs

1½ cup feta cheese, grated

salt and freshly ground pepper

2 cups fine breadcrumbs

2 tbsps extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsps parsley, finely chopped

oil for frying

Use a grater to grate the zucchini and place them in a colander with some salt. (This is the worst part.) Squeeze them with your hands to get rid of the excessive water. Leave them for 30 minutes and squeeze them again. Put them into a large bowl and add the other ingredients. Mix well with your hands until everything is combined and firm enough to make balls or patties. Add breadcrumbs as needed.

To fry: In a pan, add enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan, and heat the oil into medium-high heat.

Dip a tablespoon in some water and spoon out some of the mixture into the hot oil. Repeat this procedure until the surface off the pan is comfortably filled. You should dip the spoon in the water every time, so that the dough doesn’t stick on it.

Fry the kolokithokeftedes for about 2-3 minutes on each side, until nicely colored. Place them on paper towel, to absorb the extra oil.

A healthier alternative is to bake patties. Preheat the oven to 425º, oil the bottom of a baking tray and form patties with your hands. Place on the baking tray and brush the top with some olive oil. Bake for 10 minutes, then flip and bake another 10-15 until all patties are nicely brown. 

Serve hot or room temp with fresh cold yogurt or tsatsiki.

Tomato Fritters

Yes, you can. These are delicate so they require patience and attention but they are different enough to get praise and perfect for when you're out of ideas for something besides salad to use up tomatoes.

1 1/2 lbs ripe plum or cherry tomatoes, grated or finely chopped

3 scallions, white and tender green parts, finely chopped

2 Tbsp. fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

4 Tbsp. fresh mint, finely chopped

Pinch of cinnamon

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1¼ - 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour or fine ground chickpea flour, as needed

½ tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp extra virgin olive oil

Vegetable oil for frying (olive oil has a low smoke point but you can use it for the flavor by mixing a bit into corn or canola oil)

In a large bowl, mix together the grated or chopped tomatoes, scallions, herbs, cinnamon, salt, and pepper. Combine 1¼ cups of the flour and the baking powder in a small bowl and add it to the tomatoes, mixing well. Add the olive oil. Add flour if necessary to give the mixture the consistency of a thick batter. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.

Cover the bottom of a large heavy skillet with 1” of oil. Heat over medium-high heat. When the oil is very hot, drop a tablespoon of the batter at a time into the skillet and fry the tomato fritters on both sides until golden. Remove with a slotted spoon and let drain on paper towels. Serve hot.

Sweet Potato Fritters
These are very delicate especially for beginning fritterers but they are worth a try once in a while because they're so great for brunch. They work with a baked ham and roast pork loin too.
Makes 22-24 fritters

2 large sweet potatoes, or 1 red yam and 1 sweet potato, 1½ lbs

2 eggs

¼ cup fine corn meal

1 tsp brown sugar

½ tsp fresh ginger, minced

1/8 tsp orange flower water or ½ tsp orange juice

¼ tsp ground cardamom

¼ tsp ground nutmeg

1 tsp salt

1/3 cup pecans, chopped and lightly toasted

¼ cup dark raisins

30 oz of peanut oil or corn oil or half of each

Peel the sweet potatoes.  Cut them into chunks and divide into three.

Put two thirds in a small saucepan, cover with water and boil about 20 minutes until potatoes are soft.  Grate the remainder.

Drain cooked sweet potatoes and put them in a food processor or blender with eggs, corn meal, brown sugar, ginger, orange liquid, cardamom, nutmeg and salt. Puree, trying to keep it thick.

Pour into a large bowl and stir in pecans, raisins, and grated potato.

In a very deep saucepan or whatever you use for deep-frying, heat oil over high heat to sizzling.  Scoop up the batter with a soupspoon and use another spoon to tamp it, lightly flattening, so it holds together. Drop into the oil. Add as many as the pot will hold before fritters touch each other.  Fry for 3-5 minutes, until the fritters are a rich dark brown. They will pop up to the top when cooked. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.

You can put them on a cookie sheet and keep them warm in a 250º oven while you continue frying.

Serve plain or with maple syrup or spiced yogurt. Great for brunch with scrambled eggs.

X  X  X  X   X  X   X   X

In the fall we'll do several versions of the corn fritter, Turkish pumpkin pancakes and the Eastern European potato pancake sometimes called a latke.

Rhubarb: pretty in pink

Like the butt of Rodney Dangerfield jokes, rhubarb doesn't get respect. That's a shame because it's versatile, nourishing and pretty pink. Plus it's so filled with water it's almost no-cal. I ignored it for decades but once I actually ate some, I started cooking it every which way and loving the lot. There really is nothing like it.

Let's start with the fact that it's actually a vegetable but it comes off like fruit in pies, crisps and cakes or stewed. It's native to Mongolia  It was probably the first staple of Chinese medicine because while the pink stems morph into delicacies, the leaves are poisonous. A little bite of them goes a long way as potent purgative. Actually the safe stems are thought to purge toxins from our body. The roots are also used as medicine. It was first brought to the US to be planted in freezing Maine which proved it's a cinch to grow.

It's rhubarb's long reddish pink stalks we see in markets once the ground thaws and sun comes out. Like asparagus which also has the energy to break through thawing ground, rhubarb is a tonic for our body. Loaded as it is with calcium and potassium, its praises pile up on the internet where it's now touted as a superfood.  You can feel virtuous eating it. So here are a few delicious and deliciously easy ways to try it.

Pork Chops with Rhubarb and Fennel

Rhubarb puts sweet tang in pan-fried pork and makes it pretty to boot. I used a pork loin chop for maximum effect. I'm guessing if you had a large pork tenderloin you could follow this recipe roasting it. This is one very yummy Spring dinner served perhaps with baked or roasted potatoes and a fennel salad. You could also do this with a thick slab of fresh salmon.
serves 4

Serves 4
4 x 4-6 oz 1” thick pork loin chops

2 tsp fennel seed
w tsp coriander seed
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp sea salt
4 tbsp butter
1 tbsp sunflower or corn oil
finely grated zest and juice 1 orange,

½  c marsala wine
1 lb rhubarb (about 3 lg stalks), trimmed and cut horizontally into 1 1/4” thick slices
2 tbsp honey or pure maple syrup

Cut excess fat of the long end of each pork chop.

Slit each at even intervals on one side.

Crush the fennel, coriander seeds, peppercorns and salt until smashed, but not ground to a powder. Rub into the pork slits.

 In a medium/large heavy gauge skillet or frying pan, melt 2 tbsp butter with oil over a medium heat. Put pork chops fat side down and brown 2-3 minutes.

Flip chops to the scored side and cook 2 minutes, then flip to the other side and do the same. Add the remaining butter and orange zest to the pan, baste the chops, and turn them over again.

Pour the marsala into the pan and let bubble for a few seconds. Add the orange juice and bring to a simmer. Arrange the rhubarb around the pork and drizzle it  with honey/maple syrup. On low heat, cook 5 minutes or until pork is no longer pink inside and rhubarb is soft but still holding its shape.

Using a slotted spatula, remove pork and rhubarb from the pan and arrange on warmed dinner plates. Increase the heat under the pan and simmer the sauce until thickened and slightly syrupy. Pour over the pork and serve.

Rhubarb Slaw

It's rare to find rhubarb served raw but don't be afraid to dig into this tasty and colorful Spring salad. 

Serves 4

Juice of 2 lemons

2 tsp orange juice
2 tsp granulated sugar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 fennel bulbs, trimmed so the tough outer stalks are removed
4 stalks of rhubarb
4 large radishes, washed

In a medium bowl, mix the lemon juice with the orange juice, sugar, salt and pepper to your taste. Trim the fennel down to its small innards minus the core. Reserve its fronds.

Using a mandolin, cheese slicer or julienne gadget, slice the rhubarb, radishes and fennel into the thinnest strips you can manage and cut these in pieces. Toss them in the seasoned lemon juice to pickle them slightly.

When ready to serve, add the fennel fronds as garnish.

Quick Rhubarb Chutney for grilled fish
This is the high speed version of versatile rhubarb chutney/confit/sauce.  It's also good on grilled chicken.

1 lb rhubarb, woody base trimmed off

¾ cup light brown sugar

½ cup red wine or raspberry vinegar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

½ cup balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp dried currants

1” piece fresh ginger root, peeled and minced

Dice rhubarb into small pieces. In a heavy non-aluminum pot, combine vinegars with sugar and boil on medium heat until the bubbles are thick and dark, 12-15 minutes. Lower heat, stir in ginger, rhubarb, currants and cinnamon. Cook 5 minutes. Pour into a glass jar or ceramic bowl and refrigerate at least 3 hours. Serve at room temperature.

Rhubarb Compote with Raisins and Apricots

Among all the easy recipes of this post, this is tops. It's a ten minute no brainer with long lasting uses. You can just eat it as is for a breakfast fruit or put it on hot oatmeal or over thick yogurt. You could spoon it drained over BBQ chicken or pulled pork or serve it as a side dish. You can present it as a very healthy dessert topped with whipped cream and abetted with ginger cookies.  You could even spoon it on baked apples.
serves 4-5

5 thin stalks rhubarb or 3 fat ones
4-5 dried apricots
1/4 c white raisins
1 seedless clementine or mandarin, peeled and segmented
3 whole cloves 
1/2" piece fresh ginger, peeled, grated
1 tbsp good quality honey
pinch of ground nutmeg
Water

Clean the rhubarb and slice it into 1" pieces. 
Combine everything in a medium lidded pot with enough water to cover it all. Start over medium heat and when the pot is boiling, cover and reduce heat to simmer. Cook 10 minutes.

Rhubarb Tart
Another high speed recipe. You can also make a rhubarb crisp, rhubarb upside down cake or rhubarb bread pudding. I have all the recipes. 
serves 6-8 
 

2 lbs rhubarb (that’s about 7 large stalks)

1 c turbinado or raw sugar or ½ c granulated and ½ c light brown sugar

1 tsp orange juice

1 tbsp Grand Marnier or other orange liquer

1 baked tart shell

Clean the rhubarb. If the stalks are very thick, cut them in half lengthwise. Cut the stalks into 1” pieces. Put them in a non-aluminum pot with the sugar and orange juice. Cover the pot. Over medium heat cook 10 minutes or until rhubarb is soft. Uncover, turn heat up and stirring constantly boil into jamlike thickness.  Stir in the Grand Marnier.  Pour into the baked tart shell. Cool. Top with whipped cream and candied or fresh grated ginger.

Date Rhubarb Chutney for Cheese

And finally this is how I save and savor rhubarb for winter. I am known to go overboard stocking up and giving away at holiday time. This chutney is fabulous with hard cheeses and flabbergasting over spicy chicken thighs. It's also great with BBQ ribs and a rice/vegetable plate. You will need canning jars. I use the small 4 oz. ones.
 

2” fresh root ginger, grated

1¼ c red wine vinegar

2 lg Granny Smith apples, peeled and finely chopped

½ lb pitted dates, chopped

1 c dried cranberries or dark raisins

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ tsp ground star anise or 2 whole star anise

1 1/2 c turbinado or muscovado or raw sugar

 2 lbs rhubarb (about 7 stalks), sliced into small chunks

1 lg or 2 med red onions, diced

Put the onions in a large pan with the ginger and vinegar. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 10 mins. Add the rest of the ingredients, except the rhubarb, plus 2 tsp salt to the pan and bring to the boil, stirring. Simmer, uncovered, for about 10 mins until the apples are tender.

Stir in the rhubarb and cook, uncovered, until the chutney is thick and jammy, about 15-20 mins. Leave the chutney to sit for about 10-15 mins, then spoon into warm, clean jars, and seal. Label the jars when cool. Keep for at least a month before eating.