Spiced Pickled Summer Squash

From Red Fire Chef Kristen Schafenacker, 2007 

2 lbs zucchini or summer squash
2 medium onions
¼ cup kosher salt
2 cups cider vinegar
1+ cup sugar
2 t. mustard seed
1 t. red pepper flakes
2 t. celery seed
1 sliver fresh ginger

Place the vinegar, sugar, mustard seed, celery seed, ginger, red pepper, and salt in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the sliced onions and bring to a boil. Pack canning containers tightly with squash and fill with hot brining liquid. Submerge closed jars in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

Daikon Ginger Pickle

From Sarah Voiland, 2013

This is a lactofermented recipe, so once you have made it, it will last a long time in your refrigerator as a topper to salads or condiment for sandwiches etc.

1 big daikon radish or enough to mostly fill a quart jar
1 inch of ginger
2 tbs salt (without iodine or additives)
1 quart water

Wash and then peel any tougher skin at the top of the daikon. Slice daikon thin, easy with a Cuisinart slicing tool. Slice up an inch of ginger, skin on is fine. Mix 2 tbs salt with 1 quart water. Fill a quart glass jar up with the diakon and ginger, pour the salt water over it to cover. Stick a glass of water (or something) on top to hold the daikon down under the level of the salt water. Cover with a cloth to keep dust out. Leave it on your counter for a few days, tasting as you go until you like it, then refrigerate.

Curried Carrot Dip

7 medium carrots (about 1 pound), cut into 1-inch chunks 
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 clove garlic, minced
2 teaspoons ginger powder (or tsps of freshly grated ginger)
3/4 cup yogurt
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine the carrots with the turmeric, curry powder, salt, cayenne and oil. Toss to coat the carrots with the oil and spice mixture. Spread the carrots on a rimmed baking sheet, and roast for 30 minutes, until very tender and brown.

Put the roasted carrots in a food processor with the jalapeno, garlic, and ginger and puree. Add the yogurt and cilantro and process another few seconds until smooth and creamy. If the spread seems too thick add water 1 tablespoon at a time until you achieve the desired consistency. Taste, and add salt if needed. Serve warm or at room temperature with flatbread or crackers.

Makes about 2 cups

Eggplant with Ginger and Garlic

1-3 eggplants sliced lengthwise in both directions to make very large match-sticks 
1 small head of garlic or 2/3 of a large head
½ inch chunk of fresh ginger
1 small hot pepper
oil for frying
soy sauce

Boil a couple inches of water (enough in your pot to mostly cover the sliced eggplant) with a splash of soy sauce and then add sliced eggplant. Cook until the eggplant becomes somewhat translucent but not fully cooked.  In a large cast iron pan, heat enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan (about ¼ cup).
Mince garlic, ginger and hot pepper together and add to hot oil and stir for one minute over medium-high heat.  Add parboiled eggplant and turn quickly and often to coat.  Add another splash of soy sauce and continue cooking, stirring often until the toughest bits of eggplant have reached the yummy-soft stage.
Serve hot or cold, over rice, on a salad of lettuce or just by itself.

Indian-Style Okra

3 tablespoons butter 
1 medium onion, chopped
1 pound sliced fresh okra
1 tsp fresh grated ginger
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp minced hot pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
salt to taste

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, and cook until tender. Stir in the okra, and season with cumin, ginger, hot pepper, coriander, and salt. Cook and stir for a few minutes, then reduce the heat to medium-low, and cover the pan.

Cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally until okra is tender. Turn heat up and add garlic and cook a few more minutes.

Ginger Kale

1 large bunch kale (about 1 pound) stems removed, leaves cut into strips 
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbs minced fresh ginger
2 Tbs olive oil
juice of 1 lime
1 Tbs butter freshly ground pepper
1 medium onion, chopped

In a large skillet or wok, heat oil and butter, add garlic, onion, and ginger, and sauté until onion is softened. Add kale and ¼ cup water and cover. Cook over low heat stirring occasionally until kale is just tender.

Sprinkle with lime juice and toss. Grind fresh pepper over kale and serve.

Roasted Turnips with Peanut Cilantro Sauce

From Sarah Voiland, 2010

Roasted turnips are good in and of themselves. Here’s a way to make them irresistible. I also think they are very good used like roasted beets in a salad with greens and feta cheese.

Chunks of any type of turnip or rutabaga
Olive oil to coat
Salt and pepper

Clean and top turnips, remove thicker skin areas, and chop into similar sized chunks. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper, and spread out on a baking sheet. Bake in the oven at 375 or 400 until soft to the tines of a fork, and starting to brown a little. While baking you can make up a container of the cilantro peanut sauce below and use it for dipping the roasted chunks or as a sauce poured over them.

Cilantro Peanut Sauce

This sauce is great on udon noodles, tofu, roasted turnips, fries, almost anything.

1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup honey (or other sweetener)
3 tbs soy sauce
2 tbs cider or rice vinegar (or other light vinegar)
2 tbs lemon or lime juice
2-4 tbs olive oil
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 tbs sesame oil (optional)
1-2 cloves garlic, minced (optional) – or green garlic
1 tbs minced fresh ginger (optional, or a little ginger powder)
a little of your favorite spicing agent (cayenne powder, chili flakes)

Mix everything together. You can mix it in a pouring container or the container you’ll store leftovers in later. Add a little water to get desired consistency. Salt to taste.

When I do this I just stick some of each thing in and stir and taste it and then add more of things as needed, so if you want it more peanut buttery, you can add more, etc.

Hearty Asian Noodle Salad

From Jarrett Mann, 2006

1 cabbage, small or medium, shredded or chopped medium fine
2 lb. Grated carrot
1 or 2 grated turnips or daikon
A full bulb garlic, minced or pressed
a large finger sized chunk of ginger, finely grated or minced
4 Tbsp. Sesame oil
3 Tbsp. Rice Vinegar
¼ cup raw or toasted sesame seeds
3-5 cups cooked pasta
2/3 cup soy sauce

The best part about this recipe is that it can be assembled in any order. It requires kind of a large bowl, of course you could always half the recipe (or double it!). The roots do not need to be peeled, only washed.

Cook the pasta until al dente, then strain and rinse thoroughly with cold water before adding to the bowl. The pasta can be of any variety, I have used spaghetti and ziti before: if you use spaghetti cut it up a bit first, so the strands are not so long. I think ginger is best grated through the small side of a cheese grater.

Everything else gets added whenever you want, toss thoroughly and serve chilled or room temp. For added flair, either serve on top of a bed of spinach or mix spinach right in. Try serving it at Thanksgiving, everyone seems to like it.