Garlic scapes come around once a year for a short period of time and I’ve generally only seen them at farmer’s markets. So when I do see them, I make sure to grab some.
The first time I bought garlic scapes, I used them raw in a pesto. It was delicious but incredibly strong. Very garlicky. So after that, I used them only cooked.
When I was at the farmer’s market this past week, I not only found garlic scapes, I found fresh peas as well (also quick to come and go at the market). I decided to combine them with some whole wheat Israeli couscous and the result was fabulous.
Here’s the recipe. I guarantee you’ll love it.
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I found the most beautiful rainbow chard at the farmer’s market this week. In fact, it was so beautiful, I hated to cook it. The leaves were so plump and full and the stems so colorful and vivid, I wanted to just look at them all day. They were ruby red, fuchsia, lemony yellow, and light orange. Nature does stunning work.
But, alas, uncooked chard soon becomes not so beautiful. So cook it, I must.
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Roasting is probably my favorite way to prepare vegetables. They get golden brown, charred here and there, and caramelized for sweet, intense flavor.
I have never, however, tried roasting cabbage. It’s just never occurred to me. So, I had this head of cabbage sitting in my refrigerator and I was trying to decide what to do with it. Cabbage has may possibilities—I could boil it, steam it, saute it, make soup with it… But I was bored with all those options. I wanted to do something different.
And that’s when it hit me. Roast it. I cut it up, coated the pieces with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Then I roasted them at 350 F. The result? Delicious. The cabbage was tender, toasty brown, and so flavorful. I ate it all week long.
Here’s what I did. Give it a try.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Cut the cabbage in half through the core, then each half in thirds. (If you have a particularly large cabbage, you may want to cut the pieces even further.)
Lay the pieces a baking sheet. Pour ¼ cup olive oil over the pieces and use your hands to coat them thoroughly. Sprinkle them with salt and pepper.
Cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes.
Turn the pieces over and cover again with foil. 
Bake another 15 minutes.Uncover the pan and roast 10 to 15 minutes, or until tender (it will depend on the size of your pieces).
Bok choy is part of the brassica family, also commonly called cruciferous vegetables. Other members of the brassica family are broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts. Cruciferous vegetables are known for their many health advantages, such as fighting cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis, strokes, and bad cholesterol. They are high in soluble fiber, antioxidants (vitamin C and beta-carotene), and the B vitamins.
Most Americans are familiar with bok choy as a vegetable in their stir fries. But it’s also great as a side dish on its own. Here are two very simple and quick ways to prepare bok choy to have with rice or noodles or on the side of just about any entrée.
There are many different types of Asian cabbages, and in an Asian market, you will find many different kinds side by side. All of them can be prepared in these two ways.
For 1 pound bok choy, wash thoroughly (grit gets trapped inside the leaves).
Recipes make approximately 6 servings. Enjoy!
Bring about 1 to 2 inches of water to a boil in the bottom of a steamer pot. Place bok choy in the steamer rack. Lower the heat to medium-low and simmer until bok choy is tender when pierced with a fork, about 10 minutes.Transfer to a serving plate. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, as desired. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil. Serve hot.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. F.
Thoroughly dry bok choy on kitchen towels. Place bok choy in a roasting pan. Pour about ½ cup olive oil over them, 2 teaspoons kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Mix everything together with your hands, making sure that all bok choy leaves are coated with oil. Spread them out as evenly as possible in the baking pan.
Roast until they’re tender and begins to brown, about 10 to 15 minutes. Turn them over and roast another 5 minutes to brown other side. Transfer to a serving platter. Serve hot. 
Earlier this year, I learned about Barnraiser.us, whose mission it is to promote sustainable farming by raising and providing funds for farmers and food producers who want to provide sustainable products. When they were helping Carole Morison, a farmer, go free range, I contributed an egg recipe for a promotional collection they were putting together. I thought I’d share it with you.
This is a cross between deviled eggs and egg salad. What makes this egg salad special is the dressing, which bursts with flavor, partly from the balsamic vinegar and partly from the mustard, and it’s healthier because rather than using the typical mayonnaise, I used Greek yogurt.
Choose a good-quality, flavored mustard—I first tried this with a wonderful bourbon-molasses mustard and it was a huge hit. Also, I suggest using whole-milk yogurt because low- or non-fat yogurt can be tarter and grainier than whole milk yogurt.
Try this at your next party, barbecue, or picnic. Enjoy!
12 eggs
1 teaspoon sea salt, plus more
½ cup Geek yogurt
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons minced shallot
1 teaspoon flavored mustard (like honey, beer, or bourbon or a fruit mustard)
1/3 cup finely minced celery
2 tablespoons minced green pepper
Black pepper to taste
Garnish: slivered red onion, chopped green pepper, minced parsley and/or celery leaves
Place the eggs in a pot big enough to hold them without crowding them. Fill pot with cold water to cover by at least an inch. Add ½ teaspoon salt. Cover and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat, keep the lid on, and let them sit for 10 minutes off heat.
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together yogurt, balsamic vinegar, shallot, mustard, celery, green pepper, pepper, and remaining salt. Taste and adjust, as needed. Set aside.
Drain the eggs and place them in a bowl with cold water. Drain and refill with cold water a couple of times. Gently tap and roll the eggs on a counter or plate to crack the shells then place them back in cold water and let them sit about 15 minutes (this allows the water to seep underneath the shells, making them easier to peel).
Peel and rinse to remove all shell remnants. Dry on paper towels. Cut into quarters lengthwise and arrange them neatly on a platter.
Place dollops of the dressing over the eggs, spreading it out so that all the eggs are covered. Garnish as desired. Keep chilled until ready to serve.
Makes 48 pieces (about 24 servings).
So, I was perusing the bean shelves in my favorite Indian market and found roasted split chickpeas (chana dalia). I’d never seen them before and wondered if they could be cooked just like split green peas. I bought a package and this recipe is the result of my experimentation.
The resulting soup is very thick—not just in the viscosity of the soup but the pureed chickpeas themselves leave a thickness on the tongue. Unlike pureed split pea soup, it has a somewhat grainy—but not unpleasant—texture, and the flavor is intensely nutty.
Sorghum is technically a grass (but for culinary purposes is classified as a grain) that is native to Africa, and was introduced to to the U.S. in the 1800s. It’s always been an important food crop around the world, but in the U.S., it’s been used primarily as animal feed. The exception to this is in the U.S. South, where sorghum molasses is a traditional sweetener, used much in the same way as honey or maple syrup. However, with the rising interest in gluten-free and ancient grains, sorghum is becoming more and more popular as human food in the U.S.
The great thing about sorghum, apart from the fact that it’s gluten free, is that it doesn’t have an outer shell that has to be removed to make it edible. That means that it’s a whole food, and that means that it’s healthy and just plain awesome.
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Irish cuisine is traditionally hearty and to the point. Years of impoverishment and famine led to honest cooking that holds the utmost respect for the food being used. In other words, food was not taken for granted. And it made use of foods that were available—the crops that would easily grow in the Irish terrain and the livestock that were raised in the countryside.
The food probably most associated with Ireland is the potato. Potatoes were introduced in the 16th century and because they grew abundantly and cheaply, they became the most important crop in feeding the masses, which is why when a blight destroyed potato crops in the mid-1800s, famine decimated the population.
Another important item in Irish cuisine is cabbage. It, too, grows abundantly and cheaply and, like potatoes, lasts a long time in storage. Sometimes kale is used, or other members of the cabbage family.
Colcannon became known in the 18th century, but some food historians believe that it existed before then. It combines these two staple ingredients in the simplest, most basic of ways: boiled and combined into a mash. Okay, there’s a bit more to it than that, but not much. The potatoes and cabbage are flavored by sautéed leeks and enriched with butter.
For a little more in-depth history of Irish cuisine, and specifically colcannon, check out FoodTimeline.org or DoChara.com.
So, make this traditional Irish dish for St. Patrick’s Day and may the luck o’ the Irish be with you.
Erin go bragh.
Colcannon
Mashed Potatoes and Cabbage
4 cups thinly sliced cabbage
1 tbsp + 1 tsp salt
2 large potatoes, quartered
2 tbsp butter
1 cup milk
Pepper to taste
1 tbsp canola oil
2 large leeks, washed and sliced
2 tbsp minced parsley for garnish (optional)
Bring a large pot of water to a boil; add the cabbage and 1 tsp salt. Lower the heat to medium-low and boil until tender, about 12 to 15 minutes. Drain well.
At the same time, place the potatoes in a medium pot and cover with water. Bring it to a boil; lower the heat to medium-low, partially cover, and boil until tender when pierced with a knife, about 15 to 20 minutes. Drain, peel, place in a bowl, and coarsely mash. Add the milk, butter, ½ tablespoon of the salt, and pepper and mix well.
Heat the oil in a wide pan. Add the leeks and sauté until soft and golden brown, about 15 minutes. Add the cooked cabbage and remaining salt and sauté over medium-high heat, stirring often, until cabbage starts to brown. Add to the mashed potatoes and mix well. Taste for seasoning and adjust, if necessary. Transfer the colcannon to a platter. Garnish with parsley and serve hot.
Makes 6 to 8 servings.
Simple ingredients call for simple preparations. I could have turned this beautiful Indian eggplant I found into so many wonderful dishes: ratatouille, vegetable chili, eggplant lasagna, pasta with roasted eggplant, etc., etc.
Instead, I wanted to keep this pretty vegetable pretty by just pan frying it. It’s the easiest thing in the world. Have this on the side with a protein or other vegetables, over rice, tossed with pasta, or (like I did) on homemade pizza.
1 1/2 lbs. Indian (or baby or Japanese) eggplant
1/4 cup oil (olive, sunflower, grapeseed)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Slice the eggplant into 1/4-inch-thick rounds. Heat half the oil in a frying pan. Add some of the eggplant (don’t crowd the pan). Cook, turning them over once, until browned on both sides. Transfer to paper towels.
Repeat with remaining eggplant, adding more oil to the pan as needed (eggplant soaks up oil quickly). Sprinkle the salt over the eggplant. Enjoy!
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