Some one-dish meals this week in the form of the Sesame Noodles with Mizuna and Scallions and the Chard Tart as well as some tasty sides and salads including my “Lettuce Management Treatise”. I am guilty of having to compost a few slimy outer leaves from last week’s share and I vow to do better! Happy cooking!
Long-cooked Chard and Onions
Mizuna Notes
Mizuna, Scallion and Turnip Salad with Miso Dressing
Sesame Noodles with Mizuna and Scallions
Lettuce Management
Miso-Braised Turnips with their Greens
Green Sauce (for grilled vegetables or meat or eggs. . .)
Chard Tart
Long-cooked Chard and Onions
I can eat the better part of this in one-sitting but I suppose it might serve 3 normal people as a side:)
This is a bit of an atypical way to cook chard since you cook it for a quite a long time. It is well worth it though—silky and rich.
Wash a large bunch of chard. Separate the leaves and stems and roughly chop the leaves and thinly slice the stems. Slice a large onion and begin stewing it (and the stems, if using) in some olive oil in a good-sized pot or pan. When the onion has softened a bit add the chard, season with salt and pepper, cover and stew, stirring occasionally for 20-30 minutes. The moisture from the leaves and onions should be enough to cook it, slowly, but if it gets too dry you can add just a little water. Remove from the heat when the vegetables are silky and tender.
I’ve used this as a pizza topping with some feta, as a pasta sauce or just a side to whatever else I made for dinner. It’s also wonderful with eggs.
Mizuna Notes
Mizuna is a peppery, fresh and juicy green with deeply cut and fringed leaves. It’s also sometimes called Japanese Mustard and does have the characteristic flavor though mizuna is milder than typical mustard greens. It’s pale, tender stems are also delicious so cut them up finely and use them wherever you are using the leaves–salads, slaws and even lightly stir fried or pickled.
I like to finely chop mizuna or other greens, mix them with a little olive oil, lemon juice and minced garlic and salt. Then I top soups or stews or plates of grains and vegetables with a generous amount of this zippy, fresh, finely chopped salad/garnish. It adds wonderful texture and flavor–it’s like having a mini salad incorporated into a warm dish.
Mizuna is quite tender so use it within a 3-4 days of getting it. Store it in a plastic bag in the refrigerator.
Sesame Noodles with Mizuna and Scallions
–inspired by Bon Appetit, June 2013
I love scallions and especially the greens so I use them liberally here. You can cut back if you’re not as much of a fan. The chili oil, of which you’ll have some leftover, is wonderful on any salad or meat or roasted veggie.
This dish is suitable to many kinds of vegetables, both raw and briefly cooked in the same pot as the noodles. You could add turnips and turnip greens to this salad this week. Be creative just cut the vegetables into matchsticks or julienne or shred them so they mix well and don’t fall to the bottom of the bowl!
This makes a lot! You can only dress 2/3 of the noodles and save the rest of the noodles for something else and just have a bigger veggie to noodle ration (which I prefer).
I also make a version with canned Oregon Albacore which is delicious—definitely a meal in itself.
Serves 6
5 scallions, whites and greens separated, thinly sliced
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Scant 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes (less if you don’t like a lot of heat)
2 teaspoons sesame seeds
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 lb spaghetti (de Cecco is my favorite brand)
3-4 turnips, cut into match sticks or small dice and green chopped, if using here
3-4 cups mizuna, chopped
Sea salt
1/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup unseasoned rice vinegar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon sugar
Cook scallion whites, vegetable oil, red pepper flakes, sesame seeds, and pepper in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally, until oil is sizzling and onions are golden brown, 12–15 minutes; let chili oil cool in saucepan.
Meanwhile, cook noodles in a large pot of salted boiling water. About 2 minutes before the noodles are al dente add the turnips and turnips greens, cook for a few more minutes; drain all of it. Rinse under cold water and drain well and put in a big bowl. Toss with a little of the chili oil to keep noodles from sticking.
Whisk tahini, vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, and 2–3 tablespoons chili oil (depending on desired heat) in a small bowl; season with salt. Add dressing to noodles and turnips and add onion tops and mizuna and toss to coat. I found tossing the salad with my hands was by far the most effective technique to get the thick dressing well distributed. Makes a mess but it’s quick and easy.
Mizuna, Scallion and Turnip Salad with Miso Dressing
I made this for lunch on a whim and it was lovely. The scallions and miso balance the sweetness of the turnips and the miso brings it all together. I wanted to add roasted peanuts but was uncharacteristically out of them but I’m fairly sure it would be a good addition.
Feel free to cut the recipe in half or scale it any way you like. It’s a pretty filling salad I found.
Serves 4-6
1 bunch mizuna, roots trimmed, washed, dried and chopped, stems and all
5 or more scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced
3 medium-large turnips, scrubbed and cut into matchsticks
1/3 cup chopped, roasted peanuts (optional)
1 tablespoon red or yellow miso
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon mirin (rice cooking wine)
2 small cloves garlic, minced
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
2 tablespoons olive oil
In a small bowl stir together the dressing ingredients. In a large bowl toss the vegetables and nuts, if using, with the dressing, though you may not need all of the dressing. Taste and adjust seasoning. You may need a little salt.
Lettuce Management: Storage, Salad Additions & Dressings
Staying on top of lettuce takes a little work. It’s completely worth it but here are a few tricks/methods I employ to keep things interesting on the salad front . . and keep those beautiful heads from going slimy and brown.
Washing and storing:
If you’re having a hard time staying on top of the lettuce, wash enough for two big salads soon after you pick up your share. My preferred way to store the washed lettuce is rolled up in clean, dishtowels. This is actually my preferred drying technique and it stores well that way, or a couple of days. You can put the rolled up lettuce-filled towels in a plastic bag and store in the fridge.
Crunchy additions:
Keep sunflower and/or pumpkin seeds, and/or walnuts or hazelnuts on hand. Pumpkin seeds take just a few minutes to toast in a dry skillet and sunflower seeds toast best in a 300 degree oven with some salt and olive oil. Walnuts and hazelnuts toast well in an oven—no salt or oil needed—as well. And they all add so much to salads.
If you have a slice or two of nice crusty bread that needs using you can toast it and then tear it into little pieces and add it your salad for a little chew and heft.
Pickled additions:
I keep a jar of thinly sliced (red) onions covered in red wine vinegar in the fridge at all times. A few slices of these pickled onions brightens up salads and many other dish too.
I sometimes chop up some kimchi and add it to salads, especially ones that include cooked beans.
Fruity additions:
Add chopped sweet cherries, strawberries or blueberries to your green salads. If you have a little goat cheese or feta, that would be a good combo as well.
Dressing variations:
The classic vinaigrette I make is about 2-3 teaspoons lemon juice or vinegar (red wine, cider, sherry), 2-3 tablespoons good olive oil, sea salt, freshly ground pepper and if I’m feeling fancy 1 teaspoon of Dijon-style mustard and a little minced shallot or garlic and some minced thyme or tarragon. You’ll want to scale this up for larger salads and change the ratio to suit your taste. I don’t ever measure as you can easily adjust as you go and no two salads are every the same size. Make about triple this amount and keep it in a jar in the fridge.
Add a couple of teaspoons of heavy cream, mayonnaise (homemade or store bought) or Greek yogurt to a classic vinaigrette (above) for a slightly creamier dressing. Dress your lettuce with this, add ½ cup of toasted sunflower seeds and some thinly sliced onions for a robust salad.
Add ground cumin, lime or lemon zest and some red pepper flakes to a typical vinaigrette or the creamy version above. This is particularly good for slaws and black bean salads.
Add a couple of tablespoons of smashed avocado to your dressing. Lime or lemon juice and some minced garlic is a good combination for this variation.
Miso-braised Turnips and their Greens
This is one of my favorite ways to prepare these tender turnips. If the greens are still attached by all means use them–the dish is wonderful with and without so make it throughout the season.
You can scale this up or down to use however many turnips you want.
Serves 2- 3 as a side
1 plus 1 teaspoon white or yellow miso
1 1/2 tablespoons butter, softened, divided
1 1/2 pounds turnips, scrubbed and trimmed (not sure how much your bunches will weigh this week)
2-3 cups washed, chopped turnip greens (optional)
Generous 1/2 cup water
1 tablespoons mirin (Japanese sweet rice wine)
Stir together miso and 1 tablespoon butter.
Halve or quarter the turnips and put in a large heavy skillet along with water, mirin, remaining tablespoon butter, and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then boil, covered, about 10-12 minutes.
Add greens, if using, by handfuls, turning and stirring and adding more as the volume in skillet reduces. Cover and cook 1 minute. Uncover and continue boiling, stirring occasionally, until turnips are tender and liquid is reduced to a glaze, about 3 minutes. Stir in miso butter and cook 1 more minute. Serve hot.
Green Sauce (for grilled vegetables or meet or eggs. . .)
There are so many variations on this theme of simple herb sauces and this is most like a chimichurri. And the quantities are just suggestions, taste as you go and make it to your liking in terms of acidity, salt, oil, and spice. You can certainly use a food processor to chop the parsley but I think the texture is even better if chopped by hand.
If you have some cilantro and or/oregano on hand add some—that will get you even closer to a traditional Argentinian chimichurri sauce.
Serve this sauce with grilled meats or fish, with eggs or beans. I made a white bean salad with this sauce as a the dressing, Oregon bay shrimp and more scallions and it was really, really good.
1 bunch parsley, washed and just trimmed of tough stems (no need to pick the leaves), finely chopped
2 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced and then chopped a bit more, greens and all
2 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 tablespoons red wine vinegar or lemon juice (start with two and taste)
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin (feel free to toast whole cumin seeds in a dry skillet for a minute or two and grind them for even more flavor, or use ground)
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/3 cup or more olive oil
Mix all the ingredients together in a medium bowl. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Chard Tart
Beautiful and delicious.
Serves 5-6
Preheat the oven to 425ºF
1 recipe Tart Dough (recipe follows)
1 large bunch of chard, leaves, roughly chopped and stems finely chopped
1 tablespoon butter
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 eggs
1 cup whole milk
3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan (or Gruyère or just plain old cheddar if that’s what you have)
A few pinches of ground nutmeg (optional)
Heat the butter in a wide skillet; add the onion and stems and cook over medium heat until softened. Add the garlic, and the chard leaves by handfuls, if necessary, until they all fit. Sprinkle in a large pinch of salt. Turn the leaves over repeatedly so that they are all exposed to the heat of the pan, and cook until they are tender, 5 minutes or more.
To make the custard, beat the eggs; then stir in the milk, grated Parmesan, and a few scrapings of nutmeg. Stir in the chard and onion mixture. Taste and season with salt and a few grinds of pepper. Pour the filling into the prepared tart shell and bake until the top is golden and firm, about 40 minutes.
Tart Dough
–Adapted from David Lebovitz
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
(or ¾ cup apf and ¾ cup whole wheat pastry flour)
9 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled, cut into cubes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
2-3 tablespoons cold water
Make the dough by mixing the flour and salt in a bowl. Add the butter and use your hands, or a pastry blender, to break in the butter until the mixture has a crumbly, cornmeal-like texture.
Mix the egg with 2 tablespoons of the water. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the beaten egg mixture, stirring the mixture until the dough holds together. If it’s not coming together easily, add the additional tablespoon of ice water.
Gather the dough into a ball and roll the dough on a lightly floured surface, adding additional flour only as necessary to keep the dough from sticking to the counter.
Once the dough is large enough so that it will cover the bottom of a 10-inch tart pan and go up the sides, roll the dough around the rolling-pin then unroll it over the tart pan. “Dock” the bottom of the pastry firmly with your fingertips a few times, pressing in to make indentations. (I occasionally forget to do this with no ill effect so don’t sweat it if you forget.) If you don’t have a tart pan you can use a 9 or 10-inch pie pan too. The recipe for the dough is pretty generous so will fit a pie pan too.