A variety of different salads, all substantial, this week. Fried rice is CSA heavy hitter in my book—to be adapted all season long with veggies and herbs you happen to have and a quick pickling idea for those lovely, sweet turnips. Enjoy!
Panfried Turnips and New Potatoes with Miso Mustard Greens
Warm Broccoli and Potato Salad
Toasted Bread Salad with Scallions, Mustard Greens and Golden Raisins
Broccoli Fried Rice
Quick Turnip Pickles
Panfried Turnips and New Potatoes with Miso Mustard Greens
New potatoes and turnips pan-fried together into sweet, crispy nuggets served on top tender, savory sautéed greens is tasty combination.
Serves 3-4 as a side, 2 as more of main.
1 bunch turnips, scrubbed and cut into 1-1/2-inch chunks, or less
4-5 potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1-1/2-inch chunks, or less
Olive oil or coconut oil (or any other oil really)
Salt
1 bunch mustard greens, washed and roughly chopped, stems and all
2 cloves garlic, minced or mashed
2 teaspoons red or yellow miso
1 teaspoon soy sauce or tamari
2 teaspoons or so water (if there’s very little liquid in the pan)
Heat a tablespoon or so of oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. When hot add the turnips and potatoes and a few pinches of salt. Toss and then cook undisturbed for 5 or so minutes. Toss a bit again to get even browning and cook until just tender.
Meanwhile stir together the miso, soy sauce and garlic in a small bowl and set aside. In another skillet warm a little more oil and sauté the greens for just a few minutes to wilt. If there is a bit of liquid in the pan pour of just a little and add it to the miso mixture. Toss the miso with the greens and stir to incorporate evenly. Remove from the heat, or simmer another minute or two if there is lots of liquid. You want to evaporate most of it.
Serve the greens topped with the potatoes and turnips.
Warm Broccoli and Potato Salad
Serves 4
It’s practically a meal in one with the hard-boiled egg, potatoes, and broccoli but would be wonderful with grilled meat or fish or other veggies or some crusty bread and a simple green salad. I realize you don’t have the herbs called for here in your share this week but you do have the two main players!
Scale up or down as needed and feel free to change the ratio of potato and broccoli.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
1 ½ lbs potatoes. scrubbed but not peeled, and cut into thumb-sized pieces
scant 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
Sea salt
¾ lb or more of broccoli, cut into small florets and stems sliced into ½ inch pieces
3 hard-boiled eggs, peeled (divided)
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon-style mustard
1 tablespoon capers, rinsed and chopped
2-3 scallions, very thinly sliced
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 tablespoon chopped, fresh tarragon (optional but wonderful if you have it–see headnote)
Black pepper
Toss the potato chunks with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and several generous pinches of salt and spread onto a baking sheet. Roast for about 30 minutes until they are tender and starting to brown. Toss the broccoli with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and more salt and spread on a second baking sheet and slide into the oven as well. You want the broccoli and potatoes to be done at just about the same time. You can alternatively boil the potatoes and cook the broccoli with the potatoes for the last few minutes–quicker and also very good (see headnote).
To make the dressing, mash one of the yolks of the hard-boiled eggs in a medium bowl. Slowly add the remaining oil, whisking constantly to create an emulsion. Add the vinegar and mustard and whisk until smooth. Then stir in the capers, herbs, ¼ teaspoon salt and some freshly ground black pepper. Coarsely chop the egg white and add to the dressing. Roughly chop the remaining 2 eggs. Gently toss the dressing with the warm potatoes, broccoli and egg. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Toasted Bread Salad with Scallions, Mustard Greens and Golden Raisins
I was inspired by the famous Zuni Café roast chicken to create a riff on the bread salad served with the chicken. So if you feel like roasting a chicken this would be a lovely accompaniment. My ratio of bread to greens is the opposite of the Zuni one though but feel free to invert that.
Serves 4, generously
6 cups lettuce, washed, dried and torn
2 cups mustard greens, washed, dried and thinly sliced
4-5 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced
1/3 cup golden (or regular raisins) or dried currants, chopped a little if you’d like
¼ cup toasted pine nuts (or chopped toasted hazelnuts or walnuts)
3 slices good, crusty bread, well-toasted and torn into bits of varying sizes
1 teaspoon Dijon-style mustard
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
4 tablespoons good olive oil (or more to taste)
1 clove minced or mashed garlic (optional)
Put all the salad ingredients in a large bowl or platter. Mix the dressing in a small bowl and pour over salad. Toss well, taste and adjust seasoning. It should be nice and vinegary.
Broccoli and Turnip Fried Rice
I try to make twice as much rice as I need for any given meal and then freeze the remainder to have on hand for this (and other) quick meals.
Serves 4
2 1/2 – 3 cups cooked, cooled rice (day-old or previously cooked and frozen rice works much better than fresh—fresh is too moist)
1-2 tablespoons coconut, sunflower or olive oil
1/2 a medium onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1-2 ounces bacon, cut into small dice (optional)
2 cups broccoli, cut into1-inch pieces
½ cup or more turnips, cut into 1/2-inch dice
½ bunch mustard greens, well washed and finely chopped (optional)
1 Serrano or jalapeño chili, seeded (if you don’t want it very spicy) and finely chopped or 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2-3 teaspoons Tamari or soy sauce
2 teaspoons fish sauce (or to taste)
3 tablespoons roughly chopped basil, mint or cilantro (optional, or a combination)
2 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced
Salt
Heat the oil in a wok or largest skillet you have, over high heat. Add the onions, garlic, ginger, broccoli and turnips and hot chili, if using, and bacon and cook stirring very frequently for about 5 minutes until the vegetables begin to soften. Add the rice and mustard greens, if using, and mix everything very well. Cook for about three more minutes to heat the rice through and wilt the greens.
Push the contents of the pan to one side and add the eggs to the empty spot and scramble them until almost set. A few stray rice kernels ore veggies will make their way in which is just fine. You just don’t want to mix the raw egg into the rice right away since you’ll loose track of it as it just coats the kernels instead of scrambling. When the eggs are almost set, mix them gently into the rice, add the soy and fish sauce, stir well and then mix in scallions and herbs, if using. Adjust seasoning–it may need salt or more soy or fish sauce, hot sauce or a squeeze of lime juice–and serve immediately.
Quick Turnip Pickles
–adapted from Andrew Cohen
Here is a variation on a theme of a salad called sunomono that you get in Japanese restaurants.
1 bunch Japanese Salad turnips, trimmed and scrubbed but not peeled
2 medium carrots (optional), well scrubbed but not peeled
1 tablespoon sea salt
1 cup rice vinegar
1 cup water
½ cup sugar
Use a mandolin, if possible, to slice the turnips as thinly as you can and keep them whole. If you do not have a mandolin, I recommend slicing the top and bottom flat so you have a firm base and the turnip does not roll. If using the carrot, slice the carrot as thinly as the turnips. Use the same shape or shred into thin shreds.
Sprinkle the vegetables with the salt, toss to coat evenly and massage the vegetables a little.
While the vegetables wilt, combine the water, vinegar, and sugar in a jar and shake until the sugar dissolves.
When the vegetables have begun to wilt and have lost their “raw”-ness, rinse in plenty of cold water. Taste a slice to be sure the salt is mostly gone. Add the vegetables to the dressing and allow to marinate at least an hour. Chill the pickles, then serve cold.