It’s going to be too hot to do much cooking in my house this week so most of the recipes this week don’t need much stove time. Cook early in the day if you can! If you didn’t make the Green Curry Broccoli last week you might make it this week. It’s light, quick and delicious and just right for the weather.
Use the beautiful escarole like you would lettuce (as in the fava bean salad below) and be sure to dress with a strongly flavored vinaigrette. It likes plenty of vinegar or citrus juice, toasted nuts, robust cheeses. If you’re up for turning on your stove this week despite the heat the white bean and escarole soup, below, is delicious and will feed you for several days.
Fava Bean Notes
Fava Bean, Mint and Escarole Salad
White Bean and Escarole Soup
Broccoli, Egg, Tarragon and Toasted Seed Salad
Garlicky Sesame-Cured Broccoli Salad
Okonomiyaki (Cabbage Pancakes)
Quick Sauerkraut
Bok Choi Stir-fry over Rice
Fava Bean Notes
I was going to test a fava bean soup this weekend but it seemed too hot for soups so I made the below salad instead and have already made it twice.
For the soup I was going to make, simply sauté an onion, then add 2 cups parboiled and peeled (technique noted in the salad below) fava beans and 3 cups chicken or vegetable stock and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Puree the soup and stir in some grated Parmesan, a little lemon juice and garnish with a few mint leaves.
Fava Bean, Mint and Escarole Salad
–adapted from Tender by Nigel Slater
This is to me a perfect salad. You can skip the shelling peas and just use favas (use a few more) but it’s worth picking up some peas as we’re at the height of their short season.
Serves 4 as side, 2 as more of main dish
1 ½ cups shelled fava beans (removed from their big, squishy pods)
1 ½ cups shelled peas (optional or use a bit more fava beans)
3 small slices good, crusty bread
A little olive oil
4 cups washed, dried escarole torn into bite-sized pieces
Handful of mint leaves
2-3 ounces aged pecorino or Parmesan, shaved with a vegetable peeler into thin shavings
Dressing:
Juice of one lemon
Salt and freshly ground pepper
About 4 tablespoons of the best olive oil you have
About 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
Bring a pan of salted water to a boil. Add the shelled fava beans and cook for about 4 minutes (if they’re really small cook for more like 2 minutes). Remove them with a slotted spoon and run under cold water. Add the peas, if using, to the water and cook those for about 3 minutes and then drain and rinse under cold water as well. Shell the individual fava beans by pinching off the white-ish skin around each bean.
Whisk together the dressing ingredients. Toast the slices of bread and tear them into small bits and drizzle with a little olive oil and sprinkle with a little salt.
Now toss the lettuce and mint with the dressing, then add the peas and beans and the cheese and the bits of bread and toss again.
White Bean and Escarole Soup
This makes a lovely bowl of soup. You could make it heartier if you served the soup over a garlicky slice of toasted bread. Of course you could add bacon or sausage or any kind of leftover meat but I like the simplicity of the white beans and escarole, just finished with good olive oil and black pepper. If you have cooked white beans on hand this comes together in 30 minutes, tops. And this is even better the next day.
If you don’t have cooked beans on hand and don’t have time to soak them you can use the oven method where you bring the dry beans to a boil on the stove top (with a carrot, some celery, garlic and bay leaves) and then put it in the oven at 275 degrees for about 2 hours until tender and creamy. Then you remove the veggies and bay leaf and proceeded with the recipe.
Serves 6
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 teaspoon fresh or dried oregano or sage, finely chopped
6-7 cloves garlic, mashed and roughly chopped
3 -4 cups white beans, cooked and drained (cooking liquid reserved)
1 head escarole (about 1 lb), torn or chopped into bite-sized pieces
4-5 cups liquid–I use a combination of bean cooking liquid and vegetable broth but you can use water or chicken stock too
Good olive oil for serving
Freshly ground black pepper
Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot. Add the onions and sauté until translucent, about 5-7 minutes. Add the garlic and herbs and cook for a few more minutes. Add the beans, liquid and escarole and bring to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes until the escarole is tender. You can serve as is or remove a few cups of the soup and then return to the pot, for a creamier texture. Adjust seasoning with salt. Serve, not too hot, drizzled with good oil and plenty of black pepper.
Broccoli, Egg, Tarragon and Toasted Seed Salad
This is a substantial salad and perfect for a hot night. Scale this up or down to suit your needs/number of eaters.
Broccoli, wash, peel the stems and chop both stems and florets into large bite-sized pieces
2-4 hardcooked eggs (depending on how many people you’re feeding)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon (or dill or basil or cilantro)
¼ cup toasted sunflower or pumpkin seeds
Dressing:
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon Dijon-style mustard
Juice of 1 lemon or 2 tablespoons red wine or cider vinegar
3-4 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Steam or boil the broccoli in lightly salted water until tender but still bright green, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from the pan and let cool and drain very well, if you boiled it. Cook the eggs by covering generously with cold water and bringing to a boil. When the water boils turn off the heat and lest rest, covered in the hot water, for 9 minutes. Drain and rinse in cold water.
Arrange the broccoli on a platter. Peel the eggs and roughly chop and scatter over broccoli. Scatter over seeds and herbs and drizzle over the dressing. Toss gently and taste and adjust seasoning with more salt, lemon juice, etc.
Garlicky Sesame-cured Broccoli Salad
–adapted from In the Kitchen with a Good Appetite by Melissa Clark
I don’t love raw broccoli but this is one of the exceptions. And since this salad rests/marinates for an hour before eating it softens up a bit too. This is a perfect side dish but you could cook a pot of rice and have yourself a delightful supper.
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sea salt or more to taste
about 2 pounds broccoli (two largish heads), cut into bite-size florets, stems peeled and sliced thinly
1/2 cup good olive oil (sounds like a lot but it works/is needed)
4 large garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
Pinch or two red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
In a large bowl, stir together the vinegar and salt. Add the broccoli and toss to combine.
Heat the olive oil until hot but not smoking in a skillet. Add the garlic and cumin and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in the sesame oil and red pepper flakes. Pour the mixture over the broccoli and mix well. Let sit for at least 1 hour at room temperature, or chilled, up to 48 hours. Taste and adjust with more salt and/or vinegar. Add the sesame seeds and serve.
Okonomiyaki (Cabbage Pancakes)
This may be the most “winning” cabbage dish I make. Everyone loves these. Traditionally Okonomiyaki include minced dried shrimp which I omit since I don’t typically stock dried shrimp. You can make several very large pancakes, the size of the pan, and cut them in wedges or do as I typically do, and make them more typically pancake-sized.
And the sauce! It is nothing more than mayonnaise, Sriracha (or chili sauce of your choice) and soy sauce and it improves everything it touches.
Makes 14-16 pancakes
4 eggs
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 – 11/2 teaspoon sea salt (it takes a lot of salt—taste the first pancake you make and add more salt to the remaining batter if they’re a little blah tasting)
1/3 cup all purpose flour
about 5 cups cabbage, very finely sliced (you can also pulse wedges in the food processor briefly but you don’t want it too fine or the batter will get watery and not be as good)
1 bunch green onions, trimmed and thinly sliced (greens and all) or 1/4 of an onion, minced
Sunflower, coconut or peanut oil for frying
1-2 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds (optional)
Sauce:
Scant ½ cup mayonnaise (store bought is just fine)
Scant 2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon Sriracha or other chili sauce (or less if you don’t like much heat)
Whisk the first set of ingredients together for your sauce. Set aside while you make the pancakes.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk eggs with the soy sauce, sesame oil, and salt. Gradually add the flour until incorporated. Fold in cabbage, scallions and greens, if using.
Warm a couple glugs of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat until glistening. Ladle the batter into the skillet as you would for regular old pancakes. I usually make them about the size of saucer. Cook on each side for about 3 minutes or until golden brown. Keep pancakes covered in a warm oven as you make the rest. Scatter sesame seeds on top of pancakes and serve with dipping sauce.
Quick Sauerkraut with Napa or Regular Cabbage
I call this quick because when made with Napa cabbage you really can start eating it after a day or two. By all means let it ferment for 4-5 and then refrigerate but since the Napa cabbage is so tender it’s delicious very soon after starting. It’s the same technique as for regular cabbage so use either kind. I made it with last week’s Napa cabbage.
Yields about 1 quart sauerkraut
1 small Napa cabbage (ore regular green cabbage), halved or quartered (if large) and cut crosswise into thin strips (about 6-7 cups)
2 medium carrots, grated (optional)
1 teaspoon caraway seeds (optional)
1 generous tablespoons sea salt
In a large bowl mix all the ingredients together well. Work the salt into the cabbage and carrots, if using, with clean hands. Pack the vegetables into a clean quart or half-gallon jar and press down with your hand or a wooden spoon. The released liquid should come up to cover the vegetables. You can weigh the vegetables down with something heavy inside a zip top bag (rocks, beans, etc.) so the vegetables stay submerged in liquid. Sometimes I don’t bother doing this since the vegetables stay down well.
Put the jar on the counter and cover it with a dish towel, but not with a tight fitting lid. Push the vegetables down after 12 hours or so. It will start bubbling after about 24 hours and you can taste it and/or eat it at any point going forward. I usually leave it on the counter for 3 days and then refrigerate, which slows the fermentation and keep ist indefinitely. It should have a pleasant tang and sweetness to it.
Add it to sandwiches, serve it with meats or just bread and cheese as a snack.
Bok Choi Stir-fry over Rice
This is a delicious way to prepare bok choi. And the sauce works beautifully for any other quick vegetable stir fries as well. The Sichuan peppercorns are pretty key here–it’s worth getting a jar of them and they keep well. They’re more floral and flavorful than black pepper though you could use 1/4 teaspoon crushed black pepper corns in a pinch here.
Serves 3-ish
1 large head bok choi, stalks separated and washed and stems and leaves cut into 1-inch or so ribbons/slices
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 scant tablespoon minced or grated fresh ginger
3/4 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns, crushed a bit (see headnote)
2 whole star anise
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup water
1 ½ tablespoons Chinese rice cooking wine (Mirin) or dry sherry
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon brown sugar
Steamed rice
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt lightly.
Meanwhile heat the oil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat and add the garlic, ginger, star anise and crushed pepper corns and sauté for a minute or two until very fragrant and just starting to brown, stirring often. Add the remainder of the ingredients except the bok choi and rice and bring to a simmer and cook for about 4-5 minutes at a simmer. Scrape all of the sauce out of the sauce pan and transfer to a wok or large skillet though discard the star anise.
Drop the bok choi into the boiling water and cook for about 3-5 minutes—taste after 2 minutes. The length of time will depend on the size of your pot/amount of water and strength of burner. Drain the bok choi and add it to the sauce in the skillet. Cook over high heat for just 1 minute or so to combine well. Serve hot over rice.