It’s the week of salads with seeds. I have two different ones in this post, so get your seeds and nuts out and get toasting. They add so much flavor and texture.
There are a couple of very simple preparations this week too. The produce is so good that you really don’t need to do much. And if you by chance need to bake a cake in the near future, this is my favorite carrot cake recipe. It’s not very sweet but beautifully moist and delicious.
Recipes
Carrot and Seed Salad
CSA Salad with Lacinato Kale, Avocado and Faro
Homemade Aioli
Green Salad with Capers, Aioli and Egg
Fennel and Onion Soffrito
Potatoes with Parsley and Garlic
Potatoes, Broccoli and Carrots with Aioli with lots of Parsley
Carrot Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
Carrot and Seed Salad
–very slightly adapted from Breakfast Lunch Tea by Rose Carrarini
Serves 6 as a side
I make a variety of carrot salads. They add bright and fresh flavors year-round. Carrot salads are the perfect foil for the cook-with-what-you-have approach. Cumin, coriander, chili flakes, serrano chilies, lemon, lime (juice and zest), rice vinegar, parsley, mint, cilantro, tarragon, dill, and basil are all wonderful complements to the carrots. Toasted nuts and seeds of many kinds are good too.
With a simple frittata and a piece of good bread, this makes a lovely dinner.
1 cup sunflower seeds (or pumpkin seeds)
1 tablespoon sunflower or olive oil
3 generous pinches of sea salt
8 medium carrots, grated
1 handful chopped chives (or whatever you have on hand)
Dressing:
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus possibly more to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon sugar or 2 teaspoons honey
about 3 tablespoons sunflower or olive oil (I used a good olive oil)
Preheat oven to 350.
Toss the sunflower seeds with the tablespoon of oil and several pinches of salt and roast on a baking sheet for about 15 minutes, turning frequently, until they are crisp and golden. Set aside to cool.
Place the grated carrots in a serving bowl. To make the dressing whisk together the lemon juice, salt, pepper and oil. Pour the dressing over the carrots and mix well. Sprinkle with the chives (or other herbs) and the seeds, mix again, and adjust seasoning and serve.
CSA Kale Salad with Avocado, Farro (or Barley) and Garlic Dressing
–inspired by 101cookbooks.com
The avocado adds richness and creaminess to both the dressing and the salad itself. And the toasted seeds are an key addition.
Garlicky Dressing:
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup good olive oil
2 tablespoons ripe avocado
1 teaspoon honey, or to taste
fresh pepper to taste
½ lb Lacinato kale (about 5 cups), well washed and destemmed if there are any tough ones and cut into 1-inch ribbons
1 cup / cooked farro or barley or wheat berries
4 small carrots, very thinly sliced (about ¾ cup worth)
1 avocado, cut into small cubes
3-4 tablespoons toasted sunflower or pumpkin seeds, or some of each (toasted slivered almonds are good too)
Whisk the garlic, salt, lemon juice, olive oil, avocado, honey, and pepper until smooth. Taste, and adjust with more salt, or honey, or lemon juice.
Before you’re ready to serve, combine the kale with about half of the dressing in a large bowl and work the dressing in well. Taste, and add the last of the dressing if needed. This is a salad that’s good quite heavily dressed. Add the avocados and seeds and give one last gentle toss.
Homemade Aioli
Aioli is basically garlicky mayonnaise. The uncured, fresh garlic lends itself very well to this technique since it’s just a bit milder and sweeter than cured garlic. Homemade aioli takes about 8 minutes to make and keeps well for a week. I’ve always made it by hand but I know it works well in the food processor too so by all means use that if you want. It’s so delicious and endlessly useful and adaptable. Potato salad, deviled eggs, egg salad, sandwiches, spread for grilled fish, dressing for anything.
2 eggs yolks
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and pepper
1 teaspoon Dijon-style mustard
3 teaspoon lemon juice or more to taste
about 1 ½ cups oil. I use a combination of two thirds neutral oil like Sunflower and one third good tasting olive oil. If you use all olive oil it tends to be too bitter and strong.
Mash the garlic into a paste in a mortar and pestle with some sea salt (to give it grit/resistance) or on a cutting board with the side of a chef’s knife. For the latter technique, cover the minced garlic with the side of the knife, then press down hard and pull the knife towards, all the while pressing down hard on the minced garlic. Repeat a few times until you get a paste. It takes a little practice but then is a wonderfully useful, quick technique when you want to infuse something (and not have chunks) with fresh garlic (salad dressings, etc.)
Whisk the garlic into the eggs yolks with the lemon juice, mustard and salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Then very slowly start adding the oil, almost drip by drip for a bit until you things get nice and emulsified. Then you can start adding the oil in a thin stream, whisking all the while (or do the same in the food processor).
Traditionally aioli is served as a dip with raw and steamed vegetables. This week it could be carrots and turnips and radishes – raw or quickly blanched or steamed. It’s good with chickpeas, potatoes, asparagus, etc. It’s also wonderful with grilled foods, in a sandwich or spooned in soup or pasta or used instead of mayonnaise in deviled eggs or used in the salad dressing, below.
Green Salad with Fennel, Capers, Aioli and Egg
Lettuces this time of year are so tender and crisp and perfect. The summer heat hasn’t made them bitter yet and this salad is perfect for them. It includes eggs in two forms (hard-boiled and in the aioli)! And the salad is begging for adaptations. Add some chopped tarragon if you have it or other herbs (mint, parsley, basil, chives).
6 cups lettuce, washed and dried well and roughly torn
1 tablespoon capers, rinsed and roughly chopped
2 hardboiled eggs (eggs that have been brought to a boil in a plenty of cold water and then taken off the heat and left to sit for 8 minutes in the hot water and then drained and covered in cold water. The yolks will be set but still a bit creamy.), roughly chopped
1 spring onion, thinly sliced
1/2 a large fennel bulb, trimmed and then sliced as thinly as you can
¾ cup croutons or roughly torn, toasted, good crusty bread (optional)
3 tablespoons aioli
a little lemon juice or red wine or champagne vinegar
a bit more olive oil or cream or water to thin it down a bit (optional)
Salt and Pepper
Put the lettuce, eggs, capers, onion and croutons in a salad bowl. Mix the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and then toss well with the lettuce, etc. Taste and adjust seasoning
Fennel and Onion Soffrito
This is a delicious garnish/condiment/side for fish, roasted vegetables, etc.
Olive oil
1 ½ cups thinly sliced fennel
1 ½ cups thinly sliced onion
¾ cup canned tomatoes, drained and chopped
2 cloves garlic
red wine vinegar to taste
salt and pepper
In the largest skillet you have heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the onions and fennel all at once and cook, stirring occasionally over medium heat until starting to brown and quite soft. Add the garlic and the tomatoes, a couple of generous pinches of salt and some pepper and cook until the liquid has evaporated. Finally add a little vinegar, you’ll probably want at least 2 teaspoons and plenty of black pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning.
This is delicious with a bunch of chopped parsley and black olives too.
Potatoes with Parsley and Garlic
Potatoes and parsley and garlic work beautifully together.
Boil or roast however many potatoes you want. Cut them into large-ish bite-sized chunks (after cooking if boiling and before if roasting).
Finely chop lots of parsley. Mince a clove or two of garlic (or more), grated some lemon zest and mix it all together with good olive oil and a bit of lemon juize and salt and pepper. Dress the potatoes liberally with this simplified salsa verde.
Fry or poach and egg or grill some meat or fish and you have dinner!
Potatoes, Broccoli and Carrots with Aioli
Boil or roast some potatoes and carrots. Steam some broccoli. Arrange on a large platter.
Make aioli, above, to which you added lots of finely chopped parsley. Put a bowl of aioli in the center of the platter and dip away.
Good crusty bread, some good canned Oregon Albacore or some hard boiled eggs make nice additions. Perfect summer supper.
Carrot Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
–Adapted from Feeding the Whole Family by Cynthia Lair
This cake uses honey, whole wheat flour and both lemon juice and zest and is hands-down my favorite carrot cake.
1 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour or all purpose four or half apf, half whole wheat or spelt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves (optional)
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup honey
2 eggs
1 generous cup grated carrot (I grate half the carrots on the biggest holes on my box grater and half on the smaller ones and like the combo)
1 Tablespoon lemon zest
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/3 cup dried currants (optional)
1/3 cup golden raisins, roughly chopped (regular raisins would be fine too) and if you like nuts in your carrot cake, by all means add some chopped walnuts
Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly oil and dust with flour a 9-inch cake pan. Mix flour, salt, baking soda and spices in a mixing bowl; set aside.
Melt butter and honey over low heat. Add eggs and lemon juice and whisk together. Add wet ingredients to dry mixture and mix well. Fold in carrots, zest, currants, and raisins. Pour batter in pan and bake for 25-30 minutes. Be careful not to over bake.
6 ounces cream cheeses
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) of butter, room temperature
2-3 tablespoon maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
Cream the butter and cream cheese together with a wooden spoon. Add maple syrup and lemon juice. Add more of either to taste. The frosting will firm up in the fridge if it gets to soft to spread but mine worked just fine. Frost top and sides of cake.