Fall Cooking Tips

It’s fall, the season harvest! 

I love to stir-steam the abundant dark leafy green crucifers with sweet fall roots in cast iron for a tasty, vitamin-dense dish. The crucifers (also known as the brassica family vegetables - kale, collards, broccoli, etc.) are off the charts in so many wonderful nutrients and health promoting properties, it’d be ridiculous to try to list them all here. Just eat ‘em! And, because the crucifers tend to taste bitter and somewhat spicy, the sweet roots of fall (yams, parsnips, carrots, turnips, rutabagas, etc.) compliment them nicely when cooked together - especially with the sweeter ground spices such as ginger and coriander. Fall and winter are generally the seasons to include more cooked vegetables into your diet, as they are easier to digest and impart warmth to the body when baked, or cooked in cast iron or in a pressure cooker. Also, using more fats and animal proteins - especially for people with a weak, cold or deficient body types, which helps the body build strength and stay warm during the cold weather months. And each spice has specific warming or cooling properties. Please visit my website www.cookwell.org [2] for other whole foods recipes, and much more!
Here is one of my favorite recipes for the fall veggies. I call it Fall & Winter Greens Stir-Steam. You'll need:

2 Tbsp ghee, butter or coconut oil
2 cups any diced sweet winter roots 
1 Tbsp ground ginger and 1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp dill, tarragon, or rosemary 
1 bunch chopped, dark kale or collard greens 
3 Tbsp Nama, San-J, or Eden brand shoyu or tamari soy sauce
juice of one ripe lemon 


In a large cast iron frying pan or wok with a fitting lid, place 2 Tbsp ghee, butter or coconut oil over med heat and spread evenly in the pan. Immediately add 2 cups any sweet winter roots (diced into ½ inch cubes), 1/2 cup filtered water, 1 Tbsp ground ginger and 1 tsp ground coriander. Stir well so spices spread evenly over the veggies. After cooking for 2 minutes, stir and layer 1 bunch chopped, dark kale or collard greens (the darker the greens, the more minerals they have!) on top, then sprinkle in 1 tsp dill, tarragon, or rosemary (or all three!) on top of the greens. Cover with lid; after 1 minute remove lid and stir again. Turn off heat as soon as all the kale or collards are wet looking and slightly wilted. Then add 3 Tbsp Nama, San-J, or Eden brand shoyu or tamari soy sauce and the juice of one ripe lemon evenly to everything. Stir again and enjoy!

www.cookwell.org

 

Linguini with Spinach, Basil, and Feta

From Gail’s Kitchen

Ingredients
1 (16 ounce) package of linguini
3 cloves of garlic (minced)
1 red onion (diced)
1 tsp. dried red pepper flakes
9 ounces of fresh spinach
10-15 fresh basil leaves
8 ounces of feta cheese (crumbled)
2 tbs. olive oil

Directions
Cook linguini according to package directions, and drain. In a large saucepan, heat olive oil, and sauté onion, garlic, and pepper flakes. Add spinach and basil leaves and cook about 4 minutes until wilted. Toss pasta with spinach mixture and feta until combined.

Yield: 2-4 servings

Summer Panzanella

 Savory Bread Salad 
Franco Boeri, from ROI Frantoio of Badalucco, (Liguria) Italy, lifts his small tasting glass into the air, as if calling each of us to the altar for communion. We solemnly proceed forward to the olive-oil tasting table, pick up a glass smaller than a shot glass, and tip the shimmering golden liquid toward our lips. But, wait!  The olive tree and olive have been considered sacred from as far back as the 17th century, B.C. Therefore, this is a religious experience. Therefore, we need to sample olive oil in a manner distinctly different from any other tastings.
With his hand still poised, he instructs us in Italian to ‘inhale’ the liquid—through the teeth and past the gums—with almost a slurping method.
“The oil should cross the tongue, and then be allowed to linger at the back of the mouth before actually swallowing it. It takes practice,” he says, “and it will sound most vociferous,” he warns.
Seventy-five of us traditional culinary students begin the process of tasting. Some are reticent, while others more enthusiastic. But no matter how one positions his or her lips or how one uses the technique of inhalation, all of us end up sounding much like a gaggle of geese with chicken bones caught in our throats. Thuulk!  Thuulk!  Thiilk!!  Some quickly place their glasses on the table for more, while others prefer to cover their ears from the abhorrent sounds. But we all come around again to lift our glasses in the air, once again refilled with yet another delectable choice. Light, fruity, yet full bodied oils bless our tongues and we come away feeling sanctified.
In this region of Liguria, high above San Remo and the Italian Riviera, olive trees have grown since Roman times. The mild climate has guaranteed a production of extra-virgin olive oils which have a delicate, yet memorable full-bodied flavor. And, since 1900, each generation of the Boeri family have produced award-winning olive oils as their legacy. We were in the company of the Gods.
 If you are far away from Liguria, yet want to sample good olive oil, embrace the local olive oils of the Central Coast. Search for extra-virgin olive oils which have been produced in the cold-pressed method, and bottled in dark bottles. Make certain to keep them in the dark and away from a heat source, but enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!
Summer Panzanella
(Savory Bread Salad)  Serves 6

2 lbs. of ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced
1 ½ teaspoons of minced fresh garlic
1/3 cup chopped red onion
8 large basil leaves, coarsely chopped
½ English cucumber, chopped
1/3 cup of pitted Kalamata olives, chopped
6 thick slices of dry, Italian bread, cubed.
   (Possibly olive bread, but no sourdough bread, please.)
*******************
Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Then, sprinkle:
2 Tablespoons of red wine vinegar
1/3 cup of good extra virgin olive oil
Add plenty of medium coarse sea salt and coarse ground pepper.
Adjust to your taste. This is excellent on hot summer evenings or as picnic fare, as it travels well.

Black Bean & Avocado Salad

Ingredients
1 (16 ounce) can of black beans2 vine ripe tomatoes (diced)1 cup of frozen corn (thawed)1 red onion (diced)1 ripe avocado (diced)1 tbs. olive oil1 tsp red wine vinegar 

 

Directions
In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil and vinegar. Set aside. In a large bowl, place the black beans, tomatoes, corn, red onion, and avocado. Add oil mixture and toss together.
Yield: 2-4 servings

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