Quinoa Cakes With A Farmer's Market Riot - Recipe

On the way home from the farmer's market, Sarina and I joked that I wouldn't be able to resist playing with the molecular gastronomy toys, turning the zucchini into gel, the tomatoes into powder, spherifying the cukes and making the corn into a tableside sorbet with liquid nitrogen. But it was just a joke. With ingredients this good, and the weather this hot, it would be a crime to do much more than tie them all together with some big, bright flavors and a good beer.

So we have: quinoa cakes, spicy roasted corn relish, pan-fried zucchini, beefsteak tomato and cucumber salad, and a simple chimichurri sauce to marry them all up. The components are summer dynamite together, but any one of them could be a good side dish in a different meal, so feel feel free to mix and match.

By the way, can I mention that apparently almost no-one realizes how good zucchini is when pan-fried in a single layer? I like zucchini lots of ways - sauteed, lightly steamed, grated even... but when allowed a lot of surface area and a hot flame, it develops this completely different nutty / caramelized flavor that is addictive.

I hate to be cruel, but I have to tell you that for dessert we had strawberry shortcake, with two quarts of berries also from the market, fresh baked biscuits, and Sea Breeze Farm cream.

Quinoa Cakes with a Farmer's Market Riot
Serves 4
Vegetarian and gluten-free; vegan if you use an egg-replacer in the cakes

For the chimichurri (or see this other, slightly embellished version):

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped fine or pressed
  
• 1 cup well-rinsed flat-leaf parsley leaves, lightly packed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1.5 teaspoons sherry vinegar or lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in a mini food processor and process until it forms a thin sauce, kind of like a pesto without the nuts or cheese to hold it together. You might need more oil to get it pureed. Taste and adjust seasonings and allow to rest so the flavor can develop.

For the quinoa cakes:

• 2 cups leftover quinoa, or 1 cup rinsed, cooked normally, and allowed to cool
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano or leaves from a couple stems of fresh oregano, minced
• 2 eggs
• canola oil

Combine all ingredients except the oil. You should have a "dough" that you can form a wet ball with. If it is still dry and fluffy, add another egg. Bring your largest skillet, or better a flat griddle pan up to medium high heat. Add a thin layer of oil. Using about 1/4 cup each time, form pancakes and flatten on to the pan. They should only be about 1/4" thick. Cook on one side until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes, then flip and finish other side. Remove and season with salt and pepper.

For the cucumber and tomato salad:

• 1 medium cucumber, seeded and cut into medium dice
• 1 ripe beefsteak tomato, medium dice
• salt to taste

Combine all ingredients. You wanna put a little minced red onion in there, it is ok with me.

For the spicy corn relish:

• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1/2 onion, minced
• 2 teaspoons (or more, to your taste) red chili flakes
• 2 ears corn, shucked and kernels removed from stem
• 1 teaspoon salt
• zest of one lemon and 1 tablespoon of the juice

Heat a saute pan over a high flame. Add the oil, onion and chili flakes and cook about 1 minute, until the onion starts to color a little. Add the corn and salt and saute for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in lemon zest and juice. Taste and adjust seasonings.

For the pan-fried zucchini:

• 4 small zucchini, cut into 1/4" thick slabs, patted dry
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• sea salt
• pepper

Heat oil in a large frying pan over a high flame. Lay in the zucchini in a single layer and don't crowd the pan. (You can do a couple batches if necessary). Cook until quite a lot of brown spots are forming on the first side, then flip and do the same. Remove and season with sea salt and black pepper. You may wish to cut the slabs smaller at this point.

To serve:

In each bowl, spoon in a couple tablespoons of sauce or more. Top with two of the quinoa cakes, and nice piles of the zucchini, corn relish and salad. Garnish with a bit more of the sauce, or parsley or cilantro leaves.

Roasted Potato and Asparagus Tacos with Kohlrabi Slaw - Recipe

Roasted Potato and Asparagus Tacos with Kohlrabi Slaw

Soft tacos in a Mexico City form factor: just a fistful of delicious ingredients in two soft, steamed corn tortillas. Perfect to pick up in one hand, and never put back down. I can enjoy other, overstuffed tacos that require a fork, but to me the street food version is best.

Today's tacos contain oven roasted Yukon gold potatoes and asparagus, a kohlrabi slaw, avocado, feta cheese, and cilantro, with a little lemon crema. Obviously the feta should have been cotija, but that's what I had on hand.

The potatoes were from Olsen Farms, which grows an astonishing selection of heirloom varieties. I think they are near the end of their storage collection for this year, but if you are in the Seattle area, look for them when the new crop comes out and be amazed.

I blatantly snagged the slaw concept (not the ingredients) from Marination Mobile, about which more very soon. I picked kohlrabi basically because it was the nicest looking crispy vegetable I saw at the market yesterday, but you could just as easily use jicama.

The slaw was dressed with Trader Joe's Orange Muscat Champagne vinegar.  I'm not a big TJ's person at all, but that vinegar has a really bright, citrusy taste that I've used countless times to bring a dish to life. Granted you could easily combine champagne vinegar and fresh orange juice yourself, but in a pinch, this stuff is a real winner.

Because there are a lot of components to assemble on each taco, it is really important to have hot plates, and all of the ingredients prepared and organized in advance. Otherwise you'll be serving cold tacos, and who wants to do that?

Oh, and a note about corn tortillas: do not buy the ones at Whole Foods! They are terrible. The texture is completely wrong, and when heated they get all crumbly. It is as if they had hired a team of food scientists to make the worst possible tortilla. In order of preference: homemade, made at a local tortilleria (ask around, you might be very pleasantly surprised!), or a national Mexican brand.

Roasted Potato and Asparagus Tacos with Kohlrabi Slaw
Makes 8 tacos, serves 4 with rice and beans
Vegetarian and gluten-free; not vegan unless you substitute or omit the dairy products

• 6 medium potatoes, 1/2" dice
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 2 teaspoons cumin powder
• 1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2" lengths
• 3 small or 1 large kohlrabi, peeled and julienned, preferably on a mandoline, or grated
• 1/2 small sweet onion or white onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup Trader Joe's Orange Muscat Champage Vinegar or 1/4 cup champagne vinegar and 1/4 cup fresh orange juice
• 1/2 cup Mexican crema, sour cream, or yogurt
• juice of one lemon
• 1/4 lb feta or cotija cheese, crumbled
• 1 ripe Hass avocado, peeled and sliced
• a few sprigs of cilantro
• salt
• 16 soft corn tortillas

1. Heat the oven to 375 F. Toss the potatoes with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the cumin powder, and 1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt. Roast on a sheet pan in a single layer, turning occasionally with a spatula until golden brown and crispy. Taste and adjust salt. Set aside in a heatproof bowl.
2. Toss the asparagus with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and roast on the same sheet pan until tender and beginning to brown, maybe about 10 minutes. Taste and adjust salt. Set aside in a heatproof bowl.
3. Reduce oven to 175 F.
4. Combine the kohlrabi, onion, vinegar and 1 teaspoon of salt.
5. Combine the crema and lemon juice with a pinch of salt and whisk. Put it in a squeeze bottle if you like.
6. Put the plates in the oven to heat, and return the potatoes and asparagus to the oven to reheat.
7. Wrap the tortillas in a clean, moist kitchen towel and microwave until steaming hot and soft. Start checking after 1 minute.
8. To serve: on each plate, make two stacks of two tortillas each. In order, top with the potatoes and asparagus, then slaw, cheese, avocado, creama, and avocado.

Arroz Verde - Mexican Green Herb Rice Rethought - Recipe

The traditional recipe for arroz verde involves cooking your rice with a puree of poblano peppers and herbs. It is truly delicious, and I'd choose it in a heartbeat over the typical red rice you find nearly universally at Mexican-American restaurants.

When I went to make it yesterday, I thought to myself "now why am I cooking all of these delicious fresh herbs?" Their flavor is so perfect when raw, why should I boil the for 20 minutes? So I took a new approach. I omitted the poblanos, and simply made a pesto-like puree of the herbs, garlic, and a little oil. After the plain rice was cooked, I stirred in the herbs right before serving.

The result was really satisfying, with a clean, bright, summery flavor. And as you can see, the green color is very appealing on the plate.

The recipe below calls for 2 cups of fresh herbs. My daughter and I raided the garden, and used a lot of flat-leaf parsley, oregano, and cilantro,and smaller amounts of chives, rosemary, mint and dill. You can vary it according to what you have available and what you are serving it with. Because the herbs are thoroughly pureed, you can use tenderish stems of parsley and cilantro as well as the leaves.

Arroz Verde - Mexican Green Herb Rice
Vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free
Serves 4 as a side dish

• 1.5 cups medium grain white rice
• 2 cups edible parts of lightly packed fresh herbs (see note above)
• 2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1.5 teaspoons kosher or sea salt

1. Cook the rice in a rice cooker or according to package directions.
2. In a food processor, combine the herbs, garlic, and olive oil. Process until thoroughly pureed.
3. Just before serving, stir the herb mixture and salt into the rice. Taste and add more salt as needed.
4. Variation: you could also stir in a bit of lime or lemon juice.