Jicama, Orange and Radish Salad - Recipe

 

When I serve a filling entree, I like to have a refreshing salad. It offers a nice contrast, makes the meal a little lighter, and cuts the fattiness of the main dish. Here is a simple version, dressed only with fresh orange jucie, that goes great with Mexican and other Latin-American meals. You can work on it while your entree finishes cooking, or it is a great task to give to a friendly volunteer. Don't forget to pass them a cerveza!

If you haven't had jicama (pronounced hee-come-uh) before, you are in for a treat. The texture is crisp like an apple and a little sweet. I believe there are uses for it cooked, but I've only used them for salads. They are surprisingly easy to find in the specialty section of fairly average grocery stores, and of course you can find them at Mexican markets.

Jicama, Orange and Radish Salad
Vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free
Serves 4 as a little side dish

• 1/2 jicama peeled and cut into 1/4" x 1/4" x 2" batons
• 1 big handful radishes, trimmed and cut into quarters
• 4 valencia oranges, cut into supremes (segments without the membrane, see this post for more discussion and another use), juice reserved
• handful of cilantro leaves, roughly torn
• salt
• black pepper

1. Combine the jicama, radishes, orange segments and cilantro with a big pinch of salt and several hearty grinds of pepper.
2. Add 1/4 cup of the orange juice and toss lightly.
3. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Warm Fava Bean (Ful) Salad with Tamarind Dressing - Recipe

 
Warm Fava Bean Salad with Tamarind Dressing

Dried fava beans (aka ful or fool) come in several shapes and sizes; the kind you want for this salad are small and round, about the size of a chickpea, not lima bean shaped. The most typical preparation for them is ful mudammas. For today's dish, I used them in a warm salad spiked with tamarind and Aleppo peper, two flavors typical of Syrian cuisine.

Tamarind is best known for its use in Southeast Asian dishes, like Indian rasam and sambar. It lends its tart, fruity flavor to some versions of Pad Thai as well. Apparently it is also popular in Syria, where it was no doubt brought via the ancient trade routes.

Tamarind is the pulp from a seed-pod that grows on a tropical tree of the same name. You can buy the whole pods, or just the pulp and seeds compressed into a brick, or a fully prepared concentrate. The first two forms probably taste a little better but they require a lot of work, hydrating the pulp with boiling water and then forcing it through a sieve to remove strings and seeds. Personally, I use the Tamicon brand of concentrate. Call me lazy, but it means a salad like this can come together in ten minutes.

I served this with a meal of mujadara, roasted cauliflower, tahineh sauce (prepared tahini with garlic and olive oil), and pita bread. 

Warm Fava Bean (Ful) Salad with Tamarind Dressing
Serves 6 as a side dish
Vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free

• 2 15 oz. cans cooked fava beans (ful), drained and rinsed - Sahara is a good brand
• 2 stalks celery, finely diced
• 1/2 small white onion, finely diced
• 1 tablespoon Tamicon brand tamarind concentrate
• 1 tablespoon boiling water
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon or more Aleppo pepper, or substitute 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• 1 cup loosely packed parsley leaves, chopped but reserve a few for garnish

1. Combine the beans, celery and onion and warm gently in a saucepan or the microwave.
2. Combine the tamarind paste and boiling water and stir until liquified. Drizzle in the olive oil, whisking continuously. Whisk in the salt and aleppo pepper. Taste and adjust the seasoning. It should be rather tart.
3. Mix the dressing and the minced parsley into the beans. Let sit five minutes and then give a final taste, adding more salt or Aleppo pepper as needed.
4. Garnish with the reserved parsley leaves and serve.

Puntarelle and Tiny Potato Salad - Recipe

Salad of Puntarelle, Tiny Potatoes and Teleme

Sarina and I both fell in love from afar with these tiny little potatoes from Olsen Farms. We spotted them from a few booths away at the farmer's market, and even though we have several rows of potatoes growing at home, we had to have them. I know it is hard to see the scale, but each one was just a bit bigger than a large marble.

On the same day, I found this puntarelle (the leafy green you see in the picture). It looks a bit different than any pictures I found on the web with the same name. Possibly it was younger. Apparently it is in the chicory family. Certainly quite bitter, to the point where I wouldn't really eat it raw.

This wilted salad was my idea of how to pair these two beautiful ingredients. I added radishes, which accentuate the sharpness of the greens, creamy Teleme cheese and roasted garlic to tame them, and peaches and fine balsamico for a bit of sweetness. Toasted walnuts would be an excellent addition. Another soft cheese, a blue cheese or even feta could replace the Teleme

This same concept could be applied to other bitter greens, especially in the chicory family (escarole, radicchio, etc). If it was a head type instead of individual leaves, grilling would be a fine option.

Salad of Wilted Puntarelle, Tiny Potatoes and Teleme
Serves 4
Vegetarian and gluten-free; vegan if you omit the cheese

• 1 head of garlic
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cups tiny potatoes (or cut up larger ones)
• 1 bunch of puntarelle, tough part of the stem removed
• 1 peach, peeled and cut into 8 sections
• 4 small pieces of Teleme cheese, room temperature
• 8 small radishes
• 8 slices of baguette
• salt
• balsamico

1. Slice the top 1/8" off the top of the head of garlic, wrap in tin foil, and roast in the oven or toaster oven at 375 F. for 30 minutes or until tender.
2. In a large skillet, heat the 1/4 cup of olive oil over a medium-high flame. Add the potatoes and 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and cook, stirring occasionally in a single layer until tender and the skins are beginning to brown. Blot with paper towels.
3. Drain excess oil from the skillet and add the puntarelle along with a pinch of salt and cook until it is beginning to wilt, about 1 minute.
4. Brush the baguette slices with olive oil, toast them, squeeze roasted garlic cloves on them and spread.
5. To assemble the salad, divide the greens among 4 plates. Top with the potatoes, peach sections,, cheese, radishes and roasted garlic toasts. Sprinkle on a bit more flaky sea salt and give them each a drizzle of balsamico.