Asian Mizuna Greens and Pasta Salad with Edamame and Pea Shoots

 

Some recipe creations just fall into place. By some stroke of lucky you happen to have every ingredient on hand that you crave. This happened to me yesterday. In my La Nay Ferme CSA share this week, I received a small bag of purple and green Mizuna greens. 

German Potato Salad over Mixed Greens

Happy Memorial Day! I hope you all had a wonderful day full of remembrance, gratitude and good eats. For our BBQ today, I was asked to bring the potato salad and with a special request: no mayonnaise. Sometimes you just need a break from the creaminess, even if it is the best dill potato salad.  So off I ran to my go-to recipe cookbook: America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook.

Utah Local Love: Red Barn Cider Mill Apple Juice from Santaquin, Utah

It's about this time of year that I start longing for fresh, fall Utahapples. Don't get me wrong there is so much promise with spring and summer with all the fresh produce we are able to get our hands on. Apples are a different story. And if you're not careful, you might find yourself biting into a bad one.

Thankfully I know I can always enjoy some fresh local apple juice from the Red Barn. It's sweet and apple-y and natural. This apple juice is found in various grocery stores in Utah. I like to drink it straight but also enjoy adding it to green smoothies and as an ingredient for various baked goods.

Rowley's South Ridge Farms - Red Barn
southridgefarms.com
redbarncidermill.com
901 South 300 West
Santaquin, Utah
Monday-Saturday
9:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Facebook
Twitter: @TheBigRedBarn

Read all my posts about apples!
Check out more local Utah business in my Utah Local Love series.

Utah Farm to Utah Table: Light Carrot-Ginger Salad Dressing

 

"De-licious! Nu-tritious! It makes me feel ambitious!"

That's a saying my older sister has chanted since our teenage years. I have no idea where it came from but it always comes to mind when I make healthy food choices, especially when they are some of my favorite foods. The saying is nothing but truth. Don't we feel so good after we give our bodies nutritious food? I, for one, feel like I can conquer the world.

I found myself chanting this phrase when I picked up my second CSA share at La Nay Ferme. Each and every bit of produce was beautiful and ready to be enjoyed. Participating in La Nay Ferme CSA has been a great experience so far.

 

Our second week's share brought us mixed greens, carrots, strawberries, radishes, broccoli microgreens and edible pansies and pea leaves. I crave exposure to new foods and my La Nay Ferme CSA share gives me the exposure. I had never tried broccoli microgreens before this week's share.  I loved them. I'm always blown away with microgreens--such tiny beings can pack so much flavor.

Biscoff Ice Cream - 2 ingredients

It's taken me a while to hop on the Biscoff Spread bandwagon. Let me rewind a bit. I have been very familiar and an avid consumer of speculoos, just not the Biscoff brand. I'd been buying speculoos spread from here and here when I visit New York City. Both are perfect representations of that graham-crackery-almost-ginger-snappy-caremelized-sugar-cookie-spread. But when I saw that one of my local grocers carried it, I snagged a jar. Sweet.

I'm not going to say whether or not I think the Biscoff brand is the best speculoos spread. Instead, I'll tell you that I made one heckuva Biscoff Ice Cream last weekend. And with only two ingredients, there are no excuses for you not to make this speculoos ice cream today!

Utah Local Love: The Perfect Cheese Plate at The Copper Onion in Salt Lake City

If you're ever in the mood for a great cheese plate look to The Copper Onion in Salt Lake City. They have a nice assortment of meats and cheeses, including Utah's Own Creminelli offerings. Don't forget to order a bit of quince paste, olives and house pickles.

The Copper Onion
thecopperonion.com
111 E Broadway #170, SLC

(801) 355-3282 Other posts you may like:

Beer-Battered Fish Tacos from Red Butte Cafe in Salt Lake City
Amano Chocolate Pudding from Pizzera 712 in Orem, Utah
Mountain West Burrito in Provo, Utah Kouing Aman from Les Madeleines in Salt Lake City, Utah

Travel Bug Becky: Dairy Twirl in Lebanon, New Hampshire

Once of the most pleasant surprises when visiting New England is the plethora of ice cream stands. Unlike the tiny snow shack huts that house Utah snow cones, these ice cream stands take place in much larger digs even if they're still seasonal businesses.

A favorite stop of mine is the Dairy Twirl in Lebanon, New Hampshire. Lots of flavors lined the menu. I couldn't resist a vanilla and black raspberry ice cream dotted with chocolate and raspberry chunks, they called it Maine Black Bear. Dairy Twirl opens every year after Mother's Day and closes after Labor Day. Lebanonites line up by the masses on hot summer days and nights for some ice cream. It's quite the happening spot in this tiny town. 

The Baked Brownie & Favorite Brownie Confusion

To ultimately decide a favorite brownie is utterly impossible at this point in my baking life. Every few months when I discover a new brownie recipe I declare, "Now, this is my favorite brownie recipe!" Then a year later I repeat myself.

It's not that I'm easy to please. And it's not that I have to pick a favorite. There's room for brownies of all types--be it frosted, filled with nuts, cakey, fudgy--in my kitchen.But is it so wrong to want to have a favorite? And further, is it possible that the only way for me to come to this culinary conclusion is to make each and every brownie recipe candidate at the same time? Even then, I still think the results would prove subjective.

Utah Farm to Utah Table: Bleu Cheese, Radish and Pea Shoot Crostini

Life is good. I went on a great bike ride this weekend. Spent time at a park and felt the warmth of the sun. I also picked up my first CSA share of produce from La Nay Ferme in Provo.

I received a large and small bag of mixed baby spring greens, including nine varieties of lettuce (tango, rouge d’hiver, ridge line, flame, crisp mint, antago and more.), mizuna and purple mizuna, arugula and sorrel. A bundle of radishes, bundle of green onions, a small tasting of strawberries, a pot of microgreens with pea shoots and amaranth and last but certainly not least an Asian salad dressing made by Heirloom Restaurant Group (not shown). Isn't it all so lovely?

I still can't get used to strawberries in Utah? So little. So fun. So delicious. My approach this week is to eat everything raw. Less time in the kitchen. I'm going to save the heat for next week. And food this fresh is perfect raw. The strawberries are quickly disappearing.

I've enjoyed many a salad like this one here. Sunday evening my husband grilled up some marinated flank steak to enjoy with this lovely salad.

The Asian dressing by Heirloom Restaurant Group went great on our salad and with our meal. The pea shoots and radishes were sprinkled (not bathed) in the salad dressing and I was happy that La Nay gave me pea shoots and an Asian dressing in the same week. They were a great match. 

 

The real star of this week's share (besides the distinctly fresh and flavorful lettuce)  were the microgreen pea shoots. So crisp, full of texture and abundant in pea flavor. Honestly, it's as if your mind plays tricks on you. You think you are eating a full-size pea. All the flavor is there. And better yet, microgreens are bursting with nutrients.

 

I wanted to create a small bite that focused on the pea shoots. I'm in love with appetizers so I went the crostini route. Four simple ingredients make for one delicious summer crostini. Next time you have pea shoots, make this for your friends and family. The bright earthiness of the pea shoots combined with the creaminess of the bleu cheese and sweetness of the radishes make a delightful snack or pre-course to any meal.

 

Do you participate in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) in your town? If you are living in Utah County, I highly recommend joining La Nay Ferme.


Bleu Cheese, Radish and Pea Shoot Crostini
Ingredients:
Bleu cheese (I opted for sweet variety as opposed to a musty one.)
Radishes
Pea Shoots
French Baguette

Directions:
Cut baguette into desired thickness and set aside. Slice radishes paper thin, cut pea shoots the same length as your baguette and crumble 3-4 small chunks of bleu cheese for each baguette. Place on bread slices and serve.

*No amounts are given here as it depends on how many you want to serve. I used two small tubular radishes for about 6 crostini slices. You may also toast your baguette before topping with vegetables and cheese.

Other recipes and posts you may like:

Three Green Lettuce Salad with White Turnips
Mandarin Orange and Almond Salad from The Melting Pot
The Best Dill Potato Salad Recipe
La Nay Ferme: A New CSA in Provo, Utah

Horchata for Cinco de Mayo

My goodness, where has the time gone? It's been far too long since my last post. I just returned from another amazing trip to New York City. Somehow the stars have aligned and allowed me to visit my favorite city three times in the last six months. I will never ever get tired of that city. Ever. I can't wait to tell you about my visit (and talk about Newsies on Broadway, oh, such talent). But for now, let's chat Cinco de Mayo.

We've always celebrated this holiday at our home. Who doesn't love great Mexican food and an awesome party? This year we don't have any set plans but we will be enjoying some awesome Mexican flavors in our cooking.  I've been playing catch-up at work and home ever since I returned so I only had plans to share some of my favorite Mexican recipes like dulce de leche duo cookies and grilled corn on the cob with garlic butter, fresh lime and Cojita cheese. Just links, nothing more.

Then my husband told me he and his coworkers were having a little Cinco de Mayo party and he was going to make David Lebovitz's Horchata. Score! I had fresh content for today and didn't have to do any of the work. Thanks, Adam. I've always enjoyed this refreshing Mexican rice drink. The cinnamon is a must for me and ice cubes, well I like to go quite liberal on them. It's warm outside, after all. Funny enough, I forgot to put ice cubes in my photos. Oh well.

Happy Cinco de Mayo, friends. What will you be making, baking or buying this weekend?  

(If you live in Utah and don't feel like making anything yourself...head over to Cafe Rio for a Pork Salad, buy the Frida cookie (fresh or frozen) at Ruby Snap or buy a 5-gallon bucket of chips and 64 oz. of salsa from Los Hermanos. Those are all things we love to do at our house when we aren't quite up to the homemade task.)  

Horchata
About 6 cups (1.5l)
from David Lebovitz Adapted from Paletas (Ten Speed) by Fany Gerson



2/3 cup (120g) white rice (see Note)
3 cups warm water
One 2-inch (5cm) cinnamon stick
3/4 to 1 cup (150g-200g) sugar
2 cups (500ml) rice milk or regular milk (I like both, and when we use regular milk, we use whole)
Ground cinnamon, for serving


1. In a blender, grind the rice so it is in fine pieces, roughly the consistency of very coarse polenta. (If your blender won’t go that fine, that’s okay and just break up the rice as much as possible.)
2. Transfer the rice to a bowl then pour warm water over it and add the cinnamon stick. Cover and refrigerate at least eight hours, but preferably overnight.
3. Pluck out the cinnamon stick then puree the rice and water until it’s as smooth as possible. Strain the mixture through a sieve lined with a few layers of cheesecloth, squeezing it relatively firmly to extract as much of the rice flavor as possible.
4. Stir in the sugar and milk, mixing until the sugar is dissolved. Taste, and adjust sweetness, if necessary. Refrigerate until completely chilled.


Serving: Serve over ice with a sprinkling of ground cinnamon on top.
Storage: Store the horchata in the refrigerator for up to four days.