Tag Archives: winter vegetables

Crunchy Winter Slaw

As we enter the festive season of butter and sugar, I thought it would be a good idea to have a new recipe at the ready to provide a healthy counterbalance. This slaw recipe was inspired by an Asian slaw I read about in Milk Street Magazine. This new publication is Christopher Kimball’s first venture since leaving Cook’s Illustrated last year.

I have been a huge fan and supporter of Kimball and Cook’s Illustrated since it’s inception in 1993, so I was curious to check out the premiere issue of Milk Street. The premise behind Milk Street is to bring techniques from the world’s kitchens to America’s weeknight dinner table. Christopher explains that, “There’s no ethnic cooking. It’s a myth. It’s just dinner or lunch served from somewhere else in the world…. Milk Street offers an invitation to the cooks of the world to sit at the same table…All food is everyone’s food.”

This is my take on Milk Street’s “Coleslaw by Way of East Asia.” I loved the combination of cabbage, radishes and sugar snap peas, but I wasn’t fond of the dressing (coconut milk, lime juice, sugar, fish sauce and serrano chili). I preferred an apple cider vinaigrette with honey and grainy mustard.

I settled on a combo of Brussels sprouts, red, green and Napa cabbage, radishes and sugar snap peas for my vegetables. Cilantro and mint were also invited to this fresh party.I believe that every salad needs an element of crunch. Croutons are good, but nuts are better! I was inspired by a maple spicy nut crunch I read about in the LCBO’s Holiday 2016 issue of Food & Drink. I’m very excited that the magazine is now available online.

I used a combo of pine nuts, sunflower seeds, hazelnuts, sliced almonds, pistachios and pumpkin seeds. The nuts get coated in a hot bath of maple syrup, brown sugar, paprika, salt and cayenne. 20 minutes in the oven crisps up everything beautifully. I added some dried cherries to the cooled nut mixture. The recipe makes more than you will need, but it keeps perfectly for at least a month in an airtight container. It makes a very yummy afternoon snack.

Click here to print recipe for Crunchy-Winter-Slaw.

Squash Fries with Chipotle Mayo

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I have been making squash fries at least once a week for over two years now. It recently occured to me that that I have not shared the recipe with you yet. My bad! Sorry about that. Once you try them, you too will be serving them often. I started making them around the same time that I discovered smoked paprika. Squash and smoked paprika are just made for each other. I usually roast vegetables at a high heat (450°F), which gives then that gorgeous char. However, I have been reading that roasting veggies at a low temp (250°F) deeply concentrates the flavours and gives you a velvety-custardy texture. They turn out more evenly cooked and less shriveled than their high-heat friends. I will admit that the roasting time balloons from 45 minutes to over 2 hours, but it’s unattended roasting time. If you can plan ahead, your patience will be rewarded.

First we need to tackle peeling and cutting the squash. This can be scary if you don’t know what you’re doing. Here’s my method.

Make sure you spread them out in a single layer on the baking sheet.I love dipping them in chipotle mayo. I just mix low fat mayo (please do not use that fat-free stuff) with canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce. It is commonly found in the Mexican section of the supermarket. One can will give you way more than you need for this recipe. Here’s what I do to deal with leftovers. Remove all the seeds from the chiles, and process into a smooth paste in the food processor. Transfer paste to a parchment lined baking sheet and freeze. Once the paste is frozen solid, transfer to a zip-loc bag and store in freezer. Then you can simply break off pieces as you need them. Here are some great ideas on what to do with leftover chipotles.

Click here to print recipe for Squash Fries with Chipotle Mayo.

Pomegranate Molasses Glazed Carrots

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You know it’s January because every food blogger worth her salt is writing about the joys of vegetables . Those sweet food porn days of December are long gone, buried under the 5 pounds of butter and sugar, tucked oh so discretely under a layer of skin, in my case, just below where my waist used to be.

Although we squeal with delight and burble over with joy at summer produce (remember wild blueberries?), winter in the produce aisle can produce some gush worthy moments as well. It just requires a bit more work.

Carrots are often bypassed as too pedestrian, but in deft hands, carrots can be magical. These carrots were way too pretty to leave behind at the supermarket.I have a secret ingredient that turns ordinary roasted carrots into something quite special. It’s pomegranate molasses. Not actually molasses at all, but just pure pomegranate juice, and a bit of sugar boiled down and reduced to a thick, syrupy reduction. Dip your finger into this thick, garnet coloured syrup and you will be instantly transported back to your childhood! If you are of a certain age you will remember with fondness that powerful puckering of your lips from these candies. Pomegranate molasses has that tart/sweet quality, but in a grown up way. It adds an intense earthy depth of flavour to so many things. I have been using it in a chicken sauce for years now, and everyone who eats it always asks, “what is in this sauce?” It can be found in many supermarkets now, as well as in Middle Eastern specialty shops. If you can’t find it, here is a recipe from Alton Brown to make your own pomegranate molasses.

The idea of roasting carrots with pomegranate molasses came from Melissa Clark’s book “In the Kitchen with a Good Appetite.” The first time I made them, I found the flavour to be delicious but the carrots were a bit shrivelled in appearance and leathery in texture. As I thought about how to avoid this issue, I remembered that I boil potatoes for a few minutes before roasting to get a crispy not leathery skin. I wondered if the same treatment with carrots would work? I peeled them and cut them on the diagonal, to increase the surface area that would come into contact with the roasting pan. They got a quick 2 minute dip in boiling salted water. Then I drained them on paper towels for a few minutes before roasting.I tossed them with a bit of olive oil, salt, pepper and a pinch of cayenne and roasted them in a hot (425°F) oven for about 45 minutes. I added the pomegranate molasses and some honey during the last 5 minutes of roasting as I did not want them to burn.

The finished carrots were crispy without being leathery. The pinch of cayenne added a nice kick and the pomegranate molasses added an amazing sweet tart punch. I gilded the lily and sprinkled on some pomegranate seeds. They glistened like little jewels.

Salt and Serenity

Tales from my kitchen