Food Glorious Food - The Cooking Thread

[cremetangerine82]

Do you have a recipe, ennazus?

[batmom]

Let's all share our favorite salads that eat like a meal!

It was a hard choice but this one is delicious. The combo sounds a little wild, but trust me. You don't need rainbow carrots. It makes no difference to the taste and the color doesn't really hold.

carrot chickpea salad

[ennazus]

cremetangerine82, I don’t know how to link, but this is my adaptation of “feel good foodie”’s recipe:

DRESSING
- 2 tbsps each of olive oil and grape verjus (or citrus juice)
- 1/2 tsp each of dried mint, kosher/maldon salt, sumac
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
SALAD
- 4 mini/Persian cucumbers quartered lengthwise and sliced fairly thin. You want all the components a similar small size
- 2 tomatoes diced or equivalent grape/cherry tomatoes quartered
- 1/3 onion chopped
- 1/4 cup each Italian parsley and fresh mint chopped (optionally/additionally cilantro)

Eat as a salad or use as a dip for toasted pita.
I found grape verjus at a middle eastern grocer.

[granolamom]

Yum, meal-level salads. I love the beet-farro-feta salad in the NYT, but to be honest sometimes it seems like more work than I want to do on a summer day.

I more frequently make a salad that's kind of a lazy tabbouli, with halved cherry tomatoes, diced cucumber, diced red or yellow bell pepper, cubed feta cheese, halved kalamata olives, olive oil, lemon juice, and oregano (fresh or dried), all tossed together. It's good with a can of chickpeas tossed in as well, or cooked grains, and fresh parsley if I have it around. Proportions are just whatever suits!

[mojogirl]

Here's my favorite, and if you just make the basic recipe it's vegan as a bonus!

Somen Salad
Dressing:
2 Tbs furikake*
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 Tbs sesame oil
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce

Salad:
12 oz somen noodles
3 scallions, thinly sliced
1 block med-firm tofu, cut into 1/2" dice

Whisk together dressing ingredients. Bring pot of water to a boil and cook somen 3 minutes (or according to package directions. Don't overcook!)
Drain somen as soon as done and rinse immediately with cold water to cool.
Toss somen with some of the dressing, then add remaining ingredients and the rest of the dressing and toss to combine. Will keep for ~3 days in fridge.

I like to top this with radish sprouts but you could also use shredded lettuce, sliced mushrooms, bok choy, sliced fried eggs (now it's vegetarian), or sliced char siu (obs not veggie now.)
*I use the Nori Komi furikake that's just sesame seeds, seaweed, sugar & salt to keep it vegan, but you could use a different variety and have it be pescatarian.

[ennazus]

That salad looks so good, mojogirl! I’ve never heard of somen noodles. I suppose I’ll need to head to an Asian grocer when I make it, I assume.

[mojogirl]

May 25, 2024 8:48:28 GMT -4 ennazus said:

That salad looks so good, mojogirl! I’ve never heard of somen noodles. I suppose I’ll need to head to an Asian grocer when I make it, I assume.

They are thin white wheat noodles, which is why they cook so fast. A lot of regular grocery stores carry them in the Asian section now. If you can't find furikake you can just use one tablespoon of toasted sesame seeds, but I like the nori in there as well.

[heyalice]

Has anyone used lovage? A colleague brought some in from their garden. Suggestions appreciated.

[chiqui]

Lovage is mainly used like a spice, like parsley or cilantro. It has a celery-like taste, but stronger. The ancient Romans were very fond of it!

[heyalice]

Oh, it smells STRONG! Apparently used in love potions...