Rosemarried

Posts Tagged harvest

Pumpkin & Kale Salad with Tahini Dressing (Recipe Swap)

Last month, I wasn’t able to participate in the Recipe Swap, as I was driving across the country with my sister. In two years of swapping, this is the only post I’ve missed! I was bummed to miss out on all the recipe swap fun, but driving across the country isn’t exactly conducive to cooking. (On the contrary, driving across the country is conducive to eating a lot of crappy food and drinking gas station coffee.)

That being said, it’s good to be back.

There are times when Christianna emails the swap group our recipe for the month, and I’m completely inspired by it. This was not one of those times. This month’s recipe – “Russian Salad” is just plain nasty. It’s essentially a potato salad with veal and herring. (Yes, herring.) If I’m being truly honest, I got to the herring part of the recipe and decided to read no further. I am just not down with fish in my potato salad. So, I went in a totally and completely different direction. Really, the only thing my pumpkin kale salad has in common with Russian Salad is that they are both….salads. That’s it.

I blame this salad on Pinterest. I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but there’s been a bit of a ‘pumpkin craze’ on Pinterest as of late. It’s all pumpkin spice lattes and pumpkin cookies and pumpkin cocktails, etc, etc. I hate it! You see, I love pumpkin. I love it in curries and soups and stews. I love pumpkin in salads, gratins, and casseroles. Pumpkin is an amazingly flavorful and versatile fruit. And, sure, I love pumpkin pie as much as the next person, I just happen to believe that pumpkin does not belong in coffee. ;)

So, this is my take on the Russian salad, as well as my official submission to the great pumpkin craze. I hope you like it.

PUMPKIN & KALE SALAD WITH TAHINI DRESSING
Makes 6-8 servings

Salad ingredients:
1 small heirloom pumpkin (or 1/2 of a large pumpkin)
2 heaping cups of chopped lacinato kale
2 heaping cups of roughly chopped romaine lettuce
1/2 cup candied pecans*
1/4 cup minced flat-leaf parsley
Salt & pepper
Olive oil
1 teaspoon nutmeg

For the Tahini dressing:
2 tablespoons sesame tahini paste
2 small cloves of garlic
the juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon water (more, if needed)
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt & pepper

*You could easily make your own spiced or candied pecans, or use plain pecans. I happened upon some candied pecans at Trader Joe’s that I thought were quite tasty in this salad.

Method:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil or a Silpat.

Using a sharp knife, cut the pumpkin in half. Scoop out the seeds with a spoon and then cut each half in 2 or 3 pieces (whatever is easiest to handle). Using your knife, carefully remove the pumpkin skin from each segment. Once the skin is removed, chop the pumpkin into 1″ cubes. In a bowl, toss the pumpkin cubes with olive oil, salt, pepper, and nutmeg to coat. Spread the pumpkin pieces into an even layer on the baking sheet, and roast until fork tender, but firm (about 30 minutes). Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

While the pumpkin is cooling, mix the dressing together. Stir together tahini, olive oil, and lemon juice. The mixture will thicken and turn a lighter shade. Begin adding water, a little at a time. Stir until the mixture is light and creamy, and the desired thickness. Stir in yogurt and garlic and season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

In a large bowl, toss together the chopped lettuce and kale. Toss with tahini dressing, and gently mix in the pumpkin cubes, pecans, and minced parsley. Toss with a bit more tahini dressing, until coated. Taste, and season with extra salt & pepper, if needed.



Preserving the Harvest: Pickled Green Beans with Rosemary and Lemon

This summer, I’m giving myself a crash course in preserving the harvest. I’m grabbing up fresh produce whenever I can and am trying my best to preserve the spoils of summer. There is so much goodness to be had, and I want to do everything I can to make sure I can enjoy this summer produce throughout the rest of the year.

That being said, this past week I found myself with five pounds of fresh, local green beans. I happily devoured a bunch of the green beans, of course (steamed, pan fried with brown butter, tossed in this incredible potato salad), but I knew I wanted to save a good portion of them for mid-winter eating. Because, the sad reality is that green beans don’t grow all year round (at least, they don’t in Oregon). And since I’ve made a commitment to do my best to eat seasonally and locally, green beans aren’t something I tend to eat in the winter months. The good news is, however, that I can preserve some of the harvest so that I have a few green beans to snack on all year long.

I decided to go about preserving the green beans in two different ways.

First, I froze a bunch of them. This takes little to no time, and is a fantastic way to preserve this particular veggie. Essentially, all you have to do is quickly blanch the green beans in boiling water, rinse them with cold water, pat dry, and separate them into various ziplock baggies for freezing (For a full post & instructions on freezing green beans, see this tutorial). Frozen green beans are great additions soups, stews, stir fry, curries and more. I’m sure that frozen green beans could even be used for the infamous Thanksgiving side dish, green bean casserole. :)

Secondly, I made a big batch of pickled green beans. I came across this lovely recipe for pickled green beans with lemon and rosemary. The recipe was simple, the flavors sounded perfect, and so I made (and canned) a big batch of them. I have to wait 3 weeks until I open the pickled green beans, so I can’t actually tell you how they taste yet…but I will say that they look fantastic! And I can’t imagine that the combination of green beans, lemon, garlic, and rosemary would be bad. In fact, I’m quite positive that these green beans will be nothing short of amazing.

I am pleased to say that after my preserving efforts, I have 4 pints of pickled green beans and 3 freezer bags full of green beans. Neither method took much time or effort, and now I have a stash of green beans to get me through the winter. Green beans are one of my favorite summer veggies, and I feel a sense of accomplishment knowing that I’ll have some to carry me through the winter.

If you’re interested in preserving some of your summer bounty, please see this fantastic website, which has over 85 different recipes for canning and preserving all sorts of different fruits and vegetables. .

Pickled Green Beans with Rosemary and Lemon
(Adapted from Urban Spork)
Note: While I normally like to write my own recipes, I am still learning all the tricks of canning and pickling and so I stuck close to the original recipe.

Equipment
4 pint sized jars with lids, sterilized

Ingredients
2 pounds green beans
4 sprigs fresh rosemary
4 large cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped (or 8 small cloves)
8 small strips of lemon peel
2 1/2 cups water
2 1/2 cups white wine vinegar (could use plain white vinegar as well)
3 Tablespoons pickling salt
2 Tablespoons sugar

Method:
Trim the ends of the green beans to fit inside the jars. Pack the green beans into the four jars and evenly divide garlic, lemon peels and rosemary among the jars.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot (canning or stock pot) of water to a boil.

In a medium pot, combine the water, vinegar, salt, and sugar and bring to a boil. Simmer for 2-4 minutes, stirring to dissolve the sugar and salt. Ladle the vinegar mixture into the jars, leaving a half inch of room at the top. Wipe the rims with a clean cloth, affix the lids and seals, and seal tightly. Process the jars in a hot water bath for 15 minutes. Carefully remove with tongs and set aside to cool. Let sit in a cool, dark place for at least 3 weeks before opening.