Salsify

I have been searching high and low for a few years now for this root vegetable...and finally here it is! I will explain. A while ago, my husband and I had the opportunity to go to dinner at Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Pocantico Hills, NY. Any "foodie" from the New York Area is familiar with Blue Hill. Stone Barns is an agricultural center 30 miles north of New York City and is a full working four season farm. The Blue Hill Restaurant at Stone Barns uses all fresh ingredients from its farm and surrounding farms in the Hudson Valley region. There are no menus, just a listing of almost 100 ingredients that are available. A menu is then created around the items that you select. The chefs, making magic in the kitchen (which you can view from a picture window outside) use your selections as a guide and then come up with a tasting menu that they believe you would enjoy by the items chosen. This is really more of an experience than a typical dinner out. We enjoyed many different items that night and being that it was a few years ago now, my memory is fading on each dish that was presented to us. However, one that I will never forget was the Salsify, a root vegetable that was cut into match stick sized pieces and served on a tiny bed of nails. I don't remember any seasoning or sauce, it was just cooked and in its natural state. It was so unusual to me at the time (not so much now), I went on the quest to find it in every produce store I could get to. No luck until now. I found it on the shelves at my local Whole Foods. It was just sitting there, almost teasing me, as if it had been there all this time. I don't remember but I think I even gasped when I saw the sign for it. I quickly grabbed a handful and snapped a picture right there in the middle of the produce section to send along to a friend who knew of my "hunt". I searched the Internet for recipes that included salsify but then decided to recreate those little matchstick size pieces instead. Peeling the veggie first, cutting it into the smaller pieces, then tossing into a bowl with some lemon juice and water to prevent it from browning, I then boiled the salsify in water until fork tender. When the little white "sticks" came out of the boiling water, I then drained them and popped them in a 350 degree oven for another 15 minutes. They never even made it to our dinner plates, we just kept munching on them while I made the rest of our dinner. I have read descriptions of salsify as having an oyster like flavor, although I did not get that. Rather, it reminded me of a cross between an artichoke heart and a very dense potato. Glad that I opted to keep it as close to natural as possible, I will definitely try one of the handful of yummy recipes I found next time. Hopefully, it doesn't take another 2 years to get my hands on some more!

Blue Hill at Stone Barns

630 Bedford Hills Road

Pocantico Hills, New York 10591

(914) 366-9600

http://bluehillfarm.com/

Red Cabbage

I knew very well, other than the color of the Red Cabbage, I wouldn't find much difference in the way of taste. Possibly, the texture my be slightly different however. I did notice that the Red Cabbage seemed to have more of a "crunch" and from the information that I found, the red version keeps better. With the temperatures still sky rocketing, the last thing I felt like doing was boiling cabbage on the stove or even turning the stove on for that matter. So, I decided to make a colorful coleslaw with the shredded red leaves. And colorful it was, with some leftover Orange Cauliflower and green onions added to it, it was as pretty as it was tasty. Seasoned with mayonnaise, soy sauce, apricot vinegar and little sesame oil, it had an oriental flavor and was delicious. A sprinkling of sesame seeds on top of each serving finished off the side dish. This was a far cry from the type of coleslaw that I grew up with. My 90 year old Grandfather, was and still is the "slaw maker" in our family. His recipe doesn't get any simpler; Shredded traditional cabbage, which is considered "White Cabbage" by the way, Miracle Whip salad dressing, apple cider vinegar and sugar. It sounds crazy, I know, but it is actually tasty and has become a comfort food over the years. I'm starting to think that Miracle Whip and sugar may be some kind of fountain of youth. At 90 years old, Gramps still drives, lives on his own and up until a couple of years ago, worked at Costco. As good as my red cabbage coleslaw was, I think his might just be better...for 90 reasons!

Baby Spinach

Baby Spinach just cries out to be used for a good tossed salad. It's mild leaves seem to hold up well under many a vinaigrette and meshes well with just about any cheese you can think to throw into the salad. I have been so fortunate to have many friends send veggies my way from their gardens this summer. Funny thing is, no one has given me any fruit, up until now. My boss received some incredible peaches in the mail the other day from friends. Knowing that she would never be able to finish all herself and considering the usually busy house is more like a ghost town these days, she sent me home with a handful of very ripe ones. Almost instantly, I had visions of tossing a few into a spinach salad with some feta cheese. As tasty as my idea sounded, I thought I would jazz it up a little more. I sliced the peaches, drizzled some balsamic vinegar over them and popped them in the oven for about 30-40 minutes. They had such a nice golden hue to them and the tang of the vinegar complemented the sweetness of the peaches nicely. Now they were ready for my salad. I whipped up a quick vinaigrette with some fresh rosemary and tossed all the ingredients into the bowl. Topped my salad with some feta cheese and dove right in. Granted, the spinach was suppose to be the "star" of this dish but admittedly, the peaches stole the spotlight! It did prove my point that baby spinach is so versatile and you can make a wide variety of different salads when it's base are the tasty little leaves.

Sunflower Greens

I never understood what a "Super Food" was. I guess now I know. Any green that contains almost as much protein as a chicken breast has got to be pretty "super" in my book. 3.5 ounces of these little guys contain 22.78 grams of protein! The same amount of chicken breast has 26.25 grams, that is pretty damn close. It's hard to believe that these little green stalks can be compared to chicken. Just by tossing a handful onto any sandwich adds so much nutritional value, you may never buy iceberg lettuce again. That's just what I did. By adding a good amount to my turkey sandwich, I boosted up the protein in my dinner, not to mention the flavor. The greens add a nice earthy taste. They are heartier than bean sprouts and add more texture than it's stringy cousin the Alfalfa sprout. However, they are not the easiest to find. I was lucky to find this bag of "super food" at the local Balducci's but have never seen them anywhere else. Happy hunting!

Lima Beans

As you can tell from my photo, this was a "dining out" night. After attending a friend's wedding ceremony and cocktail reception, my husband, myself and a group of friends decided that we weren't going to waste our dressy outfits and new shoes to just head home. Last minute dinner plans formulated quickly as we all sipped our champagne while we toasted to the bride and groom. We had a good size group together quickly and cellphones started dialing some of our favorite restaurants to see who would be able to take our group of wedding-goers. As luck would have it, one of my favorites agreed that they could take a party of our size but we had to get there soon. We headed out and towards Columbus Park Trattoria in Stamford, CT. After standing outside in sweltering temperatures, in new shoes that felt like were now melted to my feet, I was not in a "decision" making mood. When our waiter went down the row of friends taking their orders one by one, I still had no idea what I would be ordering. Granted, everything I've had there in the past has been delicious but I just could decided. Lastly, he came to me and asked what I would like. I shocked even myself when I said "surprise me". The poor man looked at me blankly and asked if I was really sure. I assured him it would be fine and to make sure whatever he brought out to me had some vegetables and hopefully an unusual one at that. This could have gone really bad. However, knowing how delicious everything there is prepared, I wasn't too worried. And any fear I might have had was quelled when the waiter brought over this yummy dish of wide ribbon pasta. I assume the light sauce that coated the pasta and veggies was made with butter and white wine. Ground sausage added a nice flavor to the dish and I was thrilled with the Lima Beans that scattered throughout, mainly because I hadn't "done" Lima beans yet! The beans added a nice texture to the mix of the pasta ribbons and the ground sausage. Even though there was a lot going on in this dish and plenty of other veggies, I think the Lima beans definitely brought something to the party. I would happily let my waiter choose my dish for me again, especially in a place where I've never had a meal I didn't enjoy!

Columbus Park Trattoria

205 Main Street

Stamford, CT 06902

(203) 967-9191

http://www.columbusparktrattoria.com/index2.htm

Orange Cauliflower

I knew right off the bat that the Orange Cauliflower wasn't going to taste much different than your plain Jane white version but 365 vegetables is a boat load of veggies and I can't afford to miss a single one! My suspicions were confirmed with the first bite. Yes, exactly the same texture and taste. However, upon doing some web surfing, I did find out some interesting facts about Orange Cauliflower. First off, it contains 25 times more vitamin A than it's stark cousin. That alone, would be enough make me grab the orange head over the white when at the grocery story. Secondly, let's be honest, it's just so much prettier and fun looking than it's counterpart. Granted, I only enjoyed the cauliflower as part of a crudites platter that had a yummy dip along side it but I can envision it standing out on the dinner plate with it's unusual hue, even going as far as possibly using a citrus glaze to accent it's color. In a nutshell, more vitamins, same taste, fun color.

Yucca Root

Having seen Yucca root nearly every time I walk through any produce section, this is the first time I have even gone near it. The other day while trying to decide which vegetable will be on the proverbial chopping block that evening, I caught a glimpse of that odd vegetable out of the corner of my eye. "Oh what the hell!" I thought to myself, figuring I'd eventually have to get to it, so why not now. I always laugh a little bit to myself when buying a vegetable I know nothing about. What do I look for? How do I know if it's ripe or not? Should it smell like that? Because I usually "wing it" in the produce store and grab what peaks my interest right then and there, I don't research my next "victim" that often. So I picked out a few yucca roots that I thought looked good and went home to figure out what to do with this weird looking vegetable. Within a few minutes of surfing the net, I found that yucca makes great french fries. So I followed a simple recipe and boiled the peeled root for 15 minutes, then cut into french fry like strips. Then I added to strips to a frying pan with olive oil and let them crisp up. Tossing them with some sea salt and coarse ground pepper immediately upon exiting the frying pan insured the seasoning would stick to the fries. The fries were awesome! No ketchup need for these guys. However, I did make a mustard garlic aioli to dip them into but the flavor of the yucca was so tasty on it's own we barely touched the aioli. Before the fries hit the fry pan, I tasted the boiled yucca root to get an idea of what I was in for. Even before the frying, the flavor was delicious and instantly fell in love with the earthy taste this veggie had. I can think of numerous dishes that I would use yucca instead of potatoes and think it would make a great edition to a few stew recipes I have. Now when I peruse the produce aisle, I will no longer avoid and say "yuck" to the yucca!