Nettle Soup Allergy Relief

I'm not usually prone to allergies, but I hear they can hit you at any time, and apparently yesterday was the day.

I've been buying stinging nettles from Foraged and Found Edibles at the Ballard and U District markets: they're an early glimpse of spring and while I wouldn't quite say I like the way the taste, my body feels like it needs them. Typically I make nettle pesto by steaming the greens until they're soft and the heat neutralizes their sting, and then I whiz them in the food processor with some goat cheese. That's it. I spread the pesto on crackers or toss it with pasta. Then I add honey to the steaming liquid and enjoy some nettle tea.

When the allergies struck yesterday I wanted something more heavy duty, something that would allow me to eat the entire half-pound bag in a single sitting and set my system back on track. I decided to make a soup, but the larder was mostly bare and the only ingredient that seemed suitable for a nettle soup was a half cup of miso.

I steamed the greens in a big pot, in about a quart of water, and then I removed the nettles, pureed them until they were silky, and whisked the miso into the steaming liquid remaining in the pot. Then I mixed the pureed nettles back into the miso broth. That's it. Two ingredients.

The soup was tasty and rich, and I ate it all. I found myself trying to think of other ingredients that would have enhanced this flavor, but it just didn't need anything else.

I'm also happy to report that this morning I woke up feeling considerably better.

Roasted Sunchokes

I used to scoff at sunchokes. Walking around the winter markets, it always seemed like everybody was selling them but nobody was buying them. I once even asked a farmer whether there was actually a demand for them, or whether farmers just offered them for sale because they were easy to grow. I'm not much of a gardener, but I've heard that they are, in fact, very easy to grow.

Sunchokes used to be known as "Jerusalem artichokes" until a bunch of marketing folks got together and tried to figure out why nobody was buying them. Someone suggested rebranding them as "sunchokes", which wasn't as big of a stretch as it sounds because they are, in fact, part of the sunflower family.

Nobody knows why they came to be known as "Jerusalem artichokes" in the first place. They're definitely not part of the artichoke family, although they do have a distinctly artichoke-like flavor. They're indigenous to this hemisphere, and one theory is that whoever first came up with the name was referring to the New World's one-time reputation as the New Jerusalem. Another theory as that the "Jerusalem" in the name is a bastardization of "girasole", which is a flower that bends towards the sun, like its sunflower cousins.

In any case, they're quite good for you. They're reminiscent of potatoes, but have almost no starch and plenty of fiber. They're also bountiful at a time of year when there isn't much other local produce available.

Up until the past few weeks, I never had much luck cooking sunchokes. For some reason I thought that you absolutely had to peel them, and they're knobby and small, and it seemed like a lot of work for not very much food. I also didn't seem to digest them well.

I brought some home a few weeks ago because a farmer had a big box of them left over at the end of a market and offered them to me for free. I said I didn't have the patience to peel them, and she said she never bothered. It was a revelation.

So here's how I've been preparing them. It's so simple that it seems silly to use a recipe format. Slice them thinly. Aim for the thinness of potato chips, although--if you're anything like me-- most of them won't end up quite that thin. Toss the slices with olive oil. Use your hands, so you can actually coat them without using an insane amount of oil. Sprinkle them with salt and pepper, and roast them at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 20 minutes.

It's that simple. The thicker ones will be tender and satisfying. The thinner ones will be almost crispy, like artichokey potato chips. It makes me think of the amazing possibilities for someone with a big budget and plenty of marketing savvy: Sun choke chips!!

Hot Sauce

This time of year, I tend to be up to my elbows in tomatoes and chiles. It's a wonderful problem to have: What am I going to do with all these beautiful ingredients?

Here's a new hot sauce recipe that I've been making the past few weeks. I can't get enough of it. I eat it with chips, with tamales, on fried eggs. I find myself planning my meals looking for opportunities to use it.

Hot Sauce (makes 2 cups)

2 ripe happy tomatoes
6 serrano chiles
1/2 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Arrange the tomatoes on a baking sheet. Rub the serrano chiles with olive oil and arrange them on the baking sheet as well.

Roast the tomatoes and chiles for about 40 minutes, until the tomatoes are a bit droopy and the serranos start to brown.

When the tomatoes and chiles are cool enough to handle, remove the cores from the tomatoes and the stems from the serranos. Puree the tomatoes and chiles in a blender until the mixture is smooth. Add the vinegar and salt, and puree a minute longer.

Dilly Beans!

We expanded our Humble Feast dinners this month, adding a second location at the Salmon Bay Eagles' Lodge, and moving the Capital Hill event to the larger, lovely Montlake Community Center. The new venues present challenges and opportunities, and I especially enjoyed making the same meal 2 weeks in a row, and being able to learn and fine tune the recipes.

By popular demand, here's the recipe for the Dilly Beans that we made this month. It actually comes from my Local Bounty cookbook, and it's basically a pickled green bean, only it's eaten fresh rather than canned.

Dilly Beans (makes 4 servings)

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, cut in rings
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
1/2 cup white or red wine vinegar
1/2 cup water
1 lb. green beans, rinsed and trimmed

Heat the olive oil in a medium-size saucepan. Add the onion, garlic, salt and dill. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the onion is soft and transluscent. Add the vinegar and water, and bring the mixture to a boil.

Add the green beans. Cook for about 15 minutes, stirring often so all of the green beans come into contact with the liquid.

Serve chilled, or at room temperature.

Farm to Fork Dinner and Halibut-Potato Patties

I catered a lovely dinner last night at Whispering Winds Farm in Stanwood. It was my very first farm dinner, as well as a first for the hosts, Charlene and Doug. We were all quite pleased, and we all felt that we'd learned some valuable lessons to make the event even more successful next time.

It was clear to Charlene and Doug that they should have held the event later in the season, with more produce to choose from, and we shouldn't have committed to a specific menu months ago, when we had no idea how fickle the weather would be. I learned that I should have brought many more bowls, more utensils, and a larger griddle.

Most of the recipes came from my friend Debra's wonderful collection, The Northwest Vegetarian Cookbook. We were going to make Romanesco with Northwest Berry Vinegar, and Charlene planted romanesco specifically for the occasion, but the weather didn't cooperate. We used broccoli instead, from Willie Greens Farm, which was a great stand in. We also made a salad with a variety of gorgeous lettuces from Let Us Farm, and Carrots with Fennel Seeds and Hazelnuts, using a mix of yellow and orange carrots from various farms.

For the protein, we made Halibut and Potato Patties (my recipe, developed for the occasion) using some spectacular halibut from Wilson Fish, along with potatoes from Alvarez Farms, and herbs from Whispering Winds.

Here's the recipe, scaled down for home use:

1 lb. filleted halibut
olive oil, salt, and pepper

1 lb. yellow or red potatoes, cut into bite-size pieces
handful of chopped, fresh parsley
handful of chopped, fresh chives
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
black pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Brush the halibut with olive oil, sprinkle it with salt and pepper, and bake for about 20 minute, until it's flaky in the middle.

Meanwhile, boil the potatoes for about 10 minutes, until they're very soft.

Drain the potatoes, and mash them. Crumble the halibut. Mixed the crumbled halibut with the mashed potatoes, and add the parsley, chives, olive oil, salt and pepper. Shape the mixture into patties, and brown them for a few minutes on each size in s skillet or on a griddle. Alternately, arrange the patties on a baking sheet, brush them with oil, and bake them at 375 degrees until they just start to brown.

For the yogurt sauce:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup whole milk yogurt
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
1/2 teaspoon salt
black pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil gently in a medium-size saucepan. Add the garlic and cook for about a minute, until you can smell it. Mix the sauteed garlic with the remaining ingredients. Serve the yogurt sauce spooned on top of the halibut patties.

Humble Feast Update (and Braised Baby Turnip Recipe)

These are servings of strawberry shortcake stacked on the espresso machine at the defunct Patty Pan Cafe during this past Monday's Humble Feast dinner. We were at close to capacity for both seatings and a bit tight on counter space as well, which is why we were stacking the strawberry shortcakes on the espresso machine.

After some rough spring months where ingredients were hard to come by, Monday's dinner finally felt bountiful. We bartered for many of the ingredients, and even made some additions to the menu simply in order to use some of the items that we acquired during the course of our market adventures. This was my original vision, and it was exciting to see it coming to fruition.

Next month we're expanding to two dinners: the Ballard Eagles' Lodge on Monday July 18th, and the Mountlake Community Center on Monday July 25th. It'll be the same menu for both events. I'm thinking Mediterranean food because we should be getting into tomato and cucumber season by then.

Here's a recipe for braised baby turnips from Monday's dinner:

Braised Baby Turnips (makes 4 servings)

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 spring onions, finely sliced

1 fennel bulb, finely chopped

2 tablespoons chopped garlic

1 teaspoon salt

1 pound baby turnips, trimmed and quartered (Save the greens for another recipe.)

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup orange juice

Black pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a medium-size saucepan. Add the onions, fennel, garlic and salt, and cook for about 5 minutes on medium-low heat, stirring often, until the onion is soft and transluscent.

Add the turnips, balsamic vinegar, and orange juice. Bring the mixture to a boil, and then lower the heat, cover the pan, and cook for about 10 minutes on low heat, until the turnips are tender.

Roasted Veggie "Pate"

I made this wonderful roasted vegetable spread for the Humble Feast dinner the other night. I'd listed it on the menu as "Roasted Vegetable Pate" because I've been trying to come up with more pretentious names for my menu items. Folks seem to respond to that.

In any case, I'd had this vision on roasting some veggies and pureeing them, along with some homemade bread. When I scouted around at the market last Sunday, though, the only veggies I could find worth roasting were yams, parsnips, leeks and shallots. The leeks and shallots would add depth, but the yams and parsnips were both sweet so I wanted something to balance them. I thought of sorrel, than wonderful, tart spring green.

It's a humble pate, and a very tasty one.

2 parsnips, cut in chunks
2 small yams, or 1 medium-size yam, peeled and cut in chunks
3 shallots, peeled and cut in half
1 leek, cleaned and cut in 2-inch lengths
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
pinch of black pepper
1 tablespoon miso
4 sorrel leaves

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Toss the parsnips, yams, shallots and leeks with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread them on a baking sheet and roast them for about 40 minutes, until the yams and parsnips are soft.

When the veggies are cool enough to handle, puree them along with the miso and sorrel leaves. Serve with crackers or wonderful bread.

Chai

At the cafe we make our own chai. It's easy, in fact, it's so easy that it puzzles me that so many coffeeshop owners buy chai in aseptic containers at the wholesale grocer. Chai makes me think of the medieval spice trade, with aromatic caravans and precious cargo. It's a drink that's both exciting and comforting, spicy and soothing.

All of the ingredients in chai contribute to the fragrant mix, but some of these spices are quite pricey while others cost much less. I always try to create recipes that get the most flavor for the least cost, so I tend to use more of the less expensive ingredients and less of pricier stuff.

Here's my recipe. This makes enough for 5 or six cups, but if you're going to make it, it's worth making enough to share.

2 quarts water
1/2 cup shredded ginger (no need to peel)
8 cinnamon sticks
2 tablespoons whole cloves
2 tablespoons whole decorticated cardamon
2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns
5 black tea bags, paper tags removed
1/2 cup sugar

Add all of the ingredients except the sugar to the water, and bring to a boil. Cook on medium low heat for about a minute, then turn off the heat and add the sugar. Strain and serve, along with the milk or milk substitute of your choice.

Adjust the quantities of any of the ingredients to suit your taste. The pepper and the ginger make it spicier, and you may prefer it sweeter or less caffeinated.

Enjoy!

Jubilee Beef Chili

When I first spoke to the folks about Jubilee Farm about vending at their fall pumpkin patch event, they asked if I could sell burgers, in addition to my regular menu. I was reluctant. I'd watched my dear friends from Green Go Food struggle with the economics of making and selling a sustainable burger, and had come to the conclusion that the term "sustainable burger" is an oxymoron.

Sure, you can make a great burger with great beef, great condiments and a great bun. But, at its core, a burger is a cheap, everyday food whose main ingredient is beef, and that's just not sustainable. According to Mark Bittman, the average person on the planet eats 3 ounces of meat a day. If you make a 6 ounce burger, you're using twice as much as the planetary average in a single meal. That's not sustainable, whatever kind of meat you use.

I suggested chili instead. I love chili, and you can use all good ingredients and still make an affordable, cost effective product. I use lots of chiles in my chili. Mostly mild, and a couple of hot. They give it most of its flavor, and if you use all hot ones your chili will get too hot too fast, and you won't be able to enjoy as much of that wonderful chile flavor.

I also use beans in my chili: local, organic beans from Alvarez Farms. They cost more than the ones in the grocery store, but not that much more. My neighbor at the Ballard Market, the guy who sells Zane and Zack hot sauce, comes from Texas. He scoffed when he heard I put beans in my chili, but he still eats the stuff all day.

We're using beef from Jubilee Farm. They didn't charge us anything for the wonderful, lucrative vending experience we had there, and I wanted to give something back so I bought a quarter of a cow, in one-pound packages. We'll run out of it in a few weeks, and then we'll figure out another sustainable option.

So here's the recipe. It makes four to six servings, depending on how hungry you are and what else you're serving.

2 tablespoons canola or grapeseed oil
1/2 pound ground beef
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons chili powder, mild or hot
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 medium sized onion
1 cup chopped anaheim, poblano or pasilla chiles
1 jalapeno, serrano or habanero chile (optional)
1 can (28 ounce size) crushed tomatoes, or 3-4 cups chopped fresh tomatoes
2 cups black beans, red beans or a combination

Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the beef, salt and spices and cook on medium high heat for about five minutes, until it's nicely browned.

Add the onions and chiles and cook for about 5 minutes longer, until the onions are transluscent. Add the tomatoes and cook, stirring often, until they're heated through. If you're using fresh tomatoes, cook them until they start to break down and the mixture becomes soupy. Add the beans, lower the heat, and cook for at least half an hour. It can cook for hours, and the longer you cook it, the tastier it'll be.

Simple, Tasty Sorrel Soup

This one's for Dena, who's been wanting sorrel soup. It's supports my conviction that a recipe isn't necessarily better with twenty ingredients than it is with only a handful, assuming they're the right handful. The parsnips are sweet. The sorrel is tart. The leeks, garlic and stock give it depth.

I started with a few cups of stock. Cleaned a leek, chopped it coarsely and threw it in. Then I cut a couple of parsnips into chunks and added them too, along with a couple of peeled garlic cloves. I used one bunch of sorrel, which turned out to be about a packed cup of leaves, once I trimmed the thick part of the stems and chopped the leaves coarsely. Then I seasoned it simply with salt and pepper. After boiling it for about 45 minutes, I whizzed it all in the food processor. It made a hearty, thick soup. You can use extra stock, of course, if you don't want it to be so thick.

Enjoy!

Squash and Bulgur Patties

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  Here's a holiday recipe that I like very much. I made these patties and served them with collard greens sauteed in olive oil with garlic, shallots, and salt. Simple, simple. This recipe makes 6 servings.

4 cups peeled, cubed butternut squash

1 1/2 cups water

1 cup medium bulgur

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 shallots, minced

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary

2/3 teaspoon salt, or more to taste

1/2 cup crumbed feta cheese (optional)

2 tablespoons bread crumbs

Steam the squash for 20-30 minutes, until it's soft enough to mash.

Meanwhile, boil the water and boil it over the bulgur in a bowl.

Heat the olive oil in a medium-size skillet. Add the shallots, onions, herbs, and salt. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the onions are soft and transluscent.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. When the squash is ready, mash it well, then mix it with the other ingredients. Let the mixture cool in the refrigerator for about an hour to firm it up a bit.

Shape the mixture into patties with your hands. Coat each patty with bread crumbs. Arrange the patties on a baking sheet, and bake them for about 20 minutes.

A Frugal Snack Mix

Every Thanksgiving weekend my sister the weaver participates in an open studio event called the Putney Craft Tour. I usually stay at her house for the weekend so I help with the snacks: a pot of chai and a bowl of snack mix. I'm going to share my process for putting together a frugal snack mix, because it's makes a lovely addition to a table of holiday appetizers.

It really only takes a pound or two of snack mix for 15-20 people if it's one appetizer among others. To start, I usually go to the grocery store or coop and check out what's in the bulk bins. Seeds tend to be a lot cheaper than nuts, and they have a similar mouth feel. There are also some lovely crunchy items like corn nuts or soy nuts that work well in a snack mix.

I decide what I want to use before I start putting it in bags. I buy more of the cheaper stuff, and less of the expensive stuff, but I make sure that everything I use is appealing. It doesn't take much of any one thing, so I only buy small quantities. Two cups of most liquids weigh about a pound, so I shoot for about half a cup of each ingredient, which usually weighs less than a quarter pound.

Once I choose 4 or 5 nutty, salty items, I also look for some dry fruit to add. Again, it only takes about a quarter of a pound. Raisins and dried cranberries tend to be cheapest; they also have the advantage of being small, so you can distribute the sweetness well throughout the mix. Some stores don't sell dried fruit in bulk bins because it's so sticky. If I can't find the dried fruit in bulk I usually buy the smallest possible quantity, like a 3-pack of the tiny snack packs, unless I know what I'm going to do with the leftovers from a larger bag.

I usually bulk up my snack mix with some kind of crunchy, commercial item as well, ideally an inexpensive one. Pretzel goldfish are nice; so are chow mein noodles.

It's inexpensive, and it's special.

Braised Carrots with Cranberries

And here's a third Thanksgiving recipe from my cookbook, Local Bounty.

Braised Carrots with Cranberries

Yield: 4 servings

Here's a sweet and sour holiday dish with a deep, mellow flavor. You can use the extra braising liquid as a sauce for any kind of grain or potatoes.

2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups sliced carrots
1/2 cup cranberries

1. Heat the oil gently in a medium-size saucepan. Add the garlic and cook on low heat for about a minute. Add the orange juice, balsamic vinegar, rosemary, and salt.

2. Bring the mixture to a boil. Add the carrots and cranberries. Cover the pan, lower the heat, and simmer for about 15 minutes or until the carrots are soft.

Gold Beets with Leeks and Chives

Here's another one from my book "Local Bounty." According to Kim O'Donnel of A Mighty Appetite, there are a disproportionate number of beet lovers in the Pacific Northwest. I still encounter quite a few beet haters, but they're a minority, and I'm doing what I can to convert them.

1 pound gold beets

water to cover

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium-size leek, cleaned and chopped

2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon saltblack pepper to taste

1/4 cup chopped chives

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1. Cover the beets with water in a medium-size saucepan and bring them to a boil. Cook on medium heat for 45 minutes to an hour, until you can rub off the skins with your fingers. (To test one, fish it out of the pot with a pair of tongs and run it under cold water for a minute until it’s cool enough to handle.)

2. While the beets are cooking, heat the oil in a small saucepan. Add the leek, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook on medium-low heat for about 5 minutes, until the leek is soft. Turn off the heat and add the chives or parsley and the balsamic vinegar.

3. Cut the beets into bite-size pieces and toss them with the leek and chive mixture. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Delicata Succotash

Succotash is the ultimate American food, based on a traditional Native American recipe that could include almost anything, but almost always had beans and corn. People who grew up eating succotash are often surprised by mine because it doesn't include lima beans or meat. You could say it's untraditional because it's different from the dish we're used to eating with that name, but traditional in the sense that it draws on the dish's long term roots.

You probably won't be able to find locally grown tomatoes most places this time of year, but you should be able to find local squash, leeks and garlic.

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium-size delicata squash, peeled, halved, seeded, and cut into small bite-size pieces
1 leek, cut lengthwise, cleaned, and chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup green beans, cut in bite-size pieces
2 ripe, medium-size tomatoes, cut in bite-size pieces
2 cups cooked or canned white beans
1 cup fresh corn
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil or parsley, or a mixture of the two.

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the squash, leek, garlic and salt. Cook on medium-low heat, stirring often, for about 10 minutes or until the squash is fork-tender. You can add a few tablespoons of water if the squash starts to stick.

2. Add the green beans and tomatoes. Continue cooking on medium-high heat, stirring often, for another 5 to 10 minutes, until the tomatoes start to break down and the green beans grow soft.

3. Add the remaining ingredients and heat them through.

Roasted Cauliflower with Tsatsiki

This one's for Myrna, who wanted more cauliflower recipes.

Roasted Cauliflower:

3 tablespoons olive oil

juice of half a lemon

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon dried spearmint

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 pound cauliflower florettes

Tsatsiki:

1 cup yogurt

1/2 cup grated cucumber

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

1/2 teaspoon dried spearmint

2 teaspoons olive oil

1/4 teaspoon salt

For the roasted cauliflower, preheat the oven to 375 degrees and oil a baking pan. Mix the oil, lemon, cumin, mint and salt, then toss the cauliflower florettes in the sauce. Arrange them on the baking pan and roast them for 30-40 minutes, until they're tender.

To make the tsatsiki, mix together all the ingredients.

Serve the cauliflower with the tsatsiki on the side as a dipping sauce.

Squash and Green Tomato Soup

I did end up getting some lovely ripe tomatoes from my 11 tomato plants but still, at the end of the season, there are plenty of green ones to be used. Here is the recipe for a wonderful soup I made last night.

1 acorn or carnival squash

2 lb. green tomatoes

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cloves garlic

1 small onion

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

1 teaspoon chopped fresh marjoram (or substitute oregano or thyme)

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 cups stock

Black pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the squash in half, remove the seeds, and rub each half with a little olive oil. Arrange the squash face up in a baking dish with about half and inch of water. Rub the green tomatoes with olive oil as well and arrange them in a separate baking dish. Roast the squash and the tomatoes for about an hour and 15 minutes,

Meanwhile, heat the remaining olive oil in a medium saucepan and add the garlic, onion, marjoram and salt. Cook on low heat for about 5 minutes, until the onion is soft and translucent.

When the squash and tomatoes are ready, remove them from the oven and wait until they're cool enough to handle. Remove the cores from the tomatoes, as well as the skins, if you want a smoother soup. Scoop the pulp out of the squash and puree it along with the tomatoes, adding stock as needed.

Add this puree to the onion mixture, along with the remaining stock and black pepper to taste. Simmer for about 45 minutes.

Salsa of Love

This time of year, when chiles and tomatoes are abundant and ripe, I make a salsa that I call, "Salsa of Love," because I'll make it for love, but not for money. Here's how it's made:

Crank the oven to 400 degrees, or if you're oven runs cool, crank it higher than that. Use a couple of pounds of very ripe tomatoes, and almost as many chiles. Use plenty of mild chiles, like Anaheims and Poblanos, and also hot ones, if you like it hot. It only takes a couple of hot ones to make it all pretty hot, and the mild ones have lots of great flavor too. Rub the chiles with a little bit of olive oil, and roast everything for 45 minutes to an hour, until the skins start to peel off the tomatoes and the chiles get brown and droopy. Don't cook the chiles long enough for them to get crispy.

When the veggies are cool enough to handle, chop a bunch of cilantro in your cuisinart, then remove the stems from the chiles and process them as well. Cut the cores out of the tomatoes and toss the tomatoes into the mix. Do it in a couple of batches if it starts to get sloppy.

When everything is fully whizzed, add salt and red wine vinegar to taste.

Share the love...

Turnip and Sorrel Soup

1. 2 quarts water

1 lb. turnips, trimmed and quartered

4 cloves garlic

1 cup chopped spring onions

2 cups loosely chopped sorrel leaves

2 tablespoons chopped fresh spearmint

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons miso (any kind)

black pepper to taste

Bring the water to a boil in a medium-sized saucepan, then add all the ingredients except the miso. Bring it back to a boil, then lower the heat and cook, uncovered, for about 45 minutes. Strain the veggies and puree them, adding stock as needed.

Add the miso to 1 cup of the strained broth and mix until smooth. Combine this mixture with the remaining broth and the pureed veggies, and reheat if necessary.

Radish and Peppercress Salad

I got some peppercress from Whistling Train Farm at the Columbia City Market earlier this week. Their sign said, "Similar to watercress, but easier for us to grow." You'd never see a sign like that at a mainstream supermarket, where all kinds of vegetables, like iceberg lettuce and roma tomatoes, are way too easy for producers to grow and handle, but that ease certainly isn't a selling point. With farmers' market vendors, though, we want to make their lives as simple as possible because they're heroes, really, fighting to preserve a way of life that benefits all of us.

I was curious about the peppercress, so I picked some up. I decided to try it with radishes, because they're also kind of peppery. Here's what I made:

1 bunch radishes, peeled and sliced

2 tablespoons finely chopped peppercress

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 teaspoon champagne vinegar

salt and black pepper to taste

Mix all the ingredients together. Makes 2 servings.