November 09, 2011: Salad Dreams & Copper

There’s a little boy on my front stoop. The strong, low angle of the Autumn sun filters through his blond lashes to light his beautiful young face, so light in color, that it almost hurts to look at him. Harrison is 5 years old, and his mouth is slightly smudged with the chocolate donut with sprinkles he is munching. Alternate to his bites, he is gulping from a small container of milk that he cradles with two hands and this makes me wonder at what point in our life do we gain the confidence to grasp our containers with the one hand, and what measure of innocence do give up along with that particular transition.

Lisa, Harry’s mom, has surprised me with a spontaneous visit, just when I thought the highlight of the day was to reduce a pile of wood, from fallen trees of last weekends’ storm, to kindling. She has kindly brought donuts and coffee, junk food that is, these days, almost devoid from my diet. As we soak in the unseasonable warmth and sunlight, Harry, way ahead of the adults meandering, has wolfed down the donut and is sorting through the limestone gravel of my driveway and proclaims that he has found “gold”…actually a yellowed, weathered piece of limestone. This prompts an impulse that sends me inside to search my nick-nack shelf and I am pleased to find a genuine piece of raw copper that I can hand over to Harry with the explanation of the difference of the two metals. Harry pockets both the limestone and copper in his red fleece.

We walk around back, first to see a pile of wood from the huge branches that fallen around, and through my deck. Kind neighbors have helped clear the branches from the deck, but the devastation remains. Harry, weirded out by the wreckage, will not step upon the remains of the deck, despite our assurances that it is safe…now. Remembering how just a few nights earlier, when both oak and pine fell inches from where I was sleeping, with massive destruction, and after a night of worrying that a larger branch would squash me like a bug, I get Harry’s hesitation.

Harry has a goal today: he is on a quest to find a particular “Ninjago” an obscure (to me anyway) Lego toy and we are off to Target. Now, I must have been in a Target before, but I really don’t remember a better time shopping anywhere. I tease Lisa that I have the best times in her company, and it is a double pleasure when Harry is along. I don’t know what I find more entertaining: Lisa being startled by the automatic toys firing up as we pass by, or Harry’s ease and knowledge of how they work.

It is a kind of relief to find that the original recipes that I make for this blog, come from a familiar source. Whether a good photograph idea, a recipe, and even these days, that story idea, it’s all from  that creative essence that comes in quiet times. Running, a shower, the dreaming fugue just before sleeping, spark the source and ideas just flow. The other night, before sleeping, I was musing how I could use the last of the supplies from my friend Pamela. The salad just had to have Pam’s canned beet slices and her magnificent find from her CSA: Watermelon Radish. Musing, the recipe just coalesced in my mind.

I had a shopping list for materials for the salad, still just in my imagination, without any real means to buy them. Between rounds of tag around endcaps with Lisa and Harry, Lisa put a basket in my hand and shooed me off towards the food aisles to “get what I needed” and the salad, thanks to her kindness, could then reach the reality phase.

After, we were off to the Wayside candy store. I helped Harry get his rainbow dose of multi-colored M&Ms, Lisa got some penuche fudge, and I, on my quest for the perfect soft licorice, tried theirs. We then tried to walk in for lunch at the Wayide Inn, but being a warm Autumn weekend, we were out of luck. We had to settle on pizza and eggplant parmesan at a local pizza shop (more junk food!) A perfect visit, on a perfect Autumn day!

For the salad, preheat the oven to 350°F. On tin foil, roast walnuts, turning often, for about 20-30 minutes, until toasted. Cool. On a base of Baby Spring Mix salad, I added slices of Pam’s beets and Watermelon Radish. I had never heard of this radish before, until Pam brought me some from her CSA. This radish is delicate in taste, without the heat of our smaller radish, but with enough zip for a unique addition to a salad. It’s got just the tiniest bite, a real snap in texture and is very pretty. Just remove the skin and slice thin. I topped the salad with craisins, chunks of blue cheese, and the toasted walnuts. I finished with the following vinaigrette and ground pepper and a sprinkling of Herbs de Provence.

Vinaigrette:  Add 1 Tblsp. Balsamic Vinegar to 3 Tblsp. Olive oil and 1 Teasp. Honey. Mix well.

October 22, 2011: Shredded Daikon

My friend Pamela gave a slew of fresh veggies last week, from her CSA. All have been very delicious, but the most interesting was four daikon radish. Daikon is a larger (generally about 6″-1′ long by about 2-3″ circumference) white variety of the radish family, originally from Japan. It is not nearly as hot as the American red variety of radish, but is mild, juicy, and with just a tiny bit of hot and sweetness combined. Daikon is full of vitamin C, and is good for digestion. It is delicious as an accompaniment to just about any Japanese meal or as a healthy snack.

If daikon comes with leaves, cut them  off (you can blanch these and fry in a little sesame oil, for a great veggie side dish.) Skin daikon root and save skin for stock. Shred daikon and drain juices in colander, but don’t let daikon dry out. After sampling, I wanted a bit more heat, so I added 1Tblsp. of my pepper mixture from last week “October 20, 2011: Prepping Peppers” to about the 5C. of shredded daikon. Add a sprinkling of sal de mer, mix, put daikon in a jar and cover with rice vinegar.

The result is an interesting and delicious mix of hot, sweet, sour, and with a tiny bit of salt in a perfect balance. Tantalizing and complex to the tastebuds, healthy for the body.

January 07, 2011 Goma-Dare Dressing

Here’s a variation of a traditional Japanese dressing that is wonderful on fresh (or cooked) vegetables, tofu, meat, fish…the works!

My variation started a couple of weeks ago when my good friend Lisa, on a visit, requested only two things: steamed veggies and a Thai peanut sauce. I blended a number of peanut sauce recipes and then reformed the traditional goma-dare sauce to include what I had learned from the Thai recipe. To get closer to the original, simply substitute tahini instead of peanut butter. I prefer the stronger flavor of peanut butter, but that depends on what you are serving it with.

Goma-Dare Dressing:

• 1/2 Chili Pepper (minced fine)
• 1/2 Clove Elephant Garlic or 1 Clove garlic (minced fine)
• 1/2 Shallot (minced fine)
• 4 Tblsp. Corn Oil
• 2/3C. Peanut Butter (smooth)
• 2 Tblps. Rice Wine Vinegar
• 1 Tblsp. each: mirin; shoyu (soy sauce); concentrated shiitake broth (or Dashi)
• 3/4C. Broth or H2O
• Dash of pepper and salt
• 1 Tsp. Miso

I knew I was going to love this dressing, based on my trials with the Thai sauce, so this recipe makes twice as much. It keeps for about a week and you may find it complements other meals. If not, simply cut the recipe in half. Also, for cold dishes (like my salad) you need to make it ahead of time, so that it cools.

In a small pan, on medium high, heat oil, and add all the minced vegetables with salt and pepper. Sauteé until veggies are soft. Lower heat and add peanut butter, rice vinegar, mirin, shoyu, shiitake broth and veggie broth and wisk. I added my own veggie broth (but H2O will do, if you don’t have any). Continue heating until flavors are blended. Take off heat, let cool for 10 min. and wisk in miso. Serve immediately for hot dishes or cool for salads and cold veggies.

My salad above is matchsticked carrots, cucumber, celery, red onion and, after the sauce was added, sliced scallions. All on a bed of Romaine leaves.

October 15, 2010: “Sunomono”

Here’s one traditional Japanese salad that is fairly easy, and is very light and fresh! This recipe serves two people. There are a few different ingredients for this salad, for Westerners. One is wakame, which is a seaweed. This salad tends to be very light and the wakame gives it a depth, but if you can’t find or are just too weirded out by wakame, you can omit it. Another different ingredient (for the Sanbaizu sauce) is mirin which is a Japanese sweetened vinegar. Most grocery stores have this now in the Asian section. Also in the Asian section is nori fumi furikaki which is a mixture of sesame seeds, nori (another kind of seaweed), salt and sugar.

Salad:

• 1 Cucumber (skinned, halved, scoop out seeds, and slice 1/4″. Lightly salt.)
• 1 Carrot (skinned, cut into matchstick-size pieces)
• 1/4 Cabbage (cored, sliced very thin)
• 1″ Fresh Ginger (skinned, and shaved fine)
• 1 Tblsp.  Nori Fumi Furikake
• 1/2 oz. Wakame (soak in cold H2O 10 minutes; blanch in boiling H2O, rinse in cold H2O; remove spines of wakame; place on paper towels to dry slightly)

Snabaizu Sauce:

• 3 Tblsp. Rice Vinegar
• 1 Tblsp. Mirin
• 1 Tblsp. Shoyu (soy sauce)

Assemble salad in a small bowl with cabbage on the bottom, carrot matchsticks and cucumber on top of this, and top with shaved ginger, and nori fumi fuikake and pieces of wakame. Add Sanbaizu sauce just before serving.

October 12, 2010: A Healthier Caesar Dressing

The weekend before last I made a meal for Teja, Barb, Nicole, and Katie that included a salad made from my healthier Caesar Dressing. I get a little queasy when I see recipes calling for raw egg. I always think there is a better way. Here’s a good example: a normal Caesar Dressing calls for at least one raw egg. I have substituted silken tofu instead. Same taste, consistency etc., but it is healthier, keeps longer, and I don’t have worry about salmonella poisoning!

Steve’s Healthier Caesar Dressing

• 2-3 garlic cloves (or what I use is 1 large 2″x1″ Elephant Garlic chopped small)
• 1/2 c. oil (more as needed, to get a smooth dressing)
• 1/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tbsp. Lemon Juice (or juice from 1 small lemon; filtered)
• 1 Block Silken Tofu (water removed: place between plates; add pressure)
• 1 tsp. Dry Mustard (or Dijon Mustard…better, really)
• 1/4 c. Parmesan Cheese (more to taste)
• Anchovy Paste or chopped anchovies (optional)
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 3/4 tsp. salt

Tofu from the market always has too much water. I place the block between plates and top with a pot filled with enough water to press the water out of the tofu. I ALWAYS do this in the sink (I’ve learned the hard way that tofu does not make a solid support!) I prefer fresh squeezed lemon, but I have used the bottled kind for this recipe. I usually pick up cheap lemons on the reduced rack at the produce area. These are usually not as pretty, but are at the peak of ripeness. I like Elephant Garlic as a rule (instead of regular garlic) as it adds a texture to most dishes. You have to section it before you process all the ingredients in a food processor as a big piece of garlic will jam the processor.

This is one of those recipes where it is almost impossible to screw up and takes several minutes (at the most) to make. The anchovies are optional (and more traditional) but I have not tried this yet, as I know it will not keep as long. This dressing is good on lots of salads. It’s good as a dip for fresh veggies. Safe, tasty, fast, easy, fun, and kinda loosey-goosey!

May 28, 2010: A Salad for a Summer Day

Getting together with Yoshio for more photography, he treated me to Summer Salad for our break. Summer Salad is a traditional seasonal cold dish, perfect for a hot day. Yoshio made this one vegetarian for me, but says that usually this salad has roast pork or chicken in it as well. He mixed cold wheat noodles (soba  noodles are OK as well) with egg (cooked with mirin and little soy sauce) with edamame, asparagus, shiitake mushrooms, strips of fried tofu, cherry tomatoes, pickled ginger, and a simple but delicious sauce of mirin, rice vinegar, and soy sauce. He topped it with strips of nori and crushed ice to keep it cold. Yoshio says this dish should be served right away as everything in the salad will start to wilt very quickly. It is good with beer  or cold mugicha (roasted barley tea). Light, healthy and delicious. A perfect summer treat!

April 22, 2010: Review LifeAlive Restaurant in Lowell, Ma

LifeAlive Natural Food Restaurant-Lowell, Ma. (photos by Y. Saito via IPhone)

To be honest…it’s not the easiest thing to get great taste with the most healthy ingredients.  As much as we all know that raw vegetables are the best thing for us, it takes knowledge, imagination, and skill to make raw vegetables not only palatable but a culinary feast.

So, while visiting Yoshio today, and he knowing I’ve been a vegetarian for many years, he recommneded having lunch at LifeAlive, an organic cafe located at 194 Middle St. in Lowell, Ma. They say first impressions are the most important: LifeAlive has a cozy “New Age” decor with real art on the walls and comfortable furniture that made the place feel like a friend’s house. The staff was cheery and informative: whenever Yoshio goes to a new place he seems to query the staff for their opinions on the best food. The staff person immediately replied that while all the food was very good, his current favorite was “The Adventurer” which is base of short grain brown rice and quinoa topped with pieces of kale, chopped beets, bits of tofu, toasted almonds, and melted cheddar cheese with a sauce of sesame-ginger-nama. “The Adventurer” was delicious combination of tastes with each ingredient having a distinct character of its own, yet combined wonderfully together. Special touches like the warm toasted almonds and especially how the slightly sour of the beets combined with the creaminess of the cheese were wonderful. I asked Yoshio if he knew what “nama” was, and when he said “no” I asked the clerk and she said that it was “raw” shoyu (soy sauce)! When I went back to Yoshio to say that I think “nama” was Japanese, he asked me to spell it. He took a second and had that “AHA” look and said “Oh, yeah “nama” is “fresh” in Japanese”

[Yet another example of how bad my Japanese is. Whenever I cook Japanese meals at Teja's house and I ask for "mirin" (Japanese sweet-ish vinegar) Teja...every time...and Teja, I love you man, but is every time, he get's these curly eyebrows and asks "What's that?" After saying 'mirin" three times and then spelling it, he looks at me and says "OH! mirin...yeah I've got some"]

My “Seductress” wrap was also very good: a slightly toasted wheat tortilla warpped around shredded beet and carrot, kale, broccoli and hard-poached egg. Delicious!

We met the owner, Heidi Feinstein, who it turns out is a nutritionist who clearly loves providing this kind of food that is “closer to the source” with 95% of her food from raw ingredients. Bostonians will be pleased to know that she will be opening a LifeAlive at 765 Massachusetts Ave,  Central Sq. this September. Visit their website: http://www.lifealive.com

LifeAlive: tasty, healthy, fun. Food doesn’t get any better (or better for you) than this.