Tag Archives: cucumber

Café Gratitude Style Summer Rolls

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Collard wrapped Summer Rolls

Makes about one cup sauce; summer roll servings vary

Café Gratitude is a natural foods restaurant with locations in San Francisco and Berkeley.  A favorite dish is their collard-wrapped summer rolls.  This is my approximation.  You can improvise the fillings—mix and match as you like.  Choose raw items that offer a range of textures, with plenty of crunch.  Kids will enjoy wrapping their own green bundles.  By the way, the dipping sauce makes a great sandwich or veggie burger spread, too.

Ingredients:

  • 1/3 cup light coconut milk
  • 2 tablespoons white miso (from Whole Foods)
  • 2 tablespoons peanut, cashew or almond butter
  • pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
  • 1 to 2 teaspoons garlic, minced
  • ¼ cup tahini
  • 2 tablespoon fresh lemon or lime juice
  • handful fresh herbs (cilantro, parsley, basil or arugula)
  • drizzle of honey or agave (optional)
  • collard leaves, stems cut off
  • any of the following, cut into long matchstick lengths:  apple, peach, plum, carrot, cucumber, celery, radish, jicama, pear, raw beet, raw turnip
  • ripe avocado, cubed
  • strawberry halves
  • sprouts such as sunflower, pea shoots, radish
  • herbs like basil, mint, cilantro, parsley, dill or arugula (optional)

Method:

  1. For dipping sauce, blend first 8 ingredients (up to collards) together in a food processor until very smooth.  Taste, then add the agave/honey if you like a hint of sweetness. Refrigerate.  This step can be done a day or two ahead of time.
  2. Steam collard leaves until dark green and just pliable (less than one minute).  Rinse under cool water and pat dry with a clean kitchen towel.
  3. Lay a leaf out on a cutting board.  Place a small amount of julienned fruits and vegetables or other ingredients on each leaf.  Roll up to create a fat cigar-like shape. Repeat with each leaf.  Serve with dipping sauce.  Best eaten shortly after assembly.

Watermelon Gazpacho

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When we stopped at the Model Bakery in St Helena this summer we tasted the most wonderfully refreshing watermelon gazpacho.  This was one of those moments when you try a dish a bit skeptically and end up completely enthralled by the fabulous flavors.  This recipe is my attempt at recreating a most memorable dish.

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Recipe – Melon and Cucumbers with Pepper and Lime

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Ingredients:

  • ½ honeydew, cantaloupe, or other melon, chilled
  • 3 cucumbers
  • 2 cups watercress or baby arugula leaves
  • Lime and Fresh Mint Vinaigrette (see related recipe), or juice of 2 limes
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper

Method:

  1. Scoop out the seeds, then slice the melon into narrow wedges and remove the skin.
  2. Scrub the cucumbers or peel skin – cut into sixths
  3. Make a bed of greens on four plates and arrange the melon and cucumbers on top.
  4. Spoon the dressing over the top and season with a little salt and pepper

Lime and Fresh Mint Vinaigrette

Watermelon Salad with Cucumber, Radish and Lime

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The recipe is adapted from one by Floyd Cardoz, famed chef at Tabla restaurant in New York City.  Check out his cookbook, One Spice, Two Spice which features a very modern take on Indian food and spices.

For this salad use watermelon at its peak—crisp and sweet, dripping in its juice.  The cucumber and radish add extra crunch, and the onion, a little savory bite. You can also add other seasonal fruits too—such as peach or other melon varieties.  The secret to this salad is the marriage between the melon and the lime—the sweet and sour flavors balance each other with perfect simplicity.  Don’t leave out the zest.  You’ll be surprised at what it adds—tiny bursts of intense lime flavor.

You can easily omit the chaat masala if you don’t have it, but don’t be afraid to give it a try.  The spice blend adds a wonderful warm counterpoint to the cool melon.  Chaat masala can be found in any Indian grocery store, or if you feel ambitious, grind your own.

Ingredients:

  • ½ teaspoon ginger root, minced
  • ¼ teaspoon chaat masala
  • 1 half jalapeno (or to taste), minced
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 lime, preferably organically grown
  • 6 cups watermelon, cut into 1 inch cubes
  • ½ cup daikon or red radish, cut into ½ inch cubes
  • ½ cup Persian or English cucumber, peeled and cut into ½ inch cubes
  • 2 tablespoon minced sweet or red onion
  • ¼ cup cilantro, finely chopped
  • 1/3 cup mint, finely chopped
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper

Method:

  1. Carefully wash and dry the lime.  Zest and juice the lime.
  2. Mix ginger root, chaat masala, jalapeno, olive oil, lime juice and zest in a small bowl.  Let the mixture sit for at least 10 minutes, so the flavors meld.
  3. Put the melon, cucumber, radish, onion, cilantro and mint together in a bowl, and toss with ginger-lime dressing.
  4. Season with salt if desired and lots of freshly ground pepper.