Barley Salad with Roasted Mushrooms and Greens

This dish was adapted from Melissa Clark’s A Good Appetite column in the New York Times. Clark is a terrific writer and her recipes are always straightforward and spot-on. The original featured roasted celery root — I’ve substituted sautéed greens instead (or try roasted sunchokes, turnips, parsnips or carrots per Clark’s suggestion). Vary the greens as you wish — add a handful of those zippy mustard leaves included in last week’s delivery along with whatever else is in the fridge like broccoli, spinach or chard — just about any would be nice. I used a mix of chard, dandelion and arugula. The barley is nutty tasting with a pleasant chew — just right for a hearty dinner salad. Continue reading

Easy Chinese-style Noodles

Our youngest whipped these yummy noodles up today. It’s her mid-winter break, so there’s extra time for cooking together. Her inspiration was a sauce found in Honest Pretzels by Molly Katzen — but she improvised. That’s her way in the kitchen. These noodles offer the perfect destination for those button mushrooms and tender petite carrots we received in yesterday’s delivery. Toss in any greens you have. Continue reading

Saag Khumb (Indian Sautéed Greens with Mushrooms)

This dish offers the opportunity to cook up volumes of most any green you have on hand. Traditionally saag implies a mix with spinach or mustard greens, but the pile we cooked up today included arugula, kale, collards and broccoli as well as spinach (it was time to clear out the overflowing crisper drawer). You could throw in chard or even cauliflower or broccoli leaves. Serve with naan (pictured above) or other flat Indian bread. I love saag with nutty brown basmati rice, too. Continue reading

Beijing Bok Choy with Mushrooms


Adapted from Najmieh Batmanglij’s Silk Road Cooking: A Vegetarian Journey. The author has travelled extensively along the famous trade route from China all the way to the Mediterranean. Her book contains a wealth of authentic meat-free recipes from the region.

Feel free to throw in additional vegetables as well — sliced green onions, celery or matchstick carrots, for instance.

(Serves 4)

Ingredients:

  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch
  • 1-1/2 tablespoons light soy sauce
  • 2 teaspoons rice vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
  • ¼ teaspoon chili paste (optional)
  • ½ teaspoon sugar
  • ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  • Vegetable or peanut oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
  • 1 tablespoon minced ginger root
  • 4 cups sliced mushrooms
  • 4-6 baby bok choy rinsed well and quartered lengthwise

Method:

  1. In a small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in one-half cup water. Add soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, chili paste, sugar and pepper. Stir well and set aside.
  2. Heat 2 tablespoons vegetable or peanut oil in a wok. Add garlic, ginger, a splash of water and mushrooms.  Stir-fry for two or more minutes over high heat until mushrooms brown on at least one side. Remove from pan and set aside.
  3. Add a little more oil to the pan and heat.  Add bok choy in a single layer and cook until the vegetables begin to brown.  Turn and brown on the other side.  Add sauce, reduce heat, cover and simmer over low heat for 5 or so minutes until bok choy are just tender.  Add mushrooms to the pan and stir.
  4. Adjust seasoning to taste and serve over cooked linguine noodles or rice.