I hope you are enjoying the first installments of the Doctor Cooks Menu of the Week. I’d like to hear from you either by email, or by clicking on the comment link at the end of the article.
The question at this time of year is what to do with the abundance of zucchini, tomatoes, and eggplant. I do my best to enjoy them fresh. Every now and then I will freeze what I can’t use from the weeks CSA delivery. Most vegetables need to be blanched or boiled before freezing. A good general cookbook, such as The Joy of Cooking, offers detailed instructions on many preservation methods, including freezing.
Sicilian Caponata
Cucumber Soup
Quinoa Garbanzo Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette
Gazpacho with Avocado and Olive Oil
Ethiopian Okra with Tempeh
Roasted Beets or Sauteed Turnips
To Good to Be Healthy Pizza. This is great topped with fresh tomatoes and lightly steamed zucchini or summer squash. If chard is not available, try arugula. Last week we made it with sweet potato greens. Katherine Kelly of the Kansas City Community Farm learned these are a staple in Liberia and brought them to the Farmers Community Market at Brookside for us to try.
Sicilian Caponata
This caponata freezes beautifully. Even though the recipe specifically calls for certain squashes and eggplant, I just use whatever I have. Some weeks it will have more zucchini, other weeks more eggplant. This is another recipe inspired by Chef Michael Turner of the Classic Cup Cafe in Kansas City.
½ cup grape seed oil
1 medium red onion, cut into ½” dice
2 ribs celery, cut into ½” dice
1 medium yellow squash, cut into ½” dice
1 medium green zucchini squash, ½” dice
1 medium eggplant, peeled, cut into ½” dice
1 TBSP sea salt
¾ cup kalamata olives, pitted and coarsely chopped
2 TBSP capers, drained
½ cup currants
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1/3 cup rapadura or turbinado sugar
¼ cup cider vinegar
¼ cup chopped fresh herbs such as rosemary, basil, oregano and parsley
Place the eggplant in a colander. Sprinkle with sea salt and allow to sweat for 30 minutes. Rinse and pat dry.
Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Sauté the onion, celery, squashes and eggplant until aromatic. Add the olives, capers, currants and garlic. Sauté for five minutes more. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for 10 – 20 minutes until the vegetables are cooked through. Serve over whole grain pasta or thickly sliced whole grain bread to make bruschetta. May be served as a side dish. Serve warm, cold or at room temperature. Serves 4 – 6.
Quinoa Garbanzo Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette
I recommend quinoa to newcomers to whole grains because is cooks quickly. I generally prefer dried beans cooked in a pressure cooker over canned beans. The dried beans taste fresher to me. Garbanzo beans take 2 – 2 ½ hours took cook on the stovetop without a pressure cooker. I prefer the squash blanched, but you may like it raw. Feel free to substitute another seasonal vegetable. Blanched broccoli florets would be good in the fall.
1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
1/3 cups dried garbanzo beans, soaked over night or 2 cups cooked garbanzo beans
½ pound summer or zucchini squash,, sliced in half lengthwise, then sliced into ¼” thick half rounds
15 pitted kalamata olives, sliced
¼ cup chopped parsley
Mustard Vinaigrette
3 TBSP apple cider vinegar
¼ teaspoon sea salt
1 TBSP whole-grain prepared mustard
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
To make quinoa: Place the quinoa in a bowl. Rinse and drain about three times to remove any chaff. Add the water and quinoa to a small saucepan, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, drain the garbanzo beans. If using dried beans, pressure cook in 3 cups water on high pressure for 13 – 18 minutes. When done, place the pressure cooker in the sink and run cool water over it until the pressure is release. Open the cooker and test for doneness. If needed, return to pressure and cook a few minutes more. Drain the beans. Blanch the squash, if desired, by cooking them in boiling water for one minute, then immediately drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking.
Mix the cooked quinoa, garbanzo beans, squash, olives and parsley in a bowl. Mix the vinaigrette ingredients in a bowl or screw top jar. Pour over the salad mixture and toss. Serve cold or at room temperature. Serves 4.
Ethiopian Okra with Tempeh
Did we have fun converting the Ethiopian Okra side dish from last week to a delicious main dish! We simply added tempeh, a bit of paprika and cayenne pepper. Call ahead to Blue Nile Café for some injera, Ethiopian flat bread, for the complete experience.
Injera Bread
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 TBSP grape seed oil or ghee
2 cups okra, chopped into ¼ inch thicknesses
8 ounces tempeh, diced into small bite size pieces
½ teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and sliced thinly
2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 teaspoon salt
Heat the oil in a saucepan on medium-low heat. Add the onions and garlic and sauté until translucent. Add the okra, tempeh, paprika, cayenne and jalapeno pepper, sautéing for 5 minutes more. Add the tomatoes and salt. Lower heat and simmer for 15 minutes more until the tomatoes and okra are tender. Add a small amount of water to prevent scorching if needed. Serves four.
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