Brazilian Slaw

I’m not a vegan, or a vegetarian, but I like to dabble in that space. Most of the time I prefer plants to meat, and a lot of what I cook is meatless. So, I was intrigued by a new book called Smith & Daughters: A Cookbook (That Happens To Be Vegan) from a Melbourne restaurant of the same name that happens to stick to a vegan menu. The goal of the restaurant menu and of the book is to offer “plant-based food the way it should be: big, bold, flavorful, noteworthy, celebration-worthy, and myth-dispelling.” Rather than focusing on the conscientious reasons most people choose to follow a vegan diet, here plant-based cooking is a jumping-off point for creativity. The food is inviting, fun, and hearty. The Breakfast Burrito is made up of a few homemade components and is a great example of the flavorful cooking seen throughout the book. The burrito is made with homemade Chipotle Cashew Cheese, Brazilian Black Bean Soup, Spicy Ground Chorizo made with textured vegetable protein, and Tofu Scramble. Something to note about the ingredient lists is that you will see things like “chicken stock” and “butter.” But, in the Book Notes at the beginning, it’s mentioned that vegan substitutes for those types of items are intended. The delicious-looking Sopa Seca is made with broken angel hair pasta, chipotles in adobo, and vegan chicken stock. Some other dishes I want to try include the Warm Hearts of Palm Salad served with guacamole; the Artichoke and Chickpea Salad with Lemon and Cumin Vinaigrette; and Spanish Meatballs made with brown rice, bell peppers, oats, brown lentils, and chickpea flour. The recipe that got me cooking first, though, was Brazilian Slaw. This brought back a memory of a cooking class I attended taught by Susan Feniger. The title of that class was Inspired by Brazil, and one of the dishes was a Vegetable Salpicon or slaw. I still have the notes and recipes from that class (I keep the notes I receive from cooking classes filed away), and that slaw is the dish I remember most. Feniger’s version was topped with crispy shoestring potatoes, and the mix of vegetables was slightly different. The general concept was the same, and I couldn’t wait to try the version from this book. 

Here, the crispy topping was baked corn tortilla strips rather than fried shoestring potatoes. They were baked until golden and crunchy and set aside to cool. I made a couple of substitutions based on what was fresh and in season right now. So, instead of using corn and apple, I used a mix of radishes. Along with radishes, carrots were also cut into julienne strips. Red and green cabbages were thinly sliced into ribbons. Mushrooms, and I used maitake instead of oyster just because they looked better that day, were seared with soy sauce until browned and allowed to cool. Last, pimento-stuffed green olives were sliced. To make the dressing, first a vegan aioli was prepared. It was made in the blender with silken tofu, garlic, apple cider vinegar, Dijon mustard, and olive oil. The aioli was mixed with lime zest and juice and more garlic to form the slaw dressing. The vegetables were combined in a big bowl along with parsley and cilantro leaves, and all was topped with dressing. The mixture was tossed until well coated and served with tortillas strips on top. 

I’m always a fan of crunch, and it’s abundant here. The vegetables are crunchy, and the tortilla strips are really crunchy, and all that texture made this fun and delicious to eat. The aioli is also a perfect base for other dressings. I used what was left from this recipe to make a green goddess dressing for another salad. And, I also made the Coriander Cashew Cream with added chipotle to use on tacos. I may not be vegan all the time, but thanks to recipes like these more plant-based meals are showing up on my table. 

Brazilian Slaw 
Recipe excerpted with permission from Smith and Daughters: A Cookbook (that happens to be vegan) by Shannon Martinez and Mo Wyse, published by Hardie Grant Books March 2017, RRP $35.00 hardcover. 

As far as salads go, you just don’t get prettier, with more texture, more variety and more fun. 

Serves 4–6 

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil 
150 g (5 1/2 oz) fresh or frozen corn kernels 
85 g (3 oz) oyster mushrooms, roughly torn 
1 tablespoon tamari or soy sauce 
1 granny smith apple, cored and cut into thin matchsticks 
1 large carrot, peeled and cut into thin matchsticks 
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced 
85 g (3 oz) green pimento olives, sliced into thin rounds 
300 g (10 1/2 oz) thinly shredded purple cabbage 
large handful flat-leaf parsley leaves 
large handful coriander (cilantro) leaves 

Dressing 
250 g (9 oz/1 cup) Aioli 
zest and juice of 1 lime 
1 small garlic clove, crushed 

Garnish 
3 corn tortillas, cut into 5 mm (1/4 in) strips (or use roughly crushed tortilla chips) 
olive oil spray
chilli and lime salt  

Preheat the oven to 180ºC (350ºF). Heat 2 teaspoons of the oil in a chargrill pan or small frying pan. Grill or saute the corn until lightly charred. Remove from the heat and set aside. 

Heat the remaining oil in a medium-sized frying pan over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and soy sauce and sauté until golden and slightly crisp. Set aside to cool. 

To make the dressing, combine the ingredients in a bowl and whisk together until well combined. 

To build the salad, combine all of the ingredients in a large salad bowl and add enough of the dressing to lightly coat. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. 

For the garnish, spray the tortilla strips with olive oil spray and dust with a little chilli and lime salt. Transfer to a baking tray and bake in the oven until crisp. If you are using tortilla chips, just sprinkle with the chilli and lime salt instead. 

Build a small conical tower with the salad and top with the garnish. Big salads are always better, especially when tortilla chips are involved. 

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Asian-Flavored Kale and Cabbage Slaw

Things do change over time. Several years ago, when Kurt and I signed up for our first CSA, we both dreaded the mounds of greens that appeared each time we picked up our share. I used to have to rack my brain trying to think of ways to use them all. Then, at some point, I changed my mind about greens. I became a kale advocate, a collards enthusiast, an escarole devotee. Now, when they're out of season during the hottest part of the summer, I actually miss them. To me, a pasta dish doesn't seem complete without some sauteed greens, and even fried eggs look lonely on the plate without something green and leafy accompanying them. Needless to say, I was delighted to receive a review copy of the new book Wild About Greens by Nava Atlas because I now feel the same way. This book covers everything from cleaning and prepping greens to hearty dishes, salads, soups, and juices and smoothies. Even though I've been using greens and enjoying them for a while now, I found several intriguing new ideas to try. Next time I receive mustard greens from our CSA, they'll go into Balsamic-Glazed Chickpeas and Mustard Greens. Other dishes I can't wait to try include the Vietnamese-Style Bean-Thread Noodles with Spinach and Napa Cabbage, simply sauteed greens with Spicy Peanut Sauce, and Italian-Style Braised Chard with Tomatoes. I'm already a convert to putting greens in a berry smoothie, and next I want to try the Spinach Pina Colada Smoothie and the Kale and Pear Smoothie with hemp seeds. First though, I had to make use of some local kale before it's gone for the summer, and the Asian-Flavored Kale and Cabbage Slaw was a great place to start. 

This is an easy, raw salad that would fit nicely into a picnic menu. I followed the recipe and left things simple, but I kept thinking of all the things that could be added to this. One change I did make was to use savoy cabbage rather than the suggested napa cabbage, and that was only because savoy was available the day I was shopping and napa wasn't. The dressing for the slaw was made first, and that was a mix of olive oil, dark sesame oil, apple cider vinegar, soy sauce, and agave nectar. Next, the kale leaves were cleaned and chopped into thin strips. For a raw kale salad, the leaves need to be squeezed a bit or massaged to soften them. You just oil your hands and work the oil into the chopped kale until the kale turns a bright green. It only takes a minute or two. Then, the rest of the vegetables were added, and those included shredded savoy cabbage, grated carrots, and some sprouts and I used radish sprouts. The vegetables were tossed with the dressing, sesame seeds were added and combined into the slaw, and then the slaw was topped with pumpkin seeds. As I spooned the slaw into a serving bowl, I thought about how next time I might add some sliced red bell pepper or some slivers of spicy serrano chiles. Some chopped green onions wouldn't be out of place here, and cubes of tofu on top would make a meal of it. Or, leave it just as it is for a fresh, crunchy slaw with big flavor from the sesame oil and soy sauce in the dressing.

It wasn't so long ago that rushing to the farmers' market in hopes of getting some late-season kale would have seemed crazy to me, but I'm glad to be a greens fan now. If I'd had this book back when we started our first CSA, I probably would have become a fan much sooner. 

Asian-Flavored Kale and Napa Cabbage Slaw 
Recipe reprinted with permission from Wild About Greens © 2012 by Nava Atlas, Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. Photographs by Susan Voisin.

6 to 8 servings 

This salad was inspired by Barbara Pollack, a longtime reader of my books. She forewarned me that it’s addictive, and she’s right. 

For the dressing: 
1 tablespoon olive oil or other healthy vegetable oil 
1 tablespoon dark sesame oil 
2 tablespoons vinegar (apple cider, rice, or white wine) 
2 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce or tamari 
2 tablespoons agave nectar or other liquid sweetener 
5 or 6 Leaves kale, preferably lacinato (curly kale will work too) 
3 cups firmly packed thinly shredded napa cabbage 
1 cup grated carrots 
1 cup sprouts, any variety 
1⁄4 cup toasted pumpkin or sunflower seeds, or 1⁄8 cup of each 
3 tablespoons sesame seeds 
Freshly ground pepper to taste 

Combine the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and whisk together. Strip the kale leaves from the stems. Slice the stems very thinly or discard. Cut the kale leaves into very thin strips and place in a large serving bowl. Oil your hands lightly and massage the kale for 30 to 45 seconds, until the leaves are bright green and soft. 

Add the remaining salad ingredients, then toss well with the dressing. Let the salad stand for 15 minutes. Taste and adjust the tang, saltiness, and sweetness with more vinegar, soy sauce, or sweetener to your liking, then serve. 

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Vinagre, Boricua Slaw, and Turkey Breast Pavochon

I can finally put into words one of the reasons why I’m addicted to cookbooks. I seem to imagine that the world of cooking is one big puzzle, and each time I learn something new, another piece is fit into place. And, I quite enjoy adding more and more pieces to that puzzle. I have an example. Last summer, I was cooking from Eric Ripert’s A Return to Cooking, and I attempted to make pique which is a spicy, Puerto Rican condiment. It didn’t work out so well, and I searched and asked around for more information about it and came up with nothing. Then, a couple of weeks ago, I was sent a review copy of Daisy: Morning, Noon, and Night, and while reading that book, I found a recipe for vinagre or vinagre de piña which was very similar to that for pique. I then learned that they are indeed the same thing. Seven months later, that piece of the puzzle was set into place. The process for making vinagre or pique was slightly different in this book, and it worked great this time. This new book is by Daisy Martinez from the Food Network’s Viva Daisy. I’ve never seen the show, so I wasn’t familiar with her cooking style. The book is a collection of her family’s favorite dishes experienced while traveling through different Spanish-speaking regions of the world. It’s an interesting culinary tour with lots of tips for advance preparation and piecing together menus. As the title implies, there are dishes for every meal in the day as well as food for parties and snacks. Bold flavors are found throughout from the shrimp ceviche xni pec to chimichurri sauce, Spanish coca which is like pizza, and Peruvian yellow pepper puree. There are desserts too like guava shells filled with cream cheese mousse, banana and dulce de leche strudel, and strawberry delicia.

So, when I finally figured out that pique goes by another name, I had to try it again. In this version, pineapple rinds were boiled for 30 minutes, and the liquid was then strained and added to a jar with sliced onion, smashed garlic cloves, habanero chiles, cider vinegar, fresh oregano leaves, black peppercorns, and some salt. It was left to cool and then refrigerated. In the previous version I tried, the mixture was left to ferment at room temperature, and it transformed into a questionable brew. This time, the hot liquid got the flavors mixing right away, and by going right into the refrigerator once cool, nothing bad had a chance to happen. The onion and garlic gave the acidic mixture big flavor, and the habaneros gave it a good kick. I used the vinagre in Daisy’s boricua slaw. The slaw was suggested as a side dish for anything served at a barbeque. It’s a crunchy mix of red cabbage, carrots, cider vinegar, cilantro, scallions, and vinagre to taste. I was so thrilled with the flavor of the vinagre, I continued to sprinkle more and more on the slaw at the table. The cabbage can definitely stand up to a good amount of spiciness. Since the slaw was mentioned as a side dish for meats, I also wanted to try the turkey breast pavochon from the book.

The name for this turkey dish is a mix of pavo meaning turkey and lechon which is roasted suckling pig. In this case, the turkey is roasted and seasoned in the same way as a lechon is prepared in Puerto Rico. A double, boneless turkey breast was seasoned with a wet adobo rub made from garlic, salt, black peppercorns, dried oregano, olive oil, and white vinegar. The adobo rub was placed under the skin and on the back side of the double breast, and then the meat was rolled and tied into a compact roast. I left it to marinate in the refrigerator overnight. The next day, I roasted the turkey first at 400 degrees F for 45 minutes, and then at 375 degrees F for an additional hour or so. The roasting time depends on the size of the turkey breast, so it’s important to start checking the internal temperature after about an hour and 15 minutes. The internal temperature should reach at least 150 degrees F before removing the turkey from the oven, covering it with foil, and letting it rest for 20 minutes.

I can tell you that this turkey smelled so good as it roasted that I may never cook another bird without some adobo sauce on it. The skin browned nicely, the meat was delicious and tender, and Kurt nodded with definite approval declaring it very good turkey. I had a lot of fun perusing this book and trying a few of the Latin-inspired dishes, and I look forward to trying more. Next time, I’ll tell you about how the turkey leftovers were used.




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Big City Salmon with Martini Sauce

We were in the mood for a light-ish kind of meal involving fish and some salad, and I found some fresh and fabulous king salmon at Whole Foods. I could have simply seared and roasted it and left it at that, but then what are all those cookbooks doing here anyway? I found an interesting sauce to try in Crescent City Cooking by Susan Spicer. In introducing the recipe in the book, she explains that years ago she created a menu of regionally-themed dishes for a Fourth of July dinner. To represent Manhattan in that menu, she developed a martini sauce with olives for salmon. That sounded like a sauce worth trying. For a side dish, I tried the zucchini and fennel slaw from the July issue of Gourmet, and that recipe is on Epicurious.

The salmon could have been grilled, roasted, or even poached, but I did my usual quick sear in a saute pan, turn, and place in a 400 F degree oven for a few minute to cook not quite all the way through. The sauce was started by reducing gin and vermouth with chopped shallots and juniper berries. Once reduced to about three tablespoons, cream was added, and that was reduced again. It was then strained into a bowl and poured back into a saucepan so just a little butter could be incorporated. Sliced pimento-stuffed olives and lemon juice were added. Meanwhile, the slaw was very quickly assembled. I thinly sliced the zucchini and fennel with a Benriner, and they were dressed with a combination of mayonnaise, lemon juice, chives, and mustard.

The meal worked out great. The martini sauce was nicely flavored in a pleasantly boozy sort of way, and the juniper berries gave it a very subtle, wispy hint of pine. The olives took charge visually and brought little punches of brininess that went well with the salmon. And, even though the slaw just sat in the background, off to the side of the plate, it was more delicious than I expected. It was shown in Gourmet with salmon cakes, it was great with the salmon I made, and I can imagine it as a side with all sorts of other things too. It’s incredibly simple to prepare, and I definitely recommend it.

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Spicy Slaw

Memorial Day meals must involve grilling, and those meals have to include slaw, right? I decided that must be true, so I set out to find a new and different twist on standard coleslaw. I flipped through a couple of other books before I thought to have a look at Eat This Book by Tyler Florence. I should pick up this book more often because I’ve only cooked from it a few times, but it’s full of great ideas. The food is influenced by all corners of the globe, and as you flip pages, each recipe offers a completely different style and set of flavors from the last. I’ve made the falafel with tahini sauce which was great, and now I’m wondering why I haven’t made the sauteed feta cheese or African-spiced chicken with green olive sauce yet. I got this book back in 2005 at our local wine and food festival. Tyler was at the festival, did a cooking demo, and signed books. In my book, he wrote: “Lisa, cook your heart out.” Well, Tyler, I’m trying. I’m still having as much fun cooking as I was four years ago, and I now realize I haven’t been using your book as much as I should.

The spicy slaw accompanies pulled pork barbecue in the book, but we paired it with grilled chicken sausages. I was thrilled to have almost all the ingredients for this from our CSA. Red cabbage, a baby head of green cabbage, onion, and carrots all came from Hands of the Earth Farm. Green cabbage was suggested in the recipe, and red chiles were to be used for color contrast. Since I had that lovely head of red cabbage and the smaller green cabbage, I used them both and then used both a red chile and a green one. The carrots and onion were shredded on a box grater, and the cabbage was thinly sliced by hand. Green onions, a red chile, and a jalapeno joined those vegetables, and the combination was mixed with a dressing of mayonnaise, dijon mustard, cider vinegar, lemon juice, celery seed, and hot sauce. A pinch of sugar and salt and pepper were added. I really like celery seed in slaw, so I garnished with a little more of it on top.

This wasn’t a thick, gloupy kind of slaw since the vinegar and lemon juice thinned the mayonnaise a bit, but the dressing was still nicely creamy. The crunchy cabbage and sweet carrots with the spicy chiles and zing of the hot sauce in the dressing made for a lively and delicious slaw. It was a great side dish for our sausages, and it would partner well with just about anything off the grill.

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Jalapeño Corn Slaw

This is the slaw that inspired the light tex-mex meal. I knew it was in Nuevo Tex-Mex which got me flipping through the book again and meal planning. I often say of some cookbooks that I want to make everything in them, and I mean it when I say that. It may take some time given how many books are in that group, but this book is one of them. And, now for a confession. I always post about dishes that I’ve just made for the first time, or new variations on dishes, or seasonal versions of recipes that I want to remember. However, I have made this slaw before. But, I didn’t make it right the first time. It was years ago, I was rushed, and I glanced at the ingredients and didn’t read all of the instructions. This time, I read more carefully and prepared it as it was intended. That first time, I made a mostly raw slaw with bell peppers, jalapeños, cabbage, onion, and cooked corn. I missed the roasting step which, it turns out, makes a completely different and entirely better slaw.

Because it’s January and fresh sweet corn is not available, I used frozen corn kernels which were ok. If making this with fresh corn, you should roast it on the cob and then cut off the kernels. With frozen corn, I defrosted it, tossed it with a small bit of oil, spread it on a baking sheet, and roasted it in the oven until fragrant and slightly browned. Its flavor became concentrated, it became even sweeter, and it was fantastic. The bell peppers should also be roasted, then skinned, seeded, and chopped. I seem to remember Bobby Flay mentioning on thousands of occasions that peppers should always be roasted in the oven instead of over a gas flame. Oven roasting actually cooks the pepper flesh instead of just charring the skin and results in better flavor, and that’s what I did here. He’s right about oven roasting, but I also do the quick and easy turning over a gas flame when short on time. So many confessions today.

The slaw, then, was crunchy raw cabbage, jalapeño, and onion, sweet and concentrated roasted corn, oven roasted red and orange bell pepper, and lemon juice, champagne vinegar, and chopped cilantro. The combined ingredients sat in the refrigerator for a couple of hours, and came out bursting with varied flavors, colors, and textures. You can control the heat of the jalapeños by removing the seeds and membranes which I did because the sauce served with this meal was already hitting the upper level of our heat tolerance. That left the slaw as a welcome, cool, acidic, sweet, savory, fresh part of the light tex-mex meal.

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