Bryanna Clark Grogan’s Vegan Feast Kitchen/ 23rd Century Table

More kale!  These days I'm constantly looking for great ways to use the ever-abundant kale supply coming out of our garden. Today I give you my version of an old Martha Stewart recipe (from 2009), to which I made a few changes.  1.) I lowered the oil content from 1/2 cup to 2 tablespoons (and I used olive oil); 2.) I used julienned carrots instead of "coins"; and 3.) I "massaged" the kale-- which is just rubbing the sliced raw kale for a very few minutes to break down some of the connective tissue of the kale leaves so that it is softer.

I really liked the idea of the peanut dressing, and it is a delicious, but not heavy, dressing for this salad.  I thought of a few changes I could make next time I prepare this: add some grated ginger to the dressing; add some Sriracha sauce; use small cubes of cooked sweet potato instead of the carrots; use rice vinegar instead of cider...


Printable Copy


Pour the dressing over the vegetables and toss well. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup salted peanuts, whole or coarsely chopped—your choice!

Enjoy!

Who says that good vegan meals take hours to make? I was about to freeze some homemade pesto (we're having a good basil year!) and I decided to use some for a quick pasta lunch. I planned to cook some egg-free tagliatelle "nests" (check the label!), but I wanted to add a vegetable to the dish.

Tagliatelle nest

I had a zucchini from one of our neighbors, so I decided to make zucchini strands with it, using my handy-dandy Messermeister julienne peeler-- a great low-tech gadget that doesn't take up much room in your utensil drawer! You use it just as you would  peeler and it makes long, or short, thin strands.


Here are the results from one medium zucchini-- very nice!


I added the zucchini strands to the pasta in the pot about 1 minute before the pasta was done and then drained them all together:

What kind of lettuce is this?

This morning DH went to the Denman Is. Saturday Market, which is held on the grass outside of our Recycling Center. We have eaten up all of the lettuce we planted (more is coming), so he bought an enormous lettuce, pictured above. I decided to showcase this in a luncheon salad, and had the taste for something Asian, so, the recipe below is what I came up with and we ate every scrap of it! It's open to adding or using different lettuces, greens (maybe the ubiquitous organic mixed baby greens) and other veggies, so, be my guest!

I wondered what type of lettuce this was, never having seen it before. It felt like an iceberg lettuce, but it was so pretty, with it's dark green and red leaves. So, after lunch, I looked it up and it IS in the "Crisphead" lettuce family-- it's a "Red Iceberg" lettuce! The seeds seem to be widely available online, and, obviously, it grows well in Canada!

It was much nicer than an ordinary iceberg lettuce-- maybe because it was organically home-grown, and we could also use the pretty outer leaves, which you usually never see.


I have to tell you about a new little gadget I got when I was in California-- a Messermeister Pro-touch Julienne Peeler. It was inexpensive and looked like it would be so handy for making julienne carrots, zucchini, etc., to pretty up summer dishes. And, I do love it! It's easier to use than a mandoline or an electric gadget, for this purpose, anyway.

Cuispro, Oxo Good Grips, and Kuhn Rikon also make julienne peelers, but the owner of the kitchen store in Healdsburg, CA where I bought it said she liked the Messermeister best, so I took her advice, and have no complaints. A very handy tool to have in your kitchen!


So, I hope you're having a great summer! The weather here is just perfect-- sunny and warm, but with a nice breeze most of the time. Before our trip to California (with a stop in Vancouver), we had a lovely visit to Salt Spring Island, a little south of us, where DH has family. If you get a chance to visit Salt Spring, it is beautiful!

Here is that recipe, and I hope you enjoy it!



Printable Recipe

BRYANNA'S ASIAN-STYLE "CHICKEN" SALAD WITH SESAME DRESSING
Servings: 4 
This was a last-minute invention using what I had in my refrigerator, which included a beautiful Red iceburg lettuce, grown organically here on Denman Island.

4 cups reconstituted Soy Curls™ (4 oz. dry)
2 tablespoons (approximately) potato starch (or use cornstarch-- you can get organic)

(PS: If you don't have Soy Curls™, use any vegan chicken substitute that you like, cut into thin strips.) Read about Soy Curls, where to buy, and how to use here.
 
Marinade:
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce (I used Kikkoman Lite)
1/2 tablespoon dark sesame oil (Chinese, roasted)
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon Chinese  five-spice powder
1 dash Asian hot sauce (such as Sriracha)

Sesame Dressing:
1/4 cup rice vinegar (unseasoned)
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons dark sesame oil Chinese, roasted)
2 tablespoons sugar or alternate
2 tablespoons lightly-toasted sesame seeds
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger