Recipe: Salade Vincent

Here's a classic from the Turney Family Cookbook. My grandpa puts out a new addition every few years for the whole family to enjoy. A couple years ago I was touched when he produced a special vegan edition just for me: Shaun's Choice Edition. I use this cookbook more than any other cookbook in my collection. One of my favourite salads in the cookbook is Salade Vincent. It's a cucumber salad named after Vincent Van Gogh for macabre reasons -- the way the cucumbers are sliced makes them look like severed ears! Gross, but it tastes refreshing and delicious. My partner and I had a ridiculous amount of cucumbers in our fridge and I immediately knew what we should do with them. Here I've modified the recipe to better suit what I happened to have in my fridge, but I make note of how to make the original recipe.

That's a lot of cucumbers for two people!Thankfully, a triple batch of Salade Vincent used up half of them in a delicious way.

A perfect summer meal with some adorable little potatoes and a field roast veggie dog.

Ingredients:
Serves 4

1 large english cucumber
1/4 fresh chopped mint (original recipe calls for dill, not mint)
1/2 cup sprouted lentils (optional -- see this post about sprouting for instructions)
4 leaves of bib lettuce

Vinaigrette:
1/4 tsp salt
1bst Dijon mustard
2 tbsp wine vinegar
3/4 cup virgin olive oil

1. Peel the cucumber and slice it in half lengthwise. Scoop and scrape the seeds out with a spoon. Eat the seeds as you scoop them out if you're like me, or discard them if you're a normal person. Slice the halves into thin crosswise slices (the "ears").

2. Mix together the vinaigrette ingredients with a fork.

3. Assemble the salad: toss together the cucumber, sprouts, mint, and dressing. Serve on a bed of bib lettuce. Enjoy!

Cooking with Dr. Mom: Wakame cucumber salad

Here's a simple and refreshing salad from my mom:

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Wakame is a type of seaweed that can be purchased chopped and dried in Asian grocery stores.  It resembles loose leaf green tea when dry and it increases by about 8-10 times its size after being soaked in water for 20 min.  Wakame has a very subtle flavour, slightly salty, that pairs very well with cucumber.
This salad could be turned into a vegan salad meal by adding cubed tofu and cooked, cooled transparent vermicelli noodles (mung bean noodles).

 

This is dried wakame seaweed. It can be found in many Asian grocery stores.

 Check out these before and after photos of soaking the wakame! After only 20 minutes, the wakame completely absorbs the water.

Recipe: Cucumber and wakame salad
1 large field cucumber, peeled, seeded, chopped
1 sweet red pepper, chopped
1/2 cup dried chopped wakame
Japanese style dressing
1/4 cup soya sauce
2 tbsp sugar
1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
2 tsp sesame oil
Toasted sesame seeds for garnish
Soak the dried wakame in 3 cups cold water for 20-30 minutes.  Drain the soaked wakame to remove any excess water.  Toss together the cucumbers, red pepper and wakame.
Mix together the dressing ingredients then pour over the cucumber mixture and toss. Allow to sit for 15-30 minutes before serving.  Garnish with toasted sesame seeds.
Serves 6 as a side dish.

 Enjoy!

Recipe: Russian beet salad

Nothing beats a beet! I love the sweet taste and most especially the bright purple colour of beets. This potato and beet salad recipe was taught to me by a Russian friend. My only changes are using apple cider vinegar instead of white vinegar and adding fresh mint. My friend told me that adding a handful of sweet peas is also a nice addition, but I haven't tried it myself. Unlike the heavy mayonaise-drenched salads featured at many a summer barbecue, this salad has a delightful mix of sweet and salty and won't spoil quickly in the sun. I love the contrasting colours of the red-purple beets and the green apples. I wonder what this would taste like with sweet potatoes.

Look at that beautiful colour!

Make sure to dice the onion nice and small.

Recipe: Russian beet salad
Serves: 6

Ingredients:
-3 medium-sized beets, in 3 cm cubes
-4 medium-sized potatoes, in 3 cm cubes
-1 green apple, in 2 cm cubes
-1/4 cup white or yellow onion, diced very finely
-1/4 cup sliced gherkin pickles
-1/4 cup olive oil
-1/4 cup white vinegar or apple cider vinegar
-salt and pepper to taste
-a handful of fresh mint (optional)

1. Boil the beets for approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until tender. Add the potatoes to the boiling water about 25 minutes after the beets have been added. The beets and potatoes should both be tender at about the same time because the beets take longer to cook.

2. While to potatoes and beets are boiling, prepare the apple, onion, and pickles.

3. Once the potatoes and beets are tender, drain them. Add all the ingredients except the optional mint into a bowl and mix them together. If you wish, mashing some of the potatoes a little bit with a fork may improve the texture of the salad. You might be worried that the onion will be too strong, but the hot beets and potatoes cook the onion a little when you mix everything together, so it ends up not being too strong.

4. Allow the salad to cool in the fridge. The salad is best if it's left overnight, but it should be good after cooling for at least an hour.

5. Before serving, optionally add some fresh mint.

Enjoy! It's even better a day or two later.

Guest recipe: Orange Mjadra with Mush-Lime© salad

My roommate Sam is a fantastic cook. He's Lebanese so his cooking is very Mediterranean, which I love. Many times I've eaten dinner only to have Sam come home and offer me a second dinner. Of course I don't refuse, and I end up feeling very full but very happy. I'm going to miss living with him when I move out in July, but I'm sure we'll have each other over for dinner on a regular basis. 

Below, Sam teaches us how to make two of his signature recipes: Orange Mjadra (lentil and rice stew) and Mush-Lime© salad (a Sam-original, although somehow I doubt he's taken out a copyright for it). Both are extremely delicious.  

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Greetings, salutations. Tonight, I had the most imponderable joy of sharing my dinner once again with my awesome roomie Shaun. The dish that I made is a Lebanese one, and is called ‘Orange Mjadra’. It is a very tasty meal that is often served with cabbage salad, but tonight I resorted to my famous Mush-Lime© salad because it’s simply the best. Sorry for mutilating your recipe, mum.

The recipe is quite simple and on the contrary to Mrs. Trunchball’s school ‘cookie’ in the movie Matilda, no blood or sweat were involved in the making of this meal.

Cut the onions lengthwise or dice them.

Make sure you check your lentils for stones. One way to do this is pour a bit at a time onto a dinner plate and spread them into one layer. Once any stones have been removed, pour the lentils off the plate and into a container. Pour new lentils onto the plate and continue the process until all the lentils have been checked.

Add the lentils and the rice into the caramelized onions. 

Mmmm! They might not be much to look at, but these lentils are delicious.

Nothing like a cool, refreshing salad to go with the hot lentils.

Lime juice makes the perfect salad dressing for this salad.

Ingredients:

Orange Mjadra for 4 people:

-1 big red onion

-1 cup of orange lentils

-½ a cup of rice

-4-5 cups of water

-6 tbsps of extra virgin olive oil

-Mediterranean sea salt

The Mush-Lime© salad:

-One head of Romaine lettuce

-One fat tomato

-One box of mushrooms

-Mint

-Pomegranate seeds

-Half a lime

-4 tbs olive oil

Orange Mjadra:

The main ingredients of today’s quick meal are gentle orange lentils, rice, and onions. 

We shall start by finely chopping dem onions to thin slices and sautéing them in the sultriest oil there is, the Virgin Olive oil. We will toss and flip and turn dem sexy onions until they are caramelized (oh boy do they smell heavenly – slightly sensual whispers with yer roomie are greatly encouraged during the onion-frying process). This is very important… It can greatly affect the final flavour of the meal... Um, I mean the caramelization state of the onions. 

Once cooked, we are going to add the gentle orange lentils to the onions and toss them a bit until well mixed. 

Next, we will add the rice and water as well as a pinch of salt. Reduce the heat to low and let the mixture simmer slowly until it becomes thick. 

Once the mixture has acquired enough thickness, add 2 tbsps of butter (or margarine for my vegans out there). Allow the butter to melt and infuse the dish with unequivocal richness.

Salad:

The Mush-Lime© salad is made by chopping romaine lettuce, tomatoes and mushrooms into a bowl.

Fresh mint leaves and pomegranate seeds are added (num num num num). 

Squeeze half a lime for the dressing… Limes, limes, limes… more limes, please. Finally, add some of that sultry olive oil and a pinch of salt.

Bon appetit!

Recipe review: Oh She Glows Thai-inspired Cucumber Salad

I'm really on an Oh She Glows kick lately! All of her recipes are so delicious. I just wanted to make a quick post to recommend her Thai-Inspired Hydrating Cucumber Salad with Roasted Spiced Chickpeas. I made it tonight ahead for a potluck party I'm going to tomorrow. I sampled some for dinner tonight, and I think it'll be a great crowd-pleaser. The only modification I made to the recipe is adding some unsweetened coconut flakes. It was a good idea and really adds something to the recipe, I found. 

Variations in Mint, Part 1: Mint, lentil, and quinoa salad

Today was the first day in Montreal that actually feels warm, and it was a beautiful thing after the unusually long winter we've had. It was the first day since last summer that the weather forecast included the UV index! The sun was out today, the birds were singing, and people were out and about in t-shirts. It's starting to feel like summer may even arrive one day. I was feeling in a summer mood, and nothing says summer like fresh herbs. I picked up a large bundle of mint at the grocery store early this afternoon and by the early evening I had already used it up. It went into two different recipes. The first was a mint, lentil, and quinoa salad, and the second (which will be described in the next post) was mint iced-tea. Both taste like the summer we're all yearning for in Montreal!

I made this mint, lentil, and quinoa salad this evening before I went for a run and I let it marinate while I was running. By the time I'd gotten back and had stretched, the flavours had all mixed and melded together quite well. I have no doubt that this salad will be even better tomorrow. Feel free to mix up the vegetables to your taste. I think it would be good with a diced yellow or orange bell pepper. It could even be good with chopped fruit mixed in, maybe orange or honeydew melon. I made this salad with a bulgar-quinoa mix that I found at my local grocery store, but it would be just as delicious with regular quinoa. All of the volumes are approximate and depend on your personal preferences.

This is the quinoa-bulgar mix I used and it turned out great. Feel free to substitute regular quinoa.

Here's to the summer -- I sure hope it comes quickly!


Recipe: Mint, lentil, and quinoa salad
3 meal-sized servings or 6 side dish servings

Ingredients:

Salad
-1 cup diced tomatoes
-1 cup diced cucumber
-1 cup chopped mint (loosely packed)
-1-1/2 cups cooked lentils (dried or canned)
-2 cups cooked quinoa or quinoa/barley mix

Dressing
-1/4 cup olive oil
-2 limes worth of lime juice
-1 tbs dijon mustard
-3 tbs white sugar
-1 small clove of garlic
-salt and pepper to taste

1. Mix together all the salad ingredients. You may wish to wait until the quinoa has cooled somewhat so that it doesn't wilt the mint.

2. Mix together the dressing ingredients, then dress the salad.

3. Enjoy as is, over a bed of lettuce, or with some crusty bread.