Category Archives: no cook dish

Fresh Sweet Corn Relish: a “no cooking needed” recipe!

picture of recipe ingredients — The ingredients, with option olive that I did not use for the market demo

In honor of the summery weather and full harvest time, I made a fresh corn relish highlighting a number of veggies along with, of course, fresh corn. It was a bit hit! And, for once, I made the recipe as written. Well, almost. <grin>

Quick, easy, tasty, it can be a side dish, a dip, a topping or garnish for fish, (salmon comes to my mind) pork, or whatever strikes your fancy. Here it is, with a few notes.

2 cups fresh corn kernels from the cob (I used 4 ears) *
1/2 cup finely diced red bell pepper
1/2 cup finely diced red onion
1/2 cup finely diced tomatoes
1/3 cup deseeded, deveined, finely diced jalapeno or other hot pepper.**
1/2 cup white vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil (or 1 tablespoon dried – use the olive oil if using dried basil)
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1-2 tablespoons olive oil (optional)
salt & pepper to taste

* Click HERE for a video showing how to get kernels off the cob without the mess!

**I used moon peppers, more commonly called Bishop’s crown peppers, from Flats Mentor Farm.

Toss together the corn kernels, finely diced red bell pepper, red onion, tomatoes, and hot pepper.

picture of fresh corn relish — Ready to eat!

Mix the vinegar, salt, pepper, and basil together in a separate bowl and then add to the veggies and toss to cover.

It is ready to eat, but you can also store, covered, in the fridge for up to 4-5 days or more, but keep an eye on the tomatoes!

Fun with Kale. Really! Secret Sauté Ingredient and a Quick “Massage”

ingredients in the saute — All the ingredients except the soy sauce!

I actually converted a few “I hate kale” folks and had a toddler coming back for 3rds! I based my sauté recipe on The Sauteed Kale Recipe that Converts Kale-Haters, which has butter or ghee as the cooking oil, along with shallots, soy sauce, and Dijon mustard as the secret ingredients for success.

Since I stay vegan for our demos and with no shallots available at the time, I had to make a few adjustments. Here is the recipe I used at the market. In contrast to the recipe I put on the bulletin board during the demo, I used a medium-largish onion, doubled the amounts of soy sauce and mustard, and cooked the onions slow and low for about 25 minutes so they just started to caramelize. I knew that doing this with the onions would give a bit of a creamy texture and sweetness that, while not a substitute for what butter can bring, brought a special something beyond just a quick cook of the onions in the olive oil.

2-3 Tbsp Olive oil
1 medium to large onion
1-2 large garlic clove, minced
2 tsp. tamari or soy sauce
1 tsp. Old School Kitchen’s Maple Bourbon Mustard *
1 bunch of kale, rinsed and chopped **
water as needed
salt and black pepper, to taste
* Use whatever mustard you like
**Don’t dry the kale; the water droplets will help it steam as cooking.

Remove leaves from stems and chop the kale into small pieces.

onions in pan — I used a whole onion. Why not?

Heat the oil or fat over medium heat in a saute pan with high sides or a dutch oven.

Add the onion, lower heat, and cook slow and low for at least 20 minutes to bring out sweetness – longer if you have time to caramelize them a bit more. Bring the heat up and add the garlic, cooking briefly until fragrant, about a minute.

Add the chopped kale and stir to coat in the oil. Add the tamari or soy sauce and mustard, and stir again.

Sauté, stirring frequently, until the kale is tender, about 8-10 minutes or to how you like it. If the kale starts to stick to the pan, add a couple tablespoons of water. This will help soften the kale, and the water will cook off.

Season with salt and pepper before serving and enjoy…But wait, what was that about a massage?

To season and soften kale without cooking, simply remove the leaves from the stems and chop the leaves, add a bit of olive oil, salt (I used and would recommend kosher salt if you have it) and a squeeze of lemon juice. Then rub or “massage” with your fingers for a few minutes or more. You can use it alone as a salad green (ooo, I can taste this with walnuts and apples!) or in a salad mix, add to a stir fry, or use the rubbed leaves to make kale chips!

Watermelon, Peach, and Tomato Salad: Delectably Refreshing

When Farmer Jane of Farmer Dave’s said that they would have a lot of watermelon, peaches, and tomatoes, I typed those words into a search engine and voila! I discovered that Watermelon, Peach, and Tomato Salad is a “thing.” That was easy! I made a few changes from the original recipe created by Anne Byrn for The Old Mill to keep things dairy and nut-free, and left out fresh basil and mint since none of the former was available and not much of the latter. But truly, the produce shines on its own. Just add or adjust ingredients to suit your taste.

Here are the ingredients from the original recipe with my changed noted in parentheses:

6 cups seedless watermelon chunks, cut into 1-inch chunks
4 cups good, ripe heirloom tomatoes, cut into 1-inch chunks
1/2 to 1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups sliced, peeled ripe peaches
6 cups fresh arugula or your favorite salad greens (I used a bunch chopped small for sample servings)
4 tablespoons olive oil (I used 2 T)
1 1/2 tablespoons white or red wine vinegar (I used 1 T)
3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint or basil, or a combination (if desired)
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese (if desired)
2 tablespoons toasted sliced almonds (if desired or use other toppings)

bowls of watermelon and tomato, salted. — Salted and sitting for 1/2 an hour.

Place the watermelon and tomatoes in a mixing bowl and season with salt. Toss to coat, and let the fruit sit for 30 minutes. Drain well.
Fold the peaches into the watermelon and tomato mixture. To serve, spoon the fruit on top of the salad greens. Drizzle with oil and vinegar. Garnish the top with chopped fresh herbs, feta cheese, and toasted almonds. NOTE: I drained again after adding the peaches, and at least once more time during the demo. Note to self – save the liquid. It will make great base for a mixed drink!

Here are some handy notes excerpted from/based on those in the original recipe:

Use fresh, ripe fruits of any color and sprinkle the watermelon and tomatoes with a little kosher salt ahead of time. It not only draws out the moisture, but it intensifies the flavor of the fruit.
Prepare ingredients separately. Once you are ready to serve, pile the watermelon, peaches, and tomatoes on top of your favorite lettuce, sprinkle with the oil, vinegar and fresh herbs, and then garnish with the feta and almonds, if using the latter two.
Don’t have feta? Use cubes of fresh mozzarella. Or use toasted pecans instead of the almonds. And if you don’t have basil or mint, use what you have – chives, dill, or parsley. There could not be a more adaptable, stunning, and easy-to-fix salad that salutes the end of summer in a big way.

This really is a lovely recipe as written or as a basis for your own ideas or available ingredients. The stars of the recipe should be available from our farmers for at least a few more weeks, so keep this one in mind to enjoy it with the freshest of fruits and greens.

Keeping Things Cool: Cucumber Blueberry Salad. And Quick Pickles!

How hot was it? We don’t need to relive that. 🙂 But, cucumbers worked well as the star ingredient of the WFM cooking demo on July 20! And, since all our produce farmers had plenty of cukes and/or blueberries for sale, a cucumber and blueberry salad seems a good choice. Plus, I brought back the Quick and Simple Pickles recipe from last August with just a minor twist, using maple syrup from our own Ackermann’s Maple Farm as the sweetener.

First, click HERE for the link to the Quick Pickles recipe. I followed it as is except I used a scant tablespoon of maple syrup instead or the two tablespoons of honey I used last summer. The original recipe calls for up to two tablespoons of sugar, buts notes the sweetener as optional. Oh, I used pickling cukes. I tried a bite and found the peel to be bitter. It would not matter when using a heat pickling technique, but I opted to peel them for this recipe.

Now, on to the salad! So easy! I used regular cucumbers and followed this recipe except for changes noted:

Cucumber Blueberry Salad
1 cucumber (10 inches long and 2.5″ diameter or so)
2 cups (1 pint) fresh blueberries
2 tablespoons thinly sliced scallions
2 tablespoons olive oil
1+ tablespoon lime juice (I used freshly squeezed lemon juice)
1+ tablespoon rice vinegar (or type of your choice)
½ cup coarsely chopped cilantro or parsley leaves, loosely packed (I used parsley)
¼ teaspoon salt
1⁄8 teaspoon black pepper
½ cup (2 ounces) crumbled feta cheese, optional (No feta used but a great addition!)

Of course, adjust all seasonings/ingredients to taste!

Peel cucumbers if/as desired. With a sharp knife, cut the cucumber in half lengthwise. With the tip of a spoon, scrape out the seeds
Cut into thin slices. In a large bowl, toss cucumber, blueberries, scallions and. In a small bowl, whisk the olive oil, lime (or lemon) juice, parsley or cilantro , salt and pepper. Pour over the cucumber mixture and toss to combine.
Sprinkle with feta cheese, if desired (you could use a stronger vinegar if using feta). As I always say, use all recipes as a guideline. What tastes best to YOU is what matters. That and supporting our farmers and vendors, of course. Enjoy!

Raw Beet Salad is Just a Few Grates Away

Well, you can of course use the grating attachment with your food processor, but nothing can beat the utter simplicity of a grater, a knife, beets and a few good condiments and seasonings.

Here is the link to the recipe I used:

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/7289-raw-beet-salad

And, here it is written out:

1 pound beets
1 large shallot *
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard, or to taste *
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar or other good strong vinegar *
Minced parsley, dill, chervil, rosemary or tarragon *

* There were no shallots, so i substituted a comparable amount of scallions from Flats Mentor Farms, using mostly the white bulb and just a bit of the green. In lieu of Dijon, I opted for the Old School Kitchen Maple Bourbon Mustard from Jane of West River Creamery. I used a nice red wine vinegar that paired nicely with the beets, and I used fresh oregano from Fay Mountain Farm for the herb. the beautiful Golden Beets were from Farmer Dave’s.

Peel the beets and the shallot. Combine them in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade, and pulse carefully until the beets are shredded; do not puree. (Or grate the beets by hand and mince the shallots; combine, [as i did].) Scrape into a bowl.
Toss with the salt, pepper, mustard, oil and vinegar. Taste, and adjust seasoning. Toss in the herbs, and serve.

This is a quick, easy, and versatile salad, perfect for a hot summer day. Read the notes below the recipe on the NYtimes site for a number of ideas as to how you can jazz this one up. Enjoy!

And, a thank you to the woman who helped me determine the final adjustments of the seasonings!

Wakefield Farmers Market Recipes

Recipes from our Market Kitchen Tent and More!