After four months of excellent produce...

we are temporarily suspending our CSA subscription. We enjoyed experimenting with the MA`O produce, and we were proud to support the farm and the youth leadership program. We will most definitely be buying individual MA`O products when and where we can (like at KCC or at Whole Foods). We just need to cut back on our household spending for a little while. We will re-up with MA`O as soon as possible!

In the meantime, each week we will now post about the "Weekly Weird Thing"-- one fruit or vegetable that we will pick up at the Chinatown markets, farmers markets, or Whole Foods. We will first identify what the thing is then experiment with how to prepare it. Stay tuned!

But as a temporary good-bye and thank you to MA`O, we are posting a top ten countdown of our favorite recipes made with MA`O Farms produce! Happy eating!

10. Queen Surf Banana Bread: http://greenivoroushawaii.blogspot.com/2011/04/queen-surf-banana-bread.html

9. Fennel and Orange Salad: http://greenivoroushawaii.blogspot.com/2011/04/fennel-and-orange-salad.html

8. Curly Endive Salad with Blueberries, Toasted Hazelnut, and Shaved Parmesan Cheese: http://greenivoroushawaii.blogspot.com/2011/04/curly-endive-salad-with-blueberries.html

7. Baby Bok Choy Pesto and Grilled Salmon: http://greenivoroushawaii.blogspot.com/2011/03/baby-bok-choy-pesto-and-grilled-salmon.html

6. Massaged Kale Salad: http://greenivoroushawaii.blogspot.com/2011/03/massaged-kale-salad.html

5. The Green Goddess! http://greenivoroushawaii.blogspot.com/2011/04/green-goddess.html

4. Salad of Castelfranco, hazelnuts, and oranges in a pink papaya seed dressing: http://greenivoroushawaii.blogspot.com/2011/04/salad-of-castelfranco-hazelnuts-and.html

3. Baked Coconut Curry Chicken with Hakurei Turnips: http://greenivoroushawaii.blogspot.com/2011/04/baked-coconut-curry-chicken.html

2. Alton Brown's Parsley Salad: http://greenivoroushawaii.blogspot.com/2011/05/alton-browns-parsley-salad.html

And our favorite MA`O produce recipe of all time....

1. Lemon Basil Fruit Salad: http://greenivoroushawaii.blogspot.com/2011/05/lemon-basil-fruit-salad.html

Thank you, MA`O Farms! See you again real soon!

Hot Kale Dip

This recipe is adapted from Martha Stewart's Hot Spinach Dip. It uses baby lacinato kale (AKA dinosaur kale or tuscan kale) in place of the spinach. Where possible, I stripped the middle rib from the kale leaves.

Ingredients:

2 tsp olive oil, plus more for baking dish

1 medium onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 lbs lacinato kale, cleaned, trimmed, and coarsely chopped (Adrienne's note: Boil this kale for 10 minutes, drain, squeeze out excess water)

1/2 cup milk

6 oz reduced-fat bar cream cheese

3 dashes Worcestershire sauce

3 dashes hot sauce, such as Tabasco

3/4 cup shredded mozzarella

Coarse salt and ground pepper

Baguette slices, breadsticks, or crackers, for serving

Directions: [Adrienne's adaptation]

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

2. In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium. Add onion and garlic and cook until lightly browned, about 5-8 minutes. Add kale and mix well with the rest of the garlic and onion, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a separate dish.

3. In the same saucepan, warm milk over [medium-]high heat. Whisk in cream cheese until melted, about 3 minutes. Add in spinach, garlic, onion, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, and 1/4 cup mozzarella; stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Pour into a lighly oiled loaf pan. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella.

4. Bake until bubbly and golden brown, 20-25 minutes. Serve hot with accompaniments, as desired.

Colcannon

Colcannon is a traditional Irish dish. It's a combination of mashed potatos and creamed kale. This recipe comes from the website irelandnow.com. I used the third recipe variation from that webpage, which reads:

Yield: 4 servings. 2 1/2 lbs potatotes (cooked and mashed); 1 c cooked kale (finely chopped); 1 c hot milk (Adrienne's note: I used half and half); 4 chopped scallions (optional); butter. Strip the heads of kale away from the stems and shred them finely. Kale is a tough vegetable which needs to cook for 10-20 minutes depending on its age. Cook as you would any green vegetable in furiously boiling salted water until it is just tender. (Some people add 1/2 tsp baking soda to the water to help keep the kale at its brightest green). Strain it and refresh it with cold water. Drain it thoroughly and squeeze out any excess water. Put the kale in a food processor with the hot milk then blend them into a green soup then mix with the mashed potatoes. Reheat it in the oven until it is very hot.

Street Tacos with Restaurant-Style Salsa

This is "Sarah's Salsa Recipe" for Restaurant-Style Salsa:

Throw the following ingredients into a blender or food processor and blend until the salsa is of the consistency that you like (I like it in tiny, tiny bits):

2 (14.5 ounce) cans of diced tomatoes

1 1/2 (10 ounce) cans of diced tomatoes with green chili peppers

2 tbsp lemon juice (Adrienne's note: I used lime juice)

1 fresh jalapeno chopped (Adrienne's note: The salsa is VERY spicy if you leave in the jalapeno seeds)

1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 large yellow onion, chopped

3 drops hot pepper sauce

1 clove garlic, minced

Street Taco Recipe:

The key to authentic tasting Street Tacos is the tortilla. Mercado de la Raza sells 5 dozen fresh corn tortillas for $5.50. They're located at 1315 South Beretania Street. Take two of these tortilla shells, warm them with a little bit of oil in a saucepan, then fill with your favorite meats and toppings. We filled ours with lime-marinated flank steak, sour cream, cilantro, and the restaurant-style salsa.

The recipe for flank steak appeared in an earlier blog post, here: http://greenivoroushawaii.blogspot.com/2011/03/lime-marinated-steak.html.

You could also make a nice guacamole for your tacos. The recipe for guacamole appeared in an earlier blog post, here:

http://greenivoroushawaii.blogspot.com/2011/02/guacamole.html

Honey Tangerine Vinaigrette

This recipe comes from the blog entitled A Hint of Honey.

Whisk the following ingredients together for this simple vinaigrette that, surprisingly, does not have any oil in it:

1/4 cup freshly squeezed tangerine juice

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

2 tsp honey

1/8 tsp freshly ground pepper

Spicy Hoisin Glazed Eggplant

This is a Bobby Flay recipe. The glaze is rich and spicy!

Ingredients:

1 tbsp canola oil

1-inch piece fresh ginger, roughly chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 tsp red chili flakes

1/2 cup hoisin sauce

1 tbsp rice wine vinegar

1 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce

1 medium eggplant, ends trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch thick slices, lengthwise

6 tbsp olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tbsp freshly chopped cilantro leaves

Directions:

Heat the oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the ginger, garlic, and red chili flakes and cook until soft, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the hoisin, vinegar, and soy sauce until combined and then strain, reserving the sauce.

Heat grill to high. (Adrienne's note: We use a George Foreman grill).

Brush eggplant slices on both sides with the oil and season with salt and pepper. Place slices on the grill and grill until golden brown and slightly charred, about 4-5 minutes. Brush with some of the glaze, turn over and continue grilling just until cooked through, brushing with more of the glaze, 3-4 minutes longer. Remove from the grill and brush with the remaining glaze. Transfer to a platter and sprinkle with the cilantro.

Taro Chips, Two Ways

I was stoked this week to receive a taro root in the MA`O Farms CSA box. I had never worked with taro root before. I was hoping that there wouldn't be a calcium oxalate problem with the root, and there was none. I peeled the brown skin off of the root, cut off the ends to expose the off-white flesh of the root, and sliced the root into quarter-inch wedges. Half of the wedges were deep fried over medium-high heat in canola oil until golden brown (top right). Those were DELICIOUS! The remaining wedges were coated lightly with olive oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper, then oven-baked at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes (flipped halfway through). Those were also delicious, but they were denser and starchier than the fried version. I liked both equally!

Beet Chips, Take Three!

As you may know, I have been trying to make a good baked beet chip. For attempt #1, my beet chips were not greased up enough and stuck to the pan. For attempt #2, my beet chips were greased up too much and were limp and oily. For attempt #3 (this week's attempt, left), I just Pam-sprayed the pan and Pam-sprayed the beets and baked them at a higher temperature (400 degrees) for 20 minutes. This worked well, as the beets were neither too dry nor too oily, and some of them even had a chip-like crunch. But they weren't that great! Maybe beet chips and me are not meant to be. Then again, I wondered if the only way to make an acceptable chip-like beet would be to deep-fry it. I tried that (results top right), but those weren't that great either. Willie reminded me that not all products of the natural world were meant to be manipulated by humans into crunchy snacks. After four tries at making beet chips, I agree.

Lemon Basil Fruit Salad

Lemon basil is my new crack! I had never had this herb before this week. It's outstanding! Simply chiffonade a bunch of leaves and sprinkle over fruit salad. The basil confetti leaves a pleasant, lemony, fresh taste all over your palate. Willie thought the chiffonade strips would also taste great over vanilla ice cream.

Lemon Balm Tea

The lemon balm herb looks (and grows wild) like mint, but it smells like lemon! To prep the leaves to make tea, wash them well, dry them well, then place them flat in a single layer on a cookie sheet. To oven- dry the leaves to make tea, heat your oven to 200 degrees for 20 minutes, then turn it off. Place the leaves on the cookie sheet in the oven overnight. To make the tea, boil some water, let it cool off just a little, and pour it into a tea pot over as many dried leaves as you like (I used about a dozen in my little tea pot). Let steep for about ten minutes, then serve however you like (with honey, sugar, lemon, etc.) I made Willie try some. He liked it. He had a little bit of insomnia last night, and now he's laid out on the couch, knocked out.

Pork Lumpia with Shaved, Roasted Hakurei Turnips

This is another Adrienne experiment, since we had leftover ground pork and lumpia wrappers and some hakurei that were staring us in the face.

Ingredients:

1 cup ground pork

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 inch nub of ginger, peeled and minced

1 small onion, diced

3 tbsp hoysin sauce

1 bunch hakurei turnips, grated

12 Thai basil leaves

6 lumpia wrappers

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

When oven is ready, place grated hakurei turnips onto a foil-lined cookie sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper and spread into an even layer. Cook for 20-25 minutes, stirring every five minutes. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

In a medium saucepan, pour in 1 tbsp vegetable oil. Saute ginger and garlic until fragrant, about 2-3 minutes. Add in onion and saute for about 5 minutes. Add in pork and cook through, about 5-10 minutes. I used a potato masher to even out the pork chunks. Add in 3 tbsp of hoysin sauce and stir to coat the pork completely. Stir in Thai basil leaves and roasted hakurei at the end.

Let pork mixture cool a little.

Place 2-3 tbsp of the cooled pork mixture into a lumpia wrapper (towards the bottom quadrant). Roll lumpia wrapper up like a little burrito. Place rolled up lumpia onto a foil-lined cookie sheet. Pam spray the lumpia on both sides. Cook for 10 minutes on one side, then a little less on the other side (~7 minutes or so). Serve with your favorite dipping sauce. Willie and I are using up our Jack in the Box Sweet and Sour sauces (this is class you can't BUY!)

Kale Salad with Baked Beets, Walnuts, and Creamy Goat Cheese (and Steak!)

This is a hearty, earthy, winter-y salad! It comes from the foodvergnuegen blog. I added leftover flank steak to it. The dressing is garlicky good!

Ingredients:

1 bunch curly k ale (about 6 leaves), stalks removed and torn into pieces

4 small beets, roasted or steamed, peeled and cut into wedges

8 walnut halves, toasted and broken into bits

1-2 oz creamy goat's cheese, cut into bite-sized pieces

handful of assorted sprouts, rinsed (Adrienne's note: Me no likey sprouts. Omit!)

For the dressing:

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 small garlic clove, pressed

1/2 tsp good mustard

1/2 tsp salt

fresh pepper

Directions:

Put all dressing ingredients into a jar with a lid. Close and shake well. Pour over kale, toss, cover, and marinate at room temperature for an hour or longer in the fridge. When you are ready to serve, add beets, sprouts, nuts, and cheese. Enjoy!

Dandelion Leaf Pesto

This is my first time cooking with dandelion greens. I didn't know they were edible! Here's a great recipe for pesto made from this bitter green from David Lebovitz.

Ingredients:

12 oz washed and cleaned dandelion leaves

1 cup olive oil

4 cloves garlic, peeled

6 tbsp pine nuts, lightly toasted

1 1/2 tsp sea salt

2 1/2 oz Parmesan or Romano cheese, grated.

Directions:

(Adrienne's note: Lebovitz adds his ingredients in stages. I just threw all of the ingredients and half of the olive oil in the food processor and pulsed, streaming in as much of the remaining olive oil as was necessary).

Golden Beet Soup

This recipe comes from epicurious.

Ingredients:

6 tbsp pareve margarine (Adrienne's note: I just used butter)

9 2 1/2-inch diameter golden beets, peeled, cut into half-inch cubes (8-9 cups), green tops reserved (Adrienne's note: my beets didn't come with green tops this week)

4 1/2 cups chopped onions

4 tsp minced, peeled fresh garlic

1 tbsp finely grated lemon peel

6 cups (or more) low salt chicken broth

2-3 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Directions:

Melt margarine in a large pot over medium heat. Add beets, onion, ginger, and lemon peel. Cover, cook 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. (Adrienne's note: Since I already had diced roasted yellow beets, I just cooked the onion, ginger, and lemon peel and added the roasted beets in towards the end). Add six cups broth and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer, until beets are very tender, about 1 hour. (Adrienne's note: Because my beets were already cooked, I zoomed through these steps, maybe cooking all of the ingredients for a total of 15 minutes instead of an hour). Remove from heat; let stand 20 minutes.

Puree soup in blender in batches until smooth. Add 2 tbsp lemon juice to soup until smooth and thin with more broth if desired. Season with salt, pepper, and more lemon juice.

[Adrienne's note: I omitted here the additional instructions about pureeing beet greens to drizzle over the top of the soup.]

Adrienne's note: This is a good puree but kind of a boring soup. I think it might need cream or something else in it to give it a richer and silkier consistency. Without that, it's kind of like eating hot and chunky beet baby food.

Alton Brown's Parsley Salad

You won't believe how good this simple salad tastes! Alton Brown is the man! Here's his recipe.

Ingredients:

4 oz (about 2 quarts) parsley leaves

2 tbsp fresh lemon zest

2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

6 tbsp walnut oil (Adrienne's note: This stuff is expensive, so I just diced and toasted some walnuts and infused some olive oil with them)

2 tsp dark sesame oil

1 tsp honey

salt and pepper to taste

3 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Directions:

Wash and dry the parsley. Pick the leaves and set aside. Discard the stems.

In a large bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, zest, walnut oil, sesame oil, honey, and salt and pepper to taste. Add the parsley and sesame seeds and toss to combine. Allow the salad to sit for at least 30 minutes before serving so that the flavors meld.

Egg White Kale and Bacon Frittata

I made ice cream with six egg yolks, so I had 6 egg whites left over. What to do??? Egg white frittata!! This recipe is adapted from Giada de Laurentiis's egg white frittata with lox and arugula, found here.

Ingredients:

6 egg whites at room temperature (Adrienne's note: Giada uses 8)

1/2 cup heavy cream (Adrienne's note: This ain't no light eggwhite frittata)

1 lemon, zested

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

2 tbsp olive oil (Adrienne's note: I used bacon grease instead)

2 packed cups chiffonaded curly kale (Adrienne's note: Giada uses arugula)

1 clove garlic, minced

4 bacon slices, cut into 1-inch pieces (Adrienne's note: This is my addition to the recipe, in lieu of lox as the protein)

1 onion, diced (Adrienne's note: This is my addition to the recipe)

Directions: (Adrienne's note: This is where what I did diverged a little from what Giada did)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cook bacon and remove from pan. Pour out excess bacon fat so only 2 tbsps remain in the pan. In the remaining bacon fat, saute garlic and onion. Add in the kale and saute until wilted, about 5-10 minutes. Put the bacon back into the pan.

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggwhites, lemon zest, salt, pepper and the cream. Pour this egg mixture into the pan. Stir to evenly distribute the ingredients, then let the mixture cook undisturbed for 4 minutes. If it's possible, flip the frittata at this point. If no can, no can.

Transfer the saute pan to the oven to bake 10-12 minutes until set.

When you remove the frittata from the oven, it should slide easily off of the pan because of all of the bacon grease. Slice into squares or wedges and serve.

Shaved, Roasted Hakurei Turnips and Hakurei Turnip-Potato Latkes

Ack! I can't find the link to the recipe for shaved, roasted hakurei turnips. I'll try to do this by memory. First, grate the hakurei turnip, then squeeze the water out of it. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F (I think). On a foil-lined cookie sheet, spread out the grated turnip, add some olive oil and salt and pepper (just enough to coat it and season it), toss, then spread out in a single layer. Roast for 20 minutes, pulling out and stirring every five minutes. The result is the shaved, roasted, hakurei turnip (photo, top right). It has a nice, nutty flavor. I bet if you let it go for another 5 to 10 minutes, it would be even better-- more golden brown and nutty in flavor. The shaved turnips really reduce in volume, too.

To go a step further with the recipe, you can make hakurei turnip-potato latkes (photo, top left). Add the shaved, roasted turnips to 1 raw skinned and grated potato, 1 egg, and salt and pepper. Mix these ingredients and form into patties about 2-3 inches in diameter. Pan fry in 1 tbsp of butter and 1 tbsp of olive oil. Serve with sour cream. (This one is my creation).

Beet and Goat Cheese Salad with Pistachios

This recipe comes from Familyoven.com. We got some huge roasting roots this week, and I wanted to show off their colors! Recipe here: http://www.familyoven.com/recipe/beet-and-goat-cheese-salad-with-pistachios/54321.

Ingredients:

3 large red beets (1 2/3 lb without greens)

2 large golden beets (1 lb without greens)

1/4 cup minced shallot

2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

3/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 cup pistachio oil (Adrienne's note: I used olive oil)

4 oz pistachios (Adrienne's note: I used walnuts)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Separately wrap red and golden beets tightly in double layers of foil and roast in middle of oven until tender, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Unwrap beets.

While beets are cooling slightly, whisk together shallot, lemon juice, salt, and pepper in a small bowl, then add oil in a stream, whisking.

When beets are cool enough to handle, slip off and discard skins. Separately cut red and golden beets into 1/4-inch dice and put in separate bowls. Add 2 1/2 tbsp dressing to each bowl and toss to coat.

Place cookie cutter in center of 1 of 8 salad plates. Put one-eighth of red beets in cutter and pack down with your fingertips. Crumble 2 tsp goat cheese on top, then one-eighth of golden beets, packing them down. Gently lift cutter up and away from stack. Make 7 more servings in same manner. Drizzle each plate with 1 tsp dressing and scatter with some pistachios.

Toss mache with just enough remaining dressing to coat and gently mound on top of beets. Serve immediately. (Adrienne's note: In place of the mache, I used MA`O's Sassy! salad mix)

Cook's notes:

Beets can be roasted and diced 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Bring to room temperature before using.

Molded beet salad (without mache) can be assembled 45 minutes ahead and kept, covered, at cool room temperature.

Roasted Eggplant Hummus

There is hummus among us! This recipe comes from Lillian Russo at Just A Pinch Recipe Club.

Ingredients:

1 lg eggplant

1 lg bulb of garlic

1-15 oz can garbanzo beans- drained and rinsed

1/3 cup flat leaf parsley

3 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice

1/3 cup olive oil, extra virgin

1/4 cup olive oil, extra virgin, for roasting the eggplant and garlic

1 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

2. Cut the eggplant into about 2 inch pieces. Cut the top portion of a garlic clove so that the garlic is exposed but be careful not to cut the garlic loose just yet. Put the garlic bulb on the cookie sheet and then spread the eggplant on the sheet making sure they are all separated, and then lightly drizzle the olive oil over the eggplant and garlic. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Then toss to make sure the eggplant and garlic bulb is coated with the salt and pepper.

3. Place in a 450 degrees F oven and roast for 25 minutes and when done let cool, approximately 15 minutes.

4. In the meantime place the rinsed garbanzo beans, parsley, lemon juice, salt and pepper (to taste) in food processor and quickly pulse just to incorporate the ingredients. Taste and adjust seasoning.

5. Next add the roasted eggplant and squeeze the roasted garlic out of the bulb (yum, yum) and turn the food processor on and stream in the olive oil until the ingredients resemble[] a spread.

6. Place in a serving bowl and serve with pita chips or crackers.

Lemon Balm Ice Cream

Lemon Balm looked like mint but smelled like lemon! The herb has been traditionally used to alleviate insomnia and depression. Guess what also does that-- ICE CREAM! It was time to bust out the Cuisinart Ice Cream Machine that Willie and I received from the Rainbow Coalition! Woo!

This recipe comes from the Hungry Oyster blog. I had to do a little reading and re-reading of this recipe, because parts of its were confusing for me, so I am annotating it below as I understood it (I might be wrong).

Ingredients:

2 cups fresh lemon balm leaves, rinsed and dried

1 1/2 cups whole milk

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

3/4 cups sugar

6 large egg yolks

pinch of salt

Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan, warm the lemon balm leaves with the milk, half a cup of the cream, and the sugar.

2. Once warm, remove from heat, cover, and let steep for one hour.

3. To make the ice cream custard, pour the remaining cream into a large bowl set in a larger bowl of ice water, and put a mesh strainer on top.

4. Use a strainer or slotted spoon to skim the lemon balm from the milk and squeeze the leaves to extract as much liquid as possible back into the saucepan, then discard them. Rewarm the lemon verbena custard. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs together and slowly pour in the warm infusion, whisking constantly. (Adrienne's note: tempering the eggs, no?)

5. Scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan and cook, stirring continuously with a heatproof spatula or wooden spoon. Keep your eye on it so it doesn't curdle. When it's ready, you should be able to drag your finger across the back of the spoon and see a clear line.

6. Immediately strain the custard into the bowl of cream. Stir until cool.

7. Chill thoroughly, then freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. Enjoy!

Chicken Mangalorean

This recipe is a keeper! It's very spicy. This is the first time I have attempted to use whole spices in an Indian curry. You just have to remember to pick them out at the end (especially the cinnamon stick cardamom pods and whole cloves) so that no one chips a tooth!

This recipe comes from Food Network.

Ingredients:

2 cloves of garlic

1 (1 1/2 inch) piece ginger root

2 1/2 tsp oil, divided

2 onions, finely diced

2 tomatoes chopped

1 (4-inch) cinnamon stick broken in half

6 cardamom pods

10 whole cloves

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 1/2 tsp salt

2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into 2 inch pieces

1/2 (13.5 ounce) can coconut milk

1/2 cup water

1 tsp black mustard seeds

4 to 5 dried red chiles (I substituted 1 tsp of chili pepper flakes for each dried red chile)

15-20 curry leaves

Directions
Combine the garlic and ginger with about 1 tbsp of water in a small food processor and process to a paste. Set aside.

Heat 1 tsp oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onions, tomatoes, garlic and ginger paste, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, cumin, coriander, turmeric and salt. Cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the chicken and stir. Cook 15 minutes uncovered, stirring occasionally. Cover and cook 5 minutes. Add the coconut milk and water. Cover and cook 10 minutes (Adrienne's note: For this 10-minute period, I would turn the heat down to low, because the coconut milk and the tomatoes and spices created a really nice creamy pink sauce initially that I would like to keep. Cooking during this 10-minute period on medium-high heat broke the sauce and resulted in more of an oily and spicy-- but good-- sauce.)

Meanwhile, heat the remaining 1 1/2 tsp oil in a skillet over high heat until very hot. Add the mustard seeds (be careful- they 'll pop out of the skiller), chiles, and curry leaves. The oil should be hot enough so the curry leaves crackle and turn black right away. The chiles should also turn black. Cook no more than 3 minutes. Pour this mixture into the chicken. Simmer 5 minutes longer and serve.

Beet-Blueberry Smoothie

This recipe is adapted from one I read in the 6/6/11 issue of First magazine. All of the following ingredients are blended together:

1 1/2 cups raspberries (I used blueberries)

1/2 cup canned beets (I used my leftover roasted long beets)

1/2 cup beet juice (I couldn't find this, so I used 1 1/2 cups pomegranate juice. More juice was necessary so that the smoothie wouldn't be too thick)

1 1/2 cups vanilla yogurt (I only had one cup)

sweeten with honey

I prefer my smoothies on the loose side. You can still taste the rich earthiness of the beets amongst the sweetness of the berries.

Baked Apple Banana Lumpia

When your apple bananas are starting to get almost overripe, you can bake them into lumpia. For this recipe, I simply placed a whole apple banana onto a lumpia wrapper, sprinkled it with cinnamon-sugar, rolled up the lumpia (didn't seal it with egg wash or anything like that), and baked in the oven for 20 minutes (turning over halfway through bake time).

"Popcorn" Kale

For a bowlful of light, airy, crispy kale leaves, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Chiffonade the kale. Lay the kale out onto a foil-lined cookie sheet, spray it lightly with Pam, sprinkle salt all over, toss with hands, then bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Very EASY!

Coconut Taro Leaf Soup

This is a Fijian recipe from fijitaro.com.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp oil

2 onions, chopped

3 cloves crushed garlic

4 cups taro leaves

salt to taste

2 cups coconut cream

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 tbsp chopped fresh basil, parsley, or cilantro

4 cups chicken or vegetable stock or broth

1/4 tsp crushed chili or chili sauce

Directions:

Clean and chop the taro leaves (pull the stalk out of the leaves and try to remove the central thick veins, then pinch off the tip of the leaf before chopping). (Adrienne's note: your hands might become very itchy doing this. I learned that there are calcium oxalate crystals in the raw taro leaves that act like little daggers entering your skin). In a heavy saucepan, cook onions and garlic in oil until very soft. Add all remaining ingredients except a cup of coconut cream, and cook for 30 minutes. (Adrienne's note: let it go for at least an hour to cook off the calcium oxalate crystals, or those same crystals might make your mouth and throat itchy when you eat the soup). Puree in batches in a food processor blender until smooth. Reheat before serving. Add a swirl of the reserved coconut cream to each bowl of soup. (Small cooked shrimp can be added if desired). (Flame Tree Cookbook by Sue Carruthers)

Potato-Leek Latkes

This is a GREAT recipe from a blog called Marcia's Kitchen. Willie and I had these for breakfast. They're great with a dollop of sour cream or with apple sauce.

Ingredients:

3 large russet potatoes, scrubbed, peeled, and shredded

2 leeks, white and light green parts only, trimmed, cleaned, and sliced very thin

1 egg

1 tbsp Kosher salt

fresh ground black pepper

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tbsp butter

Directions:

Squeeze all the water out of the shredded potatoes before combining them in a large bowl with everything but the butter and oil. Heat a griddle and add enough butter and oil to coat the pan to a medium high heat. Working in batches, place small portions, about 2 tbsps of the potato mix onto the hot griddle. Flatten the pancake with the back of a spatula. Repeat. Add more butter/oil as needed. Cook for a couple of minutes then lower the heat and cook another minute or so before flipping. Increase the heat and cook for a few more minutes until golden brown. To serve, add a little finishing salt and a grinding of pepper-- then place a dollop of sour cream on top of each pancake....