After an uncommonly cool spring, it is suddenly blazing hot here in southwestern Ontario. So this means that salads are in order, both to cool and refresh the palate and to avoid hovering over a hot stove for lengthy periods of time. This sudden heat wave also happens to coincide with the beginning of asparagus season here, and that happens to be my husband's favorite vegetable.
Asparagus is delicious on its own with just a little lemon juice and salt, of course, but it also pairs wonderfully with simple flavors as a backdrop — think potatoes, for example. For this salad, tender cannellini beans serve as the backdrop to a serving of lightly steamed crunchy asparagus tossed in a lively and creamy lemon, tarragon and grainy mustard dressing. And mushrooms are my weakness, so I added them into the mix. It all comes together for a simple but elegant and satisfying summer meal, served up with some crusty bread.
Cannellini Bean and Asparagus Salad with Mushrooms
handful of dried curry leaves, crumbled (or 1 bay leaf)
1 lb (1 bunch or 450 g) asparagus
2 teaspoons olive oil
8 large white mushrooms, sliced
Dressing:
1/4 cup fresh tarragon
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 clove garlic, minced or crushed
juice from 1 lemon (3 tablespoons)
1/2 cup olive oil
1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon or grain mustard, to taste
1 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
fresh cracked black pepper to taste
Instructions:
Rinse the cannellini beans and soak for 8 hours or overnight in several inches of water. Drain and rinse, then transfer to a medium saucepan and cover with fresh water. Add the curry leaves or bay leaf and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 1 hour or until the beans are tender but not falling apart. Drain and transfer to a large salad bowl.
Meanwhile, snap the woody ends off of the asparagus spears and steam the spears for 6 minutes or until just tender but still retaining their crunch. Transfer to the salad bowl.
Now cook the mushrooms. Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat. As soon as the oil is hot, drop in the mushrooms and cook, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes or until the mushrooms begin to brown and lose some of their liquid. Transfer to the bowl with the asparagus.
To make the dressing, combine the tarragon, lemon zest, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and mustard in a small food processor or blender. Process until smooth.
Pour the dressing over the salad, season with salt and pepper, and toss. Serve at room temperature or chilled.
Makes 4 to 6 servings
This is my contribution to No Croutons Required. A monthly event showcasing vegetarian soups and salads, alternately hosted by Jacqueline of Tinned Tomatoes and myself. It is my turn to host this month.
These white chocolate truffles with beetroot powder, which need only a few ingredients and very easy to make, are decadent, sweet, smooth and creamy. They are a wonderful after-dinner treat with a rich espresso shot and will also make the perfect gift.
3 tbsp Almond milk
2 tbsp Coconut oil
10 g Beetroot powder
200 g White chocolate, cut into small pieces
Unsweetened coconut flakes
Place almond milk and coconut oil in a small saucepan over low heat. Cook until the coconut oil is melted and well combined with almond milk. Now stir int beetroot powder until well combined.
Place the chopped white chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set over a pot of simmering water, making sure the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl.
Stir chocolate occasionally as it softens. When you have just a few small unmelted chunks, remove bowl from heat (residual heat will melt the rest).
Now stir in the beetroot mixture until well combined. Cover and chill for 1 hour or until pliable but firm enough to scoop.
Place coconut flakes in a bowl. Working quickly roll a teaspoon of truffle mixture into a ball and gently roll with coconut flakes until evenly coated.
This dessert has a no-bake naturally gluten-free hazelnut crust and a chilled creamy chocolate goodness sweetened with mint-flavoured chocolate stevia syrup and topped with plump and juicy raspberries. You can serve this dusted with icing sugar or fresh cream aside or simply with more fresh raspberries and mint leaves.
No Bake Raspberry Chocolate Tart (Vegan, GF, DF and SF)
Combined all the ingredients for the crust and press the mixture into the base and sides of a 35cmx11cmx2.5cm rectangular fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Chill while you make filling.
Chop the chocolate into small pieces and place them in a bowl. Bring coconut milk in a saucepan just to a boil. Pour over the chopped chocolate and let stand for about 1 minute, then stir until it became smooth. Stir in mint-flavoured stevia syrup until well combined.
Pour into the tart pan and chill for 30 minutes. Garnish the tart with fresh raspberries and fresh mint leaves. Dust with icing sugar if desired.
No matter how much I learn about Japanese food and culture, there is more, much more that I keep learning. Nowhere more is this exemplified than at the latest Japanese restaurant to open in San Francisco, Hashiri. I knew that the changing of the seasons is very important and celebrated in Japan, but it was only at the restaurant that learned that every season has three ingredient phases. Hashiri is the word for first of the season, shun is the peak of season, and nagori is the end of the season. Not surprisingly this restaurant will change their menu with the seasons. In Japan not just the ingredients, but even the tableware changes with the seasons. The porcelain dishes at Hashiri come from Kyoto, known for ceramics.
Hashiri, which just opened in what was Chez Papa Resto in Mint Plaza is a very unique restaurant for several reasons. Hashiri serves just one menu that is a kaiseki meal (a seasonal tasting menu of small dishes) with nigiri sushi ($250 per person in the main dining room and $300 at the chef's counter). Very few restaurants in the Bay Area have kaiseki chefs and can prepare this exquisite cuisine. Kaoru Hayashi, Ryuichi Terayama, and Yasuyuki Rokuyata own the original Hashiri, a sushi restaurant in Tokyo. It is also perhaps the only high end Japanese restaurant with all Japanese chefs in San Francisco. Executive chef Takashi Saito was the opening chef at Izakaya Yuzuki, the sushi master is chef Tokunori Mekaru who comes directly from Hashiri Tokyo and the kaiseki chef Shinichi Aoki was formerly at Kaygetsu.
The interior will make you feel as if you have been transported instantly to Japan. It’s sleek and modern but also very Japanese. There is contemporary artwork on the walls and the ceiling has 16 HD projectors with seasonal images floating above you. Right now it’s spring, so cherry blossoms shimmer on the ceiling.
In addition to a fine selection of sake and wine, they also have Suntory Premium Malt's beer on draft. This is really a treat, very fresh and flavorful and not easy to find locally. But what you really want to know about is the food, right?
Sakizuke—appetizer, similar to amuse bouche
The meal began with Akaza ebi with snap pea surinagashi and white sturgeon caviar. Surinagashi is a Japanese style creamy vegetable puree. In this case made from fresh peas but it could be from any other vegetable and broth or dashi. The refinement of this dish really set the tone of the meal.
Zensai—small thing or appetizer
Taira gai or pen shell clam and local spring green salad with fresh bamboo, fiddlehead ferms and wasabi dashi. On top was a sprinkling of karasumi, or grated mullet roe. This dish was a bit like a spring still life, vibrant and beautiful.
Owan—small lacquer bowl for soup
Amadai kuzu tataki, sesame tofu. Note the fresh herbal sansho leaves. The sesame tofu unbelievably delicate and soft. A very traditional dish, it eases you further into the meal.
Tsukuri—sashimi style appetizer
Aburi kinme dai, ponzu gelee. This was golden eye snapper with kabocha and watermelon radish. The exceptional knife work was evident in the finely slivered vegetables that almost seemed grated and the rainbow of colors hinted at the blossoming of spring.
Mushimono—steamed dish
Morel mushroom, satsuki chawan mushi. The mushrooms were from Yosemite along with a bit of delicate Japanese seaweed. This was the softest chawan mushi custard I have ever had. A very luxurious dish!
Yakimono—grilled
Kagoshima wagyu kuwa-yaki, simmer spring dailon, celeraic puree, pickled wasabi stem. This was one of those bites of perfection, super tender and buttery wagyu and for me the pefect portion, just a couple of bites over a celery root puree and almost microscopic shiso blossoms. I don’t think I ever had pickled wasabi stems. They are sourcing their wasabi from Half Moon Bay.
Kuchinaoshi—palate cleanser, often served after stronger flavored dishes
Junsai. This is an unusual kind of water lily buds, grown in fresh water lakes. It has an almost crunchy jelly like texture. The junsai was hiding underneath the vegetables on top.
Nigiri —sushi
One piece prepared in front of you, each perfection! We had squid served in a modern style topped with crunchy salt, Japanese butterfish, horse mackeral, kohada or gizzard shad, King salmon, otoro or the fatty part of the tuna, scallop, uni from Hokkaido, and 4 things I had never had before Nodoguro orblack throat from Wayakyama, baby spring red snapper, torigai or heart clam, imperial prawn. The sushi was truly outstanding, very balanced and luscious each with a distinct texture and flavor than ranged from mild to rich and unctious.
Tamago—egg
Omelet and at Hashiri they brand it with a branding iron! It's not usually done in front of guests, but we wanted a demonstration.
Akadashi—red miso soup This signals the end of the meal in traditional Japanese restaurants, not the beginning.
White sesame ice cream made from soy, not dairy milk with black sesame sauce and
Kuzu mochi chimaki— a sweet kuzu mochi wrapped in bamboo leaves, It’s served for Children’s Day in Japan. It’s served with kuormitsu a kind of molasses, and kinako a soybean powder.
Last but not least, this spoon. It’s specifically for ice cream and transmits the warmth from your hands to the tip which allows for easy scooping of even hard ice cream. I want a set!
Hashiri San Francisco 4 Mint Plaza San Francisco CA 94109 415-908-1919
Disclamer: I was a guest invited to a pre-opening preview of the restaurant. I did pay for drinks and tips. I was not compensated monetarily for writing this or any other post.
I haven't made broccoli Mornay for ages, but it's a classic baked cheese and vegetable casserole. Oddly enough, though, I dreamed about this dish the other night, giving me an instant craving. But this time around, I wasn't content to make the classic Cheddar version … too much cheese has proved not to be too good for my tummy these days. But I've had terrific success lately "veganizing" old cheese-and-vegetable standards with the help of sauces made with cashews and nutritional yeast. These are a marvelous substitute for cheese, and far better in every way than rubbery vegan cheese-like products made from soy!
I was especially delighted with the result, and so were my dinner companions who thought it might have been even better than the original Cheddar version. This creamy casserole topped with a golden crunchy cornmeal and chopped nut topping ended up tasting cheesy without any actual cheese. It's an ideal side vegetable dish, especially when served with plump goat cheese biscuits. Rice is also a good choice, along with your favorite legume dish.
1 large head broccoli, stems pared and sliced and head cut into florets
1 large head cauliflower, stems pared and sliced and head cut into florets
2 medium carrots, sliced
8 button or cremini mushrooms, roughly chopped
Cashew sauce:
1 cup raw cashews, soaked in hot water for 2 hours then drained
3 1/2 cups almond milk
juice from 1 lemon (3 tablespoons)
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
2 teaspoons sea salt, or to taste
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup chickpea flour (besan) or whole wheat flour
Topping:
2 tablespoons melted coconut oil or sesame oil
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup pine nuts or sliced almonds
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
Instructions:
Prepare the vegetables by heating the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. When hot, add the broccoli, cauliflower and carrots, and sauté until just tender. Stir in the mushrooms and cook for another few minutes. Transfer to a lightly oiled large casserole dish.
To make the sauce, combine the cashews with 1 cup of the almond milk, lemon juice, nutritional yeast and salt in a blender. Blend until smooth, adding a little more almond milk as necessary.
In a medium saucepan, melt the coconut oil over medium heat. Stir in the flour and gradually add the remaining almond milk and whisk until thickened. Stir in the cashew paste and stir to thicken for another few minutes. Remove from heat and stir into the vegetables in the casserole dish.
To make the topping, combine the melted coconut oil or sesame oil, cornmeal, pine nuts or sliced almonds and nutritional yeast in a medium bowl. Spread evenly over top the vegetables.
Bake in a preheated 350° oven for 15 to 20 minutes until the topping is golden and the casserole has thickened. Let sit for 10 minutes and serve hot.
Enjoy a delicious quinoa spring salad with lentil and asparagus. It's bursting with flavour thanks to pine nuts, walnut oil and raspberry vinegar. Good-quality vinegar and walnut oil make all the difference in this dressing. If you don't have black quinoa, regular white one will work just great.
Salad
Walnut Oil Vinaigrette
150 g Black quinoa, rinsed
150 g Red lentils, rinsed
400 g Green asparagus, woody ends trimmed, cut into 4cm pieces
50 g Pine nuts, roasted
Fennel fronds, roughly chopped
3 tbsp Walnut oil
2 tbsp Raspberry vinegar
1 tsp Maple syrup
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Combine 300 ml water and rinsed quinoa in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 12-15 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed. Transfer to a large bowl. Set aside to cool.
In another saucepan, fill in 450 ml water and bring to the boil. Add lentils, asparagus and return to the boil and simmer for 2-3 minutes until lentils are slightly softened and asparagus tender. Be careful not to cook too long, as you the lentils to be al dente and asparagus bright green. Drain and rinse in cold water.
Combine all the ingredients for the dressing, stirring with a whisk until well-blended.
Place cooked quinoa, lentils, asparagus, fennel fronds and half of the roasted pine nuts in a bowl. Add in vinaigrette and toss until well combined. Transfer to a large serving plate and sprinkle the rest of pine nuts over.
Cannellini Bean and Asparagus Salad with Mushrooms
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