This is a beautiful and versatile dressing. It’s delicious with chopped iceberg lettuce and cucumbers, or drizzled over a crisp watercress salad. It’s the perfect match for a cool summer soba salad with finely shredded red cabbage and pan-fried tofu.
This Hawaiian Style Mellow White Miso is perfect for this dressing. It has a semi-sweet flavor that compliments the rest of the ingredients.
The dressing can be prepared in less than 10 minutes. All the ingredients are whisked together in a small bowl. That’s it! It will keep nicely in the refrigerator for 3 – 4 days.
Whisk together all ingredients in a small bowl. Serve over crisp salad greens such as iceberg lettuce, watercress, chopped cabbage or use as a dressing for soba salad.
This is the perfect salad to take on a summer picnic or potluck party. Everything can be prepared in advance and put together in one bowl just before serving. I love the crunchy texture of the cabbage, ramen and almonds. Sometimes I’ll add leftover shredded rotisserie chicken to the salad. You could also add baked or pan-fried tofu for a tasty vegetarian lunch. This is a salad, with its refreshing ingredients and delicious dressing, that I will never get tired of eating.
Though the ramen is already baked, I prefer to enhance it just a bit to make it very crisp. I toast the crushed ramen in my toaster oven for 4 minutes before adding it to the salad.
Place shredded cabbage, carrot and edamame in a large bowl.
Combine seasoned rice vinegar, sesame oil, canola oil, honey, and sesame seeds in a jar. Shake to combine ingredients.
Preheat toaster oven (or oven) to 325 degrees. Spread crushed ramen noodles on a foil lined baking sheet and toast for about 4 minutes. Watch closely so it doesn't burn.
Toast sliced almonds for 4 -5 minutes. If you use your oven, you'll have enough space to toast the ramen and almonds at the same time (on separate pans). The ramen and almonds should be slightly toasted with just a hint of golden color.
Add dressing to the cabbage mixture by the spoonful. Toss, then fold in ramen, green onions and almonds. Toss again and serve right away.
Having recently discovered the superlative quality of homemade hummus as opposed to the store-bought version, I thought why not make my own pita chips too? They are one of the simplest snacks to make and all you need is a bag of pita bread plus olive oil and salt, items that we all have in our pantries.
You can opt to use all the pita breads in the package, or make a smaller batch using just three. The pita chips bake for just 10 minutes and come out of the oven perfectly golden brown.
I tried splitting the pita bread, and not splitting the pita bread. Conclusion – splitting the pita bread is the way to go if you want thin and crispy chips. The pita chips that were not split were a bit tough and didn’t seem to hold their crunchy texture for very long, which brought to mind the time I purchased a bag of Stacy’s Pita Chips at Mana Foods. They were nice and crisp. Later, I saw a giant bag at Costco so I bought it, after all it was a good deal. Once I took a bite of Stacy’s Costco version, I was sorely disappointed. The chips were really hard and not delicately crispy as I had expected them to be. Curious about why there was such a variation of the two bags, I contacted Stacy’s customer service department and was informed that the pita chips sold at Costco (in the giant bag that’s such a deal) are not split, and the ones at the market are. So there you have it!
Brush or dab a little olive oil on the rough side of the pita bread. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt, such as Maldon. I like to sprinkle a bit of dried oregano over the pita bread but it is optional. You could also season the pita chips with pepper, or other dried herbs. Bake until completely crisp.
Hummus and pita chips are a great snack any time of the day. I have purchased hummus from our local markets in the past, but I’m always disappointed. Most of the time it’s because there’s too much garlic in the hummus for my taste. When it comes to using raw garlic, especially in hummus and pesto, I prefer a light garlicky flavor, just enough to give the dish a nice zing, but also allowing the other flavors to shine. This simple recipe does just that. You taste the chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, cumin, and a bit of garlic. A few dashes of cayenne pepper adds a delightful touch of heat. This snack will take you just 10 minutes to whip up in your food processor.
I’ve tried a number of brands of canned chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans) and finally decided that I like Eden the best (so far). The beans have a nice color and a good texture.
1 15 ounce can of chickpeas drained, 2 tablespoons of liquid reserved (you may reserve a few beans to sprinkle over the hummus)
¼ cup tahini
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
1 - 2 tablespoons reserved liquid from the beans
1 very small garlic clove, pressed (scant ¼ teaspoon)
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
few grinds of black pepper
few dashes of cayenne pepper
Preparation
Place chickpeas, tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, 1 tablespoon reserved bean liquid, garlic, salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper in a food processor. Process until smooth, scraping down the sides as needed. If the hummus seems too thick, add the other tablespoon of reserved bean liquid and process for a few seconds. Taste and add more salt and cayenne pepper if you desire.
Before serving, drizzle a little olive oil over the hummus and sprinkle with a bit of cayenne pepper or paprika and reserved garbanzo beans. Serve with pita chips.
In earlier posts, I’ve mentioned that we love virtually all forms of pickles. These refrigerator dill pickles are scrumptious. Crunchy with a little heat from the Aleppo pepper flakes, they are ready to eat in just an hour. John, always on the lookout for different pickles, found the recipe in my Bon Appetit magazine and quickly ordered Aleppo pepper from Amazon knowing we wouldn’t be able to find it here on Maui. Featuring large flakes with a beautiful deep red color and medium heat, it is widely used in Middle Eastern cooking. This is our new favorite savory pickle.
The original recipe called for Persian cucumbers which are difficult to find here on Maui. These beautiful Keiki Cukes are readily available at our local Costco and they are perfect for pickles.
If you are in the mood for pickles, go ahead and make a batch of these crunchy dills. Once you taste them you will want to have a jar in your refrigerator at all times. Sprinkle on za’atar for a delicious finishing touch just before serving the pickles.
Updated 2/07/16: I reduced the salt from the original recipe.
Author: Kiyo Miller
Ingredients
8 Keiki Cukes or Persian cucumbers (about 1¼ pound) quartered lengthwise
¼ cup coarsely chopped fresh dill
2⅓ cups distilled white vinegar
⅓ cup sugar
1 medium garlic clove, finely grated
1 tablespoon Aleppo pepper
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Za'atar and flaky sea salt (for serving)
Preparation
Pack cucumber spears and dill into a large heatproof jar.
Bring vinegar, sugar, garlic, Aleppo pepper, lemon juice, kosher salt, red pepper flakes, and black pepper to a boil in a medium saucepan, stirring to dissolve sugar. Let cool slightly, then pour brine over cucumbers to submerge. Seal jar and chill at least 30 minutes.
To serve, remove cucumber spears from brine, lightly shaking off excess liquid but leaving on any seasonings. Sprinkle with za'atar and sea salt.
Our poor Sharwil avocado tree has dropped most of its fruit before their usual December season due date. We attribute this to the extremely hot and humid weather we experienced this summer. It was quite unbearable for us humans, and so we expect the poor plants were suffering as well. In any case, we had to throw many away but the most recent ones that have fallen off the tree have been ripening nicely and are quite good. I’m always searching for new ways to use our homegrown fruit. This avocado pesto recipe from Eating Well magazine sounded delicious so I whipped up a batch for lunch.
The one plant that never suffers from too much heat is basil. It just thrives in our garden.
Hemp seeds are quite delicious. I sprinkle them on salads and now use them in place of pine nuts for pesto.
Author: Kiyo Miller adapted from Eating Well magazine
Serves: 4 about 1⅔ cups
Ingredients
1 large bunch fresh basil (about 2 cups lightly packed)
2 medium-sized ripe avocados
⅓ cup hemp seeds (or walnuts)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 large garlic clove, minced
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
freshly ground black pepper
Preparation
Place basil leaves, avocados, hemp seeds, lemon juice, garlic and salt in a food processor. Pulse until finely chopped, scraping down the sides as necessary. Add oil and process to form a thick paste. Season with pepper and additional salt if needed.
Toss the pesto with your favorite pasta. I love the way the pesto coats the long, flat strands of linguine.
Pesto is best eaten the day you make it as the avocado pesto will brown slightly if made in advance.
This is a beautiful and versatile dressing. It’s delicious with chopped iceberg lettuce and cucumbers, or drizzled over a crisp watercress salad. It’s the perfect match for a cool summer soba salad with finely shredded red cabbage and pan-fried tofu.
This Hawaiian Style Mellow White Miso is perfect for this dressing. It has a semi-sweet flavor that compliments the rest of the ingredients.
The dressing can be prepared in less than 10 minutes. All the ingredients are whisked together in a small bowl. That’s it! It will keep nicely in the refrigerator for 3 – 4 days.
