Turnips with Carrots and Green Garlic, Garlic Scapes and Bacon

from Cook With What You Have

Dice turnips (no need to ever peel these) and carrots (don’t peel either, just scrub) in more or less the same quantity. Chop 4-5 garlic scapes. Dice 1-2 slices bacon or use a bit of bacon fat. Add everything to a large skillet (you’ll need to use 1 tablespoon or so of olive oil or butter if you don’t have bacon or bacon fat) and cook gently for about 15 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Optional- add cut turnip greens at end and lightly wilt.  Season with salt and a squeeze or two of lemon juice.

Hearty Cook-With-What-You-Have Salad with Beans

From Katherine Deumling of Cook With What You Have

I am a bit of a bean evangelist (delicious, inexpensive, shelf stable, etc.) I love adding whatever cooked beans I have in the fridge to salads made of whatever I happened to have around. This is my favorite lunch or quick addition to dinner. This is less of a recipe and more of a general guide for you to use with what you have on hand and your tastes. You can use most any kind of bean and any salad green or tender, raw kale.

Ingredients

• 1 cup cooked, cooled beans (chickpeas, black beans, pinto or white beans or lentils—see bean cooking instructions below), well-drained
• 4 cups chopped lettuce(you don’t want huge pieces of lettuce so chop it a bit smaller than you might normally and that way the beans and all the other treats in this salad don’t fall to the bottom as readily)
• 2 tablespoons very thinly sliced red onion
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped green garlicor a bit of minced regular, mature garlic
• 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
• About a tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar (red wine, champagne and sherry vinegar are my favorites)
• Salt and pepper
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1-2 hardboiled eggs, roughly chopped (optional)
• 2-3 tablespoons toasted sunflower or pumpkin seeds

Directions

Put beans and lettuce in a large bowl. In a small bowl mix garlic, lemon juice (or vinegar), salt, pepper, honey and olive oil. Toss everything together well. Taste and adjust seasoning and then gently toss in egg and seeds, if using. Serves 2-4 depending on whether it’s a side or main dish and of course how hungry you are. I can easily eat half this salad myself.

Basic Dry Bean Soaking/Cooking Instructions

If you aren’t in the habit of soaking and cooking dry beans here are the basic steps. The flavor of the beans is very good this way and they are much, much cheaper than cans. Once in the habit, it’s not much work at all. And I always soak and cook more than I need for any given recipe and freeze the rest in some of the cooking liquid. I also rarely cook beans for use in the moment. They improve so much if you can let them sit in their cooking liquid for an hour or so, or up to 8 hours. I usually cook them while I’m doing something else in the kitchen and then have them on hand for the next few days and/or freeze them for later use. 

3-4 cups dried beans (garbanzo, white, black, pinto. . . ) Rinse beans if they look dusty and pick out any stones. Usually I don’t find anything like that. Place in a large bowl covered by about 4 inches of cold water. Soak over night or 6-8 hours. Drain and rinse beans.

Place soaked beans in a large pot and cover with cold water by several inches. Add a few whole, peeled garlic cloves, a bay leaf and a big chunk of peeled onion. Bring to a boil, turn down to a simmer and let cook covered until the beans are tender, stirring occasionally (this helps prevent some beans from softening before others.) If your beans are old (hard to tell!) salting them at the beginning can prevent them from cooking properly, so salt mid-way through or at the end. When you do add salt, be generous, as in at least 3 teaspoons kosher salt to start if you’re cooking 4 cups or so of dried beans. They’ll probably need more still. The time it takes for the beans to cook will vary depending on the kind of bean and the freshness of the dried beans. Garbanzos take the longest, usually about 45 minutes.  Black, white and pinto can be done in 20-40 minutes. Let beans cool in their liquid (if you’re not in a rush) and then use, freeze, etc. If you’re freezing some, fill your container with the beans and then ladle in the cooking liquid until the beans are almost covered. Cooked beans also keep in the fridge for 5-6 days and for several months in the freezer.

Penne with Ricotta and Green Garlic Sauce

From Janet Fletcher, San Francisco Chronicle

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups fresh whole-milk ricotta, or a 15-ounce container whole-milk ricotta
• 1/4 cup finely minced green garlic
• 2 tablespoons minced parsley
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1 pound dried penne or fusilli pasta
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese + grated Parmesan for the table

Directions

Combine the ricotta, green garlic and 1 tablespoon of the parsley in a large bowl; season with salt and pepper.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until al dente. Just before pasta is done, remove 1/2 cup of the boiling water. Whisk enough of the hot water into the ricotta to make a smooth, creamy sauce.

Drain the pasta and add to the sauce along with the butter. Toss well. Add 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese and toss again, adding a little more of the hot water if needed to thin the sauce. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Serve on warm plates, topping each portion with some of the remaining parsley. Pass additional Parmesan at the table.

Serves 4 to 6.

Green Garlic Aioli

Ingredients

• 1 egg yolk
• 1/2 teaspoon warm water
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 to 3 tablespoons finely minced green garlic
• Salt to taste
•  Lemon juice to taste

Directions

Wisk egg yolk in a small bown with warm water. Add oil drop by drop, wisking constantly. When the mixture visibly thickens, add the oil faster. When all the oil is added, add the garlic. Season with salt and lemon juice.

Green Garlic and Spinach Fritata

Adapted from Katherine Deumling of Cook With What You Have

Ingredients

• 3-4 green garlic stalks, washed, trimmed and finely chopped
• 2 cups spinach
• 2 medium potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1⁄2-inch dice (optional—see headnote)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil or butter
• 6-8 eggs (or whatever you have or want to use)
• 2 ounces feta or fresh goat cheese (optional—can omit choose or substitute some Parmesan or even sharp cheddar)
• Tablespoon or two of chopped parsley (optional)
• Salt, pepper

Directions

Heat the butter and oil in a heavy sauté pan or well-seasoned cast iron pan or non-stick (if it’s heatproof and can go in the oven). Add the green garlic and a few pinches of salt to pan and sauté over medium heat until they soften about 7-8 minutes. If you are using potatoes, dice them small and sauté them with the green garlic and onion. Add spinach until just wilted. 

Set your oven to broil.

Lightly whisk the eggs until they’re just broken up—no need to get them frothy or really well mixed. Add a few generous pinches of salt and several grinds of pepper and crumbled feta or goat cheese and parsley, if using. Pour eggs over the vegetables and tilt the pan to evenly distribute the eggs. Cover and cook on medium heat for a few minutes. When the eggs begin to set around the edge take the pan off the heat and set under the broiler (uncovered) until the eggs are cooked and slightly puffed and golden.

Let sit for a few minutes before cutting and serving. It will come out of the pan much more easily that way. Serve with a slice of bread and salad for a light supper.