Quick Bread & Butter Apple Pickles

Quick pickles are my go-to recipe when the cucumber crop goes gang-busters.  But it wasn’t until this past fall, when I cooked side-by-side with Cammy at Super Chilly Farm, that I added apples into the vinegar brine.  We made this recipe six times in three weeks and since coming home to Arizona, my mom has kept the crisper drawer stocked with cucumbers.

Two things to note:

(1) Use the very best apple cider vinegar you can find.  If you can, seek out a local apple orchard and buy vinegar in bulk (we buy gallon jugs).  The cost isn’t prohibitive (in fact, it’s often comparable to grocery store prices, or cheaper when purchased in larger quantities); it only requires a bit of extra effort.  While I lived in Maine I tracked down Sewall’s cider vinegar.  I brought home a bottle for my mom who tried it and said it tasted like wine and was the best she’d ever tasted.

(2) At Super Chilly Farm I was fortunate to have a stock pile of heirloom apples at my disposal.  With each batch of pickles, I sliced up different kinds of apples — softer, crisper, sweeter, tarter.  My favorite pickle batch used sweet, only slightly acidic, very crisp crab apple varieties called Chestnut and Pipsqueak.  Close runner-ups were Red St. Lawrence and Garden Royal apples.  (Photographs here.)  I suspect that this recipe would be quite good with the conventional varieties Pink Lady, Fuji, Braeburn or Gala.  Or, if you live in apple country, visit an orchard growing out apples native to your area and try out a couple that strike your fancy.

 Ingredients:
4 medium-sized pickling cucumbers, thinly sliced
4-5 small/medium apples, unpeeled, cored
1 tablespoon sea salt
2 early onions/shallots
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup honey (or more, to taste)
1 cinnamon stick

Method:

1. Prep cucumbers: Cut off ends, discard, and thinly slice with a cabbage shredder, mandolin, food processor or sharp knife.  Place cucumber slices in a colander and toss with sea salt.  Let sit for 20 minutes.  Prep apples and onions using the same slicing utensil—aim for uniform thinness and size.

2. In a small bowl, whisk vinegar, water and honey until full incorporated.  Add cinnamon stick and pour dressing over apples and onions.

3. Rinse cucumbers and lightly dry.  Add slices to bowl with apples and stir well.  Let sit for at least 30 minutes before serving.  Refrigerate for up to two weeks.

Diet Notes: SCD-safe, nut-free, gluten-free

Quinoa Tabouleh

For the past six weeks, I can count the number of vegetables I’ve consumed on five fingers.  (I’m cheating: The “fifth vegetable” is really an herb — called “chipilin” (apparently similar to a Night Shade).)  Instead, I’ve been eating bread (“pan”), bananas ’round the clock and a few corn tortillas and cup or two of hot chocolate.

If you guessed that I had a parasite… ding!  ding!  You win! My meal prospects were bleak for a while; in fact, I actually started dreaming of vegetables in my sleep (no joke!) and, now that I’m feeling nearly all better, I have a new found love of eating simple, fresh foods.  This recipe was just what the doctor ordered: vegetables from the garden (parsley! mint! tomatoes! onion!) and a whole-grain base.  This salad is light and made me feel squeaky clean from the burst of lemon.  And an added plus: it didn’t bump the house temperature up eight degrees by turning on the oven — it’s a one pot meal, requiring only 15 minutes of stove time.

Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa, cooked
3 tomatoes, chopped
1 cucumber, chopped
1/2 red onion, diced
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
1/4 cup mint, chopped

4 tablespoons lemon (juice of 1 lemon)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 garlic cloves, diced
sea salt, pepper, to taste

Method:

1.  Heat water and quinoa on the stove and cook according to instructions, until al dente.

2.  Chop vegetables and herbs and toss.  Set aside.

3.  Once quinoa is cooked, remove lid and squeeze in juice of one lemon, olive oil and chopped garlic.  Stir.  Combine with vegetables and herbs.  Add sea salt and pepper to taste and serve warm, at room temperature or chilled.  (Room temperature is my favorite.)

Diet Notes: Gluten-free, nut-free, vegan

Tzatziki (an homage to Brooklyn)

During my dwindling summer days in the City, my work friends showered me with food suggestions.  They’d even calculate how many remaining meals I had left to prioritize their recommendations.  They’d tell me where to find “the best” anythings – pickles, cupcakes, muffins, falafel, hamburgers, baguettes, madelines, buttery egg breads, cheap sushi and baby artichokes.  I faithfully jotted down every suggestion in a small, disheveled notebook (which I organized by neighborhood and subway lines!) and made plans to seek out everything, making muffins my top priority.  I figured, I was in the food capitol of America and by golly, I was going to “eat the most” out of my final few weeks!

But somehow, as early August steamrolled into late-August, I’d glance at that little booklet, sadly flip-flipping through all the uncharted, vendrified streets.  Each evening as I walked home I’d say, “Now, just drop your stuff off.  Don’t sit!  Don’t open the fridge!  Get your purse!  Go to the subway!”  I’d say, “Tonight will be different!  Tonight I’ll go to the artichoke man!  Tonight I’ll eat a bag of madelines!”

You can see where this is going.  Looking back, it was inevitable. I’m sorry to say it, but I’m a creature of habit.  It’s not unusual for me to  rewatch the same movie twice, even three times in the same evening.  I bobby-pin my hair in the identical do-up each day.  I also floss religiously.  And so, back in Brooklyn, each night I’d shuffle up five flights of stairs.  I’d open up the door to my cozy studio, plop down my backpack, splash my face under the faucet (still with the best intentions to leave just moments later!), drink two giant mason jars of refrigerated water (daily brain freeze) and then, as just as the fridge door nearly shut, I’d cast a sideways glance at two, unassuming plastic tubs: the hummus and tzatziki.  I was doomed.  I’d wrench the fridge back open with gusto!  I’d actually giggle out loud.  I’d shmear hummus onto warm, homemade pitas, blobbing globs of tzatziki on top and folks – I was in tastebud heaven.

These shmearox gems came recommended by  Sheila, my friend from work, who clued me in on her Brooklyn Heights hot spots: around the corner from Trader Joe’s, another Starbucks, another Dunkin’ Donuts and a teeny movie theatre are two little shops — Sahadi’s and Damascus — home of warm pitas, pistachio halvah (absolutely killer, in both shops), mujeddara (better at Damascus), the creamiest hummus (very different at both places but equally good) and tzatziki that I ate like gazpacho.

There are some parts of New York City I’ll never miss (ie. subway screech; tourist mobs; weirdos at 42nd street) but there are other parts I miss already.  I’ve been making hummus on a bi-weekly basis and it just doesn’t come close.  The tzatziki, on the other hand – well, I’m almost giddy to say – the moment I blobbed this batch on top of my pita and took a bite, I knew it: I tasted NYC once again.

Ingredients:
6 – 8 oz. plain whole-milk goat yogurt *
1/3 cup cucumber, seeded & chopped
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon dill, chopped
2-3 tablespoons mint, roughly ripped

*If following the SCD diet, swap out with SCD-yogurt that has incubated for 24 hours.

Methods:

Slice cucumber in half, lengthwise and scoop out seeds with a narrow spoon.  Chop into smaller-than-bite-sized pieces.  Mince garlic cloves.  Chop dill and mint.  Squeeze lemon juice.  Mix all ingredients with plain, full-fat goat yogurt.  Serve cool or cold on top of everything.

Diet Notes: SCD-safe (see asterisk), gluten-free, nut-free

Tzatziki Dressing with Roasted Cauliflower and Edemame

I could eat an entire cauliflower roasted with a little salt, pepper, and a glug or two of olive oil.  I like it caramelized with honey; I like it grilled with sweet potatoes; I like it raw; I don’t really like it steamed.  But until last week, it never occurred to me to pair cauliflower with the bag of frost-covered edemame lurking in the depths of my freezer.  This recipe was inspired by the FABULOUSLY decadent site, Food Porn Daily.

If you’re in the mood for a light salad with Greek-style dressing, I give this recipe a thumb’s up!

Ingredients:
1 head cauliflower
2 cups edemame, in shells

1 cucumber, shredded
3/4 cup plain, Greek yogurt
juice from 1/4 lemon
2-3 tablespoons fresh parsley
1.5 tablespoons dried dill
3 tablespoons chives
2 garlic cloves, minced
sea salt, pepper
olive oil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Wash and chop cauliflower.  Spread in a pan with a few glugs of olive oil, sea salt and pepper.  Roast until edges are golden brown, about 7-12 minutes, depending on size of cauliflower chunks.

2.  Meanwhile, prepare yogurt dressing: Stir yogurt with shredded cukes, lemon juice, garlic and herbs.

3.  Heat a pot of water on the stove.  When boiling, add edemame and cook according to the package instructions.  Drain, run under cool water and shell.

4.  In a large serving bowl, mix warm cauliflower, edemame and dressing together.  Serve immediately.  This dish makes a wonderful light meal for about 3 people, or a light side dish for 6.

Diet Notes: Gluten-free, nut-free