A friend of mine graduated a couple weeks ago and threw a potluck to celebrate. I brought this salad and was glad I had some extra to keep just for myself. It’ll work with whatever green vegetables are around — I’m going to make it again tonight with sugar snap peas.
Arugula, Feta, & Couscous Salad
2 1/2 C water
3 Tbsp olive oil, divided
2 garlic scapes, chopped in 1/4inch pieces
2 C couscous
1/2 bunch asparagus, chopped in 1/2inch pieces
salt
1 bag arugula
1/3 bunch pea vines, chopped
4 oz feta cheese, crumbled
juice of 2 lemons
1. Bring water to a boil
2. In a (separate) medium-sized pot, heat 1 Tbsp olive oil. Add garlic scapes and saute for 3 minutes.
3. Add couscous, asparagus, 1 tsp salt, and boiling water to the garlic scapes. Bring back to a boil, then removed from heat, cover and let stand for 5 minutes.
4. Fluff couscous mixture with a fork, transfer to a large bowl and stir in remaining ingredients (the heat from the cooked couscous will wilt the arugula and pea vines).
Our first CSA box came from Harmony Valley last week, and it was everything I dreamed of. It was all I could do to not sprint the 3 blocks to our pickup location (I definitely would have had Sara not been walking with me). Upon returning home with our bounty, I immediately put some asparagus in the oven to roast for dinner.
Figuring out what to do with the rest was more of a challenge, but I made a master plan for using everything and we’ve done pretty well so far — especially since it’s finals time. There’s a lot to cover, so I’ll have to do these posts in installments. Here’s a recipe I came up with to use up a good portion of our vegetable abundance:
Lemony Lentil & Spring Vegetable Salad
3/4 C French lentils
3/4 C pearl barley
2-3 C parsnips chopped in 1/2-inch pieces
5 sunchokes peeled and chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
6 garlic cloves, peeled
6 Tbsp olive oil, divided
1 bunch ramp bulbs sliced thin
4 radishes sliced
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1 large or 2 medium lemons
salt
black pepper
1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add lentils and barley and boil until tender — but not mushy (about 20-30 minutes). Drain, rinse with cold water, and set aside.
3. Toss parsnips, sunchokes, and garlic cloves with olive oil, spread on a rimmed baking sheet, and roast in the oven, stirring occasionally (or, not at all if you’re forgetful like me) until partially browned (about 20-30 minutes).
4. In a large bowl, combine cooked lentil mixture and roasted parsnip mixture with ramps, radishes, lemon zest & juice, remaining 4 Tbsp olive oil, and salt & pepper to taste.
Never heard of a sunchoke? Neither have most people. This was the first time I’d cooked with them and I think roasting is the way to go — it seems to bring out their artichokey flavor. They’re hell to peel, though — look at all the nubs:
Time: 45 minutes
Yikes! How did I get behind on blogging over spring break? I blame it partially on homework and midterms due over this alleged break, partially on my job, partially on a plethora of Aries birthdays, and more substantially on my recent discovery of Ru Paul’s Drag Race.
Rest assured, we did eat last week in spite of distraction, and in spite of the burns and cuts (still healing) I sustained in preparation.
Recipe 1: Warm barley, mushroom and asparagus salad from the Joy of Cooking.
I tend to think of Joy as a cookie cookbook, but thought I’d branch out & try a salad. It was nice and lemony. Lesson learned: asparagus is maybe a bit too potent to eat every day of the week.
Recipe 2: Mole skillet pie with greens from Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz.
Basically, this pie is made of beans and greens (in our case, swiss chard) mixed with mole and baked with corn bread on top. It was a bit labor intensive because I had to make the mole (even more so because I spilled the first batch of spice mix all over the floor). It was tasty though, and could benefit from adding even more veggies. Also, it’s good with cheese and sour cream, if you’re into those things (yes, I just suggested adding dairy to a vegan recipe — it is straight up anarchy over here!).
Time: 3 hours
Soundtrack: Marketplace, The World, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs
