Rosh HaShanah Recipe: Holiday Salad with Apple & Honey Vinaigrette

Busy in Brooklyn » Blog Archive » Holiday Salad with Apple & Honey Vinaigrette.

I wanted to post a few more recipes for Rosh HaShanah, but I have not been feeling my best this week. I did find this incredibly simple to make, but also incredibly appetizing salad, though. The blog writer did not create it specifically for Rosh HaShanah, but felt it would be a perfect fit. I think so, too. If you are unfamiliar with Rosh HaShanah or Kosher dietary laws, here are a few links to get you up to speed: Kosher Dietary Laws & About Rosh HaShanah.

Even if you are not celebrating, I hope you check out this light and tasty-looking creation. I think it would make a beautiful starter for an elegant meal.

My Favorite Places: Heirloom Farmers’ Market, Rillito Park, Tucson, AZ, pt. 1

Pics from Heirloom Farmers’ Market @ Rillito Park in Tucson, Arizona. See a few more pics from my previous post: To Market to Market. As I said in that post, this is a very large market (for Tucson). My last trip, I had the best apples — sweet, tangy, bright, and crisp! Having grown up in New York State, I often miss the ‘apple culture’ we had (picking days, fresh juice, cider, cider donuts, etc.)…so these brought back sweet memories. Arizona is obviously a big state for citrus, though, and we have a wonderful selection. There are so many awesome vendors and farmers who attend this market, so please stop by if you’re in Tucson. I especially love the local produce, but you can find fab local tortillas, tamales, soaps, tea, honey, garden plants, and more.

Even more pics on post, part 2.

 

WhirlwinDISH 22

On my recent trip to Heirloom Farmers’s Market, I picked up Japanese komatsuna greens. I had never tried them before, so I thought I would give them a shot (on the farmer’s rec). Greens (of different varieties) have always been a family staple. Many people only see them as a side dish, though, but I often prepare them as a main (cooked or raw).

This WhirlwinDISH inspiration came to me from a meal I used to enjoy with a couple originally from Liberia. Many Sunday afternoons, my friend and her husband would invite me over for good conversation and good food. One of my favorite preparations was cassava leaves stewed with dried salty fish and palm kernel oil over a bed of steamed white rice. Last year, this dish came back to my mind when I was invited to dinner by fellow yoga teacher-training students. A dinner of vegetable stew, white rice, and ghee was prepared by a very nice gentleman from Liberia (who also happened to be a monk). I made mention of my Liberian friends and the stewed cassava leaves. He said it was a very common dish in Liberia, and his mother would spend hours smoking and drying fish. I mentioned I had not seen cassava locally, and he replied a local Asian market had just recently started to carry it (frozen).

Anyway, as I had never used komatsuna greens before, I thought perhaps I might experiment with a version of the stewed cassava. In addition to the komatsuna, I added bok choy and cauliflower leaves. I often save leaves from cauliflower and broccoli stems for dishes like this, or they can be enjoyed raw. I went with one of my fave flavor combinations for greens which involves: smokiness, garlic, chiles (also for heat), and vinegar. Dried fish is available at my local Asian market, but I took a short-cut and used kippers. No need to re-hydrate them, and they are wonderfully smoky and salty. If you’ve never tried them, they are sort of like smoky sardines. I know many people who do not care for tinned fish of any sort, but I love them. They are one of my favorite snacks! I also subbed brown rice for white.

I sautéed a small bit of garlic and the chopped bok choy stems in smoked paprika oil first, then added the greens, kippers, and s&p just until the greens wilted. Just a pinch of salt, though, as the kippers added most of the saltiness. I moistened the greens with a bit of the kipper juice/oil at the end. As I said in earlier posts, I have been canning and pickling a lot, so some of the pink pomegranate seeds from the farmers’ market got pickled (with a slightly sweet pickling juice). On a hesitant whim, these went on the greens at the end, along with a sauce from some of the red chiles they had. Many times, I will use Buffalo wing sauce for greens in a pinch. But, this day, I roasted the chiles and blended them with some of the pom pickling juice, garlic, and shallots.

I was super super pleased with this meal. Now I know what my greens have been missing: pickled pom seeds! They just explode in your mouth with the vinegary-sweetness…SO good alongside the bitter greens, smoky fish, and chiles. I will probably use different varieties of greens as I have them available, but I see myself having this meal over and over.