Kitchen Garden Journal

Photo by Candace Hope

In the first apartment I ever had, when I was 18 years old, a vegetarian, and new to cooking, I made this at least twice a week. The recipe has evolved somewhat since then, but the basic concept is the same: noodles, peanut sauce, fried tofu, and vegetables. It’s also my favorite thing to order at two of my favorite local restaurants: The People’s Pint and The Lady Killigrew. Always fills you up. Never lets you down. 

1 lb pasta: whole wheat spaghetti, buckwheat soba, or udon noodles

Peanut sauce: 2/3 cup natural peanut butter
¼ cup tahini sesame paste
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 hot chilies, minced, or 1 tsp cayenne
3 Tbsp soy sauce or 2 Tbsp soy and a heaping spoonful of miso paste
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp sesame oil 1/2 -1 cup water, to thin the sauce

Garnishes:
Fried tofu slices Blanched broccoli florets
Shredded cabbage
Shredded carrots
Sliced radishes
Sliced cucumber
Chopped scallions
Chopped cilantro 

Method:
Boil the pasta until al dente, drain and rinse in cold water to stop the cooking. Toss with a little  sesame oil and set aside.

Prepare the sauce by mixing together all the ingredients and diluting it with lukewarm water to the desired consistency. It should be moderately thick: thin enough to coat the pasta without clumping but not at all runny.

For the fried tofu, cut a block of firm or extra firm tofu into thin (3/16”) slices. Dip the slices in soy sauce and fry them in hot canola oil until crispy, turning once, like you would fry bacon. Drain on paper towels and chop coarsely into bite sized pieces. Put in a serving dish on the table.

Toss the sauce with the noodles and serve each person clump in a large bowl. Prepare the rest of the vegetables and herbs and arrange artfully on the table for the diners to serve themselves. 

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This season has been a great one for cucumbers. Last year the cucumbers didn’t exactly thrive in the wet conditions, and we hardly picked any. But this year’s harvest has been extremely abundant and it’s gotten me inspired to use them in some creative ways.

Continuing with my Asian streak that I’ve been on since last winter, I was trolling the internet for cucumber kimchi recipes when I stumbled on a couple of amazing Korean cooking channels starring some endearing and informative no-nonsense knife-wielding Korean ladies.

Anything Korean you ever wanted to know how to make is all right there in a series of crisply edited 5-10 minute videos. I followed the recipe for cucumber kimchi from Aeri’s Kitchen, and spent about an hour or so watching Maangchi to get some ideas for things to serve with it. So for crew lunch I served the kimchi along side barbecued beef (Whole Foods has been offering some very nicely marbled sirloin tips recently, as well as the amazing boneless short ribs—if cows made bacon these would be it!) marinated in soy, sugar, sesame oil and garlic. We ate the beef with rice and kimchi rolled into little packets of shiso leaves that I’m growing in a little garden of Asian herbs. I also served scallion pancakes and one of my favorite Korean side dished (banchan) of blanched zucchini strips marinated (again) in soy, sugar, sesame oil and garlic and sprinkled with sesame seeds.   

(Note: if you are seriously interested in making kimchi at home, it's very easy. But one thing you absolutely need to do is get yourself to a Korean market, like on rt. 9 in Hadley, to buy the right kind of chili powder. I would not recommend any substitutions.)

The other fabulous meal that I’ve made recently where the cucumbers played a central role in the inspiration—if only a supporting role on the plate—was satay, Southeast Asian grilled meat on stick served with savory-rich peanut sauce and blisteringly spicy cucumber salad. In the car on the way to Block Island we were able to catch, for once, “The Splendid Table” on NPR, and they were talking to grillmaster Steve Raichlen about his new book Planet Barbeque and this recipe came up. So I hunted it down online a few weeks later and actually followed the recipe note for note. I’ve made satay before but I have to say, this recipe is a keeper.

Satay is mainly eaten as a snack on the street in its native Indonesia-Malaysia-Singapore, but this dish has the entire pantheon of Southeast Asian flavors deconstructed into three parts that layer and build on one another to the eater’s taste: the meat laced with aromatic spices like cumin, coriander and black pepper; the peanut sauce enhanced with coconut milk, lemongrass, and the fishy-je-ne-sais-quoi of salted shrimp; and the cucumber salad bringing the crunch of raw vegetables and the punch of fresh chilies in a very sweet and very sour dressing.

In other words, it’s one hell of a snack. I encourage you to stock your larder with Asian goodies and try this one out.

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Ingredients: tomatoes, cucumbers, onions. Method: cut them into small pieces, add oil and vinegar, serve immediately.

All around the world, and especially the Mediterranean, there is a class of lettuce-less salads based on tomatoes, cucumbers and onions that varies only slightly from place to place.

These salads just scream summer to me, and I wait all year for the moment to arrive when these three vegetables simultaneously come into season. Nothing could be easier to prepare than these simple chopped salads, and nothing could be more refreshing on a hot summer night than panzanella, horiatiki, or Israeli salad served alongside grilled zucchini, fish or skewered meats. Follow those links to recipes from some of our favorite food blogs. (Our recipes for these salads can be found on The Vegetable Pages.)  

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Having fresh herbs around really inspires me to cook. One recipe I always associate with the flavors of cilantro and mint are these Vietnamese Spring Rolls. This is a recipe that I have blatantly stolen from one of my favorite food blogs, Rasa Malaysia. View the original with all the gorgeous photos here. I recently made this for a crew lunch for 8 and served it do-it-yourself style (Candace took this photo), everyone soaking the rice paper and making custom fillings at the table. In addition to the pork I served fried tofu strips and blanched shrimp. It's also nice to have some nuoc cham on hand for dipping.

For the grilled pork:

1 lb pork chops, loin, butt or shoulder. Sliced thin.
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 shallots, minced
1 Tbs fish sauce
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
1/4 cup peanut or vegetable oil

Hoisin Peanut Dipping Sauce Recipe

1 cup (8 oz) hoisin sauce (if sauce is thick, add about 1/4 cup warm water to reach desired consistency)
1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1 Tbs rice vinegar
2 garlic, crushed
1 minced thai chili, or more for desired spiciness

For spring roll rice paper assembly:

About 10 rice paper wrappers
Lettuce
Cucumber, cut into long slices
Fresh herbs: mint, cilantro, basil, vietnamese coriander, balm or perilla
Bean sprouts

Method:

1. In plastic bag, combine all ingredients for the grilled pork. Let marinade for about 20 minutes. Grill both sides of pork for about 2-3 minutes, or until desired texture.
2. In blender, combine all ingredients for the hoisin peanut dipping sauce. Blend until everything combines smoothly together. If it is too thick, continue adding warm water until desired consistency.
3. In bowl of warm water, dip each rice paper wrapper for about 3-5 seconds (depending on rice paper thickness). Do not over soak your rice paper wrapper! Place on work service and allow rice paper to soak up water and become gelatinous and pliable (about 30 seconds to 1 minute, again, depending on the thickness rice paper).
4. On top 1/3 side closest to you, lay lettuce on the bottom for added strength to the wrapper. Then place meat, herbs and other vegetables. Roll up spring roll about 1/3 way through, then fold in the sides.
5. Serve with hoisin peanut dip.

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• Tomatoes, chopped
• Red onion, sliced
• Kalamata olives
• Cucumber, sliced
• Feta cheese, crumbled
• Lemon juice
• Red wine vinegar
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• Oregano, finely chopped
• Salt & pepper

Just combine the ingredients and allow to meld for a half hour or so before serving.

This is the traditional Greek salad, horiatiki salata, without lettuce. We recently enjoyed this alongside some grilled lamb loin chops from a local farm. It’s also great with hummos or falafel in a pita. Perhaps some grilled eggplant, too? The important thing is to use ripe, flavorful tomatoes and mild sweet onion.

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• 1 cup water
• 3 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
• ½ lb. stale bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cups tomatoes, chopped (beefsteak) or halved (cherry)
• 1 cup celery, thinly sliced
• 1 cup cucumber, thinly sliced
• 1 medium sweet red onion, thinly sliced
• ½ cup basil, chopped
• ¼ cup parsley, chopped
• salt & pepper

In a large bowl, mix the water with 2 Tbsp. of the vinegar. Toss the bread cubes in the vinegar water, then drain the bread in a colander, gently squeezing out any excess moisture. Combine tomatoes, celery, cucumber, onion, basil, parsley and bread and dress with oil and remaining vinegar. Season with salt and pepper and allow to rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before serving.

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