Shiso Pesto with Buckwheat Soba Noodles

Back in 2006 and 2007, I was thrilled about growing Shiso in my home garden as it was the early years of my home-gardening, and I liked having herbs handy in the backyard to try different recipes.

A decade later, looks like Shiso is quite readily available in the market when in season and has become a fairly popular and mainstream herb much like cilantro and mint.

A member of the mint family, Shiso leaves can be mostly green to greenish reddish/purplish. Much like my favorite pesto and chutney, I make shiso as pesto or chutney when the mood calls for it, using whatever ingredients I feel like throwing together at that time.

In this recipe, shiso pesto comes together with a confluence of complementary Asian flavors.

Tossed in with some buckwheat soba noodles, sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds, and a side of roasted eggplant and home-garden scallions, shiso certainly takes center stage in this dish.

Shiso pesto as a dip, served with roasted eggplant slices and bell peppers makes a fantastic appetizer.

Shiso Pesto:
½ Tbsp sesame oil
½ Tbsp red miso
½ Tbsp mirin
½ Tbsp rice vinegar
½ Tbsp lime juice
¼ to ½ cup packed shiso leaves
2 to 3 Tbsp sunflower seeds

Grind the ingredients together and adjust to taste.

Herb-Walnut Encrusted Wild Alaskan Ling Cod with Kale Pesto

Ling cod is mild and buttery, perfect for fish-and-chips or broiling with a crusty topping. We had a hunk of it caught in Alaska by the other adult last summer that I wanted to use up.

Herb-Walnut crust that crisps under the broiler, with a layer of Parmesan cheese forming a crunchy topping, seemed like the way to go. Typically, butter is used for the crust, but I went with olive oil in this recipe.

Paired with Kale Pesto made with sunflower seeds and sesame seeds, this was a nutty, seedy treat one winter night.

I did leave the fish a tad longer in the broiler than I intended... that seems to happen a lot when I ignore the oven timer and focus on something the kids have drawn me into... but, it was still all good. It helps to keep an eye and check often when broiling.


Kale Pesto:
1½ cups chopped kale
½ cup roasted salted sunflower seeds
¼ cup toasted sesame seeds
6 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 cloves of garlic
salt to taste

Pulse the ingredients till desired coarseness/smoothness for the pesto.

Herb-Walnut Crusting:
½ cup chopped walnuts
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp fresh chopped basil or freeze dried basil
2 cloves of garlic
salt and pepper to taste


Ling cod cut into portioned chunks
1 Tbsp vegetable or olive oil (or any oil)
1 tsp smoked paprika (optional)
3 to 4 Tbsp Parmesan cheese,grated, to use as topping

Preparation

1. Start the Crisp Julienned Veggie Salad as below, and allow it to marinate while the fish is getting ready
2. Pulse the Herb-Walnut crust ingredients and keep handy
3. Preheat the oven to Broil at about 370 °F
4. Rub the fish with some salt and smoked paprika, if using
5. Heat the oil in a cast iron skillet, place the fish gently, allow to brown a bit, then flip and brown the other side, on medium low heat, till mostly cooked through on the inside
6. Turn off the stove, apply a layer of the Herb-Walnut crust on the fish and place the skillet with the fish under the broiler and cook for about 8 to 10 minutes till the crust turns brown and crunchy
7. Sprinkle a layer of grated Parmesan and continue to broil for a few minutes more till crisp on top
8. Remove from the oven, serve on a bed of Kale Pesto, accompanied by Crisp Julienned Veggies salad.

Crisp Julienned Veggie Salad:
Julienne some beets, colorful bell peppers, yellow sumer squash, purple onions, carrots, ginger
Toss with some lemon juice, salt, and apple cider vinegar
Serve as a side salad to add a cleansing freshness to the palate

Pumpkin Seed Chard Pesto with Carmen Pepper and Alma Paprika

Growing up with a variety of chutneys made with fresh seasonal ingredients, where most chutneys had coconut and herbal notes, I took a great interest in Pesto when I first encountered it at a friend's place ages ago.

Since then, I've tried quite a few pesto and chutney variations that have turned out anything from out-of-this-world to eww-get-it-away-from-me.

There are but a few staple indigenous ingredients in each region that lend themselves to umpteen combinations -- some good, some not-so -- subject to individual taste preference. So, mixing it up a bit seems natural and unavoidable for variety.

Anyway, getting back to this recipe, which came about because I had an unexpected set of ingredients handy,  begging to be used, the Pumpkin Seed  Beet and Chard Greens Pesto got a boost from home garden Alma Paprika and Carmen Pepper.

The Alma paprika are plump tomato-esque ones rather than the traditional corno di toro type elongated chili variety. The tiny plant was weighed down with two of these and I was waiting patiently for them to ripen to a brilliant red. Seeing as how the plant was falling down, I decided to harvest one of them while still yellow and sporting a healthy blush.

The Carmen pepper was getting big and strong and long, so I was sure I can wait till it turns sweet and juicy red. But, before I got around to taking a picture of it on the plant, the pepper fell off the plant. 

A bunch of chard and beet greens, Alma paprika, green Carmen pepper were ready to be made into something interesting. I thought of the protein-packed Indian staple of Dal, or maybe, South Indian Masiyal, perhaps even Chard-and-Peppers gratin or Creamy soup.

And then I noticed this unassuming jar of pumpkin seeds. It is lightly toasted and salted but unhulled retaining the highly valuable insoluble fiber. 

The mood called for a simple pesto using Chard and Beet greens, Pumpkin seeds, fresh garlic, Alma paprika, and Carmen pepper. 

I didn't quite measure the condiments, just eyeballed some apple cider vinegar and lemon juice, and olive oil, plus grated Parmesan for this pesto. The pumpkin seeds brought in the coarse texture I like in pesto.

Stirred in with rotini pasta and tossed with sauteed onions and bell peppers, this was quite the simple yet satisfying meal.

Fava Bean and Chard Herb Hummus

I am hoping to plant chard for fall harvest, along with more kale, lettuce, and snap peas. By late fall, I end up circling back to comfort foods like soups, stews, and casseroles with nothing new to add to the recipe collection here.

Anyway, a while back, I had a nice big bunch of rainbow chard and a bag of fava beans fresh from CSA that I didn't want to ignore. Not that fava beans will be ignored in our house, especially when the older child gobbles them by the handful when they are blanched tenderly and set out in a bowl.

While tossing some blanched fava beans in salads and pasta is easy, I wanted to make a dish with intense fava bean flavor that will be the center of attention for a simple evening meal. What's more intensely fava bean-flavored than Fava Bean Hummus? Well, maybe fava bean stew, fava bean falafel, fava bean koftas. Or, any of the three recipes in Broad Bean Bash...

It's a Zen-like activity to shell the fava beans. Well, at least, when there is just a small basketful, and not a giant sackful. So, one fine evening a few weeks ago, I sat and shelled the fresh fava beans out in the backyard, watching the hummingbirds flit to and from their feeder. The house finches and chickadees were making several trips as well, completely ignoring me sitting right in their path to the feeder.

The chard wouldn't like sitting in the sidelines, I figured. So, chard got chopped, stem and all, with the fresh garlic from the farm; sautéed with a pinch of salt and a splash of lemon juice, the greens were raring to go.

Later that evening, the beans danced in boiling water for a couple of minutes and dove into the bowl of ice water. Finally, they were glad to shed their thick outer layer without much coaxing, and emerged in their resplendent beany greenness. It was quite a sight to behold in a bowlful.

Now, strong herbal notes bring that added oomph to the palate, so, armed with my trusty shears, I snipped a bit of mint, fennel, oregano, and scallions from the garden.

Blanched fava beans, sauteed chard and garlic, fresh herbs, plus a couple of bold Serrano chilies came together with some tahini, olive oil, and a splash of apple cider vinegar to make this incredibly delicious Chard and Fava Bean Herb Hummus.

Served with homemade Chipotle Coconut Flour Flax Meal Rotis, and a small side salad, the Fava Bean Hummus took center stage that night for sure.

Ingredients
1½ cup blanched fresh fava beans
1 cup chopped chard with stems
½ cup packed herbs
2 Tablespoon tahini
2 Tablespoon olive oil
2 Tablespoon lemon juice
2 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
salt to taste

Tempering:
1 teaspoon olive oil
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
½ teaspoon caraway seeds
1 teaspoon small dry Pequin peppers

Preparation

1. Combine the hummus ingredients in a food processor and blend to desired coarse/smooth consistency, adjusting salt to taste
2. Tempering: Heat the oil in a small pan, add the cumin and caraway seeds, allow to crisp and brown gently, then add the Pequin peppers and turn off heat
3. To serve, garnish the hummus with the tempering, stir if preferred.
4. Serve with Chipotle Coconut Flour Flax meal Roti, or Chipotle and Sun-dried Tomato Tortillas, or, Ube Purple Yam and Chipotle Naan, or, Mint Olive Greek Pita,  or Kohlrabi-stuffed Kale Fennel Naan...

Bitter Gourd Scallion Cutlets with Cilantro Kale Pumpkin Seed Pesto

Cold, wet winter days are here. Soups, dampers, casseroles, cutlets, fritters, fresh off the oven or pan, seem to be the remedy to beat the chill.

Salting and sweating the bitter melon, then sautéing the finely chopped bitter melons until well done and slightly mushy, helped remove much of the bitterness for these savory cutlets. Optionally, mash in cooked potatoes, carrots, peas to mask the bitterness.

Cooking on a hot cast iron skillet crisped up the outsides a bit more than I was aiming for, but, it turned out just fine anyway.

I went with raw green pumpkin seeds this time, but, toasted pumpkin seeds work just as well for the pesto. A combination of Cilantro, Kale, Parsley makes a fantastic pesto.


Bitter Gourd Cutlets/Patties
½ large bitter melon, salted, drained, rinsed and chopped finely
¼ red onions finely diced
1 jalapeño or serrano chili diced finely
spring onions chopped
¼ cup chickpea flour
¼ cup rice flour
¼ cup buckwheat flour
¼ cup cream of wheat
¼ cup quick cooking oats
a few teaspoons of water as needed to make dough
salt to taste

Preparation

1. Finely chop the salted, drained, rinsed bitter melon, chili, and red onions
2. Heat oil in a pan and sauté the veggies till cooked through and a bit mushy, adding a bit of water as needed
3. Off heat, stir in the flours, cream of wheat, oats, salt to make a dough that can be shaped into patties, adding a bit of water if needed
4. Heat a few teaspoons of oil in a cast iron skillet to medium high heat
5. Cook the cutlets/patties till cooked through on the inside
6. Serve warm with Cilantro Kale Pumpkin Seed Pesto

Cilantro Kale Pumpkin Seed Pesto
½ cup chopped packed cilantro
½ cup finely chopped kale
¼ cup raw pumpkin seeds
2 Tbsp roasted sunflower seeds
1 jalapeño, chopped
salt to taste
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon honey
1 Tbsp lemon juice (adjust to taste)

Combine the ingredients and grind to a fine paste. Adjust salt to taste.

Baked Mushrooms with Chipotle Walnut Pesto

Being the sole mushroom-lover in the family, I don't get to eat it often. And when I do, it is an indulgence, taking the trouble to make it just for me.

My favorite is Portabella mushrooms; and the Baby Bella/Cremini as well. Just a touch of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper baked in a 425°F oven for about 10 minutes makes it perfect, depending on the size of the baby bella.

This Chipotle Pesto is quite versatile - stir in a little into ground turkey to make baked meatballs or croquettes, use it as a spread for falafel pita pockets, or as an interesting alternative 'pizza sauce', or even just a humble sandwich or bagel spread....

Chipotle Walnut Pesto
2 chipotle chilies  (canned in adobo sauce) + 1 Tbsp adobo sauce
2 Tbsp chopped sundried tomates packed in oil
½ Tbsp chopped garlic
2 Tbsp canola oil or olive oil
¼ cup chopped celery leaves, tender stalk
½ cup coarsely chopped walnuts
salt to taste

Combine the ingredients and blend to paste - as smooth or as coarse as preferred. If it is too thick, add a bit more of oil as needed.

The Chipotle Pesto can be stored in an air-tight container for up to a week.

Spicy Cous-Cous Patties with Mint and Fennel Pesto

Cous-cous with Spicy Tagine is a favorite dinner for the adults in the house. Kids don't care for it much. There's usually some cous-cous leftover, nudging me to reconstitute them into something appetizing the next day.

These cous-cous patties are a nice way to use up leftover cous-cous. Simply add finely diced onions, carrots, bell peppers, maybe some spices like paprika and cumin, perhaps even some chipotle chilles, bind with eggs or bread, form into patties and pan-fry.

Or, shape them into small balls, even flattened balls, and deep fry, like bonda or vada. The deep fried flattened cous-cous balls remind me of one of my favorite street foods in India, Masala Vada, which is usually made with a few different kinds of lentils.




If I were to indulge à la Owl in Tearwater Tea, I would say the heels, the end-slices, of sliced bread loaves, loathed and discarded cruelly all over, warrant a mention.

Anyway, rather than eggs for binding the cous-cous, I prefer slices of bread, especially the heels, adding a bit of stock or water as needed to be able to shape the patties or balls.

Now, chutneys and pestos flow freely in my kitchen. Chutneys were nothing to write about when I was growing up in India - there were several varieties - any combination of handy edible ingredients, ground together with thought to flavor and texture, becomes a fine condiment to accompany any meal.

In those days, my mom reserved her precious Moulinex Mixer exclusively for delicate handling. All the heavy-duty idlee/dosai batter and chutneys were made using the large mortar-pestle called Aattukkal - The Grinding Stone. Quickly smashed ginger, garlic, black pepper, cumin was done in Ammi kal - a lesser known but just as valued companion of Aattukkal. Ammi kal is very much like the Mano and Matate used in the Americas.

Pesto, to me, bears similarities with the Indian chutneys I grew up with. After all, Pesto is made by quickly grinding the ingredients together in a mortar and pestle. Some favorite nuts, olive oil, fresh herbs, dash of salt/pepper is all it takes to make fresh pesto that has enhanced many a simple dish in our house.

The mint and fennel pesto with sunflower seeds came about thanks to the lovely mint and fennel in the garden that have managed to survive my negligence.



Mint and Fennel Pesto with Toasted Sunflower Seeds
Ingredients
1 cup fresh mint leaves
¼ cup fresh fennel leaves
1 clove of garlic
¼ to 1/3rd cup toasted sunflower seeds
2-4 Tbsp olive oil
hint of water, if needed
salt and black pepper to taste

Simply blend the ingredients together to desired consistency, adjust salt to taste.

Baked Mushrooms with Walnut-Spinach-Cilantro Pesto

The name seems too long for a dish that is simple to make and easy to disappear, but it says it all.

This is more of an appetizer or snack, and I usually make it just for me as nobody else in the house likes mushrooms. They don't know what they are missing.


One quick way I like to make baby portabella mushrooms, especially in small batches as appetizer is as follows:

• saute about 2 Tbsp of finely chopped onions in some olive oil
• optional herbs - rosemary, thyme - chopped
• combine the sauteed onions, herbs, crumbled feta and pesto to make a filling
• brush the cremini or baby bella mushrooms with olive oil and cook them in a pan with stem side down
• in a minute or two, flip the mushrooms over so the stem side is up, drizzle some balsamic vinegar, splash some water, cover the pan and cook the mushrooms for about 3 to 4 minutes or so over moderate heat
• remove from heat, spoon the filling and enjoy!

Ingredients
baby portabella or cremini mushrooms woody stems removed and cleaned
finely chopped onions, sauteed
colby jack or monterey jack or any favorite melty cheese
spring onions for garnish
Walnut-Spinach-Cilantro Pesto (recipe follows) OR- any favorite store bought pesto
olive oil as needed
soy sauce, just a few Tbsp to drizzle onto the mushrooms

Preparation for baked mushrooms

1. Heat the oven to 375°F
2. Spray the cleaned mushrooms with cooking spray, drizzle some soy sauce, spoon some Walnut-Spinach-Cilantro Pesto into the cavity, top with cheese
3. Bake in the 375°F oven for about 20 minutes, checking on and off to make sure cheese doesn't burn; mushrooms are watery enough to stand upto even 400°F oven
4. Serve warm, garnished with chopped spring onions

Walnut-Spinach-Cilantro Pesto:

1 cup baby spinach leaves, loosely packed
½ cup Cilantro leaves and stem, chopped coarsely
¼ cup toasted walnuts, perhaps a little more, if preferred
½ medium jalapeno, diced
¼ cup olive oil
salt to taste

Preparation

1. Combine all but olive oil and salt in a food processor and blend to coarse paste
2. Add in the olive oil and blend to desired smoothness
3. Adjust salt to taste

Adjust the amount of the ingredients to taste, this is quite a flexible recipe