Pickled Vegetable Slaw

Fall weather is descending fast around here marking the start of my favorite part of the year. This stretch from mid-September through to the end of the year brings so much of what I love about food and cooking. The big holiday feasts are always the main events of the season, but there are so many smaller events and activities before those that keep me plenty busy. Today’s activity comes from the desire to hold onto the bright, beautiful flavors of summer before they disappear until next year. Already, my freezer is stocked with blanched vegetables (beans, corn, etc.) that take well to freezing, but for those that are best when raw it’s time to break out the pickling jars again.

I read about this technique of pickling mixed vegetable slaw a few months back on Smitten Kitchen, and it jumped to the front of my mind when I did a clean out of the fridge to find a big bell pepper, a lone carrot and a whole bunch of radishes from past CSA shares that have been languishing. To that I added a couple small bell peppers that my backyard plants managed to produce despite looking pretty worn out, as well as a red onion to complete the medley of vegetables for this slaw.

Cabbage and Cucumber Salad with Sesame Dressing

To be honest, I'm not really sure if this should be called a salad or a slaw. The cabbage and carrots are shredded like in a slaw, but the cucumber and bell peppers are chopped like in a salad. Maybe a slawlad?

Well, whatever you want to call this, it was very good and making the sesame dressing from scratch really made the difference. A much more pure sesame flavor than what you get with the bottled dressings. We ate this as a side to some miso glazed scallops, but I could see it being used to accompany just about anything, all you need to do is change up the dressing to fit the other flavors on the plate. One tip to keep the leftovers fresh longer is to only dress what you will eat. Storing the remaining salad undressed will prevent the dressing from making it soggy and will also give you that option of trying other dressing with other meals.

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Cabbage
Carrot
Cucumber
Bell Pepper

Ingredients
1/4 of a cabbage, cored and shredded (about 4 cups)
1 cup shredded carrot
1 large cucumber, peeled and chopped
1 bell pepper, thick julienne
2 tbs unseasoned rice vinegar
1 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs sesame oil
1 tbs light brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp sesame seeds

Preparation

Combine the cabbage, carrot, bell peppers and cucumber in a large bowl and toss to combine. In a separate bowl, combine the rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, salt, pepper and sesame seeds and whisk to combine. Taste for seasoning and adjust as you like. To serve, place a the portion of the salad you will eat in to a clean bowl and toss with dressing to taste. 

Stir Fry with Bok Choy and Chicken

Have you ever looked into your refrigerator and had 3 or 4 different vegetables stare back at you, and none of them alone are enough for a meal, or even a side dish?  One carrot, half a bell pepper, the middle of a celery, they all somehow escaped your cutting board.  Until now! Stir fry is my go to meal to deal with the lonely remains of the produce drawer.

Stir fry is a wonderfully versatile way of cooking.  Just about any vegetable or protein can be used, and the options for sauce and other flavorings are seemingly unlimited.  Below is what went into tonight's recipe, but other times you might find mushrooms, bell pepper, eggplant (the small Italian variety), onions or spinach in the mix.  Beef, pork, tofu or shrimp might stand in for the chicken.  I do recommend that you limit yourself to 4 vegetables and only 1 protein.  Otherwise the flavors tend to get all muddled together, and not in a good way.  Also, you may not have a big enough pan!

Thanks to my wife for handling the cooking!

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Bok Choy
Scallions

Ingredients
1 tbs canola or vegetable oil
1 tsp grated ginger
Pinch of crushed red pepper (or more to taste)
1 lb Bok Choy, stems and leafs separated,  both cut into 1/4" sticks.
4 scallions, cut into 1" peices
1 chicken breast, cut in to 1/4" x 2" strips
4 cups broccoli florets
1 large carrot (or a handful of baby carrots)
1 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs mirin
1 tbs cooking sake
1 tbs brown sugar
1 tsp corn starch
1 tsp sesame oil

Preparation
Stir fry cooking moves fast, so clean, chop or otherwise prep all your ingredients before you start cooking.

Cook the broccoli ahead of time by boiling it for 3-5 minutes until tender. Drain and set aside.

Made the sauce by mixing together the soy sauce, mirin, cooking sake, brown sugar and corn starch in a small bowl.  Set aside.

Heat the oil in your wok (or a large skillet) over high heat until very hot, but not quite smoking.  Season the chicken strips with salt and add to the wok.  Cook, stirring frequently until the chicken is just cooked through, then remove from the wok to a small bowl.  Add the ginger and red pepper flakes to the wok and stir for 10 seconds, then add all the vegetables except the broccoli. Cook, stirring frequently until the vegetables are just starting to soften.  Timing on this will depend on what you are using and how thick your slices are, so start tasting after about 3 minutes.  You want them to be just slightly under-cooked before moving to the next step. Add the broccoli, chicken and sauce mixture to the wok and cook for another minute, stirring to combine everything.  Taste to ensure the vegetables are cooked to your liking, I try to shoot for keeping them still crisp, though this is easier said than done.  Turn off the heat.  Mix in the sesame oil and serve immediately over rice.