recipes

for glacier grist Issue #62

carrot and raisin rice salad with cashews

(contributed by Nancy)
Carrots and raisins are usually paired in a creamy dressing, so this recipe caught my eye.  I have used all different kinds of rice:  white basmati, Himalyan Red rice, black rice.  I went easy on the raisins using less than what the recipe called for.  From One Dish Vegetarian Meals by Robin Robertson

3 cups cold cooked brown basmati rice
2 large carrots, finely shredded
1/2 cup golden raisins
¼ cup chopped onions
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
½ cup fresh orange juice
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
½ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup safflower oil
butter lettuce leaves, for serving
½ cup chopped cashews, for garnish

1.  In a large bowl, combine the rice, carrots, raisins, and onions.  Set aside.
2.  In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, orange juice, cinnamon, allspice, salt, and pepper.  Add the oil in a slow, steady stream, whisking constantly until emulsified and smooth.  Pour the dressing over the salad and toss gently to combine.  Cover the salad and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.
3.  To serve, line a shallow serving bowl with lettuce leaves, mound the salad in the center, and garnish with the cashews.

barley risotto with golden beets & greens

(contributed by Alison)
This recipe is such a warming, wonderful one for the fall and winter. It’s gorgeous with golden beets, but I’ve made it with red beets, too—it’s VERY pink, but that’s also fun! The combination of ginger and rosemary is a surprising one, but the flavor is just amazing. This recipe is based on one in Peter Berley’s fantastic book, Fresh Food Fast .
For the beets, you can either cook them with the barley, as directed below, or you can use beets that you’ve already roasted and peeled, just adding them at the end, after the barley is completely cooked.
I like to make the recipe a little bit ahead of time, so there’s about an hour before eating it for the barley to soak up even more of the cooking liquid, and the flavors to meld. As long as you salt this dish to your taste, I think there is plenty of flavor without adding cheese, but you can sprinkle Parmesan cheese on at the table if you like!

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 medium onions, diced
1 teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt, plus more to taste
1 cup pearl barley, rinsed
2 tablespoons peeled and minced fresh ginger
1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
3 medium beets, peeled and cut into ½-inch dice
1 to 2 bunches chard, beet greens, or kale
black pepper

1. In a large, heavy pot over high heat, warm the oil. Add the onion and 1 teaspoon of salt and sauté until the onion is starting to brown lightly—5 minutes or so. Add the barley, ginger, and rosemary and sauté, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the beets (unless they are already roasted—see note, above) and 4 cups of water and bring to a boil.
2. Cover the pot and simmer the barley over low heat, stirring fairly often (but you don’t need to be stirring it obsessively). You’ll need to add more water periodically to keep the barley from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Cook until the barley is tender and the beets are completely cooked. This will take something like 40 minutes, but just keep tasting to see how it’s coming along. The barley releases starches as it cooks, so at the end, you’ll have a beautiful creamy porridge-like risotto.
3. While the barley cooks, prepare the greens. Remove their stems and chop the leaves into ½-inch slices. If you’re using kale (I recommend it!), you’ll need to blanch it, first. Boil it in a pot of salted water until tender (5-8 minutes—just keep tasting it).
4. When the barley is tender and creamy, add the greens to the pot, and if they were raw when you added them, cook, uncovered, stirring often, until the greens are tender (3 to 5 minutes). If the beets were already roasted, add them now. Taste for salt. Make sure to add enough to really bring the flavors up. Season with pepper to taste.
5. If you have time to cover it and let it rest for a 30 minutes to an hour before serving, do so. Reheat just before serving. 

broccoli with bow ties

(contributed by Nancy)
I really enjoy using different shaped pastas.  So please feel free to substitute your favorite shape as well.  If you don’t have pine nuts, almonds, walnuts or cashews make great substitutes.  From the Barefoot Contessa cookbook.

kosher salt
4 cups broccoli florets (approximately 2 heads)
1/4 pound farfalle (bow tie) pasta
1 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoons good olive oil
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 lemon, zested
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons toasted pignoli (pine) nuts
freshly grated parmesan, optional

1.  Cook the broccoli for 3 minutes in a large pot of boiling salted water. Remove the broccoli from the water with a slotted spoon or sieve. Place in a large bowl and set aside.
2.  In the same water, cook the bow-tie pasta according to the package directions, about 12 minutes. Drain well and add to the broccoli.
3.  Meanwhile, in a small sauté pan, heat the butter and oil and cook the garlic and lemon zest over medium-low heat for 1 minute.
4.  Off the heat, add 1 teaspoon salt, the pepper, and lemon juice and pour this over the broccoli and pasta. Toss well. Season to taste, sprinkle with the pignolis and cheese, if using, and serve.
5.  To toast pignolis, place them in a dry sauté pan over medium-low heat and cook, tossing often, for about 5 minutes, until light brown.

potato and sunchoke gratin

(contributed by Nancy)
As a potato substitute I have used those fantastic yams we have been getting in our boxes in this recipe as well. And, if you like, use broth instead of the milk.  The type of potato, in this case, doesn’t really matter.  I have used Russets or Yukon Golds, with good results.  From Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. You can easily cut the amount in half too.

1 pound potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
1 pound sunchokes, thinly sliced
1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
2 tsp salt
generous amount of fresh pepper
1 ½ cups grated gruyere or swiss cheese
2 cups milk, heated in a saucepan until almost boiling

1. Preheat your oven to 375.
2. In a 9x13 pan, layer half your potatoes, sprinkle on half the thyme, salt and pepper evenly, add half the sunchokes, and finish with half the cheese. Repeat the layering pattern with the other half. Pour the milk over everything, and bake until you can slide a knife through all of the layers without resistance, about 45 minutes.