Salsa Time!

Well, the weather outside may still be chilly, but I've already got my summer tastebuds on. This simple recipe for homemade salsa takes about 10 minutes to make. Serve it alongside slightly warmed corn tortillas as a dip, or to top off vegetarian burritos or tostadas. It also works really well on top of baked marinated tofu, veggie burgers, or vegetarian meat-style loafs. Or add a couple of cups of cooked chickpeas for tasty light lunch.

Fresh Raw Salsa
1–2 fresh red chillies, deseeded and chopped
2 medium-sized ripe tomatoes, diced
spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced
1/4 cup coriander leaves, chopped
1 avocado, stoned, peeled and diced
juice of 1 lime
2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp coriander seeds, crushed
salt and pepper to taste

With your hands, mix together the chillies, tomatoes, onions and coriander in a bowl. Squeeze slightly as you mix.

Add the avocado, lime, olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss to combine.

Chill until ready to serve.

Korean-Style Winter Salad

Another vegetable that my CSA is providing to me in abundance this winter is daikon radish. Before my winter CSA, I had never really cooked with daikon radish, and didn't really know much about it except that it was a big, long, white Asian root vegetable from the radish family. Since then I've tried a few recipes that used daikon radish, but this one is by far my favorite. It is liberally adapted from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian cookbook.

In the original recipe, Madhur Jaffey includes julienned Kohlrabi for this salad. Add it if you have it. The nappa cabbage is my own addition, and once again stems from what comes in my CSA box. The week I originally made this salad I had no kohlrabi, but loads of cabbage that I needed to use up. I must say that I was more than pleased with the results.

Korean-Style Winter Salad
Serves 4-6

2 medium carrots, peeled and julienned
5 inch chunk of daikon (about 1 cup), julienned
2 cups nappa or Chinese cabbage
1 tsp salt
2 tsp low-sodium soy sauce or tamari
2 tsp seasoned rice vinegar
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
2 tsp roasted sesame oil

The carrot and daikon should be julienned to about 2 X 1/16 X 1/16 inch; in other words quite fine. Toss the julienned carrot and daikon with the salt and let the mixture sit for about 30 minutes, until the vegetables are wilted. Drain, rinse with water, and drain again. Pat dry.

While the veggies are wilting, in a small bowl mix together the soy sauce, vinegar, crushed pepper and sesame oil. Set aside to allows flavours to blend.

In a medium bowl, toss together the nappa cabbage, daikon and carrots and the soy sauce mixture. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.

This salad makes a nice side to baked marinaded tofu for an evening meal, or as a side to a sandwich for a portable lunch. I also suspect that this recipe would work really well if lightly steamed broccoli was substituted for the nappa cabbage.