Stir-fried Radish Greens | 蒜香蘿蔔葉

Every Wednesday I will go to visit the farmers' market outside City Hall.  It is a place for the city folks like me to purchase some local vegetables and fruits during the busy week.  I often look for the golden beets, heirloom carrots, and sweet corn.

Yesterday when I was passing a vegetable stand, I saw a lady who was purchasing a big bundle of radishes.  She told the stand-keeper to snap off the greens and just took the radishes with her.  Then, the radish top greens were tossed into a big box under the table.  "What a waste!" I thought to myself.  So I approached the stand-keeper and asked if she would like to give the radish greens to me.

"You have a rabbit?" she asked curiously.

"No, no, no!" I laughed. "It is for myself." I explained.

Then, I told her how I usually prepare radish greens and what they taste like.  She looked very interested and said she recalled a chef who was using radish greens in a cooking show she watched on TV.  She gave me a big bundle of the greens and I made it the side dish for dinner.

Radish greens are actually more nutritious than the radishes, and eating them raw can be even better for our body.  So next time when we purchase radishes or beets, remember to save the green tops.

INGREDIENTS:

1 bunch Radish Leaves

5 Garlic Cloves, peeled and smashed

1 tablespoon Shaoxing Cooking Wine

2 tablespoons Vegetable Oil

1/3 teaspoon Salt

材料：

1 束  蘿蔔葉

5 瓣  蒜頭，去皮，拍扁

1 湯匙  紹興廚酒

2 湯匙  菜油

1/3 茶匙  鹽

DIRECTION 做法:

1. In a wok, heat up vegetable oil with the garlic cloves over high heat, until the garlic is fragrant.

2. Add radish greens and stir fry until they start to wilt; about 2 minutes.  Add shaoxing wine and season it with salt.  Continue to stir fry for another minute.  Remove it from the heat and serve when it is warm.

1. 在鍋內加入菜油和蒜頭，用大火燒至蒜香四溢。

2. 下蘿蔔葉，炒至其開始變軟；若2分鐘。下紹興酒和鹽調味，繼續多炒1分鐘。離火，趁熱享用。

Garlicky Tomato Spinach Salad ｜蒜辣車厘茄菠菜沙律

The farmers market near my work has finally opened.  During the morning walk today with the children, we took the opportunity to visit the local farmers and showed the children those beautiful seasonal vegetables.  They were so excited when they saw the yummy fruits and tomatoes they always like.  I bought a small box of mixed cherry tomatoes to make salad for the dinner.  My husband loves to see those colourful vegetables.  To add some kick to the ordinary green salad, I added some minced garlic.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup of Cherry tomatoes, halved

3 cups Baby spinach

2 sprigs of Basils, leaves only, thinly sliced

5-7 Garlic Cloves, minced

3 tablespoons Olive Oil

2 tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar

材料：

1 杯  車厘茄，切半

3 杯  菠菜

2 枝  九層塔，菜部份

5-7 顆  蒜頭，切幼粒

3 湯匙  橄欖油

2 湯匙  意大利黑醋

DIRECTION 做法:

1. In a large bowl, add all the ingredients.  Gently toss them with hands until they are evenly mixed.  Serve immediately.

1. 在一只大碗內，加入所有材料。用手小心地拌勻；上桌。

Red Wine & Farm Beet Marmalade | 紅菜頭甜醬

Marmalade is a type of sweet preserve similar to jam or jelly.  Other than the traditional marmalades that are made of citrus, vegetables that have sweet notes, like onion, tomato, or beet, are also getting popular in the marmalade world.  Spread it on your toast or cracker as a change for the jam and I am sure you will love it.

Red Wine & Farm Beet Marmalade

紅菜頭甜醬

Ingredients:

2 cups Red Farm Beets, grated

2 cups Yellow Farm Beets, grated

1.5 cups Brown Sugar

80 gram Unsalted Butter

1 cup Red Wine

1/4 cup Red Wine Vinegar

1 cup Water

材料：

2 杯   紅菜頭，切碎

2 杯   黃菜頭，切碎

1.5 杯   黑糖

80 克   無鹽牛油

1 杯   紅酒

1/4 杯   紅酒醋

1 杯   水

DIRECTION:

Basic Roasted Sunchoke ｜ 香焗菊芋

Sunchoke is a special root vegetable you will find in farmer's markets around October.  It is the tuber of a plant that belongs to the sunflower family.  Its look resembles a knobby ginger root and its taste somewhat reminds me of ginseng.

Sunchoke has increasingly earned its popularity in many upscale restaurants.  You can easily find sunchoke in salad, roasted side dishes, soup, or even chips on the menus.

Cooking sunchoke is no more complicated than cooking potato.  Basically, you can treat both in the same ways.

Basic Roasted Sunchoke

香焗菊芋

Ingredients:

4 Sunchokes

Olive Oil

Sea Salt

Black Pepper, freshly ground

How to make it:

1. Brush off the dirt and sand on the sunchokes under running water.

Sunchoke has thin skin and it is totally edible. It brings extra flavour after roasting.  So it is not necessary to peel off the skin.

2. Slice the sunchokes into about 1.5cm pieces.

3. In a mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients together; mix it well.

4. Roast it in the oven at 400 F for about 25 minutes, or until the skin starts to shrivel and become crisp.

5. Remove it from the oven and serve it as a side dish.

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you enjoy the recipe.