First dinner

I spent several hours washing and cooking this evening, after a strenuous Pilates class. I washed the mesclun and about 1/3 of the lettuce. This made a great salad with other veggies from Whole Foods. I had two bowls of salad.




Wendy's handout had a recipe for Lemon-Spring Garlic Vinaigrette, which is easy and superb:

6 T white vinegar
1.5 T finely minced lemon zest (about 2 lemons)
1/4 c freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 1.5 lemons)
1 T spring garlic, minced
2 T sugar, or to taste
1 t ground cumin
1 t ground coriander
1/8 tsp each kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil.
Combine all ingredients except the olive oil in a blender. With the motor on low speed, slowly drizzle in the olive oil until creamy and emulsified. Taste, and adjust seasoning. If not using immediately, cover tightly and store in refrigerator for up to 3 days. Use leftovers as a sauce for seafood dishes or marinade for grilled vegetables.

The handout had a recipe for Stir-fried Napa Cabbage with Black Bean Sauce. Luckily this used up all of the huge head of napa cabbage, but it was just ok so I won't make it again and won't post the recipe here. There was an epic amount of raw cabbage:





here it is raw








then it cooked (this is only about 1/2 in the big pan)











and cooked down some more (thank goodness)









until it made a reasonable amount for 8 or so people. Since there were just 2 of us, there are plenty of leftovers :)




Still need to come up with some options for the watercress and kale. More adventures to come!