Monthly Archives: June 2021

Be Careful What You Wish For

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“Be careful what you wish for” has been running through my mind the past few days as temperatures reached eighty, then ninety, then one hundred degrees.  Who knew the first days of summer would blast in with a record heat wave?  I didn’t when I wrote in my last post: “Now that the Solstice is upon us, perhaps rain and warmth will continue, or at least warmth, and vegetables will really start to grow.”  Well, with this unusual heat the vegetables are really growing.  Tassels are forming on corn plants, zucchinis are stretching out, cherry tomatoes ripening, pole beans climbing strings, cauliflower and broccoli swelling into heads.  I’ve been out early the past few mornings harvesting anything that will suffer in the heat: radishes, turnips, rabe, cauliflower, broccoli.  And with the fridge full and the days too hot to be outdoors, I’ve been in the kitchen, trying out some new recipes.  

J. Kenji Lopez-Alt’s recipe for Roasted Cauliflower with Pine Nut, Raisin, and Caper Vinaigrette on Serious Eats makes a perfect summer salad.  I’ve made it twice, using walnuts instead of pine nuts both times because that’s what I had.  I also used the beautiful orange Flame Star cauliflowerI harvested during the heat. The only downside of this recipe during our heat wave is the 500-degree oven recommended for roasting the cauliflower.

Roasted Cauliflower with Pine Nut, Raisin, and Caper Vinaigrette


1 head cauliflower, trimmed and cut into 8 wedges

6 tablespoons (90ml) extra-virgin olive oil, divided

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon (15ml) sherry vinegar

1 tablespoon (15ml) honey

2 tablespoons capers, rinsed, drained, and roughly chopped

1/4 cup toasted pine nuts

1/4 cup raisins 

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley leaves

Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 500°F (260°C). Toss cauliflower with 3 tablespoons (45ml) olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet. Roast until cauliflower is tender and deeply browned on both sides, about 20 minutes total, flipping cauliflower with a thin metal spatula halfway through roasting.

While cauliflower roasts, combine remaining 3 tablespoons (45ml) olive oil, vinegar, honey, capers, pine nuts, raisins, and parsley. Season dressing to taste with salt and pepper.

Transfer cooked cauliflower to a serving plate and spoon dressing on top. Serve immediately.

A recipe for broccoli salad that doesn’t call for oven-roasting or any other cooking is Melissa Clark’s Broccoli Salad with Garlic and Sesame.  Introducing the recipe, she writes: “This salad is made from uncooked broccoli tossed with an assertive garlic, sesame, chile and cumin-seed vinaigrette slicked with good extra-virgin olive oil and red wine vinegar. The acid “cooks” the florets a little as ceviche does fish. After an hour, the broccoli softens as if blanched, turning bright emerald, and soaking up all the intense flavors of the dressing. You’ll be making this one again.”  She’s right.  I made a quarter batch for lunch and then made a half batch for dinner. I’ll definitely be making it again, perhaps a full batch for guests.  It’s very pretty with just the green broccoli but also lovely with the first cherry tomatoes of the season.

Broccoli Salad with Garlic and Sesame

Serves 6-8

  • 1 ½ teaspoons red wine vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt, more to taste
  • 2 heads broccoli, 1 pound each, cut into bite-size florets
  • ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 4 fat garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
  • 2 teaspoons roasted (Asian) sesame oil
  •  Large pinch crushed red pepper flakes
  1. In a large bowl, stir together the vinegar and salt. Add broccoli and toss to combine.
  2. In a large skillet, heat olive oil until hot, but not smoking. Add garlic and cumin and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in sesame oil and pepper flakes. Pour mixture over broccoli and toss well. Let sit for at least 1 hour at room temperature, and up to 48 (chill it if you want to keep it for more than 2 hours). Adjust seasonings (it may need more salt) and serve.

Temperatures are easing back to early summer normal now, a relief for us and for the kitchen garden vegetables. There are still a few more vegetables in the refrigerator though, so I’ll keep looking for new ways to use them.

Radishes and Turnips

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It’s been a cool, dry spring. Watering helps with the dryness, and various fabric covers, cold frames and a greenhouse help with the cold, but what would be even better would be a steady rain and some warmer days.  We’ve gotten a little of each in the past week and the garden vegetables are responding with fresher green and more growth.  Now that the Solstice is upon us, perhaps rain and warmth will continue, or at least warmth, and vegetables will really start to grow.  

In the meantime, I’m grateful for radishes and spring turnips, round red and round white.  

Crisp, spicy radishes are tasty sliced and slipped into a nut butter sandwich or with butter and salt on bread.  They are also wonderful lightly pickled in white wine vinegar, salt and sugar.  Simply pickled or with the addition of some yogurt and garlic, they make a great condiment or an addition to salads. 

Yogurt Radish Salad

Makes 2 cups

 1–2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar, optional

2 teaspoons coarse salt, or to taste

Cracked black pepper to taste

2 cups thinly sliced radishes

1 clove crushed garlic

1/2 cup whole milk yogurt, drained if watery

 In a medium bowl, mix together the vinegar, sugar, salt and a little pepper. Toss in the radishes and allow to marinate for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Toss in the garlic and yogurt and serve.

One more way I’ve been preparing radishes is roasting them. Cut into wedges, brushed with olive oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper and roasted for 10-12 minutes at 425, they lose their spice and crispness, but in exchange they mellow into a soft, subtly radish-flavored side dish.  

Spring turnips are round like radishes but more dense than crisp and more sweet than spicy.  Planted at the same time as radishes, they are ready for harvest about a week later.  When they are still small, about an inch in diameter, I treat them like radishes, serving them raw in slices or lightly pickling them.  When they get bigger, I roast them.  Prepared and roasted the same way I do radishes, turnips become sweeter and more tender than roasted radishes.  Roasted spring turnips are one of our favorite late spring dishes.  Turnip greens are very tasty too, sauteed in garlic and olive oil, they make a pretty bed for a batch of roasted turnips.  

As we reach the end of the current crop of radishes and turnips, spring broccoli and cauliflower are forming heads that will provide delicious meals while the next planting of radishes and turnips matures. Soon after that, beets, another round root, carrots and sugar snap peas will be ready, and we’ll be done with radishes and turnips for this season.  But they’ll be there for us next year, the first gifts of spring.  

Spring Turnips