Little Doves

By Cait Johnson, author of Witch in the Kitchen (Inner Traditions, 2001)
This traditional Russian recipe got its name because the people thought these tender little bundles filled with savory rice, raisins, and hard-cooked egg and simmered in tomato sauce look like doves. My Polish friend Ania makes a variation of these for special occasions. I always thought they must be really complicated, but as I was eating my third or fourth one and saying, “I’d love to make these at home, but they look really hard to do,” she just laughed and said, “Oh, no! It’s really easy. Try it and you’ll see!” She was so right: Little Doves just look fancy, but they’re really a cinch to make (and fun, too!) and they are great crowd-pleasers. Not only are they a beautiful use for leftover rice, they include four ingredients rich in flavonoids: onions, garlic, cabbage, and dill. My son doesn’t like cabbage but he loves these Little Doves. We all do.
Cabbage Leaves
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups cooked rice, white or brown
1/4 cup raisins
2 hard-cooked eggs, chopped
1 teaspoons dried dill weeds
alt and freshly-ground pepper, to taste
1 8-ounce can tomato sauce1 8-ounce can diced tomatoes, not drained
1/2 cup sour cream
Preheat oven to 350F. In a heavy-bottomed skillet, saute the onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat until softened and fragrant. Remove pan from heat and add rice, raisins, hard-cooked egga, dill, and salt and pepper to taste. In a large pot of boiling salted water, submerge the cabbage and allow to boil for 5 minutes, or until the outer leaves are softened and may be removed. Peel off 12 outer leaves and blot dry. Chop enough of the remaining cabbage to measure 3/4 cup. Add to rice mixture in pan. Remove tough stem of each cabbage leaf, if necessary. Then place 1/4 cup rice mixture in the center of each leaf, tuck ends in, and roll to form a neat little package. (You will find that cabbage leaves are very forgiving and easy to work with, but you can use a toothpick to hold them together, if needed.) In a baking dish, place the cabbage rolls in a single layer. Combine tomato sauce and tomatoes and pour over the cabbage rolls, cover the pan with foil, and bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, until bubbly. Place Little Doves on a serving platter, and remove toothpicks. Add sour cream to the tomato sauce in the pan, stirring to combine, and pour this sauce over cabbage rolls before serving.

Summer Squash Pancakes

2 eggs
1/2C milk
4 medium summer squashes, grated
1/2C bread crumbs
1/2C grated cheese
1/3C each chopped fresh parsley, basil and cilantro
2T minced shallot or green onion
4T butter
1/4C flour
Mix together eggs and milk. Add squash, herbs and shallots. Then mix in the cheese. Add slowly the bread crumbs and flour and mix well. In a large, heavy, non-stick skillet, melt 1T butter until it starts to brown. Spoon about 1/4C of mixture into the pan and flatten a bit with the spoon. You might be able to fit 2 pancakes into the same pan at once. When the edges show a little browning turn with a spatula. Cook the other side until it is also golden brown. Keep pancakes warm in the oven until they are all cooked.

Baked Summer Squash with Pesto Crumbs from More Recipes from a Kitchen Garden by Renee Shepherd
This can be served as a whole meal, over wild rice and garnished with toasted pecans.
3 lbs. Mixed summer squash
3 Tbs. butter
1 Tbs. olive oil
1/4 cup half-and-half
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp. mace1 tsp. sugar2
tsp. finely chopped fresh rosemary
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
2 shallots, minced4 scallions, finely chopped
½ cup Pesto Bread Crumbs Recipe(see below)
Preheat oven to 400F. Lightly oil a 2 ½ to 3 quart casserole dish with cover. Trim squash and cut into large chunks (about 1 ½ inches). Arrange squash pieces in casserole and set aside. Melt butter and olive oil together in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and add remaining ingredients, blending thoroughly. Pour sauce mixture over squash, tossing until squash is coated. Cover casserole and bake 40 minutes. Toss squash gently and spoon juices and seasonings from the bottom of dish over squash. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and bake uncovered for 10 minutes longer, until squashes are tender when pierced with a knife.

Pesto Bread Crumbs
1 cup dry bread crumbs
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan or Asiago cheese
3 Tbs. roasted pine nuts
1 ½ cups loosely packed fresh basil leaves
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. freshly ground pepper
Combine all ingredients in a food processor until thoroughly blended. After using, refrigerate any leftovers. Makes 2 cups.

Pasta with Zucchini, Lemon, Pine Nuts, and Herbs adapted from The Greens Cook Book
1 pound corkscrew pasta (gemelli, rotelli, etc.)
8 ounces small, firm green or golden zucchini
1/2 c. mixed fresh herbs: Italian parsley, marjoram, basil, chervil, hyssop, oregano, lemon thyme and others (I used basil and thyme, but oregano and marjoram are also good. Avoid tarragon in this dish.)
1 lemon
6 T. virgin olive oil
5 T. pine nuts
1 onion or 3 shallots, thinly sliced then roughly chopped
4 t. tiny capers, rinsed in water
2 sun-dried tomatoes, cut into narrow strips (I used 8 halves)
Salt & Pepper
Parmesan (grated, fresh)
Slice the zucchini diagonally into pieces about the same thickness as the pasta (matchstick size, 1/8" or so). Line up the slices and cut them into narrow matchsticks. Each one will be tipped with green or gold. Make a selection of fresh herbs from those suggested in the ingredients list. Pull the leaves off the stems and chop them, but not too finely. Include any flowers, such as the purple flowers of the basil or pink thyme blossoms. With a vegetable peeler, remove a thin strip of peel from the lemon and cut it into fine slivers. (I grated the peel.) Heat 2 T. olive oil in a small pan and add the pine nuts. Cook them until they begin to color; then add the shallots. Cook the two together over medium low heat until the shallots are soft and the pine nuts are brown. Transfer them to a wide bowl and add the rest of the oil, the capers, lemon peel, sun-dried tomatoes and herbs. Season with salt, freshly ground black pepper and 1/2 teaspoon or so lemon juice to taste. Add salt to the boiling water, drop in the zucchini and cook it about 1 minute. Scoop it out, shake off the water, and add it to the bowl with the other ingredients. Next, cook the pasta, scoop it out and add it to the bowl as well. Toss with a pair of tongs, so that the noodles are coated with the oil and herbs. Serve with the cheese passed separately.

Mustard Green Gratin

Mustard Green Gratin from Field of Greens
stemmed mustard greens
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, plus extra for baking dish
3 whole eggs, beaten
10 ounces ricotta cheese
2 ounces grated Parmesan (approximately 1/2 cup)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus extra for garlic and mushrooms
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
12 ounces mushrooms, sliced
1 cup crushed round butter crackers
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Remove any large stems from the greens and wash them thoroughly; do so in a sink with at least 5 inches of water. Moving the leaves around in the water and allowing them to sit for a few minutes to allow the sand or dirt to fall to the bottom of the sink. Once clean, roughly chop the greens. You should have 1 pound finished greens once they are stemmed. (Weigh the greens after stemming, but before washing.) After washing the greens, place them in a salad spinner to thoroughly dry them. Butter a 9 by 11-inch or 2 1/2-quart baking dish and set aside. In a large mixing bowl whisk together the eggs, ricotta, Parmesan, salt, and pepper. Set aside. In a large, 13 by 11-inch roasting pan set over 2 burners on medium heat, melt the butter in 1 corner of the pan. Add the garlic, mushrooms, and a pinch of salt and cook until the mushrooms give up their liquid, approximately 5 to 6 minutes. Add the greens and cook until they are wilted, approximately 3 to 4 minutes. The greens will reduce to less than 1/4 of their original volume and begin to look like thawed, frozen spinach. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the greens to the egg and cheese mixture and stir to thoroughly combine. Pour into the prepared baking dish, top with the crackers, place on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Allow to cool for 5 minutes and serve.

Beet, Walnut and Prune Salad "This beet salad works great as a side dish. It's garlicky, creamy, sweet, a little crunchy, and a little salty. Enjoy this authentic Russian recipe that everyone in my family always makes."
5 medium beets, scrubbed
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup mayonnaise
20 pitted prunes, chopped
3 cloves garlic, pressed
salt to taste Place the beets into a saucepan and fill with just enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, then simmer over medium heat until tender enough to pierce with a fork, about 20 minutes. Drain and rub off peels. Run under cold water until cool enough to handle, then grate using the largest setting. Place in a serving bowl. Stir the walnuts, prunes and garlic into the beets, then mix in the mayonnaise and season to taste with salt.

Swiss Chard
"Several years ago I had some swiss chard that had been freshly picked from a friend's garden. It was so sweet and yummy and buttery I couldn't believe it was actually Swiss chard. It was then I learned that freshness was the key determinant to whether chard was delectable or detestable. Last night we had Swiss chard that we had picked up from Whole Foods. It was good, quite good. But not nearly as fantastic as the chard we had a week ago that we had bought from the farmer's market. So here's a hint. If the thought of Swiss chard leaves you uninspired, get some from a farmer's market that has been freshly picked. It is sort of like the difference between white corn picked that day, or the same corn two days later. The tastes don't even compare."
1 large bunch of fresh Swiss chard
1 small clove garlic, sliced
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp water
Pinch of dried crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon butter
salt Rinse out the Swiss chard leaves thoroughly. Remove the toughest third of the stalk, discard or save for another recipe (such as this Swiss chard ribs with cream and pasta). Roughly chop the leaves into inch-wide strips. Heat a saucepan on a medium heat setting, add olive oil, a few small slices of garlic and the crushed red pepper. Sauté for about a minute. Add the chopped Swiss chard leaves. Cover. Check after about 5 minutes. If it looks dry, add a couple tablespoons of water. Flip the leaves over in the pan, so that what was on the bottom, is now on the top. Cover again. Check for doneness after another 5 minutes (remove a piece and taste it). Add salt to taste, and a small amount of butter. Remove the swiss chard to a serving dish. Links:Swiss chard ribs with cream and pasta . Great collection of chard recipes at Mariquita Farm