Mint Raitha

Had all the necessary ingredients, so looked into a few recipes and combined them by bits and bobs.

Ingredients:

1 large cucumber, grated

• 2 c. plain yogurt
• 5 spring onions (white sections chopped and green sections reserved)
• 1 medium tomato, diced
• 1/4 c. chopped mint
• 1 tsp. roasted cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. ginger, finely chopped

Procedure:

1. Prepare ingredients
2. Mix in large bowl
3. Chill for at least 30 min.
4. Enjoy!

Verdict:

Very nice; a keeper.

Collard Greens and Spring Onions in Soy Sauce

The collards and spring onions at the farmer's market here are and have been absolutely beautiful for months now, and I usually pick up some of both each week. This leads to the good-problem-to-have situation of needing to innovate within the delicious-green genre. Potluck the other week was a tofu stir-fry with Sriracha and soy, so I decided to make something that would complement that well, and this was a big, big success.

Ingredients:

• One bunch collard greens
• 4 large spring onions (with big bulbs), or about twice/three times that many skinny spring onions
• medium-heat oil of choice
• a bit of sesame oil
• 1 tbs. chili garlic sauce
• sherry/marsala/similar sweet cooking wine
• rice vinegar
• soy sauce

Procedure:

1. Set large pot of water to boiling, and boil collards for five minutes
2. Remove collards from water and slice off stems; chop collard leaves and set aside
3. Return stems to water and cook down into delicious broth – use for other dishes, freeze for later, etc.
4. Separate spring onions into bulb section and stem section; slice stems cross-wise and set aside, mince bulbs finely
5. Heat oil, mixed, in large pan or wok over medium; add minced onion bulbs
6. When onions begin to soften, add soy sauce and mix thoroughly; cook for 1-2 minutes
7. Add chili garlic sauce and rice vinegar and mix thoroughly; cook for 1-2 minutes, mixture should be a bit sludgy at this point
8. Add cooking wine to taste, cover and cook down until about half of liquid is gone
9. Add collards, mix thoroughly, adding more cooking wine if necessary; cover again and cook for 3-5 minutes
10. Uncover and add sliced spring onion stems, mixing and cooking for only about a minute
11. Serve and enjoy!

Verdict:

Universally a hit. Just super-tasty, a bit of heat but not too much (this can obviously be modulated in either direction to taste), and a good compliment to a wide range of dishes. Very healthy and vegan to boot!

Four-Onion Pasta with Peas

It being spring, onions are in great abundance. Or maybe it's not that it's spring, I just had a lot of onions in the house. Regardless, I was inspired to make an onion-based pasta dish in a cream sauce and it turned out quite well.

Ingredients:

• one pound farfalle (bowtie) pasta, cooked
• one can peas (or, you know, just a lot of fresh peas)
  
• 1/2 large sweet onion
• 1/2 yellow onion
• 4-6 spring onions
• 1/2 cup shallots
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup grated pecorino romano
• liberal dose butter
• salt and pepper to taste

Procedure:

1. Boil water for pasta; cook pasta; drain and set aside
2. Chop yellow and sweet onion into 1/2" sections
3. Dice spring onions into 1/4" sections
4. Dice garlic and shallots
5. Heat generous amount of butter in large, high-sided skillet
6. Add garlic and shallots; cook for 1-2 min.
7. Add sweet and yellow onions; cook for several minutes until onions soften
8. Add half of white wine and milk; stir well and cover, simmer for several minutes
9. Add peas and remaining white wine and milk; stir well and cook for 1-2 min.
10. Add pasta; stir until all ingredients are combined
11. Turn off heat, add cheese and sitr until all pasta is coated
12. Serve and enjoy!

Verdict:

Very nice, and equally good cold and nicely congealed out of the fridge