Spring Rice Salad

Every spring I look forward to making a dish full of spring delights with all the tender greens and edible flowers. Many you can find growing in your own yard like Red Bud Blooms, Dandelion, Wild Violets. I also like to let all the brassicas flower and collect the yellow blooms. Arugula flowers are my favorite.

2-3 cups of cooked brown rice
Sushi Vinegar(Can be found at any Asian Store)
A spoonful of your favortite oil, EVO, Sesame, Grapeseed…
A hand ful of your favorite greens (In this case it was arugula and mizuna)
A handful of your favorite edible flowers (brassica flowers and arugula flowers)
2 inches of a carrot, cut into small pieces

1. Using day old rice is the easiest. That way you don’t have to cool down the rice before adding the tender greens and flowers. Start by adding about a cup of sushi vinegar to the rice and break up the rice by ‘cutting’ into the rice and not mixing it. You don’t want to make it mushy.

2. When the vinegar is absorbed by the rice, lightly toss the greens and carrots together in your favorite oil and toss together with rice.

3. Sprinkle the edible flowers on top and serve!

Easy and beautiful! If you don’t have flowers, it still works really well with just tender salad greens. The picture below is a variation of brown rice, arugula, ground sesame seeds, avocadoes, soy sauce and sesame oil! Enjoy spring!

Ground Sesame Seeds and Arugula Rice Salad
Picture courtesy of Asami Tanaka

Japanese Spinach with Miso Dressing

Komatsuna, which is referred to as Japanese spinach is rich in calcium and is very similar to spinach or bok choy. You can eat the leafy part fresh in salads or eat stems and all in stir-fries or in soups. It is especially popular to blanch cooking greens in Japan and serve as an appetizer or side dish.

Eat your greens for vitamins and minerals!

Cauliflower Salad

We planted cauliflower in the fall and they are overwintering under row covers. We picked a purple cauliflower to use in the salad. You can substitute with broccoli too.

Daikon Greens with Peanut Sauce

This is a typical side dish in Japan. Easy to prepare and healthy. Make it when you’re in a hurry or  want to add extra green color to your meal.

Ingredients

* daikon greens from 2 daikon(serves 4)

* water for boiling

* black or white sesame seeds

* peanut sauce / asian dressing

Preparation

1. Bring a big pot of water to a boil and boil the daikon greens( without                 cutting) for  2-3 minutes.

2. Drain the water and cool off in cold, running water. This step prevents the greens from overcooking and get too wilty or discolored.

3. Align the greens so that the stems are on one side and the leaves are on the other. Gently squeeze the water out of it. Don’t ring out too hard to the point where you are breaking the stems…

4. Cut in 2 inch sizes. Place on a plate and drizzle store-bought peanut sauce        or your favorite Asian dressing. Sprinkle sesame seeds for garnish.

*Tip*

Daikon Greens can be substituted for kale, swiss chard, beet greens or any other cooking green.

Cooking greens do not store well. The best is to prepare this dish the day or two of getting the daikon. If you are not ready to cook with it, place in plastic bag and cover with a paper towel. This helps keep moisture in.