Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Fennel Slaw and Indian Slaw

America's Test Chicken consists of two separate chickens, each with her own take on this cooking thing. Check out Chicken One's related blog, A Travel for Taste where she shares travel stories and recipes collected whenever she ventures abroad. And give Chicken Two's new, also-related blog, Poop from the Coop a read. There you can find stories about her personal adventure re-experiencing the kitchen after many years away. Please join our Facebook group to share your own recipes, kitchen practices and know-how. We are also on Pinterest and Instagram.
The complete recipes appear at the end of this post.


From Chicken One:
Fennel Slaw

I chose a delicate slaw this time from one of my fave Indian cookbooks by Vikas Khanna, Indian Harvest. If you'd like to witness someone who is spiritually connected to food, search on this guy's name on YouTube. He's wonderfully inspiring to listen to as he talks about food.

This dish is a light, summery fennel slaw with a tangy dressing and sweet, sweet honeydew melon balls. Just looking at these photos makes my mouth water! 

With the hot weather bearing down on us, we thought we'd give you some light yet spicy options for a flavorful repast. A great advantage to cooking light is that the recipes are quick and easy, too.
No cooking is required, of course, and only one fennel bulb, thinly shredded. You get all this from one bulb, about four servings:
The dressing is very vinegary, and next time I will reduce the vinegar to half of what the recipe calls for. The taste is so tangy that it's hard to eat without the melon sweetness in the same bite to offset the edge. So I added more melon this time!

The dressing is made with lightly toasted cumin seeds ground fine. 
The wonderful aroma permeates the kitchen as it's toasted and ground, and you can't believe the difference in flavor. You could use ground cumin from a jar as well, but the flavor is much less intense.

Enjoy the summer with this light, sweet salad. It makes a perfect lunch or a side to accompany a main course.

From Chicken Two:
Bund Gobhi Nu Shaak (Indian Slaw)

I was looking for a salad that I felt would balance out a wonderfully spicy Indian meal that included a vindaloo and a creamy corn curry. I wanted something with great flavor that would stand up to the other strong tastes but not overpower. This salad works!
Because my time was short, I bought a coleslaw mix to use, which worked out great.

The combination of hot (serranos) and sweet (coconut) along with the roasted peanuts was a tantalizing mixture for the taste buds!
You will find the recipe below but here's a couple of hints:
I recommend dry roasted peanuts and definitely unsalted. Grind into a bread crumb consistency and mix with all the other ingredients except the mustard seed. Don't fall asleep with your hand on the grind button or you will wind up with a paste!
When roasting the mustard seed, be sure to put a lid on it before you hear the first pop or two. Otherwise you could get hot oil or a seed in the face. Ouch! The process should only take about 30 seconds.

I left it in the fridge overnight and the flavors only got better!
Enjoy!!

 

Fennel Slaw and Melon Balls

Ingredients
  • 1/2 small honeydew melon, seeded
  • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon honey
  • 1 teaspoon lightly roasted cumin seeds, ground
  • salt to taste
  • fresh ground black pepper to taste
  • 1 medium fennel bulb, thinly sliced
  • 2 tablespoons fresh dill leaves
Cooking Directions
  1. Scoop out the honeydew with a melon baller, set aside.
  2. Whisk together oil, vinegar, mustard, honey, cumin, salt and pepper to make the dressing.
  3. Toss the fennel and honeydew in the dressing to coat.
  4. Garnish with dill.
  5. Serve chilled.

Indian Slaw (Bund Gobhi Nu Shaak)

Ingredients
  • 1 pound cabbage (half a small head) or 14 ounces (1 bag) coleslaw mix
  • 1-2 fresh green Serrano chiles, stems discarded
  • 1/4 cup dry-roasted peanuts
  • 1/4 cup dry, unsweetened, shredded coconut
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro leaves and tender stems
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse kosher or sea salt
  • juice from 1 medium-sized lime
  • 2 tablespoons canola oil
  • 1 teaspoon black or yellow mustard seeds
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
Cooking Directions
  1. Remove the core from cabbage and shred very thin (or open coleslaw mix). Place in large bowl.
  2. Slice the chiles lengthwise and then cut them into thin slices, crosswise, ending up with half-moons of chiles that still have the rib and seeds within. Do not discard the seeds. Add this to the cabbage.
  3. Chop peanuts in a spice grinder, food processor or mini chopper to a consistency of coarse bread crumbs. Letting the machine run continuously may yield peanut butter.
  4. Add peanuts, coconut, cilantro, salt, and lime juice to bowl cabbage.
  5. Heat oil in small skillet over medium-high heat. Once the oil shimmers, add mustard seeds, cover the pan, and cook until the seeds have stopped popping, about 30 seconds. Remove the pan from the heat and sprinkle in the turmeric.
  6. Pour over cabbage. Wipe skillet clean with some cabbage shreds.
  7. Thoroughly mix the contents of the large bowl to ensure every shred is evenly coated.
  8. Serve either at room temperature or chilled.

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