More Spring Vegetables

Here’s another great recipe from Moosewood Restaurant Simple Suppers. I changed it a bit by adding mushrooms and chopped green onions. I love recipes that offer a baked version of a classic fried food. Not only are fried foods more fattening, they also make my house smell like a restaurant for several days. It’s not a bad smell, but it kind of makes you hungry while you sleep. So I bake instead when possible.

Easy Egg Rolls

1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon grated peeled ginger root
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 scallions, include as much of the green parts as possible
16 ounce package slaw mix
6 to 8 large dried shitake mushrooms, soaked in hot water, rinsed and sliced. Discard stems.
1 tablespoon soy sauce
½ teaspoon salt
Pinch black pepper
6 sheets of filo pastry
About ¼ cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly oil a baking sheet.
Heat sesame oil in a wok or heavy skillet. Add ginger, garlic and chopped scallions and cook for a few seconds. Add slaw, mushrooms, soy sauce, salt and pepper and stir-fry for 4 minutes. Remove from heat.
Place the filo sheets on a dry surface. Brush the top sheet lightly with oil. About 3 inches from the bottom edge, spread one-fourth of slaw mixture. Pick up two sheets of dough and lift them up over the filling and roll up. Brush the finished roll with oil. Lift carefully and place on the oiled baking sheet. Repeat this process and make two more rolls. Place the rolls about 2 inches apart on a baking sheet. With a sharp knife, slice rolls into 4 inch pieces. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Serve with duck sauce. Here are two recipes. The first is simple and makes just enough for one or two meals. The second recipe is more complicated, but makes a lot.

Duck Sauce Recipe
1 cup applesauce
1/2 cup apricot preserves
2 tablespoons honey
2/3 cup cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon crushed garlic
Combine ingredients and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring frequently.

Duck Sauce
3 cans Purple Plums, Drained, Pitted and Chopped
2 cans Apricots, Drained, Pitted and Chopped
1 can Peaches, Drained, Pitted and Chopped
2 Chili Pepper, Seeded & Chopped
6 Scallions, Chopped
1/2 cup Red Wine Vinegar
2/3 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Water
Black Pepper, To Taste

Combine all ingredients in saucepan. Cover and simmer on low for 1 1/2 hours. Add more water if needed to keep mixture from sticking. Puree in blender or food processor. Pour into jars, cover and refrigerate. (You can cut recipe in half )

I planted two packages of radishes last weekend. I’ll keep planting more all spring, summer and fall. I love radishes. Here’s an interesting radish salad from Central Asia.

Shalgam Central Asian Radish Salad
The recipe for this piquant salad comes from Kazakhstan.

4 cups trimmed and sliced thinly radishes
2 cups red bell pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped
2 cups carrots, peeled and cut into thin strips
1 cup halved and thinly sliced onions
2 tsp., minced garlic

Dressing
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup wine vinegar
1 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. cayenne
1 tsp. salt
Prepare and combine the vegetables in a salad bowl. Whisk together the dressing ingredients, pour over the salad, and mix well.