This week, One Straw Farm CSA brought lots more greens: mizuna, spinach, kohlrabi leaves, Swiss chard, and greenleaf and redleaf lettuces. Plenty of sweet vegetables relieved the sea of green in the form of yellow squash, cauliflower, and the kohlrabi bulb (having a personal love affair with kohlrabi, a stranger no more). But the real surprises were the herbs! Hooray for cilantro and dill! Dill is absolutely delicious snipped into a green salad with a citrusy vinaigrette and essential in shrimp salad. Radio Kitchen from WYPR recently did a show on how to use summer herbs. View the transcript here.
From left to right, starting at the top, mizuna, spinach, kohlrabi, yellow squash, cucumbers (from a friend’s garden), Swiss chard, cilantro, cauliflower, dill, greenleaf lettuce, and redleaf lettuce. Yum!
See below for a suggestion on how to use both the cauliflower and that beautiful bunch of cilantro, a mainstay in both the Hispanic and Thai kitchen.
Cauliflower power!
Ready in 30 minutes; makes 4 servings
Ingredients
Preparation
- Toast the cashews: Preheat the oven to 350°. Place the cashews on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until the cashews are toasted and fragrant, 5–7 minutes. Transfer the cashews to a large plate and set aside to cool them completely. Increase the oven temperature to 450°.
- Make the pesto: Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil over high heat. Add the cilantro and, once it wilts (after about 30 seconds), drain in a fine-mesh sieve. Use a rubber spatula to force out as much water as possible.
- In the bowl of a food processor, add the garlic, lime zest, serrano chile, and olive oil and process until the mixture is smooth and emulsified. Add the blanched cilantro and purée until semi-smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Add 1 cup of the cooled cashews, the ½ cup of cotija, and the sea salt and pulse until a chunky purée forms.
- Cook the cauliflower: Heat a medium oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and heat until the oil shimmers, then add the cauliflower florets. Season with the sea salt and transfer the skillet to the oven. Bake for 3 minutes, then use a spatula to flip over the cauliflower florets. Return the skillet to the oven and roast until the cauliflower is tender, 6–8 minutes. Transfer the cauliflower to a paper-towel–lined plate to drain, then turn the florets out into a large bowl.
- To the cauliflower, stir in ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons of the pesto (reserve the rest for another use). Serve the cauliflower sprinkled with the remaining ¼ cup of toasted cashews, the chopped cilantro, the 1 tablespoon of cotija, and the lime juice.
From Tasting Table
See also Cilantro Recipes: 30 Ideas for Guacamole, Chimichurri and More