Add a bit of sea salt with ground pepper to taste. And there you have it: Savory Aduki beans!

However, cook the beans with dried tangerine peel which you can get at the Chinese herbalist or an Asian store. The tangerine peel has been used for hundreds of years to treat infection, for improving digestion and strengthen the liver. They will give the beans a very distinctive and slightly bitter taste. When done cooking these beans add maple sugar to the beans and eat the beans with the broth as a dessert.

You can also eat these aduki beans another way. You can drain water after cooking the beans and then cook the beans with sticky rice. Add maple syrup and dried fruit and you have a sweet bean cereal. Perfect for mornings, dessert, or afternoon snack.

Squash and Coconut Tapioca Pudding - enjoy

Ingredients:

3 lbs. Winter Squash ( any sweet squash will work, Buittercup, Butternut, and Hubbard all work well)
3 Quarts Water
4-5 Slices Fresh Ginger or ½ Teaspoon Ginger Powder
2 Cups Granulated Sugar
1 Can Coconut Cream (14 Ounces)
½ Cup Small Pearl Tapioca

Recipe:

1. Peel the squash, remove the seeds, and roughly chop into 1 inch cubes.
2. Place the squash, water and fresh ginger if using into a medium saucepan and place over high heat.
3. Bring to a boil and then boil for ten minutes or until the squash starts to soften.
4. Add tapioca pearls and continue boiling for ten more minutes.
5. Add coconut cream, sugar, and powdered ginger if using.
6. Return to a boil.
7. Remove from heat and cover, allow to rest for at least ten minutes.
8. Pudding will continue to thicken and tapioca will continue to cook as it cools.
9. Remove fresh ginger before serving.

Serve and enjoy!

Here's Tammy preparing this recipe at the Minneapolis Farmers Market

Ingredients:

4 Quarts Water
1 ½  lbs. Smoked Pork Loin or Chop
3 Live Blue Crabs   (if crabs are unavailable you can substitute ¼ cup dried scallops or shrimp)
3 lbs. Winter Melon (about ¼ to ½ of a melon)
Salt

Recipe:

1. Place water in a large soup pot and bring to a boil over high heat.
2. While water is heating chop pork into 1 inch cubes and clean and quarter the crabs.
3. Add pork and crab to the water and reduce to a simmer.
4. Peel, seed, and chop the melon into 1 inch cubes.
5. After simmering for ten minutes add melon and bring to a boil.
6. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for at least ½ hour.
7. Periodically while cooking skim any foam from the top of the soup and stir.
8. Salt to taste.

Serve and enjoy!

Fried Wild Rice with Chicken

Ingredients:

½ Pound Hand Harvested Wild Rice
2 Cups Water
1 Tablespoon Chicken Soup Base (I use Penzey’s)
2 Chicken Breasts
½ Small Onion, diced
2 Cloves of Garlic, minced
3 Eggs, lightly beaten
3 Stalks of Green Onion, diced
1 Cup Bean sprouts (optional)
2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
1 Tablespoon Sesame Oil
3 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil

The Night Before:

1. Rinse the wild rice and place in a saucepan with the water and chicken soup base
2. Bring to a boil
3. Turn the heat down to low and cover
4. Cook for a half an hour or until the water is absorbed
5. After removing from the heat fluff with a fork
6. While the rice is cooking add 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil to a sauté pan and heat
   over med/high heat
7. Add the chicken breasts and sear until nicely browned, 3-4 min., flip and repeat on the
   other side
8. Cool the rice and chicken over night

To Make The Fried Rice:

1. Chop the chicken into small cubes
2. Using your hands or a fork break up any clumps that may have formed in the rice
3. In a small sauté pan scramble the eggs and set aside
4. Have all of the ingredients prepared and close at hand
5. Heat the remaining vegetable oil in a wok or large sauté pan over high heat
6. Add the onions and garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until the onions become
   translucent, 1-2 min
7. Add the chicken and rice, continue to cook, stirring constantly for 5-7 more minutes
8. Add the egg, green onion, bean sprouts (if using), sesame oil, and soy sauce
9. Cook, stirring, until everything is well incorporated

Serve and enjoy!

Ingredients:

About 4 Dozen Chestnut Apples (other small apples would work as well)
8” Bamboo Skewers
3 Cups Granulated Sugar
¼ Cup Corn Syrup
1 Cup Water
¼ Pound Fresh Ginger
Juice from half a lemon

Preparation:

1. Place apples on a hard surface and insert one skewer vertically into each apple
2. Lightly oil a large baking sheet and set aside
3. Peel and thinly slice the ginger
4. Place the ginger and water in a blender and puree
5. Using cheesecloth strain the ginger water into a bowl
6. Pour 1 cup of the ginger water into a 4-6 quart, heavy bottom sauce pan and heat over medium
   heat
7. Add the sugar, corn syrup, and lemon juice and cook until all of the sugar is dissolved
8. Once the sugar is dissolved turn the heat up to high and continue cooking, stirring constantly,
   until the liquid is amber colored and boiling, about 10 minutes (it should be about 300
   degrees)
9. Gently dip the apples one at a time into the candy liquid, and then set on the oiled pan to dry

Ginger Candied Chestnut Apples

Ingredients:

4 Quarts Water
1 Medium Onion, chopped
2-4 Carrots, chopped into ¼ inch slices
3 Stalks of Celery, chopped into ¼ inch slices
1 Pound of Okra, roughly chopped
1½ Pound Tomatoes, chopped into medium sized chunks
3 Cobs of Corn, chopped into 1-2 inch pieces
1-2 Thai Chili Peppers, finely chopped
½ Cup Fish Sauce
½ Cup Mint Leaves
1 Tablespoon Sugar

To Make The Soup

1. In a large sauce pan over high heat bring the water to a boil
2. Add the carrots, celery, onion, and garlic
3. Cook for 10-15 min., or until the carrots start to soften
4. Add all of the remaining ingredients
5. Bring to a boil
6. Turn down the heat and simmer for 15 more minutes

Serve and enjoy!

Ingredients:

1½ lbs turnip (approx 1 large turnip), peeled (with a carrot peeler or similar utensil) and sliced
2 quarts chicken or fish stock
1½ lbs seafood mixture: shrimp (sliced in half), scallops (thin-sliced) and squid (optional)
½ small bunch of cilantro (approx 6 stalks), chopped
3 stalks green onions (chopped)
1 Tbsp salt
1 tsp sesame oil
1 pinch ground white pepper

Preparation:

1. Heat stock until boiling then add sliced turnip
2. Cook turnip until it begins to turn transparent or soft (approx 10 minutes)
3. Add salt and seafood and cook until boiling again
4. Add cilantro, onions, sesame oil and pepper

Remove from heat and serve.

Slicing turnip

Seafood; cilantro and chopped green onions

Ingredients:

½ lb immature squash or regular squash (cut into 1/4˝ slices)
note: if using immature squash, leave the skin on, it’s very tender; if using regular squash, remove outer skin before slicing
½ lb mixed or green beans (cut off ends)
1 lb cauliflower (1 medium-sized head – cut florets from stalks)
½ lb round Thai eggplant (cut off tops and slice in half)
1 large white onion (chopped)
1 small piece of fresh ginger (sliced); or ½ tsp. of ground ginger
5 shallots (thin-sliced) – optional
2 stalks of fresh lemongrass (crush and cut into 2˝-3˝ lengths)
5 large cloves of garlic (crushed and chopped)
1 cup of fresh Thai basil leaves
½ cup oil
1½ tsp of salt
1 14 oz can coconut cream
1 Tbsp Penzey’s Hot Curry Powder spice mix

Preparation:

1. Put 1½ quarts of water on to boil and start preparing the vegetables (begin with squash and lemongrass)
2. When water is boiling, add squash and lemongrass and boil until squash is tender but firm (approx 10-15 minutes)
3. When squash is ready, remove from heat but don’t discard the water; instead, remove lemongrass and squash from water, discard lemongrass, set squash aside
4. Now, put the cut cauliflower in the pot and heat again until boiling; boil briefly (approx 2-3 minutes) until cauliflower is blanched – this will soften it slightly so it cooks quicker in the wok or pan; remove cauliflower from heat and strain
5. In a large frying pan or wok, heat oil
6. When oil is hot, sauté ginger, onions, garlic and shallots together for 1 minute (until fragrant)
7. Add Thai eggplant and beans, stirring together until green beans are bright green (approx 2-3 minutes)
8. Add squash, stir briefly
9. Add salt
10. Add blanched cauliflower and mix together
11. Add spices and blend
12. Add coconut cream (this will thicken the sauce) and stir until thoroughly mixed in
13. Mix in Thai basil and stir until blended

Remove from heat – serve with rice!

Chopped onions and garlic

Chopped squash

Tammy made this curry August 7 in preparation for her Mpls. Farmer Market demonstration on August 29. Most of the vegetable ingredients were purchased at the Farmers Market that morning: immature squash, mixed beans, thai basil, shallots, round thai eggplant, cauliflower, carrots – fresh and local stuff! However, if you’re not able to find all of these vegetable ingredients when you’re ready to prepare this dish, don’t be afraid to use other seasonal vegetables that are available.

Summer Vegetables from August 7, 2009