Saturday, given the awesomeness that the weather was, G & I decided to get outside and enjoy the amazing-sunny-unseasonably-warm weather with a hike. We were thinking McAfee’s, but the parking lot was overflowing and no one likes a crowded hike, so we drove farther down 311 towards Dragon’s Tooth with hope that the trail might be less jammed. Part way there, though, I remembered that Tinker Cliffs had to be around there somewhere and I’d never hiked it, so why not?

G agreed. Oy. Turns out that Tinker Cliffs is one of the harder hikes in the area–1900 feet of climbing in less than 3 miles. But we survived and the view at the top was well worth it. From the cliffs you can see Peaks of Otter and McAfee’s and over towards Salem and Roanoke city. Incredible. But let’s just say that the evening post crawling back to the car was rather muted and involved a decent amount of ibuprofin and wine. It’s the little things that do a body good.

The next morning we awoke to cloudy skies and temperatures hovering around 45. Then it started, the snow. And it fell and it fell and it fell and it fell. And Dorian sat mesmerized by it all.

I couldn’t resist a run. I’m back in training mode for this year’s trail series and, though I’m starting with a 5K in two weeks, I really need to get the miles under me. Running on perfectly clear, warm roads with snow falling was liberating and just damn fun, the entire world turned into a grey and white cloudy mess.

I passed two other runners and two crazy-looking men fly fishing in the Roanoke River, but mostly I had the roads and the greenway to myself. Peace.

Back home I made what I craved–a salad of local kale and arugula, dressed simply in balsamic vinegar and olive oil, topped with a few raisins and cashews with some roasted local acorn squash. It’s one of those things that not only fills the belly but fills the soul–so green, so warm and savory, it’s a salad that feels nourishing in addition to being delicious.

The snow fell all day and all night and by morning the neighborhood was blanketed in six or seven inches. It was incredible, just looking around, knowing that, two days earlier, I’d been stripping down to a t-shirt while we hiked.

I could lie and say that all was still and quiet, but, the roads were plowed and everyone was trying to get to work–as I did too. But, at least, in that moment before I had to drop everything and get ready to leave the house, the trees glowed pink in the sunrise and some robins, despondent, flocked to the dogwood to wait for the afternoon’s melt.

Kale & Arugula Salad with Roasted Acorn Squash

Adapted from Design Sponge

1 acorn squash
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp dried sage
1 tsp aleppo pepper
1/2 bunch kale, leaves de-ribbed and chopped finely
2 c arugula
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
raisins
cashews
salt & pepper

Preheat the oven to 400.

Peel the acorn squash and cut in half. Scoop out the seeds and stringy part, place hollow side down on the cutting board, and cut 1″ semi-circular slices.

Place the slices in a mixing bowl and drizzle in the 1/2 tbsp of olive oil. Add the nutmeg, sage, and aleppo pepper and toss to coat. Place the slices in a single layer on a foil lined baking sheet. Let roast for 10-15 minutes, then flip over to the other side and roast another 10 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and set aside.

While the squash is roasting, place the finely chopped kale and the arugula in a mixing bowl. Pour the balsamic vinegar and olive oil on top of the salad and mix the dressing in with your hands, massaging the kale slightly to help it soften and break down. Set aside while the squash is roasting.

When the squash is done, plate the salad. Sprinkle a few raisins and cashews on top. Add a few of the acorn squash rounds, then sprinkle lightly with a pinch of salt and pepper.

Serves 2

Oh my goodness, I’m seriously behind schedule here. I keep not getting things done during the week (i.e. not posting) and then I’m faced with a mountain of restaurant recaps and recipes. So! To tidy things up, I’m going to do my darndest to wrap-up everything before March, March 5 at the latest. That way I’ll be fresh & ready for Europe (be still my excited heart)!

Thus the final Raleigh post. Before we went to the opera, we caught dinner at, perhaps, the best restaurant in Raleigh–J Betski’s. I say “probably” because, well, I don’t know if it’s the best, but it’s one of the top meals I’ve eaten in the past year. I found J Betski’s through the usual Yelp/internet searching, and something about it’s modern twist on traditional German and Eastern European dishes tugged at my heartstrings. We showed up a little late for our reservation, but they held the table for 15 minutes, which was great considering that the entire dining room was full–packed to the gills. But I wasn’t digging the table. It was a two-top right next to the hostess stand and door and felt too out-in-the-open, plus the dining room was mostly full of older couples and groups and I just felt a little out of place. So we opted for the bar–a great choice and one I hands-down recommend as the bartender was the perfect mix of professional and friendly. Chatting with him was great, plus he really knew the food and pointed us in some great directions.

Trying to stay gluten-free, G wasn’t keen on ordering plates but then not eating main components on them, but we found a few dishes that hit the gluten-free spot. We started with the sausage special of the night:Duck and Venison Sausage with in-house Sauerkraut, a spicy yellow mustard, redcurrant jam, and a mustard from France with grape skins in it (a really excellent mustard). The sausages, though, were incredible. We tried to pick our favorite and really couldn’t–the venison was a little more savory, the duck fattier and a little sweeter. If I were eating one for breakfast, I’d go with the venison, but over all I think I liked the juicy darkness of the duck. Bur, for reals, they were both out of this world. And the sauerkraut? I could have eaten a jar of it. At the bar. In under 10 minutes. Fresh and crisp with a tart sourness, it paired perfectly with the sausages and was great on its own. Utter deliciousness.

While G is mostly gluten-free right now, I’m not, and I have a ridiculous addiction to spaetzle, so I couldn’t not order the spaetzle with in-house quark. (Quark is a fresh cheese kind of like the curds in cottage cheese–tart and made from soured milk–a little paneer.) I’m really glad G was ok with me ordering it, because it was all that the bartender said it would be–the spaetzle (made in-house, of course) had the perfect chew, and paired with the quark, it was like a mega rich German mac and cheese. On top, richly caramelized onions completed it, lending a silky buttery sweetness to the mix. Plus, when baked, the cheese and spaetzle were a little browned on the edges and crispy. Heaven.

For the main course, the one completely gluten-free option was the Filet Mignon with Sweet & Sour Red Cabbage, Potato Pancakes, and a Mushroom Sauce. I was a little wary of ordering a filet mignon, I mean, it seems like what people order who aren’t adventurous and don’t love food, but the steak was ridiculous. In a good way. In a very, very, very good way. I have no idea how many ounces it was, but it was more than enough to feed the both of us–and for the price, it seemed crazy. I think the dish was only $28 or something like that. It was, of course, cooked a perfectly medium-rare (juicy and rich). Paired with thick potato pancakes unlike any other I’ve tried and a sweet & sour cabbage that I had to fight G for, and with a rich, velvety wine-soused mushroom sauce to boot, the entire plate was the best plate of steak I’ve ever had in my life. It was surreal how good and how generous the portions were. I would have gladly paid the same price for half the food–and still felt like I’d been served a deal.

After we raced to the opera (literally–we had the wrong directions and had to scream to the other side of town and then run across the Symphony Hall’s lawn to get there by curtain), we moseyed downtown and found Foundation, a wicked little whiskey bar. It’s a basement bar and thus a little hard to find, but thankfully we did, and we spent the evening nursing sazeracs of various types. Cave-like and warm, it was hard to peel myself from the place, especially after we scored seats at the bar. Just watching the bartenders work was art–and all the whiskeys? I’d kill for a bar like that in Roanoke. Be warned, though, if it’s a busy night, you might have to wait outside for awhile. They cap it at a certain number, for fire standards or for comfort, I’m not sure, but the cap ensures a pleasant, not-too-crowded experience at the bar.

The next day, after breakfasting at a not-too-remarkable place and scoring huge on veggies and other goodies at the North Carolina State Farmers Market, we met up for an early dinner with my former roommate A who shared the first house I lived in Roanoke with me. She lives in Durham now and I hadn’t seen her since our first year of the MFA program (she left the program for bigger & better things), so it was great to catch up and enjoy a brew and some great pub food at The Federal.

Deciding what to order was a doozy, but we all agreed we needed to split a bowl of Mussels in a spicy tomato broth with chorizo & frites. I haven’t had mussels in awhile (last year I couldn’t get enough of them), and these mussels were damn fine–slightly spicy and perfect with the smoky chorizo, it was hard not to mow down on all of them. Plus the frites were incredible–crunchy and salty and tasting like a fresh potato, they were phenomenal when dredged in the broth.

For my dinner, I chose the Veggie Sliders with a side salad, which A said she’d heard were really good for veggie burgers. A bean base, they were really good, a little like falafel, but that’s never a bad thing in my book. The plate came with two medium-sized sliders and heaping portion of mixed greens and I honestly couldn’t finish it all. It was delicious but just too much food. Not sure on the vegan status of them, as I didn’t ask, but even if they aren’t, they fit the bill for a veggie burger not stuffed with wheat or rice filler that’s more focused on beans, vegetables, and overall goodness. Definitely recommend for vegetarians and omnis alike.

While Raleigh doesn’t hold the same weight in my mind as Chapel Hill, I definitely came to love lots of during the trip. Plus, getting to see a Philip Glass opera is always good times. I can’t wait to head back to Durham and explore it more, and if I do, I’m making a run to J Betski’s to try everything else on the menu. From farmers markets to the opera to cocktails and meeting up with a good friend, it was one rockin’ weekend and one I hope to put on repeat.

J Betski’s
10 West Franklin Street
Raleigh, NC 27604
(919) 833-7999

Foundation
213 Fayetteville Street
Raleigh, North Carolina 27601
(919) 896-6016

The Federal
914 West Main Street
Durham, NC 27701
(919) 680-8611

This isn’t a recipe, it’s more of a meditation. These days I’ve been rushing around trying to get everything done–laundry, taxes, running, swimming, classes at the Y, cooking, other bits around the house–and I’ve realized that I’ve forgotten how to slow down, how to breathe, how to just chop some vegetables. I’ve also forgotten simple cooking–vegetables simply prepared, be it steamed or roasted or even raw.

So for this Dark Days post, I’ve gone back to the basics–the local foods I have on hand, lemon juice, some herbs & seasoning. Potatoes from some farm I can’t remember, washed and peeled, boiled until soft, then mashed with olive oil and soy milk. Butternut squash from Paul, peeled and diced, then tossed with a mix of lemon juice & seasonings, diced tofu prepared the same way, then roasted until browned on the edges. Kale from Roanoke County tossed in the leftovers of the same mix, roasted. Some crispy, some soft.

The idea was simple: use what I have on hand & honor the process, the chopping of squash, the rinsing of kale. Think about what I’m making, what I’m eating. And dig into the harvest we have here in the mountains of Virginia–it’s so much to be thankful for.

A day late and a dollar short with this Dark Days post, but, to put it delicately, let’s just say that I’ve gotten to know our house’s toilet a little more intimately than I would have liked this week. I’m sitting here with a bottle of Gatorade and a deep desire to eat something more than a saltine, but it ain’t gonna happen. Dorian, my cat, on the other hand, is loving the fact that I’m here all day–I mean, free human to sit on and and annoy and sleep with? Could life be any better? And at least there is a 7/11 one block away from us, which means access to Gatorade and Tylenol and Imodium and all that fun stuff. While I liked parts of living at the cabin for that brief stint, I’ll admit, civilization holds its perks.

But, to the Dark Days post. This week we were given the challenge to cook up something sweet for Valentine’s. While I grew up a chocoholic, I somehow lost the sweet tooth over time–my original blog was titled Cupcake Punk for a reason, but now I’d rather just mow down on some veggies or maybe a slice of sourdough bread. Or, really, let’s be honest, a cocktail or glass of wine makes for a great post-dinner sit and chat. So with the idea of “Valentine’s” and “dessert” on the brain, I really lucked out when we traveled to Raleigh and the State Farmer’s Market. Oh, hello, gorgeous solar grown strawberries. We were meant to meet, weren’t we?

With the gluten-free experiment still in place, it took awhile to land on the “perfect” dessert to try my hand at. I knew I couldn’t make it super-local since, besides buckwheat (which I’m out of), gluten-free flours are nowhere near local, but I did go the sustainable, fair-trade, organic route on top of the strawberries. And, for all the five years (yes, five years! I’m somewhere around my blogiversary–crazy times) I’ve been running this blog, I’ve never made a raw dish. Nope. Nothing raw. It’s not that I’m anti-raw-foods, it’s just that…well, I like cooking and I’ve never had the patience (or the money to invest in nuts) to carry it out.

Thus I bring to you a Strawberry Chocolate Raw Cheesecake. Delicately creamy with a punch of bright strawberry flavor, the cheesecake rings perfection. Most of the sweetness stems from the dates in the crust, though a little agave added to the “cheesecake” part sweetens as well, and a pinch of raw cocoa added to part of it lent a nice savory, chocolate note. G & I are both fans of the dessert, and, while I don’t plan on going raw anytime soon, it did give me hope for trying out more raw dishes. Win-win all around!

Strawberry Chocolate Raw Cheesecake

Adapted slightly from My New Roots

For the Crust:
1/2 c raw almonds
1/2 c soft Medjool dates, pit removed
¼ tsp sea salt

For the Filling:
1.5 c raw cashews, soaked overnight
1/4 c lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract/paste
1/3 c raw coconut oil, melted
1/3 c agave nectar
3 tbsp raw cocoa
1 c fresh strawberries (+ more to taste!)

To make the crust, place almonds, dates, and salt in the bowl of a food processor (remember to remove those pits!) and process until fine. Check to make sure that the crust sticks together when pressed. If no, add more dates until it does.

Press the crust into the bottom of a spring form pan (I used an 8″ but use a smaller one if you’d like the cheesecake to be thicker). Rinse the processor.

If the coconut oil is solid, warm over very low heat in a sauce pan over the stove. Once melted, add to the bowl of the food processor. Add the soaked cashews, lemon juice, vanilla, and agave nectar. Process until completely smooth (this might take awhile).

Pour out half of the mixture into a mixing bowl. Whisk in the cocoa powder. Pour the chocolate mixture into the springform pan and smooth out.

Add the strawberries to the processor bowl and process until smooth. Add more strawberries until it’s the right “strawberry-ness” for you (I probably used 1.5 cups). Pour on top of the chocolate layer and gently smooth out.

Cover with saran wrap and freeze overnight. When ready to serve, let it warm up for 30 minutes on the counter, then cut with a sharp knife. Keep leftovers in the fridge and enjoy!

Serves 10

Way back when (ok, actually the first weekend of January, I suppose), my father came to visit (our first house guest in Casa G!) and to share a little post-Christmas-Christmas with us.  And no visit to Roanoke, in my opinion, is complete without a hike & visit to a winery.

For the hike, we hit a short, yet pretty trail called Rocky Knob, which wound through some forested area with a creek and then spit us out in a cow pasture with some excellent views of the plateau. It was super windy, and therefore hard to get a good picture of us, but other than that, the weather and the hike itself were superb. I was in some pretty royal pain from doing a class at the YMCA the day before, so the easy, rolling hills were perfect for my sore legs and I found it pretty fun to traipse through a working pasture that someone owns (the owner is cool with the trail and it’s a pretty established hike with an easy to follow path, so no worries there).

Thankfully, hikes in Virginia, it seems, are always close to wineries, and Chateau Morrisette, our destination, wasn’t far away–just a few miles down the Blue Ridge Parkway.

I’ve always like Chateau Morrisette’s wines–I think they’re solidly good–but, even though I regularly buy them in stores around town and drink them at wine festivals, I’d never been to the winery. And, coincidentally, it was also my father’s first ever wine tasting! G, having been to many tastings (we regularly hit wineries up) and many tastings at Chateau Morrisette, even, didn’t seem to mind too much, and our tasting was with a fun group of folks with a friendly pourer, so that made it all the better.

I, per usual, loved the assortment we tried (though I lean towards the fuller bodied reds and crisp, dry whites, personally) and my father seemed to really enjoy himself (something I wasn’t so sure about, but, heck, he lived in Chile for a year and that’s a world player in the global wine making scene). The winery is the most, according to G, Napa-ish of the ones I’ve ever seen in Virginia–it’s bigger than all the ones I’ve been to and, because it produces so much wine and is carried in most Krogers and even the Sam’s Club here, it has a lot of money to put into the wine tasting room and the property. After the hike, it felt like a retreat into a lush, warm French mansion, especially with the big fire place roaring and with all the friendly bottles of wine begging to be tasted. And I’ve heard their food is superb, something I’ll have to check out sometime soon.

With all the wine and the hiking, though, we were famished, and decided to drive back down the mountain into town to get a bite to eat. Exhausted, we debated a few places, but finally settled one of the newer Vietnamese restaurants now in town–Pho Saigon. I plan on doing a more in-depth review in the future, but, as far as it goes, Pho Saigon blew me away on this first visit. The best Vietnamese food I’ve ever had? Nah, but really damn tasty.

G ordered the Pho with eye round steak, flank, fatty flank, and meatballs. The broth was rich and flavorful and the pho featured the perfect amount of meat–not a crazy, American-sized portion, but a good tasting of all of the different meats. The meatballs were my favorite–chewy and spiced nicely with some of the more aromatic herbs that I can never pick out (as of yet, at least)–they complimented the broth perfectly.

As for my dish, I settled on the Bun Cha Gio, Thit Nuong–charbroiled pork with egg roll. The charbroiled pork bun is the thing of my cravings–in Atlanta, before I was vegan (obviously), I used to eat at several Vietnamese restaurants in high school, and I always ordered charbroiled pork bun, but with this egg pancake thing that was unbelievably good and which I can’t ever find in other restaurants I eat at. Pfft. Anyways, the best park about it for me was the sweet, slightly charred pork served with the noodles and the sauce that you pour on top. Pho Saigon’s bun hit that spot for me–slightly charred and crispy meat with a slightly sweet yet savory sauce. There’s a vegetarian bun on the menu that I can’t wait to go back and try, so wait for my thoughts on that in the coming months!

Sated, we rolled back home and watched the Lions lose horrifically to New Orleans. Not the perfect ending to a pretty much perfect day, but you win some, you lose some. And I’ll stick with our wins.

Chateau Morrisette
287 Winery Rd SW
Floyd, VA 24091
(540) 593-2865

Pho Saigon
3420 Orange Ave
Roanoke, VA 24012
(540) 904-7070

There are a lot of cool perks about my job–a low key office that’s very un-PC (in all the best ways), beer o’clock on Friday afternoon at 4, the fact that no one cared how I found all the extra monitors and set them up in my cube–but one of the newest awesome things is the office puppy: Ash.

Dear world, meet Ash, my boss’ wee little Pudelpointer puppy. He’s going to grow big and hunt one day, but for now he’s mostly interested in shredding cardboard, untying my shoes, and snuggling into your lap if you sit on the floor. He’s pretty much the best. And the fact that he’s going to have a beard/mustache when he’s grown only seals the deal.

Oh, and he’s obsessed with our personal heaters. He’s been known to find a hoodie or something he’s allowed to nest in and drag said soft item in front of the heater and then pass out. Seriously a puppy after my own heart. And I really wish I could do what he does, but then I guess I wouldn’t get paid. Oh the trade offs.

Office puppy aside, but work related, I mentioned briefly that G & I are trying to be mostly gluten-free these days (gastro-intestinal issues, probably bacteria related, but we’ll see), so some of our favorite go-to fillers for meals are limited (I just don’t have it in me to make a fresh loaf of gluten-free bread every week, or gluten-free buns, or even buy pasta all that often). With fewer carb-laden meals, it’s definitely good for the waistline, but occasionally we want a snack. And what makes a better gluten-free snack than hummus with some gluten free crackers or fresh veggies?

During 2010′s MoFo, I cooked up a batch of roasted parsnip hummus and, in the melee that was Thanksgiving, I was glad for it’s easy, simple, and healthy fix. The same holds true this time–the sweet, nutty flavor of the roasted parsnips pairs perfectly with chickpeas, and with a few other ingredients, the entire dip shines with fresh, winter-inspired flavor. Delicious without being too heavy as so many dishes are this time of year, the hummus makes a perfect snack. Perfect even for the Superbowl (oh, hey look, this post is accidentally “holiday” themed!).

Roasted Parsnip Hummus

Originally posted November 23, 2010

1 c dried chickpeas, soaked overnight
3-4 medium parsnips, peeled
1/4 c tahini
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
water
olive oil

After the chickpeas have soaked 12-24 hours, drain the water, and transfer chickpeas to a pot with water covering the chickpeas by an inch or two. Bring a boil, then lower to a simmer. Cook 30-45 minutes, until the beans are soft when speared with a fork tine.

Meanwhile, set the oven temperature to 400 degrees F. Chop the peeled parsnips into equal sizes, place in a baking dish, drizzle with olive oil, toss to coat, and bake for 20-25 minutes, until soft when speared with a fork tine. Set aside.

Once the chickpeas are cooked, add the chickpeas, roasted parsnips, tahini, lemon juice, salt, 2 tbsp olive oil, and 1/4 cup water to the bowl of a food processor. Process for 1-2 minutes. Add more water as needed, process another 3-5 minutes until smooth. Adjust tahini, lemon juice, salt, and water as wanted for taste and texture.

Let cool, then refrigerate.

Makes 3 cups.

Last May, Holy Taco was on my “MUST EAT NOW” list but everyone I asked to go to it with me said no. Seriously? What people tell a food obsessed person visiting their hometown that they love so much “no” when it comes to food/drink suggestions? I run into it a lot and it’s really starting to annoy the hell out of me, but this past December I finally found a friend who said yes. Yes!

It turned out that for the two full days that I was actually in Atlanta, my good friend from college, A, also happened to be in Atlanta with her (now) fiance visiting his family. He had just popped the question a few days earlier while hiking the Appalachian Trail approach trail (they hiked the full AT two years ago), so it was awesome to catch up, ooh and ahh over the fantastic ring, and eat some awesome food. Plus it was gorgeous semi-warm and sunny so the patio was fair game. I can only imagine how awesome that patio must be in the summer.

A is a guacamole/avocado fanatic, so we couldn’t pass up on the guacamole. (Looking back, I should have asked for her to model the ring while dipping the chip into the guac…oh well.)  It’s seriously the best guac I’ve ever eaten in my life. It’s simple: fresh, ripe avocados, tomatoes, onion, and, most likely, crack. Served with their in-house-fried tortilla chips, it was seriously hard not to snarf the whole thing down. If I could get this in a container to go on a daily basis, I think I’d be in heaven. No really.

Another starter that I ordered was the Trotter Croquetas. Surprisingly similar in texture to Trotter Special at Lucky, the croquetas were a mix of trotter and serrano ham, fried, and served with a honey aioli. The fried crust was perfectly crunchy and light–not oil soaked–and the trotter and serrano ham were savory and salty, balanced perfectly with the slightly sweet honey aioli. A great small plate to share, I insist that you order them if you eat pork. You won’t regret it…though you may want to order another plate of them for a savory dessert.

But, the main reason for going to Holy Taco, of course, is the tacos. And picking which tacos you want will be the hardest part of your day because they all look seriously good. While I really really really really wanted the goat with sweet onion, guindilla peppers, and mustard salad, it wasn’t available (as the menu warned might be the case). With great sadness, I switched it up and ordered a plate of three tacos (way too much food, but I wanted to try it all–how could I not?!). The first featured “12 hour roasted pork shoulder with Mexican slaw” and it was spot-on juicy and flavorful with a fresh slaw of cabbage and perhaps kholrabi on top. Next was the “buttermilk fried chicken hearts with pickled shallots, and arbol chile”–the farthest out of my zone, but good nonetheless. The chicken hearts were spongy with a nice gamey flavor and the buttermilk fried part was crunchy and exactly how I like my fried chicken. I wish they’d been a little less liberal with the chicken hearts if only because it was really hard to eat and not think about what you were eating, but they did taste great, so no complaints. Last was the vegan taco, a gorgeous vegetable-centric taco featuring avocado, radish, an Ecuadorian salsa, black beans, and rice. It’s one of the best vegan tacos I’ve ever eaten–simple, fresh, and perfectly balanced with pickled radish and a slightly spicy salsa.

To all my friends who wouldn’t go with me last May, you seriously missed out. Holy Taco is an amazing tacqueria with plenty of delicious surprises. It was so hard to choose an appropriate amount of food as everything sounded fantastic on the menu–confit french horn Mushrooms, arepas with home town honey & cabrales cheese, hot cured Spanish Sausage in hard cider. I want it all. And right now. You can bet your bottom dollar I’ll return to Holy Taco next time I’m in Atlanta–and with a group so I can get close to tasting it all. Simple, fresh, local, and delicious. I can’t ask for more.

Holy Taco
1314 Glenwood Ave SE
Atlanta, GA 30316
(404) 230-6177

Last weekend, G & I drove down to Raleigh to watch some opera (Philip Glass’ Les Enfants Terribles), drink some drinks, and eat some fantastic food (more on that later). While there, we managed to swing by the North Carolina State Farmers Market–a 30,000 square foot farmers market run by the state of North Carolina. The compound, yes, I’ll call it that, was composed of several long warehouse buildings with open backs. For the winter, produce largely took up 3/4 of one of the buildings and another building was mostly full of more permanent vendors who sell cheeses, meats, anything that might need refrigeration or electricity. A seafood building stood on the far end of the area, but only one fisher was there with some shrimp and not much else. We were both simply amazed at the space and can’t wait to see it in its full summer glory.

Since it’s winter, the place wasn’t as hopping as it could be, but, to an outsider, it was mecca–rows upon rows of farmers selling greens and tomatoes and pecans and honey and eggs and pastured meats and even local wine. I had to seriously restrain myself from buying a little bit of everything in the place. While I do wish I’d bought a box or two of tomatoes to can, I stuck with buying things that I generally can’t find here during the winter: broccoli, cheap bags of spinach, bok choy, onions, strawberries. Yes, strawberries. Strawberries raised in a solar powered greenhouse. Amazing! (We’ll get back to those strawberries next week…)

The thing that I liked the most about the market, though, was that it wasn’t just a bunch of green hippies selling things–there were some, but the majority of farmers were older, family run farms. And I trusted the signs–”home grown,” “local,” even the couple of “organic” ones here and there. In Roanoke, some of the sellers at the downtown market just ship in produce from Florida and sell it under the guise of “local.” Here, you knew it was local, you knew it was fresh, and you knew it was well cared for. Honesty. Sometimes that’s all you need.

But what to cook with the loot? Since Monday, January 23, was Chinese New Years, and one of the Dark Days challenges was for a one pot meal, I figured I’d whip up some sort of Chinese-inspired stir fry. Not necessarily “one pot,” but pretty darn close (damn that rice needing its own pot). With the veggies I picked up at the market–broccoli, bok choy, scallions–and a sauce I concocted out of whatever I had available in the pantry, the finished dish was anything but authentic, but beautifully green and delicious. Sometimes there’s nothing like a simple stir fry to highlight fresh picked produce, and I think this one really shone given its simplicity: vegetables, sauce, rice. And what I’d give for something like the NC State Farmers Market near me–utter abundance even in the heart of winter!

Orange-ish Broccoli & Bok Choy Stir Fry

For the sauce:
2 tbsp Bragg’s Amino Acids
1/4 c orange marmalade
1/4 c orange juice
1/2 tsp Sriracha sauce (add more to taste)
1 tsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp Sherry
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp arrow root powder (or cornstarch)

For the stir fry:
2 tbsp coconut oil
4 heads bok choy, washed and leaves separated
2 heads broccoli, washed and chopped into florets
2-3 scallions, chopped into rounds
sesame seeds
2 c cooked rice

In a small mixing bowl, combine all sauce ingredients. Whisk to combine and adjust to taste (add more Sriracha for heat, orange juice for acidity, Bragg’s for salt and umami).

Meanwhile, in a wok over medium-high, add the melt the coconut oil. Add the bok choy and saute, stirring constantly, for 3-4 minutes until it begins to wilt. Add the broccoli and saute, stirring/flipping constantly, for 3-4 more minutes until both the broccoli and bok choy is cooked as desired.

Take 2 florets of the broccoli out of the wok and add them to the sauce in the bowl to warm the sauce. Once the sauce is warm, pour into the wok and cook 1 minute until thickened and thoroughly coating the vegetables.

Serve on top of rice and garnish with sesame seeds and chopped scallions.

Serves 4-6

The napa cabbage hails from a farm somewhere close by, but I can’t remember where. We picked it up at the natural foods co-op here where, surprisingly, local food is almost unheard of–plenty of organics, but not much local. The three or four cabbages in the produce department summed up the entirety of local offerings. A shame that there wasn’t more, but I was happy enough to get my mitts on one!

The recipe is ripped entirely from The Kitchn and, while I wasn’t up for starting the grill for one small cabbage, broiling the cabbage in a cast iron pan did the trick. For the vinaigrette, I used organic lime juice in the fridge and a bottle of vegetarian fish sauce (yup, they make it…and mostly out of leeks, apparently), as well as the other ingredients (sans cilantro–just can’t eat the stuff).

Once again, it’s summer in a dish–with the crispy edges of the leaves reminding me of BBQs and charred veggie dogs, the lime like jumping into a cold lake on a hot day. Between the spice and the citrus and the almost-grilled quality of the dish, it hit the spot. And made me wish that it were beach weather again. Or, well, anything but cold and rainy!

Broiled Cabbage with Lime Vinaigrette

From the Kitchn

For the cabbage:
1 head napa cabbage, rinsed & outer leaves removed
Canola or vegetable oil

For the vinaigrette
1/4 c lime juice
1/4 c olive oil
1 tsp vegetarian fish sauce (omit if you don’t have any)
1 tsp Bragg’s amino acids or soy sauce
2 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp turbinado sugar

Set the oven to broil.

Make the vinaigrette by combining all ingredients in a blender and blending until smooth. Adjust seasonings to taste. Set aside.

Chop the napa cabbage lengthwise, then into wedges. Arrange the wedges in a cast iron pan or on a baking sheet. Brush with canola/vegetable oil, and let broil for 5-7 minutes until the edges are browning and crisping. Flip over with a pair of tongs and repeat for another 5-7 minutes.

Remove the cabbage wedges from the oven and arrange on a platter. Drizzle with the vinaigrette.

Serve as a side dish.