Asian Cabbage Rolls, Pollo Verde, Falafel, Flour Hummus, Purple Sweet Potato Balls

 Purple Sweet Potato Balls
I promised our Produce Co-op coordinator that I would make "something interesting" with some small but tasty purple sweet potatoes that came in my veggie box this week, and here it is.  Of course you can use any color of sweet potato to make these snack or dessert balls. This is a technique, not a hard and fast recipe.  Feel free to experiment.

Sweet Potatoes, peeled and cubed (they cook faster when cut small)
Honey (1+ Tbsp per pound of potatoes)
Cinnamon (1+ tsp per pound)
Sesame Seeds for coating

Boil, steam or nuke the potatoes until soft and mashable.  I had about half a pound of potato to make the balls pictured here.  Mash them smooth, adding the honey and cinnamon as you do.  You don't want a very 'wet' mash.  Cool.

Roll the mash into balls -- walnut-to-golf ball size depending on how much you love sweet potatoes.  Gently roll each ball in a saucer of sesame seeds.  Serve.

Asian-Style Cabbage Rolls
Someone asked last week if I had a recipe for 'cabbage rolls'.  Even though I'm of half German ancestry, stuffed cabbage or cabbage rolls just weren't in our family cookbook.   Oh, I've eaten my share of cabbage rolls over the years.   I even created a "stuffed cabbage" recipe where you cut the core out of a head of cabbage, stuff the core hole with "German-spiced" ground pork, tied a leaf over the filling and steam the entire head. But this time I got a hankering to experiment with an Asian-inspired cabbage roll.  

Think steamed Spring Rolls -- chūn juăn -- featuring shrimp, rice, and shredded veggies rolled in a blanched Napa cabbage leaf rather than a translucent rice flour wrapper.  Said rolls are then poached to cook the shrimp, before serving.  The following made 16 rolls -- dinner for four with a helping of rice and maybe a side salad or Asian style pickled veg.

Filling & Skins
1/2 lb raw Shrimp, chopped
2/3 cup cooked and cooled short grain Rice
1/8 cup sliced Shallot
1/8 cup thin sliced Red Bell Pepper
1/8 cup shredded Carrot
1/4 tsp grated fresh Ginger
1 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1/2 tsp Toasted Sesame Oil
1/2 tsp Rice Wine Vinegar
1/4 tsp Sriracha
1/2 tsp Japanese Seven Spice blend
1 head Napa Cabbage

Poaching Liquid
2 cups water
1Tbsp Vegetable Base powder
1/8 cup Soy Sauce
1/8 cup Rice Wine Vinegar
1 Tbsp Toasted Sesame Oil

Mix together the filling ingredients and reserve.  Peel off the largest whole cabbage leaves -- you'll need 15 or 16.  Assemble the poaching liquid in a large skillet about 1/4" deep.  I used my Saladmastertm electric skillet, initially set to 150F while I assembled the rolls.

The cabbage leaves need to be blanched so they will roll up without breaking.  You can do this in a large pot/pan of simmering water or broth.  I took the easy way and microwaved three leaves at a time for 1 minute.  

Once blanched, use your chef's knife to thin the butts of the leaves so they will roll up better.  Lay out a leaf, butt towards you.  Put a couple tablespoons of the filling on the butt, and roll up the same way you would a burrito -- bend the end over, then tuck in the sides as you roll towards the tip of the leaf.  

Place each finished roll seam-side down in the warm poaching liquid in your skillet.  When the pan is full, crank the temperature to just barely a boil, cover the skillet, and poach the rolls for 15-20 minutes until the shrimp are cooked.

Remove the rolls and plate.  If you want to be fancy, mix up a cornstarch slurry and thicken the poaching liquid into a sauce to pour over the rolls when you serve them:

Pollo Verde
Sally took a few days vacation and went to visit her daughter Holly up in Alexandria, VA.  So I got to fix some dishes that I love but she doesn't eat, including this chicken and green chilies recipe.  Think Green Chili & Chicken Nachos...  This is really a technique, not a recipe.

Chicken Breast Tenders or pieces
Diced Onion
Diced Green Peppers
1-2 "old" Corn Tortillas
Green Chili Enchilada Sauce or Salsa Verde
Mrs Dash Chipotle Seasoningtm or chili powder of choice
Low Salt Tortilla chips

Saute some diced onion and peppers in a splash of oil.  Then add some chicken pieces (a cut up chicken breast will do) and cook for a couple minutes.  Turn the meat and cook again.  Now add the green chili enchilada sauce, Mrs. Dash Chipotle or another chili powder, and the ripped up tortillas.  

Thin the sauce out and poach the chicken for a few minutes until cooked through and the tortillas have basically dissolved.  Serve  al nacho on a bed of crispy tortilla chips.

Falafel
Our friends Susan and Patrick have socially-distanced to their mountain home in North Carolina, but Patrick was back in town for a few days for his work.  So while the women were out of town he and I had a Guy's Night dinner of falafel.  Because Patrick is sodium-intolerant, I made these falafel without any salt, and they were great.  But if you just gotta have it, add a teaspoon of salt to the following:

1 cup Chickpea Flour
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 cup chopped fresh Parsley
1/4 cup chopped fresh Dill
1/2 tsp Cumin
1/4 tsp Coriander
1/2 tsp Garlic Granules
1/4 tsp Onion Powder
2 tsp Lemon Juice
1/2 cup Water (hot)
Oil for frying

For serving:
Pita Breads
Homemade Hummus
Homemade Raita or Tzatziki Sauce (yoghurt with herbs, garlic, cucumber and more)
Diced Tomato
Sliced Cucumber

How simple is this?  Mix together the ingredients.  Use a spoon to make small fritters, and fry in a bit of vegetable oil until brown and crispy.

Serve on a pita, with accompaniments.

Creamy Garbanzo Flour Hummus
Homemade falafel just seemed to cry out for homemade hummus, as you can see in the photo just above. 

What's a little more garbanzo flour, anyway!  Yes, that's right -- flour.  Not pureed canned or otherwise cooked beans unless you like chunky hummus (we don't).    This makes 4-6 large servings.  This recipe is salt free.

1/2 cup Garbanzo Flour
1 Tbsp powdered Vegetable Base
1-1/2 cups Water
1/2 tsp Cumin
1/8 tsp White Pepper
1 Tbsp creamy Peanut Butter
2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1/4 cup minced Shallot
1/8 cup toasted Pine Nuts

Bring the water to a boil.  Add the flour and vegetable base, and stir.  Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue stirring as you add the lemon juice, spices, peanut butter and shallot.  Remove from the heat and fold in the pine nuts.  Adjust the spices and consistency if you need to.  Too thin?  Stir in a tablespoon of garbanzo flour to tighten it up.    Too thick?  Stir in a bit of broth or water.  Remove to a serving bowl and cool.  Serve with falafel or pita crisps, or just schmear on a toasted pita.