Edamame & Mint Sesame Soba Noodles + My Near & Far Cookbook Review

A quick and very easy sesame soba recipe featuring fresh mint, raw almonds, and protein-packed edamame with a hint of smokiness, crisp lemon, and pepper. Adapted from the cookbook Near & Far.

Hey there. It's Katie. I know it's been a long time since I've made an appearance over here but things have been straight-up crazy busy 'round these parts. When people exasperatedly drone on about how busy they are and how stressful their lives are, my heart secretly smiles inside knowing that I don't have or want a life like that. Who truly does?! It's seems as if being busy is an honor badge that showcases how demonstrably important you are and that infact, yes, your life is very important indeed.

If it was not so important as it obviously is, then I'd have any time to read, or relax, or cook, or go for walks. Did you hear? I'm so busy I don't even have time to read. Reading is such a luxury. You're so lucky, I can't even pick up a book what with everything that I have to be doing. My life is very important, indeed. People depend on me, the world depends on me. The bags under my eyes are my proof. Pity me. 

That's not me. I freaking enjoy leisure and revel in its nothingness. I would rather be doing nothing than something. I'd rather be home, on a slow walk, curled up reading, or baking, or cooking. I actively seek out ways to reduce my stress level and try not to feel bad about doing what most people consider "nothing". Society encourages always doing something. The more somethings you can fit into one day, the better. You are American and if you aren't stressed to the gills with a full daybook, your life is worthless. 

Unfortunately, my life has been stressful lately. And very busy. It's exciting stuff and Todd and I are exceptionally grateful for our good fortune...but between you and me? I hate it. If one more bastardly little "agenda" or "event" sneaks it's way onto my calendar (yes I have one of those now) and imprints itself to it, unremovable as much as I try to scrub it away...I'll lose it. So, for now, I'm trying to keep everything corralled and under control. I think I'm doing a pretty good job as a Stress Cowgirl. Besides the occasional rant. Thank you, for allowing my rant. I am now done. 

Okay, now that you have heard my excellent excuse for abandoning you (I also left the state for awhile) it's time for a cookbook review. Huzzah! I've also included a super quick and easy recipe (because, you know) that I've adapted from said cookbook, Near & Far by Heidi Swanson.

Because I received a black and white, paperback, advance uncorrected proof to review I cannot qualify the appearance or feel of the book. I can tell you that this vegetarian cookbook is filled with recipes inspired by Heidi's travels all across the world. Inspired by various cultures and cuisine, her recipes transport the home chef and invite you to join her in her worldly adventures. If only we could be so lucky to actually accompany her! This is the next best thing. 

I found her recipes to be surprisingly simple (which was appreciated) and inspired by whole-foods. This got me excited. However, after flipping through the book I found many recipes to be a little too fluffy for my more utilitarian flair regarding recipes. I am, if nothing else, all things practical when it comes down to it.

Take the recipe Lucques in Grapefruit Juice. Olives soaked in grapefruit juice is just something I would never consider bothering to make. I'll just take those olives straight from the jar! Wine-Washed Arugula begs to be a "recipe", with no actual measurements to be found at all! Arugula, wine, and olive oil. I confess this is not a recipe I would be super pleased to discover in cookbook worth $30. The recipe for Miso Oat Porridge is a recipe for plain oats with 1-3 tbsp of miso paste mixed in...no joke. I wish some of the recipes were a bit a bit more fleshed out, more well-rounded.

Am I being nit-picky? Perhaps I was so excited for this book and so eagerly anticipated its recipes that I decidedly set myself up for disappointment...but I suspect not. Many of the recipes included ingredients I'd never heard of or are unavailable to me in Alaska. Yet, this was to be expected. Bottom-line: this book didn't thrill me as I dreamed it would.

Use this mixed review as you will, but for me, I foresee that this cookbook won't make an appearance too often in my kitchen. However, the recipe below is quite good. It was actually for a spread, which I turned into a noodle dish per Heidi's recommendation to pair it with soba noodles (I realize this doesn't make a lot of sense). I doubled the garlic and added my own amount of lemon juice. I also included liquid smoke. Who just has smoked almonds lying around anyway? I thought sesame seeds would make a lovely garnish as well. It was the perfect meal to use up all of my fresh mint on the porch before the frost claimed it. 

Learn more about Heidi and pre-order Near & Far, available September 15th.

Edamame & Mint Sesame Soba Noodles

Recipe by Kathleen Henry @ Produce On Parade

A quick and very easy sesame soba recipe featuring fresh mint, raw almonds, and protein-packed edamame with a hint of smokiness, crisp lemon, and pepper. Adapted from the cookbook Near & Far.

Yield: 4

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups shelled edamame
• ½ cup raw almonds
• 1 cup fresh mint leaves, lightly packed
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 large garlic cloves
• juice from ½ lemon
• splash of liquid smoke, to taste
• dash of kosher salt
• dash of fresh ground black pepper
• 9 oz soba noodles, dry
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• sprinkling of sesame seeds, for garnish

Cooking Directions

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil for the soba noodles.
2. In a food processor, combine the edamame through the black pepper. Pulse until the pieces are no bigger than a pencil eraser. Transfer half of the mixture into a large serving bowl. Pulse the remaining mixture about 6 more times. Add to this mixture to serving bowl as well.
3. Boil the noodles for 3 minutes. Reserve ¼ cup of the cooking liquid and add to the serving bowl along with the drained noodles and the sesame oil.
4. Toss well to combine and garnish with sesame seeds.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

*DISCLAIMER*  PRODUCE ON PARADE IS A PERSONAL BLOG WRITTEN AND EDITED BY MYSELF ONLY, UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED. MY REVIEWS ARE COMPLETELY BASED ON MY OWN OPINION OF THE PRODUCT REVIEWED. THESE PRODUCTS WERE SUPPLIED TO ME AS GIFTS TO TEST AND REVIEW. OTHERWISE, IF I MENTION A COMPANY BY NAME AND THERE IS NO DISCLAIMER AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST, I AM MERELY WRITING ABOUT SOMETHING I LIKE, PURCHASE AND/OR USE. THE FACT THAT I DO RECEIVE A PRODUCT AS A GIFT TO TEST AND REVIEW, WILL NEVER POSITIVELY INFLUENCE THE CONTENT MADE IN THIS POST.

The Broad Fork Cookbook Review & Balsamic Farro Salad w/ Dates & Beets

Sweet and savory with salty notes from the miso, this tangy-balsamic farro salad is studded with tender beets, mashed Medjool dates, and fresh herbs. It's a unique and stunningly delicious flavor profile. A perfect side dish and the tastiest way to use up all those beets! Heavily adapted from The Broad Fork cookbook.

I was so thrilled to get this new cookbook, The Broad Fork by Hugh Acheson. It read it's focus is recipes that implement the abundance of fresh produce delivered by a CSA (community supported agriculture). "I get a CSA box!", I excited thought to myself. This will be a terrific cookbook. A solution to the frequent, "What do I do with this?" head-scratching that sometimes accompanies the privilege of subscribing to a CSA. 

Perhaps my expectations were just a bit too high and a wee bit premature. 

The cookbook is divided by season and subcategorized by ingredient which I think is really fun and quite useful. Hugh writes, "This is a vegetable-centric guide to seasonal offerings." I feel I must begrudgingly disagree with him.

Yes, it's no shock that this is not a vegan let alone a vegetarian cookbook (I honestly kind of expected it to be vegetarian...) With a subtitle like, Recipes for the wide world of vegetables and fruits, I think this cookbook is a disappointingly misleading for those of us that are truly vegetable-centric (ie plant-based). Of course all the recipes do have plants (don't most?) but I didn't find the vegetables to the star of the show, as hinted. Doesn't it seem like that should be the point?

Some of Hugh's recipes include a few obscure ingredients (Espelette pepper, Manchego cheese, sorghum molasses, malt vinegar, Hungarian chile). He often doesn't provide any weights (grams or ounces) alongside his measurements (how much is exactly 2 cups of dates?). Many recipes require the home cook to make some little recipe on another page to be incorporated into this recipe. I know this is a common phenomenon, but it also happens to be a personal pet peeve of mine. There is no way I'm going to delve into making the preserved lemon on page blankety-blank to add to the gremolata in the recipe I'm trying to make. It just won't happen. You can't make me. 

In this cookbook, there are many...meat-centric recipes. More than vegetable-focused ones I should think. Pan-roasted pork tenderloin with sorghum and roasted apples / duck breast with indian eggplant pickle, / grilled pork belly with persimmons and spicy soy vinaigrette, turkey, andouille shrimp / collard greens gumbo, just to name a few. The plants definitely seem to take a backseat, no? Good luck substituting tempeh, seitan, and soy in all of those! And don't even get me started on the octopus in this cookbook! I daresay almost heaved the book across the room in sheer fright of the sight; a tangle of purple tentacles occupying an entire photo page.* Seriously what is that?

                                             *footnote: I have a most unusual, not to mention unsound, phobia of octopus tentacles so this would probably be a grave overreaction for most.

Perhaps I'm just jaded from all the wonderful, legitimate plant-based cookbooks I've had the pleasure of reviewing. The Broad Fork wasn't a total letdown (maybe I've been to severe in my review). I did vastly appreciate that half the book wasn't an appreciation of "what's in my pantry" or "here's how to chop a carrot" chapters. I know how to stock my pantry and use a knife, thank you. I don't need a 325 page instructional on what a potato peeler is and how to use it. 

My favorite part of this book is that almost every produce chapter includes a recipe to either make said produce into a long-term storage item or just use up a lot of that fruit or vegetable. As a consequence, there's a lot of pickling recipes...but also apple butter, purees, jams, etc. 

If you're not vegan, this is a pretty neat cookbook that will definitely stretch you outside your comfort zone of creativity in the kitchen. A good thing! However, if you are vegan I recommend passing on this one. There's hidden jewels of unique recipes that can be adapted but I'm not sure if it's worth rifling through the meat and animal-laden recipes to find and salvage them. 

I had to look through the cookbook twice to finally find a meal I could make. Hugh's farro and beet salad. It was honestly one of the only dishes that I wouldn't have had to meddle with too much and yet, there are too many adaptations I made to to even list. Regarding both the ingredients and the recipe flow. Also, my salad looked absolutely nothing like his; this gave me a good chortle for some reason. Leave it to me to take his beautiful masterpiece (I'd hang it on my wall..) and work it into the dreaded burgundy blob you see below! 

However, that burgundy blob is one of the best things I've ever tasted. Enough said. You need to make this syrupy salad.

Balsamic Farro Salad w/ Dates & Beets

Recipe by Kathleen Henry @ Produce On Parade

Sweet and savory with salty notes from the miso, this tangy-balsamic farro salad is studded with tender beets, mashed Medjool dates, and fresh herbs. It's a unique and stunningly delicious flavor profile. A perfect side dish and the tastiest way to use up all those beets! Heavily adapted from The Broad Fork cookbook.

Yield: 6 side dish servings

Ingredients

• 16 (10 oz) pitted medjool dates
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp vegan butter
• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 1 cup farro, dry
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme, stems discarded
• 4 cups water, divided
• 5 (1 .5 lbs beetroot trimmed) medium beets with their greens, scrubbed clean
• 1 tbsp red miso
• 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped
• 1 tsp fresh mint, chopped
• 1/3 cup large-flake nutritional yeast

Cooking Directions

1. Add the dates, salt, crushed red pepper, and vinegar to a small saucepan. Pour in just enough water to cover and bring to a boil over high heat; reduce to a simmer and cook for about 30 minutes until the dates are tender. When done, strain out the dates and reduce the vinegar liquid over medium-high heat for about 5-8 minutes until it has reduced by half. Mash the dates with the back of a wooden spoon and set both the dates and the liquid aside.
2. While the dates cook, heat the butter over medium in a large soup pot. Add the onion and sauté for about 3 minutes, until translucent. Add the dry farro and cook an additional 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the thyme leaves and 1 cup of water; cook for 5 minutes. Stir in another 1 cup of water and cook an additional 5 minutes. Scoop out about ¼ cup of the hot water and whisk the miso paste into it. Set aside.
3. While the farro simmers, clean the beets and cut off the greens. Remove the leaves from the stems. Discard the stems and slice the leaves into ribbons. Using a mandolin, slice enough beet to fill ½ cup (about 1 beet). Set aside. Small dice the remaining beets and set aside.
4. Add the diced beets (do not add the shaved beets yet), greens, and the remaining 2 cups of water. Over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, cook the farro for about 20-30 minutes until the water has evaporated and the farro is tender.
5. Stir in the shaved beets, reduced vinegar liquid, mashed dates, and miso, as well as the remaining ingredients. Mix to combine and serve hot!

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review. Find The Broad Fork on Amazon.com.

*DISCLAIMER*  PRODUCE ON PARADE IS A PERSONAL BLOG WRITTEN AND EDITED BY MYSELF ONLY, UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED. MY REVIEWS ARE COMPLETELY BASED ON MY OWN OPINION OF THE PRODUCT REVIEWED. THESE PRODUCTS WERE SUPPLIED TO ME AS GIFTS TO TEST AND REVIEW. OTHERWISE, IF I MENTION A COMPANY BY NAME AND THERE IS NO DISCLAIMER AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST, I AM MERELY WRITING ABOUT SOMETHING I LIKE, PURCHASE AND/OR USE. THE FACT THAT I DO RECEIVE A PRODUCT AS A GIFT TO TEST AND REVIEW, WILL NEVER POSITIVELY INFLUENCE THE CONTENT MADE IN THIS POST.

A Modern Way To Eat Cookbook Review + The Very Hungry Burger Recipe

A Modern Way To Eat by Anna Jones is my kind of cookbook. Filled with recipes featuring fresh, whole-food ingredients to make no-nonsense, nutritious food that is approachable. It's a refreshing respite from the baked tater-tot casserole type dishes that occupy a sly nook of seemingly every cookbook ever printed. You won't find super complicated nor mundane, everyday dishes in this cookbook. There's a casualness to this book that's freeing and I am grateful that Anna's recipes are light and healthy. 

“We demand so much of our food nowadays that the idea of meat and two vegetables every night for dinner seems prehistoric.”

— Anna Jones

The table of contents for A Modern Way To Eat is a good indicator of the playful and carefree nature of this book. Practical and easygoing. 

This book is bound with thick, matte paper and gorgeous, moody photography (though not a photo for every recipe..sad face). It's a thick book that looks almost like a large hardback novel with it's black binding and commanding presence. It doesn't feature a totally lay-flat binding (like my cookbook will!) so that is kind of a bummer as it occasionally flips on you but it's a lot better than most cookbooks. Pet peeves. Those bindings should be law. 

All of the recipes are vegetarian and some are even vegan. However, in no way is this a vegan cookbook. Anna does have a vegan brother and sister that she states she often cooks for and perhaps that was her inspiration in putting in so many vegan recipes. She even has a vegan index! Yet, dairy and eggs litter the pages with abandon but most of the time they can be replaced by tofu or vegan cheeses.  I wouldn't let the fact that there's copious amounts of dairy and eggs in this book stall you from purchasing it. Sometimes Anna even lists alternatives, if possible, but I know you're such a savvy vegan you won't have any troubles. The same goes with gluten-free recipes; she does include some and alternatives are listed when available. 

I found her inclusion of the occasional super-odd ingredient like purple sprouting broccoli a bit presumptuous in some instances but it kind of tickled me that someone would include such a thing in a cookbook with no alternatives. I didn't even know purple sprouting broccoli was a thing! However, I am sure that regular broccoli works perfectly as a substitute, though this is not mentioned anywhere. The really perplexing items were few and far between, mind you (where does one purchase chestnut flour anyway??). 

However, most ingredients were commonplace and easy to come by. There were so many dishes I couldn't wait to make! Obviously her sweets were on my list: Cardamom and Carrot Cakes with Maple Icing and Coconut Oatmeal Cookies! Strangely, this book's breakfast chapter was filled with meals I would definitely get up early for: Banana, Blueberry, and Pecan Pancakes and Overnight Peach Oats. I'm not a morning person, something Anna also confesses to so perhaps that is why we see eye to eye on breakfast. I have a sneaking suspicion breakfast isn't her jam either, "...breakfast wasn't part of my routine..." I can relate.

One of my favorite things about Anna's book are her green-paged information charts. She has one on how to make a soup with lists of various options for herbs, main body, and back-up flavors. It's kind of like a choose your own adventure and would be especially helpful if you're new to cooking sans recipe. 

She also has ones for what fruits, vegetables, and herbs are in season. There's a chart on how to make a great salad (similar to the style of the soup map) as well as an outline on her process on recipe creating. I really enjoyed her informational pages on grains, quick sandwich ideas, her go-to pasta recipes, and morning smoothies, as well as many others. It was neat that they were dispersed throughout the book as opposed to collected together in one chapter. The index is categorized by food items, which is always appreciated. 

I highly recommend this cookbook for any vegan, vegetarian, or anyone working towards becoming more plant-based with regards to their diet. This book will help you get in touch to cooking naturally, with whole foods and perhaps without a strict recipe. What's not to like? It's filled with recipes that are better for your body and the planet; not to mention they are crazy delicious. This is how cooking should be. Find this cookbook for purchase at Amazon.com, Barnes and Nobles, and wherever books are sold. Learn more about Anna on her blog. 

Enough chitchat...I'm hungry. 

I decided to make the vegan burger from A Modern Way To Eat. It was an obvious choice figuring my love for all things veggie-burger. 

Notes on the adaptation of Anna's burger: 

• I probably used less mushrooms than she did. I had super large cremini  mushrooms on hand as opposed to full-blown portobellos and I used five instead of six. I wish she had listed the weight, as I always find that super helpful (the irony that I didn't do this for my recipe is not lost on me...I'm sorry).
• I used chickpeas as opposed to white beans because it's what I had.
• I already had a brown rice, rice red, and quinoa mixture cooked up in the fridge, so I used that and it was perfect!
• I used quick cooking oats instead of breadcrumbs. She lists them as an alternative but didn't specify whether to use old fashioned or quick cooking oats.
• The biggest change was that the color of my burger was nowhere near as dark as hers was in the photo and I had to pretty much double the cooking time.
• She never stated to flip the burgers, but I wish I had as one side had developed a lovely dark brown crust while the other side, of course, had not. 

The Very Hungry Burger

Recipe by Kathleen Henry @ Produce On Parade

This is a quick burger recipe that comes together in a snap! It’s heavy on umami thanks to baby portobello mushrooms, soy sauce, and tahini. Chickpeas, quinoa, oats, and brown rice lend a substantial amount of protein, while fresh herbs and lemon zest cut through for a bright profile. It’s a well-rounded, completely terrific everyday burger. Very slightly adapted from A Modern Way To Eat cookbook by Anna Jones.

Yield: 8 burgers

Ingredients

• 1 tsp olive oil
• 5 large baby portobello mushrooms, roughly diced small
• 3 sprigs of thyme, leaves picked
• dash of kosher salt
• dash of fresh ground black pepper
• 1 15 oz can of chickpeas, drained
• 4 large medjool dates, pitted
• 2 large garlic cloves, chopped
• ½ cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 2 tbsp tahini
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 1/3 cup cooked brown rice/quinoa mixture
• 2/3 cup quick cooking oats, dry
• zest of 1 lemon
• 8 hamburger buns

Cooking Directions

1. In a cast iron skillet or frying pan, heat the oil over medium. Add the mushrooms, thyme, salt, and pepper; sauté for about 5-8 minutes until slightly shrunken, dark brown, and fragrant. Transfer to a large bowl and set aside.
2. While the mushrooms cook add the chickpeas, dates, garlic, parsley, tahini, and soy sauce to a food processer; process until almost smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides as necessary. Stir the mixture into the mushrooms along with the rice, oats, and lemon zest; mix very well to combine.
3. Place the bowl in the fridge and preheat the oven to 450°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silpat and form the burger mixture into 8 patties. Bake for about 20-30 minutes, flipping the burgers halfway through.
4. Serve warm on a toasty bun with whatever burger toppings you like! I used baby kale, avocado, sprouts, tomato, ketchup, and stone-ground mustard.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

*DISCLAIMER*  PRODUCE ON PARADE IS A PERSONAL BLOG WRITTEN AND EDITED BY MYSELF ONLY, UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED. MY REVIEWS ARE COMPLETELY BASED ON MY OWN OPINION OF THE PRODUCT REVIEWED. THESE PRODUCTS WERE SUPPLIED TO ME AS GIFTS TO TEST AND REVIEW. OTHERWISE, IF I MENTION A COMPANY BY NAME AND THERE IS NO DISCLAIMER AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST, I AM MERELY WRITING ABOUT SOMETHING I LIKE, PURCHASE AND/OR USE. THE FACT THAT I DO RECEIVE A PRODUCT AS A GIFT TO TEST AND REVIEW, WILL NEVER POSITIVELY INFLUENCE THE CONTENT MADE IN THIS POST.