Ingredients:

• 1 Tablespoon canola oil*
• 1 pound sirloin steak or strip steak (1-1 1/4 inches thick), trimmed*
• 6 ounces wide rice noodles
• 1/2 cup rice vinegar
• 2 Tablespoons fish sauce*
• 2 Tablespoons sugar or to taste
• 4 cups shredded napa cabbage & baby asian greens like bok choy or tatsoi
• 1 1/2 cup shredded carrot
• 1 cup thinly sliced radishes
• 1 cup slivered fresh basil and/or mint

1/2 cup finely chopped unsalted, lightly roasted peanuts

Preparation:

1. Heat oil in a large skillet, preferably cast-iron, over medium-high heat until shimmering. Reduce heat to medium, add steak and cook, turning once, until cooked through, 3 to 5 minutes per side for medium-rare. Let rest on a clean cutting board for 5 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook rice noodles until just tender, 6 to 8 minutes or according to the package directions. Drain the noodles and rinse under cold water.
3. Whisk vinegar, fish sauce and sugar to taste in a large bowl until the sugar is dissolved. Slice the steak into thin matchsticks. Add the steak and any accumulated juice to the bowl along with the noodles, cabbage, carrot, radishes, basil and/or mint and peanuts; toss to combine. Serve immediately.

* Ginger substituted olive oil, tempeh, and vegetarian fish sauce in this recipe.

Tempeh marinade  

from the Vegan Homemade blog.

• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 2 Tbs sherry
• 2 Tbs soy sauce
• 1 tsp vegetarian Worcestershire sauce
• 1 Tbs tomato paste
• 1/4 tsp ginger powder
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt

1. Slice tempeh into thin strips.
2. Whisk together marinade ingredients, submerge tempeh and marinate for 30 minutes.
3. Pan fry strips according to Steak Bun recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 large beet
• 2 naval oranges
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1 Tablespoon white wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 bag of arugula
• 5 oz fresh goat cheese, crumbled

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Wrap beet tightly in parchment paper-lined aluminum foil; place on a rimmed baking sheet. Cook until tender when pierced with the tip of a sharp knife, 45 to 50 minutes. When cool enough to handle, rub off skins, using paper towels to keep your hands from staining. Cut into wedges.
2. Meanwhile, prepare oranges; Slice off both ends of each with a paring knife. Cut away the peel and white pith, following the curve of the fruit. Holding the fruit over a bowl, cut along membranes to release whole segments. Squeeze juice from membranes into another bowl, and add any accumulated juice from the segments.
3. Add oil, vinegar, and mustard to orange juice; season with salt and pepper, and whisk to combine. Add arugula, and toss to coat with dressing. Divide arugula among four plates. Top with beet wedges, orange segments, and goat cheese. Serve immediately.

“DRACUT, Mass. — “Farmer Dave hires more than two dozen Latin Americans and has interns from three or more continents over the summer. Then he goes to the Republic of Georgia in the off season to work. What is wrong with this picture?” said local hay and beef farmer Dana Taplin in jest.

All laughed at the notion of a farmer hiring migrant labor and then becoming a migrant laborer himself.

David Dumaresq logs a good deal of face time as a result of this travel, along with the international exchange of information and good will.”

Read the full article.

DRACUT, Mass. – Born and raised in the same community, they shared a love of agriculture. Farming the land was the road less traveled that each would choose. Along that road they became friends.
One would use his own land to reach out to immigrant farmers who needed a little guidance. The other would temporarily leave his busy agricultural business to travel to another continent to lend his expertise to farmers who also needed a little guidance.

Read the full article

Christine says, “I’ve put together an easy summer salad that is a mixture of two different recipes I found.  Some versions added hot pepper.  Prep time is 5-10 minutes. It reminds me of a mojito without the rum.”
Ingredients:

• Cucumber – seeded and chopped
• Blueberries
• Mint- about 10 small leaves, chopped
• Roughly 2 tablespoons lime juice

Directions:

Crush the mint in the lime juice, then add the cucumber and blueberries and toss together.

Directions:

Toss tomato and peach wedges with red onion slices. Drizzle with cider vinegar and olive oil; season with sugar, salt and pepper.

Jacqueline says, “That’s it -and boy is it a tasty, refreshing salad.  I made it without the slightest alteration -and it needed none.  This ended up being such a hit that I’ll be taking a bigger batch to our Labor Day Weekend Cookout. “

Chris says, “Although I doubt Rick Bayless would recommend this, I have also frozen the roasted salsa with good results.”

Ginger’s note:  This is my favorite salsa recipe.  I make this all summer long.

Ingredients:

• 4 med (about 8 oz. total) tomatillos, husked, rinsed and halved.
• 2 lg garlic cloves, peeled
• Hot green chilies to taste (he recommends 2 serranos or 1 jalapeno which will be spicy) stemmed and roughly chopped.  Remove seeds and ribs for less heat.
• About 1/3 c. loosly packed roughly chopped cilantro
• 1/2 small white onion, finely chopped.

Directions:

1. Put a 10″ non-stick skillet over high heat.  Lay in garlic and tomatillo cut side down.  When tomatillos are well browned (3-4 min) turn everything over and brown the other side.  When complete, the tomatillos will be completely soft.
2. Scrape into a food processor and let cool to room temperature, 3-4 minutes.  Add chiles, cilantro and 1/4 water.  Blend to a coarse puree.  Pour into a salsa dish and adjust water for consistency.
3. Rinse onion under cold water and stir into salsa.  Taste and season with salt, usually about 1/2 tsp.

Ingredients:

• 4 medium tomatillos, husked, rinsed and quartered
• 1 large garlic clove, peeled
• Hot green chilies to taste (He recommends 2 serrano or 1 jalapeno), stemmed and roughly chopped (remove seeds and ribs for less heat)
• 1/2 – 2/3 cup loosely packed cilantro, roughly chopped
• salt to taste

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients but salt in a blender or food processor.  Add 1/2 cup water and 1/2 teaspoon salt.  Process to a coarse puree.  Adjust salt and water to reach desired taste and consistency.
2. Serve within 1 hour.

Ingredients:

• 5 pounds white potatoes, peeled.
• 1 lb bacon, fried and crumbled, reserve drippings
• 1 chopped onion
• 1 1/2 cup each water, white vinegar and sugar
• Garlic salt to taste
• Onion powder to taste
• Parsley to taste

Directions:

1. Cook potatoes until firm.  Allow to cool then slice or dice.
2. Bring water, vinegar, sugar and bacon drippings to a boil.  Thicken with a roux (flour and water) like gravy.
3. Pour mixture over potatoes.  Season to taste with garlic salt, onion powder and parsley.  Stir in onion and bacon.
4. Best if made 1-2 days ahead.