Heart of Palm Salad

A Costa Rican recipe!

servings: about 4

* 1 14-oz can of hearts of palm
* leafy lettuce
* fresh squeezed juice from 1 lime
* salt
* fresh ground black pepper
* 1 chopped red bell pepper
* 1 chopped vine ripened tomato

1. Lay down some lettuce in the bowls. Arrange the bite-sized pieces of heart of palm over the lettuce. Add the tomato & bell pepper.

2. Pour some lime juice over the salad and sprinkle salt & pepper, to taste.

Korean Vegetarian Dumplings

servings: makes 50 dumplings

* 2 10-oz packages firm tofu
* 1 medium onion, finely chopped
* 1 leek, chopped
* 2 green onions, finely chopped
* 2 garlic cloves, minced
* 2 tsp sesame oil
* 2 tsp salt
* 1 tsp black pepper
* 50 dumpling wrappers
* vegetable oil for frying

1. Press the excess water from the tofu. Crumble the tofu and place in a large mixing bowl.

2. Add remaining ingredients (except the wrappers and vegetable oil) & combine until mixed.

3. Pour some cold water in a small bowl for dipping.

4. To make the dumplings, place a wrapper in the palm of your hand. Spoon enough filling into the middle to leave about 1/2 inch of empty wrapper. Dip your finger in the cold water & wet 1/2 the edges of the wrapper, then fold in half & press to seal it. Repeat with all of the wrappers.

5. Pour enough vegetable oil to cover the bottom of a pan & heat over medium heat. Place several dumplings in the pan, but don't let them touch. Fry until golden brown & crispy on one side, them flip them and cook all sides until golden & crispy all over. Cook all dumplings, adding more oil as needed.

Quick Kimchi

A Korean recipe!

*2 Nappa cabbages
*1 medium Asian radish
*1/4 cup coarse sea salt or kosher salt
* water
*4 green onions, sliced into pieces about 1 inch long
*5 garlic cloves, minced
*2 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced
* 2 tablespoons chili powder

1. Wash the leaves of the cabbage & cut them into about 2-inch lengths. Peel the radish & halve it lengthwise down the center, cut lengthwise again, & then slice into 1/2-inch thin squares.

2. Dissolve salt in 1 cup water. Place the vegetables in a large bowl and pour the salt water over them. Let soak for at least 6 hours or overnight.

3. The next day, drain the vegetables & retain the salty water. Add the green onions, garlic, ginger, & chili powder. Mix the vegetable by hand (you might want to use gloves so the chili doesn't stain your hands). Pack into a 1-gallon jar (or an appropriate amount of smaller jars). Pour the salted water over the mixture. Leave about an inch of space on top of the jar.

4. Let sit about 2 or 3 days, depending on how fermented you like your kimchi. Refrigerate after opening.

Complete Jollof Rice

This recipe is from the country of Benin.

Serves: 8 people

* 1 cup dry black-eyed peas
*2 medium-sized eggplants
*1 1/2 tbs oil
*3 tbs ginger root, grated or minced
*2 peppers of your choice (I used Anaheims), roasted with the seeds removed, chopped
*8 tomatoes
*2 tsp cayenne
*2 tps curry powder
*Tabasco sauce to taste
*12 cups of water
*1 tsp salt
*2 large onions, chopped
*2 cloves garlic, minced
*1 green bell pepper, chopped
*1 1/2 tbs tomato paste
*1 lb carrots
*1/2 lb green beans
* 1 1/2 cups uncooked rice

1. In a large pot, soak the black-eyed peas overnight in 4 cups of water.

2. Drain & replace with 8 cups of fresh water, & simmer peas for 5 minutes. Drain, reserving water for cooking.

3. Meanwhile, roast the peppers, as mentioned above. I cooked mine in the oven.

4. Slice the eggplant into rounds about 1/2 inch thick and place in a colander. Salt and let them drain for 5 minutes.

5. Heat oil in a large saucepan. Add eggplant, 1 tbs chopped onion, 1 tbs grated ginger, 1 chopped pepper, 1 clove garlic, & the bell pepper. Cook, stirring until the eggplant is browned, for about 5 minutes. Remove eggplant & set aside.

6. Add remaining onion, ginger, pepper, garlic, reserved water, tomatoes, tomato paste, cayenne, & curry, stirring them all together. Add hot sauce to taste. Simmer 10 minutes, uncovered.

7. Add black-eyed peas, carrots, & rice. Simmer another 5 minutes.

8. Add green beans & eggplant & simmer 15 minutes more, still uncovered.

9. Finally, cover & simmer another 20 minutes.

Ailazan

This is a traditional Armenian dish. It is a thick vegetable stew.

* 1 lb eggplant
* 1 lb potato (we used small red potatoes)
* 1 onion
* 100 g oil (I think that came to about 1/2 cup of oil when we used our kitchen scale)
* 3 vine ripened tomatoes
* 1 cup green beans
* 1 red bell pepper
* 1 cup of fresh spices (basil, thyme, cilantro, parsley)
* a bit of chopped garlic
* ground black pepper
* ground red pepper
* salt
* 1/2 cup water

1. Slice the eggplant finely, put a little bit of salt over each piece, then leave it to sit for 15 minutes. Squeeze out the extra juice. (We pressed them with paper towels.)
2. Slice the other vegetables finely & mince the spices.
3. Put the vegetables in a deep pot in layers, beginning with the eggplant on the bottom. Sprinkle every layer with spices including some salt.
4. Pour the oil & the water over top of the vegetables. Cover. Cook on low heat until done. (We cooked the stew on "2" for 1 hour & 45 minutes-- it turned out perfectly.)

Note: A lot of water will cook out of the vegetables, so dont worry that it doesn't seem like enough water at first.