What The Fork?

Week 4: Curry in a hurry

(photo to come)

I remember a conversation I had with a grower one time at the Ottawa Street Farmers' Market. I asked if there were any veggies that people often asked about. He said snap peas. Some food newbies don't know what to make of them at first, he said, but then they realize they're fun.

And it is fun to snap them open and dump out the peas. I like any food preparation, no matter how simple, that you can do with your hands.

I put the peas in a curried rice salad. I'm not posting a recipe this week because curry is one of those things that's impossible to do wrong -- it's all about your preferences and what you have in the fridge. I threw in celery and green onions and apples; other options in season now include broccoli and cauliflower.

Week 3: Green onion salad dressing

I love green onions because they add just the right kick to anything. But they're also a CSA food box staple this time of year, so sometimes I get overwhelmed by all the gangly green limbs spreading across my fridge. So I decided to kill two culinary birds with one stone -- use up some green onions and make a salad dressing for those times when my go-to balsalmic vinaigrette won't work.

I adapted this easy recipe from the Food Network Canada. The recipe calls for separating the white and green parts of the onion and grilling the white parts; I skipped that for the sake of convenience. I also found the finshed product a little strong so I added more sour cream and a dollop more olive oil than they called for.

- 1 cup chopped green onion
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1 small garlic clove, chopped
- 1 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- 3 tbsp sour cream
- salt and pepper

Chop the green onions. Add them to a blender with olive oil, garlic, vinegar and mustard and blend. Remove and stir in sour cream and salt and pepper.

The original recipe pairs the green onion dressing with pasta salad. I had mine with mixed greens, steamed asparagus and strawberries. It made a great fresh spring salad.

This week, a friend brought over a huge basket of snap peas from her parents' garden. I'm looking for any suggestions on how to use those.