Fruit Fusion Gumbo

I asked friends to suggest names for this one. It’s a delicious fruit salad made with plums and cucumber which are botanically a fruit.

So I cut up a cucumber and 3 plums. There were two different kinds of plums, hence the different colors. I chopped up about 2 TBSP of yellow onion. Dumped them all in a plastic container and then made a dressing.

Dressing: Mix together. Buckwheat honey takes a long time to mix in but keep at it, it will dissolve. You can add more vinegar if you like. There is no olive oil or anything so it’s not a vinaigrette. It just seems to me that the juices in the fruit really do not need oil. Pour the dressing on the fruit. Put the lid on the bowl and shake it up. Refrigerate  for an hour or so and it will be delicious.

• Zest and juice of one lemon
• 1/2 tsp of chile powder
• 2 tsp of mustard
• 2 tsp of buckwheat honey and
• rice vinegar, about 1/4 cup

 

This made 6 servings. There are things that get better and better the longer they sit, so making a single serving would be silly.

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Kale & Cabbage Salad with Toasted Pepitas & Plum Vinaigrette

I sliced 1/4 head of cabbage into thin ribbons and chopped up an equal amount of fresh kale in similar thin ribbons.

In a large pot, I brought 2 cups of water to a boil with a teaspoon of salt. I added the cabbage and kale and put a lid on it, letting them cook for one minute. I strained the water off and set them in the fridge to cool.

Meanwhile, I sliced up 2 plums and sautéed them in 2 TBSP of white wine vinegar and 2 tsp of soy sauce with 2 tsp of Tajín. I added a bit of salt and pepper, a tsp of sugar and stirred until the plums were just about to break down, but were still holding together. I poured the dressing on the kale and cabbage, stirred and set back in the fridge to cool.

Before serving, I toasted the pepitas in a bit of peanut oil with smoked paprika.

This made two large servings or four small salads. It’s a great blend of hearty veggies, sweet fruit and tangy vinegar. The pepitas add a bit of crunch and umami.

Wild Plum Sauce

This is just a recipe for the Wild Plum Sauce. My best friend made the stir fry that I served over the rice with the sauce and a pork chop.

She brought over 2 quarts of wild plums and suggested I come up with a good sauce. I love a challenge and started to work.

I put 1 TBSP of olive oil in a sauce pan and heated to medium. I chopped on medium yellow onion and sautéed them with 2 inches of minced ginger and about 1/4 to 1/2 tsp of grated nutmeg. I let the onions cook until tender. Meanwhile I removed the pits from the plums. When the onions were tender, I added the plums and 1/4 cup of white vinegar. I let simmer until the plums broke down into a sauce. I used a potato masher to help it break down some more. Removing from the heat, I squeezed the juice of two fresh limes, added a bit of salt and pepper to taste. Then I added some sriracha to taste. I suppose about two tsps or so. Mileage may vary. If you like it hotter, add more.  After it cooled, I pureed to a nice, smooth sauce.

This is sweet, sour and spicy – perfect for meat, for fried wontons and anything that likes a sweet-sour flavor.  It’s good with veggies on rice and just about anything.