Vegetable Tempura

Bunch carrots, bagged carrots, green onions, red onions, gold beets, red beets at farmer's market

Raw veggies are absolutely lovely, but sometimes it’s fun to mix it up with tempura for a special occasion.

Serves four to six as an appetizer.

Dipping Sauce
2 scallions, minced
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup water
2 teaspoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon grated ginger root
2 minced garlic cloves
1 teaspoon dry mustard

Batter
2 cups all purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups cold water
1/4 cup dark sesame oil

Veggies
5 cups seasonal fresh veggies, such as broccoli, zucchini, carrots, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, etc.

For the dipping sauce, combine the scallions, soy sauce, water, vinegar, honey, ginger, garlic, and mustard in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate for an hour to let the flavors blend.

For the batter, mix together the flour and baking powder. Add the cold water and sesame oil all at once and whisk until the consistency of pancake batter and very smooth. Refrigerate until ready to prepare the tempura.

Blot the vegetables dry, season with salt and pepper and dip into the batter. Coat them evenly.

Pour the oil into a tall pot to a depth of 3 inches. Heat over medium heat until around 350 degrees F. Work in batches to avoid crowding. Slip the batter-coated vegetables into the hot oil, deep-frying until the batter is a golden brown and puffy, 3-4 minutes. Turn the veggies so they cook evenly. Remove from the pot with tongs. Drain on an absorbent towel. Serve with dipping sauce.

Have you tried this recipe? Tell us how it turned out!

Mary Wong’s Chinese Chicken Salad

lettuce in the field

A good salad starts with lettuce fresh from the fields!

Mary Wong of our very own farm store has given us this delicious Chinese chicken salad recipe. Check out our frozen organic chicken from Mary’s Chicken of Pitman’s Family Farm in CA. These free-range birds are fed a vegetarian diet with no animal by-products, no GMOs or antibiotics, no food grown with pesticides, herbicides, or chemical fertilizers, and no synthetic amino acids.

Salad Base
1 cup Nash’s purple broccoli, cut into small pieces
1 cup Napa cabbage, sliced fine
1-2 cups romaine lettuce, broken into small pieces
1/3 cup daikon radish, grated
1/4 cup sunchokes, sliced thin
1/3 cup carrots, grated
2 cups frozen chicken, thawed and cut into pieces
1/4 cup leeks, sliced thin (use the inner, tender layers)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/3 teaspoon Chinese five spice (optional)

Dressing
1/4 cup vinegar
1 teaspoon honey
1-2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon ginger, grated
1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)

Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces. Heat a pan to hot and quickly add oil and leeks. Sauté until tender. Add chicken, stir-fry until cooked, then cool.

Toss all vegetables in a salad bowl and add chicken/leek mixture.

Pour all dressing ingredients into a pint jar. Cover firmly and shake vigorously. Pour over salad ingredients and toss. Serve immediately.

Have you tried this recipe? Tell us how it turned out!