Low Fat, Healthy Cole Slaw

I make this recipe with Kohlrabi and Turnips, because that's what is in my CSA harvest box. If you want to make a more traditional version, replace the Kohlrabi and Turnips with 1 small head of cabbage, shredded. Or just go crazy and explore Kohlrabi, it's delicious!

KOHLRABI/TURNIP SLAW

2 baseball sized Kohlrabi, peeled
2 Turnips, peeled
2 large Carrots, peeled
½ cup non-fat plain yogurt
1 T. Dijon mustard
1 t. sugar
2T Rice Wine vinegar
1T prepared horseradish
Salt & Pepper

Shred kohlrabi, turnips and carrots using a box grater, or, even better, the shredding blade on your food processor. Dissolve sugar in Rice Wine Vinegar. Add yogurt, Dijon and horseradish to vinegar and stir well. Squeeze the water out of the veggies (you don't need to do this step if using cabbage) and place veggies in a non-reactive bowl. Add yogurt mixture and stir to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate for ½ hour before serving. Tangy. Healthy. Delicious.

Great Grandma's Russian Ikra

Our May Food and Wine Pairing event featured comfort foods in honor of Mother's Day. I was excited to make a comfort food recipe from each of my Mother's Grandmothers and Great Grandmother's cookbooks. My Great Grandmother was an amazing cook - in the 20's she was actually the chief cook for California's Lieutenant Governor. She was Polish, but married to a Russian. This is her recipe for the classic Russian dish Ikra (eggplant and tomato caviar). It takes time to cook - as all classic comfort food does, but after the initial chopping phase, it's pretty hands off. This is one of the classic comfort foods of my childhood. Enjoy!

IKRA

1 large eggplant
1 medium onion chopped finely
2 cloves garlic, chopped finely
1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
½ t. sugar
2 t. salt
Juice of ½ lemon
2T olive oil
Pepper

Preheat oven to 425. Prick eggplant with a fork, then place on a piece of foil on the oven rack and bake for 1 hour (turn once or twice) until very soft. Remove eggplant to a plate and let cool. Peel eggplant and chop the flesh very, very finely (almost a puree). In a large non-stick saute pan, saute onion in 2T olive oil over medium low heat until soft (6 to 8 minutes). We don’t want brown onion, just soft sweet onions. Stir in garlic and let saute 1 minute more. Add tomatoes, sugar, salt, pepper to taste and eggplant to the saute pan. Bring to a simmer, stirring constantly. Then turn the heat down as low as it will go, cover the saute pan, and simmer for 1 hour. Remove cover and cook an additional ½ hour or until moisture has evaporated. Add lemon juice and chill. Serve cold or at room temperature. Try making a sandwich of this with dark rye or pumpernickel bread!