Rainbow Breakfasts

Adding color to the morning

A weekday breakfast of Chickadee Creek Farm blueberries and spicy micro greens, a helping of zhunko made with onion greens and cilantro from the same farm, sauerkraut, apple and carrot salad from Stefan’s Polish foods, blackberries from Jeff’s Organic Produce, Wegmans’ Rainier cherries and mîche sourdough, and North Slope Farms eggs, steamed with a pinch of baking soda. An antidote to the full English.

Steamed eggs and toast or Patel’s parathas are usually on my breakfast plate on weekdays. There’s usually some vegetable on the plate and fruit to finish. This week, there were several delicious add-ons in the fridge or on the kitchen counter. Did I need to place everything on one plate? I’ll let you decide.

Sprouted Fenugreek Seeds

My dad swore by fenugreek greens and bitter melon to prevent diabetes. I have cubes of fenugreek greens in my freezer, and use them to make methi bhaji or methi parathas. I will share Mum’s recipes some other time. Meanwhile, the linked recipes are decent.

The other day, as an experiment, I soak and drain fenugreek seeds, then cover and set them aside to sprout. The sprouts are crunchy and have a slightly sweet taste.

Spicy Micro Greens

Chickadee Creek Farms spicy micro greens have tiny shoots of arugula, radish and broccoli. They perk up any meal, are great on sandwiches and pair well with steamed eggs.

Stefan’s Surówka z Kiszonej Kapusty

This sauerkraut, carrot and apple salad looks pretty and is delicious. Spoon it on sandwiches or serve as a side.

Stefan’s Pierogi Kitchen in Pompton Plains sells delicious Polish foods at many farmers markets across central NJ. Their cabbage rolls, bigos (hunter’s stew), sausages, boczek (smoked bacon) and pierogies are SOOOO good, especially the sauerkraut and mushroom pierogies.

Mîche Sourdough

I always stock up on Wegmans Organic Mîche Sourdough, gently prizing apart the slices before storing them in freezer bags in the freezer. They toast well and have just the right level of sourdoughey tang.

Berries

Mike’s blueberries come to my kitchen from Chickadee Creek Farm. They are juicy and sweet. The blackberries, picked at their peak, are from Jeff’s Organic Produce. They are plump and ooze goodness. The Rainier cherries are from Wegmans. I miss Rockville Farmers’ Market and Mountain Valley Orchard in MD - there are no vendors at West Windsor Community Farmers’ Market with their breadth of fruit.

Steamed Eggs

These eggs came from North Slope Farm. Are they more nutritious? Do they taste better? I couldn’t say. I like supporting local farmers and prefer eggs with pretty colored shells and brilliant yolks.

To steam, I bring 3 cups of water and a generous pinch of baking soda to a boil in a pressure pan, then lower the eggs in carefully with a ladle. I place the lid on the pan but not the weight. The eggs steam for 11 min, then are immediately drained and placed in a bowl of iced water for 5 min.

Onion Green and Cilantro Zhunko

1 cup finely sliced onion greens

¼ cup finely diced onions

½ cup minced cilantro

½ cup minced dill, optional

½ cup chickpea flour (besan)

1 or 2 fresh red chilies, sliced

1 tsp salt

¼ tsp turmeric

½ tsp mustard seeds

½ tsp cumin seeds

Generous pinch of asafetida

2 tbsp peanut or safflower oil

Heat the oil with the mustard and cumin seeds and asafetida. When the mustard pops, add the onions and stir for a minute. Add the onion greens and chilies. Stir for 2 - 3 min. Add the cilantro and cook for another 2 min. Drizzle the salt and turmeric. Stir. Drizzle the chickpea flour over the mixture, a tablespoon at a time, stirring constantly. Take the pan off the heat when the chickpea flour coats the vegetables and picks up the color of the turmeric. The flour will char if left to cook too long.

This is my Mum and Gran’s version of zhunko. Well, the cumin seeds may be my addition. I use red chilies to tell them apart from the greens. They add flavor. You can remove the membrane and seeds if you want to tone down the spice. Or leave them out. In my mind, the essential aspects of zhunko are chickpea flour, onions and herbs.

Zhunko can be made with several other vegetables. We can talk about those another time. Marathi cuisine has a similar chickpea flour recipe called zhunka, which is served with a millet flatbread called bhakri. It may differ in taste and texture from Konkani recipes.