more veggies, please!

20 minutes – serves 6 2 pita breads 2 cloves garlic, crushed juice of 1 lemon 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1 teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon cumin 1 teaspoon sumac powder, plus more for garnish 1 teaspoon pomegranate molasses 2 heads Romaine lettuce 2 plum tomatoes, diced 1 large or 2 Persian cucumbers, diced ½ small red onion, thinly sliced ½ bunch radishes, thinly sliced ½ bunch fresh mint leaves, chopped 1. Preheat oven to 400ºF. Split each pita into halves, along the side seams. Stack the halves, textured side up, and slice into 6 triangles. Toss onto a baking sheet and toast in the oven until golden brown and crisp. 2. In a large salad bowl, mix garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, cumin, sumac, and pomegranate molasses. Whisk together to make dressing. 3. Remove Romaine lettuces’ outer leaves, and trim dark ends. Wash and dry with a dish towel. Cut Romaine leaves into thirds lengthwise, then turn and chop crosswise into bite-size pieces. 4. Add lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, oni...

The CSA sometimes gives you things that you don’t want. Or, more like you think you don’t want. I got a bunch of turnips. Growing up, I only knew turnips two ways: pickled and dyed with beet juice, in a shawarma sandwich (yum!); or stewed in a couscous. I tried preparing turnips simply before, in an American recipe for a warm salad. It was the most disgusting thing I’ve ever cooked. They were bitter and mushy, and the apple cider vinegar-based dressing did not help. I’ve been afraid of cooking turnips again, but I also like exploring new ways of eating things. My turnips’ leaves were yellowing and I had nothing else in my fridge. A neighbor was coming over for dinner, and the weather is shifting into winter, so I thought, “Fine, turnips, you are getting stewed.” When I tasted the couscous, I thought two things: “Why haven’t you made couscous to get you through every New York winter?” and “Why isn’t preserved lemon in everything?” I proceeded to eat this for the next three days and did ...