Aren't these tomatoes spooky? With Halloween coming up, I thought it would be fun to find dark foods that I could incorporate into a Halloween-themed dinner. I found these Kumato tomatoes at Trader Joe's and loved their brownish-green skin. These tomatoes are sweeter than regular tomatoes and would make a dramatic caprese salad, especially paired with purple basil.
These Black Radishes were found at my local farmers market. They have an incredibly strong/hot taste, which can be tempered with a bit of salt.
By heading to Chinatown, I can usually find plenty of "spooky" foods. Growing up, I usually saw these 1000 year old eggs at my grandmother's house during special occasions like Chinese New Year. These duck eggs have been preserved (not for a thousand years, but for a few weeks or months) in a mixture of including rice husks. They can be served as a side dish with ginger or in congee (Chinese rice porridge).
These preserved egg look like lumps of coal. They can be left out as decoration - inside is an egg with a dark orange, almost red, yolk. It's salty so my parents used to add them to congee or soup.
I finally had a chance to cook up the squid ink pasta my friend sent me from Italy. The pasta is black due to the squid ink and tastes like the sea. I would serve it with scallops (or any other seafood).
Finally, for dessert, I thought of grass jelly - another item found in Chinatown. It's made out of plants that are in the mint family and added with starch to make it gelatinous. They're slightly bitter, so the grass jelly can be served with simple syrup, evaporated milk, or canned fruit (like lychee) with syrup.
And you can match your Halloween spread with this apron! (Only $17.50 when you use code mommy50PCT for 50% off)
Reminder: Have you entered our CSN Stores $55 giveaway? The contest ends this Halloween!
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