Farm Share – Week 15

Light week this week, which worked out great since I’m out of town Thursday to Sunday.

csa week 15

Apples, green tomatoes, green bell peppers, arugula, radishes and turnips.  No plans for any of this so if you have any recipes that use any of these ingredients, please share them.  I’d love to hear your ideas!

See you on the other side of the weekend for what I think is an interesting post and good discussion fodder on teaching yoga.  Students and teachers take note

Farm Share – Week 14

Wow — actually posting on pick up day!  I don’t think this has happened since the first week.

This week’s haul included a lot more fruit, which I’m psyched about.

week14

Kale, tomatoes, cucumber, ginger gold apples, eggplant, green bell pepper and a delicious melon that tastes like watermelon but has a beautiful pale yellow inside.  I think the eggplant are going to go into a curry dish (I’ve had a hankering for some good curry), probably along with the green peppers.  The apples will be great midday snacks, and the kale, I’m hoping, will keep until the weekend when I roast up a chicken and use the carcass for stock, because I’m thinking kale and bean soup sounds yum!  Not sure what I’ll do with the rest, but I’m sure it’ll find a home in someone’s belly!

Last week I made a bean salad from the Penzeys Spice catalog — it came out so pretty and colorful that I had to take a quick picture of it.

bean salad

The grape tomatoes came from Ed’s garden and the goat cheese is my own addition because everything’s better with cheese, right?

Also, I wanted to share this fun photo from the weekend.  What do you think it is?

?

Any guesses?

It’s bacon fat from cooking breakfast bacon, poured into two plastic cups nesting inside one another.  The inner cup warped and melted, while the outer cup stayed solid.  The color reminds me of the amber pieces that wash up on beaches in Denmark.  Who knew bacon fat could be so beautiful?!

Farm Share – Week 13

At this week’s pickup, my farmer had a sign on the back of his truck asking for any donations possible.  Due to the horrendous growing season and the loss of his original delivery truck in an accident earlier this season, he’s really strapped.  Poor guy!  I gave what I could, but it really heightened the important of local support for these farmers, especially through the lean years.  If I want the continued luxury of fresh, organic, local produce I too have to step it up and be responsible.

This week’s delivery was lovely!

week 13

Arugula, green tomatoes, orange tomatoes, a delicious reddish/purple heirloom tomato, onions, cilantro, green bell peppers, two golden delicious apples and broccoli.  The green bell peppers and onions went with me to Seekonk for a Sunday BBQ.  I’m making a three bean spicy salad from the Penzeys Spices catalog, spring 2009.  The broccoli got roasted and served alongside some panfried dumplings for a quick pre-yoga class dinner with a friend.  The rest waits for me to get home and do something with it before the next delivery on Wednesday.

Once I get back to Cambridge I’m thinking of making a cilantro pesto to keep through the week and serve over the weekend with some whole wheat pasta and roast chicken.  It must be a sign of fall that I’m craving a whole roasted chicken and all the yummy stock I can make out of it.  The green tomatoes will become a green tomato salsa.  The arugula makes a great salad base and I’m hoping to get at least one more salad that looks like the one I made last week from the leftovers of the last CSA delivery.

baked salmon salad

With green beans, roasted potatoes, tomatoes and arugula from the farm share, this was the best summer salad I ate all season.  The salmon was wild-caught from Whole Foods and it just so happened to be on ridiculous sale.  Win!

What are you cooking with this week?  Any Labor Day BBQs on your plate?

Farm Share – Week 12

Getting back on track with recording the farm share.  This week’s delivery was magnificent!

Arugula, eggplant, tomatoes, green bell peppers, cilantro, potatoes and radishes — Oh my!  The eggplant, tomatoes and two bell peppers went into a deliciouos ratatoille (recipe from Julia Child on epicurious), and the some of the radishes were used in a delicious appetizer of boursin cheese on baguette with radishes and fresh parsley.

Please forgive the lack of photos of the ratatoille.  Stewey veggies don’t photograph well in the evening with a flash. ::wink::

The arugula is going to go into a dinner salad for tonight’s dinner, along with a piece of wild caught salmon that I picked up from Whole Foods.  I’ll probably roast the potatoes since I like roasted potates served cold on salads.  Maybe that’ll go well with the salmon on arugula, too.  Mmmmmm!

Farm Share – Week 7 & 8

Yikes, this past week has been so busy I couldn’t even get to Perusals to post last week’s farm share.  The haul was pretty good: red cabbage, cauliflower, spring onions, green beans, red leaf lettuce, zucchini and mizuna.  I had to ask what mizuna was and have since learned it’s a lovely salad green.

The cabbage got used in the slaw for shrimp tostadas and the zucchini was grilled and used in an amazing zucchini and quinoa salad.  The salad is a perfect hot weather dish and a nice break from the traditional lettuce-based salad.  I modified the recipe slightly, substituting walnuts for pine nuts and sour cream for yogurt because of what I had on hand.  This new salad will definitely be made again.

This week’s farm share was another head of cabbage, leeks, spring onions, romaine lettuce, two cucumbers, and …

NEW POTATOES!

Despite the heat and humidity today, I couldn’t wait to taste the potatoes so I fired up the oven, tossed the potatoes with some Herbamare, pepper, olive oil and some thinly sliced spring onions and roasted ‘em all.  So tender and creamy and good.  I don’t generally like potatoes because I think most of the time they taste like the dirt they are grown in but these little baby beauties were delicious!

Not sure what I’ll do with the rest of the share.  I’m gone again this weekend playing bride, so maybe a leek and something quiche when I get back?  Any suggestions/recipe ideas out there?  Especially for that purple cabbage!

Farm Share: Week 5

A lighter haul this week due to the super wet, yucky rainy weather we’ve been having lately.  I don’t think the hailstorms helped any either.

farm share - week 5

In this week’s share was Swiss chard, baby carrot, red Russian kale, red leaf lettuce, green beans and fava beans.

The green beans and Swiss chard got steamed and served with veggie dumplings.  Freshly steamed Swiss chard is so  delicious – I had no idea it could be so sweet.  The fava beans, while a pain in the ass to prep, got put into this recipe for orzo and pea salad with mint.  I used Trader Joe’s grain blend and the fava beans instead of peas and parsley instead of mint.  It came out great with a squish of lemon and makes a perfect summer lunch or dinner side.

I’ve got a recipe tagged for the kale when I get back from another wedding in Long Island this Sunday.  Should be quick and easy to put together and provide a good lunch/dinner for the week.

Also, on a whim I made this tofu strawberry tart. I wanted to keep it simple so I made a regular graham cracker crust.  I also didn’t have a tart pan, so into a regular pie pan it went.  This is a great recipe if you’re trying to get someone to eat tofu.  The texture is just like that of a light, fluffy cheesecake and the homemade strawberry jam is always a crowd-pleaser.  I served this to two picky eaters and they both liked it a lot — and had no idea it was totally vegan.  ::cue evil laughter::

Farm Share: Week 3

Week Three of the farm share brought carrots, mustard greens, Asian turnips, red Swiss chard, Bibb lettuce, escarole, red leaf lettuce and sugar snap peas.  I have an OBSESSION with snap peas and the carrots have got to be the sweetest, tastiest carrots I’ve ever eaten!

Farm Share Week Three

I found a recipe for the cabbage courtesy of a librarian-friend who suggested this amazing lemon coleslaw.

Dinner on Thursday night was a fun meal of quick fried rice (egg, rice, carrot, snap peas, a dash of soy sauce and a handful of spices) scooped into Bibb lettuce cups.  Topped with a squiggle of Siracha and they were positively delicious!

Bibb lettuce cups with fried rice

I’m picking up the last of the ingredients to make cranberry beans anad greens and a slew of dumplings today.  The dumplings are my own recipe consisting of tofu, garlic, ginger, Swiss chard and cilantro.  Stick it all in the food processor, blend, and then make your dumplings.  The local Korean market is the only place I can find to get the right kind of dumpling wrappers, so I’ll be making a visit there this morning!

The only ingredient not accounted for in these recipes are the Asian turnips.  Maybe I should jus roast them with some carrots and use as a salad topper?  Anyone worked with this veggie before?

What I Am Eating – June 11-13, 2009

The farm share started this week, so there’s been a whole lotta green goodness in the fridge these past few days … and with no discernible dent made into the amount.

Thursday night I made dinner for Ed and Carine: big green salad of red leaf lettuce, spinach, chicory, and pea tendrils, topped with red onion, grape tomatoes, and spicy lime grilled shrimp.  The side was miso soup made with some of the bok choy.  I forgot to take a picture on Thursday night, but here’s a picture of the leftovers I had for dinner on Friday night.

Today I made a stiry fry of the leftover tofu from the miso soup, garlic, and some of the bok choy, the rest of the spinach and half of the pea tendrils.  With a little siracha sauce and served with brown rice, this little meal will definitely keep me happy!

Also going on in the kitchen was a recipe for “breakfast biscuits” from Peanut Butter & Juli.   She calls them oat cakes, which is also a good descriptor.  These little beauties are like a cross between a Lara Bar and a traditional granola bar: oaty, sweet, fruity and delicious!  I had one for breakfast (with a perfectly ripe nectarine courtesy of Trader Joes’s) at 7:00am before heading out to the yoga studio and it held me until past noon.

Here’s the recipe for these amazing little biscuits:

Ingredients
3 c rolled oats
2 c flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/3 c plain (or vanilla) yogurt (I used low-fat rather than fat-free, but any type is fine)
1/2 c crystalline fructose (WTF?  I used sugar)
1/2 c honey (I substituted agave nectar and dropped the sugar down to a 1/3 cup.)
1/2 tsp vanilla (if you’re using plain yogurt)
1 egg white
1/2 dried fruit (use more!  I also added in some chopped, toasted walnuts and a 1/4c ground flax seeds)

Instructions
Thouroughly grind rolled oats in food processor or blender.  Mix with flour and baking powder in a large bowl.  If necessary, chop dried fruit into small pieces and add to oat/flour mixture

In a seperate bowl, “cream” yogurt, fructose, honey and vanilla.

In a third bowl, lightly beat egg white until frothy and bubbly, but not stiff.   (You’re not making meringue.)

Fold egg white into the wet ingredients.

Combine wet and dry ingredients into the big bowl.  The dough will get stiff and hard to mix.  It may be easiest to knead it with your hands like a bread dough.  (I also added about a TBSP of cold water to help it stick together.)

Form into approx 12 patties, roughly 3-4 inches in diameter.

Bake at 325 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the tops are just barely golden colored.  Serve warm, or cool completely and store in the fridge for 3-4 days or in the freezer for 2 months.

Per patty: 250 calories, 1.5g of fat (allegedly)

And if this food doesn’t leave you with a happy feeling, then perhaps this will.

Clean sheets = happiness.

What I am Eating – Dumplings

Finally made something worth blogging about: Dumplings!  These were a lot easier to make that I first thought.  The only downside is the time it takes to make each little pocket of deliciousness.  However, this would be a great date night meal as it’s very hands-on and interactive.

I adapted this recipe from Serious Eats: added in a little carrot, oyster sauce and a smidge of siracha.   Rather than chopping everything up real fine, I dumped it all into the food processor and pulsed it around a bit.

The wrappers were a bit of a challenge as neither my local co-op or Whole Foods had the right kind.  So I took a little field trip to the local Korean grocery, Lotte, on the corner of Mass Ave and Village Street.  What a gem this place is!!  They had everything you could imagine — but be prepared to take wild guesses at what you’r buying since almost none of it is in English.  (I love these stores as it forces me to experiment and get creative.)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the filling is made, the wrappers are defrosted, and the creating begins!

Here they are, bubbling away in their giant pot of water:

I wish I had taken a finished shot of the dumplings with soy sauce and rice, but I was so hungry and eager to taste them once they were finished that I ate them up.   This recipe makes a lot, so I will be refrigerating some and will experiment with dumpling soups and pan frying later in the week.

Oh – one other challenge: keeping the dumplings from sticking to everything.  Any thoughts on how to keep this from happening?

Cookstr

Lifehacker annouced the Beta launch of Cookstr: recipie finder and home for cookbook/chef interviews.  As it is still in Beta there aren’t a whole lot of recipes up just yet, but the site looks really promising!!  So far it seems to be a site that shills for cookbooks: posting a few selected recipes to entice homecookers to buy the print book.  However, I can see this site dovetailing nicely with my other favorite recipe sites (Eating Well, Serious Eats, and a whole host of food blogs that feed into my reader.)

What I like best about Cookstr is the search.  Initially you can search by chef, ingredient or recipe name.  Once inside the search, you have all kinds of filtering options including cost, skill level, season, dietary consideration and a wole lot more.

With great searching options, more recipes, and the promise of pages on “Tips & Techniques” and “Menus” Cookstr is a site to keep your eye on.