Curried Parsnip and Cauliflower Soup

I have been on furlough due to the government shutdown for three weeks and have had some extra time to tackle our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) veggies that we get weekly in our share from Lancaster Farms. Today, I made some soup using parsnips and cauliflower from the share. You could also add some potato or even some chickpeas if you want to make it heartier (add more spice and liquids accordingly). Here's the recipe I made up (approximately!).

2 T. olive oil
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
4-5 large parsnips
1 head cauliflower
2 cups chicken broth (may sub veggie broth)
2 cups water
1 t. cumin
1 t. curry
1/2 t. powdered ginger (may use fresh)
salt
paprika for garnish (optional)

Cut parsnips and cauliflower into 3/4 inch pieces, toss with olive oil, crushed garlic, salt & pepper. Roast in the oven for 20-25 minutes until slightly tender (but not mushy). I then added the veggies to some water I used to steam some cabbage (stuffed cabbage roll recipe to come!), but you can use water or any veggie broth. Then I added chicken broth for some extra flavor. You want to have enough liquid to just cover the veggies, about equal parts water and stock. Add the cumin, curry and ginger and some salt (use suggested amounts above or to taste). Stir and bring to a boil, then let simmer until the veggies are fully cooked, about 10 minutes. Blend with an immersion blender (or transfer to a food processor) and add paprika for garnish. Serves 4-6. Enjoy!







 

15-Minute Mediterranean Flatbread pizzas

Ingredients:
1 package flatbreads (4)
1/2 package lite cream cheese
2 T olive oil
2 cloves garlic
Handful sun dried tomatoes (about 8-10), soaked in hot water
8 oz feta cheese
Dill, ground pepper
Shitake mushrooms, capers, olives, or walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Sauté garlic in 2 T olive oil, adding reconstituted sun dried tomatoes (see note). Spread about 1-2 T on each flatbread, follow with 1/4 garlic mixture. Add desired toppings such as jarred shitake mushrooms, capers, walnuts or olives and top with crumbled feta cheese. Put all four finished flatbread pizzas on a lightly greased pan. Top with dill and ground pepper. Bake in the oven for approximately 10 min or when the cheese us melted and the flatbread lightly toasted ( brown on edges).

Welcome Spring 2011!

Hello fellow locavores and Happy Spring! I know I seem to have been hibernating for the winter, waiting until I could post my local-eating recipes again. I have good news and bad news for you... First, the bad news... our family has decided not to join the Jugbay CSA again this season, not because it's not fantastic but due to some hiccups in logistics of getting over to do the pick up during the week. We love farmer Scott and Tanya and appreciate all that they have done these past few years to turn us on to local eating. The good news is that we'll continue to shop for fresh, delicious and LOCAL food at Eastern Market and are looking into some home delivery options (such as Washington Green Grocer and Arganica) so stay tuned. In other news, I just bought a FOOD DEHYDRATOR and I am very excited to begin drying fresh, mostly local foods for snacks and for winter storage. So, keep your eyes peeled for my many new adventures I will soon be having with MR. HOT AIR!
Keep cooking!
--Acadia

Kale Burgers (They Really are Delicious!)

Adapted from a recipe I found online, here goes:

2 cups of kale, stems removed and sliced into thin ribbons and steamed for three minutes
1-16 oz. can of navy beans, cannellini beans, or chick peas--drained and slightly mashed with a fork
3 eggs or egg whites
1/4 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
2 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 t. salt
pinch turmeric
pinch paprika
bread crumbs
olive oil for frying

1) Combine first 8 ingredients in a medium sized mixing bowl. Grind slightly with an immersion blender to combine the beans and kale into the rest of the mixture.
2) Add enough bread crumbs to make the mixture easy to form into patties.
3) Place in a pre-heated non-stick skillet over medium heat with some olive oil.
4) Cook on each side 4-6 min or until golden brown. Remove and put on a plate with a paper towel to drain/cool.
5) Serve with plain yogurt or other topping or your choosing! Enjoy!
Makes approximately 8-10 medium-sized patties.

Veggie Stuffed Shells

You know I can never follow a recipe exactly, so I adapted one from a recipe online because I wanted to use up some kale and thought it could be hidden well in some delicious stuffed shells. As I've done with lasagna in the past, I substituted 1/2 of the ricotta for soft tofu and it was still delicious. I doubled the recipe and it ended up making 3 pans of shells. Below is my attempt to scale down the recipe for normal family consumption (we made some extra for a friend and I froze the extra pan).

Ingredients:
1 package pasta shells
2 T. olive oil
2 cloves garlic* (I used roasted garlic)
5-6 mushrooms
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1/2 red pepper*, finely chopped
salt & pepper
1 1/2 c. kale/mustard greens* or other hearty greens (washed, dried and roughly chopped)
handful of sun-dried tomatoes, finely chopped
2 T. mushroom broth (or water)
8 oz container of part-skim Ricotta cheese
1 package soft (silken) tofu (can use 16 oz ricotta for the above two ingredients)
2 c. shredded Parmesan cheese, divided
2 T. pesto*
homemade or your favorite jar(s) of tomato sauce--appx. 3 cups of finished sauce per pan of shells

1) Boil pasta shells according to package directions (appx 12 min)
2) While shells are cooking, mince garlic and saute in olive oil. Add onion, red pepper and mushrooms, cooking until slightly softened. Add sun-dried tomatoes, season to taste with salt & pepper. Add greens, stirring into vegetable mixture until slightly wilted. Add broth or water and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
3) Meanwhile, combine ricotta, tofu, 1 c. of parmesan cheese and pesto in a food processor. Blend thoroughly, then add kale mixture and blend again.
4) Remove shells from water and drain. Spoon filling into shells. You may use a pastry bag (I used a large Ziploc bag with the tip cut off). Lay the shells into a lightly greased 9X13 pan. Cover with desired amount of tomato sauce and the reserved Parmesan cheese. Refrigerate until ready to bake or bake right away, covering tightly with foil, for 40 minutes. Remove foil and allow to bake for another 5-10 minutes. Serve immediately with bread for dipping and a nice green salad!

*denotes contained ingredients from our CSA (community supported agriculture)/farm share

Butternut Squash Soup and Parm-Garlic Rolls

Even though the CSA has slowed down to delivery every 2 weeks, we seemed to be overwhelmed with butternut squash for a while. I made a big batch of butternut squash soup along with some parmesan and garlic rolls in the bread maker. Squash and garlic provided by our farm!

Roasted Garlic Hummus

In our share this year, we got a ton of garlic. I roasted about six whole heads of garlic recently and have been using it in recipes here & there ever since. This morning, I got up early and made some homemade roasted garlic hummus. I didn't have any lemon in the house, so I substituted a mix of apple cider vinegar and balsamic vinegar instead. Here's my modified recipe below:

1 large (1 lb. 13 oz) can chick peas (strain but reserve liquid for later)
1 T. tahini (sesame paste)
1 T. olive oil
1 T. apple cider vinegar
1/2 T. balsamic vinegar
(can use juice of 1 lemon in lieu of both vinegars)
5-6 cloves of roasted garlic

Add chick peas, roasted garlic and tahini to the food processor. Blend, adding reserved liquid and olive oil until you get your desired consistency. Add vinegar/lemon and blend again. Season with salt if needed. Makes a big batch for lunches or an appetizer to feed about 10 or so. Enjoy!

Sometimes the Easiest Recipes are the Most Delicious

My Nana Olson's recipe for cucumber salad. I made it plain and then in a version I made for a work picnic, I also threw in some local tomatoes for a little extra color:

To 1/2 c. white vinegar add 2T white sugar. Stir until dissolved.
Add 1 c. water and salt & pepper to taste.
Stir in sliced cukes and thinly sliced onions (vidalia is nice) separated into rings. Chill in frig for several hours.

Next to the picture above are the lovely grape tomatoes we also got that week in the share. They were super sweet like Starburst candies, except more natural and sweetened by the sun!

Maury Elementary goes Local!

I can't tell you how pleased I was to see that my son's new school, Maury Elementary, is jumping on the locavore bandwagon and offering fresh fruits & veggies from local farms. No more disgusting cafeteria "ketchup is a vegetable" a la the Reagan era, and waxy green beans from a can!

Baby Eggplant and Soy Salmon with Garlic Mashed Potatoes

We had lots of potatoes and garlic from the farm these last few weeks, so I made some garlic mashed potatoes. I also used some baby eggplant and peppers to make this Asian-style salmon with soy-sauce, ginger, garlic and some spicy black bean sauce. It was delicious!

The Tomatoes and Corn are Here!

Tonight's dinner was a simple poached halibut made with veggie broth, lemon juice, as well as cherry tomatoes and basil from this week's share. I served it with deliciously sweet local corn from the share, as well as a tomato and basil salad (also from the share). It was almost a completely local dinner! Yum, yum!

Tofu Veggie Lasagna, It's Yummier than it Sounds

My friend Yasmin gave me the idea to substitute soft tofu for some of the cheese in my veggie lasagna filling. I made up this recipe on the fly and it turned out really yummy. My neighbors came over for an impromptu dinner and they ate it up too--even the toddlers liked it, so you know it was a winner. Plus the fact that by the time I took the picture, there were only 3 small pieces left. Here's the recipe:

1 box no-boil lasagna noodles
2-24 oz. jars of pasta sauce (I used Prego)
1 small container ricotta (part skim)
1 container soft tofu
1 lg. bunch spinach, washed*
juice of a lemon
fresh basil and thyme to taste*
1-2 cups roasted/grilled veggies* (I used a combo of eggplant, peppers, garlic, okra and yellow squash)
3-4 cups shredded mozzarella (part skim)--reserve 1 cup for the top
1/2 c. parmesan cheese
salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350. To make lasagna filling, combine ricotta, tofu, spinach, lemon juice, basil, thyme and salt and pepper in a food processor. Process until combined and spinach is fully chopped and incorporated. Put appx 1 cup of pasta sauce in the bottom of a lasagna pan. Add 1/3 of the noodles from the box. Spread 1/3 cheese and spinach filling on top and some of the grilled veggies and mozzarella cheese. Add another layer of pasta sauce and repeat for two more layers. On the top, sprinkle remaining mozzarella cheese and parmesan. Bake covered with foil for 1 hour, remove foil and bake for 5 more minutes to allow top cheese to melt. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 15 minutes before cutting. Enjoy!

*indicates that I used products from the week's farm share.

Phyllo Surprise

I had some leftover phyllo in the freezer, so I whipped up this casserole with grilled veggies, pearl barley and chick peas. It was pretty good but I thought it might have been missing some cheese--perhaps some feta?

Pesto: It's What's for Breakfast

I made some pesto from basil, garlic scapes (both from the share) and some parsley. I have used it for pasta, two pizzas and a delicious breakfast bagel with melted feta and tomato. Yes, it was the first time I'd had pesto for breakfast and I'd do it again. The second pizza had tomato sauce made with many veggies from the share, as well as some thinly sliced eggplant. I'd forgotten to get mozzarella cheese at the store, so the first pizza had feta (from New Jersey) and parmesan and the second one just had parmesan.

Tuna with Sage Vinaigrette

We got some sage in our share this week and I didn't know what to do with it since sage is traditionally used with chicken, lamb and pork (all meats I don't eat). So, I made a marinade out of the sage, along with some olive oil, balsamic and salt & white pepper. Here's what the whole dinner looked like when served with the swiss chard risotto and the peach cole slaw.

Blueberry-Mint Iced Tea

We got more mint this week, so I made blueberry-mint iced tea. I crushed the blueberries and mint together along with some sugar in this mortar and pestle (kind of like I was making a mojito) and added it to some freshly brewed tea and chilled. Delicious!

Swiss Chard Risotto with White Beans

We got a large bunch of beautiful swiss chard this week from the share. The veins were red and the green leaves gorgeous. I didn't know what to do with it until I searched for some recipes online and came across this recipe for
Spanakorizo aka Swiss Chard Risotto. I happened to have exactly 1 1/2 cups of arborio rice on hand, so I knew it was a sign I had to make this recipe! I decided to add cannellini beans to it to make it more of a main vegetarian dish. It turned out pretty nicely! To add the beans, just add a can towards the end of cooking (about 5 min) and add some extra broth to help warm the beans.

Acadia's Peach Cole Slaw

I had another large head of cabbage to contend with this week, so I decided to make another cole slaw, but with a twist. I added in some local peaches and some other ingredients from the share (zucchini, spring onions and one jalapeno pepper). With the addition of a creamy dressing mostly made of yogurt and some walnuts and raisins, it reminded me of a cross between a Waldorf salad and a sweet cole slaw. I hope you try making my special recipe and enjoy it!

Combine the following ingredients in a large bowl:
1/2 head of cabbage, diced
2 or 3 peaches, diced
1 yellow zucchini, shredded
1/2 green zucchini, shredded
2 carrots, shredded
1/2 to 1 jalapeno (to taste)
2 spring onions, diced (heads only)
1/2 c. raisins
1/2 c. chopped walnuts, toasted

In a separate bowl, combine the following ingredients for the dressing:
3/4 cup plain yogurt
1/4 c. mayo
4 T. apple cider vinegar
2 T. agave nectar
juice from 1/2 lemon
white pepper and salt to taste

Pour dressing over cole slaw ingredients and toss to coat completely. Refrigerate for at least an hour to marinate.

Peach-Blueberry Cobbler

I picked up some local peaches and blueberries last weekend from Eastern Market, which were crying out for me to make a cobbler. Served it with vanilla ice cream. Yum, yum!

Last Night's Dinner

It's always easy to throw together a quiche and a salad for an easy Sunday night dinner. I keep frozen pie crusts and plenty of eggs on hand just for this reason. Last night, I made a quiche using broccoli (frozen from a previous week's share), zucchini from this week's share, some Vidalia onion and garlic scapes. Here's my simple recipe, along with one for a salad of cucumber (from the share) and tomatoes I picked up at Eastern Market this weekend (our share tomatoes aren't in yet).

EASY BASIC QUICHE
Pie crust, frozen or home made
4 eggs
2/3 c. half & half/milk or 1/3 c. plain yogurt & 1/3 c. milk
1 c. cheddar cheese
FILLINGS:
1/2 c. chopped broccoli
1/2 c. chopped zucchini
1/4 c. onion
1 garlic scape, finely diced

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Whip eggs until fluffy and add milk. Meanwhile, saute filling ingredients in olive oil in a pan on medium heat, adding salt & pepper to taste. Add filling mixture to the pie crust and then add egg mixture. Sprinkle cheese over the top and season with salt and pepper. Bake at 375 degrees 35 to 40 minutes. Top will be golden brown. Allow to cool some before serving.

TOMATO CUCUMBER SALAD
1 whole cucumber
1/2 yellow tomato
1/2 red tomato
dressing: balsamic vinegar (about 1/3 c.), olive oil (about 1/4 c.), pinch of thyme and dill, salt and pepper
Place chopped veggies in a bowl. Combine dressing ingredients and toss with veggies. Refrigerate for 30 min to an hour before serving. Note: This recipe would be delicious with the addition of a hard cheese such as feta or blue cheese.