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?