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Category: 2012

  • Greens with Lemon and Honey

    • 1 green garlic (or 2 cloves garlic)
    • 1 walking onion (or 1/2 medium onion)
    • 1 bunch any cooking greens (chard, kale, rabe, mustard, nice tops from beets or turnips, braising mix, etc)
    • 2 tsp. agave nectar (to taste)
    • 1 lemon, juice of
    • 1 Tbs oil (whatever you like to use for cooking)
    • 1/4 tsp. salt
    • salt and pepper to taste

    Take bunch of greens and separate the green leafy part from the stem. Tear the leaves into bite-sized pieces, rinse and set aside. Cut off any brown bits from the stems, then dice (between 1/2 inch and an inch).  Mince the garlic and thinly slice the onion. (Or just chop up your green garlic and walking onion yumminess.)

    Heat oil over medium and saute the garlic and onions. After 2 minutes (or when onions are translucent) add chopped stems. Add 1/4 tsp of salt (or less). Sauté for 4 minutes. Add juice from lemon and the agave nectar. Sauté 1 minute.

    At this point, you want to cook the water almost all the way down. I noticed that freshly harvested greens contain a lot of water! When it’s at the desired consistency, add the leafy greens, cover and cook until thoroughly wilted.

    Salt and pepper to taste and serve with just about anything!

  • Fresh Fava Bean Dip or Spread

    Submitted by Marilyn

    • 2 lbs fresh unshelled fava beans, prepared as above and ¼ cup of the cooking liquid
    • 2 Tbs fresh lemon juice
    • ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
    • salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
    • 1/2 tsp. cumin seeds, toasted then ground, optional
    • 1 Tbs minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
    • crumbled, grated or thinly sliced cheese such as feta, Manchego or Parmesan
    • optional pita wedges, sliced raw carrots, or crackers for dipping, or toasted bread for spreading

    In a blender or food processor, combine the beans, half of the reserved cooking liquid and the lemon juice. Add more liquid as needed while processing until the mixture is fairly smooth. Add the oil while continuing to process until smooth.Transfer to a serving bowl and season with salt, pepper and cumin. Sprinkle with the parsley. Serve with pita bread, vegetables, or crackers for dipping. Or spread on toasted bread (rubbed with garlic if you like), and topped with some cheese.

  • Chard Stem Gratin

    Submitted by Marilyn

    • leftover chard stems (broccoli or cauliflower would be good this way too)
    • bits of fried bacon or pancetta, optional
    • chopped/sliced garlic
    • chopped parsley
    • seeded, coarsely chopped tomato or roasted pepper
    • optional cream
    • grated cheese, optional

    Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Remove strings from the chard stems if necessary (like you would celery) and cut into bite-sized pieces. Drop into the water and cook until tender, just a few to several minutes, depending on their toughness. Drain and place into a buttered baking dish sprinkled with with the bacon/pancetta, garlic, parsley, tomato/pepper or any other savory/salty ingredients you desire. Cover with a little cream and cheese if desired, and bake in a very hot 450°F oven or broil until golden on top.

  • Summer Vegetable Caponata

    Submitted by Jessica Hersh

    • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
    • 1 Tbs brown sugar
    • 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
    • 3 lbs summer vegetables (eggplant, zucchini, peppers, yellow squash, green beans)
    • 1 medium or 2 small onions
    • 3-5 cloves of garlic
    • 1 large can small diced tomatoes in juice or 2 lbs fresh tomatoes, peeled and diced
    • 2-3 Tbs capers
    • black pepper
    • salt

    Prepare the eggplant, zucchini, and yellow squash as follows: wash, trim, and cut into small bite-sized pieces. Peel the onion and dice it. Peel the garlic and cut into thin slices. Put the oil, sugar, and balsamic vinegar into a heavy-bottomed pot and heat over medium high until bubbly. Add the eggplant and onion and cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking and burning. Add the rest of the vegetables (including tomatoes and garlic.) Add capers. Stir well, turn heat down to low and cover the pot.

    If the mix seems very dry add half a cup of water – you want to allow this dish to stew for hours without drying out. Cook over low heat for at least 2 hours, checking water content and stirring every 10 minutes or so. When the dish is fully cooked, all the vegetables should be very soft and falling apart and it should be thick, not soupy. At this point, remove it from the heat. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot or allow to cool and serve cold. You can eat this as a salad, a side dish, an omelet filling, tossed with pasta, topping a frittata, as a dip for chips or bread, as a crostini topping, a sandwich filling, or just a dip-the-spoon in snack.
    Enjoy!

  • Dilly Beans

    Dilly Bean Jars

    Here is the recipe I used, which is adapted from Sandor Katz’ book Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods.

    You will need:

    • Sealable canning jars (I used pint jars)
    • A pot big enough to cover your jars with water
    • String beans
    • Garlic
    • Salt (I used coarse Kosher salt)
    • Whole dried chili peppers
    • Celery seed
    • Fresh dill (flowering tops if available)
    • White distilled vinegar
    • Water

    Start by boiling your jars and lids for 5 minutes or so to sterilize them. While your jars are boiling, prep your green beans by chopping off just the very tips. Peel as many cloves of garlic as the number of jars you’re making.

    For each jar, combine 1 cup of vinegar and 1 cup of water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. While your vinegar and water mixture is heating up, place the following in the bottom of each jar: 1 garlic glove, 1 teaspoon of salt, one whole dried chili pepper, 1/4 teaspoon celery seed, and one flowering dill top (or a small bunch of dill leaves). Pack your jars full with green beans. (Note: I made one jar with the chili pepper and one without. Since I’ve never made these before I wanted to test the spice level this time.)

    When your vinegar/water mixture has boiled, fill each jar, leaving 1/2 inch of space at the top. Seal up your jars and process them in a boiling water bath for 10-15 minutes. When they are done, your jars could take anywhere from 1 second to 30 minutes to seal. (You’ll know they are sealed when you press down on the middle and it doesn’t spring back at all.)

    Give these about 6 weeks before opening for the flavors to meld…if you can stand to wait that long.

  • Tomato Soup

    Submitted by Kate Martin

    • 1 large onion, chopped
    • 2 cloves garlic, chopped
    • 1 1/2 Tbs butter
    • 1 Tbs olive oil
    • 2 tsp. each dried thyme and dried basil
    • 3 Tbs tomato paste
    • 3 lbs. fresh ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
    • salt and pepper to taste
    • 4 cups chicken broth

    Saute onion and garlic in butter and olive oil. Add spices, tomato paste, salt, pepper and tomatoes. Cook for 10 minutes. Add broth. Cover slightly and simmer 30 minutes more. Puree in a blender, food processor, or using an immersion blender. This recipe freezes great and is a perfect dish to pull out on a cool fall evening.

  • Roasted Tomato Sauce

    Here are 5 pounds of tomato seconds.
    Tomato Seconds

    I think I’ll use the garlic and pepper from this week’s share in my sauce. You can do that too or just use tomatoes. I added an onion from last week’s share in my sauce too.

    Core and roughly cut everything up and put it on a baking sheet that will hold it all. You might use 2 9X13 baking pans.
    Sliced Ingredients

    Now pour olive oil and balsamic vinegar over the whole thing.
    Topped with Balsamic

    And mix it all up with salt and pepper and any herbs you have in your garden and put that in a preheated 450°F oven to roast for at least 45 minutes and up to an hour.

    It should look something like this when it is done roasting. There is a lot of liquid so be careful removing it from you oven.
    Roasted Tomato Sauce

    Roasting caramelizes sugars and condenses flavors, you can almost see that here.
    Roasted Tomato Sauce

    I dump everything into a bowl and fish out the woody and too charred herbs and throw them away. Then I hit the roasted tomato mixture with an immersion blender.
    Roasted Tomato Sauce Blended

    I got just over two quarts of sauce out of my 5 pounds of ‘seconds’ tomatoes.
    Roasted Tomato Sauce
    When life gives you seconds, make something second to none.

  • Cantaloupe and Prosciutto Pasta

    This is one of my favorite summer meals. The melons are such a short season we try to have this at least two or three times in the summer. I often make this without prosciutto as I did this time in the photo. You can substitute bacon, turkey or vegetarian bacon if you like. The key is to have something salty to stand up to the melon. If you leave out prosciutto (or prosciutto substitute), use a little more Parmesan cheese.

    Melon Prosciutto Pasta

    • 1/4 cup fruity olive oil
    • 1 1/2 cups cantaloupe, diced
    • 1/4 pound thinly sliced prosciutto, very coarsely diced
    • grated zest of 1 med. lemon
    • 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
    • freshly ground black pepper
    • 3 T. Parmesan cheese, freshly grated, plus extra for serving
    • 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, cut into strips
    • RECOMMENDED PASTA: 8 oz. medium shells (conchiglie rigate).

    Combine olive oil, cantaloupe, prosciutto, lemon zest, crushed red pepper, salt, pepper and  Parmesan cheese in pasta serving bowl.

    Set aside to warm to room temperature, or just till flavors mingle.

    Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water till al dente. Drain pasta well & immediately add to sauce in bowl. Sprinkle with basil & toss. Serve at once with extra Parmesan cheese. Pass the pepper mill.

  • Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

    These are a very sweet pepper called Carmen. Roasting them brings out even more sweetness and complex flavors. To prepare these you simply need to rinse off most of the charred peel and seed and de-vein them.
    Roasted Red Peppers

    You can put some olive oil and a little balsamic vinegar on these peppers and essentially you will have what you get a Whole Foods olive bar or buy in jars that you would pay big bucks for.

    I like to use these on grilled cheese sandwiches. But I really love roasted red pepper sauce.

    Roasted red pepper sauce is almost as easy as making pesto. Seed and de-vein your peppers as above and take the peppers for a spin in your Cuisinart or blender.
    Process the Peppers

    Add some onions and garlic sauteed in olive oil.
    Add Onions and Garlic
    And take that for a spin. If you are going to eat it right away you can add a splash of cream or 1/2 & 1/2 and some Parmesan cheese. Use this like you would pesto, on pasta or bread as a spread or to compliment some grilled vegetables or meat.

    I wanted to save mine for winter eats so I am going to freeze it at this point and add cream when I use it.
    Sauce in Bag
    Yeah. I love putting some things away for winter.

  • Roasted Delicata Squash Salad

    Delicata are one of a few winter squash that you don’t need to peel. The flesh and peel are firm with a nutty flavor. I like to roast them in smaller pieces to get more caramelized areas, but you can also just cut it in half and roast it like you would an acorn squash. Delicatas are nice stuffed with grains or vegetables and roasted, too.

    I want to show you one of my favorite winter salads. This is a good way to use up anything you have in your refrigerator.

    Delicata squash work really well with this salad because the flesh is so firm when it is cooked and can hold up to being tossed with vinaigrette and mixed with other ingredients.

    Cut up your squash, removing the seeds and stringy pulp.  Drizzle the slices with olive oil, salt, and pepper and roast in a hot 400˚F oven.
    Sliced Delicata

    Tossed with Oil
    Roast the bejeezes out of it, about 40 minutes. You want these really done, almost dry.

    Crisp Roasted
    Put the cooked squash in a bowl and chop up any vegetables that you have on hand. Make sure you add some sort of onion and some crunchy stuff like celery or peppers. The contrast of soft and crunchy is nice. I wish I had some hard cooked eggs to add here.
    Add to Salad

    I drizzled this with a Dijon vinaigrette but any dressing will do. Mine was 2 teaspoons Dijon, 2 tablespoons of cider vinegar and 3 tablespoons of olive oil. I tossed it all and served it on some lettuce. This is also great on grains or rice. The leftovers are so good too. The flavors meld so make lots. You will want more than one meal out of this.
    Finished Salad