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  • Eggplant Rollatini

    I make these eggplant rollups all the time. I did a post on eggplant rollups several years ago but I make them so often I thought it was worth repeating.

    Everyone loves these. They travel well so you can take them to potlucks. They make great leftovers too.

    Once you make them a time or two they come together in a snap. I had always made them with the large Italian eggplants. Last week Amy asked if making eggplant rollups with Japanese eggplants would be too fussy and I automatically said ‘yes’. But then I started wondering if they really would be?

    So, I took some Italian eggplant and Japanese eggplant home and tried it out using both.

    You don’t need a recipe. All you need is.

    • Eggplant
    • Cheese, I had ricotta, parmesan, mozzarella and goat cheese (not pictured).
    • Some tomato sauce, any kind or just a large can of tomatoes would do
    • Basil-bread crumbs are optional. I didn’t use bread crumbs this time.

    You will want to cut the eggplant lengthwise into thin slices (I cut these eggplants into three pieces each) and brush them with olive oil and salt and pepper.

    You can either broil or grill them. Sometimes I grill them, this time I broiled them for about 5 minutes on each side. When they are nice and brown put some cheese (any kind) on one end of the eggplant and herbs you like and roll them up.

    Here are the Italian eggplant broiled and ready to roll. Each of these medium eggplants were cut into 4 pieces.

    Pour your sauce in an ovenproof container and set your rolled up cheesy eggplant in the container. The rolls on the left are Italian and the ones on the right are Japanese.

    Now bake them in a 400F oven for about 35-45 minutes.

    The verdict? Four of us ate these rollatini with lots of leftovers and all of us liked the Japanese eggplant best. The Japanese eggplant rolled up tighter and had more eggplant per bite with less cheese, which seems counterintuitive but we all liked the ‘more eggplant-less cheese’ bites. Don’t get me wrong, the Italian were still great! I think Italian eggplant are better for layering in lasagna and eggplant parmesan, but rolled up I think I am switching to Japanese if I have a choice.

    This was dinner. Eggplant rollatini, kale pesto pasta and tomato and cucumber salad. All the vegetables from this weeks CSA.

    I hope you try this. Have a great week. See you at pickup.

    Mo

  • Vegan Kale Pesto

    I have lots of recipes and ideas here on making pesto. Last week our Harvest Manager Kevin was telling me about a vegan kale pesto he makes all the time. I wondered if this space needs another post on pesto? Kevin sent me the recipe and I made his vegan kale pesto. I really like it and decided to share it with you. It isn’t as assertive as traditional basil pesto where a little goes a long way. Kale pesto is more subtle and I think more versatile, more a backup singer than a lead. Because it has no cheese it is lighter and the flavor of the nuts and herbs and kale are more discernable than traditional pesto.   

    Kevin got his kale pesto recipe from a vegan restaurant in Denver, Somebody People. The original recipe uses a whole bunch of kale and no basil but asks for leaves from a bunch of radishes. I didn’t have that so I used mint and a few basil leaves. I loved the mint in this pesto. You can use a handful of what ever herbs or extra greens you have.

    I followed Kevin’s Somebody People pretty closely but used what I had.

    • One bunch of Kale, ribs removed
    • One cup of olive oil. I would use 3/4 cup next time
    • Juice and peel of 1/2 lemon I totally forgot to take a picture of that, DON’T leave it out!
    • 1/4 cup of any nuts you like. I had macadamia nuts. If you can’t do nuts try sunflower seeds or hemp seeds
    • 3 or 4 cloves of garlic
    • a handful of herbs. I used mint and basil. You could use radish or carrot tops instead of herbs.
    • salt and pepper

    Method for making Kale Pesto

    • Blanch the kale in boiling water for 2 minutes and shock it in cold water and squeeze out the excess water.   I completely forgot to take a picture of that.
    • Put the garlic cloves in a food possessor and give them a spin then add the blanched and squeezed kale and everything else except the olive oil-give that a spin.

    Slowly add the oil while the processor is spinning.

    That’s it. You made kale pesto.

    I mashed some of this pesto with some avocados and had it on toast for breakfast.

    I mixed some kale pesto with some beans and chopped vegetables for lunch.

    And yeah, I had some tossed with pasta…that is another post.

    I hope you try this fun twist on pesto.

    Have a great week.

    Mo

  • Cucumber and Herb Cocktail

    I love a well crafted cocktail. I especially love cocktails using fresh ingredients like herbs and flowers and vegetables. Before the pandemic I almost never made cocktails at home, maybe a gin and tonic or a margarita. I do love to order them when we go out. During the pandemic when we weren’t going anywhere I started making cocktails at home.

    This is a fun drink. It’s pretty much a gussied up gin and tonic. You can personalize this with what you have and what you like. I used Thai basil leaves here. You could use mint or thyme or lemon verbena, Italian basil,  maybe tarragon, or mix of any of herbs you like. I also used agave as a sweetener instead of sugar. I have been using agave more and more in my cooking. It taste like sugar and mixes easily into dishes without having to dissolve like sugar does. You can leave the sweetener out too. The tonic has a little bit of sweetness to it.

    This amount makes one drink, multiply as needed.

    • 1 1/2 oz gin (1 1/2 oz equals 3 Tbsp)
    • 6 slices cucumber
    • 1/4 medium lime (sliced)
    • 4 oz tonic water
    • a small fist full of any herb you like-I can tell you mint, basil, thyme are all good. 
    • 1 Tbsp sweetener, agave, honey, sugar  (optional)

    Instructions

    • Add mint, cucumber, lime, gin, and agave or (equivalent if using) to a pint glass and muddle (smash up) everything I used a fork.

    • Pour the whole mixture into a glass filled with ice and top with tonic water or strain it and top it with tonic, I strained mine. I don’t strain it when I use thyme, you do what you want. .
    • Stir, let set for a few minutes for the flavors to enhance and enjoy.

    These go down really easy. Have a great week. See you at pickup.

    Mo

  • Shaved Zucchini and Kale with Miso Ginger Dressing

    This is a versatile easy dressing to keep in your meal rotation repertoire. As it is this makes a hearty tasty kale zucchini salad like this or it can dress up some roasted vegetables, sliced cucumber and onions or steamed broccoli or beets. If you add a little tahini or peanut or almond butter to the dressing and add some noodles and some protein you have a meal.

    This makes enough for two big salads.

    You will need;

    • 6 tablespoons neutral oil -not olive oil
    • 2-3 tablespoons rice vinegar
    • 5-6 teaspoons white miso
    • 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
    • 1 teaspoon sweetener like agave or honey or maple syrup
    • 1 teaspoon soy sauce
    • Ginger, peanut butter, almond butter, chili flakes-all optional I used ginger and chili flakes today.

    Use the lesser amounts of vinegar and miso and mix everything up in a bowl and taste it. Today I used the lesser amount of vinegar and the larger amount of miso. See if you want more miso or vinegar or maybe more sweetener.

    Now make your salad. I used half the dressing for a bunch of kale and one shaved zucchini.

    Mix that up and add some seeds and nuts.

    Man I love shaved zucchini in salads. I hope you try this and have fun with some variations of the basic recipe I have written.

    Have a great week. See you at pickup.

    Mo

     

     

     

  • Squash Blossom Quesadilla

    We love squash blossoms here at Red Wagon and lots of you do too. But, it seems like at every pickup someone asks me, ‘what do you do with squash blossoms?”. I always say, just tear them up and throw them on anything, salads, eggs, quesadillas, pizza! They are so pretty and add such a delicate floral vegetal flavor to anything, I love them.

    Fun, right?

    Kai says she stuffs them with cheese and dips them in pancake batter and pan fries them. I did a blog post a long time ago on how I make stuffed squash blossoms.

    Today I thought I would show you how I make quesadillas. You can use any kind of tortilla or cheese you have. I like corn tortillas but I have made my share of quesadillas from flour tortillas too. Here is what I had today.

    Corn tortillas, squash blossoms, some onions and Manchego cheese, any cheese that melts will do. This made 6 corn quesadillas.

    I like to sauté a little onion in oil until they are soft, then I add the squash blossoms to just wilt them. Lots of recipes say to cut off them stem, I love the texture and light zucchini flavor of the stem. I chop up both the blossom and stem up.

    When that is just wilted heat up your quesadillas on both sides so the cheese starts to melt a little more evenly. Add the cheese and onion and blossom mixture.

    I like to fold them in half, you can leave them whole and top them with another tortilla if you like. I did this.

    When you see the cheese melting flip them over and cook them for an other minute or two until the tortilla is soft and the cheese is melty.

    I like these with salads and salsa or a bowl of soup, maybe gazpacho or chili.

    You can add beans or eggs to make it a more substantial dish too.

    I hope you  take some squash blossoms home and whatever you do with them, have fun.

    See you at pickup.

    Mo

  • Zucchini Pancakes

    I love vegetable pancakes and fritters. Whatever you want to call them I love them. I make them all the time from all sorts of different vegetables. They are good warm or cold and they make great leftovers.

    I used zucchini here but you can substitute cabbage or carrots or potatoes, or kohlrabi for any or all of the zucchini in this recipe-oh, beets are good too! Use this recipe as a guide and use what you have and like.

    This recipe doubles and triples easily too. Here’s what you need.

    Yield: About six 3- or 4-inch fritters

    • 2 medium zucchini or the equivalent or any other vegetable
    • 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
    • 2 scallions or grilling onions chopped
    • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
    • Freshly ground black pepper
    • 1/2 cup any flour you like
    • I like a pinch of sugar and a little sesame oil and a sprinkle of sesame seeds, these are all optional. Fresh herbs are delicious here too, bacon, shrimp, grilled tofu…pretty much anything is a nice addition to these.
    • Olive or another oil of your choice, for frying

    Trim ends off zucchini and grate them on the large holes of a box grater into a mixing bowl.

    Put everything else into the bowl and mix  thoroughly. My eggs were really yellow, kind of looks weird, but that is how it looked.

    Heat a pan on the stove to medium and lightly film the pan with oil. When it is hot mound the batter on the hot pan and flatten them a bit so they cook through.

    Cook them for about 3 or 4 minutes, flip them and cook 3 or 4 more minutes. Continue until all the batter is used.

    I like these with a salad like in the first picture, or cut leftovers and dipping them in an Asian dipping sauce for a snack with drinks or a light lunch.

    Have a great week. See you at pickup.

    Mo

     

  • Conservationist of the Year!

    We are excited to announce that the Longmont Conservation District has named Red Wagon Farm as the 2021 Conservationist of the Year (Click the link to read the article.) You can read about what we do at our farm, including Wyatt’s extensive efforts to improve the soil by using techniques like cover cropping.

    Wyatt points to tall cover crop in the field.

  • Farm Tour Photos

    Thanks to everyone who came out to the Farm Tour Saturday. It was so great to see and talk to so many of you.  We had a great time showing you what is going on at the Farm.

    Feeding the animals is always a highlight.

    People were able to pick some peas, everyone seemed to really enjoy it!

    Inside one of the tomato caterpillar tunnels.

    Jenny with her husband. Jenny takes care of the tomatoes and all of the vegetable starts, thanks Jenny.

    Kevin is our Harvest Manager. He’s explaining which fields we grow our vegan vegetables in. :-)

    You all know our wonderful Kai right? She is wondering out loud what the heck she is going to do with all the vegetables piled up in her refrigerator at home.

    A few more shots of a few of our CSA friends.

    Hi Anna.

    Thanks for coming out.

    Mo

  • Celtuce, what is it and what do I do with it?

    Celtuce pronounced  ‘sel-tis’.

    Celtuce is an Asian vegetable. To me it tastes like a cross of a cucumber and the thick rib of a romaine lettuce leaf. It has a very concentrated lettuce taste and is very ‘juicy’ and tender. The leaves are a little bitter but very tender. In Asian stores they sell the stem and the leaves separately I guess because they are so different in flavor.

    I would use the leaves like I would radicchio. As the leaves are a little bitter don’t let that scare you off eating the stems if you don’t like bitter vegetables. Just throw the leaves away and move on to the mild tender stems.

    To use the stems you peel them like tough asparagus stock bottoms or even celery. Use a vegetable peeler or just a knife and peel the stringy outside off the tender stock. They peel very easily.

    You can eat celtuce raw alone or in salads like you would celery, carrots or cucumbers, or very quickly stir fry it for a quick side dish, don’t cook it too long or it will turn to mush. You can cut it in coins or in small blocks.

    This looked like an easy tasty recipe I might try soon. I made some egg drop soup and added celtuce to the soup and cooked it for just a minute or two. The mild flavor and texture was perfect with the egg and tofu. Yummy.

    Celtuce stems will keep for a really long time, at least 3 or 4 weeks in plastic in the refrigerator. Cut the top  off if you are storing celtuce.  Don’t peel your stems before storing. Put the stems in a plastic bag and keep them in your vegetable drawer.

    I hope you will try celtuce this week. It’s a mild very approachable vegetable I think you will really like.

    See you at pickup.

    Mo

     

  • Rainbow Chard Salad

    Kale salads have had their day in the sun haven’t they? I don’t know why, but you almost never see chard raw on a menu or in recipes on the Internet or in cookbooks.

    Chard is much more mild in flavor and texture than Kale, it’s closer to spinach in texture and flavor.

    Any kale salad recipe you have and like can be made substituting the kale for chard.

    I thought I would update an old recipe on this site submitted by Amy, with some pictures and use chard instead of Kale.

    It goes something like this;

    “Amy said she doesn’t really measure anything. Just use any and all of the ingredients to taste and according to your personal preferences.”

    You’ll need;

    • a bunch of chard
    • Salt
    • Olive oil
    • Lemon juice
    • Maple syrup (I used agave)
    • Red wine vinegar
    • Craisins
    • Toasted almonds/sunflower seeds/pumpkin seeds (I used granola)
    • bread crumbs or croutons are great

    More protein/fiber additions:

    • Avocado
    • Smoked salmon
    • Cheese

    Wash the chard and chop it in bite size pieces then toss the chard with salt, olive oil and lemon juice. Add maple syrup and red wine vinegar to taste…taste, taste, taste. Balance is key here.

    Toss with craisins and nuts of your choice and top with avocado and/or smoked salmon, cheese, whatever you have in your refrigerator. I really think kale and chard salads need some sort of crunch from something like granola or breadcrumbs and some sort of fat from avocado or cheese to balance the dish.

    This was quick to make and will go with just about anything else you might be eating or is a nice dish on it’s own.

    Happy salad making.

    Mo