Become a Working CSA Member.  Learn more →
🔍

Category: 2012

  • Stuffed Zucchini Blossoms

    You can eat the blossoms raw in a salad or they are really nice in a quesadilla. Just put it in with the cheese and it will soften with the melted cheese. The blossoms have a sort of ‘condensed’ zucchini flavor, but very mild. The stem is very tasty, so make sure you include that in whatever you make. Some recipes say to discard the stem. Don’t do that.
    I made some fried and stuffed blossoms. It really isn’t complicated and it is just delicious. First you will want to remove the stamen before you do anything with your blossoms. The stamens are a little bitter.
    This is a male stamen. I just gently tear the blossom and remove the stamen.

    Zucchini Blossom
    You can stuff your blossoms with anything, grains, cheese of any kind, herbs, anything.
    I had some goat cheese and basil. So I mixed that up. And stuffed my blossoms.
    Basil and Chevre
    Stuff Blossom
    Get a couple bowls and put a beaten egg in one and some seasoned flour in the other.
    Pull the flower around the cheese and dip the blossom in the egg then the flour. You don’t have to be that careful with these. They are really forgiving.  Eva stopped by when I was making these and she can’t eat gluten and I just fried some with cheese and without cheese for her and they were really good. Anyway…
    Fry the dipped, stuffed blossom in a hot pan with oil. Make sure you press the stem down in the pan so it cooks.
    Turn it over and fry the other side and there you go.
    Fried Blossom
    Three or four of those with a salad and some bread and wine makes a great summer dinner.
    The blossoms will keep in the refrigerator for several days so don’t feel like you have to make these right away. I kept last week’s blossoms for 6 days in the fridge before I used them and they were fine.

    – Mo

  • Kale Chips

    Stop me if you have heard this one before.
    Kale Chip

    • 1 bunch of kale leaves, any kind of kale works. I used curly kale. Rinse, dry, and tear into bite-sized pieces, center ribs and stems removed.
    • 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil

    Preheat oven to 300°F. Toss kale with oil in large bowl. Sprinkle with salt. Arrange leaves in single layer on 2 large baking sheets. Give them lots of room or they will steam and not crisp up.
    Kale with Oil
    Bake until crisp, about 20 minutes for flat leaves and up to 30 minutes for wrinkled leaves. Just keep checking. I find that opening the oven a few times during cooking to release the steam really helps to dry the chips.

    You can add a little sesame oil or truffle oil for added flavor with the olive oil, or sprinkle the chips with a little parmesan cheese or brewers yeast about 5 minutes before they are fully done.

    Before and after.
    Before and After Kale
    These need to be fully dried and not soggy or chewy or they are really not tasty. They kind of shatter in your mouth when they are done right. Everyone loves  these, even kale haters. I hope you do too.

    – Mo

  • Green Soup

    This is a recipe/formula that has been going around the blogs on the internet. I had never made it before but I have seen several blogs raving about it. Here is the original Basic Green Soup
    The recipe calls for chard and spinach but you can substitute any vegetables you have on hand. Broccoli, zucchini, anything you have.
    I had some leftover, kind of droopy, chard and kale in my fridge and I was trying to make room for my CSA this week so I decide to try this soup with them.
    Look familiar?
    Chard and Kale

    The trick to making this soup is to really take your time cooking down the onions. They need to collapse like this. It takes about 30 minutes to get them to this point.
    Onions

    While the onions are cooking, cook the rice in the 3 cups of water.
    Rice
    Dump the chopped vegetables into the cooked rice and water. The recipe says to add 4 cups of stock with the vegetables.  I just added more water and didn’t use stock. It worked fine and tasted great.
    Chopped Greens
    I forgot to take a picture of the soup finished, doh. It looked pretty much like this: Anna Thomas Green Soup
    I took this to a friend’s house for dinner last night and served it barely warm. It is a nice silky textured soup. I hope you try this with what you have on hand. This is one of those great base recipes to have in your repertoire. I’ll make it again with different vegetables and take a picture.

    – Mo

  • Vegetable Cake

    (liberally adapted from several different recipes online)

    • 2 to 3 cups chopped vegetables of any kind
    • 6 tablespoons olive oil
    • 2 teaspoons finely chopped herbs (I used rosemary and sage)
    • 8 eggs
    • 1 handful basil, chopped
    •  1 1/2 cups flour (I used white whole wheat, but you can use gluten free or all purpose, any kind really. There are so many eggs in this that it is a forgiving recipe in regards to flour.)
    • 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
    • 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
    • 1 to 2 cups grated cheese (I used parmesan but any kind of cheese you have would work.)
    • Salt and black pepper to taste, depending on the cheese you use. (Some cheese is pretty salty, so be careful here.)
    • Butter or Pam spray, for greasing pan
    • Sesame seeds, for dusting baking pan

    I sautéed my vegetables but you could cook yours however you like. They just need to be cooked and cool before you mix them into the cake batter.
    MInced Veggies

    Preheat your oven to 350°F and grease a 9-inch pan. I sprinkled sesame seeds in my greased pan for crunch and interest. You don’t have to do that, but it’s nice if you do.
    Mix the wet ingredients and the dry separately, then mix them together like you would a quick bread or muffin batter. Then fold in the cooled vegetables and the cheese. Put the batter into the prepared pan. I like to put a few onions on top of the batter. Again, you don’t have to do that or you could put a different vegetable on top.

    This is what it looks like when it is done. Try this with whatever you have on hand.
    Vegetable Cake

    – Mo

  • Beet and Watermelon Salad

    This is one of my favorite summer salads and it travels well. Our watermelon isn’t ready at the farm yet, but I still thought I would share this with you since we do have beets. I have used mangos instead of watermelon and it’s good that way too.

    • 1 bunch beets, cooked (either roasted or boiled) and cut into small bites
    • Equal amount of watermelon cut the same size

    For the dressing, I use:

    • 1 tablespoon of sherry vinegar
    • 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
    • ¼ cup neutral oil

    Mix the dressing and pour it over the beets and melon and let that sit for an hour or so.
    I like to serve the beets and melon over some bitter, spicy greens and top it with either feta or a blue cheese and some roasted nuts.
    Look how shiny the beets get from steeping in the dressing and how the watermelon picks up the red color of the beets.
    Beet Watermelon Salad

    – Mo

  • “Baked” Cauliflower

    This is a great, easy, make-ahead dish for a potluck. It’s good at room temperature and travels well.

    Core and wash your cauliflower, keeping it whole.
    Trimmed cauliflower
    Put the whole cauliflower in a glass pie plate with 2 teaspoons of water, cover with wax paper, and microwave for 7 minutes. How long it will take to cook depends on how big your cauliflower is. Just check it around 5 or 6 minutes. Don’t overcook it or it will fall apart.

    While that is cooking, mix:

    • ½ cup bread crumbs
    • 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese
    • Salt, pepper, and any other seasonings you like

    When the cauliflower is done drain off any water out of the pan and spread the crumb mixture on the cauliflower. Broil the cauliflower head until the crumb mixture is brown and crunchy.

    This is a great dish for summer. The microwave doesn’t heat up the house and the broiler is only on for a few minutes so it doesn’t get too hot from that either.
    baked till brown
    Serve the cauliflower on a dish with some dressed greens and let people break off as many florets as they like. This is one of those dishes that people who say they don’t like cauliflower will eat.

    – Mo

  • Clouds and Trees

    *Adapted from “One United Harvest”

    • 1 head of broccoli
    • 1 head of cauliflower
    • 1 bunch scallions
    • 1 cup total of mix of nuts, dried fruit, olives, granola, really almost anything your kids like to snack on.

    Dressing

    • Scant ½ cup mayonnaise
    • Generous ½ cup sour cream
    • 2 Tbs honey
    • 2 Tbs vinegar
    • Salt and pepper

    Trim stems from broccoli and cauliflower, using only the tender florets for the salad. Mix in scallions and any of the add-ins you like. I used dried blueberries, pistachios, and black olives. Mix the dressing and mix the whole thing together. This can be made a day ahead.

    My kids liked to have salads served in fancy dishes like this.
    Veggies in a parfait

    – Mo

  • Chocolate Beet Cake

    (Adapted slightly from David Lebovitz’ food blog at http://www.davidlebovitz.com/)

    • 8 ounces beets, unpeeled, rinsed and scrubbed free of dirt
    • 7 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
    • 1/4 cup hot espresso (or water)
    • 7 ounces butter, at room temperature, cubed
    • 1 cup flour
 *substitute rice/tapioca flour for gluten free option
    • 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (the darkest you can find, natural or Dutch-process)
    • 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
    • 
5 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
    • pinch of salt
    • 1 cup superfine sugar

    Cream Cheese Frosting (optional but scrumptious)

    • 16 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
    • 4 cups confectioner’s sugar
    • 16 ounces cream cheese, softened and cut into 8 pieces
    • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
    • pinch of table salt

    For the Frosting: 

    With stand mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes.
    Add cream cheese, 1 piece at a time, and beat until incorporated, about 30 seconds.
    Beat in vanilla and salt. Refrigerate until ready to use.

    Baking the Cake: 
    Butter an 8- or 8 1/2 inch (20 cm) springform pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. (Note: I didn’t have a springform pan so I used two 8-inch cake pans instead. Layer cake, anyone?)

    Boil the beets in salted water until they’re very tender, about 45 minutes.

    Boiling Beets

    Drain and rinse the beets under cold water. When cool enough to handle, you can peel the cooked beets easily by rubbing them on all sides with a dry paper towel.

    peeled beet

    Cut the beets into chunks and grind them in a food processor until you have a coarse, yet cohesive, puree. (If you don’t have a food processor, use a cheese grater.)
    Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
    In a large bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, melt the chocolate, stirring as little as possible. Once it’s nearly all melted, turn off the heat (but leave the bowl over the warm water) and stir in the hot espresso. Then add the butter. Press the butter pieces into the chocolate and allow them to soften without stirring.

    Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder in a separate bowl.

    Remove the bowl of chocolate from the heat and stir until the butter is melted. Let sit for a few minutes to cool, then stir the egg yolks together and briskly stir them into the melted chocolate mixture. Fold in the beets.

    egg and chocolate

    In a stand mixer, or by hand, whip the egg whites until stiff. Gradually fold the sugar into the whipped egg whites with a spatula, then fold them into the melted chocolate mixture. Do not overmix.

    Fold in the flour and cocoa powder.

    Scrape the batter into the prepared cake pan, reduce the heat of the oven to 325ºF, and bake the cake for 30-40 minutes. The cake is finished when the sides are just set but the center is still is just a bit wobbly. Do not overbake.

    Let cake cool completely, then remove it from the pan and frost if you dare!

    beet cake slice

    I promise there are vegetables in there somewhere…. Enjoy!

    -Maddie

  • Zucchini Fritters

    Yield: About six 3- or 4-inch fritters

    • 2 medium zucchini
    • 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
    • 2 scallions, split lengthwise and sliced thin
    • 1 large egg, lightly beaten
    • Freshly ground black pepper
    • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour *or sub any gluten free flour
    • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
    • Olive or another oil of your choice, for frying

    Trim ends off zucchini and grate them either on the large holes of a box grater or, if you have one, using the shredding blade of a food processor.
    Grate Zucchini

    In a large bowl, toss zucchini with 1 teaspoon coarse salt and set aside for 10 minutes. Wring out the zucchini in one of the following ways: pressing it against the holes of a colander with a wooden spoon to extract the water OR squeezing out small handfuls at a time. You want to get all the water out that you can.

    Return deflated mass of zucchini shreds to bowl. Taste it and see if you think it could benefit from more salt (most rinses down the drain). Stir in scallions, egg and some freshly ground black pepper. In a tiny dish, stir together flour and baking powder, then stir the mixture into the zucchini batter.
    Stir it all together

    In a large heavy skillet  (cast iron is good) heat 2 tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Drop small bunches of the zucchini mixture onto the skillet only a few at a time so they don’t become crowded and lightly nudge them flatter with the back of your spatula. Cook the fritters over moderately high heat until they start to turn brown. The trickiest part of making these is to get them done all the way through. I just keep flipping them and touching the middle until I can feel the middle of the fritter is set.  Until you get the hang of it you might just want to try one and make sure it is set all the way to the middle. Once you know what it feels like you won’t have to do that again.
    Frying Fritters

    You can add endless ingredients to these fritters, cheese, hot peppers, herbs, spices. Pretty much anything you like. I topped mine with Greek yogurt.
    Top with Sour Cream
    These fritters keep well chilled in the fridge for a week or so. You can warm them up in the microwave or just eat them cold.

  • Sauteed Turnips

    I used this recipe but omitted the soy sauce because I wanted the white and pink color and not a brown (other than the caramelizing from the braising).

    • 1 Tbsp butter
    • 2-3 scarlet turnips, sliced thinly
    • 1 tsp soy sauce, or Bragg’s Liquid Aminos

    Melt your butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the turnip slices and sauté for a few minutes until they start to brown. Add a splash of water or broth, stir, and cover with a lid to braise the turnips until tender, about 8 minutes. Check and stir them periodically. They should be golden-brown in places, almost caramelizing, when they are done, and tender all the way through. Add your soy sauce directly to the pan. Eat!

    It looked like this:

    Add turnips and sauté.

    Sliced Turnips

    Add a splash of water. That is water boiling. It looks like oil, huh?

    Saute Turnips

    Nicely BrownedAfter the turnips have been covered with a lid and braised.