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Category: Recipes

  • Spiced Pumpkin Soup

    I was going to post a ubiquitous “winter squash soup”, one you can customize with the ingredients you have on hand. I was telling my daughter this and she reminded me of her favorite pumpkin soup.

    So, I changed my mind. Out with ubiquitous and in with ‘something a little different’.

    Spiced Pumpkin Soup

    You will probably have most of these ingredients, squash or pumpkin, carrots, onions…wait…banana?! Yes, this soup recipe calls for a banana.

    These are her notes and changes to the original recipe;
    “Veto the condensed milk and add 1-2 T brown sugar sub any roasted winter squash you have for canned pumpkin. Really caramelize all the vegetables, don’t just sweat them, and make sure you toast the spices with the vegetables, don’t just add them in without toasting them or the flavor is flat. Grilled cheese sammiches dunked in this soup is the best Fall meal ever”.
    My notes are;
    “Grilled cheese sammiches dunked in any soup are the best meal ever. :-)

    I used A LOT more roasted pumpkin than the 2 cups called for, probably twice as much. I added some cayenne and cumin too, and fresh sage and didn’t add any sugar.

    I cooked my soup, after blending the coconut milk in, for about an hour longer than the recipe called for. Maybe I didn’t caramelize my vegetables enough in the beginning. Even after blending I felt the vegetables were still too ‘solid’ so I cooked the soup until it was silky.

    The banana and coconut milk add a nice mouth feel that most vegetarian/vegan dishes lack”.

    spiced pumpkin soup

    If you back out the banana, and the curry and sub 1/2 & 1/2 or milk for the coconut milk, guess what? You have a basic ubiquitous Winter Squash Soup!”. So, there you go! Happy soup making!

  • Pumpkin or Squash Puree

    This is a basic method of cooking any winter squash or pumpkin to make a puree for pie or soup or any recipe calling for squash or pumpkin (aka canned) puree.

    Select a pumpkin or squash preheat your oven to 350F and wash your squash or pumpkin before you cut it, like you would any other vegetable you are eating.

    winter luxury pumpkin

    This pumpkin weighs about 3 1/2 pounds. I have found that, as a general rule, 1 pound of squash or pumpkin yeilds about 1 cup of puree. So, I would expect to get about 3 1/2 cups of puree from this pumpkin. When you have a large squash you are going to get lots and lots of puree. This will freeze beautifully. So maybe get a bigger pumpkin that you need for right now an freeze some for later.
    Oh, more trivia, most pumpkin pie recipes call for 2 cups of pumpkin puree so get a pumpkin that is at least 2 pounds if you are making a pie.

    Ok, back to the puree. Lop off your pumpkins head and scoop out the guts. You don’t have to get out every string and seed. Just most of them. Save those seeds to roast them later!!

    gutting the pumpkin

    Cut up the pumpkin, or squash into smaller pieces. You can leave it in bigger pieces but it will take longer to cook and it will dry out a little more in smaller pieces. This will concentrate the flavor of the pumpkin. I am making pumpkin pie with this pumpkin so I will just cook it with no seasonings. If you like you could rub your squash with any oil and add any herbs or spices now to season it for whatever you are using yours for. You could also add sugar, or maple syrup or honey. Go nuts. Ginger or garlic are good too.
    Put your (seasoned or plan) pumpkin on something that can go into the oven. This cast-iron skillet is all I have right now. I am living in my garage…long story…I usually have a large baking tray but it is packed away in a POD somewhere. Use what ever pan you have to roast your pumpkin in, I did.

    seeded and cut

    Depending on the size of your pumpkin or squash it should be done in 45 minutes to an hour or so. Longer won’t hurt it. You just have to be able to slide a knife into the flesh easily to make sure it’s done. Check on it after 45 minutes or so.

    roasted squash

    Mine was done right at 45 minutes. I am going to let it cool for a minute before I peel the skin off.

    skin roasted squash
    Skin off and ready to mash or puree.
    ready to puree

    I usually puree my squash and pumpkin with an immersion blender or a Cuisinart. Both of those are packed away in the POD with my baking pans and everything else.
    So, I mashed mine with a fork this time. You can make this a day or two ahead of when you need it. This made about three cups.

    mashed pumpkin

    Not too pretty now but it will be fine in a pie, and so much better tasting than the canned pumpkin you buy.

    Happy Fall!

  • Roasted Beet Salad

    My middle daughter got married this weekend. The wedding festivities and cleanup went on until late Sunday night so I missed the CSA party yesterday.

    The weather couldn’t have been better for a wedding or a CSA party. I hope lots of you enjoyed the day at the Farm. We had a great time at the wedding.
    wedding dress

    I thought I would share a salad I made for the wedding. The ceremony and party were in our backyard. We hired a wood fire oven and served personal pizzas for the wedding feast. My daughter and I made some salads to go with the pizza. This is the simple salad I made.

    beet salad

    I wanted something I could make ahead and throw together as I needed it during the celebration and not be bothered with lots of mess or prep and this worked out well. I roasted and diced the beets on Wednesday for a Saturday wedding. I made a strawberry vinaigrette with strawberries I had frozen from earlier this season. I dressed the beets with the vinaigrette the night before. I washed and spun dry lots of arugula and had some goat cheese from a friend and roasted some pecans. Here is everything prepped and ready to be thrown together as it is needed.

    ingredients

    This was super simple, but pretty and was easy to eat off a plate on a picnic table. I had to replenish the salad 4 times during the night but it was easy because everything was ready.

    This would be an easy dish to bring to a pot-luck or just have on hand for an easy side dish during the week.
    Phew, what a weekend. I’m spent.

    Please check out my past post on sunchokes as you will be getting those in your CSA share this week. Enjoy this great weather!

  • Pie Pumpkins

    Before I worked at Red Wagon I was a staunch believer that pumpkin pie made from ‘real’ pumpkins, not in a can, were watery and gross. If I made a ‘pumpkin’ pie I would make it from a winter squash, not a pie pumpkin. I felt that way until I met this gorgeous thing.

    pie pumpkin

    pie pumpkin

    I couldn’t decide what photo I liked better so I used both. Pretty huh? This variety of pumpkin is called Winter Luxury. It wins pumpkin pie contests all the time. It is beautiful and delicious.

    We grow two varieties of pie pumpkins. Winter Luxury and another one call New England Pie. The New England Pie Pumpkin is delicious too, but this is my favorite.

    Both varieties will keep for at least a few weeks on your counter or in your garage. Don’t refrigerate them or they will start to rot.

    I am going to leave this post incomplete and add pumpkin recipes later. I just wanted to let you know you don’t have to use your pumpkin up this week, that it will be fine for a while.

    My daughter is getting married on Saturday. I have salads and cakes to make for that, and I have to make the chili for the end of year CSA party on Sunday. So, I am up to my eyeballs in cooking projects.

    I hope you all can make the party! It’s this Sunday starting at 3pm.

  • Braising Mix aka Spicy Salad Mix

    I got an email asking for ideas on how to use the braising mix you got last week in your CSA share.

    We get this question a lot so let’s try to demystify this offering.

    To start with the name is confusing. Sometimes it is called Braising Mix and sometimes it is called Spicy Salad Mix. Braising Mix and Spicy Salad Mix are the same thing.
    Here is my bag of braising mix/spicy salad mix dumped out.

    braising mix

    As with all your vegetables you want to wash your braising mix. Use lots of water because sand and grit can get stuck in the leaves. The stems should be tender enough that you won’t have to take them off. You can use the mix as is. No prep other that washing.

    The mix of greens might change a little through the season but our braising mix usually has some kale, mustard, tatsoi and maybe arugula or chard.

    Braising Mix, or Spicy Salad Mix can be eaten either raw or cooked. The greens are always young and tender in this mix, but add some bitterness and a little heat to a dish.

    I blogged a recipe on this site for Spicy Salad Mix if you would like to try it raw. You need some strong flavors in your dressing and any added ingredients to stand up to this mix. Grains and beans go great with Spicy Salad mix.

    You can substitute Braising mix for any recipe using kale, chard, spinach, or collards. Just know that when you use braising mix you will get a little bite and heat.

    My favorite way to eat braising mix is to make some grains and while the grains are hot I add my braising mix so it just wilts and isn’t cooked, just soft.

    I also like to use it in a Massaged Kale Salad.

    I hope this helps. Keep those questions coming!

  • Vegetable Ginger Coconut Milk Soup

    I hope everyone is recovered, or well on their way to recovering from the flood and all the rain.

    Fall is in the air. The days are getting shorter and the nights are getting cooler. That means the fall crops are on their way! Yeah for broccoli, cauliflower, and braising mix!

    There are a couple of weeks where the summer and fall crops over lap and that time is now. This is a great soup to use all those summer and early fall vegetables. This is sooooo easy, delicious, and uses only one pot!

    I love recipes that are adaptable to whatever vegetables I have available to me and this is one of the best. I used almost every vegetable I got in my CSA share this week, in this soup. I can’t wait to make this again with some winter squash.

    The original recipe is here Ginger Cocounut Milk Soup.

    This made a boat load! When I make it again, and I will make this again and again. I will only use one can of coconut milk and 1/2 can of water.

    Here is what I used.
    mixed vegetables

    If you got cauliflower instead of broccoli you could use that instead. Zucchini would be good. I used peppers and carrots that I had. I also added garlic and tofu with the ginger and coconut milk in the first step of the recipe.

    coconut milk and vegetables

    Here are all the vegetables in the pan, cooking to just soften them. I cooked my vegetables about 5 to 10 minutes, longer than the recipe says, and I didn’t use noodles I made some brown rice and used my basil instead of cilantro.

    serve with rice

    So tasty and easy. I can’t wait until we get some winter squash and make this again.

  • About Edamame

    This week you will be getting edamame and shallots in your CSA share.
    The word edamame means ‘on the bush’ or ‘twig plant’ according to different sources. It’s called that because when you get edamame fresh, that’s what you get. A bush. Ta Da!

    Here ya go!!

    edamame on the plant

    Edamame is sort of unusual in that all the fruit on the plant ripens at once so it makes more sense, and more fun, to give the bush to you and you pull off the pods. So, that’s what you will be getting.
    So bring a bag. :) You’ve been warned.

    Wash the pods, and just steam them until they turn bright green.

    steaming

    Drain, salt, and enjoy. I like a little salt, lime juice, and red pepper flakes on edamame

    lightly salted

    Edited to add a little more information on 9/4/2017;

    I was just at CSA pickup and there were a couple of comments about edamame.

    1. how do you store edamame?

    Take the pods off the plant and store the pods in a plastic bag in your refrigerator for 5-7 days.

    2. is it too hard or time consuming to take the pods off the plants?

    Not at all. I harvested this bowl of edamame off my bunch in less than 5 minutes. I put the egg in the photo for size reference.

     

    IMG_0589

     

     

  • Any Vegetable Soup

    Being in a CSA means having a refrigerator full of vegetables in various states of freshness and amounts.
    This is a throw-it-together soup you can do with any vegetables you have, in any amounts.

    About every two or three weeks I empty all the vegetables out of my refrigerator. I need to mentally start fresh every so often or I get overwhelmed and feel bad that some things have gone bad. I and make this soup to clean out the vegetable drawer and I always feel better.
    I use everything that is still good and compost the rest.
    Here is everything out of my refrigerator, look familiar? The jars at the top of the picture are stock and tomatoes I canned. You can use store bought if you don’t have homemade of course.

    leftover vegetables

    For this soup you will need;

    1 quart of stock
    1 pint or can of tomatoes
    About 4 to 6 cups of chopped vegetables and herbs if you have them.
    Beans or pasta if you like, or if you have them leftover, totally optional.

    I sort out, clean, and chop all the vegetables. Put the cleaned and chopped vegetables that take a longer time to cook, like potatoes, onions, and carrots, and get them cooking in a hot pan filmed with a little oil.

    chop evenly

    Add some herbs if you have them. I leave the stems on the herbs and pull them out when everything is done. I don’t like to mess around with pulling the tiny leaves off. Cook this until the vegetables are almost cook through.

    saute

    Add in whatever vegetables you have that are quicker cooking. I had broccoli, peppers,and beans

    add quick cooking veggies

    When the second dump of vegetables just brightens up add your stock and tomatoes. The trick to this soup is to just cook the vegetables, not overcook them.

    add stock

    I had some basil and about a 1/2 a jar of garbanzo beans I threw in at this point.

    Just warm the soup and serve. If you aren’t going to serve this right away take it off the heat. You really don’t want to over cook all those yummy vegetable, it really muddies the flavors.

    Here it is. I hope you can see how the vegetables are just cooked through.

    serve with yummy toast

    I added some fresh parsley and cheesy bread.

    Soup in jar

    Almost a quart leftover. I love leftovers.
    Happy Labor Day! Fall is just around the corner, with all the great squash and winter greens to look forward to.

  • Summer’s Fresh Tomato Sauce

    There is nothing better than a fresh tomato sauce, and this week you are getting tomatoes and basil in your CSA share. You could make this!
    No long slow cooking needed when the tomatoes are this fresh. This is so simple and quick.

    You only need a few ingredients.
    A couple of beautiful tomatoes
    An onion, shallot, or leek. My onion was kind of yucky on one side so I used 1/2 an onion
    Some garlic, olive oil, and a handful of basil.

    tomatoes basil garlic onions

    Cut up your vegetables

    onions and garlic

    chopped heirlooms

    Add them to a hot pan in this order;
    olive oil
    onions
    garlic
    tomatoes
    basil

    saute onions and garlic

    Cook the onions until they are soft then add the garlic. The garlic can get bitter if you add it with the onions.

    add tomatoes

    When the onions are soft add the tomatoes

    simmer down

    Cook that down until the tomatoes collapse.

    Toss in a handful of basil.

    toss in basil

    Done.
    This is great on polenta and grilled vegetables. I’ll use about 1/2 of this for some eggplant rolls. That is a separate blog.
    Enjoy the tomatoes this week!

  • Eggplant Rolls filled with Basil and Cheese

    I saw this recipe the other day and wanted to try it.
    http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Eggplant-Rolls-Filled-with-Basil-and-Cheese-12755
    I followed the recipe pretty closely except I used ricotta instead of mozzarella cheese, and I made the tomato sauce without the sugar and I didn’t strain it. I reduced the cooking time of the sauce, I only cooked the sauce until the tomatoes collapsed. I wanted the dish to be fresh and summery.
    I grilled the eggplant instead of cooking it in the broiler. I don’t think it made any difference in the recipe. I just grilled it because it was hot when I was making this, and I didn’t want to stand in the kitchen, I like to grill. Cook the eggplant however you like. It will work out fine.

    My eggplant were kind of small, here they are all grilled with the cheeses and the tomato sauce ready to assemble the dish.
    I had a summer squash lurking in the refrigerator so I grilled that too.

    grilled eggplant and zucchini

    Starting to assemble the dish.

    assemble rolls

    All rolled up. I had a little cheese leftover so I put that on top.

    top with more cheese

    Added some more sauce, about 1/2 way up the rolls and some Parmesan cheese.

    add parmesan

    After baking. It looks soupier than it was. Maybe that is why the recipe says to thicken the sauce? I liked it like this in the summer, maybe in the winter a thick sauce would be better.
    I think I want to serve it with polenta next time.

    bake till golden

    This was seriously good, and really filling and I had lots of leftovers.
    This would make a nice pot-luck dish.
    I hope you try it with the eggplant you get in your share this week.

    eggplant rolls with pasta