October 6, 2009
I’ve never cooked with leeks before. In case you’re in the same boat, here’s a link that shows how to prep them: http://www.cookthink.com/blog/?p=407
A coworker just told me that I should cook them with white wine, water, or chicken broth, julienned carrots, then poach my favorite seafood in that. She prefers scallops and mussels like this, but I think I’ll try it with shrimp (because that’s what’s in my freezer at the moment!).
Enjoy your leeks – and let us know what you made with them!
September 19, 2009
I know some of us are just content having apple sauce or apple pie but some of us are trying to find things to do with those apples that is maybe a little different. Here’s a recipe that I dug up that is actually very good. It is of the Vegetarian variety but for those of you that NEED meat in your meal, add free range chicken. 
Vegetarian Apple Curry
6 large cooking apples
1 Leek
1 onion
2 cups of chopped tomatoes with juice
1 cup of water
1 TBSP of olive oil (for frying)
6 cloves of garlic
Fresh cilantro or coriander
1 tsp of cumin
2 tsp of curry
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 small chili peppers (or other hot peppers)
1 inch of ginger root
4 cloves
Salt and pepper to taste
1. Peel, core, and chop six large cooking apples into quarters.
2. Heat the oil in a large deep saucepan or work and gently fry the apple with the ground cumin and curry for about 2 mins.
3. Chop and add the leek to the frying pan and fry until the leeks are well cooked.
4. Add the cloves and cinnamon to the pan and cook for another 3 mins.
5. In a blender, blend the uncooked garlic cloves, fresh ginger root, and the onion with a little water to make a paste like texture.
6. Stir the paste into the sauce pan and continue to fry for 5 minutes.
7. Next chop the freswh cilantro and chili peppers and add to the saucepan.
8. Add the chopped tomatoes with juice into the curry and allow to simmer for 5-10 minutes.
9. Gradually add the water and when all the water has been added to the pan, add the lemon juice.
10. Increase the heat and bring mixture to a boil and let it boil for 3-5 minutes.
11. Serve over rice (mixture should be “juicy”)
August 12, 2009
Aahhh, zucchini season has truly started. We got giant zucchini of doom from the CSA yesterday. Last year I heard a comment while I was picking up my share that went something like, “I hate it when they give us these big zucchini. All they’re good for is pickling.” I should have clued this person in to all the wonderful things you can do with a giant squash, but I was so dumbfounded that I didn’t. I’ll make up for that now. There are a TON of things that can be done with a giant squash.
1 – Grate it! Grated zucchini has many uses. Tops on the list would be those lovely zucchini cakes that geckomom posted a recipe for. If you have any potatoes left, you could grate those up and add them into the recipe to have potato/zucchini cakes (make sure you keep the grated veg to other ingredients ratio the same, though). Second would be zucchini bread (one of my personal faves). Third most frequent use for me would be as a sauce bulker-upper. Throw grated squash into your pasta sauce and simmer, and it will thicken the sauce. Fourth, throw it in soup. This makes a great addition to lentil soup…or pretty much any soup. Unless you want everything to be watery, however, make sure you drain your zucchini after grating. There is a serious amount of liquid that comes out of those suckers.
2 – Slice in 1-inch rounds. Remove the middle. Now stuff with meatballs, and simmer in a pan (or electric skillet) with diced tomatoes (or tomato sauce) and spices of your liking until thoroughly cooked. I usually cook this a long time to make sure the flavors meld well. I guarantee that the squash will be soft and tasty.
3 – Cube it. Add to soups. Again, with long cooking times, the squash will be soft and delicious, regardless of how big and tough it looks.
4- Thinly slice it. Saute until liquid is gone. Alternately, slice a smidge thicker, salt, weight and drain it in a colander for about 30 min. Wipethe salt off and saute until just cooked. Now you have the perfect frittata addition. For a basic frittata recipe/tutorial: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/15/dining/15mini.html?_r=1
These are just a couple ideas off the top of my head to get you started. Fear not the giant zucchini of doom! Experiment and enjoy!
August 2, 2009
If your like me… you are trying to figure out what to do with the last 2 weeks of potatoes before you pick up this weeks share… since we are getting more potatoes!! I happen to love potatoes and our family of 3 eats about 5lbs of potatoes every 2 – 3 weeks. So I was thrilled to be getting all these potatoes but now we have an over abundance. So I started researching how to put potatoes away to keep them for longer than a week or so in my produce basket that I keep in my kitchen.
So first off, I found out that if you get a plastic tote or some other container with a lid and put some sand in it, like play sand, that has no dyes or anything it. You can dig your potatoes into it for storage. I thought about doing this… but I decided that I didn’t have THAT many left over after I made homemade pierogi, mashed potatoes and Ami’s potato salad, plus my normal morning homefries. So instead I froze them… I diced them up so I could use them in a variety of dishes and then added them to boiling water for 3 minutes, then put them in ice water for 3 minutes, added them to a freezer bag, and into the freezer they went.
If I get a lot of potatoes this week I might just try the sand thing. Has anyone else done that?
August 2, 2009
Looking for something to do with all those potatoes we’ve been getting lately? How about a twist on a summer favorite? This salad is a great addition to any picnic or barbecue and makes a complete meal on a hot night when you don’t feel like spending hours in the kitchen. Enjoy!
Potato and Green Bean Salad
Ingredients:
1 1/2 – 2 lbs red potatoes, scrubbed and diced
3 cups green or yellow beans, rinsed, trimmed and cut into 2″ pieces
3 hard-boiled eggs, roughly chopped
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
4 Tbsp Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp white balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
Add the potatoes to a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook until almost fork tender. Add beans and cook another 4 to 5 minutes, until beans are bright green and potatoes are cooked through. (You can also steam beans separately while potatoes cook, which is what I did.) Drain potatoes and beans and set aside to cool.
To make the dressing, whisk mustard, honey and vinegar in a large bowl with a cover. When potatoes and beans are room temperature, add to the dressing along with the parsley and egg. Tightly cover and toss until everything is coated. Add salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
*Notes: I usually serve the salad at room temperature, but it’s just as great after a few hours in the refrigerator or as leftovers the next day. And if you don’t eat eggs, you can easily leave them out and still have a delicious salad.
July 29, 2009
Wondering what to do with all the greens in this week’s share? I know I was shocked at a pound of mustard greens!! I haven’t decided what to do with them all yet, but if you’re looking for ideas like I am, this is a great place to start:
http://cheaphealthygood.blogspot.com/2009/07/cheap-healthy-leafy-greens-246-recipes.html
While you can generally substitute one green for another in a recipe, remember that mustard greens have a sharper taste than chard or spinach, so make sure you keep that in mind for your recipe. If you’re putting together a dish with a lot of mild-flavored items, you may not want to add mustard greens, because they will dominate the dish.
What are you guys planning on doing with your green bounty?
July 22, 2009
Looking for another recipe for all that wonderful farmers market zuke? Here’s one I found this year and it’s been a huge hit at my house, even the meat-lover approved.
Here’s the link to the original
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Connies-Zucchini-Crab-Cakes/Detail.aspx
INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)
2 1/2 cups grated zucchini
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup minced onion
1 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning TM
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup vegetable oil for frying
In a large bowl, combine zucchini, egg, and butter or margarine. Stir in seasoned crumbs, minced onion, and seasoning. Mix well.
Shape mixture into patties. Dredge in flour.
In a medium skillet, heat oil over medium high heat until hot. Fry patties in oil until golden brown on both sides.
July 14, 2009
I probably don’t, either But I do know a very effective and simple method for getting all that grit off our greens.
Ta-da! No more chewing dirt with your greens. Not that I’ve ever done that…no, not me!
And as a side note – I used to think salad spinners were silly. I have come to realize the error of my ways. Your dressing tastes better (and goes further) when it’s not watered down, and kale chips work much better when the kale is dry. Kale chips??? I’ll tell you about those when we start getting some of those tasty greens.
July 12, 2009
Wondering what you can do with the pick-your-own herbs? Here’s an easy recipe for sage and mint iced tea with honey. You’ll need:
- – -
medium sized pitcher (+ water)
tea ball
1 stalk of sage (leaves and flowers)
1 stalk of mint
1 tsp honey
- – -
Remove the leaves and flowers from the mint and sage and place in tea ball. Place tea ball and boiling water in pitcher and brew to taste. (I usually let it brew 10-15 minutes, but that’s probably a bit long.) Add honey. Chill and serve.
I’ve been making this for the last month or so and it’s delicious!
July 8, 2009
For the past year I have been trying to improve my eating habits by adding all sorts of vegetables to it. I have taken out meat and added a variety of vegis and other great healthy varieties. I have stopped using prepared foods and gotten into making my own foods from the raw product. In that process I have NOT tried beets. The last time I ever tried beets was as a child and I had canned beets. So not only had I not had beets any other way but I also had no idea how to cook them.
I managed to figure out from a cook book that you can just boil them, which was the easy part. Then I found a recipe for a sauce to put on them which was delicious. I was really surprised that I LIKED beets this way and this week I looked forward to having them again. So here’s a recipe for those of you that want something new for the old beets or for those looking for a way to stand them.
I used a Full Share of beets for this sauce and it serves 3 people.
Beets Dijon
3 Med. Beets, sliced, and cooked
1/3 cup of finely chopped onion
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/3 cup of sour cream
1TBSP of Trader Joe’s Dijon Mustard
1TBSP of Regular Mustard (just because the Trader Joe’s Mustard is too hot)
2-3tsp of lemon juice
Salt and Pepper
Saute onion and garlic till tender. Stir in Sour Cream, mustard, and lemon juice; heat over low heat until hot. Season to taste with Salt and pepper. Spoon sauce over cooked beets and serve immediately.
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