Bored on my second day off

While avoiding working on my meet sheets, I decided to cook. I used the recipe from the farm to make a potato and turnip gratin. I sliced the potatoes and turnips pretty thin, seasoned them, covered them slightly in a mixture of half heavy cream/half vegetable stock, and baked them for 40 minutes at 350 while my peach cobbler was baking.

I also made fried green (red) tomatoes using flour, egg whites, and panko bread crumbs. I only have olive oil, so I fried them in that. Delicious.

Beet and Carrot Burgers

Ingredients:
butter/pam for greasing the baking sheet
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1 cup sunflower seeds
2 cups peeled grated beets (i've both steamed and roasted them - whatever works for you. also i don't really have luck grating beets so i just mince them)
2 cups grated carrots (i buy a bag of the matchstick carrots to make it easier)
1/2 cup onion (about 1 medium onion, sweet or yellow)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh parlsey (or a few shakes of dried parsley)
1.5 cups flour (i'm now thinking toasted breadcrumbs would be even better)
2 Tbs soy sauce
1 clove garlic, inclued or pressed (let's be honest, i do at least 2 cloves if not more)
1/8 to 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1) if you are baking the burgers, preheat oven to 350 and lightly coat a baking sheet with butter/pam. if you are pan frying, wait until closer to when you are ready to start cooking the burger to turn on the burner to medium.

2) place a small heavy skillet over medium heat. add the sesame seeds and stir them on the dry skillet just until lightly browned and fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes - watch close or they'll burn. immediately remove from heat and transfer to a dish to cool. repeat with the sunflower seeds

3) combine the beets, carrots, and onion in a large bowl. stir in the toasted seeds, eggs, rice, cheddar, oil, flour, parsley, soy sauce, and cayenne. at this point i use my hands to mush it all together and make sure everything is combined fully.

4) shape into patties however large you'd like

5) bake until brown around the edges (about 20 minutes). unless they are large and thick (that's what she said) there is no need to turn them. OR turn the burner on medium, spray the pan, and cook the patty until browned, then turn and do it on the other side.

6) i eat mine on those flattened buns with a slice of tomato, a couple slices of avocado (duh) and some plain greek yogurt with lemon and garlic powder, but i'm sure there are other fun variations.

Note: this makes about 12 patties or so, depending on how big you make them. i make up all the patties and wrap them individually in tin foil and freeze them. about a minute on defrost in the microwave does the trick.


Adapted from Farmer John's Cookbook: The Real Dirt on Vegetables

I forgot this existed

While avoiding lesson plans, I remembered there was some sort of blog floating around on my Google homepage. I found the site after a couple hundred clicks of the mouse and the previous page button.

I must say, y'all have done some work in the weeks that this thing has been running.

I share my bag with Margo and I always give her my half of the weird and/or gross vegetables. Also, I don't really do recipes or make actual dinners (I'm more of a side dish cook), but I have a fabulous collection of recipes.

I steam string beans, broccoli, and peas. I tried roasting broccoli last time and it was disgusting. I saute squash and zucchini. I make zucchini bread using my mom's low-fat/low-cal banana bread recipe. Any greens I get, I cook like collards. I do nothing with the cucumbers except eat them with hummus, but I did actually try a cucumber salad this week.

Cucumber Salad

• A random amount of cucumbers, depending on how much you like them, I used two
• 1/4 C rice vinegar or white wine vinegar
• Salt
• Pepper

Combine and let sit in the fridge for 30 minutes. I added parmesan the second night.

Vegetarian Collards

• 1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1/2 large onion, chopped
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1 lb collard greens, chopped
• 3 C vegetable stock
• 2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped

In a large pot over medium heat, heat oil and butter. Saute onion til softened and then add the red pepper flakes and garlic. Cook for another minute. Add collard greens and cook another minute. Add vegetable stock, cover and bring to a simmer. Cook til greens are tender, about 40 minutes. Add tomatoes and season. 

Zucchini Bread (original recipe for banana bread)

• 1 1/2 C flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• Dash salt
• 2 egg whites, lightly beaten
• 1 1/2 C zucchini, finely shredded and wrung out (for banana bread, 2-3 mashed, ripe bananas)
• 1 tsp cinnamon (zucchini bread only)
• 3/4 C sugar (I use a little less)
• 3 Tbsp oil
• 1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk dry ingredients and set aside. Combine wet ingredients well and slowly mix in the dry ingredients. Spray loaf pan and pour in batter. Bake for 50 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan. 

Lazy Man's Peach Cobbler

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and melt one stick of butter in a casserole dish in the oven. 

Slice four peaches and set aside.

In a small bowl, mix:

• 1 C flour
• 1 C sugar
• 3/4 C milk
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda

Pour into butter - do not stir - and top with fruit. Bake for 55 minutes.

Turnip Fries (from Hungry Girl, so I'm sure they might be bitter, possibly soak in sugar water first)

• 2 medium-sized turnips
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/8 pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray baking sheet. Cut turnips into spears and lay in a single layer and season. Bake about 30 minutes, flipping halfway through.

Bow-Tie Pasta with Broccoli and Potatoes

• Salt and pepper
• 2 medium potatoes, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1 large bunch of broccoli
• 12 oz. bow-tie pasta
• 4 Tbsp butter
• 2 leeks, white and light green parts sliced into half-moons
• 1 head lettuce, torn into pieces
• 1 1/2 C fontina, grated (about 4 oz.)
• 1/2 C parmesan, grated (about 1 oz.)

Boil potatoes for 10 minutes. Add broccoli and pasta and cook as package directs. Melt butter in a skillet. Add leeks and 1 1/2 tsp salt and pepper. Cook til softened, 7 minutes. Reserve 1 C of cooking water. Drain pasta and broccoli over lettuce. Return to pot. Add leeks and moisten with cooking water. Stir in cheese and season.

Tomato and Cucumber Salad

• 1/4 lb multi-grain bread, cut roughly into 1 inch cubes
• 5 Tbsp basil-infused olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 1/3 C balsamic vinegar
• 2 lbs tomatoes
• 1 cucumber, peeled and seeded

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, toss the bread cubes with 2 Tbsp oil and season. Arrange on a baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes. Toss cubes and bake til golden, another 3-5 minutes. In a small saucepan, over low heat, add the vinegar and simmer until reduced by half. Cut the tomatoes and cucumber (length-wise, in half, and sliced into half moons). In a serving bowl, mix the tomatoes, cucumbers, and the remaining oil and season. Add the bread cubes and toss. Drizzle with the reduced vinegar.

Tomato Baby

My first tomato is starting to grow!! :)

I am an especially proud momma because these tomato plants were started from seed in our school greenhouse. The four runts of the tomato plant litter came home with me to be nursed back to health...and I must say, they are looking pretty good!

Squash are taking over my fridge!

Any recipes for squash? I keep getting more and more each week in my bag and I always just turn to sauteing them. Creative suggestions?

The (Green) Jam

This is my favorite recipe that I've made so far with anything from my CSA:

Arugula Pesto

• 2 cups of packed arugula leaves, stems removed
• 1/2 cup of shelled walnuts
• 1/2 cup fresh Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup  olive oil
• salt to taste

1 Toast the nuts in a pan over medium heat until lightly brown.

2  Combine the arugula, salt, walnuts a food processor. Pulse while drizzling the olive oil into the processor. Remove the mixture from the processor and put it into a bowl. Stir in the Parmesan cheese.

easy and delicious!

I think turnips are the worst.

So I've been getting turnips and radishes in my CSAs and I don't like either of those things, so if anyone wants them, please let me know!

Cool Website

So it's not a recipe, but you could get some good ideas from it: www.supercook.com is a website where you enter in the ingredients you already have in your house and it gives you all the dishes you can make from them. Give it a try if you're short on ideas, then share the good ones you end up finding!

Summertime Broccoli Salad

This is a perfect (and easy) summer salad. I think it's best to make the night before to let it set and really soak up the flavor. If you do make the night before I'd recommend holding back a little broccoli and a few cranberries to mix in and freshen it up just before serving.

Ingredients:

• 1 head broccoli, stems removed and florets cut into pieces
• 4 slices cooked turkey bacon, crumbled
• 1/2 cup red onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 3/4 cup  light or olive oil mayonnaise (I know, I know - I hate mayo, too but really - you can't taste it once it's in)
• 2 tbsp white vinegar
• 1 1/2 tbsp honey
• 1 teaspoon prepared horseradish (this is optional but really adds a nice kick)
• 1/4 cup roasted no salt added sunflower seed kernels
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

 Preparation:

1. In a small bowl combine mayo, vinegar, horseradish, honey, salt and pepper.  Mix well and set aside.
2. In a large bowl combine broccoli, bacon, onion and cranberries.  Gently stir in the mayo dressing.
3. Add sunflower seeds just before serving.

Served best in the sunshine with a nice cold, adult beverage.

No, but really. This is probably one of my favorites so call me when you make it.

Adapted from A Chick Who Can Cook

Sweet Potato Burgers

So... I started with a recipe on this one but I strayed pretty far from it. The big thing to remember is that you're going to need a lot of seasoning in the burger mixture - otherwise it'll just taste like sweet potatoes on a bun.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups peeled, cooked and mashed sweet potatoes
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• Onion powder
• Garlic powder
• 1/2 cup dry roasted pecans, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt (plus a sprinkle for the onion topping)
• sprinkle of fresh ground black pepper
• Bread crumbs 
• Egg whites
• 1 tablespoon olive oil spread 
• goat's cheese
• 1 sweet onion

To start, microwave your sweet potatoes until soft. Peel and Mash in a medium bowl. Mix in breadcrumbs, olive oil spread, pecans, egg whites, seasonings until thick.

Pat into rounds and place in freezer to firm.

I have a stove top griddle that worked perfectly for cooking these but I imagine they'd do great baking in the oven at about 400 degrees. Either way you go you'll need olive oil or cooking spray to keep these from sticking.

Even though the potatoes are already cooked you'll still need to cook these about 40 minutes, turning once halfway.

While the burgers are cooking, grill or saute your onions.

Top your burgers with the onion and goat's cheese and enjoy! 

Baked Zucchini Chips

These are an easy way to make a great appetizer or side dish. I love serving mine with marinara sauce to dip. Don't feel like you have to stick to the recipe - feel free to improvise with the seasonings.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup dry breadcrumbs (Italian breadcrumbs work great)
• 1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese (optional)
• 1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons fat-free milk 
• Egg whites
• 2 1/2 cups (1/4-inch-thick) slices zucchini (about 2 small) 
• Cooking spray 

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 425°.
2. Combine first 5 ingredients in a ziplock bag and mix well
3. Place milk and egg whites in a shallow bowl. 
4. Dip zucchini slices in milk and egg mixture and place in ziplock bag 
5. Shake well until evenly coated
6. Place coated slices on an ovenproof wire rack coated with cooking spray; place rack on a baking sheet. Bake at 425° for 30 minutes or until browned and crisp. Serve immediately.

The thinner you slice the zucchini, the crispier the chips will be. I normally slice mine as rounds but wedges would work too.

Enjoy!!

Adapted from Cooking Light

Cole's Law

hi friends,

we got a big ol' head of cabbage in our CSA this week. we don't eat cabbage. who wants it? anybody?

also, am i posting this at 10pm on a friday night? yes. yes i am.

finally, someone please tell me what in the world i can do with kohlrabi.

thanks!

Yummy Beets

It seems you other love or despise beets...but this recipe you are sure to love! Very simple and quick!

First you need to steam the beets. I have had much better luck with steaming than with roasting. Cut the greens off and save them for later. If they are small you don't need to cut the beet at all, but if they are larger beets it is best to cut them in half. Steam them until they are easily poked with a fork. Time will vary with size. Run them under cold water and the skin will rub off in your hands! Cube them into 1 inch pieces.

Combine 3 tbs brown sugar, 2 tbs orange juice and 1 tbs butter in a sauce pan. Cook over medium heat until it bubbles. Add in the beets. Cook until the liquid is mostly gone and the beets have a nice glaze. Usually 6-8 mins. Then they are ready to serve!

This can work for many other veggies like carrots, parnsips, and turnips. You can also replace the brown sugar with honey.

Yummy!!

*don't forget about the color changes you may experience the next day ;)

Sweet Potato Fries

This one is pretty basic but I know there'd been a few questions about how to get them just right. By just right I mean crispy around the edges and soft on the inside. My sweet potato fries couldn't get any easier.

Depending on the size of the potato I normally try to get about 8 wedges (cut length wise) from my potatoes. If you think a wedge is too big - slice it in half again. Just make sure all your wedges are about even in thickness.

Here's where it get really tricky:

• Preheat the oven to 425
• Lay your wedges out on the pan (baking stone preferred)
• Drizzle with olive oil
• Sprinkle with Kosher or Coarse Sea Salt and Pepper
• Flip and or shake to make sure every wedge is well coated
• Bake for 25-30 minutes, flipping after 15 minutes

Although I tend to stick with the classic, you can get really creative with the seasonings. Here are some interesting ones I've seen: Chipotle powder, smoked paprika, Chinese five-spice, pumpkin pie spice, Cajun seasoning, Old Bay or Sugar.

Enjoy!

Welcome to the best blog in the world

hey friends,

so as you accept/become authors of the blog, i have been going in and making you admins. so everyone now has the same rights, and if you feel like changing anything about the blog (the background, the colors, whatever), go for it. this is for all of us! and if you want to invite someone to be a contributor, do it! poke around and get familiar with the site. i think they built this thing so you can't break it, so don't be scared.

i was thinking we could use this to post recipes, but also put questions up there: what's your favorite way to prepare beets, how do you store greens to make them last longer, etc. throw up pictures of your masterpieces and your flops. include little tips and tricks you do when preparing something - you might think it's an obvious thing because you've done it for years, but share! because not everyone knows. when you make something that flops, tell us what you did - someone might know where you might've gone wrong and help you for next time.

looking forward to sharing with yall!

Roasted Broccoli with Lemon and Garlic

Oven temp: 425

Ingredients:
broccoli
salt (kosher, table, or sea)
lots o' garlic
olive oil
1 lemon
fresh grated parm (I'm sure the Kraft stuff would be fine)
Optional: pine nuts, basil

2 large bunches of broccoli, cut into relatively large florets. Wash and DRY THROROUGHLY. This will help it get crispy instead of soggy.

Put the broccoli on a cookie sheet. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. Just eyeball it.

Add 4 garlic cloves that are peeled and sliced and toss them in too. I think I just added a couple spoonfuls from my refrigerated jar of already-minced garlic.

Roast in the oven 20 to 25 minutes, until “crisp-tender and the tips of some of the florets are browned.”

I shook the pan around a bit as it went, but not sure that’s necessary.

When it’s done, take it out of the oven, zest a lemon over the broccoli, squeeze the lemon juice over the broccoli, add 1.5 Tbs more olive oil, 3 Tbs toasted pine nuts (I left those out because they are stupid expensive), and 1/3 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese. You can also add 2 Tbs julienned fresh basil, but I left that out too.

Guys. You guys. Seriously, I love this. So good.



adapted from the recipe on http://www.amateurgourmet.com.