Farm Share Eating

Thank you!

2011-03-14T16:39:00.002-04:00

For everyone who stops by this blog, uses its recipes, cooks with produce they may not have otherwise, and is inspired to be Farm Share members of their own, I want to thank you for reading. We thoroughly enjoy being Farm Share members and are proud to support our local growers. Appreciating what is in season and what produce is local has completely changed--in only positive ways--how we think about our shopping, cooking, and eating. Please know this blog will continue to be here for a resource, and...as always... Happy, healthy eating!

Cranberry Jam

2011-03-14T16:03:00.000-04:00

Thanksgiving came and went--we had friends over in our little Boston apartment and we visited family in the coal-topped hills of PA--yet we somehow didn't use our cranberries for Thanksgiving dinners.

In anticipation of the holidays, which we spent, for the first time, away from family and by ourselves in Boston, I made some cranberry jam. It perfectly triggered waves of nostalgia with its spicy scent and flavor.

Cranberry Jam

(Adapted from Gourmet)

Ingredients

1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise

1 (12-oz) bag fresh or unthawed frozen cranberries (3 1/2 c.)

1 1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. fresh orange juice

1/2 c. water

3-4 cloves All Spice

3-4 cloves

1 cinnamon stick

1/2 nutmeg, grated*

* Ingredients I added

Preparation

Scrape vanilla seeds from pod into a 2-quart heavy saucepan. Add pod and remaining ingredients (All Spice, cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg, if including) and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thick, about 20 minutes (jam will continue to thicken as it cools).

Puree jam in food mill set over a bowl, discarding skins and pod (I actually kept the skins for a less jelly-like, more jam-like texture). Cool, stirring occasionally.

11/18 Farm Share Arrival

2011-03-14T15:35:00.000-04:00

The week of 11/18--just before Thanksgiving--brought us some wonderful produce that we did in fact use in our Thanksgiving meal. We received two Butternut squashes, carrots, an abundance of onions, green beans, cranberries, turnips, sweet potatoes, Russet potatoes, and a bunch of herbs (rosemary, sage, and thyme) to stick in the cavity of the turkey for seasoning.

Happy, healthy eating!

Butternut Squash Lasagna

2011-03-14T15:32:00.002-04:00

In addition to Acorn squash, Patty Pan squash, Butter Cup squash, and Carnival squash, we also received several Butternut Squash in our Farm Share. I LOVE Butternut squash soup, which I posted a recipe for earlier. However, to switch things up I decided to make a Butternut squash lasagna.

First, I think I found the best method (for me) to peel the squash that is the least life or limb threatening. I cut the squash in 3-4 sections cross-wise, so I have chunks of squash as seen below. I then was able to better manipulate the squash and peel a thin layer of skin off the squash. This proved to be a much better method than my previous, chef's-knife-in-one-hand, whole-squash-in-another, trying to peel-the-entire-length-of-the-squash-that-has-no-flat-bottom method.

Butternut Squash Lasagna

Ingredients
2 medium sized Butternut squash, peeled, de-seeded, and diced
1 package no-boil lasagna noodles
2 cans San Marzano tomatoes, diced
1 large package spinach
1 large container of Ricotta cheese
4 c. shredded Mozzarella cheese
1/2 c. basil, chopped
1 large onions and 5 cloves garlic, diced and cooked in skillet with olive oil, until soft.

Preparation
First cook Butternut squash by roasting it in a pan in an oven at 350 degrees until soft (for a sweeter Butternut squash flavor), OR place squash and about 1/2 c. water in a microwave-safe bowl and lid in the microwave and cook on high until soft.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a lasagna pan or 9x12 baking dish, line pan with thin layer of olive oil. Then layer noodles, Ricotta cheese, tomatoes, basil, onions, spinach, squash, and Mozzarella--in that order and across the entire surface of the pan--until pan is filled and all ingredients are used. Tightly cover the baking dish with foil and bake in the oven for 45 minutes. Bake for an additional 15 minutes with the foil removed, until top is bubbling and the cheese is melted or golden brown.

Let stand for approximately 15 minutes, and serve!

Ravioli with Acorn Squash and Spinach

2011-03-14T15:05:00.000-04:00

We received a plethora of squash from our Fall Farm Share, and I find the hard-shelled varieties to be a little intimidating when thinking of ways to use it for dinner...especially dinner for two. With an entire bowl-full of squash to use (which, until I figured out how to use it, made a lovely Fall centerpiece) I decided to throw it in a pasta.

I cut the acorn squash in half, scooped out all the seeds from the center of the squash, and discarded the seeds. After stabbing the skin with a knife to allow moisture to escape, I baked the squash halves in the oven flesh-side-down until tender (about 20 minutes).

We paired the acorn squash with an Arrabbiata sauce, Kalamata olives, spinach, and a pumpkin ravioloi.

Delicious!

What to do with all that produce?

2011-03-14T14:58:00.001-04:00

Stir fries are one of the easiest ways to use an abundance of produce, and I love how little you have to cook the vegetables. With soy sauce, fish sauce, toasted sesame oil, ginger, garlic, and chili powder, you can turn a refrigerator drawer-full of carrots, cabbage, red and green peppers, onions, broccoli, etc. into a great meal! Don't forget to add the shiitake mushrooms (my favorite)!

Kale and Collards

2011-02-01T22:57:00.000-05:00

This is yet another post about one of the many nights I cooked up our greens. We had both Kale and Collards that needed to be cooked, so I threw them together, not knowing if they would really work as a single dish, but they were great. Honestly, you can't go wrong when you cook any greens in a little bacon fat.

They are so pretty!

I don't really have a recipe to share for this one, but after slicing a Farm Share onion and throwing it in some bacon that had rendered a little fat, I let the onion cook until it was translucent and then threw in the chopped greens. After stirring for a few minutes, they were good to go!

Homemade Apple Sauce

2011-01-27T12:38:00.002-05:00

One of my blog readers commented on a previous post about baked apples, mentioning how she makes homemade apple sauce. I thought that was a brilliant idea! We get an abundance of apples from our Farm Share at times, and we also buy a lot of local apples throughout the Fall because they are so readily available and delicious. This is a great alternative to noshing on a raw apple that was so easy and yielded a really delicious dish!

Homemade Apple Sauce

Step 1: Wash, core and chop apples into chunks. I kept the skin on (it's the most nutritional part!)

Step 2: Heat the apples on the stove, medium heat.

Step 3: Cook the apples until they start to soften. They'll start to look a little mushy (like above). Once they reach this consistency, either purée the mixture with a hand blender (I have a Cuisinart immersion blender that I use) or let cool, then transfer to a food processor or blender to purée.

Final Step: Add cinnamon to taste, and voilá! Delicious homemade apple sauce with no sugar added!

10/21 Farm Share Arrival

2011-01-27T12:30:00.000-05:00

Here is the next week's Farm Share arrival (from October 21, 2010).

As you can see, we received red leaf lettuce, green apples, romaine lettuce, some great carrots, parsley, collards, beets (which I gave to my friend--she made chocolate beet muffins with them--happy to spread the love), yellow onions, and a buttercup squash.

Happy (healthy) eating!

Spinach Salad with Spiced Pecans, Apples, Sweet Potatoes, and Goat Cheese

2011-01-27T12:26:00.002-05:00

The Fall and Winter is a great time to receive leafy greens in New England, but it's also a time when you crave warm, comforting food...so sometimes salads aren't the first thing you think about making for dinner. This salad, however, was a great way to use our leafy greens--in this case spinach--but still satisfy our comfort food craving.

Spinach Salad with Spiced Pecans, Apples, Sweet Potatoes, and Goat Cheese.

The only recipe I used for this meal was for the spiced pecans, which I'll post below. This was a really simple salad to throw together, and delicious! We thinly sliced a sweet potato and tossed it in olive oil, salt and pepper, and then roasted the potatoes in the oven until tender. We then tossed spinach with thinly sliced apples and the roasted sweet potatoes, and lastly topped it all off with goat cheese and spiced pecans--and dinner was served!

Sweet and Spicy Candied Pecans

From Bon Appétit

Ingredients

3 tbs. light corn syrup (could use Agave nectar as substitute)

1 1/2 tbs. sugar

3/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. (generous) freshly ground black pepper

1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

1 1/2 c. pecan pieces

Preparation

Preheat oven to 325 deg F. Lightly cover baking sheet with vegetable oil. Combine corn syrup and next 4 ingredients in large bowl. Stir to blend. Add pecans; stir gently to coat. Transfer to baking sheet.

Place large piece of foil on work surface. Bake pecans 5 minutes. Using fork, stir pecans to coat with melted spice mixture. Continue baking until pecans are golden and coating bubbles, about 10 minutes. Transfer to foil. Working quickly (if you use corn syrup, you really do have to work very quickly!), separate nuts with fork. Cool. (Can be made 3 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.)

10/14 Farm Share Arrival

2011-01-27T12:03:00.001-05:00

I am wayyy behind, but I'm determined to round out the full year (Fall 2009 - Fall 2010) of Farm Share arrival posts. It's hard to believe, but I will soon be done!

Below is the Farm Share arrival from October 14, 2010. In this box we received lovely sweet potatoes, russet potatoes, Lacitano kale, green leaf lettuce, bunched spinach, baby bok choy, apples, daikon radish, Kabocha (or a buttercup-type squash), a green pepper, and a couple yellow onions. What a great assortment!

10/7 Farm Share Arrival

2010-10-12T16:01:00.000-04:00

This week we received a great box: 1 butternut squash, Swiss chard, 4 apples, a bunch of arugula, a bunch of green leaf lettuce, 2 broccoli heads, a lot of little russet potatoes, and 2 leeks.

Happy (healthy) eating!

Farmhouse Butternut Squash Soup

2010-10-05T19:01:00.004-04:00

It's that time of year: the temperature is cool, the boots get dusted off, the mums are out at the farmers' market, and produce changes from tomatoes and corn to squash and potatoes. Fall time!! And if you're in Boston right now, fall time means cool rainy weather, which puts me in the mood for soup more than anything else.

With two butternut squash to cook from our last Farm Share box, I decided to make Butternut Squash soup one night. Other than peeling these vegetables, which is not only time consuming but also a feat that puts me in fear of amputating a finger or hand every time I give it a go*, this recipe is easy and really delicious. Without the bacon this dish would be vegan, so to those with an aversion to meat, don't let that deter you from using the recipe! *Seriously, if anyone has a tip for how to peel a butternut squash more easily (and prior to roasting) please let me know!

This recipe was great because every produce item used (with the exception of the garlic) was from our Farm Share: the squash, carrots, and the apple. Even the thyme was from our little window box garden!

And a tip: if you like to make soup or purées a lot and don't have a hand blender, I highly recommend one (we have the Cuisinart Smartstick Hand Blender). It makes puréeing a breeze! It's also a good alternative to a food processor (albeit a tiny one and only for chopping) if you live in a city and have an apartment where storage--specifically kitchen storage--is a challenge.

Farmhouse Butternut Squash Soup

From Gourmet

Ingredients

4 bacon slices

4 large garlic cloves, chopped

1 tsp. caraway seeds

2 lbs. butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and chopped

1/2 lbs. carrots, chopped

1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and chopped

3 thyme sprigs

2 Turkish bay leaves or 1 California

3 1/2 c. reduced-sodium chicken broth

2 c. water

1 to 1 1/2 tsp. cider vinegar

Preparation

Cook bacon in a 4- to 6-quart heavy pot over medium heat until crisp. Transfer bacon to paper towels to drain.

Add garlic and caraway seeds to fat in pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until garlic is pale golden, about 1 minute. Add squash, carrots, apple, thyme, bay leaves, broth, water, 3/4 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper and boil, uncovered, until vegetables are tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Discard thyme and bay leaves.

Purée about 4 c. soup in a blender, in batches if necessary, until smooth (use caution when blending hot liquids). Or, if you have a hand blender like the one I mentioned before, just stick it in the pot and purée away! Return to pot and season with salt, pepper, and vinegar. Serve topped with crumbled bacon.

Sunday French Toast

2010-10-05T18:42:00.000-04:00

A loaf of whole wheat bread from the farmers' market down the street with Farm Share apples and raspberries makes a great Sunday brunch meal!

Lazy Day French Toast

Ingredients

4 slices of bread

3 eggs

Splash of milk

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tbs. brown sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon (or to taste)

(These ingredients yield enough batter for four pieces of relatively stale bread. The more porous or "stale" the bread is, the more it will soak up the egg batter. If the bread you use is fresher, this batter may cover a couple more pieces.)

Preparation

Whisk together all ingredients. Take each slice of bread, one by one, and dip into the egg batter, covering the slice liberally. On medium heat, cook the slices on a large pan (I usually end up cooking one by one, but if you have a griddle you could do more!), flipping as frequently as necessary to cook the bread through while browning the outside without burning.

9/23 Farm Share Arrival

2010-10-03T14:19:00.000-04:00

The week of September 23rd provided a great Farm Share: 4 green apples, 2 leeks, 2 butternut squash, 6 ears of corn, 4 yellow onions, salad mix, and collard greens.

We forgot to pick up our box on September 30 (sad!) so this is the last delivery post until next week, but look for a few recipe additions!

Happy (healthy) eating!

Baked Farm Share Apples

2010-10-01T13:15:00.000-04:00

Holy moly, check these out. My husband wanted baked apples one night for dessert, so we grabbed a couple Farm Share apples and made this simple dish. Preparation took about 8 minutes, then the apples were left in the oven around an hour and they came out looking like this:

Apple explosion! But they were sooo good, light and fluffy and warm and subtly sweet.

Baked Apples with Toffee, Bourbon and Molasses

(from Bon Appétit)

Ingredients

6 7- to 8-oz. Golden Delicious apples (we used the red ones from our Farm Share, they were delicious!)

6 tbs. toffee bits (such as Skor) (we didn't have this, so it was omitted)

3 tbs. bourbon

3 tbs. unsalted butter

1 1/2 c. apple cider (we didn't have this either)

3 tbs. mild-flavored (light) molasses

1 tbs. sugar

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

Vanilla ice cream

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 deg F. Peel skin off top third of each apple. Using small melon baller, scoop out stem and core, leaving bottom intact. Stand apples in 11x7x2-inch baking dish. Add 1/2 tbs. bourbon and 1/2 tbs. butter to cavity of each apple. Whisk cider, molasses, sugar, and ginger in bowl; spoon over and around apples. * I was lazy, so instead of doing this I put a little molasses in the cavity of the apples, topped them with brown sugar, and also sprinkled ginger on top.

Bake apples until tender, bating often with pan juices, about 1 hour 20 minutes. Transfer apples to bowl. Pour juices from dish into small saucepan. Boil juices unti thick enough to coat spoon, about 6 minutes. Spoon sauce over apples. Serve apples warm with vanilla cream.

Gorgeous Summer Tomatoes

2010-10-01T13:04:00.000-04:00

I love tomatoes in the summer! Look at these gorgeous specimens, yummmmy. The first picture is a tomato from our Farm Share, the bottom is a couple heirloom tomatoes we picked up at the farmer's market that is down the street from us. These were so delicious, and I just love the vibrant colors--vibrant colors to match the simply delicious vibrant flavor.

9/10 Farm Share Arrival

2010-10-01T13:00:00.000-04:00

This was our first Farm Share pick up from our new location in Boston. It's not as convenient as our previous set-up (we could walk to the pick up before, now we have to drive) and we pick up the share on a different day; so we're still getting used to the routine (e.g., we forgot to pick it up this week--so sad!)

On September 10 we had a great box: 4 ears of corn, two bell peppers (one red, one green/red hybrid, nice!), beets, 4 apples, 3 tomatoes, an eggplant, flat leaf parsley, carrots, rainbow Swiss chard, and red onions.

Salsa Verde (...y Rojo)

2010-09-30T14:28:00.000-04:00

I LOVE tomatillos, and we received some in our Farm Share over the summer, but unfortunately in the middle of packing so I couldn't dedicate the cooking resources (spices and pots packed!) to make my favorite salsa verde. Instead I briefly simmered tomatillos with a couple red tomatoes and a red pepper in a pot to create an on-the-go salsa. It was a good accompaniment to my dinner of callaloo, homemade tortillas, and eggs (can you tell we were using whatever was left in our fridge?) A random dinner, to say the least; though it actually reminded me a lot of what my sister and I cooked a few times in her apartment in Jamaica (she was there for 2 years with Peace Corps). I even threw on some Jamaican hot sauce she sent us. With no AC in late August, I could close my eyes and feel like I was eating dinner with her in Jamaica.

Anyway, I did want to pass along a really great salsa verde recipe, though it's not what is depicted in the picture above. Tomatillos are such fun little vegetables and salsa verde is just delicious. This recipe is super easy to prepare and requires no cooking, but you can boil or roast your tomatillos to soften them (though not necessary). I'm also a sucker for fresh lime and cumin, which I would add at the end of the preparation to taste. If you're an onion fan, that would make a great addition to the recipe, too. Enjoy!

Fresh Tomatillo Salsa

(From Gourmet)

Ingredients

1/2 lb small fresh tomatillos, husked and rinsed

1 large garlic clove

1 tbs. chopped fresh serrano chile with seeds, or to taste

2 tbs. chopped cilantro

2 tbs. water

Preparation

Coarsely chop tomatillos, then purée with remaining salsa ingredients and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a blender until smooth.

8/25 Farm Share Arrival

2010-09-30T14:12:00.001-04:00

On August 25, we received the following produce in our Farm Share box:

Basil, beets, salad greens (I think this bag was arugula), a baby watermelon (sugar baby), cucumber, 2 tomatoes, callaloo, and a green pepper.

The watermelon was delicious, that thing was gone in 1 day!

Wheat Berry Salad with Currants - Update

2010-09-29T22:43:00.000-04:00

Ages ago, I said I would post pictures of the Wheat Berry Salad once I prepared it. Well, a long time later, here goes!

Aren't currants crazy? They look like fish eggs; I had never cooked with them before.

The finished product. You can find the recipe for this dish here. It was a great summer dish, and it would also be great in the fall with some dried cranberries and apples!

Eggplant Caponata

2010-09-29T22:38:00.003-04:00

My husband and I have realized we really don't enjoy eggplant. The only time we did like a dish I prepared with eggplant was the Grilled Eggplant Stacks with Tomato and Feta; which I posted previously. Sigh! Despite our dislike, we keep giving it a shot, though lately I've given some eggplant away to people who (I hope!) enjoy it, which is as it should be.

Below is a recipe I tried in an effort to use a lot of eggplant we had. I've had a dish very similar to this prepared by a friend who is a chef in Washington, D.C. and I couldn't eat enough of it. However, I missed something when I made this--I think I should have added a little more sugar--so I was a little disappointed. With some tweaking and practice, though, I think this would be really good. The recipe itself got great reviews on Epicurious.com, so it may be user error (MY user error!).

The eggplant, finely chopped.

We also used Farm Share onion, celery, and parsley in this recipe!

The finished product.

Eggplant Caponata

From Gourmet, via Epicurious.com

Ingredients

1/4 c. olive oil

3 1/2 c. 1/4-inch dice unpeeled eggplant (about 1 1/4 lbs)

3/4 c. finely chopped onion

1/3 c. finely chopped celery

1/3 c. chopped pitted green olives

3 tbs. chopped drained bottled capers

1/4 c. red-wine vinegar

1 1/2 tbs. sugar, or to taste

3 tbs. golden raisins

3 tbs. pine nuts, toasted lightly

3 plum tomatoes, cut into 1/4-inch diced (about 1 c.)

1/4 c. finely chopped flat-leafed parsley leaves

Preparation

In a heavy skillet heat 2 tbs. of the oil over moderately high heat until it is hot but not smoking. In it cook the eggplant, stirring, for 3-5 minutes, or until it is tender, and transfer it to a bowl. To the skillet add the remaining 2 tbs. oil and cook the onion and celery over moderate heat, stirring, for 5 minutes. Add the olives, the capers, the vinegar, the sugar, the raisins, the pine nuts, and the tomatoes and cook the mixture, covered, stirring occasionally, for 5 to 10 minutes, or until it is cooked through and the celery is tender. Transfer to the bowl. Stir in the parsley and let the caponata cool. Chill, covered, overnight. Season the caponata with salt and pepper.

Serve on toasted baguette slices.

Pizza with Farm Share Tomatoes and Pesto (Pesto recipe!)

2010-09-29T22:21:00.001-04:00

One of our favorite things to do with Farm Share produce is whip up a homemade pizza. This margherita pizza, with tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, olive oil and pesto was made with Farm Share tomatoes and basil. Fresh basil makes the best pesto!

Basil Pesto (this makes a large quantity, so portion accordingly!)

Ingredients

4 garlic cloves

3/4 c. pine nuts (1/4 lb)

2 c. grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

2 c. grated Pecorino Romano

3 c. packed Italian basil leaves

1 1/2 c. packed bush basil leaves

1 c. loosely packed fresh lemon basil leaves

2 c. packed flat-leaf parsley leaves

5 tbs. olive oil

* Who has this variety of basil on-hand?! We used one variety--what we received from our Farm Share--and still very tasty!

Preparation

Pulse garlic in a food processor until finely chopped, then add nuts, cheeses, a large handful of herbs, and 1 tsp. pepper and process until chopped. Add remaining herbs one handful at a time, pulsing after each addition, until finely chopped. With motor running, add oil and blend until incorporated.

8/18 Farm Share Arrival

2010-09-29T21:54:00.031-04:00

I am WAY behind on posting and I apologize that the next several posts will be retrospective updates. My husband and I, after a busy summer of weddings and out of town trips, unexpectedly found out we had to move. Apartment searching consumed all free time; which meant blog posting and recipe-searching was somewhat put on hold. We are now settled into a new apartment, and I finally have some semblance of a regular schedule and have just this week gotten back to some cooking! In the next couple weeks I will update the blog more, but I'm also winding things down on the blog permanently, I think. More to come on that later. On to the point of the blog, the Farm Share.

This Farm Share arrival dates back to mid-August.

In this week's share, we received three Japanese eggplant, two green bell peppers, three tomatoes, two lemon cucumbers, a huge bag of green beans, a cantaloupe, collard greens, and an avocado.

I hope you've enjoyed several weeks of happy (healthy) eating!

Wheat Berry Salad with Currants

2010-08-12T22:42:00.003-04:00

I have had this post in my "drafts" folder for a week or so now, and I apologize. After we received currants last week and wheat berries a couple weeks before, I remembered a recipe I previously posted for a Wheat Berry Salad a friend gave to me. I'm waiting for a chance to go buy peaches and sunflower seeds--and as soon as I do I will cook up this salad, take photos, and add the pictures to this post. In the meantime, please enjoy this recipe if you find yourself with currants and wheat berries and are looking for a way to use them. Sounds so good!

Wheat Berry Salad

(Recipe compliments of one of my best friends. This would be a great addition to a green lettuce salad.)

Ingredients
1.5 c. wheat berries

Seasalt

4-5 scallions, chopped

1 c. chopped peaches (substitute apples in the Fall/Winter)

1/2 c. currants

1/4 c. toasted sunflower seeds

Juice of 1 lime

3 tbs. sesame oil

Preparation

Cook wheat berries, then in large bowl, combine cooked berries with scallions, apples, currants, and toasted sunflower seeds. Toss with lime juice, toasted sesame oil, and pinch of salt. Serve room temperature or chilled.

Cooking Wheat Berries

(These directions are for 3/4 c. wheat berries.)

Place wheat berries in heavy medium saucepan. Add enough cold water to saucepan to cover wheat berries by 3 inches. Let stand overnight. Drain.

Bring 4 c. water, wheat berries and 3/4 tsp. salt to boil in same saucepan. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until wheat berries are tender but still slightly firm to bite, about 1 hour. Drain.

8/11 Farm Share Arrival

2010-08-12T22:37:00.000-04:00

This week's Farm Share arrival was spectacular! While I didn't have time to set up my weekly picture like I usually do, I did take some snapshots of a few produce items I was really excited about.

This week we received: a CANTALOUPE (one of my all-time favorite fruits), tomatillos (green salsa here we come!!!--another fave), a beautiful bunch of basil, our first large tomatoes of the season (!!), celery, green peppers, shallots, zucchini, corn, cucumber, and green leaf lettuce.

We used this basil tonight in a pesto my husband made for pizza. Enough was left over to use later this weekend.

We also used tomatoes tonight on the pizza; they were wonderful, so flavorful!

A wonderful box! Happy (healthy) eating!

Chicken Salads

2010-08-12T22:32:00.002-04:00

Summertime! And really, you crave particular things in the summer that aren't the same at other times of the year. Like watermelon, mojitos, berries, and for me--chicken salad.

I was really craving chicken salad this week, so after boiling a whole chicken and pulling the meat off the bone myself (side note: this was a big step for me. I'm generally not a chicken fan, so getting my hands deep in that mess was an indication of how dedicated I was to satiating my craving) I made two different kinds: (1) Chicken-Walnut Salad with Tomatoes and Kalamata Olives and (2) Curried Chicken Salad. The former used celery and parsley from our Farm Share.

Chicken-Walnut Salad with Tomatoes and Kalamata Olives

Bon Appétit

Ingredients

4 deli-roasted chicken breast halves, skinned, boned, meat diced (or, 1/2 chicken)

1 c. sliced celery with leaves

1/2 c. walnuts, toasted, chopped

4 tbs. freshly grated Parmesan cheese

2 1/2 tbs. fresh lemon juice

12 oz. cherry tomatoes, halved

1/3 c. pitted Kalamata olives, halved

3 tbs. chopped fresh parsley

Preparation

Mix all ingredients together in bowl and serve over a bed of (Farm Share) lettuce.

Curried Chicken Salad

(Modified from Gourmet)

Ingredients

1 tbs. minced peeled ginger

1 tbs. curry powder, plus more to taste

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 c. plain yogurt

2 tbs cilantro

1/2 chicken

1 c. red grapes, halved

1/4 c. sliced almonds, toasted

Preparation

Mix all ingredients together in bowl and serve over a bed of (Farm Share) lettuce.

8/4 Farm Share Arrival

2010-08-12T18:28:00.000-04:00

Here is our beautiful Farm Share box from LAST week. I forgot to take a picture of this week's box, but I'll post another entry with details of its contents (it was a wonderful box!).

Last weeks box came with 2 beautiful green peppers, a large head of red leaf lettuce, a bunch of red kale, three summer squash, a box of currants, a HUGE eggplant, four lemon cucumbers, parsley, and celery.

As a side note, I've really enjoyed the lemon cucumbers. They make a perfect snack sliced up.

Until next time, happy (healthy) eating!!

Roasted Summer Vegetables

2010-08-12T18:25:00.001-04:00

With the ABUNDANCE of Farm Share vegetables we have gotten in recent boxes and little time we've had in the kitchen lately, I'v been at a loss at times to get through all that we have. Not a problem, especially when I have friends to give some produce to, like my BF who loves beets (and I love giving them to her!)

A couple weeks ago we had a ton of summer squash, Patty Pan squash, zucchini, potatoes, and a couple carrots I really wanted to use. So, I simply cut them all on the bias, about 1/4-1/2 inch thick slices, tossed them in olive oil and and pepper, and sprigs of thyme, and roasted them in the oven.

I set the oven to bake at about 400 and they roasted for I think about 45 minutes. They came out still crunchy but just cooked enough to bring out the vegetables' sweetness. A very easy, quick way to use a large amount of produce! Roasted vegetables could stand alone as a meal (on a bed of couscous, perhaps?) or works wonderfully as a side (with grilled chicken or fish?). Enjoy your veggies!

A little tagalong...

2010-08-03T20:23:00.000-04:00

Why, hello there! I suppose an example of why it is important to wash your greens well. No worries, no bugs were harmed in the washing of this lettuce. The little guy above was safely released into our 'wild' flower box garden.

Heirloom Tomatoes with Cucumber and Feta

2010-08-03T20:21:00.001-04:00

I hit up a local Farmers' Market after work one day and found some really beautiful heirloom tomatoes. Deep purple and red, they added a a punch of different color to an otherwise very simple tomato and cucumber salad.

Tomato and Cucumber Salad

Ingredients

2 cucumbers, sliced in quarters

2-3 tomatoes, diced

8-10 basil leaves, thinly sliced

Healthy serving of feta, crumbled

Red wine vinegar, to taste (I would guess that I use almost 1/4 c. in this recipe)

Salt and pepper

Preparation

Simply toss all ingredients in a large bowl and serve fresh.

Potato Salad with Apples

2010-08-03T20:17:00.001-04:00

We continue to get a steady stream of potatoes over the summer months, but the last thing I feel like eating when it's hot outside (and you don't have AC) is a hot potato--boiled, scalloped, fried, or baked.

My husband mentioned a potato salad that had apples in it, and it sounded great to me. So, I did a search for such a recipe and found this great one on Epicurious. I made a lot of variations to this dish, so see my notes in italics below. The reviews fared well for the original recipe, so I wanted to include it, too.

Potato Salad

(from Epicurious.com)

Ingredients

6 large potatoes

1/2 tsp dill

1/2 c. French dressing made with cider vinegar plus 1/2 tsp dry mustard (I didn't have the dressing, so I used about 1/4 c. cider vinegar with dry mustard--worked really well!)

1/4 c. minced onion (raw onions don't agree with my tummy, so I omitted this)

2 apples (recipe calls for red, I used Granny Smith), unpeeled but cored and diced

1 c. diced celery

6 hard-cooked eggs, chopped (I didn't include this)

5 tbs. chopped parsley

1 1/2 c. mayonnaise (I used only 1/2 c., then another 1 c. plain yogurt)

1/2 c. sour cream (I did not include this)

Salt and pepper

Preparation

Cook the potatoes in their skins with the dill; peel and dice them and marinate them while still hot in the French dressing. Add the onion and let stand until cold - at least an hour - while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. Combine potato-onion mixture with remaining ingredients, including mayonnaise blended with sour cream. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Beautiful Berries

2010-08-03T20:06:00.000-04:00

These blueberries were from our Farm Share box a couple weeks ago. They were so delicious...I just love summertime!

7/28 Farm Share Arrival

2010-08-03T20:05:00.000-04:00

Last week we got a great box, including: a huge bunch of basil, 2 ears of corn, 1 head of beautiful green leaf lettuce, 1 bunch collard greens, cucumbers, green beans, zucchini, squash, beets, 3 Patty Pan squash, and a bag of wheat berries.

We pick our our new Share tomorrow...time flies! But we've made good use of what we got in this box so far. Stay tuned!

Happy (healthy) eating!

Grilled Corn Tutorial

2010-07-25T11:17:00.002-04:00

Alright--I'm going to share a little tip I found. There's grilled corn, and then there's grilled corn. I saw this technique last summer when I was searching for a way to cook corn, and I'm pretty sure I should credit this to Bobby Flay. We all know this man knows grilling.

So many times when we are served grilled corn, it's great--has good flavor, gets the char marks from the grill, but it can be a little--I think the best word is--deflated. No longer. Follow these steps, and you will be sure to have perfect grilled corn that is plump and juicy.

Step 1: peel back husks of corn; do not remove them from the ear of the corn entirely.

Step 2: Once you reach the ear of the corn, remove the silk and discard.

Step 3: place the husks of the corn back over the ear of the corn so that it is covered completely. In a large pot of cold water, soak the husk-covered corn in water for at least 20 minutes.

Step 4: After the corn has soaked for at least 20 minutes, place the corn on a hot grill as-is, with the husks still covering the corn kernels.

Step 5: Cook corn for approximately 30-35 minutes over indirect heat, depending on the heat of the grill, until done.

Step 6: Serve! The corn should be so juicy and flavorful, you may not even want (or need) to serve it with butter, salt and pepper.

Enjoy!!

Quick-Cooked Callaloo

2010-07-25T11:04:00.003-04:00

We received callaloo in our Farm Share a few weeks ago, and I wanted to cook it up a little differently than I've had served to me: slow cooked. It's summer, it's hot, we don't have AC, so the less amount of time I can keep the oven on, the better. This recipe was inspired by a Gourmet recipe for Brazilian Collard Greens (found on Epicurious.com and mentioned previously on my blog).

What I did was very simple: After rinsing the callaloo leaves and cutting off the stems at the base of the leaf, I rolled several leaves into a cigar and cut the leaves into thin strips. In a large sauté pan I heated some olive oil and added three cloves of garlic, chopped. I then added the chopped callaloo, added a touch of salt and pepper, and sautéed until they turned a bright green. That was it! And I was pleasantly surprised by the vibrant, non-bitter flavor of the callaloo. We served this as a side with grilled chicken and corn.

Beautiful Raspberries!

2010-07-25T10:51:00.000-04:00

When berries look this good you don't have to do anything with them! We ate these fresh, tossed with other summer berries--an example of one of the many reasons I love the summer!

Grilled Panzanella Salad

2010-07-25T10:50:00.002-04:00

WOW. This meal was great! Panzanella is an Italian dish that is popular in the summer months. It consists of sliced bread and tomatoes, flavored with basil, olive oil, and vinegar, and often salt and pepper. The bread used should be a day to a week old; in other words, hardened and crunchy--what some people would consider "stale," which is why it's often known as the "leftover salad."

Oh, but it is delicious! This is probably one of my husband's and my favorite summer meals using our Farm Share produce to-date.

Grilled Panzanella Salad

Ingredients
(serving 2)
Salad
Slices of Tuscan bread, thickly sliced
1 zucchini, thickly sliced
1-2 summer squash, thickly sliced
1-2 tomatoes, thickly sliced

Dressing
1 shallot, finely chopped
About 1/4 c. olive oil
About 2-3 tbp red wine vinegar
(I don't use measurements very often when I throw things together, so you may want to add proportions of the dressing cautiously until you find the flavor you like best--the measurements above are estimates to what I used)

Preparation
On hot grill, place bread, zucchini, and squash slices. On cooler portions of the grill place the tomato slices. Once all items begin to char and show grill marks, remove. Rest bread slice on bottom of plate and top with grilled tomato, zucchini, and squash. Drizzle dressing on top, and serve with chopped basil or oregano.

Summertime Pasta

2010-07-25T10:24:00.000-04:00

So, I would not normally have used elbow macaroni for this pasta, but that's all we had!

To use some farm share produce, including zucchini, summer squash, and grape tomatoes, we sautéed some shrimp and produce in some olive oil and just a touch of salt and pepper. Tossed with feta, chopped basil and pasta, we had a light, summer pasta that was delicious.

6/30 Farm Share Arrival

2010-07-22T21:17:00.000-04:00

It has been AGES since I last blogged. This summer has been one event after another...from out of town trips to hosting guests to juggling two internships to...finding out we have to move. For those of you familiar with the Boston housing search, it is all consuming and frustrating. But, after a couple months of looking (literally), we signed a lease today. Back to normal life (except for that whole packing up and moving thing). We hope we can continue our Farm Share membership in our new location--we're going to a completely different part of the city--so stay tuned to see if this might be the last season of the blog. I would be sad!

Anyway, on to what is really important, our produce!

Here is the Farm Share from JUNE 30 (I know, almost a month later). I have been really bad at taking pictures of our box lately, but I promise I'll try to get better! I think one of the most interesting parts of being a Farm Share member is finding out what you get every week!

June 30 we received a head of red leaf lettuce, a bag of garlic scapes, 2 beets, kale, 2 cucumber, 3 summer squash and 2 zucchini, some russet potatoes and a huge head of cabbage.

Happy (healthy) eating!

Good Morning!

2010-06-29T17:38:00.000-04:00

Bob's Red Mill buckwheat pancakes topped with Farm Share strawberries and blueberries (and peaches and blackberries). A nice way to start the day!

Antibiotics in Animals Need Limits, F.D.A. Says

2010-06-29T13:25:00.000-04:00

I want to pass along this is article from the NY Times that came out today; I think will be of interest to many blog readers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/29/health/policy/29fda.html?ref=health

An excerpt:

The F.D.A. released a policy document stating that agricultural uses of antibiotics should be limited to assuring animal health, and that veterinarians should be involved in the drugs’ uses.

While doing nothing to change the present oversight of antibiotics, the document is the first signal in years that the agency intends to rejoin the battle to crack down on agricultural uses of antibiotics that many infectious disease experts oppose.

And if you haven't watched Food, Inc. yet, watch it soon!

Collard Greens

2010-06-29T11:30:00.012-04:00

The collard greens were gorgeous!

And so flavorful! So, most Southerners think of slow cooked greens when they think of collards. This is definitely how they are most often cooked, and for a just reason. They cook slow in a stock that usually consists of ham hock; and the fatty, salty juices of the ham penetrate the often bitter leafy green. While I have much respect for this method of cooking collards, I try to cook and eat food that is 1) easy (and quick) to prepare, 2) can be made with things readily available in my kitchen (I don't usually have ham hocks sitting around) and 3) is healthy.

So, here is my variation. It turned out really well, and we ate our collards with smoked chicken my husband pulled off the smoker that night.

Not-So-Slow-Cooked Collard Greens

Ingredients
4 small cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
1 bunch of collard greens, rinsed and chopped (stems removed)
1/2 c. chicken stock* (ours bought frozen from Dave's Fresh Pasta. We keep in on hand in our freezer for occasions such as this)
3-4 tbs Olive oil

Preparation
In a large pan or dutch oven, heat olive oil until it begins to smoke. Add garlic and let cook until brown. Remove garlic cloves from oil, or if you prefer a stronger garlic flavor, leave the garlic in the oil.

Add chopped collard greens to the olive oil and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Next add chicken stock, stir, and cover with lid. Let cook until greens are tender, anywhere from 10-20 minutes. The longer you cook them, the more they will soak up the flavor from the chicken stock. Add freshly ground salt and pepper to taste.

* Real homemade chicken stock, not stock bought from a box or can in a grocery store, will add much more flavor to the greens. If you can't make or find homemade stock, you might want to add a little more to the dish, e.g. sautéed onions, cayenne pepper, or bacon.

Another way to cook collards that I haven't experimented with sounds fantastic!

Brazilian Collard Greens
(from Gourmet)

Ingredients
1 1 /4 lb collard greens, stems and center ribs discarded and leaves halved lengthwise
3 garlic cloves
1 tbs olive oil

Preparation
Stack half of collard leaves and roll into a cigar shape. Cut crosswise in very thin strips (1/16 inch wide). Repeat with remainder.

Mince and mash garlic to a paste with 3/4 tsp salt. Heat oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat until it shimmers, then cook garlic, stirring, 30 seconds. Add collards with 1/4 tsp pepper and cook, tossing, until just tender and bright green, 3-4 minutes.

Huevos Rancheros

2010-06-29T11:09:00.001-04:00

Mmm mm. We are big breakfast eaters, and one of our favorite things to do on the weekend is cook up a delicious, healthy (but somewhat indulgent) breakfast. My husband whipped up some huevos rancheros the other day, and they were fantastic!!

With our Farm Share potatoes, shallots, radishes, and tomatoes, we gladly welcomed Saturday morning and later watched the sad USA World Cup defeat on full, happy stomachs.

Huevos Rancheros

These eggs were served without some of the typical fixings that come with huevos rancheros (corn tortilla, black beans or refried beans, and salsa); but this modification used a lot of Farm Share produce and was spectacular!

My husband sautéed our red potatoes with shallots and red chili peppers (de-seeded). He then added some sliced radishes to the potatoes. Two fried eggs were served on top of the bed of potatoes, and the eggs were topped with a "salsa" of sliced grape tomatoes and avocado (for extra punch, mix a pinch or two of cayenne red pepper into the salsa).

In addition to the ingredients we used, black beans, red and green peppers, and onions would be delicious.

6/23 Farm Share Arrival

2010-06-28T22:14:00.001-04:00

This week's Farm Share arrival seemed, well, a little lighter than previous boxes. I suspect the transition from an "East Coast" share to a "Local" share is still working itself out, because I think we usually enjoy a few more produce items than we got this week. But that's okay! It's not really all about quantity, but quality, too. And this box was a good one.

This week we received red leaf lettuce, collard greens, red potatoes, popcorn (!), parsely, local strawberries and grape tomatoes. Let me tell you what, these collard greens were some of the best I've ever had!

Happy (healthy) eating!

6/16 Farm Share Arrival

2010-06-28T22:06:00.000-04:00

A week behind!!

Last week we received a great Farm Share box: beautiful rainbow Swiss chard, radishes, chives, two heads of baby bok choy, Boston lettuce, grape tomatoes, and blueberries.

I don't have pictures of how we used the produce (a testament to that laziness I was talking about earlier); we mostly ate blueberries as-is (so delicious!) and the tomatoes on salads. The bok choy we sautéed in a stir fry and I used my previous olive and lemon Swiss chard recipe to compliment a steak one night for dinner. We're still enjoying our chives and radishes, but I have to be honest, I missed the dark leafy lettuce greens we usually get and didn't enjoy the Boston lettuce quite as much. Good thing we got a great head of red leaf lettuce the next week!

Simple salad and Easter egg radishes

2010-06-28T21:50:00.000-04:00

The other week we made a simple salad with baby arugula from our Farm Share. This arugula was divine! Peppery, spicy, and so good--no dressing required!

We also had a bunch of Easter egg radishes that we used for a recipe suggested by our Farm Share newsletter.

The recipe was simple: On toasted baguette slices, place thinly sliced radish pieces and sprinkle with salt and pepper. It was a nice addition to our salad; something a little different. This would be a great (really simple and quick) appetizer for a dinner party!

Ravioli with Kale and Portabella Mushrooms

2010-06-28T21:40:00.001-04:00

The summer months have turned me into a lazy blogger! I know my posts have been far and few between, and I'll try to be better as the summer progresses. After a few out of town trips and a couple crazy weeks settling back into town, my husband and I are back on a little bit more of a regular schedule and finally cooking again.

A few weeks ago it was a cold, rainy day in Boston. "But wait, isn't this June?" you might ask. It was, in fact. June 9, to be exact. However, it felt more like October 9. Craving something warm and comforting, we picked up ravioli from Dave's Fresh Pasta and cooked up a meal with some Portabella mushrooms and Farm Share kale and grape tomatoes.

Hopefully this will be my last example of use of Farm Share produce in cold-weather dishes for a while!

6/9 Farm Share Arrival

2010-06-13T15:09:00.001-04:00

Summer has begun! We got back in town last week just in time to pick up our most recent Farm Share box. We got a beautiful box with some wonderful produce, including kale, arugula, easter egg radishes, grape tomatoes, blueberries, green beans, cucumber, and romaine lettuce.

Happy (healthy) eating!

5/19 Farm Share Arrival

2010-05-20T11:08:00.000-04:00

Time for our weekly Farm Share arrival update! This week we received: Lacinato kale, carrots, strawberries, romaine lettuce, tomatoes (yay!), a cucumber (it's hiding under the kale), apples, and Yukon potatoes.

This is our last share of May, but stay tuned for some recipe updates!

What To Do With All That Cabbage?

2010-05-20T11:04:00.000-04:00

The cole slaw was a BBQ-accessory success, but what do you do with all the leftover cabbage you didn't use in the slaw? To use the cabbage and some more of our Farm Share produce, I made an Asian-inspired salad last night that was amazing! I take no credit, the dressing--which makes this salad--was from Gwenyth Paltrow's blog GOOP (random, I know, but she has some really great recipes!).

The recipe for the dressing is below. For the salad, I shredded the green and purple cabbage we had, then thinly sliced 1/2 red bell pepper, sliced 6 shiitake mushrooms (my favorite mushroom!), shredded carrots, and chopped baby bok choy* (raw). The bok choy and carrots were from our Farm Share, and this was the first time we've eaten baby bok choy raw--it was delicious in this salad! We served the salad with wings my husband grilled, which were tossed in a modified Buffalo sauce (he added chile paste and soy sauce to compliment the dressing of the salad). All-in-all, a great meal!

* After separating the all bok choy leaves and rinsing out the dirt that collects between the layers, I cut the stems of the bok choy on a bias until I hit the leafy tops. I then cut the leafy tops in half length-wise, and cut those on a bias, too. Leafy tops and stems were included in the salad.

Asian Dressing
(modified from GOOP)

Ingredients
1 small clove of garlic, peeled and finely grated
1 1"-piece of ginger, peeled and finely grated
1/4 c. rice wine vinegar
2 tbs. soy sauce
1 tbs. light agave nectar
1/2 tsp. spicy toasted sesame oil (more or less to taste)
Freshly ground black pepper
Coarse salt
* I added 1/2 shallot, minced
2 tsp. toasted sesame seeds

Preparation
Whisk the garlic, shallot (if included), ginger and rice wine vinegar together and let the mixture sit for 5-10 minutes. This is a good time to cut up your vegetables if you haven't already. Whisk the soy sauce, agave, and sesame oil into the vinegar mixture and season to taste with salt and pepper. Combine the cabbages, carrot, pepper and mushrooms together in a large bowl and toss with the dressing last minute, sprinkling the sesame seeds on top.

Cole Slaw

2010-05-18T14:13:00.000-04:00

Cole slaw is a BBQ staple. I'm typically not the biggest cole slaw fan, but you can't deny that it just goes well with BBQ, especially pulled pork and ribs. And we were feelin' it last weekend.

Tyler Florence's Ultimate Cole Slaw
(From the Food Network)

Ingredients
1 c. mayonaise
1 tbs. Dijon mustard
Drizzle extra virgin olive oil
1/2 lemon, juiced
Salt and freshly ground balck pepper
1 tbs. red wine vinegar
1 tbs. sugar, or pinch
1 store-bought bag shredded slaw mix (containing red and green cabbage and carrots) * We used our Farm Share carrots and fresh cabbage in stead of a bag of slaw mix. In total, I used 1/2 head each of green and red cabbage to mix in with the slaw. I used the slicing blade of our food processor to shred the cabbage, and the julienne blade to shred the carrots.

Directions
In a large bowl, mix together the dressing ingredients. Add the shredded slaw mix and toss until combined.

Nashville Farm Share

2010-05-18T13:24:00.003-04:00

Very good friends of ours in Nashville signed up for a TN Farm Share, which is so exciting! I asked them to pass along some photos, because I wanted to share what a Farm Share in a different part of the country might include.

Isn't this great!? Looks like they received bok choy, spinach, red leaf lettuce, vidalia onions, some sort of herb, meat (!), eggs (!), and a gorgeous crate of strawberries. E, correct me if I'm wrong guessing what items you received.

The good news is, following the devastating flooding in Nashville, the farm that supplies their produce fared relatively well and didn't lose crops. The bad news was they lost most of their chickens (so sad!), so eggs may have been an introductory treat.

I hope you enjoy seeing a different farm's share!

Spicy Kale and Turnip Greens

2010-05-18T13:15:00.000-04:00

To compliment the goods from a recent cookout (which involves my husband smoking meat), we sautéed Farm Share blue kale and turnip greens in bacon and threw in cayenne to kick it up a notch.

To incorporate the fat (and flavor) from the bacon yet still cook the greens through, we first browned bacon in our dutch oven pan. Then we threw in our greens, and after a few minutes of sautéing, added water (about 1/2 c.) to continue cooking the greens by braising them. A little ground black pepper and cayenne packed a punch. The only thing I would add is garlic, which simply slipped my mind as we threw this together. The process of cooking greens with bacon reminds me of the how my grandma used cooked green beans: chunks of pig fat cooked into a big pot of freshly-picked green beans from their farm. So good!

Breakfast Crêpes

2010-05-18T12:56:00.002-04:00

Mmmm, strawberries. One thing we have loved receiving in our share as the seasons change are strawberries! My husband and I love big breakfasts, or brunches, and the other day I was inspired to switch up the normal pancake fare and do breakfast crêpes.

The preparation directions below look a little intimidating, which I hope isn't a deterrent to people who want to try making crêpes for the first time. Cooking crêpes is really like cooking a thinner pancake, which simply takes attention to, and sometimes trial and error with, the heat of the pan. I used a non-stick skillet and therefore didn't use the extra butter this recipe calls for. I also didn't have brandy to add to the batter (and the crêpes turned out wonderfully), but I wish I had.

Breakfast Crêpes
(from Epicurious.com)

Ingredients
1 1/2 c. whole milk
3 large eggs
3 tbs. sugar
1 tsp. salt
Scant 5 tbs. unsalted butter, melted
1/2 c. brandy
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. all-purpose flour

For the filling
I spread a layer of plain yogurt inside each crêpe and added sliced Farm Share strawberries and blackberries.

Preparation
In a blender (I used standing mixer), combine milk and eggs. Mix on medium-high speed until foamy, about 10 seconds. Turn blender to low speed and remove feed top. With blender going, add sugar and salt. Replace feed top and blend on high speed for a few seconds, then turn blender back to low. In the same manner, add butter, brandy, and vanilla, replacing feed top and blending for several seconds after each addition. Turn blender off. Add flour all at once and blend until just combined.

Place crêpe pan over moderately high heat. With flexible spatula, spread a tiny amount of butter in pan (alternative method is to brush the pan with melted butter using a pastry brush) and heat until butter just begins to smoke. Pour 1/4 to 1/3 c. batter into the pan. As you pour, quickly tilt the pan in all directions to spread a thin layer of batter across the bottom. Pour in just enough batter to cover the pan.

Cook crêpe over moderately high heat until bubbles just begin to form on the exposed surface, about 1-2 minutes. Lift up the edge to check the cooking process - if the crêpe starts to burn before it is cooked through, turn down the heat. If it is not nicely browned after 2 minutes, turn up the heat.

When the underside of the crêpe is browned, flip and cook another minute or less, until other side is browned. Remove from pan and keep warm in the oven, loosely covered with foil.

Grease pan with a very small amount of butter and repeat the process. Continue until all batter is used, stacking cooked crêpes on a plate in the oven.

Roasted Eggplant Spread

2010-05-18T12:32:00.002-04:00

This recipe was recommended to me by a friend in Atlanta, who has a great design blog of her own...check it out! As Taylor mentions on her blog, she loves Barefoot Contessa. We had cable for a while, then canceled it, and will be getting it back for the World Cup. So, maybe with more time this Summer I can plug into her show and discover more of her recipes, too!

This recipe was quick and easy, and a great way to use eggplant (which is tricky to cook successfully sometimes)!

Roasted Eggplant Spread
(From Barefoot Contessa Cookbook and Taylor's blog)

Ingredients
1 medium eggplant
2 red bell peppers
1 sweet onion (original recipe calls for a red onion)
2 garlic cloves
3 tbs. olive oil
1/2 tsp. ground pepper
1 tbs. tomato paste

Preparation
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut the eggplant, bell pepper, and onion into 1-inch cubes. Toss them in a large bowl with garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread them on a baking sheet. Roast for 45 minutes until the vegetables are lightly browned and soft, tossing once during cooking. Cool slightly.

Place the vegetables in a food processor fitted with a steel blade, add tomato paste and pulse 3-4 times to blend. Taste for salt and pepper. * I like my dips to have a little kick, so to this I added some cumin and cayenne.

Cobb Salad

2010-05-18T12:19:00.000-04:00

A slight variation from the original Cobb Salad, we cooked up eggs and bacon to make ourselves a salad the other week. Avocado and chicken would be great additions!

With all the greens we receive, it's nice to switch things up for salads. This salad used green leaf lettuce and grape tomatoes from our Farm Share, then we topped it with hard boiled eggs, bacon, and blue cheese.

5/12 Farm Share Arrival

2010-05-18T12:12:00.000-04:00

Last Wednesday we received our second-to-last box of the Winter Farm Share. Enterprise Farm distributes Farm Share boxes by season: Winter/Spring and Summer/Fall. The Summer/Fall share is otherwise known as the "Local" share because it is supplied mostly, if not all, by MA-area farms; whereas the Winter/Spring share is known as the "East Coast" share because farms in the South (GA, NC, SC, etc.) partner with Enterprise to supply produce that otherwise would not be available in MA due to the shorter growing period here. We will have a hiatus from our weekly deliveries for a couple weeks (we don't receive a box the last week in May and we'll be gone the first week in June), but I look forward to sharing what great produce we receive over the Summer. What am I most looking forward to? Tomatoes!

Last week we received carrots, grape tomatoes, turnip greens, sweet potatoes, cucumber, red leaf lettuce, beets, an onion, and fiddleheads (see below).

I have never cooked or even seen fiddleheads before, which are apparently a New England delicacy. I'm going to try to cook them up this week, so we'll see how it goes!

We pick up our share for this week tomorrow, so I'll be posting what we receive then very soon! In the meantime, I hope you enjoy and/or gain some inspiration from recipes we've enjoyed over the last couple weeks.

Happy (healthy) eating!

Nashville Flood

2010-05-06T12:03:00.000-04:00

My husband and I moved to Boston from Nashville a year and a half ago, so the flooding that has occurred in our beloved city has been devastating to see. Fortunately, most of our friends and family there did not incur much damage from the flood. However, the city and surrounding areas are in dire need of help. Please visit the Nashville Red Cross for more information on how you can chip in and donate. Nashville is such a vibrant, warm, and welcoming city--I know it will recover--but many Tennessee residents need our help. Thank you!!

For images from the flood, go to the following links: aerial images of the flood, Nashville landmarks flooded.

5/5 Farm Share Arrival

2010-05-06T11:54:00.000-04:00

Great Farm Share arrival this week! We received a head of green leaf lettuce, bok choy, tatsoi, a huge eggplant, sweet potatoes, a carton of strawberries and roma tomatoes. My last exam is Tuesday, so I look forward to cooking this great produce in the coming week.

Happy (healthy) eating!

Sweet Potato Fries

2010-05-06T11:49:00.003-04:00

I tried to stay out of the kitchen, but I couldn't help myself. While studying one day, I really started craving fries. So, I took our sweet potatoes and made sweet potato fries!

Sweet Potato Fries

Ingredients
4 sweet potatoes
Olive oil
Thyme
Salt & Pepper

Preparation
Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Cut sweet potatoes into 1/4-inch strips. Toss lightly with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Lightly brush baking sheet with olive oil and place fries on baking sheet. Bake in oven for 20-30 minutes, or until fries begin to brown. Let cool, and toss again in salt and thyme.

Sweet Potato Fry Dipping Sauce
This is another one of my non-recipe recipes...it's so good and the perfect dip for sweet potato fries! Compliments to Bob's Dairy Dip in Nashville, TN for the inspiration.

Take a large dollop of sour cream (about 1/4 cup). Add about 2 tbs. brown sugar, along with 1.5-2 tsp cinnamon. If desired, add about 2 tsp. maple syrup.

Pizza with Farm Share Spinach and Tomatoes

2010-04-29T23:58:00.000-04:00

Tonight my husband made an amazing pizza for me while I was doing some school work (here it goes; shifting gears for exams already). On the pizza he used spinach and grape tomatoes from our Farm Share, along with thin slices of an Italian sausage, Kalamata olives, sautéed red onion, garlic, ricotta, feta, a little cheddar, and basil.

Once you start making your own pizzas you never want to order them out again!

4/28 Farm Share Arrival

2010-04-29T23:52:00.000-04:00

First of all, I totally jumped the gun when I raved about Spring weather in Boston a couple weeks ago. Since then it has been cold and rainy--so dreary for late April! Spring? Yeah right! This bone-chilling weather might explain why I felt somewhat comforted to see kale and potatoes in our recent Farm Share box. My mind and body were getting confused receiving summery produce in the dead of Winter weather! (Okay, so I might be exaggerating a tad--but I'm still not used to, nor a fan of, the looong progression from Winter to Spring experienced by New Englanders.)

This week's box was great: another box of strawberries, more radishes, green beans (yay!), blue kale, a bag of baby spinach, four large sweet potatoes, and 2 zucchini.

I want to let you know that I will probably be dropping off the face of my little blogging world for the next couple weeks. Just today I had my last day of classes for the semester and now I'm gearing up for finals starting next week. I plan to exercise some restraint and stay out of the kitchen the next couple weeks so I can focus on exams. So, while I won't be posting many recipes for the short term, I hope to make up for lost time and post lots of good, perhaps more creative recipes thereafter. This summer will be all about taking time to enjoy the simple things that we don't always get to during the school year!

Until next time, happy (healthy) eating!

Crustless Quiche with Sausage and Braising Greens

2010-04-25T21:03:00.005-04:00

What I thought was a bag of mesclun greens we received in our Farm Share Wednesday was actually a bag of braising greens: baby kale and other assorted dark leafy greens. I would have cooked them in the way they are intended to be cooked--braised--if they looked a little more appetizing. But by the time we got to them they were a little slimy. So, I picked out the good leaves and decided to incorporate them into a dish that sounded a little more appetizing than braised quasi-slimy greens: a quiche!

Usually I love making quiches with crusts; a pie crust is one (or quite honestly, the one) pastry I can do well, but I didn't have the time or the energy to do that today. Instead I made a crustless quiche. I suppose in the end it is basically a frittata, but with a little more substance and cooked completely in the oven.

The bowl of braising greens I used in the quiche.

Crustless Quiche with Sausage and Braising Greens

Ingredients

1 large bowl chopped braising greens (or other leafy greens, such as chopped kale, chard, spinach, turnip greens, or dandelion greens)

1 small package hot sausage

1/2 yellow onion, chopped

1/2 c. 1% milk

1/2 c. plain yogurt*

Approx. 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

5 eggs

* Usually quiches are made with heavy cream; this is my version of a quiche using yogurt instead. If you prefer, you can substitute the yogurt for heavy cream.

Preparation

Preheat oven to 425 degrees with rack in center. Butter 10-inch pie pan and line with fresh bread crumbs. In large saucepan, sauté chopped onions with sausage until sausage is cooked through and broken up into crumbles. Add chopped greens, and sauté until greens are tender, or turn a bright green (3-5 minutes). Spoon out sausage and greens into pie dish, carefully leaving residual liquid in saucepan (this will prevent your quiche from retaining too much liquid). Sprinkle sausage and greens with shredded cheddar. In separate bowl whisk together 5 eggs with yogurt and milk. Pour egg mixture over sausage and greens, and place in oven for 35-45 minutes, or until center of quiche is cooked through.

This would be great served with a fresh tomato salad and a warm biscuit.

Grilled Eggplant Stacks with Tomato and Feta

2010-04-25T13:23:00.004-04:00

This side dish rounded out our meal of squash and steak and it in particular was really delicious. I am not very good at cooking eggplant any other way, but grilling is sure to give you great flavor and a non-spongy consistency.

Grilled Eggplant Stacks with Tomato and Feta
(From Gourmet)

Ingredients
1 c. loosely packed fresh basil leaves
1/2 c. extra-virgin olive oil
1 large eggplant
1 large tomato
3 oz. feta, crumbled (about 3/4 c.)
Garnish: finely shredded basil leaves

Preparation
Blend basil with oil and 1/2 tsp. salt in blender until finely chopped. Pour into a paper-towel- or coffee-filter-lined sieve over a bowl and let drain for 20 minutes. Gather together sides of towel or filter and press gently on it to extract more oil (you will have a generous 1/3 c. oil). Scrape chopped basil leaves into a small bowl and reserve.

Cut off bottom of eggplant, then cut 1/2-inch thick crosswise rounds, starting from cut end. Cut 4 rounds from large tomato.

Lightly brush eggplant rounds on both sides with basil oil and sprinkle with 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper. Grill on a lightly oiled grill rack, turning over occasionally, lightly brushing eggplant with more basil oil occasionally if it looks dry, until eggplant is very tender, 6-10 minutes.

On baking pan, arrange 2 largest eggplant rounds side by side and spread each with a generous 1/2 teaspoon of reserved chopped basil leaves, then top each with 1 of 4 largest tomato rounds. Season tomatoes with salt and pepper and top each with about 1 tbs. feta. Make another layer with medium-sized eggplant rounds, chopped basil leaves, medium tomato rounds, salt, pepper, and feta, then top with remaining eggplant and feta.

Set baking pan on grill and cook stacks, with grill cover closed, until heated through and cheese on top is softened, about 3 minutes. Transfer stacks to plates.

Grilled Yellow Squash

2010-04-25T13:02:00.001-04:00

When my husband fires up the grill, good things happen. The next couple posts are of vegetables we grilled last night, in addition to the steaks he threw on that were divine!

For Farm Share yellow squash we had, I cut the squash length-wise and brushed lightly with olive oil, then sprinkled them lightly with some salt and pepper. They were grilled for about 5-8 minutes, until tender.

Wheat Berry Bread

2010-04-25T12:59:00.000-04:00

Instead of making our go-to whole wheat bread in our bread machine this week I made bread using wheat berries and the barley flour from our Farm Share. I also added a scoop of granola I made a while ago halfway through the kneading cycle to give it some extra texture.

I just had some toasted and drizzled with honey for breakfast. Delicious!

I feel sort of like I'm cheating by using a bread maker; I by no means employ the patience or skill required when making a homemade loaf of bread. If you want to try making your own bread, this recipe looked like a good one to follow.

And, for future reference, when using barley flour you can use it in any recipe that calls for whole wheat flour. Simply half the amount of whole wheat called for and replace with the barley flour, using the whole wheat flour for the other half.

"Green Salads" Label

2010-04-22T19:45:00.001-04:00

Greens are so good for you! And we really enjoy eating what we receive in our Farm Share; but let's be honest, we all need a little variety in our lives--and diet--which can be tricky when every week we get at least one large head of lettuce in addition to a couple other varieties of greens. Because we eat a lot of salads, I'm now including a "Green Salads" label on applicable blog posts, which encompasses all the cold green salads we eat. Hopefully the easy access to different salad ideas will spark some variety in your meals if you find yourself needing to eat lots of greens, too!

Another Dinner, Another Yummy Salad

2010-04-22T19:27:00.004-04:00

Tonight I ate solo, and threw together a super quick and satisfying salad.

I used the rest of the green leaf lettuce from last week's Farm Share, topped it with: Mediterranean curry-flavored couscous (5 minute cook time), pulled chicken (leftover from the rotisserie chicken we bought at Whole Foods the other night), sliced avocado, and sliced carrots from our Farm Share. I then took a little plain yogurt and whisked in garlic-infused golden balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper. Voilá! A really quick but delicious salad with a totally different flavor (but using some of the same ingredients) as salads I've posted in the past.

To infuse vinegar, simply throw a couple basil leaves and clove(s) of garlic into a bottle of vinegar. We used golden balsamic vinegar--it took about a day or two for the flavors to settle in, and it's been good ever since!

Mustard BBQ Chicken Salad

2010-04-21T22:50:00.002-04:00

As I have mentioned before, we receive a lot of greens in our Farm Share and are sometimes challenged with how to be creative with the salads we know we need to be eating. Tonight was a good variation: roasted chicken* tossed in a mustard BBQ sauce (South Carolina style), served on a bed of green leaf lettuce with red pepper, cucumber, and blue cheese.

*To save time we picked up the rotisserie roasted chicken from Whole Foods, hot and ready to serve.

Mustard BBQ Sauce
(This isn't the recipe we used--I have no idea where that one is; we've had the sauce in our refrigerator for a while--but it sounds delicious and is from a SC website that seemed to know what it was talking about when it comes to SC BBQ.)

Ingredients
4 c. yellow mustard
8 oz. beer (less for thicker sauce, more for thinner sauce)
1/2 c. apple cider vinegar
8 tbs. brown sugar
1/2 c. tomato puree
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tbs. cayenne
1 tbs. fresh cracked black pepper
2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder

Preparation
Heat all ingredients in a sauce pan over medium heat and mix well. Cook until sauce just begins to thicken. Serve cool or warm. The sauce will last in the refrigerator for a long time.)

4/21 Farm Share Arrival

2010-04-21T22:40:00.000-04:00

I have been a bit MIA posting recipes this last week, but most of that is due to the fact that our Farm Share produce has been consumed without much cooking needed. And we were out of town last weekend, so cooking that usually takes place over the weekend didn't happen. Anyway, I digress, because I want to now share a GREAT Farm Share arrival this week.

Today we received apples, radishes, red leaf lettuce, TWO boxes of strawberries (!), a huge bunch of carrots (which I was really excited about--our last batch was so good, I was hoping we would get more soon), potatoes, mesclun green mix, and a big eggplant.

Beautiful!

Farm Share Lunch!

2010-04-21T22:24:00.002-04:00

I realized at work the other day that the salad I was eating consisted completely of Farm Share items. So of course I snuck a picture on my phone; I wanted to share how great of a salad it provided!

Leftover steamed green beans from the night before, grape tomatoes, cucumber, and spinach--a little feta and olive oil added--a great lunch.

Green Beans and Wilted Greens

2010-04-21T22:20:00.000-04:00

To accompany a fish dish the other night, we threw together some of our Farm Share vegetables. First, we steamed green beans, then tossed them with olive oil, salt, pepper, feta, and pine nuts. Second, after the green beans were finished steaming, we threw a large serving of baby spinach greens onto the steaming tray. Sometimes wilted greens are a nice change from a normal salad, and we served with tomatoes and olives. In the future a long grain wild rice would compliment the steamed greens nicely, but we were in a hurry and went with the vegetables, straight-up.

4/14 Farm Share Arrival (Strawberries and Tomatoes!!)

2010-04-15T13:12:00.000-04:00

It's time for a weekly delivery post! Last night we opened our box to find some exciting changes: strawberries and grape tomatoes--a true sign of Summer approaching! We also received green leaf lettuce, green beans, baby spinach, a Summer squash, bunched beets, turnip greens, apples, and a cucumber.

I am excited about our produce this week. My only question is: what to do with those beets? Another batch of muffins?

Happy healthy eating!

Blanched Greens with Mustard Vinaigrette

2010-04-15T13:06:00.001-04:00

Spring time is here (sort of, it's still chilly outside) and our Farm Share is showing more signs of Summer produce (see my next post!). However, despite the arrival of new produce we still face the challenge of cooking and consuming copious amounts of greens. The challenge is not in consuming the greens (we love them--they are always so flavorful and of course are so healthy!) but in switching up recipes and introducing different flavors to the weekly rotation. Doing that successfully with dark leafy greens can be a challenge.

I previously posted a Swiss chard with olives and lemon recipe that was a nice change. Today I'm posting an easy dish using the mustard vinaigrette recipe I posted before.

I started with red Russian kale...

...and turnip greens.

After washing and cutting the stems off both varieties, I threw the leaves into a pot of boiled water until tender, about 5 minutes.

Directly after boiling I submersed all the leaves in a bowl of ice water for just a minute or so. I then placed the greens in a colander and let the water drain from the greens for about 30 minutes. I also patted the leaves dry with a towel (they tend to hold a lot of water, and the dryer the greens, the better the mustard vinaigrette will coat them). Finally, I tossed the greens with the mustard vinaigrette (about 1/4-1/2 c. total dressing, to taste and proportional to the number of greens prepared) and served cold.

Black Bean Salad

2010-04-12T21:49:00.006-04:00

Tonight we finished up our big head of green leaf lettuce from last week's Farm Share arrival. We threw together some different ingredients and in under 20 minutes had yet another great salad. The next couple "recipes" aren't technically recipes, I suppose--I don't use measuring spoons when I throw these dishes together--but regardless they turn out great every time! I don't have a picture of the meal we enjoyed, but we threw black beans, a little bit of salsa, and guacamole on top of a large bed of lettuce. We served with lightly grilled tortillas...delicious!

Black Beans

Ingredients
1 can black beans
1/4 red onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
~1/2 to 1 tbs. cumin
~1 tsp. cayenne pepper
~1 tsp. hot red pepper, chopped
1/2 lime, squeezed for juice

Preparation
Stir all ingredients together over medium heat for about 10-15 minutes.

Guacamole

Ingredients
2 avocados, peeled and chopped
1 tomato, diced
1/2 lemon, squeezed for juice
~ 1 to 1 1/2 tbs. cumin
~ 1 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 red onion, diced (optional) I tend not to use red onion because raw onions make my stomach hurt, and I personally think the taste of the avocado comes out better with no onion.

Preparation
Put all ingredients in bowl, and using kitchen tool (I use a whisk) mash the avocado so there are chunks still in tact but the ingredients are all mixed. Serve immediately.

Steak Salad with Roasted Red Pepper and Mustard Vinaigrette

2010-04-11T13:30:00.002-04:00

Sometimes eating the amount of greens we receive weekly can be a challenge, albeit a welcome one. It's easy to fall into a rut with salads: buy the same fixings, drizzle with olive oil, throw on feta. Dinner Saturday night was a welcome change to that normal routine.

With the huge head of green leaf lettuce we had yet to consume, we decided to do a salad for dinner. A few changes to our normal routine resulted such a wonderful meal! My husband grilled a top sirloin steak. I roasted a red pepper and made a mustard vinaigrette. A bed of lettuce dressed with steak and red pepper slices, blue cheese, mustard vinaigrette, and tomato wedges made for a very satisfying and absolutely delicious meal.

Roasted Red Pepper
(Roasting a red pepper can be done in a few different ways, but I usually use the oven.)

Directions
Set your oven to the broil setting (high heat setting, if you have the option). Leave the red pepper in tact (do not remove the stem or seeds) and place the whole red pepper (or several) in the oven directly on the rack. Turn the peppers periodically until the skin starts blistering and turning black on all sides. Remove the pepper from the oven, and cool so you can handle the pepper. Peel off the skin of the pepper, and slice the flesh as desired (discarding the seeds and stem).

Mustard Vinaigrette

Ingredients
1/4 c. red wine vinegar
2 tbs. dijon mustard
1 tbs. honey
2 garlic cloves, minced
salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 to 1/2 c. olive oil (I used 1/4 c.)
2 tbs. fresh basil leaves, chopped

Preparation
Whisk all ingredients together, slowly adding the olive oil.

Swiss Chard with Olives and Lemon

2010-04-10T16:47:00.003-04:00

Friday night meal, post 3.

Look how gorgeous this rainbow chard is!!

This next picture was snapped as my husband chopped the leaves. So pretty!

I wanted to do something a little different than what we have done in the past with Swiss chard (e.g., something other than sautéing it in olive oil and garlic). So I found a recipe using olives and lemon. The flavors ended up working really well with the risotto: they were a nice, salty compliment to the creamy dish.

Swiss Chard with Olives and Lemon

(from Bon Appétit)

Ingredients

3 large bunches Swiss chard (about 2 1/4 lbs. total)

5 tbs. extra-virgin olive oil, divided

1/3 c. quartered pitted oil-cured black olives (2-3 ounces)

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tbs. fresh lemon juice

Preparation

Cut stem from center of each chard leaf. Slice stems crosswise into 1/4-inch pieces; place in medium bowl. Cut leaves crosswise into 1 1/2-inch-wide strips.

Bring large pot of water to boil; salt generously. Add chard stems; cook until just tender, 3-4 minutes. Add chard leaves. Cook until just tender, stirring occasionally, about 2 minutes. Drain in large collander, pressing out any water. Note: this can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand in colander at room temperature.

Heat 4 tbs. oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add olives and garlic. Sauté until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add chard and chard stems. Toss until heated through and any remaining water evaporates, about 4 minutes. Mix in lemon juice and remaining 1 tbs. oil; season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to bowl and serve.

Here is how the Friday night meal turned out:

The chard was delicious with the risotto, and the parsnips and carrots were like dessert (sweet and buttery). Thank you, Farm Share, for this delicious meal!

Tomato Risotto with Summer Squash

2010-04-10T16:25:00.001-04:00

Friday night meal, Post 2.

After all the gorgeous weather we've had recently, it was cold and rainy on Friday night, so we were craving something warm and creamy for dinner. Risottos are easy and they hit the spot when you crave comfort food like Mac & Cheese, but want a dish that's a little more healthy and varied.

I did not use a recipe for this meal, but I first sautéed garlic and shallots in olive oil in our risotto pan on medium heat. I then added the arborio rice and sautéed for a couple minutes. Next I added about 1/4 c. dry red wine, then a can of diced San Marzano canned tomatoes with their juice. After the rice began absorbing the liquid, I added about 2 c. chicken stock, along with summer squash and button mushrooms. Another 1 c. chicken stock was added as the rice absorbed the liquid further, along with basil leaves and flat Italian parsley. Lastly, about 1/2 c. parmesan cheese was added to the dish.

For this dish the squash and flat leaf Italian parsley were from our Farm Share. The basil was from our front porch planter garden.

Sautéed Parsnips and Carrots with Honey and Rosemary

2010-04-10T16:13:00.004-04:00

Friday night meal, Post 1.

Friday night was a great meal: a Farm Share trifecta. As I mentioned before, I took inventory on what we had in our fridge from previous weeks, and we made a meal that used a lot of our produce in one fell swoop.

First, what we did with parsnips and carrots.

Sautéed Parsnips and Carrots with Honey and Rosemary

(From Bon Appétit)

Ingredients

2 tbs. extra-virgin olive oil

1 lb. carrots (about 4 large), peeled and sliced

1 lb. large parsnips, peeled and sliced

Coarse kosher salt

2 tbs. (1/4 stick) butter

1 tbs. chopped fresh rosemary

1 1/2 tbs. honey

Preparation

Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add carrots and parsnips. Sprinkle with coarse ckosher salt and pepper. Sauté until vegetables are beginning to brown at edges, about 12 minutes. Note: carrots can take a bit longer to cook than parsnips, so you can sauté them for a couple minutes before adding the parsnips if you want both to be cooked about the same. Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.

Add butter, rosemary, and honey to vegetables. Toss over medium heat until heated through and vegetables are glazed, about 5 minutes. Season to taste with more salt and pepper, if desired.

The parsnips and carrots were from our Farm Share. The rosemary from our front porch planter garden!

Arugula Salad

2010-04-09T15:39:00.002-04:00

Arugula is such a nice green because it packs so much flavor!

For lunch today I threw some sliced boar sausage, feta, cucumbers and olives on arugula, tossed with a little bit of olive oil.

The cucumber and arugula were from our Farm Share. Delicious and easy!

Simple Sautéed Zucchini

2010-04-09T14:40:00.002-04:00

Sometimes it's nice just to throw things together without using a recipe! Last night we cooked up two of our zucchinis from our Farm Share. We simply sliced the zucchini diagonal-wise and sautéed them in a little olive oil and salt and pepper.

We served this with some lightly breaded baked flounder and mango salsa. Delicious!

4/7 Farm Share Arrival

2010-04-07T21:39:00.000-04:00

It is already time to post about our latest Farm Share Arrival!

This week we received rainbow Swiss chard, baby arugula, green leaf lettuce, green beans, red Russian kale, carrots, red potatoes, sweet potatoes, apples, zucchini, and a cucumber (!).

I also took inventory of what we had from the previous weeks' arrival since I have been bad at cooking this last week. We have a couple fun recipes coming up! One involving Swiss chard (a little different from anything we have made before) and another involving parsnips and carrots. While I look forward to ingesting these healthy veggies, I have to say, I am getting more and more excited thinking about the delicious meals we can throw together that don't include a hearty winter green or root vegetables. As I post this and it's 77 degrees at 9:30 p.m. in Boston (after reaching almost 90 degrees today!) my body and mind is craving Summer produce! Almost here!!

California Burger, Hold the Bun

2010-04-07T21:24:00.002-04:00

My husband and I have not been eating meat lately, so we have enjoyed the excuse to eat delicious leftover beef after cooking out last weekend (the meat purchased at Savenor's, which is now one of my favorite spots in Cambridge).

For lunch the other day I went to make a burger, but we had run out of buns. I was really craving the dressings of a California burger (or at least what I envision a "California" burger: avocado, salsa, tomato)--so I just threw the meat onto a bed of Farm Share lettuce and enjoyed.

Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch

2010-04-06T16:08:00.002-04:00

This article is almost a year old but it only was recently discovered by me (thanks to my husband for passing it on). Though long, I really enjoyed reading it and thought some Farm Share Eating readers might enjoy it, too. Michael Pollan has a way of inspiring you to take control of what you eat in many different ways, and taking the time to cook food yourself (real food) is definitely the most effective way to do that!

Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch - NY Times Magazine

3/31 Farm Share Arrival

2010-04-02T16:30:00.000-04:00

This post is a few days late, I apologize! This has been a very busy week and we have family in town this weekend, so it might be a few days until my next post.

Exciting item to report: green beans!! Our Farm Share box this week came with the usual Winter fare: kale, green leaf lettuce, parsnips, apples, grapefruit, mixed baby greens, and potatoes. But new items we haven't seen for a while were green peppers, yellow squash, and my beloved green beans (one of my favorite vegetables!)

Until next time, happy eating!!

USDA Food Atlas

2010-03-31T10:07:00.002-04:00

I'm stealing this from a link the Enterprise Farm Food Shed posted this morning on Facebook (become a fan of theirs if you're in or around MA. It's our Farm Share farm's produce store in Western MA!) It provides rather interesting and insightful information into regional health trends and food availability.

http://maps.ers.usda.gov/FoodAtlas/

Loads of Grapefruit

2010-03-28T20:03:00.004-04:00

Make grapefruit sorbet!

* Update since posting: we tried this last night and it was AMAZING!!

Gingered Grapefruit Sorbet
(From Gourmet)

Ingredients:
3 c. strained fresh grapefruit juice (8 grapefruit squeezed out a little over 3 c. juice)
3/4 c. sugar (I only used 1/2 c.)
1 tbs. grated fresh ginger
2 or 3 drops Angostura bitters, or to taste

Preparation:
In a small saucepan combine 1 c. of the grapefruit juice, the sugar, and the ginger and boil the mixture, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Remove the pan from the heat and let the mixture cool completely. Pour the mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl or large glass measure, stir in the remaining 2 c. grapefruit juice and the bitters, and chill the mixture, covered, until it is cold. Freeze the mixture in an ice-cream freezer according to the manufacturer's instructions. (User reviews noted that if you don't have an ice-cream freezer, which we don't, you can freeze the sorbet as-is after mixing all ingredients. Then, when ready to serve, run through a food processor.)

Sweet Beet Muffins

2010-03-28T17:33:00.004-04:00

This is not story of a wolf in sheep's clothing. You may know from one of my previous posts that I have tried several different recipes for beets in an attempt to convince myself I could like them, however I continuously found that I simply did not. My dilemma this week was looking at the three beets from previous Farm Share boxes staring at me in the refrigerator and wanting to cook them, but dreading the process of doing so.

One morning, on my walk to the T, I was reminded of my favorite coffee shop in Nashville (Fido in Hillsboro Village, love!) and the creative, delicious muffins they had. It was then I was struck with an "ah-ha!" moment--beet muffins! Fido had a beet muffin at one time that their baker was experimenting with--I tried it and liked it, a big moment for me. Hence how I became inspired to turn these beets that were staring me down into a delicious baked good.

These turned out really well, and I used all the beets we had left! In addition to the beets from our Farm Share, I used some of the barley flour we received in our Farm Share this week.

Enjoy!

Sweet Beet Muffins
(Recipe adapted from a post on this blog)

Ingredients
1 c. beets
1 c. whole wheat flour (I used 1/2 c. whole wheat flour and 1/2 c. barley flour)
1/2 c. all purpose flour
1 1/2 c. + 2 tbs. brown sugar
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1/2 c. soy milk
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ginger

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350. Roast beets in oven (wrap washed beets in foil and place on middle rack, 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes, or until soft). Once beets are cooled, peel and shred (you can use a food processor to chop or cheese grater to grate beets). Mix all dry and wet ingredients separately, then combine, folding beet mixture into the dry ingredients. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean from center of muffin.

After beets were roasted and peeled, I used my mini food processor to chop the beets.

The beets before adding the wet ingredients. They really are gorgeous vegetables.

Vibrant purple batter!

The finished product.

Sweet Potato Pancakes

2010-03-27T11:55:00.001-04:00

This morning my husband was craving pancakes, and I wanted to use the rest of those sweet potatoes I had baked for the sweet potato gnocchi-turned-sweet potato pie. So, we pulled out our Bob's Red Mill buckwheat pancake mix, I threw in the sweet potatoes (1 1/4 c., cooked and mashed) and we went to town.

The batter before adding water. It was much thicker than pancake mix normally is so we added water, between 1/4-1/2 c.

Adding butter to the pan (even though our pan is non-stick) made initial flipping much easier. (And it's even more tasty!)

Voilà! SO delicious!!

Risotto with Kale

2010-03-27T11:43:00.000-04:00

Risotto is such a delicious, satisfying, and diverse dish--I don't make it nearly often enough. Last night we got home late, were starving, and wanted to use some of our dark leafy greens but do something other than braise or sauté them. So, we threw them in a risotto.

We didn't follow a recipe, but you can find something similar to what we did here.

What's nice about risotto is you can simply follow the directions on the Arborio rice box but add different ingredients according to what you're feeling: seafood (my favorite!), mushrooms, butternut squash, asparagus, sausage...the list goes on. For our dish, we sautéed some onions and garlic in olive oil. I then added some vegetarian italian sausage that we had. After that cooked for a while, we added the risotto, let that sauté briefly with the onion and sausage, then started adding vegetable broth. As the Arborio rice soaked up the vegetable broth, we added more, finally throwing in the kale and tomatoes. I threw in some oregano, ground pepper, and red pepper flakes, and the dish was done in about 30-40 minutes.

Sautéing in our risotto pan.

The finished product!

Farm Share Eating To-Go

2010-03-25T13:48:00.000-04:00

I usually don't post about the lunches my husband and I enjoy, but my salad today was so easy to prepare and delicious--I was inspired. We use a relatively large amount of our Farm Share produce for lunches we eat away from home.

This salad used romaine lettuce, potatoes, and carrots from our Farm Share.

Vegetarian and Vegan Labels

2010-03-24T23:02:00.004-04:00

Now Farm Share Eating will label recipes as "vegetarian" or "vegan" if they fall under one of those categories. As you can probably tell, I am not personally a vegetarian or vegan. However, we tend to eat a lot vegetarian meals, and since most of my posts are about what we do with our Farm Share produce, there will be a lot of recipes that fall under these two categories.

As a disclaimer, I want to clarify that these two labels are defined as follows:

Vegetarian recipes are those that contain no meat products, including fish. They may contain egg and dairy, however.
Vegan recipes are those that contain no animal products or byproducts.

If for any reason I mistakenly mislabel a recipe as vegan or vegetarian and it's not, please let me know! I don't want to make mistakes when it comes to this.

Also, when there are vegan substitutes that I know of in cooking and baking, I may reference them along with the non-vegan recipe, so just be aware of that as you read through the postings.

Thanks!

3/24 Farm Share Arrival

2010-03-24T22:34:00.004-04:00

Another Wednesday, another Farm Share arrival!

The Winter season is winding down, which for now means a little bit more of the same. I'm not complaining because I'm still having fun finding new recipes for the produce we receive. Quite honestly, the real challenge is having enough time during the week to try out recipes! Despite the fun I have exploring how to cook kale, chard, parsnips, potatoes, etc., I'll admit that I was really excited to read in our Farm Share newsletter this week that we will soon be in berry season!! When the season does finally change, different produce will be welcome...especially berries!

This week we received: red potatoes, apples, Swiss chard, baby spinach, green leaf lettuce, parsnips, grapefruit, a carrot, zucchini, a beet, and barley flour.

It was a heavy box! And as my husband unpacked, we figured out why:

Look how large the zucchini, apples, carrot and parsnips are! I know it's sort of dorky for me to throw down a quarter for size comparison, but they are HUGE! This picture doesn't do it justice.

We also received a bag of barley flour, which I'm excited to use! As I mentioned before, we use our bread maker weekly so we look forward to trying this in a loaf. I'm also going to investigate using barley flour in muffins, because I have an idea for using a certain produce item in muffins that might rock your world; I can't wait to post about it!

More recipes to come this week, so check back!

Sweet Potato Pie

2010-03-22T21:06:00.001-04:00

I feel sort of guilty: I keep talking up how I am going to make sweet potato gnocchi with our sweet potatoes but I just haven't been feeling it. I really want to try the recipe I suggested, so maybe another post will be dedicated to it in the future. Until then, I will not mention it again. I need to move on from the potato pasta...

My sweet tooth has been dominating my palate lately. So, with a tupperware full of cooked sweet potatoes (which I had baked with the intention of making the gnocchi) I turned to one of my favorite Southern pies: sweet potato pie!

This recipe is AMAZING!! It is the best sweet potato pie I have ever had, and my husband said it was the best he's ever had (and he has had a lot, growing up in TN). Thank you, Farm Share, unexpectedly, for the produce that made this dessert! As my husband said, this dessert was "decadent!" It was surprisingly light and fluffy; smooth with a more complex flavor than the sweet potato pies we're used to.

Sweet Potato Pie

(from Epicurious.com)

Ingredients

2 medium sweet potatoes (about 1 1/4 lbs.)

1/2 stick (1/4 c.) unsalted butter

3/4 c. sugar

3/4 c. whole milk (we used soy milk as substitute)

3 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

I added 1/4 tsp. powdered ginger

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tbs. dark rum

1 tbs. all-purpose flower

1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell*

* For the pie crust, I made my own (see previous posting for recipe) and added 1/4 c. finely chopped pecans. I used a food processor to chop the pecans as finely as possible. You have to have pecans somewhere with sweet potato pie!

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Prick the sweet potatoes with a fork and roast them on a shallow baking pan in the middle of the oven until very tender, about 1 1/4 hours. Cool to room temperature.

Raise the oven temperature to 400 degrees F, and place a shallow baking pan on the bottom rack.

Scoop the flesh from potatoes into a bowl and discard the skins. Mash the sweet potatoes with a fork until smooth. Melt the butter in a small saucepan and stir in the sugar. Add the melted butter mixture to the sweet potatoes with the milk and the eggs and beat with a whisk until smooth (I used a standing mixer which worked wonders!). Whisk in the remaining ingredients (the filling will be quite liquid). Pour the filling into the pie shell.

Carefully transfer the pie to the heated shallow baking pan on the bottom rack of the oven and bake until the filling is just set, about 40 minutes. Transfer the pie to a rack to cool.

Root Vegetable Curry

2010-03-22T20:50:00.004-04:00

What to do with a slew of random vegetables that must be eaten before our next Farm Share arrives 2 days from now? This was the challenge we were presented with tonight. We wanted something different from our usual fare that would use up a lot of vegetables and make good leftovers for the week to come (leftovers are key for to-go lunches during the week!).

Here is what we were working with: green Swiss chard, a huge turnip, celery root (or celeriac), carrots, and parsnips. We did not follow a recipe for this: we just chopped up all the veggies, threw them in our dutch oven with vegetable broth and curry, and made vegetable-laden curry dish. I don't think you can really go wrong with curry! I have to thank one of my readers for their suggestion of using turnips in a curry--that was the inspiration for throwing all these vegetables together and making this dish.

ALL the veggies chopped and ready to go.

We used a dutch oven simply to fit all the vegetables we had to cook!

We first heated some olive oil in our dutch oven and added onion and garlic. Once the onion was translucent, we added the harder vegetables (carrots and parsnips), along with minced garlic and minced hot pepper. Then we added curry powder and vegetable broth. Once these had time to get a little cooked through, we added the turnip, followed by more broth and curry powder. We let this cook for about 5 minutes. Then we added the celery root and chard, along with more broth and curry. We cooked until the vegetables were tender and they had taken on the flavor of the curry, all-in-all about 15-20 minutes total. I would estimate that I used about 6 tsp. curry all together, perhaps a little more. I also shook in some cayenne pepper, to bump up the heat a little.

Served on a bed of Basmati rice, this was a nice change from how we often use our produce, and a dish that used FIVE different types of vegetables from our Farm Share!

(Oh Baby!) Bok Choy

2010-03-21T14:28:00.001-04:00

The recipe I posted previously for Ginger-Garlic Bok Choy is one of our absolute favorites. Its a delicious, healthy dish that is light yet incredibly flavorful and satisfying. While we love it, that is the recipe we have used every time we cook bok choy, so we wanted to do something different this time around. With the gorgeous Boston weather (reaching 70 degrees yesterday!) it feels like Springtime and we celebrated by firing up the grill. The recipe below was SO good and different from what we normally make. The peanut sauce was easy to prepare and wonderfully flavorful.

The bok choy was from our Farm Share and the shrimp from Maine.

The spread before going on the grill (the bok choy is tied with kitchen string because we accidentally cut off the bottoms). The delicious peanut sauce to the left.

On the grill.

The finished product, delicious!!

Grilled Shrimp Satay with Peaches and Bok Choy
(From Bon Appétit)

Ingredients
6 tbs. smooth natural peanut butter, stirred to comine
1/3 c. (packed) dark brown sugar
3 tbs. seasoned rice vinegar
2 tbs. soy sauce
2-3 tsp. hot chili paste (such as sambal oelek)
9 tbs. peach nectar, divided
3 peaches or nectarines, each cut into 6 wedges
16 uncooked large shrimp, peeled, deveined
6 heads of baby bok choy, halved lengthwise

Preparation
Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Whisk first 5 ingredients and 5 tbs. nectar until smooth; season sauce with pepper. (A tip from me: if you have a hand immersion blender, it worked wonders to blend the sauce. The peanut butter we make tends to be dryer than most store-bought peanut butters, so blending it helped to get out all the clumps, resulting in a smooth and consistently-flavored sauce.)

Arrange peaches, shrimp, and bok choy on grill. Brush with 4 tbs. nectar; brush lightly with 1/4 c. sauce. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill until peaches are slightly charred, shrimp are just opaque in center, and bok choy halves are just tender, about 2 min. per side for peaches and 3 min. per side for shrimp and bok choy.

Mound shrimp, bok choy, and peaches on platter. Drizzle with some sauce. Serve with remaining sauce.

Tuna Nicoise

2010-03-20T18:01:00.002-04:00

How could I have forgotten another wonderful way to use potatoes and other Farm Share produce? My husband suggested this salad for lunch today, and tuna nicoise is one of my favorites! Recipes vary from person to person, but below is my favorite combination of the classic and healthy salad. This salad used potatoes and green leaf lettuce from our Farm Share.

Tuna Nicoise
(portions below for 2 people)

Ingredients
Tuna salad
1 can albacore tuna
2-3 tbs. olive oil
~ 2 tbs. capers
Pepper, to taste

Base salad
Leafy greens
Steamed green beans
Feta cheese
Boiled red potatoes (but any potato will do)
Tomatoes
Cucumber

Preparation
Mix the drained tuna with olive oil, capers, and pepper. Boil potatoes until tender. I often cut in quarters and toss with a little red wine vinegar, olive oil, and pepper to give them a little extra flavor. I also usually drizzle the steamed green beans with olive oil and toss them with the feta. Arrange all ingredients on a bed of green lettuce.

Pasta with Zucchini, Squash, Arugula, Basil, and Lemon

2010-03-19T20:50:00.001-04:00

Tonight we prepared a light and easy meal using zucchini, squash, baby spinach and baby arugula from our Farm Share. We made slight modifications to the recipe (chopped vegetables instead of julienning, pesto instead of basil) and it turned out wonderfully! This is a nice summery pasta that requires little cooking.

Pasta with Zucchini, Squash, Arugula, Basil and Lemon
(Adapted from Epicurious.com)

Ingredients
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 lb pasta (e.g. whole-wheat fettuccine)
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 medium zucchini, julienned
1 medium yellow squash, julienned
4 or 5 sprigs basil, leaves shredded
1 bunch arugula, coarsely chopped (about 1 1/2 c.)
3/4 c. halved cherry tomatoes
1 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp fresh lemon juice

Preparation
Bring 4 qts water to a full boil. Add 1/4 tsp salt and stir in pasta. Cook 5 to 8 minutes or until noodles are al dente (tender but firm). While pasta cooks, warm oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add garlic, swirl for a moment and reduce heat to low. Do not let garlic get brown. Add zucchini and yellow squash and sauté gently until zucchini softens slightly, about 5 minutes. Season mixture with 1/4 tsp salt and remove pan from heat. When pasta is finished cooking, drain noodles. Combine noodles thoroughly with zucchini mixture over low heat. Add basil, arugula, and tomatoes and season with remaining 1/4 tsp. salt. Sprinkle with lemon zest and juice and stir to combine. Serve immediately

3/17 Farm Share Arrival

2010-03-19T15:20:00.000-04:00

Welcome Home!

After being out of town for several days I was welcomed home by another week's Farm Share. Look for updates this week on how we plan to catch up on 2 weeks at produce (!!), which so far includes sweet potato gnocchi and a grilled shrimp satay with bok choy.

This week we received: carrots, yellow apples, grapefruit, a huge turnip, yellow squash, potatoes, kale, green leaf lettuce, and baby arugula.