This Week's Plan

I love fall produce not only because it makes for very home-y foods they are all gifts from the farm waiting to be stored or frozen for the winter.

Here's a link and a Video for the newcomer to our Box. Everyone please welcome Kuri Squash!



and a brief description from BoingBoing.

One of my favorite apple desserts is to bake them with rosemary. I place them quartered, in some water with butter and and a few whole sprigs of rosemary until they are just a bit softer and serve drained.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin and Porcini Soup

This delicious soup recipe comes from the Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home. It calls for canned pumpkin, but check out this video tutorial on steaming and pureeing your own pumpkin for use in recipes. Using fresh pumpkin adds water, which can be tricky when baking a pie, but just perfect when making soup. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 4-6 servings:
1/2 C broken dried porcini mushrooms (about 3/4 ounce)
2 C boiling water
2 large onions, mined (about 3 cups)
2 T vegetable oil, olive oil, or butter
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
2 C chopped fresh mushrooms
1 t fresh thyme (1/2 t dried)
1 1/2 T fresh sage (2 t dried)
dash of nutmeg
1/4 C Marsala or dry sherry
1 T soy sauce
1 C unsweetened apple juice and 1 C water, or 2 C vegetable stock
4 C pureed cooked pumpkin
salt and ground pepper to taste
1 C milk or half-and-half (optional)

Preparation:

• Break up any large pieces of porcini. Pour the boiling water over the porcini and set aside to soak.
• In a soup pot on medium heat, saute onions in the oil until softened.
• Add garlic, fresh mushrooms, thyme, sage, and saute until mushrooms are soft.
• Then add nutmeg, Marsala, and soy sauce, apple juice, water or stock and heat almost to a boil.
• Stir in the pumpkin.
• Remove the pumpkin from the soaking water with slotted spoon and add them to the soup. Pour the soaking water through a coffee filter or paper towel to remove any grit, then add to the soup.
• Add salt and pepper to taste and the milk/cream if you like.

*This recipe would also be delicious using a combination of pumpkin and winter squash.

Game Plan for Week 17

Here are a few ways I'm thinking of using the produce in this week's box:

Vegetarian Cobb Salad
Romaine speckled lettuce, finely diced red onion, roasted red pepper, cucumber, tomato wedges, sliced hard boiled egg, cubed Italian style tofu, cheddar cheese, crumbled Smart Bacon. Dressing: red wine vinegar, olive oil, Dijon mustard and chopped fresh oregano.

Ratatouille
Sautee chopped onion (red, white or yellow) and garlic in a large pot in olive oil. Peel and cube an eggplant. Add to the pot once the onions are translucent. Steam/saute eggplant until it starts to soften. Add chopped red pepper (large pieces) mushrooms (any kind), zucchini or yellow squash. Put in 1-2 cans diced stewed tomatoes. Bring heat up to a strong simmer, then lower and cook until vegetables are tender, about a half hour. Add fresh basil or parsley to taste for the last ten minutes of cooking. Top with shredded cheese, parmesan, or serve over couscous for a filling meal.

Cayenne Peppers – Dry or pickle for use later
http://www.essortment.com/home/growingdryingu_sadl.htm

Stuffed Acorn Squash – Vegan
See this link for a recipe and a video demo!
http://www.chooseveg.com/stuffed-acorn-squash.asp

Joy of (Modified) Pancakes

We love to mix up the grains when it comes to pancakes, and I have found that the basic recipe from The Joy of Cooking is very forgiving. Whatever combination of grains or kinds of milk I've used, the pancakes always come out tasty. I've included the original and my substitutions. Serve with blueberries, bananas, strawberries or a drizzle of pure maple syrup.

Makes about 12 5-inch cakes

Whisk together in a large bowl:

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (1/2 C whole wheat flour, 1/2 C oats, 1/2 C quinoa flakes, 2 T flax meal)
• 3 T sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Whisk together in another bowl:

• 1 1/2 cups milk (1 1/2 C soy, rice, or almond milks, or a combination)
• 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (3 T Smart Balance Light)
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla (optional)
  

Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and mix together until just combined. Fold in sliced bananas, blueberries, walnuts (or save them for your topping). Spoon 1/3 C batter onto the griddle (or pan at medium heat) and cook until the top of each pancake is speckled with bubbles. Flip, cook, and eat! Keep warm in the toaster or a 200 degree oven if you aren't quite ready to munch.

Tunisian Vegetable Stew

For those who were members last year, you might recall this recipe. It's still one of my favorite ways to use red cabbage and peppers.

Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 ½ cups thinly sliced onions
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cups thinly sliced cabbage
dash of salt
1 large green bell pepper, cut into think strips
2 teaspoons ground coriander
½ teaspoon turmeric
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
cayenne pepper to taste
3 cups undrained canned tomatoes, chopped (28 oz. can)
1 ½ cups drained cooked chick peas (16 oz. cans)
1/3 cup currants or raisins (optional)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Preparation:
In a large skillet, sauté onions in olive oil for about 5 minutes until soft. Add the cabbage, sprinkle with salt, and continue to sauté for at least five minutes. Add the bell pepper, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon, and cayenne to the skillet and sauté for another minute. Stir in the tomatoes, chickpeas, and optional currants or raisins, and simmer, covered for 15 minutes, until the vegetables are just tender. Add the lemon juice and salt to taste. Top with crumbled feta or almond slivers if you like.


Source: Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home, 1994

This Week's Plan

So I see that we will be getting the mysterious alien vegetable Kohlrabi in our boxes. Now before you immediately chuck it into the swap box today, consider all the wonderful possibilities this veggie has to offer. As a rule treat it like you would a turnip, so it can go into soups or vegetable mashes, or mix it with some potatoes, onions (and maybe even this week's zucchinis, and roast in the oven with some olive oil, thyme and garlic for a wonderful side dish. Still not convinced? Heres a recipe that, if you replace the cream with Mayonnaise, will make a tangy variation on a waldorf salad.

Personally, I'm a radish Fiend so I cant wait to eat them raw, in a salad, or like they used to do it in the old country, dipped in a salt cellar. Braising them in butter is also a great way to mellow them out.

If you've never had the chanceto roast peppers, this week is your chance to go for it! just place them directly over the grates of a burner and rotate them with tongs every once in a while until the skin turns 90% black. Let them cool, and then use a paring knife to scrape the skin off leaving nice soft peppers than can be used in hundreds of ways. I put them in quinoa to make a nice salad, or simmer them in tomato sauce for a flavorful pasta sauce.

Finally, while peaches are great on their own, I've been halving them brushing them with a bit of honey, and then putting them on a very hot grill for just a minute until there are grill marks. This adds a really nice smokiness and makes for a wonderful dessert, alone, topped with cream or a simple mint syrup.

Any more ideas? leave them in the comments below!

Fruit torte

“Plum” torte

 

¾ cup sugar

1 cup flour (sift before adding)

1 tsp baking power

1 tsp cinnamon

½ cup oil

2 eggs

pinch of salt

plums  (apples, peaches, pears, apricots, blueberries – whatever you have is really fine)

 

Heat oven to 350°F.

 

With a mixer, cream the sugar and oil, beat in eggs.  Add the flour, baking powder, ciand salt.  You can mix the fruit in the batter or if you like you can place in a 9- or 10-inch springform pan OR in a pie pan.  Arrange the slices of fruit, skin side down.  Cram in as much fruit as you like – the cake will rise and cover what you’ve placed in there.  Sprinkle top with sugar and cinnamon.

 

Bake 40-50 minutes, until center tests done with a tooth pick.

 

Note:  This torte may be refrigerated for several days before use.

 

Easy kale saute

This may be a little late, but we made a great kale dish a couple of weeks ago, and it was really simple. The proportions are really up to you.

Half an onion, chopped
Two regular sized cloves of garlic, minced
Kale (however much you have)
1 zucchini, sliced into thin rounds
Mushrooms, any kind, sliced (we used button)
Salt and pepper to taste

Just saute it all up, starting with the garlic and onion. We ate it over couscous and couldn't get over how flavorful and delicious it was. Enjoy!

Salad Ideas from Mark Bittman

Need some salad inspiration? Check out Bittman's latest article from the NY Times, "101 Simple Salads for the Season, " (July 21, 2009). There really are 101 ideas!

Prospect Park Potato Salad

From Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook

This recipe says it makes a lot.

5 pounds potatoes, peeled and washed
1 seedless cucumber, sliced into small thin pieces
1 C Vegenaise
¼ C Dijon mustard (whole grain is best)
¼ C olive oil
1/3 C distilled white vinegar
2 T sugar
1 T dried dill
1 t turmeric
1 ½ t salt, or to taste
1 t ground black pepper, or to taste
1 large carrot, peeled

1. Slice the potatoes so that they are somewhere between ¼ and ½ inch thick.
2. Boil the potatoes for about 15 minutes, keeping an eye on them. Check that you can easily pierce them with a fork, but they should not be falling apart.
3. Drain and rinse under cold water. Let them cool about 15 minutes before adding to the dressing.
4. Make the dressing in a large mixing bowl big enough to add the potatoes to later on.
5. Mix the vegan mayo, mustard, olive oil, sugar, vinegar, dill, turmeric, salt, and pepper. Whisk briskly. Add the cucumber and place in the fridge until the potatoes are ready.
6. Add the potatoes to the dressing and use a wooden spoon to mix and coat hem. Grate the carrot directly into the salad (grating helps maximize the sweetness).
7. Adjust for seasonings, chill one hour, and serve.

Tofu Frittata

This is Christina Pirello’s recipe from Vegetarian Times (Jan/Feb 2008)

This is the original recipe and it is very adaptable to whatever vegetables you have around. Try it with this week's red kale, or chard, onion, and mushroom, or use up leftover steamed broccoli, onion, and red pepper.

2 T olive oil
1 small red onion, diced (3/4 C)
2 small carrots, diced (1 C)
5 green onions, chopped (3/4 C)
1 small zucchini, diced (3/4 C)
1 12 oz. package extra firm tofu, drained
3 T grated vegan mozzarella
3 T low-sodium soy sauce
6 plum tomatoes, sliced

1. Preheat oven to 375. Coat a 10 inch casserole dish or 24 cup mini-muffin tin with cooking spray.
2. Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Saute red onion 3-4 minutes, or until soft. Add carrots, green onions, and zucchini, and sauté 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and cook three more minutes or until vegetables are crisp tender. Remove from heat.
3. Puree tofu, mozzarella, and soy sauce in the food processor for two minutes, or until smooth and thick. Stir tofu mixture into vegetable mixture and spoon into muffin tin or casserole dish.
4. Arrange tomato slices on top of frittata. Bake 40-45 minutes for large frittata, 25-30 minutes for mini-frittats, or until top is firm to the touch. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Green Bean Salad Nicoise

This is a great way to use your green beans even if they're starting to look not-so-great. The light steaming gives you a second chance.

Make the base of the salad:

• Wash and trim green beans. Steam them lightly (a few minutes? I never count but just watch and test with a fork to make sure they’re not too crunchy). Submerge the beans into an ice bath so they retain their bright green color.
• Cut new red potatoes into quarters (or halves, depending on size) and boil them until they are just fork tender but not mushy. Drain and cool.

Choose your toppings for the salad:

• Sliced hard boiled eggs
• black olives
• tomato wedges
• cucumber chunks
• sliced red onion
  
• a can of salmon or tuna or maybe just a can of chickpeas

Arrange the salad elements individually on a large platter.

I know there are specific Nicoise dressings, but I usually swish around some combination of olive oil, Dijon mustard and apple cider vinegar and find I’m happy. Sometimes I add some chopped fresh oregano to the mix for a very summery flavor.

New Delhi Vegetarian Vegetable Soup

This light, but tasty recipe is from a cookbook titled Indian Regional Classics by Julie Sahni. I find it a little thin for my taste, so in addition to the vegetables she uses, I like to start the pot with a sauteed mirepoix (onion, carrots, and celery). I find a few shakes of soy sauce adds some depth as well. If super spicy is not your scene, reduce the ground red pepper accordingly as this recipe is fairly hot.

Serves 6

1 2-lb. head cauliflower
2 med. potatoes, peeled and diced
2 cups chopped peeled tomatoes, fresh or canned
1 tsp. turmeric
1/2 tsp. ground red pepper
2 TBLS vegetable oil
1 tsp. cumin seeds
3 cups water
1 cup frozen peas
Coarse salt and black pepper
1/2 lightly packed cup chopped cilantro leaves and tender stems

1. Trim the cauliflower and cut it into florets. peel the stems and cut them in to small pieces. Combine the cauliflower, potatoes, tomatoes, turmeric and red pepper in a bowl.

2. Heat the oil in a deep pot over medium-high heat. Add the cumin and cook until the seeds turn dark brown. Add the vegetable-spice mixture and water. Bring to a boil. lower the heat and simmer, covered, until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes. Add the frozen peas and continue to cook for 10 minutes. Season with salt and black pepper.

3. Sprinkle with the chopped cilantro and serve.

Whats in our box this week and how I'm planning on using it.

I'm having a big sheva brachot party this friday night for friends that just got married which means I'm either going to have to supplement my box, or be creative about how to stretch what's in there to serve 20+ people. Here's what I have in mind so far. The cucumbers, lettuce and broccoli should become a nice green salad with a simple vinaigrette. But thats a no brainer, so we're left with kale, which I've had a bit of already in the past few weeks (though check out my video below for an idea), so thats going right in the freezer, and zucchini and basil. The succhini will be diced and added for colour and flavour to some rice. If you can find it (Treasure Island and whole foods usually stock it), get some forbidden black rice. It has a more complex flavour and is definitely more dramatic. The basil will likely get chopped and sprinkled over fresh strawberries. Thats right, strawberries. I make a glaze with balsamic vinegar and brown sugar (whisk a fair amount into the vinegar until it's syrupy), drizzle that over some strawberries and then finish it it a sprinkling of basil. Very different and very delicious.

What are YOU going to do with your box? let us know in the comments section.

Making Vegetable Stock

Stock is a kitchen staple and will make your dishes taste much better than using plain water. Here's a how-to from Madeline Guzman.

Do I have to throw away my vegetable scraps?
Madeline Guzman
Newsletter Editor Tuv Ha’Aretz in Rockville, MD

Here’s a green idea! Instead of throwing away the vegetable scraps you don’t want, save them by turning them into stock.

This is what to do. Collect and save well-scrubbed vegetable peelings, roots, stalks, leaves (NOT rhubarb), and ends that you would otherwise discard (nothing spoiled or moldy!) Be sure to use onions, carrots, and celery as part of this mix. Other good vegetables to use are leeks, scallions, garlic, fennel, chard, lettuce, potatoes, parsnips, green beans, squash, bell peppers, eggplant, mushrooms, and asparagus. Additionally, you can add corn cobs, winter squash skins, beet greens, and herbs like parsley and cilantro. Avoid using cabbage, brussel sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, turnips, rutabagas, or artichokes – all of which tend to have an overpowering taste. Be aware that onion skins will turn the stock brown and beet roots will turn it red. Chop the veggie scraps into similar sized pieces and store in your freezer while collecting them.

When ready to use, add 4 cups of veggie scraps to 2 quarts of water and simmer on the stove for an hour to make vegetable stock. After simmering, remove veggie scraps from the liquid, and press the veggie scraps to extract and save as much liquid as possible. Warning: the taste might be odd (my family and I agreed that the stock I made tasted truly weird!) because it is only the unseasoned liquid made from a conglomeration of vegetables. Not to worry. Allow the liquid to cool; then freeze it. Use this vegetable stock as a base for your next homemade soup. My Chinese Cabbage Soup (recipe below used with my weird-tasting veggie stock came out excellent!


Chinese Cabbage Soup
Serves 12         
 
Hearty and a bit picante!
 
2 Tbsp olive oil                                                       4 large potatoes, peeled & diced
1 large onion, chopped                                            1 Tbsp dried oregano
4 green onions, chopped                                         2 tsp dried basil
1 clove garlic (or 1 garlic scape), minced                  1 tsp black pepper
4 stalks celery with leaves (chopped)                       1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
3 large carrots, cubes (with a few minced greens)     2 bay leaves
1 ½ quarts vegetable broth                                      1 tsp salt
4 8-oz cans tomato sauce
1 (15-oz) can black beans
1 small (or ½ large) Chinese cabbage, shredded
 
Heat the olive oil in a soup pot, and sauté white onions, green onions, and garlic until tender.  Mix in the celery and carrots. Stir in broth, tomato sauce, black beans, Chinese cabbage, and potatoes.  Season with oregano, basil, black pepper, cayenne pepper, bay leaves, and salt.  Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally until veggies are tender.  Remove bay leaves (if you can find them) before serving.   
 
2008- Adapted from a recipe by Wakulachef submitted to allrecipes.com                                             

Tabbouleh salad

This comes from Hazon's Leah Koenig in NY, a wonderful cook and even more wonderful writer!


I grew up eating my mother’s American tabbouleh–starchy, lemon-doused bulgur salad. This was the 1980s, when many American Jews were incorporating “Israeli-style” foods into their culinary repertoire. But while my mom’s tabbouleh was delicious, I later discovered that it hardly resembled the authentic version, which features a higher ratio of painstakingly chopped fresh parsley and tomatoes to grains of bulgur.

Tabbouleh, which comes from the Arabic word tabil (”to spice”), is not actually an Israeli or Jewish dish, per se.

It originated in the Levant, the historic Middle Eastern region that encapsulated a large swath of land east of the Mediterranean Sea, including modern-day Israel along with Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian territories, Jordan, and southern Turkey, among other countries. Like hummus and falafel, tabbouleh is tied to the broader region as opposed to one particular nationality or culture. Still, it has become an integral part of modern Israeli cuisine, most often served for summer lunches or as part of a salad course.

While bulgur is not traditionally tabbouleh’s star ingredient, it is, perhaps, the dish’s most defining component. An immediate relative of cracked wheat, bulgur is made from wheat berries that have been ground, partially cooked, and dried, making it a quick-cooking and relatively inexpensive base or addition to countless recipes (like these).

According to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle: “Archaeological finds in Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean suggest that people have been processing wheat into bulgur for millennia”–and the obsession continues today. The same article revealed that in the present day, Turks, who historically helped spread the grain’s popularity across the region, consume “about a half-pound of bulgur a week per capita.”

Bulgur adds texture and substance to the otherwise all-vegetable tabbouleh, cutting the acidic lemon juice and tomatoes with its hearty, nutty flavor. In Israel, the dish is often served with pita bread, which aids in wiping up any excess juice, but there are other options, too. According to cookbook author, Poopa Dweck, who authored, Aroma’s of Aleppo: The Legendary Cuisine of Syrian Jews, in old Aleppo, tabbouleh was served with romaine lettuce leaves.

Tabbouleh can apparently also make people dance–but you’ll just have to try it and see.

Tabbouleh
Serves 8.

3/4-1 cup fine bulgur soaked in hot water for 10-15 minutes, drained
5-6 Tablespoons good quality olive oil (do not skimp on quality–you will taste the difference)
juice of 3-4 medium lemons
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 Tablespoon kosher salt
1 pint grape tomatoes, chopped
5 scallions, chopped
1 bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
one large handful fresh mint, chopped, plus extra for garnish

Combine the bulgur, olive oil, lemon, cumin, and salt in a bowl and let stand for 20-30 minutes while chopping vegetables. Add remaining ingredients and mix. Serve sprinkled with more fresh mint.

An Idea for Greens

Heres a little video I put together with a recipe for chicken stuffed with chard. The edits are a wee bit slapdash, but gimme a break, it was my first effort at this.

Cucumber Salad

My grandparents always had this on the table when I was growing up. If you have a mandolin or a food processor with a slicing disk, this is the time to use it!

3-4 cucumbers, peeled and very thinly sliced
1 small onion, very thinly sliced
Salt
1/8 cup white vinegar
1/8 cup water
1 tbsp. sugar
White or black pepper
Paprika

1. Sprinkle the cucumbers with salt and let sit for 10-15 minutes.
2. In a separate bowl, mix vinegar, water and sugar. Add a sprinkle of pepper and paprika.
3. Squeeze out the cucumbers and add to the brine. Add the onions. There should be enough liquid to mostly cover. If there's not, add a little more water, vinegar and sugar.
4. Let the cucumbers marinate in the fridge for at least an hour before serving.

Kohlrabi Hash Browns

This is not the exact recipe that was in Farmer John's Cookbook, but it's similar.

Kohlrabi Hash Browns

4 medium kohlrabi bulbs, washed, peeled
1 small onion, chopped
2 eggs slightly beaten
2 tablespoons dried bread crumbs
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes crushed
Black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil

Shred kohlrabi; squeeze out excess moisture.
Combine all ingredients except oil in a large mixing bowl; stir until well blended.
Heat oil in a large skillet. Fry kohlrabi mixture in batches; sautéing until golden, about 4 minutes per side.
Drain on paper towels.
Serves 4 to 5.

Braised Chard

This super easy side dish goes well with just about anything.

Saute chopped onion and garlic in olive oil until golden.
Add chard that has been cut into bite-sized pieces, and saute for another minute or so.
Add stock to cover the bottom of the pan, about 1/4 to 1/2 inch depending on how much chard you have.
Season with salt and pepper, stir, and cover. Stir occasionally under chard is tender.