Gazpacho

I am not a cucumber fan, but Thom likes them OK. So when we got cucumbers in our farm box, again, I decided to try to do something with one of them instead of just giving them all away. I had heard of gazpacho, a cold soup that has cucumbers in it. Thom even reminded me that we used to get it from a local catering company that had a take-out business close by before Aaron was born. But I can't remember it very well.

I found a basic recipe on Cooks.com and modified it. Although I often prefer to start with recipes from AllRecipes.com since I can see how other people rated a recipe, I had a hard time finding one with primarily fresh ingredients. Most called for tomato juice or canned tomatoes. Here is my recipe:

3 medium-large tomatoes, quartered
1/2 large cucumber, peeled and cut into thick slices
1 small red bell pepper, seeded and cut into large pieces
1 large shallot, quartered
1 clove garlic
1 handful fresh cilantro
2 Tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp tarragon vinegar
salt
ground black pepper

Puree in a blender. Chill at least 2 hours before serving.

Thom liked it, but felt like it was missing something. He added celery seed to his, which he liked. I did see recipes calling for celery, but wasn't sure how well it would puree in the blender. He also liked it with white pepper. I liked the cilantro, which I only used because we had some fresh from the farm box. And The Flavor Bible confirmed that cilantro goes with cucumbers. If I was serving it to guests, I might garnish with a dollop of sour cream and a sprig of cilantro.

Some recipes suggest garnishing with sour cream or croutons, but I just served it as is. It was quick and easy to make and I didn't have to run the oven or stove which was a huge plus.

Giant Tomato

Our neighbors gave us some tomatoes last week, including the one on the left. It is a giant heirloom tomato, probably twice as big as our Mr. Stripey I posted a couple weeks ago. It must have weighed at least a pound. The one on the right came from our farm box last week. It is a good sized tomoto, although you can't tell from this picture. It filled the palm of my hand. We used the giant heirloom to make a big plate of caprese salad last night. Delicious!

Gestatinal Diabetes

I was recently diagnosed with gestational diabetes, so my food focus has been on preparing meals according to my new diet guidelines. I find myself buying fruits and veggies I wouldn't otherwise buy outside of what I get from my farm share since my diet is restricted in so many ways. I probably won't be posting too much on this blog over the next few months, but I have started a blog dedicated to eating with gestational diabetes. You can get to it from my profile. Hopefully many of my meals will still be focused on locally grown foods and I will update this blog as I can.

Caprese Salad

This is our first Mr. Stripey tomato. It is an heirloom variety and the first time we've tried growing this kind. It's hard to tell from the picture without anything to compare it with, but this is a giant tomato, probably the length of my hand. The fruit is sweet and juicy. We used it to make caprese salad last night, although I was so hungry, I forgot to take a picture of the prepared plate.

Caprese involves tomato, fresh mozzarella and basil. We prefer to use bufala mozzarella, made from buffalo's milk rather than cow's milk. It has a distinct taste and texture, but it is more expensive. I think a ball of fresh bufala mozzarrella at Trader Joe's is around $6. But, considering our idea of eating out these days involves going to In-N-Out burger twice a month where the three of us can eat for under $11, we splurge on good food at home once in awhile.

To make caprese, I slice the tomato into 1/3" slices (it was more challenging with Mr. Stripey's odd shape) and lay them out on a large plate. Then I slice the mozzarella, only as thin as necessary depending on how many slices of tomato I have (usually we have 8-10 slices). We grind fresh pepper over the cheese, then top it with a basil leaf. Simple, but so delicious. It tastes like summer to me. Like our summer pasta, we only make this when we have home grown tomatoes in season, never with store bought tomatoes (although if we get tomatoes from our CSA farm, we will do it with those, too). So while the bufala mozzarella is expensive, we only buy it 2-3 months out of the year.

Update 7/21: Here is a picture I took 2 nights ago using another Mr. Stripey as well as two smaller red tomotoes (I'm not sure the variety).

Grilled Eggplant and Zucchini

We had two eggplants in our farm box this week. I once had eggplant Parmesan at a restaurant that was divine. And I've had eggplant Parmesan from the freezer section of Trader Joe's that is OK. But I think I tried to make it once without success. So I didn't know what to do with these eggplants. But since we were grilling chicken that night, I decided to try grilling the eggplant. And a zucchini, since I never know what to do with that, either. The zucchini came out decent. But the eggplant was disappointing. Eggplant has a strange consistency that seems hard to overcome. And a slight bitterness that needs to be masked. But here's how I made it.

3 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp minced garlic (I used jarred minced garlic)
salt
pepper

Mix ingredients together to make marinade.

I sliced a small zucchini in half and brushed each half with the marinade.

I sliced the eggplant into 1/3"-1/2" slices and brushed the cut side of each piece with marinade(i.e. not the skin side).

I cooked them on the rack in the back of the BBQ to start, so they were not directly over the heat. After about 7-8 min, I realized they were cooking too slowly and when I turned them over, I moved them over direct heat.

If anyone knows a good way to cook egglant, let me know. I'm not sure what to do with the other eggplant we received.

Oatmeal with fresh fruit

This is another recipe inspired by our backyard harvest. Our small peach tree is laden with fruit at the moment. The birds and critters are starting to enjoy their share. One of our apple trees, an Anna apple, we think, is also loaded with fruit. So this morning, I decided to use both in some oatmeal. I confirmed in the Flavor Bible that peaches go well with apples, as well as cinnamon, nutmeg, oatmeal, unsalted butter, vanilla and brown sugar. You can also make this with chopped nuts, which I would add at the beginning with the fruit.

I make my oatmeal with milk because I find it tastes richer and helps fill me up. But you can make it with water if you prefer.

1 cup quick cook steel cut oats

3 cups milk

1 medium peach, chopped

1 medium apple, chopped

1 Tbsp brown sugar

1 Tbsp unsalted butter

1 tsp vanilla

2 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp nutmeg

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add fruit and brown sugar. Saute for several minutes until fruit is softened. Add oats and stir. Then stir in milk, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg. Bring to a boil and cook stirring constantly for about 5 minutes.

Makes 2-3 servings.

This is even better with some maple syrup mixed in or more brown sugar. But I kept the sugar light this time because I'm trying to watch my sugar intake.

Summer Pasta

This recipe comes from our own garden, which I also consider part of community supported agriculture - it's just a very small community of our family. We make it up to twice a week while we have tomatoes in season. We never make it with store bought tomatoes, since it just isn't the same. Once the tomatoes are coming in, we buy a potted basil plant and use that to supply the basil for the recipe. It's simple to make and delicious.

Below is the recipe with suggested quantities. But I often use more tomatoes and basil when I have it.

1 package pasta (I prefer the Garlic & Basil linguine from Trader Joe's)
1 dozen cherry tomatoes, cut in quarters (I used both red and yellow cherries in this dish)
6 large basil leaves, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Fresh Parmesan, grated

In a large bowl, combine tomatoes, basil, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. Cook and drain pasta. Add pasta to bowl and toss to mix ingredients. Top with fresh Parmesan.

This makes two large servings.

Chicken Stir Fry

Since I got bok choy in my last farm box, I decided to make stir fry again. I had made chicken stir fry the first time I got bok choy and it was OK, but I learned from my mistakes and it came out better this time.

I used 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts which I always have on hand in the freezer from Trader Joe's. They say you don't need to defrost before baking, or if you do defrost frozen chicken, you should do it in the fridge. I rarely plan my meals far enough in advance to put the chicken in the refrigerator the night before, and since I want to marinate it prior to cooking, I need it thawed.

So I use the quick, but supposedly less safe, method of defrosting the chicken in a plastic bag in a bowl of cold water. I replace the water several times so it doesn't get warm, and it doesn't sit in the water for more than an hour. In fact, it doesn't usually defrost completely since I just need it defrosted enough to cut it into slices that I can place in the marinade. By the time it is ready to cook, it has finished defrosting.

Here's my recipe. Both my husband and son enjoy it.

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into slices
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup beef broth
1 clove of garlic minced (I used equivalent amount of jarred minced garlic from Trader Joe's)

1 large shallot, chopped
2-3 bunches of bok choy, chopped
2 medium carrots, sliced
2 ribs of celery, sliced
1 Tbsp canola oil

Combine soy sauce, canola oil and beef broth in small baking dish. Mix together with garlic. Add chicken and stir to coat. Marinate in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Heat 1 Tbsp canola oil in wok over medium high. Add chicken and cook for several minutes until cooked through. While it is cooking, I put the baking dish with the marinade in the microwave for 2 minutes, until boiling, to cook any residue of the chicken. (I plan to add it later, but I'm not sure it will be in the pan long enough to be safe to eat.)

Remove chicken from wok and set in bowl. Add more canola oil if necessary. Stir fry bok choy, carrots and celery for several minutes until vegetables become tender. Return chicken to the wok and add the marinade. Stir to mix ingredients, then remove from heat. Serve over a bed of rice.

This makes roughly 4 adult servings.

Coleslaw

Last night I made coleslaw with cabbage and carrots I got in the last farm box. I've never made coleslaw before and I'm not usually a fan of restaurant slaw which tends to have too much dressing for my taste. But I had a pregnancy craving for a fresh, light coleslaw, so I tried it out last night. I found a simple, 5 ingredient recipe on allrecipes.com that I decided to try. I modified it slightly, reducing the sugar and increasing the vinegar since I prefer a tangier taste. I also planned to reduce the mayo a little since I'm not a big fan, but found out I only had about a 1/3 of a cup anyway (the recipe called for 1 cup). So I ended up mixing the dressing in the mayonnaise jar to get as much as possible.

In the end, my first bite still tasted too much like mayo for my taste (so I'm glad I didn't have more on hand), but after a few bites, I didn't notice it as much. It was pretty good and I'm hoping some time in the fridge will improve it. You can tell in the picture that this coleslaw is not heavy with dressing - just the way I like it. The cabbage and carrots were so fresh and good, they didn't need too much added flavor.

Here's the recipe as I made it:

1 small head of cabbage, shredded
3 medium carrots, shredded
1/3 cup (approx) of mayo
1/4 cup sugar
3/8 cup apple cider vinegar

Mix shredded cabbage and carrots in a large bowl. In a small bowl, mix mayo, sugar and vinegar. Pour over slaw and toss to coat.

In researching coleslaw recipes, I also came across a good post on someone's blog on how to shred cabbage, since I hadn't made coleslaw before. She also explains why doing it with a knife is best. You can read about it here.

Latest farm share

Today I picked up my fourth box. It had:

1 Avacado
6 Beets
3 Bok Choy
2 small Cabbages
About 12 Carrots
1 bunch Celery
small bunch Collard Greens
2 large Cucumbers
Cherries
Fennel
4 Leeks
2 heads of Lettuce
3 Grapefruits
5 Oranges
About 10 Radishes

I was disappointed there were not strawberries, but the cherries are delicious, better than any store bought cherries I've had in years.

I know I'll make stir fry with the carrots, celery, bok choy and possibly cabbage and leeks. And we'll have some good salads with the lettuce. But I'm dreading cooking collard greens again. And I'm also not sure what I'll do with the fennel, which is not a flavor I particularly like, but I am going to give it a try. I've never eaten fresh fennel.

Farm fresh eggs

On http://www.localharvest.org/ I found a local farm that sells eggs. You have to call ahead to arrange pickup and to get directions. The owners sell them from their home and bring them out to you in your car. I found out via e-mail that they have 7 sizes of eggs ranging from Pee Wee to Super Jumbo. They have so many different sizes (and colors) because they have so many different sizes and breeds of chickens.

I called and arranged my first pickup last week. I ordered a dozen Extra Large eggs since this is the size I'm used to using in recipes. Most of my eggs were shades of brown, but we did get one light blue egg. The farm was about 25 minutes away, although only about 12-15 miles. It was a nice drive and their neighbors had horses that Aaron enjoyed looking at. One had an adorable colt.

They were more expensive than store bought eggs and obviously less convenient to buy. But I like supporting local farmers. I like getting farm fresh eggs from free range chickens. And I know they will last a month in my fridge rather than the 2-3 weeks out that store bought eggs are normally dated.

This particular farm also sells their free range chickens, and in the fall, heritage turkeys, for eating. They call people who are interested when they are processing the birds, so you can't just buy them whenever you want. But I got on the list to be notified so we can try them out. We are especially interested in the heritage turkeys which are supposed to be more flavorful than traditional turkeys available in the store.

Tofu Stir Fry

It only seems fair to post the duds along with the good recipes. I had high hopes for this tofu stir fry. I had made a stir fry earlier with bok choy, carrots and celery, using chicken for my protein. But for something different, I decided to use tofu. Also, instead of bok choy, I had cabbage, which I knew should make a good stir fry.

The problem with tofu is it has no flavor except what you put on it. I knew this, so I marinated it for at least an hour. It still came out flavorless. I think part of the problem was that I didn't use enough soy sauce. The last time I made stir fry, it came out too salty, so I scaled back the soy sauce this time, to ill effect. If I do this one again, I would definitely use more soy sauce. And maybe more garlic and/or shallots.

1/2 head of cabbage, chopped
4 medium carrots, cut into 1/8" x 2-3" strips
2 ribs of celery, sliced
6 crimini mushrooms, sliced
1 can sliced water chestnuts
1 shallot, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ginger powder
1 lb firm tofu, cut into rectangular pieces
3 Tbsp soy sauce
3 Tbsp water
2 Tbsp canola oil

Create a marinade of the soy sauce, water, oil, ginger, and 1 minced clove of garlic. Mix well and add tofu. Marinate at least one hour, shaking every 10 minutes or so to coat the tofu.

Saute the shallots, mushrooms and remaining garlic. Add the cabbage, carrots, celery and water chestnuts and cook a few minutes until veggies start to become tender. Add tofu and marinade, continuing to cook and coat the veggies with the sauce.

Serve over a bed of rice.

Swiss Chard and Bacon Quiche

I recently made this recipe a second time. The first time we got swiss chard in our farm box, I didn't know what to do. But I got the idea in my head to make a quiche. Sure enough, when I looked in the Flavor Bible, chard goes well with egg dishes. And bacon, shallots, oregano, cheese, mushrooms, and garlic. And polenta. Not wanting to deal with making a traditional crust on a weeknight, I found and modified an online polenta crust recipe. I decided to put the oregano in the crust rather than the quiche, which gave it a wonderful fragrant smell while it was cooking.

I forgot to add the cheese when making it the second time (which is when the picture above was taken), but it was so delicious, I didn't even realize until later that night. The first time I made this quiche, Thom liked it so much, he had thirds. I knew then I'd be making it again.

Note: The second time I made this, I didn't read my directions accurately. I ended up cooking the quiche at 450 for 30 minutes. It came out fine. In fact, it was more set up than the first one I made.

Polenta Crust:
1 ½ cup uncooked polenta
1 ½ cold water
2 cups boiling water
Salt
¼ c. fresh oregano, chopped
Olive oil

Preheat oven to 375°.

Mix polenta, cold water, salt and oregano. Add to boiling water in sauce pan. Cook, stirring frequently, over medium heat for 10 minutes. Polenta mixture will thicken.

Let cool for 10-15 minutes. Spread into oiled pie pan with rubber spatula. Bake 30 minutes.

Quiche:

4 eggs
Scant 1 cup milk
Scant 1 cup heavy cream
5-6 stalks/leaves of swiss chard, chopped
5 crimini mushrooms, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 shallot, chopped
¾ c. Quattro Formaggio (from Trader Joe’s) or other shredded cheese combination
1 Tbsp olive oil (optional)
3-4 slices of uncured applewood smoked bacon
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450°.

Beat together eggs, milk, cream, salt and pepper. Stir in about ½ c. of the shredded cheese and set mixture aside.

Cook bacon in sauté pan until crispy. Set on paper towels. Drain off all but about 2 Tbsp of bacon grease. Add mushrooms and shallot to pan and sauté 1 minute. Add olive oil if needed, then add swiss chard and garlic. Sauté until chard is softened.

Add sautéed veggies to egg mixture then crumble the bacon and add it to the mixture as well. Stir to mix ingredients, and then pour into prepared pie crust. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top.

Bake for 15 minutes. Then reduce temperature to 350° and cook another 25-30 minutes, until quiche is set. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.

Drunken Collards

This was my first experiment with collard greens - and the first time Thom or I have eaten collards, to my knowledge. My recipe was loosely based on a recipe from Emeril's website. I added red pepper flakes because it is supposed to complement collard greens and Thom likes spicy food. I had wanted to try a recipe I saw that called for chicken broth instead of beer, but we were all out.

1 large bunch of collard greens (about 12 leaves)
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 12 oz. beer (I used Bass because it was in the fridge, but not sure it's the best beer for this recipe)
salt
pepper
red pepper flakes

Wash collards and pat dry. Remove stalks and thick center part of leaves. Stack leaves up and roll them up length-wise. Cut into 1/2" strips.

Heat oil in wok on medium high heat. Add garlic and sautee until it starts to brown. Add shredded collards and stir to coat with oil and garlic. Then add beer, salt, pepper and pepper flakes. Stir fequently. Cook approximately 20 minutes, until collards are tender.

I can't say either of us liked this recipe. But someone who likes collards might. While we were eating, Thom got out the Flavor Bible and looked up collard greens. Then he says "I thought bacon would go with it" after confirming that bacon is one of the ingredients that supposedly complements collards. I knew it would be better with bacon but was too lazy and constrained for time to cook some. If we get collards again, we will try a different recipe using bacon.

As I was eating them, I consoled myself by thinking that they must be full of good vitamins. Sure enough, collards are a good source of vitamins K, A, and C, as well as a good source of folate and calcium and other nutrients.

Sauteed Zucchini

Our last farm box had 4 zucchini. I gave 2 away since Thom is not a big squash fan, but was determined to try a new recipe with the other 2. As it turned out, Thom said it was "Okay". Which is pretty good for him describing squash.

2 medium zucchini (or summer squash), sliced into 1/8" pieces
1 medium shallot, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp fresh oregano, chopped
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp chicken broth
Salt and Pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese

Saute shallot and garlic over medium heat for 1-2 minutes. Add zucchini. Stir frequently and continue cooking over high heat. After the squash has started to soften, stir in oregano. Near end of cooking time, add remaining ingredients, grating fresh Parmesan over the squash last. Cook to desired doneness. The broth and juice should mostly cook off by the time it is done.

I almost wasn't sure about the lemon juice, although the Flavor Bible said it should complement the squash. A white wine might also be good in this.

I served the squash with a Trader Joe's mushroom risotto mix that I cooked with chicken broth and with some sliced up chicken cilantro sausage that I cooked in the pan after removing the squash. (I would have cooked the sausage first to transfer some of the flavor to the zucchini by cooking it in the pan aftwards, but the sausage is spicy and I wasn't sure Aaron would eat the squash if it came out spicy.) The Flavor Bible indicated that zucchini goes well with sausage and risotto. Although by itself, the squash dish was good (not great), we ate it together in a bowl with the risotto and sausage and the flavors really went well together.

Haricot Vert

Hericot Vert is the french word for green beans, and the name I've given this recipe. Although it is one I came up with many years ago, I recently made it using farm fresh green beans from our co-op and it was excellent. The great thing about this recipe is that the amount of green beans can vary quite a bit depending on how many you have. If I have more green beans, I use more mushrooms to maintain a good ratio.

1/2 to 1 lb green beans, washed and cut into 2-3" pieces
5-8 crimini mushrooms, sliced
1 large shallot, chopped fine
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp butter
salt
pepper
Parmesan cheese

Heat butter and oil in large skillet or wok. Saute garlic, shallot, and mushrooms 2-3 minutes over medium high heat. Allow shallots to carmelize if desired. Add green beans. Stir frequently. When green beans start to soften, add salt and pepper to taste. Continue to cook until desired doneness. Several minutes before removing from heat, grate approximately 1-2 Tbsp fresh Parmesan cheese over green beans and stir in.

Parmesan is a flavor enhancer. Even a little can really affect the taste of this dish. I'm not going for a cheesy flavor.

I have made a low fat version of this leaving out the butter and adding some chicken broth for added flavor.

The Flavor Bible

By and far my biggest inspiration for new recipes based on the fresh produce I am getting is The Flavor Bible. It's not a cookbook in the traditional sense, but I already can't imagine cooking without it.

The Flavor Bible lets me look up ingredients alphabetically and see what ingredients complement it. When I wanted to stir fry some bok choy, I discovered that it went well with the carrots and celery I also had from the farm share, as well as mushrooms, shallots, garlic, and chicken, other ingredients I happened to have on hand.

I've been telling all my friends who enjoy creating new recipes about this book. Anyone who likes to cook based on what they have on hand rather than by planning and shopping ahead of time, will love this book. I received this book for Christmas and opened it a few times earlier this year. But since joining the CSA farm, I use this book several times per week.

Strawberry Shortcake

In our first farm share box, we received 3 pints of strawberries. In the second, we received 4 pints. These are fresh picked, organic strawberries and they do not last more than a few days. So I came up with a simple, decadent shortcake recipe.

1 pint strawberries

3 Tbsp sugar

1/2 cup whipping cream

2 frozen Trader Joe's Buttermilk Biscuits

Clean and slice strawberries. Place in bowl and sprinkle with 1/2 the sugar. Stir. Allow to macerate 20-30 minutes.

Follow directions for baking the biscuits. They take about 20 minutes.

Prepare whipped cream with cream and remaining sugar. Whip with electric mixer until thick.

Allow cooked biscuits to cool slightly. Slice each biscuit in half. Spoon almost 1/2 the strawberries onto each biscuit. Top with whip cream. Pour remaining strawberries and juice over the two shortcakes.

Makes 2 servings.

Introduction

I've known about the idea of community supported agriculture (or CSA, or farm co-ops) for awhile now, perhaps since my book club read Barbara Kingsolver's book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. I've also been interested in the idea since hearing about problems with "factory farming" from friends who have read Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma and from my own reading of his book In Defense of Food. I believe smaller CSA farms are more sustainable and better for the environment than large, corporate owned farms. They also tend to be organic farms, which I think is not only better for the environment, but makes for healthier food. But as much as I like the idea of organic produce and buying locally, it has always seemed too expensive. Especially when I go to the local farmer's market where my $20 budget tends to yield less than a grocery bag of produce.

But then we found out that friends or ours were members of a local CSA. And I was shocked at how affordable it is. For $30 a box, which you can pick up either every week or every other week, depending on your needs, you get about 2 paper grocery bags full of organic, farm-fresh produce. The reason they can sell it so affordably is that members pay by the quarter and take whatever is in season. So they have a reliable market and can plan accordingly since people commit to 3 months at a time. I imagine in the winter months, we wouldn't get as much produce, despite paying the same amount per box, but it still seems like quite a deal.

We signed up for a 4 box trial and after 2 boxes, I am sold. I've been so inspired to try new dishes that I decided to start a blog to catalog my recipes and experiences.

This website Local Harvest http://www.localharvest.org/csa/ will help you find a local CSA farm if you are interested. Even in urban areas, you'd be surprised how many local farms are out there if you know where to look.