Food In Many Forms

This week from the farm, we received: - Eggplant - Yellow squash - Fresh onion - Tomatoes - cherry, grape, peach, indigo, roma - Cucumbers - Carrots - Salad greens - Watermelon It's near the end of summer and that means all of the good stuff is coming in season! We got a beautiful little watermelon this week, and all the different color tomatoes are ready to pick. The heirloom tomatoes these past two weeks has made one of our favorite Chinese comfort foods extra delicious -  https://thewoksoflife.com/stir-fried-tomato-and-egg/ . The peppers and onions went into some enormous bean quesadillas. Then the leftover peppers went into a salad for lunch. The watermelon got sliced up for snacking and muddled into cocktails, like this one  https://leanneray.com/fresh-watermelon-mint-fizz/ . Hopefully, I can pickle some onions this week and snack my way through all the baby tomatoes.  Despite my best intentions to make zucchini muffins last week, I waited too long, and some of the z...

This week from the farm: - Beets - Carrots - Zucchini - Yellow squash - Salad greens - Cucumbers - Heirloom tomatoes - Baby tomatoes - Kale It must be peak tomato season because we got almost 3 lb of tomatoes, plus the ones we picked ourselves. I bought green peppers today to make a traditional Andalusian gazpacho with cucumbers, tomatoes, and garlic from the CSA. I am still getting way more zucchini than I know what to do with. A week or so ago, I roasted the squash in wedges with chunks of onion and made sandwiches with hummus and the roasted beets, tomato, and cucumber - I guess I will have to have repeat performance! The carrots were also accumulating in the fridge (I had about 2 weeks worth) so I decided to blanch and freeze them for later. I will definitely appreciate them next time I make stew. I only got 2 beets this week, but it was just the right amount to steam, slice and pickle with garlic and crushed red peppers. Spicy Pickled Beets 1/3 cup distilled white vinegar 1/3 cup ...

This week's CSA included: - Beets (red) - Multi-colored carrots - Cucumbers (3!) - Eggplant - Kale - Fresh onions  - Summer squash - Zucchini - Watermelon I am all kale-d out by now, so I was pleased to find a happy recipient for it. I already used kale for smoothies, omelets and kale chips. When I made baked chicken wings, I roasted my beets at the same time. Two of the cucumbers ended up in a Chinese cucumber salad, and the third ended up in a cocktail. The eggplant made some delicious caponata, and that used some of the fresh onions as well. The zucchini & yellow squash will find their way into a stir fry hopefully before next week.  Recipes: https://thewoksoflife.com/chinese-cucumber-salad/ https://cookieandkate.com/cucumber-mint-gimlet-recipe/ https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/classic-caponata-232539

This weeks' 1/2 share included: - Kale - Zucchini - Summer squash - Cucumbers - Arugula - Radicchio - Salad greens - Carrots - Golden beets We had an unexpected house guest last week, which took up most of our time, and prevented us from doing a lot of cooking. However, he did make us a beautiful Greek dinner his last night in town, and the tzatziki was a great way to use the cucumber and dill. Now it's Sunday, and most of the vegetables are still taking up space in the fridge. The squash needs to be cooked, salads need to be made. Dinner was Greek-themed wraps to use up leftover chicken and tzatziki, as well as greens and cucumbers from the share. The kale had to go, so I washed and (thoroughly) dried the kale, tousled them with some olive oil and salt, and threw them in the oven at 300 degrees. After 10 minutes, I rotated the baking sheet and then gave it another 10-15 minutes. Once they were nice and crisp, I sprinkled on some garlic powder. The golden beets were to challeng...

I took a week off for my friend's wedding, but I am back in the kitchen this week, prepping foods from my farm share. Our half of the share included: - Cucumber - Salad turnips - Fennel - Yellow squash - Zucchini - Carrots - Pointed Cabbage - Broccoli - Salad greens - Herbs We still had greens left over, so the first thing I did was prep the cucumber, turnips and carrots for a salad. We have used those cut up veggies for multiple salads this week. The yellow squash and basil we sliced up and put on 2 different pizzas - 1 with red sauce, 1 with pesto. The broccoli will probably be frozen for later, and the zucchini will end up in a fried rice. The fennel was my biggest question mark this week. I went to Martha Stewart to tell me how to use this uncommon vegetable, and she had a roasted tomato, fennel, and basil relish. Initially, I wanted to cut the recipe in half because it makes 3 cups, but I also wanted to use up all the fennel, so I left the quantities as they we...

A few months ago, we grabbed some marinated Chicken Shawarma from Trader Joe's and were pleasantly surprised how well it turned out by just baking it in the oven. We paired the chicken with pita, tzatziki sauce, lettuce, tomato, red onion, and cucumber. Any meal that gets praised in my house is worth repeating. So, I looked through a few homemade marinade recipes and decided to try it out for myself. The NYT recipe looked like the best option, because the chicken was also meant to be baked after it was marinated.  INGREDIENTS 2 lemons, juiced 1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp olive oil 12 cloves garlic 1 tsp kosher salt 2 tsp black pepper 2 tsp cumin 2 tsp paprika 1/2 tsp turmeric A pinch of ground cinnamon Red pepper flakes, to taste 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thigh 2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley DIRECTIONS 1. Prepare a marinade for the chicken. Combine the lemon juice, 1/2 cup olive oil, crushed garlic, salt, pepper, cumin, paprika, turmeric, cinnamon...

I was baking once per week when I was quarantined at home, and I am only baking more often now, as I have been trying to share some homemade baked goods with the hard-working nurses and doctors at work. This bread recipe was a big hit with my coworkers, and it was a great way to use up loose leaf tea that had been sitting around in the cabinet. Looking at the ingredients and the nutrition information now afterwards, I think I could probably cut back on the oil - just 1/3 cup less would save me 80 calories and 9 g fat per serving.  INGREDIENTS 1 cup vegetable oil, plus more for pan 1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour 1/2 cup oat flour 1/4 cup ground flax seeds 1 tsp. Morton kosher salt ½ tsp. baking powder ½ tsp. baking soda 2 large eggs 1¼ cups (250 g) granulated sugar 1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt 3 Tbsp. loose-leaf Earl Grey tea or ¼ cup tea from bags 2 tsp. vanilla extract 2 Tbsp sliced honey almonds DIRECTIONS 1. Preheat oven to 325°. Lightly coat ...