GreenThings

A taste of summer...

2011-02-17T09:37:00.000-08:00

What do bell peppers, onions, cilantro, lime juice, a little heat equal?

HEAVEN ON EARTH.

I admit I am a Mexican food addict. Ask my husband, I would LITERALLY have taco's, taco salad chili, or some other form of Mexican food every night if I could. Give my a margarita, and anything with cilantro and lime in it, and I am a happy camper!

I want to share with you a new Salsa recipe I happened upon in one of my favorite cookbooks; The Best of Southern Living. My Aunt gave me this one for Christmas one year and I have made many recipes out of it and still do! It also has AWESOME pictures, which makes you want to cook all the yummy food even more! The best part of this salsa is that it's made with black-eyed peas! Way to go, Southern Living, for putting southern food into salsa too!

Here is the recipe! Enjoy, invite me over for salsa and margarita's! ;)

Chunky Black-eyed Pea Salsa

Ingredients:
- 1-3 jalepeno peppers, diced small (depending on the heat you want)
- 1 15oz. can of black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained
- 1 ripe mango, peeled and chopped
- 1/2 small sweet onion, chopped
- 1/2 small red bell pepper, chopped
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 1/2 tsp. grated lime peel
- 3 tablespoons lime juice (I just use the whole lime!)
- 2 tsp. olive oil
- salt and pepper
- Tortilla chips for serving (duh!)

Directions:
- Chop all ingredients. Try to get everything kind of around the same size.
- Add lime cilantro, beans, and olive oil. Stir everything up in a large bowl.
- Salt and pepper to taste.
- ENJOY WITH CHIPS, or in salad, or whatever!

Adios! :)

Chicken with Swiss Chard, Lemon and Rosemary

2011-02-14T08:53:00.000-08:00

It is still the smack-dab middle of winter here. This means that I am still deep into the habit of cooking hot and delicious 'comfort food' each week. Light salads and grilled chicken aren't in my vocab quite yet (although I really wish they were!). This Swiss chard with chicken recipe was great! My favorite part about it was that it used not only the leaves of the chard, but the stems as well! It was rainbow chard, so the stems account for the wonderful red splashes of color in the dish. This recipe was found at homemakers.com.

Ingredients:
1 bunch (about 1-1/4 lbs/625 g) Swiss chard
4 (about 1lb/500g) boneless skinless chicken breasts
3/4 tsp (4 mL) salt
1/4 tsp (1 mL) pepper
2 tbsp (30 mL) olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, finely chopped
2 tsp (10 mL) fresh rosemary, chopped or 1/2 tsp (2 mL) dried
2 tsp (10 mL) lemon rind, grated
2 tbsp (30 mL) lemon juice

Directions:
-Strip Swiss chard leaves from stems; trim ends and chop stems and leaves separately and set aside.
-Sprinkle half of the salt and pepper on chicken. Heat half of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat; cook chicken, turning once, for about 10 to 12 minutes or just until no longer pink inside. Transfer to a plate.
-Add remaining oil, salt and pepper, garlic and onion to skillet. Cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes or until softened.
-Stir in Swiss chard stems; cook for 2 minutes. Add leaves, rosemary and lemon rind and cook, stirring, until just wilted enough to cover pan.
-Nestle chicken into pan; reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 5 minutes or until chicken is hot and chard is tender. Sprinkle with lemon juice.

A genius way to hide turnips!

2011-02-11T10:38:00.000-08:00

I had this bag of turnips in the back of my fridge... What should I do with them? Put them in a soup (boring!)? Roast them with other root veggies? I was plum out of ideas. Then, I discovered Paula Dean's recipe for "Turnip Mashed Potatoes". What a smart lady! This recipe is tastes just like yummy mashed potatoes...I would have no idea there were turnips in there if I hadn't put them in myself! This is a recipe that will be a staple as long as turnips are haunting my refrigerator! :)

*Note: this recipe, in classic Paula Dean fashion, has a lot of butter etc. I am a southern girl at heart, but sometimes I just can't use whole sticks of butter at a time! :) I put half the butter called for and used 1% milk instead of cream and it was still great!

Turnip Mashed Potatoes:

-6 large red new potatoes, skin on
-2 large turnips, peeled
-1/2 cup cream, heated
-8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted
-1/2 cup sour cream
-Salt and pepper]

Directions:
Slice potatoes and turnips 1/4-inch thick. Cook in boiling water for 15 minutes or until fork-tender. Drain. Whip unpeeled cooked potatoes and turnips with electric mixer, mixing until moderately smooth (don't overbeat them; a few lumps are nice). Add hot cream, butter, and sour cream. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Whip again until blended. Adjust thickness by adding more cream, if desired.

The Week of Cabbage Soup

2011-02-10T06:44:00.000-08:00

I always enjoy the challenge of using my farmshare veggies in fun, creative ways, even if it means eating those veggies that I'm not so much a fan of. This week turned into the week of cabbage soup. John found a recipe that used, yes, an entire cabbage. I was not a huge fan of this idea (I found myself secretly wanting to toss the cabbage in the trash and forget about it!), but since John found the recipe and everything, we just had to try it out. We ate it with lot of rolls and butter!

There are two good things about this recipe:
1. It makes a heck of a lot of soup for not a lot of $$.
2. It tastes even more flavorful the next day and could easily be frozen for leftovers later if you don't need that much soup all at once.

This recipe is from allrecipes.com. I changed the cooking methods significantly from theirs, however, to add a little more flavor. The original had you boiling the chicken and all the veggies in the stock instead of sauteing them... Maybe I just have a thing against boiling chicken?? :) Below is my take on the recipe. (Pic from allrecipes.com!).

Thai Chicken Cabbage Soup

-3 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into small pieces.
-8 cups chicken broth
-2 cloves of garlic, diced
-2 small onions, diced
-6 carrots, cut into 1 inch pieces
-1 medium head cabbage, shredded
-1 (8 ounce) package uncooked egg noodles
-1 teaspoon Thai chile sauce

Directions:
1. Cook chicken in oil in a stock pot until cooked through. Add salt and pepper. Set aside.
2. In the same pan, cook onion and garlic in oil until translucent.
2. Add carrots and cook 5 minutes.
3. Add Stock, egg noodles, and cabbage. Cook 5 minutes or until pasta is cooked.
4. Add chicken and chile sauce to soup and simmer 5 more minutes.
5. Serve with extra Thai chili sauce and hot sauce as desired in each bowl.

PS. In other news. It's the beginning of February, which means I started my tomato, pepper, broccoli, basil and thyme seeds on my window sill! I also am trying another new flower, snap dragons. We will see if I can even get them to sprout! ;) I get nervous when the seeds so small that they are practically invisible!

Peach Muffins!

2011-02-03T11:06:00.000-08:00

So my friends and I like to can fresh fruit in the summertime. Over the summer, my cupboards accumulate beautiful jars of peaches, cherries, apples, blueberries, strawberries, you name it! We make jam, we can the fruit whole, it's great!

I organized my pantry this week, and it made me realize how much fruit I have left to use this year! John and I don't like to eat pies very much, so I've decided to start making a few more recipes that use them.

These Peach Muffins were wonderful, and they are semi-healthy too (wheat flour, oatmeal...)! I love pastries and muffins, so this recipe was right up my alley. :)

Peach Oatmeal Muffins: from food.com

Ingredients:
- 1 (16 ounce) can peaches, drain and diced small
- 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour, see note
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4-1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 cup oatmeal, old fashioned or 1 cup quick oats, not instant
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 1/4 cup oil

Recipe:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Mix together dry ingredients, stir in oats and peaches
3. Mix together eggs, oil and milk, stir into flour and mix gently just until flour is incorporated; don't over mix lumpy is ok.
4. Pour into greased muffin cups or use muffin cups. Bake 15-18 minutes until the tops spring up lightly when touched.

The perfect end for a snow day

2011-01-12T15:27:00.000-08:00

Today we had over a foot of snow dumped on Lowell MA yesterday. My husband John, sister-in-law Michelle, and myself had ourselves a legit snow day! Bumming around in our PJ's, 'working from home', shoveling and making a few snow angels too. Even George the cat went out onto the porch to explore the snow (wish I had pictures of THAT, he didn't last too long out there in the cold). :)

Because I knew I would probably have lots of time to cook last night, I decided to make Ina Garten's "Saffron Risotto with Butternut Squash". Just minus the Saffron because I didn't have any, and substitute bacon for the pancetta because I was too lazy to drive to the store in the snow.

The three of us decided that the risotto was heavenly and one of the best Butternut squash risotto's we've had in a while! We served it with a salad and rolls.

Saffron Risotto with Butternut Squash:
Ingredients
* 1 butternut squash (2 pounds)
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
* 6 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
* 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
* 2 ounces pancetta, diced (or bacon!)
* 1/2 cup minced shallots (2 large)
* 1 1/2 cups Arborio rice (10 ounces)
* 1/2 cup dry white wine
* 1 teaspoon saffron threads (you can omit this and it's still good!)
* 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

-Peel the butternut squash, remove the seeds, and cut it into 3/4-inch cubes. You should have about 6 cups. Place the squash on a sheet pan and toss it with the olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Roast for 25 to 30 minutes, tossing once, until very tender. Set aside.

-Meanwhile, heat the chicken stock in a small covered saucepan. Leave it on low heat to simmer.

-In a heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter and saute the pancetta and shallots on medium-low heat for 10 minutes, until the shallots are translucent but not browned.
-Add the rice and stir to coat the grains with butter. Add the wine and cook for 2 minutes.
-Add 2 full ladles of stock to the rice plus the saffron, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Stir, and simmer until the stock is absorbed, 5 to 10 minutes. Continue to add the stock, 2 ladles at a time, stirring every few minutes. Each time, cook until the mixture seems a little dry, then add more stock. Continue until the rice is cooked through, but still al dente, about 30 minutes total. Off the heat, add the roasted squash cubes and Parmesan cheese. Mix well and serve. *I mashed the squash a little before adding it to make it more creamy.

Enjoy!

Awesome Crock pot potato soup

2011-01-11T15:24:00.000-08:00

Last night I ended up making the potato soup that I spoke of in my last post. DELICIOUS! Don't hate me for it not being the most natural potato soup, but I must say that it was worth using the cream of chicken soup mix. I normally don't want seconds on soup- ever. But this soup had me going back for more. :)

"The Best Crockpot Potato Soup Recipe" from www.grouprecipes.com
(Notes: I halved the recipe, and it was perfect for the two of us with leftovers. You can easily make this vegetarian by using vegetable stock and cream of mushroom soup).

INGREDIENTS:
5lbs. potatoes; peeled and coursely chopped
1 sm. onion; chopped
8oz. cream cheese; softened
3-14.5oz. cans reduced sodium chicken broth
1can cream of chicken soup
1/4t. pepper

GARNISHES:
crisp bacon; crumbled
shredded cheddar cheese
sliced scallions

INSTRUCTIONS:
-Put potatoes & onion in crock-pot.
-Combine the cream cheese, chicken broth, cream of chicken soup & the pepper. Add this mix to the crock-pot.
-Cover & cook on LOW for 8-10 hours or on HIGH for 4-5 hours.
-After cooking time, mash the potatoes if you want the soup to be thicker.
-Ladle into bowls and garnish with the cheese & bacon. Sprinkle with sliced scallions.

Save this recipe for a day when you know you will be cold and starving when you get home, or it's a snowstorm, or you just need some comfort food... :)

I'm Back!

2011-01-10T06:09:00.000-08:00

Winter is upon us here in New England, and so I have decided to resurrect my blog once again. I apologize for the long delay, but I hope you stay tuned for more!
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The Christmas season is over. With all the busy days, and wine drinking/dessert eating evenings that have just passed, I am excited to once again start thinking healthy. So, I'm trying to up the exercise and lower the cookie intake... That usually does the trick in helping me feel fit again! More veggie eating won't hurt either... Does Eggplant Parm count as veggie eating? What about Butternut squash risotto? I somehow manage to always find a way to include lots of cheese into my veggie eating... :)

John and I are once again getting a winter share from Enterprise Farm (www.enterpriseproduce.com). They are located in Deerfield MA and send us a variety of organic produce not only from their farm, but also from many other small farms along the East Coast. My favorite thing they've sent us so far are the Grapefruits and oranges from Florida!

Tonight I am making an only semi-healthy crock pot potato soup. There is a large pile of potatoes in my fridge, so this will help the pile not get overwhelming (it seems we get potatoes in our share almost every week, so it adds up fast!). The recipe sounds like it's going to taste great, and I will add low fat cheese into the mix to make it a little healthier. It calls for "cream of potato soup" which I am usually totally against using. BUT, because of my time constraints today, and the fact that creamy soup makes everything taste better... I'm just going to go for it. Top things off with a salad for greens and we will be all set. Stay tuned for the recipe!

Garden update

2010-05-31T13:35:00.001-07:00

So it's been a long while since I've blogged. Here's an update! :)

-The Winter Farm share from Enterprise farms ended last week. John and I were both a little sad about it, it's been awesome to plan around what we get in the share each week, and to know that the produce comes from great farms on the East Coast.
-We are beginning to eat things from our own garden (lettuce, arugula, spinach, herbs, radishes). I grew the radishes, spinach and arugula in my flower boxes on the front porch and it worked great!
-I planted my vegetables out early because the weather has been so warm. I am happy to report that they took just fine and are growing! I have snap peas, carrots, butternut squash, scallions, cucumbers, green beans, cilantro, lettuce, zinnias, tomatoes, peppers, cantaloupe, onions, corn, pumpkins, and zucchini. I also have strawberries, basil, thyme, oregano, parsley and chives in my little herb garden too. I am growing a wide variety of stuff, but not too many of each thing so that we can handle eating everything. I love being out there in the garden and watching everything grow! :)
-My flowers are doing well too. I have Lupine's and peonies blooming out front right now!
-Our friends, the Menice's, planted veggies in one corner of the garden too because they live in a loft apartment with no yard. I am really excited to share the experience of gardening with them too! Plus, their daughter, Maddie, is so cute and excited to see her tomatoes grow. :)

I hope y'all enjoy the pics! Enjoy the beautiful spring/summery weather too!

More Wheatberry Recipes!

2010-05-02T17:55:00.000-07:00

Last week I made this cold salad with wheat berries that was amazing! I am usually a really picky person when it comes to cold salads, I rarely like any sort of pasta salad etc., so I was not sure if I was going to like this. However, it was great! It had a balsamic/Mediterranean taste to it that I really liked. I am planning on making it again for cookouts this summer!

This recipe was taken from 1001 Low-fat Vegetarian Recipes, an awesome cookbook that my lovely friend, Danielle, lent me! Thanks, Danielle!

Wheat Berry and Garden Tomato Salad:

Ingredients:
-3 cups cooked wheat berries
-4 cups coarsely chopped tomatoes
-1/3 cup sliced green onions and 1/3 cup chopped parsley
-1 1/2 cups cubed cucumber
-1/2 cup (or more!) crumbled feta cheese
-Dressing (2-4 tbs. olive oil, 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar, 2 tsp. roasted garlic (or garlic powder if you have none), 1 tsp. dried mint and oregano).

Directions:
-Mix dressing, then combine all ingredients! Serve chilled.

Spinach and Strawberry Salad

2010-05-02T17:48:00.000-07:00

Here is a salad that I have made twice already and love! The best part about it is that it uses veggies that are in season (or almost!). I will give you the recipe as I found it on allrecipes.com, but I will have a few tips at the end. :)

Ingredients

* 2 bunches spinach, rinsed and torn into bite-size pieces
* 4 cups sliced strawberries
* 1/2 cup vegetable oil
* 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
* 1/2 cup white sugar
* 1/4 teaspoon paprika
* 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
* 1 tablespoon poppy seeds

Directions

-combine spinach and strawberries in a large bowl.
-Combine the rest of the ingredients in another bowl and mix thoroughly to make the dressing
-Toss salad with dressing! :)

OK, so here are my tips. 1. The first time I made this, I used the full amount of sugar called for, and it was SWEET. It was like dessert salad! I actually liked it this way, but decided that it was a little ridiculous. Tonight I made it with a little less sugar, and still like it a lot. 2. If you don't have poppy seeds, just double the sesame seeds. 3. I used olive oil the second time, and didn't like it as much as using canola or vegetable oil.

Enjoy!

you got the Beet

2010-04-16T11:23:00.000-07:00

So I have to admit, I am afraid of beets. I don't like that they are so very red, that they stain everything they touch red- my cutting board was red for a week after I attempted beets last time, despite my repeated scrubbing! Also, I just have no idea what to make with them. Roast them? Put them in a salad?

Currently in my fridge I have two medium size beets with their greens attached. Anyone have any good recipes for beets that you know and like to get this scaredy-cat cooking?

Garden update:
-Raised beds have been made, dirt and manure have been put in and I have sown Sugar Snap peas, carrots and lettuce. Thank you to my husband and brother-in-law for making the beds and getting the dirt for me! :)
-I have bought pansies for the front porch (a must to whisk the spring blues away!), and I have radishes, rosemary, spinach and arugula growing in the flower boxes as well.
-Indoors I have tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, snap dragons, and geraniums growing. On my list to do next is to start the pumpkin vines, zucchini, green beans vines, and a few other things to have them ready for planting out in mid-may.

I am excited about my garden this year. Each year I get a better idea of how things are going to grow, exciting! :)

Yard update:
-tulips, and daffodils are in bloom (yay!), Hyacinth are too and crocuses are already done. The forsythia bushes just passed full bloom.
-I have cleaned out 80% of the flower beds and just need to mulch them (next week if it stops raining!).
-John and I are looking to get a better fence for the back to give us a little more privacy back there. I am excited to start fixing the area up this year with more foliage as well!

Honey Roasted Parsnip Dip

2010-04-05T14:28:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delay in posting, all of the beautiful weather this past weekend has had me outside and not at my computer! :)

Here is a recipe for "Honey Roasted Parsnip Dip". I have accumulated LOTS of parsnips over the past few weeks; it's a vegetable that I feel that I should like, but just don't like all that much. So, I have to find creative ways to use the giant bag I have. This recipe calls for just over 1.5 lb's of the veggie, perfect!

Honey Roasted Parsnip Dip:
-26 1/2 ounces large parsnips, peeled and roughly chopped
-2 tablespoons honey
-4 1/2 ounces cream cheese, softened
-3/4 cup sour cream
-1/2 lemon, juice of
-1/2 cup milk
-2 tablespoons finely chopped chives
-salt and pepper, to taste

1. Place parsnips in a baking dish and spray with oil.

2. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes; drizzle with honey and continue to cook for another 20 minutes or until tender.

3. Combine the parsnips in a food processor or blender with cream cheese, sour cream and juice; blend until smooth, adding sufficient milk to achieve the correct consistency.

4. Stir through the chives, season to taste.

5. Serve with crackers.

NOTE: you may have to adjust how much milk and sour cream you put in to get it completely blended.

My favorite part of this dip? the sweetness of the honey with the fresh chives! SO GOOD! I have to save this for small group tomorrow, so I have to be careful not to eat it all right now! :)

Shrimp Scampi in South Carolina

2010-03-18T18:06:00.000-07:00

I am at the beach on Kiawah Island with my family for a few days. The island is beautiful and we are enjoying the nature and being together!

My sister Janna and her boyfriend, Ryan, made us all dinner tonight- shrimp scampi! The recipe was super-easy, and great, so I felt inspired to give it to you. :)
Here goes:

Ryan's Shrimp Scampi:
- 1 box angel hair pasta
- 2 lbs. uncooked shrimp
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/2 cup butter or margarine
- salt and pepper
- 1/4 scallions
- 1 tbs. garlic
- 2-3 tsp. lemon juice (1/2 lemon)

1. melt butter in a saucepan with olive oil. add in scallions, salt and pepper and garlic.
2. Cook pasta according to package directions.
3. peel the shrimp. put on a baking sheet, pour the butter mixture over it and and broil on 450 degrees for 5 minutes or until shrimp is cooked through.
4. Squeeze lemon juice over shrimp. Put shrimp and sauce over pasta and serve! It Can also be done with tofu to make it vegetarian.

Portuguese Kale and Potato Soup

2010-03-12T14:54:00.000-08:00

Last night I made this soup (I had lots of potatoes, and kale on hand!) and it was delicious! I used Italian sausage instead of chorizo because that's what I had in the freezer, and added a few extra spices to give a little extra flavor. It was quite hearty and I recommend it!

On the topic of soup, something that I've found adds a lot to the body of a soup is blending some of the potatoes or veggies into puree to add to the broth. It gives the soup so much body and thickness, it was a great trick for me to learn. I've done this with soups that I've made up from scratch too and it's worked great. So, if you have a thin soup, try it out!

Portuguese Kale and Potato soup (www.epicurious.com)

* 2 garlic cloves, minced
* 1 1/2 cups finely chopped onions
* 3/4 cup sliced carrots
* 1/4 cup olive oil
* 1 pound russet (baking) potatoes (about 2 large)
* 4 cups chicken broth
* 3/4 pound Spanish chorizo (cured spicy pork sausage, available at Hispanic markets and some specialty food shops), cut into 1/4-inch pieces
* 3/4 pound kale, stems discarded and the leaves washed well, spun dry, and shredded thin (about 8 cups packed)
* 1 pound red potatoes

-In a stock pot, cook the garlic, the onions, and the carrot in the oil over moderately low heat, stirring, until the vegetables are softened.
-Add the russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces, the broth, and 4 cups water, bring the liquid to a boil, and simmer the mixture, covered, for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.
-While the potatoes are cooking, in a skillet cook the chorizo over moderate heat, stirring, until it is browned lightly and transfer it with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain.
-With the slotted spoon transfer 1 cup of the cooked potatoes to a blender, add a little broth, and purée the mixture until it is smooth.
-Stir the purée into the soup, add the chorizo, the kale, and the red potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces, and salt and pepper to taste, and simmer the soup, covered, for 10 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.

NOTE: I added about 1/2 tsp. of basil, oregano, parsley and red pepper flakes for added flavor (some of the reviews complained about the it being bland).

Happy Weekend everyone!

Bare bones March

2010-03-04T07:32:00.000-08:00

This time of year is a hard one in the life of the CSA share holder. Lots of the fresh green veggies have run out from last year, and everyone is now patiently awaiting spring so that new crops can grow locally. Today in my share I got: potatoes, sweet potatoes, parsnips, carrots, a giant radish (?), beets, swiss chard, baby spinach, lettuce, apples and grapefruit. The greens I got are GREAT and I am excited about eating them, but more potatoes and parsnips and other roots?
This is really giving me a good experience of what it would be like if I did grow my own food. This time of year a lot of your canned supplies and other good stuff would be running low and you would be very dependent on what was left of your root veggies to survive until your spring crops started growing. I am very grateful for the food I have and that I have the luxury of choosing to buy locally grown food when there are other people in our world who don't even know where their next meal is coming from.
So, I am going to have to be even more creative in my recipes for the next few weeks. Anyone have any good recipes using potatoes? Anyone need potatoes? I have quite the stash over here! :)
I know that I am going to have to be patient, and I know I will enjoy spring even more when it comes in it's beautiful baby green!

Veggie Tanjine

2010-02-24T18:26:00.000-08:00

I came across a recipe for "Slow Cooker Root Vegetable Tanjine" the other day while searching for new crockpot recipes. Tanjine is a North African dish traditionally cooked in a clay pot with the same name. I tried it on Monday for dinner and it was great, my first time cooking Moroccan food! It worked great with veggies from my CSA share because I just so happened to have parsnips, turnips and tons of carrots! (what was I going to do with turnips and parsnips anyway?). I substituted dried peaches for apricots and omitted the prunes because I didn't have any. If I were to make this again, I would probably use potatoes and peppers in it too for some more diversity.

Root Veggie Tanjine:
* 1 pound parsnips, peeled and diced
* 1 pound turnips, peeled and diced
* 2 medium onions, chopped
* 1 pound carrots, peeled and diced
* 6 dried apricots, chopped
* 4 pitted prunes, chopped
* 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
* 1 teaspoon ground cumin
* 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
* 1 tablespoon dried parsley
* 1 tablespoon dried cilantro
* 1 (14 ounce) can vegetable broth

1. In a slow cooker, toss together the parsnips, turnips, onions, carrots, apricots, and prunes. Season with turmeric, cumin, ginger, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, parsley, and cilantro. Pour in the vegetable broth.
2. Cover, and cook 9 hours on Low.

I served the tanjine with rice, although I think serving it with couscous is a little more authentic. :) Enjoy!

Seed starting day!

2010-02-22T11:21:00.000-08:00

I just started the first seeds for my garden! At the end of Feb/early March I always start a few plants indoors that need a little extra sun to do well in New England. This is always very exciting for me, because it means the first glimmers of hope that spring will come!
Today is a beautiful, sunny day out, perfect for starting my seeds. It even looks warm out! :) I am happy.

Here's what I started:
-Best Boy tomatoes
-Bell Peppers
-Jalepeno peppers
-Asters (a pretty, white flower)
-Snap Dragons
-Geraniums

These little babies should be breaking through the dirt in 7-10 days. I will post a pic when the sprout (since right now it just looks like boring dirt...) :)

Have a wonderful, sunny, happy day everyone, and happy seed starting, if that's a thing that you do!

a new green thing: tatsoi!

2010-02-20T16:00:00.000-08:00

I have now twice cooked a very easy and delicious Asian inspired dish; Gingery sauteed tatsoi with chicken and peppers. 95% of the recipe is from

http://www.jahscreation.com (an organic farm in New Jersey, I randomly found the recipe while desperately googling "tatsoi" for recipes!).

For those of you who don't know (I sure didn't know!), Tatsoi is also called "spinach mustard" or "spoon mustard" and was originally grown for it's greens in Asia. It has small leaves, so you need lots of plants to make a lot of cooked greens. I thought it tasted delicious and pared quite well with the sauce. I cooked chicken with them instead of tofu and marinated the chicken in the sauce for 30 minutes before cooking it. I also used kale the second time, instead of tatsoi, cabbage, swiss chard, or spinach could work too if you can't find tatsoi. I also added green pepper for a veggie with some crunch. Here is the recipe.

Gingery Sauteed Tatsoi with tofu steaks (or chicken!)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon rice vinegar
2 teaspoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons lime juice
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
6 ounces extra firm tofu, cut into "steaks"
1 tablespoon sesame oil, divided
2 small bunches of tat-soi
1-2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds

In a small bowl whisk all ingredients from soy sauce through cayenne pepper.

In a large skillet over medium high heat, add 2 teaspoons sesame oil. Add tofu steaks; cook for 5-7 minutes per side, or until golden brown. Remove from skillet. Add remaining 1 teaspoon sesame oil to skillet; add tat soi; once wilted, add sauce. Reduce heat to medium-low, and cook just until sauce slightly thickens.

Divide greens on plates. Top with half of the tofu. Drizzle with remaining sauce, and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve immediately.

This dish serves 2 is great with rice on the side! :)

A fresh start (Again)

2010-02-19T12:44:00.000-08:00

If you read my blog it may seem that I maintain a fairly healthy diet (I cook with greens and vegetables, dang it!). However, I have a confession to make; I do not tell you everything I eat on this blog, in fact, I only tell you about the (somewhat) interesting things that I cook and eat. So... there's a lot more going on between the lines than one may realize; like girl scout cookies, oreos (I ate oreos today!), dove chocolate, potato chips, starbucks...
I must admit, I have a large sweet tooth! My darling husband, John, does not have the curse of the sweet tooth so I don't make a lot of desserts at home. However, I end up eating a lot of crappy snack food in between meals, especially if I am at home and the food is in my reach. I'm sure NO ONE here knows what I'm talking about! ;) An example: girl scout cookies. It's so easy to reach into the freezer and take one out every once in awhile, and BOOM, I've somehow eaten 6. How does this happen?

While talking to my darling sister today about staying healthy, I made the realization that I need to decrease my processed food intake, and increase my fresh food intake. Last winter I tried this in an attempt to become 'toned' for our trip to St. John and it totally worked. I had more energy, felt more 'fit' than I had in awhile, and felt more positive about life in general. I want to be back in that wonderful place (St. John! Oh, and the happy, healthy, fit place...hehe).

I am not going on a diet, I am just going to try to replace 1 fresh food with 1 processed food each day. So if I want to reach for the GS cookies tomorrow, I will instead trying to reach for a grapefruit half, or carrots, or an apple... I know this sounds torturous, and I have to admit, I do not want to reach for an apple in place of chocolate. But, I do not have to ALWAYS reach for the healthy food, I just have to replace one snack a day with it to start. This seems a lot less scary to me than making some huge promise to myself and then breaking it after, oh, 5 minutes when I see the gs cookies again. If I choose cookies in that instance, I know that later in the day I should choose something healthy instead.

It's about taking care of the bodies that God has given each one of us to the best of our ability. It's not about being terribly strict about your whole diet, it's about picking one small thing at a time to adjust. So, how will you take care of your body today? What one positive diet change will you make this week? Let me know if you've picked something to do, it would be fun and encouraging to help each other succeed! I will keep you updated on my success in eating more fresh fruits and veggies... (and hopefully a few less oreos and girl scout cookies in return!).

I love Giada

2010-02-16T14:07:00.000-08:00

This past week I got a bunch of Swiss Chard in my CSA. I immediately put together a plan to use it in a recipe because I knew that otherwise, it was get pushed to the back of the fridge and would not be found until it was green moldy goo. :) Does this ever happen to you? It usually happens with things I don't like, or don't know how to use... So last night, I made a take on Giada De Laurentiis's "Whole-Wheat Spaghetti with Swiss Chard and Pecorino cheese".

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/whole-wheat-spaghetti-with-swiss-chard-and-pecorino-cheese-recipe/index.html

If you want the real recipe, use the web address above. It got 198 reviews with 5 stars on the food network website, so it should be great! Below is the actual recipe I used last night. I omitted things that I didn't have, substituted etc. However, it was still delicious and a really fast meal to cook, which is a huge bonus on our late evenings out.

Here is my version:
-1 TBS olive oil
-1 onion, diced
-1 bunch of Swiss chard, trimmed and chopped
-1 garlic clove, minced
-1 jar of "Silver Palate" marinara sauce
-a splash of white wine (1/4 cup?)
-salt and pepper
-1/2 box of rigatoni
-Gruyere cheese

(NOTE: I basically substituted Gruyere cheese for Pecorino, regular pasta for whole wheat, and did tomato sauce instead of diced tomatoes).

1. Saute onion in oil on MH in a deep fry pan. Add chard and cook until it shrinks up (about 2 minutes). Add garlic and saute until fragrant.
2. Add a splash of wine and cook one minute. Add pasta sauce and simmer at least 5 minutes, or until you're ready to eat. :) Salt and pepper to taste.
3. While this is happening, cook the pasta according to directions. Put sauce over pasta, grate cheese on top and serve!

I would have done the toasted pine nuts if we had them on hand (SO GOOD!), so I highly recommending trying them out as a garnish. Like I said before, Giada's recipe is probably much better than mine, I was just working with what I happened to have on hand. That being said, I encourage you not to be afraid to substitute and try 'creating' your own recipes. The best way to learn to cook instinctively is experiment and see what happens! You can cook almost anything if you have a few basic skills (sauteing onions and garlic in oil is the start of a LOT of dishes!), But that is another post all together. :) Cheers!

Green Dreams

2010-02-13T06:01:00.000-08:00

Every February I start having serious "green dreams". I look out at my barren, brown yard and begin imagining all the roots in the ground just waiting for warm sun to tell them to grow. I look out at my vegetable garden patch, which is just a big, ugly bit of ground, and imagine baby plants growing in there and the sun on my face as I tend to them. I begin to get excited about planning my flower gardens and just getting my hands dirty again! Winter is so LONG for me.

In January, I planned my vegetable garden plot. To do this, I take a drawn picture of my old garden from last year, and decide which plants I will do again, which I don't want to do, and which new ones I would like to try. Then I draw out my new garden, make sure everything fits, and rotate the crops so that things are in prime growing locations. (For example, you need to move tomatoes and peppers to different locations each year for four years before they can go back to their original spots). This can take some planning if you don't have a lot of space! Here are the veggies I have decided to grow this year:

-Broccoli: my first attempt! I am SO excited. :)
-Spinach: baby's leaf hybrid, supposedly good for growing them for salads.
-Rocket Arugula: New as well: getting lots of baby arugula in our share made me want to try it!
-Hercules Pumpkins: I grew small pumpkins last year and got three, it was great! This year I'd like to try this larger variety...
-Green bean: bush blue lake... they grow on bushes instead of vines making them more compact... I had okay luck with beans last year, but I am excited to try again!
-Radishes : Crimson giant...you put radish seeds in the ground in early spring, they are one of the first things to sprout, so even though I don't always love eating them, I love growing them, and they are so easy to take care of.. good for salads etc.
-Zucchini:my 4th year growing them, a great garden staple, and you can do a wide
variety of things with them. Just don't have too many plants or you will be overrun by these veggies and they will grow to huge sizes because you didn't notice one... amusing!
-Carrots: the Sweet treat hybrid. Carrots are so easy to grow and home grown ones taste delicious.
-Cucumbers: Orient express II Hybrid. Long cucumbers that don't seem to have a lot of seeds. This will be my 3rd year growing cuc's.
-Sugar Snap Peas: a garden must-have! Great in salads, or in stir fry. I always eat them off the vine as I'm gardening, mmmm....
-Bell Peppers: I LOVE peppers! We got a lot of them last year and I'm hoping to have just as much luck this year!
-Best Boy Hybrid Tomatoes: I grew these last year for the first time (although my 4th year growing tomatoes), and they were great! The right size for sandwiches and sauces alike. Plus they were fairly disease resistant, which is amazing considering blight killed tons of tomatoes last year).

On the flower front:
I'm starting geraniums and snapdragons inside this year. As well as planting "cut and come again" Zinnia's and California poppy's once the weather warms.

What are your spring green dreams?

Vegetable Curry

2010-02-11T16:03:00.001-08:00

I am in the middle of making vegetable curry. We had TONS of root veggies in our fridge in need of eating so I included potatoes, sweet potatoes, turnips, beets (this part is kind of an experiment), carrots, parsnips, onions, and a pepper. Did you know that beets turn everything red? Cutting them up stained my hands red, now all the veggies are pretty red/pink too! This is my first time ever cooking with beets, I'm still a skeptic, we shall see if I like them. :)

Here is the recipe: I took ideas from about 6 different curry recipes and then made up my own... Spices are approximated because I didn't actually measure them.

2 potatoes
2 sweet potatoes
2 parsnips
1 carrot
1 beet
2 turnips
1 onion
1 pepper
1 13.5 oz. can of coconut milk
curry powder
salt and pepper
cumin
cayenne pepper
1 cup of cooked rice

-peel and cut all veggies into 1/2inch chunks (use veggies you have on hand or like, almost anything works! I would add beans or broccoli if I had it...)
-roast veggies on a baking sheet with olive oil for 30min. on 400 or until almost cooked through.
-Put veggies in a pot on MH and add spices (about 1 1/2 tbs curry powder, 1 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp or less of cayenne pepper). Stir until veggies are coated.
-Add coconut milk, stir to combine, and bring to a boil.
-Taste and adjust spices as needed, then simmer on low until veggies are soft.
-Serve over rice and add dollop sour cream or yogurt on top if you want!

NOTE: After eating the curry, I have a few suggestions that could possibly make it even better!
1. Try adding some green veggies if you have them that have a little crunch, that will help add some diversity and make things a little less mushy. I have a thing with 'mushy' for some reason... don't like it a lot.
2. It might add to the flavor to add some shaved fresh ginger and garlic to it too... Although I have not tested it.

Overall, a good way to use veggies that tastes great! You don't even realize you're eating such a wide variety of them. Cheers!

potato soup

2010-02-04T11:20:00.000-08:00

John and I have started to have an over abundance of root vegetables in our refrigerator due to how many we get in our share each week. I am already planning on making another soup (how else will I use celeriac??), and maybe doing a bunch of roasted veggies this weekend.
I made a potato soup this past weekend that was hearty and delicious, although not terribly healthy... But, you can omit the meat to make it vegetarian and it will still taste great!

Here it is:

Potato Cheese Soup:
-1 lb. sausage thinly sliced (Note: John and I did not like the sausage in it and would have preferred it with a little bacon on top as garnish instead, however, it's your choice! ;) ).
-4 lbs peeled and diced russet potatoes
-2 med. onions chopped
-4 cloves garlic
-24oz cheese (I used cheddar)
-1 stick butter (I used half!!!!)
-1 tbs fresh rosemary, chopped (I used thyme instead)
-16-32 oz milk
-salt and pepper to taste

-In a 6-8-quart pan, melt butter on ML with onions. After onions are translucent, add garlic and rosemary for 2 minutes.
Add sausage and cook another 2-3 minutes.
-Add potatoes and add water until the potatoes are just covered. Change heat to high and bring to a boil until potatoes are tender and falling apart.
-Once potatoes are done, reduce heat to low and add cheese a little at a time until it all melts. Add milk, salt and pepper, and cover for 15 minutes.

Enjoy!

Eggplant Parmesan!

2010-02-01T08:34:00.000-08:00

On Friday night, my parents came over for dinner, and I finally cooked with eggplant for the first time! A few years ago I had a dish that had sort of slimy eggplant in it, and that experience has kept me away from eating or cooking with the vegetable ever since. However, almost anything will taste good if it is breaded and fried! It tasted great! I was amazed at how easy this recipe was. Eggplant fries quickly, unlike meat, so that saves a lot of time. I just about halved the recipe and it made for about 5 servings. I also used jarred sauce instead of making my own (it's what we had in the house...). This recipe is adapted from the food network website.

-2 med. eggplants (2 1/4 lbs) cut into 1/2 inch round slices
-5 cups breadcrumbs (they say make your own which I'm sure if great, I used store bought to save time)
-salt and pepper
-1 TBS oregano and 1 TBS thyme
-vegetable oil for frying
-all purpose flour for dredging
-6 large eggs, beaten
-2 TBS milk
-olive oil as needed
-7 cups marinara sauce (make your own or store bought)
-2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
-8 oz. grated mozzarella
-1 lb fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced

slice eggplants, beat eggs and milk together in a bowl. Season each eggplant slice on both sides with salt and pepper. Dredge each eggplant slice in the flour, tapping off excess, then dip it in the egg, and finally dredge it in the bread crumb mixture. Shake off any excess breading and transfer the egg plant to a baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining eggplant.

Heat 1/2-inch of oil in 2 large straight-sided saute pans over medium heat until the oil reaches a temperature of 385 degrees F. Working in small batches, fry a few of the eggplant slices, turning once, until golden brown, about 3 minutes per batch. Using tongs, transfer to a paper towel-lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining eggplant.

Cover the bottom of the prepared baking dish with some of the tomato sauce and arrange 1/2 of the eggplant over the sauce. Cover the eggplant with some of the sauce, grated mozzarella, and Parmesan cheeses. Repeat to make 3 layers ending with the sauce. Top with the fresh mozzarella and remaining Parmesan and bake until hot and just beginning to brown, about 30 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.

I served the eggplant Parmesan over pasta, with red wine and bread. yummmm!
Does anyone else have any good eggplant recipes in case I get anymore eggplants in my share??

A great dish when you're in a pinch

2010-01-27T14:04:00.000-08:00

Being a piano teacher, most of my teaching starts mid-afternoon and doesn't end till 7pm. This makes dinner hard some nights, especially because John and I also have evening activities on Monday, Tuesday, and some Wednesday's.
As a result, I have grown reliant on my wonderful crockpot to help me out when I can't really cook dinner. I put everything in it on my lunch break, and bam!, it's ready in the evening whenever we finally get to eat!

Last night we had "crockpot bbq pulled chicken sandwiches" for dinner. This recipe is wonderful because you can double it and feed a crowd easily, and you hardly have to do anything at all. :) I found this recipe online on cooks.com.

Crockpot BBQ chicken:
-2 Chicken Breasts
-1 1/2 C. Ketchup (I just buy a big store brand bottle to have on hand)
-3 TBS brown sugar
-1 TBS Worcester sauce
-1 TBS Soy Sauce (Note: I use 2 TBS Dale's steak sauce in place of Wor. and Soy sauces, either way is fine!)
-1 TBS Apple cider vinegar
-1 TSP red pepper flakes
-1/2 TSP garlic powder

Put all ingredients in a crockpot, stir to cover the top of the chicken. Put crockpot on high setting for 3-4 hours. Shred chicken, mix together, and serve on rolls!

That's it, and most of the ingredients can be found in your fridge or pantry already! Enjoy!

Southern dinner

2010-01-25T05:00:00.000-08:00

Last Night we had our friends Steve and Danielle over and I cooked a southern dinner that is traditional in our family around the start of the New Year. I cooked it not only because of the tradition, but because I had lots of sweet poatoes and collard greens to use from our winter share. :) I'm getting hungry again just thinking about it! The menu consisted of:

1. Black eyed peas (cooked with bacon, garlic, onion and tomato)
2. Collard Greens (recipe to follow!)
3. Sweet potatoes (baked and topped with cinnamon and sugar, or whatever you want)
4. Ham

Normally I would also serve corn bread with this, but I ran out of time to make it, whoops! The black eyed peas are supposed to represent good luck in the coming year, and the greens are supposed to represent prosperity. Here is the recipe I used for the collard greens. I have adapted it from how my parents have always cooked collard greens, adding a few things here and there. So I guess this is technically my very own recipe!

Collard Greens:
2 large bunches of collard greens
3 cloves of garlic smashed and sliced
1 medium onion, sliced
3 pieces of bacon
1 32 oz can of chicken broth
1 cup (or more) of water
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil (1 TBS)
2 TBS. of butter

Thoroughly clean and pat dry the greens. strip the leaves off of the tough stems and discard the stems. Tear the leaves into edible pieces.

in a small stockpot or large sauce pan, saute the onion and garlic in olive oil on medium high until onion is transparent. (You can also cook bacon in the pan instead and saute them in the bacon grease instead for even more flavor!).

Add bacon, collards, chicken broth, and butter. Cook for about 5 minutes on medium high until the liquid begins to boil and greens are cooked down into the liquid. If there is not enough liquid to cover the greens, add warm water until they are just about covered.

Simmer on medium heat for 45min. to 1 hour, until greens are tender. Taste the liquid and add salt and pepper according to your preferences. Drain, and serve with hot sauce on the side!

Now I know that this is not the, uh, healthiest of meals (lots of bacon!), but I love it every once in awhile because it reminds me of my Grandmother, and my southern roots! :)

Welcome!

2010-01-20T15:05:00.000-08:00

So this is blog attempt #2 for me. I failed miserably attempting to blog about my daily life, so I've decided to reign myself in a little.
Something I've been very interested in is cooking and gardening. This blog will give you a run down of recipes I am trying, as well as my adventures in gardening and who knows what else!

John and I have been doing a farm share this year from Enterprise farms in South Deerfield MA (www.enterpriseproduce.com). The share combines produce from their farm, as well a variety of other small organic farms across the east coast. So far we have loved getting fresh produce each week, and have gotten to experiment with different produce that we wouldn't normally think to buy.

An example. Yesterday I decided to find a recipe to use wheatberries (a wheatberry is the entrire wheat kernal except for the hull). Yes, I know this is not produce, but I got it in our share too! Here is the recipe I used, and I was pleasantly surprised that it was quite tasty and did not have the too grainy texture I was worried about. This recipe is brought to you by.... Martha Stuart!

Brown basmati Rice with Wheatberries:

1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
2 cups brown basmati rice
1 cup wheatberries
5 cups water
grated zest of 1 1/2 lemons
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 scallions (white and green parts) very thinly sliced
1 celery stalk
1/2 red, green and yellow bell peppers, diced small
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup safflower oil
salt and pepper to taste

1. In a large saucepan, heat butter and saute rice for 3 minutes. Add wheatberries, water and the zest of 1 lemon. Simmer, covered, until the rice and wheatberries are tender but still crunchy and the water has been absorbed (20-30 minutes). Remove from heat and drain.
2. In a medium skillet, heat the olive oil and saute all vegetables over medium heat for 3 minutes.
3. Combine grains and vegetables in a large serving bowl. Add lemon juice, safflower oil, remaining lemon zest,season to taste, and toss well.
4. Serve at room temperature. NOTE: I like to eat this hot because I don't like things cold or at room temperature. It works well either way! Also, I put a little dollop of sour cream on top too just because. :)

So, if you've ever wondered how to use wheatberries, this is the post for you!