Ginger Curry

I have to give a shout out to my beautiful daughter, Hannah.  This recipe is entirely her creation, and while it doesn't use up a ton of our recent vegetables, I just love it because it is really easy and delicious.  Since she is a college student, this recipe only serves 1-2, but you can up the quantities of everything to serve more people.  Instead of the carrots, you could use sweet potatoes or any of the squashes we have received recently, but they have to be cooked first.  You can also substitute raisins for the dried currants. 

Ginger Curry

1 Tbs olive oil

1 tsp chopped ginger

1/2 cup onion, roughly chopped

1/2 tsp turmeric  

dash of cinnamon

2 medium carrots, sliced

1/2 cup coconut milk (do not use light, it's just not the same)

1/2 cup canned chick peas, drained and rinsed

1/4 cup dried currants

pepper to taste

cilantro leaves for garnish, optional

cooked rice, noodles, quonia or grain of choice

Heat oil over medium heat in a frying pan.  Saute ginger and onion in oil for 30 seconds to one minute.  Add turmeric, cinnamon and carrots.  Saute an additional 30 seconds.  Add coconut milk, chick peas, currants, and pepper.  Cook 5-6 minutes and serve over grain of choice.  Garnish with cilantro leaves if desired.  Serves 1-2.  

Green Bean, Tomato and Olive Salad

The Fannie Farmer Cookbook has been around since 1896, originally published under the name The Boston Cooking School Cook Book.  It has had more than a dozen printings, but my copy is from 1979.  It was the first cookbook I owned, purchased for me by my mother one Christmas.  So when talking to her yesterday about this great big bag of green beans I received this week from CRO, she suggested that I go to the tried and true Fannie Farmer for ideas.  I did and do you know this is one of the best green bean salads I think I've eaten. With just a few changes, most of this recipe came from my 1979 edition originally titled "Raw Green Beans, Tomatoes, Olives, Scallions, and Celery Salad".  I changed it only to reflect what I had on hand and what we like.  Sometimes the old cookbooks have simple things that are timelessly tasty!  This is one of them. 

Green Bean, Tomato and Olive Salad

1 bag CRO green beans, ends trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 cup CRO grape tomatoes, halved
3/4 cup Greek olives
1/2 cup CRO red onion, chopped (about 2 slices)
1 red or green pepper sliced very thin (like matchsticks)
2 Tbs chopped parsley
2 Tbs chopped cilantro

Dressing:
1/4 cup grape seed or olive oil
2 Tbs red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Fill a large bowl with ice water.  Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the beans 2 minutes.  Immediately drain and rinse the beans in cold water and transfer to the ice water for 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, prepare your other ingredients.  Drain the beans, pat dry and transfer to a large bowl.  Add tomatoes, olives, onion, peppers, parsley, and cilantro.  Toss to combine.  Whisk the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl until emulsified.  Pour over the salad and toss again to combine.  Serves 4-6 generously.  

Minestrone in Summer? Not exactly...

I saw a recipe in the paper recently for a "Minestrone Pasta Salad".  Basically, it used many of the same ingredients you would use to make minestrone soup and put them together in a pasta salad.  I made a few modifications to use what I have and make it vegetarian (if you want to make it non-veg, just sub salami for the tofu).  The CRO beans, tomatoes, and red onion all get used in this salad and it feeds a crowd.  Interestingly, purple beans turn green when cooked!

On another note, if you are feeling overwhelmed by the tomatoes received this week, check out my post from around this same time last summer for a traditional spaghetti sauce that is very easy to make.

Minestrone Pasta Salad

8 oz small pasta of choice (I used orecchiette)
1/2 cup diced CRO red onion
4 ounces CRO purple beans, ends trimmed and cut into 1/4 inch pieces
2 medium carrots, diced
1 CRO heirloom tomato, diced
1 cucumber, halved lengthwise, seeds scraped out, and diced (I do not peel my cucumber)
3/4 cup canned chick peas, drained and rinsed
3/4 cup canned great northern beans, drained and rinsed
1 7-oz package flavored tofu, diced (I used Trader Joe's Teriyaki Tofu)
3 TBS chopped fresh basil

For the dressing:
5 TBS olive oil plus a little extra for cooking onions
2 TBS balsamic vinegar
1 TBS red wine vinegar
1 tsp dijon-style mustard
1 tsp dried oregano, crushed (or use 1 TBS fresh, chopped)
1/8 tsp sugar
salt and pepper to taste

Bring a pot of water to a boil over high heat.  Cook pasta according to package directions.  Remove pasta with a slotted spoon to a colander to drain and rinse with cold water.  Set aside.

Return the pot of water to a boil.  Meanwhile, heat a small skillet over medium heat and spray with olive oil (or drizzle a little olive oil into the pan).  Cook onion for 2 minutes and set aside.  

Prepare a medium sized bowl of water and ice.  When the pot of water is boiling, add the bean pieces to the water and cook 3 minutes.  Add the carrots to the water and cook 3 minutes.  Immediately drain the beans and carrots in a colander and then transfer them to the ice water bath.  After 10 minutes, drain the beans and carrots and place on paper towels to dry. 

Whisk together the dressing ingredients in a large bowl until emulsified.  Add all other ingredients and stir to incorporate.  Makes 8-12 servings depending if you are using as a main dish or a side.

Dahl of the Day

Indian Dahl

Eating a plant-based diet can present problems when going out for dinner.  Scan any restaurant menu and you will likely find that every entree will either contain meat, poultry, seafood or cheese. That is with one exception – the ethnic restaurant.  Asian, Indian, Caribbean, Mediterranean and just about any other ethnic type of establishment you can think of will have vegan options aplenty.  One of our favorite such places is The Mintt, an Indian restaurant on Banksville Road in the South Hills of Pittsburgh.  The herbs and spices in this type of cuisine are strong, but we have grown to really like them.  One of our favorite dishes there is called simply  "Dahl of the Day".  Dahl (also spelled Dal) is a dried pulse, or legume as we would refer to it, that has been split.  Pulses are high in protein as well as B vitamins.  The word "Dahl" is also used to refer to a thick stew or soup made with pulses.  The "Dahl of the Day" at The Mintt is an Indian soup made with red lentils and simmered with greens, tomatoes, and a variety of spices. Interestingly, according to Wikipedia, "[a]rchaeologists have discovered traces of pulse production around Ravi River (Punjab), the seat of the Indus Valley civilization, dating circa 3300 BC."  India is the largest producer of pulses.  So here is my take on The Mintt's dish using this ancient legume and swiss chard from Clarion River Organics.

Dahl of the Day

1 1/2 cups split red lentils, rinsed
3 1/2 cups vegetable broth or water (or a combination)
1 tbs olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1 tbs curry powder
1/2 teaspoon garam masala (see Note)
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (less or leave out if you don't like spicy heat)
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, drained (see Note)
1 bunch Clarion River Organics swiss chard, center rib removed and leaves chopped (see Note)
salt and pepper to taste

Rinse the lentils in a colander or fine sieve.  Transfer the lentils to a medium-sized bowl of water to soak for 20 minutes.  Drain the soaked lentils and add to a soup pot with the broth or water.  Bring to a boil.  Once boiling, reduce heat so that the lentils are just simmering.  While the lentils cook, heat the oil in a fry pan over medium heat.  Add the onion to the fry pan and sauté until translucent (about 5 minutes).  Add curry powder, garam masala, ginger, and cayenne (if using) and cook 1 minute.  Add tomatoes to the onion/spice mixture and continue cooking about 5 more minutes.  Add the onion/tomato/spice mixture and the swiss chard to the lentils in the soup pot and continue to simmer until lentils are soft - about 15 more minutes.  Serve over brown basmati rice.  Serves 6 as a first course or 4 as an entree.  

Notes:
• Garam masala is a spice blend used in Indian cooking.  If you can't find it, use cumin and/or coriander.
• With just a bit of extra work you can use fresh Clarion River Organics tomatoes.  Use 2 fresh tomatoes that have had the skins and seeds removed.  See procedure to do that here: Tomato Time.  Chop the tomatoes after removing the skins and seeds.
• Instead of swiss chard, you can also use spinach, kale, or any other green you like.
• To complete the Indian theme, serve with naan bread available in the frozen foods of many grocery stores and at Indian grocers.  

Tomato Time!

Tomato Salad

The other night we went to the monthly vegetarian dinner at Kaya in the Strip District.  They offer a prix fixe four course vegetarian/vegan menu on the third Wednesday of each month.  From the dishes they served this month, it is clear that this is corn and tomato season!

Penne with Tomato Vodka Sauce

So no surprise this week when I received 7 or 8 nice, plump roma tomatoes in the
CRO delivery along with a bright box of grape tomatoes.  I don't love overripe tomatoes so I try to use these sooner rather than later.  I have a very quick and easy tomato vodka sauce for penne that I love.  You can make this recipe with a 28-oz can of crushed tomatoes in winter, but in summer, when the tomatoes are freshly picked, I like to go the extra mile and prepare the tomatoes for sauce. This means removing the skins and seeds.  The procedure is in the recipe below.  While it might seem like a little bit of trouble, the results are worth it.

Remove stems, skin, and seeds from the tomatoes by blanching.

Penne with Tomato Vodka Sauce

1 lb penne pasta
6-8 ripe CRO roma tomatoes (use all you received plus any left from last week)
1 small onion, diced (or use some of the CRO candy onion - a few slices should do it)
1/4 cup vodka
1 Tbs chopped fresh marjoram or 1 tsp dried
1/2 cup non-dairy milk (I used rice milk)

Roughly chop the tomatoes before adding them to the pot.

1/2 cup white beans (any white bean), cooked or canned and drained/rinsed

Removing the tomato skins and seeds


Here's a trick you may not know: put the tomatoes in a large pot of boiling water for 1 minute then remove them with a slotted spoon to a bowl of cold water (the fancy name for this is blanching).  When they have cooled, remove the stem with the tip of a knife.  Now you can just peel off the skins with your fingers.  The skins should practically slide off the tomatoes.  Then cut the tomatoes in half and squeeze or scrape out the seeds.  You don't need to be militant about this - just get most of the seeds.  Finally, chop the tomatoes roughly.

Preparing the Sauce
Heat the olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat.  Add the onion, cover, and sauté 5-7 minutes until the onions are translucent.  Add the vodka to the pot and let cook 1 minute to burn off the alcohol.  Add the tomatoes and marjoram and simmer about 10-15 minutes.  Use the back of a spoon to crush the tomatoes as they cook.  

While the tomatoes are cooking, place the non-dairy milk and white beans in a blender or food processor and process until smooth.  When the tomatoes have sort of fallen apart and are cooked, add 1 cup of the sauce to the blender and process again until smooth.  Add the puree back to the pot with the sauce.  Add the cooked pasta and stir.  Serve immediately
Serves 4.


I served the pasta with a side of this simple tomato salad.  You can make this while the sauce is cooking.

Tomato Salad

1/2 box CRO multi-colored grape tomatoes, quartered

2 slices CRO Candy Onion, chopped

1 handful fresh basil leaves, torn or snipped into small pieces

1 tsp olive oil

1 Tbs balsamic vinegar

Combine tomatoes, onion, and basil in a medium bowl.  Sprinkle with olive oil and toss.  Sprinkle with the balsamic vinegar and toss again.  Serve immediately or refrigerate to marinate which really brings out the flavors.

Serves 3-4.

Doesn't get easier...Roasted Tomato and Basil Pasta

If you still have the saladette tomatoes, here is a very quick, easy pasta dish to try.  The only other ingredients are pasta, basil and olive oil.  This also works well with any other tomatoes you have, just cut them up into smaller pieces if they are large.

Roasted Tomato and Basil Pasta

1 pint saladette tomatoes, halved lengthwise
1 Tbs olive oil, plus a little extra to sprinkle on tomatoes
6-8 ounces pasta of choice
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces
salt, peper

Place tomatoes (cut side up) on a baking

sheet lined with parchment paper.  Drizzle with a little olive oil (or spray with olive oil).  Sprinkle on salt and pepper, if desired.  Roast in oven at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes until tomatoes begin to brown and shrivel slightly.  While tomatoes roast, heat water and cook 1/2 package pasta of choice according to package directions.  When tomatoes and pasta are done, drain pasta and toss with tomatoes, basil and 1 tbs olive oil.  Serves 2.

Kale and Tomato Pizza with Basil "Ricotta Cheese"

This pizza is a little bit of work, but when you taste it you will say it was worth it.  If you have a lot of basil to use up (more than what we received from CRO this past week) then this is the pizza for you.  It is topped with both basil pesto and basil "ricotta cheese".  Add some of the kale and tomatoes you received and you have one great pizza!  I make my own pizza dough from scratch,  but it is easier to just buy pre-made crust or dough that you can roll out.  




Kale and Tomato Pizza with Basil "Ricotta cheese" 
(adapted from Vegan with a Vengeance "Isa Pizza")

12 to 14 inch pizza crust
1/2 cup jarred pizza sauce
2 large CRO kale leaves, center rib removed and chopped
1 CRO heirloom tomato, sliced into rounds and then the slices cut into quarters

For Basil Pesto:
3 cups packed basil leaves
1/2 cup walnuts
3 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 cup nutritional yeast (optional)

For Basil "Ricotta Cheese"
1 block tofu (14 oz)
2 tsp lemon juice
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
10 basil leaves, finely chopped
1/4 tsp salt
dash pepper
2 tsp olive oil
1/4 nutritional yeast

Prepare Pesto:  Place all ingredients in a food processor and process until it has a grainy consistency.  Set aside

Prepare Basil "Ricotta Cheese":  Place tofu in the bowl of an electric mixer and break apart with a fork.  Now turn on your mixer and blend until crumbly. (I use an electric mixer.  If you don't have one, just mix by hand, but it will take longer to get the right consistency).  Add lemon juice, garlic, basil, salt and pepper.  Blend until the consistency of cottage cheese.  Add the olive oil and mix again until it has the consistency of ricotta cheese.  Add the nutritional yeast and blend until just combined.  Set aside.

To assemble pizza:  Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Spread pizza sauce over crust leaving a rim around the edge.  Place dollops, about 2 tablespoons each, of pesto all around the crust.  Repeat this with the "ricotta".  Top with slices of tomato and the kale.  Bake for 8-12 minutes.  It is done when crust edges are light brown. 

It Might Not Look Pretty...

It might not look pretty, but this was excellent.  I decided to make the spaghetti squash the centerpiece for a meal but wondered what else to mix it with.  I found a recipe online that I adapted slightly.  I am simply going to post the link and note here the changes I made:

- I cut the squash in half BEFORE cooking.  Then I scooped out the seeds, placed in a baking dish with one inch of water in the bottom cut side down, and baked for 15 minutes at 400 until fork tender.
- I added 1/2 cup raisins with the chick peas.
- I used only 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes.
- I didn't know what "Aleppo chili flakes" were so I used crushed red chili peppers.

Aside from these changes, I followed this recipe: Curried Spaghetti Squash with Chickpeas and Kale.  Yum!!

Cucumbers, Cucumbers, Cucumbers!

If you are like me, you are a little snowed under with cucumbers.  Here are three ideas of how I am using mine.  First, I purchased one package of fresh dill (lucky you if you have some growing in your yard!) so I could make both cucumber salad (see Katie's blog post from July 8th-Cucumber Salad) and pickles.

1. Cucumber Salad

I modified Katie's ingredients only slightly to veganize it.  I left out the sugar as tofutti tends to be a little sweeter than real sour cream. I also included some of the CRO sweet onion.  If you don't have fresh dill, use dried but use a little less.  Finally, I sprinkled a small amount of crushed red chili peppers on top for a bit of zing.  Also, since she didn't provide measurements, here is how much of everything I used.  

1 CRO cucumber, sliced into rounds and then the rounds quartered
3 slices CRO sweet onion, diced
3 slices red onion (if no red onion just increase the sweet onion), diced
1/4 cup vegan sour cream (I use Tofutti brand, if you must, use regular sour cream)
1 Tbs white wine vinegar
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill (1/2 of a package of fresh dill should do it)
crushed red chili peppers, optional

Whisk together sour cream and vinegar until no lumps remain.  Combine all other ingredients in a medium bowl, pour dressing over all and toss.  Sprinkle a little crushed red pepper on each serving if desired.  Serves 4.

2.  Dill Pickles 

This is my technique for making pickles and it has always turned out great. My kids love them. 

1 or 2 CRO cucumbers, sliced into spears
a handful of fresh dill (the other half of your package), broken into sprigs
2 cups water
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 Tbs salt
1 clove of garlic, cut up

Place cucumber spears in a glass jar with the springs of dill (use two jars if necessary).  Bring water, vinegar, salt and garlic to a boil in a medium saucepan.  Run the OUTSIDE of the glass jar(s) under hot tap water for a few moments.  This will prevent the jars from breaking when the boiling water is poured over.  Immediately pour the boiling water mixture over the pickle spears in the jar.  Screw lids onto jars and let cool.  When, cool, refrigerate.  These will keep several months in the refrigerator.

Assemble your pickle ingredients.

Run hot water on outside of jar.

Pour boiling water/vinegar mixture into jar.

Let jar cool before placing in fridge.

3.  Crudites 

Slice cucumbers into rounds and dip them in whatever you have - leftover tofutti combined with dry soup mix, hummus, even dijon mustard (don't laugh it is great!).  Makes for a great snack!

Cabbage and Kale - Three Ideas

This is where the rubber meets the road.  Right about now you are finding out that a full share CSA is not for the cowardly, particularly if you have been traveling lately, as I have. Veggies are piling up.  There is no more room in the vegetable drawer.  You've even filled up the fruit drawer and still veggies are stacking upon veggies.  It's time for some serious work.

A good place to start is with the cabbage (hard to use up) and the greens (they wilt fast). So here are a few ideas for you to try. 

While visiting my dancing daughter in Atlanta I stayed at the Marriott in Dunwoody and tried their baked kale appetizer.  I am pretty sure all they did was cut up kale, toss with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and bake until crisp (but not burnt!).  They key to not burning the kale is to bake at a lower temperature than you would think.  I baked mine at 275 for 12 minutes and it came out great!

Baked Kale

Baked Kale

3-4 kale leaves, center rib removed and torn into 2 inch pieces
olive oil cooking spray (or 1/2 tbs olive oil)
salt, pepper to taste

Spray cut up kale leaves with olive oil to coat (or toss with the olive oil).  Sprinkle on salt and pepper to taste.  Bake on a cookie sheet for 12 minutes at 275.  Serves 2 as a snack/appetizer.

Also while in Atlanta we had lunch at a raw vegan place - Tassili's Raw Reality in the West End. All I can say is that if you ever get to Atlanta, this place is well worth a visit.  It is a very simple, casual establishment in an old house.  From the posters on the wall displaying the "ankh" symbol to the elaborate scarab, cartouche, and heavy necklace jewelry that was for sale on the porch, we could see that this place was owned and frequented by a group of people that are into some type of polytheistic religion that strongly looked like the religion of Ancient Egypt (Tasilli calls herself Tasilli Maat) and that this somehow ties into the raw vegan diet.  Nonetheless we liked their food!  They had a terrific kale salad that is making me crave chopped kale heavily coated with dressing.  My wonderful daughter, Hannah,  came up with a fantastic tahini dressing last summer that I love to use on kale. So here is a good option I found to use both the red cabbage and kale.

Kale and Cabbage Salad

Kale and Cabbage Salad

For the salad:
1/4 head of red cabbage, chopped (about 4 cups)
1/2 bunch of kale, center rib removed and chopped
1 heirloom tomato, cut up
1 cup sliced scallions
For the dressing:
1/4 cup tahini
juice of 2 lemons
1 tbs white wine vinegar
2 tsp maple syrup
2 good pinches cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste

Place cabbage and kale in a large bowl.  Whisk together dressing ingredients and pour over salad.  Toss all together to coat thoroughly.  Serve and enjoy!  Serves 4.
Note:  Since I am the queen of one dish meals, I served a little side of broiled tofu with this salad.  Just cube the tofu and toss with about 1 tbs each of sesame oil and soy sauce.  Broil on a cookie sheet for 7 minutes.

Finally, if you feel like doing a little more prep, I made this noodle dish to use up some of the cabbage and broccoli.  As I said, I like to make one dish meals, so I added some red kidney beans to bulk it up and add protein.  Tofu would be great in this too.  

Rice Noodles with Cabbage and Broccoli

Rice Noodles with Cabbage and Broccoli
8 ounces rice noodles (such as pad thai noodles), cooked, drained, and kept warm
1 tbs olive oil (or for more "asian" flavor use sesame oil)
3 cups cut up broccoli
2 cups chopped red cabbage
1/2 ounce dried shitake mushrooms, reconstituted in 1 cup boiling water for 5 minutes
1 cup red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup sliced scallions
For the sauce:
1 tbs siracha
3 tbs soy sauce
2 tbs mirin (rice wine)
1/4 cup vegetable broth

Heat oil in a large skillet.  Stir fry broccoli about 3 minutes.  Drain shitake mushrooms and add to pan with the cabbage.  Cook about 3 minutes to wilt cabbage but still have it maintain some crispness.  Add the garlic and ginger and toss for a minute.  Add the kidney beans and toss to combine.  Now add all the sauce ingredients and continue to stir fry to coat everything and heat through - about 3 minutes.  Add the noodles and scallions and toss to combine.  Serve at once.  Serves 3-4.

For more Kale ideas try these previous posts: Kale Salad with Creamy Avocado and Ginger-Almond Dressing and Kale! Kale! Kale!.

Romanesco!!!

Roasted Romanesco

I think I have a new favorite vegetable.  And what is really surprising, despite having eaten a plant-based diet for more than six years, it is one I had never heard of before.  Romanesco, where have you been all my life?

Since I had never eaten this (nor even seen it), I thought it best to take Katie's advice and roast it as she suggested in CRO Newsletter #3 (minus the parmesan cheese).  It was simply wonderful.  What did it taste like?  Well, by now you have probably cooked yours and formed your own opinion, but honestly the best way I can describe it is to say that it tasted like broccoli au gratin!  It was kind of rich and buttery and ever so slightly sweet.  I roasted mine at 425 instead of 400 so it took far less time (about 10-13 minutes for the entire head).  The only down side - it only served one because I ate the entire thing myself!  Happily, we received another head in the week #4 box.  Do not toss this one out.  It may look nubby, and dare I say ugly (sorry, Romanesco, do not feel bad - Kohlrabi is worse looking), it is simple to prepare and delicious.  It just may become your new favorite too!

Roasted Romanesco

1 head CRO Romanesco, leaves and bottom of stem removed 
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425.  Cut romanesco into bite sized pieces.  Place cut-up pieces on a cookie sheet that has been lined with foil or parchment paper.  Toss romanesco with olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Place in preheated oven for 10-13 minutes.  It is done when fork tender and lightly browned.  Serves 1 if you are like me and want it all to yourself or 2 if you share better than I do.  

Red Quinoa Zucchini Burgers

Vegetarian Times Red Quinoa Zucchini Burgers

The great thing about veggie burgers is that there are so many varieties.  No two are alike.  I have made many and I have my favorites, but am always looking for something new and different.  Vegetarian Times magazine had an article on the ultimate veggie burgers in their most recent issue (July/August 2014).  I took note of this particular veggie burger when I saw that it had zucchini in it.  Perfect timing for this week's box!  If you still have your zucchini use it here.  You only need about half of the zucchini to make 1 cup grated.  If not, you can substitute the yellow squash if you still have that.  I still had both so I used the zucchini and then roasted the yellow squash (with olive oil, salt, and pepper at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes).  I rounded out the meal with some CRO potatoes, cut up, tossed with olive oil, salt, and pepper, roasted at 425 for 25 minutes and then, when cool, I mixed them with a couple of tablespoons each of chopped dill, yellow onion, celery and vegan mayonnaise.    Here is a link to the recipe Vegetarian Times Red Quinoa Zucchini Burgers. 

Notes on making these burgers:
-prep all of your other ingredients while the quinoa and potatoes are cooking.
-use a standing mixer if you have it to mash the chick peas first (at very low speed  - this may take several minutes).  Then add all the other burger ingredients. 
-the burgers will hold together more easily if you chill the mixture for at least an hour first.

Sunday Brunch

One of my favorite things to do with greens is a simple sauté that takes about 15 minutes to make and is a complete meal.  Since I still had most of the bunch of collards from last week's delivery I decided to do one of these meals for brunch after church today.  I've done these types of greens and beans dishes before (see Spicy Black Beans and Kale), but the great thing about this particular sauté is that anything goes.  Don't have white beans?  Use any canned beans you have.  Don't have or like vegan sausage?  Use whatever "meat" source you prefer - regular sausage, cooked chicken, even a second type of bean.  Don't have shallots?  Use any onion you have.  Any type of greens will work just fine too - kale, spinach, swiss chard.  Even the vegetable broth is not a must have - you can even just use water.  To serve more than two just increase the amounts of all the ingredients.  Use your imagination with this one.  Really no ingredient is out of the question.  Experiment with it and add what you like.  That's part of the fun - it can be different every time! 

Beans and Greens Brunch

Serves 2

1 small shallot, chopped

2-3 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 cup vegetable broth

1 bunch CRO collard greens, rinsed and center stalk removed

1 can white cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

2 vegan sausages, cut up into half moons

3 small CRO potatoes

Salt, Pepper to taste

Place potatoes in a small saucepan, cover with water and bring to a boil.  Simmer potatoes about 15 minutes until fork tender.  While the potatoes cook, chop the shallots, garlic and collard greens (into bite sized pieces).  When potatoes are done, remove from the water with a slotted spoon to a cutting board.  When cool enough to handle, slice potatoes into half moons.  

Heat the vegetable broth in a large frying pan.  Add the shallots and garlic and sauté 1 minutes.  Add the greens to the pan and stir.  Cook until greens begin to wilt then add the sausage, beans, and potatoes.  Cover, lower heat to medium low, and cook about 5 minutes more until the greens are tender and everything is heated through.  Serve at once.  

Not your Mother's Hoagie

"The CRO" hoagie

I think you have to be from this region to know the term "hoagie".  When I used this word with my Philadelphia friends when I was in college (long ago!) they didn't know what I was talking about.  A "hoagie" (in case you don't know) is any sandwich on a long roll.  It's what people in other geographic areas call a "submarine sandwich" or simply a "sub" and is sometimes also called a "hero".  There is a national fast food chain called "Subway" so I'm pretty sure that "sub" must be the actual name of this type of sandwich that most people are familiar with.  Otherwise, they would have called their restaurant "Hoagieway".  

Anyway, the inspiration for this hoagie recipe came from a salad recipe I recently saw in Vegetarian Times magazine.  This is not the hoagie that I used to eat forty years ago when my family ordered takeout from the local pizza shop.  That hoagie was called "The Italian" and had some sort of mystery meat, tasteless tomatoes, mushy cheese, and soggy, shredded head lettuce.  I'll call this hoagie "The CRO" since I have totally remade the whole concept of a hoagie using many of the recent vegetables in our boxes.  Really only the roll is the same.   Enjoy!

"The CRO"
Serves 4

4 "hoagie" rolls (or whatever name you use for sandwich rolls)
1 small avocado, pit and outer skin removed
2 Tbs tarragon leaves (strip from the stalk)
1/4 cup chopped (easier to snip with scissors) chives, plus 2 Tbs for garnish
juice of a large lemon
1 tsp agave nectar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 clove garlic
2 collard green leaves, center stalk removed and leaves chopped into small pieces
4 small CRO potatoes
12 stalks CRO asparagus
4 CRO radishes

First make the avocado "mayonnaise".  Since there is no egg in this, it is not technically a mayonnaise, but that is what I call it since it has the consistency of mayonnaise and is to be used as a sandwich spread.  Place the avocado, 1/4 cup chives, tarragon leaves, lemon juice, agave nectar, and garlic in a blender or food processor.  How much you chop these up first really depends on how powerful your machine is.  Since I have a Vitamix (just saying), I don't really have to chop anything at all except maybe to cut the chive stalks up  a little.  If your machine is not particularly powerful you will want to chop up the ingredients a bit first.  Process/blend until smooth.  With the motor running, add the olive oil in a slow steady stream and process/blend until emulsified.  Remove from blender/processor into a dish, stir in salt and pepper, cover and chill in refrigerator until ready to use.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and carefully drop in potatoes so as not to splatter the boiling water.  Boil approximately 10 minutes.  While potatoes are boiling fill a large bowl with ice water (you'll see why).  When potatoes are just fork tender remove them with a slotted spoon and place in the ice water (don't skip this step - it does make a difference - you don't want to end up with mushy potatoes that can't be sliced).  Drop asparagus in the boiling water and boil 1 minute.  Remove the asparagus with tongs to the ice water (again - do not skip this step - it's worth it to have bright green crisp tender asparagus).  

When potatoes and asparagus have cooled, slice them - the potatoes into thin rounds and the asparagus into 1-inch pieces.  

Now assemble your hoagies (see photos below):  Slice open each roll and spread about 2 tbs of the avocado mayo on each.  Next top the bread with some of the chopped collards.  Layer the potato slices and asparagus pieces over this.  Finally, top with radish slices, some additional chopped chives, and salt and pepper.  Close the sandwich and voila!  You have an updated take on an old fashioned sandwich - it's "The CRO" hoagie!

Spread 2 tbs avocado mayo on the bread.

Top with chopped collard greens.

Layer with potato slices and asparagus.

Garnish with radish slices, chives, salt, and pepper.

Close up the bread and voila!  "The CRO"

Scones with Strawberry Sauce and Macadamia Creme

Now what do you do with five quarts of strawberries that you brought home from the Clarion River Organics Strawberry Picking Festival on Saturday?  Believe it or not, at our house quart #1 and quart #2 were eaten by Sunday lunch by yours truly and the other two "farm hands" I took with me on Saturday - my husband, Bryan, and son, James.    We devoured them pure and unadulterated. Quart #3 went home Saturday with James' friend, Jennifer, and  Quart #4 went into making a delicious dessert for Father's Day on Sunday.  You can make the scones, sauce, and macadamia creme at different times over a day or two so it doesn't seem like there are so many steps and then it is a cinch to put together when you want to eat.  It looks impressive, tastes impressive and is so simple.  Rich and delicious!  

Scones with Strawberry Sauce and Macadamia Creme
Serves 4

For the scones:
3 cups all purpose flour
2 Tbs baking powder
1/4 cup sugar, plus extra for sprinkling tops
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup canola oil
1 cup rice, soy, or almond milk

For the strawberry sauce:
3 1/2 cups sliced CRO strawberries
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 Tbs maple syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla

For the Macadamia Creme
1/2 cup unsalted, roasted macadamia nuts
1/4 cup soy or rice milk
1/4 cup confectioners sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup canola oil

Make the macadamia creme as it needs to chill awhile.  Place the macadamia nuts into a blender or food processor and blend/process until you have fine crumbs.  Add the milk and blend again until somewhat smooth.  Add the sugar and vanilla and blend again.  Add the oil in a steady stream while motor is running.  Blend/process until you have a smooth kind- of-thick liquid.  Cover and chill until ready to use, preferably for several hours.  

Next make the strawberry sauce so it has time to soften while you make the scones.  Place all the sauce ingredients in a bowl, stir, cover and chill for at least an hour.  That's it for the sauce!

Next make the scones.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper (or grease the baking sheets).  Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Add the oil and milk and stir until just moistened.  It will be lumpy and not sticky.  Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to measure out the amount for each scone.  Drop onto the parchment and press down slightly.  Sprinkle tops with a little sugar.  Bake 12 minutes.  Scones should be light brown on the bottom.   Cook on a rack.  Makes 12 scones.  

For each serving, slice off the top of two scones.  Place about 2 heaping tablespoons of the strawberry sauce on each bottom half of the scones.  Place scone top over the strawberries.  Drop a dollop of macadamia creme over each and top with a fresh strawberry if desired.  Serve at once.  You will have some extra scones which you can freeze or use as late night leftovers!