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.

Week 11 - Acorn Squash, Red Onion, Celery

Maybe it was the cool temperatures this week, but for some reason I have had fall food on my mind a lot lately.  I actually made a batch of lentil soup earlier in the week on one chilly morning.  So when I saw the acorn squash in this week's bag, it brought more thoughts of autumn to me.  Now I know it is a bit early to be thinking about Thanksgiving, a favorite holiday of mine because we simply celebrate the many ways God has blessed us, but with the acorn squash, an abundance of sage and thyme in my own garden, and a package of vegan sausage in my fridge, I decided to make an apple sage stuffing to fill the acorn squash.   

When you cut open an acorn squash you will notice that it contains quite a few nice white seeds.  These should not be discarded as they taste great when they are roasted - I think even better than pumpkin seeds.  Also, they are nutritious - just 2 tablespoons have over 4g of protein and a healthy dose of vitamin K, iron and folate.  Below the squash recipe I include a quick method to prepare and roast the seeds.  

The stuffed squash is a little bit of work, but the result is worth it.  A savory, hearty entree for four that needs only a small side salad to complete the meal.  You can make the side salad and prepare the squash seeds while the squash is in the oven.  So I hope you will try this and enjoy a little foretaste of autumn.

Apple Sage Stuffed Acorn Squash

1 package vegan sausage (I used Field Roast brand Smoked Apple Sage)
2 cups vegetable broth
1 Clarion River Organics Red Onion, chopped

Most of the ingrediants you will need

6 stalks celery, cut into small dice (if you are lucky enough to still have your CRO celery from week 10 you can use that - mine was sadly gone!)
2 Tbs. fresh chopped sage or 2 tsp dried
2 Tbs. fresh chopped thyme or 2 tsp dried
6 oz. plain bread stuffing cubes (you can make your own by cubing about 6 slices of bread and toasting in the oven for 10-12 minutes at 350)
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 medium apple, peeled and diced
2 Clarion River Organics Acorn Squash, cut in half with seeds removed
Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 450.

Roughly chop the vegan sausage.  Lightly brown the vegan sausage in a sprayed skillet (spray skillet with a little olive oil cooking spray) breaking it up with a fork as it browns.  Set aside.

Apple Sage Stuffing

Bring vegetable broth to a boil in a covered pot.  Stir in onion, celery, sage, and thyme.  Cook, covered, for 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in stuffing cubes, applesauce, apple, and browned sausage.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Divide the stuffing evenly among the acorn squash halves pushing down on the stuffing to pack it in and mounding it across the top of the squash.  Place the halves in a roasting pan and pour water around (not on) the squash to 1 inch.

Lightly spray a large piece of aluminum foil and place over squashes sprayed side down and crimp around the edges of pan to cover pan tightly.  

Bake for 1 to 1 1/4 hours or until the squash is tender when pierced with a fork.  Serves 4 as an entree.

To Roast Squash Seeds:

Using a spoon, scoop seeds from the squash halves into a colander.

Rinse the seeds in the colander under cold water, lifting and sifting the seeds with your hands to help remove all the little squash strings (don't worry if some remain, you just want to remove the majority of them so the seeds will separate).

Place seeds on a plate to dry for a few hours or overnight.

Spread seeds out on a cookie sheet, sprinkle with salt (optional) and bake for 30 minutes at 250.  Place seeds in an airtight container.