This is a basic recipe that we use for pesto of all types. It's good for mustard greens, basil, very young garlic mustard and nettles:
1. Gather and clean your leaves. Take them off the stems and spin in your salad spinner.
2. Most greens can be used fresh. If you're making nettle pesto, you should blanch and plunge in ice water and drain (this will remove the stinging from the leaves). Place leaves in a food processor along with 1/1 to 1 clove of garlic and about 1/2 T of sea salt. Turn on the processor and pour in olive oil until the leaves are processed according to your preference. If you run the processor too long, it will turn to mush. I keep adding leaves until the batch is pretty full (about 2 - 3 cups).
3. Add a few pine nuts (maybe 1/8 c) and a handful of grated parmesan cheese. If you're using garlic mustard, I recommend walnuts.
Taste and add more salt or garlic if you would like. But be careful - the garlic strengthens with time as the mixture ages.
This can be kept in the fridge for a week or so or you can freeze it. The quality isn't as good when frozen but it sure is nice to have basil pesto pasta in the middle of winter!
Vegan-Raw beet and cashew spread
Vegan-Raw beet and cashew spread
This is another recipe from Angela Madaras - it is about the best appetizer I've had in a long time. Also good as a side dish with eggs (well, we eat a lot of eggs so anything is paired with eggs around here).
1 chopped beet (all veggies raw)
6 chopped carrots
3 cloves crushed garlic
2 Tbs. grated ginger
2 C. chopped cashews
2Tbs. tahini
1 cup chopped parsley
juice from two lemons
2 Tbs. tamari, brags or soy sauce
2 Tbs. olive or flax oil
water to thin out
Blend it together and adjust to your own taste
This is another recipe from Angela Madaras - it is about the best appetizer I've had in a long time. Also good as a side dish with eggs (well, we eat a lot of eggs so anything is paired with eggs around here).
1 chopped beet (all veggies raw)
6 chopped carrots
3 cloves crushed garlic
2 Tbs. grated ginger
2 C. chopped cashews
2Tbs. tahini
1 cup chopped parsley
juice from two lemons
2 Tbs. tamari, brags or soy sauce
2 Tbs. olive or flax oil
water to thin out
Blend it together and adjust to your own taste
Bread
This is contributed by Angela Madaras, fellow food blogger, CSA farmer, and extraordinary woman.
The Easiest Bread Recipe
This recipe was from New York Times a while back and has been handed down to me from many hands. I can barely read the copy but the recipe works and it can be amended to add a variety of seasonings and other stuff. I have arthritis and gave up baking bread due to lack of ability to knead. This is a non-knead bread. Anything which is un-needy is good for me.
Mix 3 cups all purpose or half wheat and half white organic flour together in a glass bowl with quarter tsp. active dry yeast and one and quarter tsp. sea salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water and mix until it looks well blended and sticky. Cover with plastic warp and let sit in calm-warm spot for 12-18 hours.
When the surface of dough is bubbly it is ready to gently roll into a ball lightly for a few seconds with extra flour for hands and cover again 15 minutes. Then through flour on a kitchen dish towel (non terry) and roll the dough into your floured hands rolling it into itself forming a ball which will sit on the towel folded end facing down for another 2 hours lightly floured on top and covered with floured towel.
Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees a half hour before baking. Place dough in a well greased casserole dish with lid(I use cast iron dutch oven) by gently allowing it to roll off towel into dish. No messing with it will form up when it cooks.
Bake for 30 minutes covered then 20 minutes not covered.
Viola……………Fresh bread. Best left out on wooden cutting board to crust over for a couple hours.
The Easiest Bread Recipe
This recipe was from New York Times a while back and has been handed down to me from many hands. I can barely read the copy but the recipe works and it can be amended to add a variety of seasonings and other stuff. I have arthritis and gave up baking bread due to lack of ability to knead. This is a non-knead bread. Anything which is un-needy is good for me.
Mix 3 cups all purpose or half wheat and half white organic flour together in a glass bowl with quarter tsp. active dry yeast and one and quarter tsp. sea salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water and mix until it looks well blended and sticky. Cover with plastic warp and let sit in calm-warm spot for 12-18 hours.
When the surface of dough is bubbly it is ready to gently roll into a ball lightly for a few seconds with extra flour for hands and cover again 15 minutes. Then through flour on a kitchen dish towel (non terry) and roll the dough into your floured hands rolling it into itself forming a ball which will sit on the towel folded end facing down for another 2 hours lightly floured on top and covered with floured towel.
Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees a half hour before baking. Place dough in a well greased casserole dish with lid(I use cast iron dutch oven) by gently allowing it to roll off towel into dish. No messing with it will form up when it cooks.
Bake for 30 minutes covered then 20 minutes not covered.
Viola……………Fresh bread. Best left out on wooden cutting board to crust over for a couple hours.
Rhubarb Cake
Rhubarb Cake
Topping
1 cup chopped nuts 2 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
½ cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Cake
1 ½ cups packed light brown sugar 1 teaspoon baking soda
4 tablespoons unsalted butter ½ teaspoon salt
1 large egg 1 pound rhubarb cut into 1 inch pieces
1 cup plain yogurt
2 cups all purpose flour
Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 13 by 9 baking pan. For the topping combine the nuts, granulated sugar, melted butter, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Set aside.
For the cake, beat the brown sugar, softened butter, and egg with a mixer until well blended; beat in yogurt. Add the flour, baking soda, salt to the butter mixture; stir to blend. Fold in the rhubarb and spread the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle on the topping.
Bake the cake for 35 to 40 minutes, until center springs back when gently pressed. Let cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before cutting.
Topping
1 cup chopped nuts 2 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
½ cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Cake
1 ½ cups packed light brown sugar 1 teaspoon baking soda
4 tablespoons unsalted butter ½ teaspoon salt
1 large egg 1 pound rhubarb cut into 1 inch pieces
1 cup plain yogurt
2 cups all purpose flour
Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 13 by 9 baking pan. For the topping combine the nuts, granulated sugar, melted butter, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Set aside.
For the cake, beat the brown sugar, softened butter, and egg with a mixer until well blended; beat in yogurt. Add the flour, baking soda, salt to the butter mixture; stir to blend. Fold in the rhubarb and spread the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle on the topping.
Bake the cake for 35 to 40 minutes, until center springs back when gently pressed. Let cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before cutting.
Citrus Collards with Raisins
Citrus Collards with Raisins
I don't remember which recipe book we found this in but it's a good one. This is a nice dish to take with you to a party - no one will believe it's collards and it doesn't need to be refrigerated. It's also a nice way to serve greens for children as it's a little sweet and salty.
1 large bunch of collard greens
Coarse salt
½ tablespoon olive oil
1 garlic clove minced
1/3 cup raisins
2 medium oranges
Remove stems from greens. Roll and cut leaves into thin strips. Rinse. In large pot bring 3 quarts to boil with salt. Add greens, boil 10 minutes. Drain. In sauté pan sauté garlic for 30 for a minute. Add greens, raisins and a pinch of salt. Sauté for three minutes. Section oranges, add them to greens and heat them up for 30 seconds. Serve immediately or room temp.
Scallops with Beet & Sauce
Contributed by Robin Fowler:
The recipe-- based on recipe I found online, an entree at a local restaurant, and a recipe from an in-flight magazine (sorry, I don't have more info on the recipe sources).
This made enough for 2 adults with leftover beets.
Peel and cut up 3-4 beets into 2" cubes. Boil them in 2 cups water, 2 T butter, 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar, and 1/2 cup brown sugar. Boil for 1 hour (sauce will cook way down).
Cook 1/2 lb. scallops in 2 T butter (about 3-5 minutes per side). Add beets and beet juice and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
Serve over orzo pasta.
The recipe-- based on recipe I found online, an entree at a local restaurant, and a recipe from an in-flight magazine (sorry, I don't have more info on the recipe sources).
This made enough for 2 adults with leftover beets.
Peel and cut up 3-4 beets into 2" cubes. Boil them in 2 cups water, 2 T butter, 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar, and 1/2 cup brown sugar. Boil for 1 hour (sauce will cook way down).
Cook 1/2 lb. scallops in 2 T butter (about 3-5 minutes per side). Add beets and beet juice and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
Serve over orzo pasta.
Chicken soup with root veggies
So, people have been surprised to hear that we still have parsnips, turnips and winter squash in storage. The parsnips are holding up really well (although there are only 2 left in the fridge but more in the ground in the front garden). The turnips are OK - some are good, some are going. The squash is the same as the turnips. I have to cut it up and take out the bad spots but most of it is still good. As long as your squash doesn't freeze and it's not too humid, you can keep it for a long time. It's almost March and I still have at least 10 various squash in the garage. Now, I'll admit, I protect it. I don't open the garage door so it's basically a very large "root cellar". I stuff any air hole I notice with rags or sheets. I have a thermometer in where the squash is kept and if I see the temp. at 38 or so, I plug in a small space heater. This is not what everyone is committed to do. But, if you want a "fresh" squash in late-Feb., it works.
I enjoy cooking but really don't like to slave over the stove. Soups are good. You can put them on and let them go, adding during the last hour the complimentary ingredients. Today was one of those days. We've had a lot of snow lately so I thought soup might be in order and, at about 1:00, I took out a stewing hen from the freezer, put it in an 8 Q. stock pot, covered it with water, added 2 fresh bay leaves (from one of our plants), 4 very small onions from the fall harvest, about 1/8 cup of coarse kosher salt (small handful), and 8 - 10 peppercorns. I turned it on high (because it was frozen) and suited up to go and plow. Allie and I had so much fun plowing that we decided to go into the woods to haul out a log (we heat with wood). Long story short, I drove over a log and got stuck. (I did get out 1 1/2 hours later). So, we walked to the house.
Now, with all of the excitement, I had forgotten about the soup. But, that's the beauty of soup. As long as it doesn't evaporate, it's OK. The chicken was at a full boil and was no longer covered with water but I just added some water, turned it down and continued to simmer it down until 5:00 .
I ladled off the fat (there was about 1/3 inch on the top) and poured the stock through a colander into a large sauce pan. I let the chicken cool and de-boned it. The bones are now in a second pot making more stock (with one onion, some salt, and a bay leaf). I cut up the chicken and threw 1/2 in the pot and will keep the other 1/2 for pizza or sandwiches. Then I peeled and chopped up 3 parsnips, about 1/3 large patty pan squash squash and 3 turnips, added about 1 tsp. each of celery salt, coriander, ground ginger and some rice vinegar and brought to a boil until the veggies were tender.
Yum. I added noodles for the children, Zingerman's bread for the adults.
I enjoy cooking but really don't like to slave over the stove. Soups are good. You can put them on and let them go, adding during the last hour the complimentary ingredients. Today was one of those days. We've had a lot of snow lately so I thought soup might be in order and, at about 1:00, I took out a stewing hen from the freezer, put it in an 8 Q. stock pot, covered it with water, added 2 fresh bay leaves (from one of our plants), 4 very small onions from the fall harvest, about 1/8 cup of coarse kosher salt (small handful), and 8 - 10 peppercorns. I turned it on high (because it was frozen) and suited up to go and plow. Allie and I had so much fun plowing that we decided to go into the woods to haul out a log (we heat with wood). Long story short, I drove over a log and got stuck. (I did get out 1 1/2 hours later). So, we walked to the house.
Now, with all of the excitement, I had forgotten about the soup. But, that's the beauty of soup. As long as it doesn't evaporate, it's OK. The chicken was at a full boil and was no longer covered with water but I just added some water, turned it down and continued to simmer it down until 5:00 .
I ladled off the fat (there was about 1/3 inch on the top) and poured the stock through a colander into a large sauce pan. I let the chicken cool and de-boned it. The bones are now in a second pot making more stock (with one onion, some salt, and a bay leaf). I cut up the chicken and threw 1/2 in the pot and will keep the other 1/2 for pizza or sandwiches. Then I peeled and chopped up 3 parsnips, about 1/3 large patty pan squash squash and 3 turnips, added about 1 tsp. each of celery salt, coriander, ground ginger and some rice vinegar and brought to a boil until the veggies were tender.
Yum. I added noodles for the children, Zingerman's bread for the adults.
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