Raw Kale Salad

image from http://www.skrewtips.com

I love kale in vegetable soup or simply sauteed - but I think my very favorite way (and the healthiest by far) is raw kale salad. "What?" you say? Really! It is delicious and zings you up!

So, here is how you make it. Wash the kale, use a knife to cut out the center rib, sorta roll up the kale leaves and cut into small strips. For the dressing, just smash up some garlic (this depends on your taste - I add alot, especially in this season of sickness), add 1 part lemon juice and 3 parts olive oil. Mix it up and let it set just a bit. That is it! It stays good overnight, so you can even make it for the following day's lunch.  You will enjoy the flavor and getting a great dose of green!

Amy

beet risotto

http://tinyurl.com/49y7nd

Dried Apple Slices

I have been making dried apple slices for my kids alot lately. They are so good and don't last! And they make the house smell wonderful. They are SO much cheaper than the ones you get at the store and chemical free! I base my technique on the following link. The only difference is that you do not have to use any sugar. Not needed at all!

Raw Kale Salad

1 bunch of Kale de-veined and chopped in thin strips
good olive oil
juice of 1/2 -1 lemon (depending on preference)
smashed and chopped garlic
salt

drizzle olive oil on kale until lightly coated. sprinkle on lemon juice to taste. same with garlic and salt.

you can also omit the garlic and add in a handful of dried cranberries and pine nuts.

Nutrional Value (from Wikipedia)

Kale is considered to be a highly nutritious vegetable with powerful antioxidant properties and is anti-inflammatory.^[1]

Kale is very high in beta carotene, vitamin K, vitamin C, lutein, zeaxanthin, and reasonably rich in calcium. Because of its high vitamin K content, patients taking anti-coagulants such as warfarin are encouraged to avoid this food since it increases the vitamin K concentration in the blood which is what the drugs are often attempting to lower. This effectively raises the effective dose of the drug.

Kale, as with Broccoli and other brassicas, contains sulforaphane a chemical believed to have potent anti-cancer properties, particularly when chopped.^[2]

Heather's Quinoa Tabouli

First of all, what the heck is quinoa? If you don't know, quinoa is a grain that is rich in vitamins and protein. It's also gluten-free, unlike the traditional recipe's bulgur wheat. The Incas considered quinoa sacred, but I just consider it tasty. Its texture is very like rice, and slightly nutty in flavor. I decided to make this version of tabouli, substituting cilantro and lime for the lemon and parsley. I'll put in a wee plug for Amy B's co-op here, cause that's where I got the mint and cilantro from. I buy quinoa at Sweet Bay here in Lakeland, and I think it's also carried at Albertson's, for those of you who would find it more convenient.

Ingredients

2 cups water

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

1 cup quinoa

1/3 cup olive oil

3 medium ripe tomato

2 tablespoons fresh mint

1 1/2 cups parsley, coarsely chopped

1 cup scallion, chopped

salt, to taste

Directions

1. Place quinoa in a colander and rinse several times rubbing the grains together to remove the bitter outer layer. (I don't do this, btw. The brand I buy is pre-washed)
   

2. Place water and quinoa into a 2-quart saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cover. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes or until all water has been absorbed.

3. While the quinoa is cooking, finely chop the tomatoes, parsley, and scallions. Add lemon juice, olive oil and fresh mint to the tomato mixture.

4. Stir in cooked quinoa and salt. Mix well.

5. Let tabouli sit in the refrigerator for a day to blend flavors.

6. Tabouli is traditionally served at room temperature so remove from fridge 30 to 60 minutes before serving.

credit: http://www.recipezaar.com/140618

Corn Cob Curry

Hello -- John and I tried an excellent corn recipe last week that I
thought I'd pass along. It comes from the Best Ever Indian Cookbook,
published by Hermes House in the UK and purchased from Marshalls for only
$6.99. We've found recipes for most of the FPP vegetables in this book.

serves 4

4 whole corn cobs
vegetable oil, for frying
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 inch piece fresh root ginger, crushed
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp onion seeds (kalonji)
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp five-spice powder (I think we omitted this)
chili powder or cayenne, to taste
6-8 curry leaves (can substitute bay leaves)
1/2 tsp sugar
1 cup plain yogurt (we were out, so we used a combination of goat cheese
and heavy cream)

Cut each corn cob in half, using sharp knife to limit damage to kernels.

Heat oil in large frying pan and fry corn pieces until golden brown on all
sides. Remove cobs and set aside.

Remove excess oil, leaving 2 tbsp in pan. Grind the onion, garlic, and
ginger to a paste using a mortar & pestle or food processor. Remove and
mix in all the spices, curry leaves, and sugar.

Reheat the oil gently and fry the onion mixture until all the spices have
blended well and the oil separates from the paste.

Cool the mixture and gradually fold in the yogurt. Mix well until you
have a smooth sauce. Add the corn and mix so that the pieces are evenly
covered with the sauce. Reheat for 10 minutes or until corn is tender.
Serve hot.

You can even throw in some of this week's serranos to add spice and color
- just slice them lengthwise (while keeping the stem end intact) and
remove some of the seeds with a knife. Add them to the "fry the onion
mixture" step, or even earlier if you prefer them soft.

-- Ashlee French

wax beans and red bell pepper

This is one easy way we have been eating our beans. It is so fresh and delicious (and is great room temperature)! Enjoy!

Steam beans for 5-7 minutes until just tender. Squirt juice of key lime (or any other citrus), sprinkle a bit of olive oil, red bell pepper chopped up and lots of pepper and salt. Eat all at once!

wax beans with mint

Every weekend during the summer, if we are lucky, there will be a good supply of wax beans at the farmers market. These golden yellow (and sometimes purple) versions of green beans are harvested young, and are sweet and tender. Here is a simple way to prepare them, with the subtle flavor of a mint infusion.

1/2 pound wax beans
Several mint leaves
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt

1 A little bit ahead of time, crush a few mint leaves (reserve some for garnish) with a mortar and pestle. Put the crushed mint leaves into a small jar and add a couple tablespoons of high quality olive oil to cover. Let sit for at least an hour if you can. The longer the mint is in the olive oil, the better the infusion.

2 Prepare the beans by cutting off and discarding the tips and ends. Snap the beans in half, if necessary, to have pieces about 2 inches in length.

3 15 minutes before serving bring an inch of water in a saucepan to a boil. Place the beans in a steamer basket in the saucepan. Cover and cook, until tender, about 10-15 minutes. Check for doneness after about 8 minutes or so. If a fork easily goes through them, they're done.

4 Remove beans from pan and place them into a serving bowl. Use a strainer to drizzle the mint-infused olive oil over the beans. Sprinkle salt over the beans to taste. (Fleur de sel would work really well with this dish.) Chop up a few more mint leaves to add as garnish.

Serves 3-4.

from www.elise.com

Back Porch Pizza

This is one of the ways we use up our veggies! We pre-grill/roast a ton of stuff up and store in the fridge all week and add to pizza, sandwiches, omelettes/frittatas, and salads. The pre-grilling not only takes the extra moisture out of the vegetables - but makes their flavor stronger, richer, and sweeter. So, everything you use them for will be that much better.

I posted our dough recipe with a bunch of tips a few months ago. We have recently converted from cooking in our gas oven at super high temps to the outdoor gas grill. It is AMAZING! You have to fool around with your grill to get it all perfect. We put our stone directly on the grill and heat up all four gas jets as high as they will go for 5-10 minutes, then turn the middle two (that are directly under the stone) down to low and keep the outside ones on high. Pizza cooks in about 7 minutes and your house is not heated up. This will be my lunch all summer!

grated carrots

This is a staple in French delis for a healthy snack/salad/lunch. It keeps for a few days and is a great way to get loads of carrots into your diet. Here is our version - but it really lends itself to customization.

3 thickly grated carrots (we use the mandolin for this so they are crunchier)
oj (juice from one orange)
sprinkle of cumin
s/p

a bit of smashed and chopped garlic and a glug of olive or walnut oil are great additions.

Tabouli

from Moosewood Cookbook

1 cup dry bulgar wheat
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1 t salt
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 c olve oil
2 cloves of garlic, smashed and chopped
black pepper
4 scallions chopped (white and green) - or use some sweet onion
1 packed cup finely chopped parsely
10-15 fresh mint leaves (if you have it)
2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped (or a few handfuls of grape tomatoes)

think about throwing in some seeded chopped cucumber, red or green bell pepper, or chickpeas

combine the bulgar and boiling water, cover, let set 30 minutes until tender

mix in the salt, lemon, olive oil, garlic, pepper - cover and refrigerate until cool - then add the rest of the ingredients. Eat cold for lunch. Enjoy!

gazpacho

This is my adapted gazpacho recipe. It is inspired by Mollie Katzen’s version in Moosewood Cookbook (which is probably my favorite cookbook ever). I have experimented with all sorts of combinations of blending and chopping and found this to be the best. It is very versatile- taste along the way and add or subtract anything. I don’t add any salt because it breaks the veggies down too fast. I sprinkle sel de mer right before I eat it. This is the perfect summer/fall food and most kids seem to like it too.

Store it in jars in the fridge and grab one when you are running errands - better than the flu shot!

Amy’s Gazpacho

6 tomatoes

1-2 cucumbers (peeled and seeded)

1/3 vidalia onion

1-2 clove of garlic

green bell pepper

red bell pepper

honey

cumin

cayenne

olive oil

fresh herbs (I like to use tarragon, basil and parsley)

blend all but one or two of the tomatoes in blender or food processor until smooth (also, if you have extra red bell pepper puree one of those to add to the “stock”). Pour into a huge bowl. Finely hand chop the remaining tomato, cucumber, onion, garlic, bell peppers and throw them in the bowl. Add a couple of glugs of olive oil, a splash of something acidic (lemon juice or a mild vinegar), some chopped up basil, tarragon and parsley, a wee bit of honey, a shake of cumin and cayenne. Let chill if you can bear it and eat it up! This is pure nectar from the gods and will make you healthy and happy!

Cream of Carrot Soup

Cat made this for our book club's poetry evening last fall and it was fabulous!

1 C chopped leak (substitute onions/shallots if you need to)
2 large onions
4 T butter
2 # carrots
3 C water
3 C vegetable broth
5 T uncooked white rice
pinch of sugar
1 t salt
1/2 tsp crushed dried thyme
1 small bay leaf
pinch of cayenne
1 1/2 C milk
1/3 C cream
dash of nutmeg

garnish with fresh chives

in a large, heavy saucepan, saute the onions and leeks/shallots in the butter stirring often, until they are golden. Meanwhile, peel and thinly slice the carrots. Add the carrots, water, broth, rice, salt, herbs and cayenne to the onion mixture. Cover and simmer for about 40 minutes, or until the carrots and rice are completely mushy soft.

Remove the bay leaf and puree the soup in batched in a blender or food processor until it is velvety smooth. Return the soup to the rinsed saucepan and stir in the milk, cream and sprinkle of nutmeg. Heat the soup through, stirring gently, then taste and correct seasoning with another pinch of salt or nutmeg.

Serves 8-10 (use left overs for lunch the next day!)

Refrigerator Pickles

here's what we did with our cucumbers this week. yum!

Makes about 1 gallon

5 pounds firm Kirby cucumbers, 3 to 5 inches long (about 20 cucumbers)
1 1/2 cups coarse salt
2 tablespoons mixed pickling spices, (available premixed in supermarkets)
4 to 5 cloves garlic, unpeeled
4 to 5 sprigs fresh dill
6 1/4 cups water
2 1/2 cups apple-cider vinegar
3 tablespoons sugar

Wash cucumbers well. Place in a large nonreactive container. Combine 1/2 gallon water with 1 cup salt, and stir until salt is dissolved. Pour over cucumbers. Place a plate on cucumbers to keep them submerged in liquid. Cover, and refrigerate overnight.

Drain and rinse cucumbers, discarding brine. Pack into four to five wide-mouthed quart jars. Distribute pickling spices, garlic, and dill evenly among the jars.

Combine 6 1/4 cups water, the remaining 1/2 cup salt, the vinegar, and sugar in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, and pour into packed jars. Cool on a rack to room temperature. Cover, and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.

Whipped Butter

This whipped butter is my grandmothers recipe and is a hit with muffins or on top of corn. You can add herbs, brown sugar and cinnamon or cayenne to flavor it. Bring this and a loaf of homemade bread to any one's house and you will be the hit!

1# softened butter
1/2 cup vegetable oil (or olive oil)
1 cup buttermilk

with electric mixer beat the butter and oil until thoroughly mixed, then beat in buttermilk until beautiful and fluffy! Eat!

Fig Preserves

David made two batches of fig preserves this week, which were really successful. The second batch he amended with a bit of maple syrup and some cracked black pepper - wow! They are insanely easy and would be great on toast, ice cream or yogurt, or a soft mild cheese.
____________
There is probably no better known use for figs (as with most fruit) than as preserves. Debates between cooks continue on whether "real" fig preserves contain some citrus (we like it) and whether one should peel the figs (don't expect me to do it

Here's the classic guide:
Ratio: one cup sugar to one cup chopped fresh figs (it works the same for one pound of sugar to one pound of fresh figs; one palmful of sugar to one handful of figs -- you get the picture...)Grated lemon zest or finely sliced bits of lemon (the paper thin slices make the preserves delightfully like a marmalade - leave them out if this does not please you)

***Basic Directions: Cut up the figs as fine as you like. Mix the figs with the sugar and let rest in a covered plastic or glass container overnight. The next morning, cook the mixture down over very low heat until it is soft and thick. Spoon into hot canning jars and cover with lids you've had soaking in boiling (hot) water. The lids will seal as the jam cools. Refrigerate any jars that do not compress and seal.That's basically it and the recipe has been winning blue ribbons for generations. Everything else is the individual cook's imagination. We like it less sweet and cut back on the sugar. (We have not tried artificial sweetners or honey. Any reports from folks who have?) We have had this with a lot of citrus grated and sliced into it; with raisins cooked into it; with cinnamon and other spices. Be careful - the taste of the figs is rich but light and can be quickly overpowered. We recommend trying a straight batch first and then getting adventurous

from http://www.paradisenursery.com/frfigpr.html

Cat’s Wacky Pesto Bread

(stolen, with improvements, from The Cook’s Encyclopedia of Breach Machine Baking)

5/8 c. milk
Scant 2/3 c. water
2 T olive oil
4 cups bread flour (white is recommended and I’ve never tried it with whole wheat)
1 ½ t salt
1 ½ t sugar
1 ½ t rapid-rise active dry yeast (I use the bread machine yeast)

7 T pesto (I’ve used basil pesto, sun-dried tomato pesto, but never cilantro pesto—though it might be good)

I use a bread machine for the dough, which usually takes about 2 hours to make (that includes the warming up, the kneading and the rising.

If you are doing it by hand, I suggest that you make the water warm and put the yeast in it until it comes alive (some would say put the sugar in there, too, but I’m not convinced it really matters). Mix together the dry ingredients (holding back some flour for working in after you do your hand mixing) while the yeast is cooking up and finally add the rest of the wet ingredients to the yeast mixture before going for the mixing/kneading. I think kneading should last a good 5-10 minutes—more if you’ve got the gusto. Then let it rise.

Once the dough is ready, pull it out and roll it out into a rectangle about 10-12 inches long. Depending on the way the dough is behaving, I’ll sometimes push it and make it longer. I have let it sit covered for about 10 minutes at this point, but you don’t really have to, which saves you a little time.

Next you get to spread the pesto on the dough. Leave one long edge un-pestoed to allow for a little seepage after you roll it up. Now roll it, “jelly-roll” fashion (lengthwise). The seam side should be down and I usually now make the transfer on a piece of baking paper on a baking sheet. I also tuck in the ends (usually folding them under). Now it sits with a piece of oiled plastic on top for about 45 minutes (I will put it on the porch or in a sunny room). You can also just put it on the stove and if you don’t like to use plastic wrap, you can just goo it up with olive oil and it won’t dry out (which is the reason you put that plastic on it anyway).
Start pre-heating your oven after about 20 minutes into the second rise. I use my baking stone for this bread, which means I heat the oven to about 500 to make sure that my stone (pizza stones work just fine, too!) is hot enough. If you aren’t a baking nut like I am, just pre-heat to 425. You baking stone people will need to turn it down to 425 before you put the bread in anyway.

After the 45 minutes are over, brush (rub or spray) olive oil onto the dough. Then, take a sharp knife and cut peek-a-boo holes cross-wise on the top of the bread. I like to put quite a few, but that’s mostly because I like using knives. Then take a coarse salt and sprinkle as much or as little as you want. I like to use the kosher coarse salt, but I would think the sea salt would be fine, too.

Get it in the oven and cook it for 25-30 minutes. I usually set the timer for 15-20 minutes so that I can make sure it doesn’t burn. If it looks nicely browned at 20, I’ll take put some tin foil on top so it won’t brown anymore. It really does need at least 25 minutes to cook fully, though (even with the stone).

Yum.

-Cat Eskins

eggplant soup

If you are wondering what to do with those little eggplants, I adapted a recipe I have for eggplant soup & it turned out great.
I blackened the eggplant & purple peppers on the grill, placed in a plastic bag for at least 10 minutes & cooled. Peeled and discarded the skins. Cut up into pieces. In a 3-qt. pot, over low heat, In a couple of Tbsps. of olive oil, I cooked the veggies w/a large garlic clove & a small red onion, both chopped, for 15 minutes or until very tender. Added salt and pepper to taste & a couple of cups of vegetable broth (could use chicken broth). Pureed the whole mixture in the blender until very smooth.

Koz

Poblano Peppers

These are called anchos when they are dried. The are the mildest of spicy peppers - like a spicy green pepper. They can be roasted and added into anything or cooked like the recipe below which is what I am going to make today - with the roasted corn variation. I can not wait!

Green Poblano Rice
1 2/3 cups chicken broth or water
2 fresh poblano chiles, stems and seeds removed, and roughly chopped
12 sprigs cilantro, plus extra for garnish
Salt, about 1/2 teaspoon if using salted broth, 1 teaspoon if using unsalted or water
1 tablespoon vegetable or olive oil
1 cup rice, preferably medium grain
1 small white onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice
5 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped

The flavoring: In a 2-quart saucepan, combine the broth and chiles, bring to a boil, then partially cover and simmer gently over medium to medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, until the chiles are very soft. Pour the chile
mixture into a food processor, add the cilantro (stems and all), and
process to a smooth puree. Press through a medium-mesh strainer into a
bowl and stir in the salt.

The rice: Wipe the pan clean, add the
oil and heat over medium. Add the rice and onion, and cook, stirring
regularly, until the rice is chalky looking and the onion is soft,
about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook a minute longer.

Add the warm (or reheated) chile
liquid to the hot rice pan, stir once, scrape down any rice kernels
clinging to the side of the pan, cover, and cook over medium-low heat
for 15 minutes. Uncover and check a grain of rice: It should be nearly
cooked through. If the rice is just about ready, turn off the heat,
re-cover and let stand for 5 to 10 minutes longer to complete the
cooking. If the rice seems far from done, continue cooking for 5
minutes or so, retest, then turn off the heat and let stand a few
minutes longer. Fluff with a fork, scoop into a warm serving dish,
decorate with cilantro sprigs and it's ready to serve.

Advance
preparation: The rice can be made several days ahead; turn out the
fluffed rice onto a baking sheet to cool, transfer to a storage
container, then cover and refrigerate. Reheat the rice in a steamer
basket set over boiling water.

Variations and improvisations: An obvious variation is to use 3 or 4 long green (Anaheim) chiles, or to mix poblanos and long greens with hotter chiles like jalapeño, manzano or habanero.
Grilled corn cut from 1 cob or 1 large grilled zucchini (cubed) are
tasty vegetable add-ins. About 1 cup coarsely shredded roast (or
barbecued) pork or smoked salmon, mixed in toward the end of cooking,
will make green rice a full meal.Makes 4 servings.

from: http://poblanorecipes.blogspot.com/

Koz's Black Bean Dal

Here's an easy & different recipe for black beans that my family loves. Serve w/warm tandoori bread or jasmine rice or pita bread.

1 pound black beans (or 2 cans, rinsed)
6 cups water
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1 small garlic clove, chopped
2 tsps cumin seed
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp ground ginger
salt and ground red pepper
1 cup whipping cream

I boil the dry beans for 2 min. & let sit for 1 hr, then rinse.
Transfer to 6-8 quart pot. Add water and bring to boil over high heat, skimming foam as it accumulates on surface. Add butter, garlic, spices, salt and red pepper. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until beans are tender, adding cream near end of cooking time (mixture should be consistency of thick soup). (Can be prepared ahead and refrigerated 5 to 6 days. Reheat before serving.