Monthly Archives: July 2012

The Remains of the Basket

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It’s Tuesday and I’ve still got a healthy supply of veg left from Saturday’s CSA pick-up. But it’s also 85 degrees, hubs is traveling and I am flying solo for dinner. I don’t feel like cooking, so I’m going to pull together a salad of crunchy veggies from my basket. Here’s what I prepared for dinner for 1:

Salad: combined the greens with some leftover cooked broccoli and chopped up the remaining raw sugar snap peas. The snap peas were starting to soften up and lose their eponymous snap, so in they went. I crumbled some ricotta salata on top, just because I had it in the fridge. Lastly, I mixed up a simple balsamic vinaigrette and tossed it into the salad.

On the side: I peeled and sliced the kohlrabi. Sprinkled some sea salt on top. Wow! Is that good or what. Crunchy, flavorful and so simple. I also had a roll that I picked up a the bakery earlier today to round it out

What’s left: These gorgeous sunflowers were placed on the table for decoration. Might look into planting the seeds, or ask hubs to do so.
New potatoes, well, we didn’t get to them. We’ll come back to those next week as they’ll keep.

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Buyer Beware, or the Politics of Food

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So you thought you were doing good by eating organic? Well, organic has gone mainstream, or rather, the way of agribusiness. So if you selected organic produce or foods for social reasons, buyer beware.

What’s a responsible, socially conscious consumer to do? It is tough when you are pulled in many directions, but it’s hard to feel holy when you realize that most supermarket organic brands like Stonyfield Farm yogurts, Kashi cereals and Naked Juice juices are all owned by big corporations. I have no beef with big companies, it is merely that consumers need to realize that the certified organic seal of approval refers to the methods used to grow or produce the food. It does not refer to the size of the farm, or the type of ownership. Merely because a head of lettuce was grown on an organic farm does not mean that it’s hand-picked from a mom and pop, old time-y farmstead with a big wrap-around porch.  It’s still a good thing for your body, so yes, feel good about that. You are consuming food that is pesticide-free and from a farm that has been regulated as such, but don’t fool yourself into thinking you are supporting the independent farmer. Read the label and inform yourself before making any assumptions, particularly when shopping in the grocery store.

You can read more in this recent article from the NY Times entitled, “Has Organic Been Oversized?”

Lunch Italian-style – CSA Pick up 7/7/12

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With my friend Peggy Carrington, I prepared a summery Italian-style lunch of vegetable antipasti from our CSA pick-up. Peggy and I prepared the following for a relaxed buffet lunch:

  • Broccoli with garlic and chili pepper Sautéed string beans with olive oil and garlic
  • Mints with beets and cumin (see recipe from last week)
  • Sautéed beet greens
  • Mixed green salad
  • Slice avocado (not local, but had it in the fridge)

Maggie Carrington and Brian Gray joined us for lunch, too. I’m still not sold on the beet greens, but they had some fans at the lunch table.

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Bye Bye Birds Eye

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Have I mentioned that my CSA is awesome? Not only do I have the privilege of picking up a basket of thoughtfully grown and selected organic veggies every week, but June and Jim Wolfe also invite you to their house for workshops on preserving, pickling and conserving. Awesome!

June hosted a workshop on freezing fresh peas last night. We ran through the whole arc in about an hour. We started in the field picking peas, moved to the porch to shell the peas, and then on to the conservation part. I dragged my good friend Peggy Carrington with me and we had a great time chit chatting on the porch with other members of the CSA and June’s family. Did you know you can make a potable alcoholic beverage out of pea pods?

Back to freezing peas. Surprisingly easy and no special equipment requires. Here’s what you need to get started:
Fresh peas
Pot of Boiling water
Wire mesh colander
Tongs
Bowl of cold water
Ziplock freezer bags
Measuring cup

Once you have shelled the peas, measure 1 or 2 cups of peas and place in mesh colander (quantity is up to you). Immerse colander in boiling water for 1 minute. Use tongs to remove colander and then place in cold water bath for 1 minute. Remove from water, shake off excess water and place peas in ziplock bag. Remove air from bag and seal. Write date and quantity on exterior of bag and your peas are ready for the freezer. Repeat until all peas are bagged and freezer ready.
Use as you would store-bought frozen peas

Bye bye Birds Eye

Local v Comfort

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Join the debate on Local v Comfort. I enjoyed this article from the NY Times entitled “When Local Sourcing Means Aisle 12.” It has comments and thoughts from chefs across the country about their favorite comfort foods, and how that generally equates to processed, packaged foods. It is a wry look at how these chefs espouse local, seasonal, farm to table, etc, yet their fallbacks tend to have an extended shelf life and impossible-to-pronounce ingredients.

Some examples include American cheese slices, Fritos and Saltines. Land O’Lakes American cheese Kraft singles, really, Wylie Dufresne? Guess nobody’s perfect, huh?

[I stand corrected by none other than Jeff Gordinier, the author of the article. Thanks, Jeff]

Michael Chiarello says that he loves Skippy peanut butter and cannot stand organic peanut butter. That actually surprised me. I love pure peanut butter, made only with peanuts and salt. Actually don’t care if it’s organic or not, just don’t want the hydrogenated oils in Skippy and other live-forever peanut butters.

It also pokes fun at some restaurants’ attempts to make homemade versions of “classic” processed foods, like ketchup. Seriously, why mess with perfection when you have Heinz? Even I’m not in favor of that. I’ve had “homemade” ketchup before in a restaurant and it is usually a disaster. Not worth anyone’s effort to prepare, and certainly not appreciated on this end.

Inspiration from India by way of Texas and NJ

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Tonight’s dinner was inspired by a generous gift from a colleague of my husband’s. Mangoes. A delicacy in India, grown in Texas, purchased in New Jersey and kindly shared with us in New York. Super fresh and ripe, succulent and juicy, but not local. Uh-oh.

I wanted to use the mangoes in a recipe and landed on a trusted favorite. Grilled swordfish and Mango Relish. The mango relish is a simple recipe from Mark Bittman (one of my Food Idols – see post from 6/27/12). The swordfish can be subsisted with other fish steaks, or grilled chicken.Here’s the recipe for the mango relish/salsa.Mango Relish 
– 1 ripe mango cubed into 1/2″ cubes
– 1/4 cup chopped red onion
– juice from 1 lime
– 1 dried hot pepper or Cheyenne pepper powder
– 2 tbsp chopped cilantro
– kosher salt
– ground black pepper

For the swordfish:
-2 swordfish steaks or fillets, 6-8 ounces each
– 1 tablespoon olive oil

Instructions for the Mango Relish: mix all relish ingredients together in a non-reactive bowl, careful not to mush mango too much. Relish should be chunky. Can be prepared in advance and chilled.

For swordfish: Heat grill or grill pan. Rub olive oil on swordfish and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill on hot grill about 3 min on each side. Serve with relish on the side and slice of lime. Can use grill pan on stove top instead of grill.

Happy 4th of July!

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We celebrated the 4th with a great meal from the grill and classic rock tunes on the radio.

The meal was kicked off with cocktails and a much beloved grilled barbecue shrimp recipe.We have made this recipe many times (and have tried many other recipes for grilled shrimp) and I think it’s the best. Right amount of savory and spices, and easy to boot. It’s originally from Emeril and here is the link:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/spicy-barbecued-shrimp-skewers-recipe/index.html

The shrimp and the our entrees were expertly grilled by hubs on our classic Weber charcoal grill. Perhaps hubs will guest blog one day on his grilling philosophy.

For entrees, we had burgers. Sirloin for the carnivore and portobello mushroom for me. Local, mixed greens from our friend Steve’s farm on the side. There might have been some ice cream for dessert, too.

On the Edge of your Seat: Veggie Rice Salad

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I know you’ve all been on the edge of your seats WAITING to hear what I did with the rest of Saturday’s bounty. Here it is again:

I’ve already spilled the beans on the beets (that recipe could not wait), so let’s go through the rest of the veggies.
2 Birds with 1 Stone
I felt like a healthy grain-based salad that would mix some of the crunchy veggies and herbs, but would also take a minimal amount of cooking (again, recall beets recipe). I decided to riff on a recipe from last month’s Bon Appetit that I had previously experimented with. The recipe is very flexible – add/subtract veggies based on what you have at home. I’ve included it below with some of my modifications in italics and also simplified the prep.

Summer Veggie Rice Salad

  • 1 small shallot, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
  • 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
  • Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
  • 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 cups cooked basmati rice, cooled – I used Brown Basmati rice
  • 2 cups bite-size pieces assorted vegetables (such as radishes, tomatoes, peas, summer squash) or carrot ribbons- I used kohlrabi, peas, scallions, carrots and basil
  • 3/4 cup torn mixed leafy greens, sprouts, and herbs – I used arugula and mixed greens
  • 1/3 cup chopped red, yellow, or white onion or scallions
  • 2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts (optional)

Preparation

  1. Mix first 4 ingredients in a bowl combined; season with salt and pepper. Slowly drizzle in oil and use whisk to mix dressing.
  2. Place remaining ingredients in a large bowl; drizzle with 3 Tbsp. dressing and toss to coat. Pass remaining dressing alongside for drizzling over.
I modified the recipe based on what we picked up from the farm and also a desire to make it more nutritious. I used brown rice in place of white, and heavied up on the veggies, herbs and greens. This was a big hit and enjoyed by all family members and guests (even hubs). This is a great dish for a picnic, or to prepare in advance. We had this for lunch on Sunday.
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Ok, so we already covered off on the beets, kohlrabi, sugar snap peas, scallions and greens. That leaves the broccoli, haricot verts and mixed greens. I decided on simple preparation for all 3 as I wanted to showcase the veggies themselves (and I, too, was losing steam).
  • Broccoli: Simple Asian-style dish. Steamed, then sauteed it with garlic and a dried, hot chili pepper, finishing it off with a dash of sesame oil.
  • Haricot verts: Sauteed garlic, then quickly stir-fried beans, keeping them green and crisp. Accompaniment for Saturday night dinner. Loved by all
  • Mixed greens: Used as a simple side salad with mustard vinaigrette for several meals
Oh, and the sunflowers went on the dining table.