Tofu Palak

We have been powering through the garden produce, and we still have a lot of greens: collards, kale, swiss chard, and spinach. The tomatoes are plentiful, but they are very slow to ripen, which annoys men. I've pulled all of the remaining beets and turnips, 2 kohlrabi, countless zucchini and summer squash, and we are patiently waiting for the watermelon and winter squash to ripen. 

The cucumbers are finally done (yay). At the end of the day, we harvested 65 pounds of cucumbers, and the last time I tallied up the produce, we had 137 lbs of produce - that does not include the produce from this week or the winter squash - I'm guessing we will end up with over 200 lbs this year. 

Sometimes I feel like all Indian food tastes the same, and then I remember palak paneer, a spicy spinach sauce with Indian cheese. I love the flavor of the sauce, but the cheese does me in every time. I decided to substitute tofu for the cheese and bake it with a little nutritional yeast to give it that cheesy flavor. The result was delicious. We served it with basmati rice and naan. 

Ingredients:

• 14 oz spinach
• 1 large tomato - chopped
• 1 pkg tofu - extra firm - drained and pressed
• 5 -6 cloves garlic
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 inch ginger - freshly grated
• 5 oz coconut milk
• 3 T olive oil
• 1 T nutritional yeast
• 2 tsp - cumin seed
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander 
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
  

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Cut the tofu into cubes, place them on baking paper, and sprinkle some nutritional yeast, salt, and pepper over the tofu. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, or until they have a light golden brown color. Turn them over halfway. 

Meanwhile, bring a pot to a boil and add the washed spinach leaves. Cook for about five minutes, take the spinach out, rinse with some cold water, and set aside.

Cut the onion, mince the garlic, and grate the ginger. Heat 2 tablespoons of cooking oil in a frying pan. When heated, add the cumin seeds together with the onion, garlic, and ginger.

Cook for about 3 minutes on medium-high heat. Next, add the chopped tomato and cook it until the tomato is soft. Remove from the heat and let it cool down.

Once cooled down, put everything in a food processor or blender together with the spinach and a splash of water. Blend into a smooth paste.

Using the same frying pan, heat 1 more tablespoon of oil and add all the spices and salt. Mix it all together before adding in the spinach paste. Also, add the coconut milk and let it simmer for about 5 minutes.

When the tofu is nicely baked, mix it well with the curry and remove from the heat. Serve with basmati rice and naan. 

Cucumber Beet Salad

I can’t believe it's Labor Day - where has the Summer gone? The cucumbers are finally winding down; I’d say when all is said and done, we will have harvested about 68 - 70 pounds. Thank goodness for friends, neighbors, and my Buy Nothing group - they took them eagerly. 

We’re still getting lots of zucchini and yellow squash, greens, beets, turnips, kohlrabi, and the tomatoes are finally starting to ripen; as a matter of fact, we had veggie bacon BLTs for dinner tonight with a delicious Brandywine tomato - it was so so good. 

Today we harvested the black turtle beans, and they are sitting in the drying rack - can’t wait to turn them into soup this winter. Hope everyone is enjoying this lovely day.

Ingredients:

1 small to medium cucumber - sliced

1 large or 4 small beets 

1 Tbsp sunflower seeds 

2 Tbsp feta cheese -crumbled 

Lemon dijon dressing:
3 tbsp lemon - juiced
2 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 small clove of garlic - crushed
1 tablespoon of olive oil
salt and ground black pepper - to taste

Instructions:

Wrap the beets in aluminum foil, drizzle with olive oil, and roast them at 400 degrees until cooked. 

While the beets are roasting, combine all dressing ingredients in a small jar and shake to combine. 

When the beets are cooked, remove from foil, put in a cold water bath, and slide off the peels. 

Slice cucumbers and scatter 1/2 of them on a platter. Add the beets and drizzle with some of the dressing. Add another layer of cucumbers and beets, and drizzle with additional dressing. 

Sprinkle the feta and sunflower seeds over the cucumber/beets and serve!