Fall Farro Salad

Fall is my favorite season. Dan and I were walking this morning and noticed that our favorite trees in the nearby park are starting their transformation from green to beautiful shades of gold, red, and orange; nature is so inspiring. 

The garden is winding down. I spent time this morning harvesting some winter squash, a few okra, the last of the jalapeños, and the herbs I grew for seed and drying. There are still a lot of green tomatoes. I’ll leave them as long as possible, but I see some fried green tomatoes, green tomato corn muffins, and green tomato salsa in the near future. 

I’ve been looking for some grains that will compliment the sweetness of the honeynut squash and the crisp and bright flavor of an apple and I think Farro is just the right compliment. It has a nutty flavor that is not overpowering but has just the right flavor.

Farro is a great source of fiber and is rich in iron and magnesium. We served this salad alongside grilled ahi tuna and tomatoes with a sprinkle of feta and balsamic vinegar. 

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups diced honeynut butternut squash
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp fresh thyme
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup dry farro
3 cups water
1/4 cup dried cranberries

1 apple - chopped
2 Tbsp pumpkin or sunflower seeds
1 cup massaged kale

Maple Dijon Dressing:

1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp maple syrup
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon fresh thyme

Instructions:

Cook Farro: Rinse dry Farro under cold water. Add to a small saucepan with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer and cook for 30-40 minutes until farro is tender. Drain any additional water. Add Farro to a large bowl.

Season Butternut Squash: To a small bowl add butternut squash. Drizzle with olive oil. Season with salt, pepper, and 1 teaspoon of fresh thyme. Toss to coat. Spread seasoned squash out on a baking sheet in a single layer.

Roast Squash: Preheat oven to 425°F. Roast squash for 15 minutes. Remove from oven, toss vegetables, and bake an additional 10 minutes. Remove and let cool.

Make Dressing: To a small bowl add Dijon mustard, maple syrup, balsamic vinegar, garlic, 1 teaspoon of fresh thyme, and salt to taste. Whisk until smooth.

Assemble Salad: To the bowl with the farro add roasted butternut squash, cranberries, chopped apple, pumpkin seeds, kale, and maple dijon dressing. Gently toss to combine and coat everything. Serve.

Mexican Kale Salad with Avocado Dressing

If you saw my last post you’ll notice a theme - KALE. It’s still growing and there is more in the garden. You may remember that kale is not Dan’s favorite - but he’s learning to adapt (notice I did not say love it).

The tomatoes have stopped ripening - it’s just not warm enough for them so I think there will be some fried green tomatoes in our future - yum. The winter squash is starting to ripen and I can’t wait for the first batch of curried squash and apple soup with homemade bread. Of course that will be followed by stuffed, baked, sautéed, and many other versions of squash. 

We planted 3 varieties of squash this year; regular honeynut, Honeybear honeynut, and acorn. The Honeybear is significantly smaller than the honeynut but just as sweet. At last count, there were about 30 so we’ll see how many survive to harvest. 

Finally the turnips and beets. The turnips are doing very well but the beets are not so much and most of that is thanks to the #$@#$ squirrels - I hate those little buggers. Not only are they digging up the beets but they are biting the heads off my zinnias and then sitting on the deck and shredding them - not sure what’s up with that but I’m not loving it. 

In an effort to use up the kale, I found another salad to try. I figured since it had black beans, peppers, onions, and corn Dan wouldn’t complain too much. I served it with fresh bruschetta - it was delicious.

Ingredients:

4 cups (5 oz) regular or baby kale stalks removed & coarsely chopped
14 oz can low sodium black beans drained and rinsed
1 cup corn fresh or frozen (thawed)
1 medium bell pepper diced
1 1/2 large avocado pitted and diced
1 large tomato chopped
1/2 cup red onion finely chopped
1/2 cup cilantro finely chopped
1 tbsp jalapeño peppers seeded & minced

Avocado Dressing

1/2 large avocado pitted
1 tiny piece of jalapeno seeded for less heat
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 lime juice of
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Instructions:

In a large salad bowl, add kale, black beans, corn, bell peppers, avocado, tomato, red onion, cilantro and jalapenos.

In a food processor or blender, add 1/2 avocado, jalapeno, warm water, lime juice, cumin, salt, pepper and process until smooth.

Pour dressing over salad, gently toss and serve.

Thanks for stopping by!

KALE COBB WITH CASHEW-POBLANO DRESSING

 The summer harvest is winding down. We still get 1 zucchini and a couple patty pan squash daily, and okra - well let’s say we won’t run out any time soon. 

I’ve made 3 batches of tomato sauce and based on what I see on the vine there will be 2 more batches in the future. The winter squash is coming along nicely - so far I’ve counted 25 in various stages (some small, some larger, and some nearly ready to harvest).

My fall crops - turnips, beans, and peas - are doing well however, some critter is eating the beets and I’m not happy - argh! If I can keep them away it looks like we’ll harvest maybe 15 - 20 beets - I would like more but it is what it is. 

We still have kale, swiss chard, parsley, and basil. I’ve replenished the pesto larder (you may remember we had a freezer malfunction where I lost all of my pesto and apple butter - so sad). So I’ve been harvesting basil and giving it to friends - lots of bruschetta going around these days. If you are in the neighborhood stop by and I’ll give you some. 

This Kale Cobb with Cashew-Poblano Dressing is a hearty, vegetarian version of the classic with a creamy, dairy-free dressing. It’s make-ahead friendly and perfect for weekend entertaining or weekday lunches. 

While Dan is not a fan of too much kale - he liked the tomatoes, avocado, and radishes; many of the ingredients in this salad were from the garden.

Ingredients:

½ cup raw cashews

4 large eggs at room temperature

½ cup chopped poblano pepper about ½ of one medium pepper

2 tsp. white miso paste

1 ½ Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

1 tsp. onion powder

¾ tsp. granulated garlic

½ tsp. kosher salt divided

½ tsp. freshly grated black pepper

1 large or 2 small bunch kale, roughly chopped

1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

¾ cup halved cherry tomatoes

⅓ cup shaved radish

1 ripe avocado sliced thin

2 Tbsp. chopped fresh chives

Instructions:

Place cashews in a bowl and cover with 1 cup hot water. Let sit for 1 hour.

While cashews soak, prepare boiled eggs by bringing a saucepan of water to a boil over medium-high. Carefully lower eggs into water using a slotted spoon. Cook for 7 ½ minutes, maintaining a gentle boil. Transfer to an ice bath and chill until eggs are slightly warm about 2 minutes. Peel eggs and cut into slices.

Drain cashews, but reserve soaking liquid. Transfer cashews to a food processor (or blender) along with poblano pepper, miso paste, lemon juice, onion powder, garlic, ¼ tsp. of the salt, black pepper, and ½ cup of the reserved soaking liquid. Blend on medium speed, scraping down sides with a spatula and adding more soaking liquid as needed, until dressing is smooth, about 1 to 2 minutes. Using a spatula, transfer cashew dressing to a small bowl. 

Place kale in a large bowl. Add olive oil and remaining ¼ tsp. salt and use your hands to massage oil into greens until they begin to soften. Leave kale in the bowl or transfer it to a serving platter. Add tomatoes and radish; toss to combine. Top with egg and avocado slices and drizzle dressing overtop. Scatter chives overtop.

Thanks for stopping by!

Classic French Ratatouille

September starts in one more day - where has the summer gone. It’s been a good year in the garden, zucchini and patty pan squash are prolific, we’re eating okra at least once a week, and we are now into tomato season. We've eaten so many tomato and mayo sandwiches, which is perfectly fine, and of course, there is sauce to be made. 

Today I am working on the 3rd batch of roasted sauce, and there are still a lot of tomatoes on the vine. Batches one and two are in the freezer waiting until it's cooler to be part of chili, lasagne, or soup. 

One of my favorite ways to use up the zucchini, tomato, and eggplant harvest is to make ratatouille. There are many ways to make it; you can chop and make it like a stew or roast it but my favorite is the traditional layered method. Not only is it pretty, but the flavors meld in just the right way. It is time-consuming but in my opinion worth it. 

So, I chopped, sautéed, and simmered until it was done. We served it with warm ciabatta bread and a nice glass of crisp white wine. What could be better on a warm summer evening? 

Ingredients

Vegetables:

• 2 small eggplants
• 2 zucchini
• 6 tomatoes
• 2 red onions
• 1 yellow bell pepper

Sauce:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 red onion
• 1 red pepper
• 5 cloves garlic
• salt, pepper
• ¼ tsp oregano
• ¼ tsp thyme
• 700 grams crushed tomatoes
• 2 tbsp fresh basil

Herb dressing:

• 5 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp fresh basil
• 2 tbsp parsley
• 1 tsp thyme
• 3 cloves garlic
• Salt, and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Slice the vegetables evenly and set them aside. I used a mandolin slicer to keep them all uniform. 
2. Make the herb dressing: finely chop the herbs, and stir them with olive oil and minced garlic. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
3. Preheat the oven to 390°F.
4. Make the tomato sauce: In a large oven-proof pan or skillet, heat some olive oil, add diced onion and pepper, and let sauté. Stir in minced garlic until fragrant. Season with salt and pepper, and add oregano and thyme. Pour in the crushed tomatoes, stir to combine, and cook on medium heat for another 10 minutes. Lastly, stir in some finely chopped basil.
5. Arrange the sliced vegetables evenly on top of the tomato sauce starting by the outer edge of the pan. Continue adding the vegetable slices in alternating patterns to the middle of the pan. Once arranged, season the vegetables with salt and pepper, and drizzle the herb dressing on top.
6. Cover the pan with foil and transfer to the preheated oven. Bake for about 40 minutes covered, then uncover the pan and bake for another 20 minutes, until the vegetables are softened and slightly charred.
7. Once baked, remove from the oven and serve hot.

Thanks for stopping by!

Okra - Delicious and not Slimy

We’re back from a week at the lake and thanks to my friend Annette and husband Don, the garden is thriving. We have tomatoes, beans, peppers (poblano and green), turnips, and okra. Okra is a favorite vegetable at our house, we often make a lovely Indian dish called Bindhi Masala - flash-fried okra with onions and spices. If you’ve not tried it you must - it’s delicious.

Okra can be tricky to prepare. It can get all slimy, which is why so many people don’t like it, and until I learned how to cook it - I hated the slime too. There are many ways to reduce the slime but my favorite are:

• Soak in a vinegar bath 
• Wash and let completely dry before you even think about cooking
• Cooking at high heat with olive oil
• Roasting at a high temp 

Last night, after returning from the lake, I knew we had to use up some of the okra - it’s very perishable and once picked needs to be used in short order. We also had a cucumber that was aging and 2 tomatoes that were pretty ripe. I had some mussels in a garlic wine sauce (from Aldi - one of the best $4.00 you will ever spend), so I chopped, sliced, marinated, and roasted the ingredients. We had marinated cucumbers, tomatoes, onion and green pepper, mussels, and garlic-roasted okra. 

Ingredients:

• 1 lb okra
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• 1.5 Tbsp melted plant-based butter

Instructions:

• Rinse the okra and dry it with a paper towel (at least 30 minutes, longer is better). Trim away the stem ends, and then cut into 3/4 inch pieces. Place the okra in a medium-sized mixing bowl. 

• Mix paprika, garlic powder, paprika, and salt in a small dish.

• Sprinkle the seasoning mix over the okra and then add the melted butter. Mix well

• Transfer the okra to a parchment-lined cookie sheet and spread them out evenly. 

• Bake @ 450 degrees for approximately 15 minutes.

Enjoy - thanks for stopping by!

Vegan Basil Pesto

It’s almost August - where does the time go? On the cooler mornings, I love heading out to the garden to trim, weed and kill bugs - I’m getting pretty good at killing bugs if I do say so myself. I do still have to take a deep breath before I squish them but I’m improving.

The garden is doing well (hence the bug-killing), I’m picking zucchini, patty pan squash, and green beans most days. The winter squash is starting to fruit - actually, we have a few that are a good size at this point, and the turnips - are getting bigger every day. 

A couple disappointments - first the eggplant. Last year we had a fantastic harvest. I planted a dwarf variety and they were so prolific - this year they did absolutely nothing except mock me every time I came into the garden. I pulled them out last week and replanted the space with another round of green beans. The other disappointment - okra. It’s growing and it looks healthy but there are no flowers or fruit - I’m sad - I love okra - we’ll see what happens. 

On the other hand, the basil is doing very well - I made 4 batches of pesto this afternoon and I still have a lot of basil left in the garden. The dill, cilantro, and parsley are ready to harvest and dry. Our garlic - all 50 heads - is drying as we speak and I anticipate enjoying it in fall and early winter. 

So speaking of pesto - I love it on pasta, pizza, flatbreads, and roasted veggies. I’ve been making a vegan version for many years now and I usually get rave reviews even though there is no cheese or pine nuts. I use walnuts and nutritional yeast (for that cheesy flavor) - it works for me and I get no complaints from Dan. Actually, we had a freezer disaster this winter and I had to toss all of my pesto and apple butter (because it spoiled) so this is a restocking year - because we have a shiny new freezer.

Ingredients:

2 cup basil

2 Tbsp lemon juice

3 cloves garlic

5 - 6 Tbsp nutritional yeast

1/3 cup walnuts - toasted

1/2 cup olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Using a food processor, pulse basil until chopped into small pieces.

Add nutritional yeast, garlic, lemon juice, and walnuts.

Pulse pesto until it is well incorporated.

Add olive oil in a constant stream until basil pesto is smooth and consistency is to your liking.

Pack in ice cube trays or small containers and freeze

Thanks for stopping by!

Checkerboard Salad

It’s been a crazy and fun-filled week. I’ve been working at a communal garden in Minneapolis and this year the garden is on the Learning Garden Tour so we’ve been working extra mornings to weed and get things looking spiffy for the event tomorrow. I’ve also been working in my own garden - weeding, watering, and pruning - I’m not sure if I’ll get the dirt under my fingernails out anytime soon. 

We’ve been enjoying kale, swiss chard, and turnip greens in our salads and the zucchini and patty pan squash are starting to ripen. I’ve noticed tiny green beans forming and the tomatoes are starting to produce fruit - still green but I expect we’ll get some toward the end of the month. The eggplant is disappointing - they just glare at me; they don’t grow, they don’t die, they just stare - not sure what I did to piss them off or how to fix the problem.

We had Dan’s sister and brother-in-law over for dinner tonight and you know me - let’s try something new cuz -why not? We grilled a large plate of veggies; sweet potatoes, peppers, onions, asparagus, zucchini, and patty pan squash from the garden. I topped it with a chimichurri sauce (all herbs from the garden) and it got good reviews. 

In lieu of a traditional green salad, I made a checkerboard salad; a little feta, a little watermelon, and a little cucumber; topped with good quality olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and thinly sliced basil and mint - it was visually beautiful and delicious, and not as complicated as one might think.

Ingredients:

1 block of sheep’s feta

1 seedless cucumber

watermelon 

3 - 4 basil leaves -thinly sliced

High-quality olive oil

Balsamic vinegar

Instructions:

Chop feta, watermelon, and cucumber into 1-inch cubes. Arrange on a plate, alternating cheese, melon, and cucumber. Drizzle w olive oil and balsamic vinegar. 

Finely chop basil and spread it on the salad - serve!

Thanks for stopping by!