A week or so ago I was perusing the “Parade” section of our local newspaper and ran across a great article for take-it-with-you lunches that utilize a lot of fresh veggies from the garden AND provide you with a healthy lunch….here’s the link:
http://www.parade.com/250582/sarahdigregorio/smart-layering-stack-up-a-make-ahead-portable-lunch/
Stay warm!
Okay, what comes to mind when you hear the words “okra” and “grits”. Why, the South, of course! Many of the Wild Things Farm CSA members are transplanted Northerners, so on the “Veggie Rating List” each season, okra is one of the most noted veggies on the “Do Not Want” list. One year a lady told me she didn’t even want okra to touch her box! Hmmmmmm. Maybe it is an acquired taste, but I LOVE okra.
It’s very pretty too, a member of the hibiscus family:
I really don’t mind if some folks don’t like it. That means more for me 🙂
Grits–that’s another probably acquired taste, but I love grits as well. A “health blog” (shall remain nameless) the other day mentioned 10 foods that you should never eat; grits was on the list. Needless to say there were several negative comments regarding the author’s choice of foods. Some of them like refined sugar, were valid, but some were kind of “eh”, not that unhealthy in the amounts a normal person would consume.
Anyway, my ramblings bring me to the subject of polenta. I only heard of polenta about 9 years ago on a camping trip to Ossabaw Island (NC). One of the campers had brought polenta in a plastic tube that you just slice off and fry up in the pan. Hmmmm, cold grits in a tube. How interesting.
Then I started looking in the stores. Seems like polenta was a trendy sort of food. I found a recipe and made my own–it is very good, and sort of like pasta or rice, a good neutral base for all sorts of yummy toppings. I even did a blog about polenta several years ago. http://www.wildthingscsafarm.com/blog/2010/01/22/playing-with-polenta
A few days ago I was discussing food trends with my mom and dad, and my dad, who turned 80 this year, said his mother used to make polenta when he was a kid–huh? I asked him what she put on top and he said whatever was in the fridge that needed to be eaten.
There really is nothing new under the sun, now is there?
My dogs aren’t what you would call picky eaters, but they do let me know when “something just ain’t right”. They have trained me to give them a treat every morning as I go outside to begin work. The treats stay in a wooden box just outside the front door and the dogs know that’s where they are kept!
A few months ago I was looking for a decent, healthy treat recipe for the dogs and I ran across one that had pumpkin and flax seed in it. Supposedly, pumpkin is good for the dog’s digestive system and flax seed is healthy, plus they have eggs and whole wheat flour–almost good enough for humans, but not quite palatable in my opinion. Since it’s a very, very, rainy day, I decided to make a batch and share the recipe:
Pumpkin Flaxseed Dog Biscuits
2 cups pumpkin (I use a whole can)
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
3 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup flax seeds
3-1/2 cups each of plain flour and whole wheat flour
Preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Mix the wet ingredients together then add the dry. This dough is VERY tough and hard to mix; I have one of those Kitchen Aid Stand Mixers that is very powerful and this dough bogs it down. You might have to mix it by hand somewhat if you have a regular hand held mixer.
Roll out to 3/8″ thick and cut into dog biscuit size pieces; I use a pizza cutter and cut small ones for Lucy, the terrier and larger ones for Hattie, the Catahoula. Place on baking sheets and bake for about 40 minutes. This recipe makes a good sized batch and the dogs seem to really like them.
I’d say everyone that has ever tried to make deviled eggs from farm fresh eggs has experienced the frustration of peeling a fresh egg. The shell just doesn’t come off the egg in a clean manner.
This morning I wanted to make a batch of deviled eggs for snacking, The last time I boiled eggs I had used the eggs that were cracked during the laying process–(hens are really rough on eggs)–or cracked during handling for whatever reason. ANYWAY, I boiled the cracked eggs and they actually peeled very easily, so I told myself that the next time I needed to boil eggs I would purposely crack the shells before cooking.
I used a dozen eggs that were gathered yesterday evening. Each egg was gently cracked against the side of the pot before placing all the eggs in cold water. Don’t rupture the membrane, just crack the shell. The stove eye was turned on medium high until the water began to boil, then turned down a little so the water would gently boil for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes the hot water was drained off and cold tap water immediately filled the pot to cool the eggs down a bit.
I was simply amazed at how easy the shells came off–not one single egg was mangled during the peeling process.
Yay!
It’s amazing how many different flavors you can get from a bowl of greens. During the winter there are assorted greens growing in the high tunnel and I’m always looking for different flavors to keep the greens interesting to the tastebuds.
The April issue of Better Homes and Gardens magazine had an interesting recipe that I tried yesterday. The barley in the recipe is what really did the trick.
Greens and Barley Salad
4 cups assorted greens such as baby bok choy, endive, radicchio, and/or butter lettuce (Okay, I used spinach and baby Swiss chard–close enough :-))
1/2 head cauliflower, sliced into 1/2 inch slices
2 carrots, peeled and then sliced into ribbons with a peeler
1/2 cup cooked barley
1/4 cup lemon or lime juice (I used lime)
2 Tbsp honey
1 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp nutmeg (I didn’t have any of this)
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 handful of toasted walnuts (you have to burn the 1st batch then do the second one perfectly)
In a large bowl combine the vegetables and barley. I sort of kept the barley together on one side and the veggies on the other so I could taste them separately. I also had a few cherry tomatoes that were “on their last leg” so I threw them in the bowl as well.
Mix the lemon or lime joice, honey, and the paprika, nutmeg and cayenne in a jar with a screw-top lid. Shake well then pour over the greens and top with walnuts. YUM! This is a keeper.
The Happy Hens are really laying a lot of eggs now so I thought it was a great time to try a new quiche recipe. The spinach hadn’t recovered from the last harvest sufficiently to include in the recipe, so I went to my favorite recipe site, Allrecipes.com and found this yummy recipe that will be made again. I took it to my parents’ house and my Dad ate it for two meals and Mom wanted the recipe–it’s a keeper.
8 oz bacon, fried crisp and crumbled
9″ pie crust (popped out of the foil pan and into a glass pie plate)
2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 cup Monterey Jack (I used pepper jack) shredded
3 T all purpose flour
5 eggs, lightly beaten
1-1/2 cups half and half
1/2 cup diced onion
1-4 oz can diced green chiles
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Crumble the bacon bits onto the bottom of the pie crust. Combine cheese and flour and stir to coat cheese with flour. In a separate bowl mix eggs, half and half, onion, and chiles. Add the cheese and stir well. Pour into crust–it will be full–full-full. I put the pie plate on a cookie sheet and a little ran over but not much. Bake 60-70 minutes or until firm. Mine was done in 45 minutes but my oven runs hot.
Let it stand for 10 minutes. A slice of this and a salad is quite filling–it’s good for breakfast too!
Note: If your husband/boyfriend/significant other won’t eat things they can’t pronounce, the other name for this recipe is “Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Pie”.
Today’s one of those days that one needs a boat to navigate around outdoors. It’s pouring rain but the chickens are out wandering around in the rain–go figure…..
While I’m hold up in the house I decided to replenish my homemade granola supply. My go-to breakfast every morning is yogurt with fruit and granola on top. I’ve made my own a few times in an attempt to reduce the amount of crap I can’t pronounce going into my mouth, and it’s not hard to make. The hardest part is finding all the ingredients in Small Town USA. We do have a couple of health food stores that are proving to be a good source for hard-to-find “healthy” food items.
Every time I make this recipe I tweek it just a little bit, but it always turns out yummy….that is unless I get distracted while baking it and it ummm, gets a little dark 🙂
Here’s the basic recipe: (from Allrecipes.com)
4 cups rolled oats
1 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup flax seed meal (I used 1-1/2 cups wheat germ because I didn’t have any flax
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans (I used walnuts)
1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1 tsp ground cinnamon (I omit this)
1-1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup canola oil (I used grapeseed oil–why? because I didn’t have any canola oil)
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup water
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Mix all the wet stuff together in a separate bowl, using a fork or a whisk. Pour the wet onto the dry and toss to coat all the dry ingredients. Place in a greased 9×13 or 11×7 inch baking pan. (I used a large jelly roll pan) that is greased well (sprayed with non-stick spray). Set the timer for 15 minutes and every 15 minutes stir everything around really well. Mine usually cooks in about 45 minutes but the recipe calls for an hour or until it’s golden brown. Let it cool completely then store in an airtight container. I keep mine in a big glass gallon jar……yummy!
We’ve spent most of our lives being told to “eat your vegetables” and now that we are, we’re being told to “eat your green vegetables”. For years and years I tried to act as though I liked greens (spinach, turnip, chard, kale, mustard) in the cooked stage, but it was all an act. Having been raised on canned food both at school and at home, greens were just a slimy mass that required vinegar poured on them to make them palatable enough (huh?) to go down.
In my opinion, anything that requires vinegar in order to make it palatable shouldn’t be eaten anyway. Enter fresh greens…….
Although I’m still struggling with the texture of a bowl of cooked, steamed sauteed or otherwise heated up greens, it is definitely getting better. I actually lightly steamed/cooked some fresh kale in beef broth a couple of months ago and it was DELICIOUS! I since haven’t been able to duplicate the event.
The menu for supper was all lined out the other night, but something green was absent from the list, so I ventured into the garden, picked a small bunch of Swiss Chard, medium sized leaves, and headed back to the kitchen.
Here’s the recipe:
9-10 leaves of Swiss Chard, medium size (about 2 cups cut into thin shreds)
2 small sweet potatoes (about 1-1/2 cups grated)
1 egg
1 Tablespoon oil
T Tablespoon or so of flour
a couple of teaspoons of honey
salt and pepper to taste
Put the oil in a large nonstick skillet and turn on medium heat. Mix the grated sweet potato and shredded chard in a bowl and add the egg and flour, honey and salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly. Drop by big spoonfuls onto the pan (oil should sizzle when mixture is added) and mash out into fritters about 4″ in diameter. Let them cook on one side until browning and crispy then flip over and finish cooking on the other side. Drain on paper towels and enjoy hot! Actually, when I cleaned up the pan most of the oil was still in there.
Yet another yummy way to enjoy those all nutritious green veggies!
Ok, I finally did it–made “vegetarian” chile rellenos and they were actually quite tasty. Through the years I’ve had eggplant fixed two different ways: eggplant parmesan or breaded and fried. It’s great both ways, but boring. I subscribe to a blog called My New Roots and this lady comes up with some really interesting ways to prepare veggies. She uses eggplant as a neutral base for other flavors much as you would rice or pasta. Because it is sort of bland it soaks up other flavors nicely.
The ingredients in this dish are:
1 eggplant prepared and chopped (see below)
1/2 onion, chopped
2 Anaheim Chiles halved lengthwise and seeded
dash of cumin
4 small flour tortillas
oil for sauteeing
Monterrey Jack (or similar) cheese
Sour cream or cream cheese
splash of milk
The first step in making this dish is to peel and slice the eggplant then salt it really well and set aside for about 20 minutes. This causes a lot of the moisture to come out of the eggplant then you take paper towels and dry it off. Pulse the eggplant in a food processor until the consistency of ground meat (see where I’m going now?)
In a pan saute some chopped onion and a little garlic. I also put the anaheim chiles in this pan to soften up a bit before placing in tortillas. After the onion is soft, add the eggplant and a dash of cumin, salt and pepper to taste. I stirred this around for about 8-10 minutes to get more moisture out. When you’re satisfied with this conglomeration, heat up just a tad of oil in a frying pan large enough to accommodate two tortillas and spread out a chile pepper on one of the tortillas. Add eggplant mixture and top with cheese (I used Cracker Barrel Aged Reserve cheese–YUMMY!) then top with the other tortilla. Place in pan on medium low heat until that side is browning then flip it over and repeat.
I made a sauce with some of the cheese, a dollop of whipped cream cheese and a splash of milk, then topped it with some freshly made salsa.
Very tasty.
Footnote: The Cracker Barrel Aged Reserve cheese AND the whipped cream cheese was purchased at a local grocery stored called United Grocery Outlet or UGO. The cream cheese was 50 cents a cup and the cheddar cheese was $1.29! If one were purchasing cheese for this dish I’d say Monterey Jack would work and sour cream would work in the sauce–HOWEVER if you’ve been reading my recipes very much you’ll know that I never have everything in the pantry that a recipe calls for so improvising is one of my strong points!
Each year several new crops are trialed on the farm and this year one of those crops was ground cherries, aka cape gooseberries or poha. I’m assuming the poha name is native American in origin.
The CSA members have gotten a small helping in their shares for the last couple of weeks and with the exception of one member, everyone seems to like them. The true test of this crop’s acceptance was at the Farmer’s Market on Wednesday. To say the least, I spent a lot of time explaining what ground cherries tasted like, how they grow, and how to eat/prepare them. I even handed out samples.
The very first couple to show up at the table bought two containers after tasting the sample. That made me excited–then the “damp rags” showed up. You know, those folks who have to analyze everything. I’d say 95% of the people that tasted them thought they were very tasty and quite unusual–then they’d walk away….huh? A pint was only $2.00 and I’d sure pay $2.00 for something tasty and different ESPECIALLY if I had been given a sample. There were about 10 pints to start with and I came home with 3, so it wasn’t a complete bust AND they will keep–that’s a good thing!
I haven’t figured out what’s not to love about them:
The only thing I would have to say negative about them is that they are a little tedious to harvest as they fall on the ground when they are ready—hmmmmm maybe that’s where the name comes from!
Wild Things Farm 