How to cook a flying saucer

Well, they look like flying saucers anyway.  Once summer squash starts coming in boy howdy, you better keep your windows rolled up when you park your car around here.  Not that it might get stolen or anything like that, but somebody might throw some squash in there (it’s a local joke) (well, maybe not too local…..)

Anyway, I really haven’t taken the time to enjoy any summer squash so far this season, so the other night I got in early, around 8:30, so I thought “wow, I have time to cook”.  I decided to attack one of the cool squashes I had been harvesting for a couple of weeks.  This is a rendition of a recipe I found on veggie ventures kitchen parade blogspot.  It’s a stuffed ufo. 

First, I selected which one of the aliens would be invited to my oven.  I chose a pretty yellow one.  Next I retrieved my favorite paring knife and proceeded with the evening’s main course. 

 

 I bet you’re looking at that and thinking “what kind of countertop is that?”  It’s an awesome slab of Crab Orchard stone, courtesy of my handy-dandy friend, Shane. 

Back to the squash.  Cut a circle out of the squash.  I pretty much followed the green circle.  Then take a spoon and scoop out the insides and put them aside for chopping.

 That little chopper is a great tool.  It’s a Black and Decker and it sits on top of the cup and you press down on it and push one of the buttons on the front to make it go–easy to use, easy to clean up.

Put the squash and some onion, I used a green onion, in a pan with a drizzle of evoo.  Saute until tender, remove from heat, then mix it in with 1 T flour, egg, and about 1 oz of feta cheese. 

 The recipe makes 4 squashes and I was too tired to split one egg into 1/4’s, so a whole egg went in the one squash.  The feta cheese I used had basil and tomatoes in it (courtesy of a friend who didn’t like it). 

Stuff all this into the hollowed hole of the squash.  Pop into a 350 oven for about 30-40 minutes, or until the squash is tender.  I sauteed a chicken breast with sun dried tomatoes and added sour cream to make a sauce and browned a piece of polenta to accompany the flying saucer to my belly.  I felt like a queen eating something besides cereal for supper!

 

It’s Blackberry Time in Tennessee!

Some of my favorite, well, memorable memories from childhood and motherhood involve blackberries.  It was a tradition during my childhood to gather up crisco cans, buckets, and whatever would hold a bunch of berries and head up the holler at my nanny’s farm. 

We kids had no choice–we had to pick blackberries.  I don’t remember any insect spray and I don’t remember ticks.  I do, however, remember chiggers!  I started wearing fingernail polish at an early age (on the chigger bites that is).  

Fast forward to motherhood:  My youngest son and I made it a yearly ritual to go along the roadways where we lived to pick blackberries.  We lived way out in the country and all the roads were dead ends and gravel and we could pick gallons of berries within a stone’s throw of the house.  We’d be sweating and itching and fighting bugs and I would always say “think about having a great blackberry pie in December”.  He’d laugh and say that he could go right there with me!

Now, there are thornless blackberries on the farm.  I still can’t get near them without being careful of the thorns even though they are thornless!  I found an awesome recipe for not a pie, but a crunch.  I love “crunches” with fresh berries whether cherries, blueberries, or blackberries.  Here’s the recipe:

Fresh Fruit Crisp

2 cups fresh fruit, 3/4 cups sugar, 2T all purpose flour, 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats (I use quick cooking), 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

In a large bowl combine fruit, 3/4 cup sugar and 2 T flour.  Pour into a square baking pan (8×8 or so).  In a medium bowl combine 3/4 cup flour, oats, and brown sugar.  Cut in the butter until crumbly.  Sprinkle over the top.  Bake for 30-45 minutes or until topping is golden brown.

It’s great with ICE CREAM!  It’s also good nuked in the microwave the next day; it stays crispy!

The Best Salads

Ok, so I’m a kitchen tool junkie.  I love anything to do with cooking and kitchen, whether old or new.  I’ve owned a wide assortment of kitchen tools from my favorite Kitchen Aid stand mixer to a Mr. Bacon Cooker (which I hated). 

One gadget that I had not procured until recently was a salad spinner.  I used to laugh at them and think they were frivolous until I began CSA farming.  A big majority of the crops that are delivered early in the season consist of lettuce, spinach, and other salad greens.  One of the most important parts of making a good salad is having dry greens to comprise the salad mixture so the dressing will stick to the greens.  Enter salad spinner!

My sisters and I went on a “sisters day out” a couple of months ago and one of the main attractions of our shopping was to secure the very best deal in a salad spinner.  I had tried paper towels, dish towels, letting it drain in a colander, but nothing works as great as a salad spinner.  Trust me, it’s not a frivolous purchase if you like good salads. 

Anyway, we went to TJ Maxx and checked out the salad spinners.  They ranged in price from $7.99 to over $20.  I decided on a model that cost $9.99.

You simply wash your greens, place them in the colander part of the spinner, put the lid on, and push the red knob like spinning a top (I keep waiting for the whirring noise like a really cool top I had growing up).  After a few spins, check the greens, and oh my, are they fluffy and dry!  It’s a miracle…..go get one now.  It’s the basic ingredient for a great salad.

Get to know your veggies–Broccoli

Remember when we were kids how disgusting broccoli was?  The only broccoli I remember being offered was the frozen stuff which I suppose remotely resembled broccoli.  The ONLY thing that made it palatable was the melted Velveeta on top.  I don’t even remember anyone growing broccoli when I was a kid, come to think of it.

Broccoli is a member of the brassica family, along with cabbage, kohlrabi, brussels sprouts, and cauliflower, to name a few.  Broccoli is a little tricky to grow, I must say.  It needs to be timed so it matures in cool weather, meaning spring or fall.  I’ve had more success with it in the fall (except last year, the broccoli didn’t learn how to swim so it drowned a slow, terrible, slimy death (oops, sorry–I keep obsessing about all the rain last year)….back to the present.  The best broccoli I ever grew was in the spring, in a brand new garden bed that only gets about 6 hours of sun a day (the farm is at the foot of a mountain).  The plants were huge and the heads were awesome as well.

Broccoli is prone to those cabbage moth worms, but to take care of them, I spray Bt on the plants every few days and that usually takes care of the problem.  I’ve tried floating row covers, but somehow those moths always manage to get in there and lay their eggs so not only do I not know the moths are flying about right away, I’m usually greeted by a crowd of worms upon removing the cover from the crop.  Also, I think the row cover tends to make the plants too warm, making them tend to bolt quicker.  This year I’ve purchased diatomaceous earth which is supposed to kill these cabbage worms by slicing their skin and causing them to deydrate—I can’t wait to see that!  (we gardeners get sadistic sometimes, you know…..)

Broccoli is one of the most nutritious veggies we can eat.  Broccoli is high in vitamins C, K, and A, as well as fiber.  It also contains several anti-cancer compounds, and a half-cup provides 52 mg of Vitamin C.  The benefits of broccoli are greatly reduced if the vegetable is boiled more than ten minutes, so a slight nuke in the microwave or just eating it raw would be better than cooking it very much.  Studies have also shown that eating A LOT of broccoli slows down agressive prostate cancer (I’m not sure how much A LOT is) and broccoli is good for your heart.

Broccoli is great raw in a salad, or on a crudite plate with cauliflower (one of its cousins), carrots, celery, and kohlrabi—-oh yes, and a big bowl of ranch dressing right in the middle for dipping!  It’s also great in stir fries or lightly steamed with butter and salt, or cheese sauce. 

Recipes…..ah, recipes.  This broccoli salad is totally EXCEPTIONAL!  It simply won’t last in the fridge (with me around, anyway).   It’s from my favorite recipe site, Allrecipes.com, and here’s the link to Bodacious Broccoli Salad.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!   I used a colby/jack mixed cheese because that’s what I had in the fridge.  http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Bodacious-Broccoli-Salad/Detail.aspx

Get to know your veggies–Carrots

“Why do you never see a rabbit wearing glasses?”  I would say because they would fall off when he jumps, but supposedly the correct answer is because he eats carrots. 

Carrots are one of the crops grown at Wild Things Farm.  Little Finger is a member favorite, probably because they are harvested at a small size and they are really crunchy and sweet.  Carrots are not hard to grow (they weren’t crazy about the super wet season we had last year though) and at the farm, carrots are one of the crops already in the ground. 

A quick glance at the nutritional analysis of this veggie shows that carrots are highly nutritious.  This table is on the website www.carrotmuseum.com in UK.  There is a load of other information on carrots on that website that is definitely worth checking out if you’re interested in learning more.  I thought this chart was worth sharing:  (all these values are for 1 raw carrot, 7-1/2″ long”
                                                    % Recommended daily
Nutrient                         Unit      amt              men       women

Sodium	Mg	25.200	5.0%	5.0%
Total dietary fiber	Gms	2.160	8.6%	8.6%
Vitamin A	Re	2025.360	202.5%	253.2%
Vitamin A	IU	20252.880
Ascorbic acid	Mg	6.696	11.2%	11.2%
Thiamin	Mg	0.070	4.7%	6.3%
Riboflavin	Mg	0.042	2.5%	3.3%
Niacin	Mg	0.668	3.5%	4.5%
Vitamin B6	Mg	0.106	5.3%	6.6%
Vitamin B12	Mcg	0.000	0.0%	0.0%
Folacin	Mcg	10.080	5.0%	5.6%
Potassium	Mg	232.560	11.6%	11.6%
Calcium	Mg	19.440	2.4%	2.4%
Phosphorus	Mg	31.680	4.0%	4.0%
Magnesium	Mg	10.800	3.1%	3.9%
Iron	Mg	0.360	3.6%	2.4%
Zinc	Mg	0.144	1.0%	1.2%
Pantothenic acid	Mg	0.142	2.8%	2.8%
Copper	Mg	0.034	1.7%	1.7%
Manganese	Mg	0.102	2.9%	2.9%

 

As you can see, carrots are chocked full of stuff we should be getting into our bodies every day.  They are readily available year round, even for “locavores”. 

It’s never happened to me before, but if you eat too many carrots you’ll turn yellow—honest, check it out.  It’s called carotene.  That’s also what our bodies turn into Vitamin A which is what helps keep our eyes healthy.  I wish someone would develop a carrot for vision for folks who need longer arms to read……

One of my favorite way to prepare carrots is a carrot salad my mom used to make called Copper Carrots.  I found the recipe on Recipezaar.com and here’s the link:  http://www.recipezaar.com/Marinated-Carrots-83798

The hardest part of the recipe is the “refrigerate for 24-48 hours” part, but that’s always the hardest part of a recipe for me.  I’m surprised I never did turn yellow though, when mom would make this dish I would hover around the frig until it was all gone.  Good stuff!

Get to know your veggies–Potatoes

Yes, I said potatoes.  I bet you’re thinking to yourself…potatoes, EVERYBODY knows about potatoes.  Do you?  Do you you really?

I checked out the website www.healthypotato.com and found gobs of useful information and recipes for the “lowly” potato. 

Did you know that potatoes rank really high on the list for several vitamins and nutrients, namely potassium, Vitamin C, and Vitamin B6? 

This table, found on the aforementioned website, lists foods considered “high” in Potatssium content.  ( A 5.3 ounce potato with skin on)

Food Source Potassium (mg)

Potato (1, 5.3 oz) 620

Banana (1 med) 400

Mushrooms (5 med) 300

Brussels Sprouts (4 lg) 290

Cantaloupe (1/4 med) 280

Orange (1 med) 260

Grapefruit (1/2 med) 220

Spinach (1 ½ c raw) 130

* USDA Standard Reference 18

Geez, I always ate a banana if I was getting leg cramps–think I’ll go for a potato  next time!

Back in the early 2000’s everyone went on the low-carb diet.  I agree that the diet works, but it soooo can’t be healthy for you; all that fat and cholesterol….anyway, people shy away from potatoes because they are “starchy”.  Well, here’s what “healthy potato” has to say about the starch in ‘taters:

 Resistant Starch

Resistant starch is the starch that is ‘resistant’ to enzymatic digestion in the small intestine.  Resistant starch is found in foods such as potatoes,
legumes, bananas (especially under-ripe, slightly green bananas) and some unprocessed whole grains. Natural resistant starch is insoluble, is fermented in the large intestine and is a prebiotic fiber (i.e., it may stimulate the growth of beneficial bacteria in the colon). Other types of resistant starch may be soluble or insoluble, and may or may not have prebiotic properties .

The physiological effects and potential health benefits of resistant starch have been studied in animals and humans for over 30 years.  Resistant starch appears to exert beneficial effects within the colon, as well as body-wide. Health benefits in the colon include enhanced laxation, extensive fermentation and the production of important short chain fatty acids and increased synthesis of a variety of “good” bacteria.

WOW!  That’s a plus!  Have you checked out the stomach/ digestion /laxative aisles at the stores?  They are almost as large and comprehensive as the pain relievers and sinus areas.  If we ate more potatoes maybe we could get some good bugs going in our systems to help digest all the cra……uh, food that we eat each day!

Back to the website……

Potato Nutrition:

More than skin deep

A common misconception is that all of the potato’s nutrients are found in the skin. While the skin does contain approximately half of the total dietary fiber, the majority (> 50 percent) of the nutrients are found within the potato itself. As is true for most vegetables, cooking does impact the bioavailability of certain nutrients, particularly water-soluble vitamins and minerals, and nutrient loss is greatest when cooking involves water (boiling) and/or extended periods of time (baking). To maintain the most nutrition in a cooked potato, steaming and microwaving are best.

 If you need to get dinner on the table in minutes, try baking potatoes in the microwave. The key to great microwave baked potatoes is cutting a thin wedge, lengthwise, approximately 1/2-inch wide and 1 inch deep. This is done so the steam can fully escape from the potato, resulting in a dry and fluffy pulp.  (I didn’t know that!)

On the farm there are 3 kinds of potatoes raised; Kennebec, Red Pontiac, and Yukon Gold.  Each of them has their virtues; I like the Red Pontiacs best harvested small and prepared as “new potatoes”, whole.  The Kennebecs are good all purpose potatoes, good for mashing, frying, or baking.  The Yukon Gold are creamy and make great mashed potatoes.

Before you cut potatoes out of your diet to lose some weight, why not get moving and burn off some extra calories instead?  I would never recommend to cut down on chocolate…….

Get to know your veggies–Kale

Kale is a number one nutritious green.  I’ll have to admit that I’m not much on cooked greens–story time…..Several years ago…well, about 10 years ago, my family and I were eating supper one night.  Supper was the typical Southern supper which consisted of pinto beans, cornbread, and greens.  Believe me, I’ve tried to eat cooked greens for years and I really don’t like cooked greens, but…anyway, back to the story.  My two sons (young at the time) and their father and I were eating supper, and I announced to all of them that I was 40+ years old, never liked greens, and I thought I was old enough to not have to eat them anymore!  The kids laughed and kept on eating (I was glad for that). 

Kale is a very nutritious green and I have learned to eat it when sauteed lightly and not cooked for hours!  Kale is high in carotenoids, vitamins and minerals such as calcium and magnesium, and like most veggies, it’s low in calories.  Kale also shares all the cancer-fighting properties of the brassica family.

Kale is rich in lutein and zeaxanthin, which protect the plant from UV damage.  They protect your eyes in similar ways.  Studies show that a lutein-rich diet will reduce your risk of developing age-related eye disorders, such as macular degeneration and cataracts (my former mother-in-law has macular degeneration and it’s not fun at all). 

Like its relatives broccoli and cabbage, kale releases  sulforaphane when sliced or chewed.  This stimulates the liver to make enzymes, and these enzymes break down cancer-causing molecules. 

Kale is also loaded with vitamins, especially vitamin K.  This allows the blood to clot and also keeps your bones strong.  Our bodies can’t store vitamin K real well, so we need to eat it more often to make sure it’s available.  This helps defend against osteoporosis too.  Sidenote:  My great grandmother “Granny Wilds” had a hump on her back and that used to scare me when I was a little girl.  Now I know that osteoporosis caused it and I don’t want to be scary to my great-grand kids, if I’m lucky enough to live that long!

Kale also protects your lungs.  Vitamin A protects those exposed to either first-or secondhand smoke from developing diseases like emphysema.  One cup of cooked kale provides more than 300 percent of your recommended daily needs for A. 

Cooking kale releases healthful carotenoids but can also destroy the anticancer properties.  Avoid this by slicing kale, then letting it rest for five minutes.  Then lightly steam the sliced leaves for exactly five minutes.  This is just the right amount of time to release the caretenoids while preserving the other health properties.

Sautee’d kale is great with chicken, rice, pasta, and beef, and probably pork too.  I just add it when I need something “green” to go with supper and kale is around–sautee’ and toss; it has a really good flavor!

The “vegucation” info for this article was gleaned from the February/March issue of Organic Gardening.

Get to know your veggies–spinach

Popeye the sailor man

When I was a kid we had never heard of “fresh, raw spinach”; all we were ever offered was slimy canned stuff that mom had put some sort of meat (fat usually) to give it some kind of flavor.  I can remember choking it down just so I could get up from the table to continue playing barbie dolls or whatever I was doing when I was so “rudely interrupted” to eat supper at the table, with the family.  (imagine that!) 

In my early twenties I was introduced to fresh spinach–it’s WONDERFUL!  It’s got texture, a rich flavor, easy to grow, easy to prepare and it’s one of the most nutritious veggies we can eat.  Here goes….. (USDA guidelines)

 

 

 

 In a 3.5 oz serving, you will get  

23 kcal of energy, .4 g of Sugars, 2.2 g of dietary fiber, .4g of fat, 2.2 g of protein, and the following percentages of the minimum recommended daily allowance of these nutrients:

Vitamin A- 52%
      beta-carotene
      lutein and zexanthin
Folate (Vit. B9) – 49%
Vitamin C – 47%
Vitamin E – 13%
Vitamin K – 460%
Calcium – 10%
Iron – 22%

(No wonder Popeye didn’t need a can opener)

The best way to prepare spinach is to simply wash the leaves and spin them dry in your handy-dandy salad spinner (or pat with paper towels).  Spinach mixes well with most “usual” salad ingredients;  tomatoes,  cucmbers, onions, and…….bacon bits!  Blue cheese crumbles are tasty and honey mustard dressing complements the nutty-like flavor of the leaves.  It’s also great on sandwiches instead of lettuce.   Sorry, but if you like it cooked you’re on your own 🙂

Eat More Spinach!

Get to know your veggies: Chocolate

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, I thought it appropriate to highlight the most popular vegetable for this holiday in the Wild Things’ ‘vegucation’ series, and that would be chocolate, of course. 

Chocolate is one of the most versatile veggies in the kitchen; well it’s probably the one veggie that’s eaten away from the kitchen more often than in the kitchen.  Chocolate can be consumed “raw” at room temperature, or melted and combined with fruits, nuts, pretzels, cookies….  I think  just about anything you can eat is better dipped in chocolate.

Just like in the other vegetables, “they” say that the more colorful it is, the more vitamin and mineral-rich it is.  So it is with chocolate.  The dark chocolate has better health benefits than milk chocolate, but here are some of the virtues of chocolate: 

 Cacao, the source of chocolate, contains antibacterial agents that fight tooth decay. Of course, this is counteracted by the high sugar content of milk chocolate.

The smell of chocolate may increase theta brain waves, resulting in relaxation (great for mood swings or pms).

Chocolate contains phenyl ethylamine, a mild mood elevator. (good for post aggravation times)

The cocoa butter in chocolate contains oleic acid, a mono-unsaturated fat which may raise good cholesterol.

Drinking a cup of hot chocolate before meals may actually diminish appetite.

Men who eat chocolate live a year longer than those who don’t.

The flavanoids in chocolate may help keep blood vessels elastic.

Chocolate increases antioxidant levels in the blood.

Mexican healers use chocolate to treat bronchitis and insect bites.

The carbohydrates in chocolate raise serotonin levels in the brain, resulting in a sense of well-being. (woohoo!)

You might be saying to yourself that chocolate isn’t a vegetable.  I beg to differ: If you check out the definition of chocolate on Wiki, this is what you’ll see:

Chocolate is derived from the seeds of a fleshy pod from the fruit of the cacao tree. The scientific name of the cacao tree is Theobroma cacao, which means “food of the Gods” and it is classified as a vegetable.

By the way, by definition, fruits are vegetables. The fleshy part of the fruit of cacao is also edible. 

Now for the recipe:  Mexican Chocolate Chili

It’s in the Allrecipes.com website and here’s the link.

 http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Mexican-Chocolate-Chili/Detail.aspx

Enjoy, and EAT MORE CHOCOLATE!  Don’t you think the world would be a happier place if everybody ate chocolate every day? 🙂

Get to know your veggies-Swiss Chard

Swiss Chard is a wonderful plant to grow in the garden.  Not only does it taste good, it’s pretty as well.  At Wild Things there are several different varieties of Swiss Chard in the garden; Lucullus, Bright Lights, and Sea Foam are the three main varieties grown.  Lucullus is a very hardy plant, withstanding summer heat better than the other varieties, but Bright Lights is colorful and happy and “they” say that colorful veggies are the best choices for more nutrients. 

Swiss chard is one of the most nutritious veggies around.  It contains anthocyanins and fiber, which prevent colon and digestive cancers; iron, supporting the body’s ability to utilize oxygen; vitamin A to protect your lungs and prevent heart disease; vitamin C to boost your immune function and protect against heart disease; vitamin K to keep bones strong and allow blood to clot. (whew!)

My favorite way to prepare Swiss Chard is to wash it, remove the stems, tear the leaves up, and eat them in a salad.  If you like fresh spinach salads, you’ll like Swiss Chard salads.  It’s thicker and meatier than spinach, and is great accompanied by the same things that like to go with spinach salads. 

Swiss Chard is also good sauteed lightly and added to recipes.   Many of the chefs on Food Network have been using Swiss Chard in their recipes, so I would suggest checking out their website for specific recipes.

Swiss Chard is one of those veggies that “they” recommend be eaten as soon as it’s picked for maximum nutritional benefit, but if you must store it for a couple of days, do so in a plastic bag in the crisper of your frig.  Don’t wash it until you are ready to use it.

The vegucation info in this blog was gleaned from Organic Gardening magazine.