the voice of freshness

spicy sweet potato hash

If you only see sweet potatoes on your plate covered in marshmallows at Thanksgiving – you are missing out.  The sweetness of the potato not only takes the heat,  like the jalapeno used in this dish, it embraces it.  I know sweet potatoes are not in season just yet but I just couldn’t resist since this is one of my favorite sweet potato recipes.  Plus, it went perfectly with Jamaican  jerk spice grilled chicken.  Enjoy!

Spicy Sweet Potato Hash (from Moosewood Restaurant New Classics)

olive oil, 1 tablespoon

onion, chopped, 1 cup

garlic, 3 cloves, finely diced

sweet potato, chopped, 6 cups – about 2 large

jalapeno, 1, finely diced

cumin, 2 tablespoons

coriander, 2 tablespoons

salt, Kosher, 1 teaspoon

corn, fresh from cob, 1 cup

black beans, 1 – 15 oz. can

lime juice, 1 tablespoon

Over medium heat add olive oil to a large, high sided pan.  Add onions and sautee, stirring occasionally, for 7 minutes or until golden.  Stir in garlic and sweet potatoes, cook for five minutes.  Stir in jalapeno, cumin, coriander and salt.  Bring heat to medium-high and let cook for five minutes.  Turn the potatoes with a spatula and cook for another 5 minutes.  Turn heat back to medium.  Add corn, black beans and lime juice, cover and cook for 10 minutes or until potatoes are cooked through.

What’s in it for me?

Sweet potatoes:  very high in vitamin A, high in vitamin C and maganese.  Plus, copper, fiber, B6, potassium and iron.

In season:  Corn on the Cob

fig stuffed with basil-honey chevre

Enjoying all that scrumptious summer produce from your favorite farmers market?  Can’t imaging your week without a stroll through figuring out what you need to fix your fix each week with the freshest ingredients to be had?  Well then head on over to LocalHarvest and start voting!  LocalHarvest and care2 have put together a Love Your Farmers Market contest to see who will win favorite farmer’s market.  The market with the most votes that takes the win will be awarded $5,000.  Not too shabby for a few clicks and couple minutes of your time.

In the spirit of all thing farmers market the figs, chevre, and honey used in this recipe are all from the Bayou City Farmers Market.  And the basil is from our Home Sweet Farm CSA share.  I will admit to a drizzle of balsamic syrup but it is an optional ingredient to these little fig poppers.  Enjoy!

Fig Stuffed with Basil-Honey Chevre

figs, fresh, 3, sliced in half lengthwise

chevre, 1/4 cup

basil, fresh, 1 tablespoon, chopped

honey, 1 teaspoon (more or less to taste)

Wash, dry, slice figs and place on plate. You may bake figs for 5 to 7 minutes in oven at 350 degrees or eat as is.  This is up to you on the flavor your looking for from the figs.

Combine chevre, basil and honey and place generous amounts on top of each slice of fig.  Keep in mind this recipe just sounded like it would be good so I gave it a shot.  So, you may want to adjust combination to your taste.

If you’d like the balsamic syrup to drizzle on top – too easy.  Place a 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar in a small sauce pan, cook on medium high heat until the vinegar reduce by half. It will thicken and look like syrup and is intense in flavor.  A little goes a long way.

Farmers Market:

Figs from Gundermann’s Farm

Chevre from Blue Heron Farm

Honey from Reed Family Honey Farm

What’s in it for me?

Figs:  high in dietary fiber, potassium and maganese.

peach cake

I recommend this cake only to die hard peach fans.  It is very peachy.  Not the prettiest cake and fairly messy but who cares  – it is tasty – and simple to make too, except for peeling the peaches.  Suggestion:  cut each peach in quarters with skin on and remove from pit, clean peach of any pit residue and then peel the skin.  Trust me, best way to go…skinned peaches are slippery little suckers.

The original recipe calls for a granola topping.  Since I don’t have granola nor particularly want it on my cake, I used a half cup up lightly toasted almonds.  Serve with some vanilla ice cream or whipped cream and it is sweet peach perfection.  Enjoy!

fresh summer peach cake (original recipe from 1,000 Vegetarian Recipes)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

whole wheat pastry flour, 1/2 cup

all purpose-flour, 1/4 cup

baking soda, 1 teaspoon

salt, 1/4 teaspoon

canola oil, 1/4 cup

vanilla, 2 teaspoons

egg, 1 large

sugar, granulated,  1/4 – 1/2 cup (the peach topping is very sweet – let your sweet tooth decide)

lemon juice, freshly squeezed, 1 teaspoon

peaches, peeled and sliced, 3 cups (about 3 medium)

butter, 1 tablespoon, melted

dark brown sugar, 1/2 cup firmly packed

almonds, slivered, 1/2 cup lightly toasted (optional)

In a medium bowl, combine whole wheat pastry flour through salt, use whisk to stir and set aside.  Next, in a large measuring cup or medium bowl combine canola oil through granulated sugar and set aside.

In a third medium bowl, add lemon juice.  Next, cut, clean, peel and then slice peaches.  You don’t have to make slices perfect.  Add to bowl and toss well with lemon juice.  Then, add the melted butter, toss again.  Finally, add the brown sugar tossing to coat the peaches.

Stir the flour mixture into the dry mixture.  Pour into 8 inch square or 8 1/2 inch round baking pan that has been coated with cooking spray.  Evenly distribute peach mixture on top of the batter.  If using almonds, scatter them evenly over the peaches.

Bake for 30 -45 minutes or until wooden toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.  Remove cake from oven and place on cooling rack.  Allow cake to cool completely in pan on cooling rack.

grilled rosemary-parmesan potatoes

Grilled or roasted, these potatoes can compliment many meals.  This night we chose rosemary-parmesan combination which is  a great side with lightly marinated grilled fish or chicken.  Have something in mind with a spicy rub?  Then, try with jalapeno and cheddar.  Burger or steak?  How about my favorite, so far, garlic and blue cheese.

There are many possibilities.  Here is where you need to start:

First and foremost, you need a vegetable grill pan.  Without it, you are going to have to get creative.

Heat gas grill to 350 degrees.

potatoes, red, 1 pound, cubed in 1/2 to 3/4 inch cubes

olive oil, 1 tablespoon

pepper, freshly ground, 1/2 teaspoon

salt, kosher, 3/4 teaspoon

garlic, 2 cloves, finely dices

rosemary, fresh, 5 six inch long sprigs

parmesan, shredded, 1/2 cup

After cleaning and rinsing the potatoes, dry well with kitchen or paper towel.  Remove as much access water as possible.  In a large bowl toss potatoes with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Place in grill pan and place on heated grill with lid open, tossing frequently until potatoes are browned and crisp.  At this point you are looking for carmelization not cooking the potatoes through.

Once potatoes are browned to your liking, move to indirect heat, shut lid and let cook for 30 minutes or until potatoes are cooked through.

While potatoes are cooking toss rosemary sprigs with a little olive oil, salt and pepper.  In the last 10 minutes of cooking, toss the sprigs into the potatoes.  Close lid and let cook last 10 minutes.  Turn grill off, sprinkle garlic on top of potatoes but do not stir into the potatoes.  Close lid and let sit 3 minutes.

Remove potatoes from grill, place in serving bowl and toss with parmesan.  Cover with plastic wrap to melt cheese and keep warm until serving.

No matter what your variation, remove the rosemary but keep the garlic.  Oh, I have to give props to my husband for pulling this one out of his hat last summer.  At least the rosemary-parm, the variations have been a team effort.

CSA:  potatoes

bruschetta

I used to make bruschetta every summer, several times a season but for some reason it fell out of rotation and I don’t know why.  It has been years since I made this.  Since I’m not able to resist the ripe, round, red beauties spilling out of their container…I have a lot of tomatoes.  Our CSA share is only a half, which left me with two tomatoes for the week and that won’t do.  So, a few more from the farmer’s market helped out.

It was only a few years ago that I figured out that bruschetta is the olive oil, garlic rubbed bread and not the tomato topping.  So, with a fresh baguette and fresh mozzarella to boot…it was time to reintroduce bruschetta into the summer rotation. Enjoy!

bruschetta with tomato basil topping

tomato basil topping (needs to sit at room temperature for one hour before serving)

olive oil, 1 tablespoon

balsamic vinegar, 1 tablespoon

basil, fresh, chopped, 1/4 cup

red onion, finely diced, 1/8 cup

oregano, fresh, finely diced, 1/2 teaspoon

garlic, 1 clove, finely diced

black pepper, freshly ground, 1/2 teaspoon (to taste)

salt, kosher, 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon (to taste)

tomatoes, 4, medium, seeded, cored and chopped

Combine all of the ingredients in a medium sized bowl, cover and let rest for one hour before serving.

Bread:  baquette or long bread loaf, cut in half and brush the sliced side with olive oil.  Take a clove of garlic, peel and slice in half.  Rub garlic on sliced side of loaf.  Set aside.

About 15 minutes before you are ready to serve, heat gas grill to 350 degrees.  Place bread sliced side down onto the grill.  Let toast for 3 minutes.  If you’d like, add some fresh sliced mozzarella to bread and let melt.  Remove, top with tomato-basil mixture.

CSA:  tomatoes and basil

Farmer’s market:  tomatoes

zucchini brownies

Or maybe someone close to you is a member of picky eaters anonymous (P.E.A).  There is never a lack of parents talking about their kids or wives discussing their husband who don’t care for vegetables.  Meat, potato, cheese…keep it white please.  It amazes me.  As I have discussed, food has never been an issue for me but I am fascinated with those who do have issues with it.

In the past few years, a few cookbooks have been published, like The Sneaky Chef and Deceptively Delicious , about sneaking vegetables into food.  Even Oprah did a show on this topic.   I guess if one is desperate this is a good idea.  A few weeks ago a friend of a friend told a story about his eight-year-old daughter who had horrible stomach pains for weeks.  After the doctor did some imaging the problem had a simple resolution…fiber, the kid needed to eat fiber.  Apparently her diet of hot dogs and mac and cheese wasn’t cutting it.

Now, there are many products on the market to feed all P.E.A.s, like whole grain pasta and breads…even whole wheat white bread if tan color of whole grain triggers an aversion.  As for the vegetables, well that will be a slow process but according to experts can be accomplished for the young ones.  As for big kids who know better, please eat veggies for your health and if you have kids, eat well for them.  They learn by mimicking….what do your kids see you eat?

For the die hard picky eaters, even with positive healthy food eating roll models…it is going to take some time to get them to eat spinach, broccoli, zucchini and the rest of the vegetable family in their true form – and most nutritious form.  In the meantime, bake a batch of these brownies and everyone can have some vegetable and fiber sweetly hidden behind chocolaty goodness.    Enjoy!

Zucchini Brownies (from Simply in Season)

dry Ingredients:

whole wheat pastry flour, 1 cup

unbleached white flour, 3/4 cup

cocoa, 1/3 cup

baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon

salt, 1/2 teaspoon

and the rest of the ingredients:

egg, 1 large

yogurt, plain, low-fat, 1/2 cup

canola oil, 1/2 cup

vanilla, 2 teaspoons

brown sugar, dark, 3/4 cup

sugar, 3/4 cup

zucchini, 2-3 cups shredded on box grater (if you have kids use the smallest hole grate – if you don’t want see the veg)

chocolate chips, 1 cup

Preheat oven to 350 F or 180 C

In a large bowl, whisk together all of the dry ingredients until combined well, set aside .  In a large measuring cup or medium bowl combine egg through vanilla and whisk well until combined.  Then, add the brown and granulated sugar to this mixture.  Stir in zucchini.

Pour wet mixture onto dry mixture and combine with whisk.  Finally, stir in chocolate chips.  With cooking spray, grease a 9″x13″ pan.  Evenly distribute brownie mixture.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center of the brownies comes out clean.

What’s in it for me?

zucchini:  manganese, C, magnesium, A, fiber, potassium, copper, folate, K, and phosphorus.

chocolate:

CSA share:  costata romanesco zucchini – or any of the other green zucchinis we receive will do for this recipe.

tomato soup

If first you don’t succeed…many attempts at homemade, comforting, dunk grilled cheese sandwich into, tomato soup left me less than happy with the results.  It always tasted like pasta sauce,  not tomato soup.  I’d try different recipes but still I was left with a hot bowl of marinara.  Good on pasta, not for eating like soup.

My husband took over the making of tomato soup when the craving hit.  But that won’t do for the days he is not around to cook it and I want to eat it.  I watched what he did and went from there.  First, I do not put anything resembling an Italian seasoning like basil or oregano.  Even garlic, which I love, is reigned into just one small clove.  I go for the bright lemony flavor of thyme and a little freshly squeezed lemon juice or wine.   Also, very generous amounts of celery stalks and leaves.  I will keep tweaking the recipe but this will do for now.  Enjoy!

Tomato Soup

olive oil, 1 tablespoon

onion, yellow or white, 1 cup chopped

celery stalks, 2 cups chopped

celery leaves, 1/2 – 1 cup chopped (optional)

garlic, 1 small to medium clove, minced

thyme, 1/2 teaspoon fresh or 1 teaspoon dried (to taste)

white wine, dry, 1/2 cup (optional)

tomatoes, 2 – 28 oz. cans

stock, chicken or vegetable, 5 cups – preferably homemade

kosher salt, 1 teaspoon (to taste)

black pepper, freshly ground, 2 teaspoons (to taste)

milk, 2% or whole, 1/2 cup

parmesan cheese, shredded, 1/2 cup

butter, 1/2 – 1 tablespoon (optional)

Over medium-high heat add olive oil, onion, celery stalks to large pot.   Lower heat and sautee for 10 minutes, until onions are translucent and celery has softened.  Add celery leaves, garlic, and thyme sautee 1 minute.  Add white wine cook another minute.  Place diced tomatoes, stock, salt and pepper in pot.  Bring to a boil, drop to a simmer and let it roll with lid off for 45 minutes to 1 hour.  Stir and taste occasionally, adjusting seasoning as it cooks if necessary.

Remove from heat stir in milk, parmesan cheese and butter.  Top with additional shredded parm and serve.  If you did not use white wine, serve wedge of lemon if you’d like and don’t forget the grilled cheese sandwich.

What’s in it for me?

tomatoes:  vitamins A, K, C and potassium.  Have you heard, I’m sure you have but I don’t want you to forget, that tomatoes contain lycopene.  A powerful antioxidant studied for its protection against a number of cancers.

CSA share:  celery and onion

cosmic purple carrot slaw

If you look closely you will see the tips of the shredded carrot are red.  With an exterior red skin, orange wrapped around a yellow orange core…this is one fancy looking carrot.  But don’t be alarmed, it is a carrot.  Since these are so fresh they are so, so carroty.  I know that is not a word but the flavor is like normal carrots times 10, at least.

Even though the outside skin is red, this is a Cosmic Purple Carrot.  There is plenty to do with carrots – roasting, soup, bread, or cake.  Since it is summer one of the other options is salad and not just chopped and put on top of lettuce.  After some digging in several cookbooks, I chose a carrot slaw recipe from Moosewood Restaurant New Classics.

At first, I thought the salt called for was way too much but after it mingles with the carrots and hangs out in the fridge for a couple of hours it is fresh, bright, crunchy with a bit of sweet.  Enjoy!

Carrot Slaw with Cilantro Dressing (from Moosewood Restaurant New Classics cookbook)

carrots, cleaned with veggie brush or peeled, 2 1/2 cups grated – place in medium sized bowl

Place the following ingredients into a blender:

olive oil, 3 tablespoons

lemon, freshly squeezed, 2 tablespoons

cilantro, fresh, 1 teaspoon, finely chopped

parsley, fresh, 1 teaspoon, finely chopped

garlic clove, 1 small, minced

salt, kosher, 1/2 teaspoon

black pepper, freshly ground, 1/4 teaspoon

Blend until all combined, pour over carrots, stir well, place in fridge for at least 2 hours and serve chilled or at room temp.

What’s in it for me?

Carrots are loaded with goodness – vitamins A, K, C, B6, B3, folate, potassium, dietary fiber and several other goodies plus low calorie.

CSA:  Cosmic Purple Carrots

Homemade chicken stock, any type of stock you make from scraps, adds wonderful flavor to everyday dishes.  BBQ and pasta sauces, cooking vegetables and of course the obvious – soup.  It makes the flavor more intense, like it has been cooking down slowly all day.  This year is the first year I have started making my own stock.  Some how the previous years attempts yielded watered down, tasteless broth.  So, I went right back to Kitchen Basics stocks.  In my opinion, still the best to use if you are not using your own.

I try to make a large batch of chicken stock each week now.  It’s not too complicated but it does take time.  Not prep mind you but on the stove or in the crock pot.  Lately I’ve been using rotisserie chicken leftovers.  So whatever meat is left on the bones is tossed into a large pot with 2 large carrots, 3 sticks of celery, 1 medium yellow onion, 5 cloves of garlic – all roughly chopped – 3 or more bay leaves, 1 tablespoon each of salt and whole black peppercorns.

Then I decide on the flavors I want from the stock.  If chicken and noodle soup, I stick with the standard herbs:  fresh parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.   But maybe I ‘m making a dish with a little heat.  Then I use some dried red pepper flakes and oregano.  You get the point.  Mix and match seasonings according to the meals you are going to cook.

Once all is assembled, cover with water until about three inches from the top of the pot.  Bring to boil, drop to simmer and let roll on for about six hours.  Taste and season with salt and pepper as it cooks down.  Since it is summer and added heat and  humidity to your house is less than desirable, especially in Houston, use the crock pot.  Choose the longest setting, high at first, then to low.  You should accomplish the same results.  Once it tastes just right, use the finest mesh strainer you have to get all the bits out, place in container, cover, and chill.  Remove fat at top if you’d like and use in whatever dish you’d like.

Over the last few years I’ve made several stocks.  Shrimp stock is very easy and mushroom stock so rich a meatlover won’t know what is missing.  As for basic vegetable stock, I’m still working on it.  Haven’t gotten the flavors just right.  For now I will stick to the chicken stock for all its fixer upper properties.

potato salad

Grill is on.  Beer is flowing.  Eating outside the only side that is right for this night is potato salad.  And not any of the fancier ones I usually make but the creamy classic.  When I was younger it was this or macaroni salad.  If it was my family, the eggs were left in large slices if there were any at all.  This thanks to my sister disgust of eating eggs.  Even though I love eggs, I’ve come to find I do not like them in my potato salad.

But if you like them in or on top of  this classic potato salad recipe from Ina Garten, a.k.a the Barefoot Contessa, I’m sure it would go just fine.  I like the cooking method for the potatoes in this recipe.  The skins stay intact and that is what I like about it.  If you don’t have fresh dill, use 1 to 2 tablespoons of dried.  Small red potatoes work well too.  Otherwise, stick to the recipe and definitely do not skip on the Dijon and whole grain mustard. This is a great go to when you are in the mood for the original creamy style potato salad.

What’s in it for me?

potatoes:  vitamin C, B6, calcium, potassium, iron, and fiber.

celery:  vitamin A, B6, C, riboflavin, calcium, potassium and fiber.

From the CSA share:  potatoes and celery