Spring Tabouleh

Yet another 101 cookbooks recipe. I am a fan of her simple yet fantastic flavors as well as use of fresh ingredients. This recipe was soooo simple, it probably took me about 10 minutes total. And everya lot of it is from the farm! Boo to the frozen asparagus, but I had it and wanted to use it up.

1 c couscous

1/4 c fresh peas

1 bunch asparagus, sliced into 1" portions

1 lemon, juiced

4 T evoo

1 clove garlic, with salt made into a paste (use side of your knife)

salt and pepper to taste

3 T cilantro

3 green onions, thinly sliced

a few garlic chives, thinly sliced

2 hard boiled eggs, diced

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Once it boils, take 1 c out and pour it over the couscous in a bowl.

In the remaining water, dunk the asparagus and peas in for about 30 seconds. Drain and run under cold water to stop the cooking.

For the dressing, squeeze out the juice of a lemon into the EVOO. Add the garlic paste and whisk together. Stir in the herbs and onions, then add the tabouleh, egg, and veggies.

Refrigerate until cold. Super simple, a good side dish or light summer meal. Or, perhaps add some chickpeas to boost the fill factor.

Wild Rice and Poached Eggs

Here is yet another 101 cookbooks recipe for this week. I was in a hurry menu planning so I did not stray very much from her website despite the stack of cookbooks next to me. I am posting a few recipes tonight as I have time, the next few weeks are going to continue to be super busy. This was a simple and tasty recipe, and I used the leftover fried ginger and garlic on top from the fried rice recipe last week. Wild Rice and Poached Eggs 1 c wild rice 1 T evoo 1/2 onion 1 clove garlic 1 bunch collard greens/kale deviened and thinly sliced 1 t red pepper flakes 4 eggs Cook the wild rice in a rice cooker according to directions. Heat a large pot of water to a simmer with 1 T of vinegar. In the meantime, saute the onion in the evoo until a bit translucent. Add the garlic , red pepper, and greens and saute until wilted. Add the rice and stir. This was my first time poaching eggs, the hubs said they could've cook a few seconds longer, but overall not too bad for my first time. I took some lessons gleaned from watching too many cooking shows. Start off by cracking the egg into a small bowl or ramekin. Take a slotted spoon and stir the water to create a small whirlpool. Drop the egg in gently, in the direction of the water. Let cook until the whites are no longer translucent, and a bit more after that if you do not prefer a runny inside. For better ideas, go to this recipe on 101 cookbooks, she has some alternative ideas, though you need a mesh strainer for it. Simple and tasty, a good quick meal as well.

Zucchini White Pizza

Taking a previous recipe that we often make called Rainbow Pizza from Vegetarian Times, I made a pizza using as much zucchini as I could fit. And I still have like 3 1/2 left. Perhaps tomorrow night will be a zucchini tart with phyllo dough and some different flavor accents.

I purchase my pizza dough from Trader Joes, 99 cents per ball of dough. Super easy.

2 pizza dough balls

3 T evoo

1 t garlic powder

2 c fontina cheese (havarti is nice too)

1 1/2 zucchini sliced thinly

1/2 orange pepper, thinly sliced

1 t red chili flakes

1/2 c feta cheese

Preheat the oven to 425.

Roll out the dough to preferred thickness, then brush with a bit of olive oil and sprinkle some garlic powder.

Sprinkle the fontina cheese on top of the dough, then layer the zucchini and peppers on top of that. Sprinkle the red pepper flakes and then feta cheese.

Bake for at least 10 minutes or until crust and cheese starts to brown.

Nice, quick, and tasty. Elvis enjoyed eating dinner outside too.

Zucchini Lasagna Tart

Ok, so this entire week has gone by with no post. Sorry. I have been uber busy and did not meet my quota for blogging. But man, oh man, is this the recipe to wait for! It was soooo good, even if my crust skills are not up to par.

We got a boatload of zucchini's, summer squash, and another one I am not sure the name of. I have made two recipes now with them, and pretty much only used up 2 out of the 5, maybe 2.5. More to come, and that is not even mentioning the other veggies we got this week. We did use some of the greens though, and hopefully I will get around to making a quiche to freeze here soon.

De.lic.ious. That is about all I can say, more words would degrade it. I got the recipe from 101 cookbooks. It was for lasagna tart, from scratch, crust and everything, well, ok, not the sauce. I must confess, I did buy crust just in case, but decided last minute to shoot for the whole shebang. And I am glad I did! The crust was magnificent! I did not do very well rolling them out evenly, and my white whole wheat flour was surely not the same as whole wheat pastry flour, but still a tasty concotion.

I also did not have a large tart pan, but several small ones, so I made 6 individual serving tarts by just making smaller circles in the dough.

Lasagna Tarts

2 medium zucchini, sliced into very very thin coins

scant 1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

Tart Crust

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or spelt flour)

1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

zest of one lemon

1/4 cup olive oilscant

1/2 cup cold water

1 c spaghetti sauce or marinara sauce 1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese

Preheat your oven to 375F degrees, and place a rack in the middle. Oil a 10-inch tart pan and set aside.

Start by tossing the sliced zucchini with the salt in a medium bowl. Transfer the zucchini to a colander and let it drain while you make the tart shell.

To make the tart shell combine the flour, salt, and lemon zest in a large mixing bowl. Drizzle the olive oil over the flour and stir that in as well. Drizzle the cold water over the flour and mix with a fork just until it is absorbed. Knead one or twice - just until the dough comes together into a ball. On a lightly floured surface use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a circle roughly 13-inches across. Ease the pastry into your tart pan and press it into the corners and up the sides without stretching the dough. Trim away any excess dough, and place the pan in the refrigerator for at least thirty minutes. When the dough is done resting, prick the crust with a fork a few times. Now line the pastry with parchment paper and fill the tart with pie weights. Bake for 15 minutes. Carefully remove the paper and pie weights, then toast the tart crust in the oven for another five minutes or so before transferring it to a rack to cool. Leave the oven on, but dial it down to 350F. When you are ready to assemble the tart, use a spatula to spread half of the ricotta cheese across the base of the tart shell. Now spoon about half of the sauce over the ricotta and arrange half of the zucchini in a single layer on top of the sauce (see image). If your zucchini is still quite wet, press it into some paper towels. I use my fingers for this next part. After spooning the remaining ricotta over the zucchini, push it around a bit with your fingers so that it forms a layer. Arrange another layer of zucchini and finish with the remaining sauce. You want the filling to nearly, but not quite fill the pan.

Place the tart on a rimmed baking sheet - in case you end up with an overflow - and bake for roughly 45 minutes or until the tarts are cooked through. Remove and let cool for 10 minutes before serving (for the small tart pans I cooked them for 25 minutes). I dusted the top of this with a bit of Parmesan, awesome!

If you prefer homemade sauce, go to her website, I just did not have all the ingredients, yet. Wait till tomatoes are up!

If you make any recipe on this blog, and like italian, make this one. And the curry. My favorites so far.

My First Trip to the Farm

I went to the farm for the first time yesterday. Sorry for the lack of photos, but I was in a hurry, had a huge to-do list for the evening, and frankly just forgot my camera in the hubbub. But, the trip was relaxing, I even picked a pint of sugar peas myself along with some herbs. There was SO much food. It was overwhelming, and amazing seeing just how big and ENTIRE share is. We got 11 summer squash. 11! And they were no small potatoes. The beets were phenomenal, bright reds and oranges in a box littered with bright green leaves. And two humongous heads of lettuce. Amazing. It is so great to be able to see mounds and mounds of vegetables, then step outside and see EXACTLY where they came from. They said this week our share was well over $100 worth, and I believe it. It took me two bags overflowing to get it all back to my house to divy up. We got this week: cilantro, dill, thyme, tarragon, oregano, beets, kale/collards, spinach, lettuce, salad mix, garlic/onion chives, green onions, sugar peas, sunflowers, and of course squash I am planning on a few recipes from 101 cookbooks, trying to use up all the squash along with everything else. I am making a lasagna tart (with no noodles), a quiche (using up the rest of the half-n-half from the gratin recipe), beet salad, an asian rice and poached egg salad, and another one I can't remember. At some point I am going to update this website, include sites I get recipes from, and perhaps have a guest blogger, G, my food box partner. Someday I will figure out how to archive my recipes so you can search for them. Someday, perhaps during a break from classes. Any recommendations are super welcome ;)

Lack of Posts

Afternoon everyone! I apologize for the several days worth of no posting, couple of reasons for that. 1. My sister had twin boys early Sunday morning, they were a bit early and unexpected, but doing well. 2. I am in my final 2 weeks of a summer class and a bit overbooked. 3. The recipes I have made have been nothing to write home about, disappointing actually. I made a turnip and potato gratin that we are still trying to finish, it may be sauted with some eggs tomorrow for breakfast. It was ok, a recipe from Foodnetwork.com, a bit bland and soupy. Then, I made another recipe from foodnetwork.com, an EatingWell pasta recipe with kale and pasta, garlic, spinach, and a bit of cheese. Ugh. It was SUPER bland, and I may have sent the hubs with the last of it to work today because I couldn't handle eating one more bite of it. I covered it in pepper for him. Lesson of the weekend: Just because it is from food network, does not mean it is a good recipe. We have been up to our ears in leftovers. I finished the last of the minestrone today for lunch, the pasta is gone, and the potatoes are going to be breakfast. Finally. And just in time for a new box.

Thai Red Curry with Tofu

I love curry. A whole lot. And I love the variety in curry, indian, thai, chinese, etc. Each one is so different, and yet so divine. Yes, I said divine. Sometimes I cheat and buy Trader Joe's bottled versions, the yellow is my favorite, with green following in a close second. I bought a thai basil seedling this year to try as I often come across recipes calling for it, but never find it in the store. It is beautiful, dark green and purple, with lovely buds. It has grown so well in the past few weeks.

This night I decided to use the bok choy, scallions, and cilantro from my farm box. I borrowed this recipe and changed it up a bit from Vegetarian Times. 1 pkg tofu, drained 2 T oil (veggie is nice for its higher temp capability) 1 can light coconut milk 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 T ginger, minced 1 T curry paste (or more if you love spice- I used 1 1/2 T) 2 T brown sugar 1 T low-sodium soy sauce 8 oz baby bella mushrooms 1 can water chestnuts 1/2 head of large bok choy, sliced 1 c peas 1 stalk lemongrass, sliced into 1" pieces 1/2 c sliced thai basil (or sweet basil) 2 tsp lime juice 4 T cilantro 3 green onions, sliced In a wok over high heat, pan fry tofu and oil until tofu is brown on outsides. I throw in 1/2 T of curry paste here to help the tofu flavor along. Once cooked, remove from pan and store in a bowl for later. In wok, add 3-4 T of coconut milk to pan. Add garlic, ginger, and curry paste, stir-fry for 1 minute. Add mushrooms and bok choy, stir-fry for another 2 minutes. Add remaining coconut milk, brown sugar, soy sauce, and lemongrass. Add peas and water chesnuts, lower to medium heat and simmer for 8 minutes. Stir in basil, cilantro, lime juice, and green onions. Serve. This had a great, well-rounded flavor. Please remember not to eat the lemongrass.

Pitch for the farm: The hubs and I could not get over how amazingly sweet the peas were, they brought me back to my grandfathers garden, picking the peas off the vine and eating them right there ;)