All-local meatloaf filled with veggies

Two things: a confession and a truth are combined in this post.  I confess that I have never had or made meatloaf in my entire 35 years of life. I'm totally telling the truth (about the meatloaf and my age).  Everytime I think of meatloaf I'm reminded from the scene from Wedding Crashers.

We had a pound of ground beef in our freezer and I wanted to make a dish that wasn't a burger. So, I did some quick internet searching and was inspired by a recipe I found on a Paleo-focused website. Here's my version.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb. bacon (between 10-12 slices)
• 1/2 c. diced onion reserved in 1/4 c. measurements
• 1/2 c. diced pepper
• 1 c. finely chopped button mushrooms (any mushroom will work well)
• 1 c. cooked kale or other hearty green (may substitute chard or spinach)
• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1 c. shredded carrots
• 2 tbs. stone ground mustard
• 2 tbs. ketchup 
• 2 tbs. Worcestershire sauce 
• 1 egg 
• Herbs to your liking: thyme, rosemary, cumin, garlic powder, dill
• Feta cheese (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400F. Line a cookie sheet with foil and place a rack on the cookie sheet. 

On your stovetop, heat up a large pan (I used my Le Creuset). Take 2 or 3 slices of the bacon and chop finely before adding to the pan.  Add 1/4 c. of onions and all of the diced peppers. Cook until fragrant, about 2 - 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms to the pan and cook thoroughly.  Remove from the pan and reserve.  In the same pan, cook the kale until fully wilted, remove from pan and allow to drain on a paper towel-lined plate or bowl. 

In a large bowl, add the following:

• Remaining onions
• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1 c. shredded carrots
• 2 tbs. stone ground mustard
• 2 tbs. ketchup 
• 2 tbs. Worcestershire sauce
• 1 egg
• Herbs to your liking: thyme, rosemary, cumin, garlic powder, dill

Mix well, so that all herbs and items are incorporated throughout.  If found it incredibly helpful to use my hands for this part.  Add the mushroom/onion/pepper mixture. Before adding the kale, make sure it is drained well and chopped finely.  Once all ingredients are incorporated, take 1/4 of the meatloaf mix and create a small loaf.  If you are using the feta cheese, make a small crater in the meatloaf and add the cheese; bring the sides of the loaf up around to close.  Repeat this 3 more times.

On your cookie sheet, lay out 8 pieces of bacon. Wrap each loaf with bacon and secure with a toothpick.

Put in the middle rack of the oven at 400F for 35 - 40 minutes.  I checked on it after 30 minutes and decided that it needed 15 more minutes to get the bacon crispy or until the internal temp reaches 160F. 

The mister was out at a meeting, so I kept his in the oven (with the gas turned off and the oven door ajar) to keep it warm. It did not overcook the meat or the bacon.  It was incredibly moist and tasty.  I was quite surprised at how well this came out because as I confessed earlier, I have never eaten meatloaf or even attempted to cook it.

"MA......WHERE'S THE MEATLOAF?!?!?!?!"

I suspect you could make this in a traditional pan loaf and line the pan with bacon, but would likely need to cook it longer. 

I cannot wait to make this again.  The bonus to this recipe is that ALL items with the exception of the herbs, ketchup, and mustard were all local. 

Eggplan parm, but with the usual LFL twist!

Over the weekend, I was feeling adventurous and decided to make a dish that is uncommon in our house: eggplant parmesan with penne.  I know this is a staple at many an Italian restaurant. However, when we do dine out, the mister and I rarely order pasta dishes. Of course, even though I'm attempting a popular dish, I've gotta put my own local food lady spin on it. 

Ingredients:

• eggplant
• egg
• breadcrumbs (I just go for store bought with breadcrumbs--you can make your own; maybe I'll attempt it in a future food adventure)
• seasonal veggies - chopped (carrots, tomatoes, onions, peppers)
• basil
• pasta
• fresh mozzarella
• pecorino romano cheese

Slice eggplant about 1/2" thick (I don't remove the skins). Sprinkle some salt on the eggplant slices and set aside while you get your "dunking stations" set up. In one shallow bowl, have two eggs lightly scrambled. In the next, fill with breadcrumbs (about 1" deep). 

Get a large pan warmed up with olive oil. My Le Creuset is perfect for this...lots of space.  While the pan is warming up, shake off the moisture that has accumulated on the eggplant.  Once the oil moves freely about the pan, you are ready to start dunking. Put a slice of eggplant in the egg, submerge it, and then coat both sides in the breadcrumbs.  Add to the pan. Repeat. Careful, don't crowd the eggplant in the pan, you need room to flip.

Cook about 1 - 2 minutes, then flip. The eggplant should have a nice golden crust, but not too dark.  The breadcrumbs will soak up much of the oil. If need be, add a little more to the pot.  Once your eggplant is golden on both sides, transfer to a deep baking dish. 

Once all of the eggplant is cooked, keep that wide pan warm.  This is where my different "twist" comes in.  Rather than using red gravy/sauce (LFL doesn't choose sides in this hotly contested debate), I read that the eastern European version of this includes diced vegetables--like green onion, carrots, celery.  I improvised a bit and used the following: green peppers, red onion, yellow plum tomatoes, red heirloom tomatoes, summer carrots (they are shorter than regular carrots).  I allowed these veggies to warm through and then topped the eggplant with them.

I covered the eggplant/veggie mixture with foil and put into a 350 degree oven for approximately 30 minutes.  When there were ten minutes left, I began boiling a large pot of salted water.  Once the water came to a boil, I added my fresh kale/spinach penne from Vera Pasta. I'm telling you, this stuff is GREAT and because it is fresh pasta, it cooks up in 3 - 5 minutes.  I drained the penne, and began preparing the plates. 

I put down a layer of penne, topped it with a slice of fresh mozzarella, added the eggplant/veggie mixture on top and gave it a sprinkle of pecorino cheese along with chopped fresh basil.  You don't need to add any additional sauces to this dish, since the seasonal veggies offer so much flavor and moisture.  It was fabulous.  The eggplant was even better the next day, after the flavors had more time to hang out together. This is going to be another go-to dish for us. 

Gazpacho...tastes different every time

Here at Local Food Lady, you know that I rarely follow recipes. I merely "assemble" my food, and sometimes it turns out ok.  One of my favorite summer time dishes is gazpacho and it is so simple to make. The biggest challenge is waiting for the soup to chill and allow for the flavors to come together.

To make my gazpacho, I make sure I have the basics:

The makings of Gazpacho

• tomatoes
• cucumbers
• red onion
• feta cheese

And then I add on from there.  In this batch, I had the following quantities:

• 3 large tomatoes
• 3 cucumber (reserve 1 cucumber)
• 2 medium red onion (reserve 1 onion)
• 1 bell pepper
• garlic
• olive oil
• 2 cups watermelon, plus juice

Scrub and slice/chop all veggies, removing the seeds. I don't even attempt to do this with the tomatoes, since there are so many seeds.  Get out your blender, and add the chopped veggies and puree.  If you are having a hard time getting the veggies to "catch" on the blades, get a wooden spoon and push down some of the foods. Please do this when the blender is NOT running. Add your garlic and olive oil (just a few glugs).  Once the veggies are pureed, add the watermelon (plus juice) and blend more. If the gazpacho looks too pulpy, add a touch of water. 

Now, here's where it gets a little bit messy.  Get a large bowl and a mesh strainer.  Pour about 8 ounces of the blender mixture through the mesh strainer and push the liquid through the strainer with the back of a ladle.  Once the liquid has been squeezed through, discard the leftover pulp (I like to compost mine).  Repeat this process until the contents of the blender have been strained. 

Take the large bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until fully chilled.  Until then, dice up the remaining cucumber and red onion. When ready to serve the gazpacho, put some of the diced cucumbers and red onions in the bowl.  Cover with gazpacho, top with feta and olive oil. 

You may omit the feta to make this recipe vegan.  Also, I enjoy a dash of dill with my gazpacho.  Variations on gazpacho include substituting peaches for the watermelon, or omitting the watermelon completely. 

Eggs, asparagus, goat cheese, oh my!

Eggs are such a versatile ingredient and an excellent staple to have in your refrigerator. I buy our eggs from our Farmer's Market, at the Jack's Farm stand.  These eggs are awesome! I will never forget the first time I cracked a farm-raised egg.  I noticed that the yolk was so much brighter than the supermarket eggs I was so used to buying.  Those supermarket eggs, like so many other products, have a variety of labels or claims on them--free range, antibiotic-free, organic, natural, pastured. How do you make sense of it all? Rodale.com  had an excellent article earlier this week, The Truth About Your Eggs, that deciphers the many words you will find on grocery store eggs.  Take a quick read and learn some info! 

We have been purchasing Jack's eggs for several years now and really enjoy them. A great dinner that I've made with eggs is a frittata.  Just Google "frittata," and you'll find so many different recipes. Frittatas can be made in advance, served warm or cold, and are suitable for any meal (hint, hint, MOTHER'S DAY IS SUNDAY!). They are also a great opportunity to use leftover greens.  This week, I made one with eggs, asparagus, quinoa, and goat cheese.  I wanted to add some cherry tomatoes, but I forgot...oh well!

Here's the assembly (again, amounts are just rough estimates)

• 1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa, at room temp
• 1 1/2 cups sauteed asparagus (approximately 12 stalks, cut in half)
• 5 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 4 oz. crumbled goat cheese
• salt, pepper, dill

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. While I was waiting for the oven to warm up, I sauteed my asparagus in olive oil, garlic, and scallions. Once they were cooked, I turned off the heat on the stove top.  In a large bowl, I combined the eggs and milk, give them a good scramble; add some salt, pepper and dill.

Fold the quinoa into the egg/milk mixture and pour into a greased glass baking dish (I use olive oil to grease the dish). Gently add the asparagus and shake the goat cheese on top. You may want to take a rubber spatula to push the asparagus and goat cheese into the egg mixture, so it is not floating on top.

Bake for approximately 30 minutes and finish with the broiler on high for 5 minutes.  Your frittata will be bubbling, but should not be runny liquid.  Allow to cool slightly before eating, but as I said before, you can eat this cold.  It is great to have as a leftover lunch, as I did this week.

Great flavors think alike!

In my house, I'm known for looking at the veggie drawer in the refrigerator and start pulling out random items and somehow, they combine to be an excellent dish.  As was the case with this recent dish.  I blended bitter, sweet, smokey, and pungent flavors for this awesome dinner. 

Assembly list:

• 2 slices of bacon
• several handfuls of kale
• 2 small sweet potatoes; peeled, diced
• 1 can of chickpeas, rinsed
• spices: cumin, curry, garlic
• honey
• 1/3 c feta cheese for each serving

In a small bowl, combine cumin, curry, and garlic, add some salt and pepper, a small drizzle of honey, and pour in about 1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil.  Scramble up this, so that all of the spices are incorporated.  Peel and dice your sweet potatoes and set aside in a larger bowl.   Pour the olive oil spice mixture over the sweet potatoes and toss the bowl a few times so that they are coated. Put the potatoes on a small roasting dish, covered, at 375 - 400 degrees in a toaster oven.  Cook for approximately 45 minutes, or until done.

About 15 minutes before the potatoes are done, you can begin cooking the greens. Start off by chopping up your two pieces of bacon and letting them get warmed up in the pan.  Once the bacon begins cooking, add the kale and cook on low heat until wilted and they get nice and bright.  Add the chickpeas to the kale and cook until warmed through. 

To serve, put the sweet potatoes in the bowl first, top with the greens, then add the feta cheese on top. I found an extra drizzle of extra virgin olive oil was a nice addition. 

Post-Thanksgiving: The only thing left to make was...

We ate most of our Thanksgiving dishes this year (for the first time ever, I did not make too much of any one dish and sent leftovers home with family). So, with very little remnants of Thanksgiving left in the refrigerator, I decided to whip up some turkey soup. 

Super easy "assembling" of this dish:

• Several cups of veggie, turkey or chicken stock (I think I used 8 cups, maybe more)
• bay leaf
• 3 carrots (chopped)
• 3 celery ribs (chopped)
• onions, garlic, thyme (to taste)
• 1 cup (dry) of mini pastina, whole wheat
• a few handfuls of kale
• 2 cans of white beans, rinsed and drained
• leftover turkey meat

In the stockpot, I tossed in some oil, the onions, carrots, and the celery. Let those cook a bit on medium heat until the onions were translucent.  I added the bay leaf and the thyme and made sure they were incorporated in the veggie/oil mixture.

I then added my stock, brought it to a rapid boil for 5 minutes, stirring regularly, then brought it down to a simmer. Remove the bay leaf at this time.

I added the pastina, stirring to make sure none stuck to the bottom of the pot. Once the pastina was cooked (about 4-5 minutes), I added the white beans. I also added the leftover turkey meat at this time. From there, I tossed in the handfulls of kale until they wilted and turned bright green.

The best bet is to allow this soup to mellow for at least 24 hours.  Allow the soup to come to room temperature on the stovetop and then refrigerate until ready to enjoy at dinner the next day.  The starches have then broken down and will give the soup more heft. 

Top the soup with grated Parmesan cheese and enjoy with a crusty piece of bread (or leftover stuffing).

This soup can be made vegan f you stick with veggie stock and remove the turkey meat from the recipe. Either version is incredibly enjoyable.



Turkey version


Vegan version

Supremely Veggie Pizza on homemade dough

Several posts ago, I talked about the love I have for my Cuisinart food processor.  This is one of the best kitchen products I own and I use it so very often to make a myriad of recipes.  One of my favorites is homemade pizza dough. The Cuisinart came with a handy-dandy recipe booklet with an excellent pizza dough recipe. Of course, I don't follow the recipe to a T--I add my own spices and herbs.

It takes some time (gotta let the dough rise), so I don't do it very frequently. However, when I DO make pizza, I absolutely love it!

This night, I decided to make a whole-wheat and cornmeal dough and top the pizza with a ton of veggies. My own version of veggie supreme.  Here's a look at the process.



Letting the dough come together on the pizza peel before allowing to rise.


The dough, just hanging out in an oiled bowl waiting to rise.

While I was waiting for the dough to rise, I grilled up some zucchini and eggplant.  I didn't want to over-cook the veggies, since I was going to be topping the pizza with them.





The dough has risen!!

Because I had more than enough dough, I decided to make two pizzas that night. The veggie supreme and a traditional Margherita pizza.


Veggie supreme pizza: grilled eggplant, zucchini, roasted cherry tomatoes, basil, mozzarella.


Margherita pizza, waiting patiently for its time in the oven. 

Because we have only one pizza stone (a secret to my success of pizza cooking), I cooked the veggie supreme first and then put the Margherita in the oven. 


Veggie supreme cooling on the pizza peel.


Even though this doesn't look pretty, it sure tasted good!

Peppers and sausage

Ok, so the Local Food Lady is a Phillies fan. So is my mister.  We try to get to a game or two during the year and when we go, I always want a sandwich with peppers and sausage.  I don't know why, but that stuff is tasty (I'm sure it is all of the grease that is on the grill that adds that "super secret" ingredient).

We made a local version at home while we were waiting out Hurricane Irene.By the way, Hurricane Irene is definitely not a dinner guest you want to have.  Many of the farms in her path suffered severe crop loss and erosion issues.  Darn you, Irene!

Here's what we used to make our sandwiches:

• sweet Italian sausage from Countrytime Farm
• onions and green peppers from our CSA share
• rolls from St. Peter's Bakery
• grated pecorino romano cheese (provolone is a great substitute)

As usual, every great dish begins with olive oil + [something]. Tonight, it was onions and green peppers.  Once the onions were translucent, I added the sausage. Cooked it low and slow until ready for dinner.  Served on great French bread from St. Peter's Bakery and topped with grated cheese.

Farmers Stew

There are plenty of stews out there...fisherman's stew, miner's stew, Irish stew, Texas stew.  I have crafted what I call Farmer's Stew.  This is what I would call an "empty the fridge recipe." 

There are several flavors, textures and temperatures in my farmer's stew.  It usually involves a leafy green or two, a legume, good herbs, an egg, and cheese.  I sometimes will even top with bacon...repeat after me, "because everything is better with bacon!"

Farmer's stew ingredients:

• plentiful amounts of leafy greens: spinach, kale, chard
• for this recipe, I added zucchini, cut in to half moons
• legume: it can be chickpeas (aka: garbanzo beans) or great northern beans (aka: cannellini beans)
• hard boiled egg (one for each plate)
• feta cheese to taste
• well-done slice of bacon (one slice, diced, for each plate)

In a large pot, I begin sauteing garlic in olive oil with a few sprigs of rosemary. The rosemary can be fresh or dried...I take my fresh rosemary and hang it upside down in our kitchen to dry out for future uses.  After a few minutes, add your zucchini. Saute for 3 minutes, moving around the pan. Be careful not to overcook. Then, add your greens on top and cover--this will allow the greens to get some of the steam and wilt. 

Zucchini and greens

Zucchini, greens, legumes

Be sure to rinse your legumes before adding them to the pot. Shake off the extra water and add to the pot.  If they get a little mashed, it's ok. Their starches will contribute nicely to the flavor of the dish.

Allow the legumes to cook through. I find that chickpeas can warm up more quickly than northern beans.  Turn the temp down so that the greens and zucchini will not overcook. 

Once the items in the pot are cooked through, you can move them to your serving dish.  Top each dish with a chilled, sliced hard-boiled egg.  We also like to top the dish with feta cheese and a slice of well done bacon.

Farmer's Stew!

Noodle-free lasagna

We had quite a few eggplants in our CSA share this week, along with a bounty of tomatoes.  I wanted to make something a little bit different than grilled veggies and/or sauteed over pasta.  I found a recipe that included some eggplants, tomatoes and a lovely amount of mozzarella.

As much as I say, "bacon makes everything better." I feel the same way about mozzarella cheese.  Cooked, chilled, solo or with tomatoes and basil...mozzarella can do no wrong.

Tonight's recipe included the following:

• 2 eggplant, sliced
• 2 -3 lbs. medium to large tomatoes (red or yellow)
• fresh basil, onions, garlic
• mozzarella (shredded or sliced)
• a shake of nutmeg and garlic powder
• pecorino cheese

I sliced and salted the eggplant in a colander. While that was resting, I began chopping my tomatoes and putting them in a large bowl.  I heated up my Le Creuset pan with olive oil, onions, and garlic.  I gave the eggplant a good shake to remove the excess moisture and added it to the pan.  I gave it a nice grill, until the eggplant developed small amounts of brown on the skin.

I removed the eggplant from the pot, and layered an oiled baking dish with it.  I then tossed the tomatoes and some fresh basil into the pot.  I gave the tomatoes a shake of garlic powder and nutmeg.  I allowed that to simmer, and allowed for some of the liquid to cook off.  The colors were gorgeous!!!
Once the moisture began to cook off, I poured the entire pot of tomatoes into the baking dish (I did make a mistake; I should have spooned the tomatoes into the baking dish...too much liquid was transferred).  I gave a sprinkle of pecorino cheese on top.
I then sliced some mozzarella and covered the entire baking dish and placed in the toaster oven at 425 degrees. The dish hung out for 25 - 30 minutes and then I turned on the broiler to get the cheese browned.

I used a slotted spoon to serve dinner, so as not to overwhelm my dish with whatever tomato liquid did not cook off.  It was pretty darn good. 

Do you want your pasta wit or wit out?

I try to eat as local as possible, but the word on the street is that in addition to my weekly Farmer's Market visit, I also shop at a supermarket (oh, the horror!!!).

But, you are a savvy reader and already figured it out.  Yes. I am a supermarket shopper. There are items that I consume that I just can't get at my farmer's market--like organic skim milk. Organic coffee (our local roaster--Kimberton Coffee--is available at the supermarket). Sustainably fished canned tuna. There are also household goods that I need from time to time--like paper towels, toothpaste, and tooth brushes!

One of my favorite supermarket items is the whole wheat organic pasta I find. I have been regularly been buying penne, but I thought that I'd try a new style of pasta (same brand); Bionature Gobbetti.  For me, this was a nice change. For the mister? This was a big, fat fail.

We decided to have pasta for dinner with some green beans. I like to mix my veggies and pasta, but the mister likes to keep his dishes separate. He also requested "red sauce" for his pasta this night and I decided to use some goat cheese.

So, the good news is, my new pasta was excellent topped with goat cheese and green beans.  I added just a touch of grated pecorino cheese and garlic scape pesto for some extra flavor.  My pasta dish was great "wit" this cheese combo. It was excellent, as you can see below!

New pasta with goat cheese and pecorino!

So...the bad news...the mister's pasta was pretty lame. Because the pasta was very "twisty," his tomato sauce did not stick to the pasta. It just accumulated at the bottom of the bowl.  It wasn't terrible, but it was "wit-out" any sauce. No big deal, I didn't knock it out of the park.  Evidence is below.  This time, it's a fail by the Local Food Lady!

A bit of a fail.

Sometimes a salad and a side are just fine

It was a weeknight, and sometimes I'm just not in the mood for cooking. This night was one of those nights, so I figured that a salad and a side would be enough and would not require a ton of work and I wouldn't need to use the stove.

What comes to mind when you hear the term, "side dish?"  Potatoes? French fries? Cole slaw? Green beans? Spinach? 
How about some cucumbers with hummus?  That's mykind of side dish.

Even though I do most of the food preparation in our house, the mister is VERY helpful.  Knowing that I wasn't up for cooking much, he did some prep work for me--washing, peeling and cutting of vegetables.  As I was getting ready to prepare dinner, he confessed that he accidentally cut up some zucchini thinking that it was cucumbers. No big whoop, I knew what we were going to have salad for dinner and a side...so, I just cooked up the zucchini and enjoyed that instead.

The mister was nostalgic for his mom's tomato cucumber salad, so he chopped up some cucumbers, added some red and yellow tomatoes, topped it with salt and pepper and miracle whip. 

Cucumber salad

 

Close up

My salad

I had dinner in a cornfield

Over the weekend, the mister and I were joined by two of our friends for a very cool, farm-to-table dinner.  In fact, our meal was enjoyed in the middle of a cornfield, under a tree.



Before I start romanticizing the scene any more, I will tell you that we were under the tree trying to escape a quick-moving rainstorm. 



Last year, a neighbor friend of ours told us about the French and Pickering Trust's Homegrown Harvest.  It is an outdoor dinner with foodstuffs made by or supplied by local farms and restaurants.  We attended last year's event and had a blast. First of all, the surroundings are gorgeous...the event is held outdoors, atop a hill overlooking the cornfields and marshlands that surround us.

There are tables setup everywhere, topped with wild flowers in Mason jars for decoration. There is a live  bluegrass band playing in the background (I love bluegrass music) and the aromas have your mouth watering.  The dinner is completely all self-serve, so you can enjoy and try a large variety of foods.  Everything from the appetizers to dessert are carefully created using local products or employing the donations of local businesses.

We bought tickets for this year's event and felt raindrops falling just before we got in the car.  But, we knew that the rain was predicted to be fast, so we headed out to the Homegrown Harvest.  Even with a few passing showers, the event was a ton of fun.

This year's menu included: Frank Spera's roast pig, Eden Valley Farm's beef burgers on brioche rolls, Henry's Cafe's cold borscht soup, Amani's BYOB's heirloom tomato gazpacho, Yellow Springs Inn's blueberry soup, Becca's tomato-mozzarella napoleons, grilled spicy lamb sausage, grilled pork sausage, grilled The Farmer's Daughter new potatoes, grilled corn on the cob from Yeagers Farm Market and Pearl's Market, Kimberton CSA Zucchini tart, Sweet onion tart,  Corn and bean salad, Kimberton CSA eggplant pomegranate salad, roasted beets and lima beans with Seven Stars yogurt and feta, Kimberton CSA cucumber salad, wild greens salad, Maysie's Farm CSA potatoes with tomatillo-poblano dressing, corn jalapeno muffins.



I didn't get a chance to sample everything--that would have been too much!  Between the four of us, I am pretty confident that we tasted everything from the menu.  I'm glad that I saved room for dessert, since I had a taste of strawberry-rhubarb pie (never had rhubarb before!), peach cobbler, and fresh whipped cream.  After enjoying this amazing food in gorgeous surroundings, we all went home and went to bed early, because our bellies were so full.

I'm already looking forward to attending next year's dinner. 

Just call me the "Leftover Food Lady"

So, over the weekend, I made several batches of foodstuffs. The mister was incredibly helpful by peeling and shredding 1,001 carrots so that I'd have large amounts at the ready for my recipes.  In my Whole Grain Goodness post, I talked about making quinoa and how the grain can be adapted for many different flavors.  I cooked more than 4 cups of the stuff and left some of it plain in the refrigerator for later batches. 

The mister sometimes accuses me of making enough dinner for three people--enough for the two of us to enjoy, and then a batch for me to enjoy the next day at my desk.  I am very guilty of doing this. ☺  

Leftovers for Lunch

Well, I made such a large batch of my Mexican-inspired quinoa, that I had plenty leftover for lunches.  I brought this dish with me twice this week. And, I confirmed that it had a nice extra "kick" with the addition of Cholula Chipotle hot sauce.

Here's the recipe for the Mexican-inspired quinoa:
Ingredients:

• 2 - 3 cups cooked organic quinoa
• 1 can of organic black beans, drained and rinsed
• 3 - 4 scallions, cut very small
• 1 cup of shredded carrots (thanks to the mister!)
• 1/2 cup fresh corn
• 2 cups cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• fresh parsley and cilantro
• dressing ingredients: canola oil, juice from 1/2 a lime, lime zest, ancho chili powder, honey and the requisite garlic powder, salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients, dress with about 1/3 cup of the dressing. The longer you let the flavors marinate, the better. You can also add goat cheese just before serving for another layer of flavor.

Later in the week, I used the plain quinoa to make a Mediterranean-inspired dish for dinner. The mister and I enjoy quite a bit of it and...surprise...I brought leftovers for lunch. This dish uses feta cheese; we have been on a feta kick recently. Well, it's been a longtime kick--going on several months.  The Mediterranean dish uses herbs and flavors well known to food from that region of the world. 

Mediterranean quinoa salad

Mediterranean-inspired Quinoa
Ingredients:

• 2 - 3 cups cooked organic quinoa
• 1 can of organic garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained and rinsed
• 1 1/2 cups of shredded carrots
• 1/2 cup of crumbled feta cheese
• fresh parsley
• dressing ingredients: extra virgin olive oil, juice from 1/2 a lemon, lemon zest, fresh dill, honey and the requisite garlic powder, salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients and dress with 1/2 cup of dressing (I like to use more dressing on this dish b/c there are fewer ingredients).  Enjoy! Enjoy! Enjoy!

In the case of both dishes, if you omit honey and the cheese, you will have a completely vegan dish.

We are on a roll!

Second night in a row we've had some sort of sandwich.  As I'm sure you have figured out, the mister and I are not vegetarian.  That said, we limit our meat and purchases to the Farmer's Market.  We want to know the conditions in which the animals were raised. So, we talk to our farmers. Some farmers readily volunteer this as part of their marketing.  Products raised humanely on small farms can cost more, but since meat is such a small percentage of our diet, it doesn't break our bank.  I realize this choice is not for everyone, but it is what works for us.

Mango Tango ready to be warmed up!

We have an excellent pork farmer at the Farmer's Market - Country Time Farm.  Her farm is in Berks County, in a town called Hamburg (am I the only one that sees the irony in that?).  She and her husband pride themselves on their antibiotic-free, humanely raised pork.  She sells everything from bacon (the best!), pork roll, hot dogs, racks of ribs and loins.  There is always a line at her table and many items (like the bacon) will sell out early.  I am neurotic and always need at least ONE package of Country Time's bacon in the refrigerator and one waiting in the freezer. 'Cause everything is better with bacon!!

One of our more rare purchases from Country Time--but tasty, nonetheless--is their Mango Tango Pulled Pork. The pulled pork is cooked in their special Mango Tango BBQ sauce. This BBQ sauce is slightly sweet, with a touch of heat, very little smoke flavor and has small pieces of mango throughout. It is a real treat to have this for dinner.

On a Roll with Mango Tango and Beet Salad

Along with the Mango Tango, I created my favorite beet dish. I shredded some cooked beets over the weekend.  I added toasted walnuts, some goat cheese and parsley I got from my containers. The dressing is the key to this dish. It has olive oil, rice wine vinegar, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and...honey!  I get my honey from beekeepers that are about 5 miles from our house and they sell at the market, too! So flavorful. This beet salad compliments almost any meal.

We finished off our dinner with another Insalata Caprese (see yesterday's post).  Summer food is so great! 

Insalata Caprese with Red and Yellow Tomatoes

Keep it Simple

Yet again, I had a mid-week meeting, so the mister was left to create his own dinner. It always helps when you give someone some ideas as to what to prepare.  When left with little time, it is helpful to keep dinner simple. Items that do not require a lot of cooking are very quick to prepare and can have tons of flavor.

Caprese Sandwich

We have some beautiful basil growing in our containers outside. I was worried when we returned from vacation, because I thought most of the plants were a goner from the many days of heat.  However, I added some of my good dirt, gave the plants extra water and they have come back with a vengeance.

The mister decided to create a caprese sandwich for dinner because we had all of the ingredients at the ready. We still had a selection of rolls from St. Peter's Bakery, along with an abundance of tomatoes from our CSA share with Jack's.  Our home containers provided the basil and the mozzarella was made in Jersey. 

Have you ever looked closely at a caprese sandwich or salad? It is filled with gorgeous colors and textures, along with a mixture of flavors. The tomatoes can be sweet, the olive oil is rich, the velvety mozzarella...my mouth is watering right now!

In addition to the caprese sandwich, the mister made an excellent salad. It was filled with colors and flavors. He used some of the greens from our CSA share, topped it with cherry tomatoes from our container and added some goat cheese. The mister loves goat cheese...as you can see by the photo evidence below.


Two dishes, containing no more than four ingredients each made for an easy and quick dinner. Food doesn't need to be complicated to taste good. What are your favorite simple dishes?

Monday's lunch: Chilled Cucumber Soup

Cool Cucumber Soup

I didn't use up the cucumbers from last week's haul and received quite a few in this week's CSA.  So, on Saturday, I decided to attempt to make cold cucumber soup. I think the HOT temps have me on a cold soup kick--lots of gazpacho was enjoyed last week and I tried my hand at this new chilled soup.

I was inspired by one of the recipes in "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian." Remember, I don't really follow recipes, instead, I taste the flavor along the way  Here's how I created this dish...

Ingredients:

• 5 or 6 cucumbers, seeded and diced
• red onion
• garlic
• mint
• dill
• plain yogurt (I really enjoy Siggi's plain yogurt)
• olive oil
• avocado (ok, ok...not local at all)
• small amount of water

I kept the Cuisinart on the counter and attached the chopping blade.  I added the first five ingredients and pulsed regularly until they were liquefied. I added the Siggi's and turned on the processor until it was fully mixed.  I then added a few glugs of olive oil on 2 or 3 occasions.

At this point, I took half of mixture (about 2 cups worth) and pushed it through a fine mesh strainer.  I tossed the veggie mash that was leftover in the strainer.  Now that I had more room in the Cuisinart, I added the avocado (I chopped it up first).  Also, I thought the consistency of the soup was getting too hummus-like, so I added a few splashes of water as the Cuisinart was mixing. 

I added the contents of the food processor to the strained soup and whisked it together. I let that chill in the refrigerator overnight before tasting.  At lunch today, I added toasted almond slivers, some diced onions and cucumbers and topped the cold soup with feta cheese.  It was decent, but I wasn't as happy with the results.

I think the dish could be made a little bit better with some heat--like jalapeno heat or some Cholula Chili Lime sauce.  I still have quite a bit cucumber soup left, so I'm going to experiment. This is the fun part of cooking...adjusting your seasonings to make it "just right."