I'm fortunate enough to live in one of the few areas of the US, maybe even the world, where eating according to the 100 mile diet entails very little work. Northern California produces tons of great food year round, so there's really no excuse not to eat local. Having read "The Omnivore's Dilemma", and read/watched "Fast Food Nation", I'm always grumbling about the industrialized food chain, and global warming, and on and on... so, long story short, my husband and I decided to put our money where our mouths are - literally! - and join a local CSA.
For those not familiar with the term, CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. Essentially, you pay a monthly or yearly fee to a local farm and in return get a share of the farm's produce every week (or every other week). Different farms operate differently - some are organic and others are not, some sell extra produce to restaurants and some don't, some require money up-front for planting season while others let you join anytime, some deliver straight to your door and others have only a few pickup locations, they can have 50 members or 1000 - but the basic idea is the same. You support local farmers, and you get to eat the freshest and most flavorful fruits and veggies the area has to offer. And I do mean flavorful! Since the produce isn't being shipped long distances or stored for long periods of time, farmers can choose to plant varieties that have been bred for their taste rather than their hardiness. Also cool, most CSAs aren't super expensive. We're getting a box of freshly picked fruits and veggies, "enough to feed two vegetarians" for a week, for about $20 per box, which is on the cheap side for certified organic.
The Bay Area offers a lot of CSAs, so I had my work cut out for me in picking one. Ultimately, we settled on Terra Firma Farms - they're a fairly large CSA, so they grow a big variety of fruit and vegetable crops, and don't have to supplement using produce that's grown further away, which was important to me. Plus, they have a pickup spot that's close to our new apartment, not to mention two extremely cute bulldog mascots.
I'm really looking forward to getting CSA produce again. Back when we lived in Massachusetts, we had a work-share with the Heirloom Harvest CSA (instead of paying cash, we put in 8 hours of work on the farm each week to earn our shares), and it introduced me to all kinds of vegetables that I would normally have skipped right over in the grocery store. I also loved the "challenge" of eating seasonally, both in the winter (how many variations on kale and white bean soup can you come up with?) and in the summer (can you make enough salsa and pasta sauce to use up this week's haul of tomatoes?); it seemed like there was always SOMETHING on hand to inspire me to cook. I'm especially excited about the prospect of trying out new recipes and posting 'em here.
If you're interested in joining a CSA, localharvest.org has a tool to help find one close to you... and they really are a great way to do something good for the planet, your local economy, your health and your wallet, all at the same time. It's a win/win/win/win!
And just for fun, here's a cute movie I came across to promote local organics in a clever way: Store Wars.
Monday, April 16, 2007
CSA PSA
Monday, December 18, 2006
Quick Pickles
Seeking a cool taste of summer during this weirdly warm winter in NYC, my boyfriend and I made some pickles. Even though cucumbers aren't particularly in season, these tasted fresh, bright and crisp.
3 medium cucumbers, sliced into rounds or cut into spears.
5 cloves garlic
fresh dill
1 cup white vinegar
5 cups water
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup salt
Bring the vinegar, water, sugar and salt to a boil in a small saucepan, stirring occasionally. Let the liquid cool completely (otherwise the cucumbers will wilt).
Line the bottom of a 1-quart glass jar with fresh dill, then pack in the cucumbers as tightly as possible. Distribute the garlic cloves within, top with more dill. Feel free to throw in a few whole black peppercorns, if you want.
SLOWLY pour the brine over the cucumbers, waiting for air bubbles to settle. Fill to the tip-top of the jar, so that there is as little air as possible near the top. Store in the fridge at least overnight. Taste after 24 hours, add more garlic and/or dill to taste.
We ate a bunch of these before I had a chance to take a picture - they won't last long!
NOTE: This is not a canning recipe, so the pickles must be stored in the fridge.
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Roasted root vegetables (two by two)
I was serious when I said I love fall food. This side dish really couldn't be easier, and the simple preparation allows the flavors of the food to really come through - perfect when the flavors in question are sweet potatoes and yams!
You can vary the proportions as you like, but I think two of each is a nice balance:
2 large carrots, peeled
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled
2 medium yams, peeled
2 medium red potatoes
1 medium apple (optional, but delicious)
olive oil
salt
black pepper (also optional)
Preheat the oven to 400°. Peel all your veggies, and cut them into 3/4" cubes, or as close to that as you can get. The red potatoes take a little longer to cook than the other veggies, so cut those into slightly smaller pieces. Throw it all together in a casserole dish, toss with olive oil, salt and pepper, and bake about 10 minutes.
Slice the apples and add them in at this point. Cook another 20 minutes until the veggies start to get tender (when you poke them with a fork they should yield without a fuss) and the apples are almost falling apart. If they're still hard at this point, stir them around a little bit and check again in 10 minutes, then every 5 minutes after that. If it takes longer than an hour, there's something wrong with your oven.
This is a great any-night side dish; it works especially well with roast chicken (that unidentified brown creature next to the veggies is actually a chicken thigh in apple cider gravy) or pork. If you're having company, dress it up with a sprig of rosemary - a 2" stem laid on top of each plated portion, or a couple of stems in the casserole dish, will make you look like a culinary genius.
Sunday, October 22, 2006
Fall Classic: pork loin, baked apples and acorn squash
I love fall food, squashes and apples especially. This week, we picked up a couple nice looking Niman Ranch pork loin chops, and prepared them simply with some acorn squash and baked apples on the side.
Sweet acorn squash: Slice a medium acorn squash in half, through the stem. Scoop out the seeds and strings. Using a fork, poke the flesh liberally - this allows the flavoring to sink into the flesh while it's baking.
Place ~1 tsp. butter in the hollow, sprinkle in about 1-3 tsp. brown sugar (depending on the size of your squash), two pinches of cinnamon and, if you have them, a pinch each of allspice and nutmeg (preferable fresh grated). Bake 30-50 minutes at 400°F, until the flesh is very soft. I think it makes a nice presentation to serve just like this, but you can also scoop the flesh out and mash it up before serving. Adjust the sugar/spices at this point if desired.
Pork 'chops': Rub your pork chops with olive oil, kosher salt and a couple grinds of black pepper. We had some fresh sage on hand, so we chopped that finely and rubbed that on as well.
Heat about 1 Tbsp of olive oil in a small oven-proof pan. Sear chops 5 minutes on each side and transfer to oven. Cook another 10-15 minutes at 400°F until meat is at 150°F - but be careful, it's super easy to overcook pork (as I did this time, boo) and nobody likes a tough chop. Remove from oven to a clean cutting board, cover with foil and let rest 5 minutes.
Baked apples: Core and slice (no need to peel) two medium-firm apples like Gala, Cortland, or the more tart Granny Smith.* Place the slices in the center of a sheet of aluminum foil. Sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon, similar to the squash, and wrap the aluminum foil up into a cup shape. Add 1 tsp. butter, if desired, and bake at 350° for about 15 minutes. *I sometimes add a handful of raisins (golden or Thompson) or cranberries to the mix for an extra visual and taste dimension, but didn't do that this time.
There's a lot of stuff going in the oven for this meal, so it takes a little thought to organize. I find it's easiest to prepare the squash and put that in the bottom rack of the oven first. Prepare the apples and set them aside. Start the pork, get that in the bottom rack of the oven too, and then put the apples in the top rack after five minutes or so. You can turn the oven down to 350° after removing the pork, that will finish off the squash and the apples by the time the pork has rested.
Sunday, October 08, 2006
Salad days
I always used to wonder how fancy restaurants managed to make their vinaigrette dressings so thick. Thanks to Alton Brown (as per usual) I've learned that the key is to add a little bit of dijon mustard to your vinegar and olive oil mixture. The dressing that we've been using lately is a combo of fig balsamic vinegar and raspberry dijon - the fancy mustard was too cool-sounding to resist. This recipe makes a nice, flavorful dressing that adheres to your lettuce instead of pooling in the bottom of your dish:
1/4 c. vinegar (red wine, balsamic, whatever)
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 - 3/4 c. olive oil [I love love love vinegar, so I tend to add less olive oil. Ultimately the best balance will depend on the type of vinegar you use and how strong it is; I'd recommend starting with less oil, tasting, and then adding more if you feel the vinegar taste is too overpowering.]
Combine vinegar, Dijon mustard, and salt in a glass or metal container with a tight fitting lid (I use an old salad dressing bottle). Shake well to combine. Add olive oil and shake vigorously, until dressing emulsifies and thickens. Use right away - you can refrigerate the leftovers, but make sure to bring it to room temperature and shake again before serving.
As for the salad? These days I'm either going for a nice spring salad-in-a-bag, or a head of red leaf lettuce. Either one makes the perfect amount for two (pre-dinner) or a big lunch salad. Two heads of butter/Boston lettuce work well, also. I usually mix the salad with 2-3 Tbsp. of dressing, and then add a handful of chopped walnuts and dried cranberries. Sliced apples or pears are optional substitute for the cranberries; if you're feeling really fancy, you could throw in a bit of crumbled gorgonzola too.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Seasonal produce - August
The third of a continuing series of what's ripe right now, according to this very useful site. August is peak season for tons of fruits and vegetables - in my area, the weather has finally cooled down enough that I might contemplate doing some canning, if I did that sort of thing (maybe next year), and I'm definitely more in the mood to cook than I was when it was 90° and humid. Anyway, to the lists!
Fruits: Raspberries, figs, red grapes, melons, oranges, peaches, plums and (Bartlett) pears are all in peak season. Blackberries, blueberries, limes and nectarines are winding down; apples and asian pears (crisper than their cousins) are just starting to become ripe.
Vegetables: What ISN'T in peak season now might be the better question - green beans, corn, cucumber, onions, okra, garlic, tomatillos and summer squash are all on the list. Tomatoes, bell peppers, basil and avocados are also still good.
I'm thinking a trip to the grocers for tomatillos is in order... just seeing the word is making me crave salsa verde in the worst way.
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Thai night
One of my favorite 'go-to' recipes is this Yellow Chicken Curry. We decided to take it a step further and have Thai iced tea with dinner... and then tried our hand at Mango with Sticky Rice for dessert.
The curry is a pretty straightforward stir-fry like recipe... the ingredients list is pretty long, but it is not complicated to make. Most of the ingredients can be found at a regular grocery store, but if you have a hard time finding fish sauce or curry paste, look for an asian grocery in your area.
1 medium onion
1 large carrot
1 green and 1 red bell pepper
2 medium tomatoes
1 zucchini
[you can add/substitute almost any vegetable, but the bell peppers and onions are essential]
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger
3 Tbsp. yellow curry paste [NOT curry powder!]
1 x 13.5oz can of coconut milk
3/4 c. chicken broth
2 Tbsp. fish sauce
1 Tbsp. sugar
2 medium chicken breasts, sliced thinly
pineapple, to taste
handful Thai basil (optional)
Slice the vegetables into large-ish chunks. Heat the vegetable oil in a large, heavy pot (we use a 5.5 qt Le Creuset) over medium heat. Sautee the onion, peppers and carrots about 3 minutes, until onions are almost translucent. Add the finely grated fresh ginger [we freeze our knobs of ginger, which helps them keep longer and also makes them easier to peel and grate] and yellow curry paste; stir and cook 2 minutes. Pour in coconut milk, chicken broth, fish sauce and sugar, stir together. Add the chicken to the pot and cover with liquid. Cook 5-15 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce has thickened a bit. Serve over rice or another grain of your choice.
As for the Thai Iced Tea, you can purchase it like any other flavored loose-leaf tea. Brew strong, pour over ice, and add plenty of sugar and cream. If you can't find the tea, you can try to make your own with black tea and spices.
Sticky rice is prepared a little bit differently than the normal rice. Soak 1 c. of short grain rice in about 1 1/2 c. of water for one hour. Drain onto a clean tea towel set in a colander. Steam the rice 20 minutes. While the rice is steaming, combine 2 Tbsp. sugar, 1 c. coconut milk and a pinch of salt; heat together (in 15 second intervals in the microwave) until the sugar is entirely dissolved. Remove the rice to a bowl - it will be pretty dry - and pour about 3/4 c. of the coconut milk mixture over the rice. Allow the liquid to soak in (about 5 minutes). Spoon onto the serving plate (makes about 3-4 servings) and top with the remaining coconut milk. Serve with mango on the side. The rice texture is a little hard, so if you prefer your rice softer, you might make a little more coconut milk/sugar and a larger volume soak in.
Saturday, July 01, 2006
Seasonal produce - July
Another month, another crop of fruits and veggies that are ripe for the picking. What's good in July? As with the June installment, this list is for Northern California. If you live in a cooler climate, you might have to wait until the end of the month for these to be at their bests - but while you're waiting, check out the June post to see what's ripe in your area.
Fruits: Blueberries, nectarines, peaches and pears are all in peak season. Cherries about to go out of season, so get them quick! Other berries, oranges, and melons are all ripe now as well.
Vegetables: Corn, red onions and summer squash are all at their peak, sweet onions are waning, and basil, bell peppers, cucumber, eggplant, okra and tomatoes are all newly in season. Garlic, green beans and potatoes are all good in July, too.
Look for recipes featuring these items soon!
Monday, June 19, 2006
Quick and easy stir fry
To celebrate the arrival of my new Calphalon wok on mail order (hey, it was $40; I couldn’t say no), I had to make some stir fry!
My husband is a reformed picky eater, and stir fry was really the first thing that I could ever get him to really eat that wasn’t pizza or macaroni and cheese. He never cooked for himself and rarely ate out healthy, so I think it was just that he didn’t know what he liked. One night, I cooked him a basic, quick stir fry. He liked it so much that it has become one of our quick, tasty weeknight meals. And it’s so easy that he can even cook it himself!
I don’t have a hard and fast recipe that I follow, and I generally use what I have on hand. Sometimes items get included and sometimes they don’t. I usually make this with chicken, though lean pork chops have been used more than once. I haven’t used beef with it, but I assume it is good as well.
Ingredients:
1-1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast - use your favorite meat or meat substitute - cut into strips and/or cubed
1 red bell pepper, sliced into strips and halved
1 green bell pepper, sliced into strips and halved
2c broccoli florets
1c matchstick carrots - you can shred your own, but already shredded ones saves time
1c sliced mushrooms
1c snow peas - sugar snap peas can also be used here- I usually buy what’s in season and cheapest!
½ onion, sliced into ¼-inch wide strips - I usually use yellow or Vidalia onions
1 can sliced water chestnuts, drained
1 can bamboo shoots, drained
¼-1/3c teriyaki sauce of choice, to taste - Since Kikoman is the best, that is what I usually use. I like the roasted garlic flavor, and if I'm using regular teriyaki, I tend to add a clove of minced garlic to elicit that flavor
1T canola oil
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
Heat the canola and sesame oil in a wok over high heat (if you don’t have a wok, you can also use a sautee pan. A decent starter wok can be found at IKEA for $10). Brown the chicken in the oil, add about half the teriyaki sauce, and reduce heat. Add sliced vegetables, beginning with the broccoli, onions, water chestnuts, and bamboo (the water chestnuts and bamboo will add moisture and will keep things from sticking)- these tend to take longer to cook. Add in the remaining veggies and remaining teriyaki sauce when the onions are translucent. Cover wok with large lid, so contents steam and cook for about 5-10 more minutes.
Serve over rice (I usually use organic brown instant rice, in a pinch, but “real” rice and long grain white rice can also be used!) Add soy sauce to taste.
Filed under: recipes, stirfry, techniques, vegetables, wok, chicken
Friday, June 16, 2006
Seasonal produce - June
As I sort of alluded to in my last post (Eat your vegetables), getting fresh, seasonal produce is one easy way to make almost everything you cook taste fantastic (the other easy way is to add copious amounts of butter to everything, but you don't always want to do that). As an added bonus, it's much cheaper to buy fruits and veggies in season, even that sometimes-pricey locally grown organic produce... I always like to support small local farmers, but then, I live in an area with a lot of easily accessible farmer's markets and such.
So what's good right now? According to this great page (for Northern California, your mileage may vary), June is a good time to get:
Fruits: most types of berries (peak season for blackberries and raspberries, with strawberries and blueberries also good), cherries, figs, melons (cantaloupe, honeydew, watermelon), apricots, nectarines, peaches, and limes. [I can attest that the cherries and strawberries I bought last weekend were amazing.]
Vegetables: corn, cucumber, eggplant, sweet Vidalia onions, green beans, peas, summer squash, and tomatoes. Winter crops like lettuces and carrots are winding down, so grab them while they're still good.
This weekend I'm going to attempt to make a dinner using all of those items in peak season (the bolded stuff) - apricot-glazed chicken, grilled sweet onions, maybe corn on the cob, and a berry tart, all washed down with some tasty lime-ade. Post to follow, of course.
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Eat your vegetables
As much as I love to cook, most of the time I get home from work and don't want to spend more than maybe half an hour on dinner. But I still want something that looks like a meal and is reasonably healthy. So dinner usually follows my 'rule of three' - (1) protein source [chicken, fish, tofu], (2) vegetable, (3) whole grain [brown rice, quinoa]. Sometimes I combine the three, like in a stir-fry over rice, but it looks so nice and wholesome and All-American Dinner-y when you prepare them separately.
I like to keep my veggies simple; if you buy good fresh produce, it doesn't need much help to taste good. Here are a few of my favorite easy sides:
Microwave steamed garlic broccoli
broccoli
1 clove garlic
salt and pepper*
Remove the peel from your clove of garlic, then mince and mash it. (To remove the peel, lay your knife blade flat on the clove and pound it with your fist a couple times. Mashing the garlic with your knife blade after mincing releases more flavor, but you don't have to do this.)
Cut up your broccoli heads into bite size pieces and stick them in the bowl with the garlic. Add 1-2 Tbs. water (depending on how much broccoli you're making; 1 Tbs. per cup of broccoli is good), a little salt and pepper, and cover with plastic wrap. Microwave 30 seconds on high. Stir and check doneness, microwave additional 10 seconds if it's still too stiff. Repeat until you reach the desired softness.
This method also works for kale, spinach, green beans...
[Note: I cannot emphasize enough how using freshly ground pepper will change your life. It's totally different from pepper shaker pepper. Seriously, go out and buy a $5 grinder. Right now.]
'Grilled' asparagus
asparagus
olive oil
salt and pepper
half a lemon or about 1/2 tsp. lemon juice
Cover a cookie sheet in tinfoil (this is optional, but it means you don't have to wash the cookie sheet when you're done). Spread a thin layer of olive oil over the sheet [I actually buy a spray can of olive oil from Trader Joe's, which is perfect for this purpose]. Snap the big ends off of the asparagus, and then lay the spears out on the tinfoil. Drizzle or spray with olive oil, sprinkle liberally with salt and freshly ground pepper. If you have half a lemon, slice it thinly and place the slices over the asparagus. If not, sprinkle a little lemon juice over them instead. Stick these under the broiler for about 5-10 minutes (when the tips start to get dry, they're done), and serve.
If broiling isn't your thing, you can cook them in a saucepan instead. Heat up the oil (or 1/2 Tbs of butter) on medium heat, put in the asparagus and lemon slices, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook 5-10 minutes until tender. This method ALSO is great for kale or green beans.
Glazed carrots
1/4 lb. carrots (2-3 medium)
1/2 Tbs. butter
1/4 c. ginger ale OR
1 Tbs. sugar + ~2 tsp. freshly grated ginger + 1/4 c. water
pinch salt
This is a bastardized version of Alton Brown's very good Ginger Ale glazed carrots - we made this recipe so often that we wanted a cheaper alternative to fancy and expensive ginger ale. Anyway.
Chop the carrots width-wise (into 'medallions'). Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, add the carrots and ginger ale (or sugar/ginger/water). Cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, stir and reduce heat, re-cover and let simmer 5 minutes.
Remove the lid and turn up the heat, cooking another 5 minutes (or until the liquid has boiled off) with occasional stirring/tossing. Salt and pepper to taste, of course, and serve ASAP. The ginger ale/ginger+sugar leaves a nice sweet glaze on the carrots.
