Spaghetti Squash Ramen

Photo from Anarchist Kitchen.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 spaghetti squash, halved and de-seeded
2 carrots, cut in half lengthwise and cut into sticks
1/2  # mushrooms, sliced
2 cups arugula (or kale, chard  or spinach) chopped
2 green onions, chopped
1/2 cup of cilantro, chopped
1 tablespoon of fresh ginger, finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, smashed, peeled and finely chopped
4 tablespoons of miso, thinned with water
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
2 tablespoon of demerara sugar
1 fresh lime lime
sea salt to taste
4 tablespoons of toasted sesame seed oil
8 cups of water
4 hard-boiled chicken or duck eggs, peeled and halved

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 400 C.  Cut squash in half and remove seeds.  Place face down in baking dish with some water and bake for for 40 minutes.

2.  In a skillet, add about 1 tbs sesame seed oil. Sautee half the mushrooms with the carrots and half the grated ginger and garlic. When carrots look soft take everything out of the skillet and set on a plate.

3.  In the same skillet, add the greens and remaining garlic and saute them. They will wilt quickly. Once done add them to the cooked veggie plate.

4.  To make broth, bring water to boil in the skillet with the rest of mushrooms and ginger, oil,  pepper flakes and sugar.  Let broth cool until it's warm, stir in the miso and the lime juice.

5. Take spaghetti squash from oven and use fork to remove insides in strands. Divide the squash among four bowls, add broth, and place veggies on top and garnish with onion greens, cilantro and hard boiled eggs.

Heirloom Tomatoes with Arugula, Onion and Basil

Photo from Christine at Fresh Local and Best.

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Sally tells me this week's share from Glade Road Growing  will include eggplant,  a sweet pepper, a red onion, tomatoes, arugula and basil.  Add some zucchini and you have the makings for ratatouille. Or, if you want, you can grill the eggplant and pepper outside and serve it with this salad.

If you like, this would be good topped with crumbled feta cheese and pitted kalamata olives.  To make it a main course, you could add 2 cups of cooked garbanzo beans (cooking directions) and 4 hard-boiled eggs quartered.


Serves 4


Ingredients

1-2 pounds of heirloom tomatoes, cored and sliced crosswise into disks
4 cups fresh arugula, loosely packed
1/2 onion, finely chopped
8 or more fresh basil leaves,  chiffonade-cut (stacked, rolled and sliced thin into ribbons)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste


1.  In a large bowl, add the arugula and drizzle with olive oil, 1 teaspoon of balsamic vinegar and a pinch of sea salt.  Toss gently to coat the leaves.

2.  Plate the arugula.   Top with tomatoes and basil.  Season with pepper.

Arugula and Winter Squash Salad with Quinoa, Feta, Walnuts and Balsamic Vinaigrette

Photo by cookbook author and photographer Erin Alderson for her version of this recipe in her blog NaturallyElla.com

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Sally tells me that 11/17/15 the farm share for Glade Road Growing will include butternut squash, carrots, arugula, salad mix, kale, garlic and a big hakurai turnip.  Since the arugula is sweet enough in the cooler weather to eat raw, I thought I'd make a main course salad.  Mine adds pomegranate seeds and uses walnuts instead of pecans and a bit of balsamic vinegar dressing, rather than honey, but this picture was just so beautiful, that when I found it, I stopped looking for something more representative.

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Serves 6


1.  Preheat your conventional over to 450 degrees, unless you are going to use a counter top convection over, as I do.   Rinse the butternut squash and cut in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds and reserve to roast.  Put the squash cut side down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Roast in oven for about 40 minutes, until tender.  Remove and let cool enough to handle.  Pull the peel away and then dice the squash into 1/2 inch cubes.  (Some folks peel and cube the squash first, but that's not as easy.


2. While the squash is roasting, cook 1 cup of raw quinoa by bringing it to a boil in a heavy-bottomed lidded sauce pan with two cups of cold water.  Remove from oven and drain water and rinse well to remove the saponin, which coats the grain and can make it bitter.  Add 1 3/4 cups of fresh cold water, cover  and return to a boil and simmer for five minutes.  Turn off heat and let sit for at least 20 minutes. 

3.  While the quinoa is cooking, prepare the pomegranate by slicing 1/4-inch off of the stem end  and placing the fruit cut side down on the cutting board to stabilize it. The pomegranate's blossom end, the one that looks like a crown, should be on top.  Use the paring knife to a cut a circle around the blossom end, angling in and cut it out.  Make several cuts from top to bottom around the pomegranate just through the red part of the skin.  Working over a large bowl, gently pry open the pomegranate and pry away the seeds from the peel and membranes.  Discard the peel and membranes.

4.  Rinse the arugula in a basin of cool water.  Drain and wash a second time in clean water, then put in a colander to drain.







5.  To make the vinaigrette, combine the following in a bottle with a well-fitting lid:
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
4 tablespoon Balsamic vinegar or lime juice
Freshly ground pepper
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (for fat-free version, substitute either 1 tablespoon fruit juice concentrate--apple or white grape--and 3 tablespoons water OR 4 tablespoons wine)
1 teaspoon your favorite sweetener (honey, agave, demerara sugar)
2 peeled and crushed cloves free garlic and/or 1 T finely minced onion. 

 6.  Fluff the quinoa with a fork and toss with the arugula with the pomegranate seeds and the squash, 2/3 cup of crumbled feta and 1/2 cup of walnuts  in a large bowl.  Drizzle with the vinaigrette and serve.

Salad of Shredded Pears, Watermelon Radishes and Hakurei Turnips Served with Asian Dressing and Greens

This photo accompanied a  Sanura Weathers recipe in Frugavore. Check out her blog, My Life Runs on Food (at the link for her name) for more of her creations. Weathers used kohlrabi and a balsamic vinaigrette, but I adopted the recipe for a more Asian flavor, using the October 7 farm share from Glade Road Growing, which is slated to include: tat soi, bok choy, a watermelon roasting radish, cilantro, red onion, salad turnips, and arugula.

Weathers and I both like to combine something sweet such as pears with  the sharp taste of greens like arugula (last year's recipe) and brassica root crops such as turnips and radishes.  If you find the turnips and radishes too sharp for your taste when raw, you can make them milder by lightly sauteing with the onion and letting them cool before adding to the dressing.

1.  Wash tatsoi, bok choy, arugula, and cilantro and dry using a salad spinner or by setting in a colander lined with a clean kitchen towel.   Remove the cilantro from its stems and reserve stems for another use, such as a vegetable broth or pesto.  If arugula is mature, wilt in a lightly oiled skillet and set aside to cool.

2.  Smash, peel and mince a couple of cloves of garlic.  Peel and finely mince fresh ginger root to make 1/2 TB.  Combine in a covered jar with the juice of one lime, 2 TB of extra virgin olive oil, 1 TB of miso,  a dash of freshly ground black pepper, a small pinch of crushed red pepper

3.  Separate turnips from greens, reserve greens for another use. Trim root end.  Peel red onion and discard peel or save for making a vegetable broth. Cut in half and reserve one half for another use.  Trim ends from watermelon radish and peel. (If the greens are included separate and reserve as you did for the turnips.) Peel one under ripe bosc pear, trim ends, cut vertically in half and use spoon or melon baller to remove tough center and seeds.  Using a box grater, coarsely grate the turnips, onion, radish and pear into a large bowl.

4.  Lightly toss the grated salad and dressing. Let marinate for at least an hour at room temperature.
Toss again before serving.

5.  Prepare a bed of shredded tatsoi and/or bok choy either on a large platter or in individual bowls.  Top with grated salad and garnish with arugula and cilantro.  If you like, you can also top with  crumbled goat, feta or blue cheese and nuts such as walnuts, pecans or almonds.

Tatsoi is one of my favorite greens. You can use just the bok choy for this salad and save the tatsoi to make my tempeh recipe from last year.  The tatsoi would also be nice in a salad with clementines, bell pepper, red onion and almonds in a dijon vinaigrette, similar to the one shown in this photo from Shabnam Arora Afsah's Flavor n' Spice blog post:

Or, Martha Stewart has a nice recipe for poached sweet potatoes and tofu with tatsoi  photographed by one of my favorites, Romulo Yanes.

Calzones!

Photo from Kate Briddle who posted a similar recipe to her blog A Dash of Sass in November 2011.

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The November 26 (and last 2013 ) farm share from Glade Road Growing is expected to include Hubbard winter squash, spinach, baby arugula, carrots, purple top turnips, other roots medley. Here's a recipe for arugula and/or spinach and ricotta calzones.  You can adapt this recipe for calzones (or pizza) with any combination of cooked veggies you enjoy.  Vegan can substitute my recipe for vegan sour cream for the cheese and eggs in the filling.

You can you can make this recipe with 1 pound of commercial frozen pizza dough defrosted (or if you want to be really decadent use puff pastry) and a bottled marinara sauce for dipping.

Or, if you want to make this  recipe from scratch,  I've included at the bottom my recipe for a dipping sauce and dough.  You'll want to make the sauce night before and refrigerate to let the flavors combine. The night before you'll  also want to start the dough and then remove it from the refrigerator and let rise for two hours.

I use whole wheat flour made from white rather than the more common red wheat.  It has the nutrition found in other whole wheat flours because it includes  the bran, germ and endosperm.  Since it has a milder taste and sufficient gluten, it doesn't have to be mixed with all-purpose flour.  I have a killer blender, so  I make my own flour from the white wheat berries, but you can buy it in flour form.

Serves 4

Prepare the already-made dough and oven:

Quarter dough, form into balls and roll out each  into an 8-inch round using a rolling pin. Put your oven rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 450 degrees and then make filling:

Filling:

Smash, peel and mince. 1 large or 2 small cloves fresh garlic.

Measure out 8 cups of baby arugula and or spinach.  Rinse greens and pat dry.  Depending on what's in season this will also work with broccoli or kale.

Saute  garlic in a cast iron skillet lightly greased with extra virgin olive oil until golden.  Add  greens and cook, stirring frequently, until wilted, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a sieve and press hard on greens to squeeze out as much excess liquid as possible, then coarsely chop.

Coarsely grate 3 oz whole-milk mozzarella
Finely grate 2 tablespoons Parmigiano-Reggiano

Stir together until blended with:
6 oz whole-milk ricotta (2/3 cup)
1 large egg yolk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Stir in greens.

Put one fourth of  filling (about 1/3 cup) in center of 1 round and fold dough in half to enclose filling and form a semicircle. Press edges together to seal. Beginning at 1 end and working toward the other, stretch sealed edge outward, pinching and rolling edge to form a rope. Transfer to an oiled 17- by 12-inch heavy baking sheet. Make 3 more calzones in same manner, transferring to baking sheet. Bake calzones until golden and puffed, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on baking sheet 5 minutes before serving. If you are going to serve later, continue cooling on rack to keep crust flake. 

Dipping sauce:

Smash, peel and finely mince 3 to 5 cloves fresh garlic
Finely chop 1 TB fresh basil or subsitute 1 tsp. dried if not in season 

Combine with 2 cans diced tomatoes (or four cups chopped vine-ripened tomatoes, if they are in season),  2 TB balsamic vinegar and salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.  Refrigerate overnight to let flavors meld.


Homemade dough:

Combine and allow to rest for 30 minutes to allow the whole wheat flour to absorb the liquid:

3 cups white whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons dry active yeast
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
7/8 cup lukewarm water

(If you want to make the taste even milder, you can substitute 2 TB of lukewarm orange juice for water.  If you are a vegan and don't use honey,  you can subsitute 2 TB agave syrup or 2 TB of water and 2 TB Demerara or Sucanet.)

Knead to make a smooth, soft dough.  Transfer to a large bowl, cover and let it rest  at room temperature for 30 minutes. Refrigerate overnight or up to 24 hours.  Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Divide into four balls, coat lightly with olive oil  and let rise, covered, for another two hours.

Whole Wheat Pasta with Arugula, Walnuts and Cheese

After I developed this recipe, I found a photo from Colleen McConnell AKA Culinary Colleen (twitter, website) which pretty much looks like what I had in mind.

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Sally wrote me this evening that the November 5 farm share from Glade Road Growing will  "0.38 lbs of arugula (large leaf but still tasty for wilting)" and a bulb of garlic--which made me think "Pasta!"  In a way, this is a deconstructed pesto. If you want more protein, you can add 2 cups of  cooked white beans or garbanzos. 

BTW, we can also expect

1 bunch of bok choy
1 bunch haukerai salad turnips with greens
0.8 lbs broccoli (last of the season, small crowns)
3-4 green Carmen peppers
2 small poblanos (last of the season)

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Serves 4

Wash, drain and coarsely chop arugula.

Smash, peel and mince 3 cloves garlic

Zest 1/2 fresh lemon and reserve.  Squeeze juice (remove any seeds) into a spouted measuring cup

Shave 4 oz. Asiago cheese into curls with a vegetable peeler

In a seasoned cast iron skillet lightly coated with extra virgin olive oil toast 1 cup of walnuts and remove to a bowl.

Saute garlic with 1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes until garlic in 2 TB extra virgin olive oil until lightly browned,  Stir in lemon zest and remove from heat.

Bring 1 1/2 quarts of salted water to a boil in a stainless three quart pot with a built in steamer  of and cook 1/2 # spaghetti or angel hair whole wheat pasta until al dente.  If you are using beans add to pasta to warm through.  Drain through arugula to wilt.

Divide among 4 bowls.   Season with salt and  freshly ground pepper and lemon juice  to taste.

Top with the seasoned oil, walnuts and cheese. 

Wilted Arugula Salad with Pears and Cheese

Photo from  The Kitchn, an online daily.

Sally tells me that the October 1, 2013 farm share will include Greenstar Arugula (larger leaves), bok choy, sweet peppers, salad turnips, cinnamon basil and beets with greens.

The cinnamon basil (also known as Vietnamese basil, Saigon basil or húng quế) contains cinnamate, the same chemical that gives cinnamon its flavor.  It's good  in hot drinks and with fruits or used in Asian soups, salads and stir fried dishes. 

Arugula is a dark green with a spiky leaf and a peppery mustard flavor.  It's traditionally found in Mediterranean cuisine.  Younger, smaller arugula leaves are milder and less bitter. The larger leaves are better wilted and served with and acid and  cheese to cut the sharpness. If they are too strong for your taste you can combine with other milder greens. It's good served with a variety of fruits and berries or with roasted beets.

Other names include Rockette, Rocket, Gargeer,  Roka, Roquette, Rucola and Rugula, 


Serves 4


8 large handfuls of arugula rinsed in cold water and patted or spun dry (about 1 1/2 #)
4 fresh garlic cloves thinly sliced 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper
2  ripe pears
4 ounces of soft blue cheese (shown) or feta or chèvre or shaved Asiago, if you prefer


Heat oil a cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add garlic; cook, stirring constantly, until garlic is fragrant but not browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Add arugula; cook, stirring constantly, until slightly wilted, 1 to 2 minutes. Add vinegar; cook, stirring constantly, until most of the vinegar has evaporated, about 1 minute. Stir in salt; season with pepper. Serve immediately. Arrange on four plates. Slice the pear thinly and lay over the arugula, then crumble the cheese over.

If you'd like, before wilting the arugula you can also saute one red pepper seeded and  cut in strips. For a main course, you can also toss in 2 cups of cooked garbanzo or navy beans or 1/2 cup of pecans, walnuts or sliced almonds.