Beer-Braised Greens

Photo by David Loftus

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Braising greens makes them more tender.  My recipe uses porter or stout for a richer taste.  The alcohol evaporates.  If you'd rather not use beer, you can substitute 2 tablespoons of tomato paste thinned with water to make 1/2 cup.


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Serves 4


Ingredients:

Kale, beet greens or chard or spinach, turnip greens, collards, and/or arugula, rinsed well and torn into 2-inch strips to make 4 cups.  I prefer a mixture.

• 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• 2 large cloves of garlic, smashed, peeled and finely sliced
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup stout or porter
  2 cups of cooked, drained black or white beans (optional)
• 4 tablespoons miso, thinned with a bit of water
• Directions:

1.  In a large pot bring 2 quarts of water and a large pinch of salt to a boil. Add greens a blanch for 1 minute.  Remove to a colander to drain.

2.  In a large skillet heat oil over medium-high heat. Add garlic and  sauté  for 1 minute. Add greens, pepper flakes and beer, cover simmer until tender (about 6 minutes). If you'd like to make this a complete meal, add 2 cups of cooked, drained black or white beans and stir to warm through.  Remove from heat.  Stir in thinned miso and serve.

Bok Choy and Tempeh (or Chicken or Pork) Stir Fry with Mushrooms, Sweet Peppers and Onions

Photo by Susanna Liang at Divine Healthy Food.  Her recipe uses a red chili pepper so it's spicier.


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Sally wrote me after I had developed recipes for tomatillo salsa, to say that the bag for Glade Road Growing this week would instead include bok choy, salad turnips, red pepper, red onion, arugula, lettuce mix and tomatoes.  Here's my recipe for a stir fry using the bok choy, red pepper, red onion and tomatoes with tempeh.  If you prefer, you can use cooked chicken or pork, sliced thin and added in with the tomatoes.

Plus check out the recipe Sally found for the newsletter for  grilled bok choy and turnip rice bowls with soy sesame sauce by Oregon "farmer turned foodie Andrea Bemis" at her blog Dishing Up The Dirt.  (And while you're there, check out the other recipes!)



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Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 cups of brown rice

2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil or peanut oil
2 tablespoons of sesame seeds
8  cremini mushrooms, sliced (sometimes called baby portobellos)
1 red onion, thinly sliced with one tablespoon finely chopped and reserved for garnish
1 package of tempeh, cut into thin strips (or 1 cup cooked chicken or pork)
1 sweet red pepper, stemmed, seeded, membrane removed and cut into thin slices
4 cloves garlic, smashed, peeled and chopped
fresh ginger, chopped to make 1 tablespoon
4 medium bok choy, chopped into thin slices
2 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons of balsamic or rice wine vinegar
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
4 tablespoons of miso
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
2 small tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup cilantro chopped


Instructions

1.  45 minutes before you start the stir fry, bring 2 cups of brown rice and 4 cups of water to a boil in a heavy-bottomed lidded pot.  Simmer for 5 minutes.  Rinse rice until water is clear, add water up to the original level and bring again to boil for another five minutes.  Cover pot, turn off the heat and let steam for 40 minutes until the water is absorbed.

2.  Heat a dry cast iron skillet over a medium heat until a drop of water boils off.  Toast sesame seeds until they pop.  Immediately transfer to plate and reserve for garnish.

3.  Add olive or peanut oil to the skillet and heat until a bead of water sizzles.  Add mushrooms and cook until tender.  Add the onions and cook until translucent.  Add the garlic, ginger, paprika, red pepper flakes, red pepper and bok choy and cook the vegetables are tender. 

4.   While the veggies are cooking, in a small bowl, make a paste of the cornstarch, water, miso, sesame oil and vinegar.  Turn down the heat to low and add mixture to the skillet, stirring until it thickens.  Stir in tomatoes (and meat, if you are substituting for the tempeh) and turn off heat and let warm through.

5.  Stir the rice with a fork to fluff and divide among four bowls.  Top with stir fry, garnished with toasted sesame seeds, chopped cilantro and  reserved, chopped red onions.

Photo by Andrea Bemis of her grilled bok choy and turnip rice bowls with soy sesame sauce.

far


mer turned foodie, Andrea Bemis  

Beth's Vegan Chili

Photo for Tracey Medeiros's The Vermont Farm Table Cookbook by Oliver Parini of Burlington, Vermont, which features a recipe for the chili served at Burlington's City Market/Onion River Co-op.
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JP tells me that this week's bag share from Glade Road Growing will include tomatoes and peppers, so I thought I'd give you my recipe for vegan chili.

Last week, I mentioned that I had attended a pot luck on Sunday.  One cook, a vegan, told me that she never used fake meat when she cooked for herself or her husband, but that she used it to make recipes my "special" for meat eaters.

I disagree!  Meat eaters know what meat tastes like and fake meat and tvp, besides being highly processed, really don't taste like meat.  Instead I suggest that you use spices and whole ingredients. To add a bit of richness, my chili recipe includes cocoa powder, cinnamon and paprika, in addition to the more traditional spices, plus some miso, instead of salt to give depth of flavor.  You could also deepen the flavor by adding diced roasted sweet potatoe instead of the carrots and some sautéed chopped mushrooms.  To get the texture of the meat or tvp, I suggest cooked barley, or if you're gluten intolerant, quinoa.  Because I don't have any Mexican oregano, I also use some fresh chopped basil in the garnish.

I top my chili with greek yogurt or labneh, but of course that's not vegan.  Instead you can use this recipe for tofu "sour cream."

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Serves 8

2 cups dried beans (your choice of black, navy, kidney, red beans or lentils, or a combination thereof)
1 cup of barley or quinoa

Spices:
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon of cinnamon

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 stalks of celery, diced
1 cup shredded carrots
1/2 poblano pepper, stemmed, seeded, and chopped
1 bell pepper chopped
4 garlic cloves, smashed, peeled and finely chopped
2 cups diced heirloom tomatoes (about 2 medium--you can use canned diced unsalted tomatoes, when tomato season is over)
2 cups of water
3 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons of cocoa powder
4 tablespoons of miso, thinned with water

Garnish:
Greek yogurt or "tofu sour cream"
1 cup of chopped heirloom tomatoes
1/2 cup of fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 cup of fresh basil, cut into slivers
1 shallot, peeled and sliced thinly (or substitute a bit of red onion)


Directions:

1. The night before or at least 3 hours before you start the soup, bring beans to boil with 4 cups of water in a heavy-bottomed pot with a tight lid then turn down heat to simmer for 5 minutes. Drain and rinse well. Bring back to a boil, cover and simmer for another 5 minutes and then let soak for an hour or overnight. Rinse a second time and bring back to boil with a bay leave and cook until soft. Drain.

2.  After you start the beans, bring the grain of your choice to boil with 4 cups of water in a heavy-bottomed pot with a tight lid then turn down heat to simmer for 5 minutes. Drain and rinse well. If you are using quinoa, bring back to a boil, cover and simmer for another 5 minutes, turn off the heat and leave covered for at least 20 minutes until it absorbs the water.  For barley, you will need to cook it longer for it to be tender, so after it sits for the 20 minutes, cover the barley with water and bring back to a boil and then simmer until it is tender and the water is absorbed.

2. In a dry, seasoned cast iron skillet, toast the spices and set aside.   Add the oil to the skillet and cook onions, until they are softened. Add the celery, the peppers, the carrots and the garlic and cook the mixture, stirring, for 4 minutes.  Transfer to a large heavy-bottomed pot.  Add the tomatoes and water, the tomato paste, the cocoa, the cooked beans and grain and simmer, covered, for 1 hour.

4. Stir in the spices and simmer the soup, uncovered, for 15 minutes.

6. Take off the heat and season soup by stirring in the thinned miso.

7. To serve, divide soup into  individual bowls, garnish with yogurt or tofu sour cream, chopped fresh basil, cilantro, tomatoes and shallots.

Hummus Heaped with Summer Salad

Photo by Deb Perelman of The Smitten Kitchen

JP tells me that the tomatoes are again in abundance this week at Glade Road Growing, as are onions and green peppers, so I thought I'd come up with a recipe inspired by this picture by Deb Perelman, who notes that "throughout the Middle East, there are hummusiots/hummsias, places that serve hummus warm and freshly made, often a little softer than what we get here, usually heaped with other things."

If you live in (or near) Blacksburg and want something more special than store-bought but don't feel like baking pitas  or yogurt flatbreads, you can get great pita bread from Jess Schultz and Pete Macedo at Blacksburg Bagels at the Farmers' Market or from Aaron Grigsby at Tabula Rasa on Glade, the Glade Road Growing farm kitchen.

Perelman is somewhat "persnickety" and peels her chickpeas.  (Or since she lives in NYC, she can go over to Lexington Avenue and buy dried peeled chickpeas, say what?)  I, on the other hand, am more laid back, other than to refuse to make my hummus from canned chickpeas, which I swear a cookbook author suggested at a demo the Virginia Festival of the Book.

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Serves 4


Ingredients:

Hummus

1 cup of dried chickpeas
1/2 cup of sesame seeds
3-4  cloves of fresh garlic, smashed, peeled
3 tablespoons of lemon, lime or orange juice
1 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon cumin


4 large pita breads or yogurt flatbreads

Salad

1 1/2 cup of heirloom and cherry tomatoes, chopped small,
1/2 pound of small cucumbers, washed, unpeeled, chopped small
1 bell pepper, chopped small
1/4 medium red or white onion, chopped small
1 1/2 tablespoons of lemon or lime juice
1 1/2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons herbs (cilantro, parsley, mint, oregano, thyme or chives or a mixture of those), finely chopped
1 teaspoon of ground sumac (optional, if you cannot find it.)


Directions:

1.  The night before, in a heavy bottomed stainless steel pan, cover dried chickpeas with three cups of water and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low, cover with lid and simmer for five minutes.  Let soak overnight.  Drain and rinse the chickpeas and repeat, but this time simmer until soft, about an hour to an hour and a half.  Drain and rinse a second time.

2.  Heat a cast iron skillet lightly coated with extra virgin olive oil until a bead of water evaporates.  Cover bottom of skillet with raw sesame seeds and toast until they just pop.  Transfer to a bowl to cool.  Repeat until all the seeds are toasted.

3.  In a heavy duty blender or food processor combine the cooked chickpeas, the toasted sesame seeds and the remaining ingredients and process until smooth.  If your hummus seems too too thick, you can thin it with cool water.  (You can also substitute water for the olive oil to make a lower fat version, but really, why?)

4.  Warm 4 large pitas or flat breads, one at a time, in a cast iron skillet and cut into wedges

5. Mix tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, bell pepper, lemon, olive oil, salt and pepper in a bowl. If you have sumac, add about 1/4 teaspoon. Stir in half of herbs, reserving the rest for a garnish

6.  Spread hummus on a large plate with the back of a spoon, creating swirls and cavities. Drizzle it lightly with additional extra virgin olive oil.  Heap salad on hummus and arrange pita wedges around the edges of the plate. Finish with a sprinkling of the remaining sumac and fresh herbs.

Grilled Summer Squash

Photo from Oh My Veggies blog.


This week's farm share from Glade Road Growing will include summer squash,  which have a soft, thin edible skin and a mild flavor.  They can be eaten raw or cooked--steamed, sautéed and grilled.  They are also great simmered in soups and pasta sauces.  JP asked for a grilled squash recipe, so here is one of mine.

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Serves 4



Ingredients:

1 pound summer squash, with stem trimmed off and sliced 1/4 inch thick lengthwise

Marinade:

1 T water
3 T  miso

1 T lime juice

1 T extra virgin olive oil
1 t honey

1/2 t red pepper flakes

1/2 t cumin
2 green onions, thinly sliced



Directions:

1. Prepare grill for indirect-heat cooking over medium-hot charcoal.

2.  Combine ingredients for marinade a large bowl.  Reserve half for dressing in a small pitcher.

3.  Toss squash in marinade and let stand in refrigerator for  at least 15 minutes or up to four hours to absorb flavors.

4.  Place vegetables directly over hottest part of coals, uncovered.   Cook for 4 minutes, turn over grill another four minutes or until tender.

5.  Transfer to a platter.

6.  Pour dressing evenly over squash before serving or, if you prefer, serve with tzatziki (my first-ever recipe developed for Glade Road Growing) or grated fresh Parmesian, Asiago or cheddar cheese. (For the latter, grate cheese while the squash is still warm, so that it will melt.)


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Aaron at Tabula Rasa, Glade Road Growing's farm kitchen, was serving summer squash last night on a sandwich with pesto, olive oil and Meadowcreek Dairy's Appalachian ( a tome-type) cheese. Yum!

Photo from Tabula Rasa on Glade.

Here are some previous recipes for summer squash, which you can make now, before the eggplant and tomatoes come in and you can make ratatouille:
Summer Squash and Potato Torte
Savory Skillet Veggie and Feta Cornbread
Yellow Squash and Onions with Brown Sugar