Red Pepper, Spinach and Sweet Potato Hash

Photo by Karielyn Tillman

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This week the bag from Glade Road Growing will include sweet peppers, and baby spinach. This hash makes a nice side to serve with leftover roast chicken or pork.

If you'd like to make it a vegetarian meal instead, after the hash is cooked, stir in 2 cups of cooked drained black beans.  Divide the hash into four sections.  Make a slight well in the center of each section and crack a duck egg (or chicken egg) into each well.  Turn down heat to medium low and cover and cook for for another 4 minutes.  For a vegan version, substitute tofu "sour cream" for the eggs, but only heat until it's warmed through.


Serves 4


Ingredients

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 large onion, peeled and coarsely diced
1 red bell red bell pepper, diced
1 or more cups of  baby spinach, chopped, with 2 tablespoons reserved for garnish
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, smashed peeled and minced
fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped to make 1 tablespoon
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons of poppy seeds
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper


Instructions

1.  Add oil to a cast iron skillet and heat on medium until a bead of water evaporates.  Saute'  onions, garlic and ginger until translucent and add the sweet potatoes, red pepper flakes, cumin, cardamom, poppy seeds, salt and pepper.  Continue cooking until the sweet potatoes are soft and slightly crispy on the outside.

2.   Add the diced red bell peppers, chopped spinach (except for the reserved amount) and gently toss for about 1-2 minutes until the spinach is wilted.  Remove from heat, garnish with fresh chopped spinach and serve.

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.

Moroccan and Asian Ribbon Salads with Carrots, Cucumbers and Peppers

Photo from Sarah Britton of My New Roots, her food blog based in Copenhagen, Denmark.


Ribbon salads are lovely. If you don't have a mandoline, a simple vegetable peeler works well.  I've added a cucumber and chopped peppers to the salad pictured above.   Britton's inspiration is Moroccan, but if you prefer Asian,  you might could substitute edamame for the lentils and use the Asian dressing recipe I've included instead.  If you'd like to make this a meal, serve the Moroccan salad over 2 cups of cooked quinoa or the Asian salad over 2 cups of cooked whole wheat, buckwheat or rice noodles.


Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 cup lentils or edamame, cooked
2-3 large carrots
1 cucumber, peeled, halved,

½ pepper, sweet or poblano
1 small onion, 1/2 medium onion or 1/4 large onion
¼ cup each mint and cilantro

Marinade:
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon orange juice
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 tablespoon miso
1 tablespoon water

Moroccan Dressing:
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
½ tablespoon anise seeds
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground ginger

¼ teaspoon paprika

¼ teaspoon ground coriander

pinch of hot red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon freshly-squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon honey (or agave, for the vegan version)
3 tablespoon extra virgin oil
1 tablespoon miso

6 prunes, pitted and finely chopped

or

Asian Dressing:

1 ½  tablespoon sesame seeds

2 teaspoon of  honey or agave

2 tablespoon lime juice

1 tablespoon of toasted sesame seed oil
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, finely chopped
pinch of hot red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon miso
1 pear, seeded, cored and julienned into small strips

1.  Cook the lentils or endame and rinse.
2.  Whisk the marinade together in large bowl.
3.   Wash the carrots and wash and peel the cucumber.  Using the peeler, peel long ribbons lengthwise and place in the bowl with the marinade. Let sit while you prepare the rest of the veggies.
4.  Stem and seed the pepper and chop finely.  Peel onion and chop finely.
5.  Make the dressing of your choice. First, toast the whole seeds in a dry skillet over medium-high heat until fragrant.  Let cool.  Add with remaining dressing ingredients to a jar with a tight lid and shake well.
6.  In a large bowl, add lentils or edamame and the veggies.  Pour on dressing and toss well.  Store covered in refrigerator until ready to serve.
7.  Divide the salad among four individual bowls and garnish with washed and chopped herbs.  

Kale and (Of Course Avocado) Guacamole

Photo by Ian McSpadden for Fifty Shades of Kale by Drew Ramsey, M.D. and Jennifer Iserloh.

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Sally, JP and Jody will be on vacation, but Sally tells me that the  Glade Road Growing farm share for September 6 will include kale, sweet peppers, eggplant, head lettuce, basil, tomatoes and garlic. 

Inspired by Dr. Ramsey's suggestion, I decided to add kale to my guacamole recipe.  While I usually used cilantro, I decided to try basil, since that's what available.  (His recipe calls for red onions and jalapeños, while mine uses garlic, sweet peppers and cumin. I also use fewer avocados and add cooked beans to increase the protein and fiber and cut the fat.)

Ingredients:

2 cups kale leaves
2 Hass ripe avocados, cut in half, pits removed
2 tablespoons of lime juice
1/2 cup of cooked white beans
3 ripe tomatoes, finely chopped
1/4 cup sweet red pepper,  stem and core removed and finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic  smashed, root end cut off, peeled and chopped

1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup fresh basil chopped
1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin


1.  Steam the kale over boiling water for a couple of minutes.  Rinse in a cold water bath, to maintain the bright green color, drain and chop finely.

2.   Scoop out the flesh out of the avocado and place in a large bowl, along with the cooked white beans and immediately coat in lime juice to keep the avocado from browning.   Add salt and mash with the back of a wooden spoon until it is still a bit chunky.it chunky.

3.  Stir in kale, tomatoes, red peppers, garlic, cumin and   basil.  Cover and store in the refrigerator up to 10 hours.

4.  Serve with whole grain tortilla chips, toasted whole wheat pita wedges, or toasted soft corn tortillas.

Stuffed Fresh Tomatoes

Photo from Richmond-based food writer Tim Vidra's recipe for Aftertaste.

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The tomatoes are in!  While they've been on sale at Glade Road Growing's farm stands for weeks, they've finally arrived in sufficient quantities for the vegetable share, along with basil, garlic, summer squash, onion and a pepper (plus a beets or kohlrabi, which I'm not including in this recipe, as I featured them last week.

If it were cooler, this might sound like the perfect time for ratatouille.  But, arrgh, it was in the nineties this weekend and will still be high eighties now that the heat wave is "over."  Who feels like cooking?  I don't.  Last week, in her newsletter, Sally suggested grilling or using a crock pot in the evening to keep the house cooler, but I thought, why not something raw?

If the tomatoes in your bag are the large heirloom slicers, as shown above, great.  If not, no problem.  I'm not sure how many tomatoes you'll be getting, so, if there are fewer, enjoy what you get and use any extra stuffing in pitas or tossed with cooked pasta and/or beans that have been chilled.  The original recipe called for cukes and dill (and no squash, sweet pepper, onion, garlic and basil) so I made some changes.

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3-4  tomatoes, topped and cored with a paring knife
1 summer squash, stem and end cut off and diced
1/4  sweet pepper, stemmed, seeded and diced 
3 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons fresh basil, chopped, divided into two portions
2 teaspoons onions, chopped finely
1 garlic clove, peeled, smashed and diced finely
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

1.  Sprinkle the inside of each tomato with salt. This will pull the juices from the tomato and into the well.

2.  To make the dressing, combine olive oil, vinegar, garlic, onion and a pinch of salt and pepper, whisking to combine.

3. Dice the tomato top/core and add to the prepped squash, sweet pepper, crumbled feta and half of the  basil. Pour the dressing over the diced ingredients and stir to combine.

4.  Scoop the salad into the cored tomatoes and garnish with remaining basil. 

Chickpea Ratatouille with Quinoa

Photo from Sonia Lacasse at The Healthy Foodie

Glade Road Growing's  vegetable share for the week of August 11 is expected to include tomatoes, red onions, sweet peppers, eggplant and summer squash.  As Sally suggested, this is perfect for ratatouille.  Two years ago, I posted a recipe here and have another one for you today.

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Serves 6


1.  Cook 1 and 1/2 cups of dry chickpeas.  In a medium saucepan with a heavy bottom and a tight-fitting lid, cover with 3 cups water, and and bring to a boil.  Rinse.  Return to pot, add ½ teaspoon sea salt and bring again to a boil again.  Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Let stand over night or for at least one hour. Rinse a second time.  Add two cups of water and bring to a boil again and simmer on low heat until soft, about 1 hour.

2.  In a medium saucepan with a heavy bottom and a tight-fitting lid, combine 1 1/2  cup quinoa, 3 cups water, and and bring to a boil.  Rinse.  Return to pot, add ½ teaspoon sea salt and bring again to a boil again.  Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.  Turn off heat and leave for 20 minutes until water is absorbed.

3.  While quinoa is cooking, wash, peel and chop onion.  If you are using cherry tomatoes, cut in half.  Otherwise chop coarsely to make 2 cups.  Cut 1 eggplant (about 1 pound) into 1/2-inch pieces.   Cut squash in half lengthwise and cut crosswise into 3/4-inch-thick pieces.  Cut peppers in half and remove seeds and stems and slice into 1 inch pieces.  Smash and peel 6 cloves of garlic and mince.  Rinse basil and remove leaves from stems to make about 1/2 cup. 

4.  Heat 1 TB extra virgin olive oil in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion  and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 4 to 6 minutes.  Add garlic and cook for another minutes.  Remove to plate.  Replenish oil and cook peppers until soft.  Remove to plate and repeat for squash and then egg plant.

5.  In a 3 quart covered saucepan, add tomatoes, cooked vegetables, 1 teaspoon sea salt, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add 2 cups water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, until eggplant is tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Stir in the cooked chickpeas and cook just until heated through, about 3 minutes. Remove the vegetables from heat and stir in  fresh basil leaves.

6.  Uncover the quinoa and fluff with a fork. Divide among six bowls and top with vegetables and, if you like, some shaved Parmesan or Asiago cheese.

Savory Skillet Veggie and Feta Cornbread

Photo by  Donalyn Ketchum of The Creekside Cook.

The August 26 farm share for Glade Road Growing is slated to include paste tomatoes, colorful sweet and hot peppers, tomatillos, summer squash and Rosa de Tropea onions. The tomatillos (Mexican husk tomatoes) would be excellent in a salsa verde (puréed with hot pepper, onion, garlic and a bit of water in a blender, simmered for about 15 minutes and cooled and then seasoned with chopped cilantro, lime juice and salt to taste.)

As for the tomatoes, summer squash, onions and peppers, here's my recipe for a savory cornbread inspired by Christine Gallary for Chow.com (She's now the food and cooking editor at TheKitchn.)

Photo from Chow.com (maybe by Chris Rochell, since no credit given and he's the staff photographer)

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1.  Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F, with one of the racks set in the middle.

2.  You're going to be using either a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan, an 8-by-8 inch baking disk, 2 7 inch cast iron cornstick pans (Lodge makes the ones I've used)  or a 10 " cast iron skillet.  I prefer the corn stick pans or the  skillet because it makes a crunchy crust and you can serve the bread while it is still warm. For this method, you can heat the skillet in the oven for at least 15 minutes and then grease with extra virgin olive oil or unsalted butter right before pouring in the batter.  Don't do this with the baking pans!  Just grease them  set them aside on the counter until you're ready to pour the batter.

3.  Grate into a medium bowl, enough summer squash (about 1/2 #) to make 1 cup and 1 small onion.  Cut two small tomatoes in half and drain juice and seeds and then chop finely and add to bowl.   Removing the stem, membrane and seeds from a sweet pepper, chop it finely to make 1/2 cup--or you can use mostly sweet peppers with a bit of the hot peppers.  If you use the latter, be sure to keep your hands away from your eyes!  Add pepper to bowl.   Finely crumble 2/3 cup (3 oz.) feta cheese into the bowl and use a rubber or silicon spatula to fold until mixed.

6.  In a large bowl combine the dry ingredients and whisk together:
1 3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp ground sea salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 1/4 teaspoons dried oregano

7.  In a second large bowl beat two large eggs and whisk together with 1 cup Greek yogurt until smooth. Fold the veggie/cheese mixture into the egg and yogurt mixture until evenly combined.

8.  Pour veggie/egg/yogurt/cheese mixture into flour mixture and stir until flour is just incorporated.  Be careful not to overmix this batter--it's fine to have a few streaks of the cornmeal.

9.  Use the spatula to scrape the batter into the prepared  pan or skillet, pushing it into the corners and smoothing the top. Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees F and bake 20-25 minutes until the bread is golden brown all over and a toothpick inserted into it comes out clean.  It will take about 30 - 40 minutes in the square pan.  It will take longer to cook in the loaf pan.   You'll want to test it in several spots, because if you hit the cheese, it might appear the bread isn't cooked. Place the pan on a wire rack to cool (5 minutes for the corn sticks, 10 minutes for the skillet, 10 - 15 for the square pan or loaf pan, then turn the bread out onto the rack and transfer to a wooden cutting board.

10.  You don't need to do anything with the corn sticks.   If you've used the skillet, you can cut the bread into wedges as shown below.  If you've used the square pan, cut into 2 x 2 inch squares.  If you used the loaf pan, you need to let it cool for at least another 15 minutes and then cut it in thick slices.  Serve (with lots of unsalted butter, if you want to be decadent!)

Photo from Steve Gordon.