Recipe Rursday: Quinoa and Kale Quiche

Quinoa and Kale Quiche, 9/25/11

While the birds have cut back dramatically on their egg production, for the winter, it was only a few weeks ago that 3 dozen eggs overwhelmed the fridge.  Egg recipes are very much on my radar.  This new quiche became an instant favorite over the last two months.  I've found three occasions to make variations on it: one with less quinoa, and another with arugula.  You can change the cheeses, or throw in different greens, but this weekend I'm going back to the kale-original.  The recipe came from Hilarybee and is perfect just as it is. 

Quiona and Kale Crustless Quiche

Makes About 8 slices

1/2 cup Quinoa

1 cup water

2 tablespoons Olive Oil

1 bunch Kale, stems removed and cut into ribbons

1 Vidalia Onion, thinly sliced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 cup white cheddar cheese

3 ounces cream cheese, cubed

4 eggs

salt and pepper to taste

• Preheat the oven to 350 and prepare a 9″ pie dish (either butter the dish thoroughly or spray with baking spray). Rinse the quinoa. Combine the quinoa and water in a pan. Bring to a boil on medium-high heat and then reduce to a simmer. This will take about twenty minutes. Set aside.
• Meanwhile, start to caramelize the onions. Heat the olive oil in a large saute on medium heat. When the oil is shimmering, add the onions. Slowly cook until the onions are soft and browned.
• Remove the onions from the pan, and place them in a large mixing bowl. Add the kale into the hot onion pan. On medium heat, cook until the kale is wilted and bright green, about two minutes.
• Allow the greens to cool. Squeeze out any extra liquid using a sieve or a clean dish towel.
• Add the kale, quinoa, garlic, cream cheese and cheddar to the mixing bowl. Stir the ingredients so that they are evenly distributed.
• In a small bowl, whisk the eggs so that they are well combined. Pour over the quinoa/kale mixture. Stir until the egg clings to the greens. Add salt and pepper.

Pour the mixture in the prepared pie dish. Bake for about 45 minutes, until the top is golden and the pie has started to pull away from the edge of the baking dish. This dish is delightful hot, but even better at room temperature.

Squash in the Kitchen

August Squash: Summer Squash Goat Cheese Pizza

(crooknecks from the garden)

October Squash: Roasted Delicata Squash

(Delicatas from Farmer's Daughter)

A nutty squash that's simple to prep: slice long, scoop out the seeds, cut into semi-circles, butter lightly, salt and pepper, and season with cinnamon, if desired. Bake for 30 minutes at 425.

Recipe Rursday: Shakshuka (Eggs Poached in Tomato Sauce)

Shakshuka, 4/18/11

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I've been thinking about trying this for so long.  Saveur published a tasty photo of poached eggs in tomato sauce, I  printed it out back in November, and it's been floating around the house ever since.  Finally we gave it a shot on Tuesday night.  Amazingly simple and very tasty.  Back-of-the-mouth heat, as well.  Loved it.

Eggs Poached in Tomato Sauce  (Saveur)

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
5 Anaheim chiles or 3 jalapeños, stemmed, 
   seeded, and finely chopped
1 small yellow onion, chopped
8 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tbsp. paprika
1  28-oz. can whole peeled tomatoes,
   undrained  
Kosher salt, to taste
8 eggs
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 tbsp. chopped flat-leaf parsley 
Warm pita, for serving

1. Heat oil in a 12" skillet over medium-high heat. Add chiles and onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden brown, about 6 minutes. Add garlic, cumin, and paprika, and cook, stirring frequently, until garlic is soft, about 2 more minutes.

2. Put tomatoes and their liquid into a medium bowl and crush with your hands. Add crushed tomatoes and their liquid to skillet along with 1/2 cup water, reduce heat to medium, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened slightly, about 20 minutes. Season sauce with salt.

3. Crack eggs over sauce so that eggs are evenly distributed across sauce's surface. Cover skillet and cook until yolks are just set, about 5 minutes. Using a spoon, baste the whites of the eggs with tomato mixture, being careful not to disturb the yolk. Sprinkle shakshuka with feta and parsley and serve with pita, for dipping.

Recipe Rursday: Celebration Lentil Loaf & Mushroom Gravy

I haven't posted a recipe in a while.  Actually, I haven't posted much lately.  Too many big moves going on.  But this one definitely inspired a post.  My co-worker Michele had just tried this recipe, which she found on the Whole Foods website.  My advice is to get the lentils and bulgur wheat (or you could use rice, or other grains) going before prepping the other ingredients. And do NOT skip the gravy.  While the lentil loaf was not dry, the gravy was a highlight:


Celebration Lentil Loaf & Mushroom Gravy


1 cup brown lentils, picked over and rinsed 

3/4 cup bulgur wheat 

8 ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced 
1 large onion, chopped 
1/2 cup apple cider (non-alcoholic) 
2 teaspoons poultry seasoning (we used Bell seasoning)
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt 
1/2 cup rolled oats 
1 red bell pepper, finely diced 
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves


Put lentils in a small saucepan with 2 cups water and bring to a boil over high heat. Cover and simmer until lentils are very tender, about 40 minutes. Drain and set aside. 

Put bulgur in a small saucepan with 1 1/2 cups water and bring to a boil over high heat. Cover and simmer until bulgur is tender and water is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Set aside. 

In a medium skillet, combine mushrooms, onion, cider poultry seasoning and salt. Cover and simmer over medium heat until vegetables are very tender, about 12 minutes. Transfer to a food processor and pulse until just chopped. Scrape into a bowl and fold in lentils, bulgur, oats, bell pepper and parsley. 

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line the bottom and sides of an 8- or 9-inch loaf pan with parchment paper. Pack lentil mixture into pan and smooth the top. Bake until edges brown slightly, about 1 hour. Cool in pan 25 minutes, then invert it onto a serving plate. Remove parchment and use a serrated knife to cut the loaf into 1-inch-thick slices. 

Mushroom Gravy (Vegan)


3 1/2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth, divided (we use cubes)
1 cup chopped white onion 
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped 
8 ounces wild mushrooms, cleaned, trimmed and chopped 
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme 
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary 
1/4 cup merlot, or other spicy red wine 
2 tablespoons reduced-sodium tamari  (we have this, but you could substitute light soy sauce or something lighter)
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast (I used 1T of dry yeast)
2 tablespoons whole wheat or spelt flour (I used 2T of white flour)
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 



In a large skillet over medium-high heat, bring 1/2 cup broth to a simmer. Add onion and garlic and cook for about 4 minutes or until onion is translucent. Stir in mushrooms, rosemary and thyme and continue to cook about 2 minutes or until mushrooms release their liquid and start to become tender. Add merlot and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in remaining 3 cups broth and bring to a simmer. 

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together tamari, yeast and flour to form a thick paste. Add mixture to skillet about 1 teaspoon at a time, whisking constantly to make sure paste dissolves. Bring to a boil and boil 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add pepper. If gravy is too thin for your taste, add a tablespoon or two of flour to thicken it.

Recipe Rursday: Pepper Jelly

I had never heard of Hot Pepper Jelly until this summer, when we were given a jar (home canned) from a friend on Chris' softball team.  Many months later, I read up on how hot pepper jelly is used and found that more often than not, it's served with goat cheese on crackers as an hors d'oeuvre.

Turns out, it's sweet like jelly, but leaves behind that great heat that comes from peppers like habaneros, and for some reason it's a perfect compliment to tangy cream cheese or goat cheese. 

Canning/jarring preserves seems like so much work to me, though I hear it's not that bad.  Maybe late this summer we'll try making pepper jelly.  In the meantime, if you see a jar in a Winter Farmer's Market.  Get it.  (Camera has been playing dead on and off for two months now. Phone pics only for a while.)

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Recipe Rursday: Goat Cheese Empanadas

11/26/10.

Goat Cheese Empanadas
Using a 3-in round cookie cutter, cut out 16 circles from 2 refrigerated rolled piecrusts. Divide 4 oz. of fresh goat cheese among the circles, dot the edges of the dough with water, fold in half, and press with a fork to seal.

Bake at 375F until golden, 20-25 minutes. Serve with corn salsa.

(I made these with my mom when she was in town for Thanksgiving -- crafty, and easy, if you buy the piecrusts.)

Recipe Rursday: Homemade Hot Sauce

We go through a lot of hot sauce in our house. On oven nachos, fish tacos, huevos rancheros, and even rice and beans. And with the number of hot peppers growing in the deck garden, and that came in our CSA farm share, it was only a matter of time before we started making our own hot sauce. We had a number of hot peppers go to waste this year and we will not make that mistake again. The hot chilii-infused oil (recipe here) was a great way to use up peppers, and the oil will last for quite a while. But hot sauce doesn't require that you dry out the chilis, and the process was much simpler.
Garlicky Red Chili Hot Sauce (from The New York Times)

• 4 hot red or orange chili peppers, such as habañero
• 2 red bell peppers ( 3/4 pound), roughly chopped
• 5 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 3/4 cup distilled white vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt.

1. Wearing rubber or latex gloves, roughly chop the chilies. Combine all ingredients in a small pot over medium-high heat. Once mixture is simmering, reduce heat to low, cover and continue to simmer until peppers are tender, 7 to 10 minutes. Do not inhale vapors; they will sting.

2. Transfer mixture to a blender and purée. Pour into a medium jar and allow to cool uncovered. Cover tightly and refrigerate for three days. Keep stored in refrigerator; sauce will last for several weeks or months. Yield: 2 cups.

10/31/10.

Notes: This was Chris' project (whew), and he bottled our batch in the cleaned-out distilled vinegar bottle because of its screw-on cap. The sauce is bright orange and a little thick/chunky. Only thing I'd change for the next batch is to turn up the heat. It's hot sauce damn it! If it's really really hot, you can hold back and only use a little bit. Since our first batch was on the more mild side, we're almost through the bottle.

Recipe Rursday: Pumpkin Bread Stuffing

Three years ago, I posted that I wanted to make Pumpkin Bread Stuffing (from a recipe on VegetarianFood About.com). We hosted Thanksgiving this year for my parents (and brought food to my aunt's), so I gave it a try...though a few years late.

I didn't have time to make the bread, and picked up this amazing loaf of "Pumpkin Seed Bread" at our local bakery, Seven Stars. The best ingredient in this recipe ended up being the seeds, which became more pronounced as the bread broke down from stirring/pulsing in the food processor. If your bread doesn't have them, it couldn't hurt to add them separately.
My changes: I used butter (and much less), dried herbs (1 Tbsp fresh = 1 tsp. dried), and could have used more broth. I prefer stuffing to be very moist (I was raised on Stove Top) and will add more broth next time. I also put the mixture in the food processor after baking, and I'm convinced that with more broth, the processor would get me the texture I wanted. Regardless, a great success.

Pumpkin Bread Stuffing

• 1 cup vegan margarine, plus 1 teaspoon (1/2 cup of butter)
  
• 4 stalks celery, diced
• 1 red onion, diced
• 2 cups mushrooms, sliced
• 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
• 2 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped (or 2 tsp. dried)
  
• 2 tbsp fresh tarragon, chopped (or 2 tsp. dried)
• 2 tbsp fresh sage, chopped (or 2 tsp. dried)
• 1/3 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 6 cups pumpkin bread, cubed
• approx 1/3 cup vegetable broth (1/2 cup or more)
  

Allow pumpkin bread to dry overnight, or toast in oven at 250 degrees for 30-40 minutes.

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees and grease a large baking dish with butter. In a large skillet/pot over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the celery and onions and sautee for 8-10 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook for a few more minutes until mushrooms are soft.

Turn off heat and add spices, stirring well to combine. Add bread cubes. Add vegetable broth a few tablespoons at a time just until stuffing is moistened.

Transfer mixture to greased baking dish and cover with foil. Bake in oven for 40 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 10 more minutes, or until done.

11/25/10.

Recipe Rursday: Sweet Potato Fries

10/10/10.

Deli Haus, a retro diner tucked underground in Boston's Fenway Square, introduced me to sweet potato fries. I remember it vividly. I had just moved to Boston and was about to turn 22. Back when Fenway Square had character, before it was devoured by Boston University-owned swanky hotels, the retro square had an old record store, a great coffee shop, and among other things, a downstairs restaurant/diner called Deli Haus. The diner had great food, an excess of coolness, walls saturated with smoke, and beer served until 1 or 2 am. If you were liked, you could stay past 3. Brilliant. And I can't seem to stay up past 10:30 most nights.
The cider reduction makes this more of a fancy pants dish, but a well-salted, simpler version is just as good. From our CSA last month comes another fittingly Fall meal. Inspired by some recipe somewhere, which I can no longer find...and my memory of Deli Haus.

Sweet Potato Fries with a Cider Reduction
(and a side of grilled white asparagus)

Add a cup or two of cider to a saucepan and set on a low boil for almost an hour, until reduced (by more than 3/4) to a thick glaze.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Chop sweet potatoes long-wise (I used 2 potatoes) into wedges and brush with olive oil and salt (not too much of either). Bake on a sheet for 45 minutes to an hour, until soft and browned. I salt them right out of the oven as well. Top with the cider reduction.

Recipe Rursday: Green Bean Casserole in a skillet

For our 2nd year with a CSA (this year with Four Friends Farms), I am once again very happy; buying a farm share was healthy, socially responsible, sustainable, and it challenged us to try new recipes and learn more about fresh food. We will be CSA-ing as long as we can afford it. This recipe, for example, was inspired by the fact that we had two big bags of fresh green beans...'fresh' as in 'picked a few days ago.' Alton Brown promised the "best recipe," so we gave it a try. Of course, with a few tweaks.

10/17/10.

Alton Brown's Best Ever Green Bean Casserole: My notes: The green beans need to be cooked a minute or two longer and we used milk instead of cream, which means that it needed to be cooked down a bit longer once in the cast iron skillet, as well. Also, if the green beans are salted (you'll know when tasting them before blanching), don't over salt the mushrooms or the final dish.

For the topping:

• 2 medium onions, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons panko bread crumbs
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• Nonstick cooking spray

For beans and sauce:

• 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
• 1 pound fresh green beans, rinsed, trimmed and halved
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 12 ounces mushrooms, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup chicken broth (veggie broth - also can be salty)
  
• 1 cup half-and-half (or milk)
  

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F. Combine the onions, flour, panko and salt in a large mixing bowl and toss to combine. Coat a sheet pan with nonstick cooking spray and evenly spread the onions on the pan. Place the pan on the middle rack of the oven and bake until golden brown, approximately 30 minutes. Toss the onions 2 to 3 times during cooking. (beware of blackening) Once done, remove from the oven and set aside until ready to use. Turn the oven down to 400 degrees F.

While the onions are cooking, prepare the beans. Bring a gallon of water and 2 tablespoons of salt to a boil in an 8-quart saucepan. Add the beans and blanch for 5 minutes. (but taste them, they may need a minute or two longer, if they're large) Drain in a colander and immediately plunge the beans into a large bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Drain and set aside.

Melt the butter in a 12-inch cast iron skillet set over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms, 1 teaspoon salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms begin to give up some of their liquid, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and nutmeg and continue to cook for another 1 to 2 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the mixture and stir to combine. Cook for 1 minute. Add the broth and simmer for 1 minute. Decrease the heat to medium-low and add the half-and-half. Cook until the mixture thickens, stirring occasionally, approximately 6 to 8 minutes. (If using milk reduce down longer)

Remove from the heat and stir in 1/4 of the onions and all of the green beans. Top with the remaining onions. Place into the oven and bake until bubbly, approximately 15 minutes. Remove and serve immediately.

Recipe Rursday: Hot Chili-infused Oil

At one point in October we had accumulated 40+ hot chili peppers from our CSA. Since they were too hot to eat fresh (for me), and throwing one in a stir fry meant I couldn't eat the stir fry, we needed to find a way to use them, while regulating the heat in the final product.

10/10/10

The solution was simple (and a huge success): Chili-infused Oil. Here's what I learned from the reading up on the process:

1. Don't use chilies that haven't been completely dried out. I dried the chilies on a paper towel in a sunny window. On the day we/Chris made the oil, he left one of the larger chilies out of the batch, because it still had a fleshy shape and wasn't fully shrunken and shriveled like the ones above. I had read that if the chilies still have moisture (and are closer to fresh than dried), the oil will turn cloudy.
2. There are a lot of different opinions on what kind of oil to use. We used the olive oil that we buy in bulk, just to save money. Since the chilies overpower any delicate flavor you'd get from good olive oil, the idea is that you should buy cheaper, flavorless oil--like a salad or canola oil. I used almost all of our canola oil for my latest popcorn obsession.
3. Use gloves. Because I have the constitution of a day-old moth, and am allergic to everything, Chris gallantly volunteered to put the whole thing together, including removing the tops/stems off of the peppers and chopping them all. Even he-who-is-invincible used plastic gloves, given the number of peppers being used. Though there are other ways of getting hurt by this project...
4. Heat the oil to a shimmer, just before smoke point (don't let the oil smoke). Then add the chopped chilies and remove the pot from the heat. I read and took note of the fact that if water gets into the chili oil while it's hot (immediate steam), or if the oil gets so hot that it smokes and turns to vapor, you will spend the next hour choking from vaporized pepper oil in your throat. The combination of water and oil releases the capsaicin from the pepper and sends it out in a vicious cloud of 'I will make you miserable,' so don't risk it.
5. Let the chili oil cool to room temperature (maybe even overnight). At this point, you can pulse the oil in a food processor (we chose not to), strain out all of the peppers, or leave all or some of them in the oil when bottling. Chris strained out some of them, not all, and left a few in the top of each bottle. The bottles were cheap at Kmart, but they're also at Bed Bath & Beyond, and the like. We gave one bottle of oil to our friend Bill and kept one for ourselves, not knowing how quickly or if we'd get through the bottle.

Over the next few days, the oil deepened in its red-color and we use it all the time. Ideas: Brush it on pita triangles before baking them into spicy chips, start stir frys with it, add it to roasting potatoes/vegetables, and pop popcorn with this thing of beauty. The popcorn is so good. But I filled the kitchen with the smoke that makes you choke, so I'll use less next time. Huge success nonetheless.

10/17/10.

Recipe Rursday: Fall Squash Dishes

Buttercup Squash 9/12/10.

Not a misprint...this is called Buttercup Squash and it showed up last month in our CSA. I imagine you could use any squash for this very simple recipe: pumpkin, butternut squash, or whatever you have in the house. The first version of this Squash & Beans recipe was inspired by Chris' mom who sent us home with an incredibly tasty White Beans & Spanish Pumpkin dish. It's basically a one-off from Chris' Rice & Beans (with his family's sofrito), but cooked longer to fully cook the squash.

9/12/10.

Rice & Beans with Squash

• Sofrito or Goya's Racaito
  
• Goya Tomato Sauce (Salsa tomato)
• Red or White Beans
• Squash (Buttercup, Green pumpkin, Butternut, etc)
• Green Peppers (optional)

Start with sofrito or store-bought Racaito (see notes on sofrito here) in the sauce pan, add the tomato sauce. Add the beans and pumpkin or squash (and peppers, if you've got 'em) along with a cup of broth and simmer for 20-30 minutes, until squash is tender. Season with S&P, and possibly 2 T of cumin, 1 tsp. of Adobo, and a half a tsp. of red pepper flakes (all optional). Serve over rice.

Butternut Squash, 10/10/10.

Butternut Squash can be so large they're difficult to fully use in one dish. And I've been determined this year to not let the food that comes in our CSA go to waste. I am challenged by the size and sweetness of squash--butternut squash in particular. I have some frozen (already cut in cubes) in the freezer, to throw into bean dishes like the one above. The rest went to soup, and we still have one sitting on the counter.
An unexpected combination--leeks and squash, but I recently found a leek and pumpkin soup recipe that was easy enough to tweak. I love leeks. And now that I know how to clean them with water baths, I don't mind prepping them for soup. (My first time with leeks led to an amazing soup -- Leek & Chickpea Soup-- and some learnin' about leek cleaning).

Leek and Butternut Squash Soup
This recipe is a combination of 4 others I read before building one for the ingredients in our cupboard. Inspiration: Pumpkin-Leek Soup by Real Simple, followed by Food & Wine's Butternut Squash and Leek Soup.

• 1 T olive oil
• 2 celery stalks chopped
• 1-2 cloves of garlic
• 5-6 leeks, thinly sliced
• 1 1/2 lbs of butternut squash peeled and cut into small (3/4"-1/2") cubes
• 4 cups of broth
• thyme (or rosemary)
• sour cream (optional)

Heat oil. Add the leeks, stir often and sautee for 5 min. Add celery, and garlic, cook for a few more minutes. Add the squash and broth.

Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook until squash is tender, about 25 minutes. Season with salt & pepper. Use a hand-held mixer or pour portions of the soup into a blender, to puree until smooth. Add 1/4 cup of sour cream just before serving, for creaminess.

Garnish with thyme or rosemary. Or, garnish each bowl with a teaspoon of sour cream. Now that's a bright soup!

Recipe Rursday: Radishes and Radish Greens

10/5/10.

Trying something a little different this week...in our CSA we received a nice bunch of radishes. I'm not a huge fan of raw radishes, though if hidden in an avocado/sprouts sandwich, I might not complain. The greens (tops of the radishes) looked really good and Chris reported that they're edible, if we could figure out how to prepare them.

Tonight I tried Food & Wine's Roasted Radishes and Radish Greens (below). The combination of the sweet roasted radishes (something like mellow sweet potatoes) with the bitter greens worked really really well. I sliced the radishes thinly, which made them more like crisps or chips. And the final dish looked nothing like Food & Wine's, but I'd make it again in a flash. At least, any time I am given radishes.

Ingredients

1. 3 bunches small radishes with greens attached
2. 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3. Salt and freshly ground pepper
4. 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (skipped this step)
   
5. 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (used a splash of lime juice actually, but the cast iron skillet was so hot, it basically disintegrated as soon as it hit the pan).

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 500°. Trim the radishes and wash the greens; pat dry.
2. In a large ovenproof skillet, heat the oil until shimmering. Add the radishes, season with salt and pepper and cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned in spots, about 2 minutes. Transfer the skillet to the oven and roast the radishes for 15 minutes, until crisp-tender.
3. Return the skillet to the burner and stir in the butter to coat the radishes. Add the radish greens and cook over moderate heat until they are wilted, about 2 minutes. Add the lemon juice and season with salt. Serve the radishes right away.

Recipe Rusday: New Potatoes & Eggs

New potatoes, pan cooked with herbs, 8/6/10.
Beautiful, fresh farm-grown potatoes from our CSA. Purple, red, yellow, yes. Inspired by something I saw on the cooking channel: thinly sliced, pan cooked with butter, salt, pepper, and dried herbs from the garden.

New Potatoes with Eggs & Kale, 7/6/10.

Another batch of new potatoes: roasted, alongside scrambled eggs with kale, garlic, and onions.

Recipe Rursday: Pickling Cucumbers (or Zucchini)

Pickled Cucumbers, 8/8/10.

My co-worker used to work at Smoke & Pickles in Westport, MA, and raves about all the things you can pickle. And for some reason, 1/2 the staff where I work says pickled green beans in a bloody mary is to die for (mental note: check that out some time soon). Since the extra zucchinis from our CSA have been piling up, I thought maybe I'd try pickling them.

Cukes from our CSA, 8/8/10.

So when my friend at work sent me a pickled zucchini recipe, I gave it a go. Except I didn't have zucchinis. I had CUCUMBERS. You'd think I would be able to tell the difference... These pickled cucumbers (yes, just pickles) are wonderfully spicy and sweet, and deserving of a higher status than that of the lowly condiment.

Zucchini Pickles (or my version: Cucumber Pickles)
Cooking Light August 2010

Combine 4 cups 1/8-inch zucchini slices, 1 cup slivered sweet onion, and 3 thinly sliced garlic cloves in a glass bowl. Bring 1 cup white vinegar, 1/2 sugar, 3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper, 1 teaspoon mustard seeds, and 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt to a boil; pour over zucchini mixture. Cover and chill 24 hours.

Recipe Rursday: Not-Your-Every-Day-Hummus

Beet Hummus, fit for a unicorn, 7/18/10.

Yes, it's hot pink hummus (made from roasted beets) and it's still sitting in the fridge. I'm afraid I didn't love it and will be pawning it off to a co-worker. But it was worth the try. Eating it on/with cucumber rounds (recipe suggestion) may be the solution, but I'll leave that experiment up to you. Recipe: Beet Hummus (from Simply Recipes). My only alteration was that I threw in a can of chickpeas to dilute my heavy hand with the lemon juice. Taste tests before and after the chickpeas: "well, it's not terrible." Maybe I couldn't get over the color.
Note: Co-workers loved it and beet hummus is a great sandwich spread. I give in.

Classic Hummus with Jalapeno-Cilantro Pesto, taken 6/30/10.

The original recipe, "Hummus with Jalapeno-Cilantro Pesto," is from the cookbook, Blue Eggs & Yellow Tomatoes (amazon, half.com) and it's a winner. We've even had requests from family for a repeat. The pesto: jalapenos, cilantro, garlic, green onions and parsley, + olive oil & S&P. (We tried another recipe from Blue Eggs... last year - check it.)

And because I know you didn't get enough of the unicorn hummus...here's one for the road:

7/18/10.

Garden Recipe: Lemon Cuke & Beet Greens Pizza (II)

Harvested our 3rd lemon cuke (above). And since one of our beet plants looked huge, we harvested our first beet (below) this weekend. Both for another lemon cuke pizza. The books say our beets have been planted long enough & are ready to harvest. We chose this one because it had the biggest leaves (a guess), but it turns out this clump is three beet plants, meaning I didn't thin them out like I should have. The one I pulled up has a beet the size of a 1/2 dollar. Too bad. Note: If you still hate beets, I've been through that too! Try roasting beets from a farmer's market and pair them with goat cheese on a salad. You'll love them.

First Beet Harvested, 7/16/10.

We cleaned and chopped the beet "greens"/leaves, sauteed them with onions (I heard they're edible), and added them to the pizza (where they were unnoticeable). For the recipe, you can follow either of the others: Garden Lemon Cuke Pizza, or Zucchini, Basil, & Goat Cheese Pizza. And you may think this is to salad-like, but I promise you...it's heartier than you'd expect. Trust me.

Lemon Cuke & Beet Greens Pizza, 7/16/10.

Recipe Rursday: Garden Lemon Cuke Pizza (I)

Return to the same.

We keep circling back around to the same pizza. The original inspiration was an Eggs on Sunday recipe post (Zucchini, Basil & Goat Cheese Pizza) and absolutely is my favorite. Last summer, our version used roasted lemon cucumbers (cukes) from our CSA and I instantly fell in love with these squash. They're mild and more mellow than zucchini. I'd say cool and unusual, as well. Lately friends walk into the garden and ask "what is that?" while pointing accusingly at our freakish little yellow cukes. I grew only one vine this year, and it has produced 3 fruit so far. Well worth the investment, if you ask me.

Lemon cukes from the garden, 7/5/10.

Roasted Lemon Cuke & Zucchini Pizza

• 1 lb. pizza dough or a store-bought crust
  
• squash (zucchini, yellow summer squash, or lemon cukes), thinly sliced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• a pinch of hot pepper flakes
• (optional) a small handful of basil leaves, torn...
• shredded cheese (we used an Italian mix)
  
• 2 ounces goat cheese

Roasted the squash first in a preheated oven (425F). Brushed with oil & sprinkled with salt & pepper, I roasted them for about 20 min., turning 1/2 way through. Don't over oil.

For this pizza, the store was out of dough balls & we used a premade crust. But if you do use a dough ball, crank up the heat and cook your dough 1/2 way through before loading it up. Then layer on the shredded cheeses, then garlic, hot pepper flakes, roasted squash slices, torn basil leaves, and crumbled goat cheese on top. Bake until golden brown about 7-10 min. Let it rest. Even if for 3 minutes. Let it rest.