Fast & Easy Meals

This week's box contains:

• Chantenay Carrots
• Bianco di Maggio Onions
• Basil (traded for more fennel)
• Green Beans
• Lettuce (traded for more fennel)
• Fennel
• Strawberries
• Mystery (Desiree Potatoes)

Great box this week.  Given that I have a bunch of basil on hand and am not a lettuce fan, I swapped both for additional fennel.   Despite the wonderful options, we had our 4.5 year old goddaughter this weekend, so time to research and cook was simply not available.  For fun we made an "all orange" meal, composed entirely from food the color orange; turned out to be an excellent way to make eating healthy food fun.

Perhaps the biggest deterrent to cooking at home, at least for me, is the time it takes to prepare and cook a good meal.  While it is always worth the effort, you may not have the time (as was the case for us this weekend) or may not feel like doing a lot of work.

Two of my favorite cookbooks that offer sound advice, and excellent recipes, for fast and easy meals are Fresh Food Fast by Peter Berley and Vegan Express by Navas Atlas.  I've also accumulated a mental list of dishes that are fast and easy to prepare, but delicious to eat.  Of course there's always searching the web as well.

For lunch today we quickly whipped up the following for a fast and easy summer meal that worked through the carrots, green beans, fennel, and potatoes from this week's box:

• Baked Carrot Fries
• Sauteed Green Beans & Cherry Tomatoes
• Roasted Potatoes & Fennel

What are your tips for quick meals?

As for the rest of the box, the strawberries were cleaned and frozen for smoothies and the onions are standing by for a meal this week.

Experimenting with Ingredients: Red Radish Canapés

This week's box contains:

• Lettuce  (traded for more shallots)
• Red Radishes
• Strawberries
• Bunched Spinach
• Bunched Green-Tailed Shallots
• Artichokes
• Fava Beans

Red radishes are not something I would normally procure ...

Members of my family actively seek them out ~ eating them out of hand topped with salt.  I don't mind them, and actively like them pickled.  However, having them in the house takes thought and effort if they are to avoid the compost pile.

There is a bunch in this week's box, so I thought I'd focus on dealing with food that doesn't have immediate appeal.  What do you do when you have something on hand that does not inspire?

I typically do one of a few things:

• Research: Cookbooks and the internet are a tremendous help.  Either leverage the index of your favorite cookbook or search the internet for the ingredient in question.  An example would be a Google search on "radish recipes".

• Integrate:  Some ingredients can be integrated into something that does inspire.  For example, if you love risotto, almost anything you can imagine can be added to a compatible recipe.  Some ingredients can be "hidden"; check out Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious for ideas.
  
  
• Trade:  In some cases, I know we will not eat the food.  Friends and family will often take the food off your hands, sometimes in exchange for something else.  This is a great option and often starts for us when we pick up the box.  Our CSA offers a "trade" box; if yours does ~ use it.
  
  
• Imagine: Sounds trite, but stay with me.  Is there a situation in which you can imagine a ingredient making an ingredient work?  We've got family in town this weekend and heavy appetizers were a part of the plan for tonight.  I narrowed my search on "radish recipes" to those that would fit the situation.  Knowing a few appetizer-like terms, such as canapé and "amuse bouche" helped.

I landed on a typical French preparation of radishes: radishes, butter, and salt.  Given the noshing planned, it wasn't a stretch to create Red Radish Canapés by adding bread to the equation.  Here's the recipe, which was a big hit.

Red Radish Canapés
Serves 4 as a first course

3 large red radishes, thinly sliced
butter, at room temperature (we used Kerrygold)
coarse salt (we used Celtic Sea Salt)
bread, thinly sliced
minced herbs of your choice

Lightly toast the bread and set aside to cool.  Spread butter on the bread and top with radish slices.  Top with minced herbs and coarse salt.  Enjoy!

We served these canapés with a Schramsberg Mirabelle Brut ~ a entirely pleasant pairing.

As for the other box contents, we ate the strawberries out of hand throughout the day and grilled the artichokes for dinner tonight.  The spinach and shallots will likely find their way into risotto while the favas wait for next weekend when we have time to deal with them.

Abundance of the Seasons

This week's box contains:

• Scallions
• Basil
  
• Purple Cauliflower
• Romaine Lettuce
• Mystery (Strawberries) 
• Gold Beets
• San Marzano Tomatoes
• Garnet Yams

We still have serrano chiles on hand, not to mention one poblano and one Corno di Toro Rosso.  Grand total on the beets now at lucky 13...

This is the time of year where the harvest means so many things.  As the seasons change, at least where we live, there are traditional summer favorites and early fall vegetables readily available.  As we depend on the weekly box for a majority of the food we eat, we work with what we have on hand.  I usually look for interesting combinations, an ethnic twist, or depend on Googling for inspiration.  Today's box offered many possible paths; here's what I did:

Scallions: some of the scallions were used for dinner tonight in the form of grilled scallion flat breads.  I made the following substitutes: Bob's Red Mill whole wheat pastry flour for all purpose flour and light sesame oil for generic vegetable oil, keeping the total oil at 3T, with 1.5T light and 1.5T dark sesame oil.  We also grilled vs. pan frying.  These were fantastic -- an excellent side for any Chinese meal, minus the rice.  The rest of the scallions may find their way into risotto later this week.

Basil: another batch of my favorite pesto for the freezer.

Purple Cauliflower: prepped for use later this week, by cleaning and cutting into florets.  Click here for my all time favorite cauliflower recipe.

Romaine Lettuce: honestly, I tossed it right along with the wilting salad mix from last week.  We are just not a salad eaters.  A better options would have been to leave them both in the swap box so at least someone could have eaten them...

Strawberries: cleaned, hulled and halved then added to the bag of frozen fruit that I use for smoothies.  My tried and true smoothie recipe is as follows:

Breakfast Smoothies
Serves 1

1c frozen fruit
1c low fat, unsweetened soy milk
2c water
2 scoops Vega Smoothie Infusion

Add all ingredients to the Vita-Mix
and blend well.

Gold Beets: roasted and pickled; gold beets for immediate consumption following this recipe.  I thought these were winners, Sean thought they tasted like dirt -- he's just not a beet eater.  The red beets on hand were prepped for long term storage following this recipe. I made the following substitutes: Penzey's Premium Pickling Spice for the caraway and mustard seed and Cyprus Black Lava Sea Salt
for pickling salt.


Tomatoes: with further inspiration from my friend Karen, of Promoting Central Indiana's Local Food Culture, we made some salsa to freeze following this recipe.  Freezing salsa had never occurred to me until Karen and I spoke Friday, but I'm willing to give it a go.  Since Karen and Thom eat locally all year, they've figured out quite a bit about what works and what doesn't.  See the story of their first "local" year here.

Garnet Yams: roasted.  My appreciation for the humble potato continues. Today I reached for warm spices and complementary oils, in this case light and dark sesame.

Roasted Yams with Chinese Five Spice

Serves 4

garnet yams (~2 pounds), diced
1T sesame oil (half light, half dark)
1t Chinese Five Spice
1t salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Clean and dice yams, toss with oil, salt and spices.  Roast for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Strawberry, Arugula, and Goat Cheese Tartines

Tartines continue to intrigue me. I've been experimenting with them all summer and am looking forward to more. They are extremely easy, offer endless variation and can be quite elegant.

Simply put, tartines are open-faced sandwiches. This style of sandwich has a long history and a global presence. One piece of bread plus a topping or two and you're all set. The basic formula is:

[bread] + [spreadable topping] + [thinly sliced topping] + [chopped or shredded topping]

The approach goes something like this:

1. Spread first topping on bread.
2. Layer on next topping.
3. Finish with final topping and season to taste.
   

Tartines can be served hot ... or cold ... or a combination of the two. They can be sweet ... or savory ... or a combination of the two. They can be served as appetizers (known as canapés or tartinas), breakfasts, lunches, or light dinners along side a salad. The only limit is your imagination.

My favorite combinations so far include:

• sourdough baguette topped with goat cheese, roasted fennel, and arugula in citrus vinaigrette
• whole wheat bread topped with goat cheese, arugula tossed in balsamic vinaigrette, and fresh strawberries
  

Others that come to mind are:

• Caprese Tartinas: thin baguette (sweet or sourdough) sliced cross-wised into disks, spread with pesto and topped with slice of tomato, slice of fresh mozzarella and a basil sprig
• Sweet baguette topped with cantaloupe slices and Prosciutto de Parma
• Sweet baguette topped with melted brie and Major Grey's Mango Chutney
  

What are your favorite combinations?

If you're looking for additional information in this culinary neighborhood, I highly recommend Nancy Silverton's Sandwich Book: The Best Sandwiches Ever--from Thursday Nights at Campanile. This book contains amazing recipes and solid guidance on a wide variety of sandwich techniques, not just open-faced.

Strawberry, Arugula and Goat Cheese Tartines
Serves 4

loaf whole wheat bread, thinly sliced (~1 cm)
4 oz fresh goat cheese, brought to spreadable temperature (room temp is fine)
2c arugula
balsamic vinaigrette
1 pint fresh strawberries, trimmed and quartered

Lighty grill bread over open flame or toast under broiler. Spread goat cheese on the toasted bread. Toss arugula in vinaigrette and layer over goat cheese. Top with strawberries and serve.

This proved to be a really flavorful, yet light dish that would pair nicely with a blanc de blanc for an elegant brunch.

Box Contents August 14, 2009: What to do with cabbage...

This week's box contains:

• Potatoes
• Tomatoes
• Strawberries
• Torpedo Onions
• Red Beets
• Lettuce (romaine and red butter)
• Cabbage
• Cherry Tomatoes

On hand from weeks past, we still have green onions, red cabbage, golden beets, carrots, red leaf lettuce, and a bit of arugula.

I'm always a bit challenged with cabbage. Don't get me wrong, I love it, but always struggle with what to do with it to consume a full head on my own as Sean's not much of a fan. Being of Polish origin, there's lots of family recipes to consider, but vegetarian options amongst them are few and far between. Google turned up braised cabbage, coleslaw, kimchi, sauerkraut, cabbage rolls, etc. As always, vegetarian is absolutely possible, but not de facto. In addition, many of the recipes involve braising -- which is not all that appealing in 77 degree weather.

Given that tonight's plan is to celebrate Sean's 50th birthday, I settled on something to serve as a side for grilled food:

• Asian Slaw
• Pearl Couscous with Olives and Roasted Tomatoes
• Beet Carpaccio
  

The rest of the menu remains to be seen ... besides the birthday cake of course!

Tried and True Recipe for Summer's Bounty: Panzanella

A few recipes have surfaced in my repertoire as "tried and true" ways to make a quick, satisfying, beautiful meal with the ingredients on hand. Sure, there are some cornerstone ingredients that must be available, but with them on your side you can quickly make a meal suitable for guests. Those recipes are:

• Stir-fry (cornerstone ingredient: cooked rice)

• En Papillotte (cornerstone ingredient: foil, parchment -- can also be done in covered pan)

• Tartines (cornerstone ingredient: fresh baguette)

• Pasta (cornerstone ingredient: um, pasta)
  

• Panzanella (cornerstone ingredient: day-old baguette)
  

Tonight's fine meal allowed me to work through several ingredients from the farmer's market and remaining bits from our CSA box.

Today's Panzanella
Serves 2

1/3 sourdough baguette (any artisanal bread can substitute)
1T olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2t parsley, minced
1c baby arugula
.5c cherry tomatoes
.5c fresh peas
1 purplette onion, minced (small shallot is a good substitute)
salt and pepper to taste

Cut the baguette in half length-wise, then slice; the pieces of bread should be bite sized. Toss bread with 1/2 the olive oil, salt, and 1/2 the garlic -- toast in oven at 350 degrees till bread begins to brown -- 3-5 minutes; the bread should be crisp. Meanwhile, halve the tomatoes and toss with remaining garlic, olive oil, arugula, parsley, peas and onion. Remove the bread from the oven, mix into the salad mixture, and serve.

Day old bread is the cornerstone ingredient. Everything else can be based on what you have on hand. If you don't have tomatoes, which add liquid, you can use vinaigrette. Fresh vegetables are important too.

A word of caution: panzanella does not hold well, so prepare it just before serving and make just enough, not more.

More with English Peas

Still feeling groggy with jet lag, I needed to do something simple and wanted something flavorful and satisfying.

We had fresh English peas and a few odds and ends on hand, as well as new ingredient, smoked sweet onions from Tierra Vegetables. Using Ina Garten's Fresh Pea Soup recipe as a base, I made the following soup for dinner.

Fresh Pea Soup with Smoked Sweet Onions and Basil Creme
Serves 4

5c fresh English peas
.25c smoked sweet onions, chopped
1c walla walla onion greens (white and light green parts only), sliced
2T olive oil
1t salt
.25t black pepper
4c water
1c basil creme (heavy cream infused with fresh basil)

Heat olive oil in a small stockpot. Add both types onions and sautee till soft. Add water and peas, bring to a boil, and simmer for 5-10 minutes, checking peas frequently -- do not overcook. Blend in batches with salt, pepper, and basil cream.

Warm Mixed Greens with Ginger-Miso Dressing

Excellent dinner tonight. We combined a few recipes with the ingredients on hand to come up with the following:

Warm Mixed Greens with Ginger-Miso Dressing
Serves 2

12c mixed greens, chopped (we used dandelion, beet, chard, and romaine)
1T sesame oil
1t toasted sesame oil
1T black sesame seeds
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 recipe quick radish pickles
1 recipe ginger-miso dressing

Make radish pickles and ginger-miso dressing, set aside. Heat sesame oil in large skillet. Add garlic and saute till fragrant. Add greens, stirring frequently till wilted. Add toasted sesame oil and sesame seeds, mix well. Drain greens if necessary; add radish pickles and ginger-miso dressing. Mix well and serve.

This dish stands well on its own, but would nicely top barley, brown rice, or udon. 12c may seem like a tremendous amount of greens, but they cook down significantly.

The picture below is the first tomato to appear in our garden. Our peaches and plums are just about to come into season, so we'll have plenty to keep us busy till the tomatoes are ready.

Zucchini Pesto Gratin

Dinner tonight sets us up nicely for the new box tomorrow. Following this dish, we'll have consumed all the legacy veggies and will be ready for a new batch.

I had some over zealous basil plants, 4 zucchini, some mozzarella, and some frozen marinara sauce, thus the zucchini pesto gratin was born. Using my absolute favorite recipe for pesto, below, I sliced the zucchini, tossed it with the pesto, placed in a 10" round gratin, and topped with about 1c mozzarella. The entire pan was covered with foil so the cheese would melt down into the zucchini and form a sauce that would give the dish some structure as it cooled. I baked the concoction at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 25 minutes, removed the foil, and baked for an additional 15 minutes. in the meantime, I cooked down the marinara to a thick, flavorful tomato sauce. The gratin was sliced like a pie and topped with the tomato sauce. Fantastico!

However ... if I were to do it again, I'd drastically reduce or eliminate the oil in the pesto for this dish in particular. Water might be a good substitute. The amount of basil, etc. was great, but there was a fair amount of seepage. Worth noting that I would *not* precook the zucchini -- it had a very pleasant crunch (not al dente) that added to the dish.

[Herb of your Choice]-Walnut Pesto
... makes 25 - 2 tablespoon servings

3/4 cup walnut pieces, toasted (*far* better than pine nuts)
1 bunch herb of choice, ends trimmed
1 large garlic clove, pressed
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon mellow barley miso
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a blender, adjust salt and pepper and use or freeze.

This pesto is incredible by itself on a spoon or used any of the ways you see pesto in the wild. It freezes amazingly well.

This pesto recipe comes from the Voluptuous Vegan, by Myra Kornfeld.

I'd like to point you towards a blog entry, and a tremendous accomplishment, my friend Karen (and her partner ChefThomE) posted earlier today: Looks Like We Made It!

Karen and ChefThomE have lived locally for one solid year -- in Indiana -- which is much more of a challenge than California. (I feel OK saying that since I grew up in Illinois and now live in California -- there is a difference! No state rivalries implied, just kudos to Karen and ChefThomE!) Many of their top 10 lessons learned ring true for me, but this one in particular stands out in our meal tonight:

You will cook more creatively with limited supplies. Let's face it, the beginning of Spring is a tough time for dining locally at your own home. The winter supplies have dwindled. The spring crops have yet to arrive. You will become incredibly resourceful when you start to evaluate what you can make with apples, green beans, corn on the cob, pureed peppers and plums. Danger: There are no known recipes that contain all these ingredients!

I've had a chance this week to experiment with the food on hand and making something satisfying and enjoyable - without a trip to the store. Far, far better than the alternatives.

Congratulations Karen and ChefThomE! You made it!

Garlic Ginger Bok Choy

I am having a blast this week on staycation. It has been *so* long since I've had the time to enjoy cooking and eating a good meal. I have gotten into the habit of living off "healthy" prepared foods, like smoothies using the Vega Smoothie Infusion or Amy's Burritos. They get you by, but in the end I need real food. This week has been a joy.

For lunch today, again thanks to Google and the ingredients on hand, I'm adapting a recipe I found on the Internet (this time YouTube).



My modifications:

• Added julienned carrots
• Added seasoned, baked tofu, diced
• Substituted Lee Kum Kee Chili Garlic Sauce for the red pepper flakes
  
• Served over Japanese Barley & Rice

While it looks a lot like yesterday's lunch, the taste is very different. This (excluding the barley) is very Chinese in its essence. Yesterday, more Japanese.

About all I have available to cook with tomorrow is zucchini, some frozen marinara sauce, and mozzarella. I feel an Italian meal coming on...

Guiso De Garbanzos Con Acelga (Chickpea And Chard Stew)

Googling on the ingredients I had on hand landed me here: Guiso De Garbanzos Con Acelga (Chickpea And Chard Stew). I adapted slightly to include the pseudo grain, quinoa, and my current favorite, Aleppo pepper.

Chickpea and Chard Stew with Red Quinoa

2T olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1t salt
.5t black pepper
1t ground cumin
1t Aleppo pepper
1 15oz can chickpeas
1 bunch swiss chard, chopped (including stems)
2T parsley, chopped
2c vegetable stock
.5c red quinoa, uncooked

Heat oil in large saute pan, add onions and saute till translucent. Add carrots, garlic, and spices; mix well saute for 1-2 minutes more. Add chickpeas, chard, and parsley; mix well and cover pan. Sweat vegetables and chard till just wilted. Add vegetable stock and rinsed quinoa; mix well, cover, and simmer till quinoa is done -- about 15 minutes.

I'm sure the order in which things were cooked should be adjusted, like adding the chard leaves later in the process -- Renee can advise. Flavor-wise, this was great.

Box Contents May 22, 2009

This week's box contains:

• Chantenay Carrots
• Bok Choy
• Strawberries
• Mystery (we got zucchini)
  
• Fava Beans
• Purplette Onions
• Bacon Avocadoes

From last week, we still have:

• Radishes
• Spinach
• Carrots
• Chard
• Lettuce Little Gem (swapped for more chard)
  
• Baby Broccoli

And from the week before:

• Agretti
• Green Garlic
  

It was a long week -- thankfully it is a long weekend. All the veggies from past weeks' boxes are in excellent shape thanks to Evert-Fresh bags.

There's lots to love in the pile of veggies we have to manage over the next week. The strawberries were immediately added to my "smoothie" bag in the freezer.

Next, there is fava beans. Favas are a lot of work, but well worth it. From a recent article on npr.com (Fava Beans: A Little Spring on Your Plate):

I actually like shucking the beans, which I find a somewhat Zen-like experience. It is a bit similar to gardening: lots of concentration, no deep thought and tangible results. Cooperative friends and family, and a bottle of wine help.

Preparing the beans takes a few steps: stringing the pods, blanching the beans and removing their casings. I prepped the beans pictured here this morning (without the bottle of wine!), all together it took about an hour. My favorite way to eat favas is sauteed with a bit of garlic and olive oil. While we may end up there, given the time and ingredients on hand, my plan is to try Bobby Flay's Fava Bean Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette and Shaved Manchego Cheese.


Along with the favas, we'll have green garlic risotto, incorporating both the green garlic and the purplette onions.

As far as the spinach goes, I'd like to try Heidi Swanson's Spinach-Mushroom Quiche with a side of her Baked Carrot Oven Fries, consuming the carrots.

Other ideas for the remaining veggies include:

• Avocados: guacamole with chips and a pitcher of margaritas
• Broccoli and bok choy: stir-fry
• Zucchini: grilled, served as a side
  
• Chard: sauteed, served as a side
• Agretti: may try to bury this in the sauteed chard, but open for other ideas...
  

Box Contents May 8, 2009

This week's box contains:

• Agretti
• Baby Red Chard
• Green Garlic
• Red Leaf Lettuce
• Strawberries
• Zucchini

In addition to these new veggies, we have some on hand from last week and several things in the pantry that we need to work through. My challenge for the week is to feed the household without a trip to the store and without our old standby -- carry out.

I'll freeze the berries for use in breakfast smoothies. Beyond that, it will be a daily adventure! For dinner tonight, we are having Aglio e Olio. Literally translated as "garlic and oil", this traditional Italian dish consists of pasta, red pepper flakes, and -- you guessed it -- garlic and oil. I added coarsely chopped baby red chard. Here's a recipe from Emeril Lagasse to get you started:

Aglio e Olio
Emeril Lagasse, compliments of The Food Network

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/2 pound angel hair pasta, cooked, pasta water reserved
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

To a heated skillet, add the oil, garlic and pepper flakes. Saute for 2 to 3 minutes, then add the cooked pasta, salt and pepper and 1/4 cup of the reserved pasta water. Toss to combine. Serve immediately.

Ginger-Poached Noodles

For lunch today we took our inspiration, as we often do, from Heidi Swanson's 101 Cookbooks site. Using some of the broccoli we have from the past three weeks, we made a variation of her Ginger-Poached Noodles. Here's the changes we made, all based on what we had on hand rather than making a trip to the store:

• Substituted cilantro for basil
• Used Soy Deli marinated teriyaki tofu
• Used plain noodles instead of spinach
• Added some chili garlic sauce

If you've not visited Heidi's site, it is worth a look.

Box Contents April 10, 2009

This week's box contained:

• Leeks
• Mixed bag of Parsley Root and Chantenay Carrots
• Smallage (aka Soup Celery)
• Baby Minicor Carrots
• Orach
• Broccoli
• Turnips
• Dill
• Mystery (we got strawberries)

We realized this week that what we thought was parsnips last week was actually parsley root, as promised. They made it into the roasted, mashed parsnips we made with the parsnips from the March 27th box, which were excellent.

The berries were sliced and added to the smoothie mix in our freezer. Part of the smallage was added to the egg salad we made from the colored Easter eggs. The dill was quickly converted into dill pesto and used as a spread on egg salad sandwiches -- a great addition. Here's the [herb of your choice] vegan pesto recipe we swear by:

[Herb of your Choice]-Walnut Pesto
... makes 25 - 2 tablespoon servings
Printable Recipe

3/4 cup walnut pieces, toasted
1 bunch herb of choice, ends trimmed
1 large garlic clove, pressed
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon mellow barley miso
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a blender, adjust salt and pepper and use or freeze.

This pesto is incredible by itself on a spoon or used any of the ways you see pesto in the wild. It freezes amazingly well.

Vegan "Sausage" and Savoy Cabbage Soup

When pondering what to do with my savoy cabbage, I remembered a favorite recipe from Every Night Italian by Giuliano and Marcella Hazan: sausage and cabbage soup. Two challenges:

• I'm vegetarian
• the book is in storage

So, I set about researching online recipes and finding a way to "veganize" this soup. Here's where I landed:

Vegan "Sausage" and Savoy Cabbage Soup
Serves 4-6

2T olive oil
4 Field Roast Italian "grain meat" sausages, crumbled
1 medium white onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4t red pepper flakes
1/2 cup white wine
1 head savoy cabbage, shredded
3/4c brown rice
6c vegetable stock

Heat 1T of olive oil in a saucepan, add "sausage" and saute. Remove sausage and set aside. Add remaining oil, chopped onion, garlic, and red pepper flakes; saute till onion is translucent. Add wine, cook until wine is mostly evaporated. Add reserved sausage, cabbage, rice, and vegetable stock. Simmer until rice is cooked to your taste.

Annual Palo Alto Chili Cook-off

Yep, we're going for it. We're going to enter this year's Palo Alto Chili Cook-off with a vegetarian chili.

The vegetarian chili at the 2008 event was good, but there were not many options from which to choose. Veg chili was apparently popular as 2 of the 3 booths were "sold out" by the time we got there just after 1pm.

Our idea is to start with a recipe that works well and build on it from there. Here's where what we chose as a base:

Chunky Garden Vegetable Chili
from the Whole Foods Market Cookbook, page 90
Serves 6 to 8

1T olive or canola oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 large carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 medium green pepper, seeded and chopped
1 medium red pepper, seeded and chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced (1.5t)
1 jalapeno chili, seeded and minced
1T dried oregano
2t ground cumin
1T chili powder
1c tomato puree
1 (28-oz) can chopped tomatoes
2 quarts cold water or vegetable stock
1 cup cracked wheat
1 (16 oz) can red or white beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup cooked black beans
juice of 2 limes
1/2 cup tamari or soy sauce
1 bunch fresh cilantro, minced

Heat olive or canola oil in large sauce pot over medium heat and saute the onion, carrots, celery, peppers, garlic, jalapeno, oregano, cumin and chili powder for 2 minutes to combine well.

Add the tomato puree, tomatoes, cold water, cracked wheat, red or white beans, and black beans; simmer uncovered fro 50 minutes, until blended. you may add additional vegetable stock, water, or tomato juice to adjust the consistency, if needed.

Add the lime juice, tamari, and cilantro. Serve with plain yogurt or sour cream, grated cheddar, and minced scallions.

Again, the idea is to use this recipe as a base on which to build. Some changes right out of the gate include swapping a yellow pepper for the green pepper recommended, using water instead of broth, and using widely available bulgur instead of crack wheat. We're also playing around with chipotles from Tierra Vegetables, today's test batch using smoked Hungarian wax peppers.

Viva Argentina

The lingering purple potatoes from a few weeks back found themselves added to a fantastic meal. The September/October VegNews had an article "Viva Argentina" containing two exceptional recipes: Chimichurri Cha Cha and Carbonada con Seitan. We paired the two with a bottle of 2006 Cicchitti Torrontes, a great match.

Chimichurri Cha Cha
Makes 1 1/4 cups

4 cloves garlic
2T red onion or shallot, diced
3/4c parsley
1t fresh marjoram (we used 1/2t dried)
1/2t salt
1/4t black pepper
2T lemon juice
1 1/2T red wine vinegar
2/3c olive oil

In a food processor, combine the garlic and onion; pulse until chopped. Add the parsley, marjoram, salt and pepper; pulse until minced. Add the lemon juice, vinegar, and oil; process until blended.

Robin Robertson, "Viva Argentina", VegNews, September-October 2008, 62.

Carbonada con Seitan
Serves 6 generously

1T olive oil
1 pound seitan (pronounced SAY-tan), cut into 1" chunks
1 yellow onion, chopped
1/2c celery
1/2c green bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 28oz can diced tomatoes, drained
1t dried marjoram
1/2t dried thyme
2c vegetable broth
2 russet potatoes, peeled and diced (we used 2c purple potatoes and did not peel them)
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced (we used 2c orange fleshed yams and did not peel them)
2c zucchini, diced
2c corn kernels
2 ripe pears, cored and diced (we used peaches)

Heat the oil in a large pot of med-high heat. Add the seitan and cook until browned; set aside. Add the onion, celery, bell pepper, and garlic; reduce heat to medium, cover and cook till softened, ~10 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, marjoram, thyme and vegetable broth; bring to a boil. Add potatoes and simmer for 20 minutes. Return seitan to pot, add zucchini and corn kernels; simmer 10-15 minutes. Add peaches to pot and cook 5 minutes longer.

Robin Robertson, "Viva Argentina", VegNews, September-October 2008, 63.

We used the Chimichurri sauce as a topping for the Carbonada con Seitan. Stirring the sauce completely into the Carbonada is a good option.



As far as the wine goes, on its own it is not special - in fact, it is a bit fruity for me. However, in combination with these two recipes it was fantastic.

Box Contents July 15, 2008

This week's box contains:

• Lettuce (red leaf, green leaf, or butter)
• Mystery of Fruit
• Leeks
• Cabbage or cauliflower
• Bok Choy
• Beets or red chard
• Onions
• Carrots
• Summer Squash
• Gypsy Peppers

I'm on the road this week, so my friend David picked up the box. We should hear from him about how he used shortly.

Remnants of last week's box is still hanging around. We used the spinach and the zucchini on our grilled pizzas and the new potatoes for a pesto potato salad. The strawberries molded quickly, so hit the compost pile early this week. I'm going to try a Mexican-inspired pesto with the cilantro and will likely roast the turnips with a bit of truffle salt.

Grilled Peaches

In addition to the plum tree I've written about recently, we have a humble peach tree in our backyard. It's small and a bit neglected, but produces amazing fruit.

For dessert tonight, we decided to use the embers remaining from dinner to grill some peaches.

While I'm intuitive in some areas, cooking is not one of them. The peaches are literally falling off the tree, so there was nothing to lose.

The results were exceptional.

Grilled Peaches

1 peach per person
brown sugar (~1/4t per half peach)
butter (~1/2t per half peach)
nutmeg, freshly grated (~1 twist per half peach)
cinnamon (1 pinch per half peach)

Slice each peach in half and top with brown sugar, butter, nutmeg and cinnamon.



Place peaches, cup side up, on the grill over a low fire. Cover grill and let cook for 5 minutes. Covering the grill is an important step.



Plate and serve as is or with vanilla ice cream.

A few items of note:

• The brown ball you see inside the peach is actually a clump of brown sugar, not a pit. Next time we'll crumble the sugar before topping the peach.
  
• Nutmeg is best freshly grated. We use the Nut Twister nutmeg mill. Admittedly, a bad name for a product, but it is a great tool.
• Cinnamon. Wouldn't go so far as grating cinnamon sticks, but do take care with the ground cinnamon we keep on hand. Two favorites include China Cassia Cinnamon and Extra Fancy Vietnamese Cassia Cinnamon from Penzeys.
• The butter was 'heavy' relative to the peaches; we'll try almond or hazelnut oil next time.
• Chopped, toasted nuts would be a good addition, matching the nuts to the nut oil.
• Ginger anyone?

As a side note, we tried these with a 2001 Joh. Jos Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spatelese -- highly recommended pairing.