Tag Archives: Recipes

Kale, White Bean, Sweet Potato and Sausage Soup

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My taste palette is shifting to the savory, as the weather begins to shift to cooler temps.

are you finding this too?

this recipe is adapted from the back of a fava bean bag – something about it seemed like it would work with the kale and white beans i had on hand. add the sweet potato and italian sausage and this soup is seriously yummy.

I make my own beans, verses using canned. simply soak over night, simmered – one cup dried yields enough for my soup and enough for an additional jar of beans to freeze in the freezer.

Saute onion, garlic, and 3 links of italian sausage – i use mild, from a purveyor i trust who uses no additives and quality pork.

add cubed sweet potato, rosemary, basil, crushed red pepper flakes, and cracked black pepper

add 4 cups of stock- veggie or chicken, and 1 cup water – more if needed

add white beans, about 2 cups drained and a head of chopped kale

simmer until kale is wilted and potato is cooked through.

I’ve been promising to write this recipe up for here, i truly hope you enjoy!!

Cole Slaw

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I get into summer salad making mode and enjoy the fresh noshing on something I’ve made from scratch.

This is a basic cole slaw recipe and I made it up, but it does parallel many you’d find on the web.

4 cups sliced thin cabbage. I used all green this time. I love using both green and purple!

1 thinly sliced green pepper

3 shredded carrots

2 T of grated onion – grated onion to me is magical – completely different flavor, not all those chunks of onion

1/4 C vinegar – apple cider 

1/8 – 1/4 C sugar – based on your personal preference – I use turbinado sugar and less as I like a tart cole slaw

2 T olive oil

2 T of mayo

I splashed a bit of buttermilk on this, cuz i had it around.

Celery Salt and Fresh Ground White Pepper.

The variations for coleslaw are endless – do you have a favorite or unique recipe? Share it!

Garlic Scape Pesto

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My sister and I caught up on the phone this past weekend and both of us were introduced to the Garlic Scape at our Farmers Markets.  It was like the news of the day!

What is a Garlic Scape?

Well, let me tell you!

Garlic grows underground, where initially the bulb its journey is soft and onion-like. As the bulb gets harder (and more like the garlic we know), a shoot pokes its way through the ground. Chlorophyll- green like a scallion (maybe even greener), the shoot is long and thin and pliable enough to curl into gorgeous tendrils.

This is the garlic scape!!

If left unattended, the scape will harden and transform from green to the familiar opaque white/beige color of garlic peel. Keeping the shoot attached will also curtail further growth of the bulb.

So, in an effort to allow the garlic to keep growing, the farmer treats all of us to this seasonal edible delectable that folks are seemingly just beginning to discover.

The scape is terrific fun; try dicing it into scrambled eggs, adding to a veggie saute or using as garnish for rice. However,  the best way to understand the beauty of garlic scape heaven is to pulverize a bunch into pesto.

the above what is a garlic scape which I so forgot to source can be found here  ( to the person who drew this to my attention I would love to thank you but you left me a bogus email address )

I made Garlic Scape Pesto last weekend and my goodness was it ever ever yummy.

My recipe sourced from here

( Jessie of the hungry mouse shares about stumbling upon a garlic farm out east that has “scape weekends”   Get it?  like, escape weekends! )

This yielded enough for one pasta meal.

A chicken grill off –  garlic pesto style.

and two baby food jars for the freezer!

WOW!

Here is the recipe:

1 C Garlic Scape – the darkest green parts.

1/3 C Walnuts

3/4 C Olive Oil

1/2 C Parmesan Cheese

Salt And Pepper.

Pulse scapes and walnuts together, add oil gradually in a pour, then the cheese etc

Variations:

I only had pecans around and 1/2 the amount of cheese. That said – my pesto was still really good.

This week I am making more for grilled veggies and to freeze. I am adding fresh basil, and using sunflower seeds. I bought more parmesan. I bet this is terrific also!

 

the images below are a tadd off because for some reason they had this funny red hue to them. All except the last one. I must have had a color filter selected.   I still like the black and whites actually.

What a local seasonal treat these are! I also just love them visually – curly garlic treasures!

Baked Seasoned Tofu

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I think tofu is about as “crunchy” as it gets.  My earlier exposure to tofu wasn’t particularly inspiring.  Tofu mayo and so – so brownies??  I’ll pass.  My favorite experiences with tofu has mostly been out.  Thai food – yum.   I recently started experimenting again with tofu in my stir-fry’s – and found I am getting better at it.

Tofu is a tremendous plant protein alternative.

This particular recipe caught my eye and I have to tell you  - it’s astounding.  The making of was a tad time consuming.   Not terrible in the scheme of things and I got two terrific meals out of the effort. Next time I make this I will double the recipe and see what happens when I freeze.

Wrap one block of  organic  ( non-GMO or pesticide treated ) tofu in a kitchen towel. Press with something heavy for 15 minutes.  Move towel to a dry part and press another 15.  The removal of moisture helps the tofu soak up more flavor.

Turn oven on to 450 degrees

While pressing tofu – in a larger skillet make marinade.

Combine 1 3/4 C water, 1/4 C shoyu – I use tamari, 1 T chopped ginger, 1 T chopped garlic, 2 stars of anise broken into petals ( oh yum!!) 1/4 red pepper flakes.

Cut tofu into one inch rectangles.  Arrange in marinade in a single layer and bring to a boil.  Simmer covered for 15 minutes.

Brush a baking dish with oil – they recommended sesame.  Place tofu carefully in dish removing bits of garlic or ginger ( they will burn) and top with a generous sprinkle of sesame seeds.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Flip pieces over, sprinkle with more seeds and bake for an additional 20 minutes.  Should be deliciously baked brown.

Tofu becomes firmer as it cools.

OK to keep in a container for a week.  I ate it all in two days!

*not familiar with star anise? it’s similar to licorice, found in quality bulk or chinese grocery stores

sourced from the new soy cookbook by Lorna Sass

Next time I make this I will photograph and pop an image in ….

 

 

Blender Avocado Dressing

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Blender Avocado Dressing.

I was drawn to this recipe because of how inexpensive it was to make and how simple.

In a blender pulse together

one ripe avacado

one clove of garlic

2 T of parsley

2 T of lemon

salt, white pepper

Blend.

Add while running 2 T of olive oil.

This was the recipe as is

I added 1 T of yogurt

Awesome dressing!!

once i added a serrano pepper to this and it didn’t compliment it at all – i case you choose to experiment.  cayenne pepper added would be my suggestion if you want some hot to it.