dinner guest!

Yesterday was pickup day at the farm. It was too wet to pick strawberries, so I'll go back later in the week for those. We got a lot of great looking greens and lettuce and a big beautiful cabbage that I split with my share mate.

I was inspired to make cabbage thoren -- that curry coconut dish from Kerala that we frequently make -- with mushrooms added in. I prepped everything and Mr. P did the cooking. It came out beautifully, a little spicy, a little moist, and the cabbage was fresh and zingy. We served it over brown rice which I cooked with a little rye.

On the side, we had a salad with two kinds of fresh lettuce, arugula, red pepper, cuke, carrot, and blue cheese.

And then our friend brought bags of groceries and made us dessert -- layers of ladyfingers with fresh cut mangoes, blueberries, plums, strawberries, vanilla ice cream, and whipped cream on top. We gilded the lily just a bit with a splash of limoncello. Oh my. That whole dessert almost made the dinner's glory instantly fade. It was a great dessert.

We sat at the table for nearly two hours. Very good food, great conversation.

Our friend left us with about six ripe mangoes (darn!) and a box of strawberries (darn!) and some ice cream (double darn!). We'll be eating lots of fruit for a while. Yum.

from mediocre to pretty darned good

On Wednesday, I was starting to burn out. I had piles of greens. I made something that was ok, but probably not a repeat (or if repeated, it would need a variation on the theme). It involved split yellow peas, greens, and sundried tomatoes with New Mexican chili powder, served over rice. It was fine, not spectacular. I think I overcooked it, though not so much that anything lost its color.

On Thursday, it seemed like time for something completely different. We had a side salad and a weird, made-up quiche created out of materials-at-hand. For the crust, I made breadcrumbs in the food processor, then added walnuts and whole wheat flour, some olive oil, a tiny amount of butter, and some water. Too much water! So after pressing the mess into a pie pan, I cooked it at very low temps while the oven was warming up.

I sauteed onions, scallions (this week, the scallions were a couple of feet long, funny things, but tasty), and the remainder of the cookable greens -- spinach and mixed baby greens. Once cooked, I put them in a collander and pressed some of the juice out. Then, I added them to a mix of eggs, nonfat cream cheese, shredded cheddar, and nonfat yogurt.

I was pretty sure the whole thing would be an inedible gooey mess. But it turns out that the crust remade itself into the best-ever breadcrumby, tasty, crunchy, toasty container. And the filling was creamy and tasty. Yum. I might even try that one again.

We had a side salad, mostly because we had a surfeit of lettuce last week and more is coming this week, I'm sure.

Last night, we got a whole grain pizza crust to which we added sauteed onions, scallions, and walnuts, topped with blue cheese. Very simple, and quite delicious. At the store, we got some supplementary veggies and had a full-fledged salad -- lettuce, mozarella, red pepper, cucumber, mushrooms.

Tonight, we'll have an easy dinner of more salad, leftover quiche, and grocery broccoli, which I think will clean us out of farm veggies and make room for tomorrow's next farm pickup. Phew.

greens and ravioli

We had serving three (of four) of the Costco spinach and cheese ravioli. For a topping, I sauteed onions, then added the last bit of broccoli from last week and chopped greens (chard, spinach, and a "young greens" mix). I also threw in some soaked sundried tomatoes and a little Bragg's and apple cider vinegar. We topped the dish with pine nuts.

On the side, we had a salad -- fresh lettuce, scallion, radish, turnip, and a few of the aforementioned greens minus the chard, plus tomatoes and mozarella cheese (homemade in someone else's home), and toasted walnuts. For dressing lately, I just throw on some organic olive oil and balsamic vinegar; I'm feeling too lazy even to go to the pantry for bottled dressing.

For dessert, we ate fresh-picked strawberries -- I picked four quarts yesterday (which I split with my share mate), so we have a few nights of strawberries to go through. And now I'm inspired to make strawberry jam before it's too late, which means in the next week or two. Yum!

lunch and breakfast!

A friend came over for lunch yesterday. I made a very nice salad -- farm lettuce, arugula, spinach, radish, scallion to which I added tiny tomatoes, capers, toasted walnuts, and blue cheese. We had brie on the side. I made iced tea (a mix of pomegranate and mint teas) and had some tiny cookies and fresh organic strawberries on hand for dessert.

My friend brought bagels (which seemed like good transport mechanisms for the brie) and fresh fruit. So I sliced her fruit and the strawberries and we had a nice fruit salad.

This morning, our overnight guests and we had more fruit salad, brie, bagels, yogurt, maple syrup, and healthy muffins, along with oj and coffee.

ooh la la

Tonight's dinner: A curry. I started by soaking the very gritty fresh spinach we have from the farm -- put it in a bowl of water in small batches, let it sit, then moved the clean spinach to a collander. Then I destemmed the leaves and chopped them and eventually steamed them for just a few minutes, until they were relaxed, but not collapsed.

I also chopped and steamed potatoes and farm turnips. And then I made a "tarka" -- spice seeds cooked on high heat until popping nicely and threw chopped onions on top at the last minute. The onions turned beautifully yellow and cooked for a bit. I threw in some leftover chickpeas and a little water, then after a while, the potatoes and turnips. When everything was nice and hot, I added the spinach, cooked for a bit, added some (more) cayenne and chopped ginger and garlic, cooked a little more, and we had dinner -- curry over brown rice. Nice and spicy!

Four meals later, we're nearly at the end of this week's farm bounty. However, there's enough for a nice salad on Saturday afternoon for my mid-day guest, which will at least contain scallion, radish, lettuce, arugula, spinach (the last bit) -- all from the farm -- and perhaps some toasted nuts and maybe a few other goodies. I was thinking also of a small cheese plate with good bread and fruit and possibly cookies for dessert.

I think we're having overnight guests on Saturday, so we'll also need to make a nice breakfast on Sunday, either eggs, or the traditional fruit, granola, yogurt, and maple syrup. There's some whole wheat cinnamon swirl bread in the fridge; that would make a nice accompaniment to either.

the color of the day? green!!

Tonight, we had fresh farm broccoli. As much as I love store broccoli, the stuff from the farm is so much tastier -- a little sweeter, a little less sulphery edge. It was all pretty simple, really. I steamed the broccs, sauteed an onion and little cubes of bread, then tossed the broccoli in to the mix. We served it over brown rice with a sauce of tahini, Bragg's, and fresh lemon juice drizzled on top.

On the side, we had a small salad -- lettuce, spinach, arugula, turnip, scallion, black olives, and blue cheese. I dressed it with a splash of balsamic vinegar and a splash of olive oil.

And then for dessert, we finished off the strawberries I picked yesterday. They are so bursting with flavor; I wanted to finish them before they went bad, which would probably be soon.

Tomorrow? More green -- spinach this time.

night o' greens

Farm pickup today. For dinner, I made a salad out of parts of most of the bounty -- lettuce, arugula, spinach, radish, turnip, cilantro, oregano, beautiful shiny purple scallions. We can opt to get homemade organic mozarella, so I got a piece and chopped some into the salad. I also added capers, toasted almond slices, chopped apple, and chick peas.

I made a funky side dish -- kale tossed in oil and a little vinegar (and salt and chili) and baked until crispy. I liked it; Mr. P did not think it was worth repeating, though he ate it eagerly. I think it looked a little too much like dried seaweed which he's mostly unsure about.

Dessert, in part, consisted of fresh-picked organic strawberries, shiny and lusciously red.

Tomorrow, I'll make something with the two varieties of broccoli we got. And the following night, I'll try to attack the overwhelming amount of spinach we have on hand. A guest is coming for lunch on Saturday, so I'll try to reserve some of the greens for a nice salad for her.

bonus and tonight's plans

A last-minute cancellation of a dinner out left me wondering what to make. Last night, Mr. P stepped into the kitchen and made thoren (cocunut curry) out of non-local asparagus (not yet, but soon), mushrooms, and frozen edamame. There was also half a lemon in the fridge, so he juiced it and used it. This was a particularly good batch, both in taste and texture. The thoren page in the cookbook is getting a great workout and is full of our notes!

Tonight, we're having a fairly simple spaghetti sauce over whole wheat pasta. We have some tomato sauce left over from a project -- maybe the pizza for which I opened a can but used very little -- and some baby bok choy. Perhaps I'll add capers or olives and mushrooms.

Then tomorrow -- incoming! -- the second pickup from the farm. From there, we'll have to just make it up depending on what we get. I'm hoping the strawberries are ready (yum) and I'm sure there will be lots of greens.

greens greens greens

Last night, I steamed kale and baby bok choy, then added to a saute pan already containing onions and tofu and the rest of the arugula. When they were just about done, I added some garlic and ginger and cooked briefly. Then, out of the pan, I tossed in a mix of sesame paste, umeboshi plum paste, and soy sauce and served it all over rice.

And now, all we have left from this week's farm adventure are a couple of tiny turnips, a tiny bunch of baby bok choy, and a few strands of fresh herbs. Maybe we'll cut the turnips up and use them to dip into the leftover hummus?

Next farm date is Tuesday; can't wait to see if the strawberries are ready!

farm dinner #2

We had some hummus and pita that needed to be eaten (chipotle and whole wheat, respectively). For one side dish, I steamed some farm broccoli (looser crown, tastier veggie, more tender stalks than what's in the store) and tossed it with some of our seemingly endless supply of cilantro pesto from last summer. For a second side dish, I made a salad of farm spinach and farm arugula, tossed with apple, toasted almond slivers, blue cheese, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil. Many different tastes, all intriguing. I think the salad was the winner tonight.

saag paneer - another attempt

Today was farm day! Although we had a smallish haul, we still have about four dinners worth, maybe more.

Tonight I made a variation on saag paneer -- Indian spinach and cheese. It came out rather nicely, if I do say so myself. I started out by heating and popping spices (black and yellow mustard seeds, cumin seeds, turmeric, and cayenne), then cooling down with onions. I added mushrooms, paneer, and tomato sauce (perhaps too much, but it was fine) -- and let it all cook for a while over low heat. Then I added fresh chopped spinach and covered to cook. When it was nearly done, I added roughly chopped ginger and garlic and some cumin powder (my one cheat). We served the whole thing over rice. The spinach had lots of flavor, as did the rest of the dish. This is a recipe I'll continue to improve on; it's great fun to make and very fun to eat.

slightly odd dinner last night, slightly more normal tonight

In a very sweet gesture, a colleague at work gave me a bunch of fennel. I wasn't sure what to do with it. Advice on the web ranges from eggs to potatoes. Last night, I sauteed onions, mushrooms, and garlic, to which I added steamed broccoli and potatoes. Once the veggies were in a bowl, safely away from heat, I tossed them in a sauce of chopped fennel, half the juce of a lemon, salt, pepper, and half a teaspoon of chipotle chile powder. We served it over brown rice. Not too bad.

On the side, we had our famous Greek salad. And for dessert, we had cherries, which are in the markets right now at great prices (not sure if they're coming north from central or south america or east from washington state), chopped watermelon, and baklava. Mr. P buys the baklava in a large tray a couple of times a year. We split it up, freeze it in small quantities, and then defrost some before dinner every now and then.

A little while ago, I bought one of those whole grain pizza crusts. Tonight, we'll have it topped with tomato (canned organic), tomatoes, garlic, mushrooms, blue cheese, and walnuts. Oh, and Greek salad on the side.

And tomorrow, we start up at the farm. No idea what's coming, probably lots of leafy greens to begin with, and who knows what other surprises we'll get. Two weeks ago, we were weeding spinach and trellising peas. Not sure when we'll see the vegetables of our labors, even.