easy summer veggie roast

I don't know what was in your CSA box this week, but ours had potatoes, green beans & spring onions, among other early summer harvest. So when my lovely, dear & ever helpful friend came to visit today, we had a summer veggie roast.

Ingredients
1-2 lbs potatoes
Quart green beans
20 green onion bulbs
10 cloves garlic, peeled (optional)
Olive oil
Sea Salt

Directions
Cut potatoes into small wedges. Cut off green onion tops & clean bulbs. Trim green beans.

Mix potatoes, onions, beans & optional garlic cloves in a large bowl with a generous swirl of olive oil. Be sure all veggies are coated. Salt to taste.

Spread evenly on one or more roasting pans, and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until potatoes are soft.

My daughter Sydney has her own variation on this dish where she adds whole cloves of garlic, and although I didn't do it today due to time constraints, I must admit, it wasn't the same without the garlic. Next time, I'll make time for the garlic prep.

And a final note, you might notice a new tag down below: ministry. I struggled for a name for what I'm tagging, and ultimately chose this over service or charity. After the recent birth of my third baby, I realized that there are certain times in a person's life where a friend showing up at the door with a dish makes all the difference between feeling alone and unloved and feeling supported by a community. I think it's important that I make time to show the friends in my community that they are supported and cared for in their vulnerable times.

Yet, it's so hard to find time for "food ministry" when you have to think of what to fix each and every time. This is the part that has always been my downfall in the past, for both potlucks and friends in need.

So I'm tagging it. Hopefully a database of easy, quick "comfort foods" will be just what I need to provide this for my people.

green onion recipes

This morning, I harvested over 100 green onions to send to the farmer's market with our partners at WindDance farm, and there are still dozens more in the field. Time to post a couple good green onion recipes!

P.S. I also sent these recipes out to our market email subscribers. What? You didn't know we sent out a market email? Well, if you're local and you'd like to get an email about what we'll have at market each week, let me know and I'd be happy to sign you up! :-)

Sauteed Fresh Green Onions

This recipe is as simple as can be, but really brings out the sweetness of fresh spring onions.

Ingredients:

Green onions, with tops cut off to 2 inches above onion (reserve tops for green onion dip!)

Olive oil

1 Tbls. butter (optional)

Sea Salt

Pepper

Directions:

Wash and dry onions

Cut off green tops leaving only about an inch or two above bulb

Heat large fry pan to medium

Swirl oil once or twice around pan

Add butter, if desired

Add onions and stir gently until slightly brown

Remove from pan and add kosher salt and white pepper to taste

Serve as a side dish - great with new potatoes!



Green Onion Dip

Mix into sour cream or yogurt:

Chopped green onion tops

Chopped garlic scapes

Dill

Sea Salt

granola bars

I have found it hard to make a tasty but easy granola bar. I think I've finally found a recipe I like, and wanted to share, since so many of my taste testers liked it too. :-)

Ingredients

4 cups rolled oats
3 cups almond flour (we get ours at Trader Joe's under the name "Almond Meal")
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup raisins, chocolate chips, or chopped walnuts (optional)
1 cup honey
1 cup coconut oil
2 egg yolks
4 tsp vanilla extract

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease (2) 9 x 13 inch baking pans
2. Melt the coconut oil if needed. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, almond flour, cinnamon, salt & optional ingredients (raisins, choc chips or walnuts). Make a well in the center, and pour in the honey, egg yolks, oil & vanilla. Mix well with your hands or use a stand mixer for the whole process.
3. Pat the mixture evenly into your two prepared pans. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the bars begin to turn golden at the edges. Do not overbake! Cool thoroughly before cutting into bars.

A note to my taste testers this weekend: I was able to cut the sugar entirely & just go with the honey and still have sweet results. It's not too sweet anymore, so I really wouldn't suggest cutting down the honey at all, unless you're super sensitive to sweets. If you want the granola bar sweeter, add 1/2 cup of sugar to achieve a more store-bought kind of taste, like what I brought with me.

A note about gluten-free oats: I tagged this post with the GF label because oats are one of those controversial GF items - are they or aren't they? I've heard that they are usually contaminated during processing & I've heard an alternate theory that if they are grown too close to wheat, they will be contaminated with gluten from the wheat (cross-pollination I guess?). At any rate, there are GF oats widely available, so as far as I'm concerned, this recipe still fits the label.

And finally, a note about the eggs: my recipe contains only the egg yolks because my youngest daughter can't have egg whites. The original recipe I worked off of called for 2 whole eggs, so there's no reason for non-sensitive people to waste their egg whites. In fact, your bars will probably hold together even better than mine. :-)

no grain granola

My pregnant protein needs combined with my youngest daughter's recent gluten sensitivity diagnosis led me to creating this recipe tonight. It makes a nice alternative to puffed cereals and sugary granolas, which seem to be about the only things that consistently sound good all throughout every pregnancy. It has a very high protein content for a "cereal" and it's 100% gluten free.

Ingredients
1 lb. almonds
1 1/2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
1 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup coconut oil
1 Tbls. vanilla extract

Directions
Add everything to a large capacity food processor (we use and love this one).

Pulse several times until the nuts and seeds are minced into tiny pieces and the mixture starts to cling together. If it never clings together, add more maple syrup or honey until it becomes a little sticky. It should not cling together like a dough. You should be able to form a little test ball with your fingers and have it hold together.

Press the mixture into a 9" x 13" baking pan and bake for 2 hours at 225 degrees.

Gently break apart the mixture until it resembles granola and divide it equally onto two baking sheets. Bake another 1-2 hours at 225 degrees until it just starts to turn brown. Let sit uncovered for at least 6 hours. It will be soft when it first comes out of the oven, but will be crispy by the end of the 6 hours sitting time.

Add craisins, raisins, or any other favorite dried fruit to the mix.

We did not have any dried fruit to add tonight, but it was still good. Dried fruit would have made it excellent. It stayed crispy for over 10 minutes in a bowl of milk. I didn't test past that because I was hungry!

cheesy squoodles (starring the spaghetti squash)

Since my husband has been home full-time, I've been more conscious of the names I give certain dishes. My husband is quite a bit more....selective...discerning...okay, picky than I am, a trait which can easily influence my daughter's perceptions of our meals. While she used to extol the flavor of the spaghetti squash, for example, a few dozen times of Daddy telling why he doesn't like it (doesn't like the taste of squash, doesn't like the texture of it, prefers real pasta, etc...), she has now decided she doesn't like it either.

Sigh.

This is what happens when you live in a household where everyone can be their own authentic selves and give their real opinions out loud instead of smiling and nodding until the kids go to bed, I guess. Or maybe this is what happens when you live in a household where the kids are always awake at the same times you are. When else can you give your real opinions?!

So to my six year old's newly discovered sense of supper independence, my response has been to try to make the foods sound amazingly fun and kid-friendly. Hence, on the menu tonight were cheesy "squoodles": the spaghetti squash noodle.

Ingredients

Spaghetti squash
1 Tbls. Butter
1 Tbls. Flour
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup cheese (colby or cheddar works well)
salt & pepper to taste
1/4 cup Ground beef crumbles (optional)
Chives (optional garnish)

Directions

1. Bake spaghetti squash. (Cut in half, scoop out seeds, place face down in a baking pan with 1 inch water on the bottom. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour or until soft.)

2. In a skillet, melt the butter on medium heat. Stir in the flour with a fork until it browns a bit. Quickly stir in the milk and cook 2-3 minutes until thick. Add the cheese and stir until melted. Salt and pepper to taste.

3. Scrape out the spaghetti squash, placing the squoodles in a serving dish. Top with the cheesy sauce. Layer ground beef crumbles on top of the cheese sauce (if desired) and top with a garnish of chopped chives.

thanksgiving leftover pot pie

While all those Thanksgiving leftovers are long gone this year, this recipe is thinking way ahead for next year and right on time for Christmas dinner remains. :-)

Ingredients
leftovers, including:
• turkey
• gravy
• cooked vegetables
• mashed potatoes
cheese, shredded or sliced

Directions

1. Using a food processor or a knife, roughly chop the turkey & vegetables.
2. Mix with the gravy and put into a baking dish.
3. Top with the mashed potatoes and shredded cheese.
4. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes or until cheese starts to brown.

Serve warm with hot sauce and/or sour cream, if desired.

This was such a simple recipe that I threw together just to get rid of our leftovers and it turned out far better than we expected. I love it when that happens. Certainly those times are what keep me addicted to being creative in the kitchen and loving my time there. The family gave rave reviews as well, which made it a true success.

syrups and extracts

Am I the only one who misses Hershey's syrup? And am I the only one who has had serious sticker shock when pricing the organic chocolate syrups?

I made some chocolate syrup the other day, and it got me thinking about the other things I make at home that aren't big drains on our grocery budget, but are still organic and simple.

I'm listing three recipes here. The first is for simple syrup, with which you can make just about any flavor of syrup, the next is for chocolate syrup, and the last is for vanilla extract.

Simple Syrup
As the name implies, simple syrup is very simple.

All you have to do is mix together equal parts sugar and hot water. I've used honey but honestly, it's not the same.

You can make any number of flavored syrups by mixing a little flavored extract into the simple syrup to taste. You can try vanilla syrup using the vanilla extract recipe below or peruse the extracts next time you grocery shop and plan a syrup you like. We sometimes like peppermint syrup for hot chocolates, almond syrup for Italian sodas (just mix your flavored syrup with sparkling water), or hazelnut syrup for coffees.

Then there's always...

Chocolate Syrup

Mix organic cocoa powder into your simple syrup to taste. It will be a little hard to mix in at first, as cocoa powder is so light it has a tendency to sit on top of the liquid. This is normal and as you stir, it will gradually mix together. Whisking with a fork helps.

The key to a good chocolate syrup is a true 50/50 ratio in your simple syrup. If you try to cut back the sugar in your simple syrup, you'll end up with a sweet chocolatey liquid, but it won't be thick and syrupy.

Vanilla Extract
If you'd like to try your hand at an extract, I think vanilla is about as easy as it gets.

Ingredients
Whole vanilla beans
Rum or Vodka, 80-proof (not diluted)

I purchased my vanilla beans on eBay and ended up with about 500 beans for around $35. A quick search on eBay just now gave me the Vanilla Products USA eBay store to give you as an example.

When buying vanilla beans for extract, the key to getting a good price is to buy beans labeled "Grade B" or "extract beans." This simply means they aren't considered to be the pretty beans of the Grade A label. They are only graded for appearance, not for differences in taste.

Slice your vanilla beans lengthwise, exposing the seeds inside. Fill a jar with undiluted rum or vodka. Place vanilla beans inside, cutting them to size if needed for use with shorter jars so that the beans are completely covered by the alcohol. Let sit for 2 months at room temperature to achieve full flavor, although you can begin using the extract as early as 30 days. Keep the extract at room temperature until you use it up; no need to refrigerate.

For a half-pint jar, use 1 bean.
For a pint jar, use 2-3 beans.
For a quart jar, use 5-6 beans.

When the jar is emptied, do not give into the temptation to just refill the jar with alcohol, as the second batch will mold. Don't ask me how I know.