Anasazi Patties with Rosemary Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Awhile back, when Brett and I first tried Anasazi beans, he said they reminded him of poultry, which I could go along with. Since then, when thinking about using Anasazi beans, I have tried them in applications where flavors similar to that of poultry would be conducive - mostly Mexican until now - and it has always worked beautifully. I mean no judgment, but I am not one of those vegetarians who is interested in recreating all my omnivorous favorites veg-style, personally, I did not stop eating meat so I could try to recreate it with fake things, I never really liked meat all that much anyway. However, I do not have a problem using particular flavor profiles. For example, I think the metallic, iron quality of green lentils holds up to the seasoning profile you would use with red meat quite well, so I will rock that seasoning combination with lentils. I will not, however, try to create something that is supposed to resemble, in taste and texture, say fajita meat strips.

Anywho, back to the topic at hand. Seeing as how Anasazi beans take on poultry-ish flavors very well, I have wanted to make a patty out of them and use poultry seasoning. I don't like calling something like this a 'burger' as to me that implies meat, but at the same time, meat doesn't have a license on the word 'burger' either - there have long been many different types of burgers, made from different types of meat, legumes, and veggies - so I was at a little bit of a loss for what to call these, I guess patties it is.

These were very, very good, though they do not taste anything (thankfully) like chicken; the beans just take on the poultry seasoning quite well. I put my food processor to work for the veggies (I so rarely think to do that and it saves a ton of time!), so the patties and the sides were all done in about 45 minutes - oh, and I was also left with 4 huge patties to freeze for quick, tasty meals in a hurry. I decided to serve these with my take on rosemary roasted sweet potatoes. Laura, from the wonderful CoMo blog Peace by Pastries, is always making something like these and various other delightful looking sweet potato dishes and I finally had a meal I thought they would go well with. They were pretty good, I would recommend (as I do in the recipe below) peeling the sweet potatoes first. And I'm honestly not sure how much I like rosemary. It has a strong "smaste" (smell-taste), and even after trying to crumble the pine needle like rosemary, it was still in large pieces that I wasn't super fond of. We also served this meal with steamed kale.



























The local booty legend (aka revealing my sources):
no asterisk = grocery store
+ = local produce from The Root Cellar
++ = The Peace Nook (will denote whether product is local or just from the Nook)
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden
**** = the non-profit buying club, Blue Planet or Purcell Mountain Farms

Anasazi Patties
Makes about six huge patties.

4 cups Anasazi beans, cooked ****
1 carrot, peeled and shredded +
1 1/2 cup shiitake mushrooms, chopped +
1/2 yellow onion, chopped +
4 cloves of garlic, minced +
1/2 cup regular rolled oats
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup vital wheat gluten
1/4 cup chopped walnuts +
1 tbsp organic ketchup
1 tbsp safflower oil
1 tsp poultry seasoning
black pepper

Fixins:
whole wheat burger buns
mayonnaise (I used vegan mayo)
stone ground mustard
ketchup
zesty pickles +
lettuce

(I used my food processor to chop all the veggies and save time.)

In a large bowl, smash beans with a fork, leaving just a few in whole or half form. Stir in the veggies and combine well.

Slowly stir in the oats, flour, vital wheat gluten, and walnuts. You may need to use your hands to get everything all worked together.

Add the ketchup, oil, and seasoning.

Refrigerate the dough for about an hour.

Once dough has sat for an hour, form six large balls out of the dough and flatten as you would for a burger.

Spray a small skillet with safflower (or other) oil in a mister. Let pan heat up for about a minute over medium high heat and add a patty. Fry for about 6-8 minutes and flip. I like the patties to get firmer, so I will often cook them on both sides, and then do a lot of flipping for an additional minute or two. This will allow them to cook a little more without them getting burnt.

Put on your favorite bun with your favorite toppings (how we dressed them is listed above).

Rosemary Roasted Sweet Potatoes
3 small sweet potatoes, cubed (you can peel them if you like) +
2 cloves of garlic, minced +
1 tsp dried rosemary + (not sure if it is local or not)
1/4 tsp Spanish paprika
1/4 tsp salt
dash black pepper
1-2 tbsp safflower oil

Preheat oven to 375.

Toss cubed sweet potatoes with garlic and spices. Place in a baking dish that has either been sprayed with oil or lined with parchment or foil to keep the taters from sticking.

Roast for 35-45 minutes or until potatoes are soft.

I am really stoked that we have more of these burgers in our freezer. Using the vital wheat gluten gave the patties a firmer, more pleasant texture, and it also gave me something to do with the jar of the stuff that has been lurking in my cabinet.

A bit of a side note I just noticed, as of today, I have been blogging for a year. It is amazing how quickly the time goes by.

I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe New Years! I have the last post I am behind on scheduled to go up tomorrow and will finally be caught up (!!!!!). I will be back early next week with a local booty update and to catch up on your blogs (I may have a new recipe by then as well).

'Til next time.

Maple-Brown Sugar Roasted Acorn Squash Stuffed with Roasted Apples, Walnuts, and Cinnamon-Sugar Crumb Topping

This yummy looking treat was Brett and I's Christmas morning breakfast. It was super easy to make and filled our apartment with the warm, mapley, and cinnamon-spice smell that is quite fitting for the season. I am not generally one to do anything special or nice for brunch as I am usually satisfied with something simple and I save my energy for our evening meals, but occasionally it is nice to make something special, and what better occasion than Christmas?

This recipe also features some Missouri grown bounty. Local, easy, seasonally appropriate, AND yummy, you can't ask for much more than that from a brunch, can you?

That's enough blabbering by me, check out this bad boy.















The local booty legend (aka revealing my sources):
no asterisk = grocery store
+ = local produce from The Root Cellar
++ = The Peace Nook (will denote whether product is local or just from the Nook)
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden
**** = the non-profit buying club, Blue Planet or Purcell Mountain Farms

Maple-Brown Sugar Roasted Acorn Squash with Roasted Apples, Walnuts, and Cinnamon-Sugar Crumb Topping
Serves two.

The Squash:
1 acorn squash, halved, seeds and stringy bits removed *
4 tbsp pure maple syrup
1 tbsp brown sugar

The Filling:
2 apples, peeled and chopped +
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped +
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp pure maple syrup
dash nutmeg

The Topping:
4 tbsp whole wheat pastry flour
2 tbsp raw organic sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2-3 tbsp Earth Balance

Preheat the oven to 400.

Pierce prepared acorn squash a few times with a knife. Fill seed cavity with maple syrup and brown sugar. Make sure the syrup coats as much of the squash flesh as possible.

Roast for 35 minutes.

Meanwhile, peel and chop apples, and chop up the walnuts. Toss them with the cinnamon, brown sugar, maple syrup, and nutmeg.

Stuff half the filling into each half of the squash and roast for an additional 35 minutes.

While the squash and filling are roasting, combine flour, sugar, and cinnamon. Using a fork or knife, cut in the Earth Balance until everything is all crumbly.

Top the squash with the crumble topping and bake for an additional 10 minutes.

Let cool for a few minutes (if you can stand it), and enjoy!

If I get the itch to do something more "in depth" for brunch over the winter, this might be my go-to meal.

'Til next time.

Whole Grain Spelt Pumpkin Bars with Maple-Walnut Frosting

For my second (and quite successful) baking adventure last weekend, I wanted to make something that was a spiced cake with some sort of frosting that was at least reminiscent of a cream cheese frosting. I was originally thinking along the carrot cake line, but when I got in the freezer to take out some pumpkin puree to make Pumpkin-Walnut bread for our annual work holiday party earlier this week, I pulled another container down and decided to go with a pumpkin bar. (On a side note, I am now out of all that pumpkin puree I froze, we've gotten two more small pie pumpkins and will be picking up a few more over the coming days to store with the rest of our winter squash.)

When thinking about the frosting, I decided to go with a maple flavored frosting as I thought it would complement the spiced pumpkin bars really well (it does!). Then I decided to add chopped walnuts and that created a super tasty (albeit very sweet) frosting that did slightly remind me of a cream cheese based frosting - score!

Now, I personally do not like super sweet baked goods. I am one of those freaks who prefer cakes and cupcakes unfrosted, so these were much too rich for me. They were really good, so I tried a couple of times to go back and have more (trying smaller pieces each time), but every time I tried, I just gave myself a tooth or tummy ache. I guess it might not be a super bad thing that I can no longer eat those really rich treats, but these were good, and I wanted to eat more than I could!

The bad thing about this baking experiment is that I found out that these will not work for our gift baskets. They were super tasty, and even had the flavor I was looking for, but they do not last long, and being frosted, don't take to being wrapped up and traveling very well. So in the end, it looks like our chocolate-caffeine sensitive relative is going to be getting a TON of peanut butter and oatmeal raisin cookies.

















The local booty legend (aka revealing my sources):
no asterisk = grocery store
+ = local produce from The Root Cellar
++ = The Peace Nook (will denote whether product is local or just from the Nook)
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden
**** = the non-profit buying club, Blue Planet or Purcell Mountain Farms

Whole Grain Spelt Pumpkin Bars with Maple-Walnut Frosting

Pumpkin Bars:
1/2 cup Earth Balance
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs (or replacer) +
1 cup pumpkin puree +
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup whole grain spelt flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350.

Using an electric mixer, combine Earth Balance, sugar, eggs, pumpkin puree, and vanilla.

Slowly add in the dry ingredients.

Spray a 9x13 pan with oil.

Spread the batter in the pan.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a knife comes out clean when inserted into the middle of the cake.

Maple-Walnut Frosting:
1/3 cup Earth Balance
4 tbsp pure maple syrup
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup chopped walnuts +
1 tsp arrowroot

Using an electric mixer, combine Earth Balance and maple syrup.

Slowly add in the sugar, making sure to beat out all the clumps.

Add the arrowroot and combine well.

Stir in the walnuts.

Refrigerate for about an hour.

Spread on completely cooled cake.

So rich, but very yummy. Unfrosted, these would be amazing with green tea for breakfast. They would probably still be good with tea frosted, even for breakfast I suppose, if you can eat something that rich early in the morning.

Well, I'll be back tomorrow with the Weekly Local Booty update (I got me a trip to The Root Cellar planned for after work). Have a great weekend everyone!

'Til next time!

Whole Grain Spelt Cranberry Walnut Oatmeal Cookies

When determining what type of cookies I wanted to make, I decided that they shouldn't all be chocolate based cookies. I get stuck in a rut at times, as most people love chocolate, so that always seems the way to go. This is weird because my favorite cookie has always been oatmeal raisin cookies - not a chocolate variety (though I am a fan). Not to mention, not everyone can have chocolate (sad!), and not everyone likes chocolate (I can't even understand this!), so I branched out and made some non-chocolate cookies as well.

I love oatmeal raisin cookies, so any spin on them is a good sign in my book. I found some local walnuts at The Root Cellar over the weekend - some of them I used for pumpkin-walnut bread for Thanksgiving - but I wanted to highlight them in something else. I must say, these are excellent. From what I could gather, they were also the favorite at work as well. The walnuts were so flavorful, soft, and provided a creamy and buttery flavor that complemented the sweet and tart dried cranberries really well. These go wonderfully with tea and make a pretty dang good breakfast too, if I might say.

I modified this recipe from here.















The local booty legend (aka revealing my sources):
no asterisk = grocery store
+ = local produce from The Root Cellar
++ = The Peace Nook (will denote whether product is local or just from the Nook)
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden
**** = the non-profit buying club, Blue Planet or Purcell Mountain Farms

Whole Grain Spelt Cranberry Walnut Oatmeal Cookies

Makes 16 cookies

6 tbsp Earth Balance
6 tbsp organic raw sugar
6 tbsp packed brown sugar
1 egg or egg replacer ++
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup whole grain spelt flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup + 6 tbsp regular rolled oats
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped +

Preheat oven to 375.

Combine Earth Balance, sugar, egg, and vanilla with an electric mixer.

Slowly add the remaining ingredients except cranberries and walnuts.

Once well combined, stir in cranberries and walnuts.

Drop by rounded tablespoons a few inches apart on a cookie sheet.

Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

Let cool about 5 minutes and transfer to a wire cooling rack.

Yummy!

'Til next time!

Weekly Local Booty 11/23-11/29/08 & A Local Veg*n Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving. I enjoyed seeing my family - and the weather was beautiful and fairly warm, but we're happy to be back home. I will talk a little more in depth about our Thanksgiving (and will include recipes!) at the end of this post.

Brett is loaded down with homework this weekend - the professors didn't give any leniency for the holidays and so, due to our being out of town, he has close to a week's worth of homework to get done by Monday. Needless to say, I want to make sure he is well fed and as comfortable as possible - I've been there, and it is no fun, especially when there are important term papers in the mix. I will likely go to graduate school in a few years, but have really enjoyed not having to do homework all the time, Brett still being in school reminds me why I decided to take a few years off and work full-time before going back.

Anywho, The Root Cellar made it easy for me to plan some tasty meals. We were there earlier in the week to get produce for our Thanksgiving meal and noticed a lot of really good looking options for when we came back to get stuff for our weekly meals, so I already had some ideas in mind.

We didn't get anything from our garden this week. The outdoor container plants are really struggling, and the pepper plants started indoors just aren't big enough to produce yet. The greens are moving along, some better than others. I will discuss this more in the monthly garden update - I should be able to get that up by Tuesday.

Here is this week's haul from The Root Cellar. This ran us $48.















Starting from the bottom right: spinach, carrots, shiitake mushrooms, 2 Herbal Oats granola bars, 5 ripe serranos, small yellow potatoes, leeks (!!!!!), an orange bell pepper, a green bell pepper, 2 pears, a container of firm tofu* (not local), a jar of dairy-free pasta sauce made in St. Louis, 4 tomatoes, fair trade organic chocolate chips (dairy-free and not local), and a spaghetti squash.

* I have mentioned on this blog a few times that I dislike tofu. Both Brett and I do. And we have tried to like it more than we do, but there are things about it that neither of us can get past. But there are at least two things we like tofu in: one is tofu sour cream (only in moderation and not very often), and the other are our Tofu and Potato Burritos. It has been a really long time since we've had the burritos, so I decided to get a block since we had everything else on hand that we needed.

Here is this week's loot from Uprise Bakery:















Of course, a loaf of ciabatta, and this week we also picked up a granola bar.

I have the rest of the cookie posts scheduled to go up later in the week. This week's menu is compromised of many favorites including, of course, the Tofu and Potato Burritos, Smashed Yam, Black Bean, and Spinach Quesadillas, and Leek and Potato Soup (for soup and bread night).

We will be trying spaghetti squash served with the local pasta sauce pictured above, and I have something up my sleeve to use some of the peach jam in. So there won't not be as many non-sweets food posts this week because things fell into place for us to enjoy some of our old favorites!

My Nanny, an excellent canner and cook, sent us home with a nice treat that I plan on putting to use this week:















A jar of peach jam! The peaches came from my mom and aunt's yards, and they are even from within our 200 mile foodshed!

Onto our veg*n Thanksgiving. I am sorry to report that I didn't get many pictures - in fact, only one picture of the food I made for Thanksgiving (the other picture is from the trial run of the soup I made for the dinner). Things were really hectic in the kitchen and my initial prep schedule didn't pan out because my mom - I love her but she is such a clean freak I could scream sometimes - tried to renege on my being able to cook in her kitchen (because I could make a mess, what is a kitchen for anyway?!), I was finally able to convince her that I could make the soup and bread at her house without making too much of a mess, and that I would finish at my Nanny's house the next day.

The menu ended up being as follows:

Butternut Squash and Apple Soup with Uprise Bakery Ciabatta (of course)
Black Bean, Brown Rice, and Local Veggie Stuffed Portobellos
Garlic Mashed Potatoes with Shiitake Mushroom Gravy
Pumpkin-Walnut Bread

I spent a lot of time trying to come up with something at least quasi-traditional, that I thought my family would actually eat. Sadly, I was wrong on those counts, well except perhaps the traditional part. After many hours in the kitchen, a lot of thought and planning, the only things my family ate were the ciabatta from Uprise Bakery, the Pumpkin-Walnut Bread, and I think someone beyond Brett and I had a stuffed mushroom. It all turned out really well, I just don't think I will put in as much effort or make as much food next time.

I also hadn't prepared myself for the disappointment that I wouldn't be eating the other food prepared. Comments like, "It's just chicken broth" and "You can have just a taste can't you?" I don't blame them for not understanding and I don't expect them to accommodate, I mean, my great grandma is 86 years old, but I've been a vegetarian for awhile, they all knew this. They didn't prod or harass me about it too much, but I could tell it was more of an issue than I thought it was going to be.

Anyways, Brett told me he really enjoyed the stuffed mushrooms, and he and I ate a huge bowl of the mashed potatoes and gravy later on while watching a football game. I ended up leaving all the pumpkin bread with my grandparents and mom.

On to the recipes, don't let my family’s aversion to vegetarian food or anything non-traditional deter you from trying these recipes, they really were good.

The mashed potatoes we made were based on our Garlicky Mashed Potatoes recipe, we used red potatoes instead of russet (reds are so much better), hempmilk instead of soy, and I added a little dried basil and oregano to the mixture (the potatoes and garlic were local and the hempmilk was purchased from a local store). The shiitake mushroom gravy was essentially Veganomicon's Mushroom Gravy with shiitakes subbed in and maybe a few other modifications, but to be honest, I made it on the fly, so I can't really remember (I do know that I used local shiitakes, garlic, and onions).















The local booty legend (aka revealing my sources):
no asterisk = grocery store
+ = local produce from The Root Cellar
++ = The Peace Nook (will denote whether product is local or just from the Nook)
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden
**** = the non-profit buying club, Blue Planet or Purcell Mountain Farms

Butternut Squash and Apple Soup
1 butternut squash, peeled and cubed (5-6 cups) ***
2 apples, peeled, cored and chopped (I used local Gala apples) +
1 carrot, peeled and sliced into thick rounds +
1 yellow onion, chopped +
1 tbsp Earth Balance
5 cups water
1 veggie bouillon cube
1-2 tbsp maple syrup
nutmeg
cinnamon
salt
pepper

Melt Earth Balance in a large soup pot. Add the carrot and onion and cook for about 10 minutes. Add the squash, apples, water, and bouillon.

Simmer for 40-45 minutes or until veggies very soft. Let cool for a few minutes.

Blend in a food processor until very smooth, add a little more water if needed to get desired consistency. Add maple syrup and spices to taste.

Serve with warm crusty bread.

Black Bean, Brown Rice and Local Veggie Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms
Makes 12 stuffed mushrooms

12 medium portobello mushrooms, stems removed and cleaned
1/2 cup black beans, cooked ****
1/2 cup brown rice, cooked ****
1 carrot, peeled and chopped +
1 green bell pepper, seeded and minced +
4 cloves of garlic, minced +
1/2 yellow onion, minced +
1-2 tbsp safflower oil
basil
oregano
thyme
black pepper
salt

Preheat oven to 350.

Heat oil in a small skillet. Add the carrot, bell pepper, garlic, and onion. Cook for about 10 minutes or until veggies are soft and starting to caramelize a little bit.

Combine veggies with black beans, brown rice, and seasonings to taste.

Spray a baking sheet with oil.

Stuff a tablespoon or so of the filling in to each prepared mushroom.

Roast for about 30 minutes.















Whole Grain Spelt Pumpkin-Walnut Bread
Recipe adapted from here.

1 1/2 cups whole grain spelt flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 cup organic raw sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup pumpkin puree +
1/2 cup safflower oil
2 eggs (or replacer) ++ (local)
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped +

Preheat oven to 350.

Spray a bread pan with oil.

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.

Combine pumpkin puree, oil, eggs, water, and spices in a small bowl.

Slowly combine the wet and dry ingredients in the large bowl.

Stir in the walnuts.

Spread batter into a prepared bread pan and bake for 60 minutes or until a knife or toothpick in the center comes out clean.

The Pumpkin-Walnut bread is really, really good. We didn't get to bring any home with us, so I am going to be making a loaf this weekend, sans walnuts (Brett doesn't like nuts), so Brett and I can enjoy some of it.

Well, I'm off to enjoy a relaxing night of reading, soup making, and perhaps some cookie baking. Those Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies were really good and didn't last long around here. I also thought that reading a textbook might not seem as bad if you had a yummy cookie to go along with it.

'Til next time.

Sweet (and ever-so-slightly spicy) Honey Glazed Mixed Nuts (Vegetarian)

First off - Happy Halloween!

As I mentioned in a previous post, a co-worker and friend of mine, Kathy, is having a baby really soon, and we had a baby shower for her at work this week. For a gift, I got her a locally made "baby sling" to carry her "little Hulk" around town in. The "baby slings" are really neat - we've seen women around town with them and their babies are never crying. When Brett and I were discussing what to get her, we liked that with the baby sling, the baby was able to stay close to Mom in transit and that probably helps to ease a lot of their anxiety. I also know the woman who makes these and sells them at The Peace Nook. I was very happy being able to get Kathy something that was not only useful, but also locally made - you can't beat that! I hope she and "the Hulk" make lots of good use out of it. (In case you are wondering "the Hulk" is the tentative name her husband gave the baby :-)).

I also needed to make a food contribution to her party and since the cake and other little nibblies were covered, I decided I would bring in nuts. I then decided to go beyond that and glaze the nuts, because I would rather, of course, have made something a little more extravagant for the occasion, but a purchased cake was already in the works. So this was my compromise - why buy something from the store when I could (happily) make something homemade?

A little note: These nuts are vegetarian as they contain honey and I know a lot of vegans don't eat honey. I am not sure whether this would work with agave or not. I can tell you that, at the very least, it wouldn't taste the same as this. Also, since I was making these for other people, I toned down the cayenne. The small addition of the cayenne in this recipe gave the nuts a smoky and savory flavor to complement the sweet flavors. If I had been making these for myself, I would have upped the cayenne and made this into "spicy-sweet" nuts, but I'm a freak like that and that is just how I roll. :-)

The local booty legend:
no asterisk = grocery store
+ = The Root Cellar
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden
**** = the non-profit buying club, Blue Planet or Purcell Mountain Farms

















Sweet (and ever-so-slightly spicy) Honey Glazed Mixed Nuts (Vegetarian)

3 cups of mixed nuts (I used 1 cup of peanuts, 1/2 cup of hazelnuts, 1 cup of cashews, and a 1/2 cup of walnuts)
1/3 cup of honey *
1 tbsp raw organic sugar
1 tbsp safflower oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cayenne (or MORE! I was taking these into a baby shower so I had to keep them mild and sweet)

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine honey, sugar, oil, salt, cinnamon, and cayenne in a medium bowl.

Slowly stir in nuts and make sure to get the nuts evenly coated.

Place on a baking sheet and roast for 8-10 minutes - watching very carefully. You'll need to shake the pan a few times during the cooking process to keep the nuts from sticking.

Once removed from the oven, place in a single layer on parchment paper to dry for at least a few hours.

Store in a container for up to 3 days.

These were a pretty big hit at the party. And nobody was none-the-wiser that these nuts were homemade, not store bought. ;-)

'Til next time!

Sun-dried Tomato Pesto Pasta with Fresh Tomatoes and Sautéed Zucchini and Summer Squash

Well, I took a half day from work. We got all of our gardening supplies, transplanted peppers, an avocado tree, some wheatgrass for the kitties, and sowed a wheat/barley/oat grass mix in a small pot for them. We wanted to transplant the One Ball squash today too, but the pot is huge and we are trying to figure out some sort of "back-up drip pan". Sometimes they get overwatered, even the ones with the little catchment trays, but when you've overdone it, you've overdone it, and since the plants are going to be set on or near carpet, we wanted back up. We'll either think of something or get a different container. That one may have to be strictly "outdoors".

Anywho, after these and some other tasks were attended to, I figured I could try to catch up a little bit and do one of the three recipes I have in "backlog" to post about. In case you've all been wondering where all the basil and pasta were going (and I know how much you have), one word, pesto! This is just one of the variations we've been playing with, nothing special. Simple, fresh, and yummy - you can't beat that.

Just a reminder of the produce legend:
no asterisk = grocery store
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden















This is another one of those things that nobody would eat if they only ate pretty things. :-)

Sun-dried Tomato Pesto
Makes about 1 cup

2-3 cups fresh sweet basil *
1/3 cup of walnuts
1 jar of sun-dried tomatoes, drained
1/2 cup good olive oil
6 cloves of garlic, peeled *
a couple of pinches of fresh black pepper

Combine everything in a food processor until smooth and well blended.















Sun-dried Tomato Pesto Pasta with Fresh Tomatoes and Sautéed Zucchini and Summer Squash

penne pasta *
1/2 large zucchini, chopped ***
1/2 large yellow summer squash, chopped **
1 tsp safflower or coconut oil
3-4 large tomatoes, chopped * and ***

Cook pasta according to package directions.

Heat 1 tsp safflower or coconut oil in a small skillet. Add the zucchini and squash and cook for about 10 minutes or until well cooked.

Toss pasta with a few tablespoons of the pesto (or to taste), then toss in the fresh tomatoes, zucchini, and squash.

Yum! I'm glad it is almost dinner time here!

'Til next time.

Weekly Local Booty 8/31-9/5/08

First off, I am very happy to say our oven is fixed! I was really starting to resign myself to the idea of not having one for at least the weekend. It got to be around 3:00 in the afternoon and nobody had shown up to fix it, so we phoned the office who said that they were "pretty sure" that someone was planning on stopping by. The minutes ticked by, and it got to be around 4:30, and I began looking at raw food websites and going through my thumbdrive for easy stove top recipes I have created (I have created far too many recipes, I still need to try most of them!), there was a knock on the door, and about 20 minutes later, our oven was back in action.

I am going to take something from this experience - I rely on the oven quite a bit. Having a grill, especially during the summer, would alleviate a lot of its use, but it made me think I needed to branch out, use the stove top more, and try more (mostly) raw foods - though my oven will still likely be my favorite gadget, we are such suckers for the roasted vegetable.

Anyways, on to the local grub! It's been unseasonably cool here (it feels like late October!), and, as usual it seems, rainy, I think the plants are confused. This is what we got from our container and community gardens this week.















A yellow straightneck squash (and a glass of sun tea). We were very happy that the squash was able to reach maturity considering the squash bug problem.















A jalapeno and bell pepper.















Starting from the right: roma tomatoes, a jalapeno, 3 banana peppers, butternut squash, and a couple of zucchini. I knew there was one zucchini on the plant, but was pleasantly surprised when I went back to "check-in" on the one zucchini that there were two. And the "bonus" one is actually the big one.

Here is this week's CSA quarter share:















Starting from the right: a yellow summer squash, a jalapeno, 2 mystery red peppers, another one of those mystery green peppers (I forgot to ask him what these were so I'm going to email Dan to help me identify them), a cucumber, an onion, lots of little heirloom tomatoes, more tomatoes, a green bell pepper, some apples, and cilantro.

This week's farmer's market booty ran us a whopping $31.















Starting from the right we've got: 4 red bell peppers, 2 red onions, lots of tomatoes (we really love, love tomatoes), 4 small new potatoes, 2 habaneros (Brett agreed to let me save the seeds out of these so long as I promised to mostly use them for my own food, and to use sparingly when I feed them to him - I agreed. I'm dreaming of some dried, crushed habaneros next summer!), 4 sweet potatoes (!!!), 3 cucumbers (we like cucumbers a lot too), sweet basil, locally made penne pasta, and one gigantic cantaloupe - it's HUGE!

I made a pesto pizza last weekend and somehow forgot to post about it, so I'm going to end with it. This was nothing special really, it was mostly a way of trying to use up the remaining organic all-purpose white flour that has been lurking in our cabinet for quite some time. It was really good, and the white flour is almost gone now, I could probably make one more crust with the last of it, and then we're going to figure out how to make a whole wheat (or partially whole wheat) or some other whole grain pizza crust that actually tastes good - you know, not like a slice of wheat bread, and one that has good texture. Any suggestions on recipes or types of whole grain flour to try?

Anyways, I've included my recipe in case any of you out there like white flour or have some that needs to be used up.

Just a reminder of the produce legend:
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden

















Using Up the White Flour Pizza Dough
3 cups of organic, all-purpose white flour
1 small package of active dry yeast
2 tbsp olive oil
1-2 tbsp organic sugar
1 tsp salt
(you could add herbs to the dough too, I bet that would be good)
1 cup of very hot water

Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Slowly add the oil and the water. It's easiest to use your hands to work the dough.

Spread out the crust on a pizza stone dusted with flour, using your fingers to pinch the dough at the edges to create a crust.

Pesto Pizza
1 Using Up the White Flour Pizza Crust
1 batch of walnut pesto (the basil and garlic were * from the farmer's market)
3 Roma tomatoes sliced ***
6 baby portobello mushrooms, sliced
1/2 a zucchini, sliced into rounds ***

Preheat oven to 375.

Spread pesto on the crust and top with tomatoes, mushrooms, and zucchini.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown.

This was really yummy!

It's making me hungry! I'm off to make some sort of Mexican-ish (surprised?) hash using all the goodies we got from the farmer's market.

Oh, and we got most of our seeds in for the greens, herbs, and "kitty fodder" for our attempt at an indoor winter container garden. I'll be starting some of those goodies today, but more on that in the garden update.

'Til next time.

Veggie Sandwiches with Walnut Pesto, Roasted Beets and Walnuts, and Sautéed Beet Greens

I actually made this pesto last weekend when I got fresh sweet basil from the farmer's market. I guess I got lazy, then went off on tangents, posting about other things. I remembered as we had these sandwiches again over the weekend to use up the remaining pesto that I had never posted about it!

This is a very basic pesto recipe, nothing special. This was my first time ever making pesto at home and it turned out really well. I used walnuts instead of pine nuts in our pesto as walnuts are far more abundant in the Midwest than pine nuts and are thus much cheaper. I feel a little silly for buying walnuts though as walnut tress grow all over the place in Missouri, I'm just unsure as I don't know what, if anything, they've been sprayed with. People and their stupid chemicals have to ruin all the wild food out there.

When we had these sandwiches over the weekend, I also prepared some beets as sides. I roasted the beetroots drizzled with a little olive oil at 400(F) for about an hour and a half and tossed them with some chopped walnuts and salt and pepper. I also made Sautéed Beet Greens again, this time I used malt vinegar and it was much better, I will edit the recipe. The roasted beets and walnuts weren't the greatest. We made them better by eating the beetroots with the beet greens. It was worth a shot, but we won't be doing that with the beets again.

Anyways, had I not been lazy, I would have made the focaccia that Jessy posted about awhile back, but alas I was being lazy, so both times we made these sandwiches, we just bought a petite loaf of multigrain bread.

Walnut Pesto

2-3 cups fresh sweet basil

1/3 cup walnuts

3 cloves of garlic, peeled

1/2 cup good olive oil

pinch white pepper

pinch salt

Combine all ingredients together in a food processor.

I slathered some pesto on both pieces of the bread (which was warm), I layered on fresh spinach, onions, artichoke hearts (these are optional, we used them the first time we had these as we had a can lying around, we didn't use artichoke hearts the second time we had these), and tomato.

These were the sides. I really like beet greens a lot. I'm thinking that over the winter, we should attempt to grow baby beets, so we'll still get lots of greens, but won't have near as large of beet roots to work with.

'Til next time.