Blueberry Sunday

An O'Neal bush at Creekside Farm
loaded with berries.

Just about 10 minutes from my house is a blueberry paradise - Creekside Farm is bursting with blueberry bliss from May through August - acres and acres of multiple varieties starting with the early sweet O'Neals to the amazing gumball sized, super sweet Powder Blue in late summer. I discovered the farm at the Clayton Farm and Community market last year, picked twice last summer and am absolutely hooked on these berries.

Washing the berries

Washed and ready to eat

Yesterday I drove over for my first pick of the season - O'Neals are in season right now - a sweet, average size berry that the farm owner says is a real challenge to grow because the bushes will die for no reason at all. More than other varieties, this bush is very sensitive to soil conditions, temperature, weather. Fortunately Creekside Farm seems to be doing it right as they have managed to keep several rows of the O'Neal variety alive - and they are loaded with sweet berries. I picked for about 45 minutes yesterday - naturally testing each bush before I picked - and got about 3.6 lbs of berries.

When I got home I washed and de-stemmed the berries and put them in the refrigerator to munch on at my convenience. Blueberries make for the perfect summer snack!

I had 1.5 pints of blueberries left from my Produce Box. They are good, but they can't beat the ones from Creekside Farm. I already had a plan in mind for my Produce Box blueberries - a delicious blueberry crisp! I got the recipe from Yankee Magazine (and halved it for 1.5 pints). The lemon juice and lemon zest along with the oats and cinnamon really give this crisp a great flavor. I used Bella Gluten-Free All-Purpose Mix instead of flour. Those sensitive to oats can substitute certified GF oats, but I just used regular ones. Needless to say, my Sunday started and ended with blueberries - delicious from start to finish!

**I should add that blueberry picking makes for a pretty good thigh workout - my thighs are so sore today from all the berry-picking squatting and knee-bending!**

Fresh out of the oven, blueberries still bubblin'.

A nice portion!

Bowl-cleanin' good!

Cool summer salads (vegan and gluten-free)

Napa Cabbage Salad and Shoepeg Corn Salad - both vegan and gluten-free

I met up with friend Andrew for a potluck picnic on the lawn while we watched the Béla Fleck concert at the NC Museum of Art last night. My contributions to the potluck were two cool summer salads: Napa Cabbage Salad and Shoepeg Corn Salad - delicious separately, but somehow they complement each other so well that they are even better when eaten together.

I got the basic recipe for Napa Cabbage Salad online (http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/napa-cabbage-salad) - the Napa cabbage courtesy of the Produce Box - and embellished it with shredded yellow squash, shredded carrots and diced cucumber. I also added the juice of 1 lime to the sauce. Other than that I followed the directions. It was delicious!

The Shoepeg Corn Salad comes courtesy of my friend Brandi - who got it from her mother-in-law. This salad is to die for and I didn't change a thing about the recipe! The only thing I changed in the recipe was that I cut the sugar in half - the canned shoepeg corn already had sugar in it, so I figured it would be fine to cut back on the sugar for the sauce. I also highly suggest nibbling on it to check the taste before the recommended "overnight" period is up, because it is irresistible! I doubled the recipe.

2 cans of shoepeg corn
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion (I used sweet Vidalia onion)
3 stalks of celery (chopped)
2 oz. of pimento (drained)
Marninate overnight in:
1/4 cup vinegar (apple cider)
1/4 cup oil (I used canola)
1/2 cup sugar (I used half this amount)
1/2 teaspoon of salt (I used freshly ground sea salt)
1/4 teaspoon of pepper (I used freshly ground pepper)

Vegetarian ginger curry

It's been a while since I did a food post, so here's what I had for dinner tonight: homemade ginger curry (vegan and gluten-free).


Heat about 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a wok, add chunks of chopped onion and pressed garlic, then stir fry. Add sliced carrots, pieces of bell pepper (I used red), slices of yellow squash and zucchini, chopped shiitake and brown button mushrooms, about 1 tsp. of grated fresh ginger, baby spinach leaves, and pineapple chunks. These happened to be the vegetables I had on hand, but you can add or leave out whatever you like. Stir fry everything for about 10 minutes, add ginger curry powder or another curry powder of choice (mine is from 1001 Gewürze), coconut milk and some pineapple juice. If you don't have ginger curry powder and still want a ginger flavor, just add ginger powder to taste. Add a sprinkle of freshly ground sea salt. Make sure everything is well blended. Do not overcook, but make sure the carrots are still a little crunchy. Serve over rice (I used Trader Joe's frozen brown rice, which is ready to eat after microwaving for 3 minutes). Enjoy!

This week's Produce Box - and what I've done with it so far!

Homemade apple juice made
with 3 of the many apples
I've been collecting.
Delicious! My food
processor also has a juicer
attachment. Hot homemade
apple cider coming soon!

Contents of this week's Produce Box,
shiitake mushrooms in the brown bag.
Mixed hot peppers behind cabbage.

 This week's Produce Box contained several ingredients perfect for an Ethiopian feast! I chose Box C this week and got shiitake mushrooms, several bulbs of different garlic varieties (Chesnok, Music, Silver White), collard greens, a hot pepper mix, apples and green cabbage. Ethiopian happens to be one of my favorite cuisine and I finally happened to have essentially all the ingredients on hand (except for ginger root carrots and a couple of spices, which I got from the grocery across the street) to make two of my favorite dishes: Ethiopian collards and a cabbage-carrot-potato dish. I found a few recipes online and then used them to create my own dishes.

Here are the links to the collard recipes that I essentially combined:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Gomen-Wat/Detail.aspx
http://girliegirlarmy.com/blog/20100607/ethiopian-collards-on-mini-injeras/

Basically I started out following the directions in the second link.
I cooked down the collards, drained off and saved the liquid, then chopped the collards. Then I cooked the finely chopped red onion in oil. In the food processor I chopped 4 cloves of garlic 1.5 inches of peeled ginger root, 1.5 long green chilis and 1 green bell pepper and then added them to the onion and oil in the pot. Next I added the chopped collards to the pot along with about 1 cup of the collard cooking water. Then I added the spices from both recipes: freshly ground sea salt, freshly ground pepper, turmeric, paprika, allspice along with the juice of one small lemon. I let everything continue to cook and added a bit more of the collard cooking water. It tasted amazing. I was worried that it might be too spicy because I forgot to de-seed the chilis, but it had just the right amount of spiciness. I think combining the recipes made it all the better.

Almost simultaneously I was preparing the second dish. Here I basically followed this recipe:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Ethiopian-Cabbage-Dish/Detail.aspx

The changes I made here were to double the spices (except for the salt) and I used 1 sweet potato and 3 white potatoes instead of only 5 white potatoes. I figured since there are already carrots in the recipe sweet potato would be an added bonus. It was a great choice - absolutely delicious!

I also tried making the injera bread (used the recipe on the 2nd collard recipe link), but since I didn't have teff flour (GF) I substituted sorghum flour (GF) and GF all-purpose mix and the results were ok, but not the way it is supposed to be. If I try it again I will make sure to get teff and hope it turns out right.

Homemade Ethiopian: cabbage-carrot-potato-sweet potato dish
and spicy Ethiopian collards served on my homemade attempt
at injera

The best part is that I now have tons of leftovers!

I've got a whole slew of other recipes I want to make soon, so keep posted - I'm in a cooking mood!

Yellow Squash and Mushroom Risotto (vegan and gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free)

So for those of you out there looking for some more risotto ideas, on Friday I made a yellow squash and mushroom risotto. Go back to my post for Butternut Squash Risotto and instead of using butternut squash, add in chopped yellow squash and mushrooms (I used baby bella and shiitake). This time don't use cardamom and cinnamon (good for accentuating the flavor of butternut squash, but not needed here); instead use fresh thyme like I did. Other than that all of the steps were the same. As a side I made some over baked orange and purple sweet potato bites.

Here's a picture of Friday's meal. Enjoy!

Yellow squash and mushroom risotto garnished with Crema di Balsamico and almond cheese, side of oven-baked orange and purple sweet potato bites with Arabic spices. A perfect fall meal!

Honey Balsamic Vinegarette (and some doting on my food processor)

There are some recipes that make it absolutely worth owning your food processor. As you have seen in previous recipes, I use if whenever I get a chance. I use mine several times a week and consider it one of the most valuable appliances in my kitchen - I loved it so much I brought it back with me from Germany since they no longer sold the same model in the US at the time. I was lucky enough to find a second used one on Ebay for my mom's house so that I can use it when I cook there and have spare parts in case I ever need them. Apparently they are now selling them in the US: my model can be found here: Braun Food Processor (Double). The single version is here: Braun Food Processor (Single). This is one food processor I would never want to live without! It is so much nicer and easier to use than a Cuisinart - you may disagree at first, but that's just because you haven't tried it yet! Regardless of which brand you have, it is highly recommended that you have a food processor if you want to make this salad dressing. I also use it when making homemade mayonnaise (recipe to come another time).


Now on to the recipe. I found this recipe (in just written form) on the Internet somewhere well over 3 years ago and have been making it ever since. My secret tips for making it as delicious as possible are to use local honey and organic chili powder. I once made it with non-organic chili powder and the extra preservatives and salt in the mix really messed up the flavor. Make sure that whatever chili powder you choose only has natural ingredients and contains no preservatives or salt. Simply Organic has a great chili powder that I have used for a while until recently running out. This time I used Earth Fare's organic chili powder which had the same ingredients as Simply Organic.

The ingredients: local honey, balsamic vinegar, Dijon
mustard, mayonnaise, chili powder, oil, salt and pepper

Measure out a little over 1/4 c.
of balsamic vinegar.

Add a little over 1/4 c. of honey.

Pour into food processor.

Add a little under 2 TBS of Dijon mustard.

 

Measure out a little over 1/4 c.
of mayonnaise.

Add about 1 TBS of chili powder

Blend together

Measure out a little over 3/4 c. of vegetable oil.
Canola oil works well and contains importantomega-3 and -6 fatty acids.

Slowly add oil to mixture while blending at a low-medium
speed.

Keep blending. The dressing will start to thicken
up and become creamy. If you want a
thicker dip, add more mayo and less oil.

Perfect dressing consistency.

Put in a jar (this recipe makes about 16 oz.)

Serve over a delicious salad - here's one I made this past spring.
It is also delicious on baked potatoes, as a dip for veggies,
and many other uses!

Butternut Squash Soup (vegan, gluten-free, soy-free)

This recipe is my version of a recipe I found here. My version isn't much different, except that I didn't use fresh ginger because I didn't have any (powdered worked just fine) and I also didn't have fresh cilantro to garnish so I used ground coriander. I also used Crema di Balsamico to drizzle on at the end and served with corn chips.

Here's my picture by picture instructions. Enjoy!

The ingredients: 2 medium butternut squash*, garlic*,
1 extra large onion*, vegetable broth, coconut milk,
ginger, curry powder, turmeric, salt and pepper
*Denotes fresh, local ingredients from either the Produce Box
or the farmers' market

Dice onion

Add a couple tablespoons of vegetable broth to the pot
and heat.

Add chopped onion to the pot with the vegetable broth
and saute over medium heat for about 5 minutes
until translucent.

Add garlic - I used about 6 cloves since I doubled the recipe.

Add 2-3 tsp. of powdered ginger or 1 TBS of
fresh chopped ginger. Saute for another minute.

Add curry powder (I used ginger curry from 1001 Gewürze),
turmeric and mix well.

Add peeled and cut butternut squash.

Add the rest of the broth (for the doubled recipe the whole container).

Mix.

Bring to a boil over high heat.

Once it comes to a boil, reduce heat to medium.
Simmer uncovered until squash is tender
for about 10-15 minutes.

Add coconut milk (for doubled recipe the whole can)

Blend with a puree stick or in a blender in small batches.
If you don't like coconut milk and still want to keep
the recipe vegan and soy-free, you can use MimicCreme

After blending the soup should be smooth like this.

Add freshly ground salt and pepper to taste.

Stir.

Serve in bowls.

Decorate with freshly ground coriander
and Crema di Balsamico if desired.

Garnish with corn chips. You can also serve with
fresh cilantro. Enjoy!

Delicious tuna salad!

Tuna salad is one of those things you might not always look forward to having, but maybe that's just because you haven't had the right kind - as in my absolutely delicious take on tuna salad. Try it for yourself and find out why you'll soon be craving more!

The main ingredients: tuna (premium white chunk),
onion, grape tomatoes, celery, Granny Smith apple,
pecans, mayo, raisins, Arabian spices (lemon not pictured)

Chop some of the onion in slices and dice the rest.

 

Put some olive oil in a pan and heat over medium heat.

Add onion and saute.

Halve grape tomatoes.

Add to onions in pan and saute.

 

Squeeze the juice of 2 lemons.

Add the juice of one lemon to the onions and tomatoes.

Add Arabic spices.

Saute and stir like so.

Drain 2 cans of tuna and place in bowl.

Chop half of a Granny Smith apple.

Add to tuna.

Add diced onion to tuna and apples.

Chop celery...

And add to the bowl.

Add a handful of raisins to the bowl.

Add some chopped pecans to the bowl.

Add the onion-tomato blend from the pan.

Add the remaining lemon juice (of one lemon).

Stir to blend all ingredients

Add 2-3 large dollops of mayo.

Stir to blend. Then put in refrigerator to chill
before serving.

Suggested serving: on a bed of spinach with a side of
Archer Farms (Target brand) Jalapeno and Black Bean Tortilla Chips.
Also great on sandwiches or in wraps.