fresh – Peaceful Reader

Weekly Recipes 16; October

A friend at school gave me a huge grocery bag full of swiss chard and I’ve had fun experimenting with it. I’ve made it only a small handful of times, mostly just wilted in a pan with lemon squeezed. It was less than exciting. But I was very willing to try again. In handing over the swiss chard Kristin gushed about a swiss chard and potato recipe she made and so that very next weekend I googled it and put it together. I found this one from the NYT; Potato and swiss chard gratin.

Mind you it was not something Groovy Girl would stick her spoon into but my husband and I loved the creamy change of pace. After that recipe I still had half a bag of chard but I had other things to cook and forgot about it. I expected to open the bag a few days later, maybe a week, and find wilted, grossness but nope it was still hanging in there. Book club was just around the corner and I felt like a crisp salad. Googling brought this swiss chard recipe from Alexandra’s Kitchen and it was so lemony and delicious. A few days later I was actually craving the crispness of the salad again. So I guess I’ll look forward to the next time I find swiss chard. I’m a fan now.

This weekend we had another family over to hang out around our fire pit. The days are getting nippier and soon it will be too cold. Hopefully this wasn’t our last weekend out there but if it is we certainly had fun. I had some very good brats in my freezer from a local locker that I simmered in two cans of beer and then roasted over the crackling fire.

My friends Marek and Erin recently shared a jar of homemade sauerkraut and we had lots of toppings; spicy mustards, diced red onion, Amy’s ketchup, TJ’s wasabi mayonnaise, feta cheese. We had our salsa and blue chips and a garbanzo bean recipe from BudgetByte’s that I’ve wanted to try. I served the chickpeas over a bed of arugula from last week’s farmers market run. I am a huge fan of garbanzos and I thought this one turned out great; interesting spicy and sweet flavors mixed together. Of course around the campfire we roasted some marshmallows and made s’mores for dessert.

Swiss Chard Salad
Cumin Lime Chickpeas

Even though it’s October I haven’t made one thing with pumpkin in it. I like to look at pumpkins-the color is so vibrant-but I’m not a pumpkin pie fan. I should maybe try a pumpkin soup. On occasion I like a pumpkin spiced latte or chai. Maybe in the next week I can get locate a few more Fall flavors.

Weekly Recipes 7 (The glorious garden edition)

{Groovy Girl and cousin}

Summer is winding down and school looms in the near future. It’s all good. I’m blessed to have a summer off with my kids and my books. Recently I dropped Groovy Girl in Deephaven, MN at the home of my youngest brother, Jason, and his two sons who are similarly aged, 13 and 11. She was to have a week of playing with the cousins in their neighborhood and they were able to do a handful of interesting activities while she was there. Tubing and boating, Valley Fair, and the MN Institue of Art were part of the fun.

While she’s been gone I’ve been alternatally reading, writing, and creating in the kitchen. Having my own fun! I had an armload of freshly cut basil from my mom’s garden and I turned that into several containers worth of pesto.

{Just one jar left}

I also took a few pounds of our tomatoes and turned it into tomato sauce. Last year my mom canned several jars and gave them to me and I loved using the sauce throughout the winter, dumping a jar into soups, chilis, and curries. So this year I’m creating my own jars. I used this recipe to make the sauce and I used this recipe to double check my hot water pack canning method, both from The Kitchn. The sauce is delicious and I look forward to using it during the snowy months to come.

{3 of the 6 jars}

As to the bunches of basil I used a new recipe this year because I’m tired of searching high and low for pine nuts that don’t cost a fortune. My husband found this recipe that uses walnuts and we happened to have a big bag of those already in the kitchen.

Basil-Spinach Pesto with walnuts

1/3 cup walnuts, finely chopped
1 cup packed basil leaves (about 2 ozs)
1 cup packed spinach leaves (about 2 ozs)
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 tsp diced garlic
1/2 tsp kosher sea salt
pinch of red pepper flakes, optional
2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 350*. Place walnuts on an ungreased baking sheet and bake until lightly toasted, about 10 minutes; remove and set aside to cool.

2. In a food processor, combine basil, spinach, walnuts, Parmesan, garlic, salt and red pepper. Cover and pulse until coarsely chopped. Add oil and process until smooth.

3. Store in the refrigerator for up to one week or in the freezer for up to 1 month. Thaw frozen pesto in refrigerator overnight.

This is what I did differently: I did not use spinach. I didn’t have any and so I just used extra basil this time – I had that much. I may try the spinach part next week when I will have another huge batch of basil. I did add my own homemade dried pepper chunks from last year’s garden. My pesto lasts longer in the freezer than this recommendation. Sometimes I’ve left the cheese out to freeze but I’ve found it does not really matter.

I had a pretty big batch made but after using it for an appetizer for a pre-school party and after giving college boy a big container I haven’t frozen any yet. Luckily my mom is bringing me more so I will go through this process again.

What’s coming up in your garden?

Springtime

Little green shoots are popping up in the dark black soil out in my yard. Birds are chirping and swarming around our bird feeder. Rain drizzles making everything richly green. Of course it is still freezing and I’m sitting here in my light winter coat because I turned the heat off two days ago.

I had an amazing arugula salad for dinner tonigh with pecans crumbed on top. I bought the arugula this time with hopes that soon I will have some growing in my backyard. I love the flavor-it has so much more to offer than lettuce. Mixed with lettuce it’s all pretty good.

We’ve had our first backyard fire of the year and it was fantastic. We roasted Hebrew hot dogs, turkey dogs, and bratwurst. We had all the trimmings: suaerkraut, mustard, ketchup, buns, homemade pickle relish and wasabi. We had bad-for-you-chips and bottles of crisp cider. It was all delicious.

Something about spring makes everything just crack open in an exciting way. Life begins anew. It’s refreshed and earthy. In the midwest we treasure it because we’ve been hibernating just to keep warm. I, for one, am ecstatic to have warmer weather here and to share time outside with family.

{Young Hansen gardeners}

Weekend Cooking; Recipes of the week

{The Kitchn}

I made this wonderful pasta dish: Lemony Ricotta Pasta with basil. I will definitely make this recipe again as it was easy and tasted great. Groovy Girl’s comment, “too cheesy,” didn’t even bother me one bit as I took another bite. I’ve got a lot of basil to use and am going to make a pared down pesto to freeze to use up my bounty.

I did make these healthy (and delicious!) swiss chard rolls. It’s a little like eating a sushi roll and the lemony flavor makes my mouth sing. They were very easy to make and it was my first time cooking with bulgar.

I plan to make this swiss chard risotto this week because I’ve acquired another huge bunch. Candace at Beth Fish Reads suggested risotto. I love risotto so it’s perfect.

I made a blueberry pie as my grocery store had USA blueberries on sale. And my husband LOVES pie. He left for RAGRAI yesterday and I wanted him to leave with a belly full of pie.

I also made him my mother-in-law’s famous chicken salad. It’s so easy (and worth it) to compliment someone on the food they make simply by asking for the recipe. I found myself in Target thinking about making the chicken salad and so I called Phyllis to ask for a run-down of the ingredients. As we were chatting about the recipe she relayed that Kaylee, my 22-year-old step-daughter, had called her and also asked for the recipe recently. That’s how simple it is to compliment someone on their cooking.

{the start of good chicken salad}

Curried Chicken Salad

Combine in a large bowl:

1 1/2 cups cooked (locally sourced or at least organic) chicken*, cut into bite-sized pieces (about 2-3 breasts)
1/2 cups seedless grapes, green or red (I always use red as my preference)
1 can water chestnuts, sliced and drained
1 can mandarin oranges or pineapple, drained (look for low-sugar content)

Mix together 1/2 cup olive oil-based mayonnaise or healthy egg-free substitute, 1/4 tsp kosher salt, and 1 tsp curry powder (I always use extra curry powder). Combine dressing with chicken mixture. I serve this on top of a bed of salad greens. It is delicious and a perfect meal for summer. Thanks Phyllis for all your inspiration!

This post is linked to Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking meme hosted by Candace. Click to her link to find many other food-related posts. Have a healthy weekend.

Weekend Cooking; Deep thinking about food.

Last night my husband and I went to an unusual play at our local university. The play based on the book, The American Way of Eating, by the same title by Tracie McMillan. The book was chosen as the school’s in-depth everyone reads book choice and the theatre department head decided that in celebration of that; they should workshop it into a play. From a very unorthodox beginning the play came together and was an amazing display of team work and artistic talent plus the audience members learned a lot of interesting facts.

Even though I haven’t read the book which is about Tracie’s journey to uncover what happens to produce from field to store to restaurant I get it. I’m the proverbial choir. I shop at the farmer’s market, I don’t shop at Wal-Mart or eat at chain restaurants or fast food. I did however not know enough or think about it enough what happens in the farm fields where undocumented or immigrants work. In Iowa I am familiar with disgusting meat plants that pluck workers from other countries in order to create an “affordable” work force. It is criminal how little they are paid for a long day’s work; back-breaking work and they are afraid to stand up for better conditions for fear of losing the little income they get. The play also touched on women’s rights and how easily those in charge take advantage of them.

I don’t know how to solve it beyond talking about it, writing about it, and encouraging folks to read her book and many others with similar themes about our broken food system. We want cheap food but at what cost and on who’s back are we stepping on to get garlic at a “rock-bottom price”.

Be aware. Be thoughtful. Investigate a lot. Question more.

This post is loosely linked to Weekend Cooking hosted by Candace at Beth Fish Reads. There you will find other foodies who love exploring recipes.

Other food-related news:

I created this delicious zucchini soup this past week for a quiet dinner for my husband and I. I plan to make this soup this week to use up swiss chard and zucchini. I made a mole sauce yesterday for a pumpkin enchilada dish I’m making this week for friends that I’m going to hear Bonnie Raitt with in concert. I made mini raspberry muffins for my book club kids-they asked for seconds.

Overall it has been a good food week here at our house.

And in preparation for winter I’ve been cleaning out the gardens by making two more batches of pesto with basil from my mother’s garden; it is beginning to freeze here at night and neither one of us wants to lose any basil. I think I’m also going to freeze mint leaves in cubes. I’m watching my zucchini and butternut squash plants carefully as I have several there to bring in.

Have a bountiful week!

Winter Garden

Basil and Rosemary

These two beautiful plants are making my winter much more thrilling in the kitchen. Last night we had lasagna and it was fabulous just to clip a stem and add the fresh basil. I’ve used the rosemary several times over the holidays for my chicken recipes. At our local co-op I bought some delicious rosemary bread and we LOVED it! So I’m thinking I should be able to recreate that myself.

All our snow has disappeared which I hadn’t really thought about until Candace from Beth Fish Reads tweeted photos of the fresh powder they received in PA overnight. Here in Iowa we are snow-less and I am wishing for Spring. I want to be digging in the soil and planting some seeds. To be craving Spring so early is quite a downfall-it’s only mid-January and winter in the Midwest can be most brutal through February and March. Hopefully these two herb plants will help me through. I’ll have to pick a more modest goal to look forward to, like Valentine’s Day! Enjoy the snow or the sunshine where ever you are today!