Showing posts with label radish. Show all posts
Showing posts with label radish. Show all posts

Monday, January 8, 2018

Simple Green Soup (Not Really a Recipe)

A simple healthy soup of fresh vegetables with plenty of greens, then pureed for smoothness. This soup is gluten and dairy free, and can be made vegan if you like.

A simple healthy soup of fresh vegetables with plenty of greens, then pureed for smoothness. This soup is gluten and dairy free, and can be made vegan if you like.
Whoa-the dishes are actually matching this time!  Never happens here.


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After a month of indulging in my favorite holiday treats, and making my traditional holiday meals, and going out to holiday gatherings, I crave something simple like soup.  Soup that doesn't have lots of cream, that's just made with wholesome ingredients, soup that is going to help me reach my goals of eating more vegetables.

I have a terrible problem of reading recipes but not following them precisely.  I'll get an idea of something I want to make, or I've got stuff from the farm share I need to figure out how to use, so off I go in search of recipes.  I'll look in my cook book stash, my bookmarked recipe files, and surf the internet.  Usually I will find 2 or 3 different ones that look appealing, then cobble together my own creation.  Generally, the result tastes pretty good.

Except for soup.

I have not yet mastered the technique of making soup without a recipe.  Sure, I know how to use good ingredients.  I know to sauté the veggies to get some caramelization at the start.  I know soup is better the next day.  But the seasonings/spices/salting--especially the salt--trips me up.  I'm so afraid of over-salting that my family has gotten used to adding a few grinds from the salt grinder at the table.

This soup is like the Pirate Code:  more of a guideline, really.  The next time I've got a pile of leftover vegetables, and kale, I'll make it in a slightly different way.  Still good, enjoyed with a good bread and a hunk of cheese.  What isn't good, enjoyed with a good bread and a hunk of cheese?  I could eat that morning, noon, and night.

But back to the soup.

Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Avocado Egg Salad Sandwich with Hummus and Watermelon Radish for #EasterWeek

A dairy free vegetarian recipe to use up hard cooked eggs, this avocado & egg salad sandwich is extra creamy thanks to hummus plus the colorful crunch watermelon radishes.


photo of an avocado egg salad sandwich with watermelon radish and hummus


Welcome to day 3 of #EasterWeek hosted by Bernadette from Rants From My Crazy Kitchen!


This week we are celebrating Easter and Bernadette’s blogging anniversary with all kinds of delicious recipes and a giveaway! From appetizers to ham recipes, we have everything you need for a great Easter dinner or brunch, and one lucky winner will receive a $200 Amazon gift card.  Scroll down for more details!

how to make an avocado egg salad sandwich with watermelon radish and hummus


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A vegetable-filled vegetarian recipe to use up hard cooked eggs, this avocado & egg salad sandwich is extra creamy thanks to hummus, and with the colorful crunch watermelon radishes.


I'm a practical cook yet I tend to creativity in the kitchen. Planning meals is NOT a paper and pencil exercise, it's more me staring at the fridge and seeing what containers I can empty to create space. Turning bits of leftover meats into pizza toppings is one inspired way I keep our family's Friday Night Pizza Night interesting, as described in My Pizza Primer. Adding Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) produce to the family meals is a constant source of inspiration--actually the purpose of this website. Repurposing leftovers is yet another source of inspiration for me, and the reason for today's recipe.


behind the scenes making an avocado egg salad sandwich with watermelon radish and hummus
Vincent and Simon are waiting for a crumb to fall. Any crumb. They aren't picky.


Friday, April 22, 2016

Fish Taco Naan Pizza

A fast and easy fresh tasting pizza this simple naan crust is topped with mahi mahi, sautéed Napa cabbage, avocados, watermelon radishes, and crumbled queso.

A fast and easy fresh tasting pizza this simple naan crust is topped with mahi mahi, sautéed Napa cabbage, avocados, watermelon radishes, and crumbled queso.


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If you're cooking, you will organically move to a healthier diet . . . and support farmers--Michael Pollan, last night during his talk at the University of Dayton. I'm paraphrasing the end a bit.

I'm sure I sound like a broken record at times, or maybe a scratched disc, but if you're going to the trouble of cooking you may as well cook more than you'll eat during that sitting and plan to repurpose the leftovers into a new meal. It's a great way to plan to use the produce from the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share. When the Spring weather is so conducive to being outside--someone I know calls it "productivity poison"--meals that you can throw together from previously prepared ingredients are just the best.


A fast and easy fresh tasting pizza this simple naan crust is topped with mahi mahi, sautéed Napa cabbage, avocados, watermelon radishes, and crumbled queso.


This pizza is one example, and a terrific way to enjoy long-storing farm share ingredients. As a matter of fact, since my photos are date stamped, I know I made this pizza 3 weeks after I picked up the last farm share of the Fall season. Cabbages and radishes store for many weeks in the crisper, and can be used into the winter for fresh crunch in your meals.


A fast and easy fresh tasting pizza this simple naan crust is topped with mahi mahi, sautéed Napa cabbage, avocados, watermelon radishes, and crumbled queso.

When I say many weeks, I will be honest. I polished off THE LAST WATERMELON RADISH OF 2015 on April 17th, 2016. We're talking 4 months in my crisper. Four months!

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Colorful Chard and Chicken Stir Fry--a Concept Recipe for Stir Fries

Subtitle: The Stir Fry as a Concept for Simple Farm Share Suppers

Swiss chard, carrots, radish and onion cooked with chicken strips and seasoned with Asian flavors. Can be served over rice or rolled up in Chinese pancakes.

http://www.farmfreshfeasts.com/2015/06/colorful-chard-and-chicken-stir-fry.html

One of the most common ways I use the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share to fix supper for the family rarely appears here--a simple stir fry. Stir fries in my kitchen are one skillet meals into which I try to cram as many stray vegetables as possible. I'm not getting fancy with seasonings or sauces, it's just basic food that gets vegetables out of the farm share crate and into our family. I happened to get some photos of one, a rare occurrence, so I'm sharing the idea today.
Last week I made a stir fry using up dribs and drabs of what was available, no photos or anything, and got raves from the menfolk [my daughter was off in Canada pouring maple syrup onto pea soup in a sugar shack. And practicing French]. I was kicking myself for not documenting how I'd made it, so I'll be making that one again, deliberately. It had bok choy, smoked sausage, spring onions and roasted potatoes.
http://www.farmfreshfeasts.com/2015/06/colorful-chard-and-chicken-stir-fry.html

A few Notes:

  • When I make a stir fry using the quick cooking greens from the farm share [Swiss chard, bok choy, tatsoi, pak choy, spinach, cabbages--NOT turnip greens, mustard greens, or kale in this case] I separate the leaves from their stems, chop the stems up, and cook the stems first with the onions.


  • If I've got root vegetables to use I'll shred or finely dice them and add in along with the onions and stems.


  • I typically include a protein in my stir fries--a chopped chicken breast or two, some ground meat, scrambled eggs or a fried egg on top. A piece of diced chorizo or smoked sausage provides a ton of flavor with very little effort.


  • We usually have a starch with our stir fries. This is typically rice, but can also be potatoes, tortillas, Chinese pancakes (boughten** Mu Shu wrappers), bulgur or couscous. If you're going to have a separate starch like rice, make sure to start that first so it's ready.

http://www.farmfreshfeasts.com/2015/06/colorful-chard-and-chicken-stir-fry.html

For other recipes using Swiss chard, please see my Swiss chard Recipe Collection, part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient, an ever-expanding [thanks to generous links from my fellow food bloggers] collection of ideas for what to do with your farm share. But wait, there's more! I've got a Greens Board on Pinterest. I share recipes on my FB page even. Wanna know how to Use This Blog? Click here.

http://www.farmfreshfeasts.com/2015/06/colorful-chard-and-chicken-stir-fry.html

**boughten. In preparation for a trip West to include sites from the Little House on the Prairie series I've been re-reading the books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I love reading how Pa built a house using boughten boards and a boughten door. I buy my mu shu wrappers in the freezer section of Asian grocery stores.

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Farm Share Pasta Primavera

Fresh spring vegetables, lightly blanched and tossed with pasta in a creamy sauce. A simple, fast vegetarian dish to let the flavors of Spring shine.

 http://www.farmfreshfeasts.com/2015/03/farm-share-pasta-primavera.html

Joining a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share typically means you make the choice to eat more seasonally. Being a seasonal eater means by the end of one season I'm anticipating the next. Being a seasonal eater with a food blog means I'm working 9 months to a year behind as we approach the end of a season. Perhaps I could turn the frown upside down and say I'm working ahead. I mean, yesterday I made 2 desserts that will appear in April and July, respectively.

 http://www.farmfreshfeasts.com/2015/03/farm-share-pasta-primavera.html

As my spouse and I resume our evening walks I see signs of Spring all over--except for my garden, which is still looking like a not-quite-ready compost pile. [It makes me realize how impressed I am with the ingenuity of farmers. With hard work, hoop houses and row covers, they manage to get a jump on Mother Nature every year.] It will be a couple of months until the local vegetables are ready for me to share current recipe ideas.  Instead, I rely on notes [notes get misplaced, it's a spiral binder for me now] a notebook and a well-labeled photo library to bring ideas for what to do with your produce.

 http://www.farmfreshfeasts.com/2015/03/farm-share-pasta-primavera.html

This recipe has been on the second* page of my current spiral notebook for 10 months. I made it in the early weeks of the farm share, when the fast-growing crops--like peas and radishes--are abundant in the box. This pasta reminded me of the satisfying and quickly assembled meals my vegetarian roommates and I would fix, then enjoy on the porch while the evenings were ever-lighter and the weather still cool enough that a warm bowl of pasta was appreciated. [You could totally eat this cold, I just prefer the flavors warm.]

For other recipes using broccoli, please see my Broccoli Recipes Collection, for other recipes using carrots, please see my Carrot Recipes Collection, for other recipes using peas, please see my Pea Recipes Collection, for other recipes using radishes, please see my Radish Recipes Collection. These are part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient--since it's the easiest way to figure out what to fix in my opinion. If you want to pin your ideas, you're welcome to follow me on Pinterest.

Monday, March 16, 2015

Potluck Asian Chicken Cabbage Salad

Chicken, cabbage and salad greens tossed with an easy Asian dressing. Almonds, radishes, and ramen provide a crunchy contrast to this pot luck salad.

http://www.farmfreshfeasts.com/2015/03/potluck-asian-chicken-cabbage-salad.html

I had cabbage and radishes aplenty when informed of the impending opportunity to use up farm share veggies pot luck. Following my tip to stick with the familiar, from my post Five Tips to Feed Your Family From the Farm Share, I decided to make a chicken & cabbage salad with an Asian dressing. The guests did not include vegetarians or folks with nut allergies, so I felt comfortable making my usual recipe which comes from the Better Homes & Gardens New Cookbook (Amazon affiliate link).

http://www.farmfreshfeasts.com/2015/03/potluck-asian-chicken-cabbage-salad.html


I've tweaked this recipe in a few ways, shown below. First off, I added salad greens since I'm serving a crowd. Second, I added radishes since I had some, I thought they'd look pretty, and the extra crunch would go well. Third, I used seasoned rice vinegar (the kind I use for my sushi rice) and, since that is sweetened, I omit the sugar. I double the dressing since it's so good--and so easy to make. Method-wise, I change the recipe by tossing the chicken-cabbage mixture with the dressing and let it hang out for a few hours. Then I toss the whole lot together with a bit more dressing and it's ready to serve.


http://www.farmfreshfeasts.com/2015/03/potluck-asian-chicken-cabbage-salad.html

If I were planning to take this to work for a lunchtime pot luck, I'd cook the chicken, toast the ramen & almonds, make the dressing and chop all the vegetables the night before. In the morning I'd combine the chicken, cabbage & some of the dressing in one container, the salad greens, radishes, and green onions in another, and the ramen and almonds in a third container. At serving time I'd [carefully] toss everything together with more dressing in a large bowl or serving tray, top with ramen and almonds, and serve with extra dressing on the side.

http://www.farmfreshfeasts.com/2015/03/potluck-asian-chicken-cabbage-salad.html

For more recipes using cabbage, please see my Cabbage Recipes Collection. For more recipes using salad greens, please see my Salad Greens Recipes Collection. For more ideas using radishes, please see my Radish Recipes Collection. These collections are all part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient.

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Farm Share Vegetable & Wild Rice Pilaf

Farm share vegetables--carrots, radishes, celery and onion--sautéed and combined with wild rice for a side dish that goes with a wide variety of dishes.

http://www.farmfreshfeasts.com/2015/01/farm-share-vegetable-wild-rice-pilaf.html

My 5 yr old daughter: Where is the soy sauce?
Me: There is no soy sauce. This isn't that kind of rice. It's Uncle Ben's.
My 7 yr old son: Who is Uncle Ben?

http://www.farmfreshfeasts.com/2015/01/farm-share-vegetable-wild-rice-pilaf.html

The first summer we spent in the midwest we ate at a country buffet restaurant. It was a new experience for all of us. My son earned a coupon from a summer reading program so we explored our new environment through food. My kids had never seen long grain rice and were mystified that you could eat rice with butter, not soy sauce.
[After being stationed in both Japan and Hawaii, and learning how to make my own sushi even before joining the military, I'd forgotten all about long grain rice. Our staple rice, cooked in the rice cooker because I'd burn it any other way, is yellow bag calrose or hinode rice.
http://www.farmfreshfeasts.com/2015/01/farm-share-vegetable-wild-rice-pilaf.html

This recipe is not some wow amazeballs novel innovative dish. It's just a simple way, when you're looking at a pile of vegetables from the community supported agriculture (CSA) farm share, to get those veggies out of your refrigerator and into your family. We ate it as a side dish with ham. I stirred chicken chunks and bok choy into a batch. My kids ate bowls as an after school snack [it is a Costco-sized container of rice after all].

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Antipasti Pasta Salad with Kale and Radish

Fresh Spring vegetables tossed with marinated preserved vegetables, fresh herbs, pasta and cheese for a cool and quick vegetarian supper

Antipasti Pasta Salad with Kale and Radish | Farm Fresh Feasts

If it's an Italian faux pas to say "antipasti pasta" I apologize.  All blame belongs to me.  I'm pretty sure that pasta antipasti is clearly wrong, but I'm thinking 'before the pasta-pasta' is OK.  Point is that I'm using traditional antipasti ingredients, combined with fresh spring vegetables, to make a tasty supper. Call it a multitasking meal--you've got your antipasti and your pasta course in one.
Antipasti Pasta Salad with Kale and Radish | Farm Fresh Feasts
You know, I did make a title image for Pinterest purposes.  May as well share it even though I changed the post title after I'd made it.  Dithering--not a good thing after 2 hard ciders!
This is a great 'it's too hot, I don't want to think about cooking dinner' dish, as well as a Fast From The Farm Share meal.  It uses kale, radishes, and green onions from the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share as well as a swing by your grocery store's olive bar for the rest (no grocery store olive bar? The jarred items keep for a while and are worthwhile to purchase).  If you boil the pasta while you're fixing your morning beverage, you can be out of the kitchen in a flash.
When we moved here we bought a gas stove. [And a house to go with it. In that order.]  Getting the gas line installed took some doing--city permits and all that.  Using an electric skillet, a crock pot, an electric kettle, a toaster and a grill I fixed family meals for weeks.  I learned a cheater way of making pasta salads by buying the fastest cooking fresh pasta and using my kettle to boil the water then 'steep' the pasta for a few minutes.  It was an easy meal our first summer here, and something that keeps the kitchen cool even when the oven works just fine.
Antipasti Pasta Salad with Kale and Radish | Farm Fresh Feasts

I'd been thinking about adding kale to a pasta salad for a while, and when I saw some marked-down olive bar containers I knew I'd go in an antipasti direction.  This would also be great in a more Mediterranean direction, later in the summer, if you got feta instead, and added fresh cucumbers and tomatoes when they are ripe.  The sun-dried tomatoes and marinated mozzarella make such a pretty bowl with the kale and radishes.  If you'd like, add some chopped cured meat or white beans for extra protein.

Antipasti Pasta Salad with Kale and Radish | Farm Fresh Feasts

Friday, April 11, 2014

Dainty Radish Pizza and Tender/Crunchy Pizza Crust (Pizza Night!)

Thinly sliced radishes with feta, goat cheese, and shredded cheeses in a spring radish pizza.

Thinly sliced radishes with feta, goat cheese, and shredded cheeses in a spring radish pizza.

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In the early weeks of Spring, while we're eating out of the tail end of the Strategic Winter Squash Reserve and scraping frost off the bags of vegetables in the freezer, I start to moon over the upcoming Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) season.  I dream about trying old favorites, or new recipes with the vegetables I know I'll be getting, and ponder what might be new on the farm this year. One standby that will be in Spring farm share boxes is the radish.


Thinly sliced radishes with feta, goat cheese, and shredded cheeses in a spring radish pizza.


I knew I was going to put radishes on a pizza long before the CSA season began.  Shoot, I throw so much other CSA produce on pizzas, such as kohlrabi greens, kale, broccoli rabe and sweet potatoes--see my Visual Pizza Recipe Index for ideas--why not radishes? Since I'm the primary radish fan in the house, and I don't want to overwhelm the neighbors with radish gifts, I wanted to try to entice my family in a new way.


Thinly sliced radishes with feta, goat cheese, and shredded cheeses in a spring radish pizza.


One way for me to keep things interesting is to change up the way I prepare a vegetable.  If I'm used to roasting something, why not shred it, like this butternut squash-stuffed Chicken Saltimbocca?  I've already enjoyed slicing radishes on sandwiches, and shredding them in sandwich spread--but when I sliced a mess of pretty Easter egg-colored radishes on my Benriner (link to Alanna's post that had me searching one out for my own) I needed share this, and share this in time for Easter.


Thinly sliced radishes with feta, goat cheese, and shredded cheeses in a spring radish pizza.


I knew that radishes with butter and salt make a lovely sandwich, and that's where I was going with this pizza.  What I didn't expect was how delicate the pizza would look and taste.  It's a very dainty pizza, feminine, if you will, just like Crystal the composting guinea pig's delicate, feminine ankles [you're welcome for my not posting a picture of a dainty pig ankle, but know that I really wanted to]. However it is robust enough for my son (who would happily live on meat forever) to eat all the leftovers.  I think the combination of cheeses put it over the top for him--feta, goat, and shredded Italian blend? I'm in!


For more recipes using radishes, please see my Radish Recipes Collection. It's part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient, a resource for folks like me eating from the farm share, the farmer's market, the garden, the neighbor's garden, and great deals on ugly produce at the grocery store.


I'm sharing more recipes on my Pinterest boards, follow me there. If you like a good peek behind the scenes like I do, follow me on Instagram. Need a good read? I'm sharing articles of interest on my Facebook page, follow me there. Want to know How to Use This Blog?

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Radish Sandwich Spread

Shredded radishes mixed with cream and goat cheeses for a zesty sandwich spread

Radish Sandwich Spread | Farm Fresh Feasts


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I'm a tea drinker.

While in college, cola was my caffeine source of choice.  I tried coffee, but the taste never lived up to the smell and I couldn't get past the first two sips (one more to confirm the first sip).  My first job after college involved going to neighboring farms for coffee after morning milking which was fun--except the whole 'coffee=ugh' thing.  Instead I figured out that if I filled up my cup with milk and added a splash of tea for color I could choke it down politely. Ish. Therefore, I became a tea drinker.

I am partial to the restorative powers of afternoon tea.  I think of it as after school snack for grown ups.  The amazing thing about tea is the variety of foods you can consume with a nice cuppa.  Muffins are a favorite of mine [there's a whole category of muffins in that recipe index on my right sidebar]. This sandwich spread is equally at home in an afternoon tea setting or a lunch plate.  The spicy bite of the radishes and mustard is tempered by the cheeses for a lovely nibble.  This was good spread on celery pieces and would probably be good on crackers.

Shredded radishes mixed with cream and goat cheeses for a zesty sandwich spread.


For more recipes using radishes, please see my Radish Recipes Collection. It's part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient, a resource for folks like me eating from the farm share, the farmer's market, the garden, the neighbor's garden, and great deals on ugly produce at the grocery store.

I'm sharing more recipes on my Pinterest boards, follow me there. If you like a good peek behind the scenes like I do, follow me on Instagram. Need a good read? I'm sharing articles of interest on my Facebook page, follow me there. Want to know How to Use This Blog?

NOTE:  I created this recipe to be gluten free through my choice of ingredients. Check labels to confirm that your products are also gluten free. Good sources for determining that your products are gluten free can be found here:

Radish Sandwich Spread (makes 4 sandwiches)

Ingredients


  • ¼ cup cream cheese
  • ¼ cup goat cheese
  • 1 Tablespoon mayonnaise
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 cup shredded radish
  • ¼-½ teaspoon salt, I use kosher
  • ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper (about)
  • bread of your choice, or use vegetables or crackers

Instructions


  1. Combine in a food processor until well blended.  
  2. Chill for an hour, or up to 4 hours.  Spread on thin sandwich bread or crackers or vegetables, or use as a dip.
  3. Note:  while this spread should chill for a while before serving, it only keeps about a day.  After that it gets kinda weepy, so I recommend making just what you are planning to use that day.


Shredded radishes mixed with cream and goat cheeses for a zesty sandwich spread.

This post is shared with What's Cookin' Wednesday, Fresh Foods WednesdayFrom the Farm Blog Hop, Clever Chicks Blog Hop, Tasty TuesdaysFood on Friday

Friday, March 7, 2014

Hoisin Sesame Swai with Hoisin-Roasted Radishes

Hoisin sauce and a crunchy ginger-sesame seed blend coat this firm white-fleshed fish, served with tender roasted radishes and Asian-seasoned sautéed beet greens

Hoisin Sesame Swai with Hoisin-Roasted Radishes | Farm Fresh Feasts


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Do you ever wear matching clothing? Complete track suits?  Do you wish for Adult Garanimals with coded tags that help you decide if your top and your bottom clothing choices coordinate?

Where am I going with this?

It's not very usual for me to have all the foods matchy-matchy on the plate.  [Heck, the plates don't even match each other.] Apparently I tend to get all matchy-matchy with Swai.
Like I said the first time I posted a Swai recipe, "Swai is a white fleshed fish in the "Good Alternative" category on the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch website.  Protein that is a Good Alternative, that is a great price, is good for me." That remains true today. In addition to the beef in the freezer (link to my beef recipe round up featuring 106 recipes from 66 bloggers) and the wild sockeye salmon from Seldovia Point, AK, the fish we eat the most is Swai.  It's useful in a variety of preparations, I've shared some related links below.


We often like to eat fish with rice, so I wanted to try an Asian preparation for this Swai.  I picked up this sesame seed blend at a TJMaxx/Marshall's, taking a page from Heather's shopping tips, and thought it would be good rolled around inside out sushi as a coating for fish.  From there the idea of coating the fish in hoisin sauce was a no-brainer.

Since I also had radishes from the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share to play with, I opted to give them a similar coating and see how it played in Peoria the dining room. The result was surprisingly good.  Roasting brings out the sweetness from the radishes and the hoisin provides them with a nice tang.  We all enjoyed this meal, and to get the entire family to enjoy radishes is an accomplishment worthy of a Week In Review post.

Hoisin Sesame Swai with Hoisin-Roasted Radishes | Farm Fresh Feasts

On the plate you'll also see beet greens.  Specifically, Asian Beet Greens.  This bonus recipe is up on my FB page and my G+ page if you'd like to check it out.


For more recipes using radishes, please see my Radish Recipes Collection. It's part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient, a resource for folks like me eating from the farm share, the farmer's market, the garden, the neighbor's garden, and great deals on ugly produce at the grocery store.

I'm sharing more recipes on my Pinterest boards, follow me there. If you like a good peek behind the scenes like I do, follow me on Instagram. Need a good read? I'm sharing articles of interest on my Facebook page, follow me there. Want to know How to Use This Blog?

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Finnish Summer Soup--with Kale

Other possible post titles:  'Finish All The Kale' Finnish Summer Soup, and Kale Keskäkietto 

http://www.farmfreshfeasts.com/2013/06/finnish-summer-soup-with-kale.html

I hesitated to post this recipe now, because I'm not like Lydia who enjoys soup year 'round, or Karen who is addicted to soup.  I need cool weather, or at least a rainy day, to enjoy a comforting bowl of soup.  However, I've had several opportunities to enjoy this soup this Spring, so I thought I'd share and give you another kale idea since Spring 'tis the season for greens.

Because eating up each week's bag of kale from the CSA farm share doesn't come as effortlessly as eating up, say, a pint of strawberries, I need to work at it.  Throw in kids and it's a bit more effort.  This is where soup comes in.  I've found that if I puree vegetables in soup, my kids will eat them.  Even if it's green.  In the fall I put up kale (tear out the stems--feed them to the composting pigs or add them to the worm bin--blanch and freeze the leaves) and enjoy kale in hearty soups like this one.  But I'm not in a hearty soup mood when there's so much green outside.  Instead I wanted a summer soup.

This recipe comes from a little blue cookbook I've had for a long time, Fantastically Finnish: Recipes and Traditions by Beatrice Ojakangas, though I see it was published the same year as my son, and he's only like 5 or something I think.  I'm sure my mom picked it up, along with its Scandinavian brethren, at a Christmas bazaar.  Mom gave it to me because I spent a summer working in Finland and learned to cook a few recipes there.  Whenever I'd scan through the book this soup, Kesäkietto, always caught my eye.  In the head notes, the recipe comes from Esther Louma of Duluth, MN.  As written, it's a vegetarian recipe.  Because I recently had not one but 2 chicken carcasses burning a hole in my freezer, I spent a day making a pot of chicken jelly and substituted a quart of chicken jelly for the water (see NOTE below).  Since some varmint nibbled my pea plants (and parsley, and fennel, and tomato, and dill, though I have rescued almost all of them) I could not add the peas that this recipe calls for.  Therefore, I've utterly changed the recipe but kept the spirit of it--spring vegetables gently cooked in a milk-based broth.

I recommend you make this on a rainy late Spring/early Summer day, using whatever you've got available.  The nice thing about this recipe is that it makes 4 servings--so it's great if you have fewer eaters in the house, as you won't be eating this soup for a week.

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

My Favorite Grilled Cheese Sandwich: Cheddar, Pickled Turnips, Shredded Vegetables, and Hummus

Grilled cheese with hummus, shredded carrots & radishes, pickled turnips and lettuce.

When I shared a photo of a grilled cheese sandwich as the centerpiece of a lunch collage in this post on how to eat more veggies, I felt like I was teasing you. So I'm sharing a bit more about my favorite grilled cheese sandwich to inspire you, and hopefully make you hungry. I know I'm getting peckish.

http://www.farmfreshfeasts.com/2013/04/my-favorite-grilled-cheese-sandwich.html

Long on photos, short on words because honestly, this is just a simple grilled cheese sandwich.

http://www.farmfreshfeasts.com/2013/04/my-favorite-grilled-cheese-sandwich.html

Or is it?

If you're ever in the Cincinnati area and hungry, I recommend paying a visit to a Tom+Chee restaurant. They've got amazing grilled cheese sandwiches and delicious tomato soup.  My friend Holly told me about it, and whenever we can we swing by for a meal.  My favorite sandwich is the Hippy Chee.  It's got hummus, cucumber, tomato, and lettuce with your basic grilled cheese.  Tom+Chee manages to keep the bread toasty and warm, the cheese melty and hot, and the veggies cold and crisp.  It's addictive.  I'm still figuring out their technique--it involves a long spatula to fry both slices at the same time before lifting them off the heat, adding cold veggies, and mashing together--and I've found a way to incorporate my farm share veggies which delights me with the results.  Try it yourself!

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Try New Things-Radish Sandwich (Quick Take)

http://www.farmfreshfeasts.com/2012/10/try-new-things-radish-sandwich-quick.html

One of the neat things of being in a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm share is the seasonal influx of new-to-me veggies.  I'd known that radishes existed of course.  I'd seen them on salad bars or on salads I'd order in restaurants. I assumed, based on that brief taste, that I didn't care for radishes.  The first year we got radishes in a farm share, I gave all of the radishes to my dad.  The second year, at the spring "welcome to our CSA" gathering when we picked up the first box of the season, I sampled a French Breakfast radish dipped in salt.

Hello!  That's good eating. After that I started sharing the radishes with my dad.

My favorite way to eat a radish remains the simple radish sandwich.  Take a slice of good bread (La Brea Bakery Whole Grain loaf from the store or Costco remains my favorite).  Spread with butter or buttery spread.  Top with sliced radishes.  Sprinkle kosher salt over top.  Delicious!

I'm currently fermenting some shredded radishes into relish on my countertop.  What are you doing with radishes?