My heart beets for a veggie filled V-Day

Today was my first pick-up of the Winter share I purchased from Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative. It was a wonderful Valentine’s Day treat..I’ve been anticipating my first order for weeks! Its funny…its sort of like a “grab bag” for grown-ups…each week is a surprise of what will be in your shipment. My roommate and I signed up to receive 5-9 veggies a week, plus a rotation of eggs and tofu, and a fresh organic dairy (or dairy-like) product. It’s really a great deal (yayyy our wallets are happy!) and we are hoping it will allow us to be more creative in the kitchen and expand our palettes, as winter veggies are a unique breed!

This week brought:

1 Bag Red Beets – Certified Organic – Tuscarora Organic Growers

 1 Bag Red Garlic – Certified Organic – Tuscarora Organic Growers

1 Bag Watermelon Radishes – Certified Organic – Tuscarora Organic Growers

1 Bag Mixed Variety Apples – IPM – Kauffman’s Fruit Farm

1 Jar Applesauce – Certified Organic – Bowman Mountain Organics

1 Jar Sauerkraut – Certified Organic – Oakview Acres

Plus Almond Milk and fresh organic brown eggs.

I have never seen a raw beet before, so I decided to dig right in! A quick wash to get the earth off, some strokes of the vegetable peeler, and my hands were dripping with beet juice. I sliced it up and ate it plain and raw…it was absolutely amazing! Such a mild, yet sweet flavor…like a cross between an apple and carrot, two of my fav. healthy snacks! Raw beets may be my new go-t0, plus they are packed with vitamins and fiber!

I’m hoping to try out this recipe eventually, from the LFFC website!

Molten Chocolate Beet “LoveCakes”
Ingredients
3 ounces dark chocolate (at least 70%, plus some chunks for stuffing)
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons evaporated cane juice organic sugar (can substitute with honey)
1 egg
1 cup cooked beet puree
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
½ teaspoon vanilla or orange extract (or ¼ teaspoon of each)
pinch sea salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter and chocolate together in a small pan over low heat. Once completely melted, remove from heat and add remaining ingredients. Mix together and pour into cupcake liners. Place a chunk of chocolate into the center of each cup of cupcake batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Enjoy while still warm!

More adventures in Community Supported Agriculture to come…

-S

 

Why yes, I did cook that!

Tzatziki is packed with flavor and homemade version can be so healthy--I use Greek yogurt as a base for added protein.

Greek Chicken: One of my specialties, the chicken in this dish is pounded thin and stuffed with herbed feta, then cooked in a white wine sauce with spinach and tomatoes.

I made the onion frittata from the Bon Appetit Italy Issue (May 2011) again, this time pairing it with grilled zucchini and summer squash for dinner.

>Bon Appetit’s Italy Issue: trial

>The Bon Appetit Italy issue was just in time for A.) My return from Rome and B.) For Mother’s Day weekend.

I chose to treat my mom with two of the recipes!

First, I made the recipe for biscotti, but made some substitutions for things I had on hand. The pistachio/dried cherry combo in the recipe turned into almod/dried blueberry in my recipe. The blueberry was actually a great compliment to all the lemon and orange zest required. Also, I cut down a little on the dried blueberries because the dough was pretty chocked-full!

Here is the recipe from Bon. App.:

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• 2 large eggs
• 3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1 Tbsp. orange zest
• 2 tsp. lemon zest
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. almond extract
• 1 cup dried cherries
• 1 cup unsalted, shelled pistachios

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 350°. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine first 6 ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle. Blend on low speed for 30 seconds. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, whisk together eggs and next 5 ingredients. Add egg mixture to flour mixture; beat on low speed until combined, about 1 1/2 minutes. Fold in cherries and pistachios.

• Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface; divide in half. Using floured hands, shape each dough half into a 16″-long log. Brush off excess flour; transfer logs to prepared sheet, spaced 5″ apart. Flatten each log into a 2″-wide strip. Bake, rotating sheet halfway through, until browned and set, about 30 minutes. Transfer to a rack; let cool for 15 minutes. Reduce oven to 250° and arrange 1 rack in top third of oven and 1 rack in bottom third.

• Line a second baking sheet with parchment paper. Transfer biscotti to a work surface. Using a serrated knife, cut each strip diagonally into 2/3″-thick slices. Arrange slices, cut side down, on baking sheets.

• Bake biscotti, rotating baking sheets halfway through, until crisp, about 40 minutes. Transfer baking sheets to racks; let cool. DO AHEAD Can be made 3 days ahead. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

On Mother’s Day morning I made the Onion Frittata:

From Bon App.:

Ingredients

• 8 large eggs
• 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan
• 3 large fresh basil leaves, torn into pieces
• 3 large fresh sage leaves, minced
• 1 tsp. minced fresh rosemary
• 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 cup thinly sliced onion
• 1/3 cup whole-milk ricotta

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 400°. Whisk first 7 ingredients in a medium bowl; set aside. Heat oil in a medium ovenproof nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté until soft, about 6 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Stir in egg mixture. Spoon dollops of ricotta evenly over.

• Cook until frittata begins to set, about 2 minutes. Place in oven; bake until just set, 7-9 minutes. Slide the frittata onto a platter. Cut into wedges; serve hot or at room temperature.

The final result! What a delicious, nutritious and FRESH breakfast!

Check out this great slideshow from B.A. : 20 Reasons We Love Italy