Mixed Greens Salad

So much of what I have been eating in the past few weeks has been salad.  It's hard to blog about salad.

But I think I do a disservice to the world of CSA eating not to blog about it.  Eating salad is critical to making the best use of CSA veggies.  It's also critical to your health.  If you have any doubts about the necessity of eating outrageously huge quantities of dark leafy greens -- and eating them every day -- I refer you to "Eat to Live" by Dr. Joel Fuhrman.

Tonight's salad started out pretty standard: romaine lettuce, carrots, and radishes.  But then I got weird and added carrot greens and radish greens, as well.  They're very good for you and they're actually delicious!  I serve my "mixed greens" salad with chipotle-infused olive oil and a splash of white vinegar.

My picky husband ate his whole salad, weird greens and all, without complaint.  Greens are great!

Whole-Wheat Honey Muffins

These were supposed to be carrot muffins.

I've been having a bit of a problem with my CSA carrots lately.  After a few days in the 'fridge (they don't fit in the crisper drawer), they wind up a bit...flaccid.

They're hard to peel once they get like this, and although they still have great "carroty" flavor, they have the wrong texture for use in salads or, really, anything else.

Except a puree.

So puree them I did.  And then I used them to make muffins.  I assumed the muffins would turn out somewhat like carrot cake or carrot muffins.  But the carrot flavor ended up being very subdued behind the copious amounts of honey that went into this recipe (1/2 cup of honey spread over 8 cupcakes, plus more for drizzling on top).

The more I thought about it, the more I decided that was a-okay.  Nothing makes a recipe more kid- and husband- friendly than when it's stuffed with vegetables, and they can't tell at all.  This recipe may have a lot of honey, but it also has a lot of carrots, egg whites, whole wheat, and fat-free Greek yogurt.  Which makes these muffins pretty healthy in my book, especially compared to the sugary cupcakes that usually pass for muffins out in the world.

I based my recipe on Cupcake Project's yogurt and honey cupcakes.  I substituted carrot puree for the butter and the Greek yogurt, whole-wheat flour for the all-purpose, and used three egg whites in place of two, whole eggs.

This recipe makes 8 cupcakes -- as in NOT a full dozen.

1/2 C honey (plus extra for topping)
2/3 C carrot puree
3 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 C whole-wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
 8 tablespoons fat-free Greek yogurt for topping

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, mix honey and carrot puree together.  Mix in egg whites, one at a time.  Stir in vanilla.

In another medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Slowly mix the flour mixture into the honey mixture until smooth.

Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full.

Bake at 350 F for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out dry.  Allow cupcakes to cool.  Just before serving, top with Greek yogurt and drizzle with honey.

Kenyan Curried Cabbage

I am normally not very partial to cabbage (which is why I still had some kicking around from last week's CSA delivery).  But this recipe changed my mind.

Cabbage is now at the top of my list!

[Which is a very good thing, because I still have another whole head of it in my fridge.  The CSA stops for no woman.]

My father-in-law has high blood pressure.  He recently researched foods that could help him to control it.  At the top of his list was turmeric.  My in-laws are AMAZING cooks, but turmeric is not a spice they're used to using.  I promised to research some recipes for them.

It turns out that turmeric is a key ingredient in curry powder.  Curry is a staple food in my house, but my in-laws don't prefer "hot" foods, so I imagine that they don't eat curry very often.  I didn't want to suggest a curry that they wouldn't enjoy, so I went looking for something a little more unique.

I thought this recipe for Kenyan Curried Cabbage, adapted from Kayotic Kitchen, would appeal to them.  The recipe uses wheat flour and milk, both of which are off limits to my poor father-in-law.  However, I imagine that gluten-free flour, and soy or nut milk, would work equally well in place of the wheat and dairy here.

1 medium head of cabbage
1 medium onion
2 medium carrots
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 tablespoons whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup low-fat or skim milk plus 3 tablespoons of low-fat or skim milk
1 teaspoon curry powder (contains turmeric!)

Shred the cabbage, onion, and carrots.

[I should note that I had gorgeous blue/purple carrots from my CSA, but that any kind of carrot would work fine.]

Put the olive oil in a skillet and cook the onions for about two minutes over medium-high heat, until they begin to soften.  Add the cabbage and carrots.  Cook for an additional two minutes, until the cabbage begins to soften.

In a small bowl, combine the flour, 3 tablespoons of milk, and the curry powder.  Stir until the lumps are gone and it forms a smooth paste.

Add the paste to the onions, cabbage, and carrots.

Stir well to coat.  Cook for about one minute, and then add an additional 1/2 cup of milk (I measured the milk into the same bowl I used to make the paste, in order to grab the remaining curry powder).

Cook until the cabbage and onions reach your desired consistency.  For me, I like my veggies to be barely cooked.  The equivalent for a steak would be "still mooing."  I cooked my version until the cabbage and onions were softened on the outside, but retained a nearly "raw" crunch on the inside.  I achieved this in two to three additional minutes.

The result was sweet, spicy, creamy and crunchy, all at the same time.  Something about the taste and texture of this recipe made me really want to add raisins to it, so I sprinkled them over my individual serving.

Ahem.  Serving(s).  I went back for seconds, thirds, and fourths.

I hope you enjoy it, Bud, and that it has the intended effect!

Grilled Carrots with Carrot-Greens Pesto

If you Google “carrot greens,” you will come up with a lot of conflicting information about whether or not they’re edible.  I didn’t find any sufficiently authoritative source (a public-health organization like a hospital or a government agency) saying that carrot greens were toxic, but I did find a number of bloggers who posted recipes using carrot greens, and who lived to blog again.

After two weeks of cautiously using carrot greens only for making stock (can you see them in the pictures here and here?), I decided to try a straight-up, carrot-greens recipe.  My husband and I both ate this for dinner on Thursday and -- I’m pleased to report -- survived.

I took the fabulous idea for grilled carrots with carrot greens pesto from Not Eating Out in New York.  I agree with her wholeheartedly that this dish “just makes sense somehow.”  I followed her recipe almost exactly (halving the carrots, blanching the greens, etc.), but used my own pesto recipe (excluding the kale and rosemary).  Actually, my own recipe is remarkably similar to hers, with only the addition of some fresh lemon juice and the omission of salt. 

I served the carrots as a side dish to plain, baked chicken, and put the pesto all over both the carrots and the chicken.  It was amazing.  In contrast to last week’s kale pesto, which blended into a smooth, creamy sauce, the carrot-greens pesto retained the chunkiness that is more characteristic of a typical (basil-based) pesto sauce.  The carrot greens have a fresh, herby, “carrot-y” flavor that is hard to describe but easy to appreciate. 

Even my husband liked the carrots and pesto, though he did complain at the outset that carrot greens are not food, and that they are meant to be thrown away.  The funny thing is, I left about a quarter inch of greens attached to the carrots, and my husband left those behind on his plate.  I pointed out to him that leaving the attached greens behind was silly; they were, after all, the same greens that formed the pesto.  In response, he reiterated his position that one does not eat carrot greens, and then asked me if I was a rabbit.  Some fights are not worth having: He was taking a big bite of pesto covered chicken as he said it.   

This was a great recipe that I’ll definitely make again.  That is, of course, if I live that long after having eaten carrot greens in the first place.

Bok Choy and Shrimp Soup

Last week’s CSA delivery included two, large bunches of bok choy.  Bok choy is not a vegetable with which I’m particularly familiar.  I knew enough to know what it was, but that’s about it.  The only memory of eating bok choy I could conjure was a really delicious soup with bok choy that used to be served in my college cafeteria (more than ten years ago, ahem).  So, after using the first bunch in a stir fry, I knew what I would have to try with the second bunch.

Luckily, I had a huge container of home-made vegetable broth at the ready!

2 carrots, chopped

½ large onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1-inch diameter nub of fresh ginger, chopped

1 jalapeño pepper, chopped

1 large bunch of bok choy, chopped

1 teaspoon of olive oil

10-12 cups of low-sodium vegetable broth (preferably homemade!)

½ cup of low-sodium soy sauce or tamari

2 cups of cooked shrimp

3 tablespoons of spring (green) onions, chopped

Put the carrots, onion, garlic, and ginger in a pan with the olive oil and cook until the garlic and onions just start to brown.  Put the vegetable broth, soy sauce, bok choy, pepper, and the contents of the pan into a large pot.  Bring to a boil and then turn down to low, cooking for 30 minutes.

If you have raw shrimp, you can add them to the soup at the outset.  I had only the pre-cooked, frozen kind.  I defrosted them and set them aside to add when serving, so that they didn’t become overcooked.  Ditto for the delicate spring onions.

To serve, I put a few shrimp and a few pieces of spring onion in a bowl and ladled the soup over it.  The heat of the soup warmed the shrimp perfectly. 

I’m trying to watch my intake of carbohydrates, so I didn’t add any rice or noodles, but this soup would certainly be delicious served over either one.      

My husband loved it!  He had seconds and even inquired about the best way to bring it to work for lunch without making a mess.  [Freeze it in individual containers so that it’s solid and doesn’t slosh around during the commute, let it defrost during the morning in your lunch bag, and then heat it in the microwave.] 

CSA Week #2

OMG!  OMG!  OMG!  OMG! 

ASPARAGUS HAS ARRIVED!!!

Ever since reading "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver, I have been patiently (and, at times, not so patiently) awaiting the arrival of spring in order to eat asparagus.  Week after week, I have snubbed the neatly packed stalks from Peru at Trader Joes (yes, the ones I used to buy, week after week, without fail, before reading the book). 

I have missed asparagus.  I have longed for it.  I have eyed it on restaurant menus and dejectedly asked for a side of something "in season" instead.

But now it is here!

I opened my CSA bag last night and actually gasped.  Thin, beautiful, asparagus stalks.  Plenty of them.  Fresh.  Local.  Sustainably-grown.  In season. 

There were other things, too: lettuce, kale, carrots, spring onions, thyme, and sage.  [Admittedly, CSA Virgin had to consult a "Visual Guide to Fresh Herbs" to figure out that the thyme was thyme.]

I couldn't wait to dive in to all of it, especially my long-awaited asparagus.  But it was 9:30 at night -- no time to cook.  So I made another simple salad of the lettuce, carrots, and -- yes -- the asparagus.

It was as glorious as I thought it would be.  I spent the night dreaming of what I would make with the rest.  

Vegetable Broth

When I first considered joining a CSA, my biggest fear was wasting too much food. 

I wasn't sure I would know what to do with half of the "weird" veggies I received.  I was concerned that the volume of vegetables would be more than I could eat.  I was afraid I wouldn't commit to chopping, cooking, and otherwise preparing the food I received.  I simply didn't know how I would handle all of that perishable produce, and was concerned that it would all rot in the bottom of my 'fridge.

I did a lot of research before I joined my CSA on this very question.  And my research all led me to one place.

Broth.

If you don't know what the heck to do with carrot greens, make broth. 

If last week's veggies are still kicking around when you get this week's delivery, make broth. 

It's a CSA coping mechanism, and it's a good one.

As it turns out, though, I used most of my veggies in the first week.  [Success!]

But I did have plenty of scraps (carrot greens, kale stems, cabbage hearts, etc.) that I collected in a tupperware container in the 'fridge over the course of the week.  I threw them all in a stock pot on Sunday evening, filled it with water, brought it to a boil, and then allowed it to simmer on low for 3 hours. 

What emerged was a rich, dark broth that is fat-free and salt-free, but nonetheless flavorful and perfect for making soup or cooking grains.

I strained it into a metal bowl and allowed it to cool overnight in the 'fridge before moving it to tupperware containers.  I put half in the 'fridge for a soup I have in mind, and froze the other half for later use.

I really love making broth from scraps like this.  It must be good karma not to waste a single scrap of plant food, right?

Pork Chops with Braised Vegetables

My grandmother's pork chops are the most moist and delicious pork chops anyone has ever made.  My grandmother doesn't do much cooking these days, but she shared her recipe with me several years ago.

3-4 pork chops
Black pepper, to taste
1 onion, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
1 green apple, chopped
1/2 very small head of cabbage, chopped
Teaspoon of olive oil
Water
Apple sauce and sage for serving (optional)

First, she puts pepper on both sides of each pork chop (she also puts salt, but I omit it).  Then she puts a teaspoon of olive oil in a skillet and browns the pork chops for a few minutes on each side, just until golden brown. 

[This usually involves a lot of grease spattering on the wall.  And my mother yelling about such grease.  And my grandmother telling her to relax.]

Then she removes the pork chops from the pan (they're still raw on the inside...) and sets them aside.

In the same skillet, she puts a chopped onion, which she cooks until the pieces start to turn translucent in the remaining olive oil and browned bits from the pork chops.  I added sliced cabbage, apples, and carrots, too, but the original recipe is onions only.

Once the onions start to brown, she returns the pork chops to the skillet and fills the skillet with water until the pork chops are just covered.  She puts a lid on the skillet and cooks it on low for an hour.

My grandmother serves it with plenty of the "juice" and all the onions (or onions and other veggies, in my case).  A little apple sauce doesn't hurt, either.  And I had fresh sage, so I threw some of that on top of it, too.

This is a plain dish, for sure, but it is comforting and delicious.  I totally reject the idea that "comfort food" has to involve heavy, fatty food like macaroni and cheese.  Comfort food is whatever has been cooked for you, with love, for your whole life.  Whatever stirs up your memories.

[In this case, my memories involve my mom scrubbing the wall behing the stovetop before dinner was even served.]

I paired my pork chop and braised veggies with a green salad (romaine, kale, olive oil, vinegar, and black pepper).  Maybe one day my kids will think of pork chops and braised vegetables with a green salad as comfort food, too.  I can only hope!

["Mama, what are those SPOTS doing on the wall?"]

Peanut-Beef Cabbage Cups / Bok Choy and Kale Stir fry

Okay.  I finally got brave enough to do something more than make a salad with my CSA veggies.

Here are almost all of this week's CSA veggies in one delicious, Asian-inspired meal!

Peanut-Beef Cabbage Cups:

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup orange juice

1/4 cup tamari (or low-sodium soy sauce)

1 tablespoon white vinegar

2 teaspoons honey

1/4 cup sesame seeds

Combine ingredients (peanut butter through sesame seeds) in a bowl and whisk together.  Set aside.

1 pound of ground beef (mostly lean, grass-fed)
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (more or less to your taste)
1 teaspoon sesame seed oil

Put all the ingredients (beef through oil) in a skillet and cook over medium/high heat until meat is browned.  Add the sauce and continue to cook as necessary to evaporate/absorb excess liquid.

1 small head of cabbage, outer leaves removed
2 carrots, shredded into ribbons
Sesame seeds, for garnish

Scoop individual servings of the peanut-beef into individual cabbage leaves.  Top with carrots and sesame seeds.  Eat with your fingers!  My toddler really enjoyed this dish -- she loved setting up the cabbage, scooping the beef, and placing the carrots!

Bok Choy and Kale Stir-Fry:

2 big handfuls of kale, stems removed

1 bunch of bok choy

1 onion

1 handful raw cashews

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1/2 cup water

Put all the ingredients (kale through water) into a wok and stir fry until vegetables are of the consistency you desire.  Serve alone or over brown rice with a bit of soy sauce.

CSA Week #1

My first delivery of vegetables from Practically Organic Community-Sponsored Agriculture has arrived!!!

The first delivery contained lettuce, kale, cabbage, bok choy, carrots and herbs, all grown sustainably only four miles from my house.  Everything is so bright and fresh and green!  I am so thrilled!

My first experience with CSA vegetables was a spectacular failure, so I decided to keep it simple this time.

I made a salad of lettuce and carrots, then topped it with white vinegar, chipotle-infused olive oil, and a dash of black pepper.  So crunchy and wonderful!  There is nothing like fresh veggies!

Carrot Cake Oatmeal

The more I read food blogs, the more I notice an absolute obsession with oatmeal.  Kath Eath Real Food.  The Gracious Pantry.  There are many others.

I never shared the obsession.  I always thought oatmeal was...just...okay.

I was wrong.

The problem was that I had never gotten creative enough with my ingredients.  And that I had never included any egg whites (who knew?).

This recipe will work with regular or instant oats.  If you use instant / packet oats, be sure the only ingredients are oats (or other whole grains / seeds) and maybe a pinch of salt.  No sugar.  No flavorings.  No colors.  No other ingredients at all.  In general, I would recommend steel-cut oats or other long-cooking, minimally-processed oats.  But instant is what I happened to have on hand.

This will make the world's most filling breakfast, given the protein from the oats, the egg whites, and the nuts, and the fiber from the oats and the carrot.  You might not feel a desire to eat again all day!

One packet of instant oats
Water, according to packet instructions
2 egg whites
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon maple syrup
1 cup of finely grated carrot (about 3 carrots' worth)
small handful of walnuts
sprinkle ground cloves
sprinkle ground nutmeg
sprinkle ground cinnamon

Prepare the oatmeal according to instructions.  When the oatmeal has been fully prepared, stir in the (raw) egg whites.  Fear not -- the heat of the oatmeal will cook them!  You will be amazed at how fluffy the oats get when you stir in the egg whites.

Add the rest of the ingredients and stir.

Prepare to become obsessed.

Italian Wedding Soup

My first attempt at chicken stock worked out so well that I couldn't wait to try it again.

This time, I also used a rotisserie chicken carcass, but I omitted the apple.  I added carrot, onion, celery, and some kale that was soon going to go bad.  We were home all day, so it simmered on low for about five hours.

When the stock was ready, I strained it and then made Italian Wedding Soup with it.  I wanted to make something that was warm, hearty, and had lots of veggies and lots of meat (my carnivorous husband has been putting up with a lot of vegan cooking lately -- he's earned it).

10-12 cups of chicken stock (preferably home-made!)
1 pound of sweet Italian sausage, removed from casing
1 piece of Ezekiel bread
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 egg whites
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup small, uncooked pasta, like ditalini
4 cups chopped dark, leafy greens (I used mustard greens, turnip greens, collard greens, and spinach)

Rip the Ezekiel bread and put it in the blender to pulse into crumbs.  Put the crumbs, sausage, and egg whites into a bowl and then mush together by hand.  Form into 1-inch meatballs.  Put olive oil into a pan and brown the meatballs in batches.  [They don't have to cook all the way through, but they should be brown on all sides.]

Remove the meatballs from the pan and set aside, but leave the oil in the pan.

Put the carrots, celery, and garlic in the same pan and cook for about 3 minutes.  Then put the chicken stock, the veggies, the meatballs, and the pasta in a large pot.  Bring to a boil and then let simmer for 45 minutes.  After 45 minutes, add the dark, leafy greens and cook for 15 minutes more.  Serve.

This meal made the whole family happy: veggies for me, meat for my hubby, and soft finger food (cut up meatballs, carrots, celery, and pasta) for the toddler and baby.  A winner!

Indian-Spiced, Parsnip, Apple, and Chicken Soup

I made this soup entirely from scratch.  Yup, I made the stock, too!

After reading Joel Salatin's "Folks, This Ain't Normal," I was inspired to cook with a whole chicken.

A few nights ago, my husband roasted a bird, stuffed with an apple, covered in olive oil and rosemary (in a 400 degree oven for about an hour).  We had the chicken for dinner with vegetable side dishes, including Winter Fruit and Cabbage Side Salad.  That night, I picked through the leftovers, separating the meat from the bones, skin, and sinew.  I put the meat in one bag and the bones, etc. (including the apple!) in another.

Tonight I made the chicken stock.  I put the remains of the chicken (including the apple, but not the meat) in a stock pot along with carrots, celery, onion, garlic, kale, Brussels sprouts, and parsley.

[It was pretty much a sampling of all the fresh veggies I had in my 'fridge that I had no other immediate plans to use.  You could use whatever veggies and herbs you have on hand.]  Then I covered the ingredients with water and brought them to a boil.  From there, I turned it down to a simmer and allowed it to cook for three hours.

During that three hours, I became ADDICTED to the smell wafting from the pot.  I actually had to tell myself, "just clear out the dishes in the dishwasher and then you can go take another whiff."  Which turned into, "okay, a whiff after I finish the top rack...".

When the three hours were up, I removed the big "stuff" with a spoon, and then strained the remainder over a bowl.  I wasn't picky about the very small bits of chicken and veggies that remained; if you are, you could strain through a cheesecloth.  It seems like such a waste to throw out the veggies used to make a stock, but it's really not.  They've given up their flavor to the stock and would only add unpleasant texture if you kept them.  Think of them like tea leaves.  :-)

I tasted the stock and it was amazing with a sprinkle of salt and pepper!  I couldn't wait to make it into a tasty soup.

I put the stock back into the stock pot, and added 5 chopped parsnips, 2 peeled and chopped apples, 1 chopped onion, and a 1/2 bunch of chopped celery.

I also added the leftover chicken meat.  Then I put about a teaspoon of garam masala in a tea ball and dropped it in.  The tea ball was pretty much superfluous, because the spice got out anyway!

I allowed it to cook for half an hour, until the vegetables were tender.

I served the soup with very light sprinkles of salt, pepper, and more garam masala.  It does need just a touch of salt to make it taste "like a soup."

The result was a fragrant, spicy / sweet soup that was unexpectedly delicious (I had high hopes for this soup, but not this high!).  If you have not had parsnips in soup before, you absolutely must try this recipe.  The parsnips are so sweet!  Sweeter than the apples!  Who needs sugar?!

And my experiment with the whole chicken was a definite success.  The soup made enough food to feed an army, so for a $13 (organic, free-range) chicken, I got countless meals.  That never happens with a package of boneless, skinless breasts!

Beef and Winter Veggie Stir Fry

I love to make stir-fry, but it’s not a dish that I usually associate with winter vegetables. I’m more inclined to reach for peas and bell peppers than for kale, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts. But it turns out that fresh, winter veggies make a delicious and authentic stir-fry!

Sauce ingredients:
1/3 cup orange juice
1/3 cup Tamari (or low-sodium soy sauce)
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Stir-fry ingredients:
1 pound shaved beef (pastured and grass fed!)
1 nub of fresh ginger (about the size of a thumb), peeled and sliced
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
1 onion, peeled and sliced
1 cup kale, sliced into ribbons
2 cups cabbage, sliced into ribbons
4 Brussels sprouts, sliced into ribbons
1 cup baby carrots
1/2 cup raw cashews

Whisk together all of the sauce ingredients.

Put the beef, ginger, garlic, and onion into a wok. Put two tablespoons of the sauce in the wok and cook, stirring occasionally, until beef is just about done.

Add the kale, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, carrots, cashews and the rest of the sauce to the wok. Stir together and cook for 2-3 minutes or until veggies are warm, but still crisp, and the beef is done.

Viola. A beef stir fry that keeps veggies at the center, and tastes delicious without tons of sugar, oil, or salt.

I eat this just as it is, but it can also be served over a mix of scrambled eggs and rice.

Scramble two egg whites and one whole egg (I like at least one yolk in there so that the scrambled eggs look a little yellow) in the wok or in a separate pan. Add the scrambled eggs to two cups of cooked brown rice and mix together. This makes a kind of a “fried rice” that cuts down on the carbs (even if you eat the rice) by including protein-packed egg whites in the mix.

I should note that my husband tolerates kale and cabbage, but despises Brussels sprouts. I slipped them into this stir-fry and he cleaned his plate without so much as a question about the ingredients. Score one for me in “putting food in his food”!

Carrot-Raisin Salad

This is the exceptionally sad story of my hyper-local carrots.

Last weekend, I looked out over my deck to the space where my daughters and I had a small vegetable garden in the back yard last summer.  Much to my surprise, I saw carrot greens sticking up!

In case I doubted that carrots were still growing locally in December, my own neglected garden showed me that a beautiful bunch of carrots could indeed be harvested in Maryland the week before Christmas.

Look how excited I am about my carrots!!

I brought them in the house and intended to wash them later.  Later turned into a few days, and the carrots were still in the fridge -- unwashed, with greens still attached -- when my husband came home from a business trip.

When he got home, he took one look at them and threw them directly in the trash.

When I found out about this, I freaked out.  "Why would you throw out perfectly good carrots?!"

His response: "They were dirty."

I almost fainted.  "THEY ARE DIRTY BECAUSE THEY CAME FROM THE GROUND!"

The bleach-dunked, machine-lathed, pre-bagged "baby" carrots at the grocery store have clearly made an impression on my otherwise very smart and wonderful husband.

We clearly have a long way to go on our local food journey.

This recipe for carrot-raisin salad is what I would have done with my hyper-local carrots.  Instead, I did it with the other carrots in the 'fridge.  At least I can take solace in knowing that they are "clean."

Carrots, shredded (as much as you want)
Raisins (until the carrots-raisin ratio looks right to you)
Plain, fat-free Greek yogurt (enough to coat carrots and raisins lightly)

Put everything in a bowl and mix it together.

Sprinkle ground nutmeg over the top.

Easy and delicious.  If not hyper-local.

I handed a small bowl of this salad to my toddler while she was completely engrossed in an episode of "Fraggle Rock."  She broke her concentration long enough to say, "Mama, I love this snack!"

I guess it doesn't matter (that much) where our food comes from, as long as we enjoy it.  Right?

Beet and Beet-Green Borscht

My has husband been a total sport about eating my vegan lentil, spinach, and wild rice soup.  But I think he's craving meat.  And, to be honest, I am, too.

I recently lost about 40 pounds, thanks to tough workouts from P90X and strict adherence to a high-protein, low carb, low fat diet.  I ate A LOT of egg whites, chicken breast, and pork tenderloin.  A lot of broccoli and spinach.  But pretty much no potatoes or other starches, and virtually no bread, rice, or pasta.

I'm a little nervous that carb-heavy seasonal foods (potatoes, etc.) are going to make me fat.  But I'm trusting that the home-cooked bounty of the earth will not fail me.  And, in fairness, despite a marked uptick in my consumption of carbs, my weight has not changed an ounce in the many weeks I've now been working on the locavore thing.

Nevertheless, I'm feeling the need for some protein to go with my lovely veggies.  The last timeI had beets in the house, my husband requested borscht.  So, with the "no feedlot" stew beef I found in the 'fridge (hubby is good at keeping it stocked with some kind of meat, in the hopes I'll eventually cook it), I decided to try the traditional Russian soup.

The recipe I loosely followed is one I found at Simply Recipes.  I wasn't up for all the fancy meat-shank cooking in the original recipe, so I just browned the stew meat in a pot with the onions and then threw everything else (up to beet greens and stems) in with it to cook.  [The original recipe called for cabbage, which I had forgotten to buy.  But the beet greens and stems looked like good roughage, so I chopped them up and threw them in, too].

5 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
3 cups water
1 pound stew beef
1 large onion, peeled, chopped
8 large beets, peeled, chopped
4 carrots, peeled, chopped
4 small blue and red potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 cups beet greens and stems, chopped
3/4 cup chopped fresh dill
3 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 cup fat-free Greek yogurt
Pepper to taste

Spoon into bowls and serve each with a splash of red wine vinegar, and scoop of yogurt, and fresh dill sprinkled over top.

It was delicious, filling, and so veggie and protein packed, I'm convinced it'll actually do good things for my figure!

Roasted Turkey Rubbed with Olive Oil, Sage, Thyme, and Rosemary

My husband prepares the bird each year with the same whole foods: roughly-cut apples, celery, carrots, and onion inside, a quick rub of olive oil outside, and fresh herbs (sage, thyme, and rosemary) where ever they will fit.  The meat is always moist and fragrant!

Here are this year's birds going into the oven...

Next year, I think I'd like to try a local breed.  But this year we didn't get our act together in time...

Apple-Thyme Carrots and Parsnips

I love to roast vegetables at Thanksgiving, but my old standbys were getting a little stale.

I mixed it up this year by roasting carrots and parsnips together.  I topped them with snips of fresh thyme and cracked black pepper, and then coated them in olive oil and apple-cider vinegar.

I roasted them at 325 degrees for about a half hour.

They came out sweet with a vinegary bite!

Portuguese Kale and Blue Potato Soup

I had been flirting with various recipes online for Portuguese Kale soup for a few weeks, but I couldn’t commit to making any particular one. Some had potatoes, others didn’t. Some had beans; others didn’t. Some had tomatoes; others didn’t. All of these are good ingredients in concept, but I wasn’t sure which combination I was in the mood to try.

Finally, I decided there was sufficient variety on the theme that I’d be just fine if I went my own way, and didn’t follow any one particular recipe (with apologies to the Portuguese people for what I’m sure is a bastardization of their proud national dish).

After a quick trip to Whole Foods (…unfortunately the epitome of “supermarket pastoral” per The Omnivore’s Dilemma…there are some things I sort of wish I didn’t know…), I had one lovely Italian sausage, carrots, onions, garlic, kale, and some gorgeous blue potatoes.

I decided to use only one sausage in order to flavor the soup, but not more than that in order to keep the focus on the lovely veggies. I also didn’t bother seeking out pre-packaged Portuguese or Spanish sausage; I stuck instead with the freshly-ground stuff in the butcher’s case, which happened to be Italian pork sausage.

The blue potatoes were an impulse buy; they were just so pretty that I had to get them. I’m not actually a huge fan of potatoes, especially in soup, but they were so pretty, and I knew my husband would appreciate the spuds (he’s a huge fan, in all culinary contexts).

Cooking the soup couldn’t have been simpler.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
2 chopped carrots
1 chopped onion
1 quart low-sodium vegetable broth
4 chopped blue potatoes
1 teaspoon chopped fresh sage
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 bunch of kale, stemmed and torn into pieces

I put about a tablespoon of olive oil in the bottom of a large pot, and then put a heaping tablespoon of chopped garlic, two chopped carrots, one chopped yellow onion, and the sausage, which I had freed from its casing, in the pot.

When the sausage was cooked and the onions translucent, I added a quart of low-sodium vegetable broth and six cups of water. I then added the chopped blue potatoes. I seasoned the soup with fresh sage and crushed red pepper (I used about a teaspoon of each, but you could very it according to your taste). I couldn’t believe how colorful and gorgeous the carrots and blue potatoes were together!

I let the soup come to a boil and then turned it down to low to simmer. I then ripped bite-size pieces of kale off the stems and added them to the soup while it simmered.

The soup would probably have been ready in about 30 minutes, but I let it cook on low until my husband came home from work, which probably brought the cooking time to about an hour.

Before I served it, I skimmed the fat off the top. There wasn’t much (because I only used one sausage), so it probably could have stayed in the soup. But I’m crazy like that.

The soup was warm, spicy, and comforting. Very nice for a chilly evening in. We didn’t have any crusty bread to dip in it, but it was kind of calling out for some. Recommend for next time. My husband also requested that I make polenta to serve with the leftovers this weekend. Yum! Will do, honey.

Butternut Squash and Green Apple Soup

After my last death-defying experience cutting up a butternut squash, I have to admit that I nearly succumbed to the oh-so-tempting, pre-peeled, pre-cut cubes that I found at Whole Foods. I even put the packaged butternut goodness IN MY CART.

But I know that when I have my CSA next year, I won't have that choice: I'll have to man up and face the squash. So out went the beautiful, golden hunks wrapped in cellophane and styrofoam (eek! are we still using styrofoam?) and in went the fresh-from-the-ground, whole butternut squash.

When I got home and got out my huge knife, I had a pang of regret. When I tried to scoop the flesh out of the skin and it kept getting stuck, I had more than a pang of regret.

But it was worth it. I'm finding that there is nothing more satisfying than starting with a whole food and ending up with a finished meal. Especially when it's really hard to do.

Cutting the butternut squash was really the only hard part about my butternut squash and green apple soup. I started with this recipe, and then made it my own.

1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 rib of celery, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed, chopped
2 tart green apples, peeled, cored, chopped (chop second apple only just before serving)
3 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
1 cup water
1 teaspoon garam masala

Set a large saucepan over medium-high heat and heat the olive oil. Add the onion, celery and carrot and sauté for 5 minutes, taking care to turn the heat down if the vegetables begin to brown.

Add squash, 1 chopped apple, broth and water. Bring to boil. Cover, turn the heat down to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes or until squash and carrots soften. Puree with an immersion blender.

Serve into bowls, sprinkle with garam masala, and top with chopped apples (it is best if you chop the apple right before serving so that none of the pieces turns brown).

This beautiful soup was really easy to stay on top of while entertaining (read: drinking wine), but looked and tasted special for a nice dinner with friends.