Purple and Green Tacos

My husband is the king of the crock pot.

Today, his recipe was stew beef in salsa (the salsa was from a jar, but made with real ingredients), cooked all day.

I came home from work and put the spicy, delicious meat on a whole-wheat flour tortilla with sliced red cabbage, arugula (I'm assuming my mystery leaves are arugula until someone tells me otherwise), parsley (because it's like cilantro?), feta cheese, and some fresh lime juice.

Mexican, no.  Weird, yes.

And absolutely delicious.

Veggie Dip

Necessity is the mother of all invention.

I remembered last night at about 10 p.m. that I signed up to bring a veggie dip to my kids' school for their Easter party.  Oops.

Thankfully, I was able to pull together a healthy dip in about 5 minutes using the lovely parsley from my CSA.

2 cups fat-free Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
1/4 onion, minced
1 bunch fresh parsley, minced

Put it all in a bowl and mix well.  Serve with veggies for dipping.  [Or, if you're feeling naughty, potato chips.  This is a perfectly healthy onion dip!]

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!

Fraggle Toast

I have a toddler, so sometimes it's all about marketing.  Toast with radishes became "fraggle toast" because, as any '80's kid knows, fraggles eat radishes!

One loaf of french bread (preferably whole wheat), sliced
Enough butter to lightly coat the top of each piece of bread
Bunch of radishes, thinly sliced
Fresh parsley, to taste
Cracked black pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Butter the slices of bread and then arrange them on a baking sheet.  Bake for about 10 minutes, or until the bread is lightly toasted and the butter is melted.

Top each slice of bread with radish slices (about 3 slices per piece of toast), parsley, and black pepper.

Enjoy!

This makes for a crunchy, salty/sweet treat that has plenty of vitamins.  I don't usually use butter in my cooking, but a little bit goes a long way in this recipe.

Oh, and, in case you're wondering, the marketing worked...

Green Salad with Radishes and Herbs

This is a German recipe and my husband's specialty.  We always serve this salad alongside our holiday meals (Thanksgiving, New Year's Day, etc.), but I'm not sure why we only save it for special occasions.

It's easy and would be enjoyable at any time of the year.

Two heads bibb lettuce
One bunch of radishes, sliced
Handful of dill
Handful of parsley
Handful of green onions

Toss to mix and serve with olive oil and red wine vinegar.

I was especially happy that for this salad, which we served at Thanksgiving, I was able to find local lettuce and herbs.  Surprisingly, though, I was unable to find local radishes.  I think I have a lot to learn about where to find local food once the farmers' markets shut down for the season...

Autumn Salsa

I always like to have an appetizer or two available for people to munch on when they first arrive for Thanksgiving.  But I've found that no one wants anything heavy because they're saving their appetites for the meal to come!

This autumn salsa, which was inspired by this recipe for butternut squash salsa, combines some of my favorite fall flavors, and is perfect for snacking before the feast.

Teaspoon of olive oil
Teaspoon of nutmeg
Half a butternut squash, peeled and diced
1 onion, diced
1 apple, diced and dredged in orange juice to prevent browning
1 pomegranate's worth of pomegranate arils
White vinegar (to taste, about 2 tablespoons)
Honey (to taste, about 2 tablespoons)
Parsley (to taste)

Coat the butternut squash in olive oil and nutmeg.  Roast at 325 degrees for 15-20 minutes.  Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Combine squash, onion, apple, and pomegranate arils in a bowl.

Add vinegar and honey and mix well to coat.

Add parsley and serve with blue-corn tortilla chips.

So pretty and unexpected!

Veal Patties in Parsley Sauce

One of the reasons I don’t enjoy cooking is that pretty much everything I make pales in comparison to what I could get at a restaurant.

Not tonight!
For years, I had been lusting after my mom’s veal patties with parsley sauce. She used to make them when I was a little kid, and they were my favorite meal. She long ago lost the recipe, but remembered that it came from an old Weight Watchers cookbook. Armed with that knowledge, I searched on google for “veal, patty, parsley, Weight Watchers” and found exactly what I was looking for here. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

The veal patties were easy -- if time consuming -- to make. I found local, pasture-raised ground veal and local parsley (both from Virginia) at Whole Foods. I updated the recipe a bit to suit my more modern tastes (does anyone still cook with margarine?) and to make it a bit healthier.  To do so, I removed the salt and the egg yolks, switched to whole-grain bread crumbs and low-sodium chicken broth, and used olive oil instead of margarine.

1 cup evaporated skim milk, divided
2 slices whole-grain bread [I used Ezekiel bread] torn into pieces
2 tbsp. olive oil, divided
½ cup diced onion
1 lb. ground veal
2 egg whites
¼ tsp pepper
Dash each ground nutmeg and ground allspice
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley, divided
1 & ½ cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 tsp all purpose flour

Preparation:

In food processor combine half the milk with bread and process for about 30 seconds. let stand for 5 minutes.

In small skillet heat ⅓ of the olive oil; add onion and saute until softened.

Add onion, veal, egg whites, and spices to processor and process until smooth.

Add ⅓ of the parsley and process to combine.

Refrigerate covered for 15 minutes.


Using moist hands, shape veal mixture into 8 patties and cook, turning once, until evenly browned.

Add chicken broth, cover, and let simmer for 15 minutes, turning patties once.

Remove patties from pan and keep warm, reserve pan juices.

Combine flour with remaining milk, stirring to dissolve. Stir into pan juices, stirring constantly, bring to a simmer and cook until thickened.

Stir in remaining parsley.

Serve over patties.

Having omitted the salt from the original recipe and having used low-sodium chicken broth, I found that the patties needed just a dash of salt at the table before they tasted perfect.

Each bite was like actually tasting my childhood. It was AMAZING. The patties have a lightness to them that’s heard to explain, and the thin sauce is inexplicably delicious.

I also made an incredible side dish with a recipe that I found here. Sweet, earthy, and crunchy, this acorn squash stuffed with chunky natural peanut butter, honey, unsweetened applesauce, and cinnamon was exactly the right thing to pair with the veal.

I started by halving an acorn squash and scooping out the seeds. Then, I added a tablespoon each of peanut butter, honey, and applesauce to each half.

I put it in a baking dish with 2 cups of water and baked it for an hour.

When it came out of the oven, I scooped out all the squash and toppings, mashed them together in a bowl, and then returned the delicious mash back into the acorn squash shell for a beautiful presentation.

I outdid myself!!

I felt the need for something green, so I served the veal patties with the acorn squash and some steamed broccoli. Paired with a Sam Adams Octoberfest, it was one of the best dinners I’ve ever had.

CSA Virgin can rival a restaurant any day!