What do they eat in Argentina??

I don't really know, but I'd love to find out! So that's where I'll be for the next two weeks. One beautiful thing about the Kearsarge Mountain CSA is they offer you the choice of pushing a couple week's shares to the end of the season if you go out of town. Perfecto!

So I am off! I will absolutely report back with pictures and tales of the tastes of Argentina (and the wine, oh the wine!)


ADIOS!

Let's talk about SALAD!!

Forget the dinky old side salad with iceberg lettuce, a pale chunk of tomato and a few pathetic slices of flavorless cucumber with bottled dressing. No no no. It is time to start making salads that we want to eat. Let's make them the delicious centerpiece of our meal. I am talking flavor train with multiple stops - salads are the perfect opportunity to get super creative in the kitchen and pump up the body with ultimate nutrition.

My college drawing professor, the amazingly talented Barry Moser, told me that "great art relies on the tension between opposites".  This idea struck a deep chord and has greatly affected how live I general and how I create meals specifically. I have found that salads are a fantastic avenue for exploring this idea. When you go beyond the cliche salad and start thinking about various greens and veggies, herbs, fruits, cheeses, beans, nuts and homemade dressings, it becomes clear that the possibilities are literally endless. Sweet fruits paired with bitter greens, crunchy nuts juxtaposed by creamy cheeses, hearty beans contrasted by light herbs -  this is where things start to get interesting.

With a fresh new bounty of CSA goodies, yesterday I created what might possibly be the best salad I have ever eaten. Let me explain.

First I began with the greens. Arugula and CSA lettuce and chard were chopped into uniform sizes (the way you cut the salad ingredients goes a long way in making the whole thing come together, so give it some thought).

Then, the herbs. CSA parsley and basil from my garden, coarsely chopped.

Next came the reds. CSA radish and beets from last week's share, along with organic tomatoes from vermont (found at Hannaford in New London).

Then CSA carrots and farmer's market cucumber. Also, some pineapple I had in the fridge, chopped pretty small (this is a great accent-flavor, not the highlight of the salad but a nice little surprise) and some canned organic garbanzo beans (that don't cost much more than non-organic canned beans, so it is an easy transition to make to ensure minimal chemical intruders). All tossed together.

Finally, I made an other-wordly salad dressing, the idea for which just seemed to be channeled through me from some divine source (like all good ideas are). It was a raspberry, balsamic, garlic glaze that went something like this:

• Farmer's market raspberry jam 
• Balsamic vinegar 
• Juice from half a lemon
• A few cloves of finely chopped garlic
• Not Just Salt seasoning
• A few dashes of cayenne pepper

The end result was a sweet and hot dressing that almost rearranged the soul. The two different sweetnesses of the raspberry jam and the balsamic went perfectly with the bite of the garlic and the warm, tingly sensation delivered by the cayenne pepper. It really worked. Adding some large flakes of parmesan cheese, the salad was complete. 

As my boyfriend Jon and I enjoyed this salad, the room was silent. After 10 minutes, he set down his fork in his empty bowl and said he could feel himself "leveling up". And I agreed. Marvelous. Try it.

Kearsarge Mountain CSA: Week 5

Wow, I cannot believe it has been 5 weeks of CSA! This experience has changed my relationship with food in such a profound way. Every week I am excited to come home and show my family what delicious, safe and wholesome food our local farms have provided for us.

We are now hooked for life, and I am so thankful to have this opportunity! I think everyone would discover that there are immense benefits and rewards in choosing to invest in a local CSA, so check out one near you! I have websites for Local Harvest and Kearsarge Mountain CSAs located on the sidebar, and there are so many more out there, too!

Here is what we got this week:

The evolution of the season consistently produces greater variety. It is a joy to see what our own land is able to provide for us as summer floats along. This, for me, is one of the best aspects of the CSA. It is a great way to connect. 

And, like I have become accustomed to doing, I stopped by the Tuesday Warner farmer's market to grab some mushrooms from Greenhill Collective Farm. Black trumpets (the dark ones) and chanterelles (the yellowy/orange ones) that were foraged for that day. Doesn't really get better than that. Also, at the Michelle's Garden stand right next door I found gorgeous homemade raspberry jam and a cucumber. 

And now for properly storing this week's bounty.

The chard and parsley were stored like flowers in water on the counter. 

I put the potatoes in a brown paper bag with a couple still leftover from last week. Stored in a dark, cool place, these guys will keep for a very long time so do not feel any rush to use them! Although potatoes make so many delicious things, it's not hard to use them up quickly. I try to savor them.

Last week's CSA gave me an (enormous) head of lettuce that I stored in some water in a big bowl in the fridge. That was not particularly successful (it wilted after two days), so this time I am trying something new. I pulled all the leaves off of the head of lettuce and washed them thoroughly. Dirt likes to cling to the inside leaves down by the stem, so I went over each leaf carefully so they would be ready to eat whenever.

Then I packed the leaves in a big container. We shall see how this goes! I have a good feeling. 

The peas, beans, squash and cucumber was tossed into the crisper drawer where they will easily keep well for the next week, probably much longer.

Finally, these beauteous carrots I put in a container in the fridge where they will be crispy and delicious for weeks to come.

And the tops were enjoyed by my little fury friend :) Everyone wins!

Some yummy recipes!

I've been having lots of fun cooking and incorporating CSA ingredients into my creations. Here are some things I came up with last week. 

PIZZA! Of course. I was going for four mini pizzas on the grill, but I chickened out and just put them in the oven (because they were floppy and I was afraid they would fall apart). 

I made two with homemade tomato sauce and two with homemade basil pesto. I have detailed these (rough) recipes in past posts, but will be creating a permanent recipes page soon that will include these ideas, homemade pizza dough and many more. Or you can always just wing it! It's a great way to get to know ingredients and experience is the best teacher anyway, right? 

So one pizza had black trumpet mushrooms and another had chanterelle mushrooms (purchased from Greenhill Collective Farm).

I made one with straight cheese, and finally this winner, which consists of pesto, tomato, arugula and gorgonzola cheese. Quite tasty.

For breakfast one morning I aimed to use lots of greens, so this breakfast burrito was created as a vehicle for beet greens. It also included chopped onion, tomato and avocado, and very cheesy eggs with a drizzle of sriracha.

Finally, this morning I was down to the wire on available ingredients, since this afternoon I was picking up my week 5 CSA share. So I was forced to get very creative with brunch. As it turned out, there was plenty to work with. I find that happens a lot - it looks like there is no food in the house until you start trying to make something and then you realize what great meals you are able to craft. That is why I think it is so important to let the kitchen dry up, so to speak, before shopping for more food. It really helps to cut back on food waste, too. Anyway...

I ended up with pancakes, incredible home fries with CSA potatoes, and local over easy eggs. 

The pancakes were from scratch, and I really like this recipe. The home fries began with boiling the cut potatoes (to speed up the sauteing/crisping process in the pan) while their pan was warmed with olive oil, onion, green pepper and garlic. I chopped a good amount of fresh basil from my deck to add in right at the end.

Upon tossing the boiled potatoes in the pan with the onion and pepper, I added spices: marjoram, paprika, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, black pepper and Not just salt (a mixture I got from Greenhill Collective Farm last week).

Once they were sufficiently crispy, I added the basil and some cheddar and gorgonzola cheese to melt on top (I didn't say that this was a particularly healthy meal...just very yummy).

Meanwhile, the pancakes were cooking away.

And when everything was done. it was all topped with a delicious local egg, some sriracha and, of course, KGF maple syrup.

Pretty great! And now for another week of CSA goodies...

Week 4 Creations: Pesto, Breakfast, Salad & Surf n' Turf

This week has started off with a bang of deliciousness.

First, the basil pesto.

I have several basil plants on my deck that grew into a mini jungle while I was away house sitting last week. So first thing on my list of food to-do this week was pesto.

I picked about 3 cups of beautiful basil leaves, both green and purple.

Then I found some nuts, a crucial component of pesto. Pine nuts is the typical choice, but I had walnuts. Just as good!

Then, as usual, I just sort of winged it with some key ingredients. Lots of olive oil, a whole lemon, 3 large cloves of garlic, a little balsamic and some chard from the previous weeks CSA that had gotten just a tad wilted but blended beautifully into this mixture.

To that I added a healthy amount of Parmesan cheese, black pepper and the Not Just Salt that I purchased from Greenhill Collective Farm.

And I blended it all until smooth.

One jar for me, one for my mom. Such a nice daughter thing to do, and so easy!

You can do so many things with pesto. Mix it with pasta, have it with crackers and cheese as a snack, put it on sandwiches... there really is no limit. And you can also make many different kinds of pesto, not just basil pesto. I'd say go ahead and use any herbs or greens that you have in abundance -from arugula and parsley to dandelion greens and cilantro, or a mixture of them all!.


Next, for breakfast I created one tasty breakfast sandwich, I must say. And it all began with a smear of my pesto!

To that I added arugula (organic but store bought...I didn't get any in my CSA share this week, bummer!), grated CSA beet and a little salt and pepper.

Then a little Gorgonzola cheese, an over easy local egg and lots of sriracha. No meat required!
It was flavorful and satisfying.

Then, for lunch... a salad! I started with a bed of chopped CSA head lettuce and some arugula. Then CSA beets, scallions and broccoli. A little tomato, parsley and Gorgonzola to top it off, and dressed with olive oil, balsamic and lemon. Easy and tasty! And I felt like a million bucks after eating. You really can't beet a salad. 

And finally, for dinner, some surf n' turf. Definitely out of my comfort zone, but it went pretty well.

First, we had leftover lobster from when we splurged over the 4th of July holiday like very stereotypical Americans (poor lobsters, I know I still feel guilty). So I turned it into some lobster salad. The ingredients: CSA grated beet, scallion, garlic scapes (from last week, still good!), and radish. Parsley, a little mayo, half a lemon, Not just salt, pepper, and sriracha. Turned out great.

Then we had a some tenderloin that my folks gave us from their share of beef that they bought locally from a friend. Very good stuff (and I wanted to treat my man to some meat, although real men don't need to eat meat. Real men eat salads. And mine says he never even misses meat when I cook for him, so he's definitely a keeper).

For plating, I made a bed of CSA head lettuce, a little arugula and some tomato with a drizzle of olive oil, balsamic and lemon for dressing. A scoop of lobster salad and a few slices of tenderloin, all topped with Gorgonzola cheese and cracked black pepper. Pretty yummy!

Good eats! 

Kearsarge Mountain CSA: Week 4

Sweet summer time delivers yet another sweet bounty. Tuesdays are great days. Here is what we picked up.

First we stopped at the Tuesday Warner farmer's market to check it out and get some mushrooms from the Greenhill Collective Farm stand.

We got these gorgeous mushrooms, black trumpet and chanterelle, foraged that day. I learned from Ben, my mushroom expert, that these black trumpets are found in deciduous forests and, seeing as they resemble crumpled up leaves, can be difficult to find. But they sure smell incredible. Another thing a learned was that they take no time to cook and it's best to cook them on the side rather in a dish where they can get lost. Also, the black trumpets can be cooked whole without any slicing or dicing and the chanterelles peel apart for easy knife-free preparation. Good to know, Ben, thank you!

And I picked up this incredible homemade seasoning, Not Just Salt, which features sea salt mixed with some delicious bonus goodies like dried black trumpet and shiitake mushrooms, smoked chili flakes, thyme, dill, coriander, calendula flower, brown mustard seed and cardamom seed. Score!

 And now, for the CSA package of the week.

Ok, I was admittedly extremely lazy when I got home with these treats so I just tossed them all in the fridge without any preparation. What I was really doing was seeing how long I could go without storing them properly before they tipped over the edge. Turns out, if you have a busy schedule or get lazy when it's hot out, you have a window of about 12 hours to store these veggies properly. Experiment successful!

The broccoli and peas were all bagged and good to go into the fridge. Although, if you want your peas to be ready-to-eat whenever, I would go through them and give them a good rinse and pull off the little ends.

The potatoes (yay potatoes!!) do not go in the fridge, but instead like a paper bag and a dark cool cabinet or drawer. Easy!!

The beet greens were, as usual, plunked in some water. They did get just a tad wilted from sitting in the fridge overnight, but the water will make them perk back up in no time. I boiled the beet roots, but left a couple for shaving raw into salads.

The radishes this week are stunning, don't you think? I tried one immediately and boy was it spicy! Whew! Radishes can pack quite the punch. I'm glad I know they've got an extreme kick so I will use them sparingly in salads and such. 

 Per usual, I sliced off the greens and the tips and submerged them in water for maximum freshness. My CSA experience so far has taught me that these guys are good like this in the fridge for at least 2 weeks! Amazing!

The GIANT head of lettuce I got is quite impressive! I am definitely going to be eating tons of salads and trying to use this up before any wilting happens. For maximum freshness I put this head lettuce in couple of inches of water in a big bowl in the fridge.

And the scallions I put in some water on the counter.

Lots of CSA recipe ideas to come, including pesto, salads and mini pizzas on the grill with my delicious mushrooms! Definitely stay tuned! 

A side note: I have been collecting lots of plastic bags through my CSA at this point (peas, broccoli, potatoes come in bags). I try to reuse them as trash bags or at the grocery store, but I am definitely open to suggestions on how to cut back on this waste! Maybe I can bring them back to the farm to be reused? Any thoughts? 

CSA Week 3 Recipes

First of all, check out this absolutely GORGEOUS beet! 

I have, as promised, been making lots of salads with this week's CSA goodies, like this gem here.

Simple but delicious, this is a combination of salad mix, broccoli, garlic scapes, peas and beets all from the CSA. I find raw beets to be most palatable when shaved with a cheese grater, so that's what I did here. I added some organic cherry tomatoes and dressed with homemade dill dressing. It was about 90 degrees out when I made this, so the crisp coolness of the veggies was particularly pleasing. 

And now for a quesadilla idea. 

I had several goals in mind while concocting this meal. First, I wanted to use my Greenhill Collective Farm shiitake mushrooms, as well as CSA zucchini and greens. I also had some cabbage that really needed to be used up. I was housesitting for my parents so I looked to see if they had anything that needed to be eaten before going bad. Turns out they had a leftover cooked ear of corn, radishes in the garden ready to be eaten and their basil plants desperately needed to be picked to make space for new growth. So, with that being said, here is what transpired. 

I combined all my veggies into one yummy mixture to be the quesadilla filler. Starting with the mushrooms, I realized that they are really spongy and would probably respond well to a little marinating. Using what was available, I soaked them in olive oil, red wine vinegar and red wine. 

Next I prepared the sauteed veggie mixture. First throwing some onions and the cabbage into a pan with olive oil over medium heat, then adding garlic scapes and zucchini. I let this cook for just a couple minutes before adding the mushrooms, some black beans and corn sliced off of the cob. Then I spiced it all up with garlic powder, cumin, ground coriander, cayenne pepper, black pepper and lemon juice. I turned off the burner and let it all come together under a lid for a couple minutes.

Then I organized all my ingredients. Lots of fresh basil from the garden, chopped CSA greens, grated fontina cheese, chopped radish from the garden, whole wheat tortillas and the veggie mixture.

Over medium-low heat I melted the cheese onto the tortilla and added the veggies.

Then I topped it all with greens, radish and a generous amount of basil (which I hand-ripped into large pieces, since all the knives I had at my disposal were very dull and I didn't want to bruise the basil leaves).

Finally I folded it all into a quesadilla and flipped it to make sure both sides of the tortilla got nice and crispy.

Cut and serve! It really was delicious, especially with a little sriracha.

And to top it all off, I used the leftover veggies to make breakfast burritos with cheesy scrambled eggs. A very successful cooking experience. A new batch of CSA delights comes Tuesday!