Balsamic Vinegar Roasted Red Beets (& Carrots)

Tags

Beets, Carrots, CSA, Food, Local, low-calorie, Recipe, Vegetables

One of the foods I definitely avoided when growing up in Germany were red beets. Messy and just not desirable to me. In Germany, we eat these mostly raw as they are, raw in salads, or as a cooked compote-type dish. Neither held much appeal to me, and I pretty much managed to forget about their existence once I moved out, with the sole exception of the traditional Weihnachtssalat.

My CSA has been giving me bucket loads of beets, however, so I had to figure out something to do with them:

Ingredients:
– red beets
– carrots
– balsamic vinegar
– sweetener

Steps:
1. Peel and cube beets & carrots into 1/2 inch cubes. If available, wear gloves (I bring them home from the lab), unlike me during my brilliant first effort (although it’s a nice match with my nail polish, no?):

2. Keep the two vegetables separate, and toss each with 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar mixed with 1/2 packet of sweetener.

3. Still separate, roast in a glass baking dish at 375F for 1 hour.

4. Mix the two and serve as a wonderfully sweet, earthy and vibrant side dish!

On a side note: I discovered Chioggia beets, a wonderful Italian variety that is a tad milder and sweeter than your average red beet, and looks psychedelic pretty to boot!

These also taste great prepared this way, and don’t even need the addition of carrots:

What are some childhood foods you abhorred and have now rediscovered in different ways?

What other good beet recipes should I try?

Apple Cider Vinegar Braised Leeks And Green Onions

Tags

Apple Cider Vinegar, CSA, Food, Green Onions, Leeks, Local, low-calorie, Vegetables

When my CSA share contained leeks and green onions, I knew I wanted to braise them. And what better for a cold weather side dish than apple cider vinegar? Intensely flavorful, warming, and almost too low in calories to count at all, this one of my new Winter favorites!

Recipe adapted from Greene on Greens by Bert Greene

Ingredients:
– 1 large leek
– 3 large green onions
– 2 cloves garlic
– 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
– 1 packet sweetener
– 1 pinch salt
– ground black pepper to taste

Steps:
1. Spray a pan, then finely dice or crush garlic and brown slightly in pan.

2. Slice leek and green onions and add to pan. Cook over medium heat for about 3 minutes.

3. Add apple cider vinegar, sweetener and salt, stir well, cover and cook for about 15 minutes, until leeks and onions become tender.

4. Add pepper to taste and adjust sweetness if desired. Cook a few more minutes until liquid is reduced. (This version yields a very flavorful dish, but if you prefer it less vinegar-y, reduce apple cider vinegar and add water or apple cider to obtain 1/2 cup liquid total).

5. Enjoy!

Do you ever braise? I feel like braising gets forgotten way too often!

Curried Vegetarian Cauliflower Stir Fry

Tags

Cauliflower, CSA, Curry, Food, Indian, Local, Vegetables

The last few weeks that my CSA was going always included a head of cauliflower, so I tried my hand at some variations of what I normally would do with this vegetable.

Curried cauliflower is wonderfully spicy, warming and substantial and can be a main or a side dish, depending on your mood.

Ingredients:
– 1 head cauliflower
– 4 to 6 oz soy crumbles
– 1 tbsp ginger
– 2 garlic cloves
– 1 tbsp Madras Curry powder
– hot pepper to taste

Steps:
1. Remove central stem of cauliflower head, careful not to break up the florets

2. Steam covered with a wet paper towel for 5 minutes in the microwave
3. Meanwhile dice garlic, pepper and ginger and toast them in a pan over medium high heat with a pinch of curry powder
4. Add soy crumbles

5. Add cauliflower florets and a shot of water, stir fry for 10 to 15 more minutes, stirring frequently until cauliflower is tender

6. Enjoy!

Curried anything is a comfort food for me in the colder seasons of the year, and this works great with cauliflower. Feels hearty, is very healthy and low calorie. And vegetarian to boot! If you’d prefer, simply swap in lean ground meat of your choice.

What do you like to do with cauliflower? Is it a necessary evil or the star of your meal? Do you like to experiment with different cuisines?

Mushroom And Cabbage Stir Fry

Tags

Cabbage, Chinese, CSA, Food, Local, Mushrooms, Recipe, Vegetables

One day late because yesterday was dedicated to cookie devouring!

I’d mentioned that lovely baby bok choy and mushrooms stir fry I had in Beijing last week, and here is the promised recipe attempting to re-create it.

Now, baby bok choy isn’t available easily everywhere, and my CSA share contained green cabbage as well as some cooking greens, so I used those instead. The result wasn’t quite as buttery in texture, but still plenty tasty.

Ingredients:
– 1 small head cabbage
– 1 bunch cooking greens
– 10 oz sliced mushrooms
– 4 cloves garlic
– 2 tbsp ginger root
– 1/2 onion
– 1 hot pepper
– 1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce
– 1/3 cup dark rice vinegar or balsamic vinegar

Steps:
1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
2. Chop cabbage and cooking greens into bite size strips and boil for 10 minutes

3. Finely dice garlic, pepper, ginger root and onion

4. Brown in a large pan

5. Add mushrooms, soy sauce and vinegar and simmer for 10 minutes.

6. When mushrooms are tender, add drained cabbage/greens and toss in the sauce mixture to re-heat.
7. Enjoy as a side, or pack lunches for the week that you can easily microwave! Makes about five 2 cup servings.

Are you a cabbage lover, or is it not for you? I’ll take bok choy over green cabbage any day, but I suppose my German nature will take any cabbage more than gladly. What’s your favorite way to highlight/disguise cabbage in a dish?

Kohlrabi Curry

Tags

CSA, Curry, Food, Indian, Kohlrabi, Local, Recipe, Vegetables

Kohlrabi, a cabbage relative, is something I know well from growing up in Germany. The name translates as cabbage-turnip, and is one of those traditional vegetables many children try to avoid. You can actually eat them raw (after peeling), like an apple, or chop them into salads, but that never appealed to me.

When my CSA share contained kohlrabi, I swallowed and re-visited what I know about this vegetable foe of my childhood. It turns out that kohlrabi is one of the most popular vegetables in certain regions of India, and the local cuisine has cooked up many a tasty way to prepare it. So I ventured ahead and made a vegetarian kohlrabi curry inspired by this recipe with what I had at hand – I don’t claim this to be a traditional Indian recipe!

Ingredients:
– 3 kohlrabi with greens
– two roma tomatoes
– yellow curry powder
– 1/2 small onion
– 1 tsp minced ginger root
– 1/2 hot pepper
– 2 garlic cloves

Steps:
1. Cut the greens off the kohlrabi and reserve for later. Peel the bulb with a knife to reveal a white center.

2. Chop the kohlrabi bulb into 1/2 inch cubes and steam covered with a wet paper towel for 5 minutes in the microwave
3. Spray a pan, dice pepper, garlic, onion and ginger and brown in the pan.
4. Toast some yellow curry powder in the same pan

5. Add cubed kohlrabi to the pan
6. Finely dice the tomatoes and chop the kohlrabi greens, add to the pan
7. Simmer for about 10 to 20 minutes until chunks are tender, covered, over medium-high heat, stirring frequently.

Enjoy! Made from all fresh ingredients, very healthy, low calorie, and warming, flavorful and filling. Great dish!

Have you rediscovered staple ingredients in other cuisines and loved them? Or is there something you think nobody has managed to improve on, despite numerous attempts?

Sweet And Sour Eggplant

Tags

Chinese, CSA, Food, Recipe, Vegetables

Here’s a confession: I used to hate eggplant when it wasn’t in moussaka-form in Greece. I really, really hated it. I even tried grilling it healthily a few times, and I must have done something fundamentally wrong, because eww!

Then came China, with wonderful muslim eggplant dishes, and my curiosity was re-awakened. Enter my CSA, which presented me with the most gorgeous Chinese eggplant ever:

Now, Chinese eggplants are good for beginners because they are so much sweeter, more tender, and less bitter than the average thick, almost black Italian variety we tend to find in grocery stores around these parts.

And lo and behold, eggplant sweet and sour was prepared in my kitchen, and I tasted it, and I saw that it was good.

Ingredients:
– Chinese eggplant
– clove garlic
– 1 tsp minced ginger root
– 1 tbsp dark rice vinegar or balsamic vinegar
– 1 package sweetener
– 1 Sichuan pepper or half a small, hot pepper
– 1 tbsp soy sauce

Steps:
1. Preheat broiler while chopping garlic, pepper and ginger root.
2. Slice eggplant into 1/4 inch thick slices. For Chinese eggplant, peeling isn’t necessary; for Italian eggplants, you’ll want to peel. Sprinkle slices with salt and let sit for 10 minutes to draw out moisture.
3. Wash off salt, pat dry and broil eggplant slices for 5 minutes until tender on a foil-lined sheet.
4. Over medium heat, brown chopped ingredients in a sprayed pan.
5. Add vinegar, soy sauce and sweetener and stir well.
6. Add eggplant slices, simmer for about 5 to 10 more minutes, and enjoy!

Ironically, by now I am addicted to eggplant, even the regular kind, to a degree where my wife pokes fun at me and my CSA members know to find me if they want to trade in their eggplants for something else.

Have you become a staunch believer when it comes to certain ingredients? What’s your take on eggplant? Yay or nay?

Stuffed Peppers With A Puerto Rican Twist

Tags

CSA, Food, Local, Meat, Puerto Rican, Recipe, Sofrito, Stuffed Peppers, Vegetables, Zucchini

So last week I posted about sofrito, the mother of all sauces in Puerto Rico. Now, let’s use this stuff in a less traditional way!

My CSA share included red bell peppers and zucchini, and so stuffed peppers were in order. But rather than do a typical version, I tried using sofrito to flavor the stuffing, and loved the end result. So here goes:

Ingredients:
– 2 red bell peppers
– 4 oz ground lean beef, turkey, or soy crumbles
– 1 medium roma tomato
– 2 slices cheddar or cheese substitute
– 1 medium zucchini
– 1/2 cup sofrito

Steps:
1. Carefully cut out tops of peppers and remove seeds

2. Blanch peppers in boiling water for 15 minutes, make sure peppers are covered. Also preheat oven to 375F

3. Meanwhile, spray a large pan, brown the meat and chop tomato and zucchini. Add zucchini, tomato and sofrito to the meat and cook at medium heat for 5 minutes

4. Place the boiled peppers in a sprayed, oven-safe dish and spoon stuffing mixture in

5. Top with cheese-slices and pop into the oven for 20 minutes.

6. Enjoy without burning your mouth!

Substituting in soy crumbles and cheese substitute, combined with the fresh vegetables makes this a very low calorie (and even vegan!) dish with an international twist.

What ways have you found to spice up traditional comfort foods or update old recipes to rekindle your enthusiasm?

Sofrito, the Puerto Rican All-Purpose Condiment.

Tags

CSA, Food, Puerto Rican, Recipe, Sauce, Sofrito, Vegetables

My CSA shares included cubanelle peppers several times, and, being German, I really don’t know much concerning peppers other than bell and Hungarian peppers. I was completely clueless what to do with these.

Fortunately a Puerto Rican fellow graduate student in my Department beamed at the mention of cubanelles and launched into an explanation. Turns out cubanelle peppers are pretty much the only peppers used constantly in Puerto Rican cooking, and when I asked what recipe a first timer to the cuisine should make, I was immediately told to go with sofrito.

Sofrito is a sauce that goes on anything, especially starches such as rice and beans, but also on meats. It can be eaten hot or cold, and is both intense in flavor and in aroma. A great post on traditional sofrito can be found here.

So here’s the recipe Alice gave me for sofrito:

Ingredients:
2 cubanelle peppers
10 cloves garlic
2 medium tomatoes
1 red bell pepper
1/2 vidalia onion
1 large bunch cilantro

Steps:
1. Remove the seeds from the peppers and roughly chop
2. Roughly chop the tomatoes
3. Peel and roughly chop the onion
4. Remove the stems from the cilantro

5. Add all ingredients to a food processor (this was the inaugural recipe for the wonderful Warrior Handheld Blender that my wife surprised me with!). You should get about 4 cups of sofrito, which freezes really well when pre-portioned.

6. Use on rice, chicken or pork, or stir fry rice and beans. I used it here to top steamed turnips (also in my CSA haul!).

Your entire kitchen will smell intensely of Puerto Rico, and your taste buds will thank you! 🙂
Do you have other recipes you like to use cubanelle peppers in?

Winter Squash Cinnamon Soup – Squash Blog Hop!

Tags

CSA, Local, Recipe, Soup, Squash, Vegetables

It gets cold in Cleveland. Very, very cold. And since the last 4 or 5 CSA shares I received contained pie pumpkins and butternut, acorn and buttercup squashes, I got my soup-making apron on. Here’s a slightly sweet favorite of mine, winter squash cinnamon soup. And it’s my very first blog hop participation! 🙂

Ingredients:
– 4lb winter squash (here I used a 2.5lb butternut squash and a 1.5lb acorn squash, but mix and match as you’d like!)
– 1 bunch carrots
– 2 cloves garlic
– 1 quart chicken or vegetable broth, low-sodium
– 1/2 tbsp cinnamon

Steps:
1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Cut the squash(es) in half, bisecting the hollow section, and scoop out seeds and fibers
3. Peel carrots and cut into 1-2 inch pieces
4. Line a cookie sheet, spray with PAM, and place all vegetables plus the garlic cloves (I live to place them in the hollowed out squash sections)

5. Roast for one hour, then let cool for 20 to 30 minutes
6. Place garlic and carrots in a food processor or blender (I love my Warrior Handheld Blender to death!) , scoop the softened squash flesh out of the skin and add to the processor along with a cup or two of the broth. Blend.

7. Transfer mixture to a large pot, stir in rest of broth and cinnamon and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes.

8. Enjoy topped with a dollop of fat-free greek yogurt or sour cream! Makes 8 generous cups of soup.

And there you go. I love soups on cold days, I love how healthy and low calorie this particular version is, but I also love how easily this freezes and provides dinner in a pinch.

What are some of your easy, comforting staples to fall back on when you’re stressed or pressed for time?

Find the blog hop hosted at Baker Street!

Salsa Verde Recipe

Tags

CSA, Food, Mexican, Recipe, salsa verde, tomatillos, Vegetables

One of the very first things my CSA shares contained after I joined were tomatillos. Tomatillos look sort of like green tomatoes in a papery husk, but they are not related to tomatoes at all. Turns out tomatillos are grown all over the place in Ohio, which surprised me a little. When I was in Mexico a few years back, I’d seen them a lot, and I immediately knew I wanted to make salsa verde, or green salsa. So here goes!

All the ingredients, minus the lemon juice, were in the CSA share that week, so it worked out perfectly!

Ingredients:
– one bunch cilantro
– three small hot as hell peppers
– one quart of tomatillos
– half a red onion
– one clove of garlic
– lemon juice to taste

Steps:
1. First things first, peel and wash the tomatillos, halve them and put them sliced side down on a greased or foil-lined baking sheet. Roast for 7 minutes in the broiler to get nice, blackened splotches on the skin.

2. Get chopping on everything else! Rough chopping does it if you’re using a blender or food processor. Add the tomatillos and everything else to a blender and blend away.

3. That’s it. Taste to make sure you have the right amount of heat and acidity and add salt or pepper if desired. You should get about 2 cups of salsa verde, which stores in the fridge for a few days or can be frozen (use an ice cub tray or small containers to have serving size portions ready!) for later use.

4. Enjoy! I made chicken quesadillas with grilled tomatoes to go with the salsa. Delicious!

How do you like to enjoy your salsa? Do you prefer roja or verde?