Farm Direct Coop Recipesor. . . what you can do with your share!

Ooooh what a fun haul! We were super excited to see tomatoes! Really, there isn’t too much better than warm summer tomatoes. Except when you add a little salt. So. GOOD.

The goodies:

Week #5 was chockful of: black raspberries, blueberries, zucchini, summer squash, tomatoes, beets, carrots, walnut sourdough, basil vinegar and arugula.

I love the photos my husband takes!

It seemed to be a little cooler this week (or perhaps I have acclimated finally?) so I did more than just salad assembling. What did I do with this lovely haulage? Check it out.

Black Raspberry Bread with Whipped Creme

I was imagining a spongey, lemony, fluffy goodness of a bread. My husband pretty much wants everything with whipped cream (I am incredibly grateful for my KitchenAid stand mixer!) and I wanted something light and refreshing to accompany it.

I adapted it from this Lemon Blueberry Bread recipe over at All Recipes, which is a handy site (espescially if you’re wondering what to do with an ingredient you’ve got on hand. You can simply enter random ingredients into their search feature. It gives me lots of ideas when I get stuck.)

1/2 cup melted butter

1 cup sugar

juice and zest of 1 lemon

 2 eggs

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup milk

1 pint black raspberries

Combine dry ingredients and set aside. Cream together eggs and butter for three minutes. Add milk, lemon juice and zest. Add dry ingredients. After washing black raspberries, toss in flour before adding to cake batter. This assures they won’t sink to the bottom of the bread. Which makes for prettier pictures.

Bake at 350 until it’s done. My oven took about 25 minutes.

For the whipped cream, I used about a cup of heavy cream (I prefer this to whipping cream as I feel it’s got too many unnatural ingredients and I don’t want monoglycerides in my food) and 2 tablespoons of organic powdered sugar. You can use a hand or stand mixer, or, if you’re looking to work your upper body, whisk it by hand! I topped the whipped cream with mint, because mint makes things look fancy. 

Caprese Salad

 I know, right? You can totally taste it. These tomatoes were HANDS DOWN pretty amazing. I wanted to really taste the tomatoes and make them the feature of the dish. I paired with slices of mozzarella, and farm share basil (from the potted herbs in week #1). I arranged in a circle, topped with extra virgin olive oil, cracked pepper and coarse salt. Suffice as to say, there was nothing remaining in short time. We loved it!

Roasted Zucchini and Summer Squash with Lemon Ricotta

Blogging pics of (mainly) everything I cook has opened my eyes a lot. I tend to make a lot of salad! I was trying NOT to do that this week. I decided to roast these up instead.

1 zucchini, diced into even pieces

1 summer squash, diced into even pieces

drizzle of olive oil

pinch of fennel seeds

pinch of cumin seeds

juice of 1/2 a lemon

Salt, pepper

ricotta

Preheat oven to 400. Add veggies and oil to a pan and roast for about 18 minutes. Remove from oven, add spices, toss, and return to oven for five minutes.

In a bowl, add a few spoonfuls of ricotta, and juice of the lemon half. Mix up, and plate next to the zucchini and squash. Add a wee bit more olive oil to the ricotta. They’re really good when you eat them together!

Roasted Beets with Rosemary

My girlfriend Anne and I could talk about food and recipes for days on end – and we sometimes do! So when she sent me a link for a recipe for roasted beets, I jumped right on it. We made the same thing for dinner that night. And when your dear friend is all the way in Kentucky, it’s a nice little feeling.

You can check it out right here: Roasted Beet Wedges

Moroccan Tagine

This is 1) a favorite in our house and 2) a total joke in some ways. I have “threatened” to make this on many a hot night, only to scrap it at the last minute. Hey, I always have the best of intentions. And while I can do lots of things, I can’t control the weather. So now “moroccan” is synonymous with “we’re-totally-getting-takeout-instead”.

I came across this recipe this past winter, and ohhhhh, I have been in love with it since. I used the farm share carrots for this little gem.

Moroccan Tagine from Bon Appetit is a great recipe. I make it exactly as it reads here. I think you could substitute ground chicken, turkey or ground meatless, for the vegetarians. It’s really REALLY good. I hope you make it and LOVE IT!

I have two little kids of my own and have noticed many kids at the depot.  this taken from   http://www.epicurious.  is for them.

• 1 yellow squash (1/2 pound)
• 1 plum tomato
• 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons shredded fresh basil leaves
• 1/4 pound frozen pizza dough, thawed
• cornmeal for dusting baking sheet
• 2 tablespoons coarsely grated smoked mozzarella

1. Prepare grill. Thinly slice squash. Halve and thinly slice tomato lengthwise.
2. In a large nonstick skillet heat oil over moderate heat until hot but not smoking and cook squash with salt and pepper to taste, stirring frequently, 2 minutes.   ( Generally I grill rather than stir fry  the veggies, but what ever you prefer will do)
3.  Add tomato and cook until squash is barely tender, 2 to 3 minutes.
4. Remove from heat and stir in basil
5. Divide dough into 4 pieces.
6.  On a floured surface with floured hands rotate and stretch each piece into a 4-inch round. (Do not roll out, as dough has too much elasticity and will shrink.) Put rounds in one layer on cornmeal-dusted baking sheet.
7. Grill rounds, cornmeal sides up, on a lightly oiled rack set 5 to 6 inches over glowing coals until undersides are golden, 2 to 3 minutes. If crusts puff up in the center, prick with a fork to allow air to escape. Flip crusts over with a metal spatula and top each with one fourth squash mixture.
8. Sprinkle pizzettes with mozzarella and grill until undersides are golden and cheese is melted, about 2 minutes.

This one is a go to for us for hot BBQ nights.  Perfect for upcoming  July 4th!  Orginally found at cookinglight.com

• 3  small zucchini (about 1 pound)
• 3  small yellow squash (about 1 pound)
• 1  tablespoon  extravirgin olive oil
• 1/4  teaspoon  grated lemon rind
• 1  tablespoon  fresh lemon juice
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt
• 1/8  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
• 1  garlic clove, minced
• 1/3  cup  thinly sliced fresh basil
• 1  tablespoon  chopped fresh oregano
• 1/4  cup  (1 ounce) shaved fresh Parmesan cheese 

1. Shave zucchini and yellow squash into ribbons using a vegetable peeler, stopping at the seeds; place ribbons in a large bowl. Discard seed cores.

2. Combine oil, rind, juice, salt, pepper, and garlic in a small bowl; stir with a whisk. Drizzle oil mixture over vegetable ribbons; sprinkle with basil and oregano. Toss gently. Sprinkle with cheese. Serve immediately.

I foud this recipie last year at www.epicurious.com.  It came out great and was fun to cook.

1 1/2 lb medium yellow squash, halved lengthwise and cut crosswise into 1/8-inch-thick slices

• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh basil

1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then add half of squash and sauté, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 5 minutes
2.  Transfer browned squash to a bowl, then heat remaining tablespoon oil and sauté remaining squash in same manner.
3. Return squash in bowl to skillet. Add garlic and sauté, stirring occasionally, 1 minute.
4. Add water, salt, and pepper and simmer briskly, covered, until squash is tender and most of liquid is evaporated, 6 to 7 minutes.
5. Stir in basil

From FDC Newsletter August 2007, submitted by Jane

Serve hot or cold

• 1 1/4 lbs. smally yellow squash
• 1 small onion diced
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1/4-1/3 c dry white wine
• 1 tsp cider vinegar
• salt and ppper to taste
• 2 tbsp finelychopped dill ( or more to taste)
• 2 tbsp sour cream ( more to taste)

1. Shred sqaush on large holes of box grater
2. Saute onion in olive oil and butter.  When onions are transparent add squash.  Cook Down, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.  
3. When squash has substantially reduced in volume add 1/4 cup white wine ( or more if needed) and reduce until almost all the liquid has evaporated.
4. Remove from heat. Stir in vinegar, dill, salt and pepper and sour cream if serving hot.  If serving at room temperature add sour cream just before serving.   It is also great next day cold or at room temperature.

Variation  subsitute zucchini for yellow squash and basil for dill.