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!

1 large bunch of Kale
3 cloves of fresh garlic, or 3 tsp diced or crushed garlic
2 15-oz cans diced tomatoes with spices, or add ½ tsp of basil and ½ teaspoon of oregano to regular diced tomatoes
1 TB olive oil
1 tsp. ground cumin (optional)

Rinse Kale and shake dry. Trim and cut off long stalks, rip or cut the leaves in to bite-sized pieces. Heat olive oil in a deep Dutch oven or wok over medium-high heat. Squeeze garlic through a garlic press (or use diced/crushed garlic) into the hot oil. When the garlic starts to brown, drop in kale. Stir frequently during the first minute or two to ensure that all the leaves are coated with oil and turn a brilliant green. Reduce heat to medium and cover, stirring occasionally, or until all leaves are wilted – about another 5-10 minutes. Pour in two cans of spiced diced tomatoes and sprinkle with cumin. Stir. Cook over medium low heat 10-20 minutes more or until kale is tender. This dish can be kept simmering for hours and is delicious when warmed as a leftover or after being frozen.
Adapted from Penzey’s One Magazine, Vol 1 Issue 5.

This recipe is from Raw Chef Chad Sarno via member Leah Jacobson.

One bunch kale
a bunch of plum tomatoes, chopped
lemon juice from 1-2 lemons
flax oil
1-2 avocados
sea salt (pinch)
cayenne (optional, to taste)

Wash and cut kale into small pieces.  Add flax oil and sea salt and rub it in with your fingers. It should now get a wilted/cooked look. Scoop out the avocado and blend it in well with your hands. Next add the lemon juice, toss again. Add tomatoes and cayenne (optional) toss again.  Enjoy!

This is a rich, decadent pasta dish – my idea of heaven in a bowl – so I only make it a couple of times a year. It’s great for dinner parties because the “sauce” is prepared ahead of time. The original source of the recipe is lost, at least to me: I found it in 1998 on an old Epicurious forum called Gail’s Recipe Swap.

To remove the rind from the brie, chill it well in the refrigerator; cut the wedge in half (like a piece of pie) and stand each piece up, cut-side down. Use a knife with a long, thin blade to slice off the rind. You can omit the sun-dried tomatoes and/or kalamata olives, if you don’t have them on hand.

•  1 lb brie, rind removed, cut into small pieces
• 5 oz sundried tomatoes in oil, drained and cut into thin strips
• 4 ripe tomatoes, cut into cubes
• 1/2 cup Kalamata olives, pitted
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
• 2/3 cup olive oil
• 18 ounces fresh linguine or 1 pound dried
• freshly grated fontina or parmesan cheese, to taste

1.  In a large bowl, combine Brie, sundried tomatoes, tomatoes, olives, garlic, basil, pepper and olive oil. Cover and let sit at room temperature for 2 hours. (Optional: occasionally remove cover, stir and inhale the heady aroma of your future dinner). 

2.  Prepare pasta according to package directions. Drain pasta and immediately toss with tomato mixture (the brie will melt a bit, depending on the butterfat content and state of your cheese – the riper the brie, the more melting). Serve immediately with grated cheese. Serves 4-6 as a main course.