I dread coming down with a summer cold. There's nothing worse than getting sick in the summer other than both you and your hubby getting sick in the summer. It feels like double the punishment. As if being sick isn't bad enough, laying in bed and sleeping through the brief days of sunshine we have in Ohio seems just plain cruel. I originally had pretty grand plans for the beet greens- which you can see in the above picture was the focus today rather than just the beets themselves. Then I got the CSA email for next week and revised my plan. Then I came home from work early and slept for two hours and nothing involving beet greens sounded too appetizing to me. And then I had an epiphany. Biscuits! Biscuits and gravy! That would make me feel better for sure! But then I realized I might feel better briefly, but gravy probably wasn't a brilliant idea. I stuck with my biscuit idea, but swapped the gravy for greens and the sausage for farm fresh eggs. I was dubious that the greens would be all that appealing considering how icky we both felt, but in the end this improvisation was a smash hit for both of us. I'm just glad we hadn't lost our sense of taste yet! Here's hoping its one of those 24 hour flu/cold type things and our house gets back to normal soon.

Green Eggs Minus the Ham
**Swap out beet greens for any green you might have on hand. Make sure your skillet is nice and hot when you cook 'em up since they will release quite a bit of liquid. Poached eggs have been somewhat of a magic trick I haven't quite mastered, probably due to my lack of patience. Hubby followed the directions in Ad Hoc at Home by Thomas Keller and they were perfect. Setting the timer for an exact 1.5 minutes definitely helped.

Fresh Biscuits: I followed a recipe in The Joy of Cooking and they came out great (especially with the butter I still have from last weeks CSA bundle), but use your favorite recipe or stop at Popeyes and get some for a fast dinner

3-4 Farm fresh eggs (Source: Martha's Farm)
Beet Greens (Source: FFM)
Spinach (Source: FFM)
1-2 cloves garlic
1-2 TBL spicy brown mustard
S&P

Bake your biscuits if you haven't already. Keep warm while you prepare the eggs and greens. Bring salted water to boil in a deep saucepan for eggs. Meanwhile, wash and prep your greens. Heat a skillet with olive oil or butter on medium heat. Saute greens until wilted and S&P. Add garlic when greens are almost ready, about 5 minutes after you first placed them in the pan. While greens finish cooking, poach your eggs one at a time for about 1.5 minutes for a soft yolk. Before plating, add 1 TBL of spicy brown mustard to greens and toss to coat. Plate up your biscuits, greens and then eggs. S&P the eggs and serve while piping hot. A little swiss or gruyere would be delicious shaved over the top, but I didn't have any so I skipped it. 

The first time I ever flew on an airplane was on my way to a service trip with my youth group. We were headed to Cusco, Peru and I kept having horrible flashbacks from the movie about the soccer team that crashed in the Andes and ended up eating each other. All that aside, the trip was the beginning of a significant change in my life and I fondly recall many memories including hiking up to Macchu Pichu one day. I stood at the top of one of the terraces and took in the view below and was just astounded that I was standing in a place that I had seen only in history books. It was as mystical and beautiful as you can imagine. The trip began to provide me with insight into a more global perspective and ultimately a more meaningful life.

On the trip, one of the things I learned was that potatoes were actually first discovered in South America. I guess I had always assumed they were native to North America because of all those bags of “Idaho Potatoes” I saw at the grocery store. I mean, if you’re going to say that potatoes are your claim to fame, then shouldn’t you have the market cornered? Anyway, I later also found out that most sweet potatoes in the US are of the yam variety which is quite confusing since it’s not a true yam or sweet potato at all. Amidst all this apparent confusion the sweet potato is actually very good for you with loads of fiber and vitamins. Another plus is that sweet potato vines are in the morning glory family and produce beautiful blooms as well. Unfortunately, I had never really been a fan of sweet potatoes until recently when I discovered that they are pretty awesome in savory dishes rather than smothered in brown sugar and marshmallows at Thanksgiving. Sweet potatoes go great with eggs and greens, so that was the inspiration for this recipe. If you haven’t cooked sweet potatoes without some form of sugar, give this recipe a shot and let me know what you think! Hopefully we will be receiving some local ones later in the season and I will highlight some of my other favorite recipes.

Warm Sweet Potato and Zucchini Salad

**I admit that this recipe doesn’t really fit into the theme of this blog since sweet potatoes aren’t in season. I’m trying to do a better job of cooking seasonally and locally, but I do have a soft spot for these little guys so I hope you will give me a pass just this once.







2-3 sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced ¼” thick
1-2 zucchini (green or yellow), sliced lengthwise ¼” thick
Salad greens  (Source: FFM)
Cilantro and Parsley (Source: Fire escape garden)
1-2 fried eggs (Source: FFM)
S&P

Dressing:

1-2 TBL Dijon mustard
1 TBL white balsamic vinegar
1-2 TBL olive oil

 

Brush olive oil on sweet potatoes and zucchini slices. Grill on your grill pan until tender. Note: The zucchini slices will cook much faster than the sweet potatoes! Make up your dressing. Cook fried egg, leaving the yolk a little runny. S&P your greens and divide sweet potato and zucchini plus greens into two or three salad portions. Drizzle dressing on top and “garnish” with egg. 


Listening:
Artist: She & Him
Album:  *** we didn't quite listen while cooking.  Went to the show immediately following eating dinner!

The Boston Red Sox are in town and they brought the Big Green Monster with them. Okay, maybe they didn't but the Big Green Monster was at my house tonight. I usually try to make sure our meals are a variety of colors because who wants to eat an all yellow meal? However, we were in the green tonight both literally and figuratively since our meal was a vibrant, fresh green in color and made with entirely local ingredients from our FFM bag this week. I didn't mind so much that our meal was monochromatic because it was a home run (ahh puns) in the flavor department that's for sure. With a pasta dish and a hard boiled egg (that we had left over from last weeks share), lettuce, spinach salad we were set!

When I saw that we would be receiving garlic scapes this week I was totally lost. I didn't even know what the heck these scapes were! But, I love garlic so I wasn't too concerned. After a bit of research (and finding a picture of these things) I was so excited to cook with them. I was hoping to get a large bunch so I could experiment with several recipes that I found but the bunch was pretty small with only two scapes. Then I found out we are getting MORE next week and all was right with the world. It's a good thing too, because these delicate fronds are absolutely delicious. The sharp garlic flavor with a hint of a scallion taste was going to go perfectly in a pesto over the spinach pasta from Ohio City Pasta. I'm excited to get a chance to try them in another dish soon!

Monster Green Pasta
**I really do need to work on getting exact measurements, but it's just not how I cook. So I apologize in advance for those of you that are frustrated by my recipes. I used pistachios in lieu of pine nuts because that's what I had on hand and I often use them in another pesto recipe. But feel free to make substitutions based on what you have and like!


1 lb spinach fettucini (Source: Ohio City Pasta, see link above)
bunch of scapes (I had 2, Source: FFM)
basil (Source: Fire escape garden)
pistachios (I used about 1/8-1/4C)
lemon juice (about 1-2 TBL)
olive oil (about 1/4 C)
feta (Source: Blue Jacket Dairy)


To make the pesto, finely chop scapes and put in food processor with pistachios (or other nuts), the lemon juice and a little olive oil. Pulse 1 min and add the rest of the olive oil and pulse until smooth. Add S&P.


Boil salted water for your pasta. Salting your water is extremely important and Gorden Ramsey is always yelling at the contestants on Hell's Kitchen about it. Don't be a donkey, salt your water! Cook pasta to al dente- fresh pasta takes about 4-8 min. Drain and mix with pesto and feta immediately. Serve warm.


Listening to as we cook 
Artist: The Black Keys
Album: Brothers

We began our journey into a less meat centric diet about a year and a half ago. I thought the process would be relatively difficult since I couldn't really think of many meatless dishes aside from pasta or those that contained meat substitutes. Considering my type-A personality I was up for the challenge to broaden my "vegetarian" horizons. My first task was to find and subscribe to some vegetarian living blogs. Around this time I also received a free subscription to Bon Appetit magazine which had the most delicious meat free meals. My mouth practically watered looking at the beautiful photography and reading through the recipe lists. By taking the plunge and having relatively low expectations we became huge fans of a variety of grains and of course lentils. One of our favorite discoveries was quinoa- the super "grain." This little guy packs so much flavor and nutrition, making meatless meals a real treat rather than a sacrifice. My husband and I both crave this recipe and we have made countless iterations of it based on what I have in the house. We also fall back on quinoa in lieu of rice or pasta occasionally. My next challenge is locating some organic red quinoa which I hear has an even more fabulous flavor. I will be highlighting other quinoa recipes in the future, so stay tuned!

Quinoa Summer Salad
**I adapted this recipe from one in Bon Appetit magainze that used farro, which at the time I didn't have so I subbed quinoa and it was a masterpiece! The measurements are pretty much all relative and this recipe is so adaptable to what you have on hand and your tastes.  There are very few of what I call "non-negotiable" ingredients in this dish that make it a hit time and time again: the dressing, the feta or goat cheese, green onions, and fresh herbs. The rest is up to you.


1 C quinoa, organic if you can find it
2 C water
blanched green beans (I used edamame because its what I had on hand!)
fresh corn (frozen works too in a pinch, just run it under water and drain)
green onions
fresh herbs- I like to use parsley or cilantro, basil is a little too savory for this recipe so I wouldnt use it (Cilantro source: FFM)
feta or chevre (Source: Blue Jacket Dairy)
spicy grainy mustard
lemon juice
olive oil
garlic or shallot
kosher salt
**if I have grape or cherry tomatoes I halve them and toss 'em in for a little extra color

Cook quinoa either on the stovetop or in the microwave. I like to use the fewest dishes possible so I microwave mine in a big bowl- 1:2 ratio of quinoa to water. Cook uncovered in microwave for 5 min at 100%. Then cover and cook for 10-15 min. on 30%, stopping to stir halfway through. Fluff with a fork and set aside while you chop.

Chop your veggies and herbs. Combine garlic or shallot and kosher salt and press with the back of a spoon into a small bowl to mash the garlic up a bit. Mix lemon juice (usually use about 2 TBL) and grainy mustard (about 1-2 TBL) and olive oil (1-2 TBL) with garlic and salt mixture. Dump your veggies, herbs, and dressing in with the quinoa and toss to coat evenly. S&P and add feta or chevre and toss gently.

You might be surprised to know that as a scientist, I have had several discussions on this very (seemingly) simple question. I firmly stand by my assessment that it was indeed the chicken, but that's another topic for another day. At any rate, I dont' really care which came first- whether the free range (pasture fed) chicken that produced the eggs we received from Holistic Farms in our FFM bundle this week or the cafe au lait colored eggs because the fact remains, they are delicious!

I've been somewhat of an organic, free range, locally produced egg skeptic but I really can't remember why having now tasted these eggs. Perhaps it was my biased judgment that organic eggs were "too expensive." The $3+ a dozen was certainly off putting when I knew I could get eggs for 89 cents a dozen. But really, what's "too expensive" for good quality, good taste, responsible farming practices? As a culture we have been misled to believe that food should be cheap. The only way that food is cheap is because we have made it that way by abandoning sustainable and responsible farming techniques and have grown accustomed to tomatoes year round and bananas in North America- where, I for one, have never seen a banana tree actually grow. I'm sure most of you have seen the recent food documentary called "Food, Inc" and if you haven't, you should. If you are reading this blog you probably are an organic and local supporter already so I don't plan to belabor the point but I think it is important to mention. I may not be able to personally afford a diet consisting entirely local, organic and responsibly farmed products seeing as how I am a graduate student (though I sure wish I could!). But I think we can all make smarter choices about what we are putting into our bodies.  In order to afford better food, we have cut down our meat intake to about 1-3 meals a week on average and embraced some creative vegetarian options which I will be highlighting soon. My meat and exercise loving husband was skeptical at first, but now he is fully convinced you can get a well balanced and protein rich food from things other than meat. In turn we have become healthier, wealthier and hopefully more wise. After all, maybe if more people cut out the cable package or downgraded our data plans for our cell phones that we convince ourselves are necessities, we would get back to what's really important- being healthy and warm and happy.

As soon as I got the email about the contents of this weeks package, I immediately knew what I would do with some of the spinach, eggs, cheese and sausage buns. I hope you enjoy this recipe!

Egg "Salad" Sandwiches
*This isn't so much a cut and dry sort of recipe. Add your favorite toppings and there are no exact measurements. Perhaps that's why I'm a better cook than I am a baker- in my everyday job, measurements have to be precise and exact, but at home I can just be creative and cook to what tastes "right"! This quantities I have given are for one sandwich.




1 Sausage Bun (Source: our FFM bundle!)
2 free range eggs (Source: Holistic Farms, see link above)
2-3 slices of grass fed Blue Gouda Cheese (Source: Mayfield Creamery)
1-2 spinach leaves (Source: our FFM bundle!)
Garlic Aioli- just finely chop some garlic and mix it with either store bought mayo or homemade!
Thinly sliced onions (I like to use yellow or vidalia onions but use whatever you like)
Butter

Lightly butter sausage bun and grill until warm and toasted (I used my grill pan!). Warm some butter in a non stick skillet and cook eggs to your preference (I basically fried mine). **IMPORTANT*** In my opinion, when you cook eggs you should always S&P them while they are cooking. Shmear the garlic aioli on the bun and layer onions, cheese, spinach and eggs. Enjoy!