Baby Ganoush: Baba Ganoush made with baby eggplant. So cheesy right?

I have always loved eggplant, so when Calvin brought home a million little purple beauties from our CSA I was thrilled. So today I am making baba ganoush, a creamy, decadent, eggplant dip that is a major crowd pleaser and yet really simple and easy.

Baba Ganoush
20 baby eggplants or 2 large eggplants
1/4 cup of tahini (use more or less on your taste preference)
juice of half a lemon
olive oil
4 cloves of roasted garlic (I prefer to use roasted garlic over raw garlic.  If you use raw garlic, use 1 clove instead)
1 teaspoon of cumin
salt and pepper to taste

Before

After.  They aren't so cute anymore.

Prick the eggplant with a fork and roast in a 375 degree oven until nice and soft (you can use the same technique when using a large eggplant).  Let the eggplant cool, and cut open to scrape the meat of the eggplant away from the skin.  Put the eggplant in the food processor.  Add tahini, lemon juice, garlic, cumin, parsley, salt and pepper.  While the food processor is running, drizzle in olive oil until you get a creamy consistency.

Peeling these babies was a labor of love (and plenty of skin ended up in the food processor).  I suggest using a larger eggplant to make life easier.  Just cut them in half and scrape with a fork.

Serve with sliced cucumber, radishes, pita, chips or anything else you have on hand. 

I was saving this for Calvin, but it may not last that long.

No Noodle Lasagna

Lately, all I want to eat is cheese.  Great idea, right?  Not really.  So I needed a way to satisfy that craving without the guilt.  Last week from our farm-share, we got enough zucchinis to feed a small army, so I decided to make a zucchini lasagna.  I have had enough cheese lately, so I am going to make a cashew cheese to satisfy this craving.  To be honest, this is the first time I am making this dish with zucchini.  Normally, I use eggplant (which is DELICIOUS, and ends up being a cross between lasagna and eggplant parm, without the parm).  If you decide to use eggplant, just bake the slices of eggplant first for about 10 minutes.  Fingers crossed this all turns out alright...

Cashew Cheese

1 and 1/2 cups raw cashews

1 tablespoon of nutritional yeast

2 tablespoons of lemon juice

Salt and Pepper to taste

Water

First, soak the raw cashews in water for approximately 3 hours. Drain the water and put into a food processor with lemon juice, nutritional yeast, salt and pepper.  Start to run the food processor and drizzle in water through the feed tube.  Do this slowly, stopping to check if the consistency is to your liking (think ricotta, not cashew soup).  I use this all the time in recipes instead of cheese.  You'd be amazed how good it is!

I like to stock up on raw cashews at Trader Joe's and store them in the freezer.

No Noodle Lasagna

4 small zucchinis or 3 large

Cashew cheese

Tomato sauce (I made my own, but feel free to use a jar to make life even easier.  For the recipe, check out my Pizza Party post).

1 egg

Pre heat the oven to 325.  Slice the zucchini thinly (I did not cut them as thinly as I should have), sprinkle with salt and set aside on paper towels to drain.

To assemble the lasagna, start by putting a little sauce on the bottom of a baking dish. (Please ignore the dish I am using. Normally I would be using a square baking dish, but we cooked for friends and lost our dish forever.  Ever heard of a round lasagna? Me neither.  This is gonna be weird.) 

Next, put a layer of zucchini slices.  Then add a layer of cashew cheese.  Repeat this pattern, sauce, zucchini, cheese, until you reach the top (make sauce your final layer).  Cover with foil and bake for about 45 minutes.  Remove the foil and, this may sound strange, but pour a lightly beaten egg over the top and bake for about ten minutes more.  This egg is going to give the illusion of a cheesy layer and will taste delicious, and somehow not eggy at all.  If this seems too odd for you, then skip it. But if you do skip this step, then I will judge you for being small minded and ridiculous.  Okay that's not true, but just try it.

Let the lasagna sit for a few minutes before cutting into it and serve with a simple salad.  

Quick Pickle

It is hard to explain how much I LOVE pickles.  I also love quick, simple recipes and here is one of them.  There are certainly a ton of more complex ways to pickle vegetables, but this is too fast and easy to pass up.  These pickles won't keep forever, but they will last for about 2 weeks in the fridge.  You can use this technique with any and every vegetable you have and really any variety of spices you may like.  It is a great use of all of our CSA vegetables.  I also love to use them as a homemade accoutrement to a Bloody Mary bar.  Yum. 

Pickled White String Beans

white string beans

white vinegar

water

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon black peppercorns

1 tablespoon mustard seed

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

First blanch the string beans in bowling water for about three minutes.  Shock them in ice water to stop the cooking.  Once cool, place the string beans in a mason jar.  

I may have forgotten this step, which is why there are peppercorns and red pepper flakes floating around.  Oops.  

Add the spices and salt.  Then fill the jar halfway with vinegar and fill the rest with water.  Shake it up and put in the fridge.  They will be at their peak pickle in three to five days.  

Pickled Radish

radishes

vinegar

water

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon black peppercorns

1 tablespoon mustard seed

Cut the radishes in half and add them to a mason jar. Add the spices and salt.  Then fill the jar halfway with vinegar and fill the rest with water.  Shake it up and put in the fridge.  They will be at their peak pickle in three to five days.  

Fish Cake Friday (except it's Sunday, but Friday sounds better)

It's Sunday and my mom is coming to NYC for a visit.  I thought I would make us some lunch before we go out on the town.  I decided to make a favorite in our house, fish cakes.  For today's recipe I am using tilapia.  Tilapia is incredibly mild, so this preparation adds lots of flavor to the fish.  They are simple and can be prepared ahead of time, which is always great when you have guests.  I am serving this with some (leftover) cabbage slaw.

Fish Cakes
4 Tilapia filets
1 egg
1/4 cup of mayonnaise
1 heaping tablespoon of mustard (I use whole grain mustard, but any dijon or spicy mustard would work too)
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/3 cup bread crumbs*
Salt
Pepper
(If I had parsley, I would chop some up and throw it in here too, but I don't, so I won't)

*I make my own "lazy" bread crumbs.  All I do is toast Udi's gluten-free bread, and let the food processor do the work. 

      

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Place the tilapia on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Bake (with nothing on it) for about 10 minutes, or until the tilapia flakes easily with a fork. Once the tilapia is done, remove it from the oven and set aside to cool.  

In a large bowl combine the egg (lightly whisked), mayonnaise, mustard, lemon juice, salt and pepper.  Once the fish is slightly cooled throw it in the bowl and use a fork to flake the tilapia. Mix all of the ingredients together and add the bread crumbs.  If the mixture seems too wet, add a bit more bread crumbs.  If the mixture seems too dry, then add some more mayonnaise.  

Now comes the fun part.  Get your hands dirty and start to form the fish cakes.  If you are unsure of the size, use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to keep your cakes uniform.  Once you have formed the cakes into the shape you like, place them on a plate.  Cover the plate with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, but up to several hours (this will help your cakes stay together when you cook them).

When you are ready to cook, preheat a large pan with enough coconut oil to coat the bottom.  Once the oil is hot (medium/high heat), place the cakes into the oil (I do this about 4 at a time, so you have to do it in batches).  Let the cakes cook for about 3 minutes on each side or until they are golden brown.  Cook them on the other side to achieve the same color.  Remove and drain on a paper towel (if your oil is nice and hot these fish cakes will not be oily at all, if they are too oily then you need to turn up the heat).  

When ready to serve, drizzle some lemon juice over the fish cakes and give them an extra pinch of salt.      

What to do with all those vegetables...

It's delivery day for our CSA again, and this week we didn't put all of those delightful veggies to use.  Before Calvin comes home with a new boatload of produce, I though I better use up what we already have.  

One of my favorite things to do with leftover vegetables is to make stock.  I often just make veggie stock, but today, I am making chicken stock.  Last week we had a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store.  When we finished it, I took the carcass and froze it for just such an occasion as this.  Stock couldn't be easier, and you really can make it with anything you have on hand.  So when you have wilted celery or a bag of baby carrots looking all sad, throw them in a pot of water instead of throwing them away.  Trust me, homemade stock is easy, cheap and tastes way better then the store bought stuff.

Here's what is in my stock today...

Chicken Stock
3 onions
1 head of garlic (sliced in half, I don't even peel it)
5 carrots
2 celery sticks
1 chicken carcass 
2 green peppers 
Cilantro
Whole peppercorns
Kosher salt
2 bay leaves
(There may be a vegetable I forgot, but you get the idea).

Put all of the ingredients in a large pot of water.  There is no need to chop the vegetables uniformly or carefully since they are all going to get drained out anyway.  Bring the water up to a boil and then turn down the heat.  Let simmer on low for at least 2 hours, but feel free to cook for longer if you have the time.  

Let the stock cool off and skim any fat that has risen to the top before straining out all of the ingredients.  Then place in the fridge.  Once it has been refrigerated you can remove any remaining fat from the top. With veggie stock, you can skip all this skimming nonsense. 

One for the fridge and one for the freezer.

Stock has a million uses beyond soup.  Today's CSA bounty includes collard greens so I am gonna cook them using this stock. I use my homemade stock to make quinoa or rice taste better.  I love using it to make risotto.  I do of course use it for soup too and butternut squash soup is one of my favorites or white bean and kale soup is a nice easy dinner.  Keep it the fridge, or feel free to freeze it for a rainy day.  

Not Your Average Fried Zucchini

Being a part of a farm share means finding a variety of ways to cook the same vegetables when you get a lot of them.  With so many zucchinis, I decided to try something I have never made before... fried zucchini. I breaded them with gluten-free bread crumbs and parmesan cheese and fried them in coconut oil. Although they were messy, they were really delicious.  For this particular dinner they were accompanied by a cabbage, scallion and cilantro slaw and baked dover sole with lemon.   

Fried Zucchini
3 small zucchinis 
1 cup of parmesan cheese
1 cup of bread crumbs*
2 eggs
Coconut oil
Salt and Pepper

*For this recipe I made my own gluten-free bread crumbs and also grated a chunk of parmesan in the food processor.  You can use any bread crumbs you have on hand, including Panko, and pre-grated parmesan will work just fine!

Slice the zucchini into 1/2 inch discs.  Combine parmesan and bread crumbs in one bowl.  In another bowl, gently whisk the eggs.  

In a large non-stick pan, heat enough coconut oil to coat the bottom.  (Let this get nice and hot before adding any zucchini). Once the coconut oil is hot, turn the temperature down to medium.

Dip each zucchini disc in egg and then in the bread crumb mixture, being sure to coat both sides.  Set aside on a plate and continue.  

Fry each disc for about 2-3 minutes on each side, or until golden brown.  (Be sure not to over crowd the pan).  Drain on a paper towel, sprinkle with salt and enjoy!  

$27.00

I have nothing to say except THIS IS WHAT $27.00 DOLLARS CAN GET YOU!  I am in love with our farm-share bounty.  Thank you Norwich Meadows Farm (http://www.norwichmeadowsfarm.com). All there is to do now is get inspired and eat, a lot.  

The garden at Fordham University where Calvin picks up our CSA share.

Now that is a lot of deliciousness.

WTF is for dinner?!

When Calvin left for work this morning I told him that I would make dinner.  When he came home I had nothing.  Nothing cooking, nothing planned and no clue what to do.  

The fastest thing I could think of was pesto, until I realized that we had a tiny bit of basil.  So I thought about what other green vegetables we had, which wasn't much.  Until I found the frozen peas and frozen spinach.  Sounds weird right?  I promise, it's good.  I am a firm believer that pesto can be made with almost anything (any vegetable, any herb, any nut).   You can make it with cheese or without.  You can even make it without olive oil if you want.  On this particular day, here is what I made it with.

I Got Nothin' Pesto

Handful of frozen peas

Handful of frozen spinach

Handful of Parmesan cheese
Small handful of Pine nuts 

(there was extremely precise measuring involved for this)

Pinch of salt and pepper

The juice of 1/2 a lemon
Olive Oil (about 3 tablespoons)

Water (about 1/4 cup)

Add olive oil and or water until you have a nice, thick, saucy consistency.

First I threw in some big chunks of parmesan into the food processor.  Then I threw in all of the other ingredients, except the oil and water.  I mixed those until everything was well combined.  I slowly drizzled in olive oil to loosen the mixture (I would guess I used about 3 tablespoons). And then to save on calories, I switched to water. 

On this night I used the pesto on Bionaturae Gluten Free Fusilli. It's our favorite gluten free pasta and has an amazing texture. Once the pasta was cooked, I drained it and put it back on the stove on low heat and poured the pesto over until all of the pasta was coated.  You can use this on any pasta, on chicken, on seafood or even on grilled vegetables.  And trust me, you can make pesto with just about anything in your pantry!

Family Brunch

Today my mom, brother and nephew are coming over for brunch.  For casual entertaining like this, I like something that doesn't keep me in the kitchen and away from everyone.  I also wanted something that would be inexpensive but delicious and a way to use up some of our farm-share vegetables.  Here's what I came up with...

Mushroom, Squash and Goat Cheese Frittata
1 container of Baby Bella mushrooms
2 baby squash
Goat Cheese
Scallions
12 Eggs
Salt and Pepper

Roast the mushrooms and squash in the oven (see my Pizza Party post for recipe).  This can be done the morning of or the day before.  

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Meanwhile whisk together eggs, salt and pepper.  Crumble in the goat cheese. Heat a bit of oil or butter on medium heat in an ovenproof saute pan. Add the scallions and the roasted vegetables. Pour eggs over the vegetables and let cook, without stirring, for about 2 minutes. Transfer the pan into a 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes (make sure the center is set).  Let cool a few minutes before cutting. This can be served warm or at room temperature. 

Baby Yam Latkes

8 Baby Yams
1 Onion
1 large Egg
4 tablespoons of flour

1 tablespoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of pepper
1 teaspoon of salt

(I also threw in the leftover baby zucchini I had and one small kohlrabi) 


I use a food processor to grate all of the vegetables, but you can easily grate by hand.  I don't remove the skin of the baby yams (just wash them well).  I also grate the onion in the food processor.  Gently whisk an egg in a large bowl.  Add the grated vegetables and the flour, baking soda, salt and pepper. Mix together.  If the consistency seems too wet, add more flour.

Make sure the mixture is not too wet, otherwise the latkes will fall apart.

Heat coconut oil (or any other high temperature oil) on medium high heat.  Once it is hot, scoop some of the latke mixture (I use a 1/4 cup as my scoop) and place in the hot oil.  I usually can fit about 4 or 5 in the pan at a time, so this has to be done in stages.  Let cook for about 3 minutes on each side.  Then remove and drain on paper towels.  Sprinkle with salt. 

The latkes can be kept warm in a low temperature oven until ready to serve.

I served this all with a salad using the greens and roasted beats from our farm share, with lemon juice and olive oil.

The latkes and frittata recipe are great for entertaining. They can both be made with a variety of vegetables or whatever you have on hand.  I have made latkes with butternut squash, kohlrabi or of course any variety of potatoes.  The frittata is also great with any leftover vegetables you may have in the fridge.

Bounty

This week was our first summer CSA delivery.  Nothing makes me happier than the surprise of vegetables that arrive at my door. Okay they don't magically arrive, my poor husband has to schlep them home from work.  We participate in our farm share throughout the year, but summer is always my favorite.  This first delivery was only vegetables and so relatively small, but throughout the rest of the summer our bounty will include fruit too.  I am already brainstorming ideas of what to make for my family this weekend!

Pure Food and Wine, at Home

Pure Food and Wine (http://oneluckyduck.com/pages/pure-food-and-wine)is one of my all time favorite NYC spots.  They are a raw and vegan restaurant.  Now I know that immediately may turn some of you off, but trust me, it is amazing.  My favorite dish there is their "lasagna", and so I thought I would share how to do it at home.  While I can't take credit for the recipe, which I will share, I will say that it is one of my favorite summer meals. Not turning on the oven in the summer is a dream.  The other great part about this recipe is that all the steps can be made well in advance.  I have even assembled the lasagna, without the garnish, ahead of time.  This makes it a great dish for entertaining and one that will certainly impress your company.  

Here is the link the recipe:
http://nymag.com/restaurants/articles/recipes/zucchini_lemonpignoli.htm

The one thing about the recipe that I change, is the Pine-nut "Ricotta".  Instead of this, I make Cashew Cheese.  It has a creamy consistency like ricotta and the cashews are way cheaper than pine nuts.  

Cashew Cheese

1 cup Raw cashews

1 tablespoons of Nutritional Yeast

2 tablespoons of lemon juice

Salt and Pepper to taste

Water

First, soak the raw cashews in water for approximately 3 hours. Drain the water and put into a food processor with lemon juice, nutritional yeast, salt and pepper.  Start to run the food processor and drizzle in water through the feed tube.  Do this slowly, stopping to check if the consistency is to your liking (think ricotta, not cashew soup).  I use this all the time in recipes instead of cheese.  You'd be amazed how good it is!

Breakfast of Champions

My husband and I have become addicted to green smoothies. Somedays I make them, somedays he makes them, but everyday this is our breakfast of choice.  

Green smoothies make me happy, and here is why... First, you start your day with several servings of vegetables, fruit, and some protein for good measure.  Secondly, freezing any greens you have not used saves you money as well as the shame of throwing food away.  All you have to do is take your washed leafy greens (kale, spinach, dandelion, etc.) that you haven't used raw, put them in a plastic bag and stash them in the freezer. Lastly, the variety of smoothies you can make are endless. Somedays we may use kale, cucumber, mint and lemon juice. Others, mango, dandelion and green apple.  Still some days we may throw frozen blueberries and spinach in the mix. Whatever produce we add, we also use chia seeds and flax seeds that we keep in our fridge (I use this mix on salads as well), apple cider vinegar (http://bragg.com/books/acv_excerpt.html, check out the numerous health benefits), protein powder and coconut water. 

Try it, you'll like it...

Pizza Party

This being my first week of a long summer vacation,(how annoying does that sound?), I found myself searching for a project on a rainy day.  Rather than cleaning (boring) or organizing my closet(overwhelming), I went for pizza... from scratch.  Although my approach today involved a lot of steps,there are a million ways to simplify.

I started with the dough. I used a basic pizza dough recipe from the New York Times (http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/12399-basic-pizza-dough) but feel free to buy your dough from the grocery store or from your local pizza shop. 

Next I roasted squash and mushrooms with salt, pepper and olive oil. Here is a step to skip if you have leftovers.  Pizza is a great way to use veggies from last night's dinner.

I added a little bundle of delightfulness into the mix by roasting the hell out of some garlic. (See the before and after). 

This roasted garlic can be used for anything.  Serve whole with some bread, crackers or cardboard and it will taste delicious.

While my oven was working hard, I started on some simple tomato sauce. We got this heirloom tomato purée from our farm share and we got this beautiful basil from our windowsill "farm". 

Lucky for me my husband has the green thumb, because I kill every plant I come in contact with.

Quick Tip:  Always cook out tomato paste for a minute or two before adding your tomato puree.  

Once everything cooled, I let it all sit out on the counter until it was pizza making time. 

I added the roasted garlic to room temperature goat cheese (it makes it so easy to spread). I also just stretch the dough by hand with a little olive oil to prevent sticking. No need for any fancy tools here!  I cooked the pizza on two baking sheets in a 500 degree oven for around 15-20 minutes.

And the final product... Yum. 

The possibilities for pizza are endless, so use any ingredients you love or have laying around the house.  

Roasted Veggies

(My favorite veggie prep ever)

Use this technique with any variety of veggies you like  

Chop all veggies into similar size pieces

Drizzle with oil of choice (I often use coconut oil, but olive oil will do)

Generously sprinkle with kosher salt and pepper

Roast in a hot oven until caramelized and delicious (Please note that the oven temp can vary, so if you are cooking something else, throw your veggies in too.  Anywhere from 350 to 400 degrees can work)

Roasted Garlic

Cut off the top of the garlic, and remove any lose paper.

Drizzle with olive oil

Add salt and pepper

Wrap in tinfoil and cook in a 400 degree oven for 40 minutes

Tomato Sauce

On medium high heat, add a tablespoon of olive oil to your pan

Dice one onion and cook down for a few minutes until soft

Add one clove of garlic

Add a tablespoon of tomato paste and let cook for a minute or two in the pan

Add a teaspoon of red pepper flakes (if you like a little heat, if not omit this step) and stir together

Pour a jar or box of tomato puree (diced tomatoes work too if that is what you have on hand)

Add salt, pepper, and dried oregano

Let it slowly simmer for at least 20 minutes

Once it is off the heat, add basil and enjoy!