green tomatoes

There were a lot of nice looking green tomatoes left over at the farm, and most likely many of them wouldn't ripen before they rotted. So I brought home a flat of them and now I have to use them.

Tonight I made my rice cooker rice & beans, picked up a couple of bags of chips, and made salsa.

Green Tomato Salsa

6 small-medium green tomatoes, chopped (about 2-3 cups)
1/4 cup diced red onion
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 small hot pepper, seeded and minced
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. lemon or lime juice
2 T. fresh cilantro, chopped

Mix all ingredients in a medium bowl. Let sit for 20 minutes before serving.

This
salsa
was so
good
I am
tempt-
ed to
make
and
eat
nothing
else
but
this
for a
week...
well,
along
with
a marg
arita!
But I
supp-
ose that's too many chips, so I'd better come up with some other ideas too. But this is one of my favourite salsas ever. I love chunky crunchy salsa that isn't a bowl of homogeneous mush. Even the older boys loved it.

almost a holiday

This year the public schools in our town declared Election Day a school holiday, mostly to avoid tip-toeing around the voters at the schools. But the younger kids go to preschool in an adjacent town where schools were open, so it was sort of a half holiday here. Maia was the only one needing a packed lunch.

Maia's lunch: honeydew melon flowers; grilled nutritional yeast cheez sandwich circles; gherkin pickles; carrot matchsticks wrapped in cucumber; roasted butternut squash seeds; steamed broccoli.

Last night at sunset I went up to the CSA to pick pea tendrils from the cover crops. There were two deer watching me from a distance, but you can't really see them in the picture unless you know they're there.
A third mobile greenhouse
has been added this fall to
increase and lengthen the
winter share production.
Instead of weekly pickups,
the winter shares are monthly
from November through
March. Only two months of
the year now that we won't
be receiving local produce!
Hopefully what I dry or freeze
will take us through until June.

Today's lunch...
Pea Tendril & Sausage Pasta

1 T. Earth Balance
1 T. olive oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 Tofurky Italian sausages, sliced
4 cups pea tendrils (a few heaping handfuls)
1/2 cup vegetable broth (or water + 1/2 a bouillon cube)
salt & pepper to taste
1/4 cup white wine
pasta, cooked and drained

In a large skillet or pot, heat Earth Balance and olive oil and add garlic & sausage. Cook, stirring occasionally over medium-low heat until sausage has browned. Add pea tendrils and broth, salt & pepper. When pea tendrils have wilted, add white wine. Cook for a couple more minutes, adding more broth or pasta cooking water if necessary so the sauce isn't dry. Toss with cooked pasta.

now or never

Tomato season is almost at an end. The quantity quickly dropped off with the arrival of the cooler weather. Instead of the 5 pounds of tomatoes we were still getting two weeks ago, we got 1 pound, and they are mostly still green. And there are always some that begin to rot immediately, ripe or not, so I have to remain vigilant and use them as soon as possible. So when a tomato isn't quite ripe but needs to be used NOW, a puttanesca pasta sauce is delish. While you are preparing the sauce, put another pot on for your pasta.

Puttanesca

1-2 T. olive oil
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 hot pepper, seeded & chopped
1 tomato, diced
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
6-8 olives, sliced
1-2 T. capers, drained
1 cup tomato sauce (or 1 small can tomato paste + a few T. water)

Put olive oil in a saute
pan over low heat. Add
garlic & hot pepper. Cook
less then a minute, then
add diced tomato & salt.
Cook 1-2 minutes. Add
olives & capers. Cook for
another minute. Then
add tomato sauce (I thawed
the oldest batch of sauce I'd
made during the peak of
tomato season two months
ago). Cook over medium-low
heat until reduced to desired
consistency. Toss with hot
pasta. I also added a cup of
frozen spinach when the

pasta was almost done
cooking to add some
leafy greens to the meal.




Pasta Puttanesca

Ryan worked in Boston this weekend with his father. I sent him off Saturday morning with enough food to get him through the day, though he also scored some veg sushi at the convention and some chips & salsa.
Ryan's food for the day: peanut butter pretzel Mojo bar; white chocolate macadamia Luna bar; baby carrots; a pickle; snap peas; smoked Tofurky, lettuce, soy cheese, Veganaise sandwich on Italian bread; an apple; grapes.

not pot pie

When I made a pot pie last night, I'd expected there to be leftovers for lunches today. Not so! Ryan complained because he has decided recently to complain more about certain foods, annoyingly, so there looked like there would be extra...but both AJ and Nate wanted seconds, and my husband came back for thirds. So despite Ryan's whining about the mushrooms and onions that were "too big", I'm definitely going to share this recipe I made! But first, today's lunches...

Maia's lunch: dried apricots; mini banana apple muffin; carrot; pizza sandwich bites; a pickle; cucumber slices.
She ate everything but the sandwiches...the girl just hates bread! She almost never eats a sandwich, and won't touch toast. I wish I had that problem.

Ryan & AJ's lunches: mini banana apple muffin; Sweet & Sara vanilla marshmallow; square of Endangered Species dark chocolate; cucumber slices; baby carrots; peanuts; a pickle; pizza sandwiches.

The reason for the marsh-
mallows was the s'mores
I made for the boys. Talk
about a messy treat! It had
been quite a few years
since I'd had them, and the
boys had never tried them.
Again, Ryan had to complain,
saying the chocolate over-
powered the flavour of the marshmallow. He'd rather jut eat the marshmallows. Doh.

Veggie Pot Pie

1 9x9 piece of frozen
puff pastry, thawed 45 mins.
2 T. margarine
2 T. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2-3 large carrots,
peeled & chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1 quart flat green beans, cut
1 tsp. salt
freshly ground black pepper
2-3 potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 cup mushrooms, quartered
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup water
1 vegetable bouillon cube, crumbled
2-3 dried sage leaves, crumbled
2/3 cup plain almond milk
1/2 T melted margarine + 1 tsp. almond milk (for basting)

In a large pot, heat margarine (I use Earth Balance) & olive oil over medium-low heat. Add onion, carrots & garlic. Stir & cook for 2 minutes. Add green beans, salt & pepper. Stir & cook another 2 minutes. Add potatoes & mushrooms. Stir & cook another 2 minutes or so.
Add flour and stir until vegetables are well coated.
Add water, vegetable bouillon, sage & almond milk. Stir and cook for 1-2 minutes until thickened.
Pour vegetable mixture into a square baking dish.
Place puff pastry sheet over the top, tucking in the edges to fit inside the baking dish.
Brush on the mixture of margarine & almond milk. Poke a few holes in the top of the pastry with a knife.
Bake in a preheated 375
degree oven for 30-35
minutes until golden
brown. Allow to cool
10 minutes before serving.

You can substitute other
vegetables if you like. AJ
won't eat peas, so I used
green beans instead. A vegetable pot pie is a wonderful way to utilize many local fall veggies. The onions, carrots, garlic, runner beans, potatoes & sage were all from our CSA share. I think cubed winter squash would also be a delicious addition, especially with the sage & potato flavours.

Care for Collards?

Rain or shine, we still
have to pick up our
CSA share at the farm.
Nate loves going to
help with the pick-your-
own items. The collard
greens were looking
lovely all speckled with
raindrops.






















The kale was taller than Nate, almost up to my shoulders!
Collards with a Kick

12 large collard green leaves, washed, stems removed, thinly sliced
2 T. Earth Balance buttery spread
1/4-1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. liquid smoke
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

Prepare collard greens.
In a medium pot melt
margarine over low heat.
Add collards & salt. Stir.
Cover & cook about 2
minutes.
Add liquid smoke &
cayenne pepper. Stir. Cover.
Cook another 5 minutes over
low heat until collards are tender.

Maia's lunch: meatless meatball; green bell pepper; heart sandwich of hummus & lettuce; chocolate chip bunny cookies; carrot flowers.

AJ's lunch: spaghetti w/tomato, carrot, kale, onion sauce & meatless meatballs; mini zucchini muffin baby carrots; cashews; raisins.

Ryan's lunch: spaghetti & meatless meatballs; 2 heart sandwiches of hummus & lettuce; baby carrots; dried apricots.

you have 20 minutes

I felt like I was on Chopped this morning. First I had to make the boys' lunches as usual with a circus going on around me. I don't normally prepare them ahead of time because I want them as fresh as possible.

Ryan & AJ's lunches: vegetable cracker sandwiches w/We Can't Say It's Cheese cheddar spread; Annie's chocolate chip bunny cookies; a carrot; a pickle; cucumber slices; plum wedges; apple wedges; green beans; peanuts.

With Ryan & AJ out the door, it was off to drop Nate at preschool. Then I arrived home again. I glanced at the calendar on the way to the computer to unload my camera. AGH!! Today was wednesday. It was the fall staff appreciation lunch at the elementary school. First grade families were supposed to bring a fruit or dessert, and second grade families were assigned salads. Well, it was 9:35am. The food was supposed to be dropped off by 10am. I had 25 minutes in which to create 2 dishes from scratch and deliver them down the street.

I had our farm share still heaped in front of the dishwasher after yesterday's rainy evening pickup. And I spied 2 cans of chick peas still sitting on the corner of the counter waiting to be put away after grocery shopping. So first, a chick pea salad...

Quick Chick Pea Salad

2 cans chick peas, drained
1 tomato, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
1 slice purple onion, finely diced (about 2-3 tablespoons)
12 green stuffed olives, sliced (black olives are fine too)
1/4 cup olive oil
2-3 T. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 clove garlic, finely minced, or 1/8-1/4 tsp. garlic powder
a few grind of fresh black pepper
1 T. fresh thyme

Put chick peas in a large bowl. Cut up tomato, bell pepper, onion & olives. Add them to the bowl. In a small bowl or container with a cover, add all remaining ingredients to create the dressing. Whisk or shake until combined. Pour over chick peas & veggies. Toss & serve. Garnish with a little extra thyme leaves.

Asian Carrot Salad

2 cups grated or matchstick carrots (the grater attachment of a food processor is fastest)
1 cup bok choy or other cabbage stems, sliced finely (I used a mandoline for speed)
1 leek, washed & sliced in thin diagonals
1-2 T. toasted sesame seeds
1/4 cup shoyu (naturally brewed soy sauce)
2 T. rice vinegar
1 tsp. grated ginger
1 T. mirin (or other sweetener)
2 T. chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

Grate carrot. Slice bok choy. Trim, wash & slice leek. Toss in the sesame seeds. Add the cilantro if you are using it.
In a small bowl combine shoyu, vinegar, ginger & mirin. Pour over salad & toss. Preferably you'll want to let in marinate for a little bit before serving.

----

I finished the food at exactly 10am. But I still had to pack it up, take a couple of the quickest pics in the east, and get them to the school. I put Maia on my back and speed walked down to the school. We were back by 10:13am. Whew!
So yeah, technically they got two salads, no fruit or dessert. But I don't think anybody's going to notice. And Americans could use some extra servings of veggies anyways. :-)

Sunshine Burger Breakfast rice

I like rice for breakfast. There was one variety of Sunshine Burger that I'd never used before, which was the Breakfast style. I nuked one for 30 seconds, broke off a bite, and immediately knew what I'd be having for breakfast and serving Ryan for his lunch. There was leftover rice in the rice cooker from the night before, just the right amount for fried rice.
I heated a tablespoon of both olive oil & Earth Balance in a pan, diced about 2 tablespoons of onion, and crumbled in the burger. After sauteing for a minute or so, I added the leftover rice, sprinkled on a bit of salt and a pinch of garlic powder, and stir fried for another minute or two. Voila. Super yumminess. Ryan had requested a repeat of yesterday's Sunshine Burger falafel wraps because he loved them so much (actually fell down on the floor in bliss describing their deliciousness), but when he saw and SMELLED what was in the pan he was very excited.

Ryan's lunch: peanuts; honeydew melon; raspberries; broccoli; Sunshine Burger Breakfast rice.
Sunshine Burger Breakfast Rice

1 T. Earth Balance (opt.)
1 T. olive oil
2-3 T. diced onion
1 Sunshine Burger
Breakfast pattie
2 cups cooked rice
1/4-1/2 tsp. salt
1/8-1/4 tsp. garlic powder

Heat Earth Balance & olive oil over medium heat. Add onion & crumble in the Sunshine Burger. Saute for a minute or so. Add rice & remaining ingredients, raising heat slightly if necessary. Stir almost constantly for another minute or two. Done! Feel free to add in some diced veggies with the burger to round out the meal.

On to AJ's lunch...I am going to refrain from introducing new dishes to him in his school lunches. He responds best to new things while assisting me in the kitchen or eating them in the company of his siblings. So for him I took two rice balls out of the freezer, a handy thing to have ready to speed up lunch prep...they just need to be nuked briefly and they're ready to go.

AJ's lunch: rice balls with goma shio & rice cheese stars w/nori faces; broccoli; honeydew melon; raspberries; peanuts, cashews & raisins.

dark & rainy

It was a morning of downpours & thunder, dark enough to see lightning, despite it being breakfast time. By the time I needed to pack up lunches it had let up to a light rain, but still dark, and nothing I wanted to go out in to take pictures. So it was time for the "balance the bento on the edge of the porch" trick, getting as much natural light as possible without soaking the food in the process. Oh what I would give for a big well-lit kitchen and a lightbox!

Ryan
and
AJ's
lunches:
soba
noodles;
eda-
mame;
gherkin
pickles;
mini
zucc-
hini
muffin;
rasp-
berries.

AJ
asked
for
exactly
six
berries,
he's very particular, LOL.

Here is my rainy day
balancing act. Fun.
Time to pack up the
lunchboxes and send
the boys out into the
rain!

And here is my one-bowl
mini zucchini muffin recipe...
Zucchini Maple Muffins

1 medium zucchini (or 2
small)
3 tsp. egg replacer + 3 T.
warm water
2 T. olive or canola oil (optional)
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
spray olive oil for pan

In a medium mixing bowl,
grate 1 1/2 cups zucchini.
Add next 3 ingredients.
Stir. Add remaining 3 dry
ingredients. Stir.
Spray a non-stick mini muffin(s) tin with oil (I use a 24 count mini muffin pan).
Fill and bake at 375F for ~25 minutes.

I used to use this recipe when I taught preschool. It was simple for the kids to follow, though the preschool provided eggs to use, so I this is one of the few times I used egg-replacer powder. Just mix the egg-replacer powder well 'til frothy with a fork or whisk. You can experiment with other egg-replacers of your preference of course.
Also, I have used combos of agave nectar and brown rice syrup, but I really like the results of the maple syrup best, and the kids prefer the taste. I know not everyone lives where maple syrup is readily available and affordable though! So any sweet syrup con be substituted, but it's consistency may affect cooking time and moistness.

stuffed tomatoes

We're just over the peak of the tomato season here, but we've still got some big beautiful red fruits rolling in with our CSA share. I like to use the most perfect ones for slicing, tomato salads, or for stuffing. This recipe is best used with large tomatoes that aren't TOO ripe yet, so they don't fall apart while baking.

Stuffed Tomatoes

4 large round tomatoes
with flat bottoms
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
2 T olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 shallots, diced
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup orzo pasta (or other
small pasta)
1 3/4 cup vegetable broth
1/2 tsp oregano
3/4 cup grated Daiya
mozzarella

Cut the tops off the
tomatoes, in a circular
motion wide enough for
scooping and stuffing.
Then scoop out the
middles of the tomatoes
with a spoon (you can save
it for soup or sauce if you'd
like).

Sprinkle the kosher salt
into thebottom and sides of each tomato. Allow them to sit for a few minutes. Then turn them all upside down and let them drain for 10-15 minutes while you prepare the stuffing and preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium pot, heat olive oil, onions, shallots & salt over low heat. Cook until soft. Add orzo pasta, vegetable broth & oregano. Stir, bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to low. Allow to cook about 10 minutes, stirring once or twice. If you need to add any extra liquid, do so in very small amounts, like 1/4 cup at a time (kind of like making a risotto).

Turn off heat. Stir in 1/2
cup of the Daiya mozzarella
to the orzo mixture. Spoon
into the tomatoes. Place the
tomatoes in a deep baking
dish. Top with remaining
Daiya cheese. Cover and
bake for 20 minutes.

Remove
cover
and
bake
for
ano-
ther
five
minutes
then
remove
from
the
oven
and
allow
to
cool
for
a few
minutes
before
serving.

You can also stuff the tomatoes with a rice pilaf mixture, or some cous cous. Or to make it gluten-free, use quinoa or rice. This recipe is also soy-free.

bento & recipes

It's the last day of the Loving Local blogathon. While I could whinge on for weeks about local food, I will soon be shifting my focus to school lunches starting this tuesday! But here are a few fab lunch ideas for both adults and kids...

I enjoy
the
variety
at the
farmer's
market
and our
CSA.
While
our CSA
provides
us with
asian
greens
in the
spring
and
fall, I
rely on
Hmong
Farms
at the
Framingham Farmer's Market for unique asian vegetables through the hotter summer months, grown a few towns north.

This bento lunch included: rice (kept separate until serving to prevent sogginess), spicy asian eggplant, spicy baked tofu, and my bok choy joy.













Spicy Asian Eggplant

3-6 long asian eggplant
2 T. peanut oil or canola oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp. hot sauce
1/2 tsp. grated ginger
1 T. shoyu (soy sauce)
1 tsp. rice vinegar
1 tsp. cooking sherry
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Cut ends off eggplant.
Slice lengthwise, then
in 1/2 inch segments.
Heat oil in a saucepan
with garlic, ginger & hot
sauce. Cook 20 seconds
over medium heat, add
eggplant, stir. Add the
rest of the ingredients.
Cover and reduce heat to low, cooking about 10 minutes or until eggplant is very tender.

Some asian eggplant will be thin and smaller, others larger. This recipe assumes you'll be cooking no more than 2-3 cups chopped eggplant.

I often wish there was a local producer of tofu, tempeh & miso in the area. What a wonderful addition to an asian stall at the farmer's market that would be! But many stores carry asian produce & grocery items. I often visit our local asian market Asinayo when the farmer's market is not in season.










The farmer's market in our
town has been adding about
one new vendor each year it
seems, a good sign! There is much to choose from, and it's nice to hang out on the village green after shopping to enjoy some fresh kettle corn or bread still warm from baking.

I picked up some corn from the Hanson's Farm stall, bok choy from Hmong Farms, and bread from Great Harvest Bread Co. The corn was super delicious. We tried the silver variety for a change, which was supposedly not the "sweet" kind, but it still tasted sweet to us!

With plenty of tomatoes still pouring in from Stearns Farm CSA, I made a tomato-laden lunch which included a leftover tomato dish from the night before. When we take home some of the "seconds" tomatoes from the farm, it's handy to have a dish to accommodate some of the squishier fruits.

This lunch included: raspberries (Stearns Farm CSA), salad of lettuce, tomato & chives (Stearns Farm CSA) w/dressing in a side container, breaded baked heirloom tomatoes (tomatoes & herbs from Stearns Farm CSA), corn on the cob rounds (Hanson's Farm), orange cherry tomatoes (Stearns Farm CSA).

Breaded Baked Tomatoes

3-4 large tomatoes, sliced
1 tsp. kosher salt
spray olive oil (or something to grease the baking pan)
1 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 tsp. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 tsp. chopped fresh thyme
1/4 tsp. chopped fresh oregano
2 T. buttery stick (cold!), cut into bits
1/2 tsp. sugar
3 cloves garlic, chopped













First slice the tomatoes and
place them in a colander over
a bowl to drain. Sprinkle on
the salt and toss, then leave to
sit for 10-15 minutes (in the
refrigerator if necessary to
keep the fruit flies away!).

Spray a glass baking dish
with olive oil, then layer the
tomatoes.

In a medium bowl, mix the
remaining ingredients and
pour or spoon over the
tomatoes. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake another 5-10 minutes until the
breadcrumb topping
is lightly browned.
Allow to cool a bit
before serving.