Summer Salsa

I’ll admit, I have tomatoes coming out my ears, and they will continue to do so until we get a frost. Perhaps I over planted, but you can never be sure how many will be produced, and if you’ll get enough or get blight. So far the only things attacking my tomatoes are the pumpkin vines, which have caused some of them to topple, but even this hasn’t stopped the force.

Every year I can salsa for my family, but after 48 pints, I believe I have enough to last the year, hopefully. Tonight when I came in from picking, I started craving a fresh chunky salsa to munch on. Here is what I tossed together.

3 cups roughly chopped tomatoes (mine is a combination of large and small, yellow, purple and red.)

½ of a purple onion, minced (it was large, so I’d say 3/4 cup)

3 cloves of garlic, pressed or minced

2 jalapeño peppers, minced (+/- depending on your heat preference, wear gloves!!)

juice of 2 lemons

¼ cup minced fresh cilantro (don’t omit the stems, they have the best flavor)

It is pretty simple, combine all the ingredients, mix well and chill for at least a half an hour before eating. I’m munching on it right now as I type.

Quinoa Salad with Radishes, Avocado and Citrus Vinaigrette

This was the quinoa salad that started my salad rush lately. I loved it, they loved it, and I bounced off of it in many directions. I have a passion for avocados and citrus, so this one was a no brainer. I ran across it online, and knew it would be a hit.

Quinoa Salad with Radishes, Avocado and Citrus Vinaigrette

2 cups chicken or vegetable stock

2 cups water

2 cups Quinoa

2 lemons, zested and juiced

1 lime, zested and juiced

1 orange, zested and juiced

1 shallot, finely minced

3 garlic cloves, minced

salt and pepper to taste

⅔ cup olive oil

1 bunch radishes, trimmed and sliced paper thin

2 avocados, pitted, skinned and chopped

⅓ cup chopped fresh parsley

In a medium saucepan bring stock, water and quinoa to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover and cook 15-20 minutes until seeds are split and liquid is absorbed. If preferred, the stock can be replaced with all water, but it does give a nice flavor.

When done, transfer to a large bowl and fluff with a fork. Set aside to cool.

In another bowl, whisk together the lemon, lime and orange juices and zests, shallot, garlic, salt and pepper. Add the olive oil in a thin stead stream, whisking continuously.

Add the radishes, avocado and parsley to the quinoa. Pour the vinaigrette over the quinoa mixture and toss to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Sweet-Potato Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette

This salad is so simple, so basic, yet so good. I had a very hard time letting it go out the door after I made it. I have a love of sweet potatoes, in fact I have a few cookbooks just for them. When I combined this one, I kept thinking that something was missing, how can this be enough? Yet, if there was more here, it would be too much. This is all that was needed, end story.

Sweet-Potato Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette

This photo really doesn't do this salad justice. but it is the one that I had.

2 ½ pounds sweet potatoes

1 Tbs Dijon mustard

1 Tbs + 1tsp white wine vinegar

¼ tsp salt

¼ cup olive oil

4 scallions (green onions) thinly sliced

Peel potatoes, and cube into 1“ hunks/cubes. Steam potatoes in a steamer over boiling water, covered until just tender. This only takes 10-12 minutes, watch them because they can go from not quite there to too far quick. *

While the potatoes steam, whisk together mustard, vinegar and salt in a large bowl, then add oil in a slow stream, whisking until emulsified.

Add hot potatoes and scallions to dressing and gently toss to combine well. Cool to room temperature, if needed add salt to taste.

* Here I amaze myself. I didn’t (but now I do) own a traditional steamer. Instead for years I have used a bamboo one over my wok.

However I now have a new wok that doesn’t sit as well on my stove, and the act of having to balance the wok using the toaster so that the water doesn’t spill out during the steaming process was too annoying. So I invested with my coupon at BB&B.

Citrus Quinoa and Kale Salad

I have been on a summer salad kick lately, I will attribute it to the heat outside and my lack of desire to heat up the house. Also I have been making things to send in with my husband to work, which has enabled me to try a few new recipes that looked promising. I am sure I am not alone in collecting recipes that I want to try, I find reading recipes and cookbooks to be a fun activity because I can imagine the flavor combinations in my head.

This salad is a knock off of a few different ones that I had, so it is my creation after combining the bunch. It got good reviews, so here it is. I apologize, I cannot locate the photo of it.

Citrus Quinoa and Kale Salad

2 cups quinoa, I had red in my cupboard

4 cups water

½ cup green onions, sliced and diced small

2 cups chopped fine kale

1 chopped sweet pepper, (yellow, orange or red)

In a medium saucepan, combine quinoa and water and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce to a simmer for about 15-20 minutes or until water is absorbed and seeds are split and tender. Remove, fluff with a fork and chill.

In a large bowl (the one you plan on serving in) mix chilled quinoa, onions, kale and sweet pepper.

Dressing

1 cup orange juice

zest of one orange

½ cup cider vinegar

½ cup fresh basil, washed

1 tsp sea salt

¼ cup honey

1 cup olive oil

This can be mixed 2 ways, either by hand or with a blender. If you are using a blender, combine all ingredients except the oil first to mix, then slowly add the oil as the blender is running to emulsify.

Otherwise, be sure to mince your basil and do the same thing in a bowl, whisking continually as you add the oil.

Add the dressing to the salad and mix well, this can be served immediately, but is best if you let it sit for a little bit to meld.

Moo-less Chocolate Pie

I follow Alton Brown on Facebook. Like many people, I enjoy the science aspect that he focuses on in the kitchen. I am sure there are many that never realize that cooking and baking are just one big science experiment. How adjusting something small can change the entire outcome for the good or bad. I enjoy messing with those small things, and playing the mad scientist.

A while back he posted this recipe, as usual I have tweaked it a little bit (but not too much). Living with a dairy allergy is challenging, I know how much I can tolerate before my throat fills with hives, but sometimes it is hard to choose between one thing or the other.

Many people assume incorrectly that if you cannot have dairy that you cannot have chocolate. The coco bean, from which chocolate is made from is just that, a bean, from a plant. Not a cow, goat or sheep. It can be mixed with a variety of things to create chocolate. My favorite dairy free chocolate chips/chunks are by Enjoy Life, they can be found all over the place, and are not crazy expensive.

When I made this recipe the first time, I didn't tell my husband or oldest son what was in it, but when they exclaimed how yummy it was and returned for seconds I said "hey, that is tofu", and they just looked at me blankly. Tofu is a flavorless base, it will take on whatever flavors you want it to, including chocolate dessert. Watch out, this is very rich!

Chocolate Pie

1 package dairy free chocolate chips (10-13oz)
1/3 cup strong coffee (original recipe called for kahlua, but I am not a fan)
1 tsp vanilla

1 Tbs honey or agave nectar
1 package silken tofu, drained (1lb)

1 prepared graham cracker or chocolate cookie crust.  *see below*


In a double boiler over medium heat, melt the chocolate, coffee and vanilla together. Be sure to whisk continually to prevent lumps, burning or hot spots. Once melted, pour into a blender with honey or agave nectar and tofu. Blend for about 30 second intervals scraping down after each time. Once completely combined, and some air has been whipped in, pour into prepared pie shell and chill until firm.


Crust

Either purchase or make a crust. Oreo's are vegan, so the chocolate cookies from those make a yummy crust, and many chocolate wafer cookies are dairy free as well. Or just go for a simple graham cracker crust.

1 16-ounce package wafer cookies, such as Oreo's or Newman O's
7 T. dairy-free soy margarine or coconut oil, melted
1 T. sugar

Mix all in a small bowl with a fork until distributed evenly, pat in pie pan. The back of a measuring cup or small ramekin is helpful to make the crust evenly distributed. But I just use my fingers.

Butternut Squash and Bean Chili

I have a lot of squash in my fruit cellar, and while the hard squash will keep, it typically does not make it through the winter. So the plethora of butternut, acorn and hubbords I have must be used up. I went for something different than usual the other night. I prefer my squash savory, and in this house we all love chili, so I combined the two. I was also working on baking Christmas cookies all day, so this was a meal that I prepped and stuck in the crockpot.

1/4 cup olive oil
3 onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, cleaned and chopped

1 green bell pepper, cleaned and chopped
1 jalapeño, seeded and minced
3 heaping tablespoons of chili powder
2 heaping tablespoons of cumin
1 Tablespoon dried oregano
2 cans, 15-oz, dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 cans, 15-oz, black beans, drained and rinsed
2 cans, 14.5-oz, diced tomatoes (do not drain)

4 cups butternut squash, peeled, seeded and diced into 1" cubes

In a large skillet over medium heat, sauté the onions in the olive oil until they are tender, add garlic and continue to sauté until fragrant (about 1 minute). Add all the peppers and sauté for another 3-5 minutes or until tender. Just before removing from the heat, add the spices mixing and giving them just a minute to become fragrant. Transfer mixture to a 6 quart slow cooker. Add beans and tomatoes with their juice to the mixture. Arrange squash on top, (do not mix it in at this point) and cover.

Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6. When ready to eat, mix well with a spoon to incorporate squash into the mix.

Roasted Hubbard Squash Soup

You know one of the greatest things about having small children? You can make stupid jokes and they think you are the funniest thing out there. example:

Albert: "Mommy, what's for dinner?"

Me: "Hubbard squash soup"

Albert: "What's a Hubbard?"

Me: "A squash, what's a Hubbard with you?"

Albert: laughs hysterically and walks away repeating it to himself.

Okay, so I am terrible at making jokes, but at least I entertain my kids. Eventually they will just look at me and roll their eyes, until then I am the coolest mom around. 

When my Mother was a little girl, they grew Hubbard squash in the garden. Frequently they would be harvested and the largest used for church suppers. Those were much larger than what I worked with today. Before dissection, my squash weighed in at 7.9# and the ones that my Mother recounts were closer to 20#. In order to clean out the seeds, they needed to be taken out to the chopping block and cut open with an ax or hatchet. Luckily, I was able to make do just fine with my kitchen knife. 

One thing I really like about Hubbard squash is that it is so smooth, it feels soft on the tongue and can be very mild. This is a great squash to use in pie, I think it works better than pumpkin (and if someone makes a comment about squash pie, remind them that pumpkin is squash too).

I found this recipe a few days ago when I came home from our 1st winter share pickup at our CSA. I had been sent home with a recipe, which looked great, but I knew that this squash would make multiple meals and needed to find something else to do with it as well. It is no secret that I love soup, especially pureed soups. I found this recipe "Roasted Hubbard Squash Soup with Hazelnuts & Chives", It looked amazing, I had to try it. Of course I changed a few things when I made it tonight, some because of experience knowing where I could save time, and others because, lets be realistic I have 4 kids and I don't want to spend money all the time on something they just wont eat.

The original recipe called for topping this soup with toasted hazelnuts, minced fresh chives and cayenne pepper. Sounds delicious, but I wasn't going to take the time to toast hazelnuts if the kids were not going to eat them. They are not cheap! If you are interested in the topping, it is simple. Toast 1/2c hazelnuts that have been skinned and chopped, 2 Tbs minced chives and a pinch of Espelette or cayenne pepper. Sprinkle a little of each on the top.

Ingredients

3 Tbs olive oil
4 large cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 tsp ground coriander
1 ½ tsp fennel seeds
1 ½ tsp dried sage (or 1Tbs fresh sage)
5-6 lbs Hubbard Squash (weigh it whole, then cut in half and seed it, if it is super big, you may only need half)
2 Tbs olive oil (yes, more for sautéing)
1 large or 2 small leeks, white and light green parts only halved and sliced crosswise.  (remember it is easier to wash out the dirt if you cut the entire thing lengthwise first. 
2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
kosher salt
6 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 bay leaf
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice

Adjust oven so that rack is in the lower middle, and preheat to 400˚F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine the oil, garlic, coriander, fennel seeds and sage in either a mortar and pestle or small food processor. Mash till a thick paste is formed or puree in pulses until the same. Smear the paste all over the orange flesh of your squash and place it cut side down on the parchment paper. Bake until tender when pierced with a fork. 45-60 minutes. Let cook slightly, then scrape the flesh out of the skin, making sure to scoop up any of the paste that might have fallen to the parchment.

 

While the squash is cooling, melt the butter in a large dutch oven over medium heat. Add the leek and carrots, cook until the leek is softened. Add the squash, broth, bay leaf and 1 tsp salt, bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Cover and let meld for about 30 minutes to develop the flavor. Remove from heat, fish out the bay leaf, then puree with either an emersion blender or in batches in a traditional blender. 

We, as usual, had ours with some crunchy bread, and it was delicious. The spice rub...OH MY GOSH!!