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Recipes
Seasonal Recipes from our Newsletter Shell Beans and Summer Vegetables Stewed in their Own Juices Makes 4 generous servings 3 tablespoons olive oil For the basil puree: Warm 3 tablespoons olive oil with the bay leaves in a large casserole dish or Dutch oven over a low flame. When fragrant, add the onions, 6 of the garlic cloves, 2 of the thyme sprigs and the sage. Cover and cook while preparing the vegetables. Leave the small carrots whole, or if wide cut into 4-inch lengths. Add them to the pot. Season with a bit of salt and pepper. If the potatoes are the size of large marbles, leave them whole. If large, halve or quarter them. Place the potatoes in the pot on top of the carrots and onions. Add small amount of salt and pepper. Cut the green beans into 3-inch pieces and add them, along with all the remaining vegetables except the shelling beans, to the pot. Season each layer of vegetables with additional salt and pepper. Pour the tomato juice over the vegetables, then cover and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 40 minutes to 1 hour. If the pot seems dry, add several tablespoons of water or white wine. While the vegetables cook, simmer the shelling beans in water to cover with the remaining garlic and thyme and a bit of olive oil. When tender, after 30 to 45 minutes, season with salt and pepper. Add the beans, along with any remaining liquid, to the pot of vegetables. Make the basil puree just before serving: Chop the basil and garlic in a food processor with the oil and enough water to make a puree. Stir in the cheese, then season with salt and pepper. Serve the vegetables in soup plates and spoon the basil puree over them. Dear Full Belly, The absolute best method I've found for keeping basil fresh for a LONG time is to put the bunch into a very small vase, so that all stems are in the water, but no leaves get into the water (this causes decay and contamination). Then I place the vase in a window that gets sun but not DIRECT sun, and I make sure the water doesn't get too low (basil "drinks" a lot of water) and I change it every 4 or 5 days. Kept like this, a bunch of basil will actually last for WEEKS at time! It even starts trying to grow roots! This way, it doesn't turn black or wilt (like in the fridge) and when you use it, it's always like fresh-picked basil! Best, Meredith Kola Corn and Green Beans with Basil Slice the corn kernels off the corn cob. Remove the tails from the green beans. Bring a pot of heavily salted water to boil and add the beans. When the green beans are just about cooked add the corn. After another minute or two, drain the vegetables. Serve them on a platter with a little butter, salt, pepper and chopped basil sprinkled over the top. Roasted or Grilled Eggplant, Squash and Onions The fast, easy, delicious way to prepare eggplant, squash or onions is to roast them in the oven, or grill them if you have a grill. Trim off the stems of the eggplant (no need to peel) and slice it at least 1/2 inch thick. Cut the onions into quarters and the squash lengthwise into two. Don't make the pieces too small -- they will dry out! Generously sprinkle olive oil and salt over all of the vegetables. If you are roasting, arrange the vegetables in an oiled, shallow pan. Preheat the oven or the grill to 400 degrees. Put the vegetables in the oven and watch them carefully. They may cook at different speeds. The eggplant is done when it is soft inside and browned on the surface. The onions will take longer. Green Bean Salad VINAIGRETTE Combine the vinegar, basil and salt and pepper in a small bowl. Let the flavors combine for a few minutes, then whisk in the oil until emulsified. Set aside. SALAD Have a bowl of ice water ready. Boil about 4 quarts of water with the salt and blanch the beans until crisp-tender (2 to 5 minutes). Immediately drain the beans and plunge them into the ice water. As soon as the beans are completely cool drain them again. Toss the beans with the tomatoes, olives, goat cheese and vinaigrette. Season with salt and pepper and serve. Pasta with Pesto Tapenade Here's a pesto recipe that uses basil and parsley. It's from Mollie Katzen's 1994 Still Life With Menu Cookbook published by, Ten Speed Press. The tapenade will keep in the refrigerator or longer in the freezer. 1 cup (packed) fresh basil leaves 1. Clean and dry the basil leaves and parsley, and run them through a food processor (with steel blade attachment) or a blender until very, very finely minced. Remove to a large bowl. 2. Place the olives and garlic in the food processor. Puree until smooth and add to the minced herbs in the bowl. Stir in lemon juice. 3. Cook the pasta in plenty of rapidly boiling water until al dente. Drain, and add to the bowl of tapenade. Immediately drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with a generous amount of Parmesan. Then using tongs or two forks, combine the pasta with the sauce with a gentle lifting motion, bringing the tapenade up from the bottom of the bowl. Serve immediately, preferably on heated plates. Purslane Alert Whatever you do with your purslane, DON'T boil it for 15 minutes as described in the newsletter. Think spinach. When I lived in Turkey in the early 60's, this was a favorite vegetable (semizotu). My Turkish neighbors thought I was odd for using it in salad. They always cooked it, but lightly and quickly. (But think the U.S. at the same time -- spinach was still a rare item, and spinach was boiled to sludge.) Here's how I enjoyed this rare treat last night: I stripped leaves and small stems from the big stems and washed them (leaves that is) very well. Soften some garlic (and onion, if you wish) in olive oil, and then tip the purslane leaves into the pan. Stir around a bit, cover, and let it cook no more than 3 minutes. (Good as a side dish at this stage.) I added some leftover roast chicken and put it over pasta with some Parmesan. A back to Anatolia sensation. -- Phyllis Brooks Schafer Purslane, or Verdolagas We became familiar with the culinary uses of Purslane, through recommendations from our crew. In Mexico it is put into omelets, rolled in tortillas or dropped into soups and stews. Francisca, our packing-shed manager makes it regularly for her family. She says that she drops the purslane (stems and all) into boiling salted water and cooks it until it's soft -- maybe 15 minutes. Then she drains it and chops it up very finely. At that point it is ready to serve. However, variations are to add ancho chiles, or alternately to add other chopped vegetables like tomatoes, chiles or onions. Occasionally, she also adds olive oil, but prefers it without. One big reason that we wanted to share this vegetable with you is because of it's power-packed nutrition. It has more beta-carotene than spinach and high levels of magnesium and potassium. A 1986 article in the New England Journal of Medicine reported remarkably high levels of alpha-linolenic acid -- an omega-3 essential fatty acid. Purslane also has a long history of medicinal applications in Chinese herbalism and in other cultures. An article in the July 5, 2006 issue of the New York Times lists great restaurants and chefs from around the country who use purslane in their summer cooking, as well as describing the many ways that purslane is used around the world. The following recipe is from that article, written by Marlena Spieler (we have adapted it slightly for the box). You can use the stems and leaves, but many chefs only use the thinner, more tender stems. We hope that you are all up to the challenge of this probably-new-to-you vegetable -- it's just a one-week experiment! Russian Potato Salad With Dill and Purslane 12 ounces new potatoes 1. Place potatoes in cold water to cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until just tender. Rinse with cold water and drain. 2. In a mixing bowl, combine mayonnaise, yogurt, dill, onions and capers. Season with salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste. 3. Slice potatoes and add them to the dressing. Toss gently to combine. Add additional seasonings to taste. Add purslane, fold together with potatoes, and serve. Summer Squash Salad Here's a fast and fresh way to enjoy the tender young summer squash in our boxes. I made this with last week's zucchini from my Full Belly box and lemon and mint from my garden. It was a hit. Several young summer squash Very thinly slice the squash into a salad bowl and add small chunks of the goat cheese. Dress to taste with some lemon juice, olive oil, salt and basil or mint. Toss lightly and serve. Best at room temperature. -- Penny Barthel Another Squash Idea All of the live-in Full Belly farm crew have lunch together, cooked by a different person each day. A lot of our cooking ideas come from these meals. Today it was day-old bread (1/2 of an unsliced loaf) made into delicious oven-baked pizza. The topping was tomato sauce, grated cheese, chopped up onions and SLICED ZUCCHINI. The zucchini was really a great touch! Unconventional Pesto Pesto is normally a combination of garlic, pine nuts, basil, olive oil and Parmesan cheese. It is easy to make and delicious over pasta. The following creamy pesto is for the non-purist. 2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped Puree the ingredients in a blender or food processor with enough oil to provide adequate moisture. Season to taste. This recipe will make about 2 cups. Grilled Potato and Summer Squash Salad 3 T lemon juice Whisk the lemon juice, onions, half of the marjoram and lemon peel in a small bowl. Gradually whisk in 1/4 cup of oil. Season with salt and pepper. Boil the potatoes in enough salted water to cover, until almost tender. Transfer them to a bowl and add the remainder of the marjoram and oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss. Arrange the potatoes in a grill basket and grill them until tender -- 10 minutes or so. Next grill the squash and carrots until tender, turning occasionally. Combine the squash, carrots and potatoes in a large bowl, add the vinaigrette, toss. Season with salt and pepper. Serve warm or at room temperature. Tasty Cabbage Salad Whisk together dressing: In a large bowl combine: Plus any of the following sliced/diced/julienne strips -- whatever you happen to have on hand: Plus something fried and crunchy: Combine it all with the dressing and enjoy! Recipes on the Web |
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