Posts Tagged ‘spinach’
-
Convenience the Slow Way
They’re starting to pile up everywhere. Tomatoes on the counter, tomatoes on the kitchen table, tomatoes lined up on the windowsill, tomatoes on the vine waiting to be picked. It’s a wonderful problem.
If I were a better person, I’d be canning tomatoes all night long but I’d rather be outside watching the Perseid meteor shower for the next few nights. Plus I could never beat the intense flavor of Muir Glen’s organic fire-roasted tomatoes, so I don’t even try.To concentrate and preserve all that August tomato goodness, I turn my oven to 250ºF and start lining baking sheets (with sides) with parchment paper to get ready to slow-bake my tomato harvest. The smallest cherry tomatoes require just a quick poke with the tip of a skewer or sharp knife. Crowd them cheek-by-jowl onto a lined baking sheet: they’ll shrink and collapse as they slowly cook in the oven. Slice slightly larger tomatoes, say the size of shooter marbles to ping pong balls, in half and lay them cut-side up on a separate lined sheet. Sauce or Roma tomatoes should be sliced lengthwise and placed cut-side up on yet another lined sheet. Larger round tomatoes can be cut into wedges or thick slices and placed on one more sheet.
Seasoning is the next step. First, very, very lightly drizzle or mist the tomatoes with olive oil. Olive oil cooking spray is perfect for this. Next, sprinkle your tomatoes very lightly with sea salt, such as Maldon’s Crystal Sea Salt (you can find it in King Arthur Flour’s Baker’s Catalogue).
If you’re looking for a hint of smokiness, sprinkle with Maldon Smoked Sea Salt. If it’s a subtle element of heat you’re after, prudently sprinkle with some Aleppo pepper as well. It’s available from Penzeys Spices.
Slide all your prepared tomato pans into the oven. Set the timer for an hour, which will give you plenty of time for tomato picking or stargazing. After one hour, give each pan a good shake. The smallest tomatoes may be done to your liking. Taste one. If the flavor is sweet and concentrated and the flesh is still a little juicy, they’re ready. Larger tomatoes will take longer to reach that stage. Keep checking them every 20 minutes or so.
Let your tomatoes cool slightly, then pack into clean plastic containers. Slow-baked tomatoes will keep in the fridge for a week or more and for several months in the freezer. Use the tomatoes on bruschetta, in pilafs, soups, stews and simple pasta dishes like the one below.
Rotini with Slow-Roasted Tomatoes, Spinach & Feta
from the FarmPlate Kitchen1 pound rotini or other sturdy pasta shape
2 tablespoons chopped unsalted pistachios
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 scallions, thinly sliced
12 ounces Crossroad Farm baby spinach leaves
About 1 cup slow-roasted cherry tomatoes
Salt and black pepper
4 ounces Vermont Butter & Cheese feta, crumbled
A handful of Italian parsley leaves, choppedCook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water.
While the pasta is cooking, heat a skillet over medium heat. Toast the pistachios in the hot dry skillet for a minute or two—no longer. Remove from the pan. Heat the oil in the skillet and cook the scallions until soft, about two minutes. Add the spinach and cook just to wilt. Add the tomatoes and heat through. Season with salt and pepper
When the pasta is al dente, drain it then toss with the spinach mixture. Add the feta, parsley and toasted nuts then toss gently.
Serves 4 to 6
-
Spring Greens & Feta Pie (Hortapita)
from the FarmPlate Kitchen
If you like, make a simple sauce of Cabot Creamery Greek-style yogurt and chopped fresh mint to serve alongside the pie.
½ cup uncooked white rice
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 small or 2 large leeks, rinsed well and thinly sliced
1 fennel bulb, trimmed and very thinly sliced
2 tablespoons currants
1 teaspoon ouzo, or 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar or white wine
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
¼ teaspoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon dried thyme
¼ teaspoon salt
Very generous grinding of black pepper
3 pounds assorted tender greens, such as baby spinach, arugula, beet greens or chard, stemmed and washed
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
3 tablespoons butter
1 package phyllo dough, such as Fillo Factory organic dough, available at the Middlebury Co-op, thawed
8 ounces feta cheese, preferably Vermont Creamery’s goats’ milk feta
Pinch of grated nutmegCook the rice in boiling salted water for 12 minutes; it will be almost tender. Drain and rinse.
While the rice is cooking, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the leeks and fennel and cook until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Stir in the currants then add the ouzo, vinegar or wine and cook for a few seconds to evaporate. Stir in the parsley, oregano, thyme, salt and a generous grinding of pepper. Transfer the leek/fennel mixture to a bowl and set aside.
Return the skillet to the heat. Add two big handfuls of greens and cook, stirring, until they wilt. Transfer to a colander. Wilt the remaining greens in the same manner. Squeeze the excess liquid from the greens then coarsely chop. Sprinkle with the lemon zest and some pepper.
Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
Melt the butter and stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Lightly brush the inside of a 12-inch tart pan with a little of the oil/butter mixture.
Unfold the phyllo dough and cover loosely with a kitchen towel to prevent it from drying out. Place 1 sheet of dough in the pan, pushing it into the corners. There will be about 3 inches of overhang. Brush the dough lightly with butter/oil. Add another phyllo sheet, placing it at a 45º angle to the first sheet. Brush that one as well. Continue stacking (at an angle) and brushing the sheets until you have used 8 sheets to line the pan.
Spread the rice in the pie bottom. Top with the leek mixture followed by the greens. Crumble the feta and sprinkle oil on top. Season with black pepper and a grating of nutmeg.
Top with 8 of the remaining phyllo sheets, stacking and brushing them as you did the bottom layer. Trim the overhang to 2 inches beyond the rim of the tart pan. Roll the edges inward, tucking them under. Brush the top with more butter/oil. Score the top into serving pieces using a very sharp knife.
Bake for 15 minutes. Lower the heat to 350ºF and bake for 45 minutes longer. Let rest about 15 minutes before slicing and serving.
Serves 6 to 10
-
A Pie for a Balmy Sunday
There’s an awfully good chance you’ll be in shirtsleeves while shopping for the ingredients for this Sunday’s Easter feast. With temperatures forecast in the 70s, warm sunny thoughts and flavors will be on everyone’s mind.
Even if you’re planning on roasting a succulent Vermont leg of lamb or a delicious ham, you might want to include a vegetarian entrée on the menu. Hortapita is a traditional Greek savory pie made with wild greens gathered in the springtime that’s often part of a Greek Easter meal. While you can’t go foraging on a Vermont hillside just yet, you can find tender local greens at area co-ops and farmers’ markets (Middlebury, Montpelier and Rutland’s farmers’ markets will be open). And you don’t have to go to all the way to Greece to find an authentic feta for your pie.Allison Hooper and Bob Reese, cofounders of Vermont Butter & Cheese Creamery, experienced the distinctive tangy sheep and goats’ milk feta characteristic of eastern Mediterranean cuisine while at a cheese conference in Greece. Their Vermont feta captures the essence of the original. The cheese is soft, flavorful and not overly salty, making it perfect for your Vermont-style hortapita.
Spring Greens & Feta Pie (Hortapita)
from the FarmPlate KitchenIf you like, make a simple sauce of Cabot Creamery Greek-style yogurt and chopped fresh mint to serve alongside the pie.
Read the rest of this entry » -
Pete Johnson: Year-Round Farmer and Innovator
Spring is only three weeks away–at least for the savvy Vermonters who’ve already signed up for their Spring Localvore Share from Pete’s Greens’ Good Eats CSA.
Pete Johnson, the Pete in Pete’s Greens, is a rock star among New England organic famers, and his year-round CSA concept is spreading across the country. By growing salad greens in unheated, movable greenhouses on his 230-acre farm in Craftsbury, Johnson has made fresh local produce a cold-season reality here. Johnson is one of “a critical mass of new, innovative farmers” at the heart of “a massive wave of change,” says Dave Rogers, national policy director of NOFA (the Northeast Organic Farmers Association).The Spring Localvore Share begins on February 17 and runs through the first week in June. Good Eats CSA members pick up their weekly share at the farm or at one of 15 convenient pickup locations across northern Vermont. Members can look forward to a
wide variety of roots, potatoes, onions, garlic, cabbage, celeriac, kohlrabi and other storage crops from the PG cellars plus shoots, sprouts and mesclun that are growing outside throughout the colder months. Frozen vegetables that were harvested and frozen at their peak of freshness last summer augment the fresh veggies. Tomatoes, spinach and braising greens, frozen squash puree and pesto are just a few of the sun-kissed delicacies on ice. By May and June, a wider variety of fresh grown crops will be available—pac choi, baby beets, turnips, scallions, Asian greens and many more.In addition to flavor-packed vegetables, share members also
receive a wide variety of localvore staples from more than 30 producers in Vermont and southern Quebec. Offerings can include artisan breads, eggs, cheeses, organic Vermont flours, oats, cornmeal and other local grains, cooking oils, vinegars, sweeteners, miso, tamari and other basics.CSA members may also opt for a meat share, which features meats grown on the farm and meats and fish (yes! fresh trout!) from local producers. All meats are pastured and grass fed where applicable, and all are sustainably and naturally raised. Many products are certified organic.
For more information about the farm or to find a CSA sign-up form, click here.
For more images from Pete’s Greens, check out FarmPlate’s flickr gallery (Pete’s, too!).
-
Menu for a Snowy Night
Just because it’s January in New England doesn’t mean hardcore localvores are reduced to eating rutabaga soup thickened with Vermont Common Crackers. Nope. Market bins and co-op shelves are brimming with fresh root vegetables, hardy greens, fish, meats and more.
Tonight’s meal features easy fish cakes that are broiled not fried. They’re a good way to keep healthy, affordable fish on your table throughout the year. Maine’s Ducktrap River smoked trout or mackerel work well here. The recipe’s so versatile you can even use frozen fish from a sustainable fishery.
Menu
Smoked Fish Cakes
Celery Rémoulade
Baby Spinach, Roasted Beet and Toasted Nut Salad
Nitty Gritty Cornbread
Bowl of crisp apples or Sautéed Apples with vanilla ice cream -
Butternut Squash Minestrone
from the FarmPlate Kitchen
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 links Vermont Smoke and Cure Turkey-Sun Dried Tomato Sausage or other low-fat sausage, sliced
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 celery rib, thinly sliced
4 cups homemade chicken stock or low-sodium chicken broth
2 cups diced butternut squash (about 10 ounces)
One 28-ounce can chopped tomatoes (with juice)
One 15-ounce can Great Northern beans, rinsed
2 teaspoons dried oregano
6 ounces baby spinach or arugula leaves
Salt and a generous grinding of black pepper
Shaved Vermont sharp Cheddar (optional)Heat the oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the sausage slices and cook until lightly browned. Add the onions, garlic, carrots and celery and cook until soft, about 5 minutes.
Add the stock or broth, diced squash, tomatoes, beans and oregano. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer, partially covered, for 30 minutes.
Stir in the spinach or arugula and cook until the leaves wilt, about 2 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Spoon into bowls and garnish with Cheddar if desired.
Serves 6
-
Holiday Nibbles
We’ve gathered a handful of easy hors d’oeuvre ideas from FarmPlate friends and staffers. They’re not so much recipes as guides for turning what you might find in the fridge or pantry into tempting treats to serve when people stop by.
Grilled Veggie Rolls
That panini pan you got from Santa also works well for grilling sliced vegetables! Slice eggplant or zucchini about ½-inch thick, brush with olive oil and grill until cooked through. Let cool slightly, sprinkle with crumbled Vermont Creamery’s goat’s milk feta and a pinch of dried thyme. Roll up and secure with a toothpick.Ohpah! Spinach-Artichoke Dip
Heat a little olive oil in a skillet and cook 1 pound washed and trimmed spinach or arugula just until wilted then transfer to a mixing bowl. Drain and chop a 12-ounce jar of artichoke hearts and combine with the wilted greens. Add 1 cup (8 ounces) Greek-style plain yogurt (Cabot’s is excellent!) and 1 cup grated Vermont sharp Cheddar. Season with salt, pepper and a squeeze of lemon. Serve with O Bread Bakery’s seeded baguette (available at the several area markets, including the Shelburne Farms Welcome Center & Farm Store, Burlington’s City Market and Village Wine and Coffee in Shelburne).
-
Winter at the White House Garden
Nineteen inches of snow and the White House Kitchen Garden is still growing. Fresh off the success of the fall harvest, Michelle Obama’s garden was prepped for the winter growing season with hoop houses just days before this weekend’s record snowfall.
A hoop house is constructed using metal bars and then stretching fabric or plastic tightly around the outside of the structure, creating a temporary energy-efficient greenhouse. The sun warms the hoop house, and the structure protects and insulates crops from snow and frost. Hoop houses also improve soil and water quality.
Volunteers and USDA staff planted spinach, lettuce, carrots, mustard greens, chard and cabbage, as well as a crop of rye, which is used by farmers to balance soil and prevent erosion of topsoil during the winter. Assistant Chef and Food Initiative Coordinator Sam Kass announced the White House Winter Garden on a video posted to the White House blog.
On hand to help with the construction of hoop houses was USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan, who announced a new USDA program that will help farmers finance hoop house construction to extend their growing season. Merrigan notes the value of producing year-round, explaining it’s “important because that helps build local and regional food systems–something USDA wants to help you with.”
Financial assistance will be provided to fund hoop house construction on farms of various sizes in 38 states. The three-year project is part of the
USDA’s “Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food” initiative.The timing for erecting the hoop houses at the White House Garden couldn’t have been better, considering the massive snowstorm that hit Washington last weekend. According to blogger Eddie Gehman Kohan, of the ObamaFoodOrama blog, the hoop houses were cleared of snow after the storm and the vegetables remain protected.
Kass has already been showing off the benefits of growing through the winter. D.C. elementary students toured the White House Garden with Kass as part of the Operation Frontline program, which focuses on nutrition and healthy eating habits for children. Kass captivated the students with the garden’s cold weather spinach, which tastes sweet, and taught them about preparing healthy meals.
More National News
Dec. 18: A new study shows local food businesses play a critical role in economic development. Business Week
Dec. 20: In Wisconsin, a man argues for his right to sell raw milk. Chicago Tribune
Read the rest of this entry »
About FarmPlate
FarmPlate is developing a revolutionary online community and marketplace for consumers, producers, buyers and supporters of local, sustainable foods. Check out FarmPlate.com frequently— we'll be introducing many new features in the coming months.
FarmPlate’s Flickr Gallery
FarmPlate on Twitter
- Cosmic Gazpacho
- Outstanding in a Vermont Field
- Build a Table for a Feast
- Convenience the Slow Way
- Judge Bans Genetically Modified Sugar Beets
Categories
- Coming Up (18)
- News Feed (42)
- Real Food (41)
- Recipes (56)
- The Beat (42)
- Farmer Beat (5)
- Market Beat (6)
- Producer Beat (6)
- Restaurant Beat (10)
Archives
- September 2010 (1)
- August 2010 (9)
- July 2010 (18)
- June 2010 (17)
- May 2010 (18)
- April 2010 (26)
- March 2010 (18)
- February 2010 (21)
- January 2010 (22)
- December 2009 (24)
- November 2009 (20)
- October 2009 (3)
Comments
- Katie on Rhubarb Traditions
- lost on Hospitals Look to Sustainable Meats
- pete on Peaches – Fuzzy Memories