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Summer CSA, Ratatouille and Grilled Bruschetta Chicken

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It’s been a couple of weeks since I have done a CSA post and we’ve almost had a full turnover in produce since last time. Here we are now, in the midst of summer in North Carolina. That means tons of tomatoes. This particular combination of made me think of Ratatouille. We make this versatile vegetable stew quite often and most of the key ingredients are already here. I am particularly fond of the recipe in the New Moosewood Cookbook. This week we were able to use fresh tomatoes instead of canned. Try it for lunch, as a side dish or with fresh scrambled eggs at breakfast.

Ratatouille

The full list this week included:

  • 1 eggplant
  • 3 bell peppers
  • 4# tomatoes
  • 1 pint sungolds – these are extraordinarily sweet and a great on their own or on top of a salad.
  • 1 baggie of fresh basil

I used the peppers, eggplant and some of the tomatoes in the Ratatouille. The fresh basil and tomatoes are a can’t-miss duo. I decided to use the basil to make pesto and create a dish to pair it with the tomatoes. I came up with Grilled Bruschetta Chicken with Roasted Squash and Pesto Sauce. I really wanted to use spaghetti squash to make this a “pasta” dish but it was not to be had at the grocery store this week so I had to work with what I could get. I will post the full recipe soon.

Grilled Bruschetta Chicken

 

 

 

 

 

Vegetarian Summer Food Porn

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The vegetarians are not starving!

It has been a very long time since I last posted.  Tons of excuses.  None of them should have prevented me from spending the three hours a week to share our awesome vegetarian/vegan meals.  The good news is that I have pictures of all of the great dinners Mary and I have cooked up.   As time allows (and if we remember how we made them) I’ll come back and add the recipes.

Enjoy the food porn!

Shrimp Cakes

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Tonight Jacquie and I were looking for a seafood dinner. We both love crab cakes, but decided to try to make something with the frozen shrimp we already had in the freezer to be a little bit more graduate-student-budget friendly. You could easily substitute lump crabmeat in for the shrimp and turn out a delicious crab cake. In fact, this recipe was based on the gluten-free crab cake recipe from Jan’s Sushi Bar (some of the best Whole30 recipes and generally awesome food photos on the internet).  One thing that really kills me when ordering crab cakes out is the amount of filler. Since this usually means breadcrumbs, this paleo option eliminates the filler in favor of some fresh onion and celery and chopped dill pickle. We served this with some fresh julienned bell pepper and carrots with whole CSA sungolds, sautéed very quickly in sunflower oil. We also added in some frozen corn that was leftover in the fridge. The cakes were topped with Sriracha-mayonnaise.

Ingredients

  • 12 uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined
  • 1/2 small onion, minced
  • 1 stalk celery, minced
  • 1 dill pickle spear, minced
  • 2 tbsp mayonnaise
  • 1 tbsp whole grain mustard
  • 1 tsp old bay seasoning
  • 2 tbsp coconut flour
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • few grinds of fresh black pepper
  • coconut oil

Instructions

Add the shrimp to food processor and pulse a few times to chop. Be careful to leave a good amount of texture and not to puree the shrimp. Alternatively, you could chop them by hand. Combine the chopped shrimp with the rest of the ingredients, except for the coconut oil in a bowl. Form into four cakes and set on parchment paper in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. Heat coconut oil in a skillet and fry the cakes for 3-4 minutes on each side until golden brown. Serve with a squeeze of fresh lemon and Sriracha-mayonnaise.

Salmon with Honey Mustard Pan Sauce and Wild Arugula

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Believe it or not, this meal started with me creating something to use fresh beets I got in last week’s CSA. When I see them, it’s really hard for me not to think about fresh roasted beets. Next time I’m going to try incorporating them into something raw. I actually got the inspiration for the salmon recipe from the Trader Joe’s package. < aside >Why does Trader Joe’s sell their frozen fish in packages of three fillets? I realize it’s about a pound but three is not a convenient number. <\aside>  I used Silverbrite because it was inexpensive, but next time I would use a brighter variety such as Coho or Sockeye. The vinaigrette for the salad paired perfectly with the pan sauce.

Salmon

  • 4 3-4 oz. salmon fillets
  • 2 T olive oil
  • 2 T grass-fed butter
  • 2 T whole-grain mustard
  • 2 T water
  • 2 T lemon juice
  • 1 T honey
Heat a sauté pan and add olive oil and butter. Once the butter is melted add the mustard and cook for about a minute until the mustard seeds are lightly toasted. Add the salmon and cook about 3 minutes on each side.  Add the water, cover and cook until the fish is cooked through (mine took about 5 more minutes). Remove the fish from the pan, add lemon juice to deglaze the pan. Add honey and cook until the pan sauce is reduced, 2-3 minutes.

Vinaigrette

  • 6 T olive oil
  • 3 T champagne vinegar
  • 1 shallot
  • 1 T whole-grain mustard
  • fresh-ground black pepper

Blend the ingredients (a magic bullet works really well for this type of thing). Alternatively, whisk the oil, vinegar and mustard, then stir in the finely minced shallot.

Salad

  • 1 package (7 – 8 oz) wild arugula
  • 1 c roasted beets
  • 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 4 oz crumbled goat cheese
  • raw sunflower seeds

Lightly dress the arugula with the vinaigrette in a large bowl. Divide evenly and top with the beets, goat cheese, tomatoes and sunflower seeds. Place the salmon (whole fillets or sliced) on the salad and spoon the pan sauce over the salmon. Enjoy!

 

Sunday Evening Dinner: Pork Chops with Fresh Blackberry Sauce

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Today is Sunday at that means that you can probably find me in the kitchen for a good portion of the day stocking the fridge with things to eat during the week. Eating paleo means a lot of cooking and a lot of cleaning dishes for which we don’t always have time for during the week. Thinking ahead a few days and keeping things fresh and simple helps a lot. And at the end of it all, who doesn’t like to sit down to a nice dinner with a glass of red wine or a cold beer?

I was really looking forward to this meal. I was able to pack in a bunch of local/CSA ingredients. CSA blackberries and onions topped the pork chops from Walter’s Unlimited, who consistently provides the best pork (link and ground sausage, roasts, ribs, chops…) I have found anywhere. The chops were accompanied by a zucchini “pasta” salad using our own garden zucchini and CSA potatoes roasted with butter, smoked paprika and rosemary.

Pork Chops with Fresh Blackberry Sauce

Ingredients

4 fresh bone-in pork chops

3 T grass-fed butter, divided.

1 pint fresh blackberries

1/2 red onion, sliced thinly

1/4 c balsamic vinegar

2 T honey

Directions

Melt half the butter in a small saucepan and cook the onions until they are softened and just starting to caramelize. Add the vinegar, honey and blackberries and simmer until the sauce has thickened and the berries are collapsed (about 15 minutes). While the sauce is simmering, heat the remaining butter in a saute pan, season the pork with salt and fresh black pepper cook the pork chops until brown and caramelized, about 4 minutes on each side. Depending on how thick the chops are they might not be quite done yet. If necessary, stick the chops in a 375-degree oven until the internal temperature is 160 degrees (mine took 5-10 minutes). Let the chops rest for a few minutes before serving. Remove the sauce from the heat and let stand for a few minutes (the sauce will thicken up a bit more as it cools). Spoon the sauce over the pork  and enjoy!

Summer “Pasta” Salad

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"Pasta" salad with zucchini "noodles"

Here is the perfect paleo side dish for your summer BBQ. It has all of the things in a normal pasta salad except the noodles are replaced with thinly sliced zucchini. The key is to blanch the zucchini to cook out some of the rawness. Fresh raw bell peppers add some sweetness and crunch. Pepperoni, cheese and olives add a good amount of saltiness. The salad is dressed with a simple Italian vinaigrette. You can vary the amounts to your liking and add any other veggies you have on  hand such as carrots, onions, broccoli or cauliflower and the meat/cheese could be cut out to make this vegetarian as well.

Ingredients

  • 2 zucchini
  • 1 bell pepper, sliced thinly.
  • Cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered. I like Trader Joe’s mini heirloom tomatoes.
  • Pepperoni, cut into small cubes.
  • Cheese, cut into small cubes. I used grass-fed cheddar but whole milk mozzarella would be good here too.
  • Olives, chopped finely. I used Trader Joe’s jalepeno-stuffed green olives for an extra kick.
  • 5 T olive oil
  • 2.5 T red wine vinegar
  • 1-2 tsp each of dried oregano, basil and red chili flakes

Directions

Cut the zucchini into very thin broad slices using a mandoline. Cut the slices lengthwise several times so they resemble noodles. Add the zucchini “noodles” to a pot of boiling water for about 5 minutes. Drain and immerse the “noodles” into an ice bath to stop the cooking. Once the zucchini is chilled, drain well and add the peppers, tomatoes, pepperoni, olives and cheese. Whisk together the olive oil, vinegar and spices and dress the vegetables. Chill before serving.

CSA Week 9

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It looks like agriculture in North Carolina turned over last week. Greens have been gone for a couple of weeks now and it looks like the squash season was short. This week is the first of the blackberries and the blueberries are a week or two out. Onions are consistent and getting larger. This week included:

  • 1 pint blackberries. We ate all of these but stay tuned next week for some grilled pork chops with blackberry chutney.
  • 1 fennel. This is one of my favorite vegetables although it is hit-or-miss with people. If you really like the flavor, try serving it raw on a salad with blue cheese and fresh orange. If you’re looking to chill out the licorice flavor, try making this vegan- and paleo-friendly roasted fennel and tomato soup.
  • 3 large onions. This is the first red onions we’ve seen.
  • 1# carrots. Had these for lunch with some sliced cucumber, tomato and tuna salad.
  • Potatoes. While these are not strictly paleo, I’m not going to turn down any fresh farm food. We incorporated these into a gratin with grass-fed cheddar. I used the rest for roasted potatoes with rosemary served with fresh farm bratwurst and sautéed peppers and onions.

Happy Father’s Day Y’all

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Sean and I aren’t parents (unless you count owning a stinky dog) but we still love Father’s Day as a good excuse to have a big, delicious dinner. I was born and raised in Buffalo, NY and if you ask me the one thing I miss the most about Buffalo my answer would be: beef on weck. Beef on weck is roast beef on a Kummelweck bun (and a Kummelweck bun is a Kaiser roll dusted with salt and caraway seeds). You know you have a legit beef on weck sandwich in your hand when the beef is rare, carved beautifully thin and you have the juices dripping down your arm. Recently I have been seriously craving a beef on weck. In our pre-paleo days Sean and I made some homemade beef on weck sandwiches and they were delicious. Well, Kummelweck buns sure aren’t paleo so I wanted to create a dish that would mimic the beef on weck but without the bun. Instead of beef on weck, I’m calling this Beef Weck. I hope you try it out and enjoy it. If you’ve never had a beef on weck you’re in for a real treat; there is something amazing about putting beef, salt and caraway seeds together. And if you’ve had beef on weck, I think this is a great healthier substitution; it sure satisfied my craving at least.

Beef Weck Ingredients

Kosher salt

Caraway seeds

Flank Steak

Directions

Pretty simple… I grounded up some caraway seeds and kosher salt with a mortar and pestle. Then we used it as a rub on the flank steak and grilled the steak to a nice rare/medium-rare.

Tips: Sean was concerned the caraway seeds wouldn’t stick (and as a result we woud miss out on the awesome flavor they bring) and he was concerned the salt would dry out the steak. To fix this we made sure to rub the caraway/salt into the steak really well. We also put the rub on right before grilling the steak; that way the salt didn’t have time to soak up the steak’s juices before we grilled it. The steak turned out awesome!

We served the steak with a broccoli salad and au gratin potatoes. Yeah, potatoes aren’t paleo, but we got some potatoes in our CSA box this week and we aren’t going to not eat something from the farm just because it’s not paleo – you can’t deny good, local food. I really do love au gratin potatoes so I decided to make them with some local whole milk and grass fed cheddar & butter.

I made up the broccoli salad in an attempt to mimic the (non-paleo) pasta salad I would usually make with beef on weck.

Broccoli Salad Ingredients

2 small heads of broccoli

hard salami, cut up in small chunks

black olives, sliced

Dressing Ingredients

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp basil

1 tsp red pepper flakes

2 cloves garlic

sun-dried tomatoes cut into small pieces

Directions

Again, pretty easy… I cut the broccoli up into small pieces and boiled them until cooked. Then I mixed in the black olives and salami. I mixed all the dressing ingredients together and coated the salad with it. Yum!

 

 

Open-Faced Chorizo Breakfast Quesadilla

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Sean and I are attempting to diversify our breakfasts more. Grok wouldn’t have been able to eat eggs and bacon everyday so neither should we. This week I made some Open-Faced Chorizo Breakfast Quesadillas. I made the filling/topping all at once and then reheated it a bit every morning for breakfast. It tastes the best the first day you make it, but it tastes fine reheated as well.

Ingredients (for 6-8 servings)

2 whole sweet potatoes, cooked

2 chorizo links, casings removed

1 yellow onion, chopped

1 large bag of frozen mixed bell peppers

1-2 jalapenos, chopped

grass-fed butter or bacon grease for cooking

1 egg per serving

Directions

Cut up the sweet potatoes into cubes and throw them on a skillet with some butter/grease to get the outsides brown & crispy. When they are done set them aside.

In a skillet cook the chorizo, breaking it up into chunks. When done, add to the sweet potatoes. Cook the onion and jalapenos in the chorizo grease until tender & browned. Then, add to the sweet potato and chorizo mixture.

Cook the peppers in a skillet. When I cook the frozen bagged peppers I don’t put any butter or grease in the pan. I just put it on medium-low until they start to defrost and then the water gives them something to simmer in. When they’re done add them to the filling/topping mix. If there is still a lot of water in the pan, be sure to drain it first.

So that makes the filling/topping; that’s what I would heat up every morning for breakfast. To make the “tortilla” for the topping all I did was cook one scrambled egg in a small non-stick skillet. It can be kinda hard to get one omelet-style egg off a pan, but the key is to add a good amount of butter/grease and to cover the pan while it’s cooking. That way the top of the egg starts to cook so it’s kind of fluffy when you try to flip it/pick it up. If the top of the egg is still wet you’re not going to be able to flip it without breaking it.

Anyways, you cook your egg patty then add your toppings and it’s ready to eat!

 

Quick Pickles

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Here’s a recipe for a quick pickle; no cooking or waiting. A great way to use fresh cucumbers which will be plentiful now that summer has arrived. These are also salt-free, unlike those dubious jars from the grocery store. I can remember eating these growing up, so I have to thank my Mom for the inspiration on this one. Try them at your next BBQ.

Procedure:

Slice three medium-sized fresh cucumbers very thinly using a knife or mandoline.  Add them to a mixture to 1 cup apple cider vinegar, 1/2 cup olive oil, 1/2 tbsp each of sugar, dill and red pepper flakes. Stir to combine and refrigerate until you are ready to eat them, which could be immediately.