Monday, January 28, 2008

Parsnip and Apple Soup

Parsnip and apple is a classic combination that is grate mashed together, or made into soup. Below are several soup versions, but if you prefer choose the herb you like with parsnip best and use that to flavor your own creation.

Parsnip and Apple Soup - Spicy

2 tbsp oil

1 medium onion
1¾ lb parsnip
1 apple
2 tsp mild curry powder
700 ml vegetable stock

Instructions:
Heat the oil in a pan. Chop the onion and fry until soft. Peel and chop the parsnip and apple, and add to the pan with the curry powder, and cook for 30 seconds. Then cover with the stock, bring to the boil and then simmer for 10 minutes until the parsnips are soft. Whizz in a blender. If it is too thick add water or more stock.


Cream of Parsnip and Apple Soup

2 tablespoons butter
1 lb parsnips, thinly sliced
1 lb apples, peeled, cored, & sliced
1 onion, diced
1 teaspoon brown sugar
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon cardamom seeds
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups vegetable stock
1/2-1 cup cream
salt and pepper
parsley

Instructions:
Melt the butter, add the parsnips, apples, onions and sugar. Sauté till soft. Add the curry powder, spices and garlic and cook for about 2 minutes, stirring well. Pour in the stock slowly, stirring until well mixed. Cover and simmer gently for 20 minutes, until the parsnips are tender. Taste for seasoning. Blend with a hand blender and add as much cream to thin to the consistency you like and reheat, do not boil. Garnish with parsley.


Parsnip and Apple Soup - Irish

1-1/2 pounds parsnips
1 large apple, 2 tablespoons butter
4 cups vegetable stock
4 fresh sage leaves, or 1/2 teaspoon dried
3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup light cream
1/4 cup parsley, chopped


Instructions:

Cut parsnips in 1 inch lengths. Core apple and cut in 1 inch pieces. Set aside.
Melt butter in large stockpot or Dutch oven. When melted, put in parsnip and apples.
Cover and cook over medium-low heat until apple just begins to soften, about 10 to 12 minutes.


Add the stock, sage and clove. Simmer over medium-low heat until parsnips soften. The apple will be very soft by now. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Remove and discard cloves and sage leaves if using fresh sage. Pour into a food processor or use hand blender and process until smooth. Return to pot, and bring back to full heat. When ready to serve, stir in the cream enrichment and garnish with chopped parsley.

Share List January 25, 2008

Biodynamic:
3 lb Jonagold apples
3 lb citrus, expecting tangelos
1.3 lb rice, white
10 oz dried peaches

organic,
3 lb gold potatoes
1 lb parsnips
1.5 lb celeriac
2 lb onions
1 small head cabbage

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Honey-Roasted Beets (and Carrots) with Orange and Thyme

4 large beets, peeled, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
1 cup orange juice
1 tsp dried thyme leaf (use more if you are lucky enough to have fresh)
2-3 Tbsp honey or agave nectar, to taste
salt and pepper

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375°F. Place beets in a nonstick roasting pan, and stir in remaining ingredients. Cover with aluminum foil and bake, stirring occasionally to keep beets from sticking, for 45 minutes, or until beets pierced with a sharp knife are tender all the way through.

(You can add carrots to this as well if you like, use only 2 beets instead of 4. Chop enough carrotts - leaving pieces large - so that you have an equal amount of beets and carrotts and put them all in the roasting pan )

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Steamed Salsify, Parsnips, and Potatoes with Curry Sauce

1 cup salsify, sliced
1 cup parsnips, sliced
1 cup potatoes, sliced
3 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp green onion, minced
½ cup milk, fat free
1 tsp curry powder
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper

Instructions:
Trim and peel salsify; slice thinly into a bowl of water with lemon or lime juice added. This prevents discoloration of salsify. Drain; place slices of salsify, parsnips, and potatoes in saucepan with water to cover. Bring to boiling; reduce heat and simmer 8 to 10 minutes or till tender. Drain; transfer to serving platter. In same pan, melt butter and sauté onion for 1 minute. Stir in flour; add milk all at once. Cook until thickened and bubbly. Stir in curry, salt and pepper; cook 2 minutes more. Spoon sauce over salsify, parsnips, and potatoes; serve.

Salsify and Apple Sauté

1 lemon, halved
6 salsify roots
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
2 apples, peeled, cored, sliced 1/4" thick

Instructions:
Cut the lemon in half and place in a bowl of water large enough to hold all the salsify. Peel the salsify and cut it into sticks. Quickly submerge them in the lemon water. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Meanwhile, drain the salsify sticks and blot them dry. Add the salsify to the skillet and sauté for 8 minutes. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Add the apple slices and cook until they are golden and until the salsify is tender, about 5 minutes. Adjust seasoning and serve warm.

Notes on Salsify

Store the salsify for up to one week wrapped in plastic and placed in the refrigerator. To avoid discoloration of the root prior to its use, take the newly peeled salsify and drop it into a solution of water and lemon juice.

Salsify contains no cholesterol or fat and is low in sodium. It also provides an excellent source of dietary fiber.

Share List - January 18th, 2008


Biodynamic:
1 loaf Oatmeal bread
1 bag Salad greens
little chard or kale
1/2 doz eggs
3 lb apples
3 (or 2.5) lb citrus

Organic:
1.5 lb red beets
2 lb carrots
1/2 lb salsify, a unique root
2.oz arugula

Biodynamic Apples are back ! Will be either Jonagolds or Idareds.

Tangelos are waning and the citrus after this will be juice oranges with some grapefruit hopefully.

Spicy Sweet Potato Pancakes with Holiday Guacamole

(Not healthy but so wonderful as a special treat)

2/3 cup oil, for frying
1 large potato, peeled and shredded
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and shredded
1 small onion, peeled
1 egg, beaten
3 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons smoked sweet paprika
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons coriander
Pinch salt

2 avocados
1 lemon, juiced
1/2 medium red onion, finely chopped
1 small glove garlic, pasted up with some salt
2 jalapenos, seeded and finely chopped
3/4 cup pomegranate juice

Instructions:
Heat 1/3 cup of oil over medium to medium-high heat. Drain the shredded potatoes, pressing them down in a colander to get their moisture out. Place the potatoes in a bowl; using a box grater, grate the onion directly into the potatoes so that the onion juices fall into bowl as well. Add the egg and flour to the bowl then season with spices and salt. Combine and drop enough batter into hot oil to make 2 1/2-inch pancakes. Add more oil, as needed, and fry cakes in batches until deeply golden on each side. You will get about 16 pancakes.

Drain cooked cakes on paper towels.

Scoop out the avocado into a bowl and add the lemon juice, onion, garlic, jalapenos and a generous amount of salt. Mash the guacamole to a smooth consistency. Reduce the pomegranate juice to a syrup.

Arrange the potato pancakes on a platter and top with heaping spoonfuls of guacamole. Drizzle pomegranate syrup over the guacamole and serve.

Adapted from a Rachel Ray recipe.

Avocado Goddess Dressing

The ingredient sizes are just recommendations adjust the amounts according to your taste.

1 ripe avocado, seeded
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp coarse salt
2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
dash of cayenne pepper

Instructions:
Scoop the avocado out and add it and everything else - blend to desired consistancy. Or, if you like it chunky - simply mash up with a fork.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Au Gratin Turnips and Potatoes

4 cups turnips & potatoes (any combination,) peeled and thinly sliced
1 medium Onion peeled and finely sliced
2 tb Melted butter
1/2 c Milk
1/8 ts Grated nutmeg
1/4 ts Ground pepper
1/2 ts Salt
1/2 cup Grated cheese

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Mix the turnips, potatoes, onion and melted melted butter together and place in a 9-inch square or round baking dish. Cover tightly and place in preheated oven for 30 minutes. In a small pot on top of the stove combine milk, nutmeg, pepper and salt and bring to a boil. Immediately remove from heat. Remove turnip-potato mixture from the oven, remove the cover from the baking dish and mix in half the cheese. Pour the milk over the potatoes and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Replace in oven, uncovered, another 20 to 25 minutes. When the gratin is golden brown, it's ready to serve. You can also put it under the broiler for a few minutes if you feel that the vegetables are soft enough but the gratin is not brown enough.

What is a Scarlet Turnip?

These Turnips have magenta or red colored skin. The outer part of the turnip tastes a bit like a red radish while the inside is sweet like an early turnip.

Eat the turnip raw in a salad or crudités, or cook them like you would a young turnip. You can also bake them like a potato and use your favorite baked potato topping. Or for a special treat, thinly slice them, season with salt and pepper and sauté in butter until they start to browns and get crispy.

They should be put in a brown bag and stored in the refrigerator.

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Black Radish Omelet

1 black radish
½: tsp salt
3 sprigs spring onions
1 tbsp oil
3 eggs
salt & pepper
cilantro

Instructions:

Slice the radish thinly, then cut the slices into strips. Sprinkle with salt and let stand for half an hour. Whip the eggs lightly and season with salt and pepper. Slice the spring onions thinly and mix into the eggs.

Heat the oil in a medium-sized nonstick pan. Squeeze out as much liquid from the radishes as you can and stir fry in the pan for a few minutes. Pour in the eggs and fry on medium-low for a few minutes. When the omelet's solidified and taken some color at the bottom, flip it over and fry on the other side for a minute or so. Sprinkle with more pepper and chopped cilantro.

Black Radish Pasta Salad

2 cups black radish - chopped

1 lb pasta
1 Package frozen peas
2 Avocados (one of the giant ones that arrived this week)
1/3 cup Onion - chopped
8 oz Feta cheese - crumbled
1 cup green pepper

Instructions:

Peel, clean, and dice two cups black radish. Boil rapidly for two hours. Cook the pasta and frozen peas in the same pot. Drain. Put the pasta and peas back in the pot. Add two chopped avocados, 8 ounces crumbled feta cheese, 1/3 cup onion chopped fine, 1 cup chopped green pepper, and the black radish. Add pepper and salt to taste. Toss well and serve warm.

Black Radish Slaw

2-3 black radishes, scrubbed and grated
3 cups finely shredded cabbage
1 cup coarsely grated carrots
1/2 cup thinly sliced green or red onion
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon agave nectar or sugar
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley, cilantro, or mint leaves

In a bowl toss together the radishes, the cabbage, the carrots, the onion, the lemon juice, the sugar, the oil, the herb and salt and pepper to taste.

Black Radish

The taste and texture of the black radish are very similar to that of horseradish. It is not really a radish for eating like the red ones, but it is great for use in making salad dressings, dips, and condiments. The black radish promotes a healthy respiratory system; activates the liver cells; maintains a healthy gallbladder; stimulates bile flow; helps clear up acne and eczema; suppresses coughing .
Storing:
Refrigerate whole in a plastic bag for up to one month. Freezing is not recommended.
Quick dish: For a great side dish chop up black radish and mix with other vegetables to grill or sauté. Or mash with turnips.

Share List January 11, 2008


2 huge avocados
1/2 lb raw milk cheese, Edamer variety (soft)
1 lb fresh dates
1/2 doz eggs
3 or 4 lbs sweet potatoes
2 lb scarlet turnips, with some rutabagas and some purple top turnips thrown in
1/2 lb Black Radish
1 small head cabbage, red or green
and...
3 lb tangelos -- yes they're back!