Carrot, Dill and White Bean Salad

Lately, I've been really into making salads that get better the longer they sit in the fridge. I like to think of them as "Second Day Salads". Usually made with a grain, bean, or pasta base instead of greens, they are hearty enough to hold up overnight and actually soak up more flavor from the vinaigrette the longer they sit.Make a couple over the weekend and you'll have lunch all week!

I found this recipe on 101 Cookbooks, which I find to be a gorgeous blog. The photography alone makes my mouth water.

Girls' Night Stir Fry!

Since I've started me CSA I've been a little resistant to stir frys. It seems that many of the veggie/vegan farmers and CSA subscribers are inclined to stir fry all their weeks offerings, regardless of what's in the bag. While this is no doubt a very healthy option, it is not what I set out to do (which was to explore interesting ways to cook these seasonal ingredients and try to bring out their best flavor). I must say though, this weeks offerings (carrots, broccoli, squash, garlic, onion) did seem to lend themselves well to a stir fry.

So, when Lindsey came over for dinner and I wanted a fast, tasty, healthy meal to put on the table I turned to stir fry. I picked up a few extra veggies to make it even more vibrant and Lindsey brought over some lovely kale.

First I browned two cubed chicken breasts in a little bit of peanut oil and set it aside to rest.

For the veggies, I started by sauteeing a clove of garlic, about half a knob of ginger, one small serrano chile and a couple little red onions in peanut oil until soft. I then added my vegetables one by one based on cooking time. I think it went something like this: carrots (with a splash of water to create steam), then red pepper, then broccoli, then squash. I added the kale and a handful of cashews at the end.

Then I made a quick sauce out of 6 tbsp. oyster sauce, 4 tbsp. soy sauce, and 2 tbsp. rice wine vinegar and tossed it with the stir fry for a few minutes.

I topped it with a squeeze of lime, some fresh basil and served it with rice (cooked with the other half of the ginger root in the pot).

Urban Farming

My friend, Libby, who works at ALOUD @ Central Library, a public lecture series produced by the Library Foundation of Los Angeles recently introduced me to Novella Carpenter, an urban farming hero. She runs a farm called Ghost Town Farm out of a vacant lot in Oakland, California.

Her attitude towards food and farming is both refreshing and inspiring, and her anecdotes describing some of her more unconventional methods are just plain funny.

Click here to listen to a podcast of her fantastic lecture at ALOUD.

It's great food for thought!

For your viewing pleasure, here are some of her happy, healthy animals. Check out more pics on Novella Carpenter's Flikr page.

Friend Share

My dear friend, Lindsey Cash, took home the veggies that didn't get eaten at the dinner party and made another beautiful meal. She used the lettuce, zucchini and broccoli for a truly green salad; made couscous with the garlic and her own locally grown onion and mushrooms, and served it with some delicious Colorado peaches. Yum.

Food SHARE!

I recently had to leave town to visit my family in California. This meant that I would be missing a sumptuous dinner party my girlfriends were throwing. In lieu of my actual presence, I decided to donate that weeks GORGEOUS veggies (lettuces, fennel, garlic, carrots, broccoli, etc.) to the party. My friends made a perfect simple salad and were also kind enough to photograph the bounty (thanks Lib!).

Pan Seared Snapper with Beet and Goat Cheese Salad

I've never been a huge fan of beets, so when I got them I wasn't immediately sure what to do with them. Based on recommendations of friends and the internet I went with a roasted beet and goat cheese salad with a citrus vinaigrette. First, I roasted the beets. Next, I made a vinaigrette out of fresh orange, lemon, and grapefruit juice. I made about twice as much as I needed and used the rest to make a pan sauce for my snapper (more on that later). To assemble the salad I just lightly tossed my gorgeous Abbondanza lettuces with the vinaigrette then topped with beets and crumbled goat cheese.







Next, I pan-seared the snapper in a tiny bit of olive oil for about 2-3 minutes per side. I removed the fish to rest then added some thinly sliced shallots to the hot pan. Next, I added half of my citrus vinaigrette and let it cook down for a couple of minutes. I poured this pan sauce directly over the snapper and finished it with fresh basil.

Hiatus

So I haven't posted on a while for several reasons. Firstly, I was in the middle of a move which sort of made cooking and blogging a little difficult. Secondly, due to an especially rainy summer Abbondanza was unable to move some of their crops from the greenhouse to the field. For this reason they also decided to change to a schedule of pick-ups every other week as opposed to every week.

This meant that I was truly able to see the effect of my local weather on my local food!

So, now I'm playing catch up. Expect posts of a meal made last month (but never blogged about) as well as what friends did with the veggies I shared during the time my kitchen was out of commission...

Thanks Adam!

I just wanted to say a special thanks to my boyfriend/amateur food stylist, photographer, and sous chef, Adam Eisele. He has been very supportive and helpful to me during this project and has shown incredible patience when I become frustrated, difficult, territorial in the kitchen, etc.. Many of the photos on this blog are his handiwork. Thanks for all your support! xo

Adam made us some wonderful jerk chicken a few days ago. All I had to do was braise some mizuna (for recipe see bok choy) and make some coconut rice. For the coconut rice I simply substituted coconut milk for some of the water and cooked the rice according to the package directions. I think it was about 1/4 cup coconut milk and 1 and 3/4 cup water (2 cups liquid total) to one cup rice.

Lamb Dinner

I recently made dinner for a group of friends. The menu consisted of roasted lamb with mint pesto, turnip puree, and a salad using my CSA lettuces and peas.

For the lamb, I used a Barefoot Contessa recipe. First, in a food processor, I blended 1 1/2 tablespoons of salt, 3 cloves of garlic, and 2 tablespoons of fresh rosemary. I then added a half cup of dijon mustard and 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and blended. I slathered this mixture over the fatty side of my frenched racks of lamb and let them marinate for an hour.

In the meantime I made a mint pesto in the food processor. I pureed a cup and a half of mint, 3/4 cup basil, 1/4 cup tasted pine nuts, 2 tbsp. grated parmesan, salt and pepper. I added olive oil to the mixture as necessary to help it blend and then continued to add oil until I had achieved the consistency I wanted.

I then placed them in a roasting pan (ribs curving down) and roasted them at 450 degrees for 25 minutes exactly, allowing the meat to rest for 15 minutes, before slicing it into individual ribs.












Initially, I wasn't entirely sure what to do with my turnips, but a friend and fellow chef, Dana Birke, suggested making them into a puree. This turned out to be a wonderful idea and the turnips almost stole the show from the lamb!

I peeled and diced the turnips into medium sized chunks and placed them in a pot with enough whole milk to cover them. I added a few whole cloves of smashed garlic and half a bunch of fresh thyme (stems and all ) to the pot. I let the pot simmer until the turnips could easy be pierced with a knife (about 25 minutes). I then removed the garlic cloves and thyme stems and drained the turnips, reserving the cooking liquid in a bowl. I returned the turnips to the pot and added about a cup of the liquid back into the pot. I used my immersion blender (which seems to be making quite a few appearances on this blog) to puree the turnips and milk together, adding more cooking liquid as necessary. Last, of course, I seasoned the puree with salt and pepper.

I was planning on adding quite a bit of butter at this point, but I completely forgot and no one seemed to notice.








Lastly, I made a quick and simple vinaigrette with one part acid (dijon, lemon juice, and shallot in this case) to 2 parts olive oil (extra virgin) and dressed my gorgeous lettuces with it. I shelled my peas and added them raw to the salad (almost like sprinkles!)

Spinach, Lemon and Turmeric Soup

I've received an abundance of wonderful spinach through my CSA. While it's wonderful I was worried about using it all before it went bad. This recipe is a great way to use a large amount of spinach.







I sauteed 2 onions then wilted 2 lbs. of spinach added the zest and juice of a lemon, a tablespoon of turmeric (which turns the soup an amazing shade of yellow), salt and pepper to taste, 5 cups of stock then let the soup simmer for about half an hour. Next, I pureed the whole thing with my immersion blender (letting the soup cool and using a food processor or blender would work just as wellI). I added a dollop of plain yogurt to top it off and dinner was served.

Seved with a slice of crusty bread, it was a perfect light meal.

Baby Bok Choy

I received these gorgeous baby bok choy from my CSA this week and couldn't wait to cook them.

I put a couple of tablespoons of peanut oil in my wok and once it was hot I added a piece of ginger that I had split lengthwise and smashed with the flat of my knife. As the ginger heated up, it began to perfume the oil. Then I added my bok choy, which I had cut in half lengthwise, to the wok (cut side down). I browned the bok choy for a couple of minutes and then added about 1/4 water to the wok to steam the bok choy for another minute or so.

I then removed the baby bok choy from the wok and started on a quick sauce to drizzle over them. To the wok I added about 3 tablespoons of soy sauce, a teaspoon of fish sauce, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, and the juice of half a lemon. I let the sauce reduce until it was a syrupy consistency (about 3 minutes), then drizzled it over the bok choy.









I served it along side grilled asian salmon.

Braised Pork Tacos

How to make the pork tacos:

1. Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large dutch oven.
2. Thoroughly season pork shoulder with salt and pepper and brown on all sides (about 5 min/side)
3. Remove pork shoulder and set aside
4. Add your seasonings to the dutch oven and sautee. I used onion, garlic, reconstituted dried chilies, cumin, chili powder, and 1 bayleaf. I then poured a healthy glug of beer in to deglaze the pan, but this step is optional.
5. Return pork shoulder to your dutch oven and add braising liquids to almost cover the pork. I used about 28oz of canned tomatoes (hand crushed) and the water I had soaked my chilies in. Stock or water would work here as well.
6. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat.
7. Simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
8. Remove meat and cut into bite size chinks, adding braising liquid as needed if meat looks dry.

Serve your braised pork on fresh corn tortillas, topped with sliced avocado and radish salsa (see recipe below).

Radish Salsa

This radish salsa had tons of flavor and added the perfect crunch on top of my braised pork tacos. I thinly sliced the radishes, chopped up some cilantro (both from my CSA!) and diced some onions. I squeezed some lime juice over it all and seasoned with salt and pepper.

First Week!!

Here is the gorgeous produce from my first weekly pick-up!

I've already used the radishes and some of the spinach. More pictures and recipes coming soon...

Michael Pollan

Michael Pollan came to town on May 20th. I was part of the sold-out crowd that went to see him speak at Unity Church.

After the talk, I co-wrote an article about his rules to eat by for elephantjournal.com. Check it out!

Veggie Share

So, I have now purchased my Veggie Share from Abbondanza Farm. I also plan to spend the season trying out some local farms' meat and dairy.

My goal is to use these to resources, as well as any other local food resource I find to nourish me through the summer of 2009.

I view this as a challenge in some ways. Each week I will be presented with a new batch of ingredients, and it will be my mission to transform those products into the best meals I can. This is also an opportunity to learn how to cook with some ingredients that I might not normally use.

I also see this as a way to learn about and connect with the landscape around me. I am hoping to gain insight into what is offered up by the earth each season and hopefully find some great ways to use that bounty.

Find Farms Near You

The first step to becoming a locavore is research. I found a list of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) by state.

I also decided to look into where to find local, naturally raised (and I don't just mean the term they stamp on a food label) meat and poultry.

Check 'em out and get to know the farmers near you!

A New Project!

Hi! I'm Sara.



I recently decided to start a blog devoted to my obsession with food. After much thinking and reading about where the majority of our food comes from, I lost my appetite. Having rejected the mainstream, I felt inspired to explore some of the alternatives. So I here I am, about to embark on an idealistic food journey...