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Summer Pizza and Pesto!

August 24th, 2011

I love the bounty of summertime and basil is one of the tops for me. First of all, I think it is such a beautiful plant. The green of the leaves, the delicious aroma and the possibilities in the kitchen that are endless. It is part of the mint family nd in Greek, basil means “King”. It is high in Vitamin A, beta-carotene, magnesium and potassium. It has anti-inflammatory properties and is used for skin ailments as well as cold, headache, reducing fever and digestive aid. Medicinally, not only the leaves but the seed and oil of the plant are used for treating various ailments.

Basil is fairly easy to grow especially in the garden. It will also do well as a potted plant. Since it likes humidity and lots of sunshine, it is easier to grow in the summer than indoors in the colder months but it can be done and is quite worth the efffort. If you pinch back the plant, it will bush out a bit creating more and longer growth. Use the leaves as they are picked. Keep those stems! When mincing up basil for use in sauces or making pesto, use those stems.

Oooooo, speaking of pesto, what a treat it is to have in the summer! It is so fresh and makes you feel incredibly alive. I swear I get a jolt of energy when I eat the stuff. It is so easy to make and I recommend making a lot, I mean a hge batch so you can store the goodness away for the middle of winter as well.

Pesto!

2 cups basil leaves
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts
3 medium sized cloves of garlic
salt to taste

Put all the ingredients in the food processor and pulse until well blended.

Now, the great thing about making pesto is it lends itself to a lot of variation. Instead of pine nuts, you can use walnuts or a comination of the two. I like to use a bit less oil while making the pesto when I am going to be storing it. To do this, make the pesto minus a little oil. Fill an ice cube tray wwith eh pesto. Then, here is the little trick, top the pesto cubes with a little more oil. That helps seal in the color and it will brown less. Once the cubes are frozen, pop them out and store in the freezer in a container until you are ready to use it. The otehr reason I like to use less oil is so I have more flexibility withe the cubes. In winter, it is lovely to pull out a pesto cube, add some coconut milk and serve over veggies.

Let’s not rush things though. After all, it is still summer and we have plenty of sunny basil picking days ahead of us. Pesto is a great way to dress up a plate of veggies or add some fresh basil to your homemade salad dressing. A perfect appetizer or main meal for two is summer pizza. Using your favorite raw bread or cracker recipe, make one large or a couple smaller rounds and dehydrate. My new favorite is a cheezy cracker recipe. It is made with cashew and sunflower seeds as the base. Added in are tomatoes and red pepper. It is the loveliest orange color and really tastes like cheezy crackers. It compliments the color of the pesto superbly. Top your pizza with pesto and fresh sliced tomatoes. Rigth now there are a lot of great Heirloom tomatoes available in your garden or at local farmers markets and stands. The pizza takes only five minutes to make if you have preparred pizza flats stored away and is filling, full flavored and a divine treat!

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Fire-n-Spice ‘n a Flick

January 2nd, 2011

Happy New Year!

My New Year’s Resolution? To start posting yummy stuff again! So without further ado:

Today we took a break from the recent round of partying and heavy holiday food for a delightful excursion into Hartford. Fire-n-Spice is a vegan restaurant on Sisson Avenue just before it hits Farmington, a hop, skip n jump from exit 46 off I84. In other words, super easy access. Don’t judge this lovely gem from the outside — it appears to be just one storefront among many, but the inside is painted a warm yellow with African wall hangings and a welcoming vibe. The owners follow a Rastafarian way of life, and this flowers beautifully in their menu.

We were beckoned over to the counter, quickly assessed as first-timers, and given the skinny on the food. Since all 3 tofu dishes (BBQ, jerk AND scrambled tofu) had just run out, we opted to share one plate and go back for another once they were back in action. All in all, we had many options to choose from for an entree — spanish rice, red beans n rice, or quinoa, steamed kale (I went back for more of this simple-but-tasty delight!), stir fried veggies, curry pot (potatoes simmered in coconut milk, turmeric, cumin, coriander, thyme, onion and cilantro), chole (Indian-style chick peas in a creamy curry masala sauce), red lentil dahl and ital stew. Keeping warm in a case off to the side were samosas, plantains and lentil, soy or ackee patties, and chillin’ in the dessert case were sweet potato pudding (jamaican style, crustless), cornbread pudding and a cranberry ginger cake (I think — by the time talk came around to dessert, I was stuffed and on information overload!).

Everything was delicious — the curry pot had me wondering why on earth I’ve never made potatoes like that before. Ditto all 3 tofu dishes — I tend to fry mine and add it to asian dishes. Yawn! All 3 were yummy, including tofu scrambles which I’ve seen in cookbooks but never been inclined to try before. What have I been waiting for? These were scrumptious! And the BBQ tofu has me longing for summer picnics. The chole was also delicious and different than any I’ve ever had — most seem to be tomato based, but this one wasn’t, and didn’t suffer one bit for lack of tomatoes. I’ve wanted to make chole at home but haven’t since tomato cans are lined with BPA (even Eden, whose bean cans aren’t). This dish gives me hope that I can find a recipe for chole that doesn’t contain tomatoes… an exciting prospect indeed for a family that loves this Indian chick pea dish!

The word Ital is derived from the English “vital”, and refers to making lifestyle choices that bring about or maintain optimum Livity (quoting from wiki: “the life energy Rastas generally believe lives within all of us…what is put into one’s body should enhance Livity rather than reduce it. Though there are different interpretations of ital regarding specific foods, the general principle is that food should be natural, or pure, and from the earth”).

Sign me up! Especially if it means I can eat more ital stew! I don’t think I’ve ever actually eaten okra before, but I’ve heard a lot of bad things about it. How it can be good if cooked properly, but that mostly it’s just slimy and icky and something to avoid. Or best eaten pickled. That sort of good press. Well, let me just say that my first bite of okra in the ital stew has me signed on as a fan! This stew was lovely, thick, creamy, sweet, warming, filling… the list goes on. Definitely something to go back for! Chock full of beans (three kinds!), sweet potatoes, dumplings and an array of spices, this option made it to both our plates!

After two plates of yummy goodness, we were too stuffed to try anything else. So let me report here that there is an array of food beyond what we had! Smoothies! Juices and wheat grass shots! Breakfast (including brunch on Sundays)! Salads, sandwiches, soups… well you can see for yourself by checking out their menu online — the brunt of it here with the smoothies, juices and drinks here.

Don’t miss out on all the raw food goodness, including everything from appetizers, salads to entrees and soups! They didn’t have the raw entrees ready to go today, so if you have your heart set on a raw meal, I’d ring them ahead of time and let them know you’re on your way with a hankerin’ for raw food. The options look interesting though, so definitely worth the call.

We like to eat out — heck, who doesn’t? But in the back of my mind, I always know that we are likely eating things we wouldn’t eat if we knew they were in the food. Oyster sauce and fish sauce at thai restaurants, milk and butter at indian restaurants, lard as the cooking grease and who knows what else at chinese food restaurants, etc. So it was a real treat to go to one of the few vegan restaurants I can think of in our area! We felt great, though full Full FULL afterwards!

I highly recommend this little gem, especially if you find yourself in the area. It’s but a stone’s throw from Real Art Ways, a great place to see a movie you aren’t likely to see elsewhere, as well as some thought-provoking art in the gallery. They serve freshly-made popcorn with real butter, as well as beer and wine! They have some interesting daytime programming (1st and 3rd Monday Matinees) coming up that might be of interest, including South: Ernest Shackleton and the Endurance Expedition (1/3/11), The Mystery of Picasso (1/17), West Side Story, Duck Soup, Grey Gardens, and Le Fleuve.

This weekend they’re showing the New York International Children’s Film Fest: Kidflix 2010 on Saturday, January 8 & Sunday, January 9, 11 AM. Recommended for ages 3-8. Curated for the youngest audiences, Kidflix is a selection of nine short films from around the world selected by the New York International Children’s Film Fest. We watched some of these online and even an old fuddy duddy 10-year-old enjoyed himself!

So make it a date — dinner and movie supporting local, independent business! I’ll bet that’s in keeping with your new year’s resolutions!

Best wishes for the year ahead!

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Farmer’s Market Time

July 26th, 2010

It’s summer and I’m lovin’ it!

It seems that now is the time that there is so much raw goodness out there and available. Just in your own backyard there is enough to create lovely salads and add-ins to smoothies to make one smile.

A favorite activity of ours is going pickin’!! We love going berry and fruit picking to eat up the sun-kissed fresh fruit. I love seeing the kids explore the farms and see how the food grows. Is it a tree, a bush, low to the ground? What do the leaves of the plant look like?

The plan is always to pick enough to freeze. We haven’t quite been able to accomplish this because we eat every last little berry we pick. It is also a good lesson in what is in season and local to us.

Another high point for us is the local farmer’s markets. They are all so different from one another. A favorite used to be Coventry Farmer’s market when we lived closer to it. Lots of great vendors including our very close friend Hurricane Farm!! Coventry also has guest speakers and it is so fun filled.

Now we are in a different location and we have been checkin’ out the scene. My new favorite is Ashlawn Farm in Lyme, CT. They are open Fridays from 3-6pm and Saturday am 9-noon. There are two organic vendors with fantastic veggies and flowers. Hidden Brook Gardens is a new favorite. They have lush greens and are passionate about what they do. I have gotten some great tips about growing and different ways to use the produce. The Hay House has gorgeous flowers and extras of greens and veggies that have not gotten used for their CSA. Scott’s is not organically certified but uses organic sprays when possible and has a huge variety of fruits and veggies. They are happy to answer questions about their goods and their practices. There is yet another vendor that is not organic and does uses sprays I care not to partake of so be sure to ask. They also have fresh baked items as well as a fresh seafood vendor and meat vendor. Ashlawn farm is a beautiful farm that is super friendly and it is fun to sit on a chair or blanket after getting your goods to watch the animals or go into their little store to buy a fresh made smoothie.

Get into the swing and find your local farmer’s markets and go check them out. Be sure to visit all the local ones as they truly are each unique and offer different goods.

So, What is your favorite market?

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patriotic shortcake

July 9th, 2010

The kids voted for which red-white-and blue dessert we would make as part of our Fourth of July festivities this year — smoothie parfait with a blueberry level, coconut milk yogurt level and sour cherry or raspberry level; blueberry shortcake with raspberries, or something along the lines of Sabrina’s Berries ‘n Cream.

As you can see, shortcake had unanimous support, and I made a sour cherry smoothie to wash it down — mostly cherries, with a little water, one banana and 2 dates. To prepare for this colorful treat, we picked oodles of fat blueberries at Belltown Hills Orchard in Glastonbury. Afterward, we followed Matson Hill Road to the end and went for a walk in the woods and dip in the water at Cotton Hollow. Then onto the Glastonbury library (to reluctantly relinquish their overdue copy of David Wolfe’s The Sunfood Diet Success System) and Whole Foods where we found organic strawberries on sale.

I hem and haw (gee, that seems silly in print) about buying organic berries from California, but everything I have read on the topic makes me feel very strongly that even washed berries contain high levels of pesticides and chemical fertilizers. You remember the invaluable resource we mentioned back in February — Environmental Working Group’s Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides. Like this article today from Rodale: Coming Soon to Your Strawberries: Newly Approved Carcinogenic Pesticide. Aside from those grown in my yard, I have yet to find a good source of local organic berries, especially strawberries. Last year we drove out to the lovely and amazing Kristin Orr’s organic blueberry patch at Fort Hill Farms in Thompson, CT. A gem of a woman, a very special farm, it was worth the trip and we picked 10lbs of organic blueberries! If you know of another organic pick-your-own or farm stand in CT, please pass that info on!

I avoid buying food from across the country when local alternatives are present, but we wanted us some strawberry shortcake. We had several bowlfuls of homegrown strawberries this year (well, those that actually made it into the bowl, that is, and weren’t gobbled up by my two garden gremlins), but we only made shortcake once.

This is a picture of our first attempt at almond flour drop biscuits which I actually made as drop biscuits. Ignoring the directions, I scooped out a bunch of dough, dropped it on the pan and baked it. Dante chopped and slightly mashed up our berries with a little wood sorrel and Voila! We sliced them in half and added the berries, but since they were so big, the texture of the biscuits left something to be desired and we didn’t have the abundance of berries so much biscuit required. Since they were tasty, we tried again.

I followed the directions and used my 1/4 cup measuring cup to scoop the dough, and flattened it once it came out on the baking sheet. Much better! Here’s the recipe, once again using almond flour so entirely gluten free and without that odd aftertaste that we find in many GF flour mixes that involve beans and loads of tapioca or corn starch!

Gluten Free Almond Flour Classic Drop Biscuits

2 1/2 cups blanched almond flour
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 cup melted coconut oil
1/4 cup honey
2 large eggs
1 tsp. lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees; line baking sheet with parchment or grease the baking sheet.
Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix the wet ingredients in a medium bowl. Combine wet into dry until thoroughly mixed.
Drop the batter in scant 1/4 cups onto baking sheet (will make 8-10 biscuits). Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown and cooked through.

She called for grapeseed oil and agave, and we replaced each egg with 1 Tbs ground flax mixed with 3 Tbs water, allowing it to stand until thickened. I mooshed the dough into my 1/4 cup measure, and it came out nicely onto my sheet. I then pressed it down a bit into the shape you see on the right and popped them in the oven.

I whizzed some blueberries and chia seeds in the Vita-Mix, and once smooth I added another couple handfuls and ran the blender gently to chop them a bit to give the sauce a chunky texture. Blueberries thicken on their own, as anyone who has left a blueberry smoothie to stand for a while can attest, but I added the chia to accelerate this and boost the nutrition of the dish.

I started 1 cup of cashews soaking before I mixing shortcake dough or chopping berries. I rinsed these well, drained and added them to the rinsed blender with some water, several dates, the juice of 1 lemon and a pinch of Himalayan sea salt and whizzed til smooth to make a cream sauce to top our shortcake. I didn’t measure, and did this to taste, adding a little water gradually until the blender was able to do it’s job and I achieved the consistency I was looking for.

Our red, white and blue shortcake was a big hit with the family, and some had seconds. The shortcakes were tasty, and I want to try them with little or no sweetener perhaps mix in some chives or other herbs and serve them with a savory dish for dinner. We used to make a veggie stew with cheesy cheddar biscuits, and I think these would be a lovely sub. We’ve even found a replacement for the cheese that melts, stretches and taste delicious! More to come soon on that!

The garden beckons, and the heat wave demands a pilgrimmage to a local body of water, so I’m off!

Happy high garden season!

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berries, cashew cream, organic farms, shortcake

WOW: nettles

May 23rd, 2010

Grab those garden gloves — it’s time for a new feature on crunchybits! Welcome to our first Weed of the Week — Nettles!

We’ve already talked about the health benefits of nettle infusions. This humble herb helps with respiratory troubles, allergic reactions, arthritis, skin problems, kidney stones and bladder infections. but the uses of nettles don’t stop there. You can steep nettle stalks in a bucket of water for a few weeks until fermentation stops (once there are no more bubbles when you stir) and use a dilution of this pungent “tea” as a foliar feed or soil fertilizer for your plants.

In addition to the feeding and healing people and their vegetable patches, nettles have been used for more than 2000 years to make things like rope, paper or cloth. And they can dye the fabric too! The leaves will give a green color, while the roots boiled with salt or alum yield a lovely yellow.

Nettles attract a number of butterflies, who lay their eggs on the plant so their caterpillars have a tasty, nutritious start on life. Once the plants go to seed, the birds will visit your patch to dine. So it has a place in your wildlife garden too!

Here in CT, nettles been out for a few months, and the patches we’ve expanded in the garden are producing nicely. Although today Dante asked me not to do that again because getting around the garden in shorts and with bare feet isn’t as pleasant as before where the nettles were primarily outside the fence and just inside at one corner.

We’ve been using them primarily in our smoothies, but last week I found a nettle soup recipe in a library cookbook Love Soup by Anna Thomas. I adapted it a bit, and am posting the resulting recipe below. It was delicious, and Dante and Luke ate a couple of bowls. Lucia didn’t care for it, but said she will try it again next time.Something about it reminds me of homemade chicken and rice soup from my childhood.

Nettle Soup

2 large onions, diced
4 cloves garlic
4 carrots, diced
4 stalks celery, diced
4 yukon gold potatoes, diced
1 cup lentils
1 cup millet
6-8 leaves kale, chopped
4 cups chopped nettles
water or broth
salt to taste

Saute onions on medium low heat until they start to brown.
Meanwhile chop and measure out everything but the greens.
Once the onions turn translucent, add the carrots, celery and potato and stir occasionally for about 5 minutes.
Add the garlic and stir, cooking for one minute.
Add water and/or broth to cover and bring to a boil.
Add lentils and millet, stir and reduce to a simmer.
After about 20 minutes, add chopped greens and remove from heat.

I didn’t want to add any spices so I could taste the subtle flavor of the nettles, but I think next time round I would add some fresh herbs. And possibly more nettles.

Happy harvesting — don’t forget to wear thick gloves or proceed with caution!

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our class raw potluck

May 6th, 2010

Hi everyone!

Yesterday was the last day of the raw class we taught at Greenspring. It was a fantastic 12 weeks and we received lots of positive feedback which we are ever so grateful for!!

For the last class, we had a raw potluck to share a couple of our favorite dishes and give the students a chance to spread their wings and bring in a raw recipe and dish to share with the class. What a beautiful display!! We were so happy to see how everyone really took on the challenge and made some remarkable dishes. We’ve left the pictures really big, so if you click on them, you can see the dishes better.

There was so much variety:

* a beautiful garden salad with homegrown sprouts with a citrus dill vinaigrette – nice and light and the dressing had a fabulous tang.

* an Italian salad of simply cut oranges with red pepper flakes, onions and oil and vinegar was a flavorful and colorful dish

* guacamole beautifully dressed up with red pepper left nice and chunky

* one student got so excited she just couldn’t stop the creative juices from flowing and brought three dishes in! One was a balsamic dressing served over tomato and avocado. The lemon bars were superb with strawberries and chocolate sauce. Her last dish, black bean brownies, demonstrated nutritious cooked options. They were rich, fudgy and all gone!

* dehydrated pear and peaches looked pretty and were a light, sweet chip.

*crudites were served with a pumpkin seed pate which was a lovely light green color that really felt like spring. This same student brought in a dessert – chocolate coconut balls.

* another student who is obviously an artist in the kitchen brought in a version of the coconut white cake in the form of cupcakes with filling in the middle, cashew cream frosting and elegant decor of slivered almond atop. She made a chocolate version, and an alternative made with almond butter instead of tahini as well. They looked stunning.

* a big bowl bursting with nutrient packed homegrown sunflower sprouts with velvety white cream sauce was a hit among the little ones as they went back for seconds and thirds. I heard Lucia say, “I could eat these every night for dinner if I wanted to ya know!” I loved it!!

* fruit salad was also gobbled up by the littles with big smiles on their faces

* Pad Thai seemed to be a hit and I happily recited the ingredients to many who said, ” I must have that recipe.”

One of the best parts of getting together with others in this way is everyone brings such a unique quality to the experience. I love sharing my favorite dishes and trying others creations. It is a wonderful way to sample recipes you may have not come across yet or ones that include flavors you do not typically use in your kitchen. You go with one recipe and come away with so many more and you now know how they taste. Potlucks are a great way to quickly expand your repertoire.

It is also important to have community. Going to a raw potluck or hosting one does just that. It is a good way to connect with others and discuss successes and challenges, get feedback and share experiences.

So, here’s to you, our raw class participants and friends!! We so enjoyed the experience and hope you did as well!

In gratitude!!

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The Infamous Fruit Salad

April 5th, 2010

When getting together with family or friends, I always try to bring a dish to share that is family friendly really meaning the adults will like it and the kids will like it, too. I am the one in particular in the family that is also known for being super health conscious and particular about food choices. I love when I bring dishes that are loved by all.

To me, the fruit salad is one of the best choices in the world. It is easy to throw together, can be made with so much variety, what is on sale or wild and exotic and everyone around the table loves it.

Be creative and think in season and see what you can find that is fresh and local. In the summer, you can make a lovely red white and blue salad with organic strawberries, organic blueberries and chunks of apple. Or go for a more tropical bowl of mango, banana, papaya and kiwi. It is also fun to hollow out a watermelon and fill it with fruit when it is in season. In the fall, go for the plums, pears and grapes with apple. In the winter, I slow down on the fruit salad since there is not much in season but you could do a melon, banana, apple type dish.

Today we are going to visit family and I am bringing the fruit bowl. I cut up cantaloupe and tossed it with small oranges and grapes. I added mint cut chiffanode and a drizzle of honey. Of course, I taste tested along the way and can’t wait until later when I can have a whole bowl full.

Adding the mint is another area you can be quite creative. Mint is a favorite of mine for fruit salad but again you can vary this depending on what is growing in the garden and what fruits you have in your salad. Seeds like hemp, poppy and sesame also add a new twist.

Any leftover fruit and herbs can be put in the blender and whizzed up for a smoothie or freeze the fruit whole and take out for frozen little snacks. There is really no way you can go wrong with the fruit salad and I just know it will be enjoyed by everyone.

Dig in!

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Hop Hop Hop

April 4th, 2010

It’s Easter! Around here that means an ‘egg’stavaganza of egg coloring. This year we used 3 colors. Turmeric for yellow, paprika for red and chlorophyll for green. Last year we had also boiled red cabbage for a blu-ish color and beets for red.

To make the dyes, we added boiling water to our color with a couple teaspoons of vinegar which helps the color set on the egg. For colors with foods like onion, cabbage and beets, you would boil the veggie until the water is colored and then pour off the liquid and add the vinegar.

The color of the eggs are fantastic! They are mellow and earthy and I never feel bad if some of the dye seeps in through a crack unlike when we used to use the chemical dyes. There is something to be said for the process as well. My kids (and me) love making the colors themselves and knowing what it came from. Gatlin enjoyed smelling the turmeric and paprika to see what “flavor” they were.

Good things can not be rushed. I will say, the natural dyes do take time to set. It is not wham bam done but that is part of the fun for us. It is an event of egg dying not a two second project.

So boil those local farm fresh eggs and hop to it! Have fun and happy Easter!

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local food made easy

March 17th, 2010

Inspired by the rave reviews of a few friends, I decided to take the plunge and place an order with CT Farm Fresh Express (CTFFE). Deb Marsden started CTFFE to connect Connecticut farms with the customers who don’t have the means to travel to farms for food each week. Farm fresh food delivered to your door — what more can you ask for? Their website has a lovely, easy-to-use online store. In addition to a description of each item, you can learn more about the farms or artisan who sell their products through CTFFE, as well as listening to some of the media outlets Deb has appeared on highlighting CTFFE. They carry everything from soaps and cleaning products to gluten-free baked foods to maple syrup, greens, sprouts, meats and cheeses and more. In the summer, you can get a wider range of vegetables than what’s available in early March in CT when I ordered.

You can order until Tuesday, she contacts the farms on Wednesday to let them know what she needs, she picks up at the farms on Thursday and Deb, her husband and 3 other drivers delivers to you on Friday. She operates out of East Haddam, so the delivery charge is based on your town’s proximity to EH, and ranges from $5-$15. She communicates very well via email about what you can expect and what you need to do — which is basically leave a cooler big enough for your order near your door, and a check to cover the invoice that was emailed to you on Thursday.

I placed my order before arranging the Aiki Farms field trip, so the first item I put in my cart was the Aiki Pea Shoot 8oz bag (big bag at far right of picture). Oh my gosh, we LOVED these. I did the usual things with them like top my salads or just dress with some oil and vinegar, but Luke found some creative ways to use them, putting chopped sprouts into the eggs he made for Lucia. They are crunchy and juicy and LOVELY to eat.

We also ordered microgreens from Two Guys from Woodbridge (small plastic box in center of pic), not having tried them before. These have a light peppery flavor and again, I loved the added dimension they gave to my salads. Given large quantities (I only ordered 1oz) I could find myriad uses for these little greens with the small bite. Microgreens are densely nutritious and have a much more delicate flavor than their full-grown counterparts.

Next were the greens, which were all intensely flavored and blew anything I’ve gotten from the grocery store out of the water. The lettuces (romaine next to pea shoots going counterclockwise, then Shisho, Lettuce Bouquet, Sorrel, lastly arugula with a generous wad of fresh cilantro in the bag just under the microgreens) were more flavorful and less like iceberg than the romaine I get at shaws or even whole foods. There is a sense of fragility to these leaves, in that I don’t think they would travel 2000 miles very well like their counterparts in the stores, but since the farmers don’t have to concentrate on shelf life, flavor is the priority and it shows. We made a simple green salad with just the romaine, pea shoots and slivered onions with a splash of balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Great flavor, simple food. Doesn’t get much better than that!

I’ve got some sorrel seeds to sow this year, and while I’m familiar with wild varieties of this plant, I haven’t tasted the cultivated forms. OH MY! Run to your computer or local farm and get your hands on a head of this absolutely fantabulous lemony green. Succulent and sweetly sour, it was gone in minutes. What I hadn’t added to the salad, that is. And the lemony tartness sent our green salad to heretofore unattained heights. If you come across sorrel, definitely pick it up and try it.

The arugula was as tasty as that we grew in our yard last year, so it’s lovely to have an off-season source until we build a greenhouse. The shiso was a new flavor, and its deep purple leaves looked pretty admist the sea of green, tho they all seem to have gotten tossed beneath in the picture. Quoting Dante upon taste-testing a leaf “This tastes like nothing I’ve ever had before”. It’s in the mint family, and the purple shiso is used to dye umeboshi red. High in calcium and iron, this “green” is definitely worth a try. It can be used whole or cut into strips in salads or stir fry.

We also ordered a bag of potatoes, but had some that needed using up first, so I stashed them in the basement and will be bustin into the bag this week. Organic and local — gotta love that!

We have tasted the Two Guys from Woodbridge mesclun and pea shoots at a friend’s who kindly fed us between acrobatics and skating this past weekend (Thanks, Marcella!) and the pea shoots from there were very different, so I recommend trying both.

Food starts to lose nutrients and flavor shortly after harvest, so it makes sense that this option for local food is a good thing. And CTFFE makes it as easy as pie! Have you tried CTFEE or a similar service? How was your experience?

Happy local fooding!

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farm fresh express, greens, local food, microgreens, sprouts

Farm Field Trip this Friday!

March 1st, 2010

We have been invited to Aiki Farms in Ledyard, CT this Friday, March 5th at 6pm.

Aiki Farms offers high quality produce including organic-biointensively grown sprouts (lentil, mung bean, wheat berry & pea shoots) and vegetables, as well as instruction in Aikido and serious Zazen meditation.

Their product is certified by NOFA (Northeast Organic Farmers Association) to ensure that our customers know they support the effort of organic growers to stabilize and deliver a healthy food product.

We’re going to make a short video featuring the farm, and Mr. Burns has generously offered the following activities as part of the trip:

an aikido demonstration with his students
an introduction to zazen (sitting meditation)
a tour of his sprouting operation
a pot luck dinner including their greens
possibly some fiddle music

I realize that this is short notice, but if you are interested in joining us and are available to be part of this special experience, please contact me as soon as possible via our facebook page. There is no charge for the event, aside from bringing a potluck dish to share, but they do accept donations if you are so moved. Thanks and I hope you can make it!