Asian Sesame Salad Dressing

by Clayton - June 3rd, 2016

While this is delicious on salad, this super easy dressing is also great on chopped, raw pac choi or napa cabbage, too.  Adapted from a recipe on Iowa Girl Eats.
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Kale Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing

by Clayton - April 12th, 2016

A hearty salad with a smooth, rich dressing that hits all of the right points: tender kale, crunchy carrots, smokey bacon, tangy mustard, sweet maple. Serve as a side or, with the hard boiled eggs and sautéed mushrooms, there is enough here to be a meal by itself.
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Spicy Vegetarian Chili

by Clayton - March 30th, 2016

A hearty, satisfying, veggie chili. Sure, you could add some ground beef or chorizo, but why would you when this is already so good? We love this with our Cornbread.
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Asian Cabbage Slaw

by Clayton - March 21st, 2016

This is Katie’s favorite slaw, and for good reason. It comes from Farmer John’s Cookbook and they write that, in addition to Asian themed meals, “it goes perfectly with typical backyard barbecue fare, too. It works well with additional vegetables — some julienned cucumber is nice — and it makes a wonderful bed for grilled food”. While our other Asian slaw uses Napa cabbage, this one uses a regular or — our preference — a savoy cabbage, though a red cabbage would look great in here too.  And for what it’s worth, we always play fast and loose with the cabbage to carrot ratio … this is kind of hard to mess up!
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Winter Vegetable Soup

by Clayton - March 17th, 2016

Pat sent us another great recipe from the GACC kitchen. It wowed us the first time we tried it, with it’s sweet, savory, tangy and rich flavor, packed full of seasonal veggies. She got it from the cookbook: Ladle, Leaf, and Loaf.
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Lacinato Kale and Savoy Cabbage with White Beans

by Clayton - March 10th, 2016

We found this recipe in Deborah Madison’s cook book “Local Flavors” years ago. The combination of kale, cabbage and beans didn’t jump out at us at first, but we tried it and we’ve loved it ever since. The dark green of the kale, light green of the cabbage and reddish-brown and white of the beans make this dish as beautiful as it is delicious. We like to serve this over chunky pasta like penne, cavatappi or rotini.  Original recipe can be found at Farm Fresh to You.
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Massaged Kale Salad with Roasted Winter Veggies and Garlic Croutons

by Clayton - March 2nd, 2016

There’s nothing wrong with a big plate full of a rainbow of winter veggies and bright flavors. This makes a veggie rich meal that will have your dinner table singing with color at a time of year when we’re used to more drab fare. This recipe is a little more involved than what we usually post, but it’s not difficult by any means. Olivia tipped us to the original recipe from My New Roots, where it was called Winter Rainbow Panzanella.
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Curried Carrots with Pecans

by Clayton - February 25th, 2016

2½ pounds carrots (use small ones, if you have them)
½ cup pecans or walnuts or peanuts or cashews
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 tbsp curry powder
2 tbsp light brown sugar (optional)
¼ cup lemon juice
2 tbsp chopped fresh chives or leeks
salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 325°. Fill a large pot with water, add salt (as if for pasta) and bring to boil over high heat.
2. Spread out pecans on a small rimmed baking sheet and toast in oven, tossing occasionally, until fragrant and slightly darkened, 4–6 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool, coarsely chop and set aside.
3. Trim carrots and halve lengthwise. (If you’re using large carrots, quarter them lengthwise.)
4. Cook carrots in boiling water until tender (or al dente), 6–8 minutes. Drain and, if you’re feeling ambitious, pat dry.
5. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add curry powder and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Reduce heat to medium, add carrots, brown sugar (if using), and ¾ of chopped nuts to skillet. Cook, tossing occasionally, until carrots are coated and heated through, 8–10 minutes.
6. Add lemon juice and toss gently to combine; season with salt and pepper.
7. Serve, garnishing with chives or leeks and remaining nuts.

Do ahead: Nuts can be toasted 2 days ahead; store airtight at room temperature. Carrots can be boiled 1 day ahead; cover and refridgerate.

Notes: The original recipe calls for brown sugar and probably assumed you’d be using bland, boring store-bought carrots. With our super-sweet carrots, it seems like a little too much. Original recipe courtesy of Bon Appetit.

Carrot Soup with Nutmeg

by Clayton - February 20th, 2016

This tastes like a classic (thanks to a little white wine and nutmeg) and is a favorite in our household. Because it uses milk instead of cream, it’s rich and smooth without being heavy.  It’s also very easy and quick to put together. Originally from our well loved Best Recipe Cookbook.
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Carrot Salad with Lemon and Mustard Dressing

by Clayton - February 14th, 2016

1 pound carrots
1 small apple
1/4-1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp Dijon mustard (we prefer Rayes Winter Garden)
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

1. Peel (if needed) and shred the carrots.  Core and small chop the apple.
2. Combine lemon juice, mustard and olive oil in a small bowl and mix well.
3. Combine carrots, apple, cranberries in a medium-large bowl.  Stir to combine.
4. Pour the dressing over the carrots, add a pinch of salt and stir to combine. Taste and add more salt or mustard as desired.

Really Outstanding Kale Pesto

by Clayton - February 13th, 2016

Alternative pestos (alternatives to basil pesto, that is) sometimes feel like last ditch efforts to use up excess, or even unwanted, vegetables. Not this one! This is delicious, and quick and simple to throw together, and it keeps us all (including our 8 year old!) coming back for more. You can even make it ahead: it won’t lose its bright-green color, like traditional pesto made with basil. Pat sent it to us from the GACC kitchen and the True Food Cookbook by Andrew Weil, MD.
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Beet and Barley Risotto with Swiss Chard and Goat Cheese

by Clayton - February 13th, 2016

A delicious and beautiful take on risotto!  The beets give this an incredible, deep, creamy color, and the lemon, chèvre and Swiss chard keep the flavor light. This recipe normally serves 2, but as with other risottos, it can easily make more.  We originally found this recipe at Blue Apron.
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Fajita Peppers and Onions

by Clayton - February 13th, 2016

What could be better than super fast, super easy and super delicious? We make this recipe all the time for burritos, tacos or even with sauteed greens over polenta. This recipe works equally well with fresh or frozen peppers.
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Roasted Root Veggies

by Clayton - February 13th, 2016

2 pounds root veggies: potatoes, carrots, celeriac, beets, sweet potatoes, onions*, leeks*
(mix and match any of these veggies, in any proportion and/or combination)
1/8 cup olive oil
coarsely ground salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Wash all veggies as needed. Trim top and bottom off leeks, celeriac, beets. Trim ends off sweet potatoes. Peel veggies as desired. (We usually don’t bother.)
3. Chop everything into similarly sized pieces. How big? It doesn’t really matter but, smaller than a golf ball and bigger than dice. The smaller they are, the more time it takes to chop, but the faster they’ll cook.
4. Pour 1/2 of the oil into rimmed baking sheet or 9×13 baking dish. Spread it around and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Put the chopped veggies into the baking sheet, and pour the remaining oil over them.
5. Put the baking sheet into the oven and roast for 15 minutes. Use a spatula to flip the veggies, then continue baking for 15-30 minutes — turning once more if needed — until veggies are tender and nicely browned.

* Yes, I know these aren’t technically root veggies.

Cilantro and Lime Cole Slaw

by Clayton - February 13th, 2016

We make this slaw every time we make fish tacos, but it would be perfect for any type of taco or other Latin American styled meal.  This slaw not only looks bright and colorful, but – because it doesn’t use mayo – it tastes bright and fresh, too.
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