Happy Fourth!!

Hope everyone is enjoying the long weekend with friends and family, lots of BBQ and a few beers. I wanted to share a great recipe that my Mister and I made a few weeks ago. Its a perfect easy to make 4th of July dessert that sounds fancy - Strawberry Blueberry Shortcakes with Brown Sugar Biscuits and Balsamic Black Pepper Syrup.

The original recipe is here (thank you Bon Apetite),we made the following changes: Substituted all the regular sugar for brown sugar to create our brown sugar biscuits; used a mix of fresh strawberries and blueberries and plenty of whip cream (red, white and blue!); Mister used star shaped cookie cutters to make the biscuits extra special. Enjoy!! Happy Fourth of July!

Aloo Palak

We have been inundated with spinach from our CSA for the last few weeks so I have been trying to find new recipes so we dont get bored. Of course, as always, I turned to Tastespotting and found this amazing Indian Dish, Aloo Palak (spinach and potato version), at Honey, What's Cooking. The recipe seemed simple and sounded delish - perfect for a weeknight meal.

You can find the recipe and instructions here.

The only changes we made were using a Pasilla chili instead of spicy green chilies, using 4 yukon gold type potatoes with skin on (there are lots of nutrients in the skins), using about 16 oz of spinach and doubling the amount of Turmeric (it has anti-inflammatory properties and my knees have been bothering me - yes, I'm old). It turned out pretty good. I think I would just add some hot chilies for some heat.

Baked Eggs for Dinner

(aren't these eggs pretty?? yes, they really are green, blue and brown!!)

Mister went out with the boys tonight so I was left to fend for myself. I usually love cooking big meals but tonight I just didnt feel like it. I decided I would do something simple, easy and delicious - which usually means I make some sort of egg dish. I love eggs. They are rich, easy and quick! A perfect main for busy nights. The eggs I used tonight come from my parents free range hens. They are so delicious and wonderful...yummm. Back to dinner - I ended up make a simple baked egg dish with toast sticks and a green salad. It sounds so sophisticated and French...until you have me try to say it in French "Oeufs Cocotte". The backwoods girl in me just cant get it right ;). My dinner inspiration came from She Wears Many Hats Basic Baked Eggs recipe.Baked Eggs (for one)
-2 free range eggs (recipe calls for one per person but that just doesn't cut it for me)-butter
-about 1 tbsp of heavy whipping cream
-pinch of salt
-pinch of pepper
-pinch of herbs de provence
-pinch of cayenne pepper
-2 slices sourdough bread cut into sticks
Preheat oven to 350F. Boil water. Grease small ramekin with butter, add two eggs cream and spices. Place ramekin in a baking dish and pour boiling water into the dish until it comes about halfway up the ramekin (make a water bath). Put in the oven and set timer for 15 min (my eggs came out slightly underdone which is how I like them for this dish). Toast bread. TA DA! That's it! Green Salad w/Dijon Mustard dressing
-1 small bunch green lettuce
-Olive oil, salt, pepper, organic dijon mustard, homemade apple cider vinegar (I do not have measurements for these because I totally eyeballed the dressing)

Clean lettuce and slice into 1 inch thick strips. Put about 2 tsp. vinegar, 1 tbsp olive oil, good squirt of mustard, dash of salt and pepper into a bowl or cup and whisk until thoroughly mixed.

Udon Soup

Last week I had a serious craving for some warm comforting Udon noodle soup, especially since it was supposed to rain all weekend. I decided I would give it a try using some veggies from our CSA. I got all my inspiration from recipes found on TasteSpotting (Nourish Network and Not So Humble Pie specifically).

I really wanted to make my own Dashi (traditional Japanese soup base made with Kombu and Bonito Flakes - seaweed and dried smoked Bonito fish) but my local co-op doesnt carry any fish based products so I got a vegetarian Dashi base. You can find a simple recipe for Dashi here.

CSA Udon Soup
6 oz Cremini mushrooms sliced (Shitake would be delicious)
1 small bunch baby kale, collards and spinach sliced
2 carrots sliced in rounds
1 Diakon radish sliced in rounds
1 package organic fresh garlic udon noodles (Ohana brand)
3/4 cup vegetarian Dashi concentrate
3 3/4 cups water
1 tsp mellow white Miso (optional - but make sure to buy the high quality refrigerated kind - it tastes better and is better for you)
Dash of rice vinegar
Dash of soy sauce
1 green onion sliced

I started by sauteing the mushrooms in sesame oil until browned, then added the kale, collards and spinach, cooking for another 6 minutes. Once cooked, I removed the greens and mushrooms and placed them in a bowl. I put the Dashi concentrate, water, soy sauce and rice vinegar in a pot and waited for everything to come to a boil. Once everything was boiling, I added Diakon, carrots and the noodles (cooking according to package directions about 6 min). After the timer went off, I added the mushrooms and greens, then turned off the heat. I removed about 1/4 cup of the liquid and mixed this with the Miso, then added everything back into the pot mixing thoroughly. Ladled into bowls, added the green onion and done! Super simple, delicious and pretty darn healthy. Its a really good way to get veggies into a meal. I ate leftovers on Saturday and it tasted even better.

Butternut Squash Pasta

I love our CSA (dont know what that is? read here) but sometimes its hard to come up with new recipes that combine the loads of produce we get each week. Last week, I was on a mission to find something new to do with butternut squash and greens. The first thing I do when looking for a new recipe is to check Tastespotting (crazy amazing food porn that I could look at for hours) "a community driven visual potluck". After some searching, I found a great recipe from Former Chef that I figured I could modify since I didnt have all the ingredients. When I start experimenting in the kitchen it doesnt always come out so well (I am much better at soap experiments) so Mister and I were both pleasantly surprised at how good my little modifications turned out to be so I thought I'd share it with you all.

Butternut Squash Pasta with Greens and Bacon

1 butternut squash peeled and diced into bite size pieces
3 strips of bacon (or pancetta)
2 garlic cloves minced
1 bunch baby greens washed and chopped (you could sub spinach)
1 container goat milk cream cheese
parmesan cheese
olive oil
red pepper flakes (optional)
sea salt and pepper to taste
2-3 servings whole wheat penne pasta

Preheat oven to 375F while you are chopping up the veggies. Coat the butternut squash in olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 30-40 min (check periodically). When the squash is about half way done start on the rest of the meal. Cook pasta making sure to set aside about 1/2 cup of cooking liquid. Cut bacon into strips and cook until crisp, remove bacon from pan and drain on a paper towel. Leave a decent amount of bacon fat in the bottom of the pan and add the garlic, cooking for a minute. Add the chopped greens and saute until wilted - about 6-8 minutes. Take the greens from the pan and set aside. Add cooking liquid and goat milk cream cheese, whisk until smooth. Alright - almost done. Add the greens, butternut squash, bacon, and cream cheese/cooking liquid mixture to the pasta, mix and season with salt pepper and a few sprinkles of red pepper flakes. Note: if sauce seems too liquidy let it sit for a few minutes and it will thicken up. Add fresh grated parmesan cheese. Serve with salad and enjoy!!