For our first year with our new CSA, we decided to split our bounty with another family to reduce the chances of veggie overload – who among us hasn’t heard the horror stories of families being buried alive in a wild overabundance of kale, zucchini, and squash? Ok, maybe it’s more of a “my diamond shoes are too tight” kind of story – but still. Watching your lovely fresh local veggies slowly rot in the fridge because you just didn’t have time to get to it all is sad – and avoidable. The tips in this article from LearnVest Daily about freezing your summer fruit and veggies will come in handy. Another tip: if you think you may not use a full share and want to split, see if your farm has a Facebook page (like our CSA, Hanson’s Farm, does – still accepting CSA customers if you’re in Metrowest Boston) and post a “Hey, anyone wanna share?” note on their wall.
Happy harvesting!
CSA Season: Week 1
So, my CSA (Community Supported Agriculture, or “pay the farmer in the winter, get veggies all summer” program) started this week, and I am psyched. It’s our first year with Hanson’s Farm, and based on a few email and phone conversations and yesterday’s in-person orientation at the farm, the Hansons are lovely people, great farmers, and thoughtful stewards of the land. We’ve had a distinct lack of sunlight lately so the crops are a bit late coming out, compared to last year – but that’s farming, isn’t it?
Week 1 Share: cilantro, dill, spinach, French Breakfast radishes (yum!), scallions, a quart of u-pick strawberries (that ChefBaby and I will pick later this week), and 2 recipes that celebrate this early-season splendor…
Hanson’s Farm Strawberry-Spinach Salad
Salad:
- 1 bunch spinach – well washed and towel-dried
- 1 quart fresh strawberries
- 1/2 cup mushrooms, optional
- 1 cup sliced red onion, optional
- 3/4 cup pecans or walnuts, optional
- 3/4 cup gorgonzola/blue cheese crumbles, optional
Toss ingredients together in a large bowl; drizzle with dressing and serve.
Dressing:
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp strawberry or raspberry jam
- 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp honey
Whisk together the above ingredients (can be made a day ahead).
Hanson’s Farm Linguine Salad with Chicken & Dill
Ingredients:
- 1/2 lb linguine
- 2 cups cooked chicken
- 1 cup cooked peas
- 1 tbs salt
- fresh ground pepper
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1/4 c wine vinegar
- 2 tbs fresh dill
- 1 clove minced garlic
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
Preparation:
Cook linguine according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water. Add cooked chicken and peas. Mix remaining ingredients in small bowl and pour over linguine mixture. Toss well. Serve immediately or refrigerate and serve cold later. (Serves 4).
Enjoy!
More recipes & tips on my FB page
With my new website up and running (though of course not “done” – are they ever? Not if they’re good!), I’ll be posting most recipes and tips here instead of on my Facebook page. I plan to copy some of my most popular recipes from there to here as well, but for the time being, you can head over to facebook.com/taylormademeals for simple, fresh recipes like:
- Mac & Cheese Cups
- Caramelized Hot Pepper Chicken
- Chilled Cream of Asparagus Soup
- Citrus-Kissed Chicken Fingers
- Super-Simple Gazpacho
- Roasted Vegetable Napoleons
and lots more.
And while you’re there, don’t forget to “Like” my page so you can see more occasional tips and recipes in your FB newsfeed. Thanks, and enjoy!
Healthy food deals: Trader Joe’s
I’ve posted simple baby food ideas & recipes on my Facebook page; this time I thought I’d add some wholesome store-bought foods you can feel good about giving your little one. I’ll take it a store at a time, starting with that perennial fave Trader Joe’s. I like TJs, though I don’t go that often. It’s just far enough off my beaten path – by about 2 minutes – that I don’t get there much. Given that it’s about 15 minutes away, I think that’s testament to how lucky I am to be surrounded by a lot of really good grocery stores and markets.
What drove me to Trader Joe’s this week? This:
Organic Strawberries: $2.99/quart
Not a sale price or special; this is their every day price for strawberries that haven’t spent their childhood bathing in toxic chemicals. Given that the sale price for them at Sudbury Farms or Whole Foods is usually $5.99 or higher, this got my attention.
While I was there grabbing a few quarts – my little ChefBaby inhales berries – I also picked up:
Harvest Grains, 16 oz – $2.69. A blend of Israeli (pearl) couscous, orzo, baby chickpeas and red quinoa. Simmered in low-sodium chicken stock, it’s a pleasant, mild mix that kids love. Add some diced carrots or peas when simmering, and a bit of chicken if you like, and you have an easy, one-dish baby meal (freezer-friendly too; make a big batch and thaw as needed.)
Multigrain O’s, 12 oz – $2.99 – made from corn, barley, oats, rice and wheat; 14 grams of whole grains and a good source of fiber and vitamins. 6 grams of sugar though, as they are honey-sweetened, so I like these for a morning snack when they still have time to burn off the sugar rush.
Toss the Os with some Fresh Blueberries, 18 oz – $6.99 – I’ve been seeing them for $3.99 a half pint lately; this is a great deal if your kid is like mine, and doesn’t care that it’s not yet blueberry season here and just wants to inhale them daily.
Another good deal: Fage Greek yogurt, my favorite – $1.69 for the little cups, vs. $1.99 at Whole Foods. (Target now has them for the same low price).
Organic Romaine hearts, 3 hearts, $2.79 – often $3.99 or more at Sudbury Farms et al, when they have them, and Organic carrots, 1 lb, .89 cents are also a great deal.
Organic Chicken Legs, $1.99/lb – I like to roast a bunch of chicken legs with just a sprinkling of garlic powder, sea salt and pepper, and then freeze them. Dark leg meat is more tender than leaner breast meat, and won’t dry out in the freezer.
The legs are also super-convenient; they’re like their own natural single-serving packages. (Sometimes two servings). Take a leg from the freezer, thaw it quickly on half-power in the microwave (or 20 minutes in a bowl of warm water), and pull pieces off and toss with any combination of rice, pasta, egg noodles, green beans, corn, tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, couscous, etc, and a splash of chicken broth.
You can also find good quality oils and vinegars much less expensively than other stores, plus all those funky only-at-Trader Joe’s snacks, frozen things and jarred sauces and condiments. Worth the occasional stock-up trip even if it’s a little out of your way.
2011 Walk for Hunger
I love these little guys
Cheffy friends, take note: my new cooling fans are awesome! If you use fans for cooling prepared foods (as opposed to ice water baths, cooling paddles, etc), you may want to check them out.
A little background on why cooling food is important; stop me if you’ve heard this one before – personal chefs first need to cool the meals we prepare for clients before packaging for the fridge or freezer. If we didn’t, loading the fridge with a lot of warm or hot foods could raise the temperature of the entire fridge and all its contents, potentially making all of the food within unsafe. Bacteria grows best when food is in its temperature danger zone, generally between 40 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit – otherwise known as “room temperature”. This is why it’s unsafe to leave foods out at room temp for too long. For most foods, “too long” is 2-4 hours, but for some – seafood, for example – it can be as short as 30 minutes. After that, bacteria starts to grow rapidly, and while it’s not a given that you’ll get sick if you eat it, it’s certainly possible. So, to stay out of the temperature danger zone, we cool meals as quickly as possible, using fans, ice or cooling paddles, then package and refrigerate. Ok. Back to the fans.
These are super cool, because in addition to being nicely high-powered, they:
- Have cloth blades, making them very safe to use, even when kids or pets are present
- Are a snap to keep clean, because the soft cloth blades are not trapped in a cage gathering dust
- Are called “Zippi” – how cute is that?
Get yours here: http://www.amazon.com/Zippi-Desk-Fan-2d-Green/dp/B000GAZ2KM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1303494880&sr=8-2
PS – why did I need new fans? My old one shot sparks from the electrical outlet last time I used it! When I checked, I saw the cord was frayed where it meets the body of the fan, no doubt from me wrapping it too tightly. Check your cords; if it’s frayed it’s time for a new one!
Here’s a simple tip for getting more healthy, simple recipes in front of your eyeballs with no extra effort – change your web browser’s home page to one of your favorite recipe sites. That way every time you sit down and fire up Facebook or another procrastinator’s delight, you’ll get a glimpse at a recipe idea for at least a few seconds. Sometimes that’s all it takes! When it starts to get boring, change it to another one. Not sure how? It’s totally simple and takes two seconds – here you go: How to change your web brower’s home page.
Some of my favorite recipe sites include:
- Eating Well (my first stop) - http://www.eatingwell.com/
- Vegetarian Times (great sides as well as meatless mains) - http://www.vegetariantimes.com/
- Foodily (great for when you just have no idea) - http://www.foodily.com/
- All Recipes (lots of kid-friendly, simple meal ideas) - http://allrecipes.com/
- Epicurious (the grandaddy of recipe sites, for me – great reviews and “Best of” Collections) – http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/bestof/toprecipes/
- Cooking Light - http://www.cookinglight.com/
- Simply Recipes (food blog with personally tested, family-friendly recipes) – http://simplyrecipes.com/
Make grinding whole spices a no-brainer
You always see those notes in recipes that things like “use whole spices for best flavor.” Whole, fresh spices really *do* offer much more fragrant and delectable aromas and flavors, but reaching for the whole nutmeg and the Microplane grater after your 10 hour day is probably not going to happen – and it can make you skip right over a recipe that insists upon it. Even though I cook for a living, I too want things to be easy – mainly because I lug my equipment with me to client cookdates, so if I’m going to pack it, use it, clean it, repack it and carry it back home – it better be worth it. I do carry a Microplane which is great for nutmeg, but what about whole cumin, coriander, fennel, and other seeds? I can give them a whir in my mini-chopper, but hard seeds tend to dull the blades quickly. At times I find myself using the ground version as a substitute, the same as many home cooks do, I’m sure. And it’s often fine, but sometimes…it’s just not. Freshly ground cumin seeds, especially my favorite from Penzey’s, are a thing of beauty. They are unbelievably, deliciously fragrant. If you’re going to spend the time to make a really great Lamb Biriyani or Jerked Chicken, then you really want to use whole spices, freshly ground. So when I saw this tip in Cook’s Illustrated, I immediately thought, “Brilliant! Why didn’t I think of that?”
So here’s the tip: buy your peppercorns in those small jars with the grinding mechanisms right on the jar. (Yes, you should be buying peppercorns, and not ground black pepper in a can. How else are you going to achieve steakhouse-like perfection when you’re tossing your ribeyes on the grill this summer??) Move your peppercorns to your regular pepper grinder – like this one – and then use the empty grinder jar for cumin, coriander, fennel seed, red peppercorns, mustard seeds, dill, fenugreek, allspice, cloves – any type of seed spice. Start with your most-used (or most wish-you-used) whole spice, and then every time you buy another jar of peppercorns, that’s another whole spice you can keep in a grinding jar. Totally brill.
Tips like these make me happiest, because it takes something you’re already going to buy anyway, and turns it’s packaging into something you can use to address a different actual need. And by having easy-to-grind whole spices at the ready, it makes you juuuuust that much more likely to try that great curry or cake or what have you. It’s all about being prepared, so that when inspiration strikes or the mood just hits you, you can look to what you have on hand instead of having to make a shopping list. Enjoy!
New site, new blog, new everything
Though it has served me well, it was high time I brought my humble old web site in to the modern era. I’m psyched to finally have an integrated blog so I more quickly share tips, recipes, and other foodly thoughts with my clients, friends – (both online and off) and others. No more hemming and hawing over where to post – Twitter? Facebook? Blog? Billboard overlooking the Mass Pike? Decisions decisions. I’m even more psyched to have a place where I can ask for opinions and input from you as well. Not a day goes by that I don’t learn something new that can help me be a better cook, or a better personal chef, and a lot of that comes from you, The People. Thanks so much for joining me here! I hope you find something useful. 
