A Scrumptious Season

Pretty soon it'll be all root vegetables, winter squash and kale, but right now the season is giving us a nice bridge.  So I put together a yummy Farm to Table class tonight.  Let's start with Dill-Spinach Dip, getting rid of my old childhood friend, mayo, and substituting Greek yogurt.  So creamy good.... dill and lemon zest gives it a bright flavor, and water chestnuts give it a nice crunch.

Next, I'm back in soup mode with Butternut-Apple Soup.  There are so many great ways to make a butternut squash soup: with curry, with cream, with green chiles, with sage, with roasted red peppers.  My favorite remains the old stand-by, with apples.  I like Granny Smith for their tartmess.

For the main dish, we made Orange Glazed Salmon with Basmati Brown Rice and Herb & Panko Stuffed Tomatoes.  I'll be so sad when tomtoes go away.  It's a loooong lonely winter and spring without these lovelies, so get them in while you can.  I'll still let canned tomatoes into my house every once in a while for tomato soup, but I'll miss eating the real thing in salads, salsas, on crostini, and roasted like tonight.

Couldn't imagine giving you just one recipe, so here they all are..... Enjoy!

Spinach-Dill Dip

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons chopped shallots

2 scallions, thinly sliced

1 teaspoon minced garlic

6 ounces frozen spinach, thawed and drained (or 5 bunches fresh leaves)

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

½ teaspoon fresh lemon zest

½ cup Greek yogurt

1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill

Pinch salt

¼ cup chopped water chestnuts

·         Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. 

·         Add shallots, scallions and garlic and cook, stirring often, until fragrant, about 1 minute.

·         Stir in spinach and cook about 2 minutes.

·         Place spinach mixture into a food processor; pulse until roughly puréed, about 5 pulses.

·         Add lemon juice, zest, yogurt and dill, and pulse to combine.

·         Add water chestnuts and season with salt to taste.

Butternut Squash Soup     Serves 6

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

1 cup chopped onion

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 3-lb butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed

2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and chopped

4 cups vegetable broth

2 teaspoons maple syrup

1 teaspoon minced ginger

Salt & pepper to taste

Pinch nutmeg or cayenne

·         Heat oil and butter in a medium stock pot over medium heat.

·         Add onion and celery and sauté 5-8 minutes until tender; careful not to let them brown.

·         Add garlic and sauté 1-2 minutes more.

·         Add squash, apples, and broth.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer 20-25 minutes.

·         Add maple syrup and ginger, stirring to combine and cook 5 minutes more.

·         Season to taste with salt & pepper, and add a pinch of nutmeg (for sweet) or cayenne (for spicy).

·         Use an immersion blender to puree (or a blender or food processor).

Orange Glazed Salmon   Serves 6

1/3 cup orange marmalade

1/3 cup fresh squeezed orange juice (from 2 valencia oranges)

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

2 teaspoon orange zest

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon minced ginger

1 teaspoon maple syrup

1 ½ pounds salmon, cut into 6 pieces

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

·         In a small bowl, combine marmalade, juice, mustard, zest, garlic, ginger, and maple syrup.

·         Season salmon with salt and pepper and place in a large Ziploc bag.  Cover with marinade and refrigerate for 1 hour. (Citrus juice begins to “cook” protein, so don’t marinate for more than 1 hour)

·         Preheat broiler and place salmon (discard marinade) on baking sheet or roasting pan.

·         Broil 6-8 inches from heat for 5-8 minutes until opaque and cooked through.

Roasted Stuffed Tomatoes   Serves 6

3 large heirloom tomatoes

1 ½ cup panko

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

2 tablespoons+ olive oil

Parmesan cheese

·         Preheat broiler.

·         Cut tomatoes in half horizontally and scoop out the seeds and flesh.

·         Place in a baking dish or pan and broil until lightly browned, just a few minutes.  Let cool.

·         Set oven temp to 350˚.

·         In a bowl mix panko, garlic, oregano, thyme, salt and pepper; add enough olive oil to moisten the mixture.

·         Fill cooled tomato halves with panko mixture, drizzle with a little olive oil, and top with a shaving of parmesan cheese.

·         Bake 5-10 minutes until browned.



Justify dessert!

My friend Sue recently posed the question, "does Chardonnay count as a food group?" to which I replied "it's made from grapes, so yes.  And enjoy your two servings."  I'm a master at justification.... so let's talk dessert.

You won't find many dessert recipes posted here, for these reasons:
1) I prefer appetizers to dessert.
2) Baking generally involves exact measurements, precision and science.  Count me out. On all levels.
3) I don't really have a sweet tooth.  My cravings come in the form of a block of parmegiano-reggiano or gouda.
3) I can usually calm the rare sweet tooth craving (somewhere around day 26) with a spoonful of organic peanut butter with a squirt of chocolate syrup on top.  Seriously, try it.

But the other day I was looking at these sad little pears and apples still sitting in my fruit bowl after a week, and I felt the need to save them.  I think that when we throw produce away we have robbed it of it's purpose, and it leaves this life unfulfilled.  No, I don't really think that; I just hate to throw away food that I spent good money on.

So I made an easy, cute dessert with one quick trip through the express lane and a few staples from the pantry....and it was delicious!!  AND the best part is......since it's predominantly fruit, I don't think of it as dessert...just your way to getting two servings a day (like the chardonnay).  Don't eat the whole batch, though.


First I took a roll of prepared pie crust (remember - science, measuring, precision, no thanks) and with my 3" circle cutter (you can use a glass or cup), I cut out about 10-12 circles.  Poke them with a fork to keep them from puffing up, and bake them for 11 minutes or so, until they are lightly browned.  Remove them from the oven and let cool.

Peel, core and dice 2 apples and 2 pears (I'm not picky on varieties. I like them all, but I used fuji and bosc this time).  Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a skillet and add fruit.  Saute for about 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg (buy whole nutmeg and get a microplane to zest it yourself - such a better flavor than the pre-ground spice!), 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup, a pinch of salt and 1/3 cup dried cranberries.  Stir to combine and continue cooking a few more minutes.  I like the fruit to be slightly soft but with a little bite to it.  When cooked to your taste, remove from heat and cool slightly.

While that's cooling, mix up a little whipped cream.  Don't buy the canned stuff; use the real thing.  You can sweeten it yourself using whatever you'd like in whatever quantity you want: tuvia, stevia, powdered sugar, regular sugar....

Now this is where it gets really complicated...spread a little whipped cream on each of the pastry circles and top it with the fruit. Yep, that's it; you're done.  Easy as pie...oh wait, actually it's way easier than pie! And did I mention cute; I love cute food....