Lunch Recipes

Appetizers Farmer's Market Lunch Recipes Quick and Easy Vegetarian

Green Curry Eggplant Pinwheels

written by Ali

Green curry eggplant pinwheels are such a super easy appetizer to make. These are great finger food – ideal for a picnic or a cocktail party. And they only take four ingredients to make! I’ve been munching on these for lunch – two or three of these get tossed in the lunchbox alongside a salad.

As you might be able to tell, eggplant has been a feature in the CSA the last few weeks. We’ve also been getting zucchini, tomatoes, sweet peppers, corn, cucumbers, onions, leeks, potatoes, and carrots. I’m getting to that point where the freezer is well stocked; I’ve canned all I’m going to can; and I’m ready for autumn to get here and put an end to all this abundance. Then I’ll start whining again around January that I miss the veggies. It’s a pretty normal cycle.

The green curry eggplant pinwheels were a good solution to the one-eggplant-a-week from the CSA. I can make up several batches of these and freeze them, too, which also makes them an ideal recipe to enjoy over the next month or so. I’ve also taken to pairing them with my cranberry cheddar pinwheels - it’s fun to have some variety in my lunch box!

My cheat for this recipe is to use a store bought green curry. If I had more time, I’d whip up my own curry, but here of late, time has been a precious commodity. You can also short cut this recipe very easily by using store bought puff pastry. Thaw out one sheet for green curry eggplant pinwheels and then keep the other sheet for future use.

Yum

Green Curry Eggplant Pinwheels

Ingredients

1 eggplant, peeled and chopped into 1 inch pieces
1 teaspoon green curry
2/3 cup coconut milk
1 sheet puff pastry

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Combine the eggplant, curry, and coconut milk in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and then lower to a simmer. Cook, stirring frequently, until the eggplant is soft. Set aside to cool for at least fifteen minutes.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Lay the puff pastry on the parchment paper and spread the eggplant mixture evenly over the pastry. Roll the puff pastry, starting from the long end.. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Cut the eggplant and pastry roll into 1 1/2 inch slices. Lay the slices flat on the parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly brown.
Makes 1 dozen pinwheels. Enjoy!

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September 26, 2017 10 comments

Farmer's Market Freezer Meals Lunch Recipes Soup Vegetarian

Easy Corn Potato Chowder

written by Ali

This easy corn potato chowder is a lovely transitional dish for the early days of autumn. The leaves are starting to turn; the light is an easy going golden in the afternoon; and the air is just a touch cooler in the mornings. The produce is still producing, though. This week’s CSA included corn, lemon cucumbers, eggplant, carrots, strawberries, tomatoes, and zucchini. We decided we’d also visit the farm stand at Valley Flora Farm (our CSA farm) and picked up more tomatoes, lettuce, potatoes, apples, and shishito peppers.

The corn and the potatoes were the stars this week. This easy corn potato chowder made the most of the beautiful produce from Valley Flora farm. The potatoes were perfectly creamy and the corn was as sweet as could be. Combined, they make a creamy chowder that freezes beautifully. I’m super excited about the thought of having easy corn potato chowder later this week for my lunch, alongside a few slices of apple.

The secret technique for this easy corn potato chowder is a quick veggie stock base. I used onion peel from an onion from last week’s CSA, the corn cobs after I cut off all the corn, and a handful of celery leaves (also from last week’s CSA). I added a bit of salt, a tablespoon of whole peppercorns, and then covered it all with water. Simmering the stock for an hour creates a velvet smooth stock. This chowder is so wonderful, I’m regretting that I have three days in a row that I’ll be eating lunch out.

Yum

Easy Corn Potato Chowder

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
5 medium potatoes, chopped into 1 inch pieces
1/4 cup flour
2 cups corn kernels
1 cup milk
2 cups easy vegetable stock (see below)
2 teaspoons salt

Easy Vegetable stock

3 corn cobs, corn cut off
1/2 onion and onion peel
Handful celery leaves
1 tablespoon whole peppercorns
1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

Easy Vegetable Stock

Combine all the ingredients and cover with water. Cover. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for an hour. Strain through a colander and reserve.

Easy Corn Potato Chowder

Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the olive oil and the potatoes. Cook the potatoes, stirring frequently, until the potatoes are soft. If the potatoes stick, add a bit of stock.
Add the flour to the potatoes and cook for a minute, stirring frequently. Add the milk, the stock, and the corn, and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and serve.
Serves 4. Enjoy!

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September 11, 2017 5 comments

Beverages Farmer's Market Lunch Recipes Vegetarian

Tomato Celery Green Smoothie

written by Ali

It’s rapidly getting to the point of the season when I’m just overwhelmed with veggies enough to think that making a tomato celery green smoothie is a good idea. Fortunately, it really was a good idea. Yes – I’m getting to a point of vegetable overload. It’s ok – it’s a pattern I go through every year. Around January, I miss fresh veggies so bad, I’m driven to purchasing tomatoes and cucumbers from the store (and instantly regretting it). April brings some degree of hope: after all, morels are showing up in the market and there are the occasional snap peas. May and June are much more hopeful. July is reasonable in its level of abundance. September, well, September is a full out onslaught of squash and tomatoes and greens.

This week was especially bad. We got our CSA veggies (zucchini, tomatoes, red onion, cucumbers, carrots, collard greens, peppers, strawberries, and celery) and then went to the farmer’s market and bought more zucchini, more peppers, lettuce, basil, red cabbage and cherry tomatoes. I could have managed if I’d just left it there. But no, then I went on Saturday and helped a friend can 300 pounds of Albacore tuna. Yes – you read that number right. 300 pounds of fish. I still smell like tuna. I also can’t wait to dig into a jar and make a tuna salad, but that’s a post for another day. What’s more important to this post is that by Sunday, my back had said no more. Forget it – don’t even dream about even moving. Abundance of veggies in the fridge versus cranky back. The back won.

I ate the cucumbers and cherry tomatoes as snacks. I made zucchini pancakes, despite the protests of my back. I sat and drank sangria and read. That was Sunday. By Monday, Labor Day, the Icy Hot had kicked in. I did yoga and then contemplated the contents of the fridge. I couldn’t let the beautiful celery leaves go to waste. (The celery itself will survive a few more days.) I couldn’t neglect the collard greens for another week without serious guilt. Plus, all those tomatoes.

So, I made a tomato celery green smoothie with the tomatoes (did I mention that somehow in the process of tuna canning, we ended up walking away with even more tomatoes from our friends’ garden?), the celery leaves, and a few of the collard greens. The only thing that it was missing was vodka – but that’s just not healthy. This is a healthy tomato celery green smoothie. And I’ll totally look the other way if you add an ounce of vodka to this and call it a Bloody Mary smoothie.

This week, I’ll be working on catching up with the abundance. I’m pretty sure we’ll skip the farmer’s market this week and just eat what comes in the CSA. I’m positive that by January, I’ll be missing all of this again and the cycle will start all over. In the meantime, I’m going to be drinking my tomato celery green smoothie and being just the slightest bit annoyed by all the produce that keeps coming my way.

Yum

Tomato Celery Green Smoothie

Ingredients

4 medium tomatoes, cut into quarters
1 cup celery leaves
4 collard green leaves, spines removed, and roughly chopped (or 2 cups spinach leaves)
Juice from 1 lemon
3 dashes green Tabasco

Instructions

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend. Add water as needed to smooth out the smoothie. Serves 4. Enjoy!

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September 5, 2017 3 comments

Farmer's Market Lunch Recipes Vegetarian

Fried Lemon Fennel Linguine

written by Ali

There’s a story behind my fried lemon fennel linguine this week. I guess in fairness, there’s always a story behind the scenes, behind the food. This week’s recipe was heavily inspired by Melissa Clark’s Dinner: Changing the Game. I’ve had an evolving relationship with cookbooks. There was a time in my life when I had so many cookbooks they occupied most of one floor to ceiling bookshelf. I aspired to have a collection so large I’d have to bequest it to a library or something someday. (There was such a collection at the university I attended – I seriously romanticized the notion of having that many cookbooks). In recent years, with multiple moves under my belt, several of which were multi-state, I’ve had to gradually scale back my cookbook ambitions. Plus, Pinterest has been a game changer, as are all the great food blogs that are out there. In the last couple of years, I’ve generally not bought cookbooks, relying instead on my own cooking wits and getting my inspiration from online sources.

Then I discovered the Food 52 Cookbook Club on Facebook. A group of foodies cook out of the same cookbook for the month and post luscious food photos of what they’ve made. I’m two months in and having a blast. Last month, we cooked from My Paris Kitchen (David Lebovitz). I actually bought the book – it’s too beautiful not to have on the shelf. This month is Dinner. To save shelf space (and to spare the need to pack too many books someday when we move again), I bought the e-version of Dinner. Both months’ books have been great inspiration for dealing with all the CSA veggies. Today’s recipe – fried lemon fennel linguine – is no exception.

Speaking of CSAs and farmer’s markets: here’s the haul from last week. The CSA brought me tomatoes, fennel, thyme, lettuce, cucumbers, zucchini, kale, and carrots. My sweetie bought me 20 pounds of tomatoes from the farmer’s market, along with some corn, Anaheim peppers, and blackberries. The tomatoes all went into diced canned tomatoes. The lettuce made it into a salad. The Anaheims went into eggs for several meals. The zucchini and some of the corn made it into zucchini, corn, bacon pancakes (I’m pretty sure that one will make it onto the blog someday soon). The fennel went into today’s recipe. The cucumbers were both eaten and added to a salad, as well as inspired a salad dressing that accompanied the kale that should make it to the blog mid-week. The carrots are still hanging out in the fridge, as is the thyme.

Yum

Fried Lemon Fennel Linguine

Ingredients

1 lemon, quartered, de-seeded and sliced into thin slices
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 bulb fennel, fronds removed and sliced into ¼ inch slices
2 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley
Approximately ½ cup ricotta cheese (preferably homemade – recipe here)
Pinch salt
Pinch sugar
Freshly ground pepper
½ package linguine

Instructions

If you are making homemade ricotta (which I really do recommend – it’s so easy and yummy!) make the ricotta first.
Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Add the lemon slices and blanch for 2 minutes. Taste after 2 minutes – if they are still bitter, blanch again for another 2 minutes. Remove the lemons from the water, pat dry, and set aside.
Cook the linguine according to the package directions. While the linguine is cooking, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Once the olive oil is hot, add the lemon and fennel slices, along with a pinch sugar and a pinch salt. Let the lemons and fennel fry, turning occasionally. When they are both brown and caramelized, remove from the oil and place on a paper towel to drain.
Drain the linguine, reserving ¼ cup of the pasta water. Combine the linguine, parsley, lemon and fennel in the saucepan. Divide among four bowls and top with ricotta. Salt to taste and sprinkle with a bit of fresh ground black pepper.
Serves 4. Enjoy!

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This post is linked up to Tinned Tomatoes’ Meat Free Mondays

August 14, 2017 1 comment

Appetizers Farmer's Market Lunch Recipes Vegetarian

Beet Tartes Tatin with Gorgonzola Pesto Sauce

written by Ali

I was so happy to see beets this week, so I could make beet tartes tatin with gorgonzola pesto sauce. I used to absolutely abhor beets. I blame it on the rise of the monoculture: it wasn’t until I moved to Oregon in my early thirties that I realized that beets actually come in varieties. I first encountered both golden beets and chiogga beets in a CSA basket, and from then on, I was sold. Both of these beets are more mild – they don’t have the overwhelming dirt taste of a red beet. Once I became accustomed to the more mild varieties, I was much more open to experimenting with good old red beets. It also helped to learn that beets don’t have to be boiled to death to be edible. They can be eaten raw, sliced thinly and baked into beet chips, roasted, salt roasted, tossed into baked goods….and sure, boiled. Beets are incredibly versatile.

A quick CSA re-cap before we get into the recipe. This week’s CSA brought us more peas, carrots, and broccoli, along with kale, spinach, and the beets featured in this recipe. I’ll be featuring the peas in a recipe later this week. The carrots and broccoli are still hanging out in the fridge. The kale, spinach, and beet greens all went into this saag paneer recipe – we had several volunteers from one of the community groups my husband works with over for dinner. One of the women had never had Indian food before, so I made saag paneer and garlic naan. It all was going pretty well until the paneer decided to melt as I was gently browning it, so we ended up having saag paneer with slightly melted paneer. The naan turned out just fine, though, so all was well. Plus, I used up all the greens.

The beets, however, I roasted and used in these beet tartes tatin with gorgonzola pesto sauce. Tarte tatin is traditionally made with apples, but has been adapted to make use of various fruits and veggies. Beets lend themselves really well to this adaptation. I roasted the beets with a little olive oil and salt first, then peeled and sliced them and placed them at the bottom of a large sized muffin tin that was well oiled (also with olive oil). I tossed a few walnuts in each muffin tin cup on top of the beets. I placed rough puff pastry on top of each of the beets and baked. Thirty minutes later, I flipped the muffin tins over onto a baking sheet and out came six perfect beet tartes tatin.

In the spirit of lazy summer cooking and keeping it simple, I made a quick buttermilk dressing with pesto and gorgonzola cheese to spoon over the beet tartes tatin. This makes a lovely lunch, but could also grace a tapas table or be served as an appetizer at a farm-to-table gathering.

Yum

Beet Tartes Tatin with Gorgonzola Pesto Sauce

Ingredients

Rough Puff Pastry

1 cup flour
½ teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons cold butter
1/3 cup cold water

Beets

4 small beets
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup chopped walnuts

Pesto Gorgonzola Sauce

2 tablespoons pesto
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup buttermilk
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1/3 cup gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Rough Puff Pastry

Mix the flour and salt in a medium sized bowl. Grate the butter into the flour/salt mixture. Stir until the butter is well coated with the flour. Make a small well in the middle and add the water. Mix until all the flour/butter/salt mixture is incorporated into the water. Gently knead the mixture until you have a shaggy dough – don’t over knead or over mix.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Roll out a rectangle about 8 inches by 4 inches. Fold the dough letter style – the top third comes down and the bottom third comes up. Turn ¼ turn. This is the first turn. Roll out again into a rectangle about 8 inches by 4 inches. Fold the dough again – top third comes down, bottom third comes up. This is the second turn. Do this process (roll, fold) at least two more times. Work fairly quickly – the butter shouldn’t start to melt all over your surface. If it starts to get too soft, throw the dough into the freezer between turns and let it firm up a bit.
Once you’ve turned and rolled at least four times, wrap the dough in plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator for at least an hour to rest.

Beets

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place the beets in a small roasting dish and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Sprinkle with the salt. Bake for 50 - 60 minutes or until soft.

Making the Tartes Tatin

Drop the temperature of the oven to 365 degrees.
Once the rough puff pastry has chilled for an hour, take it out and roll it into a long rectangle. Cut out 6 circles the size of the muffin tin you'll be using for the tartes tatin.
Peel the roasted beets and slice. Oil a muffin tin with the remaining olive oil. Divide the beets and walnuts evenly between the tins and top each with a circle of pastry. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown.
Place a baking sheet over the muffin tin and carefully flip the tin. Let the tartes tatin cool.

Pesto Gorgonzola Sauce

Combine all ingredients in a jar with a tight fitting lid and shake to combine.
Serve the pesto gorgonzola sauce drizzled over the tartes tatin. Serves 6 as an appetizer. Enjoy!

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July 17, 2017 0 comment

Baked Goods Farmer's Market Lunch Recipes Vegetarian

Roasted Cauliflower Potato Flatbread

written by Ali

My food philosophy has been, at least for the last 15 years or so, that the more local a food is, and the more it reflects its terroir, the better. This recipe for roasted cauliflower potato flatbread is the epitome of farm to table. In addition to using up some beautiful farmer’s market and CSA produce this week, I’ve been fortunate to partner up with Pomora, a company that is all about sustainable, locally produced olive oil. Pomora’s innovative business model allows you to adopt an olive tree in either Sicily or Campania. You’ll receive a shipment of olive oil from your tree each quarter (3 250 ml containers) alternating between plain olive oil and a flavored oil. You’ll also receive an adoption pack for your tree: a certificate and an information pack. Pomora believes “it’s important to know exactly what is in your food and from where it came.” Pomora “works directly with our growers who keep sufficient records to allow us to trace our oil all the way back to the grove.” I love the idea of knowing exactly where my olive oil began its production, much like I love knowing exactly where my cauliflower grew.

I can trace the origin of the majority of the ingredients in my roasted cauliflower potato flatbread this week. The potatoes came from a farm I dearly love in Roseburg, Oregon. The cauliflower comes from just down the road in Langlois, Oregon, from Valley Flora Farm. And my olive oil – I can trace it back directly from Italy, straight to the olive tree.

I encourage you to take a look at Pomora, especially as you consider making this roasted cauliflower potato flatbread. I used the Olio D’Oliva Extra Vergine a.k.a. “Extra Virgin Olive Oil” for this recipe. It has a perfect flavor that highlights the natural sweetness of both the cauliflower and potato. Pomora’s oils are great for roasting veggies, and lovely for spreading over flatbread before it goes into the oven. Do take a minute and check out their site.

Flatbreads, from start to finish.

Yum

Roasted Cauliflower Potato Flatbread

Ingredients

Flatbread Dough

1 cup warm water
2 ¼ teaspoon yeast (or one packet)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons salt
4 cups flour

Roasted Cauliflower and Potato

1 small cauliflower head, thinly sliced (or ¼ of a larger cauliflower head, thinly sliced)
3 small potatoes, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
Pinch salt

To Finish Flatbreads

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh herbs (tarragon, summer savory, thyme or rosemary – any combination)
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ cup grated gruyere cheese

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and let sit for a few minutes until the yeast becomes foamy. Add the olive oil to the yeast, and then one cup flour and the salt. Mix. Continue to add flour until the dough comes together in a shaggy ball. Turn out on a well-surface and knead for 6 to 8 minutes. The dough should be a bit sticky still but not so much so that it sticks to your hands or to the surface. Let the dough rise for an hour in a bowl covered with oiled plastic wrap or a few clean tea towels.
While the dough is on its first rise, place the thinly sliced cauliflower and potatoes on a parchment lined baking sheet. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Roast at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Set the roasted veggies aside to cool.
Punch the dough down for the second rise. Cover and let rise for another hour.
Increase the oven temperature to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Divide the flatbread dough into four segments. Stretch or roll out each into a rectangle. Place each on the parchment lined baking sheet.
Brush each flatbread with the remaining olive oil. Sprinkle each with the chopped herbs. Place the roasted cauliflower and potatoes on top. Sprinkle the grated cheese over each flatbread.
Bake the flatbreads for 20 – 30 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the crust is a light golden brown.
Serves 4. Enjoy!

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Disclosure: This post contains sponsored content brought to you by Pomora. As always, all opinions expressed in this post are 100% my own.

July 12, 2017 0 comment

Beverages Breakfast Lunch Recipes

Sunshine Powered Carrot Smoothie

written by Ali

My inspiration for this week’s sunshine powered carrot smoothie was a bunch of the most vibrant carrots I received in this week’s CSA share. The carrots absolutely radiated sunshine, which I can’t get enough of here of late.

Here’s a quick re-cap of what this last week’s CSA bounty brought us: peas, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, Tokyo bekana, basil, and strawberries. Briefly, in case you were wondering, Tokyo bekana is a Chinese cabbage – really good in stir fries, which is how we used it. The peas and broccoli also ended up in stir fry. We also bought chard and radishes at the farmer’s market, so the chard went to a frittata and a breakfast bowl. I’ll munch on the radishes throughout the week. The basil ended up in a pasta caprese dish. The cauliflower will be showcased in a post later this week – definitely check back in or subscribe to my email list, as I’ll be posting my first in a series of recipes over the next few months that features an awesome product.

The carrots all went into this sunshine powered carrot smoothie. I had some lovely organic oranges laying around, as well as a bottle of pineapple juice. I couldn’t help but wonder how it would all go together. The carrots lend an amazing sweetness to this smoothie and the color is so intensely orange. Carrots are also a spectacular source of all sorts of vitamins, including vitamin A. Between all the fruits and veggies, this is a vitamin packed smoothie.

I used my immersion blender to make this smoothie. I grated the carrots first and then combined orange segments and juice and blended it all to make the smoothie. I portioned out the smoothie into half pint jars and froze them for the week. This is a perfect pick-me-up at lunch time.

Yum

Sunshine Powered Carrot Smoothie

Ingredients

4 carrots, peeled and grated
2 oranges, peeled and segmented
1 ½ cup pineapple juice

Instructions

Combine all ingredients and blend until smooth. Enjoy! Serves 5

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July 10, 2017 0 comment

Farmer's Market Lunch Recipes Salad

Garden Salad with Creamy, Spicy Pesto Dressing

written by Ali

My garden salad with creamy, spicy pesto dressing is my cry for help this week with the CSA and farmer’s market veggies. I nearly named this the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink salad, but refrained. The abundance has, for this week at least, gotten the better of me. Here’s a quick rundown of the haul from this week’s CSA: snap peas, carrots, broccoli, lettuce, chard, arugula, fennel, and cilantro. Add to that from the farmer’s market, potatoes and green onions. And then there were the two absolutely gorgeous artichokes a friend from work gave me. Plus the kohlrabi that’s still chilling in the fridge from last week.

So I managed to get through the snap peas, broccoli, lettuce, chard, and cilantro this weekend. The arugula was a surprise – I initially thought it was spinach and blissfully planned to make use of it for breakfast one morning this weekend. And then I tasted it. (My husband is not an arugula fan – so it was a good thing I tasted before cooking). The green onions will find a purpose, as will the potatoes. This leaves me with the artichokes, the fennel, a few carrots and the remainder of the arugula. Oh, yeah, and the kohlrabi. Fortunately, I have the 4^th of July off, so I think that should take care of the artichokes – I don’t want those beauties to go to waste. I think I can handle the fennel and carrots with my go to quick refrigerator pickle. The kohlrabi…maybe I’ll find a purpose for it next week.

This is my favorite problem to have – lots of veggies in the fridge. One of my favorite ways to remedy this problem is through a garden salad with creamy, spicy pesto dressing. I’m fortunate that I’m also starting to get some veggies to produce in my garden in pots (you get strange looks around here in Oregon if you say you have a pot garden, so I’m careful how I phrase this). I’ve got nasturtiums spilling out of the pots, as well as a modest crop of Easter egg radishes. I decided to combine the abundance from the yard with the abundance from the fridge to make the creamy, spicy pesto dressing by using a combination of arugula, radish greens, and nasturtium leaves to make the pesto. The salad was easy – what a great way to make use of a head of lettuce, as well as the carrots, snap peas, and radishes. Oh – and that head of lettuce – could it be any more beautiful than this?

You can, of course, use whatever veggie is lurking in your veggie drawers for this salad. I also happened to have some leftover bacon, as well as a block of my absolute favorite local cheese: Face Rock Creamery’s Vampire Slayer Cheddar, so threw those in as well.

Happiness is having a garden salad with creamy, spicy pesto dressing tucked away in pint jars for the work week ahead.

Yum

Garden Salad with Creamy, Spicy Pesto Dressing

Ingredients

Spicy Pesto

2 cups spicy greens (e.g., arugula, nasturtium leaves, mustard greens, radish greens)
1/2 cup chopped almonds
1/4 grated Parmesan cheese
4 tablespoons olive oil

Creamy Pesto Dressing

2 tablespoons spicy pesto
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup sour cream
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/4 cup water
salt and pepper to taste

Salad

1 head lettuce, washed and drained
Assorted veggies
Cheese, chopped in small cubes
Bacon (optional)

Instructions

Spicy Pesto

Combine the first three ingredients in a food processor. Process until everything is roughly chopped and then add in the olive oil. Process until smooth. Pesto will freeze to be used later.

Creamy Spicy Pesto Dressing

Combine all ingredients and stir until smooth. Refrigerate until using.

Salad

Combine all ingredients and dress with the Creamy Spicy Pesto Dressing.
Serves 4. Enjoy!

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In case you are wondering about what my lunch looks like on a practical, day-to-day basis, here’s a quick look into my fridge (I cleaned it this weekend so it would be photo presentable).

I take a Pyrex container with me to serve my salad, along with my silverware. I opted to bring a slice of bread to go with my salad, along with a yogurt parfait with fresh raspberries and a little bit of granola for a snack.

July 3, 2017 0 comment

Lunch Recipes Main Dishes Salad

Smoked Salmon Pasta Salad

written by Ali

My first entry for #CookoutWeek2017 is smoked salmon pasta salad. This would be a great cookout recipe for the pescatarian in your life who isn’t interested in the ribs or burgers on the grill. This is also a great side for any cookout, really. The salty smoked salmon is a great contrast to the crunchy veggies and lemon mayo dressing. The smoked salmon pasta salad is also an amazing lunch dish, especially for these miserably hot days of summer. Ok - in fairness, it’s a balmy high 60 here on the coast, but I still sympathize with my readers who are baking in the Southwest.

This salad features one CSA veggie this week - carrots! Aside from the carrots, it was a green veggie week from the CSA again - we got lettuce, spinach, kale (the most beautiful kale bunch I’ve ever eaten, by the way), broccoli and another kohlrabi. And thyme. Check back in on Friday for some bad thyme puns and a lovely cocktail featuring the thyme. For the thyme being (hee, hee), here’s my quick run down of the veggie usage this week. Carrots, broccoli, and green onions from the market went into Korean scallion pancakes - I’ll have that recipe up on the blog in a few weeks, once I’ve run through it again. Kale and spinach went into egg bowls. The lettuce has gone into salads and a few sandwiches this weekend. The kohlrabi….is looking lonely in the veggie drawer. If you have any inspired ideas about kohlrabi, please, please, post them in the comments below.

Back to the smoked salmon pasta salad. One of the great happy points of living on the Oregon coast is that we have access to some pretty extraordinary seafood, including locally smoked coho salmon. A scant third pound was plenty for a salad that easily serves four as a main dish and could serve closer to six as a cookout or potluck side. I dearly wish we had a grill, as I would love to serve this as a side to some grilled oysters, pop open a bottle of white wine and call it dinner. Until that happens, I’ll just enjoy this the next few days for lunch.

Yum

Smoked Salmon Pasta Salad

Ingredients

8 ounces pasta, cooked according to package directions
1/4 pound smoked salmon, cut into small pieces
1 carrot, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1/2 bell pepper, diced
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
juice from 1/2 lemon
1 teaspoon dried dill weed
1 scant tablespoon capers

Instructions

Combine all ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Serves 4. Enjoy!

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Just a reminder - there is a great giveaway going on this week as part of #CookoutWeek2017,. You can enter below to win:

From blog host The PinterTest Kitchen: $100 Amazon gift card, to use to buy all the supplies you need for your next cookout
From our sponsor The French Farm: A gift pack of gourmet products hand-crafted by small businesses and using only the finest ingredients - La Favorita Genovese Pesto, Caprichos del Guadalquivir Cadenera Orange Marmalade, and L’Abeille Occitane Lavender Honey
From our sponsor Smokin’-Os: A sampler pack of their “smokin’-os” wood rings, to help you add wood-fired, smokey taste to your grilled foods, even if you don’t own a smoker
From our sponsor Primal Kitchen: $200 of Primal Kitchen goodies, including condiments made with avocado oil and bars and shakes with grass-fed collagen
From our sponsor Langers Juice Company: Your choice of 10 bottles of Langers Juice, with flavors including traditional Apple and Grape, as well as interesting mixes such as Pineapple Orange Coconut, Cranberry Blood Orange, and Mango Peach
From our sponsor True Made Foods: A 3-bottle sampler pack of sauces with real flavors made from real vegetables and less sugar - Ketchup, BBQ, and Veracha

This prize pack has an ARV of over $400! You have until July 1 at 11:59 PM to enter by following our sponsors and bloggers on social media:

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June 28, 2017 4 comments

Farmer's Market Lunch Recipes Quick and Easy Vegetarian

Baked Tofu Tacos with Kohlrabi Coleslaw

written by Ali

I was inspired this week to make baked tofu tacos with kohlrabi coleslaw . This week’s CSA basket included spinach, a head of lettuce, a purple kohlrabi, a bag of baby mustard greens, harukei turnips, collard greens and cilantro. It’s definitely greens season around here. In addition, Clay bought me a bunch of turnips and some snap peas at the farmer’s market. At first, I thought the turnips were overgrown radishes – but no, it was turnips. I thought, well, I’ll just add it to the CSA inventory and consider it a challenge.

The spinach went into a chicken spinach alfredo with bowtie pasta. The lettuce and most of the peas went into a salad with a baked chicken breast. I’ll quick pickle the harukei turnips along with some of the other turnips. I think I’m going to try a new technique I ran across recently for freezing the cilantro in olive oil. The collard greens and spicy green mix went into breakfast bowls with fried eggs. I was left with the kohlrabi and some of the turnips for my lunch this week.

I’ve been in the mood for tacos lately, so decided to marinate some tofu and pair it with a vinegar based kohlrabi coleslaw. Frankly, this may be one of the best dishes I’ve ever made - the tofu pairs really well with the kohlrabi and the vinegar base gives it quite a bit of flavor. Baked tofu tacos with kohlrabi coleslaw are also super easy to assemble for lunch at one’s desk. I packaged all the parts separately and added them together to make a great mid-day meal.

While we are on the topic of kohlrabi, if you aren’t familiar with this strange looking veggie, it’s worth tracking some down. The kohlrabi is related to broccoli, cauliflower, kale, and collard greens. The large round root is edible, as are the greens. Kohlrabi can be roasted, eaten raw, pickled, and so on.

Yum

Baked Tofu Tacos with Kohlrabi Coleslaw

Ingredients

Kohlrabi Turnip Slaw

1 large kohlrabi
2 small turnips
1 teaspoon finely chopped cilantro
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/8 teaspoon celery seed
salt and pepper to taste

Marinated Baked Tofu

1 block extra firm tofu, drained
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Tacos

Corn tortillas
Avocados

Instructions

Kohlrabi Turnip Coleslaw

Slice the kohlrabi and turnips into matchstick size slices. Combine with the cilantro, rice wine vinegar, olive oil, sugar, mustard seeds, celery seeds and salt and pepper. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to let the flavors develop.

Baked Marinated Tofu

Slice the tofu into small pieces. Combine the tofu with the soy sauce, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar and red pepper flakes. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lay the marinated tofu in a single layer on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes, turning once.

To assemble the tacos, mash a bit of avocado in the middle of each corn tortilla. Distribute the coleslaw and the baked tofu. Enjoy!

Serves 4

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I’ve linked up this week to Meat Free Mondays at Tinned Tomatoes. Check out all the great veggie based recipes!

June 19, 2017 3 comments

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