Tag

farm to table

Spaghetti Squash Pancakes

written by Ali

Spaghetti squash pancakes are the perfect way to make use of an abundance of spaghetti squash. You’ve probably seen spaghetti squash in the market. It’s a pale yellow winter squash that’s all stringy inside. Spaghetti squash is a great substitute for pasta in many dishes. However, this week, when the spaghetti squash showed up in my CSA basket, I got to thinking about what other ways I might be able to use it beyond the obvious.

This year’s CSA basket has made me realize that when in doubt, make a veggie pancake. When faced with this week’s CSA share, veggie pancakes were the obvious choice for the spaghetti squash. We also got more eggplant, carrots, cilantro, onions, Asian pears, Romanesco cauliflower, and sweet peppers. It was easy enough to make use of the cilantro, onion, and peppers (new favorite easy weeknight dinner – chicken fajitas). The eggplant and carrots will just have to hang out for awhile. The Romanesco cauliflower will probably get roasted and served next to a pork loin later this week. In the meantime, I wanted to make quick use of the spaghetti squash.

So I baked the squash on Saturday night, let it cool and sit overnight in the fridge. This morning, while I was drinking coffee and listening to the Remembering Tom Petty station on Pandora, I made spaghetti squash pancakes. The husband declared these squash-y but tolerable (this is high praise from him, believe me). I served them with fried eggs, avocado, and hot sauce and thought they were absolutely wonderful. If you are looking for an alternative to potato pancakes, these are definitely the way to go. The squash gets all soft and melty on the inside and crispy on the outside.

These spaghetti squash pancakes are definitely a new favorite for me. I’m eager to try out other variations with spaghetti squash and I’m sure the CSA will provide.

Yum

Spaghetti Squash Pancakes

Ingredients

1 small spaghetti squash
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
8 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chopped garlic or garlic powder
Ground pepper to taste
3 tablespoons olive oil

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut a few slits into the spaghetti squash and bake whole for an hour.
When the spaghetti squash is cool, remove the seeds and scoop out the spaghetti squash threads. Add all ingredients in a bowl and combine. Heat the olive oil in a cast iron or non-stick pan. When the oil is hot, drop ¼ cup of pancake batter into the pan. Repeat for two or three more pancakes. Cook each side for 2 minutes. When pancakes are done, place them on a baking sheet in the preheated oven. Continue until you’ve used all the batter.
Makes 6 pancakes. Enjoy!

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October 9, 2017 1 comment

Farmer's Market Freezer Meals Lunch Recipes Quick and Easy Vegetarian

Eggplant Mac and Cheese

written by Ali

The last few weeks have seen an eggplant inundation from the CSA, leading me to make eggplant mac and cheese. Because when it doubt, make mac and cheese. In this first week of October, I decided I needed some comfort food for lunch. It just feels right. And eggplant mac and cheese is the perfect anecdote to the early fall blues.

Not that I can complain too much. Our CSA is still going strong – this week we got lettuce, chard, carrots, eggplant, tomatoes, sweet peppers, parsley and hot peppers. I also picked up some zucchini and more tomatoes at the Valley Flora farm stand and we got mushrooms and figs from the farmer’s market. The lettuce went into a salad. The peppers are going into chicken fajitas later this week. The mushrooms went into a swoon-worthy fritatta. The carrots are going to get grated and tossed into the freezer for some recipes later this month. The parsley went into my stock bag in the freezer.

I’m ready for that transition point, though – ready for winter squash, shallots, onions, and potatoes. And really ready for mushrooms. Still, I’ll gladly use up the last of the eggplant.

This eggplant mac and cheese is a super creamy dish. I used a combination of mozzarella cheese and goat cheese. These are a great counterpoint to the nutty sweet roasted eggplant. Just about any pasta would be good with this, but I used cavatappi because it just happens to be my absolute favorite. I’d imagine this would be good with a variety of add ins – bacon might be good, but if you happen to have some home roasted cherry tomatoes, you might try those out, too.

This recipe freezes well. I’ve got only a few days this week when I’ll actually be at my desk for lunch, so this recipe will tide me over through next week.

Yum

Eggplant Mac and Cheese

Ingredients

2 small eggplants or 1 large one
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 package cavattapi or similar pasta
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 ounces goat cheese
salt to taste

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Chop the eggplant into one inch pieces. Lay the eggplant pieces on a parchment lined baking sheet and drizzle with the olive oil. Roast for 30 minutes or until the eggplant is soft.
Prepare the pasta according to the package directions. Drain and set aside.
Melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Add the flour and whisk constantly for one minute. Add the milk and stir constantly over medium heat until the milk begins to thicken. Take the sauce off the heat. Add the cheese and stir until it's melted.
Add the eggplant and pasta to the sauce. Mix thoroughly to combine. Add salt to taste.
Serves 4. Enjoy!

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October 2, 2017 0 comment

Appetizers Breakfast Farmer's Market Main Dishes Vegetarian

Zucchini Corn Pancakes

written by Ali

Zucchini corn pancakes are a great way to use up zucchini and make a tasty breakfast, as well. We’ve steadily been getting one zucchini a week from our CSA. Rather than over-thinking what to do with the zucchini, I’ve been using it for breakfast. It’s making me almost sad to think that zucchini season will come to an end sometime soon. Almost. The great thing about zucchini corn pancakes is that the zucchini blends in and doesn’t taste overly like squash. This is a great one for those in your family who may not be huge veggie fans.

I generally serve my zucchini corn pancakes with a couple of fried eggs on top. I went a little further this week and also added some Pico de Gallo on top of the eggs and a few slices of avocado. The Pico has gone a long way to using up CSA veggies. This week’s tomatoes, Seranno pepper, and onion all went into it, along with the juice of a lime, some cilantro, and some salt. Here’s the rest of this week’s CSA basket: lettuce, cucumber, lemon cucumber, eggplant, corn, carrots, and beets. Farmers’ market purchases included more Anaheim peppers, cherry tomatoes, and berries. And then we went to the farm stand in Coquille, Oregon. My original plan had been to drive about two hours inland to go to one or more of the U-Pick farms near Roseburg, Oregon and get tomatoes and pickling cucumbers. I’d heard several recommendations, though, for the farm stand in Coquille, so we stopped there first, just in case. I walked away with 2 pounds of Anaheim peppers (for roasting and freezing), 40 pounds of organic canning tomatoes, and 10 pounds of pickling cucumbers. I spent the weekend canning and pickling, pickling the carrots from the CSA that have been accumulating in the fridge, along with the beets and the eggplant (eggplant into a tomato based spread).

Really, it’s my favorite time of the year: there’s such abundance. I did use the corn from the CSA in the zucchini corn pancakes – Valley Flora grows a beautiful tri-color corn that is so sweet. Pick up some zucchini and corn from your local market and enjoy!

Yum

Zucchini Corn Pancakes

Ingredients

1 small to medium zucchini, grated
1 head of corn
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
8 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt
Ground pepper to taste
3 tablespoons olive oil

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Cut the corn off the cob. Add all ingredients in a bowl and combine. Heat the olive oil in a cast iron or non-stick pan. When the oil is hot, drop ¼ cup of pancake batter into the pan. Repeat for two or three more pancakes. Cook each side for 2 minutes. When pancakes are done, place them on a baking sheet in the preheated oven. Continue until you’ve used all the batter.
Makes 6 – 8 zucchini corn pancakes. Enjoy!

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August 21, 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