I don’t mind either weather type. It’s really this cold that sucks. Who wants a stuffed up nose when all this amazing produce is popping up at the farmers’ markets? I can’t taste a thing!

Well, if you’ll remember from last year’s post about the Summer’s bounty, I live for Sunmer veggies. Heirloom tomatoes kissed by the sun, zucchini and cucumbers and the crunchy, sweet, colorful bells. We haven’t had our first heirloom yet but I couldn’t resist mixing this pasta salad together highlighting the start of our Summer bounty.

And many thanks to my BFF for the salad recipe inspiration years ago during one of our many awesome camping trips. xoxooxox

Orzo Salad
* 1 tomato (if you can get heirloom, do it!), diced
* 1/2 cucumber, diced
* 1/2 red onion, diced
* 1 1/2 cup cooked orzo pasta, cooled
* 1 handful of pitted kalmata olives, sliced
* 1/2 red, yellow or orange bell pepper, diced
* 1/2 zucchini, cut into 4 spears lengthwise and then sliced thinly
* 6-7 leaves of fresh mint, sliced
* 4 leaves if basil, sliced
* 1 handful of crumbled feta
* glug of olive oil and balsamic vinegar (to taste, think like you’re dressing a salad and then add from there)
* pinch of salt and pepper

The key to this recipe is the size of all the veggies and adjusting the oil/vinegar/S&P. Hint: the cucumber and red onion should be little dices no bigger than the orzo.

Now that you have carpel tunnel syndrome from chopping so much. Mix everything together and put it in the fridge to cool.

Enjoy with a grilled steak for an easy (well besides all the dicing) Summer meal.

I know, I know, I said can-opener. I usually try to stay away from that tool but this dish is worth the extra sodium. Just keep it for special occasions, like a Monday!

Note: it is so much better the next day. So make extra.

Mexi Pie
adapted to be a little healthier than Mom’s recipe

* 1/2 can of black beans
* 1 Tbsp cumin powder
* 1/2 tsp salt and pepper
* 1/4 tsp chili powder
(Above ingredients replaced 1 can no-beans Hormel chili in Mom’s recipe)
* 1 can cream of mushroom soup
* 1/2 can of chicken stock
* 1/2 rotisserie chicken (or 2 “Dolly Parton” sized chicken breasts – as Mom would say, boiled)
* 1 can of diced green chilies (tiny can)
* corn tortillas
* flour tortillas
* shredded Mexican cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix first six ingredients. Shred the chicken. Slice the tortillas into 4″ wide strips.

Put a row of corn tortillas into a pie dish. Then a row of flour tortillas. Put half your shredded chicken then half your wet ingredients in a layer. Add a bit of cheese. Repeat, finishing with a lot of cheese (I didn’t put cheese on my half and it was still delicious). Cover with foil and cook for 30-45 mins. It’ll be bubbling. Let it sit, uncovered to thicken for 15 mins before serving.

And remember to save some for the next day. The tortillas soak up the flavors and its delicious pan fried like this.

Serve with avocado, cilantro and sour cream.

Enjoy!

Though I’ve made this recipe before, it wasn’t archived and its so good. It needs a spot in here. It’s great to bring to a party with some bread or crackers. And it’s super delicious for dinner with a cracked egg on top (hence, “dip-ish”).

Go out and get an eggplant and let your leftover veggies dictate the rest.

Roasted Eggplant Dip-ish

1 eggplant, peeled and chopped in 1/2″ cubes
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, roasted
1 can of fire roasted, diced tomatoes
1/2 can of water or chicken broth
1 tsp each oregano, thyme and cumin seed
1 tsp garlic salt
Here’s where you get creative:
I added 1/2 red pepper, 1 pint of cherry tomatoes and feta cheese for the top.
You could add zucchini, mushrooms, spinach, etc.

Put it all in a Dutch oven. And set it in the oven at 325 degrees. Check after 1 hour. You want the eggplant to be so soft it melts in your mouth. Once it’s nearly there, take off the cover and cook until the liquid becomes a bit more thick.

Top with feta and serve warm.

I highly recommend this pot for cooking it. It’s a Bulgarian ceramic pot with a hole in the lid. I love it for stewing and slow cooking.

Enjoy!

The act of turning milks into cheeses and preserving fruits, veggies and meats is so simple and basic and it feels so “right”. I know, we now have the convenience of stores where you can buy this stuff already made. And refrigeration has nearly obliterated preserved foods from our diet leaving only meager snack foods like dried fruits in trail mixes, or wasabi peas at bars, beef jerky on camping trips, or jam in our PB&Js.

Forget these conveniences and give it a try. Turn back the clock (heck, break the clock) and take some time to do a task our ancestors have done for centuries. Make some cheese. Dry some apples. Can some tomatoes. They will be better than any store bought option, I promise!

homemade ricotta
Adapted from a recipe from smitten kitchen.com

• 3 cups goat milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 3 TBS fresh squeezed lemon juice

Combine the milk, cream and salt into a pot and heat the milk to 190 degrees on medium low heat. I bought a candy thermometer just for this recipe. Be sure not to burn the bottom by stirring often. I use a wooden spoon. Definitely don’t walk away from the pot. It’ll go quickly.

Turn off the heat and add the lemon juice, then stir it once or twice, gently and slowly. Let the pot sit undisturbed for 5 minutes.

Line a colander with a few layers of cheesecloth and place it over a large bowl (to catch the whey). Pour the curds and whey into the colander and let the curds strain for at least an hour. At an hour, you’ll have a tender, spreadable ricotta. At two hours, it will be spreadable but a bit firmer, almost like cream cheese. (It will firm as it cools, so do not judge its final texture by what you have in your cheesecloth.) Eat the ricotta right away or transfer it to an airtight container and refrigerate until ready to use.

You can keep the whey to lactose ferment things like cabbage into saurcraut. Check out the Nourishing Traditions cookbook for more recipes using whey.

Happy preserving!

Our menu today consists of my BFF’s chili recipe, nachos, chicken wings and spinach dip. I’ll post the most important recipe, the chili once I have clearance from my BFF. In the meantime, here’s the spinach dip recipe. Go Niners!!

(BTW: does anyone else remember the 49ers song, “49ers, ha! we’re dynamite!”)

Spinach Dip

* 1 pkg. Simply Organic Spinach Dip mix OR Knorr Vegetable Soup mix [dry mix]
* 2 cups sour cream
* 1/2 cup mayonnaise
* 10 oz. frozen chopped spinach defrosted
* 2 green onions, finely chopped
* 4 oz. of water chestnuts, drained and diced into tic tac sized pieces

Mix it all together. Pop it into the fridge for at least 30 mins.

Serve with sourdough bread.

oatmeal raisin pecan cookies

* 1/2 cup of unsalted butter at room temp
* 2/3 cup of packed brown sugar
* 1 egg
* 1 tsp vanilla extract
* 3/4 cup pastry flour or all purpose flour
* 1/2 tsp baking soda
* 3/4 tsp cinnamon
* 1/4 tsp salt
* dash of nutmeg
* 1 1/2 cup rolled oats
* 3/4 cup raisins
* 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix butter and sugar together until sugar is dissolved. Add the egg and vanilla.

In a separate bowl mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg. Add these dry ingredients to the butter and sugar mixture. Once its all mixed, fold in the oats, raisins and pecans.

Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Spoon and roll the dough into ping pong sized balls and place on the parchment (leave 2″ between cookies).

Bake for 10-12 mins or until just golden around the edges.

Eat up!

The juicer is the Breville Multi-speed Juice Fountain and it’s a honker. It takes up a lot of counter space and it’s loud. But the pros outweigh the cons right now. It’s rather simple to clean-up (I put a veggie bag in the pulp catch), it’s easy to use and it made a great pulp free juice.

Fruit of the earth (“frutos de la tierra”)
• 1 1/2 apple
• 1 celery stalk
• 1/2 beet
• a 1″ piece of ginger
• 3 carrots

Toss in at 5 and drink.

My composting worms are going to be very happy too! Look at all this fresh mash.

If you don’t have a dehydrator, you can definitely use your oven.

Cheesy Kale Chips

• 1 bunch of kale, cleaned and large stems removed
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 cup whole, unsalted raw cashews, toasted
• 3 TBS chia seed (I used powder)
• 2 tsp nutritional yeast
• 1 tsp Himalayan salt
• juice of 1 lemon

Mix everything except the kale in the blender (this is where I highly endorse the vitamix blender).

In a large bowl, add your kale and a couple tablespoons of the mixture. The mixture is quite thick so work in batches so you don’t have too much on one piece of kale and not enough on another.

Pop the coated chips into your dehydrator (125 degrees F) or on a cookie sheet and into the oven (lowest setting). Make sure it’s in a single layer.

A few hours later (6 in the dehydrator in my neck of the woods or 2 in the oven), you have a deliciously nutritious snack!!!

Enjoy!

So go out, get some ground chuck and make this little loaf the feature on tomorrow’s dinner table.

Meatloaf
Serves 2.5 people

• 1 lb ground chuck (not lean, you want the fatty bits to keep it juicy)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup grated parmesean cheese
• a splash of milk
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup of breadcrumbs
• 3 TBS catsup, plus more for the top
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• salt and pepper
• 1 TBS fresh parsley, chopped (optional)
• 1 TBS worshtershire sauce (how do you spell that?)

Heat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Mix all the above ingredients except the extra catsup. Don’t mix too much though – just enough to incorporate all the ingredients.

Form the meat in a loaf pan and pat down the top a bit. Make an indentation lengthwise in the middle of the loaf. Squeeze catsup into the indentation and smear it along the top as well.

Place it in the oven covered with foil for about 45 mins. Uncover it and broil for a couple mins to crisp up the top a bit.

Enjoy!

But you made too much and now you have a tupperware bowl full of not so creamy risotto in your fridge from last night’s scrumptious dinner. What to do? Make Arancini – or Fried Risotto Balls.

Not the best picture but they’re so damn delicious I forgot to get a good photo before stuffing them in my belly.

Arancini

• Leftover risotto
• 1 cup of panko (japanese breadcrumbs)
• 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp salt
• veggie oil
• 1 egg
• a splash of milk
• 1/2″ cubes of mozzarella

1. Put the panko and breadcrumbs into a shallow bowl with the oregano and salt and mix. In another shallow bowl, beat the egg and milk together.

2. Heat up the oil in a medium frying pan on medium low heat.

3. Grab a golf ball size mound of risotto. Roll it into a ball. Use your thumb to push an indentation into the risotto. Put a cube of mozzarella into the center and seal it up so the mozzarella is in the center of the risotto ball.

4. Roll the risotto ball in the egg mixture and then in the breadcrumb mixture. Set aside on a plate until they are all rolled out.

5. Check to see if your oil is ready by sprinkling a small piece of breadcrumbs in. If it sizzles right away, start putting in your balls. Don’t overcrowd the pan though because you’ll need to flip the balls as soon as they brown on one side.

6. Place the browned morsels of heaven on a paper towel and sprinkle with a bit of salt.

Serve piping hot with your favorite marinara or the leftover braising liquid from the chicken in the previous post. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!