Roasted Potatoes and Beets with Balsamic Glaze

Serves 6

4 red beets, cut into chunks
2 potatoes, cut into chunks
1 yellow onion, cut into chunks
3-4 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped
¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon rosemary, chopped
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
½ cup olive oil
Salt & Pepper
Toss beets, potatoes, onion, & garlic with olive oil, balsamic, rosemary, salt and pepper. Roast at 400 degrees for about 1 hour or until edges are crispy. Top with chopped fresh parsley.

Source

Fresh Herb Salad Dressing

(Many other fresh herbs can be substituted if you don't have the ones listed here.)

1/2 cup packed fresh parsley leaves
1/2 cup packed fresh basil leaves
1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
1 4-inch segment fresh rosemary (remove the leaves and finely mince)
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1 cup olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
Salt and pepper, to taste

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and process until well-combined. Store in an airtight container for up to one week.
Source

(Whole) Roasted Cauliflower

The inspiration for this recipe came from an Eating Well recipe for the cauliflower, but prepared in the microwave. It would probably turn out fine that way but I know for a fact that the cauliflower we recently got from the CSA wouldn't have fit in my microwave(!) and for that reason (its outrageous size), I thought this recipe might just work fine in the oven. I was right, it was yummy and I suspect even better than the microwave version, although it took quite a bit longer to cook. The nice thing with either approach is that you can use just about any flavor profile you desire, and once you get the mixture stirred up and slathered on the vegetable, you are done! If roasting a whole head of cauliflower for an hour or more just isn't your thing, I suspect the same idea could be applied to small florets--tossed to coat with the mixture--and the result would be just as good!

1 head cauliflower

1 cup mayonnaise

1 Tbs prepared mustard (Dijon or other preferred variety)

1 tsp ground black pepper

1 clove garlic, crushed

Note: These amounts depend on the size of cauliflower head you have and your overall preference--if it's relatively small (<6 inches) you could probably halve the amounts; or if you have leftover, you can always use it as an alternative sandwich spread, etc.

As I mentioned, almost any flavorings can be used to suit your preference/pantry, such as:

• Curry powder/paste
• Salsa or green chiles
• Any type of fresh or dried herbs
• Miso
• Garlic
• Pesto
• Cajun
• Lemon-pepper
• Etc. Etc. Etc...

Simply stir the desired seasonings into the mayonnaise and spread it all over the outside of the cauliflower. The thickness of the coating will be dependent on your quantities--it doesn't have to be terribly thick, or completely coated--the mayonnaise essentially melts into the cauliflower to varying degrees. It is easiest to place the cauliflower into the dutch oven (or microwave-safe bowl) first and then coat with mayonnaise. Cover and cook at 400 degrees (check your pot's max oven temperature if necessary first!) for 45 minutes to 1.5 hours, depending on the size of the vegetable and desired done-ness. I cooked mine (about 8 inch head) for about 50 minutes covered and then removed the lid for the last 10 minutes of cooking to help caramelize the coating just a bit. Serving was the trickiest part of this easy-to-prepare dish. We served it straight out of the pan after slicing the cauliflower with a long, sharp knife and removed the pieces with a fork.

Enjoy!

Roasted Garlic and Squash Soup with Tomato Salsa

This comes from a CSA member, and while it calls for butternut squash, any sweet, flavorful squash will do.

• 2 heads (bulbs) garlic, outer papery skin removed
• 5 Tbs olive oil
• A few fresh thyme sprigs
• 1 large butternut squash, halved & seeded
• 2 onions, chopped
• 1 tsp ground coriander seed
• 5 cups vegetable or chicken stock
• 2-3 Tbs chopped fresh oregano or marjoram
• Sea salt and ground black pepper

For the Salsa:

• 4 large ripe tomatoes, halved and seeded
• 1 red bell pepper, halved and seeded
• 1 large fresh red chile, halved and seeded
• 2-3 Tbs olive oil
• 1 Tbs balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Place garlic bulbs on a piece of foil and pour half of the olive oil over them. Add thyme sprigs then fold foil around bulbs to enclose them completely. Place the foil parcel on a baking sheet with the squash halves. Brush squash halves with 1 Tbs of the remaining oil. Add tomatoes, pepper and chile to the baking sheet. Roast the vegetables for 25 minutes; remove tomatoes, pepper and chile and reduce temperature to 375 degrees F. Cook squash and garlic 20-25 minutes more until squash is tender.

Heat remaining oil in large heavy pot over medium-low heat and cook onions and ground coriander until soft, about 10 minutes. Remove the skin from the pepper and chile. Blend in blender with tomatoes and 2 Tbs of the olive oil. Stir in vinegar and seasoning to taste. Add remaining oil if desired.

Squeeze the roasted garlic paste out of its papery skins into the onions. Scoop the squash out of its skin and add it to the pan. Add stock and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in hlaf of the chopped fresh herbs and allow the soup to cool slightly, then blend until smooth, working in batches if necesssary. Alternatively, press the soup through a fine-meshed sieve. Reheat the soup gently and adjust seasoning if needed. Serve topped with remaining fresh herbs and tomato salsa.

Vegetable Lentil Soup

Here's a delicious vegetarian recipe that will use up all the extra veggies in your crisper drawer.

Essential ingredients:

1/2 large yellow onion
3-5 carrots (about 1.5 cups chopped)
4 celery stalks (about 1.5 cups chopped)
4-6 cloves garlic
1 TBSP thyme leaves
1 tsp oregano
2 bay leaves
2 16 oz cans tomatoes plus juice
1 cup green or brown lentils, rinsed
1.5-2 liters stock (I used mushroom but chicken or beef would work as well as a non-vegetarian option)
Olive oil

Optional ingredients - use whatever you have on hand and would like in the soup. This is what I had:

1 red bell pepper
3/4 c. flat-leafed parsley
1/4 c. freshly shelled peas
6 i'itoi (green) onions, white and green parts
2 cups chopped greens - I used mizuna but kale or chard would work nicely too

Chop the veggies ahead of time and keep in separate piles.

Put about 2 TBSP olive oil into a large soup pot. Heat until the oil starts to shimmer, then add the onion, carrot and celery to the oil. Cook on medium heat until the carrots start to soften; about 7 minutes. Stir often. The vegetables should sweat, not brown.

Add the garlic, thyme, oregano and optional veggies (minus greens) to the pot. Cook, stirring often, for about three minutes, until you can smell the garlic cooking.

Add the stock and lentils to the pot. Chop the tomatoes and add them and the juice from both cans*. Stir it all together and add the bay leaves. Poke them down into the liquid.

Cover and bring the soup to a boil and reduce heat to simmer. Cook for 45 minutes, then check the lentils for tenderness. Cook longer if needed. Once the lentils are tender, season the soup to taste with salt** and cracked pepper. Fish out the bay leaves and discard them. Add the greens to the pot. Cover and cook for another 20 minutes.

*This is very much a tomato-based soup. If you don't want such strong tomato flavor, reduce to one can and add two more cups stock to the recipe.
**Add salt at the very end. If it is added earlier in cooking, the lentils will be tough.

Serve with a salad and hot bread with butter. YUM.

What else would work well in this soup? Turnips, added with the greens. Kohlrabi, added with the 2nd batch of veggies. Spinach, added about five minutes before serving. 1/4 c. wheat berries, added with the lentils.

It's a versatile recipe! Enjoy!

Roast Chicken with Roasted Roots

This chicken was so amazingly delicious and simple to prepare I might have a hard time cooking it any other way from now on. And, doesn't it look beautiful?! It was completely satisfying to have a meal like this with pastured, local chicken and organic CSA veggies and sharing it with good friends and conversation.

To Prepare:

Thaw the chicken and remove the neck and give the chicken a good rinse and pat dry. Make a paste of rosemary, garlic, salt and pepper and olive oil. Rub it under the skin, in the chest cavity and all over the bird. We put the chicken on a cooling rack over a cast iron pan in a 385 degree oven which allows the drippings to collect in the pan. While the chicken starts to cook, chop up some potatoes, beets and turnip (any root veggie would be great) and toss with some olive oil, salt and pepper and rosemary and thyme. Once the chicken has cooked for a a bit, add the roots to the cast iron pan and allow to cook stirring every so often. Once the chicken has about a half hour left to cook, we transferred the bird off the cooling rack and placed it atop the veggies. I think cooking time averages about 20 minutes per pound so it will vary depending on the size of the bird. Once it is done (juices will run clear), take it out of the oven and let it rest before cutting. We served it with a delightful CSA veggie salad and it fed 4 hungry women who enjoyed every bite!

Lemon Cilantro Salad Dressing

I whipped up a quick and tasty salad dressing last night to go with a beautiful salad I brought to a dinner party. I wish I had taken a picture because it was colorful! The salad featured salad greens, spinach and purple cabbage from last week along with some red bell pepper, yellow carrots and avocado. I topped it off with a sprinkling of black sesame seeds. I wanted to use some of the fine cilantro we got last week, so I decided to use it in the dressing along with our beautiful lemons. My inspiration for this dressing came from the Tucson CSA's newsletter from last week. The author, Lorraine Glazar of the Tucson CSA, gives substitution ideas depending on what herbs and/or citrus you might have on hand. Click on the link to see what they are. I left out the mustard because I didn't have it in the fridge and I added sun-dried tomatoes because I love them just a little too much. Enjoy!

lemon (juice and zest it)
1/4 c. oil ( I used about 2/3 Queen Creek Extra-Virgin olive oil and 1/3 hemp seed oil)
3-4 T. fine cilantro
1 clove garlic
4 sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil and herbs
splash white wine vinegar
salt and pepper

Blend the ingredients in food processor or blender until the herbs are finely chopped and distributed through the dressing. Adjust seasonings to your liking.