Krystal's "Screw you, winter!" dinner

The Reason:
Winter has reigned long enough. With spring starting tomorrow (THANKYOUSWEETLORDJESUS), and an abundance of produce from Full Circle Farm at my disposal, what better reason to throw together a new recipe?


The Menu:
Caribbean Tilapia with Carrots and Onions
Parmesan and Sweet Onion Couscous
Winter Must Die punch


The Ingredients and Directions:
Caribbean Tilapia with Carrots and Onions
Ingredients:
1/2 cup - apricot & pineapple preserves
1/2 cup - Johnny's "Jamaican Me Sweet Hot & Crazy" marinade (found at Costco)
1 1/2 cup - tropical fruit juice (I used a guava/pineapple/peach/passion fruit/banana blend)
1/2 cup - Yoshiba's Sweet Teriyaki sauce
1/4 cup - soy sauce
3 tbsp - agave nectar
4 frozen tilapia loins, thawed (also found at Costco)
4 medium-sized carrots, chopped to 1'' pieces
1/2 of a large, Walla Wall onion, also in 1'' pieces
3 cloves of garlic, minced
4 thin slices of lemon
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
2. To make the marinade, combine first six ingredients in a small mixing bowl and whisk together.
3. Place tilapia, carrots, onions, and garlic in a large, Ziploc freezer bag, and pour marinade over them.
4. Marinate for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
5. Place tilapia in a 13x9''  baking dish, place one slice of lemon on each, and (using a slotted spoon), place marinated vegetables around the fish.
6. Cover with foil, and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil, return to oven, and bake an additional 10 minutes until fish is flaky.

Parmesan and Sweet Onion Couscous
Ingredients:
2 boxes of Parmesan couscous (found at Safeway or other main grocery stores)
2 1/2 cups of broth (I used 2 cups of vegetable broth and 1/2 cup of chicken broth)
5 tbsp - butter, divided 2:3 (I used a Red Chile, Shallot and Lime compound butter that I had made)
1/2 of a large Walla Walla onion, diced fine
2 large cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp - lemon pepper
2 tbsp - salt
3 tbsp - agave nectar
Directions:
1. Prepare couscous according to package directions, using stock in place of water, and increasing the butter to 2 tbsp.
2. Saute the remaining ingredients in a medium, non-stick skillet until the onions are translucent.
3. Add the onions and garlic to the couscous, and stir to combine.

Winter Must Die punch
**I only made one glass, but it's amazing... so, multiply the ingredients by however many people you will be serving.**
Ingredients:
1/2 of one lemon, plus two slices
4 ice cubes
8 oz - tropical juice blend
8 oz - orange, pineapple, banana juice
Directions:
1. Place two ice cubes in the bottom of a tall glass, then the two slices of lemon, then the remaining two ice cubes.
2. Squeeze the 1/2 of one lemon into the glass, and add the rind to the glass as well.
3. Add the tropical fruit juice blend.
4. Add the orange/pineapple/banana juice.
5. Stir, add straw, sip, and shake your fist at winter.

Too Busy to Shop?

Yes... I've been a bad, bad blogging foodie/mommy/wife/worker/student/cook/daughter-in-law/friend... it's been THREE MONTHS since my last post!

I am... ashamed.

But I'm back on the wagon!

Today, I was reading a blog entry by the insanely talented crab & bee on their CSA delivery. Ok, so it's more like a few words and a couple of pictures... but the produce in those pictures? Fan-tab-u-lous. My fingers started twitching as I imagined the fun I would have at looking up recipes to try out on my poor, unsuspecting family.

What is a CSA?
'CSA' stands for "Community Supported Agriculture", and is a way to not only provide a steady supply of  local, entirely seasonal produce to your family, but to support your local farmers.
Two Birds? Meet my friend, One Stone.

How do you get the goods?
In the case of the farm I'm buying through - Full Circle Farms (Carnation, WA) - you have the option of scheduling a weekly/biweekly home delivery, or picking up from a specified location near you. Typically, it costs a little less to go the pick-up route but, for convenience sake (HEY... I'm 7 months pregnant with Boy #2, okay??), I'm going with the home delivery.

What ARE the goods?
Depending on the farm, you can get a wide variety of seasonal produce (veggies, fruit, and herbs), as well as some 'extras'; things like eggs, milk, and (my husband's favorite) freshly slaughtered animal (meat, people). Need an example of what is available? Here you go...:

Basil

Beans (Dry)

Beans (Green)

Beets

Berries

Bok Choy

Braising Mix

Broccoli

Brussels Sprouts

Cabbage

Carrots

Celery

Celeriac

Chards (Swiss)

Chicories  (Escarole and Frisee)

Collard Greens

Corn

Cucumbers

Dandelion Greens

Eggplant

Fennel

Greens  (Arugula and Mizuna)

Herbs

Kale

Leeks

Lettuce, Head

Lettuce, Baby Heads

Melons

Mustard Greens

Onions

Parsnips

Parsley

Peas

Peppers

Potatoes

Radicchio

Radish

Salad Mix

Scallions

Spinach

Summer Squash

Sunchoke

Tomatillos

Tomatoes

Purple-Top Turnips

Winter Squash

Not bad, huh?

Why go the CSA-route?
Ever since my husband and I participated in our first crop-share - Whistling Train Farms (Kent, WA) - this last September to December, I've been looking for more opportunities to cook for my family. Sounds simple enough, doesn't it?
Monday: Dinner
Tuesday: Dinner
Wednesday: Dinner... you get the point.
The issue isn't what meal to make, but what ingredients to use. I am still determined to only use seasonal vegetables and fruits, unless they're frozen - some of the frozen produce out there has as many, if not MORE, nutrients in it than their fresh cousins in the produce aisle. In the two months since our winter farm share ended, I've found myself growing a taaaaaaad apathetic when it comes to our evening meal. By knowing that you've paid (or are currently paying) for produce for a set amount of time (average is about 10 weeks), it puts more pressure to actually USE what you're paying for. Not only that, but supporting the local farmers of your community seems like something that would earn you some pretty hefty karma points...

Christmas Tree Soup

The only thing I love more than participating in a holiday tradition is creating a new one - whether intentionally, or completely by accident. Last night was probably one of the best "accidental tradition creations" I've ever had!

While my mother-in-law and husband were out looking for a Christmas tree (in lovely Seattle-rain fashion), I dove head-first into my first pureed soup, with all the vegetables coming from our weekly farm share! It was a little daunting, I admit, when I was trying to figure out what I wanted the main flavor to be; Did I want to go exotic? Spicy? Ginger-y? Sweet? Did I want to do as my father-in-law not-so-subtly hinted at and add meat and, if so, what kind? What do I serve with it? Should I leave any texture to the soup and, if so, how much and with what? Will the food processor do a good enough job, or will this come out looking like semi-solid baby food?

As it turns out, I needn't have worried. The mix of vegetables in and of themselves were amazing, and lent a lot of flavor to the soup just by roasting them... and the vegetable stock and wine that I used were perfect. *sigh*

So, here's the final recipe that I came up with while my husband showed our almost two year old son what struggling with Christmas trees looks like:

Ingredients
1 acorn squash
6 medium carrots, peeled
1 large turnip, peeled
1 medium beet, peeled
1 small head of garlic, peeled
Canola oil
Salt and pepper
2 Tbs butter
1 large yellow onion
2 Tbs salt
2 tsp dried ginger
1 Tbs dried sage
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp nutmeg
pinch of red pepper flake
1 tsp chipotle hot sauce
1/2 cup red wine
3 cups of vegetable stock
2 red potatoes, peeled
1/2 cup of heavy cream

Method
Preheat the oven to 415 degrees
Chop the squash, carrots, turnips and beet into roughly the same size chunks, and place on a cookie sheet along with the peeled garlic (leaving the cloves whole).
Drizzle with the Canola oil, and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.
Roast in the oven for 10 minutes (if you have a "speed back" option, 15 - 20 if you don't).
Meanwhile, finely chop the onion and saute in the butter on medium high in a medium, heavy-bottomed soup pot, adding the spices once the onion has begun to soften.
Take the vegetables out of the oven, and turn them over for even roasting.
Turn the heat on the spiced onions down to medium-low, and sweat for 5 minutes.
Add the wine and chicken stock to the onions, stirring quickly to get the browned bits off the bottom of the pot.
Chop the potatoes into roughly 1'' pieces, and add to the pot, increasing the heat to high. Boil for 5 - 10 minutes, or until mostly tender.
Remove the vegetables from the oven, and place in the food processor and pulse until they all are mixed together fairly well, then add the potatoes and some of the onions from the pot. (It's okay if some of the liquid from the pot gets in to the vegetables.) Pulse together well, until a fairly smooth texture is achieved; you may need to scrape the sides of the processor bowl on occasion.
Carefully add the pureed vegetables to the liquid in the pot, and stir to combine with the liquid.
Once combined, add the heavy cream and taste for seasoning.
Serve while hot!

Serving Suggestions
I made cornbread muffins, which were excellent alongside this soup. You could really serve any kind of bread, although sourdough might be a bit heavy.

Holiday Potluck? I'm in!

Sunday saw the return of the New Hope Ministries Annual Pre-Thanksgiving Potluck... and the return of my favorite, guilty pleasure... Stove Top Stuffing, in a Costco-sized box. Oh, the glory...

Unfortunately, it also meant the return to my yearly contribution - Jello salad. Now, let me get this out in the open: No matter what I do to this creature, it comes out tasting amazing. Yes... I AM that good! However, my attempts at making it in a nice, pretty mold have failed miserably.

2008: I forgot to put it in the fridge. I was 8 months pregnant... that's my excuse.

2009: My husband tried to remove the mold before it was ready - even after telling him "IT'S NOT READY!" - and guess what landed on the floor?

2010: It was perfect! The jello came out of the mold without a hitch, and landed just sliiiiightly off-center on the serving tray. I was ready to let it go, but a friend of mine tried to help... and the whole thing broke apart. *sigh* Well, that's why I made a second, smaller one! That one didn't break, and stayed gorgeous.

Drama aside, here's the recipe (as I fiddled with it, at least):

Sparkling Jello Salad

INGREDIENTS
1 box of Raspberry Jello
1 box of Berry Fusion Jello (Blackberry would also work)
2 cups of raspberries
1 cup of canned mandarin oranges (the sweetness is needed, so definitely used canned)
4 cups of water
4 cups of Ginger Ale, very cold

DIRECTIONS
Heat the water to boiling in a medium pot.
In a large bowl, add the boiling water to the jello and stir for 2 minutes to fully combine.
Add the Ginger Ale, but only stir ONCE - this will keep all the sparkly bubbles intact
Pour into your jello mold of choice, or leave in the bowl
    - I had to use one large mold, and one small.
Add the raspberries and mandarin oranges, scattering around the jello evenly
Refrigerate for 4 hours, until fully set

Late Summer Blueberry Crumble

What's better than gobbling down handful after handful of fresh blueberries? How about picking them yourself, sneaking a few (okay... a LOT from the bucket as you go), and watching your toddler do the same! 

My Grandpa BoBo (term of endearment, I swear) lives on a blueberry farm in Olympia, Washington. Every summer, as kids, we would drive down and spend a day... or two... picking as many blueberries as we could. Grandpa would then weight them - the bigger berries, the better, though! - and pay us for our labor. Of course... all of the smoked salmon, hot peppers, and various blueberry dishes were payment enough for me!


This summer, my husband and I took our 20 month-old son down to the farm with the rest of my family for a supremely glorious late-summer afternoon of berry picking. Not only did we find THE BEST blueberries ever, but we got to catch up with my parents, siblings, nieces and nephews, while sharing some of my past with our little guy. It was awesome. 


Here is a recipe - adapted as noted - that I found on AllRecipes.com, thanks to my iPhone's "AllRecipes Dinner Spinner" app. I made it last night, and it's already half-gone...

Late Summer Blueberry Crumble Bars

Late Summer Blueberry Crumble Bars Recipe
(Adapted from AllRecipes)
Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar (plus extra 1/2 cup for blueberries)
• I used 1/2 cup white and 1/2 cup light brown for extra flavor (and 1/4 cup white, 1/4 cup brown for the blueberries)
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 Tbsp. nutmeg
• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract (plus 1 tsp. for the blueberries)
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 4 cups fresh blueberries (frozen is fine - it's what I used and prefer, as they hold their shape better)
• 3 Tbsp. cornstarch
• Enough cinnamon sugar for dusting

Method:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 9×13 inch pan (I used cooking spray - worked great!).
In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup sugar, 3 cups flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and baking powder.  Use a  pastry cutter to blend in the butter, egg and vanilla. Dough will be crumbly. Pat half of dough into the prepared pan so that the entire bottom is covered and one, even layer.
In another bowl, stir together the sugar, vanilla, and cornstarch. Gently mix in the blueberries. Sprinkle the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the berry layer. Dust the crumble with cinnamon sugar.
Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

Review:
This was my first ever Crumble! My mom made them every summer when we were kids, so I knew I loved them, but the thought that I could make one of my own never entered my head. This recipe fit in immensely well with my "Eat Seasonally" mantra, and it also was low-egg... something that I have to be careful of with my son's egg allergy. It stays moist, but has a flaky, crumbly top (go figure, right?), and would loan itself to many different fruits. I'm already contemplating a strawberry-chocolate version...

Bring on the Zuc!

Have zucchini you can't get rid of?
(Well, first, give me some!)
Need a refreshing summer-time recipe, perfect for the not-so-hot Seattle days of August-September?

All credit for this recipe goes to SimplyRecipes.com... and to Google, for magically delivering it to me on my iGoogle homepage this morning.

Spicy Zucchini Soup Recipe

If you are using extra large zucchini, scoop out and discard the seeds first. And if the skin is thick or tough, peel it and discard the peels.

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 jalapeno chile (seeds, stems and ribs removed), chopped
• 3 chopped garlic cloves
• 2 pounds chopped zucchini (skin on)
• 1 1/2 cups chopped day-old bread
• 3 cups chicken broth (use vegetable broth for vegetarian option)
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh mint
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• Salt
• Pepper

Method

1 Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and jalapeno chile and sauté for 4-5 minutes until the onions are translucent, but not browned. Add the garlic and zucchini and sauté for another 3-4 minutes, stirring often. Sprinkle with salt.
2 Add the bread, broth, and water, and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat and simmer gently for 20 minutes.
3 Remove from heat. Add the mint and cilantro (if using). Purée in a blender or food processor until smooth, working in batches if necessary. Or use an immersion blender.
4 Return the soup to the pot. Add the lemon juice, and salt, and pepper to taste.
Garnish with lemon wedges and sprigs of mint or cilantro.
Serve hot or chilled. Keeps for a week in the fridge.

Serves 4.

Hot Weather = Cool Food

Seattle's summer came late, as usual... arriving on July 5th. With it, a mini heat-wave has descended upon our green city, leading me to bring out any/all warm weather recipes for my family that I can find.

Your local supermarket can be pretty hit-or-miss when it comes to finding local and/or seasonal produce... heavy on the "miss" if you're completely honest. A lot of the stuff you'll find in there has been shipped across the country (or the world), frozen, or packed full of preservative and/or pesticides. Then there are those rare moments when... *insert choir of angels singing here*... you luck out.

Last night was my lucky night!

I stopped by Safeway on the way home, and they had the biggest, freshest, most AMAZING watermelons I have ever seen! Already wanting to try out a recipe for watermelon & cucumber salad, I was able to form an entire meal around this delectable treat... and my family LOVED it!

Last night's dinner:

 - Hawaiian-style baked Tilapia
 - Watermelon & Cucumber Salad
 - Corn on the Cob

1. Hawaiian-style baked Tilapia

5 frozen Tilapia loins, thawed
1 TS salt
1/4 c. Soyaki Sauce (Trader Joe's)

Preheat the oven to 400 (F). Spray a nonstick baking sheet with cooking spray, and lay out the Tilapia. Sprinkle with salt, then pour the Soyaki marinade over the fish. Bake, uncovered, for 35 minutes or until the fish is nice and flaky.

... isn't that EASY?!

2. Watermelon & Cucumber Salad

1/2 c. white vinegar

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 TS red pepper flakes

Salt

8 cups seedless watermelon, cubed

4 English cucumbers, peeled and chopped

1/2 red onion, finely chopped
3 stalks of celery, chopped
1/4 c. sweet chili sauce

Combine vinegar, sugar and pepper in saucepan. Bring to a boil; boil 1 minute, remove from heat and cool. Slice cucumbers and toss with 1 tsp of salt. Let sit in colander for 30 minutes. Pat dry. Just before serving toss watermelon with salt in a large bowl. Add cucumbers, red onions, celery, pepper syrup, and sweet chili sauce and toss. (recipe adapted from: http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/327/WatermelonCucumber_Salad13199.shtml)

See you in the kitchen....!

- Krystal