Spring! Beet Gratin with Mint and Feta

The other day I went to happy hour with some co-workers, several of whom are part of the career services department. We ended up discussing the common interview question "if you were a vegetable what type of vegetable would you be?". Here's a tip: Employers are apparently looking for self awareness, do you know what your skills are? As well as critical thinking and the ability to link ideas.

Anyway, I said that if I were a vegetable I would be a beet because they are traditional but they are also purple (unlike many other traditional vegetables) so they change things up. They are also earthy and sweet. It needs some work. Also beets are my favorite vegetable, but you are apparently not supposed to say that if asked in a job interview. It doesn't show critical thinking. Luckily I am not applying for jobs right now.

This recipe for beet gratin came from epicurious I think this is a good spring recipe because, as I mentioned, beets are my favorite vegetable and they are available in spring. I think mint makes everything taste fresh. Gratins often seem heavy, more appropriate for winter. This on is light, little sweet, a little salty, and creamy. In terms of "cheap" "quick" and "local" right now it's not too difficult to get beets and mint locally and they are both affordable. Well, affordable if you have a source for mint other than the grocery store as it is expensive in the store but grows like a weed. The cream is expensive and not particularly healthy. When I made this originally I used the cream, because I wanted something somewhat rich and special. I will have to try making it with lower fat milk, or possibly just the feta cheese and post about that later.

Epicurious suggested serving this dish with lamb, which I think would be great. Even though several of these posts include meat, I don't actually eat meat very often. Legumes are generally much more affordable, and meat is a special treat. I served this with a lentil pot pie. The lentil pot pie was good, but I still haven't mastered pie crust so I am not going to post about it. But pretty much you could follow any recipe for a pot pie or Shepard's pie and just substitute an equal amount of COOKED lentils for the meat (lentils expand so you wouldn't want to sub dry lentils) I really like lentils as a meat substitute. I think the texture works well and they are quick and versatile. 

• 3 2 1/2- to 3-inch-diameter red beets, trimmed, scrubbed
• 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2 fresh mint sprigs plus 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint (for garnish)
• 1 garlic clove, peeled, smashed Butter (for dish)
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Preheat oven to 400°F. Place beets in small baking dish. Add enough water to reach depth of 1/4 inch. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Cover tightly with foil. Bake until beets are tender, about 50 minutes. Uncover carefully (steam will be released) and cool. Peel beets; cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and chill.

Preheat oven to 425°F. Bring cream, mint sprigs, and garlic to boil in heavy small saucepan. Remove from heat, cover, and let steep 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, lightly butter 1 1/2-quart gratin dish or other shallow baking dish. Arrange sliced beets in even layers in dish, sprinkling each layer lightly with salt. Strain cream mixture over beets in dish. Sprinkle feta over. Bake until cream is bubbling at edges and feta is browned in spots, about 20 minutes. Sprinkle pepper and chopped mint over. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Roasted-Beet-and-Feta-Gratin-with-Fresh-Mint-361249#ixzz1uHR1kQN6

What is Healthy

The Farm House at Kings Valley

This post could also be called a slice of humble pie. I am really proud of how healthy I eat. Last year my roommate regularly commented that my partner and I were the healthiest people he knew, which I definitely enjoyed hearing. I also feel like I generally do a lot to live sustainably. To me how I eat and the impact on the environment are very much linked. 

I mentioned previously that Shaun and I have been WWOOFing at Kings Valley Gardens. The experience has lead me to question how healthy my diet is. Since being here I have realized that I cannot sit on my laurels and say that I am eating healthy enough and doing enough to reduce my environmental impact. John and Andrea, who own Kings Valley gardens, are inspirational in terms of eating healthy food, but also living simply and sustainably, being joyous, and just generally living a life in line with their values.

Homemade AND homegrown canned goods

They grow a huge percentage of the food they eat at Kings Valley which is amazingly awesome. The diet is predominantly vegan. We do eat eggs that come from a neighbor's chickens. I think the food choices come from a limit on space and time on the farm and a desire to be able to leave for a weekend occasionally (apparently animals make it much harder to take a vacation). Though I have eaten vegan meals on occasion for a long time, going an entire day without dairy products is new to me.

At home we eat a lot of cheese and I drink a lot of milk. We bought local milk for a little bit, but if got relatively expensive. Dairy is something that thus far we have not prioritized in terms of buying a more sustainable version of and yet consume a lot of. This is something that I have felt bad about in the past, but feel particularly guilty about now. We also got lazy last winter when it got difficult to purchase local produce and organic produce seemed to get more expensive, probably because it was being shipped further. We slipped into purchasing mostly conventional produce and more exotic items such as bananas.

In addition to being vegan there is very little refined sugar, no caffein and no alcohol. I don't eat a lot of sugar, but do consume more alcohol and caffein than I probably should. It's not that we can't have these things it's that they are not provided as part of the work trade for WWOOFinh and we are trying to save money so we can't purchase them regularly. From a public health standpoint it is a great illustration of how the environment shapes decision. From a different type public health standpoint I also feel more understanding of smokers who resent smoking bans in public places as I hide coffee in my room so that I can enjoy my vice in peace.

All of the WWOOFers learning how to transplant things

Both of these things, the change in diet and the restriction of vice, have been frustrating at times. But I am also grateful for the opportunity to remove myself from day to day pressures and focus on living simply, joyfully, sustainably, and I would say healthily. I don't thing I want to become a farmer but I do want to bring some aspects of this life back with me to the "real world". I am still trying to figure out which aspects those will be. How I can recommit myself to being healthy in all ways. Hopefully this will provide some fodder for this blog throughout the next couple of months.

How do you live sustainably in an urban or rural environment? What is your definition of healthy?

Summer Menu #3 Stew

This is the last of the menus that I came up with for Cooking Matters.  Stew may seem like an odd choice for summer but what I really wanted to feature was the slow cooker. I think slow cookers are a really handy appliance since they allow you to do a little bit of prep before work and come home to an already made dinner.

Both the early and late summer menus use dry legumes which will take planning a day in advance, BUT dried legumes are inexpensive and nutritious (great sources of protein!). You can also use canned beans, but they are more expensive, and often high in sodium. Every decision has its positives and its negatives.

Early summer menu:

Garbanzo and Kale stew
Brown Rice
Banana Pudding with Flaked Coconut

Items to look for at the farmers market: Kale

Garbanzo and Kale Stew
makes 4 servings
Kale is a super food and very high in iron and calcium. Kale tolerates cold temperatures, so it is one of the first local produce items available in the spring.  luckily I am able to get a lot of locally produced dried beans in Minneapolis at the grocery co-ops including garbanzos. I also usually use barley instead of rice because I like the chewy texture and it is grown locally, which makes this a very local dish (with the major exception of the coconut and bananas) You can also use any green you like. Spinach works well, and if you are using frozen you don’t even need to defrost since it will be cooked in the slow cooker.

1 cup dried garbanzos
1 bunch kale
1 onion chopped
2 cloves of garlic chopped
1 tbsp curry powder
½ tsp pepper flakes (or to taste)
½ can light coconut milk

One day before you plan to eat this meal soak the garbanzo beans in water overnight. The next morning drain the garbanzos in the slow cooker with the other ingredients, except the kale. Pour about 8 cups of water in. Cook on low for 8 hours. If the water starts to look low, feel free to add more. Wash and roughly chop the kale and add to the slow cooker for the last hour of cooking (or when you start the rice).

Brown Rice
For 4 cups of rice
Boil 4 cups of water (I like to use vegetable or chicken broth instead of water). When the water is boiling add 2 cups of dried brown rice, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 40 to 50 minutes or until the water is absorbed and the rice is tender.

Banana Pudding -
I used bananas in this recipe because they are delicious and I thought would go well with the curry in the stew, but you could use any fruit you like. You likely won't find bananas at the farmers market (actually you can find them at the downtown Minneapolis Market but they still aren't local and I think this is an odd choice for a market), but berries are always a good bet.


Makes 4 servings

2 cups low fat or non-fat milk
⅓ cup sugar
¼ cup corn starch
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
2 bananas
4 Tbsp shredded coconut

Mix sugar and corn starch in a small saucepan. Turn heat to low and slowly add the milk while continuing to stir with a whisk or a fork. Continue stirring more or less constantly until the mixture thickens. It wont be as thick as pudding until it has had time to set, but it will be thicker than milk. Remove from heat and add vanilla and salt and refrigerate until it’s time for dessert.

When you are ready to serve dessert slice ½ banana into a small bowl and top with ½ cup of pudding and 1 tbsp of shredded coconut. Repeat for each serving.

Late Summer
Kale prefers cooler weather so you are more likely to find it at the beginning and end of the summer. At the peak of summer I think this stew would be delicious with eggplant. Or maybe I just like the novelty of purple vegetables. Instead of kale wash one eggplant, cut it into bite size chunks and add it to the stew at the beginning (not the last hour like the kale).

Summer Menu #2 BBQ

The highlight of this menu is the homemade BBQ Sauce. Growing up my dad barbecued outside every Friday rain or shine and even though I don't eat much meat anymore BBQ still holds a special place in my heart. Right now I live in an apartment and don’t actually have a barbeque, but I have found that broiling things for a couple of minutes on each side works almost as well, though you do miss that nice smokey flavor and it does heat the house up a bit. The following menu features the barbecue sauce that my dad always used for ribs, which he only made in the summer for some reason so that's why I thought of this dish when developing summer menues. Ribs are a pretty fatty cut of meat and since I am developing these menues as part of a nutrition education project I suggested chicken or tempeh or tofu, like I said the star is the sauce, so what you put it on is secondary.


Menus:
1) Early Summer
BBQ or broiled chicken or tofu or tempeh... or whatever you prefer
steamed broccoli
roasted potatoes
custard w/fruit

What to look for at the farmers market: broccoli, potatoes, strawberries or whatever type of fruit you like 

1) Late summer
BBQ or baked chicken/tofu/tempeh
sauteed zucchini
corn on the cob
custard w/fruit


What to look for at the farmers market: zucchini, sweet corn, peaches or whatever type of fruit you prefer.
Sauce
½ cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic
1 tbsp oil
1 cup catsup
½ cup water
¼ cup brown sugar
3 tbsp worcestershire sauce
¼ tsp ground thyme
1 tsp salt
2 tsp prepared mustard
1 lemon thinly slices
dash tabasco sauce (or to taste)

Saute onion in oil over medium heat until onion is translucent. Add garlic and cook another 30 seconds. Add all other ingredients and allow to simmer on low heat for five minute.

Use half of the sauce to marinate whatever you are going to grill. Grilled chicken is always delicious. Boneless skinless chicken breasts are good, but often kind of expensive. I like to use boneless skinless chicken thighs or chicken with the bones and skin still on. I don’t eat the skin though, since that is where most of the fat is. That being said, I don’t actually eat a lot of meat so I usually use tofu or tempeh. If you are using tofu or tempeh you don’t have to divide the sauce in half to marinate it since you don’t have to worry about raw meat contamination.

You can marinate the chicken (or whatever you are grilling) for as long as you want, but I would recommend at least an hour. After it has marinated grill or broil it for 5 to 6 minutes on each side, or until there is no pink. If you are using tofu or tempeh grill or broil it for as long as you like since again, you don’t need to worry about meat contamination.  

Sides Early Summer

At the beginning of the summer broccoli is in season. Broccoli cooks pretty quickly, so you can cut up the broccoli at any point but don’t start cooking it until the chicken or tofu is almost done. I usually cut broccoli into bite size pieces and steam it. Many people don’t eat the stalk, but I think it is delicious. Sometimes the outer layer of the stock can be tough, but you can cut it off and the inner part is still tender. I steam broccoli by putting it in a pan with about an inch of water and cooking it covered on medium high for eight minutes. When you do this many of the nutrients go into the water, I actually drink the water as “broccoli tea”, I have heard it is also good for plants.

I suggest serving roasted potatoes. Start the potatoes first so that they can cook while you are grilling the chicken or tofu. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cut three or four potatoes (any type) into small pieces. It can be fun to cut them so that they look like french fries. Put the potatoes onto a large baking sheet and toss them with two tbsp of olive oil, a ¼ tsp of salt, ½ tsp of pepper and any other seasoning that you like. Garlic powder and/or paprika are good choices. Spread the potatoes out so they are in a single layer. Bake the potatoes for 20 minutes and then flip them over and bake for another 20 minutes

Sides Late Summer

In late summer, like August, zucchini is prolific! If you are already grilling the chicken or tofu you can throw the zucchini the grill as well. Cut the zucchini lengthwise into four or five pieces that are thin but several inches long and a couple of inches wide (this will vary by the size of your zucchini) marinate the slices in oil and vinegar or salad dressing for about 10 minutes and then grill them for about 2 minutes on each side. If you are not grilling you can also cook the zucchini on the stove. I like to slice the zucchini into thin circles and cook them for about five minutes with 1 tbsp of oil over medium heat.

Corn is the grain in this meal and there isn’t anything better than fresh sweet corn in August. Begin bringing a large pot of water to boil, the water should be sufficient to cover all of the corn you plan to cook. It can take a while for the water to boil so while you wait remove the outer green leaves and stringy “silk”. Cook the corn in the water for three or four minutes.

Dessert

I recommend serving custard with this meal. The following recipe is for a basic vanilla custard, which is good on its own, or you can top it with whatever seasonal fruit you have on hand. Strawberries might be a good choice in June and peaches would be tasty in August.  I love making custard because it is super easy, tasty, and a high in calcium as well as protein.

Makes 4 to 6 servings

2 cups skim milk
2 eggs
¼ cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
oil for greasing pan

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Dip a paper towel in vegetable oil and spread a small amount of oil around 6 muffin cups on a muffin pan. Blend all ingredients and pour into prepared muffin pan. Bake for 40 minutes or until the custard is set and no longer seems liquidy.

Enjoy!

Summer Menu #1 (Pasta)

Everyone loves summer because you can go outside!

I volunteer occasionally with Cooking Matters in Minnesota. Cooking Matters is a nutrition education program where participants learn by cooking. Participants learn to prepare basic recipes from a chef, receive a nutrition education lesson, and then share a meal together.

Right now I am working with a group of volunteers to put together a collection of seasonal menus that we can put online. I am working on summer. Hopefully we can develop it into a "cook along" next summer.

I am responsible for developing three complete, nutritious, seasonal menus. Here is the first of the three. It is a basically pasta in a white sauce and I have added suggestions for substitutions so that the menu can be made seasonally in both the early and late summer (and hopefully in between!)


Early summer pasta menu - this menu is delicious any time, but several of the ingredients will be at their peak in June.

Menu:
Spinach pasta bake
Green salad
Strawberry shortcake

Seasonal ingredients: spinach, lettuce, strawberries, you can likely find these items at the farmers market in June

Recipes
Spinach Pasta Bake
approximately 4 servings

Ingredients
1 tbsp butter
2 cloves garlic, minced or chopped into very small pieces
1 tbsp all purpose flour
1 cup low fat milk
1 tbsp dried basil (or more to taste)
1 cup cottage cheese
¼ cup parmesan cheese
2 to 3 cups dried pasta, any shape you like - I usually use about three handfuls
1 bunch of fresh spinach - this is about one pound, and de-thawed frozen is also delicious

Directions -
Prepare pasta according to package directions

heat the butter over low heat until it melts. Add the garlic and stir for 30 seconds. Add the flour and stir for another 30 seconds. Slowly pour in the milk and continue stirring until the sauce begins to thicken - This usually takes between three and five minutes or about as long as the sauce takes to start to boil. I don’t usually stir the entire time, but enough to keep the milk from burning or getting stuck to the bottom of the pan. Add cottage cheese and basil and simmer another minute or two, until the cheese seems to be melted and incorporated into the sauce. Add the pasta and the spinach and pour into a casserole dish.  Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.

While the pasta is baking is a great time to prep the dessert and a salad.

There is no specific recipe that I would suggest for the salad. I usually use whatever type of lettuce I have on hand, some chopped carrots, and toss with a tablespoon or so of olive oil and one of balsamic vinegar.

Strawberry shortcake:
I have a recipe for biscuits that I really like to use for strawberry shortcake but all of my cookbooks are in storage! It has lavender and walnuts in it. I will post the recipe in September, but that is likely too late for strawberry short cake. But you could use any biscuit recipe you like. Top with washed and thinly sliced fresh fruit and I like to top mine with plain yoghurt.

Adapting for late summer - Come late July and August fruits and vegetables that prefer slightly cooler weather may become less available, more expensive, and possibly lower quality since they have to be shipped longer distances. The above menu can be easily adapted.

Substitute fresh basil for spinach - fresh basil is often very expensive in grocery stores, but in August it grows like a weed and you can get huge bunches fairly inexpensively at the farmers market or your own garden if you have one. Since basil has a stronger flavor than spinach you may want to use only half of a standard "bunch" in the pasta dish.

Don’t bake the pasta - July and August can be very hot, and turning on the over may be the last thing you want to do. You can make the sauce for the pasta over the stove and it is delicious even without being baked in the oven.

Instead of salad wash and cut up bell peppers into spears. Bell peppers are often very expensive, but again, in August they are prolific. The bright colors are both attractive and fun, and they are delicious raw.

Instead of making strawberry shortcake enjoy fresh melon - Strawberries prefer cooler nights so they don’t do as well in late July and August, additionally making the shortcake requires turning on the oven. But fresh melons such as watermelon, cantaloupe, and honeydew are at their peak!

Sauce variations:The sauce included in this recipe is VERY versatile. Here are some additional ways that I have used it, but there isn’t really any limit.

Change the spices - in the winter I often use a tablespoon of sage and one of rosemary instead of the basil.

Change the cheese - sometimes I put in a ½ cup of cheddar cheese and a tbsp of mustard with the cottage cheese and leave out the parmesan and basil

Change the vegetables - I mentioned spinach and fresh basil, but broccoli is also good, or later in the fall you can add pre cooked winter squash (such as butternut)  

The Terroir of Minnesota

I made a special local/organic dinner on Sunday to celebrate one year living in Minnesota. We were also celebrating the one year anniversary of my partner's blog Day by Tao. Both of these choices are also part of a larger effort to live sustainably and connect to the place (ecologically and culturally) where we live. Both native northwesterners we moved to Minneapolis so that I could go to grad school. Minneapolis is a wonderful city, and we are starting to feel at home here. So making progress towards living our goal, but still a long ways to go.

I designed this menu to highlight the flavors of Minnesota and the season (early spring). The dandelion greens and some mint in the barley were actually foraged from my neighborhood:



Celebrating MN Menu

Roast lamb shoulder
Sauteed dandelion greens
creamy barley risotto
Maple Custard




If I were in Oregon I would have had to include salmon as the protein portion of the meal, but what represents Minnesota? I chose lamb. I am not really sure why, other than MN is a fairly meat and potatoes kind of place and something about a Sunday lam roast seemed to hit the mark.The lamb shoulder came from the Midtown Farmers Market (which opened this weekend!), but I don't remember the name of the farm. I used a crock pot and added:

1 2lb roast (in this case lamb shoulder)
a cup red wine
1 cup water
1 tbsp dried rosemary
1 onion chopped roughly
5 garlic cloves cut in half
2 carrots cut into one inch pieces
1 cup mushrooms cut in half

I pretty much just let all of those things cook in the slow cooker on low for 8 hours. The carrots turned out pretty mushy, though still delicious. Next time I will add them with an hour or two left. I think the mushrooms are my favorite.

For the barley I sauteed 1/2 onion minced in 2 Tbsp butter, then I added two cloves of minced garlic and sauteed for 30 seconds. To the pot I added 1 1/2 cups of hulled barley (the barley is local and from Whole Grain Millers). I covered the barley with 3 cups of vegetable broth, reduced the heat to low, and let it simmer for about 45 minutes. When the barley was tender (if the broth evaporates too quickly just add more water so the barley doesn't stick to the pan) remove from heat and add 1/4 cup half and half, 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup chopped mint. I found the mint by the sidewalk,  making it very local.

Dandelions in my backyard

My backyard is FULL of dandelions (jealous, right), and I know that they have not been treated with pesticides, making them a local and economical option for dark green vegetables. Dandelion greens are best in the early spring when they are tender. They are somewhat bitter, and they get more bitter later in the season. I sauteed them in a little butter for a minute or two.

Custard is pretty much my favorite dessert. It can come in pretty much any flavor, is super easy, relatively healthy, and tasty. This recipe came from the Moosewood Cookbook I think in the original version it called for full fat milk, but any milk will do. The higher the fat content the creamier the custard will be, but I don't actually think it makes that big of a difference. For the custard I mixed;

1 1/4 cup 1% milk
1 1/4 cup half and half
1/3 cup maple syrup
4 eggs (I use two to four depending on how many eggs I have)
a dash of cinnamon and one of nutmeg

Pour the above into 6 custard cups and bake at 350 for 45 to 60 minutes or until the custard is set and does not appear liquidy any more. I think custard is best chilled. NOTE: I don't own custard cups. I usually use 1/2 pint mason jars because I think they are cute, but I have also used a muffin pan.

I wanted to do like a creme brule topping for the custard so I sprinkled about 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts on the top and then mixed 1/2 cup sugar with 2 tbsp water in a small pan and heated it on low until it turned a light caramel color - about 3 minutes. I poured a thin layer of syrup over the cooked custard and then broiled the top for a minute or so. This worked pretty well, but then the custard was warm and seemed to dissolve a little so I don't know if I would actually recommend it. I think just sprinkling toasted walnuts on top would have been a better option.

I still miss Oregon and can't wait to go back for the summer, but I think I am connecting more and more with Minnesota. This meal represents that connection.

Not so quick

I am apparently giving up on the quick part of my blog (not that many of my recipes have been very quick). But am fully embracing the cheap and local parts of it. Shaun and I decided to spend the summer WWOFFing. We have had a small garden for several seasons and are hoping that spending almost an entire growing season working with someone more experienced will help us improve our own gardening skills fast. Well, faster than several years of trial and error. We currently live in an apartment in Minneapolis so I am not sure how much of what we learn will but into practice within the next couple of years, but eventually we hope to grow a significant portion, if not all, of our fruits and vegetables (and maybe our eggs and honey as well)

As a plus we are hoping that WWOOFing in the northwest will give us the opportunity to spend some quality time with friends and family. We have returned to my native Willamette Valley to spend the next six weeks on a small farm outside of Monmouth and then the six weeks after that near Shaun's hometown in NE Washington. The picture on the left is actually neither. On our way to the Willamette Valley we stopped off in the Grande Ronde Valley to spend a wonderful weekend with some great friends and that's the view from their deck (Why did we move to MN again?)

I don't know how many recipes I'll post but I thought this would be a good place to track the things I am learning about farming.  We are finishing up our second day on the farm. So far I have learned that fava beans are a good dry bean for small spaces they are really big and you can use them in tasty dishes like fava bean hummus which needs lots of sauteed onions to mellow out the strong flavor of the fava beans. You can make your own tahini by blending 2 cups of sesame seeds with 1/2 cup of oil. The farmer also recommended the book the New Organic Farmer by Eliot Coleman which apparently has a lot of good information including her favorite recipe for potting soil. Also, black forest squash over winters the best, but the seeds are very tough and you can't eat them.

I consider myself pretty healthy, but the diet here is predominantly vegan, includes VERY little sugar, and no coffee or alcohol (there are no rules about having these things they just aren't provided). It is amazing how much I find myself wanting sugar and cheese. I also think I am getting caffein headaches which I previously thought I was imune to. It is interesting feeling how my body adjusts. We are still very much adjusting to life on the farm. The schedule is very relaxed, 10 to 5 with a long lunch, and it is amazing to have time to read, knit, meditatie, run and do yoga all in the same day! Though I have to admit I haven't actually done all of those things in one day yet. It also turns out there are parts of farming that are a bit on the boring side, four hours weeding blueberries for example. It has been fairly rainy and cold which has made me a little cranky, though I have been trying to hide it. But like I said, it is only our second day. The people we are staying with are truly inspirational!  They are so committed to living sustainably and in harmony with the land and are wonderful teachers.