Wacky vegetarian

Today was Farmers Market day, and when I unpacked my Farm Share I also cleaned out the fridge a bit. This resulted in several items being tossed in the trash, some overdue cleaning, and a bunch of roasted beets (and one roasted fennel). The roasted veggies are now in the fridge, awaiting some future meal. Goodness knows what I'll make with all those beets.

Our actual dinner (mine and Steve's - Sam had yogurt, apple and tortilla) consisted of an arugula salad, brasied burdock, and rainbow chard with paneer. I told you it was wacky!

Arugula Salad with olives
Top rinsed arugula (tear into smaller pieces if you like, or leave whole) with sliced roma tomatoes and Kalamata olives. Squeeze a lemon over all, then drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. Salt and pepper to taste; serve.

Braised burdock
Scrub burdock well and peel lightly if desired. Cut each piece into 2-3" chunks, and place in bowl of cold water. Cut each chunk in half lengthwise and julienne into thin strips. Place strips back in cold water (note: multiple cold water baths will help ensure you have removed all the dirt from the burdock). Heat 2TB canola oil and 2TB toasted sesame oil in a skillet over medium high heat until shimmering. Drain burdock and blot dry; add to skillet. Saute until burdock begins to brown.

While burdock cooks, mix 2TB seasoned rice vinegar (sub. sake if you have it), 1.5TB soy sauce, 1TB honey, a splash of chili oil (optional) and 2TB water in a small cup. When burdock begins to brown, add sauce and stir. Cover and reduce heat to medium/low. Simmer until burdock is tender and most of liquid is absorbed. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and serve.

Rainbow chard with paneer
Tear chard into large pieces, discarding tough root and stem pieces. Rinse and place in large pot with a drizzle of olive oil (chard should still be moist). Cook over medium/high heat until leaves begin to wilt. Add several ounces of paneer cheese, cut into rough cubes. Cook and stir until chard is soft and cheese is heated through. Salt and pepper to taste; serve.

Day Three of the BEST Pie

I'm not that into pies. I bake them because the people close to me love them. They are festive, especially around this time of year. But I have found a pie that is so good, I may bake it more than once a year. I found this recipe in a magazine I bought recently (it was on the cover) and I had to bake a dessert for a Birthday at work. I made two - one to take and one for home. We are now on day three of eating it. It is very rich, but oh so good.

Decadent Chocolate-Mixed Nut Pie

Crust for 9" pie (I used store bought this time, but you could make your own)
4 eggs
1.25 cups corn syrup
.75 cup sugar
.25 cup butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
1.25 cups salted mixed nuts
.50 cup semisweet chocolate pieces

Preheat oven to 350. Prepare crust and place in pie pan, fluting the edges at the top. In a large bowl, beat eggs with a wisk (I used the wisk attachment on my KitchenAid). Whisk in corn syrup, sugar, melted butter and vanilla. Stir in the mixed nuts and chocolate pieces. Pour filling into crust-lined pie pan. Place pan on a shallow baking pan. To prevent overbrowning, cover pie edge with foil.

Bake pie for 25 minutes. Remove foil. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes more or until center seems set when gently shaken. Cool on a wire rack. May be left out for up to 24 hours, but should be covered and refrigerated after that. Keeps well for several days in the fridge.

(Note: I made a few subtle variations from the original recipe. The recipe called for a butter pastry in a tart shell, I substituted regular crust in a pie pan. They also called for unsalted butter and the addition of a dash of salt. I used regular butter and called it good. The recipe also calls for drizzling chocolate over each slice before serving. Since I was not serving the whole pie at once, I skipped that part. And of course, you could always just use pecans instead of the mixed nuts, for a more traditional pie. But I highly encourage you to try the mixed nuts. It is divine!)

Farm share, dinner exchange, and Zanzibar soup

So I got a call last Thursday, telling me my farm share would not be delivered to the Farmer's Market and I would have to drive to Sequim to pick it up. Uh, no. So I called and asked if they wanted to convert the rest of my share to Nash bucks (kind of like a gift certificate) but they said they would drop it off at the PT co-op on Saturday morning and I could pick it up there. I asked at the co-op Saturday afternoon, no sign of it. They leave three messages for the gal at Nash's, and I leave my name and number. It is Thursday night and I still have no veggies this week.

My dinner exchange is undergoing a transformation. Two of the original members have resigned, and I really want to go to three people/three days a week. We've worked out a compromise with the remaining three families to try it this way for a month. But we need a fourth family to split one "share", since one of the families only wants to cook every other week and get one dinner a week. I hope this works out. I really like the whole dinner exchange process. And I have a great new soup to share:

Zanzibar Chicken-Banana Soup

This is from my all time favorite cookbook (barring Betty Crocker). My sister tried it and her family loves it so much they eat it once a week. Rebecca made some adjustments to the original recipe, which I followed. I also did mine in the crockpot, but it could be done on the stove. I'll just print what I did, and you are free to make your own adjustments. It sounds odd, but it really is very good.

1.5lb chicken thighs (orginal recipe is 4 chicken breasts)
4c water (recipe calls for broth)

Put thighs and water in crock pot and cook on low until the meat falls off the bone. Remove bones and skin, then shred chicken.

1/2c unsweetened shredded coconut
1 can diced tomatoes
1tsp curry powder
1tsp salt
1tsp minced garlic (I used a powdered garlic seasoning blend)
1/2 tsp white pepper (I used black pepper)
Cayenne pepper to taste (I used two good shakes. Rebecca uses 1/8 tsp)

Add all of the above to the chicken in the crock pot, turn on high and cook for another 15-20min.

2 slightly underripe bananas, sliced (recipe says diced, but why hide what they are?)

Add bananas and cook until heated through. Serve immediately with fresh bread. Yum.