cooksimple.com

I’m trying very hard to eat as much local produce as possible. To do this, I canned a lot of things during the summer and signed up for a winter farm share. I was surprised at how much food I got, but after a few weeks, I started getting sick of roasted root vegetables. So I’m trying to find creative ways to make summer recipes with winter veggies. This bruschetta is one successful attempt.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup roasted pine nuts
• 2 carrots
• 10 heads Brussels sprouts
• 1 small onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 3 T olive oil
• 1/2 lemon
• 2 T fresh tarragon
• fresh bread
• 2-4 oz chevre

Directions

Chop the carrots, sprouts, and onions into big pieces while heating the olive oil over medium high heat. Saute veggies till tender and starting to brown. Add minced or crushed garlic and tarragon and stir.

Meanwhile, slice bread lengthwise and toast. If it’s fresh from the oven bread you don’t have to toast it. Spread some goat cheese on the bread.

When all the veggies are cooked through and the garlic is almost translucent, add the juice from the lemon. Add the pine nuts and then season with salt and fresh cracked pepper. Stir and then spread on top of the bread and cheese.

You will all notice I’ve been absent and not posting much. I have been cooking but haven’t had the time to update the site will full posts (pictures, recipes, etc.). To make up for this I thought I’d share several of the best new recipes I’ve tried over the last few months. In no particular order:

Puree of Chickpea Soup – from the NY Times

Swiss Chard & Sweet Potato Gratin – from Smitten Kitchen

Whole Wheat Biscotti – I made these into lemon whole wheat biscotti by adding some lemon juice and lots of lemon rind

Granola Bars – from Smitten Kitchen

Pumpkin Spice Syrup – Yummy in a latté. I put the recipe & latté directions in a new post.

Mixed Greens with Garlic, Cumin and Paprika – A great veggie side dish. I posted the recipe in a new post.

Blue Cheese Vinaigrette – from the Joy of Cooking. Quite possibly the best dressing recipe! It is a basic vinaigrette made with apple cider vinegar and crumbled blue cheese. I’ll post the recipe once I get home and have access to the book

This was a really yummy side dish. I used smoked paprika which added a great flavor. The recipe is originally from Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.

Ingredients

• 12 cups mixed greens, such as kale, chard, beet, or escarole
• Salt to taste
• 3 large garlic cloves
• 1 cup finely chopped parsley
• 1 cup finely chopped cilantro
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 3 Tablespoons olive oil
• Lemon wedges, for garnish

Directions

Discard any inedible parts of the greens, such as stems and tough ribs. Tear or chop into bite-sized pieces. Place the leaves in a microwave safe glass dish and cover. Microwave on high for 1-2 minutes until leaves are still green though wilted.

Pound the garlic with 1/2 teaspoon salt in a mortar until you have a rough paste, then work in the parsley and cilantro and pound them briefly to release their flavors. Add the paprika and cumin. (If you do not have a mortar and pestle, chop the garlic with the parsley and cilantro, then add the spices.)

Warm the oil in a wide skillet over medium heat with the garlic-herb mixture. As soon as it releases its flavor, when the oil has heated, add the greens. Cook, stirring frequently, until any extra moisture has evaporated. Taste for salt. Pile into a dish and garnish with the lemon wedges.

I made several batches of this for great pumpkin lattés. To make the lattés I combine 2-4 T of the syrup, 1/2 cup steamed milk & 1/2 cup strong coffee in a mug.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp of ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tbsp of ground ginger
• 1 tsp of cloves (or allspice)
• 1 tsp of freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract

Directions

Who likes Brussels sprouts? These poor things have a bad wrap. The best way to rectify this is to put these little green globes on something that everyone loves. Pizza.

Ingredients

• Pizza dough (create your own, or buy it pre-made)
• 4 T olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, sliced
• 8 oz fresh mozzarella, sliced
• 2 C Brussels sprouts, sliced

Directions

Saute Brussels sprouts in a T of olive oil over medium heat for approximately 10 minutes adding salt and pepper to taste. Note: if you use shredded moz instead of fresh, refrain from adding salt to the sprouts. In a separate pan, saute the garlic in the remaining olive oil over medium heat till the garlic starts to turn translucent.

Shape the pizza dough and spread the garlic olive oil on top. Use this instead of sauce. The sauted garlic provides a little sweetness to counteract any bitterness of the sprouts. Next cover the pizza dough with the cheese slices, covering the entire surface.

Then spread the sprouts over the surface of the pizza and pop into the oven for about 20 minutes or until the crust and cheese starts to brown. Pull out of the oven and let it sit for about 5 minutes before cutting, plating, and digging in.