Pumpkin Soup Recipe
In celebration of Halloween check out what arguably may be one of the best pumpkin soup recipes ever. One can also substitute any winter squash (i.e butternut squash) for pumpkin.
Pumkin Soup with Fennel and Orange
To bake a fresh 6 to 7 pound pumpkin, halve the pumpkin crosswise and scoop out the seeds and fiber. Place halves, hollow side down, in a large baking pan covered with aluminum foil and add a little water. Bake, uncovered, at 375, for approximately 60 minutes.
When finished let cool and scoop out flesh.
(Approximately 3 cups)
In a large pot heat 3 tablespoons oil and sauté the
following: 1 chopped onion, 3 chopped garlic cloves
and the zest of 1 orange.
Cook for about 10 min until onions start to brown.
Stir in 3 large, chopped and cored fennel bulbs and
cook for about 15 min. Season with salt and pepper.
(Optional – add 2-3 ounces cognac, brandy or orange liquor and stir.)
When alcohol is burned off add 2 cups chicken stock.
Simmer over low heat for 15 minutes.
Add cooked squash, mix thoroughly, and season with
salt and pepper.
Puree in blender at high speed.
Add just enough extra chicken broth (1-2 cups) to
ensure the soup turns smoothly in the blender.
Season to taste.
Summer Bounty Recipes
May not be many students around over the summer, but that hasn’t stopped our school gardens from performing. Corn is high, tomatoes are plump, cucumbers are fat, peppers are turning color, pole beans are still producing, and zucchinis are abundant.
- cherokee purple tomato
Two recipes to utilize all this goodness are included below.
1) Black Bean and Quinoa Salad is courtesy of the Los Angeles County Nutrition Program. Be sure to check out their healthy recipes/cookbooks page and their onsite cookbook of healthy, low-fat, easy to prepare, ethnically inspired recipes (in both spanish and english.)
Ingredients:
½ cup quinoa
1 cup water
1 cup corn
2 scallions chopped
½ cup tomatoes
½ cup green peppers (or red)
1 can black beans drained and rinsed
2 Tbs olive oil
2 Tbs lemon juice
1 clove garlic
2 Tbs cilantro chopped
salt and pepper to taste
optional:
1 cup chopped zucchini
Grilled Shrimp chopped
Grilled Chicken chopped
Soak quinoa for five minutes then drain. Bring water to boil and add quinoa. Lower flame to barely simmer, cover, and cook until all of the water is absorbed (20-30 minutes). Let cool. Mix the remaining ingredients in a bowl and mix well. (Note: bulgar can easily be substituted for quinoa).
2) California Tabboulleh is a variation on traditional tabbouleh.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup bulgar (medium size)
1 cup stock or boiling water
1 lb tomatoes
1/2 cup green onion
1 can black beans
1 cup corn
2-3 cups cilantro
2 jalapeno peppers diced (rib and seeds removed)
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. salt if using water
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup citrus (lemon, lime and orange combination)
1/4 cup olive oil
optional:
Queso Fresco or mild Feta Cheese
Avocado
1 cup chopped cucumber
1 cup chopped red pepper
Pour 1 cup boiling water over bulgar and allow bulgar to soften while you prepare the other ingredients. Chop tomatoes and leave in a colander to drain. Chop onion, cilantro and pepper. Rinse black beans. Drain and discard excess liquid from bulgar.
Toss bulgar, tomatoes, onion, cilantro, corn and beans. Dress with citrus juice and olive oil. Season to taste. It’s best prepared a couple of hours or more ahead of serving to allow flavors to develop. (Note: quinoa can easily be substituted for bulgar).
Feel free to alter ingredients and measures according to taste and harvest.
Sorrel
I love the sour taste of Sorrel. Its great raw in mixed green salads or as the main ingredient in the French classic, Sorrel Soup or the Eastern European classic, Schav.
Sorrel is a perennial in the Polygonaceae family along with such relatives as buckwheat and rhubarb. The reason I mention it now is that after 3 seasons ours has just bolted.
Enjoy it while you can.
Sorrel Soup Recipes
1) Recipezaar.com
2) JaquesandCompany.com
Schav Recipes
1) Recipesource.com
2) NYTimes.com
Kohlrabi – Info and Recipes
Kohlrabi was harvested recently and like other uncommon vegetables the question most asked was, what do we do with it? First, a little information; Kohlrabi is a member of the cabbage family. Its name is derived from the German Kohl (cabbage) and Rube or Rabi (turnip) because the swollen stem looks like a turnip.
The taste and texture of kohlrabi is similar to broccoli stems or cabbage hearts but milder and sweeter. It can be eaten raw or cooked. Small kohlrabi do not need to be skinned, but the larger ones definitely do.
Of kohlrabi’s two varieties the purple globe is sweeter and tastier than the apple-green.
Nutritionally, kohlarabi is very low in Saturated Fat and Cholesterol. It is also a good source of Thiamin, Folate, Magnesium and Phosphorus, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin C, Vitamin B6, Potassium, Copper and Manganese. See complete Kohlrabi Nutritional Values from nutritiondata.com.
The following are some recipes I found featuring kohlrabi:
4) German-Style Stuffed Kohlrabi
5) Roasted Kohlrabi and Butternut Squash
10) Mashed Kohlrabi
Week 25 – Fava Beans
Its harvest time for our fava beans, the longest pods are 12-13 inches. To enjoy them we first have to shell them from their pods. Simply cut down the long length of the pod and pull out the beans.
Notice the thick inner lining of the pod that protects the beans like a warm winter overcoat. As you shall see there are in fact two overcoats. This explains why this particular legume is a cool-weather crop while others in the family like pole and bush beans prefer warm weather. Take one look at this double overcoat and it all makes sense.
To cook favas, bring a large pot of water to a boil, add salt, then the beans, and cook 3 to 5 minutes. Drain in a colander. Next, peel off the outer white skin (the second jacket) by pinching through the skin opposite the growing tip.
Press the growing end of the bean between your thumb and forefinger and the bean will spurt out. The simplest way to enjoy them is to sauté the fava beans in a little olive oil or butter until tender and then salt and pepper to taste. For those a little more adventurous try fava beans in place of garbanzo beans in your favorite humous recipe. And for those who are truly gourmands or inspire to be…Fava Bean Soup with Short Ribs.1) Make a beef stock from short ribs. Strain and save meat.
2) Cook the fava beans in the beef stock until soft and tender.
3) Puree beans in a blender adding just enough stock to liquefy.
4) Salt and pepper to taste .
5) Serve with shredded short rib meat sprinkled on top
You’re going to thank me for this one :)
Week 23 – Cole Slaw Recipe
We’re harvesting cabbage, we’re harvesting carrots, put them both together what have you got? That’s right, we’re making cole slaw, a name derived from the Dutch word koolsla (kool) cabbage (sla) salad and made famous by a guy named Richard Hellman, a New York City deli owner who made salads and sandwiches with his wife Nina’s home-made mayonnaise. Once Hellman started bottling the mayonnaise in 1912, cole slaw took off as a national side dish. For those of us on the west coast we know Hellman’s mayonnaise as Best, it is one and the same and the one by which all others are judged.
To make our cole slaw I’ve got a cutting board, a kitchen knife, a vegetable peeler, a carrot grater, and a big mixing bowl. First lets harvest our veggies. When picking cabbage pull the whole plant from the ground, snip off the base (stem and roots) and cut away the big tough outer leaves till your left with a tight round head. With the carrots (4 small ones) cut away the green tops. Wash both under running water. Cut the cabbage into quarters and then into thin, fine strips. Peel the carrots, grate, and add to the cabbage. Next, we make our dressing. Add three tablespoons mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon white vinegar, sprinkle of sugar, dash of salt & pepper and mix well. Enjoy!
Week 20 – Swiss Chard Recipes
Swiss chard is having an identity crisis. Not as popular as carrots or as tasty as tomatoes, this prolific relative of spinach is in need of a good publicist. Being a biennial it will take two years to complete its lifecycle and go to seed. To the school gardener and the home gardener this means greater reward for your labor. With minimal effort one can be picking Swiss chard 52 weeks a year in our mild winter climate. Just pick the outer leaves and leave the smaller inner ones intact.
This lovely rainbow variety does cause heads to turn and students clamor to take a few cuttings home simply because “it looks pretty”, however, the one question I get from everyone, including teachers is, what do you do with it? My simple answer is, its in the same family as spinach, any recipe calling for cooked spinach can be substituted with the green leaves of Swiss chard, the stems are another story and we’ll get to that in a second. Below you will find two recipes for Swiss chard, the first is for the leaves, the second, for the stems.
Pasta with Swiss Chard and Sausage
In boiling salted water cook ½ lb pasta for 10 minutes, drain in colander. In same pot sauté ½ cup onion and 2 cloves garlic in 2 TB olive oil. Add one chopped turkey sausage and cook till browned. Add two bunches chopped Swiss Chard (about 3-4 cups) and sauté till wilted, adding up to ½ cup of broth (chicken or vegetable) as needed, about 10-15 minutes. Add cooked pasta, salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese before serving.
Swiss Chard Stems Moroccan Style
Chop stems from two bunches of Swiss chard (approximately 2-3 cups) and sauté with one onion and two cloves of garlic in 2 TB olive oil. Add a little chicken broth, vegetable broth or water, about ¼ cup, and cook till softened, about 10-15 minutes. Pour off liquid then stir in 3-4 tablespoons of tahini (start with 3 then add more as needed), juice of one lemon, two tablespoons olive oil, pinch of garlic salt, pinch of cumin, salt and pepper to taste.
Enjoy!
