Fava and Edamame Salad

I did not have many fava beans in my last box as I split them with my friend. And I really didn't have many after I double peeled them. Fortunately, I had a bag of frozen Edamame in the freezer, and the two beans, while not quite similar in taste, look almost identical, so they made a pretty (and tasty) little salad. Well, I liked it, anyway.

Fava and Edamame Spring Salad

fava beans, boiled and shelled (I removed the outer and inner shells)
frozen, shelled edamame, thawed
diced red onion
lemon juice
olive oil
feta cheese
salt

I didn't give amounts because you'll have to figure out the right combination for your taste buds. Be careful with the onion; it can easily over pour the whole dish. Determine the amount of feta based on your feelings about the crumbly little cheese. You only need a splash of olive oil, and a bit more lemon juice. A touch of salt just finishes the whole thing off.

What Happened to the Turnips?

First, I apologize for neglecting this blog for the past 10 days. I've been out of town and not cooking very much, so I had very little to write about. I'll try to make up for that over the next few days...

Ok, so remember I said I got turnips in my farm box and I wasn't sure what to do with them?

First, I have to clarify that they were Tokyo Turnips. They were about the size of radishes and very white. A bunch of them was not very many, so I had to mix them with something else to prepare a decent size dish. I looked up so many recipes on-line, and I ended up creating a gratin that combined a few recipes. I added Butternut Squash (brought pre-cut) to bulk it up, and instead of onions, used those leeks that also came in my box. I ended up with this:

Turnip and Squash Gratin

1 bunch Tokyo turnips, thinly sliced

about 1 1/2 cups cubed butternut squash (I brought a little bag at Safeway. I was probably equivalent to 1 medium sized squash)

2 small leeks, carefully washed and thinly sliced (as diced as you can get leeks)

1/3 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup plus 1 TBS grated Parmesan cheese

2 tsp cornstarch

(I'll tell you how I prepared it, then write suggestions for improvement in italics)

1. Quickly boil squash until just softened. (I don't think this was necessary. I think I could have sliced them up and mixed them raw with the turnips.)

2. Mix squash, turnip slices, and sliced leeks with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. cornstarch and salt and pepper to taste.

3. Pour mixture in 9 by 9 glass baking dish.

4. Drizzle cream over the mixture.

5. Sprinkle the remaining Parmesan cheese over the top.

Bake at 375 for about 25 minutes, or until browned and bubbling.

Next time, I will saute the leeks before mixing them with the turnips and squash. They were a little too crunchy and strong in the gratin.

This was surprisingly tasty for how easy it was. I believe it could be quite versatile. You could use potatoes or any type of squash and onions would be an easy substitute for the leeks.

And the added bonus? That left over heavy cream is fantastic in my morning coffee.

Farm Box Goodies

This week I starting receiving a farm box. It's a box of fresh, just-picked, seasonal veggies from a local (semi-local) farm. Each Saturday morning they get delivered to a house in town and we go pick them up. A friend and I are splitting the box each week while we try it out. I didn't want to be getting all these fabulous vegetables and throwing some out due to my family's inability to consume them all. It's not like the girls are going to eat much of them. My friend is in a similar situation, so we'll be sharing the bounty for the time being. What makes the whole thing really exciting (or worrisome) is that you really aren't sure until the day before your delivery what will be in the box. That's how "just-picked" they are...

Our first week brought us chard, fava beans, radishes, turnips, leeks, fresh sage, salad greens and asparagus. I've already cooked the chard (sauteed with a little olive oil, sliced garlic, pinch of red pepper flakes and some chopped bacon to top it off). I know the salad greens and asparagus will not be a problem. I think I can handle the leeks and radishes, but what I really am not sure what to do with is the turnips and the fava beans. In fact, I don't think I've ever eaten turnips or fava beans before. I've looked on-line at a number of recipes and while some look quite tasty, I just haven't decided what to do yet.

Any suggestions? Come on...someone must have a terrific recipe for these things. Help me out here.

I'll keep you posted.

Lingering Scent of Fried Tortillas

I made tacos for dinner tonight, which surprisingly was a big hit with Payee. She had a bean, cheese and avocado taco. She ate the whole thing...unbelievable.

But here's my problem...my kitchen now smells like fried oil, and will continue to smell that way for a number of days. How do you get rid of that? Is there any possible way?

Chicken with Lemon and Mustard Sauce

I'll try almost anything that has mustard in it. I adore mustard. We have at least five different kinds on the door of our fridge...

This dish comes from the Everyday Food magazine (sorry, I don't know the publication month). It's one of the ones I tore out and stuck to my bulletin board. It is supposed to be served with seared radicchio, but I didn't have radicchio, and that didn't sound so fabulous to me anyway. Later I realized I could have served it over seared romaine, which I did have. Too late. I'll record what I did, then add what I think could have happened with the romaine for future reference.

2 TBS all purpose flour
coarse salt and ground pepper
1 1/2 pounds chicken cutlets (I used 1 lb of breasts and cut them into strips)
1 TBS olive oil
2 TBS dijon mustard (I used Grey Poupon)
2 TBS capers, drained and rinsed
2 TBS fresh lemon juice (I used 1 TBS fresh and 1 TBS bottled)
2 TBS butter, cold, cubed

1. Season flour with salt and pepper (either in shallow bowl or plastic bag. I use left over produce bags). Dredge chicken in flour mixture, shaking off excess flour.

2. In large skillet (I used my cast iron pan), heat oil over medium-high heat. Add half the cutlets; cook until lightly browned and cooked through. Transfer chicken to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm. Cook remaining cutlets and add to plate. Set aside.

3. Add 3/4 cup water to skillet; boil over medium-high until liquid is reduced to 1/2 cup, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and whisk in mustard, capers, lemon juice, and any accumulated juices on the plate from the chicken. Add butter and whisk until creamy, about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Serve chicken drizzled with sauce.

The sauce was a nicely tangy. It was plenty for one pound of chicken, but I would have wanted more if I served it with rice or over the seared lettuce.

The girls didn't like the sauce, but because you drizzled it on, I had some plain chicken left for them. They gladly ate that.

I learned that you should keep the sauce warm if you are not serving it right away. It was still tasty, but not as wonderful as if it had still been warm.

So, my thought with the lettuce-I think you could sear romaine heads that have been cut in half lengthwise. You'd want one half per serving, so 2 heads of romaine should be good for this amount of food.

This dish would serve 4 with no leftovers.

I would make this again, possibly trying to serve it over the romaine.

Almond Accents

I just discovered these tasty little devils made by Sunkist last week. Ostensibly, they are to put on salads, but I ate a whole baggie full of them as my "snack" the other day. Truth be told, I could not stop eating them. I think they might be addictive.

I've only had the "original" kind, but I'm not a fan of messing with perfect. They are just the right balance of crunchy, salty, and roasted...fabulous for my salt-craving mouth.

Mini Chip Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

I was inspired to create these after seeing Naia chomping on an oatmeal raisin cookie. I do not like raisins, but I like cranberries, so I went searching for a recipe. Wouldn't you know, I found one on the back of the craisins bag. I made a few changes to better suit my needs and my pantry stock...I substituted whole wheat flour for regular flour, mini chocolate chips for white chocolate, and more baking powder, cranberries and chocolate than originally called for. Oh, and I added vanilla. I mean, really...who makes a cookie without vanilla extract? I'm giving you the recipe that I made up, not the one on the back of the bag.

2/3 cup unsalted butter, soften
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
1 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup mini chocolate chips (Nestle)

Preheat oven 375°. Grease cookie sheets.

In mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs one at a time until well mixed.

In separate bowl, combine oats, flour, baking soda and salt. Add to butter mixture in several additions, mixing well after each addition.

Slowly mix in cranberries and mini chocolate chips.

Roll dough into one inch balls. Place about 2 inches apart on cookie sheet. Gently flatten a bit with a fork.

Bake about 10 minutes. The size of the cookie will not change drastically, and it might not looked cooked on the top. If the bottoms are brown, they are DONE!

Other notes-Keep the cookies well sealed. These cookies don't seem to last many days, so either freeze some or pass them onto your friends. Ideal shelf life seems to be about 3 days.

Careful...you'll want to eat 7 instead of just one!

What's Cooking...

I love food. Actually, it would be more accurate to say that I love eating. That doesn't mean I'm not picky...there are definitely foods I avoid, and some I would even go as far to say I hate. (My wonderful husband would tell you I'm afraid of them.) So, even though I've never cooked brussel sprouts or lima beans, and I refuse to put anything in my mouth that has an essence of banana in it, I love cooking. Love love love it. I love trying new recipes and tweaking old ones. (The tweaking doesn't carry over as often into the discipline of baking, but then again, I was never very good at chemistry. With baking, you can't add a little of this and dash of that. You'd end up with an exploding cake or a tasteless cookie.) I have good size recipe collection, but I'm not very good about writing down changes I've made or new ideas I've had. Hence, I'd make something once, decide to do something differently, and the next time I went for the recipe, I had no clue as to what I had wanted to change. I'm sure this never happens to you. I'm hoping that with this blog I can keep track of some of the changes, for better or worse, that I make, and in the meantime, write about something I love.

Originally, the idea of a food blog grew from my desire to better control my eating habits, thereby feeling more in control of my body shape. I thought about writing down everything I'd eaten in a day...but who would want to read that? It might help me maintain my weight, but it sure wasn't going to be interesting to share with friends and strangers.


At about the same time, I began to get bored with the meals I was preparing. I felt like we were always eating the same things (and eating out at the same restaurants.) The rut was only made deeper by the two little mouths that get fed at our table every night. I found I was continually feeding them the same things over and over and over again. How were they going to be better consumers of food (especially the 2 year old) if I keep their diet the same?

At the same SAME time, I received four old copies of "Everyday Food" from my grandmother. I love the format of the magazine and how every recipe is one page, and usually has an accompanying photo. I began to rip out the recipes I wanted to try, and soon I had a stack about an inch thick. I clipped them together and hung them on my bulletin board with the intention of trying at least one new recipe a week.

So far, it's mostly working. I'll have to back track a bit to chronicle the ones I've tried, but hopefully by combining new recipes and writing about them, the dynamic of meals in our home will be elevated.

And hopefully, you'll find something useful here as well.

That's the goal, anyway.