Easy Ground Beef Vegetable Casserole

I found this recipe a long time ago when I was wanted to do something different with ground beef. I love tacos and hamburgers, but there must be more out there, right?

I'm sure you could add other things-peas, shredded zucchini, even greens. Tonight I am going to substitute toyko turnips for the potatoes. And I might throw in some sweet peppers. We'll see how it goes...

INGREDIENTS:
1 to 1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef, browned
1/2 cup chopped onion
salt and pepper
3 large potatoes, sliced
2 Carrots, shredded
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
PREPARATION:
Brown ground beef in a skillet with chopped onions; cook until onions are tender. Drain off excess fat; transfer ground beef and onion to casserole dish. Add layer of sliced raw potatoes, sprinkle with salt and pepper; shred carrots to cover potatoes.

Put soup over carrots. Bake at 350° for 40 to 50 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Sprinkle shredded cheese over top and bake for about 5 minutes longer, or until cheese is melted.This easy ground beef and potato casserole serves 4 to 6.

Chocolate Summer Squash Bread

I've been getting a lot of summer squash in my farm box lately. I'm not complaining...I love it. Especially when sauteed up with some caramelized onions...super tasty. But I wanted to try something different, and specifically something that my children might eat. (Summer squash is definitely one that they turn their nose up at.) I figured they'd eat the squash if it was hidden in a baked good, so I started looked for Zucchini Bread recipes. Then I stumbled across this chocolate summer squash bread recipe and the search was over. I found the original recipe here. The first time I made it, I followed all directions, except I substituted white whole wheat flour for regular flour. You couldn't tell the difference at all.

Now, I have to be honest. The word "bread" is misleading. This isn't bread. It is cake. You will feel guilty eating this for breakfast. That didn't stop me from eating it then, but I did feel guilty. But if it makes you feel better, you can keep calling it "bread."

Even with the whole wheat flour, I was still feeling badly about the amount of oil and sugar that was in the bread/cake. So today, I added a few more chocolate chips for sweetness, took out 1/2 a cup of sugar, and substituted 1/2 a cup of apple sauce for some of the oil. Since I'm not eating the two side by side, it's too hard to tell if this one is as moist or as sweet. I can tell you that it's still delicious and will be great with vanilla ice cream, so I'll stick with this recipe since it makes me feel better.

2 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 applesauce (I used unsweetened)
2 cups grated summer squash
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans. In a microwave-safe bowl, microwave chocolate until melted. Stir occasionally until chocolate is smooth.

In a large bowl, combine eggs, sugar, oil, grated summer squash, vanilla and chocolate; beat well.

Sift in the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; stir to blend. Pour batter into prepared loaf pans.

Bake in preheated oven for 55-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a loaf comes out clean. Do not overbake.

Spicy (Not Really) Carrot Coconut Soup

Apparently, this recipe came from Whole Foods, but I got it off my friend, Heather. We double the original recipe so there is enough for freezing or leftovers. One thing to note that I noticed this last time-it seems to get more peanut buttery with time. Strange, yes. Or, I just used a different peanut butter this time. Either way, it's a fabulous soup. It's even better topped with the Sea Salt Pita Chips from Trader Joes. The annoyance factor of making it is a bit high, seeing as how you have to puree it all and I always end up with soup all over my counter, but it's worth the mess in the end.

I'm giving you the doubled version.

4 TBS vegetable oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped (or 2 medium onions)
2 celery ribs, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped fine
2 pounds carrots, peeled and cut into one inch chunks
2 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and sliced thinly
pinch or 2 of hot red pepper flakes
6 cups chicken or vegetable broth
3 TBS soy sauce
3 TBS creamy peanut butter
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 can coconut milk

In large heavy saucepan, heat oil (med-high) and cook onion, celery and garlic until soft. Add carrots, ginger, red pepper and broth. Bring to boil.

Lower heat and simmer until carrots are very tender; about 45 minutes.

Off heat, add soy sauce, peanut butter, sugar and sesame oil. Stir and let cook slightly.

Puree in turns in blender or food processor.

Return to pot and add coconut milk.

That's it. Enjoy.

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.