Food good for body and soul
Finally! A totally foolproof way to produce the perfect ham, It is all about cooking it slow and low. I had saved a 5.5 lb bone-in smoked ham that I purchased last spring from Lilac Hedge Farm and decided that it would make a great …
I have really been enjoying doing cooking demos at the Wakefield Farmers Market this summer. I will hopefully get around to posting about the recipes I prepared earlier in the season, (some of which caused our farmer to sell out!) but will start with this easy …
Need a quick and tasty meal that is healthy, too? Bring a few cups of water to a boil in a saucepan, add thinly chopped or sliced veggies and a cooked hot sausage cut in thin rounds, and a handful of soba noodles broken in half, or any type of noodle – whole grain if possible.
Simmer for 5-6 minutes until the veggies are tender to taste, sprinkle in some dried parsley – or add chopped fresh greens, and season to taste. The soup pictured has soba noodles, carrots, 
cauliflower, hot sausage, and dried parsley – and it hit the spot!
NOTE: This version got its seasoning from the cooked hot sausage. If you use tofu, tempeh, or beans, etc, you may want to add tamari and/or other seasonings to jazz it up.
Once you have gotten a few meals from your Herb Roasted Butterflied Turkey after first enjoying the bird during your Low Stress Turkey Dinner feast, the next step is to make a lovely stock from the bones and scraps, being sure to get as much meat …
Do you love to host Thanksgiving for your family and/or friends but find it stressful juggling all the prep work with your already busy life? Are you tired of staying up late the night before, getting up at the crack of dawn on the big …
One of the many paths I’ve traveled is that of the vegan/macrobiotic herbalist, apparently for long enough that this soup is one of my comfort foods. Basically, all you have to do to make it is boil some water, add some soba or other noodles of your choice, along with whatever greens, veggies, and seasonings that you like. Once all is cooked, put a few teaspoons or more of your favorite type of miso paste in a soup bowl, add some of the hot broth to dissolve, and then ladle in a cup or two of the soup. So easy!
Here is how I made it this time:
8 cups water
1 cup or more chopped daikon radish
3/4 cup or so chopped carrot
3/4 cup chopped zucchini
A handful or two of greens, chopped as needed (I used stinging nettles, parsley, and lambsquarters)
3 oz (when dry) soba noodles
1/2 cup cooked aduki beans*
1 cup chopped tofu
2 tsp miso
*The aduki beans were an after thought – I remembered I has some left over in the fridge. The zucchini was, too, now that I think of it. I had a 3 inch piece in the fridge that needed using.
To make: Bring water to a boil. Add everything except the miso and cook at least until the noodles are done, which would be about 6 minutes, and cook longer if desired.
To serve: dissolve the miso in a bowl in some hot broth, then add soup and season to taste or enjoy as is.
Suggestions: fresh garlic, tamari, rice vinegar, or even just some salt would be good, or really, anything that you like!. It’s a perfect venue for leftovers and experimental seasoning.
I have no idea how I avoided making a white wine sauce all these years. So tasty! So quick and easy! And, the best news is that it goes with all sorts of ingredients, from the the shrimp and scallops used in this recipe, to …
There is nothing like a simple chicken soup made by simmering the carcass of a roasted or grilled chicken for an hour or so along with a few veggies to round out the flavor. Along with pulling out the last bit of flavor and nutrition, …
I am just dashing this post off to make sure I remember what turned out to be perfect proportions as to amounts of greens to olive oil, nuts, garlic, and Parmesan cheese in a pesto. However, it also serves as a reminder that pesto is not just for basil. Many other greens or combination of greens also work well, especially if you are looking for a lighter but just as tasty pesto as when made with basil only.
I made pesto today because I had way more pea tendrils and arugula than I was going to use in the next several days. I had made a quick batch of pesto last week using a 1/3 basil to 2/3 the amount of pea tendrils, and loved it, so I figured I would continue along that line.
When making that quick batch last week, I had to use tahini for the nut part because I discovered I had no walnuts on hand. You know what? Tahini worked just fine. But for this batch, I went back to walnuts.
Here’s the recipe for 6 ounces of greens. FYI, I doubled and used 12 ounces and the whole double batch fit in the food processor. I forgot how much the processing reduces the volume!
Anyway, here is the recipe:
Just for the record, for the 12 oz of greens, I used 3 oz basil, 4 oz pea tendrils, and 5 oz arugula in this particular batch.
When processing, I starting with 3 oz of the greens and 1/8 of the olive oil and process for a bit, then add another 3 oz (the rest if you are doing the 6 oz amount) and 2 ounces of walnuts, 1.5 oz garlic and the another 1/8 cup olive oil and process until well mixed, then, if doing a double batch, repeat the process. Once all is very well processed, add the Parmesan cheese and process as desired or stir the cheese in after removing from the processor.
NOTE: Especially if using finely powered store bought Parmasan cheese, you can stir it in after removing the pesto from the processor. I hand-grated mine so I figured it could use a bit more breaking down.
The good news about using other greens with or instead of the basil is that the other greens don’t oxidize in the same way as basil, so the pesto stays bright green.
Although there is nothing so wonderfully rich yet healthily decadent as basil pesto, I often find that I prefer a pesto with other greens, and I am now totally hooked on using pea tendrils! Just a lovely fresh flavor.
A note about the pea tendrils: I remove the very skinny strings are the ends of the tendrils. They can end up introducing an unpleasant “stringy” component to recipes. The stalks at the bottom, unless VERY tough, are fine to use in this any recipe or salad.
When making pesto, try experimenting with other greens and see what works for you. It’s an easy way to get your greens, that’s for sure.
THIS is a sausage sandwich to die for. Start with pasture-raised and/or artisan quality pork, eggs, bread, and cheese. Use the recipe below (or create your own seasoning mix) to make the sausage patties. Then make a few batches of patties to pop in the …