Edamame bread salad

Mmmmm...it's garden fare time!  This is a great meal for using up the beans and tomaotes you have erupting from your gardens, and also a vegetarian dish with lots of flavor and a good side of protein.  The recipe came from Better Homes and Gardens, athough I've lightened it up a bit and added a tad more basil than originally called for, of course.

Ingredients:

  ● 3/4  cup feta cheese
  ● 1/2  cup Greek yogurt or plain low-fat yogurt
  ● 2  Tbsp. snipped fresh basil
  ● 1  small clove garlic, minced
  ● 2  12- oz. pkgs. frozen soybeans (edamame)
  ● 1-1/2  lbs. fresh green beans, trimmed
  ● 2  cups yellow cherry tomatoes, halved
  ● 12  slices crusty country bread, toasted
  ● Fresh basil leaves
Balsamic Dressing:
  ● 1/4 cup olive oil
  ● 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  ● 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
  ● 1/4 cup fresh basil, lightly packed

Directions:

1. In food process combine feta cheese, yogurt, basil and garlic.  Blend until creamy and season with salt and pepper as desired. (If you don't have a food processor you can mash the cheese and yogurt together with a fork then add the remaining ingredients and stir).  This may be made ahead.

2. In saucepan bring 8 cups lightly salted water to boiling. Add soybeans and green beans and return to a boil. Reduce heat and cook, covered, 6 to 8 minutes or until tender. Drain and cool (speed up by rinsing with cold water.  Add tomatoes to bean mixture and drizzle 1/2 of balsamic dressing mixture (see below); toss to coat.

4. Spread feta mixture on bread slices; place slice on serving plate; mound bean mixture on top. Drizzle remaining dressing; top with fresh basil leaves.

Balsamic Dressing: In blender or processor combine 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, and 1/4 cup lightly packed fresh basil leaves; blend until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Recipe shown here with gazpacho soup on the side - another garden great!

Rustic Zucchini Bread

It's that time of year! Our zucchini plants are valiantly fighting powdery mildew (with a little help from their farmer–did you know that a 1:1 dilution of organic milk sprayed on the leaves after dusk does wonders for this ailment?), and are producing at an astonishing pace. I keep remembering last year when all we got was one armload of zucchini before the plants succumbed to the fungus that we are successfully fighting organically this year!

In any case, with so many zucchini on hand, how could I not make zucchini bread? I found a standard recipe online, which we tried as written first, then made it a tad heartier and healthier with my own variations, including substituing whole wheat flour for half the white, increasing the amount of nuts, and decreasing the amount of sugar. I was expecting the worst, but really it was beautifully moist and very flavorful. Better than the original, if I do say so myself.

Ingredients:

● 2 eggs
● 1 cup sugar
● 2.5 tsp. vanilla
● 3 cups grated fresh zucchini, skin on
● 2/3 cup melted butter
● 2 tsp. baking soda
● 1.5 cups whole wheat flour
● 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
● 1 tsp. nutmeg
● 3 tsp. cinnamon
● 1.25-1.5 cups chopped pecans

Directions:

1. Mix together sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Mix in the grated zucchini then add melted butter. Sprinkle baking soda over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour, a third at a time (I mixed the two flours together first). Sprinkle in the cinnamon and nutmeg and mix. Fold in the nuts.

2 Divide the batter equally between 2 buttered 5 by 9 inch loaf pans. Bake for 1 hour at 350, or until a wooden pick inserted in to the center comes out clean (check for doneness at 50 minutes). Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Turn out onto wire racks to cool thoroughly.

Peruvian quinoa stew

Quinoa is an amazing grain. It is gluten free, relatively high in protein, and surprising well rounded when it comes to amino acids (the building blocks of protein), making it a wonderful choice for vegetarian or vegan fare. It's also rather bland and we've tried recipes in the past that have, in our opinion, left something to be desired. But we refuse to be deterred, and a little inernet searching produced at least one interesting recipe, which we tried tonight and enjoyed.

A quick note first. I believe most of the quinoa sold in the United States is pre-rinsed, but if you buy it in bulk from health food stores (to avoid undue pre-processing), rinsing the grain before use is an absolute must. Quinoa grows covered in saponin, a very bitter substance that keeps away birds and is equally as unpalatable to humans. Because it is a relatively fine grain I used a coffee filter for this job, slowly running cool, filtered water over the grain until the rinse water no longer had a soapy look to it.

Peruvian Quinoa Stew

● 1/2 cup quinoa
● 1 cup water
● 2 cups chopped onions
● 2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
● 1 tbsp. vegetable oil
● 1 celery stalk, chopped
● 1 carrot, cut on the diagonal into ¼-inch thick slices
● 1 bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
● 1 cup cubed zucchini
● 2 cups undrained chopped fresh or canned tomatoes
● 1 cup water or vegetable stock
● 2 tsp. ground cumin
● ½ tsp. chili powder
● 1 tsp. ground coriander
● 1 pinch cayenne pepper, or more to taste
● 2 tsp fresh oregano, chopped
● salt, to taste
● cilantro, optional, to taste
● grated cheese, optional

Place rinsed quinoa and water in pot (covered) and cook covered on medium-low heat for about 15 minutes until soft.

While the quinoa is cooking place the onions, garlic and vegetable oil in covered soup pot and saute on medium heat for 5 minutes. Add celery and carrots and cook an additional 5 minutes, stirring often. Add bell pepper, zucchini, tomatoes, and vegetable stock. Stir in cumin, chili powder, coriander, cayenne and oregano. Simmer covered for 10 to 15 minutes, until vegetables are tender.  Stir in cooked quinoa and salt to taste. Serve hot, topped with grated cheese and cilantro if desired.

Tomato, basil, and mozzarella salad

It doesn't get more basic, more fresh, or more delightful than this!  We are growing basil in pots on our deck this year and we've been told that the key to growing in abundance is to use them frequently, paring them back for fresh growth.  That being the case, our arms have been twisted into enjoying fresh basil more often!  Since we are leaving on vacation tomorrrow we thought that a small salad, using the cherry tomatoes from our organic delivery and fresh mozzarella cheese from this morning's visit to Plum Market, would make up a great use for that pared back basil.  Yum!

There's not a whole lot of direction for this one, just throw together some small tomatoes (I halved my cherry tomatoes to release some of their juices and flavors), some small mozzarella balls, and fresh torn basil leaves, then sprinkle with olive oil, basil, and touch of salt; toss to coat and serve immediately!

Jessica's pesto burgers

We have a good friend to thank for this idea and recipe, so I've named it after her in my book. Since our little herb garden has yet to mature we had to buy our basil and pesto, and we found beautiful organic herbs at Meijer. Come to think of it, all of our Pesto ingredients are organic from Meijer!

Pesto burgers

● 1/2-2/3 cup pesto
● ~1 lb. ground beef

Mix pesto and ground beef together in a small bowl before forming into hamburgers. Grill to desired doneness and serve on buns with your favorite toppings! We topped with mozzarella cheese, tomaotes, and mayo mixed with the leftover pesto.

Pesto for pasta

● 1 cup fresh basil, firmly packed
● 1/2 cup fresh parsley, firmly packed with stems removed
● 1/2 cup parmesan or romano cheese, grated
● 1/4 cup pine nuts
● 1 large garlic clove, quartered
● 1/4 tsp salt
● 1/4 cup olive oil

In food processor combine all dry ingredients and blend until a paste forms (pulsing sometimes helps with this), stopping the machine frequently to scrape the sides if necessary.
While machine runs slowly, add olive oil and continue to process to the consistency of soft butter.

Hamburger buns

● 2 tbsp. active dry yeast
● 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons warm water , (105° to 115°)
● 1/3 cup vegetable oil
● 1/4 cup sugar
● 1 egg
● 1 tsp. salt
● 3-3.5 cups all-purpose flour

Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water.  Let stand for 5 minutes. 

In mixer bowl combine oil, 2.5 cups of flour, egg, and salt, add dough hook and mix on speed 1 for a few seconds.  Add yeast mixture slowly, over about a minute, with machine running on speed 1 or 2.  Allow flour to incorporate then add remaining flour slowly until a soft dough forms a ball on the hook and begins to clean the sides of the bowl.

Remove to a lightly floured surface and divide into 10-12 pieces, rolling each into a ball.  Place on greased baking sheets, approx. 3 inches apart.  Cover and let rest for at least 10 minutes, then press each ball gently and bake at 425° for 8-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.