An Easy Carrot Side

I loved this recipe. Not only did it allow us to rescue all the carrot seconds from the morning harvest from languishing in our kitchen, but it's also yummy (I just knew I was keeping fennel seeds around for a reason). The recipe comes by way of Straight From the Farm, submitted by reader Gintonio. I hope linking to them makes up for reprinting the recipe...

4-5 large carrots
2 garlic cloves
3 T extra virgin olive oil
3 T balsamic vinegar
1 t fennel seeds
1 t paprika
Salt and pepper
2 T chopped fresh cilantro

Slice carrots thinly, place in a saucepan with some water and steam 5-8 minutes until tender, but not soft. Drain, let cool a bit. Mince garlic and mix with everything else but the cilantro. Toss carrots with dressing and cilantro.

She recommended letting it marinade at least overnight, a fact that I didn't realize until right now (and obviously did not do. They were still good, I guess better the second day, though). Serve cold or at room temp.

Zucchini Trial

Not really a fan of zucchini? Blame Monsanto. Okay, that's a stretch. But blame the consolidating impulse present throughout the agri-business food system. I don't think I'd ever even seen anything besides that plain, dark green, bland variety of zucchini until a few years ago. And when I did I just assumed that they all tasted alike. Not so. Joy fixed us up with a taste trial and here's how it shook out:

1) Mutabile
2) Costata Romanesco (Johnny's calls it "best tasting", but I was overruled here)
3) Yellow Crookneck
4) Dk. Green--your plain old grocery store zucchini

If you've never dug on zucchini, maybe you just need a variety upgrade!

Stuffed Squash Directions:

Use any stir fry that you would have included squash in, thems the guidelines. Hugo kept this one pretty simple: onions, garlic, tomatoes. Scoop into quartered, de-seeded zucchini, sprinkle with cheese. Bake on low until heated through/cheese is melted.

Food Playing with People

In tribute to the current zucchini onslaught, here are people being Attacked by Food, a la zefrank.

Golden Beets

How gorgeous are golden beets? I'd never heard of them before, but luckily Joy had and we ordered seed--they are almost too pretty for their own good. Very full greens, as well. No specific recipe for these allegedly sweeter sisters of the red beet, just some eye candy.

I'm Currantly Rocking Out

We made currant jam this week, yup yup, and did you know that fresh red currants are unrelated to the dried currants you may know from various baked goods? Those are actually dried zante grapes, and they had the name first.

Related to the gooseberry, currants are high in vitamin C (the black more so than the red), though canning temperatures destroy vitamin C. So I guess you just have to like the flavor. It's a nice change from the regulars, but not my favorite. Though maybe because this recipe made for a less gel-like jam, it's more the consistency of a pear butter. The color of the finished product, however, is a vibrant 80's pink--that makes up for a lot.

Currant jam recipe here

Another good option is to juice the raw berries (no heating) and freeze the juice in ice-cube trays, for adding to smoothies and other concoctions all winter long. This method is especially attractive when it's hot and humid out and the thought of being in a hot canning kitchen is too much to take.

Cutting Celery

Heard of it? We hadn't, so we ended up planting enough for a big, healthy bed of it. Call it a successful, if unintentional, experiment. I like cutting celery's vibe. When it's neighbors were droopy or bolting, complaining in some way, it seemed just dandy. It's season is also longer (and earlier) than regular celery, a plus for spring or late fall soups.

Cutting celery looks like a hardier cousin of flat-leafed parsley, but the smell and ridged stem will end any confusion. The flavor is a bit stronger than regular celery--a few sprigs will substitute for one stalk (i heard)--and it holds its flavor when dried.

I first tried substituting cutting celery in my lazy sunday lentil recipe.