I loved this dish. It got me away from the soup pot, gave me another opportunity to use our cilantro, and got spicier the next day. It also utilized an interesting cooking technique: you stir in uncooked pasta with the rest of the ingredients, and bake with extra water. I was skeptical, but it worked!
If you feel guilty about the long cook time, you could steam veggies for freezing over the pot while you wait--just be sure to stir once in a while.
Alright, level with me: are these whimsical blog post titles making you lose your appetite? Because I swear this one was totally deserved--the brassica garden looked like it jumped off the lovable Dr.'s page, and I took a break from weeding to imagine being miniature and wandering around under these knobby, slightly goofy-looking trees. Then I took another break to photograph them (no wonder there are so many weeds!).
Above: Brussels Sprout Palms (lower leaves removed to allow sprouts to get nice and big). Left: Kale "trees" within the asparagus forest--don't mind the weeds!
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.
Having been a citizen of "emergency pasta" town for about as long as I can remember, I was slow to grasp the concept of Fancy Pasta. Yea, the olives and capers are an investment, but they turn a plain noodle dish into something extravagant. Perfect for potlucks.
Trim ends of eggplant and cut into half-inch cubes. Heat oil, then add garlic and sliced red chili and cook until browned. Add eggplant and continue cooking. Next, add the tomatoes. Cover and cook slowly until the eggplant is tender. Add parsley and basil. Cook 5 minutes and then add the olives and capers, and some oregano. Peel, core and seed the roasted sweet pepper, then cut into ½ inch cubes and add to sauce. Cover and cook 20 minutes. 
Now I realize that it may not be the smartest idea to describe this chili as quick and simple, since it's what I made my mother for her birthday dinner, but that's really what makes this chili great. Forget the long list of spices and stewing time. When you're cold and hungry, this chili delivers. It won't be the spiciest or heartiest you've ever had, but it'll get the job done, much like a match will when you're strapped for candles. Recipe here
Orange comfort food for the day: a red lentil soup. Well, the original looks like soup, mine is edging towards stew. It's from Eat Peace Please, a food blog I've been digging on lately. Even leaving the garlic and chili flakes (and bell pepper) out, it was a tasty introduction to red lentils. I wonder where these lentils were grown. Maybe Canada--according to Wikipedia, it's the largest export producer of lentils.
I think I've unconsciously made the theme of November the color orange. I've been made fun of for having "gruel" as my favorite food texture, from dryish oatmeal dishes to thick lentil stews, so I'm fully prepared for any teasing that may come with this declaration of color preference. It should be green, right? If I were a good person, it would be green--there are so many great green veggies to be had. But it's not green, it's orange.
Recipe (with great photos) from Kalyn's Kitchen. The sweet potatoes are coated with olive oil and a spice mix of coriander, fennel, oregano, some hot pepper, and salt, then baked at 425. They remain pretty soft, but I like the flavor. Kalyn recommends cranking the oven heat if you're trying for crispy.
Sushi Night! Veggie sushi, that is.
real thing, but I'm guessing that would be too hot for me as well.
the rolling, but I've seen it done sans
that front. Instead, I was met with this contraption.
So how excited was I to learn how to make tortillas?
ner is known in North America as hominy. Some, including Wikipedia, cite this process as the foundation for the civilizations of the Americas (North and South), since the combination with lime-water makes bio-available the niacin and essential amino acids that corn alone lacks, creating a complete protein. When Europeans took to using maize, they skipped the nixtamalization process, and the maize-dependent cultures on that continent consistently developed protein-deficiency diseases.
That said, these blow store-bought corn tortillas out of the lime water. We never quite figured out the ratio of masaharina to water--it kept changing! There was the 1 c masa to 11/8 c water on a label, but then we got 2.25 c masa to 1.5 c water, and another time 2 c masa to 11/8-11/3 c masa (which is close to the last ratio, right?). So we just went by feel. Once the water is thoroughly mixed in, the dough should be just wet enough to shape into balls. The real test is in the pressing. Place a dough ball between two ziploc bags to press into shape. Cracks will 
form around the outer edge, try to correct those before you keep enlarging the dough circle. The test is removing the circle--it's often a close call, but if it sticks completely to the ziploc, it's too wet. If the cracks are unmanageably large, the dough is too dry.
Not just an excuse for John's Peanut Sauce (but a mighty good one)-- Spring Rolls!
The order of the day is slicing up tomatoes to put in the dehydrator. At KVG, dried tomatoes help the canned pasta sauce and salsas fill the winter lycopene void.
kout for a canning recipe (it seems like this one would be cannable without the addition of a lot of vinegar, since it's basically just tomatoes with some spices, but i'm not a confident enough canner yet to go ahead with that). Becks and Posh have a sweeter version for canning (okay, you got me, i didn't even read the recipe, but the photos were really nice), but I'd want to avoid white vinegar and sugar if possible. So the search is on, to be continued next tomato season.
Do you remember the first time you had sweet corn raw? I was at the Evanston farmer's market (one summer ago? two?) and one vendor was just sure that if you tried his corn raw you'd have to get some. I'd had cooked corn on the cob before, but more often corn from the can, so I was a bit hesitant...
Summer's not over yet! There's still basil to be eaten! Shown here in the form of sunflower seed pesto. This lighter- tasting (and dare I say, healthier?) version is quick and simple to make, but it does require a Vitamix or food processor or perhaps an overachieving blender.
tomatoes (don't bother removing the the seeds, they'll get strained out later). Cover and let stew for a while, then add lots o' chopped basil. Let stew for a few more minutes, then carefully blend (it's hot!). To each part blended, add a bit of olive oil (we ended up using about 1/8-1/4 of a quart jar). From the blender, strain soup into a pot, heat up again, and serve. If it's too liquidy, let simmer to reduce.
A line has been crossed. I'm using tofu in sweet things. But, before you skip over this suspect post, you should know that a) the tofu was really fresh and b) it was done in the name of Project Blueberry. Since we're living mere steps away from a netted heaven of "bluebundance", Kyli and I initiated the Project, the goal of which is both single and simple: make as much stuff with blueberries as we can. We're currently taking a break from the Project, but this one made it in before our sweet tooth started to rot out. The first bite was a little weird--oh, tofu?!?--but after that I liked it. It couldn't compare to what we made next, but I'd make it again for a vegan affair, although I'd probably add a bunch more sugar to the base. Recipe here.
