Category Archives: Food

Squashed

In our quest to extend our local diet into winter, we purchased some winter squash from a farmer friend.  Our purchase included two of these big beauties*:

Musque de Provence
Musque de Provence Squash

On Tuesday night, I brought one up from our basement storage, poked a few holes in it, and stuck it in the oven.  The roasting took longer than I expected, but when it was finally tender to the touch, I pulled it out and let it cool.  I cut it in half, and was greeted with amazingly bright orange flesh — so rich and vibrant!

In addition to being gorgeous and photogenic, the Musque de Provence is delicious.  We will be bringing some to our Good Eats vegetarian potluck tonight.

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*Photo courtesy of Seed Savers Exchange, “a non-profit, member supported organization that saves and shares the heirloom seeds of our garden heritage,” based in none other than the great state of Iowa.

Souper food

This past week, we cooked a few of our favorite staple recipes, including vegetable upside-down cake and garbanzo bean soup, using almost all local ingredients.  We thought these dishes tasted good before, but you can really taste the freshness of the garden and locally grown veggies (or you could, if you were here eating with us).

Garbanzo bean soup
Garbanzo bean soup

Someone needs to work on her food photography skills . . . .

If you’re wondering how to make this soup, today is your lucky day.  In the past, I have been too lazy to post recipes here, but I  submitted this recipe to my church cookbook, so it was typed and ready to go.

Garbanzo bean soup

4 ½ c. cooked garbanzo beans, divided (= 2 ¼ cups dry beans or 3 cans)

4 ½ c. vegetable broth or water, divided

1 T. olive oil

2 c. chopped onion

10 cloves garlic, chopped

2-3 medium potatoes, diced

3 medium carrots, diced

2 stalks of celery, diced

1 t. salt

1 bay leaf

2 t. dry mustard

2 t. ground cumin

1-2 threads of saffron (optional, but delicious)

½ c. frozen peas

3 T. red wine vinegar

1 c. chopped tomatoes (fresh or canned)

Ground pepper to taste

In a blender, puree 2 cups of the cooked garbanzos with 2 cups of the water or broth until almost smooth.  Set aside.

In large soup pot, sauté onion and garlic in olive oil for 5 minutes.  Add potatoes, carrot, and celery, and sauté 5 more minutes.  Add pureed garbanzo beans and the rest of the broth, along with the salt, bay leaf, mustard, cumin, and saffron.  Simmer for 30 minutes.

Add the remaining garbanzo beans, along with the frozen peas, red wine vinegar, and tomatoes.  Cook 5 minutes.  Taste and add salt and pepper as desired.  Remove the bay leaf before serving.  Serve with whole grain bread or muffins.

Compare and contrast

On Monday night, we attended a talk by sustainable farmer and author Joel Salatin, who I mentioned here.  I thought I wrote a bit more about his book, Everything I Want to do is Illegal, but apparently I only wrote about it in my head.  The book did not turn me into a libertarian, but it was a near thing.  When I read that he was going to be speaking at a local venue, I was very excited.

“I wonder if he’ll be a good speaker?” I said to Matthew as we waited for it to start.  I knew he was a good writer, and I highly recommend reading the aforementioned book, but good speakers are a rare find.  There are plenty of people with potentially interesting things to say, people who may write well, that are mediocre speakers at best.

About three minutes into the talk, Matthew turned to me and said, “I guess you have your answer.”  Did I ever!  Joel Salatin did not disappoint as a speaker.  I loved hearing about and seeing photos of Mr. Salatin’s sustainably raised livestock right on the heels of this post about E. coli contamination in beef.  Talk about a sharp contrast with factory farms and agribusiness!

We biked to and from the talk, which pushed me over twenty miles for the day.  We rode home in beautiful weather under a full moon, and I could not help thinking how happy I was to be on my bike instead of in a car.

International flavors, locally

In case I failed to make it clear already, my husband and I really like to cook (and eat).  We spend a significant amount of our time in the kitchen.  When we are not cooking or eating, we are often thinking about what we will be cooking or eating next.  Some people make fun of me for this.  Here are some recent creations, including two experiments: Ethiopian and sushi.

  • Ethiopian vegetable dish with potatoes*, carrots*, green beans*, and onions**.  (Served on homemade injera, which is a work in progress.  My first attempt was in the “not edible” category, which, fortunately, is a rare occurrence.)
  • Baba ghanoush, a delicious Middle Eastern eggplant** dish, that was super easy to make
  • Green beans*, black beans**, and broccoli** in peanut sauce
  • Sushi with carrots*, green beans*, and avocado
  • Curry with sweet potatoes**, green beans*, potatoes*, yellow squash**, and eggplant**
  • Soba noodles with purple cabbage*, sweet potatoes**, green pepper*, broccoli**, and yellow squash**

* Food we grew.

** Food grown locally that we purchased from the farmer’s market or farmer.