Light Wheat Bread

Tried the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes Light Wheat Bread today. And we really liked it! I think it's our new favorite.

Rising...


Didn't get much bigger than that. Then I forgot to flour the top and score it. Oops.

After baking...


Ready to eat...

Main-Dish Lentil-Vegetable Soup

Tonight's dinner was based on Vegetarian Times' recipe for Main-Dish Lentil-Vegetable Soup. I've made it in the crockpot in the past and this time did the stovetop method. Both work great!



Check the link above for the original recipe. Here's what I used:

Main-Dish Lentil-Vegetable Soup
Serves 4
* 1 Tbs. olive oil
* 1/4 c chopped yellow onion
* 1 leek chopped
* 1/4 tsp roasted garlic (dried)
* 3 carrots cut into 1/4-inch dice
* 2 small potatos cut into small cubes
* 3 stalks celery cut into 1/4-inch dice
* 2 mild peppers chopped
* 1 1/4 cups dried brown lentils
* 6 cups vegetable stock (I used 4 cups veg broth, 2 cups no-chicken broth)
* 1 1/2 Tbs. tamari soy sauce
* Salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper
* 1 tsp italian herbs

STOVETOP METHOD: Heat oil in stockpot over medium heat. Add onion and cook 5 minutes to soften. Add remaining vegetables and saute about 5 minutes till beginning to soften. Add lentils, stock, tamari, and seasonings. Reduce heat to low. Cover, and cook, stirring from time to time, until lentils and vegetables are tender, ~45 minutes to 1 hour. Taste and adjust seasonings, if necessary.

Here's the CROCKPOT Method for reference:
1. Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add onion, cover and cook until softened, about 5 minutes; transfer to slow cooker.
2. Add vegetables, lentils, stock, tamari, and seasonings. Cover, and cook on low until lentils and vegetables are tender, 6 to 8 hours.

Calabacitas

Got some delicata squash and corn on the cob in our veggie box today. They sounded like a good combination so I googled it and found this: New Mexican Calabacitas (Squash and Corn saute)
Served it with steamed rice and corn tortillas with butter (cause I had both of them needing to be used up in the fridge).

Here's my version of the recipe:
Ingredients (6 servings)
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 leeks, chopped
2 small delicata squash, chopped into small cubes
2 ears of corn, kernels cut off
1 green chile pepper, chopped (I don't know what kind of pepper it was. We get a variety in our veggie box)
1 cup tomatoes, diced
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
4 cubes Trader Joe's frozen chopped cilantro
Garlic salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Mixed herbs, to taste (marjoram and lots of cumin)

Preparation
Heat oil in a large skillet and sauté the leeks and squash until softened (5-10 minutes). I added, garlic salt, pepper and about 1/4 c of water halfway through the cooking as the squash was starting to brown and stick to the pan. Add corn, green chile, and mixed herbs and sauté 5 minutes longer. Stir in the tomatoes, cilantro, and beans and heat through, about 3 minutes. Serve immediately.

Favorite Cookbooks

I used to be a huge fan of the Moosewood Cookbooks when I lived in California...but I rarely use them anymore.

These are my favorites these days:
From Asparagus to Zucchini: A Guide to Cooking Farm-Fresh Seasonal Produce - This came recommended by our farm and it has been a huge help with some great ideas, storage tips, etc. I use this the most.

Smith & Hawken: The Gardeners' Community Cookbook - I picked this up at Smith & Hawken several years ago. It has nice, simple, good recipes.

The Big Book of Vegetarian - I had a gift certificate to spend one day, and this book caught my eye. I came home and read it cover to cover. It's full of paper slips of all the recipes I (still) want to try.

and I don't know what I'd do without google. I love how you can get an idea in your head "fennel tomatoes" or "cauliflower brussel sprouts" and find a bunch of recipes that combine the ingredients you want to eat that night.

I've also really liked The Busy Person's Guide to Preserving Food. I have read it cover to cover too.

On my wishlist:
Local Flavors: Cooking and Eating from America's Farmers' Markets
Farmer John's Cookbook: The Real Dirt on Vegetables (this was also a great documentary!)
The Garden-Fresh Vegetable Cookbook
BALL Complete Book of Home Preserving
and I'd like a good dessert cookbook. Better Homes & Gardens is my old standby.

Beet Pesto

Our kids like beets! We get a LOT of beets in our veggie box. I give them to GG a lot of the time and she makes herself pickled beets. She has more time than us. They take so long to cook! But Jeff got home from work early today so he tackled a beet dinner.

We made this beet pesto about 10 years ago when we lived in Oakland and put it in homemade pasta for beet raviolis. We had more time back then. I still remember how good it was though.

Anyway, tonight Jeff made the pesto and stirred it into pasta. The kids and I got home just as he was pureeing it in the cuisinart. They looooved the color and wanted tastes. Emmett ate a ton of it and Clara really liked it too. I was so surprised. I knew they'd like the color and it does taste good...but it was beets! Kids aren't supposed to like beets are they? :-)

Beet Pesto
4 Fresh beets with greens
1/2 ts Salt + garlic salt
1 onion chopped
1 tsp dried roasted garlic (we've also used a stalk of green garlic
1 c Walnuts, toasted
3/4 of a lime
Pinch of red pepper flakes
Black pepper

Trim & wash beets. Leave 1″ stem, steam till tender (this took about 55 minutes...we had some biiiig beets). When beets are cooked, slip skins off under cool water & set aside. Remove leaves from stems & discard stems. Wash & dry leaves, chop coarsely. In a skillet, cook onions, pinch red pepper flakes & garlic in olive oil till softened. Add beet greens & cook 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a processor & puree with the cooked beets, cut into quarters. Add rest of ingredients & puree again, adding beet water if necessary (ours is pretty thick and pastey but "melts" over pasta). The pesto keeps refrigerated for 2 weeks or freezes. Stir into hot pasta and top with grated parmesan cheese.