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Recipes

chickpea lavash wraps

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Chickpea Lavash Wraps
For the chickpea spread
1-15 oz can of chickpeas, drained
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1/2 red onion, chopped
a few tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
2/3 cup plain yogurt
salt and pepper

For the cucumber-yogurt dressing
1 medium cucumber, diced or sliced
2/3 cup plain yogurt
1/2 lemon, zest and juice
1 clove garlic, diced or grated
salt and pepper

To assemble 
2 cups spinach
1 bell pepper, sliced
sriracha
2 pieces lavash bread
1 tablespoon butter

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In a food processor, chop up two-thirds of the chickpeas. Put in a medium bowl and add the rest of the chickpeas, lemon zest and juice, onion, parsley, and yogurt. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside. This spread can be made a day or more in advance. After sitting in the fridge for a day or so, the flavors melt together and it gets even better.

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In a small bowl, combine chopped cucumber, yogurt, lemon juice and zest,  garlic, salt and pepper. Stir to combine. This dressing can be made a day or more in advance as well.

To assemble, lay a lavash bread on the counter. Spoon some of the chickpea spread and some of the yogurt dressing onto the lavash. Add some sriracha for heat.  Add a handful of spinach and a few slices of bell pepper. Roll it all up like a burrito.

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In a saute pan, melt the butter over medium heat. When the butter is foaming, add the lavash wrap. Toast each side and serve.

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Categories
Recipes

pesto pasta salad

Last week I was lucky to attend an awesome blogging conference Alt Design Summit. It was fun and inspiring and I’m buried under a mountain of insanely cute business cards from all of my new bloggy friends. I’ll share more soon, but since I know you’re hungry, here is a recipe for a quick, easy and delicious pesto pasta salad.

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Pesto pasta is an old standby here. I make it about every other week in the summer when basil is in season and readily available. We usually have it for lunch over the course of a few days. It is fresh, flavorful and cheap. Plus you can through a little of whatever you’ve got lying around in it and it still turns out pretty good. I guess pesto just works miracles like that.

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Pesto Pasta Salad
For the pesto
1 bunch basil (we used a small bunch of basil and some arrugula which was a day or two past its prime)
1 lemon, zest and juice
1-2 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup nuts (pine nuts are the standard, but we’ve used pecans and walnuts also)
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 olive oil
salt and pepper

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In the bowl of a food processor combine basil, lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic nuts and parmesan. Pulse until you’ve got a coarse paste. Now turn the food processor on and drizzle olive oil in through the top hole until the pesto comes together and everything is chopped uniformly. Season with salt and pepper.

For the pasta salad
1 lb dry pasta
1 can whole pitted olives
8 oz mini mozzarella balls
1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in half
1 batch of pesto

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Bring a pot of water to boil. Salt it until it tastes like sea water. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain and rinse for a minute or two with cold water. Combine pasta, olives, mozzarella, tomatoes and pesto in a large bowl. Stir to combine. Serve at room temperature or cold.

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This pasta salad recipe is super flexible. You can add more veggies—blanched green beans are great, kidney beans or chick peas are a good way to make it heartier, marinated artichokes would be lovely too! Just remember that more sauce is better when you’re making a pasta that you’ll refrigerate and eat over a few days. Without enough sauce, the pasta will seem dry, bland and rather sad.

-Emily

Categories
Recipes

farro salad with asparagus, green beans, cucumber and parsley

If you’re feeling that particular need to eat something healthy and full of green stuff—as we often are after a good weekend—make this. It’s a riff on tabbouleh salad and you’ll feel better after eating it. Nothing like lots of veggies and whole grains to set you right. It also keeps well in the fridge so you can enjoy it for lunch the next day if you’re still feeling the need to detox.

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The key to avoiding a bland grain salad is lots and lots of lemon juice. Also be sure to season the water that you’re cooking the grains in – it should taste like sea water.  You could make this with any assortment of veggies you have on hand. It’s a very forgiving salad.

Farro Salad with Asparagus, Green Beans and Herbs
1 1/2 cups farro (we used Trader Joe’s 10 Minute Farro, which makes this a quick meal)
1 bunch parsley, chopped
1 shallot, diced
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1 cucumber, cut into 1/2″ cubes
1 cup asparagus, cut into 1″ pieces
1 cup green beans, cut into 1″ pieces
olive oil, salt and pepper
mixed greens
goat cheese, for serving

Cook the farro according to the package directions. In a large bowl, combine chopped parsley, shallot, lemon juice and zest and cucumber.

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Put a pot of salted water to boil. Blanche the asparagus and green beens for a few minutes, until just tender. Rinse with cold water to stop their cooking. Add them to the large bowl.

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Add the farro and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. Add more lemon juice if necessary. Make a bed of salad greens on a plate. Spoon some of farro salad on top of the greens. Top with a little goat cheese to serve. Enjoy!

farro-asparagus-beans-3-Emily

 

Categories
Randomness Uncategorized

our csa from eatwell farms

We’ve been a member of the Eatwell Farms Community Supported Agriculture program for several months now and we couldn’t be happier! The produce is amazing, the variety inspiring and we’ve been forced to experiment. So many great recipes have been born out of “tricky” ingredients. Another awesome thing about eating with the seasons is how excited we get about new produce as it comes into season. We haven’t had strawberries since last July and that makes the first spring strawberries absolutely amazing! Perfectly sweet-tart, a deep red all the way through, and they go bad in about a day – that’s how you know they’re the real deal.

In this week’s box we received: strawberries, navel oranges, marjoram, parsley, lemons, sugar snap peas, green garlic, spring onions, stir-fry mix, radishes and carrots. Yum!

If you are interested in joining a CSA, please visit Local Harvest to find one in your area.

Happy Spring!

-Emily

Categories
Recipes

easy noodle soup

This soup is satisfying and only takes about 30 minutes to make. If you have homemade stock, use it. The flavor of the broth is important to this soup since all the other ingredients take on that flavor. If you don’t have homemade stock, buy a flavorful chicken stock. Swanson’s Natural Goodness and Kitchen Basics are good bets.

Easy Noodle Soup

1 quart chicken stock, we used Jordan’s homemade stock. Lucky us!
1 cup mushrooms, quartered
1 cup broccoli floretts
1/2 cup baby carrots
8 oz udon noodles, or spaghetti if you don’t have udon
ginger, garlic, soy sauce, chili flake
Trader Joe’s pork dumplings, optional

Pour the stock into a large pot. Boil the stock. Add some grated ginger, sliced garlic and a pinch of chili flakes. Season the broth with soy sauce. Add the carrots.  Once the carrots have cooked for about 5 minutes, add the mushrooms and the pasta. Cook for another 5 – 7 minutes. Add the broccoli. Cook for about 3 minutes. Add the dumplings. Cook for another 2 – 3 minutes. Serve with a squeeze of lime juice and siracha if you like extra heat.

-Emily

Categories
Randomness

our csa from eatwell farms

As we described a couple of months ago, Jordan and I joined a CSA (community supported agriculture) group. We’ve been enjoying our boxes of super seasonal and fresh produce and trying new recipes like linguini with leeks and fresh ricotta and strawberry lemonade sorbet. Our farm is Eatwell Farms and I want to share the beautiful produce we just picked up!

This week we received: oregano, navel oranges, lemons, dandelion greens, chard, green garlic, leeks, pink lady apples, carrots, savoy cabbage, and sweet potatoes.

If you are interested in joining a CSA, visit LocalHarvest.org to find one in your area.

-Emily

Categories
Recipes

un wok

When I was living in Argentina – land of meat, meat, more meat and sausage – my host mom would often try and oblige my very un-Argentine desire to eat vegetables. One of her concoctions to meet my green-loving needs was a rice, vegetable and chicken dish she called “un wok”. I’m certain she called this dish a wok because it contained rice and was seasoned with soy sauce instead of table salt – it doesn’t get more Asian than that. I enjoyed it and its higher proportion of vegetables regardless.

Jordan and I made “un wok” last night using some leftover chicken, veggies from our CSA and of course, soy sauce and rice. Our adaptation of Josefina’s wok added a few additional seasonings, but was equal to hers in its vaguely asian quality.

Un Wok
1 cup leftover chicken, cubed or sliced
broccoli, sliced
carrots, sliced
green garlic, sliced (or regular garlic, minced)
white rice

For the sauce:
Mix some soy sauce, sriracha, sweet chili sauce, and fresh ginger together in a small bowl. We just guessed with this sauce and added a bit more of each ingredient until it tasted good. You can’t really mess up this pan-asian dressing.

In a saucepan, make rice according to package directions. In a sauté pan, sauté chicken in a little olive oil until it is warmed. Pour sauce over chicken and toss. Add vegetables and sauté a few more moments until al dente. Pour the saute over rice. Ta-da! Un wok!

-Emily

Categories
Randomness San Francisco

our csa box from eatwell farms

As we described a few weeks ago, Jordan and I joined a CSA (community supported agriculture) group. We’ve been enjoying our boxes of super seasonal and fresh produce and trying new recipes like pasta with kale and portobello, leek bread pudding and blood orange olive oil cake. Our farm is Eatwell Farms and I want to share the beautiful produce we just picked up!

This week we received: lemons, navel oranges, lettuce, parsley, broccoli, spring onions, collards, green garlic, carrots, pink lady apples and butternut squash.

Another awesome thing about receiving a CSA box that I didn’t expect is that it really motivates Jordan and I to plan ahead. We plan our week of meals and shop for additional ingredients on Sunday night, trying tofit each of these delicious edible pieces into our meal puzzle. This culinary problem solving has been really fun – it removes a lot of the I just got home from a long day at work and I have no idea what I’m eating tonight stress and we eat healthier because we’re planning dishes around vegetables. Win-win-win!

-Emily

Categories
Randomness

our csa box from eatwell farms

As we described a few weeks ago, Jordan and I joined a CSA (community supported agriculture) group. We’ve been enjoying our box of super seasonal and fresh produce and trying new recipes. Our farm is Eatwell Farms and I want to share the beautiful produce we just picked up!

This week we received: navel oranges, lettuce, stir-fry mix (kale, chard, other winter greens), romanesco, box choy, turnips, leeks, carrots, red beets, apples and butternut squash.

So pretty! So tasty! And, honestly, how adorable is that little group of leeks! I squealed when Jordan showed them to me and Willow came rushing over to see what the excitement was all about.

If you are interested in joining a CSA in your area please visit LocalHarvest.org.

-Emily

Categories
Randomness San Francisco

our csa box from eatwell farms

Jordan and I joined a CSA (community supported agriculture) group!  What does that mean exactly … It means we make a commitment to purchase a weekly box  of produce from a local farm, we get awesome, seasonal, picked-that-morning-produce, the majority of every dollar we spend goes directly to the people working hard to produce our food, and our money stays in our local economy. AWESOME!  Our farm is Eatwell Farms and I want to share the beautiful produce we just picked up!

This week we got: Mandarins, spinach, arugula, winter greens, savoy cabbage, celeriac, watermelon diakon, leeks, carrots, pink lady apples, and a half dozen fresh eggs.

WHAT BEAUTIFUL FOOD! (I may have gone a little crazy with the photos, but I couldn’t resist!)

Another awesome part about our CSA box … we don’t pick what we receive so we end up with ingredients that are new and unfamiliar (celeriac for example). Now, that’s fun in the kitchen!

If you are interested in joining a CSA in your area please visit LocalHarvest.org

-Emily