Food Revival

Wait, let me guess: You've got squash and eggplant coming in at full force, right? Tell me about it! Boy, do I have *the* recipe for you and the best part is this recipe should last all week and will take care of all that CSA bounty at once! Let me introduce my Roasted Veggie Farro Salad. I was inspired by two recipes: "Mediterranean Eggplant and Barley Salad" from Smitten Kitchen/Gourmet (RIP Gourmet) and "Orzo with Roasted Vegetables" by Barefoot Contessa.



Here's what I did (Be sure to read through the entire recipe so you can get your timing right):

FARRO (FAHR-oh):
1 1/2 cups Farro
2 1/2 cups of water
Salt (as much as you would use boiling pasta)
First, what is Farro? Well, depends on who you ask because I've seen it called a grain, a form of wheat, and a plant all of its own. According to my Food Lover's Companion: "Farro is an ancient cereal grain that belongs to the wheat family and dates as far back as 20,000 years. Farro has a dense chewy structure and a rich, nutty flavor. It can be used in pasta, bread, and for risotto-style dishes." I purchased my bag in the pasta section, so look there first. Place farro in a bowl, cover with water, and let soak for 8 hours (or overnight). Then, I just cooked it like i would pasta in a pot of salted water. Follow the instructions on the package as you want the farro to retain a bit of a bite. Once finished cooking, I drained the farro and set aside for later.

ROASTED VEGGIES:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees
1 1/2 lb eggplant, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3/4 lb zucchini/squash, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
Dice your eggplant and squash into 1/2- inch, thick chunks (make sure they are the same size). Toss in olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread veggies on a baking sheet and roast in the oven at 425 degrees for about 20-30 minutes (or so). I usually flip the veggies midway through the cooking process. Make sure your veggies are charred, yet tender and hold their shape!

Now it is assembling time:
SALAD INGREDIENTS:
1/2 lb cherry tomatoes, quartered (use local while you can)
1/3 cup Kalamata or other brine-cured black olives, pitted and halved
1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion, rinsed and drained if desired (I didn't, but you can if you want)
1/3 cup scallions (about 2-3; use white and green parts)
LOTS of feta cheese (cubed not crumbled)

DRESSING:    
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)
1/3 cup good olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Whisk to combine all ingredients

TO ASSEMBLE:
Add drained farro to large bowl. Add roasted veggies and any liquid bits from the pan to the farrro. Stir. Pour dressing over farro and veggies and let cool to room temperature. While your main ingredients are cooling, begin dicing up your salad ingredients: scallions, kalamata olives, tomatoes, and feta. Once at room temperature, toss ingredients with your farro/veggie mixture. Serve at room temperature!

I had this for lunch, supper, and as a snack all week. You are going to love it. Thank you Smitten Kitchen,  Barefoot Contessa, and my Jones Valley Urban Farm CSA bag for the inspiration this week!

I am always overjoyed when I catch a glimpse of okra in my Jones Valley Urban Farm CSA bag. Normally, you'll find me soaking those bad boys in some buttermilk, tossing them in a little flour and cornmeal, and frying them until golden brown and deliciously crisp! The truth is, we don't really need to be eating fried okra every week (No, we don't so don't even try to convince me otherwise). I recently found a recipe for "Roasted Okra" by Chef Scott Peacock and decided to give it a try. First, let's be clear: I abhor okra slime, which means you can imagine my hesitancy when buttermilk, cornmeal, and frying had to exit the cooking process. Nonetheless, I can assure you that this recipe was absolutely delicious and totally avoids the slime factor completely.

Cooking side note: If you are in a hurry, simply slice your okra in half, place on a sheet pan, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle some salt, and bake at 400 degrees for 5-7 minutes. Cooking time varies and depends on your oven and crisp preference. 

Roasted Okra
from "Making Southern Cuisine Healthful" by Chef Scott Peacock presented at University of Arizona Nutrition and Health Conference in Atlanta GA

½ pound okra
1 small (about 6 ounces) onion, preferably red
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 mint sprigs
Salt and freshly ground pepper 

Preheat the oven to 375° F.
Rinse the okra under cold running water, and drain.  Trim the tops off the okra by
removing the stems, but don’t cut the whole caps off.  Cut the onion in half from
stem to top, then again in thirds in the same direction. Put the okra, onion and
garlic onto a Silpat pad on a baking sheet, or on an oiled pan, and drizzle the olive
oil over them.  Tuck in the mint sprigs, sprinkle with ¾ teaspoon salt and freshly
ground pepper, toss all together lightly, and let the flavors mingle at least 20
minutes before roasting. 

Place in preheated oven to roast for 5-10 minutes.   Makes enough to serve 4. 

“Okra invariably is deep-fried where I come from – but roasting it makes it crisp yet tender, neither mushy nor slimy, and it takes only 5-10 minutes.” – Scott Peacock

Happy roasting, y'all!

I learned a lot this Summer and I'm still trying to figure out a way to tell y'all about it. Luckily, the Birmingham News did a great job summarizing one of our projects today and I want to share it with you. Click here to read the entire article:

What is so great about this story is that it illustrates how your relationships, community connections, and overall interest in making things better can make a HUGE difference in a child's life. I celebrate about all of my friends at East Lake Farmers Market and the East Lake Farmers who offered to source some of the snacks, Whole Foods Market's tomatoes, Jones Valley Urban Farm's Seed 2 Plate Field Trips, the Aletheia House Day Camp interns and program managers who were willing to take on fresh, local, and healthier snacks. Of course, there are too many people to name who helped make this program a success and I can't wait to see what we do next year! When a community unites and shares resources, expertise, passion, and care you can see true change. I think the "Kids Who Care" day camp is a perfect example of just that. 

There's plenty of work to be done, but let's not lose sight of stories like this one. It's important to know that there is hard work happening behind the scenes, there are success stories in all of our communities, and we have some deserving kids seeing possibilities of what *will* be our reality in the near future.  How exciting is that? 

As I've mentioned before, I am a member of a food-focused book club that meets once a month at East Lake United Methodist Church to discuss our chapters/lessons and break bread together thanks to Ms. Juanita's lunch specials. Our book club is a little different because we are using Menu for the Future is a six-session course exploring the connection between food and sustainability by the Northwest Earth Institute as our guide.

This week's chapter was all about identifying where our food comes from. As part of our homework, we were challenged to dissect one of our meals by asking the following questions: Where did the food come from? Where was it grown? Processed?

I must admit, I went into this challenge knowing I wasn't going to have a problem with this assignment one bit. After all, I regularly source my meals from my weekly Jones Valley Urban Farm CSA, Farmers Market finds, Wright Dairy group, and manage to score some veggies/fruits from my friends/family's gardens. All set, right? 

I decided to dissect my "Meatless Monday" supper (see photo):

1) Sliced Tomatoes:  Mr. Benson's (my Father-In-Law) garden

2) Salad:
Lettuce: Earthbound Farms (grocery store)
Broccoli Slaw: Taylor's Organic (grocery store)
Walnuts: Whole Foods Market 365 brand (grocery store)
Red Bell Pepper: (grocery store)
Cucumbers: Mr. Benson's garden
Shredded Cheese: Wright Dairy "Wanda" Cheese (Alexandria, AL)
Salad Dressing: Whole Foods Market Balsamic (grocery store)

3) Roasted Okra:
Okra: Mr Benny @East Lake Farmers Market + Jones Valley Urban Farm CSA
Onion: (grocery store)
Garlic: Garden
Mint: Garden
Olive Oil: (grocery store)

4) Peas:
Peas: Maple Valley in Sterrett, AL
Okra (seasoning): see earlier reference
Salt: (grocery store)

So as you can see, as intentional and locally-sourced this meal seems to be, I'm still left with EIGHT grocery store items and SEVEN locally-sourced items. Fascinating, right? Just goes to show how much we rely on ingredients that are processed and packaged across the country (and outside of the country).This isn't to say that buying from grocery stores is wrong, but instead this exercise should shine a light on how careful we need to be when purchasing our ingredients since we are so closely aligned to our mass production way of life. We've moved far away from the concept of knowing the person who grew, harvested, packaged, and sold the food that is on our plates. I guess finding a balance is the key.

I encourage each of you to take the same challenge over the next couple of weeks while our seasonal and delicious summer fruits/veggies are in abundance. Please comment either below this article or link us back to your website. This is just another way to become a little more aware of how we participate in this big, big world of ours. 

Happy Summer! 

If you haven't read my previous post about Maple Valley Nursery, go ahead and do that now. Seriously, I'll wait.

Okay, now that we are all caught up...I'd like to introduce CSA Challenge: Maple Valley- style and featuring guest and friend Mary Beth Burner ("MBB")! 

First, let's talk about how MBB and David Shaddix @ Maple Valley Nursery have lost their sweet minds. They decided to expand their gardens and when I say "expand" what I really mean is they decided to build gardens that would feed a small army. I'm not kidding. I kept seeing MBB's posts on facebook about "planted a gazillion tomato plants" and "phew, I'm tired" but I had NO idea what that truly meant. 

Here's a run down: Rows and rows of okra, cucumbers, peppers, carrots, peas, more peas, corn, herbs, asparagus, onions, leeks, arugula, and eggplant. Not kidding. And I'm sure I left some out. But here's the kicker: I personally witnessed 300+ tomato plants firmly planted in the ground - heirlooms, sungolds, romas, and more. See? I was NOT kidding when I said they've lost their minds. So just get ready, folks... Food Revival will be spending some quality time out at Maple Valley and documenting it all for you! 

Now, let me simply state on record right here (before you get to the pictures) that we got a *little* carried away with this CSA challenge. Specifically, we had too many potatoes and decided to make about...oh, THREE different potato dishes. Whoopsie daisy. The long and short of it is that our plates reflect our excitement for the approaching Summer harvest, future CSA challenges, and out tried-and-true Sunday Suppers. 

On the menu (CSA/Farmers Market/Maple Valley ingredient listed first):
Green Tomatoes (from A & P farms picked up from East Lake UMC Farmers Market Sat. Morning) = Lee Bros Fried Green Tomatoes
Turnips + Red Candy Onions (Jones Valley Urban Farm CSA) = Pioneer Woman's Turnip + Potato Gratin (3rd week in a row only because it is easy and a dish you can show off)
Strawberries (A&P Farm @East Lake Farmers Market + Maple Valley) = Strawberry Crostata
Blueberries (Maple Valley Nursery) = Blueberry Crostata
Tarragon + Parsley (Maple Valley Nursery) = Potato Salad
Kale + Swiss Chard (WE Community Gardens) = Ama's Marinated Greens
Purple Hull Peas (Maple Valley Nursery) = harvested last year and cooked to perfection yesterday!

Now for the "bonus" dishes that were "off the grid":
Ina's Buttermilk Cheddar Biscuits
Home Fries (just because)
Quinoa with roasted red bell pepper and goat cheese with a squeeze of lemon...
Rosemary Bread (just because)
Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

I might also add that we snacked on Maple Valley Nursery's Carrots pulled right from the ground.

I told you. We overdid it. We do solemnly swear to lighten it up a tad next time. For your sake (and our hips' sake). You can click on some of the links above for the recipes. Word on the street (okay, the farm) is that Maple Valley blueberries will be at Whole Foods Market in two weeks. Holla!

Happy Memorial Day, everyone! 

Been meaning to post my recipes for the CSA Challenge series...

CSA = turnips
I made an amazing potato/turnip gratin using my turnips from Jones Valley Urban Farm and some red potatoes I had left over. I followed the Pioneer Woman's Turnip Gratin recipe and it turned out fantastic. Rather than list my steps one by one, I'll just direct you to her site. You have to try this recipe. It is SO easy and absolutely delicious.

Swiss Chard + Onions = Lasagna
I've been on a lasagna kick these days. I use Barefoot Contessa's Turkey Lasagna recipe as an inspiration, but my sauce is pretty much all me. First, saute some diced onions and then add sweet Italian sausage. Once sausage is browned and onions are tender, I add a 28 oz can of whole tomatoes (I break up the tomatoes with my hand or spoon). Then I add some fresh basil, salt, pepper, garlic, and a little tomato paste. Towards the end of the cooking/simmering process (45 minutes or so), I add in some butter (yes, butter) and balsamic vinegar (for some sweetness). I let it all get to know each other and turn off the heat while I assemble the lasagna.

Basically, I pretty much follow Barefoot's guidelines at this point. Note to self: She knows her stuff, so let your noodles rest in hot water rather than cook them before assembling the lasagna. It's a smart move. Oh, and mixing goat cheese with ricotta is KEY – it gives the ricotta layer SO much flavor. I added swiss chard to the layering process (after I cooked it for 2-3 minutes in boiling, salted water and then shocked and squeezed until dry). Use good parmesan and good mozzarella.

CSA = Strawberries
Finally, I reinvented by infamous (okay, Ina's infamous) crostata to include some fresh strawberries (from Jones Valley Urban Farm). The result? Sweet and savory goodness. So easy to do and the best part? You can just add the fruits you have on hand or that are in season. Very fun.

So there's this week's CSA goodies. Looking forward to showing y'all another recipe over the weekend (Ama's marinated greens).

Have a great weekend, y'all!

This week marked a significant change in my overall energy and balance. Why? My Jones Valley Urban Farm 2010 CSA season kicked off. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture and I'm just going to copy and paste the definition here: "A CSA consists of a community of individuals who pledge support to a farm operation where the growers and consumers share the risks and benefits of food production. CSAs usually consist of a system of weekly delivery or pick-up of vegetables and fruit in a vegetable box scheme, sometimes including dairy products and meat."

I got in the habit of calling my Mom on the way home after picking up my CSA bag each week and tend to excitedly go over the details of what might be in the bag and how delicious the strawberries are and yadda yadda yadda. My mother said to me the other day, "Amanda, it sure doesn't take much to excite you!" Ha. She is absolutely right. I LOVE picking up my bag every Wednesday, taking it home, and digging through all of the veggies and spending time washing and prepping them for the week. I love it. Clearly, I have a "thing" for this farm food stuff. 

Last year, I started a tradition called "CSA Challenge." Basically, I take an ingredient found in my CSA bag and incorporate it in a recipe. Then I post the recipe and the step-by-step photos alongside it. Here's why: there comes a time in your CSA life and Farmers Market season where you get BURNED out on squash. Seriously. Frequent any farmers market during squash season you will immediately understand what I'm talking about. Well, sometimes you need a little menu inspiration, which is why I started the CSA Challenge series. 

Now that my first CSA bag is here (see photos below), I think I'll make a Turnip-Onion-Potato Gratin covered dish to take over to a friend's house tomorrow. I'll document and post the recipe later in the week. I hope you find this series helpful AND I hope you post some of your own favorite recipes featuring seasonal ingredients. 

And just to be clear, Jones Valley Urban Farm's 2010 CSA season is closed at this time, BUT... you can always reserve a spot for 2011: www.jvuf.org. Or, you can stop by their After Work Farm Stand on Wednesdays to buy directly from the farm from 4-6 pm.

I can't wait to get in the kitchen this season! Stay tuned...

Two months or so ago, my mom was in town visiting and helping me with all things wedding-related. Luckily, my Mama is so cool that she didn't blink an eye when I asked her to drop all things wedding and head with me to Cullman, Alabama to pick up 1/4 of a cow. A grass-fed, humanely-raised, and frozen 1/4 of a cow. In addition to reading all of my Food Revival posts and supporting me throughout all of my local food endeavors, my Mom also watched Food, Inc with me. As we drove down a long stretch of road  lined with cattle farms and chicken farms, my Mom gasped in amazement at all of the "Tyson" branded farms. All of a sudden she started quoting from the movie and snapping her fingers in z-like formation. Lawsy mercy, I was proud.

So, as we drove up Birdsong Community Farm's drive – I knew I had an ideal partner in crime (my Mama rocks the microphone). Okay, so out walks Joshua with bags of beef. Lots of it. My mom is still probably (deep down) wondering how in the heck we got here when we had hotel rooms to book, bags to stuff, and wedding details to finalize. Nonetheless, we spent some time with Josh as he walked us around some of their property and we talked about how to make availability a bit easier for us Birmingham city folks. Then we packed up our cooler(s) and headed an hour back to Birmingham to drop off equal parts to my split partners. I must admit, it was hard to figure out who gets what based on all of the different cuts, but it was all of our first time and we just figured it out as we went. 

Once home with my share, I immediately started mapping out the ways I would use it. Of course, I also had to keep in mind that there was NO need to eat THIS much red meat every week, so portion control was important too. The first dish happened to be spaghetti and I wasn't quite prepared for the strong taste of the beef. Once I got used to meat actually tasting like something, I was able to move forward with other dishes without getting completely freaked out.

Next dish? Lasagna with my ground beef and homemade pasta. Luckily, Mike and I received a homemade pasta maker as a wedding gift from said rockin' mama mentioned earlier in the post. Well, lookie here: A way to use the wedding gift and some of my newly purchased beef. Awesome. I followed the Pioneer Woman's pasta suggestions and even loosely based my homemade tomato sauce on the bolognese recipe posted after the pasta recipe.

And then today I made some Beef Stew with my stew meat from Birdsong Community Farm. The recipe was inspired by Barefoot Contessa's Parker's Beef Stew recipe.Of course, now that I'm getting used to this cooking thing, I am improvising and creating as I go. I need to start keeping better notes in 2010 so I can list the recipes that I come up with! And do you see that beautiful Le Creuset pot? Well that was a wedding gift from some amazing friends. I think 2010 will also be the year I try to incorporate my thoughtful gifts just as a note of thanks. Man, I'm happy. 

Enjoy!
xo,
A