Squash and Chocolate

Anyone who has ever had a garden and grown zucchini or summer squash knows that no matter how many plans you have for eating it straight from the garden, you will always have WAY TOO MANY. I gleefully planted about six squash plants this summer, hoping for zukes and yellow summer squash galore. Well, I got 'em. What I momentarily forgot is that I really don't love zucchini bread (at all), and you can only eat squash in so many ways before you start fantasizing about playing baseball with a homegrown bat in hand.

Early this summer I read the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, by Barbara Kingsolver. Easily my favorite non-fiction read this year. Hands down. In between the pages of her narrative describing how her family spent an entire year eating only local and homegrown goods (no processed foods, non-organic, or non-local sources), she also writes extensively about the food industry today, and basically how much we have been duped. Education brings enlightenment. We have spent the summer very happily not consuming any processed foods within our home. We are changing the way we eat and view meat and dairy, non-seasonal produce, imported goods, and of course, we cook and bake almost everything from scratch. 

This doesn't mean we can't eat cake. It simply changes what we use to make the cake. And how we think about vegetables. For instance, I want something sweet, but have a counter full of squash. Why not make the sweet with the squash? Light bulb!

I am not very good at making up recipes when it comes to baking (cooking is altogether easier, in my opinion), so thankfully the collaborating authors of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle already have what they refer to as a sweet "disappearing squash" recipe. I tried it, used one of my yellow summer squashes instead of a zuke and put it in a pan to make bars instead of cookies. It baked perfectly and is a huge hit!

Moist, savory, and much better for you than Betty Crocker's version (although eating a carrot is still much better for the body, obviously, but Lord knows sometimes we just need our chocolate!), I present to you the kids and husband approved squash chocolate chip cookie bars recipe, which you can also find here at the Animal, Vegetable, Miracle website, along with other seasonal recipes.

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies

(Makes about two dozen)

1 EGG, BEATEN

½ CUP BUTTER

softened

½ CUP BROWN SUGAR

1/3 CUP HONEY

1 TBSP. VANILLA EXTRACT

Combine in large bowl.

1 CUP WHITE FLOUR

1 CUP WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR

½ TSP BAKING SODA

¼ TSP SALT

¼ TSP CINNAMON

¼ TSP NUTMEG

Combine in a separate, small bowl and blend into liquid mixture

1 CUP FINELY SHREDDED ZUCCHINI

12 OZ CHOCOLATE CHIPS

Stir these into other ingredients, mix well. Drop by spoonful onto greased baking sheet, and flatten with the back of a spoon. Bake at 350°, 10 to 15 minutes.

Swimming in Kale

It's July. And my Kale just keeps on growing and growing and growing and growing.

We are eating it in salads, drinking it in smoothies, sneaking it into anything cooked, and packing the freezer with pureed cubes for the off season. My freezer is so stuffed with bagged green cubes and homemade granola, there is not much room left for anything else.

My friend shared this recipe with me for Kale burgers - which happen to be both vegetarian and vegan. I made them last night and they not only fit the bill perfectly for real food, but they were also surprisingly delicious!!!

Kale Burgers

INGREDIENTS

1 large bunch kale, well-washed and mostly dried

sea salt

1 large tomato, chopped

1 tablespoon almond butter or tahini

1/2 teaspoon garlic or 1 clove garlic

1/2 teaspoon coriander

cayenne to taste (if you like)

heaping 1/4 cup almond meal (I ground my own and ended up using much more than they said here)

heaping 1/4 cup flour

olive oil (I used coconut oil instead)

[1] Remove stems and chop kale into very thin ribbons; sprinkle with sea salt and gently massage; let rest 15 minutes. The kale will turn a bright green and soften. Meanwhile in a food processor or blender combine the tomato, tahini or almond butter, garlic and coriander. If your tomato is not super juicy, add a tablespoon or two of water.

[2] In a large saucepan heat a little oil. Add the kale and sauté for a minute; then add 1/2 cup or so of water and cover loosely. Let cook 5 to 8 minutes (the fresher the kale the shorter the cook time) until it’s just wilting but not totally limp. Transfer kale (leave behind any remaining water in the pan) to large bowl. Meanwhile mix the almond meal and flour in a small bowl. If desired, you could add a little cayenne to this mix too.

[3] After it cools enough to handle, add 2/3 of the kale to the blender with the tomato mixture and blend. You don’t want it to get too smooth; maybe pulse on and off for a minute or two. Transfer this blended mix back into the large bowl with the reserved kale and mix it all together, adding a couple of tablespoons of the flour/almond meal mix too. You should be able to make patties from this mix that hold together fairly well. If too wet, add more flour/almond meal; if too dry, drizzle in some olive oil or water. Form six burgers and coat each burger in the remaining flour/almond meal.

[4] Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat in a non-stick frying pan. Cook each burger for 4 minutes on each side, adding more oil if need be. They will get a nice crunchy outside with a hot, tasty middle. Serve and enjoy. (http://veggiegrettie.com/2011/03/18/kale-burger-guest-post/)

Here's how mine turned out, topped with goat cheese, real mustard, a tomato, avocado, and grilled onions and red pepper on a whole wheat bun. 

 Our vegan friends skipped the goat cheese, but they loved the burgers anyway!

 More kale burger love (and other kinds of love) going on at this side of the table...

I am loving finding new ways to prepare the food that we are growing. It makes cooking good food a lot more fun! 

Next up in the garden is zucchini and squash. Can't wait!

Rhubarb Craze

We inherited a huge patch of Rhubarb when we bought our house last summer. The previous owner of the home had lived in this old house for over 50 years before she passed away. At the closing of the house, her children told us that the Rhubarb patch was there when their parents first moved in. Since it takes a few years to become well established, that means that this Rhubarb patch is potentially 60 or more years old!

 In just a few short weeks, the ground went from a few shoots poking up from the ground to this wild Rhubarb jungle!

 My baby thought it was pretty hilarious to be standing in the middle of it all.

To harvest Rhubarb, (which by the way is a vegetable), you simply find a outer firm stem (no limp ones) and gently pull it away from the base of the plant.

The massive leaves are fun to play with, but they are also poisonous. Remove these and then you are ready to wash and chop up the stalks for freezing or cooking.

They also make good brooms. 

And flags.

One of my vivid childhood memories is of my mom harvesting Rhubarb from our (much smaller) patch and making the most delicious and savory Rhubarb tart. 

Turns out, I have A LOT of Rhubarb. And what better way to celebrate spring than with some Rhubarb tart and happy memories from a time of long past.

I realized much too late that it would have been to my advantage to bake this in a much more attractive dish. But for me, practicality many times wins over looks! (This pyrex has a lid!)

Mom's Rhubarb Tart

1 c. shortening (I always use real butter in place of shortening)

2 c. flour

1 egg beaten, add milk to make 1/2 c.

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

Mix ingredients together, add egg and milk and press dough into 9x13 pan.

Topping:

4 cups rhubarb cut up

2 c. sugar (it's a lot, I know, but you need it to counteract the rhubarb's tartness!)

2 Tbsp flour

3 eggs

Beat eggs, add rhubarb, sugar, and flour. Mix well. Pour into prepared pan (on top of the dough).

Bake at 350 F for 1 hour.

As a note, Rhubarb can be somewhat expensive to buy in the average grocery store (if they even carry it). The best thing to do is to ask around and find a neighbor or family member with a big patch in their yard, or plant some of your own. Rhubarb is a perennial, so it will continue to grow and come back every year (as long as the harvest the first year is minimal). Eric threw some Rhubarb in our smoothie this morning along with our garden spinach and kale. Delicious!