Spinach Bisque & Biscuit Topped Pot Pie

The Food Nanny
December 29&30, 2009 Meal 1: Spinach Bisque, Moroccan Meat/Cous Cous Loaves, Spiced Sweet Potato Wedges
• Warm the cous cous loaves and sweet potatoes gently at 325° until warm – maybe 20 minutes. Be careful to not dry them out. The meat loaves can be heated at 350° until hot – about 15 minutes.
• Warm the soup on the stovetop.

Meal 2: Biscuit Topped Vegetable Pot Pie and Escarole Salad
• Heat the pot pie in the oven at 350° until just bubbling, then unwrap and add the biscuit lid and cook for 5 minutes more. Serve.
• Dress and toss the salad.

There are reasons that meatloaf is an American classic.1)They are fast and easy 2)They are satisfying and economical 3)They are as eclectic and diverse as our country itself.

The meat or meatless loaf should be an important technique in your mental toolbox of culinary skill. It is the epitome of recipe free cooking. All you need to compose your loaves is: a body, a filler, a binder, and flavorings. In this week's offering local ground beef is the body, whole wheat cous cous is the filler, egg serves as a binder, and the flavors are composed of herbs, almonds, paprika, currants, cayenne, vinegar, and honey. The binder is sometimes optional with meatloaves as the meat binds pretty well to itself. It was however imperative with the vegetarian cous cous loaves.

So how can this translate to helping you on a busy night? Well, the body can be canned, fork mashed beans, leftover Chineese food rice is a great filler, bind with some cheese, crushed tortilla chips, or cornmeal, season with fresh cilantro, onion, and hot sauce, and there you go. pan fry or bake in the oven. Use a loaf pan if they are too soft to shape easily.

It doesnt matter if you are making a meatloaf from hamburg and Heinz 51 with hard boiled eggs tucked inside, 'pah-tay' with cognac and perigord truffles, or sweet potato and quinoa patties on cumin seed slaw. This is a go to technique to rounding out dinners and making use of what you already have on hand or leftover to get good food to yourself and family, fast.

Acorn Squash Spanikopita & Rigatoni with Chevre

The Food Nanny
December 22 & 23, 2009
Meal 1: Acorn Squash Apanikopita, Sweet Bulghur Salad, Roasted Hakuri Turnips and Sweet Potato
• Preheat the oven to 350. Unwrap the ‘kopita and transfer then to a baking tray. Bake at 350 until golden brown –about 15 minutes. Keep an eye on them, they round the doneness corner quickly.
• If there is room on the tray warm the roasted veg near the ‘kopita or warm it in the oven in a different vessel.
• Serve the bulghur at room temp.

Meal 2: Rigatoni w/ Chevre and Collards in Sun Dried Tomato Sauce, Whole Wheat Baguette, Spinach Salad
• Either: spread the cheese out over the top and warm the whole dish at 325 for 20+ minutes, or remove the cheese to another dish, and warm the pasta in a sauté pan with a little water. Stir to heat through and thicken the sauce. Serve and top with crumbles of the cheese (this is the better method).
• Warm the baguette.
• Dress and toss the salad.

Stir Fried Bok Choi & Black Bean Chile

The Food Nanny

December 15&16, 2009

Meal 1: Stir Fried Bok Choi, Fried Rice with Red Cabbage, BBQ Tofu

· Heat a sauté pan with a little oil and quickly heat the rice. Add a little water if necessary. Next heat the vegetables in the same manner.

· Heat the tofu in the oven until hot and a little crisp, but be careful to not burn it.

Meal 2: Black Bean Chili con Carne or Maize, Broa Rolls, Spinach Salad

· Heat the roll in the oven.

· Warm the chili in a sauce pot. You will need to add some water. Adjust the seasoning and the veg. chili is ready when hot. Allow the beef chili to simmer for 10 minutes or so.`

· Dress and toss the salad.The Food Nanny

Upon the cusp of seasons.
And, our cuisine can reflect it. Who wants ratatoiulle now? Roast up some pumpkin, bake some beans, pluck some frost sweetened spinach and kale from the cold frame and tuck into the best tucker of the year. As grateful as Washington was for the springtime arrival of our founding fish Alosa sapidissima at Valley Forge, and as important as the descent of the first fruits upon our palates at the summertime festival of Shavuot there is a reason that the great feastivals arrive in the late autumn. The rich, nourishing, savory harvests of meats, dairy, grain, fruits, and roots are in and we need to buffer ourselves with their nutrient gifts from the assails of the dark months to come. So gather round the hearth with wine, bread, and friends...food's roasting anyway.

The Food Nanny
December 8&9, 2009

Meal One: White Bean Florentine with Roasted Carrots, Pumpkin Seed Rolls and Fusilli with Roasted Red Pepper

• Warm the soup on the stovetop being careful to not let it sit hot for too long or the spinach with brown. Thin it with a little water if necessary.
• Serve the pasta at room temperature or lightly warmed in a saute pan with a little oil and a splash of water.
• Warm the roll in the oven.
• 
  Meal 2: Big Fat Burrito of Brown Rice, Red Beans, Chiles, Sweet Corn & Winter Squash with a Roasted KAle Salad
  Heat the burrito in the oven at 350 for 10 minutes until hot and tortilla is a little crisp.
  Dress and toss the salad.

I told you I wanted to get that kale out front, and a salad of sauteed leaves in a base of Blue Moon's frost kissed spinach seemed perfect. Some hard boiled eggs as a rich foil, and carrots for color.

In your quest to get good dinners on the table fast do not over look the salad/dinner. I was always disappointed as a youth when dinner was cottage cheese with mandarin oranges. "This is a salad, not a dinner!" I lamented to myself. Nonetheless combining the right types of items can help you whip together a greatmeal in no time from whatever you already have. Generally you need:

1. A base: fresh greens, shredded cabbage, noodles - whatever you have.

2. A key player of conrasting texture: kale, apples, cooked beets, roasted radishes, etc.

3. Something rich: egg, bacon or other meat, beans ( rinsed) -French lentils are one of the best- or all of the above. Hey even cottage cheese is good here!

4.Garnish: something bright, also herbs are welcome, so are crutons.

Remember, good cooking is like jazz: know the fundamentals and then improvise.

We're growing!

Yes, big can be be beautiful, and in the kitchen I have an acquired affinity for big. Big slabs of meat, big quantities of onions and potatoes, big honkin' squash that call for serious strength and care to butcher safely, and yes big cookwear that lets us ensure that your ingredients are prepared in the technique that best suits their flavor, nutrition and exceptional initial quality.

I thought that the piece de resistance of the stew was the kale. Sauteed and added at the end it was positively sugary. Just great great food here. I hope to really feature it next week.

Oh, and those carrots from Blue Moon... I think they are my fall favorite. Taste them and remember what carrots can be. Buy as many as you can and keep them in a spare fridge if you have one. A big tupperware works great. They will last months. I got 200#.

Winter Squash-Poblano Tamales & Black Eyed Pea Stew

The Food Nanny
December 1&2, 2009

Meal 1: Winter Squash-Poblano Tamales, Brown Rice & Sunflower Seed Salad, Baked Red Beans

• Warm the beans stovetop, oven or microwave.
• Serve the rice at room temperature or lightly warmed in a saute pan with a littl oil and splash of water.
• Place the tamales in a steamer insert for a sauce pan and steam for 5 minutes. They also reheat well in a microwave. Also, if need be place some water, and a bowl in a sauce pot. Place a dish atop the bowl. Allow the water to boil and place the tamales on teh dish in the pan. Cover and allow to steam for 5 minutes. All the imporve steamer to cool before disassembling it to clean.

Meal 2: Black Eyed Pea Stew with Sauteed Kale, Buttermilk Cornbread and Braised Turnips

• Heat the turnips of the stovetop. Add a little water if necessary. Transfer to a serving dish and heat the stew in teh same pot if you like fewer dishes to wash.
• Warm the cornbread in teh oven 5-10 minutes.

Glass Noodles & Mini Meat or Sweet Potato Loaves

• The Food Nanny
  November 17 & 18

Meal 1: Glass Noodles with Bok Choi and Egg, Tofu-Wakame Miso Soup, Fresh Kimchi Salad
Heat the soup on the stove top but do not allow it to boil.

Serve the kimchi cold.

Serve the noodles at room temperature or warm them gently in a saute pan with a splash of water, or try the microwave. Only just to warm them.

Meal 2: Mini Meat or Sweet Potato Loaves, Roasted Fall Vegetable Melange, Pumkin Custard
Heat loaves and veggies in the oven at 350 until hot and just sizzling- about 15 minutes or use a microwave.

Serve the custard chilled or warm very gently in the oven for 5-10 minutes. Spoil yourself with a dollop of whipped cream on top.

Local Notes:

Bok Choi is just a gorgeous, supple, sexy, food. All curves and succulence. Hunnerwasser said that the straight line is death and the choi certainly epitomized nature's propensity to avoid the straight line. I apologise for not using more of it this autumn. Bok choi and other brassicas can be grown in the spring, but they really come into their own during the fall months. They are best cooked quickly as they were cultured to fit into the fuel deficient wok cuisines of their native lands.

The pumpkin custard was made from a variety call Jarredale and I think it is a new favorite. It is wider at the top than bottom, has a blue smooth skin, and thick, bright yellow/orange flesh that roasts down sweet and very fine in texture. It purees into silk making it ideal for pie use. Their yield is good in relation to their size unlike blue hubbards which are hazardous to butcher ( yes I would describe cutting and cleaning squash as butchering) because otheir density size and shape, ungainly in the roasting dish, and relatively thin walled with a large seed cavity.

To make your own own pumpkin pie this holiday season just split, seed, and roast a pie type pumpkin or even a butternut squash. Roast it by placing it cut face down on a sheet tray with a little water in it and placing in a +400 degree oven until the squash meat is tender ( poke the skin with your finger, its Ok to get burned a little as this will make you a tougher cook.) The skin and flesh undeneath should yield easily to the touch. This takes 1-2 hours.

Cool the squash a little and then scrape the meat out and puree it. 1.5 c squash puree + 1c half and half + 3 eggs & 1 yolk =one 9"pumpkin pie. Season the pumpkin puree as you like before adding the custard ingredients. I use just enough sugar to bring the pumpkin flavor out, plus a little nutmeg, cinnamon, white pepper, and some booze like vanilla bean infused bourbon. Do this all to taste but be sparing. Taste the pumpkin, not the addatives. Taste often and adjust as you make this. Yur pie will taste just like your final version of the custard mix.

The Food Nanny
November 10&11, 2009

Meal 1: Split Pea Soup, Pumpkin and Sunflower Seed Whole Wheat Roll, Spinach-Potato Quiche

Heat the soup on the stove top and add a little water to thin it.
Warm the quiches gently in the oven at 350° for 10-15 minutes.
Or enjoy at room temperature.
Warm the roll along with the quiche.

Meal 2: Cauliflower in Yoghurt Curry, Dal Makhani, Vegetable Biryani

• Heat the curry and the dal on the stove top or in a microwave.
• Heat the rice by quickly sauteeing it in a little bit of oil, add a splash of water to steam through.
• Serve the two main dishes atop the rice.

How thankful we all should be for this foodshed that supports us.
For example, I began a recipe for salt and air curing of a whole ham. In the recipe it reads:" If you have access to unique or organically raised hogs, we highly recommend you try this." Well Hell's Bells! How fortunate I am to be able to readily tke them up on their recommendation. Or you for that matter. Anyone started a guanciale yet?
More interesting however, the authors of Charcuterie note that provided with a little care, the quality of this product rests entirely in the initial quality of the meat and fat. Moreover, that quality is directly derived from the care affored the animal by way of its environment, diet, and age.
How fortunte we all are here.
I have grown accustomed to the availability of the extraordinary produce that we all so enjoy in our community. And, shame on me. It doesn't happen by fortune, or entitlement, or even providence, thought that has its role. It happens through damn hard work and sacrifice. It happens though support. And it happens though dilligence. That these factors are at play, and that we can actively participate in them is something for which to be thankful too because it allows us access to something we desperetly need in America: a healthy and viable food culture.
I am grateful for the work I have and for the support of our members. I feel privledged to spend my efforts procuring and preparing meals from the very best of each season for you. It is a position of trust and care. It is a relationship. I feel proud to know that this community supported kitchen is the first and only one of its kind in the country, so far. I believe we are doing something good. And you, members and supporters, are part of it and should be proud of that too. Our little CSK spends a good bit each week within our local economy, and we all know what positivity that has. Right, Dr. Enshayan ?
So, thank you growers. Thank you members. Thank you Urbana-Champaign, our place.

Sweet Potato & Plantain Soup, Adobo Black Beans, Cuban Pork or Vegetable Fried Rice

• Heat the soup up stovetop and add a little water to thin it.
• Heat the beans on the stove top too, or in the microwave.
• Heat the rice by quickly sauteing it in a little oil. Add a slpash of water to steam it through.

Tri-Color Spirals With Spinach, Roasted Reds & Roasted Garlic Cloves, Whole Wheat Baguette, & Blue Moon Mixed Greens.

• Warm the bread in the oven.
• Heat several T of olive oil gently in a pan. Don't be stingy! When medium hot but not smoking add the noodlesand stir to coat and warm them.Next add the vegetables and stir all to combine and heat through. Do all this on no more than medium high heat.
• Dress the salad and serve.

Deep Dish Pizza & Root Vegetable Pan Roast

The Food Nanny
October27 &28, 2009
Meal 1: Deep Dish Pizza with Spinach and Sun Dried Tomato, Lentil Soup, Apple & Fennel Salad
· Heat the soup on the stove top and add a little water to thin it if necessary.
· Heat the pizza at 350° until hot and the cheese on top has melted.
· Serve the salad chilled.

Meal 2: Baby Lima Bean and Root Vegetable Pan Roast with Kale, Portuguese Broa, Mixed Greens
· Warm the pan roast on the stove top. You will need to thin it to the consistency of a stew. Adjust the seasoning.
· Warm the broa ( Portuguese corn bread) in the oven.
· Dress the salad and serve.

What the hell is a Pan Roast?

So, this week's menu. Comfort food anyone? I'm telling you, 20 weeks of damp or freezing overcast days makes our university one productive research institution. Still, even if you do pass all day comfortably cloisterd in well insulated and flourescently illuminated confines, you can still feel the weathertone of the day. And it makes you want soup.

With bread too please.

Pan roasting is just a quick stove-top stew and it is an indespensible technique for whipping up hearty fare fast. The key lies in preparation and improvisation. Pan roasting best utilizes ingredients that are ready to use or cook through fast-ish. For example, one of me favorite ingredients for this purpose, as Meal Two implies is a large bean like a lima, or butter bean, or what have you. If you have some cooked off ( a great habit to get into on Sunday afternoons), or a can at the ready, or perhaps some leftover 15 bean soup, this can be the anchor around which you frame your pan roast.

On the contrary, avoid lamb shank for example, unless you happen to have some already cooked off, in which case, lucky you. Please call me over for dinner.

In any case, good anchor ingredient is a rich protien with its own hearty broth.

Next grab what ever you have for mire poix: carrots, potato, leek, turnip, celery root, kohlrabi, etc. and prepare it into sizes that will cook relatively quickly. Saute them in a hot pan, in stir-fry sized batches to quickly carmelize them nicely - this is the roasting part- Then recombine the pan roasted vegetables in the pan( if necessary) and add the feature ingredient and some brothy liquid to quickly simmmer the dish together. Add some garnish like fresh kale and there you go.

But again, the key is to prepare ahead and to improvise. Don't think on Sunday afternoon "Today I will make beans for 6 portions of Thursday's pan roast dinner..."

think instead:"I'll make a pot of black beans today because I love 'em and you can use 'em 100 ways, however you feel this week, and whatever comes up!" Then, on dreary Thursday evening, before your comittee meeting, and after picking up the kids from gympastics and play practice respectively, make some black bean and sweet corn pan roast with diced leftover chicken.

For the record the best f=ing panroast is: bacon (suprise), then onion and garlic, then, diced potato, then sweet corn, then cockles or cherrystone clams or mussels, and then heavy cream. Garnish with fresh herbs, chives if you have them. Eat it and weep.

Guanciale

This is one of the few recipes I will ever post. Not because I am a jerk, but because I believe most home cooking should be based on what you have and a technique that works, not upon a recipe from a book that looks great but requires running three errands to complete. Guanciale is in itself a great recipe replacer. If you have some on hand - an easy enough thing to do- then you can always start there when you get home from work and have hungry birds to feed. Just gently fry it in some olive oil, add onions and garlic and whatever else you have on hand for a great meal. With tomato product it becomes pasta or pizza sauce. With carrots, celery root and leftover Lima beans it becomes stew. With potatoes, kale, and eggs it becomes a great frittata. Guanciale, and pork fat in general is the great bridge between 'good' and totally satiating. Ok enough talk already.
SPICE RUB
1 pigs jowl - rinsed and patted dry.
2.5g juniper berries
5g fennel seed
2 bay leaves
5g black peppercorns
3-6 dried sage leaves
1/2 star anise
VERY gently toast the above except the sage. Cool, add the sage and grind. Contrary to popular belief spices should NOT SMOKE when toasting. Smoke is disappearing flavor compounds!
GARLIC PASTE
10g red chili or flakes
4 garlic cloves Crush the garlic.
Mix in the chili flakes or crush in the garlic, we love the mortar and pestle for this.
Now, rub the spices into the jowl, then smear the garlic paste over it smoothly. Layer a bed of sea or kosher salt in a non-reactive dish (stainless or glass is good) and place the seasoned jowl into it. Cover with more salt. It should look like it is buried in a good 3"-4" snow fall (not literally 3-4" of salt). Cover with plastic with a few vent holes and refrigerate for 20 days. Mark the finish date on the container so you know when to pull it from the salt. This, aside from the salt, is the only really critical direction I've given you so far. After 20 days, exhume and brush and/or lightly rinse off the excess salt, gently pat dry preserving as much of the spice coating as possible. Now you can either hang the jowl for a month in a cool dark place with a light parchment paper or cheesecloth shroud or transfer to a wire rack over a pan, lightly draped with vented parchment or plastic and back into the fridge for 30 days. An auxiliary fridge that runs at about 50 degrees F is great for this. Give it a try, there is so much salt involved that the process is fairly foolproof and jowls are small so if you do mess up your losses are minimal. It could be a whole ham right! To use just cut off a strip like bacon, dice or chop the strip into pieces, fry gently in a little oil and off you go.

Stir Fried Broccoli & Pumpkin Enchiladas

The Food Nanny
October21 &22, 2009
Meal 1: Pan Fried Noodles with Stirfried Broccoli and Tofu or Pork, Sesame Green Beans
· Serve the green beans at room temp, or sauté them quickly to warm.
· Rinse the noodles in a colander and drain VERY well. Heat some oil in a sauté pan. Non-stick is ok. When hot, carefully add the noodles. They will spatter and attempt to misbehave but don’t show them your fear. Stir for a minute or two. Add the vegetables and toss. Cook 2 more minutes and serve.

Meal 2: Pumpkin Enchiladas with Anaheim Chile Salsa Verde, Black Bean Soup, and Cumin Cole Slaw.
· Heat the enchiladas in the oven at 350 for 15-20 minutes.
· Heat the soup on the stove top and serve the slaw chilled. Please salt the slaw as we omitted this to prevent wateriness.

El Calabasa - that is my bandito name. I just love to roast pumpkin and squash for use in Mexican cuisine. My trick is to carefully pan roast the pieces in batches to give them some carmelization and to then transfer them to a baking sheet and finishing them in the oven.

The sauce was a simple mixture or onions, garlic, herbs, and some green anaheims sauteed and then simmered with some water to soften and then pureed in batches. Really very good. To avoid too much heat simply cut the flesh away from the seeds and seed membrane. If you desire the fire, include it.

Vegetable Pot Pie & Carrot Fennel Soup

The Food Nanny
October 14&15, 2009
Meal 1: Vegetable Pot Pie, Mixed Greens, Grilled Broccoli
· Place the pt pie on a baking tray. Heat it at 350° for 20+ minutes or until a little more deeply browned and bubbly.
· Serve the broccoli at room temp or quickly heat it in a sauté pan with a little oil. Add a splash or water to steam everything through.
· Dress the salad and serve.


Meal 2: Carrot & Fennel Soup, Focaccia, Penne with Red Onion, Peppers, and Roasted Garlic
· Heat the soup to a simmer on the stovetop.
· Warm the focaccia in the oven for about 5 minutes
· Serve the penne at room temp or warm in the oven for 5-10 minutes.You can also warm it in a pan with a little oil and then a splash of water.

Hand Made Manicotti & White Bean Chili Verde

The Food Nanny
October 6&7,2009 Meal 1: Hand Made Manicotti with Roasted Eggplant, Red Pepper, Fennel & Chevre, Mini Peasant Boule, Mixed Greens
· Heat the manicotti in the oven at 350° until bubbly- 15-20 minutes.
· Warm the boule. Dress the salad and serve.
Meal 2: White Bean Chili Verde, Cornbread Squares, Roasted Acorn Squash
· Thin the chili with a little water and check the seasoning and heat in a sauce pan. If you like serve with yogurt or sour cream.
· Warm the squash in the oven for 10 -15 minutes at 350°. Dress it with butter and some maple syrup as a treat.
· Warm the cornbread for about 5 minutes.

Empanadas & Stewed Chic Peas and Eggplant

The Food Nanny
September 29&30, 2009 Meal 1: Sweet Corn & Butternut Empanadas, Spanish Rice Salad, Refried Beans
· Transfer to a cookie sheet and heat the Empanadas at 350° for 10-15 minutes or until hot and a little more deeply browned.
· Heat the refried beans in a saucepan, thin them out with a little water first though.
· Serve the rice at room temp or quickly heat it in a sauté pan with a little oil. Add a splash or water to steam everything through.
Meal 2: Stewed Chic Peas and Eggplant, Roasted Leek, Chevre,& Red Pepper Fougasse, Mixed Greens
· Heat the stew to a simmer on the stovetop.
· Warm the fougasse at 350° in the oven for about 10 minutes
· Dress the greens and serve beside the entrée.

Vegetable Lasagna & Equinox Stew

The Food Nanny
September 22&23, 2009
Meal 1: Vegetable Lasagna with Tomato-Pesto Sauce, Whole Wheat Baguette, Blue Moon Mixed Greens
· Heat the lasagna by putting the baking dish in the oven at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until just bubbly.
· Warm the bread in the oven too, for about 5 minutes.
· Dress the greens and serve beside the entrée.

Meal 2: Autumnal Equinox Stew, L’Shana Tova Rolls, Apple Crisp
· Heat the stew to a simmer on the stove top.
· Warm the roll. To treat yourself, slice or tear it spread the pieces with butter and a drizzle of honey.
· During dinner warm the crisp at 325° for about 20 minutes

Big Fat Burritos & Curried Eggplant

The Food Nanny
September 15 & 16, 2009
Meal 1: Big Fat Burritos, Cucumber Gazpacho, Blue Moon Mix
· Unwrap the burrito and place in on a sheet tray. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes, or until hot. You can probably nuke these too…
· Dress the salad and serve the soup chilled. Meal 2: Curried Eggplant with Tomato, Grilled Flatbreads, Rice and Lentil Salad
· Warm the breads in the oven or by toasting them in a dry pan.
· Heat the curry in a microwave, on the stovetop, or even by putting the baking dish in the oven at 350° for 10-15 or until just bubbly.
· Serve the rice/lentils at room temp or heat them in a pan with a little oil, and then a dash of water.

Technique: Great Green Goodness
Gazpacho. What exactly is it? Well, if I was a Mexican raider a la "The Magnificent Seven" (btw, I totally recommend skipping this film and going straight to Kurasawa's masterpiece), or even "The Three Amigo's" for that matter, I would like the moniker 'Gazpacho.' Perhaps 'Gazpacho the Gringo' or 'Gazpacho the Green' or simply ' El Gazpacho' if you prefer the whole brevity thing.
Anyway, I see a gazpacho as a chilled soup based on a fruit puree. Yes, tomatoes and cucumbers are fruit. Garden fruit I call them, but fruit, botanically, they are. Also melon makes an alluring gazpacho as I have described before.
The fruit puree is then studded with diced and minced ingredients, seasoned well, and garnished with herbs. It is important to think of complementing flavors and textures as this soup is the perfect stage for both. The soup is silky, so diced crunchy items stand out. For this reason, cucumber is one of my favorite ingredients for a classic tomato gazpacho. In this case I decided to turn the idea on its head and build the soup around the cukes highlighted with sweet red pepper and some yellow heirloom tomato. Two important additions: a little heat from fresh chiles, and fresh herbs. Parsley and cilantro are great together in this soup. I like to not pass over an opportunity to play these flavor cards together.
Finally, the real techniquie I'd like to discuss however is the stock for this soup. In homage to the James Beard quote on this blog we've made a lot of stock from the corn cobs produced by cooking with and putting up the quantities of corn this summer. The sweet stock is good on its own, but to stack some flavor points I brought some to a boil and then plunged in all the cucumber peelings, trim, and scraped seeds created when cleaning them before pureeing.
This was then allowed to steep with no heat for about 1/2 hour, then strained and chilled overnight. I did not simmer the additions because the flavor I sought is delicate, and heat not only destroys some flavors, it brings out/creates some bitter ones, and as we all know, cukes can have a bitter aspect, so I acted with precaution and yielded a useful cucumber liquor for your soup. It is not only this idea that I recommend, but also the philosophy of frugality, utility, and thrift. Don't just cook like a cook. Think like a cook.

Korean Pancakes & Penne Arribiatta

The Food Nanny
September 8 &9, 2009
Meal 1: Korean Pancakes and Assorted Namul, BBQ Tofu, & Soba with Fresh Edamame
· Remove the tofu to an ovenproof dish and bake at 350 until hot.
· Warm pancakes in a dry nonstick pan or in a microwave. Serve the namul chilled and use the pancakes to make little ‘tacos’ with the fillings and tofu.
· Serve the noodle salad chilled.

Meal 2: Penne Arribiatta with Meatballs or Grilled Eggplant, Camembert Breadsticks, Mixed Greens
· Serve the bean salad at room temp but do season with salt as we omitted it to prevent to tomatoes from disintegrating.
· Warm the Penne as well as breadsticks in oven at 350. Cover the penne with some foil and give the 15-20 minutes. Then remove the foil and add the breadsticks for the last 5. The cheese on the breadsticks is from Prairie Fruits goatsmilk.
Local Notes:
Green is my favorite color, and those edamame reset the bar. Check that GREEN out, man! Look out for your own this weekend at the market. Buy more than you expect to use and plunge them into boiling salted waterfor a solid 4 minutes. Check for doneness by picking one out of the seething boullion and popping a bean from its pod and eating it. It should not taste starchy and raw. When they are done plunge them into cold water then drain and freeze. So dig that! - your own locally grown edamame treat full of nutritiuon and umami just sitting at your behest awaiting need or desire.
I also want to encourage you to get some ground pork for the Moore's ( they are in the South West corner of the market.) This is an overlooked item that is very versatile and a quick meal 'solution' type item. The 1# packs thaw quickly in warn running water or thrown in the sink in the AM while dashing out. Just pull it and figure what you'll do with it later. We use ours to make meatballs for pasta and sauce (surprise), chili, taco filling, pizza topping, pan fried noodles, meatloaf, burgers, and best of all: morning sausage patties great with pancakes or in an bagel egg sandwich. Seriously, get a bunch. Buy 10 for a great price break.

Technique:Making Hay
...while the sun is shining is the trick, and right now we are past the apogee of this year's garden fruit harvest. So, if your don't do it now you will miss the opportunity to can, freeze, dry, cure or otherwise preserve the tomatoes, summer squash, egglant, beans, corn, warm season crops etc. of 2009. Yes, this point has arived sooner than is typical. I told you it was a bad year; like grapes.
We here at Food Nanny are getting ready to put up for the season. Our first big Blue Moon Order arrived today. Thanks, and lots of love Jon! In essence we are purchasing, in advance, the food that you and your families are going to be eating this coming Autumn, Winter, and Spring. I am not employing hyperbole. We will likely buy a half ton of food in the next three weeks. Bring on the peppers, eggplant, and tomato! Put up potatoes, turnips, carrots, cabbages, onions, and garlic! Nothing but the best will do! Am I wrong?!?
Investing the coming labor and cost is the best example of what I see as our comittment to you our members and it's how we succeed at supplying you with outstanding local food during those seasons. This act is not only practical from our standpoint, but it is symbolic of our relationship based approach to this business. We invest for you now and ask for a return investment in the viability of our business over the coming seasons. Its a part of why we offer, and I ask more of you to consider the Academic Calendar Comittment Plan. If we know we can count on you, then we can guard the risk we take in spending capitol now to cover menues to come, plus it offers you a discount in exchange for your word, 'cause we know time are tight.
If we didn't do all this advance purchasing one item you would not be seeing this winter is roasted red pepper. Ever see what a jar of these go for ? Well you can can that idea. Here's the best way to preserve red pepper:
1)Buy fresh red peppers at the market.
2)Fire up a grill and cook them on a side untill charred and blistered ( don't get too carried away). Rotate them to a new side until they are cooked evenly in this way.
3)Transfer the ashen phoenexes to a cookie tray. If you layer them divide the layers with freezer paper or similar.
4) When cooked, immerse the whole tray into your freezer overnight.
5) Now transfer the frozed, charred peppers to zipper bags - job done.
When you want to use them simply run tepid water over the frozed pepper and rub the skin right off. Its like magic compared to peeling freshly roasted peppers. Use them on pizza, in salad, as antipasto, for soups, sauces/coulis, in chili....
I think the above is the best 'kitchen tip' I know. Use it well.

Eggplant Stirfry & Sweet Corn and Sheep Milk Crepes

The Food Nanny
September 1&2, 2009
Meal 1: Chinese Eggplant with Ginger-Garlic Sauce, Cucumber Soup, Trio of Rices
· The soup may be warmed or served chilled.
· Warm the rice in the microwave, or in a sauté pan with a little oil. The rices are Basmati, short grain brown and Japanese black rice.
· For the stir fry: Heat some oil in a pan until it is almost smoking hot. Drain off any excess liquid in the veggie container and carefully tip the veggies into the pan. Stir and cook for a minute or two. Shake the sauce vigorously and then pour it into the pan with the veggies and stir to coat. Allow the sauce to simmer and thicken for 1-2 minutes. You may need to add a little water to allow the eggplant the minute or so it needs to braise in the sauce and completely cook.

Meal 2: Sweet Corn and Sheep’s Milk Cheese Crepes, Ratatouille Casserole, Chick Pea Salad
· Serve the bean salad at room temp but do season with salt as we omitted it to prevent to tomatoes from disintegrating.
· Warm the crepes and the ratatouille in the oven for 10 -15 minutes at 350.

Heirloom Tomato Galettes & Two Sisters Soup

The Food Nanny
August 25 & 26, 2009 Meal 1: Heirloom Tomato Galettes, Sicilian Grilled Eggplant, and Cucumber & Fava Bean Salad
· Warm the galettes in the oven at 350° until hot – about 10 minutes.
· Heat the eggplant by toasting it in a dry sauté pan on both sides for a few minutes, or warm them in the oven too. Be careful to not burn them and their delicate seasonings.
· Season the cucumber salad with some salt. We omitted this to prevent wateriness. Serve chilled.

Meal 2: ‘Two Sisters’ Soup, Anaheim Chiles Stuffed with Sweet Corn Masa, and Soybean & Barley Succotash
· Heat the soup on the stovetop or microwave. FYI it is dairy free.
· Remove the chiles carefully from their dish and transfer the succotash to a serving bowl. Season with salt as we omitted it to help prevent the tomato from leaching all its water. Replace the chiles in the dish and heat them in the oven at 350° for 15 to 20 minutes or until hot.

Local Notes

The chiles have arrived in their spicy and green forms with a smattering of reds. Hopefully that shall become a tumble, although this is a notorious year for the warm season crops like chiles, tomato, melon, etc. That being said I just got some gorgeous zucchini from Blue Moon, the eggplants for the Sicilian slices were absolutely perfect, and the tomatoes for the galettes were a sight to behold. I must confess that one of my true delights in being a professional cook is beholding food in quantity: a pile of heirloom tomatoes, logs covered in mushrooms, boxes of red peppers, bushels of corn, bellies of pork. It is one of the privledges of the position; but, mama's, don't let your babies grow up to be line cooks.

P.S. If you haven't treated yourself to one of the Moore's melons you have yet to bite into summer.

Technique

The Two Sisters soup is derived from the Three Sisters Garden of Native American iconography. The two featured sisters are squash ( yellow summer squash) and corn. Sweet corn is one of the great gifts of summertime. We just recently purchased 16 dozens for your Food Nanny shares this winter. Freezing is a great way to preserve this crop and the results are far superior to that of any supermarket variety. Furthermore the task is NOT labor intensive because the corn is so fresh that you do not have to blanch the kernels. All you need to do is this:

1)Husk the corn and cut the kernels from the cob with a chef knife.

2)Tip the kernels into a ziplock bag and freeze.

Thats it. Now get cobbing!

Zucchini Latkes & Hand Made Ravioli

The Food Nanny
August4&5, 2009
Meal 1: Zucchini Latkes, Baby Lima Beans with Sweet Corn, Green Bean Almond Salad
· Move the latkes to a sheet tray if there are more than 3 in your pyrex and oven heat them at 350 for 10 minutes or until hot.
· Serve both salads at room temp.
· The latkes are nice topped with a little yogurt or sour cream if you like.

Meal 2: Chevre and Collard Ravioli, Fresh Tomato Sauce & Mixed Greens
· Empty the sauce from the jar to a sauce pot. Rinse the jar with a little water and add this to the sauce. Bring to a simmer.
· Add the ravioli to the simmering sauce and cook for 3-5 minutes or until the ravs are hot and tender.
· Dress and serve the salad.

Potato and Sweet Corn Soup & Tamales

The Food Nanny
July 27&28, 2009
Meal 1: Potato and Sweet Corn Soup, Rustic Rolls, Cucumber and Eggplant Salad
· Warm the soup on the stovetop, or perhaps eat it chilled.
· Warm the roll.
· Serve the salad chilled. Be sure to season it with salt as this ingredient was omitted to prevent wateriness.

Meal 2: Pinto Bean Tamales, Black Bean & Rice Salad, Mixed Greens
· Heat the tamales in a microwave or in the basket of a steamer insert. It should take about 5 minutes.
· Enjoy the rice either at room temp or warmed in its casserole dish. Alternately you can warm it in a pan with some oil and a dash of water.
· Dress the greens and serve.

Local Notes:

Technique:

Cooking Egplant- is terribly imortant. There is, to my knowledge, no great recipe calling for undercooked eggplant. It is a volatile plant so my experience in technice comes with a caveat. But here's what I do: Cut the fruit appropriately and salt it generously. Allow it to steep as long as you may, but not more than an hour is necessary. Next, rinse the eggplant pieces in a collander and shake them off. Dress them with oil and perhaps some seasoning and prepare to grill tem or pan roast them. To pan roast them do use some oil but generally allow the pieces of eggplant to toast being sure to cook them through with one turn.

Pad Thai & Veggie Tacos

The Food Nanny
July 21&22, 2009
Meal 1: Sweet Potato Noodle Pad Thai, Cucumber Salad, Grilled Sticky Rice Package
· Warm the rice package in the oven at 350 for about 7-10 minutes or use a steamer, or even the microwave. Unfold it and eat the rice inside the banana leaf wrapper.
· Serve the cucumber salad chilled and season with fish sauce if you have it.
· Rinse the noodles very well in a colander. Drain them very,very well. Add some oil to a nonstick pan and when it is hot slide in the drained noodles being very careful to not splatter yourself. Stir fry them a minute of two and then add the veggies and sauce. Toss everything to combine and season with a little fish sauce if you own some. Serve immediately.

Meal 2: Corn Tortillas with Grilled Zukes and Tomato, Sweet Corn, and Latin Slaw, Frijoles Rancheros, Yellow Rice Salad
· Remove the slaw to a bowl and warm the veggies in the oven at 350 for about 10 minutes or until warm.
· Heat the beans in a saucepot.
· Serve the rice at room temp or heat it in a sauté pan with a little oil and a dash of water, or in the microwave.
· Warm the tortillas in the microwave with a towel covering them, or warm them in a dry, hot pan, or directly over a gas burner, turning them to warm evenly. If warming in pan or over a flame, transfer them to a plate with a towel to cover while you warm the others. Assemble your tacos and enjoy with some yogurt or cheese if you like

Local Notes:

OK, it is officially summer: tomatoes taste like tomatoes. I'm sorry we do in fact live in a world where that is not a ridiculous statement; but, the season is here for naturally sweet, fertility flavorized tomato fruit. We even got our first home garden cherry tomatoes today.

These big, market reds from Blue Moon have the professional advantage of an early start and a favorable culturing environment. Those same plastic hoophouses that ensure that beautiful, rich spinach is protected all winter lend their talents to keeping those subtropical, New World delights hot and arid regardless of what our stochastic locale delivers us. One way or another we will usually get 1m of rain annually here which is great for a lot of things, but is over generous for tomatoes which not only are susceptible to fungal and bacterial infections, but are unable to produce sugary fruit when water in excess dilutes the fruit. Like wine grapes.

I was delighted to taste that flavor again, for the first time this year. And grateful, for first fruits.

Technique:

Steam Then Grill

Heres how to make sticky rice.

Buy some sweet Thai rice, synonymously called sticky rice.

Soak the rice overnight in plenty of water.

Line a steamer basket of some kind with muslin or best yet some banana leaf and steam the rice for 10 -20 minutes. To check for doneness just pick off the lid and taste test some. It should be yielding and not starchy.

Heres how to make sticky rice nummy.

Add a can of coconut milk to the cooked rice. Now add condensed milk and mango for a dessert. or add chiles, fish sauce, and herbs for a savory side dish.

Special thanks to street food for inspiring this weeks experiment of wrapping the rice in banana leaves and then grill roasting it. I was pleasantly surprised to taste how much the banana leaf flavor infuses the rice. Thanks to our members to letting us expand our knowledge in this way

Lebanese Pasta Salad & Summer Pot Pie

The Food Nanny
July7&8, 2009
Meal 1: Lebanese Pasta Salad, Grilled Vegetables, Whole Wheat Batard
· Heat the vegetables in the oven at 350 until hot about ten minutes.
· Warm the batard in the oven too – about 5 minutes.
· Season the pasta with salt as this ingredient was omitted to prevent wateriness, then serve. Meal 2: Biscuit-Top Vegetable Pot Pie, Mixed Greens, Three Bean Salad
· Add a small amount of water(2-3T) to the pot pie and incorporate it by stirring. Heat the pot pie at 350 until beginning to bubble – about ten minutes, then place the biscuit top on and heat a few minutes more. Serve!
· Serve the three bean salad at room temp and dress the salad to serve.

What makes pasta Lebanese you may ask, well it is the unique combination of cool and hot: cucumbers and chili paste, sesame and lemon. I like this salad. It surprised me, usually I like it with orzo as a side dish. It needed a more robust shape when placed center stage.

Kohlrabi Soup and Potato Gnocchi

The Food Nanny

June 30 & July 1

Meal 1: Chilled Kohlrabi Soup, Sundried Tomato & Brie Focaccia, Peach Cobbler

• Serve the soup chilled. Alternately, warm it gently on the stove.
• Warm the focaccia gently in the oven or toaster oven-about 5 minutes at 350.
• Heat the cobbler at 350 until beginning to bubble- about ten minutes, then place the biscuit top on and heat a few mintues more. Serve !

Meal 2: Potato Gnocchi with Grilled Zucchini and Tomato Sauce, Cici & Cauliflower Salad, Mixed Greens

• Heat the gnocchi in a saute pan with a little butter or olive oils. Allow teh gnocchi to brown in the pan a bit and then add the sauce to finish.
• Serve the cici (chickpeas) at room temperature.
• Dress Mixed Greens as you like.

Sesame Noodles & Pan Pizza

The Food Nanny
June 23 & 24
Meal 1: Cold Sesame Noodle Salad with Grilled Tofu and Spring Rolls

• Remove the tofu to a cookie tray and warm it in th eoven at 350 until hot--less than 10 minutees, or eat cold.
• Meanwhile toss the noodles and vegetables, then serve with the tofu.
• Eat the spring roll cold. If you like drizzle a little soy sauce on it.

Meal 2: Grilled Zucchini and Kale Pan Pizza & Mixed Greens

• Warm the pizza in the ovn at 350 until warm and th emozzarella melts. Then run a knife around the outside of the dish. Transfer it to a plate and enjoy with the salad on the side.

Local Notes

Just a quick note on onions. These indespensables are the backbone of all my cooking and I am proud to say that since last July we have only a few weeks or so using non-local onions. I bought 200 lbs. from Blue Moon before the market ended last fall and they kept us fat and happy all winter until about Mid May. Last week I began using green onions as our mainstay onion with store bought organics in the interem. I was delighted to see Jeff Meyer at market last week with big gorgeous Walla Walla Sweets at his stand and I stocked up using some on the pizza sauce along with some of the last few canned tomatoes from last season. I'll hoard more onions this week for you all and try to give them a feature billing of some kind. Hmmm?

Bread Salad & June Vegetable Curry

The Food Nanny
June 16&17, 2009
Meal 1: Bread Salad with Canellini, Egg, and Poached Potatoes, Grilled Broccoli, & Spinach Soup
· Warm the crutons in the oven on a cookie tray at 350° until hot and crispy – about 10 minutes.
· Meanwhile arrange the greens in a bowl and garnish with the potato,beans, and chopped egg.
· Heat the soup and warm the broccoli in the oven too or serve at room temp.
· Toss the salad ingredients with the hot bread and dress then serve.

Meal 2: June Vegetable Curry, Grilled Flat Bread, Parsi Kichirri Salad
· Heat the curry in a pan with a little water to thin. Serve in bowls and garnish with some yogurt if you like.
· Warm the flatbread.
· Enjoy the kichirri warmed in the oven, on the stovetop with a dash of water or oil, or at room temp.
Local Notes
Why the Hell Did They Let A Bear Peel The Eggs?
Well, the real question is 'How did they train the bear to peel the eggs?'
Anyway, when it comes to egg salad nothing sucks, well, eggs, more than nice, wholesome, farm-fresh eggs. At least until the egg is out of its shell that it. Then fresh hard-boiled eggs are rich and creamy, firm and yielding, fortifying and light all at once. But in their shells, fresh eggs are a bear to peel because there is very little gas built up in the egg. As the egg ages normal cellular respiration produces gasses that lodge between the albumen (white) and the shell (shell). This space facilitates the removal of the shell after cooking. If not present the shell is nearly affixed to the cooked white and a Sissiphean challenge to remove cleanly. So, my apologies on the roughed up hard boiled eggs.
Grill Thrill Seeker
Still more grilled vegetables from the list of :'I never considered grilling that!.' Yes, broccoli grills wonderfully. Follow the instructions for grilling greens posted last week. June is a great broccoli month and since it is starting to roll in we thought we'd give it some feature billing this week. Expect a supporting role next week and for several to come.
Other June vegetables are found in the curry. Seek out the kohlrabi and the turnips. Kohlrabi is one of those vegetables that most restaurants wont serve you, for no good reason other than assuming you won't like it simply because it it neither a potato, a carrot, or broccoli. I love kohlrabi and make a mock potato salad featuring it in the early season before potatoes come into season properly, and also serve it pureed with black pepper and parmesan for a side with special roasts. Also, can you get enough of those little white Japanese turnips? I had to restrain my self to preserve your portions last week of them stir fried with scapes.
So that's what's fresh and hot.
Technique
Curry has taught me a widely applicable technique: Infused oils.
The first step in preparing this curry, and the kichirri (a pilaf of rice and split beans) as well is to make an infused oil. This is done by carefully selecting an assortment, in limited number, of whole spices such as cumin, coriander, fresh or dried chile, anise, cinnamon, fennel, cardamom pods...but they must be whole spices and not powdered, their role comes later.
Gather your spices in a dish considering how they will complement each other and the dish, and understand that a little goes a long way. For a dish for 8-10 for examplieI might use 6 cloves, 6 peppercorns, 1t cumin, 1t corriander and 2" cinnamon.
Next heat your oil and when it shimmers, add the spices and stir. They will sizzle and fry and become aromatic. Being very careful to not burn them, and you must have your onions already prepared before you even heat the oil, let them fry for a minute or so. When ready, dump your sliced/chopped onions ( yes, always) into the pot to stop the spice frying, collect the flavors, and begin the next stage in the process.
This technique is useful when not only making curry, but in say adobo or mole sauce as well. Use it for soups, casserole fillings, on and on. When you want to pump some complex flavors into a dish, consider starting by layering some aromatic spices essences into the oil that will infuse the rest of the dish.

Roasted Red Pepper Stromboli & General Tso's Tofu

The Food Nanny
June 9&10, 2009
Meal 1: Roasted Red Pepper Stromboli, Grilled Greens Salad, Rhubarb Crisp
· Warm the stromboli in the oven at 350° until hot – about 10-15 minutes. · Toss the salad ingredients and dress lightly if you like, the olive oil and garlic that they are grilled with may be just right for you.
· Warm the crisp in the oven during dinner and enjoy for desert. It should be bubbling a little at the edges.

Meal 2: General Tso’s Tofu, Stirfried Hakuri Turnips &Garlic Scapes, Fried Rice Salad
· Serve the rice at room temp or warm it in a skillet with a little oil.
· Get the pan hot and add a little oil. Stir fry the turnips/scapes for a minute or two to heat through. Remove to a plate.
· Heat the pan again and add more oil. Tip in the broccoli and tofu. Stir fry for about 2 minutes, then vigorously shake the sauce and pour over the tofu. Allow the sauce to thicken for a minute or so and serve immediately.
Local Notes:
'Scape from Urbana
I told you we would have some more scapes. I am sorry to have to cut them for your meals, they are such beautiful vegetables. They are serpetine, swanlike, and ballerinaish. I do like to eat them whole, either stir fried or grilled; but, I am a full contact eater and know that we have to be a little more civilized here. Anyway they eat like greenbeans and taste like roasted garlic and are certainly something unique. We may only get another week out of them as they stiffen and unwind and prepare to ripen their bulbuils, and become inedible. The garlic year progresses nonetheless. Soon we will have 'fresh garlic' familiar cloves but from uncured plants. Also, if any member or friend would really like to grow garlic I can give you some cloves from our own personal variety cultivate from local feral stock found at Meadowbrook Gardens. We call it Urbana Tiger, and I will also give you a crash course in how to grow it. You must grow garlic to understand it.

Technique:
Grilled Greens
A deeply loved friend of mine is the most stubborn man I know.
We will call him E. Menzel.
No, no. Thats too obvious.
Eric M.
Thats better.
So Eric M. is an excellent cook and a profoundly motivated fellow. He is fairly convinced that no food item should be inherently considered ungrillable. He will lighly dance any item he can above the charcoal flames, gently teasing ethereal items above the tenuous grate, and suspending them above Smeagol's Demise.
He taught me to grill greens like spinach or swiss chard, and he inspired this salad. I look forward to adding grilled romaine wedges.
To grill greens you must first believe that thin leafy things can in fact be grilled. Next you must dress the greens to protect them from becoming unappetizing crisped mulch. Do this with a generous hulping of crushed garlic in a liberal ammount of olive oil. Toss and massage the greens with their dressing well. With a pair of good tongs lay the preferably whole leaves across the grate of your charbroiler and watch as the greens wilt, begin to mark, and darken in color. Do think of pan wilting spinach as you do this. When they appear half done, give them a flip to finish. If there is a hot spot on your grill, arrange the stem ends towards it.

Pasta e Fagioli & Kale Lasagna

The Food Nanny
June 2&3, 2009
Meal 1: Pasta e Fagioli of Whole Wheat Macaroni and Chick Peas, Polenta with Fresh Herbs, & Asparagus Hash
· Heat the soup on the stovetop.
· Warm the polenta in the oven at 350° until just warm – about 10 minutes.
· Warm the hash in the oven along with the polenta, or heat it in a sauté pan with a little oil for a minute or two, or enjoy it at room temp.

Meal 2: Lasagna of Kale and Hand Rolled Noodles, Mixed Greens, Pesto Bread Sticks
· Warm the lasagna in the oven at 350° until heated through – about 10 to 15 minutes.
· Toast the bread sticks in the oven with the lasagna for the last minute or two. Dress the greens and serve.
Local Notes:
Paste e Fagioli. Spelled just like it sounds.
Does sarcasm get lost in type text?
Anyhow, please look closely into your soup and you wil see 'The Last Carrot.' Since October of 2008 you have been served not one carrot, not ONE carrot that was not grown in this county. Our supply of beautiful Blue Moon carrots has finally run dry and I will do my best to either find someone growing spring carrots, or to do without them until this coming fall. Jon does not grow spring carrots because they are difficult to germinate and manage and just are not as good as they are in the fall. carrot growing in high labor and thin margin and we should kiss Jon's hands for growing them while also trying to run a farm business. They are the best I've ever had and they speak volumes about the sweet richness of our subterranean wealth here in the Great Corn Desert.
In other news the garlic is beginning to change and I used the last of the green garlic to infuse an oil that got folded into the pasta e fagioli at the end. The necks of the garlic are beginning to harden and become inedible. Fortunately, they stiffen to send up a flower stalk called a scape that is edible in its own right. Expect them to feature in next weeks fare. When cooked they taste like a roasted garlic green bean and can be grilles, sauteed, or used to flavor a larger dish. Ask for them at the market.

Stuffed Red Peppers & Three Bean Chili

The Food Nanny
May 26&27, 2009
Meal 1: Stuffed Red Pepper, Pesto Pasta Salad, Chic Pea Salad
· Warm the pepper(s) at 350° until just warm.
· Serve the accompanying salads at room temp.

Meal 2: Three Bean Chili, Corn Bread Muffins, Cumin Cole Slaw
· Heat chili on the stovetop or microwave. Careful, it is spicy. Cool it a notch with some yogurt, sour cream or cheese.
· Warm the muffin if you like and eat the slaw cold.

Futomaki & Enchiladas

The Food Nanny
May 19 & 20, 2009
Meal 1: Pea Shoot Futomaki, Sweet and Sour Cabbage Soup, Noodle Salad
· Heat the soup on the stovetop. Add some extra hot seasoning if you like.
· Serve the futomaki and noodles at room temp. Enjoy the maki with soy sauce and wasabi if you have it!

Meal 2: Swiss Chard Enchiladas, Yellow Rice with Sunflower Seeds, Mixed Greens
· Heat the enchiladas gently at 350° until just hot and maybe a little bubbly.
· Enjoy the rice at room temp or heat it in a pan or microwave.
· Dress the greens and serve.