The Delights of the Season Roll On In

Greetings Eaters!
The beautiful bounty of our fertile local continues to gain momentum this spring. Two of my favorites make their way onto the menu this week: Japanese Turnips and Bright Lights Chard.

The turnips are small to medium in size and snow white in color. They are one of the best edibles to be pulled directly from the earth and popped into your mouth during field work. They are tender and sweet with a subtle sharpness and overall are a very approachable turnip. Look for them next week and again in the fall as they are a premier roasted vegetable. Cut off their tops and they are excellent keepers, so consider buying some this fall for your crisper drawer and cooking them up at holiday time.

Bright Lights Chard has renovated the image of chard in this country. A vigorous grower these plants are as ornamental as edible. Chard has a mineraly, erthy flavor that is best enjoyed extremely fresh. When cooked this way its natural sweetness comes through complementing its other flavors and making it a distinctive green. It is, of course, extremely nutritious and you should eat as much as you can. I see the results in out healthy little boy every day. During his gestation we ate chard sauteed like spinach, in pastas, in quiches, wilted with eggs over easy for breakfast, in soups, salads, stir fries, and best of all - grilled.

Credit to our dear friend Eric Menzel for teaching us the wonders of grilled greens. The hearty nature of chard particularly suits it well to this treatment and I recommend you try it.
Simply dress the whole leaves with minced garlic, olive oil, and salt. Toss to dress the chard well, but avoid saturating it with oil. Now just lay the leaves onto a hot grill for a few minutes per side. The leaves will char a bit and otherwise wilt similarly to sauteed spinach. Coarsley chop the cooked leaves to facilitate serving and eating. Served alongside other summer, fire cooked treats, the chard is sure to draw interest and fans. For a decadent burger, chop the grilled chard fine and use instead of lettuce, then add some smears of Prairie Fruits Angle Food or Little Bloom cheese!

The Food Nanny
June10/11 2008
Meal 1: Grilled Chard Stuffed with Falafel, Snap Peas & Cous Cous Salad, Spicy Mixed Greens with a Tatziki Vinaigrette
· Remove the falafel from the baking dish and reserve. Now remove the cous cous to serving dishes and replace the falafel to the baking dish. Bake the falafel at 400° for 7-10 minutes or until faintly sizzling. Be careful to not overcook the chard. Serve them over the room temperature cous cous.
· Dress and serve the salad.
Meal 2: Seitan Skewers, Grilled Broccoli Florets, and Hakuri Turnip Salad with Thai Noodles
· Serve the turnip salad chilled.
· Either serve the broccoli room temperature or warm it briefly in a sauté pan with a few dashes of water until steamed through. A brief trip into the microwave might also work.
· Heat the skewers in a very lightly oiled non stick pan, under a broiler, or in a toaster oven
Trivia: What is seitan and who invented it?

Food Nanny
June 3 and 4
Meal 1: Spring Rolls with Spring Vegetable Miso Soup, and California Roll Salad
Warm the soup to hot but not boiling. Add the tofu, after two minutes add the greens and serve immediately
Serve the salad and roll at room temperature

Meal 2: Red Lentil Dolmas, Tabbouleh, Hummous and Pita Crisps, and Marinated Feta
Serve everything at room temperature and enjoy!

Quesedillas and Hand Cut Fettuccini

The Food Nanny
May27/28 2008
Meal 1: Whole Wheat Quesadillas, Sweet Potato Wedge Fries, Green Garlic Soup
· Warm the sweet potatoes in the oven at 350° for 10-15 minutes or until sizzling and hot.
· Warm the soup and garnish with some yogurt, chives, etc.
· Carefully separate the quesadillas from each other. Holding them by the bottom, slip each one into a dry, medium hot pan to toast. Alternately you can add some oil to the pan for a crunchier, richer ‘tiller. When the one side is toasted (2- 3 minutes) carefully flip the ‘tiller over to toast the other side. Do not cook them over too hot a flame. Patience pays with these guys. Allow then tillers to cool a minute or two and then cut into halves or quarters with a pizza cutter or chef knife.
Meal 2: Hand Cut Fettuccini with Blue Moon Asparagus and Prairie Fruits Chevre, Mixed Greens Salad and Sage Vinaigrette
· Remove the cheese from the top of the vegetables and reserve.
· Boil 1 qt. water per portion of pasta to be cooked. Salt the water so it reminds you of sea water. This is not an optional step. When the water is at a rapid boil add the pasta and stir. Cook, stirring occasionally for 3-4 minutes or until cooked al dente – firm but tender to the tooth, with no taste of raw flour, and never mushy.
· While the pasta cooks heat a generous amount of olive oil in a sauté pan. Add the asparagus and onion and cook until hot. Add a dash of water to steam the vegetables through – but just a dash ! · When the pasta is done, drain it well and add it to the sauté pan with the asparagus. Toss to coat the pasta, and serve. Crumble the chevre on top of each portion. Add a few grinds of pepper and enjoy with a good white wine.
· Dress the salad and serve.

Green Garlic Soup

Trivia: What is green garlic and how is it different from the more familiar bulb garlic ?

Disecting Jon's Salad Mix

We are thrilled to have Blue Moons greens again!! It is such gorgeous mix, delightful to dress and eat.

Below is a picture of the components I could find. As Ben planted, weeded, cut and cleaned the mix for over a year, he was pretty familiar with its diverse plant mix and gave me a hand identifying them all, or atleast what we suspect them to be.

In addition to the varieties of lettuce there is a kale, tat soi, mustart greens and arugula. YOu can click on a picture to enlarge it which may make the writing large enough to actually read who is who.

Veggie Enchiladas and Penne

The Food Nanny
May20/21 2008
Meal 1: Veggie Enchiladas in Ranchero Sauce, Refried Pinto Beans, Adobo Rice Salad
· Heat the enchiladas in the oven at 350° for 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and browning.
· Serve the rice salad at room temperature or warm gently in the microwave or a sauté pan with a bit of oil and then some water to steam the rice through.
· Heat the beans in the microwave or in a sauce pan. Add a bit of water to thin it out a bit.

Meal 2: Penne with Swiss Chard, Blue Moon Salad Mix and Vinaigrette, Rhubarb Bread Pudding
· Heat the penne in the microwave or in a sauté pan with a fair bit of olive oil. When sizzling add a few splashes of water to steam the pasta through. Be careful to not over-cook the chard. Garnish with some parm etc. if you like.
· Dress the salad.
· During the meal, warm the pudding in the oven at 325° for up to 20 minutes. Sprinkle with some cinnamon and sugar, or serve a la mode.

Trivia: Apart from the lettuces, what 5 varieties of brassica greens are in Jon’s salad mix?

Bok Choi and Broccoli Raab

The Food Nanny
May6/7 2008

Meal 1: Grilled Asparagus, Inarizushi with Wakame, Bok Choi and Soba with Miso Dressing
· Serve the salad and Asparagus at room temperature.
· Do not refrigerate the inarizushi in advance.
· You may serve the inarizushi at room temperature. Alternately you may heat them in a steamer basket or the microwave, covered with wax paper and set up to steam. Do not allow them to be in direct contact with the water.

Meal 2: Spinach Soup, Orzo with Feta and Broccoli Raab, Bread Twists
· Warm the twists in the oven.
· Heat the soup gently on the stove top or in the microwave . Avoid a full boil and do not allow the color to change. Don’t worry, this soup is dairy free and low fat !
· Serve the orzo at room temp.

Trivia: Your meals this week feature beautiful spring vegetables from Tomahnous Farm in Mahomet. These include broccoli raab and bok choi. Other than being green and delicious, how are these vegetables related ?