Breakfast Potatoes

We’ve been getting some interesting not-your-ordinary potatoes in our Ranui Gardens CSA boxes the last few weeks. I made Simple Leek, Garlic and Potato Soup using last week’s red-fleshed Mountain Rose varietal and I’ll be hoarding the Maris Pipers from this week because I want to use up the ones from the week before in these breakfast potatoes. Since we make smoothies for breakfast around here—we prepare eggs for dinner every so often. I love homemade breakfast burritos with hot breakfast potatoes, farm-fresh scrambled eggs, melty cheese and salsa—all wrapped in a warm sprouted wheat tortilla.

We spent a few nights last week with Robbie’s aunt and uncle in Durango Colorado. She and her husband used to own a dude ranch in Wickenburg Arizona and they know how to cook authentic farm breakfasts for their guests. Our last morning we enjoyed breakfast potatoes that were impressively perfectly diced; Aunt Nancy confessed that she did not make them and I didn’t have the heart to ask their brand name. I have inside knowledge that most restaurants drop their diced potatoes into the deep fryer—for an even crunch on all sides. These potatoes won’t be like the aforementioned, albeit addicting ones. These breakfast potatoes are hand-diced and pan-fried. They are best made with a potato on the waxy side of the floury/waxy scale, like a new potato. Since Piper Maris potatoes rate right between floury and waxy, they cook up just dandy in this recipe.

Breakfast Potatoes

About 2 pounds potatoes

1 onion

1 tablespoon plus 2 tablespoons canola oil

Real Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Scrub the potatoes and put them in a saucepan. Cover with water—at least ½-inch above the tallest potato. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are tender when you poke them with a fork, about 20 minutes. Cool about 10 minutes, until you can handle them.

Meanwhile, dice the onion into ½-inch pieces. Over medium-low flame, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet. Add the onions and sauté until they are translucent, stirring often. Remove the onions from the pan.

When the potatoes have cooked and cooled, cut them in cubes about ½ to ¾ -inch square. Heat the remaining oil in the skillet over medium flame. Add the diced potatoes and stir them around to coat with the oil. Press them into the pan with a spatula. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper and let the potatoes cook 5 to 10 minutes without stirring. The potatoes should get crisp and lightly golden on the bottom.  When they are golden on the bottom, break them up with the spatula, stirring in the reserved cooked onions. Sprinkle the potatoes and onions again generously with salt and pepper and let them cook until the new bottom is nicely golden brown.

Spoon them into breakfast burritos or serve with eggs—any style.

Makes about 6 servings.

Green Lentils with Kale and Steamed Quinoa

We are finding gorgeous tomatoes in our Ranui Gardens CSA box this month. You could use them in this stew-like dish, but I like to savor the rarity and freshness of the heirlooms in salads, sandwiches and raw—and use canned tomatoes here. I choose quinoa as the bed underneath the vegetables—feel free to substitute rice or any other cooked grain.

Precook the kale in another saucepan and add it at the last minute to the lentils.

1 ¼  cups red or tri-color quinoa

1 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 onions, chopped

2 tablespoons smoked paprika

2 teaspoons ground cumin

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 cup green lentils, sorted and rinsed

1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes

Real Salt

1 bunch Lacinato kale, stems removed and discarded

Freshly ground black pepper

Rinse the quinoa well to wash away the saponin coating. (Saponin is a natural pesticide quinoa produces so birds won’t eat it. It doesn’t harm humans; it just makes the quinoa bitter if not rinsed well.)

Bring 2 ½ cups of water to a boil and add the quinoa. Cover and reduce the heat to low. Simmer until the water is absorbed, about 30 minutes. Just as with rice, do not stir—tilt the pan to see if there is any water left. Set aside.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium flame. Add the onions and cook, stirring often until the onions are translucent, 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the paprika, cumin and red pepper; cook and stir for several minutes.

Add the lentils, the tomatoes and 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat; cook and cook for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, adding more water if needed. The lentils should be tender to the bite.

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add the kale leaves and simmer them until the greens are tender to your tongue, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from the water and let the kale cool on a cutting board.  Chop—about 1 inch apart with your knife, in both directions to cut the leaves. Stir the kale into the lentils. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve over the steamed quinoa.

Makes about 4 servings.

Simple Leek, Garlic and Potato Soup

For a surprise color, I made this soup with the red-skinned and red-flesh Mountain Rose potato.

diced Mountain Rose potatoes

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 leeks, thinly sliced leeks, white and light green parts only, about 1 1/2 cups

7 cups light vegetable broth

2 pounds potatoes, well-scrubbed and cut in 3/4-inch dice

7 or 8 cloves garlic, peeled

Real Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Chopped green onion, for garnish

Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy saucepan over medium flame. Add the leeks and cook, stirring frequently, about 10 minutes. Add the vegetable broth, potatoes and garlic and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer 20 to 30 minutes, until the potatoes are very tender.

Puree the soup on the pot with an immersion blender. Season to taste with salt and pepper. If your vegetable broth is low sodium, you will need to add more salt. If you prefer a smooth texture, strain out any skins that did not puree completely.

Serve in bowls, garnished with the chopped green onions.

Makes about 8 servings.

Green & White Gazpacho

We Ranui Gardens CSA members are lucky that John loves garlic and grows about 10 varietals of hardneck garlic. Hardneck garlic is valued for complexity of flavor, fares well in cooler climes and has a shorter storage life.

Early in the season we enjoyed scapes, the edible green stalks shooting out of the middle of hardneck garlic plants.  Cutting off the scape sends more nutrition to the garlic in the ground, though if the scape is not cut, the tip forms bulbils, or flowers, also edible.  We’ve also had “green” or young garlic in our boxes this year, pulled from the ground before the cloves are well formed. Now Ranui’s garlic is mature and cured, having cured for three to four weeks and we are getting some in our boxes as often as zucchini.

This time of year I make gazpacho, a cold soup of Spanish origin, with fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and garlic. (And why not add some of those tender small zucchini?)

There are thousands of gazpacho recipes out there, variations on the hot weather and summer harvest theme. Because tomatoes are not in the mix, this recipe is untraditional. But it does have a good dose of garlic.  I wrote an article about Garlic and Gazpacho for Salt Lake City’s Catalyst Magazine’s August issue. Here is the recipe I gave. Hint: If you hit a clove of garlic with the side of chef’s knife, the skin will loosen and make it easy to peel.

3 cloves garlic, (peeled and crushed)

3 medium cucumbers, peeled, seeded and chopped

1 small green pepper

2 green onions, chopped

2 tbs. chopped fresh basil, cilantro or parsley

2 cups cold vegetable broth

2 cups plain yogurt

2 to 3 tbs. sherry wine vinegar or fresh-squeezed lemon juice

3 tbs. extra virgin olive oil

Sea salt

White pepper

Cherry tomatoes, red or gold, cut in tiny wedges

Fresh basil, cilantro or parsley, chopped, for garnish

Put the garlic, half of the cucumbers, green pepper, green onions, basil and vegetable broth in a blender and puree until smooth. Add the remaining cucumbers and puree. Transfer to a bowl and whisk in the yogurt, vinegar and olive oil. Season to taste with salt and white pepper. Chill until cold. Serve garnished with the tomatoes, and more green onions and fresh herbs.

Sprouted Bean Trio Salad with Grilled Zucchini and Leeks

Sprouted Bean Trio Salad

I made this salad for a neighborhood potluck dinner—using some more of the 3 pound bag of truRoots Sprouted Bean Trio that I bought months ago at Costco. It says on the bag to boil in water for 5 minutes. Don’t believe everything you read—it takes 15 minutes and then needs to stand, covered for another 10. After that you can drain the beans and finish this protein-rich salad.

1 cup sprouted beans

3 to 4 small zucchini

1 leek, white part only

1 carrot, grated

¼ cup chopped summer savory leaves

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

¼ teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon Real Salt

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Bring 3 cups water and the sprouted beans to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand, covered for 10 minutes. Drain and place in a bowl. Refrigerate.

While the sprouted beans are cooking and standing, heat up the grill and slice the zucchini. Toss the zucchini with some extra virgin olive oil, a sprinkling of red wine vinegar and salt and pepper. Cook on the grill until much of the zucchini has golden brown marks. Dump onto a cutting board and chop into 1-inch pieces. Add to the sprouted beans.

Cut the leek in half and spray the cut sides with cooking spray. Lay the leek halves face down on the grill and cook until a light char appears. Chop the charred leeks and sauté them in a bit of olive oil until soft. Add to the beans along with the grated carrot and the summer savory.

Make a dressing with the ¼ cup of olive oil,  red wine vinegar, cumin, salt and cayenne. Pour over the sprouted beans and vegetables and stir very well. Cover and refrigerate at least one hour or overnight.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Orchard House Smoothie

If you want to get married under the breathtaking view of Mount Hood in Oregon, you might consider Mount Hood Organic Orchards for your site. If you choose this particular venue for your vows, you and your family and friends will also enjoy stunning food, from Ginger Power’s Orchard House Catering. Ginger sources organic and local and cooks to showcase the food—her inspiration is Alice Waters and Chez Panisse and all things elegant and simple.

In July I twice accompanied Ginger to the Wednesday Portland Farmer’s Market to pick up food for double event weekends. She had to be back in Hood River by 2pm because the her kitchen crew would be there and ready to unload her tightly packed car and begin prep for the next 4 or 5 days.

Ginger and Pierce

The first Sunday I was there in the Columbia River Gorge, I splurged on an Outstanding in the Field dinner with Ginger and her husband Pierce. We drove to Anne Amie Vineyards in the Willamette Valley on a hot hot Sunday to partake in a lavish family-style meal and plenty of good wine shared on a long table with 75 new friends.

I love hanging out with Ginger and distracting her from her busy summer’s work.

One day at the house with the commercial kitchen in the basement, Ginger and Pierce were doing payroll and I came over to blog. We sat around the dining room table, noses to the computer, trying not to distract each other from our work. Ha Ha. Pierce had just made his green smoothie so they shared their breakfast with me.

The nice mix of greens we got in our Ranui Gardens CSA box this week is perfect in this smoothie.

Orchard House Smoothie

Several handfuls of greens e.g. kale, spinach, chard

1 banana

1 scoop spirulina or other green powder (I use Pure Synergy)

1 ½ cups juice (Pierce uses cranberry juice)

2 ½ to 3 cups water

Put all of the ingredients and blend until smooth. Share with a friend or partner.

Goat Cheese makes a Sassy Simple Sauce

We’ve known each other for close to 40 years

We visited our friends in South Lake Tahoe over Labor Day weekend. John and Julie planned and shared 3 full days of fun, with plenty of boating, hiking, biking, dining and toasting to golden and dear friendships. On our way out of town, we made the requisite stop at Trader Joe’s in Carson City for a road salad, their unrivaled dried tortellini and some hoppy microbrew to bring home.

We picked up our Ranui Gardens CSA box 8 hours later on the way into town. Golden beets went into the oven to roast, the basil became pesto via the Cuisinart and we saved the beet greens in a jar for the next evening’s meal.

Tortellini Pasta with Golden Beets and Greens in a Goat Cheese Sauce

Tortellini Pasta with Golden Beets and Greens in a Goat Cheese Sauce

1 bunch golden beets

1 ½ cups dried cheese tortellini

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

4 garlic cloves, minced

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

6 ounces fresh goat cheese

Real Salt

1/3 cup toasted pumpkin seeds

Roast the beet the day before so they are ready for this quick meal.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut the beet greens from the beets. Stick the beet greens in a jar with some water, cover with a plastic bag and store in the refrigerator. Place the beets themselves in a casserole dish with a lid. Add about 2 tablespoons of water to the dish, cover and roast about 45 minutes, until the beets are tender enough to pierce with a fork. Let cool.

Wash the beet greens. Trim away the stems. Chop the greens in ribbons, about 1/2 –inch wide. Set aside.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add several teaspoons of kosher salt and stir in the tortellini. Cook the tortellini according to the package instructions; for Trader Giotto’s tortellini it is 15 minutes. Drain, saving about 1 cup of the pasta water.

Meanwhile heat the oil in a large skillet on low heat. Stir in the garlic and pepper flakes and cook, stirring about 5 minutes. Place the beet greens on top, cover with a lid, and heat until the greens have wilted and shrunk, 5 to 8 minutes.

Slip the skins from about half of the roasted beets and cut them into pieces about ½-inch wide.

Stir the goat cheese into the greens and garlic, along with about 2/3 cup of the reserved pasta water, breaking it up with a spoon, and stirring to make a sauce. Gently stir in the tortellini and the beet pieces and cook just until they are heated through, adding more pasta water if needed. Season with salt to taste.

Sprinkle with the pumpkin seeds and serve.

Makes 3 to 4 servings.