Tri-Color Orzo with Tomatoes, Dill and Feta Cheese

Our home office file cabinet’s lower drawer is all about cooking, bulging with file folders, from Appetizers to Yule Logs that reflect my dual interests of vegetarian and desserts. I am always tearing and tucking away possible ideas, articles and recipes that I think someday I might want. Admittedly it is clutter, but at least the clutter is labeled files in a cabinet, right?

Nowadays one can simply Google an ingredient and glean a recipe, but it’s not the same as the tactile feeling of paging through a cookbook or sifting through a folder of recipes. Just like I am positive this orzo recipe from July 2008 Gourmet Magazine is available on epicurious.com, I am pretty sure it would not have come across my radar without a thumb through my folder labeled “CSA Recipe Ideas.” The torn-out page is from a regular column titled Gourmet Every Day Quick Kitchen, and says “35 minutes” in the bottom corner. There is a photograph of this Orzo dish, juxtaposed next to Grilled Oregano Shrimp and its recipe. The vegetarian in me is musing, “Hmmm, grilled oregano tofu?”

I know I saved the article because dill shows up in our Ranui Gardensbox a few times a year and I wanted to be ready for just this occasion.

plain, spinach and tomato orzo

Tri-Color Orzo with Tomatoes, Dill and Feta Cheese 

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

½ cup finely chopped dill

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

½ teaspoon Real Salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

2 cups diced tomatoes

1 cup tri-color orzo pasta

1 ½ cups (6 ounces) crumbled feta

In a serving bowl, toss together the oil, dill, zest, salt and pepper and tomatoes. Let stand at least 10 minutes, or while you cook the orzo.

Bring a pot of well-salted (1 ½ tablespoon: 4 quarts) water to a boil. Stir in the orzo and cook just until it is tender to the tongue. Drain the orzo and into with the tomato dill mixture. Add the feta and toss again.

Serve immediately.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Red Wine and Shallot Jam with Vanilla Bean

I checked a great cookbook out of the library a couple of weeks ago—The Flexitarian Table by Peter Berley.  Flexitarian unites the words flexible and vegetarian—and many of the recipes offer a choice—you could prepare the meat version or the vegetarian version. We don’t eat much meat in our house so I wasn’t looking for this option, but I had read a promising review of the book and I am always seeking new workable, creative and delicious recipes.

To accompany Schnitzel, made either with seitan or chicken livers, author Berley provides recipes for Bitter Greens and a Red Wine-Shallot Compote. We find bitter greens in our Ranui Garden’s CSA box at least every other week and this is the second week for shallots. In fact, I have been hoarding my shallots for just this recipe, so now I have extra for something else. I made this variation of the compote and we will enjoy it with sautéed kale, on toast or crackers with goat cheese, or maybe with some venison if our hunting friends are generous.

Red Wine and Shallot Jam with Vanilla Bean

1 pound shallots

1 1/2 cups red wine

1 cup water

¼ cup agave syrup

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

½ teaspoon Real Salt

1 vanilla bean

Freshly ground black pepper

Cut the shallots in half lengthwise. Tear the dry outside layers off and remove the tip and the tail. Slice thinly crosswise and put into a medium skillet. Add the red wine, water, agave syrup, both vinegars and the salt. Split the vanilla bean down the middle with a knife and scrape out the tiny seed pods. Add both the vanilla bean and the seeds to the skillet. Grind a generous amount of black pepper into the skillet, at least 20 turns of the grinder. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a low simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is gone, about 1 ½ hours. Keep cooking and stirring well after you think the jam is finished; the shallots will become much softer and more jam-like if you just keep on cooking.

Serve warm, or spoon into jars and refrigerate or freeze until you are ready to serve. It will keep about 2 weeks in the refrigerator.

Makes about 1 1/2 cups jam.

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Pesto Grilled Tofu

Let’s make pesto with the lemon basil and sweet “Genovese” basil in our Ranui Gardens CSA box and this time slather it on tofu, like I described in the last post. But let’s grill instead of bake the tofu out of respect for the heat—it’s just too hot to turn on the oven.

Start steaming brown rice before even pulling the tofu from the fridge so it will be cooked and ready to serve with the hot-off-the-grill tofu.

14 ounces (or thereabouts)  extra firm tofu

1/3 to 1/2 cup fresh basil pesto

Prepare the tofu. Turn the block on its side and cut into three thinner blocks, 1/2 to 5/8-inch thick. Keep the blocks in a stack and cut all the way through to make six triangles. Press out excess water: place the tofu triangles in a large shallow dish on top of a clean tea towel (without terrycloth nubs.) Cover with another towel or paper towels. Place a second dish on top, one that fits inside the first, and place something heavy in the dish–I use my blender. After 5 or 10 minutes the tea towels will have absorbed excess water, and the tofu triangles will be easy to pick up.

Brush oil on the grill grates and preheat the grill to medium heat. Remove the tea towel and arrange the tofu on a plate. Spread generously with pesto.

Cook the tofu triangles, pesto side down first, 5 to 10 minutes. Spread pesto on top of the triangles and turn them over. Cook a few more minutes, then spread with more pesto. Turn off the grill and let the residual heat melt the pesto into the tofu. Serve on a bed of brown rice.

Makes 3 to 6 servings, depending on how much you like tofu.

Pesto tofu on rice with salad

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Pesto Potatoes

Pesto Potatoes on the Grill

Earlier today at work, as I walked from a busy bakery to my office, I passed one of the cooks opening tubs of tofu. I notice tofu, more than I would a pot of turkey chili, mostly because it’s not on the menu everyday at Deer Valley and more so because I love tofu! Before going home, I watched the same cook arrange those triangles of tofu, hot and emerald green with pesto, on a bed of arugula. At his urging, I helped myself to the extra piece on the back line—even knowing I was going to have pesto potatoes before the sun had set behind the mountain.

Robbie mentioned pesto potatoes this morning and he says he thought about them all day. He must have thought well, because the ones he made us for dinner were perfect.

Early Rose Potatoes

He used Early Rose potatoes from our Ranui Gardens CSA box and dipped into the stash of basil pesto  tucked away in our freezer. (Every time we’ve had basil in the box we make up a batch of pesto.)

Pesto Stash in random containers

Any time you cook potatoes, if you have organic ones, by all means scrub them and leave the skin on. The Early Rose potato has a thin and smooth skin.  If you don’t know your farmer and her growing practices, ask. Potatoes make the Dirty Dozen pesticide list, so it might be best to peel them if they have been sprayed. These are so good you can eat them with your fingers.

 Pesto Potatoes

4 to 6 potatoes, sliced crosswise 1/2- to 5/8 inch thick.

Olive oil, as needed

Basil Pesto, as needed

Par-cook the potatoes in a steamer or nuke them in the microwave until they have begun to cook but are still pretty firm. (You can cook them entirely on the grill but it takes a lot longer. The par-cook step helps get dinner on the table sooner.)

Heat the grill to high if the potatoes are par-cooked, to medium high if not par-cooking them.)

Brush both sides of the potato slices with olive oil. Arrange them in a single layer on a grilling tray.  and cook until the potatoes are fork-tender and have some golden grill color, turning the potatoes to cook both sides. Brush one side of the potatoes with pesto and cook about 10 minutes more, until the pesto becomes part of the potato.

Serve immediately.

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More Zucchini

Well I guess since zucchini is green it falls into the category of greens, and farmer John did say there would be lots of greens in our Ranui CSA boxes. This is the third week straight with zucchini.

What to do?  At least it’s the Roman varietal zucchini in our boxes; Costata Romanesca does have more substance and real flavor than the brunt—of–jokes classic green zucchini .

Zucchini Ideas:

Grill zucchini simply, with olive oil and salt and pepper, which is what we did last week.

Or bake up some Chocolate Zucchini muffins—a variation from the Chocolate Zucchini Bread in my Chocolate Snowball cookbook.

Go to fellow blogger Gwen’s  terrific recipe for stuffed zucchini—and read her funny comments about zucchini.

This post from another blogger has ideas for the top 10 best things to do with too much zucchini. As I read Cheryl’s ideas I was giggling out loud—“lol” in internet vernacular.

This summer I’ve been writing monthly for Catalyst Magazine here in Utah. Go to Catalyst’s July issue to learn fun zucchini facts and trivia as well as my advice to pick and enjoy the blossoms before they turn into the green phallic fruit.

Here is a variation on the recipe for Squash Blossom Soup from that same Catalyst article. Enjoy this soup hot or cold.

For efficiency, use an immersion blender to puree the soup, it stands right in the soup pot and eliminates the muss and fuss of hot soup transfer and exploding out of the blender. An immersion blender is a purchase worth every penny.

Cotija cheese is a Hispanic-style cheese–somewhat salty and doesn’t really melt–you may substitute any cheese you want or skip it altogether.

Squash Blossoms on the Grill

Zucchini Soup

1 tablespoon canola or grapeseed oil

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

About 5 cups grated zucchini

3 cups veggie broth

1/4 cup cilantro, basil or parsley leaves

Dash cayenne pepper

Real Salt or sea salt

1/2 cup crumbled cotija cheese, optional

1/4 cup lightly toasted pumpkin seeds, optional

Avocado slices, optional

In a large saucepan, heat the oil on medium heat and sauté the onion and garlic for about 5 minutes. Add the zucchini and the broth, cilantro and cayenne. Cover and simmer 10 minutes, until the zucchini is soft. Puree in a blender, or with an immersion blender.

Season to taste with sea salt and more cayenne.

Serve garnished with garnishes of crumbled cheese, pumpkin seeds or slices of avocado, if you wish.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

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Baked Zucchini, Rice and Eggs

ribbed Roman zucchini

If we have zucchini in our Ranui Gardens CSA box this week—this must be summer. I can hardly wait for our tomatoes! This zucchini is ribbed Roman zucchini, Costata Romanesca, a varietal more flavorful and in my mind a step above the insipid green zucchini found commercially year round.
We also have shallots and marjoram and summer savory in our pick–here is an easy dish to show off all 4 garden-fresh goodies. Besides, I seem to always have a cup or so of leftover rice in the freezer since I cook up more than feeds the two of us with my 2 cups water: 1 cup rice ratio.
Sorry about asking you heat up the oven in this hot weather–know that you can prepare and bake this recipe before the temperature climbs to its daily high, either first thing in the morning or after dinner. It’s delicious hot, warm or cold. The cheese and breadcrumbs on top gets golden brown and crunchy: make in a shallow dish so every serving has some yummy topping.

shallots, marjoram, summer savory and chopped zucchini

1 slice whole grain bread, lightly toasted

1/3 cup toasted sunflower seeds, optional
2 tablespoons plus 1 tablespoon olive oil
About 1 cup finely chopped shallots
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 to 4 small/medium zucchini, cut in ½-inch cubes, 4 to 5 cups
1 teaspoon fresh marjoram leaves, chopped
1 teaspoon chopped fresh summer savory
1 cup cooked brown rice or quinoa
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup grated cheese, cooks choice
½ teaspoon Real salt
Pinch cayenne pepper
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly coat a deep pie dish or an 8 x 8 baking dish (2 quart) with olive oil.
In a food processor, grind the toasted bread and sunflower seeds into crumbs. Set aside. (You can substitute panko or other ready-made breadcrumbs, if preferred.)
In a skillet over medium flame, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil. Add the shallots and garlic and cook and stir 4 to 5 minutes, until the shallots are translucent. Stir in the diced zucchini. Cook and stir until the squash softens, but remove from the heat before it turns mushy, about 5 minutes. Stir in the chopped herbs and the cooked rice. Add the eggs and about half of the cheese along with the salt and cayenne. Transfer to the prepared baking dish.
Evenly sprinkle the remaining cheese topped by the breadcrumbs. Drizzle with the remaining olive oil. Bake about 45 minutes, until the top is golden brown. Let sit a few minutes before cutting.
Makes about 6 servings.

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