Beet Salad with goat cheese

Beet Salad with goat cheese


2 red beets
2 golden beets ( I used some striped ones)
avocado diced
white balsamic vinegar
olive oil
mixed greens
2 tbsps goat cheese

Boil the Beets for about 30 minutes, cool,peel and cut them into cubes. Keep the different colors separate.

Combine vinegar and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Add a half of the vinaigrette to the the beets.
Add the rest to the greens. Place greens on the plate and arrange the beets and avocado and top with the goat cheese.

Caramalized Onion Pie

Caramalized Onion Pie

This is a recipe I adapted. You can make the basic recipe but add any number of variations such as sauteed greens of any kind, sauteed zucchini or sauteed radishes. Sun-dried tomatoes would also work.

2 large onions julienned
puff pastry dough (how much depends on how many people you need to feed)
(one Pepperidge farm is enough for 2 people use 2 for 4 people)
1/2 cup feta cheese
1/2 cup Romano or Parmesan cheese
olive oil ( 2 tbsp)
pinch of sugar
1/2 tsp thyme
1 egg

Caramelize the onions by heat a large saute pan - add the onion and 1/2 boiling water. Cook until water evaporate and add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, sugar and thyme. Stir until the onion are nicely browned.

Preheat oven to 425

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the puff pastry sheet on the parchment. Crimp up the edges. Sprinkle the cheeses evenly on the pastry. Then add the onion and and extras you want to add. Brush the pastry edges with egg wash. Bake for 35-40 minutes until edges are golden.

Fall 2011 Garden Pictures

The Fall Aster is in full bloom. Broccoli, zucchini and cucumbers are all growing nicely.

Sauteed Radishes

We learned a new recipe for cooking radishes. this is especially good for the really hot radishes as they tend to lose their heat with cooking.

Sauteed Radishes

1 1/2 cups sliced radishes
1-2 tablespoons butter
Chopped Chives

Heat butter in saute pan over med heat. Add radishes and saute just until soft about 5 minutes. Add chopped chives and salt and pepper to taste.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

One of our favorite fall treats are roasted pumpkins seeds. They are super easy to make so don't throw away those seeds when you carve the pumpkins for Halloween.

Roasted Pumpkins Seeds.

Remove seeds from pumpkin including as much of the pulp as you can. You can wash them but I usually don't as the like the flavor that the pumpkin juice adds to the seeds. Add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. (This is for about 4 cups of seeds so adjust accordingly. Add popcorn salt to taste. We have tried many types of seasoning over the years and this is our favorite. Spread evenly on a roasting pan.

Roast in a 325 degree oven for about 12 minutes. Using a spatula toss the seeds in the pan and return to the oven for another 12-15 minutes until the seeds are golden brown and crispy.

June 11 update

Well it is very hot already in the 100's so the garden is not doing great. The potato crop was a dismal failure. We may try again next year and get them in earlier. The Corn was a mixed bag, the sweet corn we harvest was really good but the blue corn was mealy. We will only plant the sweet corn again.

The tomatoes plants are the smallest we have had in 15 years. Probably due to lack of rain and heat. We began harvesting about mid June.

The pole beans were ok but we like the bush beans better so probably won't repeat the poles.

The winter squash only produced 2 small squash and then the plants withered and dies.

Cucumber also did not do great again heat and lack of rain.

Eggplant and peppers are doing great. We had a wonderful onion crops as well.

Now we have blackeyd peas and baby limas growing so we shall see how they do with the very hot weather. Hope it rains soon. We also have Okra in now.

June 2011 new recipes

Tomato Watermelon salad

2 cups ripe tomatoes in med sized chunks

2 cups ripe watermelon cut to same size as tomatoes

1/4 cups chopped fresh mint

1/2 cup vinaigrette ( I make my own but you can used purchased)

1/2 cup Feta cheese

Truffle salt

combine all ingredients and serve

Got this one from a Sunset magazine article which was forwarned by my friend.

Swiss Chard Pesto
Adapted slightly from Sunset Magazine
Serves 4 with sauce left over

Note: Don’t feel hemmed in by the amount of chard you use. The original recipe called for two cups, but I didn’t want to be bothered with measuring the leaves, so I just started using the entire bunch. You could also save the stems for a soup or to chop and stew into a taco filling later, with some tomatoes and spinach.

Ingredients

1 bunch swiss chard (around 7 ounces), leaves removed, stems discarded or saved for another use
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1/4 cup grated queso añejo, or grated parmesan
1/2 cup pine nuts or pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup olive oil — possibly a little more if you’re using the pumpkin seeds
Salt
Pepper

Directions

In a food processor, add the garlic and pulse to chop. Then add the chard, cheese and nuts or seeds. Pulse until smooth — feel free to scrape down the sides of the bowl to add in any errant cheese or chard bits. Add olive oil and blend until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with pasta, vegetables, or (as I did with my sister-in-law recently) spread on crusty bread.