Recipe: Smoky Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Cashew Cream

Ingredients:
1 bunch of chard
3 cups dry black beans or 2, 14oz cans black beans rinsed and drained
2 bay leaves
1 tsp salt
1.5 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into ½ inch cubes
2 tsp smoked paprika (Gryffon Ridge) or 2 tsp chili powder
2 Tbs olive oil

For cream:
1 cup of cashews
½ cup hot water
1 cup canned coconut milk
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp sugar

Directions:
Prepare black beans: Soak 3 cups black beans overnight. Rinse, drain and set aside.
Place beans in large sauce pan. Add water to pot so water covers beans by 2 inches. Add bay leaves to pot. Bring water to boil and maintain rolling boil on medium-low heat for 40 minutes. Drain and season with 1 tsp salt. (If using canned beans, warm drained and rinsed beans in stock pot over low heat and season with salt.)
While beans are cooking, brush sweet potatoes with olive oil, toss with smoked paprika or chili powder. Spread in casserole and roast at 400 degrees for 40 – 50 minutes or until soft.
Remove stalk from chard and slice stalk cross-wise in ¼ inch pieces. Tear chard leaves into smaller pieces.  Place stalk on a bottom of a steamer basket, and place leaves on top. Steam for 8 minutes. Remove chard from steamer basket, keeping chard stalk separate from chard leaves.
Place a bed of chard leaves on each plate.

Toss chard stalk with sweet potatoes and beans. For each serving, place 1.5 cups sweet potato and bean mix on top of steamed chard leaves.

For cream:
In blender, place 1 cup cashews in ½ cup hot water. Add 1 cup canned coconut milk. Mix to smooth. Small nut pieces will remain. Place mixture in saucepan. Dissolve 1 tsp cornstarch in 2 tsp hot water, add to cashew mixture. Add 1 tsp nutmeg, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 tsp sugar. Heat over low heat, stirring frequently, 5 minutes.
Pour ¼ cup cream over each plated serving of bean and sweet potatoes.

Haddock in Parchment Paper

Ingredients:

- 4 haddock fillets (6 oz each) (other local fish that can be used here include pollock and hake)

- 3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced thin

- 1 zucchini or summer squash, peeled and sliced thin

- 2 tsp lemon zest, finely grated

- 8 fresh sage leaves

- 4 large garlic cloves, minced

- 4 Tbs olive oil, split in two parts

- 1 tsp salt

- ½ tsp pepper
Directions:

- Preheat oven 350 degrees. Toss vegetables together in 2 Tbs olive oil and zest.

- Prepare 4 parchment packages  by cutting a rectangle of parchment in a heart shape that is the size of a large dinner plate.

- Using the right side of the parchment for your ingredients, place 2 sage leaves on bottom of each parchment. Layer vegetables on sage. Place fish on top of vegetables.

- Season haddock with salt and pepper.

- Brush haddock with remaining oil.

- Close packet over fish. Crimp edges like a pie crust.

- Place packets on cookie sheet.

- Place cookie sheet in oven preheated to 350 degrees.

- Bake in oven 10 mins per inch at thickest point of fish. (Canadian rule) For example, for a fish that measures 1 inch at thickest point, bake 10 min. If fish measures 1.5 inches at thickest point, bake 15 min. (1.5 inches x 10 minutes = 15 minutes)

There are many opportunities to experience education from Sea Change this Fall. We are very excited about a “pre-season” program today with local chefs interested in learning more about gluten-free baking. Keeping with the theme of experimentation, this recipe started out as an apricot crisp. With red peppers, mushrooms and goat cheese from the farm, it became a savory dish. The crispy crust is easy to make from rolled oats, just grind them in your blender to create a great gluten free flour in minutes. Any leftover flour can be stored in your pantry to make a sweet dessert with blueberries you may have stored in your freezer. Enjoy that dish a few months down the road as a memory of this delicious summer. In the meantime, try this savory crisp. For more gluten free baking ideas, see our web site archives or attend one of our courses.

Vegetable goat cheese crisp (gluten free)

Makes 8 ramekins

Ingredients:

- 2 red peppers chopped

- 24 oz baby bella mushrooms chopped (or 3 cups chopped)

- 8 slices cooked bacon chopped

- 2 cups oat flour (process GF rolled oats in food processor to a flour)

- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted

- ½ cup plain yogurt - ¼ cup chopped rosemary

- ½ cup goat cheese

- Pinch of salt

Directions:

- Preheat oven to 400 degrees

- Sauté vegetables until soft and drain water

- Mix oat flour, rosemary, butter, milk, salt and yogurt

- Mix bacon, vegetables and goat cheese

- Place vegetable mix in ramekins, leaving ½ inch at top

- Place a thin layer of oat flour dough on top

- Bake 20-25 minutes or until top browns

Creamy coconut vegetables with black rice noodles:
Ingredients:
- 2 shallots
- 1/2 inch piece of ginger, peeled
- 3/4 cup coconut milk
- 2 tsp garam masala
- 3 tbs coconut oil
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 2 lbs fresh spinach, stemmed and cut into small pieces
- 1 cup peas (can be frozen)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup basil roughly chopped
- 1/2 8.8 oz package black rice noodles (GF)

Directions:
1. Process shallots, ginger, coconut milk and garam masala in a blender
2. Heat coconut oil in large skillet over medium hjeat, add cumin seeds and then garlic. Saute 1 minute.
3. Add spice paste and saute for 1 minute.
4. Add spinach leaves, stirring as they wilt. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 10 minutes.
5. Add peas, season with salt, cover and continue to cook for about 3 to 4 minutes. Set vegetables aside.
6. Cook noodles according to package directions, drain.
7. Top noodles with vegetables and serve hot.

Ingredients:

½ cup salt 2 heads cabbage, chopped roughly
1 bulb garlic, sliced thinly
1 2 inch piece of garlic, sliced thinly
1 radish, sliced thinly
2 tbs chili powder
1 tsp sugar 2 tbs fish sauce (in Asian section of grocery store, this is a common ingredient in Asia cooking and is often added to soups and stir fry dishes)
2 tbs umeboshi vinegar
2 tbs apple cider vinegar
1 tsp powdered ginger (optional)
Water to fill jar once ingredients have been placed in jar
1 quart canning jar or other wide mouth jar, sterilized in boiling water prior to use

Directions:

Dissolve salt in ½ gallon of water, soak cabbage for 3 hours Remove cabbage from salt water bath, rinse and drain Place garlic, radish and ginger among leaves of cabbage. Put cabbage, garlic and radish mixture into jar, pressing down to fill jar. Mix umeboshi vinegar, apple cider vinegar and chili powder, pour into jar. Mix fish sauce and sugar, add to jar. Fill remaining space in jar with hot water, up to top of jar. Cover with lid and let sit on counter 1 hour, then refrigerate 4 days to allow fermentation.

Kimchi can be served as a side dish and is an excellent digestion aid. Try kimchi in a variety of ways and flavors. Some people prefer to vary the spice. Kimchi can be added to spring rolls or served as an accompaniment to rice. We mixed 1/3 cup finely chopped kimchi with scrambled eggs! There are lots of possibilities.

We are always looking for creative ways to enjoy the bounty of summer vegetables from the CSA or local farmer’s market. At a recent class we tasted delicious dishes that demonstrated several options for common vegetables in the local harvest. The menu included:
- Roasted beets with orange zest
- Daikon carrot slaw
- Stir fry ginger beef with eggplant and kale
- Tomatillo salsa two ways
- Rhubarb, arugula and mint salad

A very popular item was our chilled beet soup with chives. When you arrive home from the farmer’s market, roast your beets and then you will have them on hand for a variety of dishes. On a warm suimmer day you can create this beet soup without heating up your kitchen – just toss the ingredients in the blender. Garnish with parmigiano cheese for a salty, sweet taste.

Enjoy!

1. Chilled Beet Soup with Chives (4 1.5 cup servings)

Ingredients:
1 lbs beets
1 tbs white wine vinegar
2 tbs orange juice
1 tsp salt
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tbs lime juice
2 cups cold water
1/8 tsp pepper
¼ cup shredded parmigiano cheese
¼ cup minced chives

Directions:

Roast beets and store in refrigerator to have on hand:
Place beets in glass casserole with 1/8 inch water covering bottom of dish. Cover dish with tinfoil and place in oven at 400. Bake beets for 30 min or until beets are soft when pricked with fork but not mushy. Store in refrigerator for use in soup or salad.

To prepare soup:
Remove beets from oven. Peel off beet skins. Chop into 1 inch cubes.

Combine beets through water in blender. Blend until smooth. Serve with topped with 1 Tbs chives and 1 Tbs parmigiano cheese.