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Tan Tan chicken with snow peas

In the spirit of trying to eat all things local, I’m posting this recipe as snow peas are now available in our local fields. At the very least I know that Red Fire Farm has them because they’re on the list for CSA members for Pick Your Own crops this week. If they’re not available yet in your area, these crisp, flat peas are typically out in loose bins at most grocery stores.

Between its sweetness and its crunch, the snow pea is a great snack in raw form. They’re also fantastic steamed or stir fried, and they do not require the accompaniment of any sauce or spice. In this case, I’ve tossed them in a peanut sauce that is just a little sweet, a little savory and has a touch of heat. This dish is fine on its own, but would be great served over rice too.

Ingredients:

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 Tbsp sesame oil

2 Tbsp peanut butter

2 Tbsp rice vinegar

1-1/2 Tbsp soy sauce

1 Tbsp honey

2 medium cloves garlic, chopped

2-1/2 TBS peeled & grated fresh ginger

2 Tbsp water

pinch of cayenne to taste

Salt and pepper to taste

2 cups Snow peas, ends trimmed

1/2 cup minced scallion

Directions:

• Bring a fry pan up to a medium heat and sauté the chicken breasts in sesame oil
• When the breasts are cooked, remove them from the pan and set aside to rest while you prepare the sauce
• Blend all of the remaining ingredients, except the scallion, together in a blender
• Cut the rested chicken breasts up into bite-sized chunks and return them to the pan and toss with the snow peas, sauce and scallion

Tags: asian, chicken, ginger, honey, peanut butter, peas, scallion

While perusing through my pile of recent magazine recipes I came across one from Food and Wine for “Crunchy Pork Kimchi Burgers” and I thought well, this sounds weird, but oddly good at the same time.  Then I went to the Northampton Tuesday Market  and there was a vendor sampling fresh kimchi which was nothing like the shelf-stable stuff that I had eaten in the past- a little less crunchy, a little less bitter, more sweet, and simply lovely.  Just a hop-skip-and jump up from her stand was Mockingbird Farm who had ground pork for sale and I just knew that I had to give this recipe a try.   I grabbed some baby spinach from Enterprise Farm and now had the makings for this lovely sounding dish, locally sourced.  Since I was on a roll, and they looked fantastic, I grabbed some white turnips too (from Old Friends Farm)- I figured they’d be great for roasting.

Since I’ve eaten primarily grain-free since the beginning of this year, I adjusted the recipe to omit the flour and panko and obviously had a different end product than what was advertized in the magazine.  I really loved the dish the way that I made it and will definitely make it again this same way.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and grated

1 large garlic clove, pressed

2 scallions, chopped

1 lb. ground pork

3/4 cup finely chopped kimchi (I ran it through the food processor rather than hand-chopping)

Sprinkle of Kosher salt

Vegetable oil, for frying

10 oz. baby spinach

1/3 cup mayonnaise

1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

1 tablespoon soy sauce

sesame seeds (for garnish)

Directions

• In a bowl combine the ginger, garlic, scallions, pork and kimchi with the salt

ginger, garlic, scallions, pork and kimchi with salt

• Form the mixture into eight small patties, about half an  inch thick (to get these all a uniform size, I used a number 2 scoop)

Add the patties and fry over moderate heat...

• In a large skillet (cast iron if you’ve got it), heat 1/4 inch of vegetable oil. Add the patties and fry over moderate heat, turning once only, until you have a beautiful crisp on each side and there is no more pink visible from the outside(you want them to be cooked through)
• Set aside to drain on paper towels and let the juices finish distributing
• Pour off all of the vegetable oil from the skillet and add some toasted sesame oil and the baby spinach, season with salt and pepper and cook over a medium-high heat until wilted (about 1 minute)

baby spinach wilting in toasted sesame oil

• In a small dish, mix the mayonnaise, sesame oil and soy sauce
• Pile the spinach on plates and top with the sliders, drizzle with the sauce, sprinkle with sesame seeds and enjoy

Pork and Kimchi Sliders over wilted sesame spinach with roasted white turnips

I will admit to eating two left-over patties the next day, straight out of the fridge.  A different experience, but good still.  The sauce is a bit salty, so be sure not to over-do it.

J

Tags: asian, ginger, kimchi, pork, primal, scallion, sesame, spinach, turnip

Whether you’re looking for a meal that can be thrown together in the morning to cook off slowly throughout the day and be ready for when you get home from work/power-shopping/day-tripping or for a healthy chili recipe for game day, this could work for you.  Moist chunks of chicken flavored with smoky ancho chili powder, combined with sweet white corn kernels, and creamy cauliflower give this dish a heck of a texture profile.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons canola oil

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 1/2 tablespoons ground cumin

1 tablespoon ancho chili powder

1 yellow onion, chopped

1 head cauliflower, cut into small florets

1 can kidney beans

2 anaheim chili peppers, stemmed, seeded and chopped

1 cubanelle chili pepper, stemmed, seeded and chopped

1 (16-ounce) bag white corn

1 quart low-sodium chicken broth

1/2 cup low-fat sour cream

2 teaspoons sea salt

Directions:

• Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the chicken, season with salt, pepper, and ½ of each of the cumin & chili powder,  and cook, turning once, until golden, about 10 minutes; transfer to a plate and set aside to cool a bit before chopping
• Add the onions to the pot and cook until they’re golden brown, about 10 minutes
• When the onions are done, add about ½ of a cup of chicken broth and deglaze the pan, making sure to scrape up all of the brown bits from the bottom
• Cut the mostly-cooked chicken breasts into bite-sized chunks
• To the crock pot add the cauliflower, beans,  peppers, onions, corn, chicken and broth (including broth from deglazing), cover and set to low for 8 hours
• Season with sea salt to taste
• Dish up, dollop with sour cream and serve

Never in my life, until just over a year ago, had I known so many people with food allergies.  Now I have adopted an entire family full    (and I love them all) and have several friends with them as well.  There are allergies to spices, some to raw fruits and veggies, to gluten, to tree nuts, to peanuts, to dairy, and the list goes on.  Then there are the folks who make life choices to exclude certain foods- people who eat paleo, vegetarian, vegan, dairy-free, etc.  All of this adds up to challenge the “foodie” at each party.  You want to bring a dish that looks good, tastes great, and that everyone will be able to partake in.  It can be a little crazy, but I’m up for the challenge.

This particular recipe is an adaptation of the Rocky cookie which tastes a bit more tropical and uses no peanut butter.  It’s for Sheila and Michael as she loves her healthy foods and he doesn’t breathe so well when peanut products are near him

Ingredients:

2 cups old fashioned oats

1 cup steel cut oats

1 ½ cups whole wheat flour (or oat flour)

¾ teaspoon baking soda

¾ teaspoon cinnamon

dash of  nutmeg

Sprinkle of sea salt

Handful of bittersweet chocolate chunks

Handful of raisins

Handful of chopped dates

Handful of cashews

Handful of shredded coconut

Handful of dried pineapple

Handful of wheat germ

Handful of flax seed meal

Handful of sunflower seeds

1 egg

1/2 cup real maple syrup

1/4 cup molasses

¾ cup plain, unsweetened applesauce

1/3 cup coconut oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

a well-ripened banana

1 large scoop of Tahini

• Preheat the oven to 375
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix
• Scoop the batter by the tablespoon onto a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper (cookies will not spread)
• Bake for 15-25 minutes (depending on your oven).  You want a finished cookie that is golden brown around the edges and a bit on top

Rocky cookies

Tags: banana, cashews, chocolate, coconut, cookie, dates, dessert, eggs, flax, maple syrup, molasses, oats, raisins, vegetarian

This just became my favorite warm salad.  A bite of this dish sports that earthy flavor of the cooked radish- which is somewhat akin to a roasted Brussels sprout, the saltiness of the bacon, the sweetness of the orange juice, the slight bitterness of the radish greens, and it makes mouths happy.

My favorite new way to cook bacon is in the oven.  If you have a thin cut, you want to use a lower heat, like 250 degrees, and thicker cuts can withstand 350 degrees.  You place a baking rack inside of a jelly roll pan and the fat just drips right down as the bacon cooks, and scrapes out easily once it’s cooled.  In my opinion the bacon still requires a patting down with a paper towel the remove the extra fat, but it’s much less significant than when it’s pan-fried.

And while we’re on the subject of bacon, may I just say that my entire life I have eaten commercial bacon- whatever was available in the standard grocery store.  Recently I bought into a couple of meat CSAs and have received bacon in my shares and Whoa!- what a difference.  Farm bacon is noticeably less salty and even the smoked varieties are much less smoky.  I love it!  You can typically also find farm bacon at farmer’s markets, and even at some farm stores which are set up inside of barns.  You aren’t going to find it on sale for $2.50, but your taste buds will thank you for the upgrade.

For more information on local MA organic farms, check this link out.

Ingredients:

1/4 pound bacon, cut into a 1-inch dice

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 bunch of radishes with their greens—radishes quartered lengthwise and greens chopped into ribbons

Salt and black pepper

3 large shallots, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon sugar or honey

1 cup orange juice

Directions:

• In a 350 degree oven, bake the bacon to perfection on a baking rack in a sheet pan for 15-20 minutes.
• In a cast iron frying pan place 2 tablespoons of butter and melt over a moderately high heat
• Add the radish greens, season with salt and pepper and cook until wilted (about 3 minutes)
• Scrape the greens into a bowl and set aside
• Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter in the skillet.  While the butter is melting, cut your cooked bacon into a 1-inch dice
• Add the radish quarters and let them start to brown up in the pan, solo, for a few minutes

• Add the shallots and bacon chunks and cook over a moderately high heat, until the radishes are golden brown (5- 6 minutes)

• Add the sugar (or honey) and cook for another 2 minutes, until it’s completely dissolved
  Add the orange juice and bring it to a boil, stirring a few times, until the radishes are just tender and the sauce is slightly thickened (about 2 minutes)
• Stir in the radish greens, season with salt and pepper and serve

We had this warm salad as a side to butternut squash soup and it was lovely.  The soup was very mild so the sweet and salty tones of the salad really stood out.

The inspiration for this dish came from this recipe in Food and Wine.

Tags: bacon, honey, orange, radishes, salad, shallots, side dish