Roasted Pesto Mashed Potato Stuffed Peppers

 Stuffed peppers are just about the most perfect food.  Full of flavor, a little bit sweet, and a really savory kick when you roast it.  You can put almost anything in them, but I'll bet you never thought to stuff potato into them, so here we go!

The potato mix makes more than enough to stuff all of your peppers, large and small, and you can even boil a larger number of potatoes than you need and reserve some for plain mashed potatoes for tomorrow night's starch side dish.

The best part is the flavor absorption, which allows you to highlight the basil, making this a pesto-hybrid, combined with the roasted peppers, garlic, and onion and no doubt you'll lick the spoon, the plate, and the food processor clean (please restrain from licking the blade :) )

Serves 2 for dinner, or 6-8 as party finger food in the small peppers.

What you'll use from your bag:
3 large red peppers for stuffing
4 orange peppers for roasting
1 medium or 2 small onions
2 garlic cloves
all your basil
5 medium or 8-10 small potatoes

What else you'll need:
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup cashew milk
1/4 tsp sage powder
1 tsp tarragon leaves



First, you'll preheat the oven to 400 degrees
While the oven is preheating, add some salt to a large pot of water, and boil your potatoes. This takes approx. 25-30 minutes until they are soft.  (I keep my skins on, but feel free to peel)

Then, prepare your veggies to roast

Find the flat side of your large peppers, and slice a thing layer of the OPPOSITE side, exposing the hollow so you can remove the seeds.  Chop the thin layer.

Take your 4 small peppers, chop the ends, remove the seeds, and rough chop.

Rough chop the onion, and cut the ends off of the garlic, keeping them in the paper.

Toss them in a light amount of oil, and place them on a cookie sheet, for 10 minutes, then flip, and another 10 minutes.


Now, add the remaining ingredients into the food processor
When the roasted veggies are done, set the large peppers (or stuffing peppers) aside, and toss the remainder into the food processor with the basil, spices, oil, and cashew milk, making sure to squeeze the garlic out of the paper case.

Take the tender potatoes out of the boiling water, drain, and quarter them, and toss it into the food processor, and pulse to combine until desired consistency.

Scoop the filling into the empty roasted peppers, and dress with any stray basil leaves or pepper pieces.

Enjoy!

Garlic Scape and Sweet Pepper Pesto

The last of the garlic scapes has arrived.  Whether you are sick of them or looking to make them last, this pesto is going to really be a game-changer for you, and you'll find yourself adding it to everything.  This year, my partner and I discovered the joys of basil and pepper pesto on pizza, and it spawned an endless game of putting pesto on everything imaginable.

Also, word on the Karma Farm Streets is that if you go to visit the farm they'll send you out with an armful of fresh herbs, like basil, which is bountiful right now.  So reach out, and schedule your visit this weekend and make this delicious pesto your new obsession :)

Roasting is the best treatment for these sweet peppers, as the low heat short roast will soften them, allowing some earthy flavors to mix and drawing out the sweetness, while retaining some of the snap from the moisture.


What you'll use from you bag:
1 sweet carmen pepper
5 garlic scapes
2 bulbs of garlic (technically from last week's bag)

What else you'll need:
1 cup tightly packed basil, (you can get this from the farm!)
1/2 cup pine nuts, 1/4 cup raw and 1/4 cup roasted
1/2 cup avocado oil

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 lemon peel, sitting in the oil

1/4 cup spring onions

1 sprig fresh thyme 

First, you'll preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Cut the pepper into large pieces, just enough to get the seeds out, and to coat the inside and outside with some oil.  I just dunk them right into the bowl with oil, and brush off the excess.  Do the same with the garlic scapes, but keep them whole.

Onto a baking sheet lined with tin foil, add the oil covered peppers and scapes, 1/4 cup of pine nuts, and 2 entire bulbs of garlic with their end chopped off, skin still on.

Roast for 12 minutes, turning once.

Now, slice the lemon peel and add it to the oil

This will allow the oil to take on a slightly citrus quality, and soften up the lemon peel making it easier to incorporate in the food processor.

Add all your remaining ingredients to the food processor, and wait to add the lemon+oil until just before the roasted veggies come out.

Let the roasted veggies cool

Once you can comfortably hold them in your hand, transfer them to the food processor, but make sure to squeeze out the garlic from its skin, it should slide right out if you hold the pointed end.

The longer you process, the smoother and creamier the texture, so if you prefer a more oily looking, chunky pesto, don't process very long, but pulse until desired texture is achieved.  I like the creamy texture, and it fools even the most epicurean of omnivore foodies :)

Put this on just about anything. This is a soft, layered flavor, that has a bit of sweet, and a lemon (not sour) but a distinctly lemon flavor.  We put it on our breakfast scramble tacos this morning :)

Enjoy!

Snap Peas: We Can Pickle That! (2 ways)

No matter how much you love snap peas, sometimes you have to think of what to do with an entire pound of them.  Luckily, they make great snacks raw, and you can basically throw them into any salad or sandwich no problem... and we have covered at least a couple recipes this season with snap peas too, and just when you thought you had all you could manage for snap pea techniques down, you realized that I, and Portlandia, might have another idea:

WE CAN PICKLE THAT!

In this post, I will go over two different methods of pickling, one the lacto-fermented kind (despite the name, its definitely vegan, it is merely referring to the lactobacillus bacteria that is involved in all open air fermentation) and the other using vinegar.  The vinegar method is faster, but not as beneficial for your gut flora as the fermented kind, however the combination is ideal because the apple cider vinegar serves as a prebiotic while the fermented produces probiotics, and in both cases your radishes, turnips, sweet peas, and another other veggies laying around can live long past their peak time.  However, if you jealousy guard your snap pea population with your life, feel free to choose one method, or perhaps just pickle your radishes and turnips :)

What you'll use from your bag:

Snap Peas- I took the entire yield and split them between the two jars, it was the perfect amount.

Radishes- the entire yield split between the two

Turnips- 4-6, split between the two

Spring garlic, 1 bulb split between the two

What else you'll use:

Vinegar method:

Apple cider vinegar, 1 cup and 1 more to fill

Water, 1 cup

1Tbs sugar

1 Tbs salt

1 tsp black peppercorns, whole

1 tsp coriander seeds, whole

1 tsp mustard seeds, whole

1 tsp fennel seeds, whole

Fermented Method:

Water, 3 cups

1.5 Tbs Salt

1 tsp black peppercorns, whole

1 tsp coriander seeds, whole

1 tsp mustard seeds, whole

1 tsp caraway seeds, whole

( and in ~2 weeks, fresh dill, oregano, basil, rosemary, or any other fresh herb)

First, start with The Vinegar method:

Combine 1 cup vinegar and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat until sugar is dissolved.  Remove from heat, add the water and let cool.

Next, prepare your veggies:

Yes, you'll want to take the strings out of the snap peas, and if doing both methods, you may as well sit down with a bowl and do them all at the same time.

Fill each jar about 1/2 way with peas, and the rest of the way with garlic, radishes, and turnips.  For the vinegar method, turnips are best sliced into discs, and for the fermented nice chunks work best.  Radishes for both, I just split into halves, the long way, when possible.  The garlic is great in thick discs, but a chunky chop is also good.

Then, cover your veggies in your brine:

Now that your jars are about 3/4 full with veg, separate your jars with labels and a date.  Pour the vinegar mixture over the veggies and pour in more uncooked vinegar until covered-- not to the top (usually about a cup if using quart sized mason jars) and then add the salt and spice, and shake well to combine.  

For the fermented, mix the salt, spices and water together in a bowl to combine and then pour over the veggies, adding additional water if necessary to cover, no where near the top).

Now, set them to store:

The vinegar pickles can go right in your fridge, and are ready to eat in 3-6 days.  Or, if you want them faster, leave them covered at room temperature for the first day, and then place them in the fridge to be ready immediately.

The fermented jar needs a bit more tending.  take a smaller jar, or a weight, and keep the veggies below the surface of the brine, in an uncovered jar.  You want the liquid to have air exposure, but not the veggies, in other words. Its hard to see, but the jar inside the jar is forcing the liquid in the larger jar to come all the way up to the very top of the large jar.  For this reason, I store mine in a bowl, and cover the entire thing with a dish cloth.

Now, set it aside, away from heat or light, for about two weeks, you can check on the acidity level for taste as you go, and when it's just about ready, plop your fresh herbs in, screw on the lid and put them in your fridge to be eaten at your own pace!

Enjoy!