Kohlrabi Cornmeal Fritters

Kohlrabi is a really versatile veggie, you can eat it raw, roast it, sauté it, steam it, and it's hearty enough to withstand all these different cuts and heats while staying strong, and a bit sweet.

Think of these as a high fiber, vitamin c packed, B-vitamin latke that comes with it's own delicate sweetness and nowhere near the carbs of potato, and is also gluten free and very hearty, thanks to the cornmeal

Plus, using flax to bind it stocks these kohlrabi pancakes with Omega-3s, and skips all the saturated fats of things like eggs and butter.

Swap out a cup or two of kohlrabi with summer squash, grated just the same, for a bit more sweetness or variety, or alternate, and have a fritter buffet.

Makes about 12, 3" diameter fritters.  I really like them with sriracha added to a little vegan aioli (as pictured) but they also served up well with pumpkin or squash butter.

What you'll use from your bag:
2 kohlrabi, peeled and grated
3 Spring onions, finely chopped
1 red onion, grated


What else you'll need:
2/3 cup Cornmeal
2 Tbs flax, fork whisked with 5 Tbs warm water
1 bulb of garlic, 3/4 minced, and 1/4 crushed and added to oil
1/3 cup oil, and more as you fry
2 tsp Crushed Red Pepper
2 stalks fresh Parsley, chopped
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp smoked salt
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp coriander seed powder


First, shred you kohlrabi and onion
2 kohlrabi will produce approximately 5 cups grated, and the onion another 1+.  Wrap them in some paper towels, or a dish cloth and squeeze the liquid out (yes, that ball is the shredded mixture less wet).  Don't be so fast to throw out that liquid, thought, it's incredibly tasty and delicious and is an excellent addition to any broth or the base for a marinade.




Next, combine everything except the oil and 1/4 of the garlic
Start heating your skillet, frying pan, or griddle.  Mix all of the ingredients together, helping the

mixture firm up and evenly dispersing the parsley, flax, and spices.  The mixture should be tacky and maintain it's shape. Form into thin, flattened, palm-sized patties.

Heat the oil in the pan with the garlic, once the garlic has browned, add your patties to the oil, and cover, flipping 3 times, with about 1-2 minutes in between each, or to desired crispiness (MUCH less
time is needed if using a cast iron griddle!)

Whip up some more squash-cheese, serve with traditional apple sauce, or try a vegan avocado aioli recipe.  My partner said he thought old bay would be an excellent addition to these, and if you are in the mood for crab-cake alternatives give that a try!

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!

Calabacita Collard Green Wrap with Roasted Garlic Scapes

A collard wrap is an essential tool in the healthy cook's toolkit, but they can get a bit, well, redundant. Hummus here, alfalfa sprouts there...and usually raw or cold.  Hopefully for everyone here, this warm, savory, and bountiful wrap will be a pleasant diversion.  I was inspired by the intense and increasing quantity of some of these items in my fridge *ahem garlic scapes ahem* and was mightily tempted to simply eat the filling by itself-- it was THAT good.

The struggle is real, you could probably do both, eat the filling and make a bunch of wraps, depending on how many meals on the go you need for this hot summer week.

I was able to make 6 large wraps out of these, but probably 8 is a safer estimate, and largely depends on the number and size of your collards.




What you'll use from your bag:

10+ Collard Leaves, soaking in warm vinegar water or blanched

1 summer squash, cut into sticks

4 potatoes shredded (2 cups)

10 garlic scapes, cut into 4" pieces (ok this is leftover from last week, but you still have some right? I roasted all that I had left, and plan to make a garlic scape pesto, anyone want that recipe?)

1 Sweet onion, coarsely chopped

2-3 leaves of lettuce per wrap

What else you'll need:

3 Tbs Adobo spice

Your hot sauce of choice, to taste

Fresh thyme, one sprig

1 Tbs mustard seeds, whole

Salsa fresca

Salt and pepper to taste

Oil for sauté and roast

First, preheat the oven to 400 degrees

Prepare the garlic scapes to be roasted, tossed in about 1/2 Tbs of oil with a little salt. Then roast for about 12-14 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes.

Set your collards to soak in warm water, covering all the leaves you plan to use, including 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar to break down the cell wall...or Blanche for 2minutes and submerge in cold/ice water after if you prefer heat-cooked greens.

Next, heat your oil in a large skillet

You want to make sure it's nice and hot, because in will go your mustard seeds and 2 cups shredded potato first thing. Stir to ensure even oil absorption, and cook for 8 minutes until it starts to brown and get tacky.

Add your squash, stir thoroughly, and then cover. Cook for 3 minutes, so the squash can get a little tender and brown in some spots.  Add the adobo spice and stir to get some even browning and tenderizing of the squash (2 minutes)

Now, add your onions

The delicate sweet onions get tender fast, and have such a delicious flavor, your don't want to over-zap them.  Give them just 2 minutes in the mix.  Cook until the potatoes look-and-or-taste amazing.  Then remove from the heat and add the fresh thyme.

And now, let's master the collard green wrap

The soaked or blanched leaves will be more supple, and you shave down the thick stem to make it more flat, and pliable for better shaped wraps (and less rip-able!)

Overlap the collard leaves, top side up, with the stems faced away from each other.

Alternate the lettuce leaves along the length of the collards, then add the salsa, the sauté mixture and the garlic scapes to the very center. Try to hold back your hunger and not over fill it.

Fold the stem sides gently in first, leaving the middle filling still exposed, but allowing the side edges of both, and then roll from one direction to the other, pulling the filling towards your hands to keep the roll tight and keep the filling from spilling out as you flip it around.

And don't worry if your wraps have holes in them, because that sticky hash brown sauté will stay put!

Enjoy!

Pan Seared Green Beans with Garlic Scape and Chickpea Aioli

As I unpacked this week's bag and discovered the green beans,  I exclaimed "ooh, I love green beans, they'll go perfectly with all these garlic scapes!"  A simple side like green beans can really be made a number of ways, but I find the creamy aioli and the pan searing to add a dimension that not only pleases the mouth, but also has a nice thick aroma that really stirs up the appetite.  Your entire house will smell warm and savory, and you can use this garlicky fat as a cooking medium, or even as a salad dressing.

What you'll use from your bag:

4 garlic scapes

All of your green beans

What else you'll need:

1 cup chickpeas

1/2 lemon

2 Tbs coconut oil

2/3 cup broth

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp fresh dill, or 3 of dried

First, make the aioli

Combine all of your ingredients EXCEPT the green beans into a food processor.  Process until

smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides and assisting the coconut oil t go from solid to liquid. (3-5 minutes) If absolutely necessary, you can add an extra 1/3 cup of broth, or another Tbs of oil, but you'd be better off adding an olive oil if you're having trouble getting your to cream.

While your aioli is processing, prep the beans

It's tedious, but rip or cut the ends off of the stem side of the bean

Now, take your aioli and season the pan

About 1/3 cup into a heated pan will season it and provide just enough fat and steam to sear the beans. 

Add beans and sear on medium, covered, for about 15 minutes, stirring once or twice, until it starts to get dark spots the size you want (everyone has different taste tolerances for that charred taste).

Then add half of the remaining aioli and stir for 3 minutes, take off heat, add remaining to the pan, or reserve for another day, or serve with a cool dollop on top for a second temperature.

Provencal Tian: Broccoli-Cheeze Casserole

Oh Tian, you fancy french name for a cheezie milkee casserole.  Sometimes, the most comforting thing is a deep, warm, melty pot of everything baked together, amiright? For this casserole, I combine the inaugural crop of broccoli from Karma Farms with sliced cremini mushrooms, but other vegetables such as zucchini, eggplant, bell peppers, and even potatoes are traditional and very tasty here, so if you have a giant casserole dish go ahead and add them.

Did you save your Cheeze Sauce from the last post?  I hope so.  If you haven't made it yet and think these flavors won't combine well, I assure you, Herbs de Provence bake up 10x the aromatic power of anything in that cheese, but if you want to skip the liquid aminos or the smoked paprika, for a more subtle classically french cream flavor, I won't judge you ;) Additionally, you can substitute 2 cups of tofutti cream cheese or 2 cups of shredded Daiya in a pinch, but I think the squash cheese is the perfect blend for this dish and cooks perfectly.

Serves 8, serve hot, or cover with foil and reheat in the oven later.

What you'll use from your bag:
2 small heads of broccoli, chopped, with the leaves separated but also chopped
2 garlic scapes, chopped
1 Sweet Onion, chopped

What else you'll need:
2 cups of Cheeze Sauce or other vegan cheese
1 package mushrooms, 8oz, sliced
2 cups Non-dairy milk (I used part soy and part almond, but anything is fine here)
4 Tbs of flax meal, whisked with 1/2 cup warm water
2 cups cooked Quinoa, or a mix of wild rice and quinoa
2 cups of Panko (gluten free, vegan breadcrumbs)
1 Tbs oil to sauté
1 Tbs Herbs de Provence
1 Tbs Blackstrap molasses
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional: sprinkle with Harissa and fresh basil after cooking


First, preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and cook your Quinoa/rice
Boil your water with the grains inside, and the lid off. Should take about 20 minutes.  While that is happening, start another pot of water to boil, to blanche your broccoli.

Chop your broccoli, keeping the leaves to the side. The leaves will be added to your sauté near the end.  Slice your mushrooms, chop your onions, and garlic scapes.  

Add the broccoli to the boiling water for 2 minutes, to blanche. Then transfer to an icebath.

Then, set up your sautee
Heat up the oil in a large sauté pan, and add your mushrooms, onion, and garlic scapes.  Cook for 3-4 minutes, covering if you want really soft veggies (remember these will also bake for 30 minutes).

Next add your flax mixture, and stir to coat. It will look sticky, which is exactly what you want.  Then add the "milk," salt and pepper, and herbs de provence, and cook for 5-6 minutes until the sauce thickens, and the flax meal gets even more sticky looking.

Now, add your broccoli and grains
Mix these elements in and you are almost ready.  Once they are fully integrated, add your molasses, cheeze sauce and your broccoli leaves, and cook for 1-2 minutes while stirring.  Then take off the heat.

Then, transfer to a baking dish
This tested the limits of my 2.5 quart casserole dish, if you have a 3 quart, that might be ideal, or you can split this between two dishes (especially if you are adding other ingredients!!)

Line the bottom of the dish with 1 cup bread crumbs, and fill with mixture, and cover with the other half of the bread crumbs.  Put your dish on a baking sheet-- seriously, you'll thank me when you don't have to clean your oven tomorrow.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, turning once (NOT STIRRING!)
Let stand for at least 10-15 minutes after taking it out of the oven, which is hard, because it smells incredible...otherwise your casserole won't set, and will be very runny (BUT still tasty, so priorities)

The harissa and purple basil on the top add some heat, but also bring in a feel for the south of Provence, without muting the lavendar, rosemary and oregano we expect from a french bake.
It stores well, and is mighty filling!

Enjoy!

Summer Squash and Potato Cheeze Sauce

Vegans are mighty inventive, and if it's one thing they have figured out how to turn just about anything into, it's cheese.

This is quite a magic trick, making squash and potatoes turn into something that best adorns tortilla chips, mac'n'cheeze, or if you are patient enough, the broccoli casserole I'll be posting in just a few days :)  

This ooey-gooey little low-fat to No-fat cheezie wonder is going to be a crowd pleaser, so guard it judiciously!

Makes about 5 cups (you'll need 2-3 for the casserole, so you can enjoy some now!)

What you'll use from your bag:

3 summer squash, your entire haul this week

3 or 4 spring garlic bulbs, yep the entire things

A few curvy leaves of lettuce, to dip into the sauce

What else you'll need:

2 cups of veggie broth (this week my homemade scrap broth is red, from last week's beets!)

3/4 cup nutritional yeast

4-5 medium yukon gold potatoes

1 Tbs cumin powder

1 tsp mustard seed powder

2 tsp sea salt, and more to roast

1 Tbs smoked paprika

1 tsp celery salt

1/4 cup liquid aminos or tamari

1/2 cup lemon juice

1/2 tsp tumeric powder

1 Tbs vegetable oil to roast, and 1 more to blend (optional)

1 Tbs red peper flakes (optional)

First, preheat the oven to 400

Peel the squash and the potatoes, unless you have a vitamix and you really hate peeling.  This will change the color of the finished product, but is perfectly fine to eat as long as you can get a smooth texture out of your blender.  

Chop the top off the garlic bulbs, but keep them together and in their skins (you can remove any hanging papery parts.

Rough chop the potatoes, and toss with 1/2 the garlic, 1/2 Tbs oil, and some salt. Roast for 25-30 minutes in the top rack, stirring once.

Rough chop the squash, toss the squash and the other 1/2 of the garlic in salt and oil. Spread out on a baking sheet covered in parchment and add to the oven in the middle rack. Roast for 20-25 minutes, stirring once.  Different cook times is why they should be on separate baking sheets!

Next, prepare your flavoring mixtures

In a small bowl, mix your dry spices. In a medium bowl, whisk together the broth, liquid aminos, lemon juice, and remaining oil.  Add both to the blend and pulse to combine.

Then, mash and measure your roasted veggies

The garlic should slide right out of the skins.  Put the squash in a bowl and mash  until chunky, and pack firmly into a 1 cup measure, then add to the blender.  Do the same with the potato, allowing for a generous cup.  Add tot he blender, and blend on high for 2-3 minutes.  Scrape down the sides to ensure even mixing.

For thinner cheese, add up to 1/4 cup more broth, or 1 Tbs aminos and 1 Tbs lemon juice.  For thicker, put the entire mixture in a saucepan and heat to reduce.  Season spicy for nachos, or simply drizzle it over any extra roasted potato you have, and enjoy!