Fun ways to use that produce
Easy Roasted Eggplant
Sure, everyone can make eggplant parmigiana or even Moussaka, but this one is quick and easy. Also tasty if I say so myself.
Ingredients:
1 medium eggplant
1 ½ tablespoons oil
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
Warm and Toasty Spice Blend (Optional)
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper or 1/2 teaspoon peppercorns
1 ¼ teaspoon ground fennel or 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 ¼ teaspoon ground cumin or 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 ¼ ground coriander or 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves or 1 whole clove
Fresh mint, serving, optional
Directions:
Make Spice Blend (Optional):
For ground spices, add to a small bowl and mix well. For whole spices, add to a spice grinder or mortar and pestle and grind until a coarse powder.
Roast Eggplant:
Heat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit (220C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
For cubed eggplant, cut into 1-inch cubes. For eggplant slices, slice into 1-inch-thick slices. Cutting the eggplant into thicker pieces makes sure that the inside turns tender and the outside caramelizes.
Add eggplant to a large bowl and toss with 1/2 teaspoon of fine sea salt and 1 ½ tablespoons oil. If you are adding the spice blend, scatter it over the eggplant and toss well. (It will seem like a lot of spice mix, but eggplant loves to be generously spiced.)
When the eggplant is well coated with the oil, tumble it onto the prepared baking sheet and spread out so that they are not touching.
Roast eggplant for 20 minutes, stir, and then roast for another 10 to 15 minutes or until the eggplant is tender and caramelized. If the eggplant looks dry while in the oven, toss it with a little more oil (1/2 tablespoon or so).
Serve or store in an airtight container for up to 4 days. If you have some, serve with fresh mint scattered on top.
Fried Green Tomatoes
Yes, Fried Green Tomatoes are a southern staple when in season. And this recipe comes directly out of an old southern cookbook!
Ingredients:
3 medium-sized, firm green tomatoes
Kosher salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning
1/2 cup milk or buttermilk
1 large egg
1/3 cup fine white cornmeal
1/2 cup fine dry bread crumbs
1/4 oil for frying
Directions:
Slice and salt green tomatoes:
Cut unpeeled tomatoes into 1/2 inch slices. Sprinkle slices with salt. Let tomato slices stand for 5 minutes.
Set out shallow bowls with coating ingredients:
While the salted green tomato slices are resting, place in three separate, shallow bowls:
1) the flour and Cajun seasoning (if using), 2) buttermilk and egg, and 3) breadcrumbs and cornmeal.
Whisk together the egg and buttermilk.
Bread the tomato slices:
Heat the oil in a skillet on medium heat. Dip the green tomato slices in the flour-seasoning, then the buttermilk-egg mixture, then the cornmeal-breadcrumb mix.
Fry the breaded tomatoes:
In the skillet, fry half of the coated tomato slices at a time, for 3 to 5 minutes on each side or until brown.
Set the cooked tomatoes on paper towels to drain (although with the recent comeback of the brown paper bag, they work much better).
These fried green tomatoes are fantastic with a little hot sauce
Apple Cobbler
One of our classic recipes, refreshed! A little less sugar in both the filling and the topping highlights the tart apples.
Ingredients:
7 to 8 large (9 cups) tart cooking apples, peeled, cored, sliced 1/4 inch
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 large Land O Lakes® Eggs
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup butter, melted
Directions:
Heat oven to 350°F.
Place sliced apples into ungreased 13x9-inch baking dish.
Combine 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon in bowl; sprinkle over apples.
Combine flour, 3/4 cup sugar, eggs, baking powder, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and salt in bowl; mix until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over apples. Pour melted butter over topping. Bake 45-55 minutes or until lightly browned and apples are tender.
Serve warm or at room temperature
Eggplant with Spicy
Garlic Sauce
Simple and easy Chinese spicy eggplant in garlic sauce. Been making it for years, if you don't have a wok a big frying pan will suffice.
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons cooking oil divided
3 eggplant small, cut into long strips
2 cloves garlic finely minced
1 tablespoon red chile pepper paste
1/2 inch fresh ginger peeled and finely minced
1 green onion chopped
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon black vinegar Chinese black vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sugar
Directions:
In a wok or saucepan over high heat, add 1 tablespoon of the cooking oil and swirl to coat wok. When wok is hot, add eggplant in a single layer. Cook 2 minutes and flip over each piece so they cook evenly. Cook another 2-3 minutes, flipping occasionally.The egg plant should have changed in color, the skin wrinkled and the flesh soft.
Push eggplant aside in wok and add 1 tablespoon cooking oil. Add garlic, red chile paste, ginger and green onion. Stir these aromatics until they become fragrant. Combine aromatics with eggplant and stir fry for one minute. Add soy sauce, black vinegar and sugar and stir to combine all. Serve immediately.
Zucchini Fritters
One of my personal favorites, a simple recipe that will have everyone saying "Fancy". This is the basic recipe but you can add just about anything from cheese to bacon bits to make this recipe your own.
Ingredients:
Fritters:
Several Zucchini, enough for about 3 cups
1 Pancake Mix
1 Egg
1 tablespoon Salt
1 tablespoon pepper
1 Whatever other spices you wish.
Sauce:
3 tablespoons sour cream
1 tablespoon ranch salad dressing
Fresh Herbs if you wish
Slash of milk until you get the thickness you like
Directions:
Pull out that old box grater and grate the zucchini until you get around 3 cups and put aside in a bowl.
Now make the smallest batch of pancake mix. Add only 1/2 of the milk/water on the instructions given (Zucchini has a high water content). Add egg, salt, pepper and anything else you want and whisk well. Now pour into bowl with zucchini and mix well.
Heat up the frying pan with about a half inch of oil. Now make the sauce. Mix the ingredients in a bowl, keep adding milk
until you get the consistency you like. Stick in the refrigerator to chill. Now I add fresh cilantro in mine but you add what you wish.
Use a large spoon and put in enough of the mixture to make 4 inch patties. It's just like making pancakes, after about 3 minutes flip it over. If it's not quite browned you can always flip it over again. When done, place on a brown paper bag to absorb the excess oil (Just like your mother did)
This goes with just about anything, just put 3 on your plate and pour on a little sauce and you are set.
Rachel's Asian Tuna Lunch
Rachel whipped up this delicious, fast and easy lunch with items from "Barbara's Corner"
Ingredients:
8oz. Whole wheat pasta
1 Can tuna fish,
Scallion
Garlic Scape.
Vinaigrette :
Sesame oil
Red wine vinegar.
Directions:
Bring a pot of water to a boil and then add your pasta. Stir with chopsticks until fully submerged. Boil for 9 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water and set aside. Wash the scallion and the garlic scape. Slice the scallion and the garlic scape into small pieces.
Heat a small sauté pan over medium heat. Wait for it to get hot and then add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the scallion and garlic scape and sauté until it starts getting fragrant. Add the tuna. Sauté the tuna with the scallion and the garlic scape. Make sure that you break up the tuna. Sauté for 1 minute and then turn the heat off.
Plate the spaghetti and then add the tuna with the scallion and garlic scape on top. Drizzle sesame oil and red wine vinegar on top of the tuna. And there you have it. A simple, quick, and healthy meal.
Garlic scapes
Garlic scapes are the tender stem and flower bud of a hardneck garlic plant. (Hardneck garlic is the kind of garlic that typically grows in Canada and the northeastern U.S.) Scapes first grow straight out of the garlic bulb, then coil. When harvested, they look like long, curly green beans.
Garlic is one of the few plants with two harvests: garlic scapes are harvested in the late spring and early summer, and then the bulbs are harvested later in the summer. Harvesting the scapes is an integral part of garlic farming—if the scapes aren’t cut off, the plant expends its energy trying to grow its stem and flower, leaving the bulb small and flavourless. So, by eating garlic scapes, you’re doing your part in the garlic growing cycle.
How do you store garlic scapes—and how long do they keep?
Garlic scapes keep very well in the crisper—they can last for up to two weeks. You can also chop them up and freeze them in plastic bags, which will preserve them for much longer.
How do I eat them? What garlic scapes recipes can I use?
Scapes are very versatile and can be used in an assortment of recipes. They can be used anywhere you might otherwise use garlic cloves or scallions. (If using, we would recommend not adding garlic as the flavour can be overwhelming.) They can be sautéed, pureed, roasted and pickled. (Sautéed in butter and sprinkled with salt, they make an excellent burger or sandwich topping, or even a kid-friendly side vegetable.) They’re great in Asian cuisine, such as a stir fry. They can be diced and used in omelettes, frittatas, soups and salads. They can be eaten cooked or raw—though, be warned, they are a little tough when raw. They can also be pickled—get our pickled garlic scape recipe here—then used in salads in place of gherkins or other pickles.
Another common use for garlic scapes is pestos: it’s a great alternative to the standard basil and pine nuts pesto. Garlic scapes pesto can be made by simply replacing basil with raw scapes. It’s best to use a neutral tasting oil so the natural flavours of the garlic scapes can shine through. Give our garlic scapes pesto recipe a try.
Snap Peas with Onions
and Bacon
This one that I found in my card file is fast and easy. Not sure but I may have gotten it from Rachel Ray
Ingredients:
3 slices bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 small yellow skinned onion, peeled and chopped
1 pound sugar snap peas
1/2 cup water
Salt and pepper
Directions:
In a medium skillet over medium high heat, brown chopped bacon. Using a slotted spoon, remove bacon to a paper towel lined plate. Add onion to the pan. Saute chopped onions 3 minutes or so, until they are just tender. Add peas and water to the pan. Cover and cook peas 5 minutes. Uncover and allow the liquid to cook almost out of the pan. Add bacon back to the skillet and remove pan from heat. Transfer to a serving dish and enjoy!
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