Aquapocalypse, or boiling water isn't so bad

A few days with the boil water order brought a surge of memories from the days at Casa de las Rosas on Los Tulipanes street in San Antonio Tlayacapan. 44 kilometers from the metropolis of Guadalajara this sleepy village had a year-round non-potable water issue. But this was life in San Antonio - every morning the village had the water turned on to fill the rooftop tinaco (see the black tank in the upper right at picture above) with non-potable water for bathing and laundry. Once a week we would run out to catch the agua truck and grab a few 5-gallon bottles for drinking and cooking.

With the lobster pot at a rolling boil in Stoneham, my mind was transported to Central Mexico and the daily chore of working with two different kinds of water. But my Stoneham residence is missing an avocado tree, and we don't have Marta's piping hot tortilla service down the street so I'm happy to have the order lifted and potable water running through my faucets again! How did you fair in the great "Aquapocalypse" of 2010?

My CSA Passover

We celebrated Passover this year with a couple of great friends on Sunday evening (had to adjust for work conflicts on Monday evening, the official start of Passover). I hadn't participated in this Jewish holiday since I was 14 so it took some hours of pouring through search engine results to prepare everything.

I was able to use sweet potatoes, yukon potatoes, red potatoes, carrots, and apples from the farm share when cooking and preparing our meal.


The menu:
*Mock Chicken Soup from Vegetarians in Paradise
*Vegetarian Matzoh Balls from Epicurious
*Basic Chicken Broth Soup for the non-vegetarians at the table
*Potato Mushroom Kugel (pictured to the left)
*Apple Charoset
*Sweet Potato Kugel (pictured above)

Barley Brownies

This week's CSA gave me a bounty of Barley flour. I've used a whole slew of grain flours but can't recall ever using barley in baking before. So I did some online sleuthing and discovered the awesomeness of barley flour recipes! :-)

This afternoon I baked up a small batch of Bob's Red Mill Barley Brownies. I LOVE carob - both chips and powder - so this was quite the treat for my tastebuds. I used Himalayan salt instead of sea salt and added a smidgen more chopped walnuts than the recipe called for.

I'd love to find a version that doesn't include a half cup of vegetable oil, it seemed a little overkill for that much oil. Maybe I'll experiment with some oil and applesauce ratios...or do another google search.

(image Copyright David Thomson)

CSA Arugula: Chickpea Soup with Arugula

In February I tried Martha Stewart's Pasta with Roasted Vegetables and Arugula. It was delicious! I crumbled some Feta cheese on top which really ramped up the dish for me - I literally had 3 bowls of this before I forced myself to stop!

Last night I wanted to try something different with my CSA Arugula so I scoured the internet for recipes until I stumbled across Epicurious' Chickpea Soup with Arugula. Arugula, in a soup? Had to try it!

I used two of the carrots from the CSA box, a few leaves of just-picked basil from my AeroGarden, *two* cans of chickpeas, and the entire can of tomato paste (who uses only a tablespoon? what do you do with the rest of the can??). Oh, I also left off the cheese - it really didn't need it.

The soup was nice and the arugula wilted up a bit but still had a little crispness to it. I used the stick blender (thanks Uncle Ron and Aunt Leslie for the awesome wedding gift!) to puree about 1/4 of the soup which thickened the soup up just a bit.

The CSAs are coming the CSAs are coming!

For the first time in nearly a decade I'm involved in a CSA again. I'm tickled pink over it!

Back "home" in the mountains we had a very large organic garden with all of the accoutrements:
*Chickens - for fertilizer + eggs
*Goats - for fertilizer + milk
*Dogs - to chase the bears out of the compost
*Compost heap - those crunchy garden supply places have nothing on my momma's compost heap
*Recycled wooden pallets - for the potato growing boxes

At one time I signed up for a CSA that included manual labor as part of the program. You'd pay a reduced fee for volunteering a certain number of hours on the farm during peak planting or harvesting times. It was a lot of fun being shoulder-to-shoulder with other foodies while we tilled up the soil.

Alas my current home has the backyard equal to the square centimeters of the first class postage stamp with a 95% chance of shade from mid-June through September. I've become quite adept at container gardening but often the squirrels beat me to the harvest.

So here's my first box of the half share from Heavens Harvest Farm. Isn't it lovely? This is a half bushel of fresh fruit and vegetables - plenty for my partner and I for a week!

I can't wait to start trying out all manner of recipes as the CSA continues for the next 10 weeks.

Birth of the weekly meal planner

If you give up half of your Sunday to plan and shop for over a week's worth of meals you can't just let that go can you? Well, neither could I!

It all started with a subscription to Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine. Each month this full-color, pocketbook-sized magazine landed in my mailbox and I cherished it. Recipes emphasized seasonal cooking, relative quick preparation, but with a dash of inspiration - be an exotic-sounding spice, or a cooking technique that required a new gadget from Williams Sonoma.

Then when Fall arrived last year I started swapping meals with a friend. I'd cook a large batch of something, she'd cook a large batch of something and we'd give each other a dish that could be frozen or warmed for serving. Genius! I began making lists of different dishes I could create throughout the week, on a whim. One list read: slow cooker arroz con queso, wild rice and mushroom casserole, tortellini soup, sweet potato-peanut bisque, and so forth. At random I would pick something from this list on my fridge and make it for dinner that night. Fresh new recipes, inspired dinners, I loved being in the kitchen.

After returning from vacation recently I discovered I needed more structure. The inner workaholic wasn't giving me a break - I'd forget all of cool breakfast options I had available and *settle* for toast or a boring bowl of oatmeal. Blah!

The Weekly Menu Planner was born - I googled for the perfect template that included everything I wanted: three squares, a snack column, reminders for the following day's meal prep, a grocery list and an area for notes. Then with the help of the most recent issues of Everyday Food and EatingWell magazines I dove in. This is what my first week looks like (keeping in mind that I'm a vegetarian who enjoys a little dairy, doesn't like eggs and struggles with breakfast, lol):

*Monday 2/1*
Breakfast - Savory Polenta with mushrooms and cheddar
Lunch - Black bean, brown rice, lettuce tortilla wrap
Dinner - Whole grain rigatoni with roasted vegetables and wilted arugula

*Tuesday 2/2*
Breakfast - Jamaican oatmeal
Lunch - leftover pasta from Monday night
Dinner - Veggie stir-fry (hubby's will have shrimp) with brown rice

*Wednesday 2/3*
Breakfast - Hot rice breakfast drink (using leftover rice from Tuesday night's dinner)
Lunch - Marscapone and strawberries sandwiches, handful of roasted almonds
Dinner - Baked Tostadas (hubby's will have canned pink salmon)

*Thursday 2/4*
Breakfast - Savory breakfast muffins (with veggie bacon)
Lunch - Mango Dal with brown rice
Dinner - Cabbage soup

*Friday 2/5*
Breakfast - Blueberry, banana protein smoothie with whole grain toast
Lunch - Feta, hummus, veggie tortilla wrap
Dinner - Warm apple and lentil salad, sauteed kale (cooking lamb for hubby's main course)

*Saturday 2/6*
Breakfast - Blueberry-Ricotta Pancakes
Lunch - Chickpea salad sandwich (egg salad sandwich for hubby)
Dinner - Treat! Go out for dinner

*Sunday 2/7*
Breakfast - Breakfast burritos (without eggs for me, with for the hubby)
Lunch - Baked tamale pie
Dinner - Honey Ginger stir fry (with chicken for hubby)

*Monday 2/8*
Breakfast - Brown rice porridge with honey and almonds (using leftover rice)
Lunch - Leftover tamale pie
Dinner - Black bean soup

Vegetarian Pot Pie

I've been making this dish for about six-seven years or so and I update the ingredients based on what it is in the crisper and the freezer. This recipe can also be expanded for a make-ahead frozen dinner, just cover and freeze after you've put the sauteed vegetables in the baking dish and before it goes in the oven. Thaw it out when you're ready and bake it for about a half an hour.

Vegetarian Pot Pie
inspired by the Vegetarian Times Complete Cookbook

In a large stockpot heat about a half a cup of vegetable broth over medium heat to simmer. Add one diced onion and let simmer for a minute or two until slightly translucent. Then add the following vegetables:
1 cup of chopped celery
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup green beans (I use frozen)
1/2 cup peas (I use frozen)
1 cup diced red peppers
1/2 cup corn (I prefer frozen over canned)

Sometimes I mix and match vegetables, again based on what is available in my fridge.

While the vegetables are sauteing in the broth prepare a 2 quart or larger casserole dish with olive oil spray and preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cook the vegetables for about ten minutes then add 1/4-1/3 cup of whole wheat flour, stirring until well combined. The veggies will start to get pasty and sticky. Then add two cups of vegetable broth and a cup of milk or milk substitute (I prefer whole organic milk but have used unsweetened soy milk). Season with soy sauce (a teaspoon or splash should do), thyme, sage, black pepper or your other favorite herbs. Today I used fresh sage and savory and a dried herbs de province blend from Red Monkey. You can also add a sprinkle of cayenne if you want a little heat.

Stir the vegetables frequently until the mixture has thickened. Pour it into the prepared baking dish and add a biscuit topping - I use Jiffy mix ratio of 2-1/3 cups of mix to 2/3 cup milk and slather over the top. Make sure you don't seal the edges with the biscuit dough so the juices can breathe and not bubble over.

Put the uncovered baking dish in the oven for 20 minutes to a half hour. You want the biscuit topping to be golden and the juices to be bubbling.