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Some hearty salads and complex flavors this week. It’s supposed to be a bit cooler so maybe you’ll want to spend a little more time cooking.
While putting together this’ week’s recipes I was thinking that really you can ignore all the below recipes and simple blanch the beans in well-salted water, grill the squash and fennel with nothing more than olive oil and salt, boil the potatoes and toss them with butter and parsley, add thick slices of sweet onion to any sandwich or burger and munch on the celery and cukes for snacks and it would all be perfectly delicious. . . or maybe do some of this super simple stuff and a recipe below. Happy cooking in any case!
Potato, Bean and Celery Salad with Mustardy Dressing
Summer Squash with Lentils, Parsley and Bacon
Zwiebelkuchen
Eggplant, Summer Squash, Potatoes and Fennel with Chermoula, Bulgur and Yogurt
Celery, Fennel and Sweet Onion Salad with Parsley and Capers
Potato, Beans and Celery Salad with Mustardy Dressing
–adapted from Super Natural Everyday by Heidi Swanson
Delicious, crunchy, and savory.
Serves 4
4 small to medium potatoes, scrubbed and cut into bite-sized pieces
½ lb (or more) green/yellow beans, trimmed
2 tablespoons or so chopped celery leaves
6 stalks celery, trimmed and diced or thinly sliced
1 cucumber, unpeeled, seeded and cut into small dice
1/3 cup diced Walla Walla Sweet onion (or more if you’d like)
2 tablespoons whole grain mustard
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Good olive oil (about 1/3 cup or a bit more)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt or more to taste
1/4 cup finely chopped dill and/or parsley
Cook the potatoes in a large pot of salted boiling water for about 12 minutes, or until just fork tender. 3 minutes before the potatoes are done, add the beans. Drain everything and set aside.
Make the dressing with the mustard, vinegar, olive oil, parsley and/or dill and sea salt and set aside.
In a salad bowl, gently toss the potatoes, green beans, celery, celery leaves, cucumber, sweet onions and dressing and let sit for 15 minutes if you have the time to let the flavors marry.
Summer Squash with Lentils, Parsley and Bacon
Lentils get overlooked a bit in the summer but I especially love salads with small green lentils in the summer. You can make them ahead of time and then have a robust, room temperature dish for whenever you need it. You want to cook the beans well for this recipe, getting them a bit browned in the pan.
1 cup small French green lentils or other small lentils that keep their shape when cooked
Serves 4
Splash of olive oil
1 medium Walla Walla Sweet, diced
4 cups summer squash, cut into quite small chunks –for zucchini I quarter them lengthwise and then cut them into 1/3-inch chunks
4 slices bacon, diced (optional)
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1-2 tablespoons sherry vinegar (or more red wine vinegar if you don’t have sherry vinegar)
2 small-ish garlic cloves, crushed and then minced
3 (or more) tablespoons good olive oil
Sea salt and pepper (to taste)
¼ cup chopped parsley
Cook the lentils until tender, about 15-20 minutes (this will vary depending on the kind of lentil you have). You want them to be tender but keep their shape so check frequently.
Drain them and immediately toss them with the vinegars, garlic and olive oil. Set aside.
In the largest skillet you have, heat a splash of olive oil over high heat and add the bacon and onion and sauté for 5-7 minutes, stirring frequently. You want the onion softened and bacon rendered but not crisp. Remove the onions and bacon from skillet and add to lentils. The onion may release a lot of liquid in which case cook it a bit longer to let it all cook off.
Add another splash of olive oil and the summer squash and a few generous pinches of salt. Cook the squash over high heat for about 7-8 minutes until browned and beginning to soften.
Add the warm squash to the lentils along with the chopped parsley and the additional olive oil. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and/or vinegar.
Zwiebelkuchen
I include this dish every summer—a lifelong favorite from my German upbringing that never fails to garner rave reviews. It is a bit more involved recipe in this packet but it’s wonderful for picnics or potlucks since it’s great at room temperature and keeps and travels well. And it makes a lot so you can have dinner, and a few lunches out of it.
This is a Southern German style tart/quiche/pizza is a mainstay in my family. This can easily be made vegetarian by omitting the bacon. You can also add herbs (parsley and/or chives are particularly good) and change the cheese to suite your taste or what you have on hand. And as noted above, you add jalapeno for an unorthodox but excellent twist.
Serves 10 (but it’s not really worth making a smaller amount-it keeps so well and is so good)
Crust:
Scant 2 cups all-purpose flour (I’ve also used half whole-wheat pastry flour and half all-purpose and feel free to play around with other flour combinations)
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ tsp sea salt
3 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
2 tablespoons water
½ cup sour cream or plain, whole-milk yogurt
1 egg
Topping:
2 lbs, or slightly more Walla Walls Sweets (can supplement with regular onions if you need), sliced into ¼-inch half rounds
Olive oil
3 ounces bacon, diced (or ½ cup of chopped parsley –added to the custard mix right before baking, see headnote)
4 ounces grated sharp cheddar, Emmental, etc.
2 eggs
½ cup sour cream or plain, whole-milk yogurt
Salt and pepper to taste
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
For the crust, in the medium bowl beat the egg with the oil, water and sour cream (or yogurt) until just mixed. In another bowl mix the flour, salt and baking powder and stir into the wet ingredients with a fork or wooden spoon. Mix well – you may want to use your hands at this point—until it’s smooth. Place the dough in a 13 x 18 rimmed baking sheet (sheet pan) and roll it out to fit the pan. You may have to stretch it a bit with your hands to get it into the corners. It does not need to come up the sides at all.
For the filling, slice the onions in half and then into ¼ thin half rounds. Thinly coat a large sauté pan or pot with olive oil and heat it over med-high heat. Add the bacon and cook for a few minutes until the fat is partially rendered. Add the onions and a few generous pinches of salt. Cover and stir occasionally (and adjust heat if onions stick and brown) until the onions are quite soft and some of the liquid they’ve released has cooked off. This will take between 15 to 25 minutes depending on your onions. Ideally they don’t brown but no harm done if they do.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs with the sour cream (or yogurt), a few grinds of pepper. Add the grated cheese and the onion bacon mixture. Spread on the crust and bake for 35 to 45 minutes until the top is golden and the edges are starting to brown.
Eat warm or at room temperature. This is even better reheated the next day in a hot cast iron pan in a little bit of olive oil.
Eggplant, Summer Squash, Potatoes and Fennel with Chermoula, Bulgur and Yogurt
–adapted from Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sam Tammimi
I took some distinct liberties with this recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks. You can also just roast the vegetables with the spice mix (chermoula) and enjoy those as a side and skip the bulgur salad and yogurt or just make the veggies and top with the yogurt, cilantro and mint. It is a fun take on plain roasted vegetables in any case. And I think it is best with eggplant (what the original recipes uses exclusively), though my six-year-old definitely preferred the potatoes. This dish takes a bit of time but makes a lot.
Serves 6 (also keeps well)
2 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
1 ½ teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
Grated zest of one lemon
2/3 cup olive oil, plus extra to finish
2 medium-large eggplants, cut into bite-sized pieces (no need to peel)
2 medium summer squash, halved and then cut into bite-sized pieces
4 new potatoes, scrubbed and cut into bite-sized chunks
1 fennel bulb, trimmed and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 cup bulgur
1 cup boiling water
1/3 cup golden raisins soaked for 10 minutes in warm water, then drained
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped, plus extra to finish
2 tablespoons mint, chopped
1/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted
3 green onions, chopped or 3 tablespoons sweet onions, thinly sliced
1 1/2 -3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
Salt
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
To make the chermoula, mix together in a small bowl the garlic, cumin, coriander, chili, paprika, salt, lemon zest and two-thirds of the olive oil.
In a large bowl toss all the cut vegetables with the chermoula until evenly coated with the spice mixture. Spread on a large sheet pan so that the vegetables are in one layer (or use two if you need to). Put in the oven and roast for 40 minutes, tossing occasionally, or until the vegetables are tender and browning in places.
Meanwhile, place the bulgur in a large bowl and cover with the boiling water and cover with a plate. After about 15 minutes the bulgur should be tender but still have a good bite. If it’s too hard still add more boiling water and steam for a bit longer and then drain out any extra water.
Chop the raisins up a bit and add to the bulgur, along with the remaining oil herbs, almonds, green onions/onions, lemon juice and a pinch of salt and stir to combine. Taste and add more salt if necessary.
Stir together the yogurt with a bit of salt.
Serve the vegetables topped with the bulgur and then some yogurt and some more chopped cilantro.
Celery, Fennel and Sweet Onion Salad with Parsley and Capers
This is a simple, crunchy, cool salad that I imagine would be good alongside fish or anything grilled.
1 fennel bulb, trimmed and sliced as thinly as you can
3 stalks celery, trimmed and tough strings removed and sliced thinly at a steep angle
½ cup Walla Walla Sweets, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon capers, rinsed and dried and chopped up a bit
Zest and juice of half a lemon (or more to taste)
3 tablespoons roughly chopped parsley
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Good olive oil
Crumbled Feta
Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Taste and adjust seasoning.