The “Farm to Table” luncheon on August 29, 2009 was a great success!! The food that was donated by the farmers was excellent as well as the pork. Everyone who ate enjoyed their meal. We thank everyone who contributed to the meal as well as those who ate the meal. It is always heart warming to see a community come together to help each other. I promised the dressing that was used on the tomato cucumber salad so here it is.


LIME-CUMIN VINAIGRETTE
Cumin and lime go especially well with citrus fruits, onions, avocados, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, and raw vegetables. Roasting and grinding whole spices creates bigger, warmer flavors, but you can use ground spices too. This also makes a great marinade for Chicken, Fish, or Pork.
Makes about a ½ Cup

Garlic clove, grated or mashed in a mortar until smooth (you can also use 1/8 tsp garlic powder
Grated or minced zest of 2 limes
2-3 Tbs of fresh lime or lemon juice to taste
2-Tbs chopped scallions or finely diced onion
½ jalapeno chile, seeded & minced (be sure to use gloves when working with jalapeno)
½ tsp coriander seed or (use ½ ground)
½ tsp cumin seed or (use ½ tsp ground)
¼ tsp dry mustard seed
1/3 C olive oil or canola oil
2 Tbs chopped fresh cilantro


Pound or mash the garlic with 1/8 tsp salt until smooth then combine in a bowl with the zest, juice, scallion, and chile. Toast the cumin & coriander seeds in a small dry skillet until fragrant, then remove to a plate to cool. Grind to a powder in a spice mill, then add to the juice mixture. Whisk in the mustard & oil. Taste & adjust the balance if needed. Let the dressing stand for at least 15 minutes; add the cilantro before using.

Potatoes, all kinds are available at the market now. Red, white, and sweet potatoes are being offered. In the last few years both Chefs and food services have found that you can make mashed potatoes and freeze them. I have been doing this for a few years and it works beautifully for both regular potatoes and sweet potatoes. If you don’t want to use them as mashed potatoes you have perfect soup bases ready to add to your soup pot.
So, I’m giving you basic recipes for both mashed potatoes & mashed sweet potatoes.

Mashed Potatoes
Serves 4

4-5 med potatoes (scrubbed clean. You don’t have to peel them. Lots of vitamins right under that skin)
1-Tbs salt
1- Cup milk, or cream, or skim milk or chicken stock (if you want to cut calories or can’t do dairy)
1-2 Tbs butter
Black pepper to taste.

Cover potatoes with water and salt and let come to boil. Cover and turn down to lower heat and simmer until fork tender. Drain and mash with potato masher, in a stand mixer or hand mixer. Add butter and milk or other liquid and stir to desired consistency. Adjust seasoning if you like, but if you are freezing them, you will have to add again, when you defrost. Let them cool and put in freezer bag. Be sure that you fill the bag so there is very little room left when you close it. If you don’t have that much potato volume then mash the potatoes flat so that they cover most space in the bag. Date & freeze. When you go to use them, take them out of the bag & put them in a double boiler, microwave, and stir until they are hot and come back to the consistency you want. Or you can drop (them still in the bag) in boiling water until heated. Take them out of the bag and stir for consistency.



Mashed Sweet Potatoes

4-5 med potatoes (after washing you can peel & boil or roast with skin on).

Butter to taste
¼ tsp cinnamon, grated nutmeg etc.
1-2 Tbs. maple syrup or brown sugar or balsamic vinegar


If boiling potatoes cover with water and let come to a boil. Cover and turn heat down and simmer until fork tender. Drain & mash. If baking preheat oven to 400 degrees and in lower 1/3 of oven prick potatoes and place in pan. Roast until done about 1 hour. Let cool and peel, then mash. If you are freezing them treat them the same as the white potatoes. Date & freeze. If you are serving then add your seasonings and serve.

Tomatoes have been struggling this year but they are peaking so take advantage of them.
I prefer to freeze instead of can, less work & to me vegetables stay fresher. Good friend of mine who makes lots of goooood salsas shared this idea with me. Cut the core out of the tomatoes and placed them unpeeled (but washed) on a sheet pan and let them freeze.
Once frozen bag them and then take out whenever you need fresh tomatoes to make sauces, soup etc. Let them set for a few minutes and the peels come right off and they taste so much fresher!!! I’ll never peel before I freeze again. Someone just told me they freeze corn still in the husk. Gonna try that one too.

So here is what I call a “Mouth Explosion” Tomato sauce that perks up those so-so dishes. I 1st found this recipe served with cauliflower & it is excellent. I put it with stuff cabbage (which I think is really dull) and made my knees weak. It will work lovely with stuffed peppers, green beans, eggplant, summer squash, soup base and the list goes on & on. So please try this one - IT”S A KEEPER! HEALTHY TOO


ZESTY TOMATO SAUCE

3- TBS. Olive Oil
1- Med- Onion chopped
2- Garlic cloves chopped
4-6 Med. – Large Tomatoes Peeled & chopped
1- TBS- Drained Capers
1- TBS- Honey
Zest & Juice of 1 Lemon
¼ - Crumbled Feta (optional)
¼- pitted Kalamata Olives (optional)


Heat oil in pan & add onion & garlic when hot. Cook until soft & clear. Add tomatoes. Cook until they began to release juices. Cut heat down to simmer & cover. Cook around 15-20mins. Until tomatoes have broken down. Add capers, lemon, & honey. Stir and cut off let sit & pour over the vegetables or combine with whatever you’re trying this sauce with. The Feta & Olives went with the cauliflower dish & were added last with the steamed Cauliflower and run under the broiler until the cheese softened.

Recipe

This week summer squash is so plentiful. So, I want to take an old recipe from my family that I converted to “more healthy.” One of the keys to making healthy food taste good is to gain the flavor from the vegetables and seasonings rather than the fat. This recipe is usually made with yellow squash but I sometimes mix yellow & green. This recipe also is a good way to use the larger squash since it cooks so long.

Stewed Squash

1-2 lbs squash washed & sliced med.
1- Large onion chopped
2-3T olive oil
Salt, sugar, & pepper to taste

Heat oil in a hot frying pan that has a lid you can use later. Add onion and let soften. Add squash, about a teaspoon of salt, same with sugar, stir, and cover. Reduce heat to med., and let cook stirring occasionally. Squash and onions will release liquid but continue to cook and allow the juices to evaporate. As this happens the onions & squash will caramelize, (turn a rich golden brown color). At this point, you will need to stir more often and maybe reduce the heat again. At this point, you can adjust your seasoning to your taste. I like quite a bit of black pepper. Be sure your last stir gets all the good brown stuff on the bottom of the pan as that is where the tastiest parts are. This is also good served over rice as a main vegetarian dish. ENJOY!!!!

We had a great market this past saturday. Produce is coming in. We've had zucchini, squash, corn, tomatoes, eggs, cabbage, cucumbers, peppers, potatoes and beans. Blueberries should be in in about 2 weeks.







Farmers’ Market Recipe Corner

Starting this week we will start a
recipe corner on how to cook & serve produce at our market. We will approach it by showing you how to eat healthy & seasonal. This way you will be able to learn how to use the farmers’ market so that it will work for your family’s meals.
We will post a recipe each week that will use the produce that is available at the market. We will try to do show new & different ways to use vegetables & fruits that are healthy. We will try to cover
“Heart healthy”
“Diabetic Friendly”
“Weight loss tasty”
“Gluten Free”
&
“Just plain healthy and taste good too”

If you have a vegetable, you do not know what to do with, or a recipe that you would like to see “go healthy” send it to our blog http://www.blueridgefarmersmarket.blogspot.com
Also if you have a favorite recipe for a seasonal vegetable and you want to share send it in and we will post it when that vegetable is available at the market.


Here is the Oriental Salad we served at the farmers’ market on July 4th.

Oriental Cabbage Salad
Serves 4

½ Small head green cabbage
¼ cup red cabbage for color (if you want)
3-green onions /tops and bottoms sliced thin

At this point, you may add any additional fresh raw vegetables you wish (from the farmers market of course)
I suggest ¼ cup each of peppers, cucumber, green peas, yellow & green squash, cherry tomatoes or anything you like!!!!

Dressing

3-Tablespoons Sesame oil
3-Tablespoons Rice wine Vinegar
3-Tablespoons Toasted Sesame seeds
(You may toast in a frying pan on top of the stove / med. Heat or in the oven at 350 for about 10 minutes. Watch they toast quick!!
An additional 1-2 Tablespoon of chunky peanut butter might appeal to the kids or those who do not eat cabbage.)

Shake dressing well (and stir if you added peanut butter until smooth). Pour over cabbage mix and toss until well coated. Chill until ready to serve. This keeps well for a couple of days.

This recipe is usable for any health or diet issues even if you add the peanut butter.