We had not BBQ’ed since the power went out during  blizzard last Christmas.  I do not normally eat turkey, but I have to confess I tried some of the BBQ’ed breast meat and it was damned good.  We’ve almost decided to make it a tradition to BBQ our Christmas turkey every year, but that’s another story for another time.    

Yesterday was a beautiful warm spring day, so we got the old Webber out,  cleaned it up and lit it.   Our first REAL BBQ for spring.  The guys ate grassfed beef burgers, while us girls enjoyed our Morningstar Meatless patties on a bun.    I made some fresh kale soup, sliced up the first fresh spring strawberries, roasted asparagus and bought a tasty garbanzo bean salad from the PCC Deli.   I had sampled three salads — all made with organic ingredients– then settled on the Turkish Garbanzos.   Now that we’ve all tried it, I plan to make it myself.  It was delicious and different and full of protein. 

PCC publishes many recipes on their home page to the right.  Here’s the recipe for the salad I had last night. 

Turkish Garbanzo Bean Salad Recipe
2 Cup garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

1/4 red onion, diced

1/2 cup fresh parsley, minced

1/4 cup kalamata olives, pitted, sliced

1/4 cup Turkish apricots, slivered

3 T organic extra virgin olive oil or flax seed oil

2 T Barengo Gourmet Red Wine Vinegar

1 clove garlic, minced

1 T Dijon Mustard

1/2 T each: oregano, paprika

1 Tsp sea salt

black pepper to taste

Mix together all ingredients and serve or refrigerate. This salad tastes even better the next day, after all the flavors have had a chance to seep into the beans.
Prep time; 10 minutes

rainbow chard

Chard is one of the few locally grown crops abundantly available in the Pacific Northwest this time of year.   I’ve seen locally grown organic chard at PCC Markets  all winter long, and also found it at the Yakima Fruit Market, which just recently opened again March 4th.  You would think with its high availability I might have tried it before, but I confess I usually pass it up in favor of  spinach or kale — another recently discovered leafy green.   Feeling adventuresome this past week I ever bought a bunch for the very first time.  WOW!  I’m in love with this delicious beautiful plant!  So far, I’ve sauteed it and added it to salad, soup and a stir-fry.  It tastes great in everything! 

Chard comes from the same family as spinach and beets, but is a little milder than than both.  According to the World’s Healthiest Foods website, it is high in vitamins K, A, C, and E, plus magnesium, manganese, potasium, calcium, and iron.   

Here’s my sauteeing recipe–

Ingredients

• 2 bunches fresh chard.  Or other greens– (kale, spinach, mustard)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil 
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic a splash of vinegar
• salt to taste

Cut the leaves and stems with kitchen shears.  (You can eat both leaves and stems!)

Toss into a fry pan with olive oil and garlic.

When the leaves begin to look a little bit limp, add the vinegar, cover with a lid and cook for a minute or two.  Because the leaves are bigger and thicker, it has to cook just a little longer than spinach, but watch it because it gets limp fast.

Salt to taste. 

There are many alternatives here.  You can substitute lemon juice if you prefer that  flavor over vinegar.  Add some pine nuts for protein, or add a jalapeno or dried pepper seeds for some zip.  It’s very versatile. 

I look forward to planting some in my garden this spring.

• Ingredients
  1 cup split peas
  4 cups water
  1/2 teaspoon or two cloves minced garlic
  1 cup coarsely chopped carrots
  1 small onion, sliced
  2 ribs celery, sliced
  2 teaspoons olive oil
  1 teaspoon thyme
  1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
  1/2 pound meat (ham or cooked bacon pieces if you like) or 1/2 pound tofu dogs

1. Bring peas, garlic and water to a boil, then simmer for about an hour
2. Chop carrots while peas are cooking, then toss them in with peas
3. Chop celery and onion, then saute in olive oil. When the onions are transparent, toss celery and onions into the pot, add thyme
4. Keep simmering until peas and vegetables are done
5. If you like a smooth texture, blend soup in a food processor or with an immersion blender
6. Add meat, (or non-meat) salt and pepper to taste

1/2 to 3/4 small organic cabbage

1/4 cup cashews

1/4 cup sesame seeds

1/2 cup pecan pieces

2 t. olive oil

4 organic green onions cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

1 tablespoon honey

1. Chop cabbage coarsely as if you’re making a slaw.

2. Toast the nuts and seeds in 2 t. olive oil until the sesame seeds are golden.

3.  Mix the olive oil, rice vinegar and honey in a small bowl, then mix everything together– cabbage, onions, nuts and dressing.

4.  Chill until ready to serve.

Many Cream of Broccoli Soup recipes require cheese.  If you don’t eat cheese (or just want something less fattening), this is an easy and tasty recipe without the cheese.  Non-fat sour cream can also be used in place of yogurt.

Ingredients

Directions

1. Saute the onion in the olive oil.
2. Place onion, garlic, broccoli and potatoes in a stock pot with vegetable broth and wine if you’re using it
3. bring to a boil, then turn down to simmer on stove about 20 minutes until you can poke a fork into the potatoes and broccoli stems easily.
4. Remove from heat and let cool.  Then pour into a food processor to  blend OR use an immersion  blender to puree the ingredients
5. salt and pepper to taste, then add a dash of nutmeg
6. heat up again, then add two cups of yogurt, or buttermilk or sour cream
7. when serving place a spoonful of cream into the soup

I have often been asked (by my kids) for my spaghetti sauce recipe.  Spaghetti is one of those dishes I’ve never used a recipe for.  I’ve pointed out on more than one occasion that women cooked for thousands of years without using recipes.  They couldn’t read and consequently resorted to eyeballing it, then tasting.  Cooking is one of those skills that takes some practice.  It’s both a science and an art.  The artists among us are most comfortable NOT following a recipe, whereas the scientists need exact measurements, since they evidently don’t trust their taste buds.  But just for the record, I haven’t measured anything in this recipe for years.  If you feel there needs to be a bit more garlic or less chili powder, feel free to add and/or decrease, or eliminate an herb or spice all together. 

This is not a ’sustainable recipe’ in the purest sense, since I use canned goods.  But we all have those busy nights when we need to throw things together quickly– and what can be busier than the holiday season when we have so much to do and so many parties to attend? 

So– this is as sustainable as possible, since I only use organic ingredients.  Most of this stuff isn’t locally manufactured, however. 

Ingredients

• 1 pound grass fed organic ground beef (if you eat meat.)  If you don’t eat meat you can add more vegetables, such as chopped canned artichokes, mushroom and onion, or fry up some tofu to put in at the last minute, OR throw in some seitan or frozen Morningstar Meal Starters (which really isn’t at all organic, but at least it’s meatless. . .)   You choose.
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 can organic chopped tomatoes.  (I buy the S&W brand at Costco.)
• 1 can organic tomato sauce.  (In the summer, I opt for fresh cut up cherry tomatoes instead of the canned, but add an extra can of sauce.  The cut up cherry tomatoes add nice texture and fiber.
• 1/2 chopped onion, 1/2-1 cup chopped mushrooms, and maybe some artichokes (optional)
• 1 teaspoon crushed garlic
• 1 teaspoon dried chili pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1 tablespoon parsley
• organic pasta (Costco and Trader Joes both have good good organic brands for a cheap price.)
• parmeson cheese for garnish (optional)

Directions

1. Brown the beef  with chopped onions in a frying pan if you eat meat.
2. Otherwise brown the mushrooms and onions together in some olive oil until soft and the onions are transparent.   Add some artichokes if you want.
3. Drain the meat, then add all the ingredients together, except the noodles and the cheese.
4. Bring sauce to a simmer, then cover and cook while you attend to the noodles OR if you’re in a real hurry you can start the noodles first, so they’re cooking while you make the sauce.  I usually do the noodles second to give the sauce time to simmer.
5. Put on a large kettle of water to boil, then boil noodles according to your package directions.  Drain and serve with a little parmesan sprinkled on top.  
6. I don’t find it necessary to salt my sauce, as processed sauce is usually salty enough, but if you buy unsalted organic sauce, then feel free to salt to taste.  My son who likes spicy stuff adds pepper flakes to his along with the parmesan.   

When I was a little girl, I lived by the Puget Sound.  One of my favorite activites on a summer day was to dig up butterclams.  Here is a simple recipe for New England Clam Chowder.

Ingredients:

• 2 leeks, sliced thinly (white and light green part only)
• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 stalks celery, sliced
• 3 medium sized potatoes, cut up and peeled if you like them that way.  I prefer leaving the skins on to add texture to the soup
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon garlic
• 32 ounces vegetable broth
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• pepper to taste
• 1 cup half N half
• 3 small cans of chopped or minced clams, including liquid

Directions

1. Slice leeks and saute in butter in a large stock pot until translucent.
2. Add flour and stir up with butter and leeks.  Add garlic, celery, potatoes and vegetable broth.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to let simmer until potatoes are done.
3. Do not drain the stock.  Mash up potatoes until chunky and soupy.
4. Add oregano, parsley, salt and pepper.
5. Add clams with liquid and milk.
6. Heat through.

Serve with home-made rolls or biscuits.

3 pounds onion *I used a combination of green onion, yellow onion and one leek

2 tablespoons melted butter

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

8 cups of ‘enhanced’ vegetable stock, which is the equivalent of two boxes + extra seasons- see below

1 baguette

2 cups Swiss, Guyere cheese *(I used Parmesan)

1.  Melt the butter then dump the onions into your crock pot.  Pour the melted butter over the top and stir well to cover all the onions.  Cook on high for one hour.

2.  While your onions are cooking, ‘enhance’ your vegetable stock with two carrots, 1 tablespoon parsley, 1 teaspoon cracked pepper, 1/2 teaspoon thyme, a bay leaf and 1 cup of red wine (or white–whatever you have.)  Simmer this until the carrots are cooked, then remove the carrots and save the liquid for later.

3.  Add your sugar, salt, pepper into the crockpot, then cook on high four more hours, stirring every so often to be sure the onions are browning.

4.  Add vegetable stock and cook on high two more hours.

5.  At serving time, preheat your broiler.  Place a couple baguette slices in each bowl.  Top with cheese and broil until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

 

YUM!

1 cup tomato sauce

4 large portobello mushrooms

4 ounces (reduced fat)* goat cheese, cut into four pieces

2 tablespoons pine nuts, finely chopped

1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil, or 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

a sprig of basil for garnish 

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. 

Spread the sauce in the bottom of a 9″x9: baking dish.  arrange the mushroom caps, gill side up, on top.  Place a piece of goat cheese on each mushroom.  sprinkle evenly with the pine nuts.  

Bake for 30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly. 

Optional- top with the chopped basil, garnish and serve

*I have used both reduced fat and regular, and haven’t noticed much difference in taste.