For the love of Produce...
Replies
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I've made this totally easy dessert cooking at friend's dinner party and it was a hit.
https://www.theguardian.com/food/2021/mar/01/this-sauce-will-change-your-life-30-brilliant-condiments-to-transform-your-tired-lockdown-dishes?utm_source=pocket-newtab-global-en-GB0 -
Oh sorry. Wrong URL.
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/iced-berries-hot-chocolate-sauce4 -
I met this interesting fella for the first time today in my box-a-week of veggies:
Its called Romanesco broccoli and of course I roasted it like I do most veggies. Quite yummy.
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I'd definitely be breaking out google lens for that one. Who are you and how do I get you in my stomach?0
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Tried romanesco broccoli for the first time in the early fall when I found it at my local farmers market. It's not only pretty but it tastes delightful.2
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Tried romanesco broccoli for the first time in the early fall when I found it at my local farmers market. It's not only pretty but it tastes delightful.
I don't know if I would have bought it if I saw it at the farmers market. That's the great thing about my box-a-week; it forces me to try new things. In fact, I used the "build-a-box" option one week to choose my own contents and then was so disappointed because I got exactly what I wanted and there were no surprises 😆 And you're right, it does taste delightful. Like cauliflower, but firmer.3 -
ridiculous59 wrote: »I met this interesting fella for the first time today in my box-a-week of veggies:
Its called Romanesco broccoli and of course I roasted it like I do most veggies. Quite yummy.
I live in Rome and it's called Romanesco because it grows in the countryside around Rome. Here, it is a staple.3 -
ridiculous59 wrote: »Tried romanesco broccoli for the first time in the early fall when I found it at my local farmers market. It's not only pretty but it tastes delightful.
I don't know if I would have bought it if I saw it at the farmers market. That's the great thing about my box-a-week; it forces me to try new things. In fact, I used the "build-a-box" option one week to choose my own contents and then was so disappointed because I got exactly what I wanted and there were no surprises 😆 And you're right, it does taste delightful. Like cauliflower, but firmer.
That's what I liked too when I first started getting my farm share box some years ago. And it forced me to learn to cook with what veg were on hand (even if it was just greens, greens, more greens, and garlic, early in the season).
I actually prefer regular broccoli or cauliflower to romanesco, but it is pretty.4 -
Since finding this thread, I always try to look for something new each time I'm at the farmer's market. The vendors are very helpful and can often describe what something tastes like and how to cook it. I'm looking into getting a CSA, but with only two people and frequent travel (doing normal times) this seems impractical. I just noticed that there is going to be a CSA fair this weekend and I will try to attend and meet more farmers. maybe I will find something that will work for me as even half share seems a lot.2
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ridiculous59 wrote: »I met this interesting fella for the first time today in my box-a-week of veggies:
Its called Romanesco broccoli and of course I roasted it like I do most veggies. Quite yummy.
I've seen that in different FB vegetarian groups I'm in but have no idea where to buy it. What does it taste like?1 -
chris89topher wrote: »ridiculous59 wrote: »I met this interesting fella for the first time today in my box-a-week of veggies:
Its called Romanesco broccoli and of course I roasted it like I do most veggies. Quite yummy.
I've seen that in different FB vegetarian groups I'm in but have no idea where to buy it. What does it taste like?
To me it tastes like firm cauliflower. I live in northern British Columbia and have never seen it at the farmers markets around here. My box a week contains local veggies when in season but then purchases are from farther afield during the winter months.1 -
Since finding this thread, I always try to look for something new each time I'm at the farmer's market. The vendors are very helpful and can often describe what something tastes like and how to cook it. I'm looking into getting a CSA, but with only two people and frequent travel (doing normal times) this seems impractical. I just noticed that there is going to be a CSA fair this weekend and I will try to attend and meet more farmers. maybe I will find something that will work for me as even half share seems a lot.
I was getting a box every week but finding it too much because there's just the two of us and my husband isn't a veggie eater. Now I get one every other week and just fill in an item or two in between, if necessary. Its working well for me right now.1 -
This is what it looks like roasted w EVOO, Parmigiano, and spices.
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It's similar to cauliflower, but it's a cross between that and broccoli. I like it better than cauliflower and it's firmer, doesn't get mushy.2
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I like it, and buy it when I see a nice one (think I might've posted one many pages back), but for flavor/usefulness I can't say I value it over other brassicas (the broccoli-cauli-cabbage-etc. bunch). I like them all very well.
IMO, can't beat Romanesco for quite consistent beauty, though, IMO. Fractals!7 -
All this talk makes me miss broccoli and cauliflower. My husband doesn’t even want cauliflower in the house (due to a stomach flu memory) and I swore off broccoli because every time I ate it there was a 50/50 chance I’d end up with agonizing stomach pain. I’m half tempted to try broccoli again though. It used to be one of my favorite veggies
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Mushroom Barley Vegetable Miso Soup.
This dish can be modified to suit your needs or desires. It also can make use of what vegetables you happen to have. I have used potatoes, but don't do that anymore. The barley is hearty enough, I save the potatoes for some other use. When I have parsnips, they go good. Carrots are a little sweeter and add color. Be aware: I love mushrooms and garlic. Adjust amounts to suit your needs.
I am fortunate that I collect wild mushrooms. If I have more than I can eat right away, I prep them and lightly saute and then freeze and vacuum seal. I can pull out a litte bag and add it to anything I want that deep delicious wild mushroom flavor. I usually add some "grocery store mushrooms" to help fill it out. The batch I just made used a mix of white and brown (cremini) mushrooms. Note that white button mushrooms, cremini mushrooms, and portobello mushrooms are all the same species, Agaricus bisporus. I call 'em "Grocery Store Mushrooms." You can also add shiitake, but they will need longer cooking or be cut smaller. If you can afford (or find) porcini.... yum.
A note on barley. You can use pearled barley; I don't. Perled barley has not just the hull removed, but it's polished to remove some or all of the bran. Hulled (de-hulled) barley is a more whole grain. I also like the flavor. Lately I've been using what's known as semi-hulled barley. It's a variety called Blue Streaker that was bred in the 1970s to be easy for the hull to fall off. Remember the 1970s? Remember the "streaker" craze? This barley does have blue streaks, but the agronomists who bred it had a chuckle with the name.
Now it's time to cook.
Assemble some delicious ingredients. In this case:
Hulled barley
Lots of mushrooms. I'd say a pound, but I love 'em.
A big yellow onion
Three or four celery stalks
Two or four carrots
A head of garlic. Yes a head.
A little sherry (optional)
Some hot chiles (I used chiles de Arbol this time around; also optional)
A few freshly-plucked bay leaves from the bush outside (or some from the grocery)
Good quality salt
Miso (I use both mellow white and traditional red miso)
First measure out a half or 2/3 cups or so of barley. Put them in a pot. Add three times as much water as barley. Turn on the heat. When it boils, set it to low, and set the timer to about 30 or 40 minutes. After a few minutes, fill a tea kettle with water and put it on the stove to boil.
Meanwhile, slice the celery into delicious sized pieces and set aside. Do the same with the carrot. Slice the mushrooms and set them aside. Cut off the hard end of each garlic clove and peel them all. You can either leave them whole (mine are slightly smushed from smacking them to get the outer husk off) or cut them in half or quarters. Set aside.
Chop the onion into pieces about 1/8 inch. I love cutting onions. If they make you cry, adjust the salt in your recipe.
Get a big saute pan out of the cabinet. Put it on the stove, and get it hot. Add some oil. I use olive oil, but you can use sunflower, grapeseed, or avocoado. Your choice. When it shimmers, add a piece of onions. If it sizzles, add the rest of the onion and cook a few minutes until it starts to soften. You can add some salt if you like, or not. It will soften faster if you put the lid on.
As the onion softens, add the celery and cook another minute. Then add the mushrooms and cook another minute or three. Then add the carrots and cook another minute. At this point, I broke apart the dried chiles and added them.
By now the barley should be about done.
Add the garlic and cook every so briefly. By now these veggies will smell great.
Add all the vegetables to the barley. Heat up the saute pan and deglaze with some sherry.
Add boiling water from the kettle to cover the vegetables. Add as much water as you like. The more you add, the more soup you have. The less you add, the heartier the soup will be.
Bring back to boil, then turn down to low and add the bay leaves. Let this simmer about 40 minutes, more or less.
Meanwhile, put 1-2 Tbsp each of white and red miso into a bowl. Add a little sherry or other liquid and stir to liquify. Set aside.
When the soup is done cooking, take it off the heat. Ladle some of the liquid into the bowl with the miso, then add the miso back to the main pot and stir. You want to avoid boiling the miso. It's a living product. This does mean that when you reheat the soup you have to be careful not to cook it too hot, or else you may lose some of the healthy properties of miso.
Stir.
Ladle a bowl full. Sit down and enjoy. Wait 15 minutes before you get another bowl, because it's pretty filling, and we're watching our calories, right? This soup probably would work well if you added some ginger. It also goes great with a side of kimchi.
I don't typically update my recipe, and when I log it, the version I use actually did have potatoes. I'm not too worried. It's about 64 calories per 100 grams, and a bowl is 250 to 350 grams. Very filling, and very tasty.
Do you have this pinned on Pinterest? If you do I'd love to pin it to make some day. Sounds perfect.0 -
Mushroom Barley Vegetable Miso Soup.
This dish can be modified to suit your needs or desires. It also can make use of what vegetables you happen to have. I have used potatoes, but don't do that anymore. The barley is hearty enough, I save the potatoes for some other use. When I have parsnips, they go good. Carrots are a little sweeter and add color. Be aware: I love mushrooms and garlic. Adjust amounts to suit your needs.
I am fortunate that I collect wild mushrooms. If I have more than I can eat right away, I prep them and lightly saute and then freeze and vacuum seal. I can pull out a litte bag and add it to anything I want that deep delicious wild mushroom flavor. I usually add some "grocery store mushrooms" to help fill it out. The batch I just made used a mix of white and brown (cremini) mushrooms. Note that white button mushrooms, cremini mushrooms, and portobello mushrooms are all the same species, Agaricus bisporus. I call 'em "Grocery Store Mushrooms." You can also add shiitake, but they will need longer cooking or be cut smaller. If you can afford (or find) porcini.... yum.
A note on barley. You can use pearled barley; I don't. Perled barley has not just the hull removed, but it's polished to remove some or all of the bran. Hulled (de-hulled) barley is a more whole grain. I also like the flavor. Lately I've been using what's known as semi-hulled barley. It's a variety called Blue Streaker that was bred in the 1970s to be easy for the hull to fall off. Remember the 1970s? Remember the "streaker" craze? This barley does have blue streaks, but the agronomists who bred it had a chuckle with the name.
Now it's time to cook.
Assemble some delicious ingredients. In this case:
Hulled barley
Lots of mushrooms. I'd say a pound, but I love 'em.
A big yellow onion
Three or four celery stalks
Two or four carrots
A head of garlic. Yes a head.
A little sherry (optional)
Some hot chiles (I used chiles de Arbol this time around; also optional)
A few freshly-plucked bay leaves from the bush outside (or some from the grocery)
Good quality salt
Miso (I use both mellow white and traditional red miso)
First measure out a half or 2/3 cups or so of barley. Put them in a pot. Add three times as much water as barley. Turn on the heat. When it boils, set it to low, and set the timer to about 30 or 40 minutes. After a few minutes, fill a tea kettle with water and put it on the stove to boil.
Meanwhile, slice the celery into delicious sized pieces and set aside. Do the same with the carrot. Slice the mushrooms and set them aside. Cut off the hard end of each garlic clove and peel them all. You can either leave them whole (mine are slightly smushed from smacking them to get the outer husk off) or cut them in half or quarters. Set aside.
Chop the onion into pieces about 1/8 inch. I love cutting onions. If they make you cry, adjust the salt in your recipe.
Get a big saute pan out of the cabinet. Put it on the stove, and get it hot. Add some oil. I use olive oil, but you can use sunflower, grapeseed, or avocoado. Your choice. When it shimmers, add a piece of onions. If it sizzles, add the rest of the onion and cook a few minutes until it starts to soften. You can add some salt if you like, or not. It will soften faster if you put the lid on.
As the onion softens, add the celery and cook another minute. Then add the mushrooms and cook another minute or three. Then add the carrots and cook another minute. At this point, I broke apart the dried chiles and added them.
By now the barley should be about done.
Add the garlic and cook every so briefly. By now these veggies will smell great.
Add all the vegetables to the barley. Heat up the saute pan and deglaze with some sherry.
Add boiling water from the kettle to cover the vegetables. Add as much water as you like. The more you add, the more soup you have. The less you add, the heartier the soup will be.
Bring back to boil, then turn down to low and add the bay leaves. Let this simmer about 40 minutes, more or less.
Meanwhile, put 1-2 Tbsp each of white and red miso into a bowl. Add a little sherry or other liquid and stir to liquify. Set aside.
When the soup is done cooking, take it off the heat. Ladle some of the liquid into the bowl with the miso, then add the miso back to the main pot and stir. You want to avoid boiling the miso. It's a living product. This does mean that when you reheat the soup you have to be careful not to cook it too hot, or else you may lose some of the healthy properties of miso.
Stir.
Ladle a bowl full. Sit down and enjoy. Wait 15 minutes before you get another bowl, because it's pretty filling, and we're watching our calories, right? This soup probably would work well if you added some ginger. It also goes great with a side of kimchi.
I don't typically update my recipe, and when I log it, the version I use actually did have potatoes. I'm not too worried. It's about 64 calories per 100 grams, and a bowl is 250 to 350 grams. Very filling, and very tasty.
Do you have this pinned on Pinterest? If you do I'd love to pin it to make some day. Sounds perfect.
I am not on pintrest. It's also really just a process. The recipe changes every time I make it. Basically just cook some barley, then while it cooks, cut and saute the veggies you want to use, then add them to the barley and add some water and simmer slowly for a while.
I bought more Agaricaus bisporus at the grocery last time I was there, so I'll probably be making a batch this weekend. It's going to be really onion heavy because I have a whole lot of onions. I'll also pull out another little bag of frozen chanterelles because...mmmmm. I might add some garbanzos just to change it up and because I plan to soak some tonight and cook them tomorrow or the next day. If I don't roast the second half of the bunch of asparagus I got the other day on a whim, maybe I'll add them to the soup. I bet that would be fanTASTIC.
I've been doing a lot of black bean soup lately, too. So so delicious.4 -
Got a couple pounds of not-great tomatoes at the nearby store for $2.50. I’m making spaghetti and sauce next week to honor my grandmother’s birthday with my family’s recipe passed down from her, so I had the idea to cut off the bad bits and roast them with EVOO and a bit of salt. I’ll roughly puree them today so they’re like crushed tomatoes. I think it’s going to turn out good
Edit to add: Sorry the pics are out of order. MFP ALWAYS does this to me lol5 -
It's the first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. So there's no real reason to keep winter squash around much longer, especially something like a delicata. They are sort of in between anyway, and my last one wasn't going to be much good for long, so I sliced it and roasted it. I love pepitas, and I saved the seeds, but I'm not even sure I'll clean them and roast them.
Truth be known, the squash was an afterthought. I splurged on some nice asparagus the other day. Time to cook some up. That's not a whole meal, and since I was going to be running the oven anyway, why not roast something else. I picked up a big yellow onion. They are SO good roasted. Then I saw that delicata. Oh. Yeah. Mmmmm...
I also had some Agaricus bisporus in the fridge, and I had room on the tray to toss 'em in some oil and add them to the feast.
Add a little 2017 Cabernet, and hey folks, it's the first Saturday night of spring!
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It's the first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. So there's no real reason to keep winter squash around much longer, especially something like a delicata. They are sort of in between anyway, and my last one wasn't going to be much good for long, so I sliced it and roasted it. I love pepitas, and I saved the seeds, but I'm not even sure I'll clean them and roast them.
(snipsies)
Since I discovered how much I like them roasted with plenty of Frontier (brand) chili powder and popcorn salt, I'll roast even tiny numbers, to dark roast territory, as long as they're plump and not flat ones. (I don't usually mess with other people's spice blends . . . but that's good chili powder, in its place. A little gritty, admittedly, but tasty.)
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It's the first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. So there's no real reason to keep winter squash around much longer, especially something like a delicata. They are sort of in between anyway, and my last one wasn't going to be much good for long, so I sliced it and roasted it. I love pepitas, and I saved the seeds, but I'm not even sure I'll clean them and roast them.
(snipsies)
Since I discovered how much I like them roasted with plenty of Frontier (brand) chili powder and popcorn salt, I'll roast even tiny numbers, to dark roast territory, as long as they're plump and not flat ones. (I don't usually mess with other people's spice blends . . . but that's good chili powder, in its place. A little gritty, admittedly, but tasty.)
I like them with some good quality salt and maybe a little chipotle powder or Aleppo chile. Pretty basic. First to get all the gunk off, rinse them well, and dry them. Sometimes I soak them in salt water and all, but cleaning them can be a chore. I am feeling lazy today, so they're in some water now. I should add salt and let 'em soak. Deal with them tomorrow if I don't go paddle.
Tomorrow is also the day my next batch of kimchi should be done enough to jar it up and put it in the fridge. I will pack a pint jar to give to my neighbor. We keep swapping fermented cabbage back and forth. It's a good neighborhood.3 -
It's the first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. So there's no real reason to keep winter squash around much longer, especially something like a delicata. They are sort of in between anyway, and my last one wasn't going to be much good for long, so I sliced it and roasted it. I love pepitas, and I saved the seeds, but I'm not even sure I'll clean them and roast them.
Truth be known, the squash was an afterthought. I splurged on some nice asparagus the other day. Time to cook some up. That's not a whole meal, and since I was going to be running the oven anyway, why not roast something else. I picked up a big yellow onion. They are SO good roasted. Then I saw that delicata. Oh. Yeah. Mmmmm...
I also had some Agaricus bisporus in the fridge, and I had room on the tray to toss 'em in some oil and add them to the feast.
Add a little 2017 Cabernet, and hey folks, it's the first Saturday night of spring!
Happy Spring! @mtaratoot !0 -
@mtaratoot I wish you lived by me so I could pick your brain about gardening! I just started a bunch of old seeds but I'm not having much luck with them, I just took cuttings of my jade and rosemary to do some Take a Plant Leave a Plant swapping, there's stands throughout the Sacramento area. Your artichokes look delicious! What is your favorite way to eat them? I like them boiled then grilled with lemon and garlic. If I could only eat one veggie that might be it! I'm going to have a lot of snap peas (have an herb garden too) and have Armenian Cucumber seeds on the way from Baker's Creek, I ordered Japanese tubers too. Of course I need to find a place for my cherry tomatoes!
@acpgee I HAVE to start the peas I bought at the Indian market, I keep forgetting until I see your posts! I have mung beans too!
Off to the farmer's market, hoping to score some goodies!
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It's even spring-like weather here (and supposedly going to rain most of next week), but I have a butternut squash waiting to be cooked in my refrigerator, and if it's supposed to be replaced by local produce, I think it's winter squash weather still (I actually just bought some beets and turnips too, and sunchokes, speaking of fall/winter style produce, as well as some greens and radishes).
Last year it snowed after Easter, so it would be premature to completely switch out my produce! Would love some asparagus and will likely buy some, but it's not going to be local green market asparagus for a while.2 -
@mtaratoot I wish you lived by me so I could pick your brain about gardening! I just started a bunch of old seeds but I'm not having much luck with them, I just took cuttings of my jade and rosemary to do some Take a Plant Leave a Plant swapping, there's stands throughout the Sacramento area. Your artichokes look delicious! What is your favorite way to eat them? I like them boiled then grilled with lemon and garlic. If I could only eat one veggie that might be it! I'm going to have a lot of snap peas (have an herb garden too) and have Armenian Cucumber seeds on the way from Baker's Creek, I ordered Japanese tubers too. Of course I need to find a place for my cherry tomatoes!
@acpgee I HAVE to start the peas I bought at the Indian market, I keep forgetting until I see your posts! I have mung beans too!
Off to the farmer's market, hoping to score some goodies!
You could pick my brain, but you might find better advice elsewhere. I say curse the weeds because pulling them sure doesn't seem to work on its own.
I planted peas two weeks ago. They should have been sprouted a week ago. So far - nothing. I expect that birds may have eaten them and if not then maybe slugs. I think I might plant again. I dug around a little yesterday and found at least one unsprouted pea, so maybe I'll give them a few more days. The spinach seeds... may have drowned, or maybe they couldn't handle those two very cold mornings. I planted my winter beets in August expecting they'd be done over the winter. They survived, but never got big. I probably need to dig them under and plant new ones; they will get woody if I let them grow more at this point, and I'm running out of room. Much of my garden is perennial, so it's all about weeding. I keep threatening to dig up more of the artichokes and give them away. I have one that's grown into the path that's a good candidate. For some reason I didn't dig 'em this fall.
Favorite way to eat artichokes; well, there's two. One is to roast them. I've done them whole, cut in half, and cut in quarters. All good. I put some olive oil on them before I roast, so nothing else is needed. Otherwise a favorite is to steam them briefly then put them on a charcoal grill or even in the smoker. Often, though, I just steam them. I learned only last year that putting a little lemon juice in the steam water can help preserve the color. Sometimes I melt a little butter and add garlic to dip if I cook them this way; other times I just dig in. Fresh from the garden there's so much flavor, they don't really need it. What I want to TRY is to dig out the choke and the center leaves and stuff them with something like crab and then bake them. Doesn't that sound good? My artichokes have changed over the years. They seem to have gone more "wild" than when they started. I started with two varieties, and I think only one plant still has flowers that I'd call globe shaped. The rest look more thistle shaped with outward pointing thorns that HURT. But goodness they are packed with flavor.
If beans are vegetables, they would be my favorite. Black turtle, garbanzo, and mayocoba top the list these days. Blackeyed peas are up there too. A friend and I often debate whether or not bacon is a vegetable.
I should have planted asparagus when I bought this house 18 years ago or so. I wasn't sure how long I'd be here, so I didn't. I had the perfect place. I kept putting it off. That space is now full of raspberries. The place I used to live had irrigation ditches, and we used to go hunt wild asparagus in May. That was fun, and those were the most delicious asparagus there ever were. Now my quarry in May are morels. I never find them, and they rarely find me. I'm told they're all around me. I'll be looking soon.
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I left the seeds from that squash soaking in salt water overnight. They were pretty easy to clean today. So easy that I cut open my last spaghetti squash and am going to mix the seeds together and cook them once they are dry.
That squash is in the oven now with the rest of the asparagus. I still have a "small" Hubbard squash. They have BIG seeds. I'll dig into that pretty soon, but it's more likely to still be good longer than the spaghetti squash and DEFINITELY the delicata. The delicata is BARELY a winter squash.2 -
Steamed artichokes and hollandaise.
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Yesterday was more about the protein than the produce, but the produce was still good--spot prawns with garlicky and lemony cauliflower rice, plus cherry tomatoes, green pepper, and jalapeno, cooked in olive oil. I had some leftover kale soup on the side.3
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Yesterday was a beautiful spring day and they held the farmers markets outdoors.In this area spring lasts a few days then returns to winter then spring. Back and forth until it is suddenly hot and muggy and it's summer.
After the farmers market we took advantage of the good weather for a long walk along the very pebbly harbor of our town. This is a picture of our farmers market haul.
Sorry, but I can't seem to download the picture onto this site. If someone can explain it to me, on an Android, I would be much obliged2
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