Clean-Out-the-Cabinet Quinoa Salad
August 29th, 2010 § 2 Comments
I had a heap of quinoa left over from a dinner I made for Peter and my 6-year-old nephew, Elijah. As Eli will tell you: “‘Quinn-oh-ah’ is [his] favorite grain and it’s a very healthy grain.” Little did he know that he was preaching to the choir. However, he was already mad at me for correcting his mispronunciation of quinoa; I wasn’t about to crush him further by telling him that I already knew that “keen-wah” is a healthy grain. I was just thrilled to be serving him something other than cream cheese and jelly sandwiches (blech!)
QUINN-OOHHH-AAAAHHH!!!
Yesterday at lunch time, I grabbed the leftover plain-old-cooked-in-vegetable-broth quinoa and a bunch of random ingredients that sounded to me like they’d taste good together and created this rather tasty salad. It was definitely missing the leafy green component and I wished that I had some spinach in the vegetable bin. Also some basil or maybe fresh oregano? I’ve never used fresh oregano, so I’m not sure how it would work. But that’s the fun of these mix-in dishes — you just throw stuff together and find out what works.
Ingredients
1 cup uncooked, rinsed quinoa (unprocessed quinoa has a bitter coating called saponin. Most likely the quinoa found in the store is saponin-free, but I take the better-safe-than-sorry route and always rinse my quinoa in a fine mesh strainer before cooking. After rinsing, you can also toast quinoa in a dry frying pan to bring out a nuttier flavor. After toasting, boil as per package directions.)
2 cups water or broth
1 large tomato, cut into chunks
1/2 onion, chopped
1 handful kalamata olives, sliced
1 handful green olives, sliced
1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1 handful toasted, sliced almonds
1 15 oz. can garbanzo beans, rinsed
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper
Directions
1. Cook the quinoa according to package directions. Typically those directions are: bring 1 cup of quinoa and 2 cups of liquid to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer and place a lid on the pot. Cook for 10-15 minutes until liquid is absorbed. Fluff with fork. Allow to cool.
2. Once quinoa is cooled, place all ingredients in a large bowl and toss together. Top with extra almonds and/or feta and dig in.
(I’m all about very basic olive oil dressings. If you like fancier dressings, by all means experiment with them on these kinds of mix-in dishes. )
This salad is even better the next day. I know this because I just ate a bowl. I also drank a pre-made margarita that came out of a box! For real! It’s like boxed wine, but it’s a margarita! It’s not wonderful and some would say “not classy,” (and to those people I say “hey, check out my tramp stamp!”*) but it’s very hot today and I came down with my usual hot-day-guacamole-and-margarita craving. I don’t have any avocados in the house to make guacamole, but the quinoa salad totally hit the spot.
*I’m just kidding. I don’t have any tattoos. Not that there’s anything wrong with tattoos. Many of my nearest and dearest have them.
Anyway, here’s the salad:
Clean-out-the-cabinet quinoa salad
I hope you’re enjoying your Sunday! I’m off to make pork tenderloin with roasted apples and onions. And it’s 95 degrees outside. How awesome is that? Can you think of a better way for a vegetarian to spend her afternoon?
Green Bean Salad
August 28th, 2010 § 6 Comments
Hi there – it’s Saturday! And it looks like it’s going to be a beautiful weekend here in Massachusetts. I hope it’s just as nice wherever you are.
Well, this is my last post in the Loving Local: Celebrating the Flavors of Massachusetts blogathon. I want to again thank Tinky at In Our Grandmothers’ Kitchens for hosting this fun, informative, and I think, really important event. I hope we do it again next year.
And of course I want to say a BIG THANK YOU to all of the vendors at the Beaver Brook Parking Lot Farmer’s Market in Worcester. We truly appreciate all of your hard work and your ability to stay cool and friendly at the market during this long, hot summer. We’ve enjoyed many delicious meals thanks to you, and for that we are very grateful 
We are looking forward to the fall harvest!
Ok, so today I’m going to share a very easy recipe that my husband calls “Aunt Cindy’s Green Bean Salad.” Unfortunately, my version didn’t match Aunt Cindy’s in my husband’s mind, but I thought it was awesome and Peter ate quite a bit, too.
Did you hear that sound? It was me kicking myself for not getting the name of the farm from where we bought the beans. We bought them last Wednesday when I didn’t have my camera on me. I thought with my photographic memory (NOT) I’d be able to remember the name of the farm. The stand wasn’t there on Friday when I was in full blogger/reporter mode, so now I’m left lacking the name of my source. I will try to remedy this heinous oversight next week by adding the farm’s name in the comment section of this post.
In the meantime, here are the anonymous green beans*:
Green Beans
Tomatoes for the green bean salad
The smaller garden tomatoes are from the anonymous farm**, but the big tomato on the right, from a different farm, is an heirloom variety called Pruden’s Purple (which I heard coming from the farmer’s mouth as “Purple Prudence.” Thank God for the Internet.) Unfortunately, I didn’t get the name of that farmer either (the blogathon is really ending with a bang for me!) It was the first time I saw him at the market and he specialized in heirloom tomatoes. He was also selling sheepskin. (And he was really cute — sorry husband, but it’s true. I may be 40 and married, but I ain’t dead. Aaand that’s what you get for dissing my green bean salad — ha ha :-) ). If I see his stand again, I will get his information and post it in the comments section. Purely for your edification.
OK, seriously, onto the business at hand. I hesitate to even call this a recipe, since it’s really just tossing vegetables in a bowl with olive oil and seasoning:
Green Bean Salad
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 big handfuls of fresh green beans, washed and trimmed (by “trimmed” I mean the two tough ends are cut off)
1/2 white or red onion, thinly sliced
1 large tomato, or 2-3 small tomatoes, cut into good-sized chunks
1-2 tablespoons really good olive oil
salt and pepper
Bowl of ice water
Directions
1. Blanch the green beans by bringing a pot of water to a boil. Add the washed and trimmed green beans to the boiling water and cook for one minute to a minute and a half. Drain and immediately dump the beans into the bowl of ice water to stop them from further cooking. Drain after a few minutes of soaking in the cold bath. You want the beans to have a little crunch to them.
2. In a large bowl, toss the green beans, sliced onion, and tomato chunks with a tablespoon or two of olive oil and a pinch or two of salt. Season with more salt and pepper to your taste. You could also add a splash of balsamic vinegar.
My husband wasn’t too crazy about the salad because I let the beans boil for just 30 seconds. They were a bit too crunchy for his taste. So, you can experiment with the boiling to find your perfect crunch level. I really loved this salad. It was rustic, fresh, and clean-tasting and the juices at the bottom of the bowl should be soaked up with a piece of good bread.
Green Bean Salad
So, that is that. If you live in Massachusetts and you haven’t already done so, please consider making a donation to The Federation of Mass Farmers Markets.
Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a great weekend!
Oh, one last thing. I came across this picture among the pictures I took at the farmer’s market, and the first thing I thought of was “Rapunzel.”
Rapunzel
UPDATED 9/8/10: * The green beans came from E. L. Silvia Farms in Dighton, MA: http://www.farmfresh.org/food/farm.php?farm=2146
**and the heirloom tomatoes were from Sweet Water Farm (I believe this is the correct farm http://www.farmfresh.org/food/farm.php?farm=2934)
The Best Laid Plans…
August 26th, 2010 § 4 Comments
Good morning!
I had hoped to post every day this week about the vendors at the Beaver Brook parking lot Farmer’s Market in Worcester, but my computer and children had other plans.
My computer could be used as a torture device, no joke. If the accused is not talking, place my computer in front of him and tell him that in order to be set free he must Google “recipe for pork tenderloin,” and then save and print the best recipe. He may chuckle and call you a fool, but once the random window-popping-upping and freezing begins, he’ll crack. It’s a maddening device, this laptop, and I often find myself muttering incoherently, my fists filled with my own hair. I hope it’s my own hair.
And my children? Well, my child and my nephew? I can’t blame them for anything. As Sheryl Crowe would say – all they wanna do is have some fun. I could sit in front of a frozen computer, or I could take them to Gymboree. I chose Gymboree.
But all of that is neither here nor there. Today is a new day and I have a few minutes to myself, so without further ado, here is Nicewicz Family Farm!
The Nicewicz Family Farm stand is definitely a customer favorite. The line for their produce was long, and the Nicewicz’s seemed to be on a first name basis with everyone in the line, asking each person about family and work. We bought a bunch of peaches and plums, which were eaten so quickly they didn’t have time to be photographed, and also some zucchini that I used in the Zucchini Ricotta Cheesecake I brought to a bridal shower last Saturday. I’ll share that recipe below. But before we get to that, here are some shots of the Nicewicz’s stand:
Nicewicz Family Farm
Now THAT is fresh corn
Asian pears
It looks like autumn
Zucchini, eggplant, green peppers...
Peppers, tomatoes, and an empty cuke box
Beautiful, right?
So as I mentioned, I used some Nicewicz zucchini for a Zucchini Ricotta Cheesecake recipe I found at Heidi’s 101 Cookbooks. (It’s embarrassing for me to link to her site because it makes my site looks so amateurish in comparison!) It was fantastic: lighter than a quiche, dill-y, and lemon-y. And it was good even though I used a too large pan and it was way thinner than it was supposed to be. Next time I will either get a 7″ springform pan, or double the recipe. I’m just going to link to the recipe here, so you can admire Heidi’s photography and browse her site. Here are some shots of my cheesecake:
Zucchini Ricotta cheesecake 1
Golden brown goat cheese
Check out that dill
In case this is your first visit to this site, this week I’m blogging for the Loving Local: Celebrating the Flavors of Massachusetts blogathon hosted by Tinky at In Our Grandmothers’ Kitchens. Please consider making a donation to The Federation of Mass Farmers Markets - Thanks!Have a great day~
Bread & Tomatoes
August 24th, 2010 § 5 Comments
Hi there! Hope you’re well today! Right now I’m listening to my nephew and son hit plastic balls with a plastic hammer through some kind of plastic ramp contraption. I don’t know if that description effectively communicates how noisy it is in here, but suffice it to say that my ears are ringing.
Anyway, I’m going to try to focus on writing this next installment of the Loving Local: Celebrating the Flavors of Massachusetts blogathon hosted by Tinky at In Our Grandmothers’ Kitchens. I’m having a great time with this so far, and I’ve found so many great, local, food-related blogs that I need more hours in the day to keep up with my reading. Seriously, I have a blog reading problem.
Today I’m shining the spotlight on Daily Bread Bakery Cafe and Shivick Farm!
I honestly cannot say enough about this bread. It is dense and chewy and the flavors are amazing. My favorite is the Olive & Caper loaf. Oh my gosh, it is so, so good. Addictive. I lightly toast it and use it for fried eggs sandwiches smeared with goat cheese and a slice of tomato. Also for a tomato, hummus and cheddar cheese sandwich. Oh, and it’s also delicious dipped in good olive oil or covered with a layer of soft organic butter. I could wax poetic about this bread! I ate my last piece yesterday morning, so I definitely need to pick up a loaf tomorrow! The Garlic Parmesan, Multigrain, plain ciabatta and Monkey Bread are also amazing.
Seeing this on their website makes the bread even better, if that’s possible: “We strive to care for you and the environment we live in. All breads, fillings, and salads are considered for healthy living and without preservatives, growth hormones, and as close to the source as possible. Our containers are made of recycled paper and we try to recycle as much of our own waste as we can.”
Helllooo Olive Caper bread!
More glorious bread, wrapped and ready to take home
And helloooo Garlic Parmesan!
Shivick Farm, Oxford, MA (no website available)
Shivick Farm is the home of the “Tomato Queen,” Fran Shivick, who was recently featured in a Worcester Mag article. She is famous for her tomatoes, which we have enjoyed often this summer (with bread from Daily Bread, of course!), so thank you Fran! Take a look at what they have to offer:
Shivick Farm
There's a glimpse of the "Tomato Queen" on the left
Garlic
The queen's famous tomatoes
Alright, who’s craving a tomato sandwich right about now? I know what we’re having for lunch today!
Tomorrow I’ll show you the goods of Nicewicz Farm, who had the longest line of all the vendors last Friday!
Have a good day!
Please consider making a donation to The Federation of Mass Farmers Markets - Thanks!
Veggies ‘n Eggs
August 23rd, 2010 § 2 Comments
Good morning!
Today’s vendors to be featured in my contribution to the Loving Local: Celebrating the Flavors of Massachusetts blogathon (hosted by Tinky) are…drumroll, please…
Riverdale Farm & Garden and Shady Pine Farm!
The website for Riverdale doesn’t mention that the farm grows vegetables, but the delivery truck does:
Riverdale Farm & Garden
Sooo, I’m a little confused, but I don’t think we’ll be heading to the market today to ask for clarification since it is POURING here. It’s supposed to rain all day 
We’ll go on Wednesday and ask why the vegetables aren’t mentioned on the website.
In any case, I’m pretty sure that their stand is the largest at the market:
Riverdale bounty
I call it the “party vendor” because they always have Spanish music playing. It’s very festive and fun! Their produce is just gorgeous and their displays are a food photographer’s dream come true. Heaps of glistening, colorful vegetables… I could have spent an hour taking pictures there:
Carrots, cabbage and 'maters
Beans 'n squash
Eggplants and peppers
Our next stop was the table of :
Shady Pine Farm
I don’t care for meat, but my husband and Peter do, so I’m really interested in this farm. I typically buy organic, free- range chicken from our natural foods store. For variety’s sake, I’m thinking that I’ll start buying different meats from Shady Pine. “Livestock raised on natural, hormone-free and antibiotic-free feed?” YES, that’s what I’m talking about! I believe that if you eat meat it’s imperative to eat the best quality meat you can get your hands on, and grass-fed meat is the best meat for you.
We didn’t buy any meat that day, but we did buy a dozen eggs, and they were delicious:
Fresh eggs
They also offer a 6- or 12-month CSA membership:
CSA
CSA shares available now:
CSA shares
Okay, it’s time for me to make some breakfast for me and the kiddo. He’s currently vegging in front of the TV watching “Dora the Explorer.” What? I mean, he’s learning some Spanish, right? It’s educational!
Tomorrow I’ll be featuring: Our Daily Bread and Shivick Farm!
Oh, and please consider making a donation to The Federation of Mass Farmers Markets - Thanks!
Yes, Virginia, There is a Farmer’s Market in Worcester
August 22nd, 2010 § 5 Comments
Actually, there are multiple Farmer’s Markets in Worcester county, but the one that Peter and I go to is located at :
306 Chandler Street, Worcester, MA (which is identified as the ”Beaver Brook parking lot” market on the list I linked to above. However, I haven’t seen a sign for “Beaver Brook parking lot,” so for me it’s the market in the parking lot of the Worcester Youth Center. )
So, this is my first post of the Loving Local: Celebrating the Flavors of Massachusetts blogathon, which is being hosted by Tinky over at Our Grandmothers’ Kitchens. (Thanks, Tinky!) As I mentioned yesterday, I’m thrilled to be a part of the blogathon. I truly believe in supporting our local farmers and I hope I can inspire you to visit your local market, whether you’re in Massachusetts or a different state. It looks like most of the markets in Worcester county run until October, so you have nearly two months to enjoy locally produced goodies!
If you are in Massachusetts, please consider making a donation to The Federation of Mass Farmers Markets. As it says on their site “your tax-deductible contribution will help keep farmers’ markets alive and well in Massachusetts, ensuring that all of us, no matter our economic status, get the fresh, local food we value.” How can you NOT want to support this cause?!
Peter and I stopped by the market on Wednesday and Friday last week to stock up on tomatoes, corn, peaches, plums, green beans, bread, and eggs, and also to see what the other vendors had to offer. There’s more than vegetables and fruit at many markets!
Just look at these gorgeous flowers from Stow Greenhouses in Stow, MA:
Stow Greenhouses
Yellow!
Red!
Peter in the flower booth
Today's Special
And there’s also local HONEY:
Jim’s All Natural Honey, from Hillcrest Apiaries, 9 Hillcrest Avenue, Southbridge, MA, 508-765-1349, 508-612-5173 (no website available)
Pure Honey
Peter sampling honey. It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it!
Honey bear
More honey
We sampled the light and the dark honey, and although Jim said that the dark is the most popular, I think I liked the light honey better.
Check back tomorrow for coverage of Riverdale Farm and Garden and Shady Pine Farm!
SPECIAL ASSIGNMENT: August 2010
August 21st, 2010 § 2 Comments
I’m probably over excited about this, but it’s the first time in my short blogging life that I’ve committed to MOST DEFINITELY WRITING ABOUT SOMETHING THIS COMING WEEK. If you’re a regular checker-inner to purewellnessamy, you’ll know that some weeks I write a bunch of posts and then like a month will go by without one single little post. I’m flighty like that.
Well, starting on Sunday I’ll be taking part in a blogathon to celebrate the flavors of Massachusetts. There’s a farmer’s market in Worcester that Peter and I go to at least weekly. All this coming week I’ll be putting the spotlight on the vendors who sit in the sweltering sun on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. to sell their locally produced goods and produce.
I’ll be posting pictures, the names of the participating vendors, and a recipe or two.
I’m just really thrilled to do this. Eating seasonally and locally is important to me and my family, I’d say it’s one of our core family values, and I would love to inspire a few other people to give it a try. I know I’m lucky in that I can go to the market at any time between 9:30 and 2, but even those who work can take a quick run to the market on their lunch break. Right?
My husband and I want Peter to know where food comes from and the work involved in producing it. And we want to introduce him to as many different kinds of foods as possible. Luckily as of now he’s a pretty adventurous eater– he’ll try anything. He loves going to the market, talking to the vendors, and looking at all the beautiful produce (and bread):
Basket full of yum!
So, I hope you check in a few times this week to see what our local market has to offer. And I really hope you search out a market in your area soon and GO THERE to support your local farmers and pick up some delicious, local, seasonal food. You absolutely won’t regret it. As Peter would say, “I pwomise.”
One Year Anniversary
August 19th, 2010 § 5 Comments
One year ago today I woke up to a new reality: I was a stay-at-home mom (SAHM). The previous day marked the end of a long chapter of my life. I had left my publishing career. I could no longer say I worked as “a project manager at a scholarly publishing company.” I was now a Domestic Engineer and my new boss was a 23-month old boy. My new office was my home, and the purpose of my job was to raise this boy into a decent, loving, intellectual human being.
I felt scared for many reasons. My #1 fear was being sent to the poorhouse, but my second biggest fear was: what was I going to do with this kid ALL DAY EVERY DAY?! On the weekends, my husband and I tag-teamed parented. All three of us played together and when I had to go to the bathroom or something, Pete was there to keep an eye on Peter, and vice versa. But for a SAHM (or a single mom, for that matter), well, we’re missing that spare eye. There’s nobody else to tag and say “you’re it.” So on our first full day alone together, I thought I found a good solution for when I needed a bathroom break: strap him in his booster seat with a craft project:
What in the world???
I was only gone for a minute! It's not funny!
After that unfortunate mishap things got better. I learned to clear the room of any potentially harmful or messy items before I took a bathroom break. We eventually had the semblance of a routine. He watched a wee bit more t.v. than I had envisioned. We went to Gymboree classes. We joined a Mom’s Club. We went on playdates and made new friends. He had a few tantrums. I lost my shit a few times. We picked berries. We watched ants marching. We visited family and friends. We read books. We made some crafts. We even made a bird feeder! We had conversations. We frequented parks and, of course, Target. (Target sends out some kind of siren call to SAHMs. It’s a phenomenon.)
I sometimes missed the idea of work. But did I ever regret my decision to close that chapter?
No.
Afterall, would any of my co-workers actually practice emotion faces with me? I think not.
Sad face
Happy Face
Mad Face
This is supposed to be our Surprise! Face, but it looks an awful lot like our Happy Face. We need to work on that. I know what we're doing tomorrow.
Or maybe they would have. I don’t know. I never asked them. But it probably would’ve been wicked awkward if I had.
My co-workers never told me I looked like a Princess when I wore a dress to the office. Peter does. He calls me “Mama Princess.” He asks me to twirl for him. So I do. And he looks at me as if I’m the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen.
So, it’s a year later and I really feel like I’m just now easing into this new position, chapter, whatever you want to call it.
I love it, and I feel so lucky to be able to hang out with my fun little buddy every day. I hope he feels lucky, too.
Not to toot my own horn, but I think he does.
Gobbetti with Zucchini and Fresh Basil
August 18th, 2010 § Leave a Comment
I made this super easy dinner last night. I took it from the September 2010 issue of Vegetarian Times (p. 32). There’s this great article starting on page 28 called “Primo Pasta. 10 outrageously easy 5-ingredient dinners.” Oh yeah, I’m all over that article. It’s just been so hot, I haven’t felt much like cooking. But I can manage to put 4 ingredients together and toss them with some pasta. The recipe actually calls for casareccia pasta, but I substituted whole wheat gobbetti pasta.
True confession: my knife skills are an abomination. A-BOM-IN-A-TION. The recipe calls for julienned zucchini and I ended up with this:
I don't know Julienne Zucchini from Julian Lennon
In any case, it’s a super easy, quick dinner and it was quite good. Peter chowed it down, too. I give it 5 out of 5 zucchinis.
Casareccia with Zucchini and Fresh Basil
Serves 4 | 30 minutes or fewer
Casareccia look like macaroni that have been split open and twisted. The groovy shape is perfect for light sauces.
8 oz. dry casareccia pasta (2 cups) [or pasta of your choice]
4 small zucchini, julienned (4 cups)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup low-fat ricotta [I used whole ricotta]
1/2 cup torn fresh basil
1. Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water according to package directions; add zucchini to pasta water 1 minute before end of cooking time.
2. Meanwhile, whisk together garlic and ricotta in large bowl. Drain zucchini and pasta, and add to ricotta mixture. Stir in basil, and season with salt and pepper, if desired.
Per 1- cup serving: 245 Cal; 11 G Prot; 2 G total fat (<1G Sat Fat); 47 G Carb; 5 MG Chol; 123 MG Sod; 3 G Fiber; 6 G Sugars. [Of course, these numbers will change if you use a different pasta or whole ricotta].
Gobbetti with Zucchini and Fresh Basil
