The Best Laid Plans…
August 26, 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~
Gobbetti with Zucchini and Fresh Basil
August 18, 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
