I’ve shared it before elsewhere and in the past few weeks, have had four different people tell me they’ve made this dish.  If you like peanut butter, if you’re not sure how you’ll use up all those beet, turnip, mustard, spinach, kale, and whatever other greens, give this a try.  It freezes well if you want to put it by for later.  I also used it as a pizza topping last year at Firefly with great results.

(I kept putting off posting it here because I didn’t have a good picture, but I’ve let go of that.  This is what I’ve got and I keep forgetting to take a new one.  In the pictured version, I also threw in a drained can of “fried gluten with peanuts” from an Asian market that I had in the pantry.)

A bagful of greens in every bowl!

Ingredients

• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and diced [Or whatever you'd like to use to add spice. You could use a bell pepper and some hot sauce.]
• 1 large carrot, slivered
• 1 sweet potato, sliced [Butternut or other winter squash works well, too.]
• ~2 cups water or broth
• All the greens!  Washed and chopped or torn into small pieces
• 2-4 Tbsp peanut butter
• Chopped peanuts for garnish
• olive oil
• salt to taste

Do this

1. Sauté the onion in olive oil and a little salt until  softened and translucent
2. Add the peppers and carrots and cook for a few more minutes
3. Add the sweet potato (or squash)
4. Add the broth or water, stir
5. Throw in all the greens!  Depending on the size of your vessel, you may need to do this in batches.  I recommend preparing this dish in a large pot to make this step easier.  Add them in reverse order of cooking time: collards first, then kale, then spinach later.
6. Keep covered until greens cook down significantly, stirring occasionally. Tongs are helpful here. It doesn’t take long.
7. Mix the peanut butter with a little warm water and stir in.  The amount of peanut butter will depend on your volume and how peanutty you want it.  You can always add more.
8. Simmer until everything is as cooked as you like it.
9. Serve over rice with a sprinkle of peanuts.

As it often my way, I looked at an assortment of recipes and combined them into something I thought would work.  The “ricotta” is mostly a cross between two different recipes in Veganomicon.  My original plan was to mix in spinach, but since I had the chard, used that.  Good thing, too, because without it, I would have been pretty short on stuffing, so definitely pick a green, or if you can’t stand the idea of vegetables mixed in, make extra ricotta.  You could also modify this recipe slightly for lasagna, which would maybe be a little less fancy but also save the stuffing time, though you’d have a higher pasta ratio.

The end result was quite delicious and I would definitely like to make this again.  Leftovers have been fantastic.  Even with the work of stuffing the shells, it was still pretty fast, and the most time-consuming part was our friend M. (who is a wonderful person, but a little slow in the kitchen) tearing and washing the chard.  But if you use frozen greens, this is *really* fast.

Fresh out of the oven!

Stuffed Shells

for the stuffing

• 1/2 cup raw cashews
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1.5 tsp salt
• 1 lb extra firm tofu, excess liquid pressed out
• handful basil leaves, chopped
• cooked, chopped, drained chard (or thawed, chopped, and drained package of frozen spinach)

for the chard

• 2 bunches chard or spinach or similar leafy green, rinsed and chopped/torn into bite-sized pieces
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• olive oil

and

• 1 box giant pasta shells
• 1 quart tomato sauce (perhaps I will someday post my recipe, but you can use store-bought, too)

Do this

1. Cook the shells according to package directions in well-salted water.  Drain and rinse in cool water.
2. Cook the chard: Saute garlic in olive oil over medium heat for a couple of minutes, then add chard, sprinkle with a little salt, and cover.  Stir as needed and when chard is darkened and cooked through, uncover to cook off excess liquid and/or squeeze it out.
3. Blend the first six stuffing ingredients thoroughly and transfer to bowl.  Crumble in tofu and mix well to ricotta-like texture.  Stir in the basil and chard and keep mixing until the greens are all through.
4. Cover the bottom of a 9×13 baking pan with ~1/3 of the sauce, then fill the shells (I used a regular spoon) and line them up in the pan.  This recipe was just right to stuff enough shells to fill the pan, though I had a bunch of empty shells left over.  Maybe they give you extra to account for breakage?  I dunno.  Pour the rest of the sauce over the top.
5. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes.

All stuffed and ready to be sauced

]]> http://frogfood.peace.net/index.php/2011/06/20/stuffed-shells/feed/ 0 http://frogfood.peace.net/index.php/2007/11/06/easy-refrigerator-pickles-two-ways/ http://frogfood.peace.net/index.php/2007/11/06/easy-refrigerator-pickles-two-ways/#comments Tue, 06 Nov 2007 17:02:12 +0000 jude http://frogfood.peace.net/index.php/2007/11/06/easy-refrigerator-pickles-two-ways/ I love pickles and I always have. As a Jew and a native New Yorker, it is in both my nature and nurture so shouldn’t surprise anyone. Perhaps more surprising in that I’ve rarely actually made them and thus far never made my favorites, but we start simple and work our way up. These two varieties of refrigerator pickles are very easy and quite yummy. I made the Swedish-style sweet slices for the first time last year when I was getting many many cucumbers in my farm share and couldn’t come up with ways to use them up fast enough. I used the food processor’s slicing disk to make ultra-thin slices and the results were fantastic (and never lost their crunch!) For the sours, I wanted something heftier, so I sliced them thickly by hand. I had far fewer cucumbers this year (sadness), so it didn’t take too long. I used plain distilled vinegar, so the sours are quite sharp, whereas the sweet were in white wine vinegar. You could certainly use a nicer vinegar for the sours.

I wanted to can pickles this year and I’d tried to grow pickling cukes in my garden, but they didn’t really flourish. I ended up with many small ones, useful (& yummy) for one or two salads apiece, but not really appropriate for pickling, and I neglected to buy a bushel from a local farm. Ah well. Still, these were all nummy and quite popular at potlucks.

Both of these can be scaled as far up as you want to go and keep quite well, assuming you can keep them from getting et.

Sour Refrigerator Pickles (from this recipe)

• 1 1/2 lb cucumbers, sliced into rounds
• 8-12 cloves garlic
• 4 sprigs fresh dill

• 1 Tbsp mustard seed
• 1/2 tsp celery seed
• 1 Tbsp dill seed

• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 2 cups water
• 2 cups vinegar
• 3 Tbsp kosher salt
• 1 Tbsp sugar

1. Divide dill, garlic, and cucumbers among wide-mouthed pint or quart jars.

2. Mix the next four ingredients (spices) in a small bowl, crush slightly to release flavors, and divide amongst the jars.

3. Mix together the water, vinegar, salt, and sugar in a large bowl or measuring cup and fill each jar, allowing the liquid to fill the caps and topping off and carefully topping off.

4. Cap the jars, shake ‘em up, and refrigerate for at least two weeks before eating — the longer the better!

Notes: When you eat all the pickles, you can also refill the jars with more cucumbers and that works fine, too. Another option when making them is to heat the liquid (with the spices in it) to get things going a little faster. Despite the fact that I sliced them, these are NOT bread and butter pickles, and are quite sour, but I like it that way. In addition to munching on their own, they made very yummy additions to a grilled veggie dog or brat on a bun.

Sweet Swedish Refrigerator Pickles (from this recipe)

• 1 English cucumber or a comparable number of the regular kind
• 1 Tbsp kosher salt
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/2 – 1 cup sugar (depending on just how sweet you want these to be)
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 allspice berries

1. Slice the cucumbers very thinly (I used my food processor slicing disk), toss in a colander with the salt, and let them it while the rest of the dish is prepared, or up to 30 minutes.

2. Combine water, vinegar, sugar, bay leaf and allspice in a medium saucepan, bring to a boil, remove from heat, and allow to cool.

3. Rinse the salt off the cucumber slices and squeeze out as much moisture as possible, using paper towels to blot them dry.

4. Put the cucumbers in a medium bowl or jar along with the liquid, making sure the slices are completely submerged. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving.

On the left is Chipotle Corn Soup (or maybe it needs a better name?) and is something I came up with. The first time, I just processed the corn raw, which was great, but I felt that roasting would really add depth so I wanted to try it that way, too. Then the second time, I didn’t roast because I was in a hurry. But after that, I took the time to grill the corn and really love the added smokiness. It’s great either way, though.

On the right is a Bean, Corn, and Chili Soup from DD’s Stillman CSA newsletter that Mark made while they were both over. The recipe called for pinto beans, but he also used Great Northern. All the vegetables except garlic were from my or DD’s share (the cilantro and celery I’d frozen), with tomatoes and basil from the garden. Very different from the first soup, it was still delicious.

Chipotle Corn Soup

Ingredients

• 6-12 ears of corn (use what you got)
• ~1/2 cup light coconut milk
• 2-3 cloves of garlic or 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 chipotle chilis or 1/2 tsp chipotle powder (or to taste)
• 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
• 1/2 tsp agave nectar (optional)

If you are roasting the corn, do that first, either in or out of the husk. Grill over medium-high flame until it starts to blacken. De-cob the corn, going over it twice with a knife to get all the creamy corn goodness. Meanwhile, if using fresh garlic, roast the cloves in the toaster oven.

Put the corn and garlic in a blender or food processor and pulse, adding enough coconut milk for the mixture to blend and shoving with a spoon or spatula as needed. Add salt and chipotle, tasting for desired level of spice. If using chipotle in adobo, the agave nectar is useful to counteract the vinegar, but not necessary when using dried or powder if your corn is naturally sweet.

Using a sieve or a food mill, strain the soup to remove the corn skins, then heat in a saucepan, again adjusting seasonings as desired. Garnish with cilantro (I didn’t have any handy) or tortilla chips as desired.

Bean, Corn, and Chili Soup (from Stillman’s Farm‘s newsletter)

Ingredients

• 2-3 cans pinto beans (we used one can pinto & one can Great Northern)
• 1 mild hot chili
• 3 gloves garlic
• 4 medium tomatoes, chopped (~2 cups)
• 2 medium carrots, chopped (~1 cup)
• 1 stalk celery with leaves
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 ears corn, de-cobbed
• 2 Tbsp chopped basil
• 2 Tbsp chopped cilantro

In a dutch oven or heavy stock pot, cook onion, garlic, and chili over medium heat 5 minutes or until tender. Add tomatoes and cook 15 minutes or until tomatoes break down, stirring often.

Add drained beans, carrots, celery, bay leaf, salt, and about 4 cups water (or more) to cover all the veggies. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, until the veggies are very tender, ~30 minutes or more.

Remove the bay leaf, and with potato masher (or immersion blender), mash the mixture to desired consistency. Stir in corn, basil, and cilantro, and simmer 5-10 minutes more until corn is tender, adding more water if you prefer a thinner soup.

In addition to eating it with chips (shown are Trader Joe’s Flax Seed Tortilla Chips), I think it’d work very well over quesadillas or other spicy dishes.  Last night, DD and I grilled some tempeh rubbed with a hot cajun mix and the salsa made for an excellent topping.

Salsa Verde (Tomatillo Salsa)

Ingredients

• 3 pts tomatillos
• 1/2 cup chopped white onion
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro
• 1 Tbsp lime juice
• 1/4 tsp sugar
• 3 jalapeño peppers, stemmed, seeded, and chopped
• 1/2 tsp salt, or to taste

Remove papery husks from tomatillos and rinse well in warm water to wash off the weird sticky coating.  Cut in half, coat lightly with olive oil, and place cut side down on a roasting pan or cookie sheet.  Broil for 5-7 minutes, or until the skins have started to blacken and bubble.

Put tomatillos in a blender (or FP) along with the remaining ingredients and mix until smooth.  Cool and serve.

I also tested two cooking methods: frying and baking. Fried was somewhat tastier (no surprise there), but baking was also quite yummy and had the advantages of using less oil and not needing to tend to a pan in front of a hot stove in the summer. These were so full of yummy that I’m ashamed to admit how many I ate in the name of testing.

Rootkes

Ingredients

• 2 cups shredded beets
• 1 cup shredded potatoes (or sweet potatoes)
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp fennel seed powder
• A few turns fresh ground black pepper
• Olive oil for frying

Mix together all the veggies, then mix in the remaining dry ingredients. Add water a tablespoon at a time until the mix is moist. Hands work great for this — it’s quite tactile! Form the mixture into small (~1″) balls (or larger ones if you prefer).

Fry: Heat a thin layer of olive oil in a pan and (once the oil is HOT!), flatten the rootke into it. Cook until crispy and browned on one side, then flip and do the same on the other.

Bake: Preheat oven to 375°. Coat a baking sheet (or foil-lined sheet) with olive oil and flatten the rootkes onto it. Spray (or drizzle if you don’t have a sprayer) the top with more oil. Bake until browned and crispy, flipping halfway through if desired for better effect.

Seasoning can always be adjusted as desired, but Spike is always a good bet.

Oven-Roasted Vegetables

Ingredients

• onions, peeled and quartered
• beets, scrubbed and sliced
• harukei turnips, scrubbed and sliced
• fennel, trimmed and halved (I also mixed in a bit of the tops)
• little white potatoes, scrubbed and quartered
• carrots, scrubbed and sliced
• garlic cloves, peeled
• Spike all-purpose seasoning

Preheat oven to 375° while the veggies are prepped.

In a roasted pan (or use a bowl, then transfer), mix everything but the garlic with olive oil and Spike (hands are the best tool for this) and put in the oven. After 15 minutes, add the garlic and mix gently. In another 15, mix again. In another 15 (45 minutes total), it’s all done.

Before roasting:

Serve with rice, in a wrap, eat cold the next day, or anything else you can think of. Other vegetables that work particularly well in the mix are pretty much any squash or pepper.

(Occasionally, I’ll throw it in a blender with some stock to make roasted vegetable soup, but this time it all got et as-is, so that will have to wait for another entry.)

Baba Ghanoush (based on RecipeZaar)

Ingredients

• 1 large (or two medium) eggplant
• 2-3 tbsp tahini
• 3-4 garlic cloves, minced (roasting the garlic first works, too)
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (I used lime because I’d just used up my lemon canning tomato sauce)
• A few shakes ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
• olive oil, black olives, and parsley (from the garden!) for serving

Brush the eggplant with a little olive oil and salt, pierce several times with a work, and roast in a 375° oven for 45 minute, or until the skin blackens and the insides are very soft. The skin should come off easily.

Mash the eggplant innards in a bowl with the tahini, garlic, lemon juice, and seasoning. Taste, and add more of each as desired.

Baba can be eaten immediately or refrigerate a few hours to overnight to allow the flavors to marry and deepen.

Serve with olives and parsley. Drizzle with olive oil if desired.

Beet Carrot Salad

Ingredients:

• shredded beets
• shredded carrots
• caramelized onions
• chopped green apple
• balsamic vinegar

Once the ingredients are prepped, assembly is just a matter of how you want to do it. I put a big bunch of beet on the bottom, topped with slightly less carrot, a bit of caramelized onion, garnished with some chopped apple, and finished off with a splash or two of balsamic vinegar.

Mix it all up and eat. It’s really a fabulous combination.

Focaccia (multiple sources)

I can’t remember exactly how I made this, so some of these numbers may be off.

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 2.5 cups flour
• 2-3 tbsp olive oil
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 3 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
• caramelized onions

Combine the water, yeast, and sugar and let sit for a few minutes to foam, then mix with the flour, salt, and half the olive oil. Knead the dough until it is smooth and slightly sticky, then cover and allow to rise until doubled (about an hour).
When the dough has risen, punch it down and knead briefly, mixing in 2 tsp of the rosemary, then stretch or roll it on a parchment-line baking sheet. Cover and let it rise for 30 minutes.

Using your finger, poke holes all over the dough, then sprinkle with remaining olive oil and rosemary, some coarse salt, and as much of the caramelized onions as you can fit.

Bake in a 400° oven for 30-40 minutes until golden brown and as crispy as you like it.

Caramelized Onions (improvised)

Ingredients:

• onions (as many as you like)
• olive oil for the pan
• maple syrup to taste
• 2 splashes red wine, more or less
• pinch salt

Cut onions into thick slices and sauté in a little olive oil over medium heat with pinch of salt. When the onions have softened, add a drizzle of maple syrup and continue to cook. Once everything is nicely browned, use some red wine to deglaze and you’re done.