2024-- A New Year - a new start -Eat Your Vegetables (and fruit)!!!

Happy New Year!  Cheers!

We are 3 weeks into 2024 and many of us have set our goals for the new year.  I wish for all of us abundance, joy and good health so let's start out with a great resolution:

I will eat more vegetables!

It's not hard....don't reach for the Balance of Nature jars.  Reach for tomatoes, eggplant, sugar snap peas, grapefruit, cauliflower, peppers, celery, beets, carrots and beyond.

I started out the year by making a big leap of faith and planting two avocado trees.  I had help from my great niece, Teagan, and great nephew, Kellen

Bacon Avocado, Teagan and Kellen

Teagan is 6 and Kellen is 3 and this little Reed avocado is half Kellen's height so it has a long way to grow before its fruit lands up in a guacamole.  

But things start small and with nurturing, sunlight and a place to shine they grow.

Sugar snap pea planted 3 months ago and ready to nibble on

"Cheddar" cauliflower start planted this week. Estimated harvest: April

And after 2 1/2 months of no eggs my hen, Joleen< gave me a beautiful gift.

So let's get started.  All of my January veggie dishes are inspired by what my farm gives me in the Winter month of January.  All are meatless.  Most are packed with fruits and vegetables and all are delicious and nutritious 

Caponata

This vegetarian dish is native to Sicily and is very similar to ratatouille but with zucchini out of season and an abundance of eggplants and tomatoes this was my choice

Caponata served on crostata* with a chicken looking on

Based on the recipe from Love and Lemons blog  (click on link for full recipe) I added about 1 cup of chopped fennel

mis en place

veggies:  Let's count them: tomatoes*(1 pound), celery* (2 ribs), roasted eggplant* ( 1 1/2 pound), 1 bell pepper, 1 chopped onion*, garlic ( 3 cloves), parsley *,capers, fennel (1 cup chopped) and cranberries (not a veggie)

Roasted eggplant

About 1 1/2 eggplant cut into about 1 " cubes tossed in olive oil and seasoned salt and roasted at 425 for about 15 minutes or until tender

 

Vegetables sautéing in a copper pot

The ramekin in the mis en place picture above is capers, dried cranberries and sherry wine vinegar which add a nice contrast of flavors.

Caponata is easy to assemble and cook and tastes better the second and third day so perfect to make ahead 

Next dish

Cauliflower gratin

This recipe came straight from Ina Garten's "Barefoot in Paris"   Here's the recipe https://barefootcontessa.com/recipes/cauliflower-gratin

You can make a classic gratin with any veggie.  I love zucchini when it is in season but this gorgeous "cheddar" cauliflower was in the market so I grabbed it.  Gratins are basically Bechemel sauce and a crumble of cheese and bread crumbs popped into a hot oven (375 deg) until the sauce bubbles and the cheese melts.

mis en place...only veggie in this dish : cauliflower

Cauliflower start

Steamed "cheddar" cauliflower (5-6 minutes)

Bechemel sauce

Speaking of classic French

Quiche Lorraine:

A classic French quiche is a pate brise (basic unsweetened pie crust) baked unfilled and then baked again with a custard filling over sautéed onions and Gruyere cheese with bits of bacon tossed in.  There are many recipes available for quiche Lorraine but I used this one from Food Network: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchen/quiche-lorraine-7077405

The crust part is very flaky and more like puff pastry.

  

I did not set up a mis en place but only have the final pic:

Quiche Lorraine

veggies: onions* made with High Tide Farm goat cheese and gruyere 

Quiche for one 

Chinese chicken salad:

Oodles of veggies in this salad and so delicious  I roasted bone in skin on chicken breasts and pulled the cooked chicken off the bone. I always use the bones for a little stock making before throwing them in the trash.

salad mis en place: 

veggies: broccoli slaw (Trader Joe's), chopped Napa cabbage (Trader Joe's), red cabbage (already planted in the garden), cilantro, cucumber, peppers, radishes, sugar snap peas, slivered almonds (TJ), sesame seeds, 3 oz chicken breast, won ton noodles and salad dressing

Salad dressing recipe:

1/3 cup rice vinegar

1/4 cup soy sauce or Hoisin 

3 Tbs honey

1/4 cup sesame oil

1/3 cup peanut oil

3 cloves garlic, grated or pressed

1 1/2" piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated fine.

I used my mini food processor to homogenize this dressing but you can also just make sure the ginger and garlic and in very small pieces and just put all ingredients into a jar and shake well

I have a pint of this dressing in the fridge so that I can chop whatever veggies I have and assemble this salad quickly

The wonton noodles are optional but add a nice crunch

If your watching your protein intake with 3 ounces of chicken and the sesame seeds (toasted) and almonds added this salad has 26 grams of protein...almost half of my daily intake so even though it's a lot of prep it's a nutrient dense salad.

Paloma cocktail:

Since I'm pushing fruits and veggies let's add a cocktail:

A Paloma is a cocktail made from grapefruit juice and tequila.  It's sweet and sour and a little smoky.  If you like a Margarita no doubt you'll like a Paloma:

Start with a juicy grapefruit.  I picked this one from my tree literally 5 minutes ago

Paloma recipe:

per serving:

grapefruit juice* - 2 oz

tequila, 2 oz

sparkling water - 2 0z

lime juice* - 1 Tbs

agave or simple syrup - 1/2 Tbs

smoked sea salt

mis en place, agave skipped the photo shoot

Paloma cocktail

Cheers to a very Healthy and Happy New Year! 

And of course lots of love!

*** all grown and harvest at High Tide Farm