Grain Parade!

I know I missed posting for the 4th of July with her crisp gingham picnics and luscious fruit pies, sorry guys!  I get cranky in a hot kitchen in summer.  I need something fast and easy to go with my CSA hauls, something that I don't have to cook for a long time (or, preferably at all)...

During a trip to TJ's today, I came across these grains, all are quick cooking (excepting the steel cut oats):

Ten minute Farro, Bulgur and Barley, come to momma! 

Precooked brown rice, it would be nice if you are also delicious since you say to only microwave you for a minute!  Also included are TJ's organic, rainbow quinoa (I have not tried their brand of quinoa before) and I'm finally trying the steel cut oatmeal that everyone raves about.

I think I'm going to try the farro first...

Yes, yes I am.

Here are some light, delish grain salads I have been making with my organic CSA farm hauls and some quick cooking grains I already had in my pantry:

Blueberries + Basil...what grows together goes together! 

P.S. That's a nice longish orzo I used there for the grain.

Hubby created this one and I added my Golden 'Fu:

He used that boxed tabouli mix from Fantastic Foods and jazzed it up, it was really delish.  

Perfect with my Golden 'Fu!

Let me know if you'd like to see the recipes for either of these grain salads here on Vegan Fazool and I'll see what I can do :-)

In the meantime, I am going to experiment with those quick-cooking TJ's grains and get back to you guys if they are really good (or really bad, or just ordinary).

More low to no heat posts are coming soon to the VF, stay tuned...

What do you guys like to make (or not make) in the heat of summer?

Hottest Summer on Record?

Here's what I've been doing:

Sitting around staring at my Cold Brewed Coffee (seriously, I've had it sitting there for like five days, too tired to strain it and clean up!) and pondering the hottest summer on record. 

I've also been trying to use up my CSA boxes without turning on my oven or using my stove top burners.  Last CSA box I put up here was from 7/11/12, so here are the rest of them:

CSA 2012, Week #8 (7/18/12).  White onions (10+), zucchs (4), basil, garlic, Swiss chard, beets (4), one melon, one garlic head.We started getting onions on July 3rd (three lovely fresh ones with the tops attached).  I thought that was fine, but it's been like a HUGE bag of about a dozen onions every week since then, white ones, red ones, yellow ones, so we made an Organic Onion Stock on 7/22.  Also, on 7/18, I finally had to start cheating on my CSA with the Farmer's Market because we don't get any fruit (except for a small melon here and there, as you see above, and that one half-pint container of blueberries in June and the PYO strawberries) and still hadn't gotten tomatoes yet.  So, the peaches & tomatoes (and green peppers!) above are from the Westmont Farmer's Market.  Not organic, but oh well, they are New Jersey Specials!

CSA 2012, Week #9 (7/25/12). Finally, tomatoes!  Slicing tomatoes (5), a pint of cherry tomatoes, bunch of (tiny leaved!) basil, interestingly a bunch of cilantro (so hot, I have no idea how we got cilantro at the end of July), first eggplant, 2 little purple cabbages (delish!), 3 zucchs, 2 corns (my kiddo ate both ears, I just steamed them quickly and they were gone!), another small melon, and about a dozen more onions (!).  I made fresh tomato sauce (sometimes known as Pasta Primavera) with the tomatoes, onions & garlic from the week prior, a beautiful Asian Cabbage Slaw (pictured below), Basil/Cilantro Pesto cubes, and just ate the melon as-is.

Look at those cabbages! 

Here's the slaw:

CSA cabbage, basil, onion, organic carrot (non-CSA), and organic tofu with a simple dressing of sesame oil (2 T, I think) and 1 tsp of Hot Chili Oil, and salt to taste.  

Basil from Week #9 (7/25):

Basil from Week #10 (8/1/12):

Basil/Pesto Cube Station Set-up:

Purple Basil Cubes! Want to make them? Here's how.

I also cheated again that week (Week #9, 7/25) with the Farmer's Market:

Peaches & Nects from the Farmer's Market.  It's on my way from the CSA pick up!

CSA 2012 Week #10 (8/1/12).  Tons of potatoes, more (yes more!) white onions, shallots the size of your head (pictured below), zucchs (3), eggplants (4), tomatoes (5), purple basil, one melon, a bouquet of organic flowers, and I think a garlic head I already put away.  

Shallots the size of your head! I love shallots, but boy, this is a lot of shallots!

Flowers:

They were a little droopy but totally perked up with my magic flower water concoction (organic sugar and a tiny bit of bleach) after a few hours.

And, finally, this week's box:

CSA 2012, Week #11 (8/8/12): zucchs (5), slicing tomatoes (only 2, due to the super hot weather), small not quite pint of cherry tomatoes, peppers (2), potatoes (a lot), head-sized shallots (a lot!), eggplants (3), scallions (a huge bunch) and a head of garlic.  And my cat.  I've done next to nothing with this box since Wednesday, I am really tired and the heat has been relentless.  I think I ate a green pepper and some of the cherry tomatoes.

I've also been making ice cream.  This Peaches & Cream one was one of my favorites:

Peach Ice Cream (base from Hannah's book) with Farmer's Market NJ Peaches, Organic Coconut Milk, and Organic Vanilla Sandwich Cookies added (Country Choice Organic brand, they are vegan!), it was amazing.  

That's about it, folks.  I really need to filter that cold brewed coffee now.

What have you guys been making in this (fast becoming the) hottest summer on record?  

Herbed Ice Cubes and Garlic Scape Pesto

If you have left over pesto, greens, or herbs, which, after blending the heck out of everything in your CSA box you are sure to have, just pour it into an ice tray, freeze it, and pop it out.  Then place cubes in a plastic bag and store in your freezer.  Cubes become an instant sauce for pasta, salads, casseroles, pizzas, etc. whenever you need it! Just stick it in a small microwave-safe bowl and microwave at 50% power or heat gently in a small pan over low heat until defrosted.  Add to whatever you like: pastas, pizza sauce, casseroles, tortillas pies, tofu scrambles,  veggie burgers, etc.

 Top cubes are Green Lantern Pasta Pesto (almonds, cilantro, garlic, lemon zest, big hit with my kiddo) 

and the darker ones are Spinach Cilantro Cubes (spinach and cilantro :-)

You can blend and store any herb or green or combination of both this way.  Just combine half the volume of herbs/greens with half the volume of water and/or oil, blend, and freeze.  Add some salt if you want.  

You can do parsley, basil, cilantro, mint, marjoram, the list is endless. 

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So, onto the CSA box...the only way I could think to make a dent in that HUGE bag of garlic scapes was to blend the heck out of them.  Basically, this is Groundhog Pesto with Scapes instead of garlic, and with organic arugula and almonds.  You can use any greens you have, and of course, any nuts or seeds.

Garlic Scape Pesto

1/2 cup Nuts and/or Seeds (I used almonds today)

1.5 cups chopped up Garlic Scapes (this is about eight large scapes)

Zest and Juice from one small Organic Lemon

2 tsps Kosher Salt

1 cup hot pasta cooking water (but grab at least 2 cups to thin it out later if needed)

2-3 cups Greens and/or Herbs

(today I used organic arugula that I bought last week before the CSAs started and some basil and rosemary from out back :-)

1/4 cup olive oil or any other oil you feel like using

Put everything in a VitaMix or Blendtech or high-speed blender in the order listed.  Blend about 30-60 seconds.  Add more pasta water as needed.  If using a food processor, add everything up until the pasta water and pulse until finely chopped, scraping down as needed.  Add hot pasta water gradually and pulse until incorporated.  Add greens and stream in oil with food processor running.  Taste for salt, seasoning, etc. and add what you feel like!  Add beans, tofu cubes, grilled seitan, or more veggies to top it if you like!

 Escapin' scapes.  Tonight in my home this pasta was, "Yoda's Green Light Sabers."

Now, what?

Groundhog Pesto

For whenever a groundhog eats all your basil, cilantro, or whatever other lovely green you wanted to make a pesto with, here is a flexible pesto recipe that uses whatever herbs or greens you have on hand and whatever nuts or seeds you like.  Many, many variants are possible, with versions such as "Middle Eastern" (cilantro, basil, sesame seeds), "Classic" (basil, pine nuts), "Moroccan" (Argan oil, walnuts), "Mexican" (cilantro, jalapeno oil), "Persian" (cilantro, parsley, basil, pistachios), "Winter" (arugula or spinach, almonds or cashews) and whatever other versions you can dream of. 

Not just a pest, a pest-o!

Groundhog Pesto

Note: If you are making this to go over pasta, grab about 1 cup of pasta cooking water before you drain the pasta.

Yields about 1 cup sauce.

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3 cups (total) of herbs and/or flavorful greens.

Recommendations:

Basil, Cilantro, Parsley, Arugula, Baby Spinach, even Garlic Scapes from your CSA! Try to use organic if possible. I just made GHP with 1 cup herbs (cilantro & basil) and 2 cups arugula and it was wonderful.

 2-4 garlic cloves (2 is standard, 4 is, well, a lot)

½ to 1 scant cup pasta cooking water OR ¼ to ½ cup olive (or other) oil

You can drizzle some oil in if you are using pasta water, too, or split the difference (ex:  ½ cup pasta water + ¼ cup olive oil, whatever). 

¼ to ½ cup nuts or seeds

Recommendations:

Pine Nuts, Sesame Seeds, Pepitas (Pumpkin Seeds), Cashews, Almonds, Walnuts, Pistachios, etc. You can use your nuts and seeds either raw or roasted/toasted.  If using roasted versions, be sure to soak them or use some hot pasta water in the pesto to soften them a bit.  If you have a VitaMix it probably doesn’t matter J

Juice of ½ to 1 lemon, add some zest, too, if you want it more lemony

1-2 tsps of salt (depends on your taste)

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

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Wash your herbs or greens.  If using basil, take leaves off of the stalks.  If using cilantro, go ahead and use stems AND leaves! Did you know you can use the whole bunch of cilantro, stems and all, when making pesto?  The stems taste just like the leaves, not bitter at all like basil stems.  You can cut the bunch in half or thirds if you want to fit it better in your blender or processor, though. 

Put everything in a high-speed blender (like a VitaMix!) and blend for 30-60 seconds on high.  That’s it. 

If you are using a food processor, start by adding the garlic, pulse to chop, and scrape it down.  Then, add your nuts/seeds and pulse and scrape down alternately until you have a nice paste.  Then, add your greens/herbs salt, pepper and lemon juice and process.  With the machine on, drizzle the olive oil (or pasta water) in until it incorporates fully into the pesto.  Scrape down as needed.

Taste for seasoning and add whatever is lacking before serving.  Serve over pasta, beans, in tofu, seitan, or in soups, in salad dressings, etc.  You can use some more pasta water to thin it out to your desired consistency if needed.

Storage tips & tricks:

You can freeze pesto in an ice cube tray (put it inside a plastic zipper bag when freezing so pesto doesn’t get all over the place).  Once it’s frozen, you can pop out the cubes into that plastic zipper bag and store.  Use a cube to wake up sauces, soups, etc., or use multiple cubes to amp up your pesto power.

 My Precious.

Middle Eastern Pesto.

What is your favorite way to use pesto?