Category Archives: vegetable

Scallion Hummus

26 July 2010 by local kitchen

I don’t know about you, but ’round these parts we are literally drowning in scallions; we are getting 7 or 8 huge scallions each week in our CSA, and when I say huge, I mean huge. These puppies are close to 3 feet long and the bulbs are the diameter of a quarter. It must be The Summer of the Scallion and nobody told me. In addition to all the scallion love from my own CSA, our neighbors (and landlords) were […]

Categories: appetizer, beans, chickpeas, fall, parsley, quick & easy, scallions, side dish, spring, summer, vegetarian • Tags: cooking, food, local, quick & easy, recipes, vegetarian

Blueberry, Lemon & Chile Jam

25 July 2010 by local kitchen

Run, don’t walk to your nearest blueberry patch and make this jam while blues are still in season. This one is classic Nischan: pure blueberry flavor, accented with the tang of lemon, and just enough sweetness to off-set the surprise heat of jalapeno and habanero peppers. So good that this is my second batch in as many weeks and I’m contemplating a third. Worth firing up the canner on a 90-degree, 99% humidity July Sunday – it’s that good. Adapted […]

Categories: berries, breakfast, canning, cilantro, citrus, hot chile peppers, jams, preserving, summer, year round • Tags: berries, blueberry, canning, chile, cooking, food, lemon, local, preserving, recipes

Can Jam: Pattypan Pickles

23 July 2010 by local kitchen

CanJam July #2: a quick mini-batch of pickles, or an attempt to deal with the metric tons of summer squash currently taking over my refirgerator. Do you know Patty? She’s round & bumpy, bright yellow (or sometimes green), looks like a flying saucer? Yes, that one. She and her entire extended family have moved into my fridge, lock, stock and two smoking 8-balls. When a house guest over stays her welcome, I say, pickle ’em! Brine propotions taken from Marisa’s […]

Categories: Can Jam, canning, pickles, preserving, summer, zucchini • Tags: canning, cooking, food, local, preserving, quick & easy, recipes

CSA-Busting Vegetable Soup

21 July 2010 by local kitchen

It’s Wednesday, which means CSA day for many of you. On Tuesday nights at this time of year, I often get “CSA panic syndrome,” wherein I look in the fridge, see it overflowing with vegetables from the last week or two, and start frantically pulling things out and whipping up a recipe in an effort to make some room for tomorrow’s box. The weather has been good to area farmers this year (so far – knocking on wood!) and despite the lack […]

Categories: 100% local, cabbage, carrot, cilantro, garlic, green beans, main course, parsley, scallions, soup, summer, tomatoes, vegetarian, zucchini • Tags: cooking, CSA, food, local, recipes, soup, vegetarian

Zucchini Fritters

18 July 2010 by local kitchen

We take a break from the non-stop stream of jams & preserves to serve up another abundant feature of summer’s bounty: zucchini! As Ruhlman says, “when in doubt, fry.” These were tasty, easy and relatively quick. The recipe is eminently adaptable to what you have on hand and what suits your palate. Whip some up today and tackle at least one of those monster zucchinis, mocking you from the bottom shelf of the fridge. Adapted from Zucchini Fritters with Feta & […]

Categories: appetizer, cheese, mint, parsley, scallions, summer, vegetarian, zucchini • Tags: cooking, food, local, recipes, vegetarian

Ginger Soy Pickled Radishes

12 July 2010 by local kitchen

I put these little beauties up right before I left for South Africa, since I knew that two big bunches of radishes would do nothing but wither and die in the crisper if they had to rely on my Darling Hubs to eat them. They have been pickling away, down in the relative coolness of the garage, for over a month now, so I figured it was about time for a taste test. First and foremost: I won’t pickle the long, […]

Categories: appetizer, canning, condiments, pickles, preserving, radish, spring • Tags: canning, cooking, food, local, preserving, quick & easy, recipes

Traditional Pork Chile Verde

4 June 2010 by local kitchen

Summer is in full swing here in New York and while it doesn’t seem like you would want a pot bubbling on the stovetop for hours, Chile Verde always strikes me as a quintessential summer dish: bought at a roadside stand in some dusty, hot, Mexican town on the way from one surf spot to another, ladeled into piping hot, homemade tortillas and liberally sprinkled with fresh cilantro. Heaven. This version is nearly as good (although the lack of surfing-inspired appetite may […]

Categories: 100% local, cilantro, pork, stew, summer, tomatillos, year round • Tags: cooking, food, local, pork, recipes

Chicken Braised in White Wine & Ramps

1 June 2010 by local kitchen

Three years later, this dish hasn’t changed: it’s still wonderful, and apparently still being made with chickens that needed using up yesterday. Luckily for us all, my photography has changed for the better. Yes, I know ramp season has officially passed us by, what with the overabundance of lush, leafy green that is dressing the Northeast woods right now. However, I still had an (albeit fairly limp) bunch of ramps in the fridge that were just begging to be used, […]

Categories: braising, chicken, leek, main course, spring, wild foods, wine, beer & liquor, year round • Tags: chicken, cooking, food, local, main course, ramps, recipes, wild foods

Memorial Day Grillfest

28 May 2010 by local kitchen

I have a fabulous braised chicken recipe to tell you about, but really? Who’s going to be braising this weekend? Memorial Day weekend is all about the grill, baby: easy-peasy, flip-flop wearing, cold beer in hand, 2-minutes-a-side-and-dinner-is-done kind of cooking. So, in honor of the holiday weekend, the 88(!) degree weather predicted on Sunday, and the annual kick-off to Summer (and all the fabulous grilling that comes with the season), I present to you Local Kitchen Grillfest 2010. A couple […]

Categories: 100% local, chicken, corn, grill, pork, potato, summer • Tags: chicken, cooking, food, local, pork, quick & easy, recipes

Chicken Braised in Tomato & Garlic

22 May 2010 by local kitchen

I tried another recipe from The Pioneer Woman and another chicken recipe at that. The first, a cajun chicken pasta, I made a lot of changes to, and frankly, wasn’t overly thrilled by my version. This one, I made only a few minor changes and… I wasn’t overly thrilled. Sigh. It seemed so promising; chicken, browned in butter & olive oil then slowly braised in my home-canned heirloom tomatoes, a nice Pinot Noir, plenty of fresh, farmer’s market garlic, and […]

Categories: 100% local, basil, chicken, garlic, main course, tomatoes, wine, beer & liquor, winter, year round • Tags: cooking, food, local, recipes

Pickled Chard Stems

9 May 2010 by local kitchen

Yesterday I scored a ridiculous amount of Spring bounty at the farmer’s market: asparagus and rhubarb, yes, but also ramps & fiddleheads, rainbow chard & curly kale, scallions, parsley & cilantro, two kinds of radishes (and of course the usual potatoes, onions and carrots). In addition to all that, thanks to Madura Farms’ greenhouses, I picked up the first Kirby cucumbers of the year, not to mention eggs, bread, butter, pork shoulder and sausage. Phew! I could barely stuff it all into the […]

Categories: canning, condiments, fall, kale & leafy greens, pickles, preserving, quick & easy, spring • Tags: canning, chard, condiments, cooking, food, local, pickles, preserving, quick & easy, recipes

Black Bean Vegetable Soup

6 May 2010 by local kitchen

Filling yet light, hearty yet summery, this soup is a study in contrasts. Most black bean soups make me think of winter or fall; thick, hearty soups flavored with ham hock or bacon, and blended unti they are almost a dip you can eat with tortilla chips. This black bean soup, in contrast, is light and summery, despite the fact that summer vegetables are still a couple of months away. I love meals like this: it makes me so happy […]

Categories: 100% local, beans, carrot, cilantro, corn, garlic, main course, soup, vegetarian, year round, zucchini • Tags: beans, cooking, food, local, recipes, soup, vegetarian

Asparagus Risotto

25 April 2010 by local kitchen

It’s just barely asparagus season at home in New York, but down here in Asheville it is in full swing: I picked up a bunch of local asparagus at the West Village Market on Friday, then scored two more bunches at the Asheville City Market on Saturday. Can you tell I love the ‘sperge? There are a million lovely things to do with tender young asparagus, but, while at the West Village Market I also spied a ‘forest mix’ of […]

Categories: asparagus, main course, rice, spring, wild foods, wine, beer & liquor • Tags: cooking, food, local, recipes, vegetarian

Chickpea & Spring Green Salad with Lemony Vinaigrette

15 April 2010 by local kitchen

Just the thing for Tax Day: a low-stress, quick & easy, protein, fiber and vitamin-packed, cheap one dish meal. Oh, yes, and it’s delicious too! I threw this quick & easy salad together the other night, thinking I was making enough for lunch leftovers, but it was so delicious that Tai & I polished off seconds and the whole bowl disappeared in no time. Even though I’ve been doing quite well on my resolution to use dried beans, I used canned […]

Categories: beans, chickpeas, citrus, quick & easy, radish, salad, spinach, spring, vegetarian, wild foods • Tags: cooking, food, local, main course, quick & easy, recipes, salad, spinach, vegetarian, wild foods

Ramps!

8 April 2010 by local kitchen

You know it’s April in the Hudson Valley when you see ramps pop up, in the farmer’s market or in the woods. Ramps are wild leeks, an allium related to onions, shallots, garlic, and of course, leeks, and they create quite a sensation each spring when the broad, waxy green leaves start popping up in the woods. With good reason: although some think we should just shut up about ramps, there is a reason that foodniks go a little mad […]

Categories: 100% local, foraging, leek, preserving, spring, wild foods • Tags: cooking, food, foraging, local, preserving, ramps, recipes, spring, wild foods