Category Archives: vegetable

How to Roast Garlic

23 March 2009 by local kitchen

Garlic is a wonderous thing. Spicy & flavorful, when roasted garlic becomes sweet & smoky, like candy that’s good for you. Mashed on bread, tossed in pasta, as a pizza topping or tossed into any number of soups or stews, I can always think of a way to use roasted garlic. Since there are only two of us eating in this house (well, outside of the friends who visit often), I don’t often want to roast 6 or 8 heads […]

Categories: 100% local, garlic, roasting, year round • Tags: cooking, food, garlic, local, recipes

Winter Vegetable Soup

20 March 2009 by local kitchen

I know, I know – it’s supposed to be the first day of Spring, and I mention the “W” word. But while the calendar may be telling us that Spring is finally here, the snow flurries and mid-30 degree temps are agreeing with my anemic crisper drawer: we are still in the grips of winter for a few more weeks at least. While my brain and tastebuds are lusting after sugar snap peas, baby lettuce, asparagus and rhubarb, my larder is telling a […]

Categories: 100% local, herbs, kale & leafy greens, leek, main course, parsley, potato, scallions, soup, vegetarian, winter • Tags: cooking, food, local, recipes, soup, vegetarian, winter

Sausage & Leek Frittata

16 March 2009 by local kitchen

We had a Chiquita’s Weekend at my house this weekend, which mainly consists of lots of eating, drinking and staying up ’till 4:00 am. While there is nearly always lots of good food, and I like to try out new recipes, tradition dictates that I make a frittata at some point during the weekend. I make frittata often, as they make for a quick & easy breakfast or lunch and are a good way to use up leftovers or excess veggies; this being the […]

Categories: 100% local, cheese, eggs, fall, herbs, leek, main course, parsley, pork, sausage, spring, winter, year round • Tags: cooking, food, local, pork, recipes

Pumpkin Seed Trifecta: Salty, Spicy & Sweet

16 March 2009 by local kitchen

Well, the Last Fresh Pumpkin finally fell under my knife, and I’d say an October-harvested pumpkin lasting until mid-March (stowed away in my liquor cabinet) is pretty impressive. The flesh with still plump and orange, yet the middle had dried out enough to make harvesting the seeds a snap. I made an heirloom bean mole’, froze some pumpkin chunks for later and whipped up some pumpkin seed love. Pumpkin seeds are pretty easy; basically you just roast ’em. You can rinse them […]

Categories: 100% local, winter squash • Tags: cooking, food, local, recipes, vegetarian

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Heirloom Bean Mole with Pumpkin & Kale

13 March 2009 by local kitchen

I originally published this recipe way back in the beginning of the blog, when cooking with dried beans was still a novelty (and finding fresh pod beans virtually unheard of in my neck of the woods). I’m proud to say that cooking with dried heirloom beans has become old hat, and more & more frequently I see fresh beans, in the pod, at my local farmer’s markets in season. While I’d love to try this dish with fresh borlotti beans someday, it’s […]

Categories: beans, fall, heirloom beans, hot chile peppers, kale & leafy greens, main course, stew, tomatoes, vegetarian, winter, winter squash • Tags: beans, cooking, food, local, Mexican, recipes, vegan, vegetarian

Justice Tastes Better

9 March 2009 by local kitchen

Yet another good reason to know where your food comes from: The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) exposes the harsh working conditions of immigrant farmers who harvest most of the nation’s winter-grown tomatoes in Immokalee, Florida. From CIW’s website: “For several months now, Burger King and the Florida tomato growers’ lobby have joined forces to “debunk the myth” of farmworker poverty, in their effort to fight back against workers demanding a raise in the picking piece rate. The piece rate […]

Categories: tomatoes • Tags: cooking, farms, food, food activism, local

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Cheddar Scallion Scones

19 February 2009 by local kitchen

These cheddar scallion scones serve as my basic savory scone recipe and I’ve made dozens of different versions over the years. I’ve since come to believe that the scones turn out even better with just a little butter in the dough (duh) and so have updated the recipe below to include a small amount (2 tbsp) of butter. I still call these my “cheater” scones, as I don’t work the butter into the flour, just toss in small chunks and let them […]

Categories: 100% local, baking, breads, cheese, quick & easy, scallions, vegetarian, year round • Tags: baking, cooking, food, local, quick & easy, recipes, spring, vegetarian, whole grain breads

Red Chile Chicken & Cilantro Pesto Salad

18 February 2009 by local kitchen

I love when I can pull a bunch of stuff out of the pantry or the freezer and whip up a healthy, delicious meal in under 30 minutes. Of course, when that happens, usually some form of preparation has happened along the way; you can either buy prepared foods, thereby allowing a multi-national corporation into your kitchen, or you can do it yourself and know where your food came from, how it was prepared, and how it tasted at the peak […]

Categories: chicken, cilantro, hot chile peppers, main course, side dish, winter, year round • Tags: chicken, cooking, food, local, quick & easy, recipes

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Dried Red Chile Sauce

18 February 2009 by local kitchen

As the end of February creeps closer, I’ve been poking through the pantry and the freezer thinking of ways to use up my winter stores: before we know it, the tender shoots of Spring will be appearing in the fields, yards, and farmer’s markets near me, and the dried & frozen fruits and vegetables that have been so wonderful all winter long will lose their appeal. I collect dried chiles like other people collect Fiestaware: for a chile-head like me, a new or intriguing variety is nearly […]

Categories: hot chile peppers, sauces, Use it or Lose it!, vegetarian, year round • Tags: condiments, cooking, food, local, Mexican, quick & easy, recipes, vegetarian

Spicy Oven Fries

16 February 2009 by local kitchen

These smell so good when they are cooking, it actually hurts. Hurts so good. Adapted loosely from a recipe in Greatest Ever Potato, Papplewick Press, Nottingham, UK. ————————————————————– Spicy Oven Fries INGREDIENTS 2 lb mixed potatoes (purple, red, gold, Russet, sweet – whatever is on hand) 3 tbsp (1.5 oz) butter, melted, or olive oil, or local sunflower oil 1 tsp chile powder (ground from home-dried red chiles from Madura Farm) 1 and 1/2 tsp sea salt METHODS Scrub potatoes well […]

Categories: 100% local, fall, hot chile peppers, potato, side dish, snack, vegetarian, winter, year round • Tags: cooking, food, fries, local, potato, recipes, snacks

Chorizo & Heirloom Bean Soup

16 February 2009 by local kitchen

A spicy, hearty, sausage-stuffed soup, the beans almost hide in this one, making it a good option for people who aren’t quite sure that they like legumes. Yet, while spicy chorizo sausage flavors this soup, it’s also packed full of vegetables, good homemade stock and heirloom beans, stretching a single pound of meat to easily feed 10 people. The recipe below makes a big pot of soup, so it’s handy that the soup freezes well, because this is just the […]

Categories: 100% local, Asian greens, beans, heirloom beans, main course, pork, sausage, soup, tomatoes, winter • Tags: beans, cooking, food, local, pork, recipes, soup, winter

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Spinach Ricotta Gnocchi

14 February 2009 by local kitchen

Have you ever made gnocchi from scratch? Chances are, if you have, your first attempt was less than stellar: dense, miniature hockey pucks of gummy dough rather than light, airy pillows of flavor, beautifully grooved and dimpled to catch your favorite sauce. Gnocchi are not difficult, any more than homemade bread or scones are difficult, but it does take a bit of practice, as well as a bit of confidence in the kitchen, to get it right. Maybe that’s why […]

Categories: 100% local, cheese, herbs, pasta, spinach, spring, vegetarian, whole wheat flour, winter, year round • Tags: cooking, food, Italian, local, pasta, recipes, whole grain flour

Chicken & Wild Mushroom Pot Pie

4 February 2009 by local kitchen

As a kid, I loved chicken pot pie, rare for me as I was suspicious of any food that was “mixed together” and certainly anything in gravy. As an adult, I don’t like most chicken pot pies; the gravy often tastes of nothing so much as cream, flour and salt. This dish, however, is wonderfully savory, flavorful and satisfying. It is elegant enough for a fancy dinner party yet homey enough to serve to kids just home from an afternoon’s hard sledding. It elicits groans […]

Categories: 100% local, chicken, fall, herbs, leek, parsley, pastry, stew, winter

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Pumpkin and Chickpea Soup

2 February 2009 by local kitchen

One of the nice things about being a locavore, or a mostly-locavore (mocavore?), like me, is that you did all sorts of prep work back at the harvest and now you get to reap the benefits. People tend to think that eating locally in the Northeast in winter is all about deprivation; this hearty pumpkin soup is anything but. I keep diced organic pumpkin, chopped local garlic and tablespoon-sized portions of tomato paste in the freezer; all I have to do is […]

Categories: 100% local, beans, chickpeas, fall, soup, vegetarian, winter, winter squash • Tags: cooking, fall, food, local, main course, quick & easy, recipes, soup, vegetarian, winter

Pumpkin Walnut Bread

29 January 2009 by local kitchen

Sweet and savory, delicious and nutritious, a vegetable and a dessert: pumpkin bread is all things to all men. And women. And dogs, if they can get their paws on some. (Although I suspect cats would just bat it around for awhile before disdainfully leaving the room to find some furniture to ruin. But I digress). Pumpkin bread, like pumpkin itself, is a lovely thing. This one is nicely spiced, not too sweet, easy to make, and stores well. And? […]

Categories: baking, breads, breakfast, chocolate, dessert, fall, nuts, Use it or Lose it!, whole wheat flour, winter, winter squash • Tags: baking, cooking, fall, food, local, pumpkin, recipes, whole grain breads