Category Archives: vegetable

Twice-Baked Potatoes with Chard & Garlic Scapes

8 August 2011 by local kitchen

I don’t know about you, but this time of year I usually start craving complex carbs like mad: bread, pasta, crackers; I can’t keep enough of them in the house. I think it’s because the vegetables just keep rolling in: the fridge is stuffed full of leafy greens, summer squash, bell peppers, green beans, and corn on the cob, not to mention the piles of tomatoes on the counter and the fruit! It’s an amazing time of year for a local […]

Categories: 100% local, appetizer, cheese, garlic, kale & leafy greens, main course, parsley, potato, side dish, summer, thyme, vegetarian, year round • Tags: chard, cooking, food, local, potato, recipes, vegetarian

100% Local: Lettuce Soup

13 July 2011 by local kitchen

Lettuce soup? Really? I know. It sounds like something out of Willy Wonka or Oliver Twist. But when faced with six heads of lettuce in the fridge, a seeming million green salads, and lettuce wraps for dinner every night for a week, a girl’s got to push her lettuce boundaries (or buy a rabbit). It’s also one of the few ways I can think of to preserve lettuce, while we are in the height of the early summer bounty, because […]

Categories: 100% local, chives, lettuce, soup, spring, summer, thyme • Tags: cooking, food, lettuce, local, quick & easy, recipes, soup

Strawberry Jam with Mint, Basil & Habanero

10 July 2011 by local kitchen

It’s cruel to do this to you, I know, since strawberries are long gone in most parts of America. But I still have some fresh, local strawberries in the fridge (albeit they are starting to look a little peaky), and they are just coming into full season for our friends in the North. If you are one of the lucky ones that still has fresh strawberries in your neighborhood, or one of the industrious ones who put-up a few pounds in […]

Categories: basil, berries, canning, hot chile peppers, jams, mint, preserving • Tags: berries, canning, chiles, food, local, preserving, recipes, strawberries

Crispy Pork with Rhubarb Sauce

7 July 2011 by local kitchen

As if rhubarbaritas weren’t reason enough, I’m here to give you another excuse for squirreling away as much seasonal rhubarb as you can get your paws on: Crispy Pork with Rhubarb Sauce. The recipe was somewhat loosely adapted from this one by Jamie Oliver, who, now that I have made two of his recipes, I am declaring a genius: this dish is that good. A not-very-exciting cut of pork (he used pork belly, while I had a pound of Flying […]

Categories: herbs, lettuce, main course, pork, rhubarb, scallions, spring, summer, year round • Tags: chicken, cooking, food, jamie oliver, local, pork, recipes, rhubarb

Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps

27 June 2011 by local kitchen

Although the summer solstice is a few days behind us now, the vegetables in my CSA basket are still talking of late Spring: scallions, herbs, sugar snap peas and greens, greens, greens. As we do every year at this time, playing the waiting game before leafy things make way for firmer, rounder fruits from the garden, we are drowning in greens: bok choi, chard, kale, tatsoi, spinach, arugula, and more kinds of lettuce than you can shake a stick at. […]

Categories: Asian greens, chicken, lettuce, main course, spring, stir-fry, summer • Tags: Asian, chicken, chinese, cooking, food, lettuce, local, recipes, stir-fry, wraps

Bite-Sized Spaghetti Nests with Chard & Bacon

24 June 2011 by local kitchen

I’ve been participating in an informal food photography contest for a couple of months now on professional food photographer Dario Milano’s blog Food Pixels. Our growing crew of bloggers, photographers and foodniks is pretty talented and it’s always interesting to see how different people interpret each ‘assignment.’ The latest contest challenge is “spaghetti:” a broad topic to be sure, but also an interesting photographic challenge, as most spaghetti dishes are messy, saucy, ultra-casual. Since for the last assignment (“brown food“) I […]

Categories: 100% local, appetizer, cheese, holiday, kale & leafy greens, oregano, pasta, pork, year round • Tags: appetizers, bacon, cooking, food, greens, local, pasta, recipes

Use It or Lose It! Sugar Snap Peas Glazed with Pear & Fennel

13 June 2011 by local kitchen

After my oh-so healthy breakfast, I decided that some vegetables were in order for lunch. And since I am trying to get some work done today, a quick & easy lunch was also in order. Enter glazed sugar snap peas. I picked up about a pound of sugar snap peas from Migliorelli Farm at my farmer’s market on Saturday. Sugar snaps are one of my favorite Spring vegetables: coming in right at the tail end of asparagus season, their fresh, green sweetness consoles […]

Categories: pears, peas, quick & easy, side dish, spring, summer, Use it or Lose it!, vegetarian • Tags: cooking, fennel, food, local, quick & easy, recipes, sugar snap peas, vegetarian

Chinese Noodles with Peanut Sauce

2 June 2011 by local kitchen

I’m going away for the weekend and have about 1,000,000,000 things to get done before I leave: so wouldn’t you know that we lost power for the entire afternoon? Ah, NYSEG. Frustrating New Yorkers since 1852. So, a quick one. It’s been hot: sticky hot, super humid, super hazy. Instant summer, coming on the heels of 50 degrees and raining. Down goes the space heater to the garage, up comes the fan. Exit braised meats and roasted root vegetables, enter crisp […]

Categories: Asian greens, cabbage, celery, cilantro, cucumber, hot chile peppers, main course, nuts, pasta, sauces, side dish, summer, vegetarian • Tags: chinese, cooking, food, local, noodles, peanuts, recipes, summer, vegetarian

Pumpkin Soup with Chocolate & Chipotle

13 May 2011 by local kitchen

Pumpkin soup in May. I know what you’re thinking: she’s finally lost that last (lonely) marble. But hear me out: I realized yesterday that June is nearly upon us; and with June comes the first onslaught of seasonal produce. My CSA will start, and with it kale, chard, cabbage and all those gorgeous Spring greens. Strawberries will show up in June as well, ripe for the picking. And then the summer squashes and cucumbers start coming, and cherries and raspberries, […]

Categories: chocolate, fall, hot chile peppers, main course, soup, vegetarian, winter, winter squash • Tags: chiles, chocolate, cooking, food, local, main course, pumpkin, recipes, soup, vegetarian

Ramp & Asparagus Frittata

2 May 2011 by local kitchen

Have you ever spent an entire day in a jumpy house with a 7 year-old? Let me just tell you, for the sake of science, that it is possible to pull every sinlge muscle in your body at the same time, especially when, inspired by giggling, 7 year-old cries of “Do it again!,” you demonstrate your NBA-style, windmilling slam dunk on the jumpy house baskbetball net about 847 times. My friend Kami celebrated her 7th birthday a couple of weeks ago […]

Categories: 100% local, asparagus, breakfast, cheese, chives, eggs, leek, main course, parsley, scallions, spring, vegetarian, wild foods • Tags: asparagus, breakfast, brunch, cooking, eggs, food, local, ramps, recipes, vegetarian

Creamy Goat’s Milk Spaghetti with Wild Garlic Chives

28 April 2011 by local kitchen

Pasta is one of those things: quick & easy “fast food” for a weeknight dinner, a great base for showcasing your summer preserving efforts, but, unless it’s homemade, I rarely consider it spectacular. Tasty, filling, comforting, yes; but impressive enough to convince dinner guests of my kitchen prowess (she says, oh-so modestly)? Not so much. Until now. Add to my list of picky-eaterisms cream sauces, or heavy cream in general, unless it is whipped, baked or frozen. I’m not a fan of cream-based […]

Categories: chives, citrus, garlic, grains & legumes, herbs, main course, milk, pasta, quick & easy, side dish, spinach, spring, vegetarian, wine, beer & liquor • Tags: cooking, food, garlic chives, local, pasta, quick & easy, recipes, vegetarian, wild foods

White Bean Pesto Pizza with Linguica & Garlicky Kale

25 April 2011 by local kitchen

When I soaked the cannellini beans for pasta e fagioli last week, I used a whole pound, not thinking about quite how big runner cannellinis get (they are huge once soaked, up to 1 inch long!). I used only half a pound in the soup, so I had a lot of cooked cannellinis in the fridge, waiting for their day in the sun. I don’t know when I first thought of a pizza. I was musing on the idea of […]

Categories: beans, garlic, grains & legumes, heirloom beans, kale & leafy greens, main course, pizza, pork, sausage, spring, whole wheat flour, year round • Tags: beans, cooking, food, local, pizza, recipes

Pasta e Fagioli

15 April 2011 by local kitchen

Back in my Boston days, I lived for several years in a tiny (300 square-foot) but adorable apartment in the North End, Boston’s version of Little Italy (but so much more charming, in my opinion, than NYC’s Little Italy). Boston’s North End was settled in the 1600’s and has all the requisite charm of history: twisty, cobblestoned streets, narrowly packed brownstones, tiny and ancient graveyards that pop out of nowhere, the Old North Church and Paul Revere’s house. Despite ongoing gentrification, and […]

Categories: beans, carrot, celery, grains & legumes, heirloom beans, main course, pasta, soup, tomatoes, vegetarian, year round • Tags: cannelini beans, cooking, food, Italian, local, pasta e fagioli, recipes, soup, vegetarian

Smoky, Spicy Sweet Corn Chowder

5 April 2011 by local kitchen

A few weeks ago, I shared this wonderful-sounding recipe for sweet corn chowder, created by Cheryl Paff at At the Farmer’s Market, on the Facebook page. I’ve made it a couple of times since then and not only to clear out the freezer in preparation for the impending harvest season. This chowder comes together easily, without an excessive amount of chopping or prep, making it a good choice for an easy weeknight dinner. With potatoes and corn, it is very […]

Categories: corn, hot chile peppers, main course, potato, soup, summer, vegetarian, winter, year round • Tags: cooking, food, local, main course, recipes, soup, summer, vegetarian, winter

Flourless Chocolate Chipotle Cake

2 April 2011 by local kitchen

Have you noticed a lot of non-local ingredients cropping up on the blog of late? Citrus jam, orange chicken, honey roasted nuts? While I don’t make it a goal to eat 100% from my local foodshed (in part because I believe it is harshly restrictive for no good reason, but mostly, I suspect, because I don’t like rules) I do try to limit the non-local ingredients to occasional luxuries rather than every day ingredients. They’ve been showing up more often of […]

Categories: baking, cake, chocolate, dessert, hot chile peppers, year round • Tags: chiles, chocolate, cooking, dessert, food, gluten free, quick & easy, recipes