cheese

August 4, 2014

Tomato Avocado Salad with Spicy Lime Vinaigrette

Tomato & Avocado Salad

While strolling through the farmers market I spotted this mix of heirloom cherry and grape tomatoes.  The farmer was describing them to another customer so I stopped to listen along.  He said the tiny yellow ones — yellow currant tomatoes — were nearly as sweet as grapes and offered them up for us to taste.  I happily obliged.  He was not kidding; they’re super sweet and delightfully juicy…and so darn cute!

This simple salad highlights the incredible flavor of these gorgeous tomatoes.  With just a few other salad ingredients (avocados, onions, crumbly cheese, and herbs) along with a spicy limey vinaigrette, this quick and easy salad makes for a delicious, healthy, and colorful summertime side dish.  Or, add it to any taco, sandwich or pita pocket for a complete meal.  A veggie rainbow of flavor!

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March 19, 2014

Homemade Ricotta Cheese and Ricotta-mole

Homemade Ricotta Cheese
There’s something incredibly satisfying about making your own cheese.  It feels a little Laura Ingalls Wilder.  Sorta like you’re accomplishing something you thought could only be done on some far-away farm surrounded by grazing sheep, arcadian meadows, and rickety wooden fences…or in a cheese-making factory.  But it doesn’t.  And it’s really simple.

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June 6, 2013

CSA Week 1: Spinach Quesadillas with Chimichurri Sauce

I’m pumped.  So very pumped.  CSA season just started back up and my little veg head is exploding with organic veggie excitement!  I may be slightly odd in that I’d much prefer to open a box of veggies than unwrap a birthday present…um, unless that birthday present IS a box veggies…and maybe it includes a bottle of gin, and some aged balsamic vinegar, or some smoked sea salt or fancy dutch-processed cocoa powder, or several jars of my grandma’s homegrown, canned tomato juice that I would totally use to make killer Bloody Marys with…whoa, settle down.  Hmm, I wonder if you can register for organic veggies as a wedding gift.  I’m already married, buuuuut….how freakin cool would that be to have one of those gift registry guns that you could take to a farm.  I’d go nuts with the kale.  Yeah, forget engraved towels…give me kale and tomatoes!

I digress.  So, after some crazy weather, Laughing Stalk Farmstead is back to delivering me a beautiful box of fresh, organic fruits and veggies every other week!  They started with a couple special deliveries of strawberries and rhubarb, but the full-on seasonal eating adventure has officially begun with a box that packs a powerful superfood punch…it’s a mean green veggie machine!

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April 2, 2013

Roasted Carrot Risotto


I was recently given a huge amount of carrots (we’re talking about the size of a small toddler) from a couple farmer friends of mine.  The carrots had surprisingly survived the winter and I got to be one of the lucky recipients.  My family loves carrots…in a major Bugs Bunny sort of way.  So aside from packing them in lunches, I’ve been coming up with recipes that feature these lovely, orange-gold vitamin A-packed veggies.  I’ve made a Spinach, Carrot and Brussels Sprout Pizza, Indian-spiced Carrot and Black Bean Stew, and Carrots and Brussels Sprouts with Penne and Peanut Sauce.  We might be starting to turn orange at this point…I guess we’d fit in with the tanning-for-spring-break crowd.  And yet, we just can’t get enough.

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March 13, 2013

Sunny!…side-up eggs w/ roasted asparagus & parmesan

It’s a Saturday mornin…the coffee’s brewin, the hubby’s still sleepin, and the sun’s a shinin! I’m whistlin that one tune from Monty Python’s The Life of Brian…”always look on the bright side of life”…insert whistling sequence. There’s a sense of quirky-calm in the house and what better way to celebrate the jubilant morn than to roast up some early spring asparagus and top it with sunny side-up eggs and a few smatterings of grated parmesan cheese. Delicate, delightful, delicious!

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