Collard Greens with Emmer and Parsley Pesto

This Sunday at the Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market you will find fresh eggs and pastured chicken, beef, pork, and lamb from Fair Valley Farm and Fog Hollow Farm, baked goods made with local whole grains from WildFlour Oven, fresh cut flower bouquets from Tiger Lily Art Company, and plenty of fresh produce from Camas Swale Farm, including collard greens and cabbage. 

For a fresh but hearty salad, I combined a tangle of sauted collard greens with cooked emmer dressed up with a lemony parsley pesto. This made a nice side for an end of September barbecue. 

  

Collard Greens with Emmer and Parsley Pesto

1 bunch collard greens
1 shallot, chopped
2 Tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Rinse the collard greens and cut out the thick stem from each leaf. Cut the leaves into 1 inch wide strips. Heat a large skillet over medium heat, add the olive oil, and when hot, add the shallots. Saute until soft. Add the collard greens and a generous amount of salt and pepper, stir to coat in oil, and cook over medium low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes until the leaves have soften.

1 bunch parsley
1/3 cup almonds
zest from one lemon
2 Tbsp olive oil
salt to taste
Lightly toast the almonds in a dry skillet on the stove top or in a oven or toaster oven. Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and blend into a coarse pesto. Taste and adjust seasonings.

1/2 cup emmer or other sturdy grain
Cook with 2 cups of water and a pinch of salt for about 25 minutes until al dente, tasting frequently. Drain through a fine mesh strainer.

Mix the pesto into the emmer to coat. Then in a pretty serving bowl, gently mix the emmer with the collard greens and serve.

Parsley Tahini and Crispy Chickpea Crostini

The Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market will start up in just over two weeks. Now that summer weather has finally arrived, everyone in our household is craving farm fresh fruits and vegetables. Even the dog has been grazing on grass during her walks and the cat has resumed his afternoon naps in the garden among the herbs.

Although these crostini were just made with grocery store ingredients, the tangy and bright green tahini spread topped with crunchy chickpeas fit the bill for a summery snack. They should help tide us over until the start of the market on June 4.

Parsley Tahini and Crispy Chickpea Crostini

parsley tahini spread 
1 large bunch Italian parsley
juice from one lemon
2 Tbsp tahini
1 Tbsp olive oil
salt to taste

crispy chickpeas
2 cup cooked chickpeas (or one 15 ounce can, drained and rinsed)
2 cloves garlic
peel from one lemon
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 Tbsp olive oil
salt to taste

1 baguette

1. Pluck and wash the parsley leaves and place them in the bowl of a food processor or blender, or you can use a wide mouthed pint sized mason jar with an immersion blender. Using a vegetable peeler, remove the peel from a small lemon and reserve. Juice the lemon into the food processor. Add the tahini and olive oil and a generous pinch of salt. Process until smooth. Taste and add more salt, lemon juice, tahini, or olive oil to suit your taste.

2. Rinse and dry the chickpeas. Peel the garlic cloves and cut them into thin slices. Slice the reserved lemon peel strips into matchsticks. Heat a large skillet over high heat. Add the oil and when it shimmers, add all of the remaining ingredients. Spread the chickpeas in a single layer and allow to fry over high heat, resisting the urge to stir very frequently so that they can crisp up. Cook until most of the chickpeas and garlic slices have acquired some deep color. Taste and add more salt to taste.

3. Slice the baguette into ovals and toast lightly. Spread with the parsley tahini sauce and top with the crispy chickpeas. Enjoy.

Salad of Grilled Kohlrabi and Smoked Trout

Be sure to include a trip to the Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market in your holiday weekend plans. This Sunday you can look forward to the following offerings from Sweetwater Farm and Fair Valley Farm:

fennel and kohlrabi (try grilled with smoked trout)

squash blossoms, baby squash, zucchini, and a few tomatoes (nice shredded)

cauliflower, broccoli, and nappa cabbage (try some dumplings) 

fresh herbs and Italian parsley (make some parsley pesto)

fava beans and sugar snap peas (add some crunch to your salad)

cucumbers and carrots (make some pickles)

spring onions, fresh spring garlic, and lemon drop hot peppers

spinach, kale, chard, collards, braising greens mix, lettuce, and salad mix

dried beans and grains from Camus Country Mill

jams, salsa, and pickles from Sweet Creek Foods

pastured chickens (try chicken and saffron rice)

Last Sunday evening we had a Fairmount Farmers Market grilled feast: Fair Valley Farm chicken; kohlrabi slices with lemon; summer squash, garlic scape and spring onion skewers; and Israeli couscous with parsley pesto.

But the best part might have been a salad I whipped up Monday morning with the leftover kohlrabi and a tin of smoked trout (available at Trader Joe's). The smokey flavors of the kohlrabi and fish melded together, the kohlrabi gave the salad crunch, and the parsley and lemon made it all fresh and bright. Definitely a good reason for slapping on some kohlrabi rounds when you next fire up your grill. 

Salad of Grilled Kohlrabi and Smoked Trout

1 medium kohlrabi
~1 Tbsp olive oil
1 large lemon
1 tin smoked trout in oil (110 g)
1/2 cup flat parsley leaves, chopped
salt to taste

1. Peel the kohlrabi generously with a pairing knife to remove all of the woody exterior and slice into 1/4 inch thick rounds. Rub with a little olive oil and salt generously. Slice the lemon and stack the kohlrabi and lemon slices on top of each other.

2. Heat a grill or a grill pan. Grill the kohlrabi and lemon slices until the kohlrabi is lightly chard and partially cooked, but still retains some crunch, and the lemon slices are lightly chard and soft. (These lemony kohlrabi slices make a nice vegetable side, so make some extras if you like, but 1 kohlrabi is the right amount for 1 tin of smoked trout).

3. Slice the kohlrabi into 1/4 inch strips and place in a serving bowl. Squeeze the grilled lemon on top of the kohlrabi and toss with the parsley leaves. Add the smoked trout and oil from the tin, break the trout into bite sized pieces with a fork, and toss again. Taste and add more salt if desire. Enjoy.

Puff Pastry Pesto Hearts

Here's a fun quick treat for your sweetie: puff pastry pesto hearts. We had them for dinner to accompany a favorite family soup, and they were devoured with gusto. Happy Valentine's Day.

Puff Pastry Pesto Hearts

makes about twenty

2 sheets frozen puff pastry
1 cup pesto (such as this recipe from the post below)

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cover two baking sheets with parchment paper. 

2. Partially thaw the pastry (you can do this in a microwave on low power for a minute or two). Spread out a sheet of pastry. Top with 1/2 cup pesto and spread over the surface. Roll from two sides to make a double log. Carefully slice into 3/4 inch wide slices. Repeat with the second sheet of pastry and remaining pesto. 

3. Arrange the pastry slices on the parchment paper cookie sheets. For each slice, pinch the section between the two rolls to form a heart. Bake for approximately 16 minutes, rotating the pans 180 degrees and top to bottom midway through, until the pastries are golden brown.

Quinoa, Wheat Berry and Chickpea Salad

This Sunday's Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market you can look forward to the following offerings from Sweetwater Farm and Fair Valley Farm:

• Delicata and Sweet Dumpling winter squash (try this salad)
• Cauliflower (delicious roasted)
• Stanley prune plums and Italian prune plums
• cantaloupe and honeydew mellons
• Carrots and radishes (try these buttery radishes with mint)
• One last round of green beans (from SLO Farm) 
• variety of tomatoes; 10 lb flats of San Marzano romas for $15 (freeze for winter)
• variety of sweet and spicy peppers
• kohlrabi (delicious raw in a lemon caper salad)
• variety of cabbages, kale, collards, and greens (make some collards and beans)
• broccoli and eggplants (try a roasted salad)
• lettuces and baby lettuce salad mix
• zucchini and summer squash
• variety of potatoes including bargain bags of red potatoes
• sweet onions, green onions, garlic, and leeks
• fresh herbs, including basil, cilantro, dill, thyme, oregano, and sage
• tomato sauce and pesto
• naturally fermented pickles, dilly beans, and sauerkraut
• homemade jams (delicious in crepes)
• Scottish oats (make this teff oatmeal)
• a selection of dried beans and grains from Camas Country Mill
• pastured chicken (try spatchcocked)
• pastured pork: pork chops, shoulder roasts, and ham roasts
• pastured lamb: ground, rib chops, and leg roasts (grill some burgers)

A few weeks ago we enjoyed a belated anniversary meal at Koho Bistro and had a delicious dish from the "Leaves and Weeds" section of their menu that I was inspired to recreate at home as the backdrop for Sweetwater Farm's sweetest of sweet cherry tomatoes. Their dish was a veritable cornucopia of grains and beans: wheat berries, barley, wild rice, quinoa, and chickpeas, all cooked separately with care. 

Without a restaurant kitchen staff on hand, I decided to pare this list down to chickpeas, a small grain like quinoa, and a large grain like wheat berries or barley. Despite the stack of pots it generates, this combination is definitely worth making and having on hand as an inspiration for quick lunches and dinners. The chickpeas are earthy, and the wheat berries and quinoa adds different notes of nuttiness. Like the Koho dish, I added toasted almonds and goats cheese. For this summer version, I added parsley and cherry tomatoes, but the grains and chickpeas lend themselves to infinite variations through the seasons, such as with roasted eggplant or delicata squash, or the green bean and red pepper version below. I'm sure these beans and grains complement each other nutritionally, but what's impressive is how well they complement each other in flavor, making a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. 

Quinoa, Wheat Berry, and Chickpea Salad

cherry tomato version
1 cup dried chickpeas
1 cup dried wheat berries (or substitute barley)
3/4 cup dried quinoa
1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds
1 pint cherry tomatoes, rinsed
6 ounces feta cheese, cut into small cubes
1/2 cup flat parsley leaves, rinsed and chopped
1 large lemon
1 tsp pomegranate molasses or a honey
2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
salt to taste

1. If you remember, soak both the chickpeas and the wheat berries separately overnight. For each, rinse and place in 2.5 cups fresh water and simmer on low until they are soft, about 2 hours. Salt generously and strain if necessary. Cook the quinoa on a low simmer in 1.5 cups fresh water for about 15 minutes until it releases its halos and the water is absorbed. Combine the cooked chickpeas and grains into a large serving bowl.

2. Mix the dressing of juice and zest from one lemon, pomegranate molasses or honey, rice wine vinegar, olive oil, and salt to taste. Toss into the grains.

3. Toss the dressed grains with the slivered almonds, cherry tomatoes, feta cheese and parsley leaves. Taste and adjust seasoning. Enjoy the salad on its own, or layer it on tender greens.

green bean and red pepper version
for slivered almonds, substitute whole almonds toasted with 1 Tbsp olive oil and 1 tsp smoked paprika;
for cherry tomatoes, substitute cooked green beans and chopped roasted red peppers;
for the feta cheese, substitute cubed aged gouda
for the rice wine vinegar, substitute sherry vinegar, and omit the molasses or honey.

Lentils with Butter and Parsley

Not unlike the trajectory of an obstinate, dawdling toddler who needs to be coaxed out of every puddle on the endless walk home, springtime's arrival seems to be stalled by intermittent stormy tantrums. Still there are signs of progress, such as the longer evenings and the increasing diversity of fresh green offerings through Eugene Local Foods. These signs inspired me to turn to the Spring section of Elin England's treasure trove of seasonal recipes in Eating Close to Home: A Guide to Local Seasonal Sustenance in the Pacific Northwest. Here I discovered her lentils with butter and parsley, which make an especially bright and refreshing springtime dish.

The recipe has you simmer lentils with garlic cloves, a bay leaf, and parsley stems, reserving the leaves for a parsley butter to mix in at the end, along with a dash of lemon juice. As opposed to deliciously enveloping lentils in rendered bacon fat, this gentle tossing with uncooked butter lets the legumes' distinctive flavor shine. I first made this dish with red chief lentils from Camas Country Mill, which made a soft and tangy accompaniment to seared salmon.

The next time I used Camas Country Mill's small brown lentils, similar to French or puy lentils. They gave a nice texture and heft to an after-Easter salad with hard boiled eggs and strips of ham on top and a bed of garlicy sauteed mixed greens from Sweetwater Farm below. These little legumes provide the heart of a satisfying meal and the satisfaction of supporting a local solution to feeding our community through partnerships between local growers and Food for Lane County. 

Lentils with Butter and Parsley

slightly adapted from Eating Close to Home by Elin England

1 cup (~1/2 lb) lentils rinsed and drained
1 large bay leaf
1 small bunch of parsley stems, tied together
3 large garlic cloves, pealed and cut in half
2 Tbsp butter, softened
juice and zest from 1 small or 1/2 large lemon 
1/2 cup flat leaf parsley leaves
salt and pepper to taste


1. Place the lentils in a pan with with 4 cups water, the bay leaf, parsley stems, garlic, and a generous pinch of salt. Bring to a boil and then simmer on medium low heat until the lentils are tender but not falling apart, about 20 minutes. Discard the bay leaf, parsley stem bunch, and garlic, and drain the lentils or transfer them to a bowl with a slotted spoon.


2. Meanwhile, prepare the parsley butter. You could use a small food processor to mix together the parsley leaves, lemon zest and juice, and butter, or do this by hand in a bowl, first snipping the parsley finely with kitchen shears.


3. When the lentils are done, mix in the parsley butter. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm or at room temperature. 

Wheatberry Tabbouleh with Green Beans and Feta

This Sunday at the Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market, you can look forward to fresh produce from SLO Farm and Songbird Farm, including:

Blackberries
Strawberries
Green Beans
Purple Green Beans
Green Cabbage
Zucchini
Garlic
Bietola
Flat Leaf Parsley
Baby Lettuce mix
Basil
Cucumbers
Scallions
Sunflowers
Cherry Tomatoes
Swiss Chard
Eggs
Honey

Linda Castleman from The Salmon People will be back again with delicious fresh and smoked salmon.  

And you can stock up on locally grown and milled beans and grains from the Southern Willamette Valley Bean and Grain Project. 

I've been experimenting with salads made with wheatberries from Camas Country Mill. This is variant of a Middle Eastern tabbouleh salad normally made with bulgar, a grain prepared from wheatberries that are par cooked, dried, and cracked. Following a traditional tabbouleh recipe, I prepared a lemony parsley dressing and tossed in cherry tomatoes, but then I couldn't resist adding in some green beans. Since I was straying away from tradition, I tossed in some cubed feta for richness and toasted almonds for crunch. When mixed together, the final salad was delicious and filling, with a satisfying bite from the whole wheatberries.

Wheatberry Tabbouleh with Green Beans and Feta

1 cup dried wheatberries 
1 bunch parsley
1 lemon
~1/3 cup olive oil
1 pint cherry tomatoes
1/2 lb green beans
1/3 cup almond slivers
~3 ounces feta cheese
salt and pepper


1. Simmer the wheatberries in 2 cups salted water, covered, for about 75-90 minutes until they are soft but still firm. If there's still water left toward the end, remove the top and raise the heat to boil off the liquid. You can cook the wheatberries ahead of time.


2. Prepare a lemony parsley dressing for the salad. Rinse the parsley and put the leaves into a food processor or mini chopper. Use a vegetable peeler to remove the lemon rind, and then juice the lemon. Add the lemon rind, juice, a glug of olive oil (about 1/3 cup), and generous amount of salt and pepper. Process into a runny green paste. Taste for seasonings. Stir into the wheatberries.


3. Trim the stems off the green beans and cook them in salted boiling water until they are bright green but still crunchy, about 4 minutes. If you feel anxious about overcooking, you can plunge them into ice water after they are cooked. Quarter them lengthwise.


4. Toast the almond slivers in a dry skillet or toaster oven for a few minutes until fragrant. 


5. Halve the cherry tomatoes. Dice the feta. Fold the beans, almonds, tomatoes, and feta into the dressed wheatberries. Enjoy.

Poached Salmon in a Pinch

At the end of the week, I desperately needed to replenish my larder at the Fairmount Neghborhood Farmers Market, and the prospects for a satisfying dinner were slim. But I did have a lovely salmon fillet from the Salmon People stored in my freezer. Scrounging in the vegetable bin, I came up with a lemon and a bunch of parsley. I thought I could make these into a sauce to go with the fish. And then it occurred to me that they could also double as flavoring for poaching liquid for the salmon. Poaching salmon keeps it moist and firm, and the end result is incredibly versatile, delicious both warm or chilled.

I reserved the lemon zest and parsley leaves for a delicate pesto, and then heated lemon slices and the parsley stalks in a bath of water. When it was simmering, I slid in the thawed salmon fillet, and poached it for about 10 minutes, until it was just cooked in the center.

For the sauce, I blended together the parsley leaves, lemon zest, and some toasted almonds with olive oil. I served the salmon with Israeli couscous (or "noodle balls" as my kids call them) to soak up the pesto, and some sliced lemon cucumber. A delicious meal, after all.

Poached Salmon with Parsley and Lemon Pesto

1 salmon fillet

1 bunch parsley

1 lemon

1/4 cup almond slivers, toasted

1/4 cup olive oil

salt

1. Zest lemon with a vegetable peeler and reserve, along with parsley leaves. Slice lemon and simmer with parsley stalks in a pan with enough water to cover the salmon fillet.  When the water is bubbling, lower heat and slide in salmon.  Poach for about 10 minutes, until it is just cooked in the center. Remove from cooking liquid.

2. Combine lemon zest, parsley leaves, almond slivers, olive oil, and a generous sprinkle of salt in a food processor or blender and puree.  Serve with poached fish.