Thank You For This Gift

Today an extremely generous neighbor, and fabulous photographer, Diana Lundin,  shared a bounty of fruits and vegetables that she had on hand for a photo shoot.  She kindly shared this gift with me and some other lucky neighbors as she could not use the perishables all herself and she did not want such great food to go to waste.  Here is something special she did with real produce before, check out How to Make a Red Heart.

I hope it is OK to reveal that the wonderful fruits and vegetables came from Melissa's Produce http://www.melissas.com/. I tell you this because this produce was incredible, both in quality and in variety.  There was honeydew, okra, pixie tangerines, chili peppers, baby bok choy, persian cucumbers, spaghetti squash, swiss chard, habanero peppers, yams, mint, chinese long beans, fresh dill, chives, apples, cumquats, ugli fruit, apricots, cabbage, carrots, rutebega, kale, green onions, rutabaga, and so much more!

I was given a variety of these organic delights for my family of food.
Eager to try the fresh ingredients, I quickly formed a dinner around what was in the selection.

The kids had a small taste of the apricot while I prepared the meal. 

Our entire meal came from this practical cornucopia with the exception of the marinara sauce for the spaghetti squash, not pictured.  That came from a party where we won treats for an Oscar related contest, so it was in fact, another gift. 

Our main dish was spaghetti squash cooked by roasting in the oven for 1 hour after piercing the skin with a fork a few times.  When it is done, you scoop out the seeds and then scoop out the strings of squash.  That's it, that is all you have to do.  Spaghetti squash is the secretly easy - special effects wow moment - of food.  This particular squash was big and delicious. The bowl pictured here is from only half of the squash and we even had a bit left over.

 

Next came the Ugli Fruit and the cumquats.  None of us had ever had Ugli Fruit before.  It peels easily like a large "Cutie" and tastes like a combination of citrus.  There was a tough fibrous bit that none of us ate, but the juice was incredible.  My daughter said it was her favorite fruit in the world and was greatly disappointed that we only had one.

The cumquats were tart and tangy and all were enjoyed.

These Kale chips were made with the most beautiful Kale I have ever seen.  Usually I get the Trader Joe's Kale in a bag, but this stuff was a whole different creature.  I selected 5 large leaves, washed them, dried them, sprayed them with olive oil, and seasoned them with 21 Season Salute from TJ's and a bit of salt.  I was very happy with the outcome.  It was crunchy, healthy, tasty, and let's face it, soooo LA.

Lastly, we had the honey dew.  Again, I only served half of it like the squash, because it was so big.  This honeydew was heavy on both the honey and the dew.  It was incredibly sweet and so juicy, had I had a glass under it while I opened it, I could have made myself a honeydew cocktail.

Look closer.  Doesn't it look great?

My daughter had to be reminded to try some of the other food as she was so in love with the honeydew.  She was not wrong, it may have been the best honeydew I have ever had.

It turned out to be a vegan feast, chock full of fabulous flavors, satisfying in every way.  I do not believe it could be healthier.  If I were counting Weight Watchers Points this meal may have counted up to zero.  Does marinara sauce have points?  What fortune!

In short, Diana is terrific for thinking of her neighbors and not letting this treasure go to waste,
Melissa's is terrific for hiring Diana and providing amazing excellent quality natural food, and G-d is terrific for putting my family in the position to receive this abundance.  I thank you all for this gift.

Easy, Cheap, and Healthy Side Dish - Spinach Souflee

A friend asked for easy side dishes.  This is a super easy weekday recipe that is healthy and happens to be low cost.  This side dish is a great way to get those veggies.  This recipe is also open for experimentation, add an egg for more souffle, add 1/2 cup of cottage cheese for more creaminess, or add cooked bacon crumbles for more deliciousness.

Altered from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/easy-spinach-souffle/

1 egg

1/3 cup skim milk
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese or shredded Parmesan Cheese
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
salt and pepper to taste 
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained, or a bag of fresh spinach washed, dried, and lightly sauteed in 2 tsp of olive oil or steamed in the microwave until tender.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl whisk together egg, milk, cheese, garlic, salt and pepper. Fold in spinach. Place in a small casserole dish.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until lightly set.
4. NOTE: If you are in a hurry, use a microwave safe casserole dish, cover with plastic wrap, and cook on high for 3 minutes. Release the steam, recover, and cook on high for another 3 minutes. Enjoy!

 Serves 4 - about 90 calories and 2 WW points plus per serving

Stickers you can EAT! Food Fun.

 

At the Studio City Farmer's Market this weekend, I discovered My Fruity Faces.  My Fruity Faces are fun edible stickers for food.  They are natural, slightly sweet stickers that are OK to eat and dissolve in your mouth.

Adam Gerber, Partner and Kidxecutive showed us these edible stickers.  They are designed to make fruits and vegetables more fun for kids to eat.  When I suggested they would make great cupcake toppers, Adam stopped me and pointed out that their mission was to encourage healthy eating and to help fight childhood obesity.  He then gave my kids a couple of stickers on a cucumber slice.  They ate it up (so to speak!)

You can find My Fruity Faces at http://www.myfruityfaces.com/

Zucchini Fritters

Just had a lovely weekend with Friends of Food, Jen and Kris.  To top off all of the incredible hospitality, Jen sent us home with some produce from her food co-op.  I couldn't wait to make something of this gift, so  tonight's dinner included a peach and plum fruit salad and zucchini fritters.  The fritters I found on my favorite Flickr recipe group called Recipes to Share. This recipe was originally posted by Vita Arina at this link. 

I am going to expand upon it a bit here because I want to share it with Jen and other busy cooks who might be looking for a simple zucchini dish to cook up in a short amount of time.

Zucchini Fritters

Grate 1 Zucchini into a large bowl.

Press any excess liquid out of it with a paper towel.

Into this bowl, mix:

2 large eggs

8-9 tablespoons all-purpose flour,

2/3 cup plain yogurt,

1 TBSP Parmesan cheese

Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper to taste.

Heat 1-2 TBSP of Olive Oil in a large frying pan.

Drop spoonfuls of the Zucchini Mix into the Frying Pan, trying to keep a circular shape, like dollar pancakes.

When the edges start to brown, flip the fritters.  Continue to fry up like pancakes.

Put them on a plate, covering the cooling ones with the latest out of the frying pan to keep the stack warm.

Serve it with Ranch Dressing, or Herb Yogurt Sauce.

Passover Spinach Muffins

Happy Passover everyone! 

Last night I went to a lovely Passover Seder given by Friends of Food. 

I made Aunt of Food's Passover Spinach Muffins which are one of my favorite Vegetable based dishes at any time of the year.  This recipe was the inspiration for the topping on my sausage blinis, now featured on the ATK Foods website and, of course, on this blog. 

This dish is vegetarian, but not vegan; however, if you can find a substitute for the eggs, you may be able to make this dish vegan.

Here is the recipe as I make it:

2 TBSP Margarine (or Butter)

Olive Oil for Pan (About 2 TBSP)

1/2 Green Pepper

1 Medium Onion

1 Celery Stalk

2 Raw Carrots

10 oz package of Frozen Chopped Spinach

3 Eggs Beaten
1 1/2 tsp Salt

1/4 tsp Fresh Ground Black Pepper

3/4 Cup of Matzo Meal

Use the margarine to generously grease a metal 12 count muffin pan.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grate the Pepper, Onion, Celery, and Carrots in the Cuisinart with the grating disk, or chop by hand.

Heat some Olive Oil in a large Pan and put chopped fresh veggies in the pan.

Sauté vegetables stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes, until the veggies are soft.

While the vegetables are cooking on the stove, microwave the frozen spinach according to package directions, draining when done.

Take the pan with the fresh vegetables off of the heat and add the spinach to the mixture.

Combine beaten Eggs with Salt, Pepper, and Matzo Meal. 

Combine that with the vegetable mixture in the big pan.

Spoon the mix into the greased muffin cups.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until the muffins are firm.