I absolutely love september because the harvest represents the culmination of all our hard work. We are harvesting ripe tomatoes and peppers as well as delicious squash. Everything is ready in September!!

I’m so excited to be sending delicatas. They are so sweet and delicious and easy to prepare. I don’t peel them and I don’t even deseed them. Just cut them in half and then into 1/2 inch half moons, with seeds in place. toss in olive oil and salt, optional garlic. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, flip and cook for another 5- 10 mins and voila, done. This is great as is, but I love to make a kale salad with a lovely tahini- cilantro dressing. Toss the warm delicata on top and you’ve got a dish to wow the masses.

Delicata Squash

 

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Ingredients

• Dressing:
• Lime juice -1-2 TBSp
• tahini-1/4 cup
• olive oil-1/4 cup
• cilantro - ½ bunch, washed and chopped
• garlic-2 cloves
• salt- 1 tsp
• water (to help blend in processor)
• Delicata -cut in half lenghtwise and chopped into ½inch half moons
• kale- de-ribbed, roughly ripped and massage with a ½ teaspoon of salt and tablespoon of olive oil until it changes colour and texture.

Instructions

1. Roast delicata, tossed lightly in olive oil and salt. Keep an eye on it as it tends to brown quickly on The bottom. Generally takes 30 minutes to cook, flipped halfway through.
2. Prepare Kale in large bowl.
3. In blender, blend dressing ingredients. taste and adjust salt and oil (add more) if too tart or not salty enough.
4. Add a couple to a few tablespooons of dressing to kale and toss thoroughly. lay Kale in a shallow dish and top with cooked delicata. Drizzle with extra dressing. Store leftover dressing in sealed container in fridge. Great with savoury pancakes aswell!

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Guest Blogger, Tamer, shares a recipe and gives some nutritional tips and tricks:

The CSA share this past week was amazing because I got bunch of parsley, onions and some delicious tomatoes – the perfect ingredients for the delicious Lebanese and superbly healthy Tabouleh salad.  It combines a variety of vitamin, mineral and anti-oxidant rich vegetables and best of all super easy to make.  So get your chopping board out and bring the taste and freshness of the Mediterranean to your kitchen.

Food synergy tip:  The acidity of the lemon helps you better absorb the Vitamin A and K found in the parsley and the mint and the olive oil helps you absorb the lycopene in the tomatoes! 

Ingredients

• 4 bunches flat leaf parsley 
• 1 bunch fresh mint
• 1/2 cup fine bulgur 
  • You could substitute the bulgur with Ancient Grain Brazilian Amber Wheat Berries or Whole Grain Barley Berries.  You’ll just have to cook them appropriately.  https://www.againstthegrainfarms.ca/packaged-goods

• 2 large or 4 medium sized tomatoes.

• 1 onion 
• Half a large cucumber 
• 1/2 cup extra Virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions: 

1. Wash the bulgur and soak it in water for 5-7 minute. Drain very well and set set aside.
2. Finely chop parsley, mint, tomatoes, cucumber and onion and place them in a bowl. 
3. Add the bulgur then the lime juice, olive oil, salt and pepper and mix  evenly.  
4. Tabouleh is best served cold place in fridge for 30 minutes before serving. 

Tasty Food and Healthy Food Are Not mutually Exclusive

Tamer is a huge supporter of farmers markets, a registered holistic nutritionist, documentary filmmaker and healthy foodie cooking class host.  Check out his website at www.tamersoliman.ca. 

Baked Carrots and Ginger

Did your Grandma ever tell you that if you ate all the carrots on your plate you’d be able to see in the dark? Well, Grandma wasn’t lying. Cooked carrots have a ton of health benefits that not only support your eyesight, but research also shows that:

• One carrot a day helps to keep lung cancer at bay, thanks to the vitamins, minerals and antioxidants found in this root vegetable.
• Along with vitamin C and Vitamin A, carrots also contain biotin, great for anyone – male or female – looking for a full head of thick, shiny hair.

Cooking tip:  

When cooking carrots, try adding some kind of healthy fat like Extra virgin olive oil, pastured duck fat, grass fed butter or ghee, as these will increase carrots’ cancer fighting Beta Carotene even more.

Consider this Carrot and Ginger recipe: 

1. Set oven to 375 Farenheit.
2. Heat a oven safe skillet over medium/high heat, and then melt 2 TBS of grass fed butter or Ghee in the skillet.
3. Add a TBS of  minced ginger and sauté for 1 minute. 
4. Add a bunch of whole carrots and toss to coat with butter and ginger to infuse the flavors.
5. Place skillet in the oven at and bake carrots for 30 minutes.
6. Halfway through (about 15 minutes), take the skillet out of the oven to flip the carrots and then cook for the remaining time.

Tasty Food and Healthy Food Are Not mutually Exclusive

Tamer is a huge supporter of farmers markets, a registered holistic nutritionist, documentary filmmaker and healthy foodie cooking class host.  Check out his website at www.tamersoliman.ca. 

I love eggplant so much! We stopped growing it for a while because of the pest pressure, but I brought it back this year because a summer without eggplant (or watermelon) just isn’t as good. Now we have soo many eggplant. I did not remember how productive these plants are!! I, like everyone else in the world, don’t have that much time to deal with finicky recipes, so most days I roughly chop a bunch of veg and stick it in the oven and thats dinner. And its SO good! Here’s a eggplant roast that I often throw together:

Easy Eggplant Roast

This week the grains share included purple corn tortilla shells and barley grains! Against the Grain Farm provided the following recipe!!

VEGETARIAN BEAN AND BARLEY STEW

 

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Ingredients

• (Can be made on stove top or in a slow cooker where you can just set it and forget it!)
• Ingredients:
• 1½ tablespoons olive oil
• 1½ cups chopped onion
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 2 cups chopped bell peppers (about 2 large bell peppers)
• 1 cup small diced zucchini
• 1 cup cooked garbanzo beans or about ½ can, drained and rinsed*
• 1 cup cooked white beans (Great Northern, Navy or Cannellini), or about ½ can, drained and rinsed*
• 2 cups cooked red kidney beans, or 1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed*
• 1 can (15 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained (2 cups fresh, in season)
• 1 cup water
• ¾ cup Against the Grain Barley Berries (rinsed and drained)
• 2 cups water or broth.
• 1 tbsp spice blend

Instructions

1. Place rinsed barley berries in pot with water (or broth) bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer for 30 minutes until barley is tender but not overcooked. May need to add more liquid. Drain and set aside, but do not rinse.
2. Heat oil in a large sauté pan on medium-high heat. Add onions cook and stir 5 minutes or until softened, stir in minced garlic and vegetables.
3. Stir spice blend into the vegetable mixture
4. Stir in beans, tomatoes and water.Add cooked barley.
5. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
6. Serve a scoop inside Against the Grain Purple Taco Shells and top with fresh chopped cilantro, sour cream, shredded cheese and other toppings of choice.
7. This is a versatile recipe so vegetables, spices, beans can be added or deleted according to personal preference.

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