Pesto-Part Three

 

We are getting a lot of parsley from the farm this year, so I made some sunflower seed-parsley pesto.  Turned out pretty tasty!  So far, we've used it as a topping for baked potatoes and also tossed it with diced potatoes to roast in the oven. 

A Mouse in the House!

 

It looks like a mouse ate a whole in my bread!  (Or, maybe my two year old.)

Whole Grains: Barley

Like wheat, barley has been cultivated longer than we have recorded.  Barley tolerates extreme temperatures and has even been found growing north of the Arctic Circle!  Most of the barley grown in the United States is used for brewing and for animal feed.

Despite its other uses, barley is a nutritious grain for human consumption.  Like oats, it contains soluble fiber, famous for improving blood cholesterol levels.

Much of barley sold for human consumption is pearled barley, which has some of the outer nutrient dense layers removed.  The true form of whole grain barley goes by "hull-less" or "hulled" barley.  Barley, like every other grain, can be ground into flour.  Sometimes it is ground from pearled barley and sometimes it is ground from hulled barley, so be sure to check the label.

Whole grain barley adds a chewy texture to soups and offers dimension as a replacement for a side dish of rice.  Rolled barley can replace rolled oats in many baked goods and can be made into hot cereal or granola.  Barley flour can replace some of the flour in yeast breads, but contains less gluten than wheat, resulting in a denser bread.  Use barley in larger amounts in other baked goods.

Citation: The New Book of Whole Grains by Marlene Anne Bumgarner

Whole Grains: Wheat

The whole grains cookbook that I am borrowing from the library had a new recipe for 100% whole wheat bread, so I thought I'd give it a try.  This is the best 100% whole wheat loaf I have ever made!  Looks yummy and tastes yummy too.

Wheat is popular around the world.  Often it is ground into flour to be made into breads, pastas, and other baked goods.  Wheat flour is popular for yeast bread baking because of the protein gluten.  Gluten stretches and retains its structure while it is peppered with numerous tiny holes that give wheat bread a light airiness.  

In addition to flour, wheat is served other ways.  The edible portion of wheat is referred to as a wheat berry.  Wheat berries can be served whole in soups or as a side dish, similar to rice.  Additionally, wheat berries can be cut into smaller pieces called cracked wheat or bulgur.  These may be used as a hot cereal or in salads.  These forms of wheat are whole, retaining all the edible parts of the wheat berry.

However you eat your wheat, eat it whole!

Farm News

Bad news from the farm this week.  The mice got the beet roots.  I LOVE BEETS!  Oh, well, I guess I'll go to the Farmer's Market and see if another farm got beets this year.

The good news is that there will still be plenty, plenty, of vegetables to eat this week.  I always feel a bit overwhelmed after I bring our bag of vegetables home.  Pictured above in the top row is spinach and lettuce.  Middle row: kale, mustard greens, mint.  Beneath the mint is parsley (not discernible in the picture.)  Bottom row: sunflower sprouts, cilantro, green onions, orach.  To the far right is beet greens.

Pesto-Part Two

I was flipping through a cookbook trying to discover uses for the one and half pounds of spinach in my fridge, when I came across a recipe for pasta with mint-almond pesto.

In addition to the spinach, the CSA farmers brought us some fresh mint this week.  In the past, I've dried mint and frozen mint, but didn't really use much of any of that, so I thought I may as well try this recipe.  I used quinoa and garbanzo beans instead of pasta, but mostly followed the directions for the pesto. 

I understand that mint is used in many savory dishes around the world, but my American taste buds think that mint should go with chocolate, so I wasn't sure if my brain could get around this dish or not.  But, it was tasty!  If I get more mint, I might make it again.

Later, my husband enjoyed the leftover mint-almond pesto as salad dressing.

Pesto-Part One

A couple weeks ago, we received arugula from our CSA farm.  Arugula is a peppery salad green.  However, I don't like arugula in my salad, so I thought I'd make it into pesto.  Plenty of arugula pesto recipes abound, but I just used arugula, oil, and garlic, and then stored it in glass baby food jars in the freezer.

I found a list of creative uses for arugula pesto on this blog (scroll to the bottom of the post for the lists of ideas.) 

Earlier this week, I warmed a jar of arugula pesto from the freezer for a dipping sauce for our homemade baked fries.  Nope, not tasty.  But my husband found it good enough.  Maybe I just don't like arugula?  I do have two more jars of arugula pesto, though, so I'll give those a try in some other recipe!

Spelt

Sandy mentioned spelt flour in an earlier comment.  I wanted to share what I've recently learned about spelt.

Spelt is an ancient form of wheat and contains more protein and B vitamins that modern varieties.   It is also supposed to produce better baked goods than modern wheat.  I think I'll have to try!

Pesto-Introduction

I first learned about pesto during our first season as a CSA shareholder.  We received pounds of basil that year and what else was there to do with that much basil?

Pesto comes from the word "pestle," as in mortar and pestle, because that is how it is traditionally made. I prefer my blender.  Most familiarly, pesto is made from fresh basil leaves.  However, it may be made with a variety of other greens.  Greens are ground or blended with oil and garlic and often nuts, cheese, and lemon juice.  This makes a delicious paste to add to pasta, pizza, soups, and a variety of other dishes.

Whole Grains

I think whole grains are my favorite food group.  I don't know why, but they are fascinating!  Our family eats a lot of whole wheat and a few other whole grains, but I think it's time for us to increase the variety.  So, I went to the library and checked out a couple old-fashioned books!  This book pictured is The New Book of Whole Grains by Marlene Anne Bumgarner.

I've only had a chance to read a few pages, but I've learned a lot!  I even learned how to grow and harvest my own wheat!  I look forward to learning much more and trying some new recipes too.

Sugar, Sugar

My husband and I are participating in a Summer Wellness Challenge.  This week's challenge is "No white flour, no white sugar." 

Guess where I found sugar today?  In my imitation vanilla extract and my canned black beans.  It's everywhere!

What to do with parsley?

Among our many greens, we received a pile of parsley from the CSA farm this week.  It is probably more than I can use fresh.  What do you think?  Should I freeze it, dry it, or make it into pesto?

Exciting Wednesdays

Wednesday we go get our CSA veggies from the farmer.  Yesterday Wednesday we also got six pounds of amaranth from the UPS delivery man.  Fun stuff!


I have just one recipe for amaranth, but since I have six pounds now, I'll find some more.  Amaranth is one of those "super" grains, actually a tiny seed, full of protein, fiber, and iron.  I thought if I bought some, then I'd find a use for it.

Amaranth is cooked just like rice and other grains.  It can be made into breakfast cereal like oatmeal.  Additionally, it can be popped like popcorn.  How fun is that?!

Orach

.

It's like "salty spinach."  

It's used just like spinach.  

It's red and green, like Christmas.

Lovage

Meet lovage. Lovage is an herb that we got from the CSA farm this week. I had never even heard of lovage, but the farmer told me to use it sparingly in soups and stews and that it tastes like celery. Wouldn't you know, he was exactly right! My friend Kat, a culinary expert, added that it can be used in any dish where celery is used. My leftover lovage is in the freezer, and I'll probably have a freezer full by winter time, because it does indeed need to be used sparingly.

Kale

We got some beautiful kale in our CSA bag this week. It is so beautiful! We've had kale in the past and haven't found a really great recipe for it yet. It does go well with potatoes. Anyway, I threw this kale into a smoothie. It took a little more fruit than I usually put in spinach smoothies and it still had a faint kale flavor, but I rather liked it.

Sunflower Sprouts

Should we eat it or plant it? One of the best things about getting produce from the CSA farm is that we get to try food that we didn't even know existed!

These are sprouts from sunflower seeds. Last week, I didn't know anything about sunflowers sprouts. Now I know that since these are probably a few days old, they should properly be called sunflower greens. In any case, sprouts and greens are high in protein and a myriad of other nutrients.

I expected them to be delicate. No, they are hardy, crunchy greens that might keep for a week or maybe even more when refrigerated after cutting.

I expected them to be bitter. No, they are quite mild tasting with a hint of sunflower seed flavor.

They are good for salads and sandwiches, and you know, I enjoyed just snacking on a few plain this morning!

For the curious, here's an article about sunflower greens.

Salad

We got plenty of fresh, delicate spring lettuce from the farm this week. I'm sure we'll be eating plenty of salad this summer! I get a little bored eating salad every though, maybe I need some more topping ideas. What do you like on your salad?

CSA Farm Week One

It's hard to believe that we are already getting fresh veggies from our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm, East Idaho Organics! This is our first year with this particular farm and it is only the second year that EIO has been a CSA. Since it is early in the season and the farm is only in its second year, I wasn't expecting a big haul this week. I am quite impressed. We have pounds of greens to eat this week. I mean like 3/4 of a paper grocery bag full of greens. I think we could eat green smoothies for breakfast and salad for lunch and dinner every day this week!

Fruits vs. Vegetables

Fruits and Vegetables are classified at least two different ways: botanically and nutritionally.

Botanically, a fruit is that which bears a seed. Apples, oranges, bananas, and berries are all botanically fruits. Additionally, green beans, peas, pumpkin, tomatoes, and cucumbers are also botanically fruits.

Botanically, a vegetable is a part of a plant that is not a fruit. Spinach (leaves), celery (stems), cauliflower (flowers), and carrots (roots) are botanically vegetables.

Nutritionally, fruits and vegetables are divided by their nutritional content and general use. Fruits have more natural sugar, fewer trace minerals, and little to no protein. Vegetables have less sugar, more minerals, and small amounts of protein.

Apples, oranges, bananas, and berries are nutritionally fruits. Green beans, peas, pumpkin, tomatoes, cucumbers, spinach, celery, cauliflower, and carrots are nutritionally vegetables.

Got it?