Summer Squash Fritters

We ate two dinners out last week, and somehow that caused Massive Vegetable Backup. When my Hungry Harvest delivery arrived today I realized I now had 4 large summer squash, 3 heads of broccoli, a cauliflower, asparagus, sweet potatoes, still working on a giant head of kale, plus a bunch of fruit. Had to throw out several clementines that arrived last week already starting to rot, and there's a couple bananas that aren't gonna make it. I've been pretty good not wasting food the last few months, but got into a backlog. Time to eat this stuff!

I managed to use up 3 of the summer squash in these fritters. I prefer zucchini over yellow squash - you can use either here. When you grate it, season it and fry it up, it's hard to tell one way or the other! As per usual I looked at several squash fritter recipes online and then did my own thing. Quantities varied a lot - some used 2 eggs, some used one (I ended up using 1 plus some packaged egg whites); some used over a cup of flour and some 1/2 cup (or bread crumbs, or cornmeal, or crushed crackers)...this is all pretty flexible.

After you salt and drain the squash you end up with considerably less than you start with. 3 medium-large squash made 10 fritters. Also, these would probably be great with some kind of yogurt or mayo-based sauce/drizzle, but I just squeezed some fresh lemon over and called it done. Oh, and I totally meant to add parmesan and/or cheddar cheese but forgot. Cheese would be good, if you remember.

- 3 medium-large summer squash, grated
- salt
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 onion, minced
- a few shakes of garlic powder, black pepper, cayenne
- 1/2 cup or more flour
- optional: 1/4 tsp baking powder (I don't know if this really does anything; I saw it in a couple recipes and added it)
- optional: grated cheddar or parmesan cheese
- veg oil for frying

1. Put the grated squash in a colander, sprinkle with 1 tsp salt and let stand about 15 minutes. Press out moisture with a large spoon - or put the squash in a clean tea towel and squeeze.

2. Beat the eggs and mix in onion, seasonings and flour (I added a little more salt too; well-seasoned is good!). Mix in squash, and cheese if you're using. If you want the batter a bit thicker, add more flour.

3. Heat a large skillet (cast iron if you have it) on medium high and coat with a thin layer of oil. Drop 1/4 cupfuls of batter and flatten into pancakes. Don't crowd the pan; I did 4 at a time. Fry until nicely browned and then flip.

4. Move to a paper-towel-lined baking sheet to drain. You can serve right away, or I removed the paper towels and stuck the baking sheet in a 350 oven for about 15 minutes while I made other stuff for the meal. It cooks the insides a bit more.

I served this with sauteed asparagus with garlic and [instant!] mashed potatoes. Good veggie meal. If timed right, I get nice rays of setting sunshine on the table:

Lemony White Beans with Kale

Back in mid-March when I did a grocery trip a couple hours before the governor announced our state was locking down, I "had a feeling" and loaded up on a bunch of non-perishables, including a few bags of dried beans (even though I usually just use canned). I did use some of the lentils at one point, but now 4 months later I'm finally breaking into the dried beans :) .

I think I would cook dried beans more often - they're not that hard - except that I'm not a planner when it comes to soaking them overnight. And canned beans are pretty cheap, and usually the right quantity for a 2-person household. I've thought about getting an Instant Pot mostly for cooking beans, but I don't think I can justify the counter space in our tiny kitchen.

We also got an enormous bunch of kale in our last Hungry Harvest delivery...and white beans and kale are a thing. It's too hot for soup, but I did sort of a saute/braise. You can definitely use canned beans with this (I'd rinse them), and throw in any other vegetables you want. I saved my bean cooking liquid and used it to create a bit of a sauce. If you use canned tomatoes instead of fresh, that would probably be sufficient - or you can add some water or broth if you want a more saucy consistency.

- ~2 cups cooked white beans, or 2 cans rinsed & drained. If cooking dried beans, save the cooking liquid. I added bay leaves to mine which gave it a nice flavor/aroma.
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 stalk celery, diced
- 1 yellow squash, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- pinch red pepper flakes
- 1 bunch kale, stemmed & chopped
- 2-3 tomatoes, chopped (or use canned diced tomatoes)
- juice of 1 lemon

Saute onion & celery in a generous amount of olive oil until just tender. Add squash, season with salt, and cook a couple of minutes. Add garlic & red pepper flakes & stir briefly. Add kale and cook until wilted. Add beans and tomatoes. Add some of the bean cooking liquid (or other liquid) if you want it a bit saucier. Cover and simmer for just a few minutes. Add lemon juice, a bunch of fresh ground pepper, and taste for salt.

I served this over couscous with parmesan cheese, and topped with a bit of feta I had hanging around in the fridge.

Deviled Egg Tuna Pasta (or Potato) Salad

I have a bunch of fresh produce on hand I should probably be using/cooking, but I have been craving something like this during hot weather. I made a potato salad version of this (without tuna) a couple weeks ago, and it was delish. The "deviled egg" component is that the hard-boiled egg yolks are mashed into the dressing, like how you would make deviled egg filling. When you add chopped hard-boiled eggs to a pasta or potato salad, the yolks tend to disintegrate anyway, so why not? It gives a nice yellow hue to the salad.

The ingredients and quantities are suuuuuper adaptable. For potato salad, use maybe 6 medium/large potatoes, cubed and boiled in salted water until just tender (I don't peel). You can use less or more mayo depending on the consistency you like (I don't like it super-gloppy), and/or sub in some sour cream or plain Greek yogurt to lighten it up (lowfat versions if that's your jam). Leave out the tuna if you're not a fan, or add another can if you want some more protein. Use less or more eggs (I have seen variations of this recipe online that use up to 12 eggs. That seems...eggy), less or more celery. You can also add whatever else you like in your pasta or potato salads:
- pickles (yum) or olives (meh)
- fresh herbs like parsley or dill
- other chopped veggies like bell peppers, cucumber, carrot, even some finely chopped raw broccoli

If you add raisins though, I'm not sure we can be friends.

Deviled Egg Tuna Pasta Salad

- 1/2 box pasta (shells, elbows or other small shape)
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise (sub with part sour cream and/or plain yogurt if you like)
- 1 Tbl mustard (I like Dijon)
- 2 Tbl vinegar (I used cider vinegar)
- salt & black pepper to taste
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- dash of hot sauce
- 2-4 ribs of celery, thinly sliced (I like the crunch of celery so I use a lot)
- 2-3 green onions, thinly sliced
- 1 can tuna, drained

1. Cook pasta in well-salted water until just al dente. Drain & rinse under cold water, let it hang out in the colander.
2. Hard boil the eggs (cover eggs with water, bring to boil, turn off heat, cover & let sit 12 mins. Then cool in ice water). Peel, halve and scoop the yolks out into a large bowl. Roughly chop the whites and set aside.
3. Mash the egg yolks in the bowl and add the mayo, mustard, vinegar, sugar & seasonings. Mix well. Taste and see if it needs anything (it will coat a lot of stuff, so make sure it's well-seasoned).
4. Add the celery, green onions and tuna; mix until combined. Then stir in the cooled pasta. Gently stir in the chopped egg whites last.
5. Refrigerate at least one hour before serving. The pasta will absorb more dressing the longer it sits. Sprinkle with paprika before serving, if you like.
6. Let your cat go to town on the empty tuna can. 😻

Spiced Meatballs with Tahini Sauce

Well, here we are a little over 2 months into lockdown. I've continued to NOT find myself with scads of free time in which to constantly be cooking - things have remained pretty busy keeping the remote wheels turning for the music store I work for. Though I gave up being general manager years ago and shifted to just handling email & website for the most part, now...that's all there is, so it's kinda like managing again. I'm grateful that it's making up for lost income from not playing gigs though, so I'm keeping at it...and though it exhausts me at times, it does give me a sense of purpose to help keep a beloved small business afloat when so many have had to shutter completely.

So I've been cooking fairly simply for the most part; by the time dinner rolls around I'm often bleary-eyed from too much screen time and mentally done. But, I'm occasionally whipping up more complex things. A couple of days ago, we did our first grocery store trip since lockdown started. We've had a lot of paranoia about it, but it was surprisingly fine (we did not opt to wipe everything down when we got home, but there was lots of handwashing through the unpacking process...I think it's fine). We went after 8pm and there weren't many people there. Some precautions at the store seemed a bit...lackluster? But they were quite well-stocked on almost everything we needed. We probably did not need to buy quite as much as we did, but I figured as long as we were there and they had stuff, get some more of those non-perishables and we'll be good for a few more weeks. We have no interest in going out in public more than is absolutely necessary. Sure it'd be nice to enjoy public life again, but it's not yet safe to do that, we'll keep on keepin' on at home.

A weekly Hungry Harvest delivery has been keeping us in fresh produce, and we usually add on bread and sometimes other things. I've contemplated joining our CSA again, but I think we'll stick with Hungry Harvest because there's a bit more variety, we can add on bread, etc - and it's delivered to our door (and we're a bit hesitant to do the up-front payment for months of CSA). There have been a couple of Amazon Fresh/Pantry orders, but I think we'll give that up now that the grocery doesn't seem quite as scary. And we've been getting some other grocery goods from Farmhouse Greens, a local fast-casual salad place that has opened up a pop-up pantry with easy online ordering & curbside pickup. Also my friend notified me that Liberty Delight - a local farm that sells sustainably/ethically raised meats at our farmer's market - was doing home deliveries. She and I went in on a meat order together to meet their minimum for delivery, so our freezer is now full of ground beef & turkey, 3 kinds of sausage, bacon and a pork loin. It's pricier than grocery meat but I feel better about the farming practices and supporting a local farmer. Aaaand I was kind of getting tired of beans.

Alright, so now we're finally getting around to these meatballs. Usually I feel like meatballs are more prep than I wanna deal with (I'll generally just make burrito bowl type meals, chili or pasta sauce with ground meat). But I gave these a whirl with our Liberty Delight ground turkey. I wanted to do some kind of middle eastern-y spiced meatball and as usual, looked at a bunch of recipes and then did my own thing. I'm not an experienced meatball maker but they seem pretty flexible; you can use any kind of ground meat (lamb would probably be awesome), add some vegetable bits, etc. I meant to add minced onion but forgot - just the green onion was fine. If you have parsley or other fresh herbs, definitely use them (I didn't have any). You can also cook the meatballs on the stovetop; I find it easier to bake them. Tahini is great for making a quick sauce with little effort. I'm almost at the end of my Trader Joe's jar so I'll have to look for that on my next trip.

I read an article today that said something like: right now, it feels like almost the only thing we have control over is what we cook and put in our mouths. Yeah, I feel that. Some folks may roll their eyes at other's food photos and documentation...I get that too, but I like seeing what people are cooking and eating out there. It gives me ideas for when I'm finally motivated to make something blog-worthy, and - I like looking at and reading about food. So thanks, if you're reading.

OK, good lord, here's the "recipe!" (because I didn't measure anything, of course!!). I served this with produce from Hungry Harvest: roasted potatoes (olive oil, lemon pepper) and sauteed broccolini with garlic and a spash of lemon juice.

Spiced Meatballs:

1 lb ground meat (I used turkey)
1 egg
1/2 cup bread crumbs (I used panko)
1/2 tsp salt
~1/4 tsp each turmeric, cumin, cinnamon, smoked paprika
1 chopped green onion (add some regular onion too, ifya want)
1 clove garlic
small piece fresh ginger

- Grate the ginger & garlic on a microplane into a medium-size bowl. Beat in the egg.
- Add the rest of the ingredients and mix gently with your hands or a spoon until incorporated.
- Form smallish (~1.5"?) balls and place on an oiled baking sheet. Roll around in the oil as you put them on the sheet.
- Bake at 425 for about 20 minutes.

Tahini Sauce:

3 heaping tablespoons tahini
juice of half a lemon (I used bottled)
a sprinkle of turmeric (optional but gives it a nice golden color)
garlic powder (or fresh minced/crushed garlic), salt & pepper
sriracha or other hot sauce

Mix it all together and then add enough water to make a drizzle-able sauce.

Deep Dish Cast Iron Pizza

Greetings from Week 6 of Quarantine. We've made it thus far without a trip inside an actual grocery store, though that's probably going to have to happen in the next week or so. Thanks to weekly Hungry Harvest produce deliveries, a couple of Amazon Fresh & Pantry orders, a handful of takeouts from local restaurants and one Giant online pickup order where we got less than half of what was ordered, we've been kept well-stocked with minimal human contact.

A couple days ago I made my Spaghetti [Squash] Pie and had some leftover red sauce with Italian sausage. I was figuring I'd just make more pasta for it, but...there has been much pasta these last few weeks. A voice said "Girl, ya got flour and yeast, make pizza!" I don't remember the last time I made pizza with from-scratch dough. At least 10 years? At one point I had a pizza stone but I think I got rid of it as it never got used.

I've come across recipes for pizza made in a cast-iron pan and figured that was a good starting point to get a good crust. So I browsed several recipes...and as is often the case with online recipes, every one was different! Who do you trust?? Some had you pre-heat the pan in the oven and then put the dough in...that's how I make my easy Dutch Oven Bread, but you don't have to poke that around in the pot, and it sounded like a recipe for burnt fingers. Some had you make dough and let it rise/ferment overnight (again, like the bread)...but I wanted pizza TODAY (though if I plan ahead, I'll try the overnight dough as it does make the bread really good). Eventually, I came across Minimalist Baker's recipe for deep-dish pizza in a cast iron pan, and thought that sounded like a good way to go. Put a good amount of oil in the pan and let it "fry" in there while it bakes...yum!

So...that recipe links to another site's recipe for the dough, and said to use half the dough. So I was figuring I'd freeze the other half. But when I got to the final step before dividing it and putting it in the pan, it really didn't seem like half the dough was gonna be enough for a deep-dish style pizza. So I made a game-time decision to use all the dough for one pizza. I mean, dough-sauce-and-cheese...how can you really screw up?

It was definitely pretty "bready" - but it's deep dish, so I think that was the right call!

Now as for the rest of the ingredients - we only had sharp cheddar and sliced Havarti, but I figured those could work (dough-sauce-and-cheese, right??). Of course mozzarella would be best if you have it. I had a zucchini and some portobella mushrooms so I broiled those in the oven with some olive oil & Italian seasoning:

Put whatever you want on pizza in this pizza!

Here is the dough recipe I ended up with. You want to start it at least 90 minutes before you want to bake - I ended up letting it rise longer, but at least an hour is fine.

- 1 cup warm water
- 1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 Tbl olive oil, plus more
- 3 cups all-purpose flour

1. In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in warm water for about 5 minutes, until slightly foamy. Add the salt, sugar and olive oil.

2. Mix in the flour, in increments. I used a wooden spoon and then my hands. Knead in the bowl until a smooth ball forms.

3. Grease another large bowl with olive oil and put the dough in. Spread a little oil on the top too. Cover with a towel and let rise for 60-90 minutes; it should about double in size.

4. Flour a work surface and knead the dough a few times. Then roll into a 12-14" circle.

5. Put a couple tablespoons of oil in a 12-inch cast iron pan and spread around so the bottom and sides are coated. Put the dough in and build up the sides on the edge of the pan.

For the rest of the pizza:
- Red sauce, jarred or homemade (I'm not sure how much I used...maybe a cup?)
- Whatever toppings you want (I used roasted zucchini & mushrooms)
- ~2 cups (or more) grated mozzarella or other cheeses. I ended up using 3 slices of Havarti on the bottom and about 1 cup grated sharp cheddar on the top. Would have used more, but...I'm rationing cheese :( .
- Italian seasoning, garlic powder, grated parmesan if you have it.

Preheat the oven to 450. So with deep dish pizza, you usually put cheese on first, then toppings, then sauce...and maybe more cheese. Not having the sauce directly on top of the crust keeps it from getting too soggy. So layer on half your cheese, then your toppings, then sauce, then the rest of your cheese. Sprinkle with seasonings and grated parmesan. Oh, the sauce and cheese can go right to the edge. If cheese gets on the edge or on the pan it will get crispy and delicious.

Bake the pizza for about 25 minutes. When I took mine out, it looked like the bottom needed to get a bit browner. So I put the pan on a stove burner over medium heat. Pretty soon, it started to smoke. Don't be like me! This step probably isn't necessary - but if you try it, watch carefully. You need to rest the pizza for about 10 minutes anyway, and if you leave it in the pan it will continue to brown some.

You made some pizza! High five!!

Pantry Staples Recipe Roundup

Greetings from approximately Day 10 of Social Distancing! What a weird time. It seems like there are a lot of people looking for new recipes that focus on pantry staples, so I thought I'd make a list of past recipes from my blog that fit this format. I originally started this blog as a way of documenting things I was making from our weekly CSA vegetable share - but I haven't been doing the CSA for a few years.  Most of these recipes are vegetarian, some are vegan, and pretty much all encourage improvisation to use what you have on hand.

I've never really been a meal-planner, but with grocery stores not being able to stock some things, I've felt compelled to at least make a list of what I have on hand in the fridge, freezer and pantry, and make sure I'm finding ways to use what's on hand. I feel super-thankful that I had the instinct to get a stock-up shopping trip in right before our governor announced school closures, so I was able to find most of what I needed before the big rush happened. I also re-activated our Hungry Harvest subscription to get bi-weekly produce deliveries, so that's keeping us in fresh produce and eggs (unfortunately it looks like HH is not taking new subscribers right now; they are probably overwhelmed). Hoping to avoid a grocery store trip for as long as possible to let supplies get replenished and other folks get what they need.

Anyway, here's some recipes!

No-Knead Dutch Oven Bread
If you want to get into bread-baking but don't know where to start, THIS IS IT. This bread couldn't be easier (I am not a baker). I've made it 3 times this week. It's a crusty, rustic loaf that's great with soups or just eaten on its own with butter/jam/whatever. It's not really a sandwich bread. You do need a Dutch oven (enameled cast iron pot with lid), and to remember to mix the dough the night before. But it's literally just mixing flour, yeast, salt and water, letting it sit overnight, and then plopping the dough into a preheated Dutch oven. Much reward for little effort.

Mujaddara
A Middle Eastern staple of lentils, rice, onions and spices. Simple but really good, and super cheap eats.

Spiced Lentil Sweet Potato Soup
Sweet potatoes keep for awhile, so it's a good veg to stock up on - but if you don't have one, just make lentil soup. If you don't have all the spices just use what you have. You can also use water instead of broth.

Vegan Shepherd's Pie
Another lentil-based recipe. Got instant mashed potatoes? Use those instead. If you have other vegetables that need to be used up, this is a good recipe to stick them in. Have ground meat and want the meat version of shepherd's pie? I've got one of those too!

Stovetop Mac & Cheese
This uses evaporated milk! You definitely need the eggs as it's what helps thicken it in the absence of a flour white sauce.

Spicy Coconut Peanut Stuff
A base recipe for a sauce with canned coconut milk, peanut butter, sriracha or other hot sauce, soy sauce, lime juice and brown sugar (or honey, maple syrup). Stir-fry whatever veg and/or protein you want and add this!

Vegan Black Bean & Rice Bowls with Pineapple
Canned pineapple works. Top with avocado if you are so blessed.

Spicy Peanut Noodles with Tofu
My favorite tofu cooking technique that gives you a nice texture. Tofu is cheap and an unopened package keeps for a long time in the fridge. You can also freeze uncooked tofu, and when you thaw it it gets an even "meatier" texture. Add whatever vegetables or other protein you want - or just make noodles! You can use linguine or spaghetti.

ilyCHILI
A vegetarian chili (for happy band practices) with beans, sweet potato and some other stuff. Chili should always be somewhat improvised, so you do you.

Sauteed Spiced Chickpeas with Roasted Sweet Potatoes & Broccoli & Spicy Hummus Drizzle
No veggies? Just make the chickpeas and rice. Roasted broccoli works with frozen broccoli florets, too.

Spaghetti Squash Pie
We're sort of getting out of winter squash season now, but if you can find it, spaghetti squash keeps for weeks. This combines a base of angel hair pasta & spaghetti squash (the latter basically becomes undetectable) and layers in spaghetti sauce (can add meat if you want) and cheese. It's really delish.

Potato-Veggie Breakfast Hash
Potatoes and eggs are really the only must-haves; if you have any other veggies (especially bits of things that are nearing the end of freshness), throw them in here.


And here's a couple of desserts, because you should treat yourself:

Dark Chocolate Habanero Creme Brulee
You need heavy cream, eggs and dark chocolate. If you want to do the spicy chocolate thing, the "habanero sugar" may be findable online; you could also use a spicy dark chocolate bar, and/or just mix a little cayenne powder into the sugar for the top. You also really need a kitchen torch to get that good cracklin' crust. Broiling in the oven may get you mostly there, but I've never tried it.

Ghiradelli Incendio Brownies
This is basically take a box of brownie mix and sub some kind of alcohol for the water. We actually haven't been able to find the Patron Incendio (spicy chocolate tequila liqueur) for awhile. But you can use pretty much any liqueur (Kahlua, amaretto, cointreau) or bourbon, whiskey, straight tequila...

Spiced Lentil Sweet Potato Soup

I made soup for band practice...totally improvised, as my soups tend to be...but this one was so good I have to document it! My aim was a lentil soup with sweet potatoes and warm (Moroccanish?) spices. It's vegan, GF and all that stuff. I did not measure anything so the spices etc are my best guess! This makes a huge pot - my Dutch oven was almost overflowing!

1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1-inch piece ginger, minced
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/2 small can tomato paste
1 can petite diced tomatoes
2 boxes vegetable stock
1 cup brown lentils, rinsed
2 sweet potatoes, peeled & cubed small
2 bay leaves
minced cilantro
lemon juice
1 bag baby spinach

Heat olive oil in a large pot and saute onion, carrot & celery until softened. Season with salt. Add garlic & ginger, cook briefly, then add spices & stir.

Add tomato paste and cook about a minute. Add canned tomatoes, stock, lentils, sweet potatoes & bay leaves. Simmer covered for about 30 minutes, until lentils & sweet potatoes are tender. Taste for salt - you will probably need a good amount if using low-sodium stock. Remove bay leaves.

Puree some of the soup with an immersion blender (optional, but gives it a nice texture). Add cilantro, a squeeze of lemon juice, and spinach. Stir until spinach is wilted.