RECIPE: Sauteed Escarole with Garlic and Cannellini Beans

Ingredients:

2 garlic cloves, sliced

4 tablespoons olive oil

2 pounds escarole, trimmed, cut into bite-size pieces, rinsed well, and spun dry

1 can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

  

Directions:

In a large skillet start the garlic in cold oil over moderately high heat, stirring, until it is golden. To the skillet add the escarole, and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Saute the mixture, stirring, for 1 minute. Cook the mixture, covered, over moderately low heat for 4 minutes, or until the escarole is tender, stir in the cannellini beans. Heat through.

RECIPE: Stovetop chicken with lemon, escarole, and white beans

2 ½ lbs bone in chicken pieces (whatever parts you want)

1 lemon, thinly sliced

¼ to ½ an onion, in bite size pieces

1 15-oz can white beans (cannellini)

1 brunch escarole

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Toss lemon slices and onion with salt and pepper and set aside.

Pat the chicken pieces dry with a paper towel and season with salt and pepper. Heat a few tablespoons oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat, and add chicken, skin side down.  Press the chicken down to the heat to get browning and crispy skin! Cook for 5-8 minutes, until golden brown, then flip, and cook for another 9 or so minutes on the other side until the chicken is fully cooked. (Internal temperature should be 165 degrees.)

Take the chicken out of the skillet and put on a plate.  Add your lemon and onion to the skillet and let it cook 4 or so minutes, until both the onion and lemon have caramelized a bit.  Add the beans and all of their juices to the skillet, season with salt and pepper, and start adding the escarole (a bit at a time) to wilt it.

Once the escarole is wilted, add the chicken back to the skillet for a minute or two until flavors are melded and it’s all warm.

Eat and enjoy!

Tip- you can leave the chicken out and just make this a side dish (or vegetarian dish).

RECIPE: Easy Quick Pickling those left-over veggies

1 cup vinegar (white wine, rice, red wine)

1 cup water

2 Tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 lb vegetables - cucumbers, radishes, cauliflower, carrots, green/purple peppers, garlic, and anything else that sounds delicious to you!

Trim and chop vegetables and pack in mason jar in preparation for pickling.

Heat all ingredients except the vegetables in a small pot over low-medium heat.  Stir and cook until sugar and salt dissolve.  Immediately pour over vegetables.  Let it cool and then cover and put in fridge for 1 day before eating.  Veggies will be best between 1 to 4 weeks.

Photo credit to Sam Mah

RECIPE: Carrot Top Soup

INGREDIENTS - 6 small to medium carrots with tops and roots - 2 tablespoons butter - 3 tablespoons white rice - 2 large leeks, white parts only - 2 thyme or lemon thyme sprigs - 2 tablespoons chopped dill, parsley, or celery leaves - salt and freshly ground pepper - 6 cups vegetable stock, chicken stock, or water

PREPARATION Pull or pluck the lacy leaves of the carrot greens off their stems. You should have between 2-3 cups, loosely packed. Wash, then chop finely. Grate the carrots or, if you want a more refined-looking soup, finely chop them. Melt the butter in a soup pot. Add the carrot tops and carrots, rice, leeks, thyme, and dill. Cook for several minutes, turning everything a few times, then season with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and add the stock. Bring to the boil and simmer until the rice is cooked, 16-18 minutes. Taste for salt, season with pepper, and serve.

RECIPE: Easy Summer Salad with Tomatoes, Corn, Mint

Combine 1 big heirloom tomato sliced, raw corn sliced from the cob, crumbled Feta cheese, diced Mint, sprinkled with an aromatic nutty olive oil.  So delicious and so simple!

RECIPE: Dolmades with Swiss Chard

A tip on Swiss Chard from one of our members...

I used the chard instead of grape leaves to make fabulous Dolmades.  First, blanch them, then cut out the center rib. Cut the bigger leaves in half, then filled with the meat mixture.

I substituted ground turkey for lamb.  Also, I added finely chopped parsley and mint, minced shallot, crushed garlic, wheat bran, uncooked rice, salt and pepper.  Layered into pot, filled with chicken stock and simmered for about 30 mins.  Delish!!

RECIPE: Garlicky Burst Tomato Sauce

1 pint cherry tomatoes

5 garlic cloves

3-4 tablespoons olive oil

¼ teaspoon kosher salt (plus more to taste)

Dash of crushed red pepper

Heat a large sauce pan over medium heat.  Once the pan is hot, add the olive oil. Once the olive oil is shimmering, add the garlic, salt, and crushed red pepper.  Your kitchen should start to smell like garlic! Be careful though and watch the garlic, as you don’t want it to burn. Once the garlic is fragrant (about 30 seconds to a minute), add the tomatoes to the pan, stirring occasionally until they soften and burst.

To serve:

With pasta: cook pasta 2-3 minutes shy of the directions on the package and add drained (but not rinsed) pasta to the warm sauce, along with ½ cup to 1 cup reserved pasta water and ¼ cup to ½ cup grated pecorino Romano cheese.  Stir and allow the sauce to emulsify and the pasta to finish cooking in the sauce.

With chicken: season chicken liberally with salt and pepper and brown chicken in a separate pan, about 5 minutes each side.  Add to the pan with the sauce and let finish cooking in the sauce.

With salmon: season salmon with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and cook in a 250 degree oven for 20 minutes.  Top cooked salmon with sauce before serving.