Watermelon Smoothies...(perfect for the HOT Memorial Day Weekend)!

1 personal size watermelon

1 lime- juiced

1 tablespoon honey

Ice

Scoop out watermelon fruit into blender. Add honey and  1 -2 teaspoon lime juice (to your  taste). Add Ice. Blend until ice is crushed and all  ingredients well blended.

Mila

South Mountain Veggies

Ever since that movie "Fried Green Tomatoes" with Jessica Tandy I've wondered about fried green tomatoes....

Fried Green Tomatoes

INGREDIENTS

• 3 medium, firm green tomatoes
• Salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp Cajun seasoning
• 1/2 cup milk or buttermilk
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup cornmeal
• 1/2 cup fine dry bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup peanut oil or other vegetable oil

METHOD

1 Cut unpeeled tomatoes into 1/2 inch slices. Sprinkle slices with salt. Let tomato slices stand for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, place in 3 separate shallow bowls: the flour and Cajun seasoning, buttermilk and egg, and bread crumbs and cornmeal.

2 Heat the peanut oil in a skillet on medium heat. Beat the egg and the buttermilk together. Dip tomato slices in the flour-seasoning mix, then buttermilk-egg mixture, then the cornmeal-bread crumb mix. In the skillet, fry half of the coated tomato slices at a time, for 3-5 minutes on each side or until brown. Set the cooked tomatoes on paper towels to drain. 

Cleaning gritty produce...

We have had quite a few customers who have had some trouble cleaning the farm fresh produce this past week...let me share some tips for cleaning gritty produce like asparagus and spinach...

For asparagus, I have found that washing it, even numerous times does not get out all of the grit so I now blanch the asparagus and this way the grit is released into the cooking water and then you just throw it away!

For my spinach, I fill my clean kitchen sink up with cold water and add the spinach, swishing it around and allowing the dirt to settle to the bottom, I drain the sink and repeat until there is no more residue and then finish it off in my salad spinner.

National Dandelion Day

I bet you did not know that there was such a day as "National Dandelion Day" did you?  I honestly just found out myself, but figured we all could learn a bit more about this "weed" that we all desperately try to eradicate from our lawns in the early spring.

For one it has been prized for its medicinal properties for centuries.  That is why our European ancestors so graciously brought dandelion seeds with them when they immigrated here all those years ago.  All parts of the dandelion are edible with the roots and greens alike being chocked full of vitamins and minerals.  Winemakers love the pollen laden flowers to make wine.  Or you can even blanch the blossoms with hot water to make tea. Some people claim that dandelions are almost a perfect food, however I think many of us just want them out of  our flowerbeds and yards to ever fully embrace them as a food source!

I remember my Grams sharing stories with me about how back in the days of her childhood, in the early spring while they were waiting for the ground to get warm enough to start growing food in their gardens and how the winter's food that had been stored away was starting to dwindle away, many meals in the early spring were Dandelion greens.  She remembers going out in the field and cutting enough to have for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  I think she will still eat them from time to time, however they are no longer her favorite!

Here is a recipe to share:

Ingredients

Adapted from The Herbfarm Cookbook: A Guide to the Vivid Flavors of Fresh Herbs by Jerry Traunfeld (Scribner, 2000).

Makes 1 quart

• 1 quart just-picked dandelion blossoms, harvested from a pesticide-free area
• 3 cups water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup mild honey
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice

As soon as possible after picking the blossoms, use a pair of sharp scissors to snip the yellow portions of the petals from the green calyxes, leaving the bitter white bottoms of the petals still attached to the calyxes. Discard the calyxes.

Heat the water, sugar, and honey in a small saucepan. As soon as the syrup comes to a boil, remove it from the heat and stir in the yellow petals. Cover and let steep for at least one hour. Strain the syrup through a fine sieve. Stir in the lemon juice and chill. Freeze the mixture in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's directions.

This is such a wonderful combination of sweet and savory...found this recipe last summer while attending a progressive dinner party and we were hooked making it over and over again...

• Strawberry and Spinach Salad
• 1 bunch fresh spinach, 
• 1 pint strawberries, ends trimmed and quartered
• 1 cup slivered almonds, toasted (or you could use Walnuts too)
• 1/4 large red onion, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup raspberry vinaigrette

My Mom's Asparagus

Growing up, mom would make asparagus for just her and I...my Dad and brother did not like it, and I always felt special when she would make this just for us to share...

1 bunch asparagus, chopped into 1 inch pieces

1/4 c. milk

1 tea. butter

12 saltine crackers, crushed

salt and pepper to taste

Add chopped asparagus to a small saucepan with just enough water to steam the asparagus.  Cook until just tender, add milk and butter serve immediately over crushed saltines. 

Sweet Potatoes with Warm Black Bean Salad

• 4 medium sweet potatoes
• 1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed
• 2 medium tomatoes, diced
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 
  

1. Prick sweet potatoes with a fork in several places. Microwave on High until tender all the way to the center, 12 to 15 minutes. (Alternatively, place in a baking dish and bake at 425 degrees F until tender all the way to the center, about 1 hour.)
2. Meanwhile, in a medium microwaveable bowl, combine beans, tomatoes, oil, cumin, coriander and salt; microwave on High until just heated through, 2 to 3 minutes. (Alternatively, heat in a small saucepan over medium heat.)
3. When just cool enough to handle, slash each sweet potato lengthwise, press open to make a well in the center and spoon the bean mixture into the well. Top each with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of cilantro.