Summer’s Here!: Plant Food and People Food

Posted on July 10, 2013 by Ann Lovejoy
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Let The Revels Begin

This week, we enjoyed a number of firsts from the deck garden; first agretti (which returned from seedlings left by last summer’s crop), first major cutting of fresh basil, and first tomatoes. Gardeners in warmer climates may not realize just how satisfying it is for us cool region folks to have adequate warmth to ripen heat loving summer vegetables. Many years, we watch our hot crops waver as cold nights and overcast days dull their natural enthusiasm.

It’s delightful to join in with the rest of the country when summer finally does arrive. Now, despite maritime morning fogs, everything is ripening apace and we can bring the bounty straight from the garden to the plate. Last night, we swooned over a savory sorbet made with fresh basil and the juice of chopped tomatoes. A little sea salt gave it sparkle, and organic heavy cream gave it body; sheer perfection!

 Everybody Likes Fish And Kelp

I grow mostly big-leaf basil, usually Genovese, which does best for me in my sunny kitchen bay window. I pinch it back for the first month or so, creating big, bushy cut-and-come-again plants that can be harvested through the autumn. The big basil plants live in 3 gallon pots, and get fed every 2 weeks, along with the outdoor tomatoes. I use a combination of liquid kelp, humic acid, and fish fertilizer, which seems to please all concerned. I spray it on tomato plants, and water everybody with it as well. Here’s the recipe:

Happy Plant Elixir

1 tablespoon liquid kelp concentrate
1 tablespoon humic acid concentrate
1 cup liquid fish fertilizer
1 gallon water

Combine first 3 ingredients in a gallon jug, add water to top it off and let stand overnight. Store in a cool, dark place. Give each tomato plant (or hanging flower basket) 1 cup and each basil plant 1/2 cup of mixture every 2 weeks. Plants in 1 gallon containers get 1/4 cup each on same schedule.

Gluten-Free, Dairy Free Garden Pie

I’ve been experimenting lately with this delicious and quickly made variation on our favorite Italian torta, which has no crust, and  doesn’t need eggs for binding. If you leave out the cheese, it’s a lovely vegan entree. You can add almost any kind of vegetables you like, along with whatever herbs or spices capture your fancy. The secret ingredient is tofu, which gives the pie a light, egg-like texture and carries the garden flavors beautifully.

Savory Summer Garden Pie

14-16 ounces firm tofu
1 cup basil leaves, torn
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon virgin olive oil
10 pitted kalamata olives, quartered lengthwise
1 Walla Walla onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 big bunch spinach
2 cups broccoli florets (small)
3 cups chopped tomatoes, drained (reserve liquid)
1/4 cup grated hard cheese such as Asiago, Romano, etc.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a food processor, combine chunked up tofu with 1/2 cup basil leaves, 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper, and 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast, puree, set aside. In a wide, shallow pan, heat oil, olives, onion and garlic over medium high heat. Sprinkle with remaining salt, a few grinds of pepper and remaining nutritional yeast and cook until barely soft (3-4 minutes). Add spinach and broccoli, cover pan and cook until spinach is wilted and broccoli florets are bright green (3-4 minutes). Remove from heat, stir in drained tomatoes and tofu mixture and spoon into a pie dish. Top with cheese (if using) and bake until set and lightly browned (35-40 minute). Serve warm or at room temperature. Serves 6-8.

A Dazzling Palate Cleanser or Appetizer

Creamy, spunky, and bright with sea salt, this simple sorbet is amazingly satisfying. Exact amounts are not too important; puree a few tomatoes if you don’t have enough fresh juice, and swap the basil for cilantro if you prefer it. Though the simple summery flavors linger, the result is anything but cloying. We are happily hooked! I tasted a similar basil sorbet in France, scooped into a dish of chilled gazpacho, and this would be fabulous that way too.

Savory Summer Sorbet

1 cup fresh tomato juice (from drained tomatoes)
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh basil
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 cups heavy organic cream

Combine all ingredients and chill overnight or up to 2 days. Freeze in an ice cream maker, pack into containers and freeze for at least an hour. Makes about 2 pints.

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Fabulous Food For The Fourth

Posted on July 1, 2013 by Ann Lovejoy
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Summery Picnic Treats

I live on a small island in Puget Sound, where living is generally a lot slower than in the city across the water. Indeed,  island time is always a factor in any social engagement, since people are pretty loose about start and stop times. Sunny summers seem to sprout countless little picnics and dinners and get-togethers, so that in a day or two my calendar changes from empty to full-to-the-brim. The past few weeks have been as full of sunny warmth as of sudden downpours, but despite the crazy weather, we’ve been hosting record numbers of friends and family.

The Fourth of July is always a grand occasion here, largely because of our small town parade, which often includes a Basset Brigade of hounds as well as skip rope champions, floats of every flavor, dressed-up horses and antique cars, and all sorts of musicians, notably a smokin’ jazz band. People line up five and six deep along the mile or so of parade pathway, which runs gently downhill from the library, makes a sharp left at the oldest church on the island and rolls past everyone’s favorite family-run grocery store-cum-social hall  before vanishing up a side street.

Weather Or Not, Here We Come

One of my favorite Northwestern sayings holds that summer officially begins on July 5th and ends on July 6th. That’s not (always) true, of course, and in my memory, July Fourths seem to alternate between rain and shine. I have vivid recollections of being on a scalding hot fire truck packed with overheated cub scouts as well as riding sodden floats with damp musicians frantically returning cranky instruments. Some years, our Fourth feasts have featured sizzling hot chili and curry to warm our chilled bones. This year, even the rainy days have been muggy, so picnic food feels more appropriate, rain or shine.

Unless you can cook under cover, grilling may be a challenge in a now-it’s-rainy-now-it’s-not summer like this one.  Instead, make up several entree salads ahead of time, so the ingredients can meld and mellow while you party. Take them out of the fridge before it’s time to dish up,  so they can come up to room temperature, where flavors can be fully savored.

Drinks Hot Or Cold

I usually make up a gallon or so of barley tea, using cold water and putting it into the refrigerator  overnight to develop its finest flavor. It has no caffeine but tastes as robust as a cup of coffee, if a lot more refreshing. It’s also good hot, for those who need warming up, and it brews in about 10 minutes when you use boiling water. I’ve tried making my own barley tea, but most of the time I buy the House brand (from Korea), which comes in generous sachets that make a quart each.

We also love this sparkling limeade with a hint of mint:

Fizzy Minted Limeade

1 cup cane sugar
1 cup spearmint leaves
2 cups freshly squeezed lime juice
2 quarts plain sparkling water (such as Talking Rain)

In a small saucepan, combine sugar with 2 cups water, bring to a simmer and stir until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat, add 1/2 cup spearmint, cover and steep for 10 minutes, then strain into a pitcher or large jar. Add lime juice and sparkling water to taste. Serve cold, garnished with fresh mint leaves. Makes about 2 quarts.

Generous Entree Salads

Here are some simple summery salads that taste as if you spent a lot more time on them than you really need to. I love recipes that earn more credit than I deserve….

Pesto Pasta With Smoked Salmon

1 pound gemelli or penne ziti (or any favorite pasta)
1 tablespoon virgin olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 shallots, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives, quartered lengthwise
4 stalks celery, thinly sliced on diagonal
1 cup spicy-sweet peppers (such as peppadew), chopped
8 ounces soft smoked salmon, skinned and flaked
1 cup basil pesto
1 tablespoon capers, drained

Cook pasta in salted water until just al dente, drain, place in large bowl and drizzle and toss with 1 teaspoon olive oil, set aside. In a wide, shallow pan, heat remaining oil with onion, shallots, salt and olives over medium high heat and cook, stirring, until soft (6-8 minutes). Add celery and peppers, cover pan and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in remaining ingredients, then toss with pasta and serve or chill until serving time. Serves 6-8.

A Sweet And Spicy Salad

This toothsome potato salad is a new family favorite, especially since we all love anything to do with kale. It tastes lovely warm or chilled, but if you don’t serve it right away, set the crisped kale aside and don’t add it until serving time so it won’t get soggy.

Spicy Sweet Potato & Crispy Kale Salad

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and diced (1/2 inch pieces)
1 large bunch kale, stems trimmed, cut in fine ribbons
1 tablespoon safflower oil
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon thai red curry sauce
1 Walla-Walla sweet onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 sweet red pepper, chopped
1/4 cup cilantro or parsley, stemmed

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Rub sweet potato dice and kale with safflower oil, spread on two rimmed baking sheets, sprinkle with salt and roast at 400 F until kale is crisp (20 minutes). Remove kale but leave sweet potatoes in oven until slightly caramelized (15-20 more minutes). In a large bowl, combine olive oil, red curry sauce (to taste), sweet onion, celery,  sweet peppers, and cilantro or parsley, toss gently and season to taste with salt (if needed). When sweet potatoes are done, toss with onion mixture, top with crunchy kale and serve or chill until serving time. Serves 6-8.

Red, White and Blueberry Salad with Fireworks Dressing

Bursting with fruit, Walla-walla Sweet onions, and pop-in-your-mouth tomatoes, this invigorating salad goes well with anything you care to serve. Serve it with Fireworks Dressing for a delightfully explosive experience.

Red, White and Blueberry Salad

4 cups young salad greens
1 bunch red arugula, stemmed
1 cup flat Italian parsley, stemmed
1 cup basil, stemmed and shredded
1 Walla-walla Sweet onion, finely diced
1 cup extra sharp white cheddar cheese, finely diced
1 pint blueberries, stemmed
1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes, stemmed

In a serving bowl, toss greens and herbs gently. Top with cheese, blueberries, and tomatoes. Pass with Fireworks Salad Dressing. Serves 8.

Fireworks Salad Dressing

Lively and spunky, this dressing is also great over fish or chicken. To modify the heat, use less exuberant quantities of the chipotle or green curry sauce.

Fireworks Salad Dressing

1/2 cup virgin olive oil
1/4 cup cider or wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-3 teaspoons chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, pureed
OR 1-3 teaspoons Thai green curry sauce

Combine oil, vinegar and garlic in a covered jar and shake well to blend. Add pureed chipotles or green curry sauce to taste, starting with 1 teaspoon. To serve, drizzle over greens and toss gently. Makes about 1 cup.

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Strawberry Season Is Upon Us

Posted on June 24, 2013 by Ann Lovejoy
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Revel In Sweet, Succulent June Bearers

This year is a banner one for berries, and my little deck garden is overflowing with fat, flavorful fruit. Between our island favorite Marshalls, our extra-early Rainiers, and the tiny, exquisite alpines, we eat strawberries every day. If our homegrown ones aren’t enough, the local farmers market has plenty. Nothing tastes better than plump and fragrant strawberries, warm from the sun and picked just moments before you eat them.

A few days ago, we had a glut of gorgeous, dead-ripe Marshalls, and my inventive housemate made incredibly delicious tacos with them. Here’s my version:

Chicken Tacos With Strawberries and Lime

1 tablespoon olive oil
8 yellow corn tortillas
1 onion, chopped
2 shallots, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 ancho pepper, finely chopped
2 limes, juiced, rind grated
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 pound skinless, boneless organic chicken, chopped
1 cup cabbage, shredded
1 cup strawberries, hulled and halved
2 cups cooked white beans

In a wide, shallow pan, quickly toast tortillas in oil over medium high heat, set aside. Add onion, shallots, sprinkle with salt and cook for 3 minutes. Add pepper, lime rind and chicken, cover pan and cook until chicken reaches 165 F (10-12 minutes), stirring often. Toss shredded cabbage and strawberries with lime juice, set aside. Add beans to chicken, reduce heat to low and heat through (5 minutes). Fill folded tortillas with cabbage and chicken mixtures and serve warm. Serves at least one.

Summery Shrimp & Strawberry Salad

Equally quick and beautiful is Shrimp and Cantaloupe Salad With Spicy Strawberry Dressing. Mixed greens are tossed with diced cantaloupe and sizzling garlic shrimp, then topped off with a tart and tangy strawberry dressing that’s lively with cilantro and fresh lime juice.

Shrimp and Cantaloupe Salad

1 tablespoon virgin olive oil
3 big cloves garlic, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup Walla-Walla Sweet onion
1 cup blueberries
6 cups mixed greens
1 ripe cantaloupe, peeled, seeded and diced
1/2 cup Spicy Strawberry Dressing
1/4 cup cilantro, stemmed

In a heavy frying pan, heat oil with garlic and jalapeno pepper over medium high heat for 1 minute. Add shrimp and cook for 2 minutes. Turn shrimp and cook until opaque (1-2 minutes). Add onion and blueberries and cook for 2 minutes. Toss greens with cantaloupe and arrange on 4 dinner plates. Top each serving with shrimp and drizzle with Spicy Strawberry Dressing. Serve at once, garnished with cilantro. Serves four.

A Light, Refreshing Dressing

Bright, tangy, and oil-free, this spunky, pretty dressing is awesome spooned over grilled fish, steamed broccoli, or mixed greens.

Spicy Strawberry Dressing

1 cup strawberries, mashed
1 small shallot, minced
1 organic lime, juiced, rind grated
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon mint, minced
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
2-3 drops Tabasco sauce

In a bender or food processor, combine strawberries, shallot, lime juice and rind, vinegar, mint, and salt and puree. Season to taste with Tabasco sauce and serve. Makes about 1-3/4 cups. Refrigerate leftovers for up to 3 days.

Goat Cheese With Strawberries and Fresh Herbs

Nutritious, flavorful, and easily digested by the lactose-intolerant, fresh goat cheese has about half the fat and nearly twice the protein of cream cheese. Besides, it tastes awesome! Serve this spread with thin wafers or nut-based crackers for a little more protein.

3-4 ounces fresh goat cheese
1/2 cup ripe strawberries, hulled and mashed
1 tablespoon fresh basil, minced
1 tablespoon fresh Italian parsley, minced
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Gently blend all ingredients and chill for an hour or overnight. Serve with raw vegetables or crackers. Makes about 3/4 cup.

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Historic Marshall Strawberries

Posted on June 17, 2013 by Ann Lovejoy
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Grow Oldies And Goodies For Fabulous Flavor

It’s not exactly news that heritage fruit and vegetables have been making a comeback, regionally and nationally. However, recently I’ve noticed a new level of passion for some of the old favorites, along with a hefty price tag. Here on Bainbridge Island, one of the most sought-after antique edibles is the Marshall strawberry. A century ago, largely because of this berry, Bainbridge Island was known as “the fruit basket of Puget Sound.” Many island acres were covered in berry fields, tended and harvested by Japanese, FIlipino, and Native American farmers.

In 1939, when King George IV and Queen Elizabeth made their tour of the British hinterlands, literal boatloads of Marshall strawberries sailed to Vancouver, bound for the royal luncheon table. When I first moved here, I met several people who remembered hand-packing over 800 crates of berries for that event. However, after WWII, the strawberry fields were largely abandoned and trees moved in. By the turn of this century, the reforested strawberry fields were covered with houses, and even on the remaining island farms, and those throughout the Northwest, the Marshalls were all but displaced by more uniform, shippable, and disease resistant varieties.

From Lost To Lustworthy

Today, Marshall strawberries are again highly sought after, considered by foodies to be the sweetest, most toothsome of their clan. Although Marshalls came to fame in the Pacific Northwest, they were bred in Massachusetts back in 1890. Carried across country by pioneers, they readily established in the maritime Northwest, where native strawberries also flourish. Much loved by locals, Marshalls proved very hard to transport, since the berries are so high in brix (natural sugars) that they decay all too quickly.

Until recently, only a handful of farmers and home gardeners (including me) continued to grow Marshalls in small quantities. Here on Bainbridge island, the local Historic Society grows a few plants, as do several island farmers. A food and farm education program for island school children grows some as well, but there are very few commercial sources for Marshalls, and most have very limited offerings (such as only one or two plants per customer) and boast several year waiting lists.

Food as Art?

Perhaps the most astonishing offer comes from an artist named Leah Gauthier, who decided to create a one-woman revival of the fabled Marshall strawberry. On her website (http://leahgauthier.bigcartel.com/) she offers hand raised Marshall berry plants grown from a start she obtained from the the USDA’s Germplasm Repository in Corvallis, Oregon (supposedly from the only remaining clone). Since at least a dozen islanders never stopped growing Marshalls, this seems a somewhat inflated claim, but whatever.

In 2004, a preservation group called RAFT (Renewing America’s Food Traditions) named the Marshall strawberry among most endangered foods in America. Gauthier, an art professor, started growing her single plant in 2007 and is now selling its offspring as a “limited edition” run. If you wish, you can purchase one of her 600 baby plants for $65 (including overnight shipping). Wow. Or you can let me know if you want to buy one of mine and we can dicker. A mere $50 per plant seems like a bargain, yes?

Strawberry Ice Cream For The Goddesses

Here’s what I just did with some of mine….

Marshall Strawberry Ice Cream

1 quart ripe strawberries (Marshall or any favorite type)
hulled and quartered
1/3 cup cane sugar
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 cups heavy organic cream (I use Fresh Breeze)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
In a food processor, puree berries with 2 tablespoons sugar and the  salt. Add cream and vanilla and adjust sugar to taste. Chill mixture for at least an hour (overnight gives time for flavors to meld), then freeze in an ice cream maker. Serve at once, or pack into containers and freeze to desired consistency. Serves at least one.

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