What to eat in January...

With the frigid temperatures, it's no surprise that many of us are longing for summer days.  What I wouldn't give to bite into a juicy peach or a fresh tomato.  Luckily, there have been many winter farmers markets popping up and many have winter veggies.  With a little experimentation, you can whip up a tasty recipe.

Last weekend, I went to the Wayland Winter Farmers Market at Russell's Garden Center.  Wayland Winter Farmers Market is open on Saturdays 10-2 until March 15.  Check out their website for special events like cheese day and wine day!  It's a nice market because you feel like you are in a garden with all the flowers and herbs available.  I am a sucker for hot chocolate, especially on a cold winter day, so it's nice to get a table and have a hot chocolate with a marshmallow from Sweet Lydia's.  I even tried the maple bacon chocolate covered salted caramels.  I love the salty, sweet combo and bacon is the perfect way to pull that off.

Other vendors that are worth a visit are Hosta Hill, Caledonia Farm, and Red Fire Farm.  I bought sauerkraut from Hosta Hill, which they make with organic cabbage right from their farm.  Delicious and good for you too!  Caledonia Farm had a very long line, but it was worth the wait to buy some hot Italian sausage.  I haven't been a sausage eater until I started buying it directly from farmers; it tastes so different from the store bought stuff.  Plus, it was delicious in a white bean sausage stew!  Red Fire Farm has lots of root vegetables and greens to choose from.   I bought onions, carrots, watermelon radish, and garlic.  I also bought some kale to make this delicious recipe.

If you have been craving for pesto, but it's not basil season, try this kale pistachio pesto, it is sure to wake up those taste buds (and sneak in nutrients too!).  I mixed this in with some spaghetti squash for a nice  winter meal.

Kale Pistachio Pesto

3 cups kale (I used dinosaur, but any variety will do)
1/3 pistachio
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
2 garlic cloves
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a food processor.  Pour onto pasta or spaghetti squash.  I put the extra in a mason jar and put it in the refrigerator.  It will last about a month, so make sure to eat it all!

Happy New Year!

It's been a while since my last blog post.  Sometimes life just gets busy, especially around the holidays, but let's face it, there aren't tons of farmers markets going on right now either.  I'm definitely excited to visit some of the winter markets that are beginning to open.  I am in desperate need of a good farmers market and I have plans to go on Saturday to Wayland Farmers Market!

After a fabulous brunch at Bulfinches in Sudbury (I love eggs Benny!), I came home and decided to stay warm by roasting up some butternut squash.  I love squash this time of year and it is very readily available.  Funny story, especially for those that know my husband.  For those that don't, he is picky and needs some convincing to try new foods.  One week, I made a big pot of chili and some delicious buttercup squash and sausage soup (http://www.notsocheesykitchen.com/2013/11/roasted-buttercup-squash-black-bean.html), the latter which my husband wouldn't touch.  Both were in containers in the fridge and one night that I was working late, I told him to have the leftover chili for dinner.  He called me and told me the chili was really soupy, but I just made it so I told him it should be safe to eat.  So I come home and I see the empty bowl in the sink and realized that he ate the soup instead of the chili. I couldn't stop laughing and he said he liked it, so now he can say he has tried buttercup squash.  Since butternut squash is more popular than buttercup squash, it shouldn't take much convincing for him to eat this recipe :)

This will make a great side dish throughout the week, but it takes some prep work, so it's great to make on a Sunday.

You will need:

1 butternut squash

8-10 sage leaves chopped

2 tbsp olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425.  Peel, remove seeds, and chop butternut squash into 1/2 inch cubes.  In a bowl, toss with olive oil, sage, and S&P.  Put in a baking dish and bake for about 40-45 minutes. 

Feel free to play around with spices too.  Sweeten with cinnamon or spice it up with cayenne instead of sage.

A "how to" on Spaghetti Squash

This time of year, I eat a lot of squash.  I can't help it!  It's delicious and in season.  I like all types of squash, including butternut, acorn, winter, but I love spaghetti squash.  While at work, many people are leaning over to check out what I am eating and I often get questions on how to cook it.   Since I eat so much of it this time of year, I thought a step by step how to cook spaghetti squash would be helpful for everyone.

First of all, preheat your oven to 350.

So here is the spaghetti squash

Cut off the ends

And then cut in half length wise

Put about 1/4 inch of water into a baking dish, place the squash in the dish (cut side down), cover with foil and put in the oven for 45-50 minutes

Take the squash out of the oven and remove seeds/pulp.  Then run a fork through the strands of the squash.

Put everything into a bowl and your finished product will look like this

Then you may top the squash with whatever you like.  I made sauce and meatballs, so I used the squash in place of spaghetti.  I also like to drizzle with some olive oil and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.  Enjoy!!

All things pumpkin...the Great Pumpkin Festival

With pumpkin season in full force, I was lucky enough to attend the Great Pumpkin Festival at Cambridge Brewing Company (CBC) in Kendall Square where you can eat and drink everything pumpkin!  It was a great event to have just before Halloween because everyone was dressed up and we got to see some great costumes.  I didn't dress up because we were headed to the Bruins game right after, but at least I got compliments on my Marchand jersey!

There were three bars at the brewery, the main bar, brewhouse bar, and the patio bar, all of which features different beers, some local, and some as far away as Alaska.  Of course, I wanted to start local and support our local companies, so I started at the main bar with CBC beers.  My first beer was Valley Ghoul, which was brewed with barley grown and malted from Valley Malt, which I blogged for during the Hyper Local Brewfest in April!  Next was the Coach and Four, made with Cinderella pumpkins out of Westport MA.  I love Westport for many reasons (school, engagement, beach, farms, etc.) so I like to try things from that area.  While we were drinking our local beers, we ordered from the awesome food menu, full of great pumpkin eats!  We started with roasted pumpkin bisque and roasted pumpkin hummus.   For dinner, I had the pumpkin ravioli.  Being the foodie that I am,  I had to try a bite of everyone's dish, a bite of short ribs, a bite of schnitzel, and a bite of fish and chips (all pumpkin by the way).  Everything was outstanding!  And to end our meal we ordered pumpkin bread pudding and frozen pumpkin pie.  We had some difficulty with the pumpkin pie because it was too frozen, but it was still good.  While we had dessert, I made it to the brewhouse bar to try the Calatrava a spicy beer from Elysian Brewing in Seattle, made with habanero chilies and vanilla beans.

After our delicious meal, we went out to the patio bar to try beers from very far away.  I went with the Pumpkin Porter all the way from Alaska.  I typically don't drink porters, but I just wanted to say that I tried beer from Alaska and it was actually pretty smooth.  Then I tried Purple Pumpkin Eater from Seattle (I think I am starting to like Seattle beers) with pumpkin and lavender and then Citrouille Pumpkin Ale from Quebec, which was your standard pumpkin beer flavored with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, etc.  I really wanted to try the Punkuccino from Seattle which is a coffee pumpkin beer, but they were out of it.  So I will have to look around the stores for this beer.

If you like pumpkin, this is a great fall event to check out.  Tons of beers and good food, so how can you go wrong!  This is an annual event, so be sure to go to the Great Pumpkin Festival at the CBC next year!    

  

Boston Local Food Festival 2013

I wish the Boston Local Food Festival (BLFF) could happen every weekend!  Although it was a gloomy and rainy day, there was so much to see and lots of local food to be eaten.

I met my friends and their adorable baby at the festival to get some eats.  My first mission was coffee!   We found a delicious cup of joe at El Recreo Estate Coffee The coffee had a strong, rich flavor and really hit the spot on a chilly day.  There was so much to see so we walked around with our coffee to check everything out.  We came across Volante Farms because there was a sign for pumpkin hummus, which I had to try (and buy!).  There was also a slow cooked pork sandwich with pickled vegetables and a smoked apple mustard using hoponious union ale from Jack's Abby. Enough said there!  We had a nice little lunch for  ourselves.  Volante Farms is located in Needham, so I will be paying them a visit soon!  They also have a catering menu for Thanksgiving!

We continued around the festival and tried some pumpkin butter (yes, I am obsessed with pumpkin!) and low sugar raspberry jam from Lala's Harvest.  Since the baby tried the pumpkin butter and liked it, my friend went home with a jar.  Lala's Harvest is located in Sharon, MA and uses local and organic ingredients to make their products.  As we continued around the festival, I said hello to my friends at Locally, who I blogged for the BLFF blog.  We then stumbled upon The Fresh Truck, which I have been dying to find!  I love the idea of a mobile farmers market to make local healthy food available to everyone in Boston.  Here I am on the bus!

We found many, many vendors that I am familiar with from going to the farmers markets, cookie lady treats, Nashoba Brook Bakery, Q's Nuts, Valicenti Organico, just to name a few.  There were also farms selling produce, I picked up some peppers, tomatoes, and lettuce from Red Fire Farm.  If you were hungry there were restaurants and food trucks to eat at (everything $6 or less) and Do It Yourself Demos, Seafood Throwdown, Chef Demos, and Chowda Cook-off.  I enjoyed watching the Seafood throwdown and seeing the chef's wandering around the festival buying produce to cook with.  There was so much to do here, we just couldn't see everything.  We had a great time and left with very full bellies!  I can't wait to do this again next year!

Cooking Class at Waltham Fields Community Farm

A couple weeks ago my friend and I went to Waltham Fields Community Farm on a gorgeous evening for a cooking class!

Shannon, from Whole Foods Fresh Pond, kindly came to the farm to show us how to make some delicious and healthy meals from their Health Starts Here program.  It was a great way to see how to use seasonal produce in some unique recipes.  The program focuses on four pillars of healthy eating to include healthy meals in your diet.  These include whole food, plant strong, healthy fats, and nutrient dense.  Look for the health starts here label when you are shopping at whole foods and check out their website for tips, recipes, and cooking methods.

Our first course was cabbage kohlrabi slaw with a lemon and avocado dressing and was my first time eating kohlrabi.  It looks like celery root, but smoother and is similar to cabbage, kale, and broccoli.  This is a refreshing slaw and all the ingredients would easily be found at the farmers market or in your CSA.

    

Our next course was Orzo Soup.  This was my favorite part of the meal (and of course I forgot to take a picture) and I could see myself making this frequently, plus I have been making a lot of soup these days with the cooler weather coming in.  It is super easy to make and has some nice leafy greens, such as escarole to keep it super healthy.  If you like spicy you can heat it up by adding some red pepper flakes.

For our main course we had collard rolls with eggplant, adzuki bean, and spicy tahini sauce.  I love the idea of making rolls in a nice leafy green, so this was perfect for me.   I often make tacos with lettuce to cut out the processed tortillas, so I definitely support making a wrap of a leafy green loaded with vitamins.  However, I know my husband won't touch this, so this will have to be something I make for myself.

And for dessert, we had raw apple crisp.  Quick, easy, and healthy and was a great way to finish out meal.  Simply combine pecans, hazelnuts, raisins, ginger, and cinnamon in a food processor and cover over apples.

When the class was over we took a walk around the farm to check out their learning garden.  There are a lot of really great programs that the farm is putting on, including youth learning programs and workshops.  The Waltham Farm Day is this weekend on October 5 from 2-5pm.  There will be tractor climbing, face painting, PYO carrots, recipe tasting, and arts and crafts.  It's a free event so go check it out!!

Timing is Everything - September

A couple of weeks ago, I visited the Belmont Farmers Market to see what is in season now.  I love this time of year because the tomatoes are still coming, but we are getting some great fall flavors like butternut squash and pumpkin!  I also found some delicious honey crisp apples which are a great fall treat!  Apples are so crisp and tart this time of year, I can't help but to buy a few when I'm at the market.  
Another one of my favorites this time of year is spaghetti squash.  It is such a great substitute for pasta and tastes delicious.  I made some last week with sauce and meatballs, but I love to eat it with some butter and parmesan cheese.  Peppers are coming out in lots of colors, eggplant, green beans, corn, and I wouldn't be surprised to see some broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage coming out soon with these cool temperatures.  And pumpkins, lots of pumpkins!

Now into the Belmont Farmers Market.  I used to frequent this market when I worked in Medford, so I really enjoyed going back for a visit.  Two great farms are there, Kimball and Dick's Market Garden, as well as Belmongo Farm, The Farm School, Flats Mentor Farm, Hutchins Farms, and Nicewicz Family Farm.  All with plenty of vegetables.  Nobscot Artisan Cheese and Foxboro Cheese are there for your cheese fix and also Sara Ran Away with the Spoon and Sfolia Bakery for your sweet tooth.  You can also find honey, maple syrup, wine, hummus, and knife sharpening as well.  All in all, a great market!  I definitely miss stopping at this market on my way home from work!  Belmont Farmers Market is located in the Belmont Center parking lot of Thursdays 2-6pm until October 31st!  Go check them out!

Enjoy all the fall flavors!!