Polenta veggie bowl

We are fully loving spring and asparagus season. We are sharing a spring veggie polenta recipe with you today. We used broccoli greens instead of swiss chard this time because we had a lot from our spring broccoli harvest.

Serves: 2-4

Time: 1 1/2hrs

Ingredients

1 batch basic polenta

1 batch of shittake bacon

olive oil

salt and pepper

1 bulb fennel

1 bunch asparagus

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 red onion

1 small head of broccoli

1 bunch of swiss chard (feel free to substitute other spring greens)

2 cloves garlic

2 tbsp aged balsamic vinegar

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Preheat the oven to 375 F. Begin to make the basic polenta and shiitake bacon.

Cut the fennel into slices and the broccoli into florets. Toss them with olive oil and spread on a lined baking sheet. Salt. Roast in the oven about 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Slice the onion and saute until caremilzed. Mince the garlic and cut the chard into thin strips. Fry the garlic until fragrant, no longer than 2 minutes, add the chard and salt to taste. Saute until wilted. If you have multiple frying pans these steps can be done simultaneously.

Set the oven to broil. Trim the ends off the asparagus and put on a baking sheet with olive oil and salt. Broil for 7 minutes, flip, and broil for another 7 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with lemon juice.

To assemble, place polenta in a bowl and then add a bit of each element. Finish with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar and enjoy!

Swiss chard, mushroom, & tofu bowl with toasted cashews

This dish was inspired by the food that Camille had in her fridge. At the time, she had 4 mushrooms, so that is what she used. If you have more, it’s really good with about 2 cups of sliced mushrooms and I’m sure it would be good with anywhere in between. We’ve enjoyed it with both cremini and oyster mushrooms and would bet it would also taste good with shiitake mushrooms and chestnut mushrooms.

Also, we realize that yesterday was Indigenous People’s Day. If you’re interested in why we feel so called ‘Columbus Day’ should be changed federally to Indigenous People’s Day check out this beautiful episode from the All My Relations Podcast.

Serves: 4

Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

For the greens:

1 bunch Swiss chard, de-stemmed and thinly sliced

some mushrooms (see intro)

salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp coconut aminos

1 tsp pomegranate molasses (optional)

For the tofu:

1 block tofu

1/4 cup sesame oil

1 tsp salt

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

For the rice:

1 cup sushi rice

2 cups slightly salted water

1 tsp rice or champagne vinegar

1/2 tsp sugar

For the garnish:

1/4 cup cashews, toasted

1/2 bunch thinly sliced green onion

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Slice the mushrooms and sautee until golden brown with salt and pepper. Taste to make sure these are seasoned to your preference. While they are cooking, de-stem the chard and slice into small ribbons. When the mushrooms are fully cooked, add the swiss chard, pomegranate molasses, a bit of salt, and coconut aminos. Cook 1 minute until the chard is shiny and soft but not yet browning.

Cook the sushi rice in salted water until done. You want to add some salt, but since you won’t be draining the rice it shouldn’t be as salty as sea water. We used about 1/2 tsp salt, but this will depend on the type of salt you are using. Once it is cooked, add all the other ingredients to the rice and fluff with a fork.

Slice the tofu into 1 inch squares. Heat the sesame oil in a pan, once hot add the tofu. Cook undisturbed on one side until golden brown. Salt and flip. Cook until crispy on the second side and then pour all the nutritional yeast in the pan and stir to coat.

Toast the cashews if they are raw and slice the green onions.

To serve, assemble rice on the bottom, then tofu, then greens. Top with toasted cashews and green onion and enjoy!

Sheep Lover's Pie

This sheep lover’s pie is our take on a more traditional ‘shepherd’s pie’. The layering of peppered mushrooms, sweet carrots and cabbage, edamame, and fresh swiss chard makes a savory sensation you won’t want to miss! Topped off with our famous garlicky potatoes we always get excited when we have leftovers to eat day after day.

We love this dish because it is easy to use up whatever is in your fridge or whatever your farm has in stock. Speaking of farms, now is a great time to remember we still need to support our local farmers if we want to continue to have access to delicious local food!

If you live in the Portland area consider buying online from The Side Yard Farm https://www.thesideyardpdx.com/. If you live in the Seattle area, Kirsop Farm https://www.kirsopfarm.com/ has an online shopping option. If you live in Roxbury, Connecticut, Riverbank Farm has an online option with a pick up at the garage: https://www.riverbankfarm.com/.

We are great believers in the value of small local farms and farmer’s markets. Right now, many small farms are struggling because a large part of their revenue comes from farmers markets. Social distancing, and in some places closure of markets, means that farms can use any help they can get. Shopping directly from local farms is one way to help, another is to give to local funds that offer grants to farms who have lost revenue. A great way to figure out how to help is to check out your local farmer’s market website.

On the subject of giving back, many of us will have seen, or will soon see, stimulus checks in our bank accounts. As white settlers we are keenly aware that, due to systematic oppression, the pandemic is having disproportionate impact on black, indigenous, and people of color. For example, stimulus checks are being distributed widely, independent of level of need. This means that those continuing to work and seeing less impact receive as much as or more than the most impacted.

For those who have lost jobs or were already in a precarious place, the stimulus checks are a great boon, but Anne’s family looked at their situation and decided that the additional income is not as essential to them as it is could be to others who are bearing the brunt of this global pandemic. They chose to give their stimulus check to local organizations supporting those who are most impacted by the pandemic. We offer this thought: do you need your stimulus check? If you don’t, please consider giving to organizations in your area that are supporting those who do.

If you want some ideas of organizations check out: https://www.sharemycheck.org/

Serves: 4

Time: 2 hours (1 hour active time)

Ingredients

4-6 red potatoes (1 1/3 lb), quartered with skin on

3 tbsp salt, divided

1 head garlic 

3/4 cup raw cashews and water to soak

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

1 cup olive oil, divided

3 cups sliced cremini (1/2 lb), sliced

1/2 tsp pepper

1 medium onion (1 1/2 cups), chopped

2 medium carrots (1/3 lb), cubed

1/2 lb cabbage, chopped

1 cup frozen peas

1 cup frozen edamame

5 leaves of chard, de-stemmed and chopped

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Preheat the oven to 375 F. Cover the cashews with water and put them in the fridge until you make the mashed potatoes. Roast the garlic. You can do this a number of ways and our two favorite are to use a garlic roaster or a small cast iron pan. If you are using a garlic roaster chop the tops off the garlic, drizzle a bit of oil into the garlic cloves, put this into the garlic roaster and roast in the oven for about 45 minutes. To use a small cast iron pan, peel the garlic and place cloves in the cast iron pan with a small amount of olive oil. Roast this in the oven for about 20 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Either way, the garlic should look golden brown and be very soft. With the cast iron method, it is easier to burn the garlic so make sure to check on it.

Quarter and boil the potatoes in very salty water until tender. The water should taste about as salty as sea water so that the potatoes soak in the water and are perfectly salted when done. Don’t worry if these feels like a lot of salt; you will be draining the water. Drain the potatoes when they are fork tender.

Saute mushrooms in 1 tbsp olive oil until tender and starting to brown, about 20 minutes.  When they are soft, add the pepper. Layer the mushrooms on the bottom of a baking dish (we use an 8.5” casserole or a 12” cast iron pan).  Layer the peas on top of the mushrooms. It’s okay if they are still frozen.

Saute the onion and carrot about 10 minutes on medium high heat until the onions are translucent and the carrots are starting to brown, stirring regularly.  Add the cabbage and cook about 7 minutes longer, stirring regularly, until the cabbage has wilted and released some of its liquid.  

Drain the soaked cashews and add them to a blender (we like the Vitamix) with 1/2 cup water until smooth. You can test for smoothness by rubbing some between two fingers. If it feels at all gritty, keep blending. Mash the cooked potatoes with the roasted garlic, cashew cream, 1/4 cup olive oil, and nutritional yeast together. Taste and add salt if needed. There will be salt added to the top of the potatoes once the dish is fully assembled, so be careful not to over salt. Layer the onion cabbage mixture into the baking dish.  Salt this layer with 1 tsp of salt. De-stem the chard and chop or thinly slice. Add the edamame and chard before topping the whole dish with the garlicky potatoes.  Rough up the top of the potatoes with a fork and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and rough them up again. 

Bake about one hour until the top of the potatoes have some crispy, browned sections. Enjoy!