Oleana Restaurant in Cambridge

Hi all,

We get our farmshare at Siena Farms in Sudbury. The head farmer dude is married to Ana Sortun, head chef at Oleana Restaurant in Cambridge.

Oleana is among my top 3 favorite restaurants in the Boston area. I love it, first, because they are the epitomy of everything this blog is all about. They use a lot of local, organic ingredients, most from Siena Farms. But aside from that, the food is just AWESOME.

I have Ana's cookbook, Spices, but her recipes are pretty time-consuming. Still worth the money if you're really into cooking. But if not, then I come to edge of DEMANDING that you at least go sample her food (and taste a bit of our farmshare) at Oleana Restaurant. So good.

Leah: We should do our next double-date there. You and Cory would love it. They have an outdoor seating area that's just like, "Ahhhh, yes...this is summer!"

Amari

Radishes (and cilantro)

I have a hard time figuring out how to use radishes, partly because I just don't like them that much. But I do enjoy them in this salad. (This is a great side at a cookout instead of potato salad -- high protein, low carbs.)

Edamame Salad
Adapted from The South Beach Diet, by Arthur Agatston, M.D. (Rodale Press, 2003)

1 bag frozen shelled edamame (cooked according to directions on bag and cooled)
1/2 c. rice vinegar
1 Tblsp vegetable oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 bunch radishes, cut in half and thinly sliced
1 c. loosely packed chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Toss everything together in a large bowl. Serve chilled or at room temp.

Kale

Two wicked easy and yummy recipes for using up your kale:

Kale Saute
olive oil
1/2 onion
2 slices prosciutto
1 bunch kale
pepper (optional)

Prep:
Dice 1/2 an onion, set aside. In a large frying pan, heat ~2 Tblsp olive oil over med-high heat. Meanwhile, rinse kale and rip/cut into pieces. (Don't worry about draining it too much after rinsing -- a little water on the leaves is good for cooking.) Set aside.

Cooking:
When the oil is hot, add onion and saute for a couple minutes until tender. Using kitchen shears, snip pieces of proscuitto into pan. Stir a couple times until everything is sizzling. Add kale. Sautee (stirring often) just until everything is wilted/tender, but still nice and green. If needed, add a little water and olive oil to keep things from sticking to the pan. Try not to overcook. Top off with some black pepper if desired. Serve hot.

Shannon Allen's Kale & Arugala Salad
Shannon Allen is the wife of Ray Allen from Boston Celtics. This is what Shannon serves Ray after a rough game w/ lots of bruises. Apparently, kale is one of the best foods to eat to help your body heal from bruising! I was leary of using the combo of these greens raw in a salad (too strong/harsh?) but I was totally wrong. It's sooo yummy.

Salad:
1 c. arugala leaves, cut in thin strips
1 c. kale leaves, cut in thin strips
1/2 c. raspberries
1/2 c. smoked almonds, chopped

Dressing:
Juice from 1/2 a grapefruit
Juice from 1 lemon
2 Tblsp olive oil
2 Tblsp balsamic vinegar

Enjoy!

Orzo Salad with Zucchini and Feta

Ok, this is for when the zucchini starts to roll in- very good summer salad, really light!

8 oz orzo (1/2 box)
3 TB olive oil
3 TB white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3-4 small zucchini cut into half moons
8 oz feta
1/4 cup fresh chopped dill

1) Cook the orzo- drain and run under cold water to cool
2) Combine oil, vinegar, red pepper, salt and pepper. Add zucchini and let marinate, tossing occasionally for 20 mins
3) Add the orzo, feta and dill to zucchini mixture and toss to combine

Strawberry Vinaigrette Salad

This salad takes 2 seconds to make and is pretty tasty- good use for the spinach! (I didn't have the worcestershire sauce and it still tasted fine, also didn't have almonds, haha or poppy seeds). I also did not put the dressing right on the salad- I just scooped it onto the salad on the plate- there was a ton of dressing leftover!

1 lb spinach
1/2 lb romaine lettuce
1 1/2 cups strawberries
Almonds, slivered

Dressing:
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/2 tsp minced onion
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup olive oil
1 TB sesame seeds
1 TB poppy seeds

Enjoy!

Veggie Lasagna

I made an all veggie lasagna tonight. I took a traditional lasagna recipe and threw in chopped up spinach and bok choy and some pea tendrils from my CSA. The spinach and bok choy were a good idea, but the pea tendrils were gross. I had read that you can use them anywhere you would use spinach, but that is a lie! They were nothing like spinach and actually tasted like burnt hair. Better luck next time.

I had repeated success with my 2nd round of broccoli and bok choy stromboli, largely due to the addition of my most favorite food in the ENTIRE world... BACON!! I made several stromboli to freeze and even managed to eat one for lunch today. Yum!

Eventually, I am going to need to find recipes for cooking veg that do not involve cheese, but for now I am just happy to be making things with green ingredients! Small steps people, bok choy is a big deal!

Beets, Scapes and Bok Choy - OH MY!

I tried two new recipes and modified another one for dinner tonight. Everything turned out GREAT and the best part, every dish contained an item from my farm share this week!

First, as a side dish, I made Quick Pickled Beets . Aside from being in love with Martha Stewart's craftiness and her eye for "good things", I really like her recipes. There was a huge gallery of recipes just for beets on her website. I did take special care not to turn my kitchen beet-red and the preparation was super easy. It takes about a 1/2 hour for the beets to cook on the stove, but vinegary kick of the final dish was worth the wait.

Second, I figured out what to do with garlic scapes... make PESTO!! I found a recipe for Garlic Scape Basil Pesto and ran out to my garden to snip a few leaves off my basil plants. This is another easy recipe, but do not be tempted to add any extra garlic to this recipe because the scapes really have enough flavor, but you can add pine nuts, even though they are not listed. The pesto was really nice on a fresh baguette, but I had bigger plans.

Enter recipe #3 - Broccoli, Tomato and Mozzarella Stromboli from my go-to-gal, Martha. I made a few changes to the recipe and they really paid off. I kept the broccoli and mozzarella in my stromboli and omitted the garlic, marinara and salami. Instead, I added my garlic scape pesto and bok choy. Since I was using fresh broccoli and bok choy, I chopped them into 1 inch pieces, steamed the broccoli and bok choy stems for 3 minutes and the bok choy leaves for 1 minute. I dumped the veg into a bowl of ice water after steaming, pseudo-blanching them, I guess. I spread the pesto on the pizza dough, then a layer of the broccoli & bok choy mixture and topped it off with mozzarella. I followed the rest of the recipe to roll them up and bake. They were delicious!!

Kohlrabi

Ok, we got Kohlrabi in the share this week- anybody know what to do with that? And I second Johanna- what about garlic scapes?

Broccoli Salad

This is a salad my mom has made for years and it is yummy! Tara and I are going to add cauliflower to it as well since we have both from our farm share this week.

3 cups broccoli
2 oz shredded cheddar cheese
1/3 c raisins
1/4 c red onions
2 tsp lemon juice
6 slices bacon crumbled (but if Johanna an I make it we double this!)


Dressing:
1/2 c. mayo
2 T sugar

1. Mix first 5 ingredients
2. Mix mayo/sugar together and mix with salad
3. Add bacon right before serving

Enjoy!

Recipe

White Hakurei Turnip Gratin

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon butter

1 teaspoon dry thyme

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper,

1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper.

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup gluten-free chicken stock

1/2 cup of fresh parmesan cheese

Directions:

Melt 1 Tablespoon butter in a non-stick 12 inch skillet (make sure you have a top to fit the pan.)

Wash one bunch of white hakurei turnips well, top and tail them, and slice them in 1/4 inch slices. Save the turnip greens for another recipe. You don’t need to peel the turnips. Layer the slices in the pan. Sprinkle the sliced turnips with 1 teaspoon dry thyme, 3/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper, and 1/8- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper.

Cook for 3 minutes over medium heat, then pour 1/2 cup heavy cream and 1/2 cup gluten-free chicken stock over the top. Cover and cook the turnips over medium heat for 20 minutes. The turnips will be completely cooked through, but there will be considerable liquid left in the pan. Remove the cover and cook to reduce the liquid. When most of the liquid has reduced (about 5-10 minutes), and the sauce is thickened, grate finely 1/2 cup of fresh parmesan cheese evenly over the top. Watch closely as the cheese melts and make sure that the liquid does not entirely cook away. Serve the turnips hot.

Recipe credit: www.gfzing.com

Week 1: CSA

Week 1: CSA

My CSA arrived today in the most adorable green box.

This week's farm share included:
- Beets
- Lettuce
- Spinach
- Hakurei Turnips
- Chinese Cabbage (Bok Choy or Tatsoi)
- Peas
- Garlic Scapes
- and a mystery food below - what is it?




I think I already have a plan for the Turnips & the Bok Choy. I am going to make a cheesy gratin for the turnips and then sauteed broccoli & Bok Choy.


I'll take suggestions for the beets and the garlic scapes.

My CSA Arrives this Wednesday - Whoo hoo!

The countdown begins... my CSA is being delivered to my front porch by MetroPedal Power on Wednesday and I can't wait. It cost a bit more for the home delivery, but I wanted to make this first experience with a CSA a good one and didn't want any excuses for not picking up my share.

The Farmer Dave's website associated with my CSA has a Produce Id Guide on Flickr. I might be putting this to good use this week. Check it out http://www.farmerdaves.net/media/produce-id-guide

The weekly newsletter also contained a helpful article about preparing for your CSA http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/05/10-secrets-tips-for-making-the-most-of-your-csa.html