Eating local in Idaho

Cheesy Kiwifruit Salad with Baby Greens

2011-03-05T21:20:00.000-07:00

CHEESY KIWIFRUIT SALAD WITH BABY GREENS

California kiwifruit peeled and cubed
1/2 cup Seasoned feta cheese
¼ cup Gorgonzola cheese
1 pkg. or 4 cups Fresh baby 1/4 cup Parsley chopped
¼ cup Cashews sliced or chopped

Makes 4 servings.
Dressing
1/2 tsp. Low sodium soy sauce
1 1/2 tbsp. White wine vinegar
1 tsp. Fresh cracked pepper
1 1/2 tbsp. Extra virgin olive oil
Place kiwifruit, cheeses, baby greens, parsley, and almonds in a bowl and toss lightly. In a separate bowl combine soy sauce, white wine vinegar, pepper and oil. Drizzle dressing over salad tossing lightly.

Recipe of the week

2010-07-03T21:06:00.000-06:00

Roasted Beet Salad With Beet Greens and Feta
8 Tbs Extra-virgin Olive Oil + a bit for roasting
5 Tbs Red Wine Vinegar
1 Tbs minced garlic
6-7 Medium Beets
2 Tbs chopped drained capers
¾ Cup crumbled Feta Cheese
1 Lg or 2 Med sliced Green Onion
Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Scrub beets. Cut green tops off beets; reserve tops and cut beets in half. Toss in small amount of Olive Oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Arrange beets in single layer in 13x9x2-inch baking dish. Roast in oven for about ½ hr or until tender. Cut stems off beet greens; discard stems. Wash greens. Chop greens coarsely. Transfer greens, with some water still clinging to leaves, to large pot. Stir over high heat until just wilted but still bright green, about 4 minutes. Drain greens; squeeze out excess moisture. Cool; chop coarsely. Whisk oil, vinegar and garlic in small bowl to blend. Season dressing with salt and pepper. Transfer greens to medium bowl. Toss with enough dressing to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.Slice beets and then cut crosswise if desired to make bite sized pieces. Transfer to large bowl. Mix in capers and green onion. and remaining dressing. Add Feta and toss. Season with salt and pepper.

Local Asparagus now

2010-05-02T11:17:00.000-06:00

Roasted Lemon Asparagus

1 pound of asparagus ends trimmed
1/2 pound cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 large lemon
1 small onion, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons capers, rinsed and chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons fresh chervil or flat leaf parsley chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper to taste
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
In a large non-stick skillet, heat one tablespoon of the olive oil over high heat. Add the asparagus, and cook 4-5 minutes, turning once, until the asparagus begins to soften and browns slightly. Remove to a plate. Slice half the lemon in paper-thin rounds. Squeeze the juice from the remaining half and set aside. Heat the remaining olive oil in the same skillet. Add the mushrooms, lemon slices, onion, and capers. Cook 4-5 minutes until the lemons begin to brown and give off their liquid. Reduce the heat to low and add the wine and asparagus. Add the lemon juice and chervil (or parsley), tossing the asparagus to coat. Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.

Recipe of the Week

2010-04-24T19:00:00.001-06:00

April 21st 2010

2010-04-24T18:57:00.001-06:00

Spinach, Orange and Almond Salad
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons rice
wine vinegar
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
8 oz washed, torn spinach leaves
¼ cup canned roast pepper strips
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 orange, cut into segments
1/4 cup toasted sliced almonds
In a medium sauté pan over medium heat add oil. When oil is hot add onions and cook, stirring occasionally until onions release their natural sugar and become golden brown, about 20 minutes. To make dressing: In a small jar or pint container with a lid add mustard, honey, vinegar, oil, salt and pepper. Place top on container and shake to combine.
In a large mixing bowl add spinach, roasted pepper, feta and 2 tbsp. dressing. Toss to combine. Garnish with caramelized onion, orange segments and toasted almonds.

Yellow Finn Potato Recipe

2009-09-25T10:10:00.001-06:00

This is a wonderful new recipe I found for Yellow Finn potatoes, just dug out of the ground last week. Yellow Finns are sweet and smooth, great for mashed potatoes and also the recipe below. Yummy!

Yellow Finn Baked Potato Pancake

From “The Farm Market Cookbook,” by Judith Onley
6 medium Yellow Finn (or Yukon Gold) potatoes
2 eggs
2 tablespoons flour
1 large garlic clove, pressed
1 tablespoon grated onion
2 teaspoons salt
Lots of freshly ground pepper
1 1/4 cups milk
3 tablespoons butter, melted
Sour cream and minced fresh parsley for garnish
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 11-inch quiche pan or other baking dish.

Peel and grate the potatoes with a medium-holed grater. Add the remaining ingredients except the melted butter, sour cream and parsley and mix well – your hands are most effective here. Put potatoes into the prepared baking dish and press the surface down flat.

Drizzle the melted butter over the top and bake for 1 hour.

Serve immediately with a bowl of sour cream and another of minced parsley on the side.

Yield: 6 servings

September-local foods aplenty

2009-09-11T14:18:00.004-06:00

It is now September, the weather is changing but local food is plentiful. Picked the last of the blackberries for this year, they were so ripe and juicy we were eating as much as picking. Headed over to Shoemakers Orchard for the last of their wonderful Improved Elberta's, yum. Melancholy time of year for me, still full of summer but with a hint of the coolness yet to come......

100 percent Local

2009-08-24T20:43:00.002-06:00

August 24th 2009
Haven't really known what to do with this blog since I began. I guess I didn't really understand what a blog is about. I really want to talk about how eating locally is so much fun and so healthy for yourself and your community. I go to a regular grocery store now and I look at what is offered and I don't see food. I see packaging and advertizement. It is annoying to see all the crap people put in their grocery carts. Not that I don't buy items with some packaging. But when we can buy directly from farms, when you see the food growing and know that the day before it was in the ground or on the vine, there is nothing that beats that!
We had the best cantaloupe ever this morning. Juicy and sweet, with the perfect ripeness. From Rice Family Organic Farm in Meridian Idaho. Wonderful!

Local food defined

2009-06-07T11:41:00.000-06:00

Local food (also regional food or food patriotism) or the local food movement is a "collaborative effort to build more locally based, self-reliant food economies - one in which sustainable food production, processing, distribution, and consumption is integrated to enhance the economic, environmental and social health of a particular place"^[1] and is considered to be a part of the broader sustainability movement. It is part of the concept of local purchasing and local economies, a preference to buy locally produced goods and services. Those who prefer to eat locally grown/produced food sometimes call themselves "localvores" or locavores.[