SSFC: Super Spinach Salad!

For my last SOLE Food Challenge I made a super spinach salad. All winter long I'd seen various spinach salad recipes on the internet touting the health benefits of spinach and eggs and other ingredients that go into this "super salad." I kept mine really simple with local ingredients, forgoing a bacon vinaigrette (as so many of the recipes have) because I didn't have any local bacon.

My ingredients of Spinach, Potatoes, and Onions were all bought at the Dupont Circle farmers' market. The eggs came from a family farm in Maryland and are being sold at my local Whole Foods. I steamed the spinach (which had been frozen and stored in my freezer), hard-boiled an egg, and sauteed the potatoes and onions with some olive oil, salt, and pepper. The result was a light, healthy, and delicious meal, perfect for me when I was feeding only myself one afternoon.

Now that spring is here, more farmers' markets are re-opening for the season and I can't wait to start enjoying seasonal foods like asparagus, broccoli, and more spinach, and eventually strawberries, green beans, tomatoes, summer squash, blueberries, and watermelon!! I've literally been dreaming of watermelon. Can't wait for summer! I'm also looking forward to working on my own garden, and I hope to find time to get some seeds started soon.

I had fun participating in the winter version of this challenge to eat local and seasonal foods. It'll be so much easier to eat that way now that spring and summer are on their way! To see what other participants are eating, click on the SSFC badge above.
Happy Easter!!

SSFC: The Loaf Post

This local food challenge post got lost in draft format back in January. I want to share my two favorite kinds of loafs (loaves??): meat and lemon. Meat loaf is the ultimate comfort food to me, and on a cold winter night, if I can't have a big bowl of soup, then I want meatloaf and mashed potatoes. We eat red meat maybe once a week, and I'm happy to have found Smith Family Farms in VA as my source of local beef. We've tried different cuts and have been pleased with the flavor of all of them.

Instead of mashed potatoes, I had this meat loaf dish with bubble and squeak (my version of it) made with potatoes (farmers' market), Swiss chard (farmers' market), bell peppers and onions (my garden, frozen). Click here for my recipe with seasonal ingredients.

My other favorite loaf is lemon loaf. I am addicted to Starbucks lemon bread but I have to restrict myself on how many times a week I get it because it's very sweet (and expensive) but oh so good! When Meyer lemons were in season back in January I made a lemon loaf. It wasn't quite as sweet as the Starbucks kind, but it was pretty damn good! Especially with a hot cup of coffee.

I have one more week left of the SSFC now that winter is over. To see what others are eating this week, click on the badge.

SSFC: Spinach Carrot Risotto

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, I whipped up this risotto using colors from the Irish flag. The spinach, carrots, and onions came from the farmers' market at Dupont Circle. It's a bit of a trek for me to get there on Sundays, and I can't wait for the market near work to open for the season, which should happen this Thursday. It'll be so convenient to shop after work. (Both are part of the Fresh Farm Markets network in the DC metro area). The first day of Spring is this week too. Lots to look forward to!

Click on the icon to see what other SSFC participants are eating this week.

SSFC: Cleaning Out the Freezer

As we're getting closer to spring, the SSFC challenge is close to wrapping up too. I've been working on cleaning out the freezer of food we have stored over the winter. We've been working our way through broccoli, spinach, peppers, and meat. We recently grilled up some salmon and I was trying to think of a good side dish that wasn't fish or rice. I settled on a side of chickpeas with crushed tomatoes and spinach.

 I wanted to use the tomatoes that I dried in the oven last fall. I've been trying to incorporate them into different meals. I think that might be another reason why it feels like spring is almost on its way--I'm eating warm weather food.
This side dish did include some locally sourced ingredients:

• tomatoes and bell pepper (my garden/frozen)
• onions and spinach (farmers' market)

I got a new phone recently and was playing with the camera on my new phone, which is almost better than my little point-and-shoot camera. These are the peppers, onions, and oven-dried tomatoes sauteing:

 

This is the setting that only picks up red and yellow colors:

To see what other SSFC participants are having this week, click on the icon.

SSFC: Breakfast

{Fresh berries from last spring/summer}

How is it March already? 2013 has been busy with work commitments and personal commitments, and I haven't yet started planning my garden. The temperatures are still cold in the DC area, but there have been some really pleasant warmish days, and days are getting longer. Spring is coming. I need to get in gear!

We've been cleaning out the freezer and that has made it easy to incorporate local and/or seasonal food into our meals. For this purpose breakfast is the EASIEST. It's very easy to find locally sourced eggs, and we've been using the strawberries and blueberries that we got in season last spring to make pancakes and smoothies. We recently made blueberry pancakes with blueberries we got last August from a trip to Maine.

And while this is not a local ingredient, I had to show off my frothy latte. Love our new espresso machine!



Smoothies are another easy way to use up the berries. I've been eating a lot of oranges this winter, and I haven't had fresh berries since last summer. It has been a treat to eat strawberries and blueberries. It's really getting me in the mood for spring. I make mine with one or two bananas, a spoonful of plain Greek yogurt for a little thickness, and about a cup each of strawberries and blueberries that have been stored in my freezer.

Click here to see what seasonal and locally-sourced meals other SSFC participants are eating this week.

A Valentine's Vegan Apple Cake

Our SSFC theme last week was to make a sweet treat for Valentine's Day. One of my goals since last new year's has been to improve my baking skills, and I've been experimenting with vegan recipes. I am not vegan but I frequently use non-dairy butters and almond milk to give my body a break from dairy. It seems to help with my allergies. I'm also intrigued at the thought of making tasty desserts without butter or cream. We have a relative who is allergic to eggs and dairy, and he's usually left out when everyone else is enjoying dessert, so I want to make desserts that he can enjoy too. Actually, he has recently been tested again, and his egg allergy is gone, but he still has the dairy allergy.

I got this recipe for an iced vegan apple pecan cake from The Kind Diet, Alicia Silverstone's book about vegan eating. The recipe actually calls for walnuts, but I bought pecans by mistake. Here are the ingredients:

Flour, sugar, canola oil, salt, baking soda, apple cider vinegar, cinnamon, vanilla, pecans, and apples. The apples were my only locally sourced ingredient. They came from West Virginia and I bought them at the farmers' market.

The cake turned out great! It's like a very soft apple-cinnamon french toast. The oil kept everything moist and I didn't miss the butter at all. These apples are very sweet, so I used 1/4 cup less sugar than the recipe called for, but next time I'll probably use 1/2 cup less because the cake turned out really, really sweet. And can I tell you how divine the house smelled?? There is nothing like the smell of apples and cinnamon baking.

I've been eating squares just as they are, but I was thinking about cutting off a huge block and putting in a bowl with almond milk. I think that would be really good for breakfast.

Although I made this cake for my sweetheart, this is probably something I would make next time we head out to my father-in-law's.
Click on the SSFC badge to see what other challenge participants are making this week. I thought my blog friend Emily's idea to make sweet potato and kale soup was a clever way to do the assignment. I hope you had a lovely Valentine's Day!

SSFC: Baked Turkey with Tomato, Basil, Mozzarella

Hello friends! I don't mean to keep taking breaks from the inter-webs, but stuff just keeps happening to get in the way of my play time. Nothing serious, just the usual, busy life stuff. I can't believe we're almost at mid-February! I realized this morning that I'm about 6 weeks overdue for a haircut. I have a shaggy mess on my head and have been wearing my hair in a pony-tail since Christmas. :(
 

I haven't done much in the way of garden prep yet, but I have been keeping up with the challenge to incorporate more local food into my everyday meals. I've also been busy cleaning out my freezer of all the produce I stored last fall. I think we're doing really well on this! Recently for dinner we had baked turkey breasts with oven-dried tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella melted on top, along with delicious, salty fried potatoes and summer squash.

Turkey breasts - Ecofriendly Foods 
Potatoes - farmers' market, storage
Summer squash - my garden, frozen (slightly freezer-burned, unfortunately)
Oven-dried tomatoes - my garden (oven-dried last September)
Basil - my garden, frozen into cubes with olive oil last summer
Mozzarella - Blue Ridge Dairy

It was nice to have turkey not at Thanksgiving. It was also nice to eat tomatoes in the middle of winter, and they retained the yummy herb flavor from when I dried them in the oven. The house smelled so good when it was baking! Same for the basil--I'd never frozen basil into cubes before, and I was happily surprised that it retained the fresh basil flavor. The only disappointment was the summer squash, which were a little mealy. I guess they had been in the freezer too long? Overall, though, a very good meal!

Did all of you on the East Coast do all right with that storm that blew through over the weekend? Here in DC we got lucky, just some rain and wind.

SSFC: Bubble and Squeak

I love potatoes. Always have since I was a little kid. I eat them in some form or another about 6 days a week, baked being my most favorite way, and fried coming in a close second. If I go out for dinner and have to choose two sides with my entree, I've been known to pick two different kinds of potatoes. In fact, a few years ago I was in Alabama and had one of my most favorite meals ever (also the most memorable BBQ I've ever had): a BBQ chicken sandwich with tater tots, potato salad, and tea so sweet that my teeth actually cried.  

As much as I love potatoes, it can become challenging to think of different ways to eat them. Lately my favorite way is to make bubble and squeak, which I made for this week's SSFC Eat Local challenge. 

Bubble and squeak is an English dish made with vegetables leftover from the previous night's dinner. Potatoes are one of the main ingredients, along with cabbage, Brussels sprouts, carrots, peas, or any other leftover veggies. According to Wikipedia, this dish became popular during World War II as an easy way of using leftovers when most food was subject to rationing. The name "bubble and squeak" comes from the sound the vegetables make while they are cooking.

As you can see, I deviated from the traditional list of ingredients for the purposes of the Eat Local challenge. I don't like cabbage, but I thought this might be a good way to use up some Swiss chard I had picked up at the farmers' market. 

Local Ingredients
1 tbsp butter - Pennsylvania
4 medium potatoes - farmers' market
1 cup Swiss chard - farmers' market
1 small onion - my garden
1 clove garlic - my garden

Here's how I made it:
Boil the potatoes until you can spear them with a fork, then drain them in a colander. While they are draining, put the butter and olive oil into a frying pan on medium heat. Dice the onion and  garlic clove and add to the pan. Begin to add the drained potatoes to the pan, stirring and pressing down on them with a spatula so they mash a little. Continue to stir and mash ingredients until the potatoes are fried. Then add the chard. Stir for about a minute until the chard is wilted. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Although I made this as a side dish for dinner, we've also had it with breakfast. Bubble and squeak is actually part of a full English breakfast, and it's a nice alternative to the hashbrowns I typically eat with my eggs. 

You can see what other Challenge participants are eating this week by clicking on the SSFC photo above. 

Have you ever eaten traditional Bubble and Squeak? How would you make it?

Just an Omelet

We're seven days into 2013 but it wasn't until today that I felt like it was really the New Year, and not just because I'm in withdrawal from not hearing "Winter Wonderland" or "Sleigh Ride" 200 times a day. Last week at work a lot of people were still on vacation, but yesterday many meetings started popping up on the schedule. The Metro is crowded once again, and --here's how I really know the new year has started -- the number of people in my gym classes has doubled.

 

January is the time to get back to my routine, and I'm playing catch-up in a few areas, such as with my local food challenges. I recently missed our themed Brunch Week, and while I had ideas about whipping up some fantastic apple pancakes, on Sunday we decided on just a plain old omelet. I tried to make it fancy with spinach and mozzarella. 

It may  be hard to see where everything came from in the pic so I listed it here.

• Eggs - Bivalve, MD (but purchased at WF in the local food section)
• Mozzarella - from the Blue Ridge Dairy in VA
• Butter - this butter came from PA, but I;m actually switching to a non-dairy/non-soy butter
• Spinach - farmers' market (frozen)
• Onion - harvested from my garden earlier this year
• Bell pepper - from my garden. We have overwintered some pepper plants indoors and they're still producing!

 Here's the best part--all that gooey cheese inside. You can click on the SSFC badge above to see what other Challenge participants are eating this week.

Making the Perfect Risotto (almost)

Source: Uploaded by user via Angela on Pinterest

It’s 12/12/12! I’ve read that numerologists say this day is auspicious, but I just like that all the numbers are the same. When it comes to numbers, I like making lists and numbering things and wanted to record a post today before the rest of the month flies by. The time between Thanksgiving and New Year's always goes by so quickly. Here's what's been keeping me busy:

Source: guardian.co.uk via Angela on Pinterest

1) Work - I've been swamped. One co-worker just got married and is on her honeymoon. Another is about to have a baby and recently started maternity leave. To help me out, they've assigned a new person to my team, but it's a junior analyst that requires my supervision and in addition to my work, I have to review hers. Luckily she's very capable and eager and smart, so it's not painful, but days have been very long. Once my newlywed co-worker returns, I should get back to a normal schedule.
2) Job hunting - I am very happy to have a job in these tough economic times, even if it's a job that makes me want to poke my eyes out with a stick covered in fire ants. Searching for jobs has become a job in itself, as all of you who've gone through the process are well aware. No bites yet, but I hope that by this time next year I'm in a more rewarding, more challenging position.
3) Holiday visits - I've been spending time catching up with friends that I haven't seen in months and preparing to see family that I only see once a year. I just found out that a friend of mine is moving to the Philippines in January, so amidst all the Christmas parties and get-togethers, I have a going-away party to go to this weekend.
4) Cooking/baking - To continue with the job-hunting theme, my cooking and baking skills are "entry level." Every year around Christmas someone gives me a little gift--simple things like homemade cookies--and I always feel like an ass for not having something to give in return. So I decided this year that I wanted to make fudge and give it out to neighbors, co-workers, acquaintances, etc around Christmas. However, I've never made fudge before in my life. It was quite a learning experience. I made three different batches and all turned out very different in terms of consistency and flavor. My husband and friends said it was all edible, and I'm sure they'd never lie to me.

Now We Get to the Risotto Part...

I don’t usually make New Year’s resolutions, but I did have two goals for 2012: 1) run a 5K, and 2) learn to make risotto. I ran my 5K race back in October at the Zombie Run, and recently I’ve learned to make risotto, although I’m still perfecting my technique.

I really like rice. Although I am not a vegetarian, I frequently order vegetarian dishes at restaurants, and if there’s risotto on the menu, I always order it. Risotto is an Italian rice dish cooked in broth with other ingredients, like seasonal vegetables or mushrooms, and topped with Parmesan cheese. The trick to making it is to constantly stir the rice while adding just the right amount of liquid so that it absorbs properly. The first risotto I made was way too mushy and soupy. I made this version a few weeks ago, with Swiss chard from the local farmers’ market and onions from my garden (and non-seasonal, non-local frozen peas).

Last year was the first year I ever knowingly and purposefully ate Swiss chard, and it was because of the Eat Local Foods challenge. I bought another bunch this year and was trying to think of ways to cook it. I thought the Swiss chard risotto came out well, and the chard gave it nice texture.

Then I got cocky and decided to make a sweet potato risotto for Thanksgiving, and I think it came out too dry. I probably cooked it way too long. I've read that it shouldn't take more than 20 minutes to cook a cup, and I was at it for about 30 minutes. Oh, well, I'll just keep trying! I have no problem eating my own bad cooking, and it's really fun to try to make such a challenging dish. Maybe next I'll try with butternut squash.

Do you like risotto? I hope you have a happy and auspicious 12/12/12!

Eating Locally: One Year Later

{Stuffed peppers--my first all-local ingredient meal ever}

It was a year ago this week that I started the challenge to eat at least one locally-sourced meal a day. Called the "Dark Days of Winter" challenge, it seemed like the logical thing for me to try after spending a couple of summers growing some vegetables and reading books like Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and The Omnivore's Dilemma.  I met some cool people via our posts and recaps, and after the challenge ended, some of us started our own breakout group (the SSFC) to continue to challenge ourselves to eat locally throughout the summer and fall. Although our mini-group's challenge ended last October, we've decided to continue throughout the winter.

Our new SSFC Challenge period begins this week also, and I'll have a post on what I made later. But something about the unseasonable warm temperature today (near 70 degrees!!?!) makes me want to recap some of the summer meals I ate.

Although we are supposed to feature at least one meal a week made from all-local ingredients, I have found myself incorporating locally sourced food into all my meals. This was a lot easier for me in the summer than last winter because of the greater variety of fruits and veggies. Some of my Almost All-Local Meals:

 

{grilled chicken, mozzarella, tomato & olive salad}

I found a great farmers' market near my house. According to the site: "The farmers markets sponsored by the Fairfax County Park Authority, is a locally grown, producer-only market system. You must grow, raise or make all products you sell. No distributors, re-selling or brokers are allowed. All produce grown, meat raised and other products made must be within 125 mile radius of Fairfax County." Perfect! This became my go-to market until they closed for the season in October. The chicken and olives above weren't locally sourced but the veggies and mozzarella cheese were.

 I have found a great VA-based source for mozzarella cheese. I've used it in omelets, salads, and just as a snack on a roll. I probably never would have stumbled upon this great company if I hadn't forced myself to look for local sources of cheese. Love them!

Cuban-style ropa vieja (shredded beef) using flank steak from Smith Family Farm, based in Virginia. Onions and peppers came from my garden.

Another light salad. The chickpeas and olive oil obvs weren't locally sourced, but the tomatoes and cucumbers came from my garden.

 

Finally, Ribollita (aka Italian peasant soup)--the local ingredients were all from my garden: yellow squash, zucchini, and onions. 

Although some things are impossible to get locally (like beans, olive oil, spices), I've tried to buy organic when possible, and I've also tried to eat with the seasons. It's strange--but not really, it makes sense--but I've noticed a change in my palate. I'm not craving blueberries and strawberries out of season anymore, which is good because the berries sold at grocery stores in the fall and winter often taste like water and I used to waste money because they'd go mushy in a couple of days. Lately I've been craving butternut squash, sweet potatoes, chard (what?! used to not like it), and I'm really looking forward to this winter's challenge. One great side-effect of these Challenges are that I've been inspired to get more creative in the kitchen!

Hurricanes, Zombies, and Old Clothes

Cleo checks weather conditions

Along with everyone else along the East Coast, we are awaiting Hurricane Sandy's arrival, and hoping she'll leave quickly and not leave too much mess to clean up. I'm praying that no trees fall down near our house. As of 3:30 today it hasn't started raining yet, which is very good because the Marine Corps Marathon is happening today around DC and Virginia, and the runners probably had enough to worry about with the wind gusts. Not to mention the fact that they had 26.2 miles to run. My friend's husband is running it. They're both serious runners, although I'm not sure that they've ever run a marathon before. Can't wait to see how he did.

Speaking of running--this gets to the "Zombie" portion of my post--Yesterday my husband and I participated in Run For Your Lives, a 5K run/obstacle course through the woods where people dressed as zombies chase you throughout the course. One of my goals for 2012 was to compete in a 5K, so I was able to check that box off in style yesterday! I had so much fun, and I want to do it again next year. In the morning we were zombies. The event coordinators provided professional zombie make-up and shredded clothes and put us in various places along the course to chase the runners. All runners get a belt with 3 flags, and the zombies try to rip the flags off. If you make it to the end with your flags intact, you survive. If they're all gone, you've become infected and are a zombie. We had a 3-hour shift of popping out of bushes and trees and scaring the crap out of people. It was fantastic! After washing off our fake blood and changing into running clothes, we then ran the course later that afternoon. It was a completely different experience and so much fun. The sad part--in a true zombie apocalypse, I'd be zombie bait within minutes. My flags were all gone within the first mile.

Last night was a popular night for Halloween parties, but we were wiped out after the race and didn't go to any. Today is so gloomy, we're just relaxing at home, and planning to grill steaks before the rain really starts.

I'm behind in posting about the SSFC Challenge, which wraps up this week. Here goes:

The most recent challenge was to create an international dish. My favorite cuisines are Mexican, Cuban, and pretty much anything south of the border.

We made ropa vieja, a Cuban shredded beef dish, which literally translated means "old clothes." It's probably my favorite meal ever, and if it's on the menu, I'll be ordering it.

Ingredients:
flank steak (Smith Family Farm, VA)
onions (my garden)
peppers (my garden)
peas
crushed tomatoes
Husband's special marinade

So not all ingredients were locally-sourced, but the steak, main ingredient, was. Ropa vieja can be eaten on its own, but I like it with rice. And if I had plantains, I would have fried some up to eat along with it.

Now it's off to refill my wine glass and get cozy in front of the TV. That sums up my weekend. How was yours?
Are you in the Hurricane Zone? Any Halloween plans?