bento & recipes

It's the last day of the Loving Local blogathon. While I could whinge on for weeks about local food, I will soon be shifting my focus to school lunches starting this tuesday! But here are a few fab lunch ideas for both adults and kids...

I enjoy
the
variety
at the
farmer's
market
and our
CSA.
While
our CSA
provides
us with
asian
greens
in the
spring
and
fall, I
rely on
Hmong
Farms
at the
Framingham Farmer's Market for unique asian vegetables through the hotter summer months, grown a few towns north.

This bento lunch included: rice (kept separate until serving to prevent sogginess), spicy asian eggplant, spicy baked tofu, and my bok choy joy.













Spicy Asian Eggplant

3-6 long asian eggplant
2 T. peanut oil or canola oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp. hot sauce
1/2 tsp. grated ginger
1 T. shoyu (soy sauce)
1 tsp. rice vinegar
1 tsp. cooking sherry
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Cut ends off eggplant.
Slice lengthwise, then
in 1/2 inch segments.
Heat oil in a saucepan
with garlic, ginger & hot
sauce. Cook 20 seconds
over medium heat, add
eggplant, stir. Add the
rest of the ingredients.
Cover and reduce heat to low, cooking about 10 minutes or until eggplant is very tender.

Some asian eggplant will be thin and smaller, others larger. This recipe assumes you'll be cooking no more than 2-3 cups chopped eggplant.

I often wish there was a local producer of tofu, tempeh & miso in the area. What a wonderful addition to an asian stall at the farmer's market that would be! But many stores carry asian produce & grocery items. I often visit our local asian market Asinayo when the farmer's market is not in season.










The farmer's market in our
town has been adding about
one new vendor each year it
seems, a good sign! There is much to choose from, and it's nice to hang out on the village green after shopping to enjoy some fresh kettle corn or bread still warm from baking.

I picked up some corn from the Hanson's Farm stall, bok choy from Hmong Farms, and bread from Great Harvest Bread Co. The corn was super delicious. We tried the silver variety for a change, which was supposedly not the "sweet" kind, but it still tasted sweet to us!

With plenty of tomatoes still pouring in from Stearns Farm CSA, I made a tomato-laden lunch which included a leftover tomato dish from the night before. When we take home some of the "seconds" tomatoes from the farm, it's handy to have a dish to accommodate some of the squishier fruits.

This lunch included: raspberries (Stearns Farm CSA), salad of lettuce, tomato & chives (Stearns Farm CSA) w/dressing in a side container, breaded baked heirloom tomatoes (tomatoes & herbs from Stearns Farm CSA), corn on the cob rounds (Hanson's Farm), orange cherry tomatoes (Stearns Farm CSA).

Breaded Baked Tomatoes

3-4 large tomatoes, sliced
1 tsp. kosher salt
spray olive oil (or something to grease the baking pan)
1 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 tsp. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 tsp. chopped fresh thyme
1/4 tsp. chopped fresh oregano
2 T. buttery stick (cold!), cut into bits
1/2 tsp. sugar
3 cloves garlic, chopped













First slice the tomatoes and
place them in a colander over
a bowl to drain. Sprinkle on
the salt and toss, then leave to
sit for 10-15 minutes (in the
refrigerator if necessary to
keep the fruit flies away!).

Spray a glass baking dish
with olive oil, then layer the
tomatoes.

In a medium bowl, mix the
remaining ingredients and
pour or spoon over the
tomatoes. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake another 5-10 minutes until the
breadcrumb topping
is lightly browned.
Allow to cool a bit
before serving.

CSA fluff

I have posted quite a few times about our awesome CSA, recently in July here and here, in 2009 here and here. and a full review in 2008 here. In 2008 I also chronicled every
weekly pickup, listing what
we received with photos,
and including ideas to use
various items, such as this
post about greens.

But Stearns Farm CSA
never ceases to amaze me,
producing such huge
variety on its few acres
of land. Certainly the Loving Local blogathon deserves one more photo fluff post about our favourite local farm!

One
thing
I don't
mention
often
is the
Stearns
Farm
pick-
your-
own
flower
garden.
I'm just
not a
big
flower
person.
But
anyone
can
come
to the
flower garden and pick flowers during the summer for 25 cents per bloom, or $1 per sunflower. You can even purchase weekly flower shares for yourself or as a gift. It is just as important to the environment to purchase organically grown flowers as well as food. And there are many edible varieties of flowers, which can be used to brighten any meal, like I did in my Harry Potter bento here using red & yellow nasturtium petals and blue cornflower.
Here are some more beautiful photos around the farm...





















The resident bee population is kept very busy!

Tomatoes!

The 2010 growing season has seen an avalanche of tomatoes. I no longer take August for granted after last year's late blight disaster. Late blight is an infectious disease worstened by cool, wet weather. Last year it devastated many tomato and potato crops across the northeastern United States. UMassAmherst has some helpful info and updates if you'd like to learn more about late blight.

But after a wet spring, New
England has experienced lots
of dry heat this year, perfect
for ripening a bumper crop
of delicious juicy fruits. We
have been fortunate to
receive many pounds of
tomatoes every week from
Stearns Farm CSA, and are
currently enjoying picking
4 quarts per week of a variety
of cherry tomatoes!

It is no secret that tomatoes
are my favourite food. Eaten
raw, transformed into sauce,
or added to a plethora of
dishes, tomatoes add flavour
in any season. I have been
busy making different types
of sauce, and freezing chopped
tomatoes to use in soups and
over pastas during the
autumn and winter.

I think my all-time fave
recipe is my tomato salad.
But I'll add tomatoes to just
about anything...sliced or
chopped on pizza, baked atop
a tofu quiche, covering a
corn thin slathered with
homemade hummus, baked
with breadcrumbs, stuffed
with tiny pasta & onions, on
a tart, sun-dried and added
to pesto...the list goes on.

And sauce! Even if you just
cook down a basic red sauce,
you can add to it later. Some
of my favourite additions are
MORE chopped fresh heirloom
tomatoes, fresh herbs, sauteed
onions, roasted garlic, red
wine & portobello mushrooms.
Oh the possibilities!

So check out your local farm,
farmer's market, or grocer. Get yourself a variety of different ripe tomatoes. And get cooking! There are so many flavours, shapes & colours of tomatoes to enjoy. Check out other blogger posts about local flavours during the Loving Local blogathon! Or become a fan of their Facebook page here. Another great resource is the Mass Farmer's Markets Facebook page, or their website here, which can help you find your closest farmer's market, in addition to local product information and recipes!

Here are some of the tomato plants around Stearns Farm as I picked a couple of quarts two days ago...

ahhh...the farm

Now that the tomatoes
are doing well I have to
blog about the farm again.
CSAs are just the best
most satisfying way to
obtain local organic produce.
You know the farmer, help
work the fields, have a say
in what gets planted, know
the water source that irrigates the soil, harvest a lot of your own produce (unless it's a delivery style CSA like some farms), and have the kids learning about where their food comes from hands on.


Sometimes I feel bad
talking so much about
our local farm, Stearns
Farm CSA, because it's
just sooo good. There's
a several hundred person
waiting list. Yeah. It's that wonderful. And if you don't renew by January you're outta there! But almost everyone does. 95% of familes this year returned. Considering that people move and such, that's really impressive.
Here's Nate toting 2 quarts of purslane on his head. Purslane is essentially a weed to most people in the U.S., but one of the most nutritious and delicious weeds you've ever tasted! It's growing among the crops, shading the root veggies, free for the taking.

Before the basil is even
out of the greenhouse,
there is purslane popping
up among the rows. I
topped some whole wheat
pita pizzas with purslane
pesto, then added Daiya
mozzarella. Perfection.

The good news is there
are new CSAs opening
every year. In fact the farm around the corner from ours began offering shares 2 years ago, and now they are utilizing the field adjoining Stearns Farm for organic crops, instead of hay as they did in the past. I'm sure the Community Supported Agriculture model will only continue to grow.

Farm Camp Finale

My Hello Kitty calendar
said that yesterday was
Keroppi's birthday. So that
was my theme for the boys'
final day of farm camp. I've
always thought Keroppi
was pretty cute. He's definitely
a secondary Sanrio character,
but he's got a simple sort of
charm. He's certainly the
outdoorsy type, and one of the
few cool boy characters in the
Sanrio universe.
Ryan & AJ's lunches: blueberries for Ryan, watermelon for AJ; ginger asparagus; Tofurky "flowers"; rice Keroppi w/soy cheese & nori eyes; cantaloupe flowers; roasted rosemary potatoes.
Maia... Ryan
























Nate... AJ

The boys were disappointed camp didn't last longer. And Nate is impatiently waiting until he is 4 so that he can go too. Of course next year Ryan will be almost 8 and too old.
Of course they can visit the farm any time. Ryan is tall enough for the single rope swing now.

They picked bouquets on
the last day to bring home.
The mix of flowers and
herbs is quite fragrant!

Farm camp activities included:
picking & washing carrots for
sharer pickup, worm hunts,
bug jars, drawings, picnics, reading, treasure hunts (with vegan cookies hidden!) & wool balls with bells inside (not a vegan project, I know, but still educational learning how to make a toy that used to be quite common, with wool brought by someone local with a small well-cared for group of sheep). Here are a few of their drawings:
Dinner was a muffin tin picnic:Row 1: Gerber peach puffs (don't ask me why, but I seem to buy these maybe once a year or so and the kids make it through half the container then get tired of them); watermelon slices; carrot sticks; blueberries.
Row 2: Nutz Over Chocolate Luna bar; fresh shelled peas; vegetable crackers & soy cheese; steamed broccoli.
Row 3: cucumber slices; cinnamon wheat toast; orange slices; peanuts & raisins.

Maia has begun to share the muffin tin meals too, which means I have to watch carefully to avoid her grabbing any choking hazards! Though I admit she's already had peanuts AND popcorn thanks to her very generous brothers. Oy!

Dada brought home 99 cent
vegan mini cupcakes from
Blue Shirt Cafe to celebrate
the sale of one of his businesses.
I can't count the number of
smoothies and wraps I ate
from there while pregnant
with Ryan!

Of course I had also baked a
plum raspberry crumble similar
to this recipe by Ina Garten,
with about a pint of black
raspberries from our bushes!