Ideas for serving up our fresh produce
Fresh Raspberry Lemonade
Nothing taste better then homemade lemonade from freshly squeezed lemons, and the added raspberries just make this a great summer treat. We use lemon juice from Meyer lemons off our friends tree from Arizona that we freeze and use throughout the year.
Ingredients:
1 cup fresh lemon juice
1 cup sugar (more or less to taste)
1/2 cup raspberries
Put in the blender lemon juice, sugar and raspberries, making sure to put a few raspberries aside to make it look fancy if you want! Blend well and pour into a half gallon container, then finish filling until you get a full half gallon. Stir well and let sit for a little while to let the air work out of the lemonade. Add raspberries to the individual glasses as you serve.
Nothing taste better then homemade lemonade from freshly squeezed lemons, and the added raspberries just make this a great summer treat. We use lemon juice from Meyer lemons off our friends tree from Arizona that we freeze and use throughout the year.
Ingredients:
1 cup fresh lemon juice
1 cup sugar (more or less to taste)
1/2 cup raspberries
Put in the blender lemon juice, sugar and raspberries, making sure to put a few raspberries aside to make it look fancy if you want! Blend well and pour into a half gallon container, then finish filling until you get a full half gallon. Stir well and let sit for a little while to let the air work out of the lemonade. Add raspberries to the individual glasses as you serve.
Heidi's Spicy Garden
This one is a Rohwer's Farm Original:
For the sauce:
3/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup Frank's Hot Sauce (adjust this as needed to make milder or more spicy)
2-4 cloves garlic
2 tbs oregano
2 Tbs thyme
Produce for grilling - I use a mix of whatever I have in the garden that would be good on the grill like zucchini, eggplant, onions, potatoes, summer squash, shelled fava beans, tomatillas, and tomatoes.
I cut the produce into bite size pieces. Veggies that take a little more cooking, like potatoes, needs to be cut smaller so that it can cook better on the grill. Throw everything together except the tomatoes as these will cook too quickly and fall through the grill. Add the sauce and let the veggies marinate for at least 30 minutes, longer is even better. Remove the veggies from the marinade, reserving the remaining sauce. Place the veggies on a medium high grill in a grill basket or on a grilling plate and cook until veggies get soft and start to brown, stirring and drizzling the sauce over the veggies occasionally. Add the tomatoes for the last few minutes of grilling. You can also make this on the stove in a pan.
For the sauce:
3/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup Frank's Hot Sauce (adjust this as needed to make milder or more spicy)
2-4 cloves garlic
2 tbs oregano
2 Tbs thyme
Produce for grilling - I use a mix of whatever I have in the garden that would be good on the grill like zucchini, eggplant, onions, potatoes, summer squash, shelled fava beans, tomatillas, and tomatoes.
I cut the produce into bite size pieces. Veggies that take a little more cooking, like potatoes, needs to be cut smaller so that it can cook better on the grill. Throw everything together except the tomatoes as these will cook too quickly and fall through the grill. Add the sauce and let the veggies marinate for at least 30 minutes, longer is even better. Remove the veggies from the marinade, reserving the remaining sauce. Place the veggies on a medium high grill in a grill basket or on a grilling plate and cook until veggies get soft and start to brown, stirring and drizzling the sauce over the veggies occasionally. Add the tomatoes for the last few minutes of grilling. You can also make this on the stove in a pan.
Pan Fried Shishito Peppers
1 cup (or more) shishito peppers
1 tablespoon (or more) extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt
1 tablespoon (or more) extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt
- Heat your grill pan, cast-iron skillet, or heavy-bottomed pan over very high
heat. Add olive oil and let heat up momentarily - Toss in the peppers and cook, turning occasionally, until the peppers have
softened and are charred in spots. - Remove from heat and sprinkle kosher salt and the optional pinch of cayenne
over the peppers. Eat piping hot.
Fried Stuffed Squash Blossoms
Original recipe makes 12 filled squash blossoms
Original recipe makes 12 filled squash blossoms
- 12 fresh zucchini blossoms
- 3/4 cup soft goat cheese at room temperature
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/4 cup shredded Gruyere cheese
- 1 pinch freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper
- Batter:
- 1 cup self-rising flour
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 1/4 cup ice-cold water, or as needed
- vegetable oil for frying
- 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour, or as needed
- Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Prepare a large bowl of ice-cold water. Drop squash blossoms into the boiling water until slightly wilted, 30 to 45 seconds; transfer immediately into the cold water to chill. Remove to paper towels to drain.
- Mix goat cheese, egg yolk, Gruyere cheese, black pepper, and cayenne pepper together in a bowl; stir until smooth. Spoon filling into a heavy, resealable 1-quart plastic bag, squeeze out the air, and seal the bag. Cut a small corner off the bag.
- Gently insert the cut corner of the bag all the way to the bottom of the open end of a blossom and pipe about 1 tablespoon of filling inside. Pick up petals and drape them up over the filling, covering filling completely. Fold any excess petals over the top of the filled blossom to keep them out of the way. Refrigerate filled squash blossoms until cheese is set and firm, at least 30 minutes.
- Combine self-rising flour and cornstarch in a mixing bowl; whisk in ice-cold water, a little at a time, until batter is smooth and has the thickness of pancake batter.
- Pour vegetable oil to a depth of 1 inch into a heavy skillet (such as a cast iron pan) and place over medium heat. Heat oil until a thermometer placed into the oil, not touching the bottom, reads 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). A drop of batter carefully dripped into the oil should sizzle immediately.
- Remove squash blossoms from refrigerator and dust lightly with all-purpose flour on all sides. Shake off excess flour and dip blossoms in batter. Let excess batter drip off.
- Gently lay coated squash blossoms in the hot oil on their sides; cook about 6 at a time until pale golden brown, 1 minute on the first side and 30 seconds to 1 minute on the remaining sides. Let cool slightly before serving.
Grilled Eggplant
Grilling is one of our favorite ways to prepare lots of veggies but eggplant seems to be one of the best! This is one of our favorite recipes to use when camping as it is easy to make and can be cooked over an open fire, alternatively you can also prepare this in your oven with the broiler. Larger eggplants are better for this recipe and some of our favorite varieties for it are Black Beauty, Rosita, Listada and what we think is the absolute best is Round Mauve because the shape makes for perfect rounds when sliced, and the flavor is superb!
Ingredients:
1 or 2 Eggplant depending on size
1 medium sized tomato
A few sprigs of basil
1 or 2 garlic cloves or minced garlic
Mozzarella, Parmesan or Feta cheese (whichever is your preference)
Directions:
Heat grill on medium high heat. Slice eggplant into about 1/4" slices (don't make them too thin or they will not hold up to flipping on the grill), coat the slices liberally with olive oil then add to the grill. While the eggplant grills on the first side slice tomatoes and squeeze the garlic cloves. Turn over eggplant slices when they are ready (about 3 minutes give or take), and add garlic and basil to the already grilled side of the eggplant, then top with a tomato slice on each eggplant slice. Add slices of cheese or grated cheese on top of all and then let grill until cheese is melted and slightly browned. Remove from grill and serve!
Alternatively you can put all together and put in the oven under the broiler. Let cook until soft and cheese is browned.
Ingredients:
1 or 2 Eggplant depending on size
1 medium sized tomato
A few sprigs of basil
1 or 2 garlic cloves or minced garlic
Mozzarella, Parmesan or Feta cheese (whichever is your preference)
Directions:
Heat grill on medium high heat. Slice eggplant into about 1/4" slices (don't make them too thin or they will not hold up to flipping on the grill), coat the slices liberally with olive oil then add to the grill. While the eggplant grills on the first side slice tomatoes and squeeze the garlic cloves. Turn over eggplant slices when they are ready (about 3 minutes give or take), and add garlic and basil to the already grilled side of the eggplant, then top with a tomato slice on each eggplant slice. Add slices of cheese or grated cheese on top of all and then let grill until cheese is melted and slightly browned. Remove from grill and serve!
Alternatively you can put all together and put in the oven under the broiler. Let cook until soft and cheese is browned.
Cipolline in Agrodolce (Sweet and Sour Onions)
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- 5 Tbsp sugar
- 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
- ½ cup white wine vinegar
- 1lb small onions, this recipe traditionally uses Cipolline onions but also works great with Red Candy Apple and smaller Torpedo and Super star onions
- salt and pepper
- Melt the butter in a heavy bottomed skillet over low heat. Add the sugar and heat, stirring constantly, until it has dissolved.
- Stir in the vinegars, then add the onions and season to taste with the salt and pepper.
- Increase the heat to medium, cover and cook for 25 minutes, or until the onions are tender and golden. Serve immediately.
Serves 4
Shishitos in Soy Ginger Sauce
1 lb shishito peppers
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 Tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon sesame oil
juice from one lime
1 teaspoon zested ginger
1/4 cup breadcrumbs (optional)
Saute peppers over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Next add the other ingredients together in a bowl. Pour the sauce over the peppers and cook over medium heat for about 10-15 minutes or until the peppers are tender and the sauce begins to thiicken into a glaze. Toast the breadcrumbs in a skillet over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the peppers and serve.
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 Tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon sesame oil
juice from one lime
1 teaspoon zested ginger
1/4 cup breadcrumbs (optional)
Saute peppers over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Next add the other ingredients together in a bowl. Pour the sauce over the peppers and cook over medium heat for about 10-15 minutes or until the peppers are tender and the sauce begins to thiicken into a glaze. Toast the breadcrumbs in a skillet over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the peppers and serve.
Ratatouille
This Italian dish is simple yet delicious! All the different colors make this look vibrant on the table. Round Mauve, Listada or Rosita are great eggplant types for this dish
Ingredients:
3/4 cup fresh basil
1/4 cup Olive oil
2 cups bell pepper (we like to use mixed colors)
2 cup zucchini
2 cup eggplant
2 cups sweet onions (Candy or red candy apple works great for this)
3 large tomatoes
3 large cloves garlic
Cut the zucchini, eggplant, onion and bell peppers into bite size pieces and add to a frying pan with the garlic and olive oil. Fry the veggies until they start to become transparent, we like ours with a little brown on it. Add the tomato and basil and cook for a few minutes longer then remove from heat and it's ready to serve!
This Italian dish is simple yet delicious! All the different colors make this look vibrant on the table. Round Mauve, Listada or Rosita are great eggplant types for this dish
Ingredients:
3/4 cup fresh basil
1/4 cup Olive oil
2 cups bell pepper (we like to use mixed colors)
2 cup zucchini
2 cup eggplant
2 cups sweet onions (Candy or red candy apple works great for this)
3 large tomatoes
3 large cloves garlic
Cut the zucchini, eggplant, onion and bell peppers into bite size pieces and add to a frying pan with the garlic and olive oil. Fry the veggies until they start to become transparent, we like ours with a little brown on it. Add the tomato and basil and cook for a few minutes longer then remove from heat and it's ready to serve!
Quinoa Stuffed Peppers
From the Vegetarian Times. This dish freezes well for future meals. Quinoa provides whole-grain goodness and a serving of protein.
2. Stir in black beans, quinoa, carrots, and 2 cups water. Cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 20 minutes, or until quinoa is tender. Stir in 1 cup cheese. Season with salt and pepper, if desired.
3. Preheat oven to 350°F. Pour liquid from tomatoes in bottom of baking dish.
4. Fill each bell pepper half with heaping 3/4-cup quinoa mixture, and place in baking dish. Cover with foil, and bake 1 hour. Uncover, and sprinkle each pepper with 1 Tbs. remaining cheese. Bake 15 minutes more, or until tops of stuffed peppers are browned. Let stand 5 minutes. Transfer stuffed peppers to serving plates, and drizzle each with pan juices before serving.
Serves 8
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped (1 cup)
- 2 Tbs. olive oil
- 2 ribs celery, finely chopped (½ cup)
- 1 Tbs. ground cumin
- 2 cloves garlic, minced (2 tsp.)
- 1 10-oz. pkg. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
- 2 15-oz. cans diced tomatoes, drained, liquid reserved
- 1 15-oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
- ¾ cup quinoa
- 3 large carrots, grated (1 ½ cups)
- 1 ½ cups grated reduced-fat pepper Jack cheese, divided
- 4 large red bell peppers, halved lengthwise, ribs removed
2. Stir in black beans, quinoa, carrots, and 2 cups water. Cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 20 minutes, or until quinoa is tender. Stir in 1 cup cheese. Season with salt and pepper, if desired.
3. Preheat oven to 350°F. Pour liquid from tomatoes in bottom of baking dish.
4. Fill each bell pepper half with heaping 3/4-cup quinoa mixture, and place in baking dish. Cover with foil, and bake 1 hour. Uncover, and sprinkle each pepper with 1 Tbs. remaining cheese. Bake 15 minutes more, or until tops of stuffed peppers are browned. Let stand 5 minutes. Transfer stuffed peppers to serving plates, and drizzle each with pan juices before serving.
Serves 8
Kale Chips
Ingredients:
- 1 bunch kale
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
Directions :
- Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a non insulated cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- With a knife or kitchen shears carefully remove the leaves from the thick stems and tear into bite size pieces. Wash and thoroughly dry kale with a salad spinner. Drizzle kale with olive oil and sprinkle with seasoning salt.
- Bake until the edges brown but are not burnt, 10 to 15 minutes.
Cucumber Salad
The Gluten Free Goddess blog
has a delicious recipe for cucumbers:
The flavors mingle and intensify
overnight, so if you love a fresh "pickled" flavor make this recipe the night
before you wish to serve it; tossing it a couple of times as it chills to
distribute the dressing.
For the salad:
1 large
cucumber, peeled and cut into chunks
2-3 smaller cucumbers, peeled leaving
stripes of skin, sliced into coins
1/3 to 1/2 of a medium red onion, diced
fine, to taste
1 large ripe heirloom tomato- mine was yellow and ruby pink
gorgeous, seeded and diced
For the dressing:
1/4 cup champagne or white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1
tablespoon good tasting olive oil
2 teaspoons raw organic agave nectar, or
more to taste
A tiny pinch of sea salt, or to taste (you can always add
more- don't add too much)
Fresh ground pepper, to taste
Instructions:
In a large non-reactive bowl combine
the cut and sliced cucumbers with the diced onion and tomato.
Whisk your
dressing ingredients in a glass measuring cup until frothy and pour all over the
cuke salad. Gently toss to coat. Cover and chill at least an hour before
serving.
Serves 6
has a delicious recipe for cucumbers:
The flavors mingle and intensify
overnight, so if you love a fresh "pickled" flavor make this recipe the night
before you wish to serve it; tossing it a couple of times as it chills to
distribute the dressing.
For the salad:
1 large
cucumber, peeled and cut into chunks
2-3 smaller cucumbers, peeled leaving
stripes of skin, sliced into coins
1/3 to 1/2 of a medium red onion, diced
fine, to taste
1 large ripe heirloom tomato- mine was yellow and ruby pink
gorgeous, seeded and diced
For the dressing:
1/4 cup champagne or white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1
tablespoon good tasting olive oil
2 teaspoons raw organic agave nectar, or
more to taste
A tiny pinch of sea salt, or to taste (you can always add
more- don't add too much)
Fresh ground pepper, to taste
Instructions:
In a large non-reactive bowl combine
the cut and sliced cucumbers with the diced onion and tomato.
Whisk your
dressing ingredients in a glass measuring cup until frothy and pour all over the
cuke salad. Gently toss to coat. Cover and chill at least an hour before
serving.
Serves 6
Squash Blossoms with Goat Cheese and Serrano Pepper
6 large squash blossoms
about 4 oz soft goat cheese (could use ricotta or another soft cheese)
1 serrano pepper, diced
1 green scallion, chopped
1 egg
1/4 - 1/2 cup flour (GF flour works fine as well, could use corn meal too!)
Directions:
Mix goat cheese, serrano, scallion in a separate bowl.Whisk egg in another bowl.Place flour in a third bowl.Gently open squash blossoms to make a “cup,” be careful not to tear the sides of the flower.Gently stuff blossoms with cheese mixture. Fill to the point where the sides of the flower can be pressed together to close over the cheese mixture. The flowers should be full to the point where they feel firm. A chopstick is helpful for pressing the cheese into the bottom of the “cup.”Dip each cheese stuffed flower into the whisked egg and then roll in flour.To fry, fill a frying pan with at least 1/4 deep vegetable oil and heat to the point where water droplets flicked on the surface of the oil will “sizzle.”Gently place breaded squash blossoms in hot oil and fry until lightly browned on all sides. (About 2:30 minutes on each side.)Let cool slightly and ENJOY!
Notes: These are great as a main dish, or as a side. The filling could be adapted in any number of ways to fit your tastes!
6 large squash blossoms
about 4 oz soft goat cheese (could use ricotta or another soft cheese)
1 serrano pepper, diced
1 green scallion, chopped
1 egg
1/4 - 1/2 cup flour (GF flour works fine as well, could use corn meal too!)
Directions:
Mix goat cheese, serrano, scallion in a separate bowl.Whisk egg in another bowl.Place flour in a third bowl.Gently open squash blossoms to make a “cup,” be careful not to tear the sides of the flower.Gently stuff blossoms with cheese mixture. Fill to the point where the sides of the flower can be pressed together to close over the cheese mixture. The flowers should be full to the point where they feel firm. A chopstick is helpful for pressing the cheese into the bottom of the “cup.”Dip each cheese stuffed flower into the whisked egg and then roll in flour.To fry, fill a frying pan with at least 1/4 deep vegetable oil and heat to the point where water droplets flicked on the surface of the oil will “sizzle.”Gently place breaded squash blossoms in hot oil and fry until lightly browned on all sides. (About 2:30 minutes on each side.)Let cool slightly and ENJOY!
Notes: These are great as a main dish, or as a side. The filling could be adapted in any number of ways to fit your tastes!
Kale with Tomato, Garlic and Thyme
Martha Stewart had several great Kale recipes on her website. Here is one that can be served in many ways.
Enjoy this saute as a side, toss with pasta for a main course, or serve on crostini.
Serves 4
Ingredients
Enjoy this saute as a side, toss with pasta for a main course, or serve on crostini.
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoons plus two teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes
- 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
- 1 pound boiled, chopped kale leaves
- Coarse salt and ground pepper
- In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium. Add garlic cloves, thinly sliced, and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30 seconds. Add cherry tomatoes, quartered, and fresh thyme leaves. Cook until tomatoes begin to break down, 2 minutes. Add kale and cook until heated through, 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with 2 teaspoons oil.