OH! LENTIL SPROUTS!

Although I have loved lentil sprouts since forever, I hadn’t grown any lentil sprouts in a while.  Then, with all this scary stuff going on, and long lines just to get *into* the supermarket, only to find nothing fresh and yummy looking there, I raided my favorite organic market and got 2 lbs of …… lentils!  Then I had to figure out where to get those sprouting lids for mason jars (no idea where my nice plastic one went off to), and it took a week to get some stainless ones from Amazon Prime!  Finally they came, and the project came together.  I’d forgotten how fast lentils sprout and grow!

I put them to soak on Monday night, and, in the morning, they already had little bitty tails!  Rinse, drain, and set the jar in a bowl, so, if they wanted to drain some more, they could. On Wednesday morning, they had grown quite a bit, but I rinsed and drained again. On Thursday, oh wow!  The sprouts were almost an inch long!

Wraps!  I cut the “bone” out of romaine lettuce leaf and spread a little sundried tomato hummus on the two pieces. I  finely chopped some red bell pepper and onion, and sliced 1/4 of an avocado. Then I piled the lentil sprouts on the leaf slices, sprinkled the bell pepper and onion on top, laid out the pieces of avocado, then folded up the leaf and chowed down!  MM! MM! Good!!!!  I’m going to do a repeat performance tonight!

 

 

 

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ANOTHER CORN SALAD

RAW CORN SALAD
2 C corn, sliced from cob
1 C tomatoes, chopped
1/4 C onion
1/2 C bell pepper
Chili powder to taste

 In the food processor, process tomatoes, onion, and bell pepper to a chunky consistency.In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly.

I drizzled a little cashew cheddar cheez over this salad on the plate, and mixed it in as I ate.

 

• In the food processor, process tomatoes, onion, and bell pepper to a chunky consistency.
• In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly.

I drizzled a little cashew cheddar cheez over this salad on the plate, and mixed it in as I ate.

DINNER: CASHEW KALE CHEEZE ON TOMATO SLICES, CORN SALAD, INSTANT KIRBY PICKLE

I am very pleased with myself: I can make a nice dinner tomorrow with 3 of the items from my CSA share

CASHEW/KALE CHEEZE ON TOMATO SLICES
1 C cashews, soaked and rinsed
2 C kale, chopped fine
2 – 3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 C onion, chopped
1/4 C extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and pepper to taste

In the food processor, process all to a fine consistency.
Spread on 1/4 inch-thick Roma (or other) tomato slices

INSTANT KIRBY PICKLE
1 small kirby cucumber, thinly sliced
1 t minced onion
1 T raw apple cider vinegar
Sea salt to taste
Black pepper to taste

Place in a tightly covered container and shake well. (Otherwise stir thoroughly to mix well.  Let set for 1/2 hour or more.

RAW CORN SALAD
1 C raw corn kernels (this can also be done with cooked corn)
1 T onion
3 T sweet red pepper
1 t cumin powder
1/4 t minced garlic
1/2 t raw apple cider vinegar
1/2 t olive oil

Toss to mix well

HOW TO FERMENT GARLIC SCAPES

YOU CAN FERMENT GARLIC SCAPES EASILY!
If you have received garlic scapes in your CSA share in the past two weeks, and haven’t been sure how to deal with all of them, this is a great way to preserve them easily, so you can use them in many ways in the coming months
The stems of the garlic scapes are much sturdier than the blossom ends are, so cut off the blossom ends and use them right away.
The stems have a mild garlic flavor, so you don’t want to lose them.
I have two ways you can ferment garlic scapes:
1. Chop the garlic scape into small pieces and pack them into a pint (or larger)jar.
2. Make a brine of @ 1 C water and 1 T salt. To that, add 1 or 2 caps of probiotics (or 1 teaspoon of probiotic powder). Pour the brine over the garlic scapes, to fill the jar up to @ 1/2 in of the top. Push the garlic scapes down so they are under the brine.
3. Put a dome (2-part lid) on the jar, or, if you are using a “found” jar, just put that lid on it, and put the jar in a bowl, or on a saucer, and leave for 3-4 days (or more). You need the dish under it because it is likely that liquid will seep out.
4. Enjoy

Way 2 –
Chop the garlic scapes finely (or process them in a processor (small food processor, Magic Bullet or Nutri Bullet with the flattest blade) and combine them with a salsa mix or other vegetable mix, and follow step 2 above

7/8/14 CSA SHARE: What we got, etc.

We got pretty much what they promised. Here are the specifics:

Basil or sage………………….1 bun Basil
Cabbage or lettuce…………1 med. hd Cabbage
Collards……………………..1 bun Collards
Peas……………….……………..@ 1/2 lb. Snow Peas
Beets with greens………….1 bun beets, no greens
Yellow or green zucchini…1 big Zucchini
Cucumbers or onions……..1 big Cucumber
Cherries…………………………1 pt Cherries

I also got 1 quart of Cherries in the fruit share.  I think I have to find a new cherry recipe that is more than just pop a cherry in your mouth, savor it, spit out the seed, repeat.

The lady who prepares the featured recipe each week was making a raw beet salad. I loves my beet salad, so I was all ears and eyes.  Hers was much more designer than mine is,but I can definitely see myself adding some of the ingredients she uses to my own delicious recipe My Famous Beet Salad (you can find other beet recipes on that page, too). I will write a separate page with the CSA recipe – it is goooood!

PLANS
Basil – I am going to try to find something new with basil other than to use it as a main ingredient in a salad (yes, I like it that much). Maybe some in a cheeze?
Cabbage – this is a no-brainer. I need sauerkraut! (I made sauerkraut with the last head)
Collards – Easy would be to make marinated massaged collards but maybe I should try a wrap with them. Got it! 2 leaves go to wraps (that will be 4 or so), and the rest go to collard greens!
Snow Peas – right now, I have no clue. I should have traded them. Must meditate on this.
Beets – these are small beets, so there is really no point in trying to spiralize them. Okay, default to my famous beet salad
Zucchini – I haven’t had spaghetti in a while! The spiralizer probably thinks I’ve forgotten it. I think I’ll get out my old Ann Wigmore almond tomato sauce recipe!
Cucumber – I have had a hankering for something cucumber for a few days now. I could slice the cucumber thin and put it in vinegar with salt and pepper and have that old Southern summer salad.  I could. Or, I could make some jalapeno cheeze roll-ups.  Must think quickly! Cucumbers don’t last long in my fridge.

What the heck am I going to do with all these cherries?
Cherries

 

 

 

WHAT I’M DOING WITH THE SHARE PRODUCE

My personal CSA “box” challenge for this week:

OREGANO: with such a bounty of oregano, I am going to freeze half of it and and dehydrate the other half.  To freeze, fill ice cube tray wells 2/3 full with herbs, pour in extra virgin olive oil to cover, freeze over night, then remove to freezer bags and store in the freezer.
SPINACH:  A salad, of course, a soup, and a smoothie
KALE: Ah! I do love kale. There isn’t really that much, so I will probably make massaged marinated kale, and throw in some of kohlrabi leaves for good measure.
SUGAR SNAP PEAS : I’ll just have these for a snack. They are already in my bag to go to work today.
 KOHLRABI: I’m going to make kohlrabi ravioli with jalapeno smoked cheeze – I’ll just slice the kohlrabi on the mandoline, add a dab of the cheeze, fold over, and pop in my mouth.
GARLIC SCAPES: I’ll finely chop some and add them to the kale, then make a little garlic scape pesto with some of them, to eat over zucchini “pasta”.
RHUBARB: I know I’ll be making a strawberry/rhubarb smoothie or two, and I will likely halve the strawberry/rhubarb pie recipe

MORE RECIPES FOR PRODUCE IN THIS SHARE

RHUBARB
RAW STRAWBERRY RHUBARB SMOOTHIE
RAW STRAWBERRY RHUBARB SMOOTHIE #2
SIMPLE RHUBARB SMOOTHIE (Rhubarb Smoothie #3)
RAW RHUBARB COMPOTE
RAW VEGAN STRAWBERRY RHUBARB PIE

KOHLRABI
You can simply chop up kohlrabi and add it to any salad you are making, or you can thinly slice it on a mandolin and use two slices to make a ravioli with nut cheeze (it will stick together), or you can use one of these recipes
FERMENTED RAW JALAPENO-GARLIC DILL KOHLRABI
KOHLRABI APPLE SLAW
KOHLRABI BEET CARROT SALAD
QUICK AND EASY RAW KOHLRABI PICKLES
KOHLRABI RAWVIOLI WITH PINE NUT CHEEZ
KOHLRABI CHOPPED SALAD
WHAT TO DO WITH KOHLRABI LEAVES

KALE
You can just tear kale leaves and use them in a salad, either alone, or with other greens, or you can try out some of these recipes . One of my favorite recipes is marinated kale mixed with wakame seaweed (or a seaweed mix), and other basic salad ingredients (onion, bell pepper, sprouts, garlic, etc) with sesame oil and apple cider vinegar dressing.
KALE CHIPS – TWO KINDS
THAI GREEN CURRY KALE CHIPS
CASHEW KALE CHEEZE ON TOMATO SLICES
SESAME KALE AND WALNUT/KALE PESTO
WHAT TO DO WITH GREENS (KALE/COLLARDS/SPINACH/TURNIP GREENS/BEET GREENS/KOHRABI GREENS, ETC)

SPINACH
CASHEW SPINACH CHEEZE ON TOMATOES
RAW TOMATO SPINACH SOUP

GARLIC SCAPES
GARLIC SCAPE PESTO

MY NEW CSA – YOU CAN STILL SIGN UP HERE

The history of Pretty Smart Raw Food Ideas is directly tied to my first venture into CSAs.  Some years back, I saw an announcement for a CSA a couple of blocks from my home, and I signed up right away.  As CSAs often deliver vegetables folks have never seen before, I began to hear people asking what they should do with what they had received in the box.    Me? Being raw, I just went on-line, found out about the vegetable in question, and then started experimenting.  People started asking me for recipes.  I asked the CSA if we couldn’t have a way to publish recipes for the benefit of the members. They poo-poo’d my idea.  My blog was born the next day, with raw recipes for the vegetables I found in my box. 

Now, I have found  a CSA which allows you to casually  join whenever you find out about it, and allows you to pay by the week.  (I have had to leave that first CSA because they require an up front payment which I could not manage).  I’m telling you this because, if you have thought about a CSA, but didn’t sign up for one in the spring (most CSAs require you to sign up before May), there is a CSA that you can still join.

Corbin Hill Food Project is a CSA that works with local farmers to provide low cost organic vegetables and fruit (and other products, as add-ons), mostly in low-income neighborhoods (that doesn’t mean that you can’t join if you are not low-income – it just means that you might have to travel a bit).  The beauty of this CSA is that you can sign up at any time during CSA season (summer to fall), and, if, for any reason, you cannot receive your share the next week (for example: you will be away, or you can’t afford it), you can put your share on hold, simply by notifying them a week in advance.  If you are interested, please visit Corbin Hill Food Project to find the most convenient location for you to receive your share (I’ll be going to the Community Kitchen and Food Pantry on 116th St in Harlem – it’s familiar to me, and I want to support its programs, and, also, the commute there and back home is reasonable, even if it is not right near my home – heck! Fairway, Costco, and Trader Joe’s involve commutes so it is not really that big of a deal). 

The first deliveries are June 18th and June 19th (depending on your chosen location – I’m set to receive my share on Tuesday, the 18th), and the last day to sign up for that week is June 10th. 

Just saying.

NICE RECIPES from Renewed Living

Every once in a while I do open an email I never signed up for, and some of those times, I am pleasantly surprised.  This is one of those times. No idea whatsoever how I got on Renewed Living‘s mailing list, but they do have some nice recipes on their blog.  Check them out.

NEW SPICY TOMATO SALSA FERMENT GOING

I’ve just put a quart and a half of tomato salsa to ferment.  

What did I put it in?  About 6 large Roma tomatoes, chopped; a large onion, chopped fine, a medium-sized yellow bell pepper, chopped fine;  one very ripe jalapeno (it was orange), chopped fine;  a large handful of cilantro, chopped fine; 3 large garlic cloves, minced; 2 t sea salt; and 2 capsules of New Chapter All-Flora probiotics.  

There’s a fermenting meet-up on Monday evening, and I am fully expecting this mix to be ready and garlicky-spicy-licious by then. 

9/19/13 : WHAT WAS IN THE BOX , WHAT I WENT HOME WITH, and what I will do with it

This is what we got and what I ended up taking home:

Celery root – 2 pcs
Baby bok choi – 1 bun
Scallions – 1 bun……………traded for bok choi
Arugula – ½ lb bag…………traded for 3 red peppers
Zucchini – 1 pc………………got 2 med.small eggplants
Long Red Peppers – 3 pcs
Sweet Potatoes – 1.75 lbs

It was hard for me to decide to take home the eggplant but there was really nothing else to choose except 3 small sweet potatoes, so I bit the bullet.  Now, after researching for only a short time, I wish I had traded something for the eggplants there for trade, as I have found several tasty-looking recipes for fermented eggplant. I am looking forward to making some hot ajvar with the eggplant and red peppers, and some fermented eggplant with garlic.