SAVORY PEACH SOUP

Savory Raw Peach Soup

based on recipe from Frederic Patenaude

1-1/2 C chopped tomatoes (@ 2 med-size tomatoes)
4 C peaches, peeled and chopped (or nectarines) (@6 lg white peaches or nectarines),
2 small seedless cucumbers, diced – 1⁄3 cup packed fresh dill, chopped
Onion, diced, to taste.
1 t dry dill, or to taste (or use fresh dill)
Tabasco, to taste (optional).

• Place tomatoes, peaches (or nectarines), and onion in blender or food processor, and process to a slightly chunky texture
• Add cucumber and dill and process to chunky texture.

For best results, use ripe white peaches
Chunky texture is best.

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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

GREAT GRATED BEETS – from the Corbin Hill CSA Newsletter

GREAT GRATED BEETS
2 T rice or balsamic vinegar
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 T agave
Coarse sea salt
Freshly ground pepper
1/4 C extra virgin olive oil
4 med. beets, grated
4 med. carrots, grated
1/2 C thinly sliced basil leaves
2 T finely shredded fresh cilantro
1 scallion, thinkly sliced diagonally, for garnish (optional)

In a large bowl, combine the vinegar, lemon juice, agave, an a large pinch each of salt and pepper. Whisk to combine.
Gradually whisk in oil.
Add beets, carrots, basil, and cilantro. Toss to combine. Taste, and adjust seasonings.

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.

SPRING VEGETABLES! What can I ferment? Meet-up quandary: will probably ferment green beans

There’s a big Fermentation  Party in Brooklyn at the end of the month. I want to go, so I’ll have to ferment something (maybe a cheeze? I want something spectactular, or at least remarkable)

Meanwhile, the next NYC Ferments is for Spring Ferments . What?

Here’s my list of spring vegetables:
Artichokes
Asparagus
Belgian Endive
Broccoli
Butter Lettuce
Cactus
Chayote Squash
 Chives
Corn
Fava Beans
Fennel
Fiddlehead Ferns
Green Beans
Manoa Lettuce
Morel Mushrooms
Mustard Greens
Pea Pods
Peas
Purple Asparagus
Radicchio
Ramps
Red Leaf Lettuce
Rhubarb
Snow Peas
Sorrel
Spinach
Spring Baby Lettuce
Swiss Chard
Vidalia Onions
Watercress

Aha! I can ferment green beans. Actually, I make some mean jalapeno dill fermented green beans! Aha!

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. 

WHERE HAS GONE RAW GONE?

POST #982
SOMETHING HAS GONE RAWNG
Admittedly, I had not visited GoneRaw.com in quite a while (okay, maybe a year or so), but I was surprised and disheartened to find the place in a shambles today when I clicked through and old link on an old, inactive blog, looking for Chef Landria, who seems to have disappeared.  On the home page, there was some kind of code disturbance, which just got worse when I clicked on RECIPES at the top of the page.  

Ah, but help is on the way, if you want to go see this famous old repository for raw recipes of all kinds.

Go to the bottom of the page, and find where it says RECIPES –GONE RAW – that link is healthy (at least as of a few minutes ago)  You can page through the recipes, which seem to be intact. 

My advice – if you want to avail yourself of a number of wonderful recipes from people who have posted over the years, who may or may not still be active, QUICK! Go there and look through all of the recipes which sound like something you might want to eat or prepare for someone else.  (Who knows how long this site will remain – it has apparently been abandoned, and there have been no postings in the past year or so).