Things to Make - Arcadia Farm's Scissor Salsa and Basil Walnut Bean Spread

Last week the girls attended farm camp through Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food and Agriculture, where they: picked soybeans, weeded the garden, fed chickens, ran around fields, made playgrounds out of old wood planks, spent the whole day outside (seriously, the WHOLE DAY), and, MOST IMPORTANTLY, learned how to cook. Yes, every week of farm camp has a different theme and, luckily, my kids showed up for the Small Chefs session. Each weekday afternoon they brought home fabulous recipes utilizing garden fresh ingredients. One of their absolute favorite recipes is for scissor salsa, which strikes me as incredible because before last week the girls would never even touch salsa and now they make and eat it THEMSELVES. Farm camp = magic.

ARCADIA FARM'S SCISSOR SALSA

Ingredients:
* Handful of cherry/grape tomatoes
* 2-3 small sweet peppers
* 8 sprigs of cilantro
* 1 ear of corn
* 1/2 onion [optional]
* 1 clove garlic
* juice of one lime
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:
* Remove the stem and seeds from the peppers, cut them into long slices.
* Use scissors to cut the tomatoes, cilantro, and onion.
* Remove the corn from the cob with a knife.
* Add the garlic by crushing it in a garlic press or with a mortar and pestle.
* Add the olive oil, salt, and lime juice.
* Mix by crushing the tomatoes with a wooden spoon.
* Eat with tortilla chips.

(Adopted from a recipe by the D.C. non-profit, City Blossoms Inc.)



The girls also came home with this recipe for basil walnut bean spread, which wasn't their favorite food (P - "it's just okay"), but Dan and I find the spread addictive. And super easy to make.

ARCADIA FARM'S BASIL WALNUT BEAN SPREAD

Ingredients:
* 1 can garbanzo beans
* 1 cup walnuts (chopped)
* 1 cup lightly packed fresh basil leaves
* 1/4 cup olive oil
* 4 teaspoons lemon juice
* 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Directions:

* Puree all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Add more olive oil and lemon juice if needed. Garnish with basil or radishes. Eat with crackers or bread.

(Adopted from a recipe by the D.C. non-profit, City Blossoms Inc.)
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And if you're interested in Arcadia, they also host workshops and field trips throughout the year. Click here for more info.

Things to Make - Cooking with Seasonal Veggies (tomatoes, eggplant & squash)

This summer, we joined our first CSA (a half-share at Great Country Farms). So every week, on our doorstep, we receive one bin full of yummy veggies and fruit. In the last few weeks, such deliveries have meant a large amount of tomatoes, eggplant, and squash/zucchini. So what to do?

For the squash and/or zucchini, Real Simple published a great/simple recipe, that's a little different from most squash recipes I've found. - spaghetti with zucchini, walnuts, and raisins (I know it sounds like an odd combination, but even my husband liked it, despite the lack of meat).

For the squash/zucchini and tomatoes, allrecipes.com has a tomato/squash casserole recipe that's quite yummy. http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/tomato-zucchini-casserole/Detail.aspx

For just the tomatoes, often they're wonderful to eat as is (and so so much better than what you buy in the store) but if you want to jazz it up a little this Cooking Light recipe for tomato granita is really yummy.

Regarding the eggplant, I LOVE eggplant parm, but I hate all the steps to make it, so in an effort to make things easier, I created my own simple recipe (with help from my mother-in-law) that I find somewhat addictive. Here it is:

Darcy's Easy Eggplant Parm

ingredients - 1 medium/large eggplant, 3 fresh tomatoes, olive oil, breadcrumbs, shredded parm cheese (or, i like to use the parm, assiago, fontina, provolone blend from trader joes called "Quattro Formaggio")

1. Cut eggplant into 1/2 inch rounds and generously apply salt to the pieces. Let sit about half an hour and then pat dry with a paper towel (i know it sound silly, but this keeps the eggplant from getting soggy)
2. Brush slices with olive oil (lightly) and bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes
3. Remove eggplant slices from the oven and assemble them into stacks with the tomato (cut into round slices), breadcrumbs (about a tablespoon), and cheese (i.e. eggplant, tomato, breadcrumbs, a light smattering of cheese, then repeat. So that each stack has 2 eggplants and 2 tomatoes).
4. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is melted but not burned.

See, so easy, and somewhat healthy, right? Okay so cheese is bad, but at least no frying occurs.

How about everyone else? Any other suggestions for seasonal produce? I'd love to hear them.