Recipes
Potato Leek Soup
Julia Child's recipe... quick, easy, and really yummy!
2 tablespoons neutral oil, such as canola or grapeseed oil
4 to 5 medium russet potatoes (1 pound), peeled and roughly chopped
3 large leeks (1 pound), cleaned and thinly sliced (your share this week includes 1 pound!)
6 cups vegetable stock (or light chicken stock)
Kosher salt, to taste
1 to 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup crème fraiche
1/3 cup minced parsley or chives
Heat the oil in a large (6-plus quart) stockpot or dutch oven over medium heat. Add the leek and potato. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables have begun to soften and brown slightly, about 8 to 12 minutes (this time will vary greatly depending on the surface area of the bottom of your pot).
Add the vegetable stock, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.
Blend until smooth, either using an immersion blender or by carefully transferring to a blender in batches.
Add the cream, and season to taste with salt and lemon juice.
Ladle into bowls, and garnish with a dollop of crème fraiche and a healthy sprinkling of minced parsley.
Butternut Dumplings with Brown Butter and Sage
Winter is the perfect time to spend a little more time making something really special for dinner. This recipe for butternut dumplings, or gnocchi, is one great way to create a hearty meal that your family will love.
 1 package frozen squash puree, thawed and excess liquid drained off
4 medium baking (russet) potatoes, pierced
1 egg
11/2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 pinch nutmeg
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus additional, for dusting
Oil
8 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Bake potatoes directly on the rack of oven for 1 hour. Split the potatoes and allow to cool slightly, or until you can handle them. Don't let them cool completely. Scoop the flesh of the potatoes into a bowl, add the squash, and mash with a hand masher. Mix in the egg, salt and nutmeg. Then add the flour and mix until a soft dough forms. Do not do this in a mixer, it will overwork the dough. Add flour by the spoonful if it's still too moist.
Turn out onto a floured board and divide into 8 portions. Roll out into ropes and cut into 1/2-inch pieces. Line the pieces up on a floured sheet pan as you work. At this point you could freeze them on the pan until solid, then transfer to zip top bags and store in the freezer.
In a large pot of boiling, salted water gently drop in the dumplings. Don't overcrowd. As they begin to float, remove them with a slotted spoon and toss them into an ice bath.
Drain off the water and toss in a little oil. Store loosely in containers until ready to use.
To reheat, in a saute pan over high heat add 1 tablespoon of soft butter. Cook until the butter begins to foam and turn brown. Add 2 teaspoons sage leaves and 1 cup of dumplings. Cook for an additional minute until the dumplings are heated through. Repeat until you have desired amount of servings. Plate and top with freshly grated Parmesan.
Butternut Squash Ginger Carrot Soup
1 butternut squash (or package of frozen squash)
6 carrots
4 cloves garlic
1 thumb size piece (or larger) of fresh ginger
1 onion
1 qt stock (veg or chicken - fish could also work nicely here)
water
olive oil
salt & pepper
(optional - cream, milk, sour cream, or coconut milk)
Cover the bottom of a large stock/soup pot with oil and add diced onion and a bit of salt on low heat. Cook 5-10 minutes until the onion becomes translucent. Add garlic and ginger with salt and pepper to taste and cook another 5 min so the flavors blend. Peel, seed and cut the butternut squash into large chunks. Wash and cut the carrots into large chunks as well. Add the stock to the soup pot, then the carrots and squash, then add water to barely cover the vegetables. Bring to a boil and then simmer until the carrots are tender. Using a potato masher, crush the cooked veg then blend to your preference. I usually like to blend half leaving some of the mashed carrots and squash for some texture. At this point you can stir in something creamy if desired. I used about half a can of coconut milk recently and thought it was perfect. If using sour cream, add it into the serving bowl as a garnish.
Kale Chips
If you haven't made them yet, do try. They are delicious, fun, super easy to make. They come out crispy with a very satisfying potato chip like crunch. You can try different toppings ... chili powder, parmesan cheese etc, to flavor them further, but the simple oil and salt I have given below really is great.
1 large bunch kale (any kind), tough stems removed, leaves torn into pieces
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
Position racks in upper third and center of oven; preheat to 400°F.
If kale is wet, very thoroughly pat dry with a clean kitchen towel; transfer to a large bowl. Drizzle the kale with oil and sprinkle with salt. Using your hands, massage the oil and salt onto the kale leaves to evenly coat. Fill 2 large rimmed baking sheets with a layer of kale, making sure the leaves don't overlap. (If the kale won't all fit, make the chips in batches.)
Bake until most leaves are crisp, switching the pans back to front and top to bottom halfway through, 8 to 12 minutes total. (If baking a batch on just one sheet, start checking after 8 minutes to prevent burning.)
Carmelized Onion, Sweet Pepper, Kale, Feta Pizza
1 onion, sliced
several cloves of garlic
1 package frozen sweet peppers
1 shallot if you have it, minced
around 10-12 leaves of kale stripped from stalk and chopped into ribbons
1/2 container Marinated feta
oregano
crushed red pepper
Preheat the oven to 425F.
Stretch your pizza dough with well floured hands and place on baking sheet, let rest.
Heat a skillet, and add olive oil to coat. Add the onions and cover and simmer first on medium for around 5 minutes. Then add the peppers (frozen is fine) and cook on medium til the water evaporates from them. Then let onions and peppers simmer together a while to very soft and starting to color a bit. Add your shallots (if using) and garlic and sauté a bit more til these soften but don't brown, and then remove to a plate.
In same skillet, toss in a bit more oil, some water, and the chopped kale and sauté the kale til it softens. Steam will help achieve this and might take 5 mins. Then turn off.
Build pizza. Start with a smear of olive oil on the crust. Then spread the pepper mixture around. Then the crumble the feta between fingers and spread over crust. Then the kale. Then drizzle half the oil from the feta container and the yummy sundried tomato bits around. Next give your pizza a good sprinkling of oregano, crushed red pepper, and a bit of salt.
Bake for 10-15 mins until bottom is nicely baked and top comes together. Remove to a rack, slice and enjoy.
Potato-Leek Tourte
Author: Monique Hooker-Cooking with the Seasons
large russet potato or 1lb red potatoes
1 partially baked 9” pie shell
3 cups chopped leek, white & light green part only (If there’s not quite enough leek in the box for the recipe, add some chopped collard greens & saute them with the leek.)
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
½ cup cream
2 eggs
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. freshly ground pepper
¼ tsp. freshly ground nutmeg grated Gruyere, Swiss, or goat cheese (optional)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Gently crush baked potato with a fork into the bottom of the pie shell.
Saute leek in butter until translucent.
Transfer to the pie shell.
Mix together the cream, eggs, salt, pepper, and nutmeg to make a custard.
Pour over the onion and potato, sprinkle cheese on top (if using)
Place in the preheated oven, baking for 45 minutes, or until the tourte is golden brown and the custard set.
Skin-on Garlic Mashed Potatoes & Parsnips
Author: Dani Lind
2 lb. red potatoes
1 lb. parsnips
5-7 whole cloves garlic, peeled
4 Tbsp. butter
1 c. milk or half & half
¼ c. sour cream
salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
Scrub potatoes & cut into 2” pieces. Scrub parsnips & cut into similar sizes.
Place cut potatoes, parsnips, & whole peeled garlic cloves into a medium sauce pan & cover with salted water.
Bring to a boil covered, lower heat, & simmer uncovered for about 10-15 minutes, until vegetables are tender.
Drain water & mash vegetables & garlic with the remaining ingredients.
Carrot Oatmeal Muffins
These are great to have around in the freezer for a quick healthy breakfast or included in kids' lunches. Try baking a double batch and freezing half.
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup grated carrots
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
Optional: chopped nuts or raisins.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a mixing bowl combine applesauce, sugar, egg, vanilla, and carrots. In a second bowl combine all the dry ingredients. Add the two mixtures together and beat just until combined. If desired, fold in nuts or raisins.
Pour batter into greased muffin tins. Bake for about 15 minutes or until the tops spring back when touched lightly.
Honey Glazed Carrots
1 lb. carrots (or mixture of carrots & other veggies like
sweet peppers, green beans, snap peas, etc.)
2 Tbsp. butter (or olive oil)
1½ Tbsp. honey
½ c. water
salt & pepper to taste
Fresh herb such as thyme, rosemary, or mint (optional)
Scrub carrots. Slice carrots into ½ inch diagonals & combine them with butter, honey, & ½ cup water in a large skillet or sauce pan over medium-high heat.
Bring to simmer, lower to medium heat, & cook until carrots are tender (but not mushy) & most of liquid has reduced (10-15 minutes). (If you are combining carrots with other veggies, add quicker cooking veggies like peppers or peas half way through cooking.) Season with salt, pepper, & fresh herb of choice (if using), & serve.
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