Homegrown Happy Valley

The arrival of tomatoes…the first sign of summer produce!

Tomatoes? The last of the asparagus and strawberries? What did you do with your local food for the Eat Local Challenge this week? Leave a reply and let us know!

HOT ITEMS OF THE WEEK:

• tomatoes!
• strawberries

ON THE MENU:

Day 1

Lasagna enchiladas and fresh greens, early tomatoes and radishes

• 10 lasagna noodles
• 15 oz. ricotta cheese
• 1 cup parmesan
• 2 cups mozzarella (Meyer Dairy)
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp olive oil
• fresh basil (Village Acres)
• garlic scapes (Village Acres)
• kale (Village Acres)
• scallions (Village Acres)
• three or four fresh tomatoes chopped/ or one jar marinara (tomatoes from Boalsburg Market)

Boil lasagna noodles. While noodles are boiling saute basil, garlic scapes, kale and scallions in olive oil until greens are wilted.  Mix ricotta cheese, parmesan, 1/2 cup mozzarella and egg together.  Stir the greens into the cheese mixture.  Preheat oven to 450 degrees and assemble the noodles and filling.  Open each noodle and fill with cheese and greens mixture. Fold the noodle over mixture, roll and place seem side down in 9 x 13 inch pan.  When all rolls are finished top chopped tomatoes or marinara sauce and cover pan with foil and cook for 20 minutes. Remove foil and sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese and let heat for 15 more minutes.  Let cool and serve.

Day 2

Katie’s Favorite Summer Salad

• two large tomatoes (Boalsburg Market)
• mozzarella (Meyer Dairy)
• basil (Village Acres)
• olive oil
• white wine vinegar
• kosher salt

Slice tomatoes and mozzarella.  Place on platter alternating slices of tomato and cheese. Roughly chop basil (as much as you like) and sprinkle over the slices. Top with a hefty drizzle of olive oil and vinegar.  Sprinkle with kosher salt and enjoy!

Day 3

Michele visits Otto’s Pub and Brewery

Basil Pesto Glazed Cornish Game Hen from Setter Run Farms with mashed potatoes, sugar snap peas and Otto’s housemade root beer.

(Unfortunately the snap peas at Otto’s were not local, they should be available shortly.)

Day 4

Grilled chicken marinated in honey-chili sauce, asparagus and tomatoes, basil, mozzarella salad

• three chicken wings and three legs from Village Acres
• Marinated in honey chili sauce (recipe from Katie’s sister — she’s not sure where she got it, possibly a Wii video game!)
• 1/4 cup scallions (Village Acres)
• 2/3 cup local honey (Lost Hollow)
• 1/4 cup sherry vinegar
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 1/2 cups homemade chicken broth

Coat saute pan with cooking spray, and place on medium-high heat. Add chopped scallions and saute until tender.  Add honey and vinegar to the pan.  Quickly stir in the chili powder, cumin and broth.  Bring to a boil and reduce by half. Pour over meat and let marinate for at least two hours.  Transfer chicken pieces to grill and viola!

Roasted asparagus, olive oil, kosher salt on the grill.

Day 5

Simple! Egg salad sandwiches on Gemelli’s flax ciabatta bread with spring asparagus puree leftover from Week 4. Served with salad.

Day 6

Potato Frittata served with Tangy Buttered Beets

I substituted potatoes from the Boalsburg market, and local (from Vermont when I was on vacation) garlic herb cheese in this recipe.

Day 7

Sausage and veggies on the grill, sauteed snap peas

Grilled Cow-a-hen kielbasa, beets and potatoes (from Village Acres) with garlic (Eden View Organics) and homemade pesto; sauteed snap peas in garlic, olive oil, and tamari, salt and pepper.

TIP OF THE WEEK:

Put unripe tomatoes in a paper bag at room temperature until ripe; it usually takes about a day or two.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 29th, 2009 at 8:54 am and is filed under Eat Local Challenge, Farm, Food. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.