Eat Local Challenge: Week 7
Festival fun plus the arrival of more amazing local produce equals a great week to live in Happy Valley. With good tunes in my head and kettle corn in my belly, I see chocolate zucchini cake in my near future.
It’s hard to believe that it’s mid-July and that “Local Foods Week” (sponsored by PASA) is around the corner (August 1-8). More on that soon; in the meantime, tell us what you did with your bounty for the Eat Local Challenge.
HOT ITEMS OF THE WEEK:
- sun gold tomatoes
- blueberries
- zucchini
ON THE MENU:
Day 1
Local veggie omelettes with Gemelli bread
Omelette’s with sauteed zucchini, garlic, red pepper flakes, swiss chard, and green onions; local cheese; Village Acres sun gold tomatoes; served with Gemelli “ancient grains” bread.
Day 2
When Katie e-mailed her recipe for Jambalaya, I instantly wanted the ingredients to come together on my computer screen so I could eat it.
Jambalaya
2 tablespoons olive oil
chard (Village Acres)
scallions (Village Acres)
garlic scapes (Tait Farm)
smoked sausage (Cow A Hen)
3 large tomatoes (Boalsburg Market)
1 to 2 cups chicken broth (depending on how soupy you want the dish)
2 cups rice
Saute chard, scallions and garlic scapes in the olive oil until greens are wilted (about 5 minutes). Add the smoked sausage and continue to saute for 10 minutes (turn heat to medium). Chop tomatoes and add to mixture, stir and let tomatoes get juicy (5 minutes). Add chicken broth and let the mixture come to a boil. Add the two cups of rice and bring to a boil again. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 30 minutes.
Day 3
Michele’s Easy, DIY pizza
Garlic, tomato and olive oil spelt flat bread from Eden View Organics, purchased at Boalsburg Farmer’s Market. Topped with mozzarella cheese from Meyer Dairy and La Famiglia DelGrosso Aunt Cindy’s Sun-dried Tomato Sonata sauce, purchased at Tait Farm
Day 4
Katie and her family had a picnic dinner on Old Main Lawn watching Arts Fest music with grilled cheese on the grill, Village Acres blueberries, Harner Farms watermelon, and Creamery ice cream.
Day 5
Grilled Village Acres chicken with Annie’s Naturals Smokey Maple BBQ sauce, cucumbers sprinkled with salt and pepper, snap peas sauteed in olive oil and red pepper flakes, and one of my favorite side dishes - beet and carrot pancakes. Beet and carrot pancakes are a great way to get kids (and beet-wary adults) to eat this veggie and ask for seconds and thirds.
Day 6
I used the very last of my asparagus (boo hoo) and didn’t use the chilies for this yummy dish: Super Natural Cooking Green-packed Stir Fry. Local produce from Boalsburg Market and Village Acres Farm.
Day 7
Katie grilled up some NY strip steak (Blue Rooster), steamed broccoli (downtown Tuesday Market), and served it with Cuizoo’s Curried Chick Pea and Red Potato Hash.
DESSERT OF THE WEEK:
SIDE DISH OF THE WEEK:
Garden Bean Salad with Tomatoes and Feta
This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 14th, 2009 at 11:07 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.
July 14th, 2009 at 11:25 pm
I might just have to try those Beet and Carrot Pancakes - they sound promising!
We have been doing vegetable frittatas for dinner about once a week, and that’s been a big hit with the kids. Usually the night before our CSA pickup, because that’s when I need to cook up what is left of our veggies and Village Acres eggs! Even better when topped with some of the Three Belle goat cheese.
I found out that the cheeses they sell at Meyers are not produced locally. They told me that they buy them from a distributor in Wisconsin. But we really like their colby, and the price is very good, so we still buy it. The University Creamery cheeses are really local, I think.
July 15th, 2009 at 9:52 pm
Thanks for the information about Meyers cheese. I’m going to have to try the Creamery cheeses … and I’ll ask if they’re local.
The frittata is always a great way to use up those last veggies that need to be eaten Monday night. We tried a new frittata recipe this week (Mark Bittman, More-Vegetable-Than-Egg-Frittata) and it was great!
July 16th, 2009 at 11:47 am
For local cheese, try the following!
At Boalsburg Market, you can get lots of cheeses from Clover Creek Cheese Cellars.
Stone Meadow Farm (Woodward, PA) makes lots of great cheeses. He’s at Millheim Markets and you can find his cheese at Nature’s Pantry.
Spring Bank Acres is at Friday State College Market, and also has cheese available for sale on the farm (no sales on Sundays). You can get it at Nature’s Pantry as well, I believe.