Winter Recipes

It’s definitely Winter in the garden, even though it's not yet the Solstice. This newsletter is dedicated to recipes for the meals of winter, featuring the sturdy produce still locally available, greens and cole crops you may have in your garden now, and breads to satisfy the soul. Just the thing for supper on a dark and chilly evening. Many thanks to all of our contributors for their delicious recipes!

Vegan Broccoli 'Cheese' Soup

By Kristen Smeal and adapted from a recipe at  Love and Lemons. Download a copy of Kristen's recipe here.

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a small baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, carrots, broccoli stems, salt, and pepper and sauté until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the potatoes and garlic and stir, then add the broth and simmer for 20 minutes until the potatoes are soft. Let cool slightly.
3. Place the broccoli florets in a steamer basket, and steam until broccoli is tender.
4. Meanwhile, place the bread cubes on a baking sheet. Toss with a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt and roast until the bread is crispy, about 10 minutes (set a timer).
5. Transfer the soup to the blender and add the cashews, apple cider vinegar, and mustard, and blend until creamy. Work in batches, if necessary. Add the steamed broccoli florets, dill (or pickle juice), and lemon juice (unless omitted), and pulse until the broccoli is incorporated. The soup can be blended to the desired consistency, if it is too thick, add a bit of water.
6. Salt to taste and serve the soup in bowls with the croutons on top.

Notes and substitutions:
If you forget to soak the cashews, pour boiling water over them and soak for 10 minutes or place cashews in a microwavable dish with water and microwave on high for 2 minutes. I like to garnish with a drizzle of olive oil, croutons, and a shake of vegan parmesan or few shreds of vegan cheddar. This is a great way to use up the stems of broccoli, which can also be diced and frozen. You can use any kind of mustard. I find that using honey or yellow mustard is more child-friendly than dijon or spicy mustard. Try adding some jalapenos or try the recipe with cauliflower instead of broccoli.

Spaghetti Squash Casserole

By Marla Koss. Download a copy of Marla's recipe here.

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°.
2. Wash and pat dry the squash. Slice off both ends and cut the squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and  loose stringy stuff (a melon-baller works wonders here).
3. Place the squash halves face-down in a lightly-greased roasting pan or pyrex dish. Add about a ½ cup of water and roast uncovered until a fork slides easily into the squash when it's turned right-side up.
4. Meanwhile, sauté a chopped onion in the oil and a splash of water until caramelized, about 20 minutes.
5. When the squash is done and the flesh easily scrapes out of the shell, pile it into a bowl and break it up into spaghetti-like strings with two forks. Stir in the caramelized onion, minced garlic, chopped herbs, pepper and salt.  Add the goat cheese, broken up, and stir to distribute as it melts.
6. Either microwave or bake in a casserole dish until hot. Serve either hot or lukewarm.

Note: This casserole makes a hearty meatless meal when served over hot angel hair pasta and topped with a fried egg, freshly-ground pepper and a little Parmesan cheese.

Salad Greens from your Winter Garden

By Alison Limoges

Rosemary Garlic Focaccia bread

By Alison Limoges. Download a copy of Alison's recipe here.

Here is a delicious bread recipe I have tried that worked out very well. It doesn’t require unusual ingredients or more than a couple hours to make and bake. And it uses two lovely herbs you can easily grow in your winter garden: rosemary and thyme. There's also a video for this recipe that you view online at 'Easy Rosemary Garlic Focaccia Bread.'

MAKE THE DOUGH

• 1. In a cold medium skillet, combine olive oil, minced garlic, thyme, rosemary, and the black pepper. Place the pan over low heat and cook, stirring occasionally, 5 to 10 minutes or until aromatic, but before the garlic browns. Set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, combine the warm water, yeast, and honey. Stir a few times then let sit for 5 minutes.
  3. Add 1 cup of the flour and a 1/4 cup of the infused garlic-olive oil mixture to the large bowl with the yeast and honey. Stir 3 to 4 times until the flour has moistened. Let sit for another 5 minutes.
  4. Stir in the remaining 1 1/2 cups of flour and salt. When the dough comes together, transfer to a floured board and knead 10 to 15 times until smooth.
  5. Transfer the dough to a large, oiled bowl. Cover with a warm, damp towel and let rise for 1 hour. (It’s best to let the dough rise in a warmer area of your kitchen).

BAKE THE BREAD

1. 1. Use two tablespoons of the remaining garlic-olive oil mixture to oil a 9-inch by13-inch rimmed baking sheet or pan.
   2. Spread the dough onto the baking sheet. Make dimples with your fingers all over the top of the bread dough. Drizzle and spread the remaining infused oil onto the dough. Let rise for another 20 minutes .
   3. Bake the bread in the middle of the 450-degree oven for 20 minutes, until golden brown.
   4. Let cool before cutting. Enjoy!

Pumpkin or Winter Squash Bread

By Margie Siegal. Download a copy of Margie's recipe here.

Any kind of winter squash (except spaghetti squash) will make decent pies, muffins or quick bread. Some kinds, of course, work better than others. The best Thanksgiving pies and holiday baking start the previous January, if you order your seeds from catalogs. Look for a notation in the seed description, “Makes excellent pies.” The small pumpkin in the photo is a Winter Luxury pumpkin, which is sweet and flavorful, and has tender, not-stringy insides. Seed is available from either Territorial Seed or Johnny's Selected Seeds. 

This quick bread has less sugar and fat then most recipes. It makes two loaves.

Instructions

1. The easiest way to cook the squash is to cut it in half, scoop out the seedy innards, and either steam it, if you have a large steamer, or spray with oil spray and bake at 350 degrees until good and soft – a fork should go through easily. Let cool. Scoop out the edible part, mash, and, if you don't have a food processor, strain over a large holed strainer to get the lumps out.
2. If you want to kick your baking up a notch, weigh ingredients. If your scale has a tare function, you put the bowl on the scale, zero out the scale, add each ingredient in order, and zero out the scale after adding the correct weight of each ingredient. Inaccurate measurements leads to variation in results.
3. The easiest way to complete this recipe is with a food processor, that way you won't spend all evening mashing and straining squash and creaming the butter with the sugar. The processor does most of the work. You can often find food processors (and scales) in second hand shops.
4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add whatever add-ins you feel like using, and mix again.
5. Put the butter and sugar in the food processor and pulse until it has the consistency of Play-Doh.
6. Or you can set to with a large fork and beat the two together. Then add the eggs, pulse until combined, then the applesauce, pumpkin, vanilla, and ginger. Pulse until smooth, scraping down the sides of the  bowl if there are spots which are getting left out.
7. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients slowly, stopping at several points and stirring until mostly combined.  Add Marsala or brandy, a little at a time Then add water, a little at a time. The dough should be drier than cake batter, but too wet to knead. When in doubt, make it a little wetter (see photo) The amount of water needed will vary with humidity and the type of squash. Mix just until all ingredients are incorporated.
8. Spray two bread pans with cooking spray. Scoop the batter into the pans, smooth over the top and bake for 50 minutes. A thin knife should come out clean. If not bake for another five minutes. 

Let cool and enjoy!

Minestrone

By Linda Carloni. Download a copy of Linda's recipe here.

This recipe is adapted from Marcella Hazan’s Essentials of Italian Cooking.  I’ve changed some of the quantities and cut back the fat content.  It can now be made vegan, vegetarian or omnivorous.  It takes a lot of chopping and a lot of unattended time on the stove, but I think it’s worth it.  I’ve served it many times, and it’s always a hit.  It turns out as more of a hearty stew than a soup.  

Makes about 8 servings. Best the day after the day you make it.  Keeps about 3-4 days in the refrigerator and freezes well.

Instructions

Choose a stockpot large enough for all the ingredients. Put in the oil, butter if using and sliced onion and cook over medium-low heat until the onion wilts and yellows a bit but is not browned. Add the diced carrots and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring once or twice. Repeat the procedure with the celery, potatoes, zucchini, and green beans, stirring each type of veg in one at a time, then cooking 2 or 3 min. before adding the next.  Then add the shredded cabbage and cook for about 6 minutes giving the pot an occasional stir.  I generally chop as I go along, so the intervals are longer or shorter depending on how fast I am.  That’s fine, the recipe is very flexible and forgiving.  

Add the broth, the cheese crust, the tomatoes and their juice, and a little bit of salt. (Go easy on the salt. You can correct the seasoning later.) Cover, bring to a boil at medium-high, then lower heat  and cook at a simmer for 2.5 hours. Then add the drained cooked or canned beans and the sausage if using.  Cook at a simmer for at least another 30 minutes.  If necessary, you can stop the cooking at any time and resume it later on. Minestrone should never be thin and watery, it should be soupy thick. If you should find that the soup is becoming too thick, you can add water. 

Before turning off, taste and correct for salt. It usually needs some, but remember you may be adding salty Parmesan at the table.

Cauliflower Nachos

By Becky Cyr. Download a copy of Becky's recipe here.

In this recipe, the cauliflower stands in as a healthier alternative to tortilla chips!

Instructions

1. Slice the cauliflower florets into flat pieces and place into a bowl.
2. Combine spices & salt (any amount you’d like) in a small bowl, and add to the cauliflower along with enough olive oil to coat the florets. Toss to coat.
3. Spread the cauliflower out in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes at 425º or until the cauliflower is starting to brown.
4. While the cauliflower is in the oven, prepare your toppings and sautee the baby peppers.
5. Once the cauliflower is done roasting, build your nachos.
6. Place in the oven for a second bake for approx. 8 minutes or until the cheese has melted.

Enjoy!