Sweet Potato Oven Fries
This recipe makes nice tender baked sweet potato fries with good browning. We grow three types of sweet potatoes most years, Japanese Murasaki with purple skins and white interior, Bonita with white skin and white flesh, and Orleans Orange, the classic deep orange inside and out. You can find them at the farm stores or markets to get a sampler of them to bake up and taste side by side. Oven fries are especially good for making a tasting, as the ingredients are so simple and you can taste each flavor.
Ingredients:
Sweet Potatoes
Olive Oil
Coconut oil (optional)
Salt
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Slice up however many sweet potatoes you want to eat into big chunky fries, all of similar thickness, for even cooking. Toss in a bowl, with enough olive oil to coat, and a little salt.
If you have coconut oil, I like to put a tablespoon or two on a baking sheet and set it in the oven for a minute to melt. Then spread the oil around the pan for a good coating. You could oil the pan with another high heat oil. I think the oil on the bottom gets them to brown better.
Spread the sweet potatoes across the pan so none are piled on top of each other, and each has good contact with the pan. Cover the pan with tin foil. Put in the oven and bake until sweet potatoes are tender, about a 1/2 hr.
Then remove the foil, and put the pan back in the oven to brown. Don’t stir, as this will mess up the browning. Scope the fries out periodically as they bake until you get the level of browning you want.
Serve with ketchup or dipped in a spicy mayo spiked with RFF hot sauce ;).
Oven Roasted Parsnip Fries
One of the most delicious spring things is here! Roots hidden underground all winter gathering sweetness from the frosty cold. We just harvested these and baked the first batch – spring-dug parsnips! Fall and winter parsnips have lots of great flavor for this dish also, though the spring-dug ‘nips are the next level of sweetness. I love to roast them in the oven this way…
Ingredients:
Parsnips – as many as you’d like
Coconut oil (or other higher heat oil)
Salt
Preheat the oven to 400, while you wash and chop the parsnips into fries. Put a couple tablespoons worth of coconut oil on the baking pan and set in the oven to melt a minute. Take pan out and stir the parsnips around in the oil to get some coating, then cover with tin foil to roast for about a half hour until parsnips are very soft to tines of a fork.
Then uncover and roast more until you get that awesome caramelizing of the natural sweetness. Sprinkle with kosher salt or other coarser grind salt, serve hot.
Also excellent dipped in a spicy mayo spiked with RFF hot sauce ;).
Curried Carrot Dip
From Anna, a member of the CSA. Anna says: “Thanks for the wonderful veggies that are coming in so far. I’m enjoying them very much. I wanted to share two recipes that I recently tried and love. I hope others will try and enjoy eating them as well.”
7 medium carrots (about 1 pound), cut into 1-inch chunks
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 clove garlic, minced
2 teaspoons ginger powder (or tsps of freshly grated ginger)
3/4 cup yogurt
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine the carrots with the turmeric, curry powder, salt, cayenne and oil. Toss to coat the carrots with the oil and spice mixture. Spread the carrots on a rimmed baking sheet, and roast for 30 minutes, until very tender and brown.
Put the roasted carrots in a food processor with the jalapeno, garlic, and ginger and puree. Add the yogurt and cilantro and process another few seconds until smooth and creamy. If the spread seems too thick add water 1 tablespoon at a time until you achieve the desired consistency. Taste, and add salt if needed. Serve warm or at room temperature with flatbread or crackers.
Makes about 2 cups
Baba Ganouj
2 1-pound eggplants, halved lengthwise
3 Tbs fresh lemon juice
3 Tbs olive oil
1 garlic clove, chopped
1/4 cup tahini
Preheat oven to 375°F. Generously oil rimmed baking sheet. Place eggplant halves, cut side down, on sheet. Roast until eggplant is very soft, about 45 minutes. Cool slightly.
Using spoon, scoop out pulp from eggplant into food processor. Add oil, tahini, lemon juice, and garlic; process until almost smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to small bowl.
Green Garlic and White Bean Dip
1 (15-ounce) can white beans, drain and set aside liquid
6 stalks green garlic
½ tsp red chili flakes
1 Tbs fresh lemon juice
1 tsp finely minced fresh rosemary
1 tsp salt
¼ cup olive oil
Place all ingredients in the food processor and blend, adding back bean water until desired consistency is reached. Serve on crackers or toast with fresh rosemary as garnish.
Makes 2 cups.
Zucchini Appetizer Squares
4 c thinly sliced zucchini
1 c buttermilk baking mix
4 eggs – beaten to blend
½ c chopped onion
½ c freshly grated Parmesan cheese + more to sprinkle on top
½ c plain yogurt
2 T chopped fresh parsley
1 clove garlic minced
½ t chopped oregano
½ t salt
Ground pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 350 and butter 9 x 13 ovenproof glass baking dish. Mix together ingredients in any order. Spread into prepared dish, sprinkle with additional Parmesan cheese
Cook until tester comes out clean – 30 – 45 min. Cut into squares and enjoy hot or at room temperature.
Bruschetta con Radicchio e Parmiggiano
From CSA member Morgan Pinney, 2015
One of Morgan’s all time favorite things to do with radicchio, a perfect appetizer or supper salad. Thank you for sharing this one, Morgan!
1 small head radicchio
Parmesan cheese
2 cloves garlic, or a few garlic scapes
a few sprigs fresh basil (optional)
2 Tbs olive oil
salt to taste
Bread for base
Slice the radicchio in half and cut out the stem end. Lay down flat, and chop finely against the grain to make skinny strands. You can cut the chopped piles in half if you want the strands a little more manageable when you eat them, but I usually think they’re too pretty to do so. Put the mess in a large wide bowl.
Grate a 1-1/2 inch square of Parmesan cheese directly into the bowl with the radicchio.
Chop the last-of-the-season garlic scapes and add those too. Regular garlic will do too, if the scapes are gone.
Finely chop some fresh basil and add that too. (Optional, not critical)
Douse the pile with a couple waves of good olive oil…about 2 Tbsp.
Use a wooden spoon to toss everything together, add salt to taste, and pile onto good crusty bread or fresh focaccia! Buon appetito!
