Don't forget to plan ahead for your Thanksgiving order! There is a pick up the day before Thanksgiving (Wednesday 11/27), but most folks like to start their cooking before Wednesday night. That means THIS week is the time to order your Thanksgiving vegetables! Below are a couple of our favorite vegetable main dishes and sides to inspire you to incorporate more vegetables, and LOCAL ones, into your special meal. Be sure you see the last recipe for "Any Squash 'Pumpkin' Pie" - it'll blow your mind how much more flavorful some winter squashes are in pies compared to pumpkin!
Kale and Walnut Stuffed Acorn Squash (serves 2)
1 acorn squash, sliced in half lengthwise, seeded and hollowed out
1 cup of cooked quinoa or grain of choice
1 large yellow onion, diced
1 large bunch of curly kale, torn into bite size pieces
2 cups of mushrooms, chopped
2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
handful of chopped walnuts
1 cup of chicken or vegetable stock
3/4 cups of parmesan cheese
Olive oil for cooking
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On an oiled baking pan place squash cut side down and roast for 30 minutes.
While your squash is cooking heat a large skillet or dutch oven. Add a few tablespoons of olive oil and heat. Add diced onions. Cook for one minute. Add the mushrooms and continue to cook for a few more minutes. Add the kale, crushed red pepper flakes, walnuts, and stock. Bring to a simmer. Once the kale is cooked through, (about 8 minutes) strain the mixture. Return to the pan and add the cooked grains. Mix well and season with salt and pepper.
Remove the squash from the oven. Flip it over and stuff with a healthy portion of the grain mixture. Top everything with a large handful of grated parmesan cheese. Return to oven for about 5 more minutes of baking.
Shaved Fennel Salad (serves 4)
2 cups coarsely torn sourdough bread
½ cup walnuts or pecans
6cTbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided, plus more
Kosher salt
3 Tbsp. sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar
1 garlic clove, finely grated
¼ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1 bunch fennel bulbs
¾ cup arugula leaves
½ lemon
2oz. Parmesan, grated
Preheat oven to 400°. Place bread on one side of a rimmed baking sheet and nuts on the other side (they cook at different rates). Drizzle bread with olive oil; season with salt. Toss, squeezing bread with your hands to help it absorb as much oil as possible, until evenly coated. Bake until nuts are golden brown and croutons are deeply browned and very crisp, 8–10 minutes for nuts, 12–15 minutes for croutons. Let cool, then coarsely chop nuts.
Meanwhile, combine vinegar, garlic, and red pepper flakes in a medium bowl. Let sit 10 minutes.
Whisk olive oil into vinegar mixture, then add croutons and chopped nuts. Season crouton mixture with some salt and toss to coat and let croutons soften slightly; set aside.
Remove stalks and fronds from fennel. Remove fronds from stalks and coarsely chop; thinly slice stalks. Place in a large bowl. Cut fennel bulbs in half and thinly slice on a mandoline (if you have one; if not, practice your knife skills). Add to the same bowl along with arugula. Zest ½ lemon over the salad, then squeeze in the juice. Season with salt and toss to combine.
Divide reserved crouton mixture among plates and top with parmesan. Arrange fennel salad over; top with remaining parmesan, and drizzle with olive oil then serve.
Any Squash "Pumpkin" Pie (makes 1 pie) (vegan)
1 recipe of your favorite single layer pie crust
3 cups squash puree*
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup milk of your choice
1 Tbsp olive oil (or melted coconut oil)
2 ½ Tbsp cornstarch, arrowroot powder or potato starch
1 ¾ tsp pumpkin pie spice (or sub mix of ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg & cloves)
1/4 tsp sea salt
Place all filling ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth. Pour into prepared pie crust and bake for about an hour, until the filling is a big jiggly and has some cracks in it. Once it's out of the oven, allow it to cool completely before refrigerating it for at least 4 hours to set before serving. Whipped cream, ice cream or coconut whipped cream on top is a great way to hid any imperfections!
*To make puree from any winter squash (including acorn and delicata!), first cut and de-seed the squash, then peel it with a very sharp paring knife or vegetable peeler. Cube the flesh and add to a steamer basket. Put at least 1" of water beneath the steamer basket then cover and cook until the squash is fork tender. You can then mash it with a fork, or puree it in a food processor for extra smoothness. For this recipe, I just add cooked, cubed squash to the food processor with the rest of the filling ingredients and go from there.
High Tunnel 1 is loaded!
June and Ezra help lay out microgreen trays.
Thanks for your support and have a great week!
Katherine, Spencer and Crew
