Peachy Keen Green

Alba clamshell mushrooms and fresh zucchini arrived in our last farmer's market delivery, and Viki left a nice bottle of white wine with us, and we still had a little arborio rice from John & Wanda's visit last year when they made us a delicious farmer's market risotto... So, with the help of my Isa Does It cookbook, I decided to try my first risotto. I've made it a few times, trying different mushrooms, squash types (including acorn), and wines (white & mango), and it's always delish! I Ingredients 1-2 T canola oil 2 zucchinis OR acorn squash, chopped 8 oz mushrooms 1/4 C sun dried tomatoes, chopped 1/3 C peas 1 onion, diced 3 cloves garlic, minced 1.5 C arborio rice 1.5 C white wine or mango wine 4 C broth 1 tsp thyme several dashes fresh black pepper 1/2 tsp salt 2 T fresh lemon juice 1/2 C cashew cream (3 T cashew butter + water, or 1/2 cup soaked cashews blended) Instructions Precook veggies: Saute squash in oil, and add mushrooms after a few minutes. R

Viki brought her adaptation of a carrot-top chimichurri  to our outdoor distance gathering, and I fell in love with it! The tang and garlic are amazing on bread, or as a salad dressing (see Viki's salad, below). I made a pesto with carrot tops a couple of months ago and it was meh... After that, I just ended up throwing carrot tops in soup (it was great in split pea soup) . But next time I get farmer's market carrots, I'm definitely making this! Ingredients 1 C finely chopped carrot greens 2 tsp dried oregano 1 tsp cumin 1/2 tsp sweet paprika (that is, regular, not smoked) 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes 2 garlic cloves, minced 1/2 tsp sea salt Freshly ground black pepper 2 T rice vinegar 2 T red wine vinegar 1/4 C extra-virgin olive oil Instructions In a small bowl, combine the carrot greens, oregano, cumin, paprika, red pepper flakes, garlic, salt, and pepper. Stir in the vinegar and olive oil. Taste and adjust seasonings.

During the pandemic, I ordered some soy curls  and made fake chick'n nuggets out of of them, adapting this " chicken" soy curl salad . It was quite good! But it's much easier to buy fake chick'n from the store.The recipe for soy curl chick'n is at the bottom, in case you're inspired to try,  but nowadays I just buy and bake fake chick'n nuggets from Trader Joe's and cut those up over the salad. Delish.  Ingredients Fake chick'n, like TJ's fake nuggets, baked and cooled Lettuce Mix of veggies, like: Tomatoes Cucumber Radish Carrots Sprouts Bell pepper Black olives (sliced) Ranch dressing: 3 T vegan mayo 1 T non-dairy milk 2 tsp vinegar 1 tsp poppy seed a few chives, chopped (optional) 1 tsp dill Instructions On a bed of lettuce, arrange vegetables in piles around outer circle. Cut up fake chick'n nuggets and place them in the center. Top with ranch dressing applied lightly with sweeping motion. Eat! Or: Make-your-own fake chick'n 1 1

Every year we have so many oranges! They're more difficult to give away this year given COVID... we give to a few neighbors and friends, but I can't take them to the office and hand them out like in past years. An abundance of pears lead to ginger pear sauce  and too many fingers led to candied buddha's hands ... so doh, why not try my hand at marmalade? After skimming several recipes on the web, I decided to adapt this orange lemon marmalade recipe slightly to use less sugar and more oranges. It's just a little tart, and really delicious! The neighbors loved it. One request from Kurt & Pete: Cut the rinds into even smaller pieces. Ingredients 5-6 oranges rinds from another 2-3 oranges rinds from 2 lemons 1 lime (all of it if it's small, or just rinds) 8 C water 6 C sugar Instructions Wash the oranges and lemons well and cut off any bad parts. Thinly slice and throw in a big pot. Eat a few oranges after you cut off the ends because they are so delicious. Realiz