Friday August 17, 2012
It's that time of year. Somehow even with a watchful eye, those sneaky zucchini grow into large baseball bats. One minute they are too small and the next, a weapon!! My grandmother used to stuff her zucchini so I tried to recreate a similar recipe. My garden has an abundance of Swiss chard as well so I wanted to use both ingredients.
Click on the image of my zucchini boats below for the recipe. I know it will come in handy if you have the same crafty zucchini plants in your garden!!
Friday July 13, 2012
The other day I was looking out at the garden and I realized I had an abundance of collard greens. Without hesitation I quickly emailed my friend Dawn DeAngelis. Some time ago I remember her mentioning she had a great recipe using collard greens. Dawn responded and I thought this would be perfect to feature as one of Carole's Concoctions . Dawn shared her story with me,
"The recipe is not mine. It's from Epicurious. And I still love it. When I moved to New Hampshire form California in 2000, I dearly missed all the fresh veggies and greens I picked up every week at my local farmers market. One day I picked up a Gourmet and found that recipe. I made it countless times that first year, because collards are plentiful in New England markets.I brought it to a pot luck once and the description of Shredded Collard Greens with Walnuts and Pickled Apples was not exactly a big enticement to folks to try the salad. So a friend told me to change the name to:Winter Green Salad with Walnuts and Apples. I did. And the salad is always a hit."
So the interns and I decided to try it out, we picked the collards, and did the pickling of the apples. And this is how the salad turned. We hope you will try this tasty salad. Here are some pictures of how it turned out, it's quite pretty, and yummy too!
The recipe can be found here Winter Green Salad with Walnuts and Apples.
Friday June 15, 2012
Happy National Lobster Day! In honor of the holiday I thought I would share my Lobster Risotto recipe, which I concocted. The beauty in this particular recipe is that you only need 2 lobsters, and it serves around six people. I think it's pretty amazing that this recipe is a tasty and affordable way to have lobster . When I asked my team of interns about why they liked Lobsters they replied:
"I like crushing the shells with the nutcracker, when I was younger I would do this to get to the meat for my sister." --Michelle Anderer
"Once you have made it to the meat, that's the best part, it was something about this delicacy that made family time that more enjoyable." --Mia Moorehead
With that being said, I hope you all will try out my Lobster Risotto recipe, or at the very least enjoy National Lobster Day!
Friday June 08, 2012
It's World Ocean's Day today and it's all about cherishing the oceans and encouraging us to eat "sustainable seafood." But that's where I have a problem. What is sustainable? Marion Nestle defined it in my radio interview with her as "What you take out, you put back?" I can't get my head around that one as it relates to seafood.
And I think we all get confused by the latest nutrition mantras - eat lots of salmon because it has the most omega-3's. All of the sudden, everyone wants salmon which in turn leads to over-fishing, poorly farmed versions and a conundrum for deep thinkers like me. So, I basically avoid salmon for the most part and "vote with my fork."
I think we should look for local catches or in-season fish whenever possible. But that's a simple, over-generalization that I don't really understand. When I visit my parents in Rhode Island it seems that Atlantic Cod would be a great choice, or perhaps lobster. Are these sustainable? SO I do my homework and find out that "local" Atlantic cod is not sustainable, but Maine lobster is OK. Well goodie for me because I LOVE lobster!! But I love cod. What to do? So confused!! One the best resources I have found on the subject is the Monterey Bay Aquarium website. They have apps and information on better choices.
So for today, I decided that we'd have scallops which are for the most part a good choice - phew!! And, believe it or not CLAMS are sustainable, too. Here's a recipe for Linguine with Clam Sauce.
I'd love your thoughts about the sustainability of seafood issue. I doubt our grandparents had to think much about it.
Friday June 01, 2012
It's been quite a while since I've posted in Carole's Concoctions. And, it's not because I haven't been concocting, I have been swamped. Getting Heirloom Meals off the ground requires me to do many things. Blogging, radio interviews, TV show, fundraising, social media etc. And then there's the rest of my life. So, I am trying really hard to be more diligent about writing.
This past Sunday I sprained my ankle and have been sitting with my foot elevated for the past 3-4 days. I didn't feel like cooking but never-the-less, we needed to eat.
I concocted up a pasta with tuna and artichoke hearts that was a keeper. Here's the recipe. I hope you enjoy it!
Friday May 04, 2012
I was inspired by EatingWell Fast & Flavorful Meatless Meals: 150 Healthy Recipes Everyone Will Love (EatingWell)
, Eating Well Magazine's idea of using their book, to eat my way through May without consuming meat. I ordered the book a little late and it should be arriving soon, so I have had to improvise.
Here's what I concocted using Italian Kale and the first herbs from my garden: Kale and Cannellini Bean Soup.
