Quinoa Casserole

This is a dinner that happens when the work week starts without a plan, and I try to make dinner while also trying to entertain a hungry four year old who wants to help.

I had two bags of quinoa that have been in the cabinet for six months, which I used as a starting pont to find something in my recipe books. I also had some sour cream (original calls for cottage cheese, jack cheese or tofu) and parsley left from holiday meals, and lots of spices. The original recipe in Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone is officially for Spicy Quinoa and Potato Croquettes. I didn't have the time for monitoring anything on the stove top and was more in the mood for a casserole dish. I'm calling this Quinoa Casserole. It worked well, and everyone said it was good. I think we'll keep this recipe around.

Quinoa Casserole

3 potatoes peeled and chopped (from CSA)

1 /3 c dry quinoa

2/3 c water

1/2 onion chopped (from CSA)

olive oil

2 t paprika

1 t coriander

1 t cumin

1/2 t oregano

3 cloves garlic minced (from CSA)

1/4 c chopped parsley

1 egg

1/3 c sour cream

salt

1/4 c shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Cook quinoa in water simmering until all water is absorbed (12-15 minutes). Boil potatoes in water until soft. Mash potatoes into the cooked quinoa.

Meanwhile, saute onion for a couple of minutes and then add in spices and salt. Once onions are cooked through, add in garlic. Add to quinoa/potato mix. Add in parsley, egg, and sour cream. Mix well. Place in casserole dish and cover with shredded cheese. Bake 300F for 20-25 minutes.

Sunchoke, Potato, Carrot Latkes

This is the second year that we have had sunchokes (Jerusalem artichokes) in our winter CSA bag. They are such an interesting little tuber from sunflower plants. Last year we tried a sunchoke, couldn't figure out what to do with the rest, and gave them to a co-worker. This year I was determined to find a recipe and use all of the sunchokes in our bag even though my husband jokingly recommended that we, "make compost" with the sunchokes.

Our Open Oak CSA farmers recommended trying sunchoke latkes. I read through many recipes online including this one on the Gastronmer's Guide and my friend Karen's recipe for root vegetable latkes and my friend Jessica's family's potato latke recipe. Mine were sort of a combination of all of these ideas. We enjoyed eating them (in small quantities because we've read reports of people having trouble digesting the sunchokes) with sour cream and homemade applesauce from our apple tree. They turned out much better than I expected! I would make this recipe again, but next time I would add in an onion for flavor.

Latkes

3 potatoes peeled and shredded (from CSA)

7 sunchokes shredded (from CSA)

1 carrot peeled and shredded

2 eggs

1/2 c flour

salt and pepper

Olive oil

Peel potatoes and carrots. Shred potatoes, carrots, and sunchokes in food processor. Place in strainer to drain off any excess water.

Beat eggs, flour, salt and pepper in a bowl. Add shredded, drained vegetables and cover with flour/egg mixture.

Heat skillet pan and add oil. Form latkes and cook until golden brown on each side. These were getting brown before the vegetables were cooked through, so I transferred them to a large sheet pan and baked at 250F for 20 minutes. Serve with sour cream and applesauce.

Mushroom Bisque Soup

A shitake mushroom block that I purchased at the 2010 Mt. Pisgah Mushroom Festival from Rain Forest Mushroom Company has sat in the bottom of my refrigerator for the past 14 months. I had already grown the oyster mushroom block, but just hadn't found the perfect time for the shitake block. Last week when I checked on it, the mushrooms were already starting to sprout! So I set up the mushroom block in an old fish tank, and in less than a week we had a full crop of mushrooms. My son thought it was great fun to harvest the mushrooms.

I have two favorite mushroom soup recipes in the Moosewood Cookbook. One is a Hungarian Mushroom Soup and the other Mushroom Bisque soup. Today was a Mushroom Bisque soup day! This the first time that I have made this recipe with anything other than button mushrooms. And I normally use plain old milk, but today used up some half-and-half in the refrigerator. We served ours with additional garlic toast for mopping up the soup and Ninkasi Sleigh'r Ale. Yum.

Mushroom Bisque Soup
2 fist sized potatoes chopped (from CSA)

1 1/2 c water
1 onion chopped (from CSA)

2 T olive oil

several cups of mushrooms chopped (grown at home)

1 t salt

2 cloves garlic (from CSA)

1/4 t thyme

3 T dry white wine

2 T soy sauce

fresh black pepper

1 1/2 c half and half (milk is fine too)

homemade croutons

green onions chopped(from CSA)

spinach chopped (from CSA)

Place chopped potatoes in a pan of water and boil until potatoes are soft.

Saute onions in olive oil until soft. Add in mushrooms and salt and cover until mushrooms are cooked through. Add in garlic and thyme. When soft, drain water from potatoes and add to mushroom mixture. Stir in wine, soy sauce, pepper, and half and half. Reserve part of soup mixture. Blend the rest of the soup with a hand blender or food processor), and then mix again with chunky soup.

Serve with garnish of croutons, green onions, and spinach.

Croutons and Spinach

1 slice of bread per person cut into croutons sized pieces

Garlic

Olive oil

Butter

Spinach

Melt butter and add garlic. Add bread pieces and coat in butter/garlic mixture. Add olive oil and cook until browned. The croutons can be browned more in the oven (we didn't have time to do that and they were just as yummy).

After the croutons have cooked, add more olive oil and garlic and saute spinach until just wilted and bright green.

Happy New Year!