Almost-Guatemalan Stuffed Squash

Stuffed Summer Squash

One of the fortuitous by-products of writing about food is that friends and acquaintances share tidbits of all sorts.  Emails arrive with bold promises:  Best Brownies Ever!  Incredulity:  Beet Cake?  And practical advice:  Dinner Tonight.  I pour over old family recipes, tips for massaging kale and recipes for tasty green smoothies even kids will love—treasured food secrets, every one.  The more I read, the more I’m struck by what I don’t know about food—and the wealth of what my fellow cooks are willing to share.

The correspondence keeps me plugging away some weeks—like a letter from home invariably will on a lonely stretch at over-night camp—and offers nuggets to ponder just when I’d thought the bottom of the barrel had been scraped.  Earlier this summer I received just such a note from my friend, Liana.  For the past two summers she and her three daughters have ventured to the colonial city of Antigua, Guatemala, to spend a month immersing in the language and local culture.  And of course, the food.

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Basil Mini Quiches

Mini Basil Quiches

This week guest writer, Kelsey Snider, offers up a delightful mini quiche that’s likely to be a hit on the breakfast table with its airy texture and hints of fresh basil and cheese.  It’s a recipe that’s simple enough for everyday, but elegant enough to book as the headline act for a special brunch gathering.  Be sure to select certified humane eggs from Glaum Ranch, available as an add-on to your weekly Freshness Farms delivery.  Thanks for sharing, Kelsey…

glaum eggsEggs have this amazing ability to keep me full throughout the morning. They do a great job of preventing noontime hunger attacks that inevitably turn into a torrid affair with greasy grilled cheese. Because I’m sure I’m not alone in appreciating the magically filling powers of the egg, I’m sharing with you a mini quiche recipe that involves minimal effort and ingredients. Make these ahead of time for the week and store in the fridge so you can get your morning egg fix no matter how rushed you are.  These quiches are also crustless, making them easy to prepare and gluten-free, if that’s important to you. If you don’t have cheddar, you can use any kind of cheese you like, even those odds and ends that are too substantial to throw away and too little to use for anything else. In my experience, the wider the cheese variety, the better—so create your own cheese blend.

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Parsley Oil

Parsley Oil

This recipe is adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi’s vegetarian cookbook, Plenty.  We’ve reduced the garlic and lemon juice slightly from the original recipe. The parsley oil can be served in many ways, but the one we like the best is parsley oil on sliced, toasted baguette with roasted baby tomatoes. This would make a great appetizer. Another way to use the parsley oil is on Smashed Roasted Potatoes. This recipe is good for a nice, acidic pop to complete a dish.  Try substituting other seasonal herbs, such as basil, cilantro or arugula.

This recipe was photographed and tested by Emma P, Ashley J, Ariana C and Katelyn E—7th graders at The Girls’ Middle School.

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A Gluten-free Guest: Roasted Seasonal Vegetables with Pesto

Gluten-free is one of the hottest cooking topics around—and no longer the exclusive realm of those with celiac’s disease or gluten-intolerance. More and more diners are looking for strategies to cut down on wheat and grain products.  With that in mind, this week I’m delighted to welcome guest blogger, E. Chloé Lauer, an expert on gluten-free cooking and nutrition. Chloé has an enthusiasm for clean eating that’s infectious, and her approach is both practical and easy. And simply delicious. Chloé’s recipe prompted me to take a peek at our archives, to see how we stack up in the gluten-free world. You’ll notice a new gluten-free tag in our recipe index this week (right side bar), that should make it easier to identify wheat-free recipes. Watch how the category grows as I slog through the files over the next few weeks. 

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Zucchini and Chard Soup with Basil

I don’t typically post recipes on the weekend.  Family life is full plus my publishing cycle centers on delivery day.  Occasionally there’s an exception though, when we cook up something truly special that makes use of the week’s delivery in a way we hadn’t anticipated earlier in the week.  A dish that warrants sharing.  This soup follows that pattern.  It was born of a crisper drawer loaded with leafy greens and a growing pile of zucchini, as the usual cadre of go-to recipes fell flat with my audience.  Something entirely different was needed.  A reach.  Despite its obviously healthy complexion, even those who wouldn’t normally give green soup a chance in this house were welcoming.

Zucchini and Chard Soup with Basil

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