Citrus Is More Than Dessert & Juice

Before we begin, a bit of administrative news.  The Deep Winter Crop Share signups are open.  For the form, click here.  Online signups should also be available within a week.  I'll keep you posted.  The Deep Winter round is always the most diverse, as we open it up to all domestic producers.  Look for lots of yummy things, in spite of it being cold here.

I'm so glad to see beautiful fresh grapefruit in the boxes lately.  There's no better morning pick-me-up than squeezing grapefruit juice pretty much straight into your mouth.  It got me to thinking, though, that there are so many more uses for the lovely citrus we're getting.  Besides, of course, peeling it and eating it.  (Getting to the tangelos before my 5-year-old does, though, I'll admit is a daunting challenge.)  So here are some categories of uses for citrus:

Salads & Veggies

Photo via The Daily Meal

Of course, citrus vinaigrette is a long-time standby.  Slices of citrus of all kinds can really dress up your salad, too.  It won't be long before asparagus starts to reappear, and it's fantastic with an orange sauce.  In addition to asparagus, citrus works very well with fennel.  You'll also find lots of citrus flavors in Spanish tapas, including these olives that make for a fantastic holiday appetizer.

Seafood

Photo via Food & Wine

Citrus is such a perfect fit with seafood.  Even some of the most simple preparations involve squeezing lemon over fish.  You absolutely can do things a bit more fancy, of course.  I love scallops, and they pair amazingly well with citrus salad.  Mixed seafood salad benefits from the acidity in citrus, too.  My go-to salmon recipe is pan seared in a citrus sauce, too.  I'm a huge fan of Alton Brown's "Good Eats," (best cooking show out there), and that's where I learned to make fish en papillote.  Which is the most amazing way to cook fish.  If you'd like to push your skills, try a beurre blanc with grapefruit and halibut.

Poultry

Poultry benefits from the acid in citrus, as well.  Last year at Thanksgiving, I made a turkey in citrus marinade.  And it's fantastic.  Latin American recipes use lime and orange frequently, and Cuban garilc-lime sauce is a classic example.  It goes great with chicken.  Moving over to Spain, orange zest brightens this chicken & chorizo dish.  Middle Eastern recipes also pair poultry and citrus, as in this one.

Photo via Food & Wine

Just the Tools at Hand

Today is the first time I've been camping in a long, long, long time.  It's my little guy's first experience.  His enthusiasm was... effervescent.  Of course, this involved campfire cooking.  Other than forgetting how long everything takes (coffee might be done by lunch), it went well.

My Boy Scout days taught me the utility of cooking in foil.  But let's just say that my palate has progressed past a hunk of ground beef with onion and potato slices.  The art form, however, can still be beautiful.

You also don't have to wait for a camp out to do this.  The coals in the barbecue grill work just fine too.

Campfire potatoes are simply sliced Yukon golds, fresh rosemary and thyme, generous salt & pepper, and some fat (olive oil works, and so does leftover duck fat).

Dessert (well, pre-s'mores anyway) was this delicious stone fruit concoction.  Ginger snaps, sliced fruit, lime zest and juice, and I substituted dark rum for brandy and maple syrup for sugar, and WOW.

The true stroke of genius, though, was using leftover ginger snaps for the s'mores.  OH YEAH.

Sesame Vegetable Noodle Bowls

Despite my recent plague, I still took myself to the grocery store and for reasons I'm still not quite clear on, I apparently developed an all-Asian menu for dinners this week.  Hey, I can't eat most of it out at restaurants (curse you gluten-hating immune system!), so why not make it at home.  Lots of naps and pitiful coughs apparently lead to good things in the kitchen, because these noodle bowls I made last night may be one of my most favorite concoctions as of late.  Loaded with good green veggies, it's like ramen but healthy and it leaves you feeling somehow full yet light.  I used rice noodles, but you could easily use udon or any other of your favorite Asian-style noodles.  This would also be fantastic with shrimp, chicken or tofu, if you're looking to add an extra hit of protein.  Or throw all of it together into a pot with 2 cups of vegetable or chicken stock and 2 cups of water, and have yourself a noodly soup of goodness.

Sesame Vegetable Noodle Bowls

Ingredients:
1 package rice noodles, soaked in hot water until soft
1 tsp chili oil
1 leek, quartered lengthwise and sliced
4 oz Shitake mushrooms (or any mushrooms of your choice), sliced
1/2 bundle of kale, leaves removed from stem and rough chopped
1 cup cabbage, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and grated thin
2 green onions, greens chopped
1 Tbsp soy sauce (I use Kikkoman's wheat/gluten free version)
2 Tbsp sesame seeds

For sauce:
2 Tbsp sesame oil
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 Tbsp lime juice
4 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp Sriracha
1 knob ginger, peeled and grated

Prepare sauce first by whisking all ingredients together and set aside, and soak rice noodles in hot water or put in on the stove over medium heat (not enough to boil) until noodles are just soft.

In a large skillet, heat chili oil over high heat.  Add sliced leeks and cook for about 2 minutes.  Then add mushrooms and cook until they begin to brown.  Toss in kale, cabbage and carrot and cook for about 1-2 more minutes or until kale is wilted.  Add in green onions and soy sauce, and cook for an additional minute.  Remove from heat and toss with sesame seeds.

Drain noodles and toss with veggies in skillet.  Pour over sauce and toss until fully combined.  Serve each portion with additional Sriracha and sesame seeds, if desired...and in this house, we do desire!

Southwest Stuffed Peppers

I actually whipped up these stuffed peppers last week as my even lighter and more veggie-tacular version of the Cream Cheese Chicken Enchilada Stuffed Peppers, but failed miserably at actually getting this to the blog.  But we got onions and there's onions in this recipe, so hey it's still relevant!  Especially as we head into summer with all the squash and corn, this will be a great way to use it all up.

Southwest Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients:
2 tsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, sliced
5 green peppers, 1 sliced, 4 hollowed and lids removed to prepare for stuffing
2 cups corn (or 1 can)
1 yellow squash or zucchini, sliced (if you have a zoodler or a julienne peeler, use that!)
1 1/2 Tbsp cumin
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 chicken breast, cooked and shredded (great for leftover chicken or rotisserie chicken)
1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
8 Tbsp salsa (be fancy and make your own Homemade Salsa)
1 Tbsp lime juice
1/2 cup, plus extra, shredded cheese of your choice (we use Daiya cheddar for dairy-free)
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
Salt & pepper, to taste
Hot sauce, to taste -- optional


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

You'll want to prep all of your veggies first, that way this recipe goes at light-speed.  It makes a TON of filling, so you can easily freeze any extra that won't fit in your peppers and use later for enchilada stuffing or bring it up to a boil with some stock and diced canned tomatoes for a filling soup.

Prep them veggies!

In a large skillet, and I mean large, heat olive oil over medium high heat.  Add in garlic and saute for about 1 minute or until fragrant.  Add in onion and pepper and saute for about 3 minutes.  Add corn, yellow squash and cumin and saute for an additional 3 minutes.  Next, pour in beans, shredded chicken, broth, salsa and lime juice.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until no liquid remains.

Stir in cheese, cilantro, and any hot sauce if you'd like a kick.  Then season with salt & pepper, to taste.  Remove from heat.

Take your 4 hollow peppers and stuff each with generous portions of the filling and top each with a sprinkle of cheese.  Place upright into a baking dish and bake at 350 for about 20-30 minutes, until skin on peppers starts to shrivel at top and look wrinkly and the cheese on top is nice & bubbly.

Estofado de Pollo: Chicken Stew

If you can somehow keep yourself from just boiling up this week's corn and not just eating piles of corn on the cob, then reserve the kernels from 4 of the ears and get ready to whip up a quick, Mexican style stew, that is perfect served with some tortillas to sop it all up.  You can add another cup or 2 of liquid and a Tbsp of tomato paste if you want to really turn this into a soup style stew, otherwise think of this as more of a pulled pork consistency but with more tomatoes and corn than you can shake a stick at.  I love to lay out some of the tortillas on a platter and spoon the stew over top to serve this family style.  You could even use this as a stuffing for any baked enchiladas or taquitos, or serve it with large leaf lettuce for some healthy lettuce wraps!

Estofado de Pollo: Chicken Stew

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp garlic, minced

3 tomatoes, diced

4 ears corn, cooked and removed from cob

1 chipotle chili in adobo, diced

1 small can salsa verde

2 cups yellow cherry tomatoes, halved

2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved

1 cup reduced sodium chicken stock

2 cups shredded, cooked chicken (great for using up leftover chicken or rotisserie chicken)

1/2 cup shredded cheese of your choice (optional)

Kosher salt & pepper to taste

1 Tbsp cilantro, chopped

1/2 lime

Corn tortillas

In a large stock pot, heat olive oil over medium high heat.  Add in garlic and saute for about 1 minute, until fragrant.  Add in diced tomatoes and corn and stir to blend.  Toss in 1 diced chipotle chili, with about 1 tsp of the adobo sauce, and then your salsa verde and the rest of your tomatoes.  Cook for about 2-3 minutes and then pour in chicken stock.  Bring to a boil and simmer down for about 4-5 minutes.  If you're making this more of a soup type stew, add in 2-3 cups of stock plus 1 Tbsp of tomato paste, and simmer also for 4-5 minutes.

Stir in your shredded chicken, and season with salt & pepper to taste.  You can either stir in any cheese to help thicken the sauce, or use it as a garnish over top.  Garnish top of stew with cilantro and the juice of 1/2 a lime.  Serve with corn tortillas to scoop up the stew.

A Fusion Twist On Shrimp & Grits: Cilantro Lime Shrimp with Collards over Cheesy Arepas

I'm still musing over what to do for My Crop Share Challenge this week, and since the brussels sprouts did not want to come out into the blizzard, I'm going to have to re-think my two items.  I got A LOT of collards, so I'm thinking those will certainly be 1 of the 2 items and...wait a tick, hold the phone, some stewed collards with apples.  Yes, yes that's what it's going to be.  I've got a ton of Fuji apples and a ton of collards, why not see if they can play nice together!

But, before we get to those, let me show you what was served up for dinner last night.  I'd seen this recipe for Cilantro Lime Shrimp from Never Enough Thyme and figured I'd wait till we got some of the items needed in an upcoming Crop Share.  But there was that beast amount of collards to contend with, so I figured aww heck just make it and toss in a bundle of collards.  Hmm, shrimp and collards, feels very Low Country.  Hmm, shrimp & grits with collards.  Grits are a cornmeal porridge.  So is polenta, but no, doesn't feel right.  Ugali (see recipe at bottom of this page)?  No.  Oooo, cheesy arepas, it's like cheesy grits pancakes!  And thus Low Country met South-of-the-Border in my kitchen and the results were deeeeeee-licious!

Cilantro Lime Shrimp with Collards over Cheesy Arepas

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp butter

1 sweet onion, minced

1 jalapeno, seeded and diced

1 tsp garlic, minced

1 small bundle collard greens, removed from stem and rough chopped

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (omit if jalapeno is enough heat for you, or just do 1/8 tsp)

1/2 tsp oregano

1 tomato, diced

2 limes, zest and juice

1/4 tsp Kosher salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1 lb frozen pre-cooked shrimp, thawed in water and detailed

1/2 cup fresh cilantro,  chopped

For arepas -- see recipe for them in Vietnamese Style Tacos and just add a handful or two of your favorite shredded cheese (for dairy free I used Daiya cheddar shreds)

Make arepas first so they have time to set up and cool a bit while you're whipping up the shrimp portion.

Then in a large skillet, heat oil and butter over medium high heat.  Add in onion, jalapeno and garlic and cook for about 3-4 minutes or until onion is translucent.  Add in collards and cook until wilted.  Season with red pepper flakes and oregano and cook for an additional minute.  Add in tomato, lime zest, lime juice, salt and pepper and cook until tomatoes are nice and soft and soupy.  Toss in thawed shrimp and cook for only a few minutes until they are heated thru and have curled up.  Remove from heat and stir in cilantro.

Place 1 arepa on each plate and top with a scoop or two of the shrimp & veggies.

Guac This Way!

Great news, we're getting domestically grown avocados in this week's Crop Share!!!  AHHHHHHHH!!!!!! That can only mean one thing...GUACAMOLE!  Never has something that looks like rancid baby food ever tasted so very good.  You'll find a ton of recipes out there for guacamole, some of which contain about 15 different ingredients and even hardboiled egg.  Let me stop you right there, right bloody there, egg has no place in guacamole and if you need to add a bevy of seasonings, you are dishonoring the flavor glory of the incredible produce that goes into this dish.  Let the ingredients sing for themselves, as the only help they need is a bit of salt and lime juice to balance things out and bring out the brightness of the flavors.  So what does the guacamole sing when it's done properly?

"So I took a big chance, and gave a second glance, with an avocado that was ready to play.  It wasn't me it was foolin', cos it knew what it was doing, when it told me how to gauc this way!  Gauc this way!  Talk this way!  Gauc this way!  Talk this way!  Just give me chip!"

Yes, that was the guacamole version of Aerosmith's "Walk This Way."  Clearly I can talk the talk, and guac the guac. ;)

Fresh Guacamole

Ingredients:

3 medium avocados, flesh scooped, pitted & mashed
1 lime, juiced
1 tsp Kosher salt
1/2 red onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tomato, seeded and diced
1-2 Tbsp cilantro, minced
1 jalapeno or serrano chile, seeded and diced *optional


Want to know the best way to get the flesh out of an avocado?  Start by taking your knife straight through it as if you're going to cut it in half, and then just turn the avocado so that you're slicing the whole way around.  Twist each half apart and you'll be left with what you see in the photo above.  Then whack your knife into the pit and pull it out.  Next with your knife, slice three rows down and three rows across through the flesh on each half, and then grab the skin and essentially flip the avocado halves inside out.  The chunks you cut should easily come right out, and it'll save a lot of messing scooping.

In a medium bowl, combine your mashed avocado with all of the ingredients and stir to fully blend.  Adjust salt or lime juice, if necessary.  Serve immediately or really allow the flavors of meld and refrigerate for about 1 hour.  Serve it up the classic way with corn tortilla chips, use it as a topping for burgers and sandwiches, or see our favorite Potato Skins recipe and omit the traditional stuffings and throw in some guacamole or use it along with the bacon and cheese, for a fresh take on a game day classic!

Game on and gauc on!

Green Warrior Smoothie

You knew it had to happen.  All of those greens in this week's Crop Share, it was inevitable.  Yes, that's right, ANOTHER green smoothie!  I can't be stopped, I won't be stopped!

So, this morning I rose early to get back into the practice of yoga to start the day, and as I was holding Warrior III, instead of concentrating on my breathing or finding a focal point on my mat...I was thinking about what to put into my blender.  I'm very zen like that.  Thus the name for this smoothie, the Green Warrior, as it was devised whilst in Warrior III.

With the inclusion of celery in this smoothie it has much more of a "green" taste and there's more "substance."  So if you're not a fan of much pulp in your smoothie, just leave the celery out.  And if you're wanting to have less of a "green" flavor, then add more tangelo juice or even throw in a banana or a handful of strawberries.  Or again, just omit the celery.  I threw it in for giggles and I wanted it to actually taste more like veggies rather than a dessert.  Because I'm very into health like that.  Please ignore that wrapper from a completely eaten bar of chocolate.  Our invisible, imaginary bulldog, clearly got into the pantry again.  Darn pooch.

Green Warrior Smoothie

Ingredients:
12 ice cubes, divided
3 gala apples, cored and cubed (no need to peel)
Juice of 2 tangelos
1 rib of celery, ends trimmed and chopped
8 kale leaves, removed from stalks
Juice of 1 lime
1 1/2 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk (I use Almond Breeze)

Into your blender, add 6 ice cubes, apples and tangelo juice, and blend until the apples are fully incorporated.  Toss in your celery and again blend until all chunks are gone.  Add kale leaves and lime juice and blend down until only flecks of green remain.  Then finish with almond milk and remaining 6 ice cubes.  Blend until ice is fully crushed.  Serve immediately.

Makes just shy of 3 pints (I serve mine in mason jars).  I drank one and bottled up the other two, so I'll let you know if after a day in the fridge, they're still good tomorrow.

Cilantro or Cilant-NO?

Cilantro and I are tight.  I love that fragrant herb and it loves me back.  But I recognize that for some of you, you might hear that we're getting cilantro this week and your first thought is, "Cilant-NO! That stuff tastes like soap!"  A few years ago, I learned that for some folks, cilantro only reads like soap or cleaning products on their taste buds.  This is not a case of having an unrefined palate (Julia Child herself despised cilantro), it's simply our taste buds being our personal food safety testers to keep us from harm.  Since cilantro contains the same or similar type of aldehydes found in soaps, certain chemicals and even in bugs, some people's taste buds pick up on the flavor and alert, "DANGER!  DANGER!  DO NOT EAT!"  Hence, why it reads like soap or cleaning products to many folks, it's their taste bud's way of stopping them from eating the perceived hazard.

So can those of us who love cilantro boast about having more evolved and intelligent palates?  Probably not, as I can shamefully admit to once eating an entire slice of moldy pizza and then reached for another before I bothered to flip on the light and see that my pizza was growing a sweater.  Like I said, shameful.  But the good news for cilantro-phobes is that some people have found if the herb is crushed or really finely chopped, that by breaking it down, it decreases the soapy flavor and only imparts that wonderfully fragrant note that those of us who love cilantro rave about.

Whether you love it or have always reviled it, we've got two great cilantro containing recipes.  For those of you doubters, in both of these you can just mince the heck out of the cilantro, let it rest for a few minutes and then toss it in.  Think almost a pesto consistency in how finely you mince it.  Click the link to view the first recipe, but the second is provided in this post...

Thai Chicken Quinoa Bowls

If you have an aversion to quinoa, you can easily toss this with white or brown rice, and since it has a Thai flavor profile, you might even try tossing it with rice noodles for a bit of a riff on Pad Thai.  Pass the Sriracha!

Healthier Three Layer Taco Dip

Layer 1:

8 oz Neufchatel 1/3 less fat cream cheese (I use Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese for dairy-free)*

8 oz reduced fat sour cream (I use Tofutti Sour Supreme for dairy-free)*

1 package low-sodium taco seasoning**

1 tsp chipotle pepper (or less to control the heat)**

Beat all ingredients together until well-blended and creamy.  Spread in the bottom or a deep dish or pie plate.  Refrigerate for at least one hour to allow this layer to set up and firm up.

*When using the reduced fat cream cheese and sour cream, beware of the increased water content.  So drain any excess liquid off of the sour cream before using, and then make sure your subsequent layers are well-drained before adding them.

**Since determining the gluten-safe properties of most taco seasonings, I just created my own.  This is a great way to save on sodium, because even the low-sodium seasonings are still too high for my taste.  Alas, I made mine recently at about 2 am and thus didn't measure, but I did a blend of garlic powder, paprika, ground black pepper, chipotle pepper, and a dash of salt.  So add a few dashes and season till you get the taste you want.  You definitely want the smoky heat of the chipotle in this layer, so to keep from going overboard on the heat you can up the smoke factor with more paprika.

Layer 2:

1 head of romaine lettuce, chopped fine and patted dry with a paper towel

Evenly spread over cream cheese mixture.

Layer 3:

4 tomatoes, seeded and diced

1/2 chopped sweet onion

1 chopped and seeded jalapeno pepper

3 Tbsp minced, fresh cilantro

Juice of 1 lime or lemon

Mix all ingredients together in a separate bowl and then, using a slotted spoon to allow for drainage of excess liquid, evenly spread over top of romaine.  You'll likely have left over pico de gallo, so save to use as a plain salsa or for topping homemade tacos, grilled fish or chicken.

Asian Salmon Bowls with Spinach

Oh salmon, how I love thee!  Especially when it comes with a sticky sweet glaze.  These salmon bowls are one of our favorite go-to weeknight meals, so we will hoard salmon when it's on deal.  Everything in this dish is in perfect balance, and all the healthy fats from the salmon and iron in the spinach gives it all an extra boost of awesome.  And for you beer lovers, this may be a fish dish, but it is fantastic with a nice dark beer (gluten-free foodies, e-mail me at tara@nallsproduce.com for my GF beer recommendation list, or just to generally weep and whine that Guinness can never grace our lips again).  I've talked a lot about booze this week, haven't I?  I swear, I'm really not a lush!  Despite my Irishness, I've become such a lightweight to the point I'm a one and one drink girl.  Ask the Mister, it's not a pretty sight after 2 drinks.  Somewhere my ancestors are rolling over in their graves.

Asian Salmon Bowls

Ingredients:

1 cup jasmine rice
2 tsp unsalted butter (or Earth Balance margarine for dairy-free)
1 clove garlic, diced
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
3 Tbsp pure maple syrup or local honey
3 Tbsp fresh lime juice
3 Tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce (I use Kikkoman's wheat-free soy)
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp water
4 salmon fillets (4 oz each), skin removed
1 tsp olive oil
1 bundle spinach (say no more to gritty spinach with our handy spinach washing tips)
2 tsp sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Prepare rice according to package directions (1 cup uncooked to get 2 cups cooked).

In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium high heat.  Add in garlic and red pepper flakes and saute for about 1 minute, taking care not to burn the garlic.  Add in maple syrup or honey, lime juice, and soy sauce. Cook until mixture is syrupy and bubbly, about 3 minutes.

In a small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and water, and then stir that into the sweet and spicy glaze.  Cook for an additional minute to allow sauce to thicken.

Place salmon fillets on a foil or parchment lined baking sheet.  Brush each fillet with 1-2 tsp of the glaze, and roast for 12 minutes at 400.

While salmon is roasting, in a skillet, heat your oil over medium high heat.  Add in spinach and saute until wilted.  Toss in a teaspoon of the glaze and a dash of sesame seeds.  Remove from heat.

Divide rice among 4 bowls (or 2 for serving and package up the rest for tomorrow's lunches), then evenly top with the spinach, and add 1 filet of salmon to each serving.  Drizzle with remaining sauce and sprinkle sesame seeds over top.

All Jalapeno Business!

We're turning up the heat this week with lots of local jalapenos!  Don't fear the heat, as there are plenty of easy ways to prepare them that will mask the burn and highlight their lovely smoky flavor.  But be warned, you will want to wear kitchen gloves or put some baggies on your hands when seeding and chopping the jalapenos, because not only will you undoubtedly rub your eyes sometime later that day and then rue the jalapeno's existence, but you will also find that your fingertips themselves will burn.  Leave feeling the burn to the gym, not the kitchen!

So here's two great recipes for this week's bounty of jalapenos.  First up, the best ever layered taco dip I've had in my life, courtesy of my good friend Alicia.  There was a memorable New Years Eve when we co-hosted a party in which this taco dip was made, along with enough food to feed about 30 people.  There were 5 of us at this party.  We have a slight problem with going over board.  But you will want to make a ton of this layered taco dip and then go hide yourself in a closet with a bag of chips.  Just the spiced cream cheese base of this is to die for!  

Then the next recipe comes from everyone's favorite down-home gal, The Pioneer Woman.  She once made these killer BBQ Jalapeno Poppers, and while you can certainly go the BBQ route (how amazing would they be with some of that Almost Heaven Apple Butter BBQ we have in store?!?), Miss Valerie in our office LOVES to replace the BBQ in this recipe with peach jam.  Say what?!  Sweet with heat, sign us up!  We pretty much have peach jam coming out our ears in the store, including a new Sunshine Peach Jam.  But ooo, how deliciously exotic would it be with some Mango Jam or some of the Mango Mango Preserves?  Go ahead, get a little crazy this week!

Miss Alicia's Taco Dip

Layer 1:

8 oz cream cheese

8 oz sour cream

1 package low-sodium taco seasoning

1 tsp chipotle pepper (or less to control the heat)

Beat all ingredients together until well-blended and creamy.  Spread in the bottom or a deep dish or pie plate.

Layer 2:

1/2 head of iceburg lettuce, chopped fine

Evenly spread over cream cheese mixture.

Layer 3:

Grated cheddar cheese to taste

Evenly sprinkled over lettuce.

Layer 4:

3 tomatoes, seeded and diced

1/2 chopped sweet onion

1 chopped and seeded jalapeno pepper

3 Tbsp minced, fresh cilantro

1 tsp lime juice

Mix all ingredients together in a separate bowl and then evenly spread over top of cheese.  You'll likely have left over pico de gallo, so save to use as a plain salsa or for topping homemade tacos, grilled fish or chicken.

Pioneer Woman's BBQ Jalapeno Poppers

Click through to view this recipe at Good Morning America...

Cucumber Mint Gin & Tonic

While I highly considered making some mint & cucumber water for a lovely detox with last week's Crop Share, I had that sad bottle of gin sitting on my counter, just looking at me longingly.  So I used up the last of the bottle to experiment with a mint & cucumber infused gin.  On a date night out with the Mister recently, I'd had this great mint & cucumber cocktail, so I was on a quest to recreate it.  I dare say I succeeded.  Super easy to make and this is the ultimate in refreshing summer cocktails.

Cucumber Mint Gin & Tonic

Ingredients for infused gin:
Gin
15-20 fresh, mint leaves
8 slices cucumber

Fill a mason jar with gin and add mint leaves and cucumber slices.  Seal lid and allow to infuse in fridge for at least 1 day up to 3 days.  Discard mint and cucumbers when finished.

Ingredients for cocktail (makes 1 cocktail):
1 shot cucumber & mint infused gin
8 oz club soda
slice of cucumber, for garnish
slice of lime, for garnish

In a double old fashioned glass, add 1 shot of infused gin and top with club soda to fill glass.  Garnish glass with a slice of cucumber and lime.  Cheers!

Cherry Berry Spritzer

Inspired by the Blackberry Gin Cocktail from Crop Share member Bethany Duffy, I had to try my hand at infusing gin with fruit.  So I took a handful of blackberries from the Crop Share two weeks ago and infused the heck out of some gin.  I followed Bethany's directions to muddle the berries and then add gin, but I allowed mine to steep for about 4-5 days before straining out the blackberries and reserving the blackberry gin.  And then as I was strolling through the grocery I came across a sale on black cherry seltzer, which was pretty much my favorite beverage as a kid (I know, I was a strange kid).  And thus was born in my mind, the Cherry Berry Spritzer!

Cherry Berry Spritzer

Ingredients (for 1 cocktail):
1 shot blackberry infused gin
10-12 oz black cherry seltzer
juice of half a lime
handfull of ice

In a highball glass add blackberry gin and ice, then top with seltzer until glass is nearly full.  Add in juice of half a lime and stir to mix well.  Serve immediately and enjoy the bubbles!

Cucumber Cool & Minty Fresh

With the combo of mint and cucumber in this week's Crop Share, it'll be a passport to cool and refreshing.  If you need a bit of a detox, slice up some cucumber, lemon and toss it in a pitcher of ice water with a bundle of mint leaves.  Allow it to set up for a bit in the fridge and then enjoy your 8 glasses of water a day with an added detox boost.

But if you're looking for something a tad more substantial, try these two delicious looking recipes from Eating In Instead and A House In The Hills.  Both call for honey, so grab some local honey in store to help battle allergies while you nosh away!

Cool Cucumber Mint Salad via Eating In Instead

 Cucumber & Mint Slushie via A House In The Hills

Black & Blue Gin Fizz

When Crop Share hands you blackberries...you add gin.  Okay, well at least I do.  You know, after I also add butter.  I'm a big fan of gin and I'm also a sucker for cool packaging.  So when hunting in the ABC Store for a reasonably priced gin to go into these blackberry gin fizzes, I was completely transfixed by the Bombay Sapphire East.  Notes of Vietnamese black peppercorn and Thai lemongrass?  Yes please!  So what started out as just a blackberry gin fizz, quickly became...the Black & Blue Gin Fizz.  Think of these as juice for adults.  If you put yours in a sippy cup, I won't judge.

Black & Blue Gin Fizz

Ingredients:
1/4 cup blackberries, heaping
2 Tbsp sugar
3 shots Bombay Sapphire Gin, plus a splash for good measure (use East or regular label)
2 limes, juiced
6 ice cubes, divided
20 oz club soda, divided
2 sprigs basil, sweet or Thai, for garnish
2 blackberries, for garnish

In a cocktail shaker, add blackberries, sugar and gin.  Muddle blackberries until they are well mashed (alternatively you can blend them up with the sugar and then strain to remove the seeds, but I like bits of blackberry floating in my cocktail).  Stir in lime juice and blend well.  Add strainer cap to the shaker and strain equal amounts of liquid into two tall glasses filled with 3 ice cubes each.  If like me you want more blackberry yumminess, spoon some of the muddled blackberries (discarding pits) into each glass.  Top both with equal amounts of club soda until glasses are nearly full (won't use all 20 oz, maybe about 15-16 oz).  Slice into two blackberries, taking care not to cut all the way through.  Garnish each glass with 1 sprig of basil and 1 blackberry.

Makes 2 tall glasses.

Sip away!


Adapted from Smitten Kitchen: (http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2012/07/blackberry-gin-fizz/)

Stuffed Poblano Peppers via Tash's Noshes

Wow, our Crop Share is just inspiring a whole new crop of food bloggers (pardon the pun)!  It seems like every time I turn around another of our members is starting up their own food blog.  You're all going to force me to actually do something about my idea for a local blogger after-hours at Nalls that I've been musing over for about a month now.  In the meantime, any of you who are getting bloggy with your crop share cooking, we would LOVE you to guest post whenever your little foodie hearts desire.  The more ideas and unique voices, the merrier!

So to add a new voice to the mix, I give you the maiden post from Tash's Noshes, the just christened food blog from Crop Share member, Natasha Scott...

Stuffed Poblano Peppers

Hop on over to see how she turned last week's poblanos into the deliciousness we see before us at: Tash's Noshes