Strawberry, Spinach & Almond Salad with a Poppy Seed Dressing

And you thought you were getting rid of me that easy?  Muahahahaha, surprise!  I'll (Tara) still be manning things over here in Nalls' Kitchen, because really, how can I pull myself away?  So gird your loins for continued random musings of Crop Share cooking adventures.  And guest posts are still welcome, encouraged and greatly enjoyed!  You'll still be able to send recipes and guest posts to tara@nallsproduce.com or send them to cropshare@nallsproduce.com and Valerie will forward them my way.

Now...let's get cookin'!

So yesterday, the Mister and I discovered something glorious...Winesday.  We'd heard about Whole Foods wine tastings, but never seriously looked into it until this week.  When I learned that $5 per person got you 5 wines to taste (they say it works out to about a glass and a half by the end - but there were some generous pour-ers last night!), food pairings at each station, and a glass to keep.  Plus, if you bring your glass back, you get a $1 off future Winesdays.  Drinking in the grocery on the cheap, and at a place like Whole Paycheck nonetheless?  To that I say...Namaste!  Side note: If you've yet to read, Surviving Whole Foods, it's a must, especially if you've also taken your life into your own hands in the parking garage at the one in Old Town.  

So what was the very first food pairing we encountered?  A spinach salad with strawberries!  And what are we getting this week in the Crop Share?  STRAWBERRIES!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!  So skip the Whole Paycheck prices and whip up this delectable salad, complete with your own homemade poppy seed dressing.  Toss in some chicken, shrimp or tofu to make it a meal.  And of course, if anyone wants to come drink with me in the grocery, you will henceforth be able to find me celebrating Winesdays at the Whole Foods in Old Town between 5-7 PM.  Completely for recipe research of course!

Strawberry, Spinach & Almond Salad

For salad:

1/2 lb fresh spinach

1/2 pint strawberries, halved

2 Tbsp slivered almonds, toasted and unsalted (to toast your own, brown in a skillet over medium heat, the natural oils in the almonds will be sufficient)

For Poppy Seed Dressing:

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1 1/2 tsp sweet onion, minced

1/4 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce (for gluten-free stick with original Lea & Perinns as it's safe, huzzah!)

1/2 cup vegetable or olive oil

1 Tbsp poppy seeds

In a blender, add your first 5 dressing ingredients and blend for about 30 seconds until smooth.  Then with the blender running, slowly pour in oil in a steady stream to make an emulsion.  Once fully blended, stir in poppy seeds and set aside.  You can either serve it at room temp or if you're wanting a warm dressing, put it in a microwave safe container and nuke it for 30 seconds to maybe at most a minute.  You want it warm, not hot.

For salad, use our handy dandy tips for no gritty spinach, and then trim stems.  Toss with strawberries and toasted almonds, and then right before serving gently toss with the Poppy Seed Dressing.

Yields 2 servings.

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.

Baked Peach Melba

Last spring I got to test some recipes for a cookbook the Ogunquit Chamber of Commerce in Maine was putting together.  And this one was by far one of the highlights of the 8 or so recipes I tested.  A super quick and easy dessert to make, and there is ZERO added sugar.  The sweetness of the fruit and the honey takes care of that in spades.  So for those of you watching your sugar intake, this is a wonderful dessert.  Plus you get an added protein boost from the walnuts and all that lovely fiber from the oats.  A dessert that eats like a health food but tastes like something sinful?  Count me in!

Baked Peach Melba

Ingredients:

6 to 8 slightly firm peaches (still have peaches leftover from last week, here's your chance to use them up while we give you even more, muahahahaha!)
1 cup fresh or frozen, yet thawed, raspberries
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted (use Earth Balance margarine for dairy-free)
1 cup old fashioned oats (I use Bob's Red Mill oats for gluten-free)
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
2 Tbsp local honey


Preheat oven to 375.

Halve and put unpeeled peaches.  Slice each half into wedges.  Place in a 9x13 baking dish, and sprinkle with the raspberries.

In a separate bowl, mix together oats, walnuts and honey.  Melt butter and pour over oats and walnut mixture, stirring well to fully combine.  Sprinkle topping over the fruit and bake at 375 for 35-40 minutes or until the topping is lightly browned.

Chicken & Spring Onion Stew

Several weeks ago, when we had spring Vidalia onions in the Crop Share, I found a recipe by Jamie Oliver on Food & Wine for a Chicken and Leek Stew.  So I figured, why not give it a try with the spring onions in place of the leeks?  This was one experiment that turned out fantastic, and it was even reminiscent of some of the flavors in my Mama's stroganoff.  We served ours over rice, but this would be perfect with noodles or even tossed with pasta.  This dish will be the perfect fit for the local spring onions coming your way this week!

Chicken & Spring Onion Stew

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 bundle of spring onions, bulb and green parts thinly sliced

1/2 lb cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced

Salt & ground pepper

1 lb skinless, boneless chicken tenderloins

All-purpose flour for dusting (can substitute gluten-free flour)

1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1 Tbsp chopped thyme

2 Tbsp sour cream (we used Tofutti Sour Supreme for dairy free)

2 tsp Dijon mustard

Click through to view the rest of the recipe on Food & Wine...

Grammy Freer's Chicken In A Wine Sauce

Some of my most beloved childhood memories are of cooking and baking with my Grammy Freer (yes, I am 31, and yes I will call her Grammy no matter how old I get).  Much of what I know about kitchen fundamentals comes from spending good chunks of my formative years, standing on a step stool, at her side while she baked pies and cookies or made homemade french fries.  There was even a somewhat "explosive" incident involving our first attempt at cream puffs.  So it's no surprise that I've been waiting in hopes of just the right mix of items in the Crop Share so that I can feature one of my Grammy's recipes, her Chicken In A Wine Sauce.  If you're anything like me, she had you at "wine sauce."  So enjoy putting this week's carrots and fresh parsley to good use in this recipe from one awesome lady!  Oh and...Hi Grammy!  ;)

Grammy Freer's Chicken In A Wine Sauce

Ingredients:
4 bone in chicken breasts, skinned
4 bone in chicken thighs, skinned
4 bone in chicken legs, skinned
1/2 tsp Kosher salt, divided
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 tsp canola or olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup thinly diced carrots
1/2 cup thinly diced celery
1 Tbsp minced garlic
2 cups dry white wine
1 cup chicken stock
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour (sub in gluten-free flour or cornstarch for gluten-free version)
3 Tbsp fresh tarragon, chopped
3 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 bay leaf
1 Tbsp butter

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Heat oil in a Dutch oven or other heavy-bottom, oven-safe pan over medium high heat.  Season chicken with salt & pepper, and begin to add about half of the chicken to the pan to begin to brown, for about 4 - 5 minutes.  Remove from pan and repeat with remaining chicken till all are browned.  Set aside chicken

Add onion, carrot, celery and garlic to the pan and cook for 6 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add wine and cook for 2 minutes, stirring to remove any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.  Return chicken to pan.  Combine flour and stock in a bowl, whisking until smooth.  Add to the pan and stir to incorporate.  Stir in tarragon, parsley, mustard and bay leaf.  Bring to a boil, then cover and place in oven to bake at 325 for 1 hour or until chicken is very tender.  Remove chicken and bay leaf and stir butter into sauce.

If sauce is too thin when you remove the chicken, bring back to a boil on the stove top for about 5 additional minutes until the sauce reduces and thickens to more of a gravy consistency.  Serve pieces of chicken topped with the pan sauce.

Cinnamon Apple Tart

I'm slightly obsessed with tarts, to the point that I will concoct new ones even while battling pneumonia and heavily medicated.  But from the start, I've relied on a no-fail tart crust as the base for all these creations and it never disappoints.  The base recipe for this tart will take you through all seasons, working with nearly any fruit, chocolate, caramel & pecans, or any other glorious delights you can dream up!  Your family will think you've been sneaking away to pastry school when you take this week's granny smith apples and turn them into this fanciful tart.

Cinnamon Apple Tart

For the crust (makes one 9-inch tart crust):

6 Tbsp unsalted butter

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

3 Tbsp water

Pinch of salt

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

4 Tbsp sugar

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Place the butter, oil, water and salt in a small saucepan and heat on high until the butter is fully melted and it begins to bubble around the edges.  Allow to cool for a minute or so.  In a mixing bowl, add 1 cup of the flour and all of the sugar, and begin to pour in the butter mixture, mixing with a wooden spoon to combine.  Gradually add in more of the flour until the dough begins to form into a ball and the mixture no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl.

Turn our your dough into a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom, and if you don't have access to one of those, you can absolutely use a pie pan and MacGyver it from there.  Press the dough evenly into the pan across the bottoms and the sides.

For this recipe you'll only want to partially bake your crust, so you'll want to bake it for only 5-8 minutes or until the crust is starting to firm.  But for future use, should you wish to fully bake it, go ahead and leave it in for 10-15 minutes, and keep an eye on your edges so they don't burn.

Remove your par-baked crust from the oven and let it cool while you prepare your apple filling.

For the filling:

1 cup ground hazelnuts

1/2 cup sugar

3 granny smith apples, sliced thin

2 tsp cinnamon

2 Tbsp butter, cut into small pieces

1 Tbsp lemon juice

3 Tbsp quince jam (an apricot jam would also work, and I suspect even local honey would too!)

1 Tbsp water

Combine your ground hazelnuts and 1/4 cup of the sugar, and sprinkle it into the bottom of the tart crust.  In a bowl, toss your apple slices with the remaining sugar and cinnamon, and then begin to layer them on top of your hazelnut base.  You can get as fancy or as rustic as you want, basically as long as you refrain from heaping them into a pile, it's going to turn out looking great.  So don't drive yourself batty trying to get perfect layers.  And the best part is, the chef gets to eat any of the cinnamon apple pieces that don't make it into the tart.  Shhhhh!  Dot the top with your butter pieces, sprinkle with lemon juice and bake at 400 for 30 minutes, or until your edges are a light, golden brown and the apples are tender.

To give your tart a bit of a glaze, combine your jam or honey and water in a small saucepan and heat through, but do not bring to a full boil.  Lightly brush over the top of the fruit, let your tart cool on a wire rack  and serve at room temperature.

*For a gluten-free version, I've actually started using the hazelnut & sugar mixture for the crust.  I keep a jar of the sugary hazelnut meal on hand to use for baking, so I would do 4 cups of ground hazelnuts with 1 cup of sugar, and that should give you more than you'd need for 1 tart.  So to turn that into your crust, combine that with about 1/4 cup melted butter (you can adjust more or less to make sure it's not too dry or too soggy) and then press it into your tart pan.  Partially bake it at 400 degrees for 3-5 minutes or until the crust just starts to turn golden.  And then you can proceed from there with the filling as shown above.

Thinking Green and Hoping for Spring!

Maybe it's a reflection of the wishful thinking on our part as we hope for Spring to finally be sprung upon us in NoVA, but we've got lots of green coming your way in this week's Crop Share!  You'll find broccoli, leaf lettuce, and granny smith apples, along with sweet potatoes (JOY!), baby portabellas, and honey tangerines, to help brighten up your Easter or Passover table. So let's all cross our fingers, toes and if you practice yoga, cross as many body parts as you can, in hopes that the start of a new month will bring us a true start to Spring!

Speaking of new things, I wanted to introduce myself to you all as your new, resident foodie for the Crop Share Recipe Blog.  I'm Tara, and some of you may have already "met" me in the Fall through some of my guest posts (yes, the Irish girl with all the potato recipes).  So please, please, please, don't be shy, use that comments button below and let us know how the recipes work for you, if there's certain types of recipes you'd like to see featured, or even wax poetic about your love for asparagus!  Additionally, we're dying to know what's cooking in your kitchen, so feel free to send us any guest recipe posts or photos of your delicious creations at cropshare@nallsproduce.com, so we can feature you!

So to get you started for the holiday weekend, here is one of my all-time favorite sweet potato recipes that will make a perfect side dish for your Easter table, and with the substitution of matzo meal or almond flour, it's also easily made kosher for Passover...

Sweet Potato Maple Streusel 

Ingredients:

3 1/2 lbs sweet potatoes

1 cup water

1/2 cup pure maple syrup

1/2 cup unsalted butter

2 Tbsp cider vinegar

1 tsp kosher salt

3/4 tsp ground black pepper

1 cup all-purpose flour (or alternative flour of your choice)

1/2 cup maple sugar (if you can't find maple sugar, substitute any large granulated sugar, or add some drops of maple extract to your sugar and mix well)

1/3 cup brown sugar

3/4 tsp cinnamon

6 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  Butter a 9x13" baking dish.  Peel sweet potatoes, reserving 1 inch pieces of ends for use in the streusel topping.  Coarsely grate these reserved pieces until you have 1/2 cup of gratings; set aside for later use.  Cut the rest of the sweet potatoes into 1/3 inch thick rounds, and arrange them in overlapping rows in your baking dish.

In a small saucepan, bring water, maple syrup, butter and cider vinegar to a light boil, stir in your salt & pepper, and pour mixture over sweet potatoes.  Cover the dish tightly with foil.  These can be made up to 6 hours in advance and refrigerated  just make sure you let them warm up to room temperature for about an hour before baking.  When ready, bake covered at 375 for about 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare your streusel topping.  Mix your flour, sugars and cinnamon in a bowl.  Add the melted 6 Tbsp of butter and using your fingers, rub it in until the mixture begins to form clumps.  Mix in your reserved 1/2 cup of grated sweet potato, until it looks like you might be making some sort of deranged, delicious cookie.

When sweet potatoes have baked for 40 minutes, remove from oven, increase your oven temperature to 400 degrees, and top sweet potatoes with the streusel mixture.  Return to oven and bake uncovered at 400 for an additional 35 minutes until streusel is golden and crisp (okay, just like a cookie).  Prepare for sweet potato bliss!

(Adapted from Epicurious: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Garnet-Yams-with-Blis-Maple-Syrup-and-Maple-Sugar-Streusel-350428)