These Are A Few of My Favorite Things

Wait till you see the amount of potatoes you're getting in the Crop Share this week!  Squee!  Can you tell I'm Irish by descent?  So, after you're done whipping up this Leek & Potato Soup, you're still going to have potatoes left over!  While I suggest using up some in this Potato Salad with Cucumber, Rocket Greens & Smoked Salmon (this is not your Grandma's potato salad, no mayo in sight, it is an actual salad), I've also got another "fishy" recipe below that is one of my all-time favorite preparations for salmon.  The potatoes become this wonderful crispy base, and then you'll be able to throw on some of the tangelos or any leftover citrus from last week, and snag a Meyer lemon or two while you're in the store.  Then, as I mentioned in the "spoiler" e-mail earlier today, hands down one of my favorite salads of all time is this Herbed Shrimp & White Bean salad I'll link to below.  When you see how beefy the green leaf lettuce is this week, you'll have to work to use that up too, and this entree salad will be just the ticket.  We got in fresh cherry tomatoes today, so you'll be able to snag a pint of them along with some local honey to help round out the salad ingredients.

So without further ado, I give you two of my favorite recipes that are sure to help you use up this week's bounty (titles are hyper-linked to original recipes)...

Salmon & Potato Casserole With a Citrus Herb Vinaigrette via Country Living

Herbed Shrimp & White Bean Salad via Cooking Light

Rise & Shine Citrus Smoothie

And the smoothie train continues to chug along, and by chug, I mean guzzle at rates that would make a frat boy proud.  We're getting tangelos this week, and not only is it one of the funnest words to say, they are a pretty cool hybrid of tangerines and grapefruit (some are also tangerines combined with pomelos, hence the "elos" in tangelo).  Unlike grapefruit they're easy to peel, and they are power packed with juice.  So...GET IN MY SMOOTHIE!  This Rise & Shine Smoothie really is breakfast in a glass as  you get your fresh-squeezed citrus boost, a protein & calcium jolt from almond milk, and disregard what those silly internet ads say, the bananas in this will keep you feeling full without filling you out, and they are great for helping to balance out blood sugar levels.

Rise & Shine Citrus Smoothie

Ingredients:
16 ice cubes
2 bananas, peeled
Juice of 2 tangelos
Juice of 1 red grapefruit
1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (I use Almond Breeze)


Into the blender all of your ingredients go, blend until the ice is fully crushed and prepare for morning magic.  It reminded me a bit of an Orange Julius, and then it also reminded me somewhat of a pina colada, so use some reduced fat coconut milk in place of the almond milk and really transport yourself to the tropics!

Brussels Sprouts & Mushrooms in a Dijon Cream Sauce

Now that I've realized I love Brussels sprouts if they're cooked right (sorry Mama, steaming frozen ones in a butter sauce is a crime against B-sprouts), I can't get enough of them.  One of our Crop Share members pointed me in the direction of Smitten Kitchen's Dijon Braised Brussels Sprouts, and I've been drooling ever since.  Give me Dijon or give me death!  I didn't have any broth or white wine on hand (SCANDAL!!!), so I whipped my own, raid-the-pantry version.  I did mine dairy-free for the Mister by concocting unsweetened rice milk with melted dairy-free margarine, but having spent many a years with heavy cream running through my veins, I know it's a 1 for 1 substitution, so 2 cups of heavy cream is what you'll want for the dairy-full version.  See the ingredients for my faux heavy cream directions if you'd like to or need to give the dairy-free version a whirl.  I'm looking in the direction of a certain awesome mom & Crop Share member who's diving in head first to gluten & dairy-free cooking for her son.  Trust me lady, you'll be rocking in the kitchen like a pro in no time!

Brussels Sprouts & Mushrooms  in a Dijon Cream Sauce

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp olive oil
2 shallots, sliced
1 quart mushrooms, sliced
1 quart Brussels sprouts, ends trimmed and sliced
2 cups heavy cream (Trickling Springs heavy cream is TO DIE for, so snag some in store!  Or if you need to make it dairy-free, a no fail replacement is just shy of 2 cups of unsweetened rice milk mixed with 2 Tbsp of melted Earth Balance margarine)
3 Tbsp Dijon mustard
Salt & pepper to taste

In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium high heat.  Add in shallots and cook for about 2 minutes.  Toss in mushrooms and allow to begin to brown before adding in the Brussels sprouts.  You'll want to get some brown on the Brussels sprouts too, as it will bring out the natural sweetness.  Once veggies are browned, gently whisk in your heavy cream and then Dijon mustard.  Season with a pinch or two of salt & pepper. Bring to a simmer and reduce heat to medium low, and simmer until sauce is reduced by more than half and is thickened.  Adjust seasoning to taste.

I served our's over rice to turn it into an entree, but this would also be great over noodles (it has a stroganoff thing going on with it), or serve it as a side dish or even a decadent topping to some grilled steaks.

Cilantro & Pistachio Pesto

I had all sorts of traditional plans for last week's cilantro, including making another round of that Healthy Three Layer Taco Dip for a game night with friends.  Well you know what they say about the best laid plans. But oh happy accident, because, as I was staring aimlessly at the cilantro, it came to me...pesto!  Now, I 've never made a pesto.  I've eaten plenty of it, and my mother-in-law has mastered an amazing traditional pesto with dairy-free parm.  And though I've vowed to make it a thousand times for the Mister, I tend to be pretty darn lazy when it comes to using the kitchen appliances I have that require lots of random parts that will need hand washing.  But perhaps it's the smoothie kick I've been on, because I yanked my Cuisinart from the depths of my pantry and in no time at all I had concocted a Cilantro & Pistachio Pesto, that I promise you, promise, promise, promise, pinky swear promise, will NOT be able to detect that it's cilantro hiding in there! Not a soapy taste to be found anywhere.  So cilantro haters, I've found the solution for you, put it in your food processor or blender and make it pay!!!

Cilantro & Pistachio Pesto

Ingredients:

1 bundle cilantro, washed and ends trimmed
4 cloves garlic
2 tsp lemon zest
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup dry roasted & unsalted, shelled pistachios
1/2 cup olive oil (I'm going to play Barefoot here, use the GOOD olive oil!), plus 1-2 Tbsp more reserved if tossing with pasta
2-3 pinches Kosher salt

Place all ingredients in your food processor or blender and blend  until nice and smooth.  You won't have a completely smooth sauce, but you want all of the big chunks broken up (especially of the garlic) and have everything well-combined.  Scoop out and toss with cooked pasta of your choice, or use as a spread for crostini or some garlic pesto bread.  If tossing with pasta, add another 1-2 Tbsp of olive oil to keep the pasta from sticking and gumming up.

I found the pesto itself was perfect with about 2 pinches of Kosher salt, but once I tossed it with my pasta, it totally disappeared, so you will want to adjust with the salt content after you've tossed the pesto with the pasta and additional olive oil.  Also, I did not use Parmesan of any kind, but you could absolutely include it in the sauce.  To me the pistachios actually impart the same flavor profile as Parm would, so give it a try without and see what you think.  It at least helps to offset the calories from the bevy of olive oil that goes into this dish!