Rooting The Sun

move the soil to move the soul & happy we eat

Archives for August 2015

Summer Squash Soup with Lemon Pepper and Sage

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It is not my exact intention to bombard you with an overflow of squash, but as it stands – we are standing in it. I have a lot of love for this plant and think its eager attitude should be well celebrated.

What seems both celebratory and necessary to me is soup. Soup for all occasions and soup for every ingredient – our conversations heavily consist of what steps we must take to create a cherished bowl of soup. Sometimes the steps are small, sometimes they are long – soup (and the smell of it simmering) is very much loved around these parts. As a nod to the coming transition from summer to autumn I have a soup that may be enjoyed either hot or cold. Summer squash soup with lemon pepper and sage, to be exact.

Everything comes together easy, leaving you with the simple tasks of relishing the moments created by smell and enjoying the meal at hand. August was wonderful. The weather rarely exceeded 90 degrees at its hottest, and we were able to indulge in as much sunshine and rain as we could ever wish for. We witnessed hail a couple of times, but we were readily prepared (and are every time it storms). The garden was a living, breathing entity. Many affirmations stood tall. Wiser for another season, eager for the next.

Summer Squash Soup with Lemon Pepper and Sage
 
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ingredients
  • 1-1.5 lb yellow summer squash chopped into 1 inch pieces
  • 1 large onion chopped
  • 4 large cloves garlic roughly chopped
  • 1 tbl butter
  • 3 cups vegetable stock
  • ½ tbl lemon pepper
  • 1 tbl fresh torn sage
  • shredded parmesan
  • sour cream/yogurt (optional)
method
  1. the soup: heat butter in a large pot on medium high heat
  2. saute squash and onion until tender, 5-10 minutes
  3. add garlic and saute until fragrant
  4. add vegetable stock, bring to a light boil, and simmer 15 minutes
  5. puree soup to desired consistency. if here you would rather leave some chunks of squash you may certainly do so / garnish with sour cream or yogurt and parmesan crisps
  6. for parmesan crisps: heat oven to 350 degrees. on a slip mat/baking sheet sprinkle mounds of parmesan and lightly press down. bake in oven to golden and crisp, 5-10 minutes.
Notes
soup may be served either hot or cold - it's delicious both ways.

Yellow Squash Chips with Lemon-Basil Aioli

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So beautiful comes the transitional waking of days that lead from the end of summer to the first sweeping days of autumn. Everything I feel inside of me is related to seasonal change. Emotions, memories, senses – the connection is immediate, evident and powerful. I am attentive to the passing of months and the succession of weather – sometimes obsessive, though I think gardening may play a part in this. As the final tendrils of summer curl softly around us, the blissful crisp of the fall echoes in deep canyons. It’s hard to pick favorites, but I think my heart may be where the autumn consumes the heat and dissolves its passion into romance.

I have to laugh. I have been extremely hell-bent on consuming only what we have cultivated. This completely satisfies the entire goal of our efforts. It’s been squash dinner for weeks. If you’re ever questioning the integrity of this beautiful vegetable I would love to stimulate the conversation. The extent of our creativity with squash has had no limit – you name it. What I want to give you today is a really simple purpose of the squash, but it’s healthy and offers a satisfactory alternative to other options.

No insanity involved – just a really low and super slow bake that yields delicious vegetable chips. This may not make it ideal for summer sweltering heat but they are still rightfully addictive. I think it’s worth the slight effort involved. Also, yellow squash chips and lemon-basil aioli go really well together. The significant note I’d like to supply is that these chips do not keep very well – they are meant to be consumed the day of conception. However, this notion is alleviated by the fact that they are so delicious that you will have no issues living up to this task.

Yellow Squash Chips with Lemon-Basil Aioli
 
Prep time
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ingredients
  • 1-2 lbs of yellow/summer squash sliced into thin coins (this may be achieved with knife or mandolin)
  • olive oil
  • for the aioli:
  • 1 egg
  • 2-3 garlic cloves
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp stone ground mustard
  • ½ cup olive oil
  • ½ cup grapeseed oil
  • juice of half a lemon
  • ⅓ cup of lemon basil leaves torn
method
  1. heat oven to 230 degrees.
  2. line 2(+) baking sheets with parchment paper/slip mats and rub olive oil onto.
  3. spread squash out on paper towels, salt lightly, and allow to sit for 20 minutes. press the coins with paper towels to release any excess moisture.
  4. spread squash on baking sheets and sprinkle with smoked paprika.
  5. bake for 1 hour and flip the coins onto their other sides. add additional spice if desired.
  6. watch intermittently for another hour in the oven, taking the chips as they finish and leaving those that need additional time.
  7. For the Lemon-Basil Aioli:
  8. Bring egg to room temperature. Traditionally aioli calls for the use of a raw egg, however this may be combated by using a pasteurized egg or coddling the egg if you're weary.
  9. In a food processor bring together the egg, garlic, salt and mustard.
  10. With the motor running slowly add the oils - a little at a time until the mixture begins to thicken. Once thickened you can add the oil in a steadier stream. Process until smooth and add lemon and lemon-basil. If you cannot access lemon-basil, regular basil with lemon will yield a similar happiness. Process a minute longer.

Cucumber Mint Lassi with Jalapeno

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There is hollow roar on the other side of the windows – an old friend has come to visit  us today: the wind. There is a gust, a billow, a stillness and then the unmistakable wild abandon of our wind chimes. The wind is a strong element here, one that is at play much of the year – although we savor the small eternity we have without it. On most sides of us there is nothing to stop it, so it rolls. Depending on the time of year it either cuts the cold into slices in your throat, or it amplifies the summer heat as a blow dryer on your skin. The gusts are quite high today, we are under an advisory – however the temperature is a chilled out sixty-six degrees. Fairly neutral, but with hair in constant motion.

 I am merrily inspired by the subject of old friends and new friends. It seems quite astonishingly that people have the ability to show up in your life at the times marked most unexpected. A fortuitous evening encounter with a new acquaintance led to a well-buzzed conversation of food, growth, possibility and passion. The energy that hummed around us as we spoke on these subjects was electric and involved. It is a pure testimony to surprise. New encounters will always have their reservation as it is inherently human nature to scope someone’s story out in your head. This very instant is drastically combated by the truth when you finally learn their nature though. A pleasure it will always be. What began as the smallest of talks (scenery, weather, locations) was eventually heightened into engaging bliss about the sincere love for food (are there better conversations to be had!). In so much that we walked through the garden in darkness with headlamps to embrace and offer our new acquaintance that which moves us. The excitement and chatter was copious and fulfilling until all we wanted to do was cook – but alas the time had drawn too late. Thank you for the fresh breath of air last night new friend – we do hope to see you again.

A bird told me that summer temperatures are just vacationing this weekend. The cucumbers are in high tide and rolling in sweetly and densely. Those that aren’t winking at me coyly saying pickles or some form of salad are getting crafted lovingly into drinks. I’ve always had an affinity for lassi drinks. Maybe it’s their cooling element that is so complimentary to the food they are served with – they are saving grace while you are consuming fire. However, this is the very point I’ve decided to twist into irony today. Cucumbers are sincerely refreshing, especially married with mint – but what about including an element of danger? If not danger, something a little tricky – suave? We love spice. Jalapeno fever is high.

 This cosmically detracts from the nature of the lassi, but I assure you the magic remains.

Hope the weekend is slow where it needs to be, productive where it wants to be, and always satisfying.

Cucumber Mint Lassi with Jalapeno
 
Prep time
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Serves: Serves 2
ingredients
  • 1 fresh cucumber roughly chopped
  • 1 cup plain greek yogurt
  • ¼ cup of cream
  • 1 jalapeno seeded and roughly chopped
  • 2 tbl agave
  • ½ cup of mint leaves torn
  • ½ tsp cardamom
method
  1. Add ingredients to a blender and process until smooth. Ice may be added but do this slowly as the cucumber is full of water and the lassi has the potential to become thin on you.
Notes
If the jalapeno is a point of dispute you may leave it out altogether. This makes for a just as delicious alternative. Alternatively you can add half the jalapeno instead of the whole one for heat variant.

Filed Under: Drink

Curried Risotto with Squash Blossoms

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There is a vague tension behind my eyes from being open for so long today. I feel like I saw a lot of things but didn’t really see anything. Do you ever get this feeling? I like opening the freezer and sticking my head inside of it on really hot days. This is not a very economical practice but one that brings fleeting contentedness. And since it’s so hot outside I am giving you risotto to eat. How this equates in my brain is beyond me and the planet Mars but I think all weekends should be filled with big bowls(/bellies) of satisfaction and delight. If you are looking between me and the stove and shaking your head vigorously then simply save this for a mere month. Squash plants are avid producers and will give to you until the very end.

Squash blossoms are pretty. It’s that deep yellow that forever has me transfixed. They begin to yawn so beautifully in the early morning, stretching out to welcome the bees. It’s no surprise that you can eat them. We get to eat so many attractive foods in this life. When selecting them for edibility I make the single recommendation that you choose male flowers (no fruit attached) so to not disturb your future crop of squash.

Curried Risotto with Squash Blossoms
 
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Serves: Serves 2-4
ingredients
  • 1 tbl grapeseed oil
  • 1 medium white onion diced
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 2 medium carrots chopped into coins
  • 1 tsp minced lemongrass
  • 1 cup aborio rice
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • ¼ tsp coriander
  • ¼ tsp chili powder
  • ¼ tsp garam masala
  • ¼ cup shredded coconut
  • ½ cup white wine
  • 1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
  • 2 cups heated vegetable stock
  • 8-12 squash blossoms, stamens removed
  • dab of grapeseed oil
  • ¼ tsp cumin
method
  1. To begin: Heat grapeseed oil in a large pot and cook onion and carrot until translucent and softened. Add garlic and lemongrass and heat until fragrant.
  2. And then: Add aborio rice and toast until coated with oil. Add turmeric, coriander, chili powder, garam, and coconut and stir into rice and vegetable mixture.
  3. Risotto: Add wine to pot and stir slowly until absorbed by the rice. Repeat this process with the coconut milk. Once absorbed, slowly add the heated vegetable stock - one cup at a time, making sure to give the rice time to adjust. Reduce heat/remove from heat once rice has cooked.
  4. Squash blossoms: Add squash blossoms to a small saute pan with a dab of oil and cumin and heat.
  5. Bowl: Serve risotto garnished with squash blossoms and coriander.

Kale Wraps + Carrot Cumin Cashew Spread

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Heat is one of the strangest sensations – or perhaps I will detail this notion further by clarifying that it’s the sensation of burning that is uncomfortable. The summer sun is rocking us as we tumble head-first into August. A sneaky and delighted part of me thought perhaps that we would make it out of the summer alive and just sacrifice all of our sanity with an early winter blizzard instead (not that I need to relive this)/some say we are doomed for this again).

The heat is finally ascending upon us (it’s only been in the 80s). Midday I am dreaming of oasis hallucinations that leave me wide-eyed and disappointed (I’ve been better). By evening I am dancing around island fires as in Lord of the Flies. Come morning I am singing Otis Redding with the birds as the air is breezy, cool, dewy, and yet to suppress our faculties. Time advances and heat commences. A vicious summer cycle.

I burnt myself on a cast iron this evening. I’m not sure why the oven needed to be on but I decided to utilize it because the air conditioning told me it was OK. Even though my body/mind reacted immediately the burn still murdered my cheeriness – quickly at that. The discomfort of a burn radiates and snakes beneath your skin to all of your pain receptors. It becomes less feasible to focus and more satisfying to completely surrender yourself to frostbite by freezer availability. I was ever so kindly reminded how much a burn can discourage your entire schedule.

And burns from the sun are not excluded by any means! You feel invincible if you have a little shade encompassing you, however that cover you thought you had translates quickly into a full-fledged burn the next day. The second you withdraw indoors you start to feel the sensation pulse alongside your blood – you are a heated mass of human and the sun is laughing because he told you so.

I have something cool to offer you. Cool as in orientation and cool as in temperature. We have a splendid abundance of lacinato (dinosaur rawr) kale in the garden. The easiest and tastiest thing you could possibly do is wrap your meal inside of a leaf. The leaf is a healthy, portable alternative to bread and offers itself as an energizing vehicle to a smart devouring. In sweltering heat this seems like a cosmic solution. In times like this I praise the garden with palms open.

Lacinato kale seems like a valid choice for this recipe, but other curlier (or flatter!) types may equally fulfill the opportunity. I will come clean and admit that I recommend the stove and oven for parts of this recipe but they are within good reason and also not entirely necessary (your personal choice is welcomed happily). We blanch the kale leaves for flexibility. I also roast the carrots for the carrot spread as I am transfixed on their lovely flavor, but I think the grill could serve this purpose well. I encourage you to use the carrot spread apart from this application as well (it is super delicious!). Crackers and rye toast are equally enchanting crafts.

Be kind to your energy and include protein. Be creative to your wellness and add fruits/vegetables. Revel in the satisfaction that you’re one-upping the summer and lunch. Never mind that sun-burn and forget about the cast-iron catastrophe. The best sensation is a whole and satisfying one.

Kale Wraps + Carrot Cumin Cashew Spread
 
Prep time
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ingredients
  • 6 large lacinato(/other) kale leaves
  • carrot spread (ingredients below)
  • 1 cup cooked red(/your color) quinoa
  • sliced radish matches
  • sliced green apple matches
  • sliced snow peas
  • radish sprouts


  • For the Carrot spread (makes about a cup):
  • 1 lb carrots
  • olive oil
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • ¼ cup tahini
  • juice of 1 orange
  • ⅓ cup cashews
  • ¼ tsp cumin
  • ¼ tsp chili powder
  • ¼ tsp cayenne (if you enjoy spice)
method
  1. Kale leaves: While this step isn't entirely necessary, it may help to increase the flexibility if your leaves are stiff. I recommend blanching them. Thirty seconds immersed in boiling water, transferred to ice water, transferred to a dry area. The leaves will turn a bright and deep green and offer their bodies as a more supple vessel.
  2. Carrot Cumin Cashew spread: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Dress a pound of carrots in olive oil and spread them, along with four garlic cloves, on a sheet pan. Roast for thirty minutes until tender. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Transfer to blender or processor and add a ¼ cup tahini, the juice of an orange, and ⅓ cup cashews. Add ¼ tsp cumin, ¼ tsp chili powder, and a ¼ tsp cayenne. Process until smooth.
  3. For the wraps: Assemble a kale leaf laid flat: spread first, followed by quinoa, apple, radish, peas, and sprouts. Do not overfill - load the bottom up to the middle so that you are able to roll the leaf into itself. Tuck the leaf into itself and roll. Cut in halves to enjoy. Toothpick if you find necessary. Tell the sun to try again some other day.