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Recipes

summer vegetable crumble

Growing up, eating with the seasons just happened to a bi-product of my mother’s obsessive gardening. She’d try planting just about anything once, but under that hot Sacramento sun things like squash and tomatoes really thrived. I remember harvesting zucchini the size of toddlers and tossing them back and forth in the swimming pool. Summer produce stands out most in my memory, though I’m sure we ate from her garden past August.

The Answer is Always Pork | Summer Vegetable Crumble

Eating from the garden was just how eating went in my family, and it wasn’t until my senior year of college when I became more interested in food politics and the complexities of our industrial food system, that I really understood the impact eating seasonally and locally has on our local economy, our environment and our health. The short answer is it’s a big one. And the long answer is much better explained by the folks who really know what they’re talking about, Michael Pollan and Marion Nestle to name a few.

Eating with respect to the seasons and spending our dollars in support local farms and food businesses has become a not-so-private mission of ours, and even in my mother’s eyes, we verge on militant. But if there is one thing to care about, the health of our family and our planet isn’t a bad one, especially if it also means eating wonderful food.

Living in middle of downtown San Francisco, we don’t grow much beyond a few pots of herbs, which is where our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) Farm Share subscription from Eatwell Farm comes in. Eatwell Farm’s mission is to feed body and soul. They are committed stewards to the environment and constantly challenge industrial agricultural practices in favor of sustainable ones. They care about their land, their employees, and growing the healthiest and best food money can buy—and you can absolutely taste it.

We’ve had our CSA with Eatwell for over 3 years and could not be happier. We get perfect produce. We eat healthier. We stretch ourselves by cooking with ingredients we might not necessarily buy. We know our dollar is going to support a local farm and local families working hard to change our food system. And we spend the same amount as we would spend at the grocery store, where just pennies of your dollar make it back to the farmers. If we don’t support local farms, we’ll lose them—a tragedy with repercussions far beyond just taste—and a CSA is a simple, effective and delicious way to vote with your dollar.

If I haven’t convinced you, taste the difference for yourself! Eatwell Farm has been kind enough to offer our Northern California readers a discount to try their CSA Farm Share subscription. New Eatwell Farm subscribers can use the code: ALWAYSPORK to get their first 4 box subscription for just $99. Good ingredients make it easier to cook good food, and I honestly cannot recommend Eatwell enough. If you don’t live in Eatwell’s delivery radius, I urge you to check out Local Harvest to see if there are any farm share subscriptions in your area.

The Answer is Always Pork | Summer Vegetable Crumble

Now I’ll step down of my soapbox and move onto the recipe. This dish is made with all kinds of wonderful summer produce—zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, peppers. It was inspired by ratatouille, with a little sprinkle of cheese and buttery pastry crumble added to jazz it up a bit. It’s great as a vegetarian main dish, but could also be served as a side. It takes just 30 minutes to throw together, but tastes like far more effort went into it.

Savory Summer Vegetable Crumble
1 onion, diced
1 cup tomatoes, diced
1 Japanese eggplant, cut into 1” chunks (or half of a globe eggplant)
1 – 2 zucchini, cut into 1” chunks
2 peppers, diced (we used bell pepper, but any mild pepper will do)
a good sprinkle of fresh thyme or oregano
1 – 2 tablespoons olive oil
chili flake, salt and pepper to taste
⅓ cup gruyere, mozzarella or parmesan cheese, shredded (use what you have)

For the crumble topping
4 tablespoons butter, cold and cut into small 1 tablespoon pieces
¾ cup whole wheat or all-purpose flour (we used Eatwell’s Sonora Wheat Flour, which was A+)
½ teaspoon kosher salt

Preheat your oven to 450° F and put one rack closest to the top.

The Answer is Always Pork | Summer Vegetable Crumble

First make the crumble topping. In a medium bowl, combine the flour and salt. Add the butter and work it into the flour with your fingers or a pastry blender, until the butter is in pea-sized pieces and the mixture just comes together if you squeeze it. It will still be pretty crumbly, which is just what you want. Put the crumble topping into the fridge until the veggies are ready.

The Answer is Always Pork | Summer Vegetable Crumble

In a cast iron skillet or other oven-safe pot, sauté the onion in a little olive oil over medium-low heat. When the onions are soft, add the tomatoes and sauté just a minute more. Season well with salt, pepper and chili flake. Add the other chopped vegetables and toss to combine. Sprinkle with the grated cheese and then with the crumble top.

Bake 20 minutes on the top rack, until the vegetables are just starting to get soft at the edges and the crumble top is browned. This will serve two to three people as a vegetarian main, or four to five people as a side dish. It would be delightful alongside a roast chicken or quickly sautéed pork chop. You could also top with a few eggs in the last few minutes of cooking if you’d like something a bit heartier. The beauty of good, simple food is it’s flexibility, so mix it up! I hope you enjoy!

The Answer is Always Pork | Summer Vegetable Crumble

The post was written in partnership with Eatwell Farm, but the opinions are always our own.

-Emily

Categories
Recipes

chocolate chip zucchini bread

It’s late summer which means that you probably have zucchini the size of toddlers growing in your backyard or left on your doorstep in the night by a neighbor or delivered in your CSA box. This recipe is here to help you out. We made several variations, tweaking the recipe each time to maximize the amount of zucchini used, minimize refined sugar and retain deliciousness. I won’t claim this bread is healthy, but I also don’t think you should feel guilty eating it for breakfast. You are using up those zucchini after all.

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Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3 eggs
2/3 cup coconut oil (or vegetable oil)
1 cup crushed pineapple
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 cups zucchini, shredded
1 cup walnuts
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup flaked coconut, toasted (optional – we did it once, but didn’t repeat for the next few batches)

Preheat your oven to 325° F. Grease two loaf pans with butter and dust with flour.

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Combine flours, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg in a medium bowl. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, oil, pineapple and sugar.  Add grated zucchini into to the other wet ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until just combined.

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Stir in walnuts, chocolate chips and coconut if using. Divide batter into two loaf pans. Bake 30 – 40 minutes, until a tester inserted into the center comes out dry.

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Enjoy! For breakfast, lunch and dessert!

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zucchini banana bread

This is what you make when you have bananas going bad on your counter and zucchini lingering in your refrigerator, but not enough of either to make its own cake. Adapted very liberally from the Tartine Bakery cookbook, this breakfast bread turned out surprisingly well. It is balanced, not overly sweet and the flavors got along with one another just fine.

Zucchini Banana Bread 
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 very ripe bananas
2 large eggs
1 1/1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini
1 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Butter and flour a loaf pan. In a medium bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, cinnamon, baking powder, and baking soda.

In another bowl, mash the bananas. Combine with eggs, vanilla and salt and stir.

In the bowl of a mixture, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the banana mixture. Scrape down the bowl and then add the zucchini and walnuts. Mix until combined. Fold in the flour mixture and pour into a loaf pan.

Sprinkle the batter with 2 tablespoons of sugar for a crunchy top crust. Bake about one hour, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

-Emily

Categories
Recipes

grits with grilled shrimp and zucchini

You may remember a few months back when I extolled the virtues of grits. Well, we decided to give a lighter, more summery version a try last week. Verdict: still really, really good.  Certainly makes the mounds of zucchini you undoubtably have crowding your fridge go down easier.

Grits with Grilled Shrimp and Zucchini
For the grits
2 cups milk
2 cups water
1 1/2 t salt
1 cup grits
1/4 cup parmesan, grated
2 T butter

For the zucchini
3 zucchini, sliced into 1/2 inch slices
olive oil
1 garlic clove, grated
salt, pepper, chili flakes

For the shrimp
1/2 lb shrimp, shell on preferred
1 lemon, juiced
2 T olive oil
1 garlic clove, grated
salt, pepper, chili flakes

In a large bowl, marinate the sliced zucchini in olive oil, garlic and seasonings. In a small bowl, marinate the shrimp in  lemon juice, olive oil, garlic and seasonings. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, bring the milk, water, and salt to a boil. Once boiling, whisk the grits slowly into the milk mixture. Turn the heat to low and cover. Cook the grits 20 – 25 minutes, whisking every five minutes or so to avoid clumps. Once they are thick and just before serving, whisk in the butter and grated parmesan. Check for seasoning and add more salt if necessary.

While the grits are cooking, heat a grill or grill pan over medium-high heat. Grill the zucchini, 4 – 5 minutes per side, until browned. After you’ve cooked all the zucchini and the grits are nearly done, cook the shrimp. They only need about 2 minutes per side.

Serve a mound of grits topped with shrimp and grilled zucchini, hot sauce on the side for the boy.

-Emily

Categories
Recipes

zucchini pancakes

If you’re like me, then you’re probably bursting at the seams with zucchini. We’ve got zucchini from our CSA, my mom brought us zucchini from her garden, they look really pretty at the farmers’ market and it’s hard for me to resist pretty things, but two people can only eat so much grilled zucchini and zucchini gratin. Zucchini bread was a viable option, but I was more in the mood for something savory on Sunday evening.

This recipe is another from Smitten Kitchen. I was sold at the first photo and the dish did not disappoint. Deb calls them fritters, but mine turned out more like pancakes. Regardless, they are wonderful! The scallion and zucchini are amazing together. They are crunchy on the outside, creamy on the inside. Everything you want from a veggie, right? Plus, I’ll take any excuse I can get to eat sour cream.

Zucchini Pancakes, from Smitten Kitchen 
3 medium zucchini, grated
1 t coarse salt
2 scallions, sliced thin
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup flour
1/2 t baking powder
2 T olive oil
sour cream for serving

Grate the zucchini on your box grater or with the grater attachment of a food processor. Put it in a bowl and sprinkle with the salt. Let it sit for 10 minutes. Pour the zucchini into a mesh strainer or cheesecloth and squeeze out the excess water. A lot of water will drain out. Those suckers are mostly water.  Taste for seasoning. You may need to add a bit more salt. Add the scallions.

Add the egg to the zucchini and mix. In a small bowl, combine the flour and baking powder. Add the flour mixture to the zucchini mixture.

Heat the oil over medium heat in a cast iron skillet. Cast iron is where it’s at for this type of frying. Once the oil is hot and shimmery, drop in a 2 T scoop of the batter. Flatten the pancake slightly with a spatula. It should bubble and sizzle almost immediately. Add several more pancakes to the pan, being careful to not overcrowd the pan. I was able to fit about 5 in my skillet. You want to leave space for pancakes to brown. Flip them after about 4 – 5 minutes and cook the other side for 3 – 4 minutes more. Drain onto paper towels and keep in a warm oven until serving.  Serve with sour cream or lemon juice.

Don’t you just love taking a totally healthy vegetable and making it so fabulously and deliciously unhealthy! Oh yes!

-Emily

Categories
Recipes

summer vegetable gratin

Like I mentioned earlier this week, we’ve just begun to receive summer’s bounty in our CSA. A while back we noticed this recipe for a summer vegetable gratin in Ad Hoc at Home and flagged it for later on. Now that the appropriate veggies are in season, we were able to enjoy it!

Summer Vegetable Gratin, from Ad Hoc at Home
2 medium zucchini, sliced
2 small eggplant, sliced
3 medium tomatoes, sliced
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, grated
1/2 T plus 1/2 t fresh thyme
1/4 cup olive oil
salt, pepper
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 cup breadcrumbs (I used panko)

Heat an over to 350 degrees. Saute the onion and garlic over medium low heat in some olive oil for about 20 minutes, until translucent. Add the 1/2 T thyme. Slice the other veggies into 1/4 inch thick slices. Toss them with olive oil, salt and pepper. Pour the sautéed onions into a baking dish.

Top with the zucchini, eggplant and tomatoes, overlapping each slice slightly. I kept mine in cute little rows, but you’re welcome to mix them and spread them in an even layer. Mix the cheese, breadcrumbs and remaining 1/2 t thyme together. Sprinkle that mixture on top of the veggies and drizzle with a little more olive oil.

Bake for 35 – 45 minutes, until the veggies are tender and the top is browned.


This gratin is tasty, and blessedly lighter than most other gratins. I really enjoyed the zucchini and tomatoes. Sadly, I am still not a huge eggplant fan, even when it is covered in breadcrumbs and cheese. Jordan was valiant and ate all of my eggplant so I didn’t have to feel guilty about wasting food. Isn’t he a stud!

-Emily

Categories
Recipes

summer veggies two ways

According to our CSA it is officially summer! Last week we received the first tomatoes, zucchini and eggplant of the season. Because the produce we receive from our farm is such great quality, it’s incredibly easy to make the veggies taste great. Tonight we prepared two veggies two ways with wonderful results.

Turnips with Chives, Sea Salt and Butter
1 bunch turnips, sliced
1 T chives, chopped
1 t sea salt
2 T butter (Don’t skimp on the butter. Turnips love butter)

I know turnips aren’t traditionally a summer vegetable, but we’ve been getting a ton of them in our CSA box lately. They are delicious—kinda like a parsnip or a cross between a radish and a potato— and I’ve never eaten so many in my life!

Put a pot of salted water to boil. Quarter or eigth the turnips depending on their size. Toss them in the boiling water for 8 – 10 minutes, until al dente. Drain into a bowl. Toss with butter and sea salt. Top with chives to serve.

Grilled Zucchini with Lemon and Chili
2 small zucchini, sliced
1 T olive oil
zest of 1/2 lemon
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt, chili flake

Heat a grill pan or grill over high heat. Slice the zucchini on the diagonal. Toss the zucchini in the olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, chili flake and salt. Grill the zucchini for a few minutes per side and serve.

And don’t feel bad about the two tablespoons of butter in the turnip recipe—you are eating a cup of turnips after all!

If you are interested in finding a CSA in your area, search on Local Harvest.

-Emily