Monthly Archives: August 2017

Storing Fresh Produce

You’ve just come home from the farmers’ market and now you need to know how best to store them.

Most leafy veggies like kale, spinach, escarole, and chard as well as broccoli should be used within three to five days. You’ve got five to seven days to use arugula, bell peppers, green beans, zucchini, and summer squash (all of which you can find at the market right now!) You’ve got more time to use up cabbage, carrots, turnips, and beets, as they have a shelf life of two weeks or more.

A few tips for storing your fresh treasure:

  • Store fruits and vegetables separately; some foods can make other fruits and vegetables ripen or rot faster
  • Keep broccoli, cauliflower, and cucumbers away from other produce
  • Wash your leafy produce and dry well; wrap in a dish towel or paper towel, and put in a plastic bag (poke some holes in it first!) and then store in the vegetable drawer
  • Remove the greens from carrots, turnips, beets, and parsnips and store them loose in the crisper drawer. But keep the greens. They are tasty too!
  • Store most other vegetables in plastic bags with holes in them

Blueberries, the Super Food!
They’re showing up at the farmers’ market now – blueberries! Loaded with antioxidants, potassium, and vitamin C, blueberries are one of the healthiest fruits you can eat. Just one-half cup of blueberries a day can lower your cholesterol and lower your risk of heart disease and cancer. They also are a natural anti-inflammatory. When buying, pick the darkest blue fruit – the darker the fruit, the more health benefits they have. Frozen blueberries are just as good as the fresh ones, so be sure to pick up extra at the market now and freeze them for later!


To get a healthy start to your day, here’s a Wake-Up Smoothie recipe from the eatingwell.com test kitchen:

Ingredients:
1¼ cups orange juice, preferably calcium-fortified
1 banana
1¼ cups frozen berries, such as raspberries, blackberries, blueberries and/or strawberries
½ cup low-fat plain yogurt

Directions
Combine orange juice, banana, berries, and yogurt in a blender; cover and blend until creamy. Serve immediately.

Photo CreditFree-Photos Via Pixabay

Cut Down on Salt and Sugar – Shop Farmer’s Markets!

We get most of our salt from processed and restaurant foods, so the best way to reduce the salt in our diets is to eat fresh – and it’s easier than ever to find fresh produce at your neighborhood farmers’ markets! With everything from beans to zucchini being harvested right now, and many markets offering fresh meat, poultry and fish, you can avoid sodium-heavy canned and packaged foods for an entire week – just don’t add any salt while you’re cooking. Try adding some fresh herbs such as basil and rosemary for seasoning. When you add fresh fruit for dessert, you avoid all that processed white sugar that can add unnecessary calories to your diet – and add unwanted pounds to you.


Here’s a recipe for a French vegetable stew that uses lots of things you can find at the market:

Summer Vegetable Ratatouille*

Ingredients

  • 2 onion, sliced into thin rings
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 medium eggplant, cubed
  • 2 zucchini, cubed
  • 2 medium yellow squash, cubed
  • 2 green bell peppers, seeded and cubed
  • 1 yellow bell pepper, diced
  • 1 chopped red bell pepper
  • 4 roma (plum) tomatoes, chopped
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
  • 4 sprigs fresh thyme
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Heat 1 1/2 tablespoon of the oil in a large pot over medium-low heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook until soft.
  2. In a large skillet, heat 1 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil and saute the zucchini in batches until slightly browned on all sides. Remove the zucchini and place in the pot with the onions and garlic.
  3. Saute all the remaining vegetables one batch at a time, adding 1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil to the skillet each time you add a new set of vegetables. Once each batch has been sauteed add them to the large pot as was done in step 2.
  4. Season with salt and pepper. Add the bay leaf and thyme and cover the pot. Cook over medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes.
  5. Add the chopped tomatoes and parsley to the large pot, cook another 10-15 minutes. Stir occasionally.
  6. Remove the bay leaf and adjust seasoning.

*From www.allrecipes.com

Photo CreditH3rko Via Pixabay

Peach Picking at the Farmer’s Market

Nothing says summer like fresh peaches from the farmers’ market and we’re starting to see them now. The advantage to shopping locally is that the peaches are ripe when they arrive and not picked early so they can travel hundreds of miles to the grocery store. And because the farmer is at the booth, he or she can help you pick out the best fruit there. If you still need a little help in how to select a ripe peach, there are three things to look for:

Smell
A ready-to-eat peach will have a sweet smell.

Touch
A ripe peach will have a little “give” to it when you apply slight pressure. If the fruit is hard, it will need several days to ripen. Put it in a brown paper bag at room temperature.

Color
Ripe peaches have a deep yellow color that’s consistent on the fruit.


If you want to make a great dessert with fresh peaches but don’t want to heat up your kitchen by turning on the oven, Slow Cooker Peach Cobbler with Fresh Peaches and the most delicious Yogurt Whipped Cream is the perfect summer dessert! From Slow Cooker Gourmet

Slow Cooker Peach Cobbler with Fresh Peaches and Yogurt Whipped Cream

INGREDIENTS
For filling:
8-10 fresh peaches ripe but not too soft
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

For topping:
1/2 cup flour
1 cup oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick butter, cold

For yogurt whipped cream:
8 oz Heavy Cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5.3 oz Whole Milk Yogurt

INSTRUCTIONS
For filling:
Peel and dice peaches into bite sized pieces
Mix with remaining filling ingredients
Spray slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray and add peach filling (I used a 2.5 quart mini casserole slow cooker but any 3-5 quart slow cooker will work)

For topping:
In a large bowl stir together all topping ingredients except butter until combined
Cut cold butter into tiny pieces and then use a large fork to cut the butter into the topping mixture until crumbly
Add the topping to the filling in the slow cooker and cover and cook on high for 2-3 hours until bubbling and oats in the topping are tender

For yogurt whipped cream:
In a large bowl using hand mixer or in a stand mixer beat heavy cream with sugar and vanilla for 3-4 minutes or until cream forms stiff peaks that hold when removing beater
Add yogurt and beat again until just combined
Serve warm cobbler with fresh yogurt whipped cream

Corn – All You Need to Know!

It’s mid-August and throughout New York State, that means home-grown corn season! From sweet to super sweet, from the tender, white kernels of Silver Queen to the yellow and white of Butter and Sugar, farmers’ markets are offering a range of varieties, colors and sugar levels. Which type is better is purely a matter of taste, but because those kernels are hidden behind layers of husk, it’s not always easy to pick the freshest ears. Shopping at a farmers’ market can help because the people who grow it are right there to answer your questions! But if you need a little help, here’s what to look for:

  • Brown tassels that are sticky to the touch. Dry, black tassels indicate an old ear
  • Bright green husks that are wrapped tight against the cob – that’s fresh!
  • Kernels that feel plump through the husk. You don’t want holes where kernels should be. And if you pull back the husk to peek at the kernels (though this shortens the shelf life!), look for plump kernels with no dents to them. The kernels should be in tight rows and have moist, pale yellow silk peeking out from the ear. If the tip of the corn is rounded to the feel through the husk, the corn is filled out. If it feels pointed, the kernels are not filled out to the tip and may be immature.
  • Avoid ears with tiny brown holes in husk. Those holes are made by worms.

There’s a debate about whether you ‘shuck’ corn or ‘husk’ it, but whatever term you use for removing the shell of leaves from the ear, don’t do it until you’re ready to cook the corn. Cobs stay fresher, longer if you keep the husk on. Store corn in a paper bag in the refrigerator to slow down the process of turning the sugar to starch, but use the corn within four to five days after purchase.

Shuck corn by peeling away all but a thin layer of innermost leaves, then peel back the leaves from the tip of the cob. Grab the tops of the leaves and the tassel in one hand and the bottom of the ear with your other hand; pull the leaves and tassel straight down in one tug. Snap off the leaves and silks from the base of the cob, clean up any remaining silk.

If you’re going to boil your corn, boil for 4 to 6 minutes in unsalted water; adding salt will toughen the kernels. If you’d like to give grilled corn a try, here’s a recipe from Bobby Flay:

Grilled Corn from Bobby Flay:

  • Heat the grill to medium.
  • Pull the outer husks down the ear to the base. Strip away the silk from each ear of corn by hand. Fold husks back into place, and place the ears of corn in a large bowl of cold water with 1 tablespoon of salt for 10 minutes.
  • Remove corn from water and shake off excess. Place the corn on the grill, close the cover and grill for 15 to 20 minutes, turning every 5 minutes, or until kernels are tender when pierced with a paring knife. Remove the husks and eat on the cob or remove the kernels.