A few Recipes I have made from Good FARM foods

So I have learned a little bit of cooking skills while working at Quail Hollow Farm. I can now cook veggies in really yummy ways. I keep trying to tell various family members that real food is easy to make, so I decided to just blog some of the easy things I have made that are SUPER DELICIOUS! There are also some really good recipes that Laura Bledsoe has put onto http://quailhollowfarmcsa.com/ 
I'll start with Beets. 
Beet Soup (a very YUMMY Favorite...... and it's super EASY!)
I got this recipe from Sandy who got it I believe from Nourishing Traditions. I have made it a few times and every time have loved it. It is such a BEAUTIFUL soup too. Any pictures I put in are probably just from google images.
All it takes:

• 6 medium beets
• 4 tablespoons butter ]
• 1 quart filtered water
• sea salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped chives
• Sour cream 

This easy soup brings out the exquisite sweet flavor of beets. Peel beets, chop coarsely and sauté very gently in butter for 1/2 hour or until tender, you can saute`longer to infuse greater flavor. Add water, bring to a boil and skim. Simmer about 15 minutes. Purée soup with handheld blender (I have used a regular blender it just doesn't blend as fine, I like it a little chunkie though because of the texture.) Season to taste, ladle into bowls and serve with a dollop of sour cream or soft goats cheese works Great as well. Sprinkle with some chives to 1( add color contrast and 2(add more flavor. The chives are optional and so it the sour cream. However that is like saying walnuts are optional in brownies. Why would you take away from it's GREAT potential? 

I must though give a caution... since Beets are so full of color sometimes your bathroom breaks will also have similar coloring. 

Beet Greens (since I have had several family members ask what do they do with the greens I'm going to tell you here...)

Now don't waste the greens. The greens are FULL of nutrients. The best way to have these is to Wilt them down and drizzle with Balsamic Vinegar. "What does it mean to wilt?" you might be asking. To wilt a green means that you put it in a pan with a little bit of water and turn the burner on. The greens "wilt" down in size and become a dark shade of green. Easy as that.

One more yummy BEET recipe  

Simply heat the oven to 375 peel and chop coarsely, put in a baking dish (ie like what you would make brownies in.) drizzle with either olive oil and or balsamic vinegar salt to taste. Bake until tender and then enjoy. You can add potatoes or carrots or any other root crop (turnips) if you wanted to. It's Delicious. I however prefer the beet soup.

Roasted Butternut Squash and Potatoes 

I made this for the harvest day potluck. Brody said I had a talent with potatoes. 

You peel and chop as much butternut squash and potatoes as you desire too place in a baking dish, drizzle with olive oil. salt and pepper to taste. Add various herbs. I did basil. You could use thyme, oregano, rosemary, etc. Use your hands to stir it all around in the pan to make sure everything gets a good coating of the oil and spices. Top with any kind of cheese you have. Bake in a 375 oven for 30 -45 minutes or until things are tender. Enjoy.  

Disappearing Zucchini Orzo (this is from the book Animal Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. Sariah and I made it just this week for the Harvest day Potluck.) Instead of retypeing this whole recipe I went to http://animalvegetablemiracle.com/ and just clicked on her recipe link.

¾ LB PKG ORZO PASTA

(multicolored is fun)

Bring 6 cups water or chicken stock to a boil and add pasta. Cook 8 to 12 minutes

1 CHOPPED ONION

GARLIC TO TASTE

3 LARGE ZUCCHINI

OLIVE OIL FOR SAUTÉ

Use a cheese grater or mandoline to shred zucchini, sauté briefly with chopped onion and garlic until lightly golden.

THYME

OREGANO

¼ CUP GRATED PARMESAN OR ANY HARD

YELLOW CHEESE

Add spices to zucchini mixture, stir thoroughly, and then remove mixture from heat.

Combine with cheese and cooked orzo, salt to taste, serve cool or at room temperature.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake  (Because what could be better than chocolate zucchini cake?)

This is an amazing recipe I received from Katie Jickling (my  roommate on the farm fall 2010)

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 3/4 cups sugar
1/3 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 1/2 cups grated zucchini
1 cup chocolate chips
3/4 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 325. Butter and flour a 13x9x2 pan.
Combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into medium bowl.
Beat sugar, butter and oil in large bowl, until well-blended.
Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Beat in vanilla.
mix in four mixture, alternately with buttermilk in 3 additions each.
Mix in grated zucchini; pour batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle chips and nuts over, bake cake about 40-50 minutes.

Anyway I think that is all I shall type up today. It's a start though. I hope you find these recipes yummy and helpful. I now need to take a nap. I will try to post more of these in a little while.