Light French Onion Soup

What to do with all these onions from the farm...
From this months Sunset
Ingredients:
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp olive oil
3 large onions, thinly sliced
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp flour
1/3 cup dry sherry
6 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
2 tsp reduced sodium soy sauce
4 to 8 baguette sliced
4 oz. gruyere cheese, sliced

1. Preheat oven tp 400. Heat butter and oil in a heavy frying pan over medium-high heat. Add onions and salt. Cover and cook 5 min. Uncover and add sugar. Cook, stirring often, until onions are golden, about 25 min. Add flour, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook, stirring often, 1-2 min. Add sherry, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Cook 1 o 2 minutes or until slightly reduced.
2. Transfer mixture to a medium saucepan. Add broth and pepper. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, 10 min. Stir in soy sauce.
3. Put bread sliced on a baking sheet and bake until golden, turning once, about 7 minutes per side.
4. Preheat broiler. Ladle soup into oven-proof bowls and set in a sturdy-rimmed pan. Top each soup with 1 or 2 bread slices and some gruyere. Broil until cheese is bubbly, 1 to 2 min.

Yummy!!!!

Baked stuffed pattypan squash

Ingredients:

* 4 Pattypan Squash, washed
* 1 Onion, chopped
* 1/2 lb. lean sausage, chopped
* 3/4 lb. Parsley, chopped
* 1 1/2 cups Bread Crumbs
* 1/2 teaspoon Pepper
* 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cut squash in half (horizonally) and hollow.
3. Chop onion finely.
4. Crumble the sausage into a pan and cook until no longer pink.
5. Remove sausage from pan and set aside.
6. Add onion to the pan with sausage fat and cook about 2 minutes or until soft.
7. Mix together in a bowl the sausage, onion, parsley, bread crumbs, pepper and 2 tablespoons water.
8. Divide mixture among squash halves.
9. Brush the tops of the stuffed squash with olive oil.
10. Place squash in single layer in baking dish just large enough to hold all of the squash.
11. Fill baking dish with 1/2 inch water.
12. Cover and bake 30 minutes.
13. Uncover and continue baking about 15 minutes or until stuffing is browned and squash tender.

Serves 4

I had some leftover mixture (my squash were small), so I stuffed two green peppers and baked them along with the squash.

Cabbage Summer Salad

I made this salad recipe that I found in this month's Sunset Magazine. However, I used the purple cabbage we received from the farm this week, to substitute for the spinach the recipe called for. Add grilled chicken for added protein!
Delicious!

Ingredients:
8 oz orzo pasta
2 cups halved cherry tomatoes
1 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped
1 tsp. minced garlic
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts (optional)
4 oz feta cheese, broken into chunks
1/2 cup Greek olives, pitted and halved (optional)
2 cups purple cabbage (or spinach)
1 tbsp. Extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
salt and fresh ground pepper

Directions:
1. Cook orzo according to package directions.
2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine tomatoes, basil, garlic, pine nuts, olives, feta, and spinach. Add the cooked orzo.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together oil, vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste; toss with salad.

Banana Smores

We've had a crazy few weeks with vacation and family in town... but here is a little treat for the kiddies after a bbq, or out by a campfire.

You will need:
Graham crackers
Hersheys chocolate bar
bananas

Cut the bananas into thick (1") slices, and put them onto a stick- we used skewers. Roast them over a flame as you would a marshmallow, and put them onto graham cracker with chocolate piece. Squeeze together and serve. Yum, delicious and not a choking hazard! : )

Nonna's Ratatouille

One reason I love having my mom come visit is because she always knows what to do with all my fresh farm vegetables. She makes this vegetarian ratatouille that's so delicious. She's a farm girl even though she'd never admit it!
We have so many vegetables from the farm this week so I decided to make up some meals to freeze to bring on our vacation next week.

Here's how I made this delicious dinner:

Ingredients

* About 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil (add more later on if you think it needs more)
* 1 onion, any variety (I used lots of green onion)
* 1-2 large cloves, minced garlic (depending how garlicy you like it)
* 3-4 yellow squash, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
* 3-4 zucchini, cut into 1/4-inch dice, about 1 1/2 cups
* 2 tomatoes
* 1 cup homemade marinara sauce or 1 can tomato sauce
* 1 tablespoon coarsely chopped fresh basil leaves
* salt
* Freshly ground black pepper
* grated Parmesan cheese (to sprinkle on when served)

Directions:
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add all the vegetables, sauce, basil and seasonings. Simmer vegetables for about an hour, until it's all melded together.

You can serve along with pasta, or eat alone with good Italian bread. Delicious!

Fava bean potato salad

My little girl had so much fun peeling the fava bean pods. I was glad because the pods had been sitting in the fridge for over a week... too much work for me! It kept her occupied for about an hour- great activity!

I boiled about 1/2 lb of fava beans until tender, and peeled the second shell off of them.
At the same time, I boiled about a dozen small potatos (mixed variety), until tender, and cut them into chunks once they cooled. I added one diced onion, and 1 stick of celery, also diced.

For the dressing:
1 garlic clove
1 small wedge of fresh fennel (optional- I did not use)
1 tablespoons dijon mustard
4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
salt
a squirt of honey
1/2 cup of olive oil

I put the ingredients into a sealed jar and shake until blended.
Toss the salad with the dressing and refrigerate until ready to eat.

This potato salad was great. Even if I didn't have fava beans, the dressing is great on any potato salad. Great summer salad. Enjoy!
p.s. No, the kids didn't eat any of it... but try it anyway, my kids don't eat much of anything!

Beet and Blueberry Smoothie

I came home a little early from work today and decided to go through the fridge to see what we had lying around. With beets arriving every week from the farm, I have run out of friends to pass them off on, therefore we have many beets. My husband does not enjoy the taste of them so I've been trying out different recipes that he will give a try.
I found a beet smoothie recipe which I modified. Here it is:

Ingredients:

* Fresh squeezed juice from 1 orange
* 1/2 cup diced beets (I used cooked/ boiled beets, but you can also use canned)
* 1 1/2 cups frozen blueberries
* 1 banana
* 1 cup plain yogurt
* 1 Tablespoon flax seed meal
* 1/2 cup cold water
* 1 cup ice

My husband did like it, but it could have been the fact that our kids have been so sick, and we'll try anything not to get what they have (lots of antioxidants in this one). The kids took about 1 sip of the smoothie, so I poured the remaining smoothie mix into the pop molds, since they will eat anything in pop form. We'll try that for a snack tomorrow!