Garlic harvest!

A group of recently graduated 8th graders helped out with today's garlic harvest at Drew Freeman. We pulled garlic, snipped any remaining garlic scapes, and tied them up to cure for a few weeks in the covered walkway alongside the courtyard garden. Oh boy are we going to have lots of delicious garlic to work with when the school year starts up again....

As a token of thanks to these helpers, I'd brought along a batch of my now-famous chocolate beet brownies. (The Eco-Friendly Group LOVED them when we made a batch together earlier this spring.) I hope to make them when the monthly community cooking classes start up next fall. So many folks who tried them today asked me for the recipe, so, for you aspiring bakers out there who thought you didn't like beets, click here for the recipe.

One of my favorite days....

Okay, so I know it must seem like I say this every week, but I really think today was one of my favorite meetings ever with the Eco-Friendly Group.

My favorite part was making the Vietnamese summer rolls and dipping sauces.

No, wait, my favorite part was digging beds for our soon-to-be-transplanted sweet potatoes and other goodies.

No, no, WAIT, for sure my FAVORITE part was harvesting the onions we planted this past fall. And had I not brought in some onions from the 14th & U farmers' market for our summer rolls, I'd never have shown the students what the tops of onions look like when they're ready to harvest. It was James' keen eye that caught the almost-flowering tops of the green onions in our raised bed and the harvesting extravaganza began....

Seriously, this is my job? I love it!

Should you find yourself with some of your own fresh, green onions -- from the garden at Drew M.S., from the farmers' market, from your own garden, from the grocery store -- you might consider making some delicious summer rolls with them. By popular request, here is the recipe:

Vietnamese-style summer rolls

Ingredients:
•             Rice paper wrappers (available at specialty markets, or in the ethnic food section of many grocery stores)

Filling:
•             1 cup of green cabbage or 1 bunch of kale/spinach/spicy greens, chopped

•             5 green onions, thinly sliced

•             1 cup thin noodles, pre-cooked (use rice, Chinese, or bean thread noodles)

•             1/4 cup fresh herbs (use cilantro, basil, and/or mint)

•             2 carrots, peeled and then grated

•             2 cucumbers, peeled and julienned (a fancy word for "thinly sliced")
Optional additions:
•             1/2 cup bean sprouts

•             1 large bell pepper, seeds removed and thinly sliced

•             1/2 cup cooked chicken, shredded

•              shrimp, peeled and cooked

 
Directions:

Toss together filling ingredients in a large bowl.

Submerge rice paper wrappers in hot water until pliable, about 15 seconds.  Move one wrapper at a time to a large plate or cutting board.

Place about 2 tablespoons of filling in the center of each wrapper and form filling into a small hotdog shape.

Make a burrito with the wrapper around the filling. Place filled, wrapped rolls with the flap side down to help keep them closed. Be gentle, the rice paper is very delicate!

Serve with dipping sauce and enjoy.

Dipping sauce recipes (accompaniments for summer rolls)

Dipping Sauce #1: Ginger Soy
Ingredients:
•             1 TBSP lime juice

•             1 TBSP soy sauce

•             1/2 tsp fresh ginger, grated
Directions: Whisk ingredients together in a small bowl and chill until ready to serve.

Dipping sauce #2: Sweet Chili
Ingredients:
•             1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

•             1/4 cup hot water

•             2 TBSP sugar

•             1 lime, juiced

•             1 tsp minced garlic

•             1 tsp red chili paste, such as sambal

•             ½ tsp fish sauce (optional)
Directions: Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Serve with the summer rolls.

Dipping sauce #3: Peanut Sauce (the crowd favorite)
Ingredients:
•             2 tablespoons creamy organic or natural peanut butter

•             2 tablespoons rice vinegar

•             2 teaspoons soy sauce

•             2 teaspoons sugar

•             1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
Directions: Whisk ingredients together and get ready for dipping!

Which is your favorite combination of flavors and textures??

Quesadilla madness!

I think today might've been one of the most well-attended sessions of the Eco-Friendly Group. (I wonder if word got around after we made chocolate beet brownies two weeks ago. Attendance has definitely improved since....) Today's feast was made up of homemade veggie quesadillas, fresh salsa, and guacamole from scratch. Once we got past the shoddy electrical wiring in the classroom's single outlet and managed to get our portable burners working, the students banded together with some of the most fantastic teamwork I have seen to date. Washing, chopping, filling, flipping, juicing, stirring, mashing...it was great!

You think teenagers don't eat vegetables? Try chopping them up and putting them in a whole wheat tortilla with a little melted cheese. I can't TELL you how many students told me, unprompted, how easy the quesadillas were to make, how tasty they were, how they liked to choose what went into them, how they planned to make them at home for themselves, their siblings, their families. Well, my student chefs, all of the ingredients can be found at your local supermarket, or you can explore your local farmers' market once that starts up... and some of the ingredients we'll be growing right here in Suitland. Tomatoes, spinach, onions, garlic, cilantro -- yum! (Wonder if we can start some mushroom logs. Hmmm.)

Had I known how popular today's cooking would be -- at 5:00, I left with about a cup of salsa, as even the leftover mushrooms, fresh spinach, and guacamole made their way home in students' foil care packages -- I'd have brought more copies of the recipe. But after I mentioned to students that they could find the recipe here on the blog, I noticed quite a few of them scribbling down this blog address, so maybe the conservation of paper wasn't such a bad thing after all.Here, for your cooking pleasure, is the much-sought-after recipe: 

Quesadillas (Prep time: 5 minutes. Cook time: 5 minutes)

Ingredients:
Large flour tortillas
Grated cheese
Olive oil

Optional fillings:
Fresh mushrooms, sliced
Green onions, thinly sliced
Black olives, sliced
Fresh tomatoes, diced
Red onion, minced
Fresh garlic, minced
Fresh spinach, chopped

Lettuce/cabbage “slaw”:
A small head of lettuce OR a few handfuls of cut lettuce OR a small head of cabbage
A splash of apple cider vinegar
A pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Heat a large frying pan to medium high heat. Add a small amount of oil (about 1/2 teaspoon) and spread it around the bottom of the pan with a spatula (you could use butter as well). Take one large flour tortilla and place it in the pan. Flip the tortilla over a few times, 10 seconds between flips.

2. Air pockets should begin to form within the tortilla. When pockets of air begin to form, take a handful of grated cheese, sprinkle over the top of the tortilla, making sure that the cheese does not land on the pan itself. Add whatever additional ingredients you choose - green onion, sliced mushrooms, olives, tomatoes, etc. If you would like your quesadilla to be a chicken quesadilla, add some diced cooked chicken. (Take care not to layer on the ingredients to thickly - this is a quesadilla, not a quiche!)

3. Reduce the heat to low and cover the pan. The pan should be hot enough by now to have plenty of residual heat to melt the cheese and brown the tortilla. If the quesadilla begins to smoke too much, remove from the heat. After a minute, check to see if the cheese is melted. If not, return the cover and keep checking every minute until the cheese is melted.

4. When the cheese is sufficiently melted, use a spatula to lift up one side of the quesadilla and flip over the other side, as if you were making an omelet. The tortilla should by now be browned slightly and look like a flat taco. If it is not browned, turn the heat up to high and flip the quesadilla over every 10 seconds or so until it gets browned. Remove from pan and cut into wedges.

To make the lettuce “slaw” to accompany the quesadilla, thinly slice some lettuce (or cabbage). Then sprinkle some cider vinegar on it and some salt to taste.

Serve with guacamole, fresh salsa, and/or plain Greek yoghurt (a healthy alternative to sour cream, though I do love sour cream sometimes).

So... what would you put on your perfect quesadilla?

A day of discovery!

What a return to Drew Freeman after spring break. The weather was perfect -- clear and sunny, and, okay, maybe a little warm. Christopher kept reminding us all how hot and sweaty he was during our visit to the hoop house at Windsor Crossing, where we'll be growing the bulk of our ingredients for Suitland Salsa. But it was a beautiful day. And one filled with discoveries.

Discovery #1: We have a hoop house!
Thanks, STEER Center, for your financial support that allows us to grow way more food than we otherwise could, just a few blocks from the school. Coming months will find the space loaded with tomatoes, tomatillos, cilantro, onions, pepper, and more, and will be tended by students, neighborhood volunteers, and a head garden caretaker.

Discovery #2: Lamb's quarters are edible!
Who knew? These weeds – growing ALL OVER the rich, healthy soil in the hoop house we visited – are loaded with vitamins. I may be biased, but I think they are fresher and tastier than spinach. And they're free, growing right out of the dirt and otherwise tossed into the compost pile! I took mine home and tossed them with some fresh pasta and a few other odds and ends for a delicious, inexpensive, and (it is me we’re talking about here, so) healthy dinner. I think Mr. Carrington and Ms. Matthews and James and William have plans for their wild-harvested greens as well....

Discovery #3: Beet brownies are delicious!
The inspiration for the sneaky beet infusion comes from a conversation I had a number of years ago on my way through Madison, Wisconsin while I was working with one of the after school food educators over at Sherman Middle School. I was intrigued and begged her for the recipe, which she kindly sent along. Here's my adaptation (with less sugar and more roasted beets).... Leftovers? None.

CHOCOLATE BEET BROWNIES

Ingredients

1 bar of good chocolate (3-4 oz)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
a pinch of salt
6 TBSP butter (easier at room temperature)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs (at room temperature)

Directions

Wash and remove the greens from 3-4 small beets. Drizzle with a little olive oil, wrap in tin foil, and roast in a 400°F oven until soft (about 40 minutes). Cool beets, then puree and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350°F, then butter and flour a small (8" or 9") cake pan.

Melt chocolate in a small pot. Set aside to cool.

In a small bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a large bowl, use a hand mixer (or a lot of elbow grease and a whisk) to beat sugar and butter until creamy. Beat in vanilla extract and eggs. Stir in the beet puree, followed by the melted chocolate and then the flour mixture.

Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes. Cool and serve.

Well, we did a little transplanting of baby kale and collard plants out in the garden while the brownies cooked. Otherwise we might not have been able to resist the divine chocolatey aroma while they baked....

Leftovers? Psh. No way.

All dressed up

Boy was last class a delicious one! To get us in the right mindset for planning our garden's expansion, we tasted lots of fresh veggies dipped in our own, made-from-scratch salad dressings. Below are a few new favorites.... 

Delicious, healthy dips and dressings for all occasions!

1. Ranch Dressing/Dip
Fresh herbs are essential for the flavor of this dressing; do not use dried herbs. Recipe courtesy of FoodPrints. Makes about 1 ¼ - 1 ½ cups.

Ingredients
½ cup buttermilk
½ cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon minced shallot or red onion
1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro or dill
1 clove garlic , minced
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
pinch of sugar
½ teaspoon table salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
6 tablespoons sour cream (this is OPTIONAL, if you want it to be a dip)

Directions
Whisk all of the ingredients together in a bowl until smooth. If you keep this covered and in the fridge, it will keep for 5 days.

2. Low-fat, herbed Ranch dressing
Recipe adapted from www.epicurious.com. Makes about 1 cup.

Ingredients
¾ cup well-shaken low-fat (1 ½ %) buttermilk
2 tablespoons low-fat mayonnaise
2 tablespoons nonfat sour cream or plain Greek yoghurt
1 tablespoon packed fresh basil leaves, minced
1 tablespoon fresh chives, finely chopped
2 teaspoons cider vinegar
1 teaspoon dry mustard (you can buy powdered mustard or crush your own mustard seeds)
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, stems removed
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ teaspoon sugar

Directions
In a blender or food processor blend all ingredients and salt and pepper to taste until smooth. Dressing keeps, covered and chilled, 1 week.

 

3. Sweet Balsamic Vinaigrette
Recipe adapted from FoodPrints. Makes about 1 ½ cups.

Ingredients
1 cup olive oil
½ cup balsamic vinegar
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced (or pressed using a garlic press)
½ to 1 teaspoon salt to taste
1 tablespoon brown sugar (to taste)

Directions
Put all ingredients in a jar and shake well. (Great for those with a bit of a sweet tooth who want to eat more salad and fresh veggies.)
 

4. Lemony herb dressing
Recipe courtesy of A Bikeable Feast (http://abikeablefeast.blogspot.com). Makes 1 ¼ cups.

Ingredients
1 cup olive oil
juice from 2-3 lemons
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced (or pressed using a garlic press)
handful of fresh herbs, finely minced (don’t forget to wash first and remove the stems!)
salt & pepper (to taste)

Directions
Put all ingredients in a jar and shake well. Great with freshly sliced summer veggies!


How about posting your own favorite dressing recipe/idea in the comments?