Winter Squash Hummus

Ingredients

• 2 pounds hard squash delicata or butternut


• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

• Salt and pepper


• 2 heads garlic, separated into cloves and peeled 
(about ½ cup cloves)


• 2 or 3 serrano peppers, sliced in half, stems and seeds removed


• 1/4 cup tahini

• 3 tablespoons lemon juice

• Plain yogurt for garnish (optional)

• Cilantro leaves for garnish (optional)

• Roasted pumpkin seeds for garnish (optional)

• Crusty bread, pita or crackers

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Cut squash in half and remove seeds. Rub flesh with 2 tablespoons olive oil and 2 generous pinches salt.

2. Place squash cut side down in roasting pan and bake until very soft, about 1 hour.

3. While squash is baking, place garlic, Serrano peppers and remaining olive oil in small pot over low heat. Poach garlic and peppers in oil until completely soft (30 to 40 minutes). Garlic should be very lightly browned.

4. Scoop out flesh from roasted squash and place in food processor. Add: garlic-poaching olive oil, garlic, Serrano peppers, tahini and lemon juice. Puree until smooth, about 1 minute. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

5. Hummus texture will vary depending on squash variety and size; add up to 1/2 cup water until desired consistency is reached. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours and up to 1 week.

6. For 1 cup hummus, garnish with ¼ cup yogurt, 1 tablespoon pumpkin seeds and sprinkling of cilantro leaves. Serve with crusty bread, pita or crackers.

Shishitos, Sauteed

Ingredients

1 tsp Olive Oil

1 pint shishito peppers

sea salt (Beautiful Briny or 3 Porch Farm)

lemon juice (one fresh quarter wedge or 1 tbs

Directions

1. Heat a little olive oil in a wide sauté pan until it is good and hot but not smoking. Add the peppers and cook them over medium, tossing and turning them frequently until they blister. They shouldn't char except in places. Don't rush. It takes 10 to 15 minutes to cook a pan-full of peppers.

2. When the peppers are done, toss them with sea salt and add a squeeze of fresh lemon. Slide the peppers into a bowl and serve them hot. You pick them up by the stem end and eat the whole thing, minus the stem, that is.

For variety, you can use a little toasted sesame oil or coconut oil instead of olive oil. If you have leftovers, an unlikely incident in my experience, chop off the stems and put the peppers in an omelet or some scrambled eggs.

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Shishitos are the perfect little treat!

These peppers are small and about a finger-long, slim, and thin-walled. Although they turn from green to red once ripe, most farmers harvest them when they are green.

Sautéed shishitos are undeniably the best thing to nibble on with drinks, add them to eggs or as an appetizer. Here is an easy way to prepare these peppers.

Pesto, Green Garlic

Ingredients
3oz basil, {leaves only}
2 stalks green garlic
2 bunches parsley, {stems removed}
3 oz kale, {stems removed}
1 cup GA pecans
1 1/2 cups parmesan cheese {shredded}
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 cup olive oil
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

Directions
Add basil, green garlic, parsley, kale, pecans, cheese, and lemon juice in food processor. Blend in processor while slowly adding oil. Finish with salt.

Yield
One Quart

Pesto, Dandelion Pecan

Ingredients
¾ cup unsalted raw pecans (from Moore Farms and Friends)
3 garlic gloves minced

1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan

1 bunch dandelion greens (from Woodland Gardens) (about 2 cups, loosely packed)

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Black pepper, to tasted

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Pour the pecans onto a shallow-rimmed baking sheet and roast until just fragrant, about 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
2. Pulse the garlic and pecans together in the bowl of a food processor until very finely chopped.
3. Add parmesan cheese, dandelion greens, and lemon juice and process continuously until combined. Stop the processor every now and again to scrape down the sides of the bowl. The pesto will be very thick and difficult to process after awhile — that’s ok.
4. With the blade running, slowly pour in the olive oil and process until the pesto is smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Ideas for Dandelion Pesto
• Spread over pizza with cooked potatoes slices (from Hickory Hill Farm), then baked.
• Smeared on crostini (from Star Provisions) over a layer of fresh spreadable cheese (from Decimal Place Farm).
• Use to dress potato salad.
• Toss with pasta (from Storico Fresco), with chicken (from Grass Roots Farm), or roasted vegetables (from Rise -N- Shine Farm).

About Dandelion Greens
Dandelion greens are the most nutritious leafy vegetable that you can buy. The root of the dandelion can be used for medicinal purposes. Its flowers can be harvested for wine. And its greens have a bitterness that can be delicious (plus they’re packed with iron). They are one of the first spring vegetables, they come on even earlier than asparagus, and they make a great spring tonic. Cultivated dandelion greens from the farmers market’s are generally less bitter than the wild ones, but be sure to nibble on a leaf to determine it’s bitterness and gage how much to include in your dish.
Dandelions support digestion, reduce swelling and inflammation, and treat viruses, jaundice, edema, gout, eczema and acne. It is also a wonderful liver cleanser. It is the perfect food for us when we emerge from winter hibernation.
Dandelion greens are excellent in a salad, or strip the stems and use in any cooked dish as you would bok choy or kale. Here is an easy pesto recipe for utilizing some ingredients from Freedom Farmers Market.

Carrot Soup

Jarrett Stieber's creamy carrot soup was a much needed feast of
sunny colors against a rainy afternoon.

Ingredients
2 bunches of baby carrots
1 quart of milk
1 quart of water
1 cup of honey
1 stick of butter
salt and lemon juice to taste

For Garnish
Sparta Imperial Lions Mane and Shiitake (cut into pieces and roast in a 350º oven until they look sexy)
some toasted peanuts
some ground espresso

Directions
1. One of the most convenient things about soup making is how easily you can see how much you'll be making. This recipe should yield enough soup for dinner, but if you need to make a bigger or smaller batch you can just fill up a bigger pot with more of everything and have more soup. This recipe is very easy to make and if you pay attention to the little details, it is extremely delicious and will impress your diners!
2. Take your carrots firstly and cut off the green tops (since the soup is blended, the greens will mix with the orange and you'll end up with a less pretty brown color). DO NOT THROW THE TOPS AWAY, THEY ARE NOT GARBAGE! From here, you can add the carrots (unpeeled and cut into smaller pieces to increase cook time) to a pot with all of the other ingredients and boil vigorously until the carrots are completely tender and mushy but not overcooked to the point of loosing their pretty orange color. The butter will 'break' and be floating at the top. That is ok! It will become friends with the rest of the soup when you put it in the blender.
3. Next, ladle enough of the soup mixture to fill your blend halfway (blend in batches because over stuffing will cause improper blending and the hot liquid will expand too much and teach a scalding lesson on how easy making a mess can be). Blend on high speed for about thirty to forty five seconds (hold the top of the blender down with your hand holding a kitchen towel for safety because the heat may cause it to pop off), until the mixture is very well blended. Should you want to put on your fancy pants, you can even pass this soup through a strainer to take any remaining clumps out and give it that velvety restaurant feel... but after it's blended, it's ready to eat! Taste it and adjust the seasoning as necessary. Garnish the soup with some of your mushrooms, toasted peanut, a good pinch of ground espresso (freshly ground, please... you worked hard on the soup, don't ruin it by sprinkling the top with brown sawdust!) and some of the carrot tops (picked from the stems like you would with parsley or any other herb).

More on Carrot Tops:
The carrot tops can also be used for purees, pesto or soup but I would recommend blanching them in water with a good pinch of baking soda added to it for a minute or two before shocking and pureeing (the alkaline water will preserve the color of the chlorophyll and keep it forest green instead of swamp brown).

Most importantly, eat your soup with ample beer or wine and good company!

Aioli, Soy Mash

Bruce Logue's aioli was an unassuming squirt bottle on its own, but wow was it great
on his bruchetta sandwich.

Ingredients
1 cup soy mash
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon water
1 quart canola oil
2 cloves garlic

Directions
1. Chop the garlic and place in a stainless bowl. Add the egg yolks, water and half the lemon juice.
2. Slowly add the oil until a thick aioli is achieved add the soy mash and remaining lemon juice and whisk well. Thin to desired consistency with the water and final season with salt to taste.
3. Assemble the sandwich on your favorite crusty bread and finish with sea salt.