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Sweet Potatoes

11/20/2019

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​Although we sometimes call them sweet potatoes “yams” they are actually a different plant.  Yams, which are native to Africa and Asia, are not found in North American. Sweet potatoes are a great alternative to white potatoes because they have more vitamins and minerals.  Sweet potatoes are a good source of Beta Carotene, Vitamins A and C, potassium, and fiber. They also add natural sweetness to many dishes. 

Storage and Preparation
Sweet potatoes should be kept in a cool, dry, and dark place; not in the fridge! Sweet potatoes will keep for 1-2 weeks when cool and dry. Scrub sweet potatoes under water before use.   Scrub sweet potatoes under cool water just before use. Keep the skins on for extra fiber!
 
Nutrition Information
Sweet potatoes are a great alternative to white potatoes because they have more vitamins and minerals.  Sweet potatoes are a good source of Beta Carotene, Vitamins A and C, potassium, and fiber. They are also fat and cholesterol free and can add a natural sweetness to many dishes. 
 
COOKING IDEAS         
  • Baked: Pierce skin with a fork and bake in oven at 350°F for 35-45 min, or microwave for 5-9 min.   
  • Roasted: Toss sweet potatoes with olive oil, pepper, and chopped herbs, and roast for 15 min at 425ºF.   
  • Topped:  Add peanut butter and cinnamon or try black beans and salsa to your sweet potato.
  • Mashed:  You can mash just like white potatoes: Boil until soft, drain water, milk and butter (Orange Juice for a vegan version) and spices, and mash!   
  • Snack on them: Thinly slice a large sweet potato, and brush lightly with olive oil. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until lightly browned and crisp.
  • Grilled: Slice sweet potatoes into thick, 1/2 inch rounds and grill until lightly browned. Drizzle with lime juice.
  • On a salad: Combine diced sweet potatoes, apples, celery and cashews. Serve over salad greens. 
​

Overstuff Sweet Potatoes

Sweet Potato Gratin

These potatoes are filling enough to serve as a main course.  For extra flavor add cumin, garlic and onion to the black beans.  If you like spicy, you can also enjoy with hot sauce or salsa.
Ingredients (Serves 4)

Four medium-large sweet potatoes
1 can black beans, rinsed
2 cups chopped arugula
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
4 eggs
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
1. Pierce the skin of the sweet potatoes about 10-15 times all over with a fork and bake in oven at 350°F for about 35 min, or microwave for 5-9 min.   
2. Cut potatoes in half (most of the way) so that they spread open but stay in one piece.  Salt the potatoes and place on a baking sheet and evenly distribute arugula and beans across the 4 potatoes.  Top with cheese.  Broil potatoes in the over on high for about 2 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
3. Coat a large frying pan with oil, cooking spray or butter.  Add all 4 eggs and add salt and pepper to taste. Cook eggs to your desired level of doneness (I recommend sunny-side up or over-easy).  Top the sweet potatoes with eggs and serve.


Ingredients:
  • 1 Tablespoon olive or canola oil
  • 1 bunch of kale cut into 1 inch. Strips
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1/4 cup all- purpose flour
  • 1-pound sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch rounds
  • 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 3/4 cup low- sodium chicken stock
  • 1/4 dry white wine (or 1 Tablespoon white vinegar plus1/4 cup water)
  • 1 cup grated low- fat Swiss, cheddar or Parmesan cheese
 
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Add olive oil to a pan and heat.  Add kale and sauté until wilted.
3. In an 8-inch square baking dish, arrange a single layer sweet potatoes and kale, overlapping slightly.  Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with one- third of the
flour.  Repeat to make three more layers, sprinkling with salt, pepper, and flour between layers.  Dot top layer with butter.
4. Slowly pour broth and wine (water and vinegar) into the dish, keeping layers intact. Cover with foil and bake until sweet potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork, about
45 minutes. 
5. Increase over temperature to 425°F.  Remove the foil and sprinkle cheese over dish. Bake until cheese is golden, about 12 to 15 minutes.
 
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Oyster Mushrooms

11/12/2019

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Their hearty texture makes mushrooms a perfect stand-in for meat in many vegetarian recipes.  Vegetarian cookbooks are filled with many mushroom recipes including a few of my favorites from The New Vegetarian Epicure (adapted here).
 Storage and Preparation
Keep these mushrooms in a bag in the fridge until you are ready to eat them.  Do not wash them. They will last for about 1 week as long as they don’t get wet. These oyster mushrooms are grown in pasteurized straw and organic millet.  It’s a very clean process with no dirt involved so there really isn’t any need to wash them.  You may want to remove the very tiny amount of straw at the base where they were cut, but the whole thing is edible.
While they look fairly exotic, these mushrooms can stand in for white mushrooms in most recipes– we just wouldn’t recommend stuffing them, though you can…
  • Sauté with butter and thyme and serve over rice
  • Roast in the oven with some olive oil
  • Dehydrate and save them for future stews, sauces and soups

Oyster Mushroom Chowder

You can use sweet peppers or if you like spice, throw in the poblanos.  Corn would also be a nice addition to this recipe.
Ingredients (Serves 6-8)
  • 2 large yellow onions
  • 1 Tbs. olive oil
  • 1 Tbs. butter
  • 1 lb. oyster mushrooms, sliced
  • 3/4 cup dry white wine
  • 1 3/4 lbs. potatoes
  • 1 cup chopped leeks, white parts only
  • 2 stalks celery, chopped
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/2 tsp dried (or 2 tsp. fresh) thyme leaves
  • 5 cups vegetable broth
  • 2 Tbs. Marsala cooking wine
  • 1/2 cup finely diced pepper
  • 2 cups milk
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream​ ​
Directions
1. Peel the onions, cut them in half lengthwise, and slice them in very thin wedges.  Heat butter and oil in a large-non-stick pan over medium-high heat.  Add onions and sauté until they begin to brown.
2. Add the oyster mushrooms to the onions and cook until they are golden brown, stirring frequently (15-20 minutes).  Add the wine and cook until it evaporates.
3. Peel the potatoes, and dice them.  Boil them in a pot with water, salt, leeks, celery bay leaf and thyme.  Once it starts to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are soft
4. Add the potato mixture to the mushrooms, along with the vegetable broth, marsala, diced pepper and add pepper to taste.  Simmer together for another 10 minutes, then stir in the milk and cream. ​

Wild Mushroom Ragout

Use any combo of wild mushrooms you like here (shitakes, porcini, morels and oyster mushrooms are all great options).  Fill in the rest with white button or crimini mushrooms.
 Ingredients (Serves 6)
  • 1 3/4 lb. fresh mushrooms, sliced or cut into chunks.
  • 1 large yellow onions in large slices
  • 1 large red onion in large slices
  • 1 Tbs. olive oil
  • 2 Tbs. + 1 tsp. butter
  • 3 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 cup dry red wine
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/2 tsp. thyme leaves
  • 2 stalks celery, sliced thinly
  • 1 Tbs. flour
  • Pinch of cayenne (optional)
  • 2 cups heated vegetable broth ​​
Directions
1. Heat 1 tsp. olive oil and 2 tsp. butter in a nonstick pan.  Sauté onions until they begin to soften. Add the copped garlic and salt and pepper to taste.  Cook until the onions and garlic begin to brown.  Add half the red wine, the bay leaf and thyme and the sliced celery.  Reduce the heat and simmer until wine cooks down.
2. In a separate non-stick pan, heat 2 tsp. olive oil with 2 tsp. butter.  Sauté the mushrooms with a sprinkle of salt and pinch of cayenne until the excess liquid cooks off and they begin to brown.  Add the remaining wine, lower the heat and allow the wine to cook down.  Add the onions to the mushrooms.
3. Add 1 Tbs. of butter to the pan that had the onions in it and let it meld.  Store in the flor and continue to stir until it thickens and turns golden.  Whisk in the hot broth and continue to whist as it thickens.  Add the sauce to the mushrooms and onions.  Simmer everything together for about 10 more minutes.  Serve over rice.
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Winter Squash

11/6/2019

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Winter squash isn’t actually a type of squash, but a category of hard-skinned squashes that includes many of the squashes we have seen (and will continue to see) in our boxes such as: acorn, butternut, delicata, buttercup and spaghetti.  With the exception of spaghetti squash, which we highlighted in a different blog post, many of these squashes have similar texture and can be used interchangeably in recipes.  Here is a visual guide to different squash varieties. Not on this list are some fun relatives of butternut squash that have already been showing up in your boxes like:
  • Butterkin Squash: A cross between butternut and a pumpkin.  A little harder to peal but great for soups and baking.  Check out our post on pie pumpkins for ideas.
  • Honeynut squash: A smaller, sweeter version of butternut with an extra dose of beta-carotene.  You can event eat the skin on these if you are adventurous!
  • Butterbaby: Pretty much just a smaller variety of butternut squash.  I like these because I can use the whole thing in one meal and don't have to worry about storing or using the leftover like I do with larger butternuts.
  • Buttercup: It’s similar in size and shape to a small pumpkin but has a green exterior that may remind you of an acorn squash.

​Storage
Winter squash stored in a cool dry place will last several weeks.  Squash store at ideal temperatures will even last months.  If possible, store at 50-55° in a dry spot with low humidity.  If its too cold it will suffer chilling injuries and start to deteriorate.  We don’t recommend storing in the basement because it is probably too moist and they will be more likely to rot.  Cut squash wrapped in plastic wrap will keep in the fridge for a week to 10 days.
Preparation
Roast It!   Peel off the skin of the squash and dice into cubes. 
Lightly coat with olive oil or canola oil and your favorite herbs and spices. Place on a foiled pan and roast at 400° for 25-35 minutes. Flip the squash over once halfway through. 
Mash It!  Cook squash according to the recipe on the bottom right, scoop out the flesh, and mash with a fork.  Season with a little salt, pepper and spices.
Nutrition Information
Winter squashes are rich in vitamin A, folic acid and potassium.  The dietary guidelines recommend that adults eat 4-6 cups of red or orange vegetables (like winter squash) each week.

Butternut Squash

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​Butternut squash has a sweet, nutty taste similar to that of a pumpkin. It might be fall's most versatile vegetable. They are larger than most other winter squash, ranging in size from six to 12 inches long and in weight from about two to about five pounds. 

This hardy squash can be kept for up to three months in a cool, dry place. But know that butternut squash will not last as long in a warm kitchen. For optimal storage keep them in the basement or another cooler place if possible. Do not refrigerate whole squash but once cut, butternut squash should be wrapped tightly and refrigerated. When it comes to cutting the smooth skin to halve, slice, or cut wedges of bright orange flesh, follow this technique.

There are so many delicious ways to use this hard-shell squash, from soups and salads to lasagna and pizza. Next time you’ve got the oven on, use up the space to cook a whole squash – simply bake it just as it is until you can insert a knife in easily, then use it over the following days in salads or to turn into pancakes, fritters or a delicious spread for toast.

Recipes
  • Squash & Goat Cheese Bruschetta
  • Brown Sugar Butternut Squash Pie
  • Curried Butternut Squash Soup
  • Caramelized Butternut Squash
  • Butternut Squash Risotto

Roasted Squash with Lemon Tahini Sauce 

Winter Squash and Apples

This dish’s unique flavor combination combined with the beautiful colors of the squash elicited much praise at our dinner parties.
Ingredients (Serves 6):
  • 1 large acorn squash, scrubbed
  • 1 1-pound delicata squash, scrubbed, cut into 1"-thick wedges or rings, seeded
  • 7 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds, divided
  • Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
  • 4 scallions, cut into 2" pieces
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon tahini (sesame seed paste)
  • Aleppo pepper or crushed red pepper flakes

 Directions
  1. Arrange racks in upper and lower thirds of oven; preheat to 425°F. Place acorn on a rimmed baking sheet and delicata on a second sheet. Divide 3 tablespoons oil and 1 1/4 teaspoons cumin between sheets. Season squash with salt and pepper; toss. Roast for 15 minutes.
  2. Combine remaining 1/4 tsp. cumin, 1 Tbsp. oil, and scallions in a small bowl; season with salt and pepper and toss to evenly coat. Scatter scallion mixture over squash, dividing evenly between sheets, and continue to roast until squash is tender but not mushy, about 15 minutes longer (time may vary depending on squash).
  3. Meanwhile, whisk lemon juice, tahini, and 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl to blend. Gradually whisk in remaining 3 tablespoons oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
  4. Transfer squash to a platter. Drizzle tahini sauce over and sprinkle with Aleppo pepper.
We like acorn or buttercup best for this dish because they have larger cavities that can hold the apples most easily.
Ingredients (Serves 4):
  • 2 winter squash, scrubbed
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil or butter
  • 2 apples, cored and diced
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar​
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 400°. Cut squash in half lengthwise, from end to end; scoop out seeds and scrape out fibers. Put squash halves into baking dish, cut side down. Put the baking dish on the oven rack and add about 1/2 inch of water to the dish. Bake for 20 minutes.
  2. While squashes are baking, mix diced apples with the butter or oil and brown sugar. Take the squash halves out of the oven and fill each squash half with apple mixture. Place squash halves back in the dish, cut side up. Cover pan with aluminum foil and continue baking at 400° for 30 minutes longer, until squash and apples are tender.
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