Thai-Inspired Sauce w/ Fresh Veggies

Here's another recipe from our friend, Sarah Nelson. Enjoy!


Sauce:
• 1/2 small hot pepper, fresh - more or less depending on taste
• 3 cloves garlic - more or less depending
• 1 c. raw almond butter
• 3/4 c. water
• 1/4 c. Bragg's liquid aminos or tamari
• juice and zest of one lime
• 1/4 c. unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1/2 c. fresh cilantro
Veggies:
1. Assorted veggies, cut into thin spirals as desired (I used 2 yellow squash, 3 carrots, and 1 green bell pepper)
2. In a food processor with the blade running, finely mince the hot pepper and garlic.
3. Incorporate the almond butter, water, Bragg's, and lime juice, adding more liquid to taste.
4. Blend in coconut and cilantro and refrigerate at least 1 hr. (as long as overnight) to allow flavors to blend.
5. Prepare veggies; a potato peeler is your friend here.
6. Arrange on a plate, and spoon sauce over top.
Experiment with different veggies (in-season) and other nut butters, etc.

Summer Fruit Torte

Here's a recipe from a supporter, Sarah Nelson, from the Farmacy, with a recipe that won her a First Place at an Athens Farmers' Market competition. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.








Pie Crust:

• 
2 cups raw cashews, soaked 20 min.

• 1 cup dates
1/2 lemon, peeled
1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg

Filling:

• 
2 small peaches
• 1 nectarine
• 5 dried apricots, soaked in 1/2-1 c.warm water, soaking water reserved
• 1 tsp. raw tahini
• 1 c. raw cashews, soaked
• 1/4 c. shredded coconut
• Juice from 1/2 lemon

Glaze:

• 1 plum
• 1 T raw agave nectar
• Other toppings:
• 1/2 nectarine, sliced thinly
• 1 plum, sliced thinly

For crust:

1. Combine dates and lemon in food processor and blend as well as you can.
2. Add cashews to mixture and blend into a rough paste. (Alternately, blend cashews separately, then dump both mixtures into a big bowl, add spices, and stir until a uniform paste is made.
3. Put mixture into pie plate and form crust; cover and place in refrigerator for a few hours.


For filling:

1. Prepare cashews in a similar way as for the crust; set aside.
2. Blend fruit in food processor until smooth - the order you go in and the amount of liquid you need to add will depend on the strength of your food processor.
3. Once the fruit is blended, add in the processed cashews, coconut, and tahini and lemon juice to taste.
4. Layer sliced nectarines over the pie crust, then fill crust with fruit filling. Cover again, and place in refrigerator for a few more hours, or overnight.


For glaze:

1. Blend plum and agave in food processor, adding more agave to taste.
2. Spoon glaze over top of the torte, adorning with sliced plums.


Serve

Weekend Workshop: Making Yogurt

Do you love yogurt, but hate all the plastic packaging piling up in your home? Do you want delicious yogurt made from good milk without all the weird additives but hate paying upwards of five dollars for a quart? Well, it's time to start making it yourself. Yogurt making is so easy. In about 20 minutes you can prepare your yogurt, and be eating it for breakfast the next day.

To start off you will need:

• Medium to large cooler
• Kitchen thermometer
• Quart sized glass jar for your yogurt
• Assorted glass jars
• 1 quart of milk (non-fat, 2% or whole -- I recently used a blend of Snowville Creamery fat free and 2%)
• 1/4 cup plain unflavored unsweeted yogurt with live cultures. (Think Seven Stars, Stoneyfield Farms, or pick up some yogurt made from Snowville Creamery at the Village Bakery. As you begin to make yogurt, you can reserve a bit from your batches to make the next.)

To make the Yogurt:

1. Heat the milk. The milk needs to be heated to about 170-180F (76-82C). This kills any other bacteria that might be in the milk that would compete against the bacteria that converts milk to yogurt. It also changes the milk protein in a way that allows it to culture and firm up. Stir often while milk is heating to prevent scorching. Remove from heat when temperature is achieved.
2. Cool the milk to 105-110F (40-43C).
3. Stir 1/4 cup yogurt into your milk.
4. Pour your mix into a clean glass quart jar.
5. Place your yogurt in your cooler. Fill assorted jars with hot tap water and place in the cooler with your yogurt. This will create a nice warm environment for your yogurt to culture. The heat should be maintained and stable throughout the process, so try to avoid opening the cooler at all until the end of the process. The fermentation takes anywhere from 4-8 hours (about 6 is ideal).
6. Voila! Homemade Yogurt!!

Recipe Yields 1 quart of plain yogurt.

Red Raspberries

The last week or so, it has been impossible to keep up with picking all our raspberries. Ripe berries should pluck right off the plant, stems means the berries were picked to soon.

Raspberries are highly perishable, so eat them as fast as you can (as if you need an excuse). To preserve, place berries on waxed paper in a single layer, freeze until solid, and transfer to zip-top freezer bags.

Stir fresh or frozen raspberries into muffin batters. When making ice cubes, drop raspberries into the trays for a colorful surprise in lemonade. Add them to a fresh smoothie or yogurt parfait for a light breakfast. Raspberries pair especially well with tart and savory flavors. Purée raspberries; add to a saucepan with sautéed onion, broth, and sherry. Sweeten, if necessary. Bring to a boil, then simmer until reduced to a sauce. Serve over grilled meats.

Oven Roasted Carrots with Thyme

There's nothing like carrots plucked straight from the garden. I enjoy them best when they are young, therefore I tend to thin my rows gradually throughout the season. Check out the farmers market for purple and yellow carrots!!

Oven Roasted Carrots with Thyme

Ingredients:

• about 8 carrots
• olive oil
• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• about 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425.
2. Cut the carrots on the diagonal into roughly 1 inch pieces.
3. Place on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil.
4. Sprinkle with kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, and thyme leaves.
5. Use your hands to toss the carrots with the oil, salt, pepper and thyme right on the baking sheet.
6. Roast for about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the carrots are nicely browned on the edges but not burned, and tender when you pierce one with a fork.
7. Sprinkle with a little more fresh thyme when you serve, if you like.

Serves 4