Here’s Barbara’s recipe for the tasty soup she brought to our potluck:

Sauté garlic, onions and leeks in olive oil. (How much? How much soup do you want?)

While preparing the veggies for sautéing, steam carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, leftover squash, turnips, beets — anything that can be mashed to thicken the soup. (Veggies and proportions depending on what you have and on your tastes.)

When everything is soft and the sauté is sautéed, put the steamed veggies into the blender a little at a time with enough water to make it work. As each blenderload is pureed, pour it into the sauté pot. Keep at it until all the steamed veggies are pureed and everything is in the same pot.

Mix it all together, heat it up some more — and there it is. If you want to go to hell with yourself and want to call it a Cream of Autumn Soup, add a carton of heavy cream at the end. But we don’t.

Oh, yeah: salt and pepper to taste.

Rebecca brought a delicious pate to the potluck. Here’s her recipe:

French (mushroom) Pate
[vegan, contains nuts]

1 cup chopped walnuts
2 cups chopped mushrooms (I like baby ‘bellas or crimini)
2 cups diced onions
2 cups (one can) navy or garbanzo beans
4 teaspoons pate seasoning blend (see below)
1.5 teaspoons salt
Olive oil

Pate Seasoning Blend
1 tablespoon each of:
white pepper
black pepper
paprika
nutmeg
ginger powder
dried basil
whole dried thyme
marjoram
allspice
garlic powder
1/2 tablespoon clove powder
(This will make ~ 8 batches of pate)

Toast the chopped walnuts in the oven on a dry cookie sheet until browned (don’t burn!). Remove and let cool.

Saute onions until translucent. Add mushrooms, garbanzo beans and spices. Saute until mushrooms are cooked.

Put all ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth. Add some water if needed to smooth the blend.

Refrigerate or leave out until room temperature. Serve with bread or crackers.

Here’s my recipe from the potluck…

1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch dice
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3 large eggs, separated
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole or lowfat buttermilk
pie crust (store bought, or use your favorite recipe)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Put the sweet potatoes into a pot, cover with water, and boil until fork-tender, about 20 minutes. Strain and cool to room temperature. Puree in a food processor until smooth, and transfer to a large bowl. Add butter, lemon juice, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt. Mix thoroughly.

In a small bowl, beat egg yolks lightly with a wisk. Add the sugar and beat until creamy. Add this into the sweet potato mixture and stir until thoroughly incorporated. Add the flour and stir. Add the buttermilk and stir.

Rinse and dry the wisk. In a separate clean bowl, beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks, about 2 minutes. Gently fold the egg whites into the sweet potato mixture using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon until thoroughly combined. (Separating the eggs like this is kind of a pain, but it does make the pie nice and fluffy, so it’s worth it.)

Pour the filling into a pie crust. Bake on the middle rack until the center is firm and set, about 35-40 minutes. Cool thoroughly before serving.

adapted from The Lee Brothers Southern Cookbook

This is really easy and delicious. Slice the squash in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds with a spoon, and place the pieces cut side up in a baking dish. Put a small pat of butter inside each one, and sprinkle with brown sugar or a drizzle of maple syrup. Bake for about an hour at 450, until the squash is very soft and the top is nicely browned. Eat with a spoon right out of the shell. Yum!

You don’t really need a recipe for this, but there are lots of them out there, like this version of classic baked acorn squash from Simply Recipes.

Turnips taste great roasted, either on their own or combined with other vegetables such as carrots, potatoes, onions, sweet potatoes, squash, and kohlrabi (mix and match whatever you have on hand this week from the farm). Just chop everything into 1 inch chunks, and toss into a pan with with a some olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, and rosemary or thyme. Cook in the oven at 450 for about an hour, shaking the pan every 15 minutes or so, until the veggies are browned and tender.

Here are a few other recipes: roasted root vegetables, turnip gratin, turnip mashed potatoes, and turnip potato soup.

If that last ravioli recipe was just a bit too complicated for you, or if you don’t have a pasta roller, you might want to try making gnocchi instead. Here’s a pretty simple recipe for butternut squash gnocchi from Local Fork.

1 (1 1/2-pound) butternut squash, halved lengthwise and seeded
2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Melted butter, for serving
Freshly grated parmesan cheese, for serving

The night before you intend to serve the gnocchi, preheat the oven to 350° F. Wrap the squash in foil and roast until tender when pierced with a fork, about 35 minutes.

Scoop the pulp from the skin directly into a fine sieve. Set the sieve over a bowl to catch the liquids, cover, and allow the squash to drain overnight in the refrigerator.

The next day, puree the squash and sage together in a food processor, then transfer the puree to a bowl. Mix in the eggs and salt; stir in the flour and blend thoroughly. The dough should be soft and sticky.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. With a spoon, scoop up walnut-size pieces of dough and use a finger to slide it into the water. Cook the gnocchi in batches of 10 to 15, poaching them for 2 minutes (they will rise to the surface). Remove with a slotted spoon to drain. Repeat the process until the remaining dough is used up. Toss with warm melted butter and grated cheese. Serve hot.

Adapted from La Cucina di Lidia by Lidia Bastianich

Barbara shared this lovely still life she painted for David of our gorgeous CSA peppers. After they were captured on canvas, these beauties were stuffed with brown rice, sauteed garlic, vegetarian sausage, and spaghetti sauce. The stuffing was then topped off with mozzarella cheese, the ‘lids’ were replaced, and they were popped into the oven.

More photos below… Read the rest of this entry »

If you have a lot of squash and a bit of time, try this recipe for whole wheat squash ravioli with sage butter from cookthink. The photos and step by step instructions in this recipe are great!

Ratatouille is a great “use all the vegetables piling up in the fridge” recipe. The quantities are pretty flexible, and you can add/substitute whatever veggies and herbs you have on hand (yellow squash, hot peppers, oregano, parsley, etc).

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 cups chopped onions
2 1-pound eggplants, cut into 1-inch cubes
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 zucchini, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 yellow bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 3/4 pounds ripe tomatoes, seeded, coarsely chopped (about 6 cups)
3 fresh thyme sprigs
1 fresh rosemary sprig
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup minced fresh basil

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium heat. Add onions and sauté until tender, about 10 minutes. Add eggplants and garlic; sauté 5 minutes. Add zucchini and bell peppers; sauté 5 minutes. Mix in tomatoes, thyme, rosemary and bay leaf. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and cook until vegetables are tender and flavors have blended, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes. Discard bay leaf; stir in basil. Season generously with salt and pepper. Serve hot or cold.

Greek tzatziki is a cool and refreshing yogurt and cucumber dip that’s really simple to make. A perfect summer afternoon snack!

2 cups greek style yogurt (or regular yogurt strained)
1 large cucumber
2 cloves garlic (more if you’re a garlic lover)
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Peel the cucumber, slice in half lengthwise, and scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Chop into small pieces with a knife or use a grater or food processor. Squeeze out excess water and transfer to a bowl. Mince the garlic and add to the cucumber. Stir in olive oil, salt, and pepper. Mix with yogurt and let sit in the fridge for a couple of hours to allow the flavors to blend. You can also add mint, parsley, or dill. Serve with pita bread, vegetable dippers, or as a sauce for grilled meat.