Recipe

Sauted Swiss Chard with Turnips

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I love growing my own food.

It is one of the most rewarding hobbies I have ever had. It can, however, be challenging, there are bugs and bunnies to combat, as well as other pests, fungus’s, blights, weather, and in my particular case poor soil. All of these things can, of course, be remedied with the proper knowledge and skills, often acquired through reading or talking to people who have combated the same problem.

One of the major challenges seems to be learning to use everything up when it’s still fresh and good. Learning to properly dry herbs, can, pickle and ferment is always helpful, but the real challenge coming up with unique recipes that use up what’s ready to be harvested. It’s kind of like a chopped challenge. You may have an idea of what’s ready to harvest, but there’s often a surprise and then you’re left to figure out what to do with it. Then add in the idea of trying to use up the whole plant and then you really have a challenge.

This recipe is the result of just this challenge. If you follow me on Instagram you may have seen the beautiful photo of fresh garden produce that I snagged this weekend. It was a really awesome picture if I do say so myself.

Once I had it all picked I had to figure out what to do with it. For the herbs it was easy, what I wasn’t planning on using for dinner was hung to dry. The cucumber was sliced and eaten as a snack while we waited for dinner. The Swiss chard and turnips were put into this recipe along with some fresh garlic that I had pulled earlier in the week.

While this is a simple dish that was quick to prepare it was especially delicious with the fresh veggies and made a wonderful side dish.

Sauted Swiss Chard with Turnips

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 shallot, diced
1 bunch fresh turnips, peeled & chopped
1 bunch Swiss Chard, ribs separated from leaves & chopped, leaves chopped
salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

Heat oil in a medium-sized saute pan over medium-high heat.
Add shallot and saute for 1 minute.
Add turnip and saute for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the turnips begin to brown.
Stir ing the Swiss Chard (ribs and leaves) and cook until wilted, about 2 minutes.
Remove from heat, season with salt and pepper and serve.

Cherry Arugula & Wild Rice Salad

By Jessica

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Summer is the glorious season of fresh fruit in the northeast. The strawberries have come, with blueberries, cherries, raspberries, and blackberries quick on their heels. Evidence of which you might have seen if you happen to follow SL&G on Instagram.

When fruit is in season, it is at its height of flavor and freshness. There is no other time of year when you will get the voluptuous flavor than when a piece of fruit is newly ripe.

Yeah, you totally loved that description right?

Voluptuous flavor.

We are talking sweet, tangy, juicy, and delectable. I mean all the flavors here.

But, I digress to the topic at hand; mixing fresh fruit into our daily meals.

I’m a huge proponent of this; mainly because fresh fruit is delicious, but also because it adds a ton of extra vitamins, antioxidants, and all the other stuff that we never seem to get enough of.

A lot of people choose to add fruit to their meals with pie.

This is not my go to. Don’t get me wrong I like pie as much as the next person, but really its summer I don’t want to be inside baking away, trying to roll out a finicky crust when I could be outside. I prefer to use seasonal fruit in jams, sauces for meat dishes, or simply adding it to salads like we have done here.

This salad is hefty enough to be a main dish, but would also go wonderfully with a side of grilled salmon or chicken. The tart cherries combine with the peppery arugula and sweet lemon honey vinaigrette to create a wonderful sensation of flavors. The addition of wild rice, as well as walnuts, adds a lot of texture and some crunch as well as some bulk to an otherwise light feeling dish.

Altogether, this dish is the perfect compromise for a hot summer day. It is light enough to prevent you from feeling sluggish and bogged down, while still being filling and healthy. It goes especially well with a glass of chilled white wine, so really there’s nothing more you could ask for.

Cherry Arugula & Wild Rice Salad

Prep time: 20 mins

Total time: 20 mins

Serves: 2 servings

Ingredients

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 ½ tablespoons lemon juice
½ tablespoon honey
Pinch of salt
2 cups baby arugula
16 cherries, washed, halved and pitted
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup wild rice, cooked according package instructions & cooled

Instructions

Stir together the olive oil, lemon juice, honey and salt in a small bowl until well blended. Set aside
In a large bowl toss together the arugula, walnuts, and rice.
Drizzle the lemon-honey mixture over the top and serve immediately.

Italian Style Cheese Plate

By Jessica

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Now if you have spent any time with me you would quickly learn that there are certain things I absolutely love. Some of those things include wine, cheese, olives, and bread. One could imagine my excitement when I dug into my first Italian style cheese plate. I knew before visiting that Italians loved their mozzarella, but I had no idea that they really truly appreciated a wide range of fine cheeses quite as much as they did. I saw an incredible amount of amazing cheese plates fly by me in restaurants and every time just their whizzing image was enough to make my mouth water.

An antipaste plate served to us during our wine tour in Tuscanny

The typical “rules” (I use this term loosely, because I never follow them) for a cheese plate are that it should contain a variety of cheeses with different consistencies, some crusty bread or crackers, something crunchy, such as nuts or pickles, and something sweet such as fruit, dried fruit, a sweet spread or honey. Seems simple enough right? Well, let me tell you, the Italians make it even simpler, while casually tossing in an appetizing array of cured meats. But, of course, they do.

A typical afternoon snack at our apartment in Rome

Most of the cheese trays that I saw contained only 2 to 3 types of cheese including a mozzarella (sometimes a smoked mozzarella, which is my personal favorite or a combination of the two), a gorgonzola, and a pecorino. Next, there were a similar number of meats, which were typically salami, prosciutto, and bologna. To accompany the plate there was typically some good crusty bread, or toast, and almost always a few olives, or an olive tapenade.

This combination of flavors is simple and rustic, much like the majority of the delicious Italian meals that we had throughout our trip. I think that the simplicity of this type of cheese plate, as well as its flavor combination, is one of my favorites. It’s definitely something that we will be trying out more often now that we are back in the states.

Turmeric Spiced Haddock with Lentils & Fiddleheads

By Jessica

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I’m starting to feel my age. Not in the sense that I feel feeble and tired, though I’m pretty tired of this shoulder injury, but I’m feeling it on an intellectual/emotional level. We’ve got summer interns in the office now and nothing makes you feel old like having a couple cocky young things almost 10 years younger than you hanging around. I mean really, I was one of the youngest people in the office until last week, my whole life ahead of me and all that, now looking at them I almost feel bad because they have so much to learn and suddenly they are looking at me like I know it all.

…

Authentic Italian Carbonara, with Sun Dried Tomatoes

By Jessica

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By now I’m sure you guys are dying to see pictures from our trip to Italy, and I promise that they are coming soon. I just have to get around to going through the photos. But alas, I am still sitting on a cloud over here, daydreaming about the amazing trip we just took. So, instead of editing photos, for now, I’ll just tell you about this amazing recipe that I made while we were there because you know, when in Rome.

Carbonara is one of Chuck’s favorite things to eat, and I have tried to make it for him for years. Until now I thought I was doing a pretty good job. How naive was I? After trying it in several places in Italy I realized just how silky and lusciously creamy the sauce, made traditionally, really is. I knew I had to re-perfect my recipe.

While staying in Rome, we chose to go through Airbnb and get an actual apartment. This way we could cut down on some of the food costs, wash some clothes, and have a bit more freedom. It was totally the right idea, we really enjoyed the freedom and the extra space, that it gave us, especially the opportunity to cook. One of my goals for this trip was to cook with fresh Italian ingredients while we were here. I shouldn’t say goal, it was a long time dream. Raw ingredients in Italy for Italian food are so incredibly different from what you find in the U.S.

We found a great little farmers market in Campo Fiori, Rome where I bought everything that I needed to make this carbonara. I loved walking through the stalls and watching the locals haggle with the stall keepers. This is the way shopping is supposed to be. Everyone has their specialty, and everything is fresh! So fresh, you can smell the earth from which it came.

This recipe is based on a dish that we had during our stay in Florence, just days before. The sauce has an utterly silky texture that is full of rich flavor pulled in from the fresh eggs, pancetta, cheeses, and sundried tomatoes. I chose sundried tomatoes because of the extra sweetness. They add a certain depth to the simple dish. This sauce is tossed with a thick pasta cooked aldente, so there’s a bit of firmness to it. You need a thick pasta what will really hold onto the sauce and stand up to the other ingredients. It’s topped with a bit of fresh cracked pepper because, well, that’s how it’s done. The pepper brings a contrast not only in color but flavor to the overly rich dish.

With it, I served a simple Caprese salad over arugula. You need something lighter to balance out all that pasta. Of course, there was also a bottle of Chianti wine. Chianti was kind of the theme wine of our trip, so it made an appearance quite a bit.

Authentic Italian Carbonarra, with Sun Dried Tomatoes

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Total time: 25 mins

Serves: 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients

1 pound dry spaghetti
8 ounces pancetta or slab bacon, cubed
½ cup sun dried cherry tomatoes (or large tomatoes, chopped)
4 Large, fresh eggs
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan Cheese
½ cup freshly grated Pecorino Cheese
Freshly cracked black pepper to taste

Instructions

Cook the pasta according to package instructions to al dente (cooked, though slightly firm). Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water before draining and set aside.
In a medium size bowl whisk together the eggs and cheese until well blended and set aside.
While the pasta is cooking heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the pancetta and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes. The pancetta should begin to brown and crisp.
Add the cherry tomatoes and sauté for another minute.
Stir in ¼ cup of the reserved pasta water until well combined. Add the pasta to the pan and toss lightly.
Remove the pan from the heat and add the egg mixture, stirring quickly so that the eggs do not have time to scramble. As you stir and toss the pasta the eggs will thicken into a sauce. If the sauce becomes too thick slowly stir in more reserved pasta water.
Top generously with pepper and serve immediately.

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