Ham, Swiss & Asparagus Frittata

We got our first dozen eggs for the season from the wonderful folks at Terra Farma and they went into this great frittata here along with asparagus from Mark's (Brooke's dad) garden. This was great, and along with some breakfast potatoes (russets, sweet potatoes and roasted garlic cloves...but that's for another day) 6 of us ate for under $20! The key to a good frittata is to start on the stove and finish up in the oven (preferably under the broiler)

Serves 4-6
$13

Ingredients

• 1 good glug of olive oil
  
• 1 medium onion - chopped
  
• 1/2 lb asparagus cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 dozen eggs
• 1/4 lb deli ham - cut into bite sized pieces
• 1/4 lb swiss cheese - shredded
• 1/4 cup whole milk or cream (whatever's handy)

Directions

1. Preheat broiler to high
2. Heat olive oil in a 12 inch oven safe pan over medium-high heat
3. Toss in the onion and cook until soft; 6-8 minutes
4. Throw in the asparagus pieces and saute them about 4 minutes until they soften up a bit
   
5. Beat the eggs and milk together, then add a dash of salt and pepper and mix in the cheese
6. Pour the egg mixture into the pan and let it set a few seconds then stir it scraping the bottom & sides of pan. Do this until the pans full nice gooey, kind of solid/kind of liquid eggyness
7. Put the pan under the broiler and cook another 5-10 minutes, until it's lightly brown around the edges and almost done in the middle
8. Remove from oven and let it sit for about 5 minutes to finish cooking
9. Enjoy!
   

Pasta with Butternut Squash & Italian Spices

The winter time is the hardest time for me to find fun local organic things to cook - mostly because there's not that much produce available! Winter squash and potatoes store pretty well though, and our neighbor state to the North (Washington) grows tons of each. I made this for dinner the other night and it was easy and fantastic!

Serves 4
$12

Ingredients

12 oz fresh pasta
2 slices pancetta - cut into small pieces
1 onion - diced
1 lb butternut squash - cut into 1 inch cubes
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatos
1/2 a handful of chopped Italian spices (I used rosemary, thyme and sage from my backyard)

Directions

1. Put the water for the pasta on to boil
   
2. Throw the pancetta in a large pan over medium-high heat to render the fat (turn the solid fat to liquid fat). This should take about 5 minutes
   
3. Toss in the diced onion and saute about 10 minutes
4. Put the squash in and toss it around to get it nice and coated with the oil
5. Cook the squash for about 10 minutes until it starts to get soft and darkens around the edges. We want it to start to get nice and sweet
6. Pour the tomatoes in and stir it up well. Throw in the spices and stir it up again.
7. Put your pasta in the boiling water according to the directions
   
8. Cook for another 10 minutes until the tomato sauce in the pan has picked up a lot of the sugar and tastes delicious
9. Enjoy!
   

Easy Goulash (Think Fancy Beef-a-Roni)

I made this last night and it was super easy and super tasty! It may be a little salty (how I like it:), but you can ditch the salt included in the recipe and it should still come out great!

Serves 6
$14

Ingredients

• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1/2 lb ground turkey
• 1 large onion - chopped
• 1.5 cups water
• 1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
• 1 (15 oz) can diced tomato
• 2 cloves garlic - minced
• 1 Tbls Italian Seasoning
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 teaspoons soy sauce
• Pinch of Salt & Pepper
• 1.5 teaspoons seasoning salt
• 1 cup dried macaroni (I like whole wheat)

Directions

1. Brown the beef and turkey over medium high heat in a Dutch Oven or heavy saucepan. Break it up into crumbles while it cooks
   

2. Throw in the onions and saute until about 5 minutes
   

3. Add 3 cups water, along with the tomato sauce, tomatoes, garlic, Italian seasoning, bay leaves, soy sauce, salt & pepper, and seasoned salt. Stir well
   

4. Place a lid on the pot and allow this to cook for 20 to 25 minutes

5. Add the elbow macaroni and stir it up, put the lid back on and simmer for about 20 minutes
   

6. Turn off the heat, pull out the bay leaves and allow it to sit about 30 minutes

Roasted Beet & Goat Cheese Pizza

This recipe is best (and less messy!) with Golden beets, but it will work with the red ones too. It's so simple and so delicious!!!

Serves 4 - $13

Ingredients

• 4 oz olive oil (2 oz for the beets and 2 oz for the pizza)
  
• 1 lb golden beets
• 4 oz goat cheese crumbles
  
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 pizza dough (fresh or premade)
• Salt & Pepper for seasoning
  

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375
2. Scrub the beets and slice them into 1/2 in disks (I usually go a little thinner, because I like them really crispy. If you do this though, you have to pay close attention to make sure you don't burn them up!)
3. Throw the beets on a foiled baking sheet or baking pan and drizzle 2 Tablespoons of the olive oil on top. Season with salt & pepper and toss it in the oven for 20 minutes, flipping them once during the cook-time
4. As the beets are cooking, get your pizza dough or shell ready. Spread the olive oil and goat cheese, and chopped garlic on the pizza. When the beets are done, pull them out and turn the oven up to 450
5. Toss the beets on the pizza and put it in the oven for 15-20 minutes until the cheese is all melted and a little bubbly
6. Enjoy!
   

Lentil Soup with Lemon, Pancetta & Mint

This is a Nigel Slater recipe I found on the Guardian website. It's such a mash-up of flavors, but it really works! We had this for dinner with some nice crusty bread. The whole thing was ready in 45 minutes from first onion slice to first spoonful in my tummy!

Ingredients
1 large onion
olive oil
4 cloves of garlic
3 slices Pancetta
a small bunch of flat-leafed parsley
½ lb French Green Lentils
32 ounces of stock
3 big handfuls of spinach
1 lemon
a small bunch of mint

Directions

Peel and finely chop the onions and garlic. Toss some olive oil in a medium sized pot and throw them in over medium heat. Dice up the bacon and throw it in when the veggies have softened a little. Cook until the veggies and bacon have all browned nicely.

Chop up the parsley and throw it in the pot. Wash the lentils and stir them in too. Pour the stock in and bring the whole shabang to a boil. Turn the heat down so it's at a nice simmer and partially cover with a lid. Cook for about 30 minutes until the lentils are tender (but not too tender)!

Rinse and quickly steam the spinach in a separate shallow pan with a lid. Squeeze it dry and divide it evenly between the soup bowls - you'll pour the soup right on top.

Season the soup with salt, pepper, lemon juice and the torn mint leaves. Taste as you go and call it good when it's good! Serve over the spinach and enjoy.

Spicy Vegetable Jumbalaya

I'm not in any way, shape or form a vegetarian, but I try to give Brooke one vegetarian meal per week since she's not quite the carnivore that I am. This Vegetable Jumbalaya does the trick too, since it's spicy enough that I might forget there's no meat in it.

Serves 6
$15

Ingredients

• 2 Large Organic Onions - Chopped
  
• 1 Large Organic Green Pepper - Chopped
  
• 1 Medium Organic Green Zucchini - Chopped
• 3 Ribs Organic Celery - Chopped
  
• 1 - 28 oz Can Chopped/Diced Organic Tomatoes
• 32 oz Vegetable Stock
• 1 Handful Chives - Chopped
• From the cupboard - Olive Oil, 4 Cloves Garlic - peeled & chopped, 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, 1 tsp cayenne pepper, 1 tsp cajun spice, salt & pepper to taste

Directions

1. In a large pot heat 3 Tbls olive oil and saute garlic and all fresh vegetables until they're tender
2. Add tomatoes with their juice, vegetable stock and all of the spices and bring to a boil
3. Reduce heat to medium low and add the rice
4. Stir well and cover - cook for 30 minutes or until rice is tender
5. Add the chopped chives and salt & pepper to taste
6. Enjoy!
   
   

Homemade Corned Beef Hash

I LOVE Breakfast food. I love it at 8am, noon, 4pm & sometimes after a wild night at 2am as well (although that usually involves the Original Hotcake House, which if you're ever been there, is about the furthest thing from organic you can find). Corned beef hash is one of my all time faves as well - serve this meal with a couple of eggs over medium and some toast and your in heaven. You can serve this with steamed broccoli in or alongside and make it a great dinner meal as well.

Serves 4
$13

Ingredients

• 1 Large Organic Onion - Diced
  
• 1 Organic Bell Pepper - Seeded & Diced
  
• 3 Large Organic Russet Potatoes - Washed & cut into 1/2 inch cubes
  
• 1/2 lb Deli Sliced Corned Beef - Roughly chopped
  
• From the Pantry - Olive Oil, Garlic cloves - peeled & diced, hot sauce (the Aardvark is amazing with this dish)
  

Directions

1. Heat up some oil and throw in the diced onion, bell pepper and garlic and saute for 10 minutes
2. Toss in the cubed potatoes and stir
3. Cook the potatoes on medium high until tender for 20 minutes
4. Mix in the chopped corned beef and cook until the potatoes are tender - 5-10 more minutes
5. Fry up some eggs and throw them on top
6. Hot sauce, salt & pepper to taste