First Indoor Market and Last Farm Stand of the Season – Recipes with our Seasonal Produce!
While we grow food year-round at EarthDance, things do slow down for us in the colder months. The Ferguson Farmer’s Market continues throughout the winter on a monthly, instead of weekly, basis – the third Sunday of each month at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church. And, our Pay What You Can Farm Stand will close for the winter, reopening in April 2024. The last Farm Stand day of 2023 is THIS SUNDAY, November 19th, from 11am to 3pm.
As part of an annual EarthDance tradition, our team shared a delicious meal this week, with several dishes featuring EarthDance produce. They were so good, we want to share them with you!
EarthDance Watermelon & Purple Heart Radishes + Hakurei Turnips with Smoky Butternut Squash Dip
Jess recently took a fabulous cooking class at Fennel and could not wait to pair and share this delicious, easy, beautiful vegan dip and gorgeous EarthDance produce!
Yield: about 2 cups dip
INGREDIENTS
For the dip:
4 c peeled & diced butternut squash (from a medium 2.5 lb squash)
6 cloves peeled garlic
1 T smoked paprika
1 t ground cumin
1 t salt
2 T olive oil, plus more as needed
1/4 c tahini
2 T lemon juice
2 T nutritional yeast
Salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste
For topping:
1/4 c toasted pepitas
1/4 c pomegranate seeds
Olive oil
For serving:
Sliced or torn bread
As many EarthDance radishes, turnips, and carrots (and/or other veggies!) for dipping
PREPARATION
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
Toss the cubed butternut squash, whole peeled garlic cloves, smoked paprika, ground cumin, salt, and olive oil in a large bowl.
Arrange the squash in a single layer on the prepared sheet pan and roast for 25 minutes, until browned around the edges and soft throughout. Let cool.
Combine the cooled squash, garlic, tahini, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, and pinches of salt, pepper, and cayenne in a food processor. Blend until smooth, adding a few more tablespoons of olive oil if needed. Add more lemon juice/season to taste.
Spread the dip in a bowl and top with olive oil, pepitas, and pomegranate seeds.
Serve with bread and (preferably EarthDance) crunchy vegetables for dipping.
EarthDance Sweet Potato & Creamed Spinach Gratin
Jena riffed on this recipe from Epicurious, and we can’t stop talking about how savory and tasty it was! Hot tips for making it extra yummy: Salt to taste (add a little more to the spinach mixture than you think you need), and use freshly ground nutmeg ~ they like Penzey’s!
Yield: 8-10 servings
INGREDIENTS
3 lbs EarthDance sweet potatoes
2.5 lbs fresh EarthDance spinach, wilted (or 3 10 ounce packages)
5 T unsalted butter with additional for greasing skillet
1 small finely chopped onion
5 garlic cloves, minced
3 t of salt
1 t black pepper
3/4 t freshly ground nutmeg
1.5-2 c heavy cream, halved
3/4 c grated parm
Crushed red pepper to taste
1/4 c Panko bread crumbs
PREPARATION
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Peel and cut sweet potatoes into ⅛ rounds (use a mandolin if available/desired).
If using fresh spinach, stem and wilt the spinach first. With frozen spinach, thaw then drain. Squeeze out any excess water.
In a (preferably cast iron) skillet, sautee your garlic and onion in 3T melted butter over medium low heat for 7 minutes or until softened. Mix in prepared spinach, then add salt, pepper, ground nutmeg, chili flakes/crushed red pepper if desired. Pour in 1c. heavy cream, mix it in. Taste and add more seasoning to taste.
Put remaining butter in 12 inch cast iron skillet or 13×9 metal casserole dish, place in oven to preheat. Pull preheated skillet or casserole dish out of oven, coating pan with rest of the butter as it is melting.
Start the layering process, beginning with sweet potatoes. Layer sweet potatoes, then spinach mixture, then cheese, in that order, until you run out of them, ending with a layer of sweet potato. Pour extra heavy cream over the last layer. Mix remaining parm with Panko and sprinkle evenly over the entire dish.
Cover with foil, and bake for 20 min. Rotate pan and uncover, baking for another 10-15 min
Sweet pot should be fork tender. At this point, you can put under the broiler for a couple of minutes if you’d like it toastier.
Jo’s Hot Sauce with EarthDance Peppers, Chilies & Garlic
INGREDIENTS
6-8 EarthDance jalapeños
5-8 EarthDance green Thai chilies
3 cloves EarthDance garlic
Half a sweet onion
Juice of 1 lime
Juice of half a lemon
Salt n pepper to taste
Splash of white vinegar
Sprinkle of brown sugar
PREPARATION
Dry roast it all on the stove in a cast iron until everything is limp and charred.
Chop the pepper tops off.
Throw it all in a blender and process to desired consistency.
Molly’s Fire Cider Vinaigrette – Perfect to Top EarthDance Lettuce Greens for a Quick, Simple, Nourishing Salad
INGREDIENTS
1/4 c fire cider*
1/4 c fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/2 c olive oil
2 T honey
Salt and pepper
(Optional) 1-2 T Mayo or vegan Mayo to make it creamier
(Optional) 1/8 c chopped pecans
PREPARATION
Shake all of these ingredients together in a jar, and then top and toss your fresh lettuce, arugula, and spinach from the farm in it!
Add some pomegranate arils or thin slices to complement the greens!
*If you missed the chance to make fire cider at our on-farm workshop this year, you can still use this recipe to make your own, or buy some from our friends at Cheryl’s Herbs or Forest & Meadow!
We hope you’ll come see us this Sunday at the Farm Stand and all winter long at the indoor market. We’ve still got a LOT of delicious organic produce to share!