Columbia Gardeners

Recipes

Welcome to the Columbia Gardeners Recipes website. Below are various recipes that have appeared in the newsletter, "The Green Thumb," in the past. If you would like to submit your own recipe, or a link to a recipe, use the Contact form We look forward to receiving all of your delicious recipes!!

One free site that is especially easy to search for a new recipe is Epicurious. You type the vegetable, e.g., butternut, in the keyword box, scroll to the bottom and hit "submit". It is expedient to sort the recipes by "Ratings" so those recipes that people have tried and rated highly are listed first. To do this, at the top of the list of recipes, there is a box on the right that says "Relevance". Go to the drop-down list and select “Ratings” instead. Ratings are indicated by green forks, with four green forks rated the highest.


Then scroll through the recipe titles to find one that interests you and open it. Now, look for two pieces of information, one for the User Rating, "95% would make it again" and for the "Reviews" tab that indicates how many people rated the recipe, e.g., —Reviews (23)—the more people that reviewed it, the greater the chance that you will like it too.


Next, look over the ingredients and instructions to see if it might be something you want to prepare. If you have time, you also might want to view the "Reviews" to see if people posted any helpful hints for the recipe. To print the recipe, go to the “Print” drop-down box on the webpage and select the format (e.g., whole page or 3x5 inches).


Another fun free website is allrecipes.com where you type your vegetable name into the search box. Once the list of recipe titles appears, sort by clicking on "Rating" so the highest rated will appear first. On this webpage, the number of people who rated the recipe is easy to view with the title of the recipe, so you may be inclined to open up a highly rated recipe that many people reviewed even if the title of the recipe did not impress you. Below are some sample recipes.


Recipes for Winter Squash and Sweet Potato:
Squash Cookies
African Sweet Potato and Peanut Soup
Cornish Game Hens (or Chicken) with Sweet-Potato Risotto and Cranberry Sauce
Winter Squash and Chicken Stew with Indian Spices

Recipes for assorted other vegetables:
Zucchini Parmesean Crisps
Turkish-Style Braised Green Beans (with Tomato)
Viennese Cucumber Salad
Braised Pheasant (or Chicken) with Red Cabbage Wild Rice
Chicken Fajitas with Crunchy Lime Cabbage and Avocado
Romanesco Cauliflower
Tomatillo
Broccolini, Broccoli, Broccoli Rabe, Broccoflower

Soup:
Vegan Red Lentil Soup




Spinach Squares - Contributed by Pat Harrington


1C flour
1/2 t salt
1 t baking powder
1 C milk
7 T melted butter
2 eggs
10 oz chopped spinach (thaw and drain)
1 lb Monterey Jack or Cheddar cheese

Preheat oven 375 F
Thaw spinach and drain. Beat eggs and milk, add butter. Sift dry ingredients and add to mixture. Mix until flour is no longer lumpy, add spinach. Shred cheese and add to mixture. Mix.
Bake in a 9x13 pan for 35 minutes. Cool and cut into squares.
Freeze well/best if made ahead and refrigerated. Reheat for 10 minutes in 350 oven.




Pommes Boulangére


Ingredients
2 1/2 lb Potatoes (Yukon or similar variety)
2 Onions
2 Tomatoes, sliced thinly
1 cup Hot stock (beef, chicken, or vegetable)
1 Tb Melted butter + more to grease pan

Seasoning
Salt
Pepper
Rosemary (optional)
Thyme (optional)

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Butter a large shallow ovenproof dish.
  2. Peel potatoes, but do not rinse.
  3. Peel and slice the onions thinly.
  4. Using a mandolin if possible, slice the potatoes thinly, but again, do not rinse.
  5. Arrange the potatoes over the base of the dish, slightly overlapping. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper and then add the sliced onions and tomatoes.
  6. Continue until all the potatoes, onions and tomatoes are used up, ending with a potato layer. Season the layers with salt and pepper as well.
  7. Pour over the hot stock.
  8. Brush the top of the potatoes with the melted butter and sprinkle fresh herbs.
  9. Place the dish on the high shelf of the oven for 1 hr to 1.5 hrs or until a knife easily pierces the potatoes and the top layer is a crisp golden brown.

  10. Source: Laurent Girard, The Green Thumb, Spring 2012




    Rhubarb Cake Recipe – Contributed by Carol Graves


    Ingredients
    1 cup brown sugar
    1/2 cup butter, softened
    1 egg
    1 teaspoon vanilla
    1 cup buttermilk (or 1 tablespoon lemon or vinegar plus milk to make 1 cup)
    1 teaspoon baking soda
    2 cups flour
    2 cups fresh rhubarb, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

    Topping
    1/3 cup sugar
    1 teaspoon cinnamon

    Instructions
    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and brown sugar; add egg and vanilla and cream well. Dissolve baking soda in buttermilk. Add the flour, alternating with the buttermilk, into egg mixture. Fold in rhubarb. Pour into greased and floured 9 x 12 inch pan. Combine sugar and cinnamon for topping and sprinkle over cake. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.




    Dilled Green Beans – Contributed by Susan Levi- Goerlich


    (makes 7 quarts)

    Brine:
    Heat until just boiling:
    10 c water
    10 c cider vinegar
    ½ c salt (non-iodized)

    Stuff jars with:
    green beans (trim ends)
    2 cloves garlic
    hot peppers (s)
    2 sprigs fresh dill
    5 peppercorns
    pinch of dill seeds
    pinch of coriander seeds
    pinch of black cardamom seeds

    Pour hot brine into jars, leaving ½” of space. Close jars with 2 piece caps.
    Process for 25 minutes in a boiling water bath.



    Grilled Ratatouille – Contributed by Susan Levi- Goerlich

    Brush with olive oil and grill until done:
    1 Italian eggplant, sliced ½” thick
    1 onion, sliced ½” thick
    2 large bell peppers, quartered and seeded
    1 ½ c cherry tomatoes

    Dice eggplant, onion and peppers. Halve tomatoes.

    Combine vegetables with:
    1 clove garlic, crushed
    2T minced fresh oregano
    2T minced fresh basil
    2T minced fresh thyme
    2 T balsamic vinegar
    1/3 c olive oil

    Toss gently and serve slightly warm or at room temperature with French bread or Israeli couscous.



    Saag Paneer – Contributed by Susan Levi- Goerlich


    Sauté:
    2 T vegetable oil
    1 large chopped onion

    Add and sauté 30 seconds:
    pinch of cumin seed
    2 cardamom seeds
    1 stick of cinnamon
    2-3 bay leaves
    2 whole cloves
    1 t chopped ginger
    1 t chopped garlic
    1 small sliced tomato
    1 t black pepper

    Add and sauté until wilted but still bright green: 1 pound fresh chopped spinach

    Add and mix well:
    1 t salt
    1 t cumin powder
    ½ t turmeric
    1 t ground coriander
    ½ t garam masala
    1 c heavy cream
    1 t tomato paste
    handful of cilantro leaves
    1 block of paneer (cut into 1” cubes)

    Cook briefly, stirring often. When cream boils, cook another 1-2 minutes.

    Serve over brown basmati rice.



    Spanikopita (made with Swiss Chard) – Contributed by Susan Levi- Goerlich

    Sauté until soft in ¼ c olive oil:
    ½ c finely chopped onion
    ¼ c finely chopped scallion

    Add and cook until just wilted:
    2 lbs chopped Swiss Card (or spinach), center rib removed

    Remove from heat and add:
    ¼ c fresh dill leaves (or 2T dried)
    ¼ c chopped parsley
    ½ t salt
    fresh ground pepper
    1/3 c milk
    ½ lb crumbled feta cheese
    4 lightly beaten eggs

    Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
    Melt
    4 T butter

    Brush the sides and bottom of a 9x13 baking pan with some of the butter.

    Place in pan:
    6 sheets of filo dough. Tuck in any excess and brush with melted butter.

    Place spinach/egg/cheese mixture on top of filo and spread evenly.

    Top with:
    6 sheets of filo dough. Fold over any excess and brush with the remaining butter.

    Bake for about 1 hour, until pastry is crisp and delicately browned. Cut into squares and serve hot.

    Adapted from a recipe in Recipes: Middle Eastern Cooking, Time-Life Books



    Stuffed Zucchini with Goat Cheese and Tomato Sauce – Contributed by Susan Levi- Goerlich

    Halve and scoop seeds and flesh out of:
    4 medium zucchinis
    leaving a boat shaped shell

    Sweat together in olive oil for 5-8 minutes:
    Zucchini innards, chopped
    2 shallots, chopped
    1 clove garlic, chopped

    Add:
    1 t chopped fresh oregano
    1 t fresh thyme
    1/4 lb. Goat cheese
    2 T (or more) bread crumbs
    salt and pepper to taste

    Fill zucchini shells. Bake at 350˚ about 15 minutes, until zucchini is tender.

    Meanwhile make sauce:
    Cook gently in
    1/4c olive oil:
    2 cloves garlic, chopped

    Add:
    3/4 lb. chopped tomatoes
    5 T balsamic vinegar
    6 Fresh basil leaves (or 1-2 T pesto).
    Infuse over low heat for 5 minutes. Serve over zucchini.