farm fresh dinner: new potatoes, braised greens and a beet salad

This weekend we got out into the country. On Saturday there was a hike to Lindeman Lake (don't listen to your guidebook, it's definitely not "easy") and afterward, there was time to check out a few local farm markets. I was hoping we could find a flat or two of local strawberries, but since we were nearing the end of the afternoon, everywhere seemed to be sold out. Our first stop was Wisbey Veggies in Chilliwack where I walked out with 2 very full bags full of local farm fresh produce for $20. Beets, turnips, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, snow peas, new potatoes, carrots, raspberries, zucchinis and mushrooms...all locally grown, all so delicious. A few minutes away, we discovered a goat cheese dairy selling all kinds of goat cheese products from ice cream to yogurt to gouda! I walked away with cheese curds (not goat) and some goat cheese feta. I was already imagining all the menu possiblities.

On Sunday, after a big breakfast and a little garage sale snooping, we decided to head out to visit our CSA farm in Langley for their open house weekend. It's a beautiful farm and we got a great tour from the very enthusiastic farmer, Stephen. We also got to pick out some seedlings to take home and harvest some of our own rhubarb and greens (kale, mustard, chard and arugula)! We even dug into the farm's cooler and into a tub containing mouldy leeks. Stripping off the gooey outter layers revealed a perfectly good leek, so we took a few of those home too. I think it's safe to say that when you harvest your own food, it tastes so much better and you get bragging rights which is always a good thing.

After looking through my haul on Sunday evening, I got to work. First I tackled the beets. I knew I wanted a beet and arugula salad topped with feta. Recalling a similar salad I made last summer, I decided to stick with a good thing but still make a few tweeks here and there. The beets were incredibly sweet and worked so well with the feta and the tangy dressing. It was a beautiful, beautiful thing. For the new potatoes, I took the simple road. Boiled, buttered and sprinkled with fresh herbs from my garden. The mint made this dish and made the potatoes sing. I couldn't leave well enough alone, and as i gathered the beet greens, I decided to make use of the kale and chard as well, braising them simply with the leeks and a lemon. It was a farm fresh dinner from start to finish.

buttered new potatoes with mint & parsley
8 new potatoes
1 T fresh mint, chopped
1 T fresh parsley, chopped
1 T unsalted butter
kosher salt & black pepper

Boil potatoes in water until tender. Drain. Coat with butter, fresh herbs and salt & pepper. Serve.

beet & arugula salad with goat cheese & pecans
8 baby beets, quartered or cut in half
arugula, torn
1/4 c goat cheese feta
2 T pecans, chopped
1 T sour cherry jam
1/4 c olive oil
1 t dijon mustard
2 T cider vinegar
salt & pepper

Boil the beets until tender, about 40 minutes. Cool slightly so that removing the skin from the beets isn't too painful. Further chop the larger pieces of beets, if necessary. Set aside. Mix the dressing by combining the jam, olive oil, mustard, vinegar and salt and pepper until thick. Adjust seasonings to taste. Scatter arugula on plate, then the beets, feta and pecans. Drizzle with dressing and serve.

braised greens with leeks & lemon
2 lbs of assorted greens (chard, kale, beet greens is what I used)
1 T olive oil
1/2 t red pepper flakes
3 leeks, sliced thinly
zest & juice of 1 lemon
salt & pepper

Rinse the greens very well to get rid of any dirt hidden within the leaves. Remove the tough ribs from the kale and discard. Chop the greens and set aside.

In a large pot, heat olive oil and saute the leeks and red chilies until fragrant. Add in the toughest leaves first (kale) and then the chard and then the beet greens. Reduce heat. What looks like a massive amount of greens will soon wilt into a very manageable amount. Add in the lemon juice and zest and sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper and stir about until all the leaves become wilted and tender, about 10 minutes. Serve.

the magical mysterious chimichurri sauce and 2 easy recipes

I've been wanting to try a chimichurri sauce for a while now. From what I had read, it's a traditional Argentinian sauce and marinade for grilled meats, but is used in many Latin American countries. It's traditionally made with parsley or cilantro, garlic, salt, pepper, onion and paprika with a huge glug of olive oil thrown in for good measure. I decided to try my luck with this sauce since I had a very nice looking grass-fed and organic slab o' rib eye in the fridge. But I didn't want to only try it out with meat. Surely, this chimichurri would be great as a salad dressing too! So I improvised with what I had and made a very delicious and maybe not so traditional take on this Argentinian classic.

The sauce itself was really easy to prepare. I just gathered the ingredients together and whizzed them up with my immesion blender. In less than a minute, I had a heavenly scented sauce that tasted like the heat of summer. It's a really fresh-tasting condiment that tastes as green as it looks (in a very, very good way!)

chimichurri sauce
1 bunch parsley
1 bunch cilantro
4 cloves garlic
1 hot pepper, de-seeded
lemon zest & juice of 1/2 lemon
large pinch of salt
1 - 3 large glugs of olive oil
1 shallot, roughly chopped
water, if needed to thin things out

Whizzz up all ingredients in a blender. Taste and adjust seasonings & measurements if necessary. Done. Makes almost a cup of sauce.

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So while the main reason for the making of the chimichurri was as a marinade and sauce for the steak, I had sauce left over and decided that it would make perfect salad dressing. I was right. Once, the dressing is prepared, the rest of the salad is a breeze. I decided to peel the carrot into ribbons and it was a nice touch, though you could easily dice them for a different texture.

chimichurri chickpea salad
1 can of chickpeas, drained & rinsed
1 carrot, peeled into ribbons
1/2 green pepper, diced
1/2 spicy red pepper, minced & deseeded
1/4 c chimichurri sauce (recipe above)

Mix up all the ingredients and serve in a pretty dish. Serves 4. Easy.

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Okay, now for the main event! If you are a meat-lover, bask in this meaty love, please. If you are not, there's a reason I stuck this at the end of the post! Avert your eyeballs! The secret to a good steak? Start with a good steak! Really, don't buy some cheap-ass cut from your supermarket. Splurge and get one really nice steak, grass-fed organic if you can afford it. You really don't need a steak each...just share one steak. Trust me, with some wine, a nice loaf of bread and a salad, you've got a perfect meal and no one will want for more. But back to the chimichurri sauce for one last time...the quick marinade packs a punch. Reserve some of it to serve as a sauce to drizzle over top. You won't regret it.

chimichurri rib-eye steak
1 T butter
1 rib eye organic grass-fed steak (or other fine cut)
1/4 c chimichurri sauce (recipe above) + extra for serving

Slather sauce over rib eye and let sit for a few minutes. Heat up butter in a cast iron pan. When it's good and bubbly, add steak. Cook on 1 side for 6 minutes. Flip and cook for another 5 minutes. Remove from pan and let rest for 8 minutes (I just made up that amount but it sounds about right). Dig in and serve with remaining chimichurri sauce. Serves 2.

i will survive: mediteranian tuna, cabbage, potato salad

I swear I'm not going to die of mercury poisoning by posting another tuna recipe in just a few short days...but if yer gonna go, maybe this is the way to do it. I should preface this post by mentioning that it wasn't my intention to eat canned tuna for lunch today. I already was feeling poisoned from the oil paint fumes from finishing my weekend paint the new dresser project and I just wanted something simple for lunch: boiled potatoes. That was going to be it. Comforting and soothing for an upset stomach and general wooziness. But somehow, things didn't work out like I had planned.

While the potatoes were a-boiling, I checked out the fridge and decided to add a bit more to my lunch plans. Half of a red cabbage was sitting in the fridge and I did have some remaining parsley and basil plants that needed plucking. And then I spotted that darned can of tuna up in the cupboard and in it went. I'm not looking back. This salad kicks mercury's ass around the corner. Filled with crunch from the cabbage, creaminess from the potatoes and tang from the dressing, it's the perfect lunch. And it was quick even with all the chopping...it took less than 10 minutes to put this together once the potatoes were cooked.


mediterranean tuna, cabbage, potato salad
8 baby potatoes, scrubbed
1/2 head of purple cabbage, sliced thinly
1/2 small red onion, diced
large handfuls each of parsley & basil, torn
1 can of tuna, drained
1/4 c olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
1 T balsamic vinegar
2 fat cloves garlic, crushed
1 t capers
salt & pepper

1. Boil the potatoes until fork tender. Drain. Toss the cabbage, tuna, onion and herbs together in a large bowl.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Add in the garlic and capers and pour over salad.

3. Place a couple potatoes in a bowl and serve the salad over top. You could wait for flavours to meld and all that crap, or you could do what I did and just dig right in.