aunt margie, and my charming dan
Enter Spring and Summer lighter and cleaner without feeling deprived. Fresh juices and smoothies are not only loaded with nutrients, they are also the most alkaline substances on the planet, delivered to the body in their most highly absorbable form. Since juices and smoothies take little to no digestive effort, all of the nutrition, enzymes, and alkalinity goes straight into the bloodstream, delivering all of that goodness to your cells, tissues, and organs instantly! It's the ultimate pick me up. The following recipes are a tasty introduction to the life changing practice of fresh juicing and blending. Have fun! Text and Photos: Marlena Torres, CN, marlenatorres.com Quick and Yummy Green Juice
1 bartlett pear 1 fuji apple 1 small head romaine lettuce, or half of a large one 1 small zucchini 1 cucumber Run through your blender, and enjoy! The sweet combination of apple and pear with the mild greens is refreshing and addictive! This subtle and sweet juice is a great way to introduce green drinks to your children, as is the following recipe. Raw Mango Soup or Smoothie
About 8 – 10 ounces frozen mango 1 1/2 cups of water 2-3 big handfuls of baby spinach 2 packets of stevia, 3-4 medjool dates* or honey or agave to taste ½ avocado (optional – this adds a lovely creaminess to this soup) Blend all ingredients in a blender and enjoy! I’ve been going nuts for this soup. My husband loves it with extra water and a bit more stevia as a morning smoothie. I hope you adore it, too. *If your dates are hard soak them in water for about 30 minutes before blending.
Quick and Yummy Green Juice
Raw Mango Soup or Smoothie
Lc- Þe Xec g H f G gRecipe: Lisa O’Neill on behalf of growingrootspartners.com
Scapes are pre-bud, curling garlic tops. When blended with herbs and butter, they make the perfect topping for baked potatoes and more. 1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened 4 garlic scapes, minced 1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped smoked salt and pepper, to taste In a small bowl, combine all ingredients. Place in plastic wrap to form a roll; seal tightly. Place in refrigerator to solidify. Add a pat to grilled veggies, potatoes, seafood, burgers and more.
photo: phoebe canakis
Roasted Spring Vegetables with Wild Ramp Pesto Recipe and Photo: Chef Jay Nonnenmocher, on behalf of lititzfarmersmarket.com 1 pound assorted spring vegetables (I use carrots, asparagus, radishes, sugar snap peas and baby potatoes), trimmed or peeled if needed, cut into same-size pieces 4 peeled garlic cloves 2 tablespoons ramp pesto (recipe below) 1 tablespoon olive oil kosher salt and freshly ground pepper Preparation Preheat oven to 450°. Combine vegetables, garlic, and oil and wild ramp pesto in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper; toss to coat. Spread out in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast, stirring halfway through, until tender, golden brown, and charred in spots, about 20 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Wild Ramp Pesto Ramps are a wild leek that can only be found for a brief time in the early spring. I make some of the pesto and freeze it in an ice cube tray for use throughout the year. 1 bunch of ramps 1/2 cup walnuts (toasted) 1/3 cup olive oil, or more if needed 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese sea salt pepper a squirt of lemon Preparation Wash and cut the leaves off the ramps. Blanch the ramp leaves in boiling water (this makes the pesto more bright and vibrant). Coarsely chop the entire ramps and walnuts and put them in your food processor. Add most of the cheese (save a sprinkle for serving), a good dash of salt and pepper, and a squirt of lemon. Pour the olive oil in slowly, process contents until they combine and look like a slightly runny paste. Enjoy!
Lititz Farmers Market has some of the area’s freshest produce and other goodies for foodies. The Market is open Saturday mornings May through October. For more information and directions visit lititzfarmersmarket.com
Trout with Cream Sauce and Ramps Pesto Text and Photos: Benjamin DeGaetano sweetannieproduce@hotmail.com or on facebook and at his Lancaster Central Market stand Springtime offers quite the wondrous array of seasonal foods in many ways. There are so many things reawakening from winter dormancy and new sprouts sloughing off their seedcoats both in our gardens and wildly in forested slopes, riverbanks and open meadows. Not to mention that after the relative lack of variety available throughout the winter, the new spectrum of available foodstuffs seems brilliant both in our perception and in literal hue. With such inspiration everywhere we turn our wide eyes. Breakfast lunch and dinner can easily become a source of experimentation for new ingredients and techniques. I’ve been taking quite a few walks in the woods these days, stretching my legs and making myself available to greet so many new blooms and budding branches. As a plantsman, my eyes gravitate to the undergrowth to see who’s hanging out. I delightfully recognize the violets, ground laurel, trout lily, aconite, and narcissus. But the appearance I was most anticipating were the emerging leaf fronds of the Eastern Woodland fern. Not as sizable or palatable as the Ostrich fern which grows in more mountainous and moister regions, this regionally specific pteridophyte begins to stretch its arms during the first few longish and warm days of spring and the uncurling bracts, known as fiddleheads, are delicious. On a recent foray, I came away with a cornucopia 2 pound basket. I also came across some ramps, which I harvested with great care so as not to hinder the clusters fragile existence (it is more prolific in other, more mountainous regions). At market later that morning, with dinner plans already dancing like butterflies in my head, I sought out fresh trout and a few other things I would need to make someone feel very special indeed. At home I put olive oil, salt and pepper on the fish, squeezed a lemon on it, and stuffed the cavities with the first regrowth of my garden’s thyme, oregano, and lavender. Then I puppeted the fish to sing a song, this helps it marinate more effectively. I began a low heat pan sauce with yogurt from Oasis Dairy, some milk from a neighbor, splashed in some white wine for my homies, some butter, spring onions and the rest of the herbs I had picked adding some greenhouse dill and salt. I chopped an artichoke heart I had steamed into little tiny pieces and added that as well as some of the fiddleheads I had picked that morning. Then we danced, practicing spins and dips so that when we dance in public there will be broken jaws from how quickly they be dropping. This time allowed the pan sauce to get down (reduce) as well. Wanting the dominant flavor of the pesto she made to be the ramps, she chopped up the whole bunch, and muddled them up with olive oil, some garlic cloves, toasted walnuts, and a few cheese rinds. We threw in some watercress too. It emulsified to a deep verdant hue and smelled strong and fresh, invigorating our noses and eyes in a personal way like the whole greenup of spring does for the world around. I was planning on grilling the fish, but a blessed spring shower forced me inside. So with the broiler on low I plunked those fishes under the flame. Take a sip of wine, and I sliced some ciabatta from my man Thom’s Bread. When I checked the fish and it was good, I slid the bread pan onto a lower rack to toast. We set the table and refreshed our glasses. Lacking fish plates, I laid the just crispy skinned trout stretched from rim to rim across the biggest bowls I had and removed the herbs for stock. Then I ladled the cream sauce, which had reduced a bit but was still a little loose, generously on top to fill the bowl. Pesto goes with the bread and we set to slurping. The bright flavor of the ramps pesto escorted the heavier cream sauce and fish quite perfectly. One of my favorite aspects of the meal was scooping up bits of fish and onion, ferns and curdled yogurt with the artichoke petals we had arranged in a bowl just for this purpose and scraping (most of)the whole mess into my mouth, involuntarily mmming and reaching out with my foot for hers. And it rained through the night. black & white photo: David Schrott