This is my new favorite way to cook a piece of fish. It is much easier than setting up the grill and in some ways is even more delicious. Last weekend I bought a piece of Keta Salmon from Loki Fish at the University Farmer’s Market. It came vacuum-packed and frozen in convenient portions generous enough for 2 people. Take it out of the freezer and put in the refrigerator a day before you want to eat it.Preheat the oven to 400. Melt a tablespoon or so of ghee or olive oil in a frying pan at medium high heat.When the pan is good and hot, put the salmon in, skin-side up. Let it cook for about 5 min. or until the flesh side is brown and crispy. Remove from the heat and flip it over with a spatula into a low baking dish. Bake for 5-10 minutes more in the hot oven, depending on the thickness of the fish. You can always cut into it to check for doneness. It will continue to cook for a few minutes after you remove it from the oven. Serve with the crispy side up.If you have a few extra minutes, you can make some chive oil to drizzle on top with fresh chives that are popping up in the garden now. Put a bunch of chives and about 2/3 cup olive oil in a blender or food processor. Puree for about 2-3 minutes. Pour into a jar through a fine strainer. Discard the chives in the strainer after all the oil has dripped through. Store covered in the refrigerator for up to a month.
Because I literally runmy errands. It has something to do with reducing my carbon footprint, but it is also about fresh air, truly interacting with my neighbors, and oh yeah, that 70 pounds that I needed to (and did) lose after my daughter, Lily, was born. I started out small, walking to video store with Lily in a stroller and eventually I had some 5-7 mile jogging days, running from home to the grocery store, the video and drug store, a visit with Nana and Grandpa, all with Lily in a jogging stroller.
The point was never to go a certain distance or burn a number of calories, but simply to get those things done in a day that the average mother of a small child must do. By not using my car, I got some vitamin D, my daughter introduced herself to our community, I got all of my errands done, I avoided the isolation and depression new moms can feel, and I lost a BUNCH of weight. Last but not least, in caring for my family and my child, I did not have to chose to do anything that would hurt another family or child on the other side of the world. Next time you have an errand to run, why not run your errand.
Krista Anderson, MixedGreens family member & guest contributor
If you can melt butter, you can make ghee, aka ‘clarified butter.’ Clarified butter is the locavore’s answer to a local cooking oil that is healthy and delicious. It can withstand high temperatures better than most other natural, unrefined oils. The whole process takes about 15 minutes.To make ghee, I went to the Pike Place Market Creamery and bought a container of pure butter from Golden Glen Creamery in Bow, WA. The recipe called for 1lb. of unsalted butter. This was ‘lightly salted’ and slightly less than a lb. but it looked so good, I wanted to try it.Heat the butter in a small pan over medium-low heat. Once it has completely melted, skim off all the foam that has come to the surface with a spoon and discard. The solids will drop to the bottom of the pan. The lovely, golden layer between the foam and the solids is what you want. Cover your container with cheese cloth and pour carefully.This solidifies and will keep for a month or two in the refrigerator. Some just keep it on the counter instead. Whenever you want to saute and have a light buttery flavor, just take out a spoonful or two and use like you would olive oil. The combination of the two is also delicious, just not completely local.In India, Ayurvedic medicine commonly uses ghee as a medicinal agent that aids digestion, absorption and is very nourishing.This recipe was inspired by Heidi Swanson in her wonderful book, Super Natural Cooking.
Walking and visiting my way through the Farmers Market recently, I noticed children. I always notice children, but lately I’ve been thinking about their experience with food. They were peeking at vendors’ wares, tasting this and that, standing with their parents when it came to discussing and purchasing food. A little boy, maybe nine, conversed with a vendor about the cheese his parents were interested in. Even on a dreary winter day the Market is a festival, and much of it at eye level, baskets bulging with onions or squash, tables piled with carrots and beets and leeks. Surely on some visceral level kids recognize that array of color and shape, the smell and texture of it all as kinesthetic, artful and pleasant. And then there’s more.
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The scale is human. Farmers are often present with the food they’ve grown or produced, they’re eager to engage in sharing details of their harvest. Our children might notice that Farmers are an integral part of the array, evidence that there are actual people involved in growing and making food available. Supermarkets, which I’m grateful for by the way, have their place in our lives. But Farmers Markets must be good for developing a truer sensibility about sustenance, and eventually understanding the importance of local and sustainable.Read the rest of this entry »
It has felt like Spring the last few days so I went out to the garden to see what early signs I could find. I came upon a clump of chives well on their way.
Grabbing my kitchen scissors and holding a small clump, I snipped them off at ground level (not just the tips). That way they will grow back again and I can keep using them all spring. After they flower, be sure to cut the whole clump off and it will grow back again. I have several little volunteer clumps so I can rotate my harvesting. If you are using them often, make sure they get plenty of water and fertilizer (organic, or course) so they will keep growing. I admit that I neglect mine and they continue to grow anyway. Chives are perennial so once you plant them, they will come back year after year.
It’s true that when you cook beets your fingers might turn purple; but maybe you won’t mind as you devour winter greens sprinkled with a tangy cheese, local filberts, and vinegar-dressed beets. Beet-stained fingers? Worth it!
Ingredients:
For Roasting:
1lb. beets from Farmer’s Market, 5 or 6 medium, 8 or 10 small
Melted ghee, or olive oil
Salt & pepper
For dressing:
1/3 cup Balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped, or 1 tablespoon dried
½ teaspoon mustard
1 garlic clove, finely minced
Salt & pepper
Preheat oven to 350º. Rinse and trim beets. You may peel the beets now, or after roasting when skins will often slip off easily with a knife or a peeler. In a bowl, toss the beets with melted ghee (or olive oil), salt and pepper to taste. Place in a shallow roasting dish and cover with foil. Bake for approximately 40 minutes or until beets are tender enough to be easily pierced with a fork.
Meanwhile, make the dressing in a large mixing bowl. Slowly add olive oil to the vinegar, mustard, dill, salt and pepper, and minced garlic, whisking until thick.
When the beets are partly cooled, peel and chop into bite-sized pieces, then toss with the dressing. Marinate for a few minutes or a few hours. Eat as is, or place lightly dressed salad greens on a plate with a generous portion of beets, a sprinkle of local blue or goat cheese and roasted walnuts or filberts. Eliminate the oil for a tangier dressing.
Potatoes Gratin, one of the ultimate comfort foods, sounds so sophisticated and French. But this is a rustic and simple recipe, as typical of French cooking as are delicate, fancy sauces. Delicious with fish, beef, lamb or pork, it’s also a vegetarian main dish. A variety of cheeses work well, so feel free to mix it up, find your own favorite combination, and prepare to be comforted by your own version of Potatoes Gratin.
This can be an entirely local meal when ingredients are purchased at farmer’s markets or at mainstream markets where local is available.
Basic Ingredients:
3# potatoes (approximately 4 large, 5 or 6 of medium size)
2 cups whole milk
1 – 2 Cups cheese
Gouda, smoked Gouda, Beecher’s regular and smoked cheddar, Sea Breeze’s Vash de Vashon is a hard cheese good for grating, and Mt. Townsend Trailhead are among the local cheeses we’ve tried with this and liked.
Salt & pepper, nutmeg
Clean and thinly slice potatoes using a mandolin if you have one.
Place sliced potatoes in a cooking pot, and add the milk, not quite covering the potatoes. (Slightly more or less than 2 cups of milk will be about right for a 9″ x 12″ casserole dish.)
Bring to a gentle simmer, turn off the heat, add 2 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, a pinch of nutmeg, stir and let sit.
Grate or thinly slice 1 – 2 cups of cheese, depending upon how cheesy you want it.
Spread half the potatoes and most of the milk into a buttered casserole dish and sprinkle with half the cheese; make a second layer with remaining potatoes and cheese.
Add any of the optional ingredients between potato and cheese layers. Add remaining milk until it is under, but not covering the top layer of potatoes and cheese. Adjust as needed.
Bake at 350º, 35-45 minutes.
As the gratin bakes in the oven, the milk simmers, potatoes soften, cheese melts, sauce reduces, thickens and the top becomes golden brown. When potatoes are tender and the casserole has had a chance to bubble and brown, usually 35-45 minutes, remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Variations: Add a thinly sliced turnip or two, some cream with the milk, a smashed garlic, smoked salmon or ham, fresh dill or kale or a thinly sliced onion . . . Such ingredients, added to the potato mix, can deliciously embellish the basic gratin while bringing distinct PNW character to this classic dish. Protein in the form of additional cheese or meat turns this vegetable side into a main dish.
I tried this basic recipe with a layer of kale on the bottom of the casserole, then the usual layering of potatoes and cheese. It works.
Made me wonder what else would be good smothered deliciously beneath it all.
This time of year we have a few great options for shopping local and organic. On Saturdays, year-round, the University Farmers Market is open from 9-2. The Ballard Sunday Market is open Sundays 11-3 and the West Seattle Farmers Market is also Sundays 11-2 (rumor has it that West Seattle will NOT be closing at the end of February).
I do my main weekly grocery shopping on Saturday at the University Farmers Market letting myself be inspired by whatever I find fresh and appealing. If there are things I don’t find and need for a recipe, I can fill in by shopping at Whole Foods or PCC. The seasonal selection is amazing even at the darkest, dreariest time of the year. I love the adventure of going and discovering what I find without having to write a list ahead of time.
Lately, I am addicted to the pork from Wooly Pigs— expensive but a little goes a long way. Nina Planck in her compelling book, Real Food, has given us permission to eat more high quality animal fat. Not that I need much encouragement, but after all, what vegetable doesn’t taste better with a little chopped bacon or ham?
. . . as in crawling under the table when we were kids and getting away with something fun while everyone else was behaving seriously. This time we’re playing with food.
If you can melt butter, you can make ghee, aka ‘clarified butter.’ Clarified butter is the locavore’s answer to a local cooking oil that is healthy and delicious. It can withstand high temperatures better than most other natural, unrefined oils. The whole process takes about 15 minutes.To make ghee, I went to the Pike Place Market Creamery and bought a container of pure butter from 
Once it has completely melted, skim off all the foam that has come to the surface with a spoon and discard. The solids will drop to the bottom of the pan. The lovely, golden layer between the foam and the solids is what you want. Cover your container with cheese cloth and pour carefully.
This solidifies and will keep for a month or two in the refrigerator. Some just keep it on the counter instead. Whenever you want to saute and have a light buttery flavor, just take out a spoonful or two and use like you would olive oil. The combination of the two is also delicious, just not completely local.In India, Ayurvedic medicine commonly uses ghee as a medicinal agent that aids digestion, absorption and is very nourishing.This recipe was inspired by 
