Month: March 2023

GREEK ROASTED VEGES

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Here’s my favorite meal—roasted vegetables. Here’s the recipe

Preheat oven to 425°F. Same for convection.

Line a sheet pan with parchment.

Fresh vegetables, cut various sizes. Broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, mixed color carrots, fennel, and beets are pictured here. Onions, Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, parsnips, radishes, garlic, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and more are also great roasted. For all the vegetables to be done at the same time, the trick is to cut the vegetables in various sizes depending on their water content and firmness. For example, above the carrots are cut smaller to cook in the same length of time as the other vegetables.

Olive oil to drizzle over the vegetables. For the above tray, I used 1/3 cup of EVOO.

Greek seasoning to sprinkle over the vegetables. For the above tray, I used 1-1/2 teaspoons of seasoning. I like Penney’s which is a combination of salt(Y), Turkish oregano, marjoram, garlic, lemon, and black pepper. Fresh rosemary finely chopped with salt and pepper is a good option instead of the Greek seasoning, too. If you like smokey flavor, try smoked salts.

EVOO-drizzle, spice-sprinkle, and hand-toss the cut vegetable pieces to distribute the EVOO and spices. Place each type of vegetable in its own area of the baking sheet. That way if one type of vegetable gets done sooner than the others, it’s easy to remove it from the oven.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, checking after 20 minutes. Serve with a Balsamic glaze or a Truffle infused vinegar.

For the Kids…Lavender Sugar Cookies

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Raleigh City Farm — Homeschool tour today—we munched on some delicious cookies. Sugar to make us energetic and lavender to calm us. Here’s the recipe.

2-1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cups sifted confectioner’s sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, beaten
3 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
6 drops organic lavender essential oil
2 tablespoons organic lavender flowers

Sift flour, sugar, and salt into a bowl. Cut in butter until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Add egg, milk, vanilla, lavender oil, and lavender flowers. Mix well and divide dough into two portions. Flatten the dough into discs; wrap them in wax paper and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 375°F/350°F convection.

Sprinkle a clean surface with confectioner’s sugar. Roll the dough to about 1/8-inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes and place on a parchment-lined sheet pan. Bake eight to ten minutes until the edges are barely golden. Cool on a wire rack. Store in an airtight (preferably glass) container.

Delicious with a glass of lemonade and a group of laughing children.


IT’S SPRING! LEMON POPPYSEED TEACAKE

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I was about to post a healthy a green recipe, but alas, here’s one more sweet thing to celebrate spring.
My friend Helene said, “Kenny Paul loves this Canyon Ranch lemon cake.” And so I made it because Helene knows all about capital D–Delicious. 

However, of course, I thought it could use improvement. It has morphed into a “project” recipe which means it does take a bit of planning. However, it is now a DELICIOUS creation. Just sayin’. I serve it with Cocojune coconut yogurt, strained so it’s Greek style thick, berries, a bit of brittle or nuts. Crown it with a few (if in season) pomegranate jewels (seeds).

3 tablespoons poppy seeds
1/2 cup buttermilk or coconut milk
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon lemon extract
1/3 cup coconut yogurt
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup butter, melted
1-1/4 cup sugar (divided)
1 egg 
2 egg yolks
2/3 cup unsweetened applesauce (I peel and cook a large Granny Smith apple.)
3 egg whites
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

Lemon Glaze: 

1 cup confectioner’s sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest

Preheat oven to 350°F. Convention 345°F.

Prepare 4 mini loaf pans with parchment liners. 

In a small saucepan, combine the buttermilk/coconut milk and poppy seeds and bring to a simmer. Remove from the heat and add the lemon zest, extracts, and yogurt. Mix well and refrigerate overnight.

In a medium bowl, mix all the dry ingredients except sugar. In another bowl combine the wet ingredients; add 1 cup of the sugar and mix well. Combine the two mixtures and stir just until all the dry ingredients are well incorporated with the wet ones, but do NOT overmix. (Overmixing will activate the gluten in the flour and make the bread chewy.) 

Whip the egg whites, 1/4 cup sugar, and the cream of tartar, until stiff peaks from. Fold the egg whites into the batter. 

Spoon the batter equally into the 4 parchment-lined mini loaf pans. Prepare glaze by mixing all the ingredients together. Set aside.

Bake 30 minutes, checking after 25. They are done when an inserted cake tester comes out clean. Immediately remove the breads from the pans, leaving the parchment on, set on a wire rack, and poke holes in the tops. Drizzle one-half of the glaze over the tops. Let the breads cool completely, remove the parchment, and finish the topes with the remaining glaze.

Store in an airtight (preferably glass or ceramic) container at room temperature for three days. Refrigerate if you prefer and they’ll keep well for a week. You can also freeze them for up to six months.