Swiss Chard Meets Sweet Potatoes and Wild Rice

Dear summer produce fans,

I'm not the first person to pair sweet potato and swiss chard, but I didn't find this recipe anywhere else so I'm posting it. :)  The wild rice stands up nicely to the swiss chard and the sauteed onions add a bit of sweetness that complements the sweet potato.  In other words, it's yummy.  You'll even forget it's healthy.

Ingredients:
1 sweet potato
2 small onions
A small bunch of swiss chard (6 to 7 leaves)
2 cups cooked wild rice
Olive oil

Start the wild rice cooking if you're not lucky enough to have it pre-cooked.

Separate the stalks of the swiss chard from the leaves.  Chop the stalks finely.  Chop the leaves into small pieces - less than an inch long.

Dice the potato into small cubes - no larger than a quarter-inch square.

Dice the onions and the shallot.

Saute the swiss chard stalk, onions, potato and shallot in olive oil until the sweet potato cubes are soft - about 10 minutes.

Add the leaves and heat until the leaves just turn dark green.  I suppose you could go all the way to wilted if you want, but I like it better this way.

Serve the swiss chard mixture over wild rice.

Pumpkin Irony and Mole Black Bean Pumpkin Soup

Dear home canners -

It is during these times when you get to say 'I told you so' to all your friends who ask why you garden and can the harvest. Because while other pumpkin lovers were anxiously wondering if there would be canned pumpkin in the store this year, my cabinet still had some of last year's supply.

If you are lucky enough to have some pumpkin cubes around, here's a recipe I made up to use up the cubes that didn't make it into the canner.

Crockpot Mole Black Bean and Pumpkin Soup

2 cups stock
2 cups Mole sauce from the Joy of Cooking
6 cups pumpkin cubes, approx 1 inch on all sides
2 skinless chicken breasts (optional)
1 15 ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained

Put all ingredients in crockpot. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or high for 2-3 hours. When the pumpkin cubes are soft, it is ready. Take out the chicken breasts if you used them and shred them into smaller pieces on a separate place. Puree the pumpkin-bean mixture to a texture you like and then add the chicken pieces back in.

Pumpkin Tomato Stew

To fellow food collectors -

The good part of a large pumpkin harvest is getting a shelf full of canned pumpkin. The bad part of a large pumpkin harvest is trying to find a way to use a shelf full of canned pumpkin.

I adapted this recipe to fit what I had on hand and it was delicious. So, those of you that are hoarding canned pumpkin and canned tomatoes from last year, it's time to use them up. :)

Crockpot Pumpkin Tomato Stew

1 cup chopped onion
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 dried red habanero chili
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup turkey pieces or cooked ground turkey (optional, it's not the main flavor)
30 ounces cooked pinto beans
32 ounces (1 qt) canned tomatoes
2 cups pumpkin puree
2 teaspoons curry powder
1/8 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 tablespoon cumin
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Add everything into the crockpot but the dried chili. Put the chili on top. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Remove the chili before serving. Or, for a fun game, mix in the chili and see who gets in their bowl at dinner.

Sunny cauliflower and eggplant bake

This recipe started on a lazy afternoon at a friend's house with her CSA newsletter and some cauliflower and spare veggies. It's mostly her creation, not mine but I feel like it should be shared with everyone. :) Normally I find cauliflower to be a creepy little vegetable since it looks like an alien tree but prepared this way it's delicious. You can substitute most any acid - balsamic vinegar or other flavored vinegars will work.

Ingredients:
Half a head of cauliflower
Half an eggplant
Olive oil
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 cloves garlic
.25 cups shredded parmesan
Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Chop the cauliflower into small pieces - most should be no larger than a thumbnail. Chop the eggplant into similarly small pieces. Mince the garlic.

Put the eggplant, cauliflower and garlic into a baking pan big enough to there's only one layer and the pieces aren't crowded. Toss with olive oil to coat. Add the lemon juice and mix well. Salt and pepper to taste.

Bake for 25 minutes at 400 degrees. When done baking, sprinkle with the parmesan.

It's good reheated for lunch, too.

Lentil, Wild Rice, and Sun-dried Tomato Stew

I made up this recipe based on a meal that our camp chef cooked in the Boundary Waters. Yep, you can make this while camping. :) I'm going to give you the crockpot version of this recipe but you can easily adapt it to camping by pre-soaking the lentils and wild rice in a water bottle for the day. Pre-soaking isn't strictly necessary for lentils but will save you on camp fuel.

Lentil, Wild Rice, and Sun-dried Tomato Stew

1 cup dried lentils
1 cup wild rice (brown rice will also work)
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped
1.5 teaspoons oregano
1 quart stewed tomatoes
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups water or chicken stock

Put all ingredients in the crockpot. Cook on low for about 6 hours.

Five Spice Candied Pecans

Corrected!

A recipe I made up that turned out well. :)

It's adapted from this one.

INGREDIENTS:
1 egg white
1 tablespoon water
1 pound pecan halves

1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 teaspoon five spice

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C). Grease one baking sheet.
2. In a mixing bowl, whip together the egg white and water until frothy.
3. Add pecans to egg whites, stir to coat the nuts evenly. Add the sugar and five spice and stir to coat. Spread the nuts out on the prepared baking sheet.
4. Bake at 250 degrees F (120 degrees C) for 1 hour. Stir every 15 minutes.