Slow Cooker Pinto Beans and October Veggies

For nights when I know there won't be time to cook, I have found my slow cooker to be a life saver. Most often I use it to cook beans of some sort. This is what I made yesterday. Peppers from my garden, potatoes from The Kitchen Garden, garlic and onions from somewhere local but I can't remember where. This is moderately spicy--reduce the chipotles to one if you prefer something milder.

2 1/2 cups dried pinto beans, soaked overnight
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 large bell peppers, diced
2 large potatoes, diced
2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, seeded and minced
1 cup salsa (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Combine everything except the salt and pepper in a large slow cooker. Add water until the beans are completely covered. Cook on high until beans are tender (the time will vary depending on how old your beans are) or you get home--they do fine continuing to cook for quite a while after they become tender. Add salt and pepper to taste at the end. You could serve this as a soup, but I like to strain it and serve over rice with some cheddar cheese on top.

Pureed Potato Soup with Kale and Bacon

This is one of the variations on the Potato Leek Soup with Kale that I posted a week or so ago. I made this last night with potatoes and leeks from The Kitchen Garden, kale from the garden, and bacon from Bostrom's Farm.

Olive oil for sauteing
3 large leeks, sliced in thin rounds
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 lbs potatoes, cubed
4-5 cups water or stock, plus more as needed
1 chicken bouillon cube (if using water)
1 cup milk (optional)
6-8 cups coarsely torn kale
4 strips cooked bacon, minced
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a soup pot. Add the leeks and garlic and saute for 2-3 minutes. Add the potatoes and the stock or water and bouillon cube. There should be enough liquid to just cover the potatoes. Bring to a boil, then simmer until potatoes are tender. Remove from heat. Add the milk if using, and puree (this is easiest with an immersion blender, but you can also use a regular blender or food processor). Return to the heat and add the kale and bacon. Simmer until kale is tender, just a few minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serves about 6.

What to Do with Pesto

Wondering what to do with all that pesto in the freezer now that it's made? Or wondering whether it's worth making to put in the freezer? Well, not only is pesto great on pasta (add some beans or sauteed chicken if you like) as a quick meal, but it's also excellent with almost any kind of grilled or broiled meat. My friend Iris made broiled lamb chops for us a couple weeks ago, coated with pesto and breadcrumbs, and they were fantastic. Pesto also makes a tasty pizza topping, and it's good on fresh bread or toast, perhaps with a slice of tomato (while they last!) and fresh mozzarella. The real problem is figuring out what not to do with it...

Parsley-Mint Pesto

If you have parsley producing wildly in your garden, this is a delicious way to use it. I made a couple batches of this over the weekend to go in the freezer.

You can also freeze parsley by itself--just chop and stick it in a freezer bag. Or put it in an ice cube tray with a small amount of water, then move the cubes to a bag when frozen. Frozen parsley is nearly as good as fresh.

3 cups chopped parsley
3/4 cup mint leaves
1/2 cup lightly toasted walnuts
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 oz. feta
1 tsp lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and process until fairly smooth.

Beans and Greens

I seem to be moving from "things to do with tomatoes and eggplant" to "things to do with kale." The season must be changing. So here's another thing to do with kale, or any other tasty green. For this use, I like ones that stay a little more robust when cooked, like kale or collards, but there's no real reason you couldn't use chard or something similar as well.

This is so simple it doesn't need a formal recipe. I cooked about a pound of white beans in the slow cooker all day with some sage and a few garlic cloves and bay leaves. Just before dinner, I minced the cloves of an entire head of garlic and sauteed them along with 8 cups or so of coarsely chopped kale. While doing that, I boiled up 1/2 lb of pasta. I drained the beans (removing the seasonings) and mixed it all together, adding plenty of salt and pepper and a generous drizzle of good quality extra virgin olive oil. This made enough to serve 4-5.

Sweet Italian sausage would probably make a nice addition to this, but would change the character of the dish.

Tomato, Kale, and Lentil Stew

A good use for late season tomatoes and the kale that continues to flourish in my garden. This recipe makes a big batch, and it freezes beautifully. It's a good hearty dish for colder weather.

1/2 cup dried pearl barley
1/2 cup dried quinoa
3/4 cup dried brown lentils
6-8 cups water
2 veggie bouillon cubes
6-8 cloves garlic, minced
6 cups chopped seeded tomatoes
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
6 cups coarsely chopped kale
2 Tbsp dry sherry
¼ cup soy sauce
1 Tbsp ground coriander
1 Tbsp dried oregano
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Salt to taste

Combine the barley, quinoa, and lentils in a large soup pot with about 6 cups of water and the bouillon cube. Cover and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer until the grains and lentils are tender, about 25 minutes. It may be necessary to add more water during the cooking process.

While the lentils and grains cook, you can chop the remaining ingredients. Add the garlic, onions, and tomatoes as soon as they are ready. When the grains and lentils are just tender, add the kale cook until it begins to wilt, about 2-3 minutes.

Add the sherry, soy sauce, coriander, oregano, and black pepper. Cook until the kale is tender, another 5 minutes or so. Taste and add salt if desired. Adjust seasonings if needed.

Serves at least 6.

Note: The grains will continue to absorb water when the stew is done cooking. Leftovers may require the addition of more liquid.

Whole Wheat Apple Spice Muffins

Crabapple Farm is experimenting with growing wheat and a few other grains (oats and barley, I think). We bought some of their wheat berries at the farmers market a couple weeks back. This weekend I ground some into flour (okay, I'm a food nerd and have a flour mill) and made these muffins with apples from Clarkdale, milk from Mapleline, and Diemand Farm eggs. Despite using all whole wheat flour, these muffins are not at all heavy. With the freshly milled flour, they had a pleasantly crumbly texture.

2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp allspice
½ tsp ground ginger
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
¼ cup brown sugar
½ cup canola oil
1 ½ cups milk
1 medium apple, peeled, cored, and chopped

Preheat the over to 400˚. Grease muffin tins to make 12 large muffins or 18 medium-sized ones.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and ginger.

In a large bowl, combine the egg, vanilla, brown sugar, oil, and milk, and stir until the brown sugar is largely dissolved.

Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, stirring just enough to combine and get rid of most of the lumps. Fold in the apple pieces.

Spoon the batter into the muffin tins.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean.

Makes 12 large or 18 medium-sized muffins.