Moroccan-Spiced Carrot Hummus

New members Nicole & Bruce brought us a great use of our wonderful CSA carrots - carrot hummus! Recipe along with a photo tutorial you may have seen on our instagram!

Moroccan-Spiced Carrot Hummus

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound carrots, chopped into 1-inch chunks

• 3 whole cloves of garlic, peels left on

• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided

• 1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas, rinsed and drained if from a can

• 1/4 cup tahini

• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

• 1/4 cup water + more to thin if necessary

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander

• 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne

• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

• Fresh cilantro, minced, to serve

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Toss the chopped carrots and whole garlic cloves with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Scatter evenly on a baking sheet lined with parchment and roast in the oven until the carrots are tender and lightly browned, 18 to 20 minutes. Toss carrots halfway through cooking. Once cool enough to handle, squeeze the garlic cloves out of their peels.

2. In the bowl of a food processor, combine roasted carrots, roasted garlic, chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, water and all of the spices. With the motor running drizzle in the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Whirl away until smooth, scraping the sides down as necessary. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary. If the hummus is too thick, add a little more water or oil and process until desired consistency is achieved.

3. Serve with minced cilantro and your favorite veggies and crackers.

RECIPE NOTES

Store the hummus in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 7 days.

Tomato Soup with Smoked Paprika

Member Rebecca Silverman is lucky enough to have a food blogger friend. She says: This is my favorite recipe from my friends blog. I make it once a year. It’s wonderful. In my variation, I always use sherry (it really dials in that Andalusian flavor), I never take the skins of after blackening the tomatoes and peppers (the skin doesn’t bother me) and when i serve it I drizzle a little bit of a smoked olive oil on top. Served this way with the oil, it really tastes like it’s restaurant quality and truly an easy soup to make.

Tomato Soup with Smoked Paprika

INGREDIENTS

• 5 red, yellow or orange bell peppers

• 7 large ripe tomatoes

• A big glug Olive oil

• 1 Onion, chopped

• sea salt to taste (smoked sea salt is great here if you’ve got it)

• 3 large cloves Garlic, chopped

• 1/4 cup Ground Almonds

• 2 tsp Smoked Paprika

• A glug or two of Sherry

• Soup stock (preferably homemade) as needed (I used about a cup)

PREPARATION

1. Place the whole peppers on a baking sheet under a hot broiler.  Check them after 5 minutes to see if they have blackened.  If not check them every 3 minutes and when they have turned black, flip them with tongs to blacken on the next side.  Repeat this process to blacken them on a third side as well. They will be much easier to peel if they are evenly blackened on all sides.  For photos of this process click here.  When they are done, place the peppers in a bowl to cool off.  Leave the broiler on.

2. Core the tomatoes and place them on the same baking sheet that you used for the peppers. Broil the tomatoes for five to six minutes, or until they’re blackened.  Using a pair of tongs, flip them over and blacken them on the other side.  While the tomatoes are blackening you can start the onions and garlic stewing.

3. In a large soup pot start a big glug of olive oil heating on medium flame.  When the oil is hot, add the onion and let it sweat with the lid on for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and continue frying,  just until the onions begin to turn a pale gold (another 5 minutes or so).  Add the almond meal and smoked paprika and continue to fry, stirring for another 3 minutes.  Add the tomatoes, blackened skins and any juices from the baking sheet included.  Break the tomatoes up a bit to release the juices.  Pour in a glug or two of sherry as well.  Increase the heat to medium high and let the whole lot stew a bit while you deal with the roasted peppers.

4. By now the peppers should be cool enough to handle.  Working over the bowl to catch the juices, pull the core out of the peppers and remove their blackened skins.   I just toss the cores and skins back into the bowl, along with any seeds that need to be shaken off.  Throw each pepper into the pot as you finish working with it.  You will end up with a bowl of skins, seeds and juices.  Strain the contents of the bowl through a fine mesh sieve into the pot so that all of those juices make it into your soup.

5. Puree the soup using an immersion blender, food processor or blender.  Add soup stock as needed to achieve the desired thickness.  Taste and adjust the seasoning before serving.

Charred Cherry Tomatoes with Yogurt

Member Cara McAteer shares another great use of our summer tomato bounty!

This past week my share included a very generous quantity of beautiful little yellow tomatoes. The break from the summer heat and the cooler evenings put me in the mood for roasting so I am going to make Ottolenghi’s quick and easy charred cherry tomato recipe from his book “Simple”. I like to alter this recipe by adding a chopped up pepper to the mix. My share included a red pepper which I think will look (and taste) nice with the yellow tomatoes.

https://houseandhome.com/recipe/yotam-ottolenghis-charred-cherry-tomatoes-cold-yogurt/

INGREDIENTS

12 oz cherry tomatoes
3 tbsp olive oil
¾ tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp light brown sugar
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
3 thyme sprigs 6 oregano sprigs: 3 sprigs left whole and the rest stemmed, to serve
1 lemon: finely shave the skin of ½ to get 3 strips, then finely grate the other ½ to get 1 tsp zest
Flaked sea salt and black pepper
1 2∕3 cups extra-thick Greek-style yogurt, fridge-cold
1 tsp Urfa chile flakes (or ½ tsp other crushed red pepper flakes)

PREPARATION

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F.
2. Place the tomatoes in a mixing bowl with the olive oil, cumin, sugar, garlic, thyme, oregano sprigs, lemon strips, ½ teaspoon of flaked salt and a good grind of pepper. Mix to combine, then transfer to a baking sheet just large enough—about 6 x 8 inches/15 x 20 centimeters— to fit all the tomatoes together snugly. Place the sheet about 2 inches/5 centimeters beneath the broiler and roast for 20 minutes, until the tomatoes are beginning to blister and the liquid is bubbling. Turn the oven to the broil setting and broil for 6 to 8 minutes, until the tomatoes start to blacken on top.
3. While the tomatoes are roasting, combine the yogurt with the grated lemon zest and ¼ tsp of flaked salt. Keep in the fridge until ready to serve.
4. Once the tomatoes are ready, spread the chilled yogurt on a platter (with a lip) or in a wide, shallow bowl, creating a dip in it with the back of a spoon. Spoon the hot tomatoes on top, along with their juices, lemon strips, garlic, and herbs, and finish with the oregano leaves and chile flakes. Serve at once.

'Week 2' Shakshuka

This is a dish that member Rebecca Silverman likes to make during the 2nd week that veggies live in the fridge. They are getting a little tired, but still perfectly delicious. I have quarters and halves of things like cabbage and tomato left. This is a perfect dish for using up those bits and pieces and slightly tired veggies. It may not be super traditional shakshuka, but there are so many variations, and it's delicious! I do this whole dish on the stove top. There are oven variations but it's August in NYC, so, nope.

Ingredients:

-Olive oil or butter or a combo
-1 or 2 cloves of garlic, minced
-3 green onions or half an onion, chopped
-1/4 of a cabbage, cut into thin strips
-tomatoes diced (I used half a remaining tomato and the few cherry tomatoes I had left)
-chopped green or red peppers
-jarred tomato sauce (I usually have an open jar of tomato sauce in the fridge, so this is a perfect way to finish it. I used about half a jar. This is a chunky shakshuka).
-1-2 tsp of Yemeni Hawaij (I get this spice blend at Sahadi's)
-salt to taste
-optional chili sauces for garnishing like harissa or a chili crunch
-eggs

Preparation

Start by adding the oil/butter to the pan. Add cabbage, green onions and garlic. (If using a regular onion, sweat the onion before adding the cabbage), cook til softened. 

Once softened, stir in the hawaij.

Add chopped peppers. once softened and the chopped tomatoes.

Depending on how your pan heats, you might want to add a tablespoon or so of water to help the veggies soften and keep them from getting too brown. 

Once all of the veggies are cooked, add the tomato sauce.

Before the sauce starts to boil, but has been heated through, make little wells in the mix and crack your eggs into the wells. Put a lid on the pan to aid in the steaming. Once eggs are opaque (I like to leave the yolks a little runny), turn off heat, season to taste and serve.

I garnish with some of the basil from the plant that we got earlier in the season.

Gazpacho

Member Cara MacAteer has another great recipe to share - the epitome of summer!

GAZPACHO

I had made it most of the way through this unusual summer before I realized that I still had not made gazpacho despite all the hot, humid days where I wanted meals that don't require turning on an oven or stove. Then on August 13, I picked up my share to find that it had everything I needed except for the vinegar, oil, and salt, which I had in my pantry already. I sometimes have trouble finding a cubanelle pepper but my share included a beautiful one. I chopped up Farmer Ted's tomatoes, cucumber, pepper, onion, and garlic and tossed them into a Vitamix with some salt and olive oil and vinegar and had delicious gazpacho in no time.

Here is the recipe I use: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017577-best-gazpacho

INGREDIENTS:

About 2 pounds ripe red tomatoes, cored and roughly cut into chunks
1 Italian frying (cubanelle) pepper cored, seeded and roughly cut into chunks
1 cucumber, about 8 inches long, peeled and roughly cut into chunks
1 small mild onion (white or red), peeled and roughly cut into chunks
1 clove garlic
2 teaspoons sherry vinegar, more to taste
Salt
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, more to taste, plus more for drizzling

PREPARATION

Combine tomatoes, pepper, cucumber, onion and garlic in a blender or, if using a hand blender, in a deep bowl. (If necessary, work in batches.) Blend at high speed until very smooth, at least 2 minutes, pausing occasionally to scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula.

With the motor running, add the vinegar and 2 teaspoons salt. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil. The mixture will turn bright orange or dark pink and become smooth and emulsified, like a salad dressing. If it still seems watery, drizzle in more olive oil until texture is creamy.

Strain the mixture through a strainer or a food mill, pushing all the liquid through with a spatula or the back of a ladle. Discard the solids. Transfer to a large pitcher (preferably glass) and chill until very cold, at least 6 hours or overnight.

Before serving, adjust the seasonings with salt and vinegar. If soup is very thick, stir in a few tablespoons ice water. Serve in glasses, over ice if desired, or in a bowl. A few drops of olive oil on top are a nice touch.