Eat Local Challenge, Weeks 3 & 4

I'm lumping the third and fourth weeks of this Eat Local month because quite frankly I don't have enough to talk about. Whether it is just a lack of motivation over the stretch, or just an inability to make this eating local thing to happen in a practical way, the food entering our bodies has been just shy of "local". Ok, way shy.

I don't want to embark on a long diatribe about how tough the Eat Local Challenge was this year, or how much or how little effort I ended up putting into it. I did what I could, and managed to come out ok, Challenge wise. I certainly earned a new level of respect for those who are diligent and creative enough to source each of their meals from local producers. I didn't believe it would be as difficult as I found it to find locally produced foods for each meal, or even a majority of meals, for each day.

We did manage to end the month on a high note. Thanks to fellow foodie Stacey Snacks, we put together this delicious Autumn Pasta with Butternut Squash & Italian Sausage. I borrowed this recipe from Stacey, and I am sure glad I did. Thanks, Stacey! Here is the recipe, as I found it. All of the ingredients, save the pasta, were locally produced and purchased either at Andronico's Market or were already in my kitchen. Here we go.



Autumn Pasta With Italian Sausage and Butternut Squash
Ingredients:
1 Butternut Squash, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 Italian Sausages, casings removed
2 Cloves of Garlic, Chopped
3 tbsp of chopped, fresh Sage
1 1/4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1/4 cup white wine
8 oz. penne pasta (about 1/2 box)

Coat a large, heavy skillet with olive oil. Cook the butternut squash on high, not moving around too much, until edges begin to caramelize, about 5 min. Remove from pan. Now, add your sausage, and break it up in the pan. After that has browned, about 5 mins, add garlic, sage, and white wine and simmer for 3 minutes or until liquid is evaporated.

Add chicken stock and butternut squash and simmer for 10 minutes, until squash is tender. While the squash is simmering, boil your pasta in salted water and drain. Add squash to pasta and serve. For a nice finish, add some shredded Parmesan cheese over the top.

Enjoy!

Dinner in the Raw

In the spirit of healthy living, occasionally the missus and I try something on the greener side of the buffet table. Specifically, we prepare something created by the Raw movement, where everything you eat, and I do mean everything, is well, raw.

Many people might think this way of preparing and enjoying food is missing something; for instance heat and cooked flesh. But the folks who ascribe to this movement may actually be on to something. Food, in its raw, uncooked form, is the best way to get the most nutrition out of each bite. This of course means no meat, but some of the more crafty raw foodies out there have worked their way around that little hiccup.

It should be said that any raw recipe, including the one that follows, is missing one very commonly accepted step: cooking. Many of the simpler recipes, those that don't require 24 hours in a dehydrator, require only chopping, slicing, stirring, and maybe a few seconds in the high-speed blender. The following recipe is a pretty basic raw recipe that should impress even the pickiest omnivore you know.

Zucchini Pasta Alfredo

For the pasta, first you are going to need one of these:






This handy little tool is a spiral slicer. Take 4 to 6 large zucchini, peel, cut off the ends, then spin them individually in the slicer, turning them into beautiful little curly ribbons of squash. Like so:





You might want to cut them down into manageable strips for easier consumption. For the sauce, you will need:

A high speed blender
3/4 cup coconut water
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup raw pine nuts or cashews
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Mix all ingredients (except the zucchini) in the high speed blender until smooth and creamy. Mix the sauce with the zucchini in a bowl, and serve.







Recipe note: The texture of the zucchini noodles improves if they are left to sit at room temperature for 6 hours or so. These can also be prepared the night before and stored in the refrigerator.


Editors note: In order to get the coconut water necessary for this sauce recipe, you might have to get creative. Buy a fresh coconut, carve off most of the outer skin, and see how far you get trying to crack it with a kitchen knife. Really, give it a shot. Eventually, you will realize the tools you need are not in the kitchen. And then you will hammer an 8" Phillips-head screwdiver into the stubborn coconut.



Thanks to Matt Amsden and his "Rawvolution" cookbook for the sauce recipe. The book has some great ideas for raw beginners, and for those of us who just have had one too many hamburgers.

Enjoy!