The Vicarious Farmer is moving!

I've decided to broaden the focus of my blog a bit. I'm still interested in food, cooking, and our CSA farm. But I'd like to have room to explore other issues related to food and eating, including the decision-making process behind the meals and foods I offer to my family every day. So the Vicarious Farmer is now...Feeding My Family.

The new blog url is: http://www.feedingahealthyfamily.blogspot.com/

I hope you'll visit/subscribe/follow/comment soon! See you there!

Dinner Tonight: May 16

I've had a mini-cold for a week and am pretty sleep deprived thanks to the baby, who thinks it's cool to wake up with the neighborhood "dawn chorus" of birds at 5 A.M. each day. Days like this call for an easy meal- easy to prepare, easy to clean up.

So here's what we tried: Liar's Soup. What? Yep, Liar's Soup. This recipe's been around on the internet for a while; I think it originated in Real Simple magazine. I think the idea behind the title is that it's so good you could get away with saying you slaved over a hot stove all day to make it. What's in it? One jar of Rao's marinara sauce* one can of cannellini beans, one cup of vegetable broth, one clove of garlic, a squeeze of lemon, some salt and pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil. What do you have to do? Dump it all in a pot, blitz it with a hand blender til pureed, heat it up, and eat it. Yup, that's all. What's in it for you? A flavorful, satisfying, and EASY meal. Alongside, we had bread and an arugula (from the CSA!) salad with shaved parmesan and almonds.

And there you go. A healthy dinner in no time flat.

*I've never been to Rao's restaurant in NYC, or even tried their marinara sauce before today. I mean, $9 for a jar of spaghetti sauce? Not generally in my budget. But it was on sale this week, and I remembered this recipe. I tasted the sauce before pouring it into the pot, and will admit it's very, very good. The soup recipe as I found it says the sauce "must be Rao's." Of course, I read that as a challenge, and now I have to try it with another (cheaper!) brand. If I do any experimenting, I'll let you know what I find.

Woo hoo! The farm is open for the season! After a morning trip to the dentist and two newly filled cavities (boo), Ryan and I headed out to Honey Brook. Beautiful day, too- sunny, breezy, warm but not hot.

Our share today was small- arugula, lettuce, and just 1/2 pint of strawberries- but it's always exciting to get out there and see all the plants that are just getting started for the season. Rows and rows of miniature lettuce heads that will provide salads for weeks (or even months) to come, raspberry canes sprouting new leaves, perennial herb beds springing to life, and lots of freshly plowed fields that will soon be home to tomato transplants and other crops. Plenty of deliciousness to look forward to.

The strawberries are perfect. Red through and through, juicy and sweet, and just about gone already! We can't wait for more next week

I'll use the arugula in a simple salad tomorrow night. The recipe is from the June issue of Everyday Food: Arugula Salad with Almonds and Parmesan. Now I just have to figure out what to serve with it...

I need a drink!

(Well, hello there! Long time no blog. I'll be back soon to talk about my plans for this spring and onward...)

So! After several weeks of rain, rain, more rain and a few puddles in our basement (ugh), the sun finally showed up to dry things out and warm us up! Today was beautiful, and at first opportunity I herded the boys outside so that the fresh spring air could work its magic on them and guarantee a good night's sleep. Chasing them around outside made this mama thirsty! And that means it's time for iced tea.

I love iced tea, but until last summer I didn't really know how to make it properly. I know, I know- how hard can it be, right? I don't even like anything fancy- just straight up tea, please, nothing herbal or fruity or super-sugary. I'd order it at a restaurant, unsweetened, then add just a hint of sugar and a squeeze of lemon. Ah...instant refreshment. When I tried making it at home, though, it was either too weak or too bitter and no amount of tinkering could make it drinkable.

After poking around on the web a bit, I combined tips gleaned from a few different sites and came up with this method for making my tea. It has just a touch of sweetness and is fairly strong without being bitter- perfect for pouring over ice. I made a pitcher of iced tea every few days all summer long. And today, I pulled out the pitcher for the first time this year. Ah...

Easy Iced Tea, my way

Bring 6 cups of water to a boil. Turn off the heat. Stir in 2 teaspoons of granulated sugar. Place 4 Lipton tea bags in the water and allow to brew for 30 minutes. Discard the tea bags and pour the tea into a 2-quart pitcher. Top off with water to the 2-quart line. Refrigerate until well chilled. Serve over ice, with lemon wedges if desired.

CSA Share Weeks 1 & 2

The first week of this year's CSA was a little crazy- Jason was unexpectedly out of town for a funeral, and I found myself trying to figure out how to manage a trip to the farm with Ryan and Aiden in tow. In the end, I decided to have our sitter come over for a few hours to give me a break, and I headed out to the farm by myself. This turned out to be a good plan, as the pick-your-own fields are quite a hike from the parking lot this year, and taking Aiden out there would have been really hard. So, I picked our share of strawberries, grabbed the lettuce from the farmstand, and headed out.

The second week, I took Ryan with me and we picked berries and peas together. I mentioned last year that he's great at finding ripe berries, and he hasn't lost his touch. He had our basket filled in no time! When we moved on to pea picking he was less helpful- more interested in picking wildflowers and eating peas. No big deal- the peas were easy to find and we were done quickly.

The berries have been spectacular- no surprise- and I hope they last for a few more weeks!

Week 1:

• 3 heads lettuce
• 1 quart strawberries

Week 2:

• 3 heads lettuce
• 1 quart strawberries
• 1/2 pint snow and snap peas

Apropos of nothing...

Well, apropos of nothing related to my purported blog theme anyway. Nope, nothing homegrown or locally grown or even vaguely organic here. But...but...this s'mores pie did do a fabulous job of heralding the unofficial start of summer this Memorial Day, and it was so good I wanted to share it. We'll call it "seasonal" fare.

The recipe, from Gourmet magazine via Smitten Kitchen, stays faithful to the concept of s'mores. Nothin' fancy here: a graham cracker crust topped with a silky ganache-like layer, and finally ooey-gooey toasted marshmallows. The original recipe called for making your own marshmallows for the topping, but with a preschooler running around the kitchen and a baby hanging out in the bouncy seat, I didn't have the time or the patience for the candy thermometer. Instead, I cut large marshmallows in half horizontally and arranged them atop the chocolate layer. A quick trip under the broiler and this pie is good to go. At some point this summer we'll make the real thing, toasting marshmallows on sticks over the embers of a dying fire, but s'mores pie hits the spot pretty darn well.

Mmmmm. Welcome summer.

Penne with Asparagus-Lemon Sauce

I've been making this one for years. Now that Jersey asparagus is in the market, it was time to dust off the recipe yet again. Penne is tossed in a silky sauce made from the pureed asparagus stalks, olive oil, lemon zest, parmesan and some of the asparagus cooking water. The tender tips are reserved for topping the pasta. Simple and delicious- a great and different way to enjoy asparagus.

The recipe is originally from a cookbook called Red, White and Greens by Faith Willinger, but it was reprinted and adapted in both Eating Well and Gourmet several years ago. I own the cookbook but have never tried any of the other recipes in it, which is a shame since this one is so good- I really should find out if the cookbook contains more treasures!

Pasta with Asparagus-Lemon Sauce