Boulder Vegetable Bake + Recipes for the Week of February 20, 2012

by Julie

Jerusalem artichokes, or sunchokes: one of my favorite wintertime vegetables

We are in Boulder right now, visiting my sister and brother-in-law. Snow is on the ground, but the day of our arrival was sunny, so the shock in change of weather was not felt too-too much. It helps to have a fire, which we do. I had forgotten how much I love being in front of a fire with a book (this particular evening, I had brought down to the rug with me this book and was flipping through its gorgeously photographed pages when poof! I woke up. I suppose I remember falling asleep there with the book opened to a beautiful photograph of cucumber salad; the fire warmed my face, and I could feel my eyes grow heavy after the few swallows of wine. So I pushed the book aside and rested my face on my arms. Out like clockwork.

Thankfully, my brother-in-law had taken care of dinner: a delicious bake of root vegetables and greens. We served this with olive oil and gluten-free bread.

Boulder Vegetable Bake

Ingredients

One of the things I love about my sister and her family: they’ve taught me the importance of using good olive oil, and using a lot of it. This recipe really does work best if you use the highest quality olive oil available (in our family, it’s actually my sister’s, found here), and be generous while drizzling it over your vegetables–both before and after the cooking.

equal parts root vegetables, such as parsnips, carrot, beets, potatoes, celery root, and sunchokes

4-5 handfuls dark greens, such as kale and beet greens, cut into bite-sized strips

1/4 – 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as desired

coarsely ground sea salt, to taste

gluten-free bread, toasted

To prepare:

Coat a 9 x 13 baking pan with olive oil and heat in the oven at 350. Cut all root vegetables into small cubes, and add to the baking pan, making sure to stir the vegetables and coat with oil. (Don’t add your greens yet!) Bake in the oven for 1 – 2 hours, stirring every 15 minutes or so. For the last 15 minutes, take out pan and stir in greens. Place pan back in oven and cook until greens are wilted and root vegetables are tender. Drizzle again with olive oil and salt. Serve warm with bread.

Monday, February 20: Quinoa and Celery Root Soup (adapted from Cooking Light)

This is by far one of my favorite soups to make, substituting olive oil for the butter and vegetable broth for chicken. This time around, I’ll be using quinoa instead of wild rice.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil 

1 cup thinly sliced leek

1/2 cup finely chopped carrot 

2 tablespoons dry white wine 

3 cups (1/2-inch) cubed peeled celeriac (celery root; about 3/4 pound)

3 cups vegetable broth 

1 cup water

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 3/4 cups cooked quinoa

2 tablespoons minced fresh chives

Tuesday, February 21: Tomato Caper Pasta (from fresh365)

Ingredients

1 pound gluten free linguine

4 Tablespoons olive oil

2 shallots, sliced thin

4 garlic cloves, minced

4 large plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped

4 Tablespoons capers

2 Tablespoons caper juice

juice and zest of 1/2 lemon

salt and pepper, to taste

Wednesday, February 22: Mixed Bean Salad (from Happyolks)

Ingredients

6 cups soaked and cooked beans, your choice

6-8 stalks celery

1 cup thinly sliced red onion

1 head watercress

3 lemons

1/2 cup olive oil

salt/pepper to taste

Thursday, February 23: Parsnip and Carrot Soup (adapted from Honest Fare) 

Ingredients

2 garlic cloves, diced

1 large shallot, diced

3 cups carrots, peeled and chopped

1 ½ cups parsnips, peeled and chopped

2 sprigs fresh thyme

Sea salt

Black pepper

Olive oil, plus 2 Tablespoons

2 cups room temperature coconut milk

1 cup veg stock or water

 

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