sweet miscellany

seasonal vegetarian recipes

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Farm to Table: Polenta Pizza with Herbed Cashew Ricotta & Summer Veggies

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Why is it that you don’t really want something until you can’t have it?  I guess it’s in our nature to want what is forbidden.  In order to curb the mind wandering, I’m going to go ahead and say that I’m talking about food here.  More specifically, glutinous things.  Since developing a gluten intolerance, it seems to have triggered cravings for everything I can’t have.  Pizza!  Baguette!  Those not-so-good-for-me-pastries at Starbucks!  It’s been a bit rough.  Since I don’t really live in a gluten-free friendly town, I can cry about it, or, I can suck it up and make gluten free versions myself.  (I chose the latter in case you were wondering…)

Pizza has been my main craving lately.  I guess there’s just something really comforting about being about to top a warm crust with whatever strikes your fancy.  I made a pizza several weeks ago, and it was okay.  The crust was a bit dense and bready, but it was pretty good for starters.  Since then I’ve been looking around for dough inspiration and making little notes on post-its (as I tend to do with everything).  Last week I happened to come across a recipe on edible perspective using cooked polenta as a pizza crust.  I forgot to write it down so it got filed in the back of my brain.  I figured it was worth a shot so I immediately sorted out my plan of attack.

I’m not the biggest fan of tomato sauce on my pizza, so I decided to use a cashew ricotta instead.  To keep with a summery vibe, I added fresh herbs to the ricotta and topped everything off with some lovely veggies from the farmers market.  To be honest, I half thought that the polenta crust would fail.  But, I kind of didn’t care if it did because it only meant that I would eat the “polenta pizza” out of a bowl instead.  Well, it didn’t fail.  In fact it was a marvelous success that had me exercising restraint not to eat an extra piece.  Oh, and in case you were like hey, but I thought you weren’t going to bake anything?!  I made an exception because we had some cloudy weather and rain, meaning the high yesterday was only 80.  Awesome.

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Farm to Table: Spring Onion & Asparagus Frittata

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Over the past couple of years, I have grown quite passionate about food issues.  The issue of supporting local businesses and farmers is near and dear to my heart in particular.  I think it can be attributed to being introduced to more and more food blogs, becoming involved in my local farmer’s market, and reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver.  And, starting my own small business probably had a little something to do with it also.

There may be some eyes rolling out there at the thought of buying local.  It seems that some view this as a fad, often giving the term “local” a bad connotation.  If buying local is bad, then I don’t want to be right.  Ok, I admit, that was super cheesey and I’m slightly embarrassed by it.  Moving on…

By buying local goods, you are supporting your local economy.  That $3 you paid for a bunch of spinach goes right back to the farmer instead of Kroger’s or Trader Joe’s.  That spinach is also cared for and nurtured by someone that knows it like the back of their hand.  It’s most likely not grown from genetically modified seed or sprayed with pesticides.  But, the best part is, it was grown in local soil and is super fresh because it didn’t have to travel very long to get to you.  The short travel distance also allows produce to be picked perfectly ripe and ready to go straight into your hands (or belly).  Buying locally allows you to become more familiar with the growing seasons, a bit of knowledge that used to be quite commonplace 100 years ago.  You’ll start to understand why April strawberries are fresh and sweet while their inferior grocery store counterparts in December are tart and flavorless.

I want to be realistic about eating locally because I know a big issue with people is the cost.  Why would I pay $3 for a carton of strawberries at the farmer’s market when I can get it cheaper at the store?  That is a valid concern, and one I hope can be solved over time.  For now, try to treat yourself to something local and savor it.  I promise it will be the best peach, tomato, or jar of pickles that you have ever tasted.

In going along with what seems to be my wordy rant on buying local, I plan to start incorporating more about seasonal produce here on the blog.  I’ll share tasty ways in which you can enjoy the produce that is showing up in your local farmer’s markets.  Growing seasons aren’t the same around the world, so I’ll be tagging these posts as “farm to table” so you can choose appropriate recipes depending on your season.  In case you have started to worry about the role on sweets on this blog, don’t worry!  I’ll still be making them but I’m going to try to incorporate more seasonal goods.  And, if you have made it this far in what feels like a novel of a post, here’s a recipe for a springy frittata.  In my version, the spring onions, dried basil, and eggs were all sourced locally.

 

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