Halloween Junkfood

Or not.

There is a certain irony to loading up on healthy food on the day when we're going to be overloaded with candy but today is farm share day. We're splitting a share with another family so we get food every other week and I'm already finding that it's challenging my culinary skills.

I decided to show you our share although it would be much nicer if I took better pictures. The colors are tremendous. Part 1: Greens, apple cider, red & orange carrots, purple, red, & white potatoes, orange, white, green & purple cauliflower, white turnips, a pie pumpkin (we've already carved three of them this year so I made this into soup), shallots, and fennel
Part 2: Green and red peppers, whole wheat bread

It's a good thing that delivery day isn't a work day for me because I find it challenging to find space to store all these things. In order to make a dent in this share I've been doing a bit of cooking today and am trying some variations of the recipes that came in the newsletter. Today I made these:

HEATHER'S FALL HARVEST PUMPKIN SOUP

1 pie pumpkin, about 3 lbs
2 fennel bulbs
1 large shallot
3 cloves garlic
3 Tbs olive oil
Vegetable broth (made this using the parings)
Fresh or dried herbs to taste: thyme, sage, parsley, fennel greens
Pinch of Cayenne
Salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 350; cut pumpkin in half, place in baking pan cut side down, add 2 inches water. Bake until tender, about an hour. Cool to handle, discard seeds, scoop out flesh and chop up a bit if it's in large pieces. Set aside for now.

Now you could make a nice vegetable stock with the pumpkin shell, and the parings from the onions, fennel, and turnip. Cover with water in a large stock pot and simmer 15 minutes. While this cooks, you can chop and sauté the vegetables.

Dice the turnip, fennel bulb, and onion. Mince the garlic.

Heat olive oil in large soup pot, add onion, sauté 5 minutes; add the rest of the vegetables and sauté until fragrant and slightly browning. Add the salt, pepper, and seasonings. Stir around a couple of minutes, and then add in the pumpkin. Set a mesh strainer over the pot and very carefully pour in the vegetable stock. Simmer about 30 minutes, adding more stock or water as needed.

Verdict: Somewhat bland, definitely needs some kick and something to add some creaminess. I dumped in a nice big hunk of butter and that helped a lot but perhaps defeated the purpose of making a healthy soup. I'd make a horrible vegan. It would be much better with a nice rich homemade chicken stock.

SWEET SALAD TURNIPS WITH ORANGES

1 bunch white turnips, trimmed, halved and sliced
1 tsp salt
1 orange
Juice of 1 lemon
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ tsp harissa or other chile garlic paste
Salt
3 Tbs olive oil

Greens

Salt the turnip slices and set aside for 30 minutes. Drain and squeeze out the excess liquid. While the turnip is being salted, prepare the rest of the salad ingredients. Cut the rind off of the orange with a sharp knife. Cut into chunks. Blend together the lemon juice, garlic, harissa, salt to taste, and olive oil. Toss turnips, orange and dressing with greens.

After we eat, we'll head out to get the real stuff....candy! I hope to have some pictures to post.