Progressive Pairing Pairing Party (that’s 4 P’s) (April 30)
April 30, 12pm - 4pm Taste the best of the scenic coast. Harmony Cellars, Cayucos Cellars, and of course, Moonstone Cellars, have joined forces for a Progressive Pairing Party! Visit all three wineries and try a delicious appetizer pairing with one of their featured wines. We will be showcasing our 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon along with some very unique tidbits from The Singing Kitchen. Pick up a ticket at any of the three wineries. Just $15/$12 for club members.

When you save vegetables to make soup broth, you keep the nutrients and good taste that might have been lost. It is never out of style to be thrifty and it takes no time.

Collect clean vegetable trimmings in a one gallon bag stored in the freezer. Good candidates are: spinach, kale or chard stems, parsley or cilantro stems, the ends of carrots, parsnip peelings, pea and bean trimmings, asparagus ends, any part of any squash (including skins and seeds), etc. Sometimes I even add apple cores and lemon and lime rinds.

Not good candidates: cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, bell pepper, artichoke trimmings. These will overcook quickly and add a bitterness or sulphuric taste.

Golden beets and their greens are okay. Red beet greens change the color.

When the bag is full, put the whole colorful ice cube in a large pot. I like to add, in large chunks:
1 or 2 whole potatoes
1 or 2 whole onions, with their skins
1 or 2 whole carrots, unpeeled if organic
Parsnip
Turnip, rutabaga, celery root, if you have them

Cover with cold water.

Add some seasoning: black peppercorns, turmeric for color, bay leaves, oregano, thyme. Do not add salt.
Also add a strip of kombu. Sea vegetables have a wealth of minerals, natural glutamic acid. Remove after broth comes to a boil.

Bring the broth to a boil, then remove the lid and keep at an active simmer for up to an hour. Turn off the broth and let sit until cool. Drain the broth, compost the vegetables, and store broth in glass jars the freezer or use within days. If freezing, don’t fill the jars all the way.

Thank you to Laurel’s Kitchen, for teaching me to make my own broth.

I love a powerful blender

On cold wintry days, a hearty soup is so grounding. Even better is a hearty soup made of things grown underground. Very rooting and comforting. In January, I can still go to the Farmers Market and was able to get celery root, sweet white potatoes, parsnips, carrot, golden beets, and rutabaga. Vegan, healthy, filling, delicious.

Seven pounder from my local grower

Maybe the most fun is popping the skins off the almonds before making the almond milk.

Or… making the noodles. I did not cook the noodles before baking the lasagnas. So, it was the last thing I did: make the noodles, assemble, and bake.

That way the pasta did not dry out.

It’s key to have a good peeler for a butternut squash. I like the Y-shaped ones and pull toward me as I work. I save the skins for soup broth.

The real excitement though, is dehydrating the basil. We loaded up the racks and ran the dehydrator very low for about 16 hours total and got fragrant, amazing dried basil. I already have a huge jar full and can’t wait to do more. Maybe I’ll get to dehydrate some tomatoes some day soon…

I have made this bread and it is wonderful.

http://adaba.wordpress.com/2009/03/01/sprouted-lemon-poppyseed-bars/

Instead of poppyseeds, I used chia seeds. Try it out and check out Julia’s other great recipes on her blog. Sprouted quinoa is delicious on its own as a snack, so try it! What a great and healthy food.