"The thought that we can do great things isn't a crazy thought.  It's a reasonable thought."
                           Dal LaMagna

In no particular order, here are some recipes you can try.
Remember, if you use olive oil, vinegar,or other item from beyond 100 miles, they will count as Marco Polo items. In this challenge, you get 4 Marco Polo items, plus all spices, salt and leavening. See challenge for guidelines.

Potato Gnocchi – from Elaine MacCardel
(in case you’re out of local pasta, this is an easier recipe than you might think!)

2 potatoes, medium sized
2 egg yolks
2 cups flour

Bake potatoes until tender. Let cool slightly, then remove skins.

Press potatoes through a ricer into a bowl. (if you don’t have a ricer, mash as best you can with a fork). Add egg yolks, while potatoes are still warm, and then begin adding flour until you have a nice soft dough than is not too sticky. Divide dough into 3 pieces.

Roll one section of dough onto a floured surface into a one inch thick rope (think playdough snakes from kindergarten). With pastry scraper or knife, cut dough into one inch pieces. Place on a floured towel. Repeat with rest of dough.

Bring large pot of salted water to boil. Add gnocchi, in batches, and simmer until they float to top. Cook for one minute more, then remove with a slotted spoon. Serve with tomato sauce. (serves 4)


Pepperonata – from Elaine MacCardel

2 red peppers
2 yellow peppers
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt & pepper

Peel skin from peppers as best you can with sharp vegetable peeler. Cut off tops & scoop out seeds. Cut into long slices. Place peppers and garlic into any oven proof pan or pot with a lid (or cover well with aluminum foil). Toss with salt & pepper. Roast at 300 degrees for 90 minutes. Remove lid and increase temperature to 350 degrees. Roast for 15-20 minutes more, until juices evaporate and peppers carmelize a bit.
Serve as a side dish or topping for grilled bread or pizza.


Easy Biscuits – from Lisa Hamm

2 cups flour (white, whole wheat, or spelt: you decide or mix them together)
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons butter or cooking oil
¾ - 1 cup milk (depends on flour and weather)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Sift or stir dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Cut in butter with a fork until the butter is in small pieces (or stir oil in with a fork until it’s well mixed. Slowly add milk in, about ¼ cup at a time. Stir it up before adding next ¼ cup of milk. As soon as the dough mostly stays together in a ball, stop adding the milk. You want the dough to stay together but not be sticky.

Now turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Either roll out with a rolling pin or gently flatten with your hands, patting it out to about ¾ inch thick. Cut with any cookie cutter shape, or just cut into squares or diamonds with a knife. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Put them close together if you want them soft, farther apart for crusty biscuits. Bake about 12-15 minutes. (Makes 10-15 biscuits, depending on size)

Biscuit Cobbler – from Lisa Hamm

½ batch of biscuit dough
1-2 quarts of fresh fruit (berries, apples, pears)
-For berries, add about ½ cup water and sugar as needed.
-For apples or pears, dice the fruit, add 1 cup water or apple cider plus ½ cup sugar and a dash of cinnamon. Cook in microwave for 2-3 minutes to soften up the fruit, or heat on stove top until softened.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put fruit into ovenproof bowl or pyrex casserole. Pat out the biscuit dough until about ½ inch thick. Cut into strips or shapes. Lay on top of fruit. Cook 15-30 minutes until dough is starting to turn golden. Serve warm or cold.


Mashed Roots – from Lisa Hamm

1/2 pound potatoes
1 pound other roots (rutabagas, parsnips, turnips)

Peel and chop vegetables. Put “other roots” into a pot of cold water and bring to a boil. Cook about 10-15 minutes, then add potatoes to pot and cook another 5-10 minutes. Cook until soft enough that a fork goes in the pieces easily.

Drain, reserving about a cup of the cooking water, and mash. Add butter or oil if desired. Salt and Pepper to taste. Add a bit of the cooking water as needed to get texture you like.

Roasted Tomatoes – From Deborah Madison’s “Local Flavors” cookbook

1 ½ pounds paste tomatoes (or any non-juicy varieties you find at the market or garden)
2-3 Tablespoons oil
Salt U pepper
1 teaspoon chopped herbs (oregano, thyme, basil, parsley, etc.)
1 garlic clove, minced

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Lightly oil a large shallow baking dish. Slice the tomatoes in half lengthwise (top to bottom). Set them cut side up in the dish. Brush cut sides with a bit more oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, herbs, and garlic. Bake uncovered for 2 hours. Check after 1 hour; drizzle a bit more oil on if they look dry. Either use right a way on pasta or as a side dish. Or store in freezer for winter soups and stews!

White Beans with Kale & Cabbage – From Deborah Madison’s “Local Flavors”

1 cup dried Michigan navy beans, soaked for 4 hours or overnight
Salt & pepper
1 large onion, diced
2 leeks, white parts only, diced
1 bunch kale, leaves stripped from stems and then slivered
1 small savoy cabbage, quartered, cored, then chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup chopped parsley,
2 tablespoons oil

Drain the soaked beans, then put in a pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, add ½ teaspoon salt, then lower heat and simmer, partially covered until the beans are tender about 90 minutes (you can do this one day, then cook the rest of recipe next day).

While beans are cooking, chop all vegetables. Rinse the leeks, kale, and cabbage, but don’t dry them. Warm 2 Tablespoons oil in a heavy, wide, skillet. Add onion and leeks and cook over medium-low heat until soft, but not yet brown, about 12 minutes. Add kale, cabbage, garlic, parsley, and 2 teaspoons salt. Cook on low and cover pan until vegetables are soft, about 30 minutes.

Drain beans, reserving 1-2 cups of their cooking liquid. Add beans to the skillet. Add some of the liquid as needed. Stir and simmer until greens are completely tender.

Zucchini Carpaccio -- from Elaine MacCardel

2 yellow zucchini or small yellow squash
2 green zucchini
Olive oil, Vinegar, Salt & Pepper

Shred zucchini with a cheese grater or any other tool that can make long, narrow shreds. Toss into a bowl with olive oil, a little vinegar, and salt & pepper to taste.

Poor Man’s Caviar -- from Elaine MacCardel

1 medium eggplant
1 clove garlic
Salt & pepper
2 pinches allspice
Flat parsley
Oil
Bread

Preheat oven to 500 degrees
Cut 2-3 slits into one side of a whole eggplant. Place eggplant directly on oven rack, with slits facing up, so juices don’t run out. Roast until tender, about 20 minutes.

Using a sharp knife, carefully peel skin away from eggplant flesh. Add flesh and its juice to food processor and combine with garlic, allspice, salt and pepper to taste, and some parsley. Pulse the processor until a paste is formed; add a drizzle of olive oil. Transfer to serving dish. The seeds of the eggplant make it look like caviar. Serve with bread.

Italian Potato Salad – from Elaine MacCardel

Fresh Green beans (use whatever amounts your diners will need;
Potatoes, quartered use extra for leftovers)
Tomatoes, quartered, or cherry tomatoes, cut in half
Onions, sliced
Oil
Vinegar, Salt, and Pepper

Steam or boil potatoes until just tender, not mushy. Steam the green beans. Place potatoes in a large bowl while still warm. Add green beans, onions, tomatoes, salt & pepper. Toss with olive oil and vinegar to taste. It is even better the next day for lunch. Serve at room temperature, not too cold!

Farro Salad (Spelt) – from Elaine MacCardel

14 oz. farro or spelt (Whole grain)
3 yellow summer squash
3 zucchini
1 onion
1 red & 1 yellow bell pepper, cut into chunks
2 eggplants, cut into chunks
4 cloves of garlic
Oil
Salt & pepper
Vinegar
Fresh herbs (parsley, basil, oregano, etc.)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Soak the spelt in cold water for 20 minutes, then drain.

Slice the squash & zucchini into half moons (first slice in half long way, then cut across) and put them in a large roasting pan. Add remaining vegetables and the garlic. Toss with some olive oil until coated. Season with salt & pepper to taste. Roast in oven 30-40 mnutes, stirring the vegetables a few times until they are cooked through and a bit crispy. Sprinkle a little vinegar over the vegetables as soon as they come out of the oven, and set them aside to cool. When cool, put them on a large cutting board, add the fresh herbs, and chop everything finely.

Place the spelt in a large saucepan, cover with fresh cold water, and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes, or until tender. Drain well. Dress with olive oil, salt & pepper, and toss with the roasted vegetables.

Roasted Potatoes & Peppers – from Elaine MacCardel

1 red & 1 yellow bell pepper
1 small onion
2 cloves garlic
Several potatoes (any kind)
Oil
Salt & Pepper.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Remove seed from peppers. Cut into cubes. Cube potatoes. Dice the onions. Mince the garlic. Toss everything together in a large bowl with some olive oil and plenty of salt & pepper. Spread out on a baking sheet and roast for 30 minutes until potatoes are tender. Stir a couple of times while roasting.

If you have menus and recipes suitable for our area, we'd like to post them here. Just email them to info@lansingarealocalvores.org.

Have a Michigan Localvore blog?  Let us know and we'll link to it:  info@lansingarealocalvores.org