peppers Tag

The sugar cube cantaloupes are full of flavor and offer a unique spin on this salsa recipe.  It combines the tasty cantaloupe with red onion, garlic, yellow pepper, cherry tomatoes, and hot pepper in a refreshing summer salsa.

Cantaloupe Salsa

Ingredients:
2 cups cantaloupe, cubed
½ cup red onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 yellow pepper (stem and seeds removed), chopped
1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 small hot pepper (seeds and flesh removed), finely chopped
1 lime (juiced), plus 1 tsp zest
1 tsp sea salt

  • Prepare all produce.
  • Place cantaloupe, red onion, garlic, yellow pepper, cherry tomatoes, hot pepper, lime juice, lime zest, and sea salt into a large bowl. Mix well.
  • Serve with chips or as a topping for fish or chicken.
  • Refrigerate in an airtight container.

Recipe and photos by Stephanie Borzio.  Stephanie is a mom of three active boys and is an autoimmune warrior.  After battling her own health for several years, Stephanie found healing through food and lifestyle changes, including joining Blooming Glen Farm CSA of which she is a long time member.  She is a Board Certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach who is passionate about sharing healthy living tips and real food recipes.  Instagram and Facebook: Tru You Essentials; Website: www.truyouessentials.com

A simple pasta salad is a great side to any grilled meal.  It also is a delicious addition to lunches or picnics.  This recipe is versatile and you can change the vegetables you use in the salad based on what is available at the farm.

Summer Pasta Salad

Ingredients:
12-16 ounces cooked pasta
1 pint cherry tomatoes, cut in half
2 kirby cucumbers peeled and sliced
2 cubanelle peppers, diced
¼ cup chopped fresh basil
½ cup avocado or olive oil
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp sea salt
½ tsp black pepper
1 tsp honey (optional)

  • Cook pasta according to instructions and allow to cool. Place in large bowl.
  • Once pasta is cooled, add tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and basil.
  • In small bowl, combine oil, balsamic vinegar, apple cider vinegar, garlic, salt, pepper, and honey (if using). Mix well.  Pour over pasta and vegetables.  Toss to coat.
  • Enjoy immediately or refrigerate and serve later.

Recipe and photos by Stephanie Borzio.  Stephanie is a mom of three active boys and is an autoimmune warrior.  After battling her own health for several years, Stephanie found healing through food and lifestyle changes, including joining Blooming Glen Farm CSA of which she is a long time member.  She is a Board Certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach who is passionate about sharing healthy living tips and real food recipes.  Instagram and Facebook: Tru You Essentials; Website: www.truyouessentials.com

 

The fall is typically a time where we shift into new routines.  We juggle school, work, children’s activities, and sporting events.  As a family of 5, we often find ourselves moving in different directions, but still enjoy eating together at least a couple of times a week.  This meal is full of flavor and is fast and easy, so it’s perfect for a quick, but healthy dinner.  I actually like to double the recipe so that we have leftovers throughout the week for lunches.

Sheet Pan Fajitas

Ingredients:
1 ½ lbs boneless chicken breasts, thinly sliced
2 onions, sliced
4 peppers (green bell peppers or sweet peppers), stem/seeds removed and sliced
3 Tbsp olive or avocado oil
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp sea salt
¼ tsp ground cumin

  • Preheat oven to 375°F.
  • Place sliced chicken, onions, and peppers in large bowl. Add oil and toss to coat.

  • In small bowl, mix all of the spices. Sprinkle over chicken and vegetables.  Mix well to evenly distribute.
  • Place on large baking sheet.
  • Bake for 25 minutes.

  • Serve in wraps or on top of rice. Top with homemade salsa (see recipe for End of Summer Salsa), guacamole (see recipe below), sour cream, and shredded cheese.
  • Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up a week.

 

Guacamole
4 ripe avocados
1 lime, juiced + 1 tsp zest
1 tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
½ jalapeno, seeds/membranes removed and finely chopped
½ medium onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 medium tomato, seeds removed and finely chopped
1 Tbsp fresh cilantro, finely chopped (optional)

Scoop the avocado pulp into a large bowl.  Mash with a fork.  Add lime juice, lime zest, salt, and pepper.  Mix well.  In a small bowl, combine jalapeno, onion, garlic, tomatoes, and cilantro (if using).  Add to avocado mixture and fold in.  Serve with fajitas, tacos, nachos, or just with chips or veggies.

 

Recipe and photos by Stephanie Borzio.  Stephanie is a mom of three active boys and is an autoimmune warrior.  After battling her own health for several years, Stephanie found healing through food and lifestyle changes, including joining Blooming Glen Farm CSA of which she is a long time member.  She is a Board Certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach who is passionate about sharing healthy living tips and real food recipes.  Instagram and Facebook: Tru You Essentials; Website: www.truyouessentials.com

This recipe is inspired by a salsa my son and I enjoyed this summer.  We were determined to recreate it.  The beautiful, big peaches in the fruit share from North Star Orchard are the stars in this recipe.  But the jalapenos, sweet peppers, sweet onions, garlic and cilantro from the farm enhance the flavor and combine to make a delicious, summer treat.

Peach Salsa

Ingredients:
1-2 jalapeno peppers (stem, seeds, and membranes removed)*
3 cloves garlic
½ sweet onion, roughly chopped
1 sweet pepper (stem, seeds, and membranes removed)
2 Tbsp fresh cilantro
4 cups peaches, diced (skin can be kept on)
½ lime
1 ½ tsp sea salt
¼ tsp black pepper
1 Tbsp white vinegar

  • Place jalapeno, garlic, onion, sweet pepper, and cilantro in food processor. Pulse a few times and then scrape the sides.  Pulse again until well chopped and then place in a large bowl.
  • Add diced peaches to the bowl.**
  • Zest and juice the lime into the bowl.

  • Add salt, pepper, and vinegar to the bowl. Mix well.
  • Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes before serving.
  • Can be served with chips or as a topping for a grilled protein. This salsa pairs really well with fish and pork.

*Use just one jalapeno if you want a mild salsa.  Go with two if you would like a spicier version.  For more spice, leave the seeds and membranes on! Or try a different hot pepper variety of your preference.

**You can also grill the peaches first for a sweeter roasted flavor! Just halve and brush with a little oil. Peach salsa is also delicious made with peaches and tomatoes. Experiment and see what you like!

 

Recipe and photos by Stephanie Borzio.  Stephanie is a mom of three active boys and is an autoimmune warrior.  After battling her own health for several years, Stephanie found healing through food and lifestyle changes, including joining Blooming Glen Farm CSA of which she is a long time member.  She is a Board Certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach who is passionate about sharing healthy living tips and real food recipes.  Instagram and Facebook: Tru You Essentials; Website: www.truyouessentials.com

Grilling during the summertime keeps the heat of cooking out the kitchen.  I have been wanting to create a grilled pizza recipe for a while and this one does not disappoint.  While it takes a little time to prepare all of the ingredients, it is a versatile recipe that can serve as a base for you to try all different kinds of pizzas!  Keep it simple with a roasted tomato sauce and freshly grated cheese from our cheese shares or top it with a homemade pesto and a little ricotta.  You can even slice up the peppers, onions, garlic, or other vegetables from our shares and create a veggie lover pizza.  Grilled pizza is amazing- cooking the crust directly on the grill grates gives it a fantastic texture and topping the pizzas with farm fresh ingredients creates an explosion of summertime flavors.

Grilled Pizza

*This recipe makes 4 personal size pizzas.

Ingredients:
2 lbs pizza dough**
3 Tbsp olive oil or avocado oil
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
½ tsp sea salt
¼ tsp black pepper
½ tsp oregano

Pizza toppings of choice:

Prepare all pizza toppings first. Sauté or roast vegetables.  Make sauce or pesto.  Slice or grate cheese.  If using meat, make sure it is precooked.  Once you begin cooking, this goes very quickly, so you want to have everything prepared and ready to go.

  • Mix all spices together in a small bowl.
  • Preheat grill to medium heat- you want it about 400°F.
  • Split pizza dough into four equal balls. Roll each ball out onto a floured surface.  You can either create round pizzas (measuring about 8 inches in diameter) or oval pizzas (measuring about 10 inches long).

  • Lay your rolled dough on a flat surface- a cookie sheet or cutting board works great.
  • Brush each side with oil and sprinkle with the spice mix.
  • Place dough on the grill grates. Grill for 3-4 minutes or until you see nice grill marks on the underside of the dough.

  • Remove from grill.

  • With the grilled side up, add toppings of choice.

  • Place back on the grill and cook for an additional 4-5 minutes.
  • Remove from grill. Slice and serve.

**You can make your own homemade pizza dough or use your favorite store bought one.  For those that are gluten free, I was able to find a frozen gluten free dough that was wonderful at Kimberton Whole Foods!

Recipe and photos by Stephanie Borzio.  Stephanie is a mom of three active boys and is an autoimmune warrior.  After battling her own health for several years, Stephanie found healing through food and lifestyle changes, including joining Blooming Glen Farm CSA of which she is a long time member.  She is a Board Certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach who is passionate about sharing healthy living tips and real food recipes.  Instagram and Facebook: Tru You Essentials; Website: www.truyouessentials.com

With the heat and humidity we are experiencing this week, I wanted to create an easy recipe that did not require cooking.  Farm fresh cucumbers and tomatoes combined with a few other ingredients create this fresh versatile salsa.  It is a beautiful array of colors and the flavors burst with each bite.  Serve it as a snack or make it part of your main meal.  Regardless of how you choose to showcase this dish, it is sure to please everyone.

 

Cucumber Salsa

Ingredients:
2 Kirby cucumbers, diced
1 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped (*adjust to your heat tolerance, any variety hot peppers can be used)
1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered
Juice and zest from 1 lime
2 Tbsp fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1 medium sweet pepper, seeded and diced
½ sweet onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp sea salt
¼ tsp black pepper

  • Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.
  • Mix to combine.
  • Best if allowed to marinate for at least 30 minutes before serving.
  • Serve with chips, as a topping for grilled fish, with tacos, etc.

Recipe and photos by Stephanie Borzio.  Stephanie is a mom of three active boys and is an autoimmune warrior.  After battling her own health for several years, Stephanie found healing through food and lifestyle changes, including joining Blooming Glen Farm CSA of which she is a long time member.  She is a Board Certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach who is passionate about sharing healthy living tips and real food recipes.  Instagram and Facebook: Tru You Essentials; Website: www.truyouessentials.com

What a beautiful bounty we have this week in our CSA shares!  We certainly won’t have any trouble eating the rainbow as we incorporate all of the amazing produce from the farm.  This week’s recipe highlights the cubanelle and sweet peppers we received, but also incorporates the sweet onion, tomatoes, corn, and basil from our shares.  Enjoy!

Stuffed Peppers with Creamy Avocado Sauce

Ingredients:
6 cubanelle or sweet peppers (or add in a poblano for the heat lovers in your household)
1 Tbsp olive oil or avocado oil
½ sweet onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb ground turkey or ground beef**
1 cup chopped tomatoes (I used cherry tomatoes, but use whatever kind you have on hand)
2 ears corn
½ tsp sea salt
¼ tsp black pepper
Creamy avocado sauce (recipe below)

  • Preheat oven to 350°F.
  • Lay peppers lengthwise. Cut off the top third of the pepper and remove the seeds.  Dice the pepper pieces that you just removed and set aside.

  • Place oil in frying pan and heat. Sauté onion for 3 minutes on medium heat.  Add garlic and cook for another minute.
  • Add ground turkey or ground beef and cook through, about 6-8 minutes.
  • Remove corn kernels from the cobs.
  • When meat is cooked through, add corn and diced peppers. Cook for 2 minutes.
  • Puree half of the tomatoes.
  • Add chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, salt, and pepper to meat mixture. Mix to incorporate and remove from heat.
  • Place peppers in baking dish and fill with meat mixture.
  • Bake for 25 minutes.
  • Drizzle with creamy avocado sauce before serving.

**For a vegetarian or vegan option, eliminate ground turkey/beef and replace with 2 cups cooked quinoa.  Sauté the onions and garlic as noted above and then add the quinoa.  Then add the corn and diced peppers and follow the remainder of the steps.

Creamy Avocado Sauce

Ingredients:
1 avocado, peeled and seed removed
1 ½ Tbsp lemon juice
1 clove garlic
1 Tbsp olive oil
¼ tsp sea salt
1 Tbsp fresh basil
½ cup water
** optional- add a ¼ to ½ a jalapeno to taste for extra kick. Remove seeds and inner flesh for less heat.

  • Place all ingredients in blender. Blend until smooth.
  • If sauce is too thick, add a little bit more water.
  • Store in airtight container in the refrigerator.


Recipe and photos by Stephanie Borzio.  Stephanie is a mom of three active boys and is an autoimmune warrior.  After battling her own health for several years, Stephanie found healing through food and lifestyle changes, including joining Blooming Glen Farm CSA of which she is a long time member.  She is a Board Certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach who is passionate about sharing healthy living tips and real food recipes. 
Instagram and Facebook: Tru You Essentials; Website: www.truyouessentials.com

Cherry tomatoes, plum tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, and beefsteak tomatoes… oh my!  There are so many amazing things we can do with tomatoes.  They can be the star of a meal or a delicious side.  Eat them as is, add them to salads, can them, make sauce, or create this delicious soup.

Roasted Tomato Soup with Basil Oil and Fried Zucchini Noodles

Ingredients:
3.5- 4 lbs fresh tomatoes
2 medium onions, peeled and quartered
1 pepper (green bell or sweet cubanelle), halved and seeds removed
1 medium summer squash (zucchini or yellow squash), roughly chopped
6 cloves garlic, with skin on
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp sea salt
½ tsp black pepper
6 basil leaves
Basil oil (recipe below)
Fried zucchini spirals (recipe below)

  • Preheat oven to 400°F.
  • Slice tomatoes into quarters or eighths if they are really big.
  • Place tomatoes, onions, pepper, summer squash and garlic in a large bowl. Add olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Toss to coat.
  • Place tomato mixture on baking sheet.

  • Roast for 25-30 minutes. Vegetables should be fork tender.
  • Allow to cool for a few minutes. Remove the skin from the garlic cloves.
  • Transfer mixture to blender, including juices on baking sheet. Add basil.  Process until smooth.  You may need to process in two batches.
  • Serve immediately or place in large saucepan and reheat later.
  • To serve, ladle soup into bowls. Drizzle on basil oil and top with fried zucchini spirals.
  • Soup can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week. It also freezes well.

Basil Oil

Ingredients:
¼ cup basil leaves, packed
2 Tbsp olive oil
Pinch sea salt

  • Place boiling water in a bowl. Quickly blanch basil leaves (about 10 seconds) and then pat dry.
  • In food processor or blender, combine basil leaves, salt, and olive oil. Process well.

Fried Zucchini Spirals

Ingredients:
½ zucchini
½ cup avocado or coconut oil
Sea salt

  • Spiralize zucchini. If you don’t have a spiralizer, you can thinly slice strips of zucchini.  Place between paper towels to remove some of the water.
  • Heat oil in small saucepan.
  • When oil is hot, fry zucchini. Place one spiral in the oil to make sure it is hot enough.  Process the spirals in small batches for about 6 minutes each.  When done, the zucchini spirals should be crunchy.
  • Lay on paper towels and sprinkle with sea salt.

Recipe and photos by Stephanie Borzio.  Stephanie is a mom of three active boys and is an autoimmune warrior.  After battling her own health for several years, Stephanie found healing through food and lifestyle changes, including joining Blooming Glen Farm CSA of which she is a long time member.  She is a Board Certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach who is passionate about sharing healthy living tips and real food recipes.  Instagram and Facebook: Tru You Essentials; Website: www.truyouessentials.com

Fresh organic produce is a staple in our home.  We are so grateful during CSA season because Blooming Glen Farm provides us with an amazing array of vegetables.  I really love creating colorful dishes that are full of flavor and this salad is one of my personal favorites.  Just be sure to carve out a little time for all of the chopping that this salad requires!

Zoodle Salad

Salad Ingredients:
2 zucchini- spiralized *
2 carrots- peeled and julienned
2 sweet peppers- julienned
3/4 cup cabbage- finely chopped
1-2 green onions- chopped
1 cucumber- peeled, seeds removed and julienned
1-2 Tbsp sesame seeds

Dressing Ingredients:
6 Tbsp avocado oil
3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1-2 tsp raw honey
4 Tbsp coconut aminos (can sub soy sauce if you want)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp freshly grated ginger

Combine all salad ingredients in large bowl.  Combine dressing ingredients in small bowl and mix well.  Pour dressing over salad and toss to coat.  Allow 15-20 minutes for veggies to marinate before serving.  This salad is best eaten the day it is made, so I recommend only dressing what you will eat.

*I love spiralizing my zucchini and making “zoodles” out of them.  But if you do not own a spiralizer, you can use a mandolin or a vegetable peeler to create more of a linguini “zoodle”.

**I added chicken to this salad.  I made an extra batch of dressing and marinated a few pastured chicken breasts in it.  After cooking the chicken, I thinly sliced them and added to the salad.

Recipe and photos by Stephanie Borzio.  Stephanie is a mom of three active boys and is an autoimmune warrior.  After battling her own health for several years, Stephanie found healing through food and lifestyle changes, including joining Blooming Glen Farm CSA of which she is a long time member.  She is a Board Certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach who is passionate about sharing healthy living tips and real food recipes. Instagram and Facebook: Tru You EssentialsWebsite: www.truyouessentials.com

Farro is an ancient grain, similar in appearance to rice, but with a more nutty nuanced flavor and a chewy texture. To prepare whole grain farro you need to think ahead and soak the grains overnight, but you can cheat and get the semi-pearled variety, which cooks in 15-25 minutes, and is available at most grocery stores and whole foods stores. Whole farro retains all the grain’s nutrients; with semipearled part of the bran has been removed but still contains some fiber.

I fell in love with farro after making this one-pan farro with tomato dish from Smitten Kitchen. If you aren’t familiar with the blog Smitten Kitchen, you should be! Her seasonal recipes that highlight the delicious flavors of farm fresh veggies always impress me- it is super easy to search her site by ingredient, and pull up lots of ideas. You can choose a simple recipe like the one pan farro and tomatoes, or get a little more ambitious, like this delicious zucchini galette I made with our zucchini and some farmers market ricotta from Fulper Farms (they have a stand at the Wrightstown Farmers Market on Saturday’s). And don’t get me started on Smitten Kitchen’s desserts!

So when I saw the first harvest of our giant green bell peppers, I knew I wanted to stuff them with some sort of farro mixture. I brought 3 cups of water to boil and threw in a cup of farro and simmered it until the grains were the texture I wanted (chewy but not mushy), about 30 minutes. Some people say to simmer covered, I did it uncovered but had to add water periodically as it cooked off, so covered is probably a better bet (or start with more water and simmer gently).

In a large saucepan I sautéed in olive oil 4 cloves of garlic and one thinly sliced onion (you could use a sweet onion or the red torpedo’s). Then I added in a chopped tomato (or two), about a cup of leftover cooked corn kernels from our dinner the night before (cut off the cob). I also diced up a chicken breast from Hershberger Heritage, also leftover from grilling the evening before, and threw in a handful of chopped basil. Then I added most, but not all of the cooked and drained farro.  I simmered everything until the juices from the tomato were running.

Meanwhile, I cut two bell peppers in half lengthwise, seeding and coring them, being careful not to pierce the walls of the pepper. I also cut the tops off of some poblano peppers. The peppers went into a steamer basket for 15 minutes. Let cool enough to handle and carefully lay out on a cookie tray. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Spoon the farro mixture into the pepper halves, and stuff into the poblanos. Sprinkle with grated parmesan and mozzarella (or whatever cheese you have on hand). Bake for 20-25 minutes until cheese is melting and peppers are slightly browned. You can really improvise with the ingredients and scale depending on how many peppers you are stuffing and what you have on hand. Removing the seeds of the poblanos does reduce their heat, but I noticed that the membrane that the seeds are attached to is very hot, so as we got closer to the tip of the pepper, we were in for some delicious heat. You can either try to remove this membrane better than I did, or save the poblanos for those in your family who like that smoky heat.

Serve with a tossed salad- chopped romaine, cucumbers, grated carrots (and a glass of white wine?). Delicious!

Post and photos by Tricia Borneman, Blooming Glen farmer and co-owner.  Tricia and her husband Tom have been farming together since 2000. Blooming Glen Farm is celebrating its 11th season bringing high quality certified organic vegetables, herbs, fruits and cut flowers to our local community.