Menu: A Seasonal Veggie Extravaganza

Last night we hosted a Sister Somalia dinner party to raise funds and awareness for victims of gender-based violence in Somalia.  You can (and I hope you will) read more about Sister Somalia here, and more about why we felt it was so important to focus on local food sources here.  Almost everything that we put on the table was from our gardens, BUG Farms in Salt Lake, or the local farmers market.

But this is a recipe blog, so let me focus in on that part!  There are so many recipes here that I think I will just link to the other places you can find similar recipes online, rather than typing or cutting/pasting them all out.

Here's the menu that we came up with, and prepared with lots of help from family and friends:

Appetizers

Tomato-basil-kalamata bruschetta
Crostinis with carrot butter and radish microgreens
Crostinis with garlicky beet greens and crispy lentils
Watermelon-mint agua fresca (no sugar necessary!)

Main course:

Scarlet barley with beets, lemon and dill
Roasted potato salad with fresh corn, heirloom cherry tomatoes, lemon and basil
Grilled kale, red peppers, crookneck squash, baby bok choy, pattypan squash, eggplant, and zucchini (grilled simply with olive oil and salt)
Garden salad with balsamic vinaigrette

And for dessert we made coconut-lemon cupcakes with lemon zest glaze, but they all got eaten before we had a chance to take a photo!

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You'll notice I didn't put a link on the crostinis with beet greens and crispy lentils... that's because we made that one up entirely.  Here's how you do it.

Wash beet greens thoroughly and chop the stems and leaves.  Put a couple teaspoons of oil in a big saucepan, then sautee lots of garlic in the oil.  (I used about 6 cloves of garlic.)  Put the beet greens in with a little bit of water and a tablespoon of soy sauce.  Cook them until they are soft and silky.  Taste for seasoning; you will probably want to add salt and pepper, and maybe a squeeze of lime for some extra kick.

For the lentils, soak green lentils in water for 4-6 hours. Then take them out of the water and sprinkle them with salt and pepper.  Put a tablespoon of olive oil in a pan and add the lentils.  Cook them in the hot oil (avoid stirring too much), until they become brown and crispy.

To assemble, just put a spoonful of beet greens onto the thinly-sliced crostini, then put a few lentils on top.