Recipe(s) of the Week featuring RAMPS!

You know it's officially spring when food bloggers, restaurants you follow on social media and farmers market patrons can't stop talking about ramps. Ramps, also known as spring onions, offer a unique aroma and flavor that is a cross between onion and garlic. This perennial wild onion has a white tuber, similar to a scallion, a burgundy stem and wide green leaves that resemble lily of the valley. In addition to their beauty, ramps offer a variety of usages. They can be used cooked or raw, just like an onion. Here are a few ramp recipes that caught our attention:

Breakfast Bowl with Ramps, Asparagus and Lemon Herb Sauce (via Sweet Paul)

Serves 4

• 4 thick slices of country style bread, cubed
• 12 stalks mini asparagus, cut in 3
• 12 ramps
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 bunch fresh parsley
• 1/2 bunch fresh mint
• 1 tablespoon toasted pine nuts + extra for serving
• juice from 1 lemon
• grated zest from 1 lemon
• pinch of red chili flakes
• 1/2 cup Olive oil
• 4 eggs
• vinegar

1. 1) Preheat oven to 380F.
2. 2) Place the bread, asparagus and ramps on a baking tray and drizzle with oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. 3) Bake until golden, about 12 minutes.
4. 4) Place herbs, pine nuts, lemon, chili and oil in a blender and blend until smooth. If its to thick just add a little more oil.
5. 5) Bring a pot of water to the boil and add a little vinegar, poach the eggs for 3 minutes.
6. 6) In a bowl start with the bread, then asparagus and ramps, then the egg, pine nuts and finish off with the lemon herb sauce.

Caramelized Ramps with Browned Butter (via Crepes of Wrath)

Serves 2-3 as a side

• 2 bunches ramps, cleaned well
• 2-3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• pinch red pepper flakes

1) Cleaning ramps is a bit of work, but it's worth it! Fill a large bowl with cold water, then place your ramps in the water. Swish them around to remove as much dirt as possible, then remove them from the bowl and give them a second rinse under running water to remove any remaining grit. Change the water and do the same with your second bunch of ramps. Place the ramps on a dry paper towel, then top with another paper towel and pat out as much water as possible

2) Clean the ramps by removing the tip of each stalk. Set aside (don't slice them - they're perfect as is).

3) In a heavy bottomed skillet, heat your butter over medium-high heat. Swirl around until browned and nutty, about 3-4 minutes. Add the ramps to the browned butter and cook over medium heat, turning occasionally, until the ramps are lightly charred and wilted. Serve with your favorite protein as a side, or enjoy them on their own.

Spring Vegetable Minestrone with Wild Ramp Pesto (via What's Cooking Good Looking)

Serves 2 for dinner or 4 as an appetizer

• 1 smallish fennell bulb (white + green parts), diced
• 1 medium spring onion (or white onion), diced
• 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• 6 cloves of garlic, sliced thin
• 1 white potato, peeled and diced
• 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon of salt (depending on how much salt you like - I err on more for soup)
• 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes (optional, for a kick)
• 1 teaspoon of dried thyme
• 2 cups of white (cannellini) beans (I found that a good quality -organic- canned bean worked well for this)
• 6 cups of water
• 3 handfuls of leafy greens (I used a somewhat exotic mix of baby kale, baby bok choy, and young broccoli, but you can use whatever leafy green you like and have available. Kale, spinach, swiss chad, regular bok choy would all work well)

For the Wild Ramp Pesto:

• about 10 ramps (white + green parts)  cleaned and diced
• 1/3 cup of almonds, lightly toasted
• the juice of 1/2 a lemon
• a small handful of arugula (optional, if you have some handy)
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• a few cracks of black pepper + a pinch of red pepper flakes
• 1/3-1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil

1) Get the soup started:

• In a large, heavy bottomed pot, heat the oil over medium heat and add the fennel and onion. Cook for several minutes until they have softened. 
• Then add the garlic, potato, salt, thyme, and red pepper flakes, stir, and cook for about 2-3 minutes. 
• Add the beans and the water, bring to a boil over medium heat and then reduce to a simmer. 
• Simmer for 60-90 minutes. 

2) While the soup is simmering, prepare the pesto:

• Add all of the ingredients for the pesto, except for the oil, to a food processor and pulse several times until the ingredients are finely chopped. 
• Then, add in the olive oil in a slow stream until it is emulsified. 
• Taste and adjust any seasoning as necessary. 

3) Finish the soup, and serve:

• After the soup has been simmering for a while, taste and make sure they flavors are to your liking. If it is too watery, let it simmer a bit longer to develop more flavors, but I usually find it is good after an hour. 
• Then, add the greens, and stir until they wilt. This should only take about 2-5 minutes. Remove the soup from the heat. 
• Then serve by ladling the soup into bowls and adding a spoonful (or more if you like) of the pesto on top. 
• This will keep well for several days in an air-tight container in the fridge. If you end up with extra pesto, you can store that as well for about 10 days. The pesto goes well on all sorts of things from bread, to eggs, or tossed with vegetables. 

The New Mom on the Block: Finding - and Fighting for - Balance

The New Mom on the Block: Finding – and Fighting for – Balance

By: Christie Koester, Growing Places Indy Operations Manager

This month, my first child turns one. Before I had my son, I prided myself on my ability to get things done, to multi-task, to meet deadlines, to focus on a project and carry it through to completion. These days? I’m pretty sure that, with all of the distractions and interjections that are par for the course when you have a small child, everything I do requires at least five separate steps to get it done. Most days, I’m lucky to manage a shower (and some days, the act of taking a shower also requires at least five steps). 

As a new mom, no one fully prepared me for the reality of being so busy caring for another human life and all that entails that the most basic things, like scrubbing your toilet more than once a month or cooking a nice meal or plucking your eyebrows, would fall to the wayside.

It’s no wonder, then, that balancing care of an infant with self-care, particularly as far as eating well is concerned, has been a challenge. My son eats an amazing variety of fresh, whole foods (and, thankfully, he loves his food). On any given day, his menu might include sweet potatoes, steel cut oatmeal, spinach and peas, lentils, yogurt and chicken and black bean soup, topped off with a “dessert” of pureed pumpkin, bananas and cinnamon. For fun, my husband and I make up fancy sounding names for what he’s eating, like, “Today, Little One dined on a late harvest medley with a roasted root fusion.” (That would be spinach and lentils with pureed beets and sweet potatoes. Fancy, right?). 

Meanwhile, what’s mama eating? Well, let’s not go there. Let’s just say, many days my son eats better than I do. It’s a constant battle.

Whether you have children or not, I think many people can relate to the urge take care of other things, responsibilities and people first. When work starts piling up, money stresses take over, relationship issues arise or other problems loom, taking care of yourself often falls to the wayside. For me, putting the effort into eating a healthy diet full of whole, fresh, local foods is often the first thing to go when I’m feeling out of balance.

So what can you do about it? After months of trial and (lots of) error, I’ve boiled my own self-care food routine down to three main points.

KEEP IT SIMPLE AND COOK AHEAD 

Cook things in bulk that are easy to freeze and easy to consume (sometimes with the use of just one hand, if you’re a new mom, too). You get extra points if the baby or others in your household will also eat it!

A few ideas for things to cook ahead or have on hand:

• Huevos Rancheros, Christie-Style – Having five chickens as backyard residents, we eat a lot of eggs in this house. We also regularly cook up big vats of dried black beans, which are also a cheap source of protein, then freeze them for later. For this particular dish, fry up a couple of eggs, and heat your black beans in a pot with lots of cumin and a dash of lime juice and red pepper. Smear your black beans across a couple of tortillas, top with fried eggs, and then add your favorite toppings (we love hot pickled or fresh peppers, fresh tomatoes, a little Greek yogurt, hot sauce, salt and pepper).
• No Soup for You! Just Kidding: Chili or Any Other Favorite Soup – What could be more comforting than a bowl of hot soup after a long day at the office or entertaining a teething baby? With any soup recipe, you can up the nutrient quotient by adding extra fresh veggies. Whenever we make chili, for instance, we add sliced carrots, sweet potatoes, corn, spinach… Anything we have on hand! As a bonus, Little One has never met a soup he doesn’t like. Picking up those black beans sure is great for a baby’s hand-eye coordination, too.
• “Everything but the Kitchen Sink” Roasted Root Vegetables – This is perhaps one of the simplest, tastiest dishes in our constant winter rotation. Mince some fresh garlic, cut whatever roasted root vegetables you have on hand into bite-sized cubes and toss in a baking dish with some olive oil and as many herbs as you can get your hands on (think rosemary, thyme, oregano and lots of pepper, or get creative with your own favorite spices). Bake at 375 degrees until tender, stirring every 15-20 minutes. Onion, sweet potatoes, carrots, potatoes, parsnips and beets are all delicious in this recipe. Eat them on their own, or for an extra tasty dinner, make a pizza with roasted root veggies as your main topping. So good!

SURROUND YOURSELF WITH WAY TOO MANY HEALTHY SNACKS

• Have on hand healthful, grab and go snacks. A lot of them. At all times. Can you tell this is the area in which I fail the most?
• For us, this would include apples, nuts, yogurt, cottage cheese, carrots or other raw veggies, hummus and cheese, but whatever whole, fresh foods tickle your fancy is what you should fill your kitchen with. You get extra points if your snacks were produced locally and are in season! Drop by the Indy Winter Farmers Market at the Platform at City Market downtown through April to get all your healthful snacking needs covered.
• White Bean Hummus – I’ve discovered that as long as there are hummus and fresh veggies in our fridge, life is okay. When you have a baby who won’t nap and looming work deadlines and your stomach is trying to eat itself with hunger, hummus can really save the day. The standard hummus recipe calls for chickpeas, but for a different taste, substitute white beans instead. 

BE NICE TO YOURSELF

• When things are really hectic? Cut yourself some slack, and recognize that tomorrow is a new day. In that same vein, though, keep your pantry stocked with easy-to-make comfort foods that actually nourish. A grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup, for instance, is good for what ails you at the end of a particularly long day, and it won’t make your body feel like it just binged on frozen pizza or Chinese food takeout. Because you didn’t!

When my son was a month old, I distinctly remember having no concept of how I would ever be able to do anything other than care for him again – knit, take the dog for a walk, care for our chickens, plant our garden, not to mention actually cook a real meal. Luckily, as he has grown more and more amazing and less dependent on me, we have begun to figure out how to get things done together. That isn’t to say that I’ve suddenly found balance in life; far, far from it. But by recognizing the things that are important to us – and finding balance between life stresses, other responsibilities and caring for yourself is certainly something that should be important to us all – we equip ourselves to better prioritize the things that really matter, like our own health and happiness.

I can’t wait for the day when my son and I can cook together, pick out what plants to grow in our garden and harvest vegetables all summer long. In the meantime, I’ll keep working to remember that, by finding and fighting for balance, I not only build my own health and happiness, but I also lead by example, helping my son to have a positive relationship with food. And what could be more important than that?

Christie Koester is the Operations Manager for Growing Places Indy. She completed the Summer Apprenticeship Program in 2013, while pregnant with her son, Willem. In addition to stocking up on great fresh, local foods for snacks at the Indy Winter Farmers Market, Growing Places Indy staff recommend stopping in for a juice or smoothie at the Natural Born Juicers on Mass Ave, and the newly opened R2Go at College and 11th, when looking for a quick, filling, nutritious snack or quick meal ingredients from local sources.

Recipe of the Week: Two-Potato Hash with Soft-Boiled Eggs (via A Couple Cooks)

Local food bloggers Sonja and Alex Overhiser of A Couple Cooks have created yet another IWFM inspired recipe. On the menu this time? Two-Potato Hash with Soft-Boiled Eggs. The ingredients for this brunch dish can all be found at the Indy Winter Farmers Market. The Overhisers used eggs and greens from Full Hand Farm and garnished their beautiful dish with microgreens from Growing Places Indy. 

To get the recipes for the full A Couple Cooks brunch spread, which includes Blood Orange and Quinoa Muffins with Crystalized Ginger-Thyme Butter and Blood Orange Rosemary Sparkling Water, visit their post here.

Two-Potato Hash with Soft-Boiled Eggs

by: a Couple Cooks

Makes: 4

What You Need

• 1 ¼ pound sweet potatoes
• 1 ¼ pound red skinned potatoes
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• Fresh ground pepper
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups tender greens
• Microgreens for garnish (optional)

What To Do

1. Preheat the oven to 450°F.
2. Wash the red skinned and sweet potatoes, removing any bad spots but leaving the peels on.
3. Small dice the potatoes. In a bowl, mix with 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and fresh ground pepper; mix thoroughly to combine. Pour the potatoes onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and roast for 30-35 minutes until slightly browned and cooked through, stirring once.
4. To prepare the soft boiled eggs, fill a saucepan with enough water to cover six eggs and bring to a boil. Once boiling, carefully lower the eggs into the water. Reduce the heat and gently simmer for 6 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, prepare a bowl with ice water. After 6 minutes, transfer the eggs to the bowl of water and allow to cool. Then gently peel the eggs.
6. When the potatoes are done, mix them with 2 cups greens and allow the heat to slightly wilt the greens.
7. To serve, place potatoes on a plate, then top with egg, a bit of kosher salt and pepper, and microgreens if desired.

Season Eating in Central Indiana, All Year Long

The December/January issue of Urban Times was delivered all over downtown Indianapolis neighborhoods last week. For those of you unaware, Growing Places Indy (the nonprofit behind IWFM) contributes an article each issue on a broad range of topics. Staying on topic for the holiday season, Liz Wertz, our social media strategist, wrote about the benefits of eating seasonal foods and how to prepare delicious, seasonal meals. Continue below to read the full article. A special thank you to A Couple Cooks, a local blog, for contributing one of their many delicious recipes to our piece.

Seasonal Eating in Central Indiana, All Year Long

As terms such as “locavore,” “foodie,” and “slow food” become more prevalent in everyday conversation, I think it is safe to say the trend of eating whole, fresh, locally sourced foods is on more and more people’s minds. After spending my summer as a Growing Places Indy apprentice and now as an employee, my grasp of the local food system and my love for sustainability has grown; however, this growing emphasis on eating local is not just for the crunchy, free spirited generation. There are plenty of reasons why we should all, as an urban community in an ever-improving Indianapolis, take a closer look at where our food comes from and explore the benefits of eating local, fresh foods.

Just think about the impact you can have on carbon emissions by eating food that is grown near you. When food travels tens of miles instead of thousands of miles on trucks, planes, or boats to get to your plate, carbon emissions are greatly reduced. Another reason to eat locally is the tremendously positive community impact created by sourcing local foods. Farmers market patrons develop relationships with growers and producers, which cycles money spent on food directly back into our own community.  Finally, when your food is grown near you, you know it is in season when you buy it!

Seasonal foods are picked at the peak of their freshness. This freshness provides higher nutritional content and flavor. Just ponder for a second, which tastes better: a deep red tomato picked from your backyard garden, still hot from the summer sun, or a hard, mealy tomato you pick up at a mass grocery store in the winter? Exactly: the juicy, summer tomatoes are the winners all the way! This is because in Central Indiana, garden- and farm-grown tomatoes hit their peak in the summer. Many people believe their options for eating seasonally year-round here in Indianapolis are too limited by the weather as the winter months blow in. A visit to the Indy Winter Farmers Market, though, should convince you otherwise and open up a whole new world of seasonal eating. Come peruse all the wonderful produce that our area farmers grow all winter long.

If better flavor, nutrients, and relationships still have not convinced you to eat seasonally, perhaps the fact that eating what is in season locally is better for your wallet and the local economy! If a crop is in season locally, that means there is more of the crop available. It is also important to note that buying local, seasonal food directly supports the growers and producers in our community. Instead of giving your money to big box stores, shopping for seasonal produce at farmers markets and other direct farm-to-consumer networks sends your money directly back into your own community.

Now that you are (hopefully) convinced to give seasonal eating a go this winter, here is a list of vegetables and fruits you can devour in the coming months and a few festive recipes to enjoy at

upcoming holiday parties:

• Beets
• Brussels sprouts
• Carrots
• Greens (arugula, cabbage, kale, lettuce mix, spinach, Swiss chard)
• Kohlrabi
• Micro-greens
• Potatoes
• Radishes
• Turnips
• Winter Squash

Growing Places Indy Farm Manager Tyler’s Easy & Festive Brussels Sprouts

• 2 c Brussels sprouts, thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• Pepper to taste 

1) Heat olive oil in skillet. Add onions, sauté for approximately 5 minutes.

2)  Add Brussels sprouts and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3) Add soy sauce, stir and cover for 5 minutes.

4) Add pepper and serve!

Roasted Acorn Squash with Wild Rice Pistachio Stuffing

*Recipe courtesy of A Couple Cooks, a local blog from writer and photographer husband and wife team, Sonja and Alex Overhiser.

•  4 acorn squash
• 1 ½ c wild rice
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 shallot
• 1 bunch kale
•  3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 4 oz crumbled feta cheese
• 1/3 c pistachios, chopped

1) Preheat oven to 450F.

2) In a medium pot, add 1 ½ c wild rice, 4 ½ c water, and a few pinches of kosher salt; bring to a boil, then simmer for about 45 minutes until tender. Drain any remaining liquid from the pot.

3)  Meanwhile, chop each of the acorn squash in half and then in quarters. Using a spoon, scrape out the guts and seeds. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the squash on the sheet and drizzle with olive oil on the cut sides; sprinkle with kosher salt and pepper. Turn cut side down on the sheet and roast until tender, about 40 minutes.

4) While squash roasts, finely dice garlic cloves and shallot. Cut the kale into thin strips (chiffonade). In a large skillet, heat 1 to 1 ½ tbsp. olive oil; add garlic and shallot and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes until the shallots are soft. Then add the kale and sauté for about 2 to 3 additional minutes until the kale is tender and bright green. Turn off the heat and stir in the rice, 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp kosher salt, and fresh ground pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning if desired.

5)  To serve, place squash quarters on plate. Top with wild rice stuffing, then sprinkle with feta and chopped pistachios. (Alternatively, feta and pistachios can be mixed into the wild rice stuffing).

All of these seasonal crops, free-range, hormone free meats, and much more can be found at specialty groceries like Indy Food Co-op Pogue’s Run Grocers and the Indy Winter Farmers Market (IWFM). The IWFM runs Saturdays through April 25^th from 9 am-12:30 pm in the Platform, located in the west end of the Indianapolis City Market. Open up a wintery world of possibilities in your own kitchen this winter by making a commitment to seasonal eating! Happy holidays from everyone at Growing Places Indy!

Slow-Cooked Stewing Hen Recipe

Chase away the winter blues with this yummy recipe from Brown Family Farm!

Slow-Cooked Stewing Hen

1 stewing hen

2 medium onions, skin-on, quartered

2 Tbs sea salt

15-20 whole peppercorns

1 splash raw cider vinegar

Water to fill crock slow-cooker to halfway

Quarter whole onion, leaving skin on. Put onions in bottom of slow cooker. Cut up hen, if desired, or if necessary to fit into crockpot. Place stewing hen in crock pot. Sprinkle salt, peppercorns and cider vinegar into crockpot. Fill crockpot approximately half way full. Meat should be falling from the bone after 10-11 hours on high.

Use tongs to remove chicken to plate. After cooling, pick meat from carcass and return bones, skin and fat to crockpot. Use meat for chicken salad, curries, soups, burritos or enchiladas.

Winter Root Puree Recipe

Winter root vegetables are showing up again at the IWFM! Arriving in large quantities just last week, the carrots were beautiful and plentiful, beets are round and plump, and sweet potatoes are ready to roll! Wondering how to use them all? Get one more meal from your grill before winter sets in with a great recipe from Chef JJ's Back Yard in Broad Ripple.

Winter Root Puree
Serving size: 10

Ingredients:
1 medium butternut squash, peeled & seeded
1 medium celery root, peeled
3 medium potatoes
3 large carrots, peeled
3 large parsnips, peeled
Olive oil as needed
kosher salt to taste
pepper to taste
chicken or vegetable stock as needed
2-3 tablespoons unsalted butter or Ghee
3 tablespoons whilling cream (optional)
ground nutmeg to taste

Directions:
1. Set up the electric/gas grill for indirect heat at 400 degrees F. Cut vegetables into 1-inch cubes. Toss in olive oil, salt and pepper and place in a grill-safe dish. Pour enough stock into the dish so that it comes 2 inches up the sides. Roast until tender.
2. Puree half of the vegetables in a food processor with half of the stock. Repeat with the remaining vegetables and stock. If additional liquid is needed to process, add some cream. Once all the veggies are pureed, add the butter, nutmeg, and additional salt and pepper if needed. If you are looking for a thinner consistency or richer texture, add more cream as desired.