Good Solstice Eats
It is the season of nourishment, after all...
If you participated in Down To Earth (Body) on Range last week, I shared with everyone that after a week of gorgeous outward expression, all I wanted to do was spend time in our (new) kitchen. By the way, I promise a proper tour of our new, earthly kitchen is coming! I celebrated Solstice weekend by eating and dancing in the Sun which was both medicinal and delicious. Truth be told, I am a recipe lover’s worst nightmare as my preferred way of cooking is by measuring everything with my heart (how fitting for Fire season) but I shall do my best for you.
These local strawberries are so juicy and sweet. My dear friend Lauren is a goat farmer and she introduced me to the combination of skyr (or thick yogurt), chopped strawberries, cracked black pepper and maple syrup. TRUST. This weekend, I opted for just eating the strawberries as they are. Perfect, juicy pops of sunshine.
I kept telling my husband that the first thing I wanted to make in our new kitchen was a frittata. I’m not sure why, but who am I to stray from instinct?
8 eggs
1/4 cup of milk (to be honest I think I did a bit more but as I said, I pour from the heart)
2 cups of chopped broccoli
1 cup of peas
Generous handfuls of parsley + dill
Salt + Pepper
French Comté
Sauté broccoli in your cast iron until tender, adding frozen peas towards the very end. Whisk together eggs, milk, salt, pepper (this I REALLY don’t measure), chopped herbs and pour into cast iron. Give it a shake to evenly distribute! Shave your cheese of choice (I love comté) and pop into a 400 degree oven for roughly 17 minutes. Every oven is different but you want your eggs to set without drying them out!
I got inspired after finding really beautiful bone-in chicken thighs at the Norwich Farmer’s Market from Lucky Fields Farm. This is yogurt marinated chicken thighs with zaatar + paprika.
Marinade
Greek Yogurt
Generous pinch of Zaatar + Paprika
A few dashes of hot sauce (I love CAP Beauty)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Be generous with your salt
Splash of maple syrup
Cook either in cast iron or grille until internal temp of 165
I served this with M’Hamsa (tunisian couscous) with garbanzo beans, feta cheese and currants. I also made a salad of local lettuces and radicchio with a Turmeric + Herb Vinaigrette from Cedar Circle Farm. It’s quite rare that I purchase a bottled dressing as making salad dressing is really my thing. However, this stuck out to me and it did not disappoint! I also whipped up a very quick yogurt dressing with chopped cucumber, 1 garlic clove, juice of 1/2 lemon, chopped dill and salt + pepper.
This is what I sipped on while I was cooking. I made a parsley + cilantro simple syrup last week and have been using it in coffee… this mezcal cocktail… and in a large mason jar with seltzer, juice of one lemon and a dash of vinegar.
When it comes to dessert, I am a sucker for nostalgic simplicity. If you ask me, nothing beats a warm chocolate chip cookie with vanilla ice-cream. If you’re local to Woodstock, VT, chances are their chocolate chip cookies find their way into your grocery basket. We are also very spoiled with the best ice-cream in the world from Kiss The Cow Creamery. This is their Vanilla Bean but if you find yourself with a pint of their chocolate….you’ve found heaven. Don’t forget to top with sea salt, you fancy thing!
A fun fact about me is that I am disgusted by other people’s leftovers but am totally delighted by my own. Do we all agree? This is the frittata with the leftover local lettuce salad and I topped with crumbled feta. While warming in the oven, I have my daily medicine. What I mean by this is I take a huge handful of broccoli sprouts and throw them down the hatch.
If you ever invite me over to your home for dinner, please ask me to make a salad! For every dinner party or family BBQ, I always bring a large salad and everyone is always quite happy. This one was for Father’s Day!
Local Red Leaf Lettuce (I used 2 because I was feeding 6 people)
Radicchio
Endive
Pickled red onion
Shaved Carrot
Shaved Parmesan
Sourdough croutons
I think this is all self explanatory but I strongly recommend the “good” parmesan (cue Ina Garten’s voice). For the croutons, I cut up leftover sourdough from Mad Pantry and tossed with EVOO, salt, pepper and smoked paprika. I love when croutons are still a tiny bit chewy so I put them in a 400 degree oven for roughly 20 minutes. Keep an eye on them!
That gorgeous salad is yearning for an herb dressing, is she not?!
A palmful of parsley + dill, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 shallot, chopped
Capers, maybe a tbsp
Maple Syrup (or honey)
Salt
Pepper (or hot sauce!)
EVOO
Chop the herbs, garlic, shallot and put into a mason jar or vessel of choice. A trick that I love is to use enough vinegar to cover the above, without drowning them. I put this aside for at least 15 minutes so that the acid of the vinegar can soften the potency of the garlic and shallots. Add the rest of your ingredients (minus the EVOO) and taste. Do you need anything else? I add the EVOO last and taste as I go to ensure the fruitiness of the olive oil doesn’t overpower the rest of the flavors. In an ideal world, let your dressing sit for a few hours!
My friends, remember that we are in a season of abundance and pleasure. The Summer season offers us so much gorgeous produce and a way to feed our Fire element (in addition to eating the produce) is by having fun in the creative, culinary process.
As a reminder, our June addition of Down To Earth (Body) now lives indefinitely on Range! 5 days, 25 minutes a day of The Origin (pilates), Quick Weights (nourishing + biomorphic strength), The Foundation (functional human motion) and Qigong (ancient life force energy). These classes are here to be a tether to Earth during the Fire of Summer. As we move into Late Summer, our July focus (July 13-17) will move towards the Earth Element and devotion to the Spleen/Stomach.
Kara making movement, life and food nutritiously FUN
Who knew recipes could be such a joyful read.