Every Thursday is Mexican Inspired at "The Farm"

I love true authentic "Mexican" dishes.  Every Thursday we have some sort or Mexican inspired dish at "The Farm."  The kids love homemade Guacamole and although traditional Mexican food can be high in carbs and fats, this is a nice healthy twist.  For our kids we take the turkey filling and place in a brown-rice wrap with some raw cheese to make quesadillas.  We simply heat up the quesadillas on the stove top with a lightly olive oiled non-stick pan.  We also love to just eat the guacamole, however instead of chips we use baby carrots or plantain chips to avoid all of the extra fat and carbs in the corn chips.  Although I have to say that every once in a while a good tortilla chip with guacamole is something we all cannot resist.  

This is a great, fun, easy meal that the whole family will love!!

-Chris

Stuffed Peppers with Fresh Guacamole

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 4 bell peppers (colors of your choosing), halved and seeded
• 2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
• 1 lb. ground turkey
• 1 14.5 oz. can low-sodium refried beans
• 1 pack low-sodium taco seasoning
• 1 cup grated cheese
• 2 cups Salad greens for the top, finely chopped

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 375
2. In a large-rimmed pan add the olive oil on medium heat.  Add ground turkey and season with salt and pepper.  Cook until no longer pink.
3. Follow taco packet instructions and add to the turkey.  Simmer for 5 mins.
4. Add the refried beans until combined, then turn off the heat.
5. Spoon turkey mixture into halved peppers and place them in a deep rimmed baking sheet. Cover the top of each pepper with the shredded cheese.
6. Add enough water to cover the bottom of the sheet pan and put in the oven.  You don't have to cook them long.  Depends on how you like your peppers for al dente bake them 10 mins. 

For the Guacamole:

• 3 ripe avocados
• 1 lemon, 1 lime, both squeezed
• 1 large tomato, diced
• handful of cilantro, diced
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl combine avocados and lemon/lime juice
2. Combine remaining ingredients.

For the Chipotle Cream:

• 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
• 1 tbs. chipotle sauce
• 1/4 cup almond milk
• salt to taste

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients.  Consistency should be not too thin, not too thick. Adjust amounts as needed.

To plate- set 2 peppers on the plate, then guacamole, greens, drizzle chipotle cream on top.  

Enjoy!!

The Best BBQ Sauce - Perfect for July 4th Weekend

This truly is one of the best BBQ sauce's we have ever tasted.  I made this for the first time last summer and we put this on everything and dipped everything in it as well.  This recipe is adapted from one of Bobby Flay's recipe's, I just modified and added a few additional ingredients.

Perfect for grilling this 4th of July weekend.  Enjoy!

-Chris

Our Favorite BBQ sauce

Yields about 2 cups

Ingredients

• 2 tbs. canola oil
• 1 large white or yellow onion
• 4 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
• 1 can diced tomatoes (fire-roasted adds another dimesion)
• 1/4 c. red wine vinegar
• 1/4 c. Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 c. dijon mustard
• 1/4 c. whole-grain mustard
• 1/2 c. molasses
• 1/4 c. ketchup
• 1/4 c. honey
• 1 tbs. prepared horseradish, drained
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1/4 c. dark brown sugar
• 1 tbs. chile powder
• 1 tbs. smoked paprika
• 1 tsp. chipotle pepper
• 2 tbs. chipotle sauce

Instructions:

Heat oil over medium-high heat in a heavy-bottomed medium pot.  Add onion to cook until soft (about 3-4 mins.) Then add garlic and cook for another minute

Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally

Drop to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes

Puree the sauce either with an immersion blender or food processer.

Plan Ahead Tip:

• The sauce will keep for 1 week in the fridge stored in a tightly sealed container

Salmon with Lemon-Shallot Relish and Prosciutto Chips

This is one of our all-time favorite salmon recipes.  The lemon-shallot sauce is great for so many different things.  You can use this for a salad dressing or any type of fish.  It adds a burst of citrus-herb flavors and is really easy to make.  Throughout the summer months we also love to skip the rice or quinoa and just make a bunch of fresh veggies from our farm share at Good Work Farm in Zionsville, PA.  The vegetables from the farm are amazing and its much better to eat what is growing locally in season. 

Lets us know what you think.  Enjoy!!

-Chris 

Salmon with Lemon-Shallot Relish and Prosciutto Chips

Ingredients:

·       4 thin slices of prosciutto (about 2 ounces), cut crosswise into 1/2-inch strips 

·       5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 

·       4 – 6 oz Salmon Filets

·       Salt and freshly ground pepper 

·       Juice from 1 Lemon

·       2 tablespoons snipped chives 

·       2 small shallots, very finely chopped 

·       2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest 

Instructions:

1.     Preheat the oven to 400°. Lay the prosciutto strips on a rimmed baking sheet in a single layer and bake for 8 minutes, or until crisp. Transfer the prosciutto to a plate.

2.     Brush the baking sheet with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and arrange the salmon fillets, skinned side down, on the sheet; season with salt and pepper. Roast the salmon for about 10 minutes, or until just cooked through.

3.     Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the lemon juice with the chives, shallots and lemon zest. Slowly whisk in the remaining 4 tablespoons of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. When the salmon is done, transfer the fillets to plates, top with the lemon-shallot relish and crisp prosciutto and serve at once with lemon wedges.

* Serve with Asparagus and Quinoa or Rice.

Plan Ahead Tip:  

• Make Lemon Shallot Dressing Ahead of time, it will last at least 3-5 days in refrigerator.  Just allow dressing to come to room temperature before serving.
• Make a batch of Quinoa or Rice on Sunday in a slow cooker and re-heat throughout the week with various meals.  Follow recipe on Quinoa Box or Rice Box, for added flavor cook rice and quinoa in Chicken Stock instead of water.  During the summer months when we have our farm share, we sauté up a bunch of seasonal vegetables with olive oil and season with salt and pepper and skip the carbs.
• Wash and prepare asparagus ahead of time, place in baking pan, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Place asparagus in for the last 5 minutes while salmon is cooking.

Sunday Breakfast at "The Farm"

Sunday mornings are probably our favorite time of the week.  Its a time for us to disconnect, relax and enjoy some family time.  I love putting Sara Groves Radio Station on Pandora and we always make a big batch of pancakes.  Chris loves to cook and most of the time he is the one doing the cooking.  He is the Chef and I guess you would say I'm the baker.  I love to take recipes and put a healthy spin on them.  For our pancakes, we use an old recipe that we have had in our family for years, but I've modified it slightly to make our pancakes a little bit healthier.  We would love for you all to share how you spend your Sunday mornings, as well as any favorite family recipes.

God Bless and Enjoy!  

The Lynde's

"The Farm" Pancakes

• 2 Cups of Spelt Flour
• 2 T of Organic Sugar or 2 T of Raw Honey
• 2 t Baking Powder
• 1 t Baking Soda
• 1/2 t Sea Salt

Sift all dry ingredients to ensure your pancakes are light and fluffy.

• 2 Cups of Almond Milk
• 2 Eggs
• 2 t Vanilla Extract

Add above wet ingredients whisk until just combined.

• 4 T of Organic Butter or Coconut Oil - Melted

After wet and dry ingredients are combined add the melted butter or coconut oil or stir until combined.  Lets rest at room temperature for 5-10 minutes.

Heat to griddle to 350 degrees, grease griddle and wipe clean with a paper towel and then pour your pancakes onto the griddle.  

Serve with pure maple syrup and any toppings that you would enjoy.  We love to add seasonal fruit - peaches, strawberries and blueberries.  One of our favorites are bananas and walnuts.

Makes 18 pancakes.

The "Why" behind "Farm to Table" in baking.......

Our goal with our bakery is to make sure that we source high quality ingredients to use in our baked goods as often as possible.  For quite some time I've been looking to partner with a local flour mill for all of our flours.  I'm excited to share that in all of our crusts and dumplings we will be using a Certified Organic Whole Wheat Pastry Flour and a Natural White Spelt Flour from Small Valley Milling in Halifax, PA.  We have tested their flours in our recipes and were so happy with the results.  Most people do not realize, but there is a big difference in the quality of flours that you can get from a local mill vs. buying them in bulk.  The freshness and the taste of these flours are noticeably better, not to mention the minerals and vitamins that are preserved when they are properly grown and milled.  

Today it is alarming to see how many people have gluten allergies and its even more alarming the number of people that are suffering from auto-immune disorders.  The chemicals in our foods and the way we mass produce grains greatly contribute to reducing the quality of the grains we consume.  So we go from having wholesome grains that provide many nutritional benefits to grains that are very hard for our bodies to digest, increase inflammation and create a whole host of other health concerns.  This is the main reason we have chosen to purchase our grains through a local mill.  We also will offer all of our baked goods with the option to choose Spelt Flour.   Although Spelt Flour does contain gluten, it has a higher water solubility, which makes the nutrients available to the body with minimal digestive effort.  The gluten strength is less than wheat and many people with wheat sensitivities may be able to tolerate spelt.

As someone who has suffered with a gluten sensitivity I am very passionate about making sure we educate people on the importance of supporting our local organic farmers and understanding where our foods come from.   We are very excited about this partnership and look forward to continuing to bring the customers we serve, good wholesome foods, with only the freshest ingredients.

Sincerely,

Becca Lynde