Happy St. Patrick’s Day! St. Patrick’s Day is the celebration of Ireland’s patron saint, Saint Patrick! He is said to have brought Christianity to the people of Ireland and so the Irish celebrate his life by feasting, usually on cabbage, ham, and potatoes. Today our little chefs will make a traditional Irish meal of cabbage stew and potato salad. Between the cabbage loaded with Vitamin B and our special antioxidant-rich purple potatoes, we can be sure we’re getting a meal that is not only delicious, but nutritious as well. Enjoy!

CABBAGE STEW

Ingredients:

• 4 T olive oil
• 1 onion
• 4 garlic cloves
• 2 celery stalks
• 1 carrot
• ¼ cabbage
• ½ c chopped canned tomatoes
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Water (if necessary)

Directions:

• Start with stew by cutting celery, carrots, onion, garlic and cabbage.
• Heat oil in pan and add celery, carrots, onion and garlic to sweat.
• Add tomatoes and cabbage  in the pot, season, cover and simmer  20 minutes.
• Serve warm!

POT o’ GOLD POTATO SALAD

Ingredients

• 2 medium purple potatoes
• 1 Yukon gold potato
• 2 medium pink potatoes
• 1 apple
• ½ bunch parsley
• 1 T celery seed
• 4 T honey
• 3 T mustard
• 3 T red wine vinegar
• 6 T olive oil

Directions:

• Make potato salad by dicing cooked potatoes and placing in salad bowl.
• Dice apples, pick parsley and add to the potatoes.
• Add celery seed, red  wine vinegar, olive oil, mustard and honey to mixture.
• Whisk and mix to combine.
• Enjoy!

There is always inspiration to be had when faced with the bounty of late summer – early fall vegetables.

One such vegetable, shall we say fruit (!), the juicy and refreshing tomato was the perfect suspect for a seasonal food transition from warm to cooler weather.

Instead of chopping it up into a salad, it was time to turn on the oven and bring out the deep sweetness that comes from roasting these gems.

What came out on the other end, was a mouthwatering, caramelized treat that lends itself useful in many dishes.

The versatility and pure deliciousness of this humble roasted tomato allowed for the seasonal transition to be that much sweeter!

Ingredients: 

• End of summer tomatoes
• Olive oil, drizzle
• Salt, to taste

Directions: 

1) Prep: Preheat your oven to 325F. Quarter your tomatoes, and arrange on a sheet pan. Drizzle olive oil, sprinkle with salt.

2) Cook: Let them cook and bubble for 20-25 minutes, until nicely caramelized and fragrant.

3) Eat: Enjoy on fresh bread with avocado and grilled chicken (as seen in the picture), make into a sauce, use on pizza, add to frittatas, puree and use as a sandwich topping…the possibilities are endless!

This post was written by Flora McKay, Director of Community & Nutrition

Fiddlehead ferns may not be on your top list of things to eat this spring since they look somewhat prehistoric, but we suggest that you give them a try!

For those of you who are new to these funny looking vegetables, they are the edible fronds of young ostrich ferns, which grow wild in the Northeast.

These spring delicacies are high in iron, helping to build red blood cells that carry oxygen throughout the body.

A delicious way to eat these fabulous fronds are to roast them. They come out tasting crispy, umami and quite addicting!

Here’s how:

Prep Time: 5 minutes Total Time: 15-20 minutes

Serves 2-4

Ingredients: 

• 4 oz. fiddlehead ferns
• 3 T olive oil
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• salt & pepper to taste

Directions: 

1. Prep: Preheat your oven to 450F. Clean fiddleheads well. Place in a colander, and rinse under cold water thoroughly. In a large bowl, toss together the ingredients.

2. Cook: Place them on a sheet tray in a single layer and cook for 10-15 minutes, until crispy and tender.

This post was written by Flora McKay, Director of Community & Nutrition

Ever wondered what a wildlife biologist eats to stay healthy, happy, and strong after a day of adventuring outdoors?

Well, wonder no more! Here at Butter Beans we love learning about (and sharing!) the different foods & recipes that fuel our communities. We linked up with Audubon Society’s Long Island Bird Conservation Manager Amanda Pachomski to discover her favorite healthy recipe to cook at home.

As a wildlife biologist, Amanda spends her days helping protect the Earth’s natural spaces and the many amazing creatures who live there. Ask any of the Butter Beans Food & Garden Summer Campers and they’ll tell you how important it is to care for our planet’s precious resources in order to grow and eat nourishing foods. A healthy planet means a healthy you and me!

We fell head over heals for this simple, vibrant soup and we know you will too. Its bright green color alone has us running for the kitchen. Happy cooking!

Ingredients:

1 small yellow onion

1 large bunch celery

3 large potatoes

2-3 tsp turmeric

2 cubes vegetable bullion

1 quart water

olive oil

powdered garlic

salt & pepper

Topping, opt.

½ avocado, thinly sliced

coconut oil popcorn*

Directions: Chop onion, celery, and potatoes. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in pot over medium heat. Sauté onion until softened. Add two cubes of veggie bullion. Add celery and potatoes. Sauté for additional 5-7 minutes. Add turmeric, salt, fresh black pepper, powdered garlic, and optional pinch of chili pepper. Mix well and sauté for 2-3 more minutes. Add enough water to cover veggies, bring to a boil, and cook until veggies are soft (~20 minutes). Transfer soup to food processor or use immersion blender to blend. Pour back into soup pot to hold warm. Serve soup. Top with avocado slices, coconut oil popcorn, and a sprinkling of turmeric for a decorative and delicious garnish.

*make-your-own popcorn with our recipe for stove top popcorn. Drizzle with coconut oil once popped and mix well. Voila!

As I looked over the unique winter twist to this week’s recipe of Moroccan Mint Tea and Squash Kebabs, I had a flashback to my experience with after school snacks as a child. Squash & Kebobs were just not in my food vocabulary. Rather, sugary cereals, Capri Suns, pop tarts, and cheese rollups, my finest culinary specialty of microwaving cheese on a flour tortilla. It wasn’t that I was a picky eater, I simply didn’t know any other way.

Starting a new session of Butter Beans classes, I was reminded at how much my experience and relationship with food has changed. I feel an extra sense of responsibility and excitement towards introducing seasonal, fresh, and delicious healthy recipes made with real food.

It is incredible to hear an energetic child ask if they can taste a raw vegetable they just chopped, the anticipation and hunger too much for them to wait!

There are also an abundance of stories told while cooking together in class. “ My mom uses olive oil while cooking all the time!” or “ I’ve tried pomegranate tea before so I will probably like the mint tea!” The connections they make from experiences at home or even in school are inspiring and contagious towards creating a positive relationship with food.

We introduced composting our food scraps, and a 7 year old explained to the class, “it is just like recycling but for the earth.” Another student was bummed out to find that there would be no worms assisting the compost in our classroom!

There is something innately creative about children and their ability to see something for what it is. We work on not “yucking someone else’s yum” and cooking with care, but the magic for me comes out in the way they talk about smell and taste, their strategies for assembling a kebob or tearing a mint leaf, and the end result of wanting to take home their hard work to show off to their parents!

All done with gratitude towards our famers and our chefs, a lesson I know will impact this next generation far beyond the classroom.

This post was written by Ann Duffy, Food Educator and Cooking Instructor

Move over spuds, let’s let other root vegetables shine!

Simple ingredients leads to simply delicious!

Carrot fries should be at the top of your mind when it comes to an easy and tasty side dish for dinner.

So simple to make, packed with nutrition, and satisfying to your sweet tooth, carrot fries are here to stay.

We hope that you enjoy making them a staple in your home!

Prep Time: 5 minutes Total Time: 45 minutes

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 4 medium carrots
• 2 T sunflower oil
• Sea salt to your liking

Directions: 

1) Preheat your oven to 400F. Cut carrots into matchsticks. Add carrots to a roasting pan, drizzle sunflower oil and sprinkle sea salt.

2) Place in the oven and let cook for 40 minutes, mixing from time to time until carrots become soft and caramelized.

This post was written by Flora McKay, Director of Community & Nutrition

Photo courtesy of Amelia Crook