Basis™ Good Food Recipes

Eggplant Focaccia

1-2 medium eggplants, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
1 sweet onion or 2 shallots, sliced
Coarse salt
1 lb. homemade or store-bought pizza dough
All-purpose flour, for rolling
2 tablespoons fine cornmeal
6 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup crumbled feta cheese

• Place a baking sheet in the oven. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Toss eggplant with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Let stand 30 minutes. Press slices between a double layer of paper towels to dry and set aside.
• Roll out dough to 1/2-inch thickness. Flour your rolling area and rolling pin. Sprinkle cornmeal on another baking sheet. Place dough on top.
• Brush dough with olive oil and sprinkle with 1/2 cup cheese. Layer on eggplant and sliced onion, brushing again with oil. Top with remaining cheese. Let stand 30 minutes.
• Remove baking sheet from oven and transfer focaccia onto the heated sheet. Return to oven and bake until bottom of focaccia is crispy and edges are golden, 20 minutes.

This is one of my favorite dishes and is part of  the weekly dinner repertoire. You can substitute with any variety of tomatoes. Dress it up with roasted eggplant or peppers. Toss with parsley, basil, breadcrumbs. The list goes on…

4 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 pint  Sun Gold
4 garlic cloves, crushed and chopped
1 Tbsp. crushed red pepper flakes
Kosher salt
6 oz. spaghetti,
3/4 cup finely grated Pecorino or Parmesan
Parlsey leaves, minced

• Bring 3 quarts water to a boil in a 5-qt. pot. Add pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until about 2 minutes before tender. Drain pasta. Reserve 1 cup pasta cooking water.
• Meanwhile, heat 3 Tbsp. oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, red pepper flakes, season with salt, and tomatoes. Let cook, but  swirl the pan often, until tomatoes blister and burst, 10-12 minutes. Press down on tomatoes to release their juices. Remove pan from heat and set aside.
• Transfer pasta to skillet with tomatoes; set over high heat. Add 1/2 cup pasta water. Cook, stirring and tossing often, until sauce thickens and begins to coat the pasta, about 1 minute. Stir in remaining oil, cheese, and parsley and toss until sauce coats pasta and pasta is al dente.

I love my Good Fruit box, but sometimes I don’t get to enjoy every piece of fruit before the next one comes. That’s when I invite a group of friends over and treat them to sangria! Follow this recipe and you’ll never enjoy another glass of sangria quite  the same way.

1 bottle of pinot grigio
1/2 cup Peach Schnapps
1/4 cup lemon-lime seltzer
1/4 cup orange juice
FRUIT!!!!!!!  

• cut your fruit and add to a large bowl
• add your liquids. follow the above ratio of wine, schnapps, soda and juice until you finish your bottle of wine.
• chill for at least 2 hours

This particular batch I added pineapple, peach, nectarines,  grapes, and  blueberries. Be sure to cut your fruit down to bite size pieces. If you’re like me and want to go the extra mile, halve your grapes!

Not bad for a first time tart maker….

I avoid baking at all cost, but I was relieved  how easy it was to make this tart from scratch. Despite the crust being labor and time intensive, it was worth in the end. Not only did I have a delicious tart, but I also had enough to dough to freeze and use later in the week.

For my next round of summer tomato tarts, I would either use salted butter or add more than a pinch of salt to the dough. I would also recommend layering the filling, alternating between cheese filling and slices of tomato.

Summer Broscht 

1 1/2 lbs red beets,
scrubbed and stalks trimmed to 1/2 inch
1 tablespoon olive oil 
1 small onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 carrots
1 leek, trimmed of tough green ends
and coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon salt + more to taste
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup dill
1/4 cup white wine
1 3/4 cups chicken stock
1/2 small cucumber, peeled and seeded
6 tablespoons sour cream or plain yogurt

• Fill a medium saucepan with water, and bring to boil. Add beets and boil until fork tender (about 45 minutes). Drain, reserving cooking water. Let cool. Rub off the skins.
•  Heat olive oil in a medium stockpot over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and saute until cooked (about 5 minutes).
•  Coarsely chop 1 1/2 carrots, add to pot. Add Leek, dill, salt and pepper. Cook until carrots are almost tender (about 10 minutes).
•  Cut beets into 1-inch pieces, add to pot. Add wine, 2 cups of reserved cooking water. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and let cool.
•  Grate 1/2 carrot and cucumber. Add as garnish along with some dill and a dollop of sour cream or plain yogurt.

It’s officially summer when you get sweet corn in your Good Harvest box!

Corn Salad is one of my favorite recipes because of it’s versatility. You can subsitute any of the ingredients and chances are it will always be delicious. This time around I added lots of green beans, half a pint of cherry tomatoes, chopped up stalks from the white onion, and a generous pour of honey. I grilled the corn too instead of boiling and what a difference!

With the hot and humind weather comes quick and easy salads.  Sensing my time to use my zucchini and squash was running out, I was relieved to have this summer squash salad recipe to work with yesterday.

I decided against peeling and julienning the main ingredients. It’s my go-to cut for salads, but I wanted this salad to have some color! Instead I sliced them as thin as possible. Since I had used up all my red scallions from the previous week’s Good Harvest Box, I substituted in some lovely candy onions. I added a whole lemon’s worth of juice, but this turned out to be too much lemon even for me! To correct the situation, I added a healthy amount of honey. And Volia: a delicious, sweet, summer squash salad!

Fennel is probably one of my favorite vegetables, so naturally I was excited to find they were part of my harvest box. Looking to try something different — most of my fennel recipes have a pasta base — I rummaged through my resources. What I concocted is this Cucumber Fennel Salad.

1 Fennel Bulb, thinly sliced lengthwise
1 large cucumber, peeled and julienned
1 red scallion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup pepperoncinis
1/4 cup cilantro
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons honey
salt and pepper to taste

•  combine all the ingredient in a large bowl and mix. Add the olive oil, honey, salt and pepper. Allow to sit for 15 minutes before serving

I would even suggest adding a dash or two of cayenne pepper for extra spice. Every bite was a little taste explosion. This salad will become a summer staple for sure!