All posts by Mercy Hill Farm

Don & Karen Perkins

Veggie Frittata

Veggie Frittata Plate

 

Here’s a hot, wholesome delicious vegetarian meal for a cold day. The recipe calls for eggs and cheese, but you can easily make this a vegan dish with common vegan egg and cheese substitutes. It is naturally gluten free and grain free.

 

Veggie Frittata Recipe:

serves 4 vegetable loving, gluten free vegetarians

  • 2 large Bell Peppers, Red, Yellow or Orange
  • 1.5 Lbs. Fresh Sweet Potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/2 inch slices
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 Leeks, leave part removed, finely sliced
  • 2 cloves Garlic, peeled and crushed
  • 1.5 Lbs. Fresh Zucchini, thinly sliced
  • 8 Large Eggs, lightly beaten
  • 2 Tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil (or 1 Tsp dried)
  • 1 1/4 cup grated Parmesan, Reggiano, or other hard cheese

Cut the bell peppers into pieces that will lay flat, removing seeds and pith. Lay them skin side up on a baking sheet. Put them under a broiler for 5-10 minutes, until the skins blacken. Remove to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap to hold in the moisture.

Cover the sweet potatoes with water, bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes. Drain.

In a large cast iron pan over medium heat, sautee the leek and garlic in two tablespoons olive oil for about a minute. Add the zucchini pieces a few at a time until they are all soft. When all the zucchini is soft, remove to a plate to cool.

While those are cooling, peel the blackened skins from the peppers. Once the zucchini is cooled, then create layers in the pan using the zucchini and leeks, pepper, sweet potato until all the veggies are used up.

Pour the beaten eggs over the top of the veggies, sprinkle with the basil, the parmesan and a dash of ground black pepper.

Cover and cook the pan of veggies on the stovetop on low heat for 15 minutes, Then put the pan under the broiler for 3 minutes or until nicely browned and cooked all the way through. Check to make sure eggs are fully cooked.

Grate a little more cheese over the top and serve!

Try it and let us know what you think! (leave a comment below)

 

Baby Spinach & Sundried Tomato Salad w/ Artichokes and Black Olives

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This gluten-free, dairy-free Mediterranean inspired vegan salad is a delicious way to fill up on vitamin, mineral and fiber-packed healthy plant-based foods:

Salad recipe:

• 6 to 8 ounces raw organic baby spinach leaves
• 7 ounces prepared artichoke hearts, sliced 1/2 inch thick
• 7 ounces black olives squished in half
• 1/2 cup sundried tomatoes, sliced 1/2 inch thick
• 8 or 10 straws of fresh lemon zest

Dressing recipe:

• Juice of one lemon
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large garlic clove, peeled, crushed
• dash of salt
• dash of ground black pepper

Serves two people for lunch or as an appetizer

Place spinach equally into 2 separate bowls. Top with olives, tomato, artichoke.

Scrub lemon with warm water and dry with a towel. Remove the zest by peeling small strings of the yellow lemon rind using a zester or peeler. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze the juice into a strainer over a bowl. Place a few pieces of the lemon zest over the salads.

Add to the juice the crushed garlic, the olive oil, salt and black pepper to taste. Blend and, while stirring to keep evenly constituted, evenly drizzle it over the two salads.

τώρα τρώνε και να απολαύσετε!
(That’s Greek for: “now eat & enjoy!”)

Sink full of food

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You’d never know it by today’s weather, but last weekend, the weatherman predicted a frost. So the day before, we harvested all the less-than-hardy plants, bringing them inside for processing. It took every crate and basket we own to gather it all! Despite a massive canning, drying, freezing effort, (thanks for the help Christie and Zac) we still have many baskets of half-ripe tomatoes, lots of cukes and peppers to put up. I make it sound cumbersome, but the fact is we love having fresh food by the bushel crowding the counters in our farm kitchen.

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Many of the broad leaf herbs also got pulled to rescue them from the coming frost. When dry, this will be about a pound each of basil and flat leaf parsley. Chives, onions, mint will be ok a while longer outside, along with the kale, brussel sprouts, peas, etc.

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The keeper squashes are on the lawn curing in the sun for a while, to harden up the skins before storage. It’s rewarding to see them all gathered from the garden patch, all huddled together on the lawn.

All in all, a pretty good year and a plentiful harvest!