"Raw" Turnip Ravioli with Scallion-Asparagus Cashew Cheese

Hi everyone! My name is Angela Salvucci, and I’m a raw food chef & instructor. I do private instruction & coaching on a raw food diet/lifestyle, as well as very unique in-home demos and dinner parties, and I also work with Fresh Thymes Café in Wilmington (a CSA share pickup location!) with raw lunch entrees on Thursdays, and completely raw, vegan (and gluten free!) dinners about once a month.

I have been so thrilled to pick up my CSA shares this spring, and I look forward to blogging about all of the awesome, fresh food I create with the gorgeous veggies. I also blog at my website, www.rawappetit.com, if you are interested in recipes beyond those made with the CSA items.

So, what the heck is raw food, anyway? First off, it’s entirely plant-based – just fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds, and some sprouted grains. Then, nothing is prepared above 112 degrees (or so!), which preserves all of the enzymes and nutrients in the food. With enzymes and nutrients intact, your food delivers maximum digestibility and a top-notch nutritional punch – will all of the amazing flavor nature intended! Proponents point to a raw or “living” diet as potentially healing, aiding in weight loss, and helping your body maintain optimal pH to stay disease-free. I eat this way because it makes me feel great…and it is delicious!

So let’s get to the food…today I created just about the cutest ravioli ever, and they were a lot quicker than traditional ravioli, because the shell is…turnips! The teeny harukei turnips that came in my half share this week, thinly sliced, made great ravioli shells, and I used my asparagus and scallions, blended into a cashew “cheese” as a filling – yum!

Ravioli shells:
1 small bunch turnips (beets work, too!)

Asparagus-Scallion Cheese
1 cup raw cashews
½ bunch of asparagus
1 large scallion
A medium lemon
Seas salt & black pepper, to taste

Simple Parsley Pesto
1 cup roughly chopped parsley
½ cup olive oil
¼ teaspoon sea salt
Black pepper, to taste


First, soak 1 cup of raw cashews in fresh water for at least an hour (if you forgot this step, don’t worry! You may just need to add more water later on).

Next, make your pesto: in a food processer (I like a small one for this job), combine parsley, oil, salt and pepper until mostly smooth. You’ll still be able to see specks of parsley. Adjust seasoning if necessary. Pour into a small bowl and set to the side.

Drain cashews. In the same food processer (don’t bother washing it, we’re going to add a little pesto, anyway!), combine cashews with 2 tablespoons lemon juice (you lemon will likely contain 3 or so, depending on its size), a teaspoon of lemon zest, half a teaspoon of salt, and a pinch of fresh black pepper. Add ¼ to ½ cup of water SLOWLY, until your mix resembles a thick but smooth ricotta cheese, pausing to scrape down sides. Add ½ of the thick, white part of the scallion, blend in, and adjust salt, pepper and lemon to taste.

Slice your asparagus crosswise into thin rounds, about 1/8 of an inch, reserving the tops. In a small bowl, combine cashew cheese mixture with 2/3 of a cup of asparagus and the remainder of the white portion of your scallion, finely chopped.

Now, slice your turnips into very thin rounds. I use a spiral slicer, which makes long, thin connected ribbons, that I break apart and piece back into circles. You could also use a mandoline, or a very sharp knife (watch your fingers!) or even a potato peeler. Try to get the slices less than 1/8 of an inch, closer to 1/16.

Arrange a dozen or so turnip slices on a dinner plate. Top each with ½ teaspoon of the cashew-asparagus mixture, and top with another turnip slice. Press down lightly – don’t worry if some cheese leaks out the sides. Repeat with remaining turnip slices and cheese (this recipe will make 4-5 dozen). Drizzle parsley pesto on ravioli (covering up any slices or holes in the turnip with a little dollop of sauce), and garnish with reserved asparagus spears. As I like to say…raw appétit! Please feel free to email me at angelasalvucci@hotmail.com with any questions!

Fresh Spring Kimchi Salad

This Korean kimchi salad makes a delicious spring meal when served with rice, a hard boiled egg, and if you're adventurous, a side of anchovies! Most kimchi dishes are fermented, but this dish is meant to be eaten fresh, so if you are unable to eat right away, be sure to refrigerate. Important note: This recipe is meant to be quite salty and should be served with a side such as rice. If this is not to your taste, consider using a lesser amount of fish sauce.

Fresh Spring Kimchi Salad
Serves 2 to 4

Ingredients
1 bunch radish roots, thinly sliced
1 bunch radish tops, shredded
1 apple (optional), julienned
4 large garlic cloves, grated
1-inch piece fresh ginger, grated
1½ tablespoons chili powder (or more to taste)
¼ cup fish sauce
1 to 2 heads bok choy, leaves detached from stems (can substitute with tatsoi or cabbage)

Directions
1. Mix together radish roots, apple, garlic, ginger, chili powder, and fish sauce in a bowl.
2. Add radish tops and boy choy leaves (or substitutes) to the mixture and using your hands, massage into the sauce for several minutes.
3. Let stand for 30 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

Mizuna Recipes

Photo courtesy of Garden and Plants Photos.

Mizuna, also known as Japanese Mustard, California Peppergrass, or Spider Mustard, can be described as a mildly spicy green, with a hint of a mustard plant flavor. It makes a delicious salad by itself or mixed in with other greens. It can also be added to soups and stir fries, but be sure to add mizuna to cooked dishes towards the end of cooking to preserve the nutritional content—mizuna is loaded with beta carotene, folate, Vitamin C, calcium, and iron.

Wok Sautéed Mizuna with Minced Chicken
(Adapted from The Whole Foods Market Cookbook by Steve Petusevsky and Whole Foods Team Members, published in 2002)
Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients
1 egg white, lightly beaten
1½ teaspoon soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, very finely chopped
2 teaspoons canola, peanut, or veggie oil
⅓ cup finely chopped carrot
⅓ cup finely chopped yellow onion
¼ cup finely chopped water chestnuts (optional)
½ teaspoon chile paste
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 pound mizuna, trimmed
¼ cup finely chopped scallions

Directions
1. In a medium bowl, mix egg white with ½ teaspoon of the soy sauce, garlic, and chicken. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
2. Heat 1 teaspoon of the canola, peanut, or veggie oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat. Add chicken mixture and cook, stirring constantly, 4 to 6 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through and appears opaque.
3. Transfer chicken to a plate and set aside. Heat remaining 1 teaspoon of oil in wok or skillet. Add carrots, onions and water chestnuts (if desired) and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. 4. Add remaining 1 teaspoon soy sauce, chile paste, lime juice, and mizuna and cook, stirring often, until slightly wilted. Return chicken to wok and toss well. Garnish with green onions and serve.

Grapefruit and Mizuna Salad
(Adapted from The People's Reciplex.)

Ingredients
1 bag or bunch mizuna (can substitute with watercress)
1 ruby red grapefruit, peeled and sectioned
1½ tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon blood orange or balsamic vinegar
juice of half a lime
chives, finely chopped (as a garnish)

Directions
1. Wash and trim greens of any hard stems.
2. Whisk oil and vinegar, adjusting for taste. Add honey and lime juice and mix well.
3. Add grapefruit to salad and toss together with the dressing.
4. Sprinkle the chives over the salad and toss. Salad is tastier if you let it sit for about 15-20 minutes.

Rhubarb Crisp

Rhubarb is finally back! This delectable dessert comes from the The New York Times, originally published on May 14, 2010. It's quick to make and easily adaptable—I add in sliced almonds instead of pecans and a ½ teaspoon of vanilla.

Rhubarb Crisp
Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients
6 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces, plus more for greasing pan
5 to 6 cups rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 1½-inch pieces, tough strings removed
¼ cup white sugar (can substitute with honey, brown sugar, or agave, but be sure to taste for sweetness)
1 tablespoon orange or lemon juice (optional)
1 teaspoon orange or lemon zest (optional)
¾ cup brown sugar
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon cinnamon, or to taste
pinch salt
½ cup rolled oats
½ cup pecans

Directions
1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease an 8- or 9-inch square baking or gratin dish with a little butter. Toss rhubarb with white sugar or sugar substitute, orange or lemon juice and zest, and spread in baking dish.

2. Put the 6 tablespoons butter in a food processor along with brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt, and pulse for about 20 or 30 seconds, until it looks like small peas and just begins to clump together. Add oats and pecans and pulse just a few times to combine.

3. Crumble the topping over rhubarb and bake until golden and beginning to brown, 45 to 50 minutes.

Simple Spring Asparagus

LFFC asparagus! Photo by CSA shareholder Zach Kassutto.

This recipe comes from Caesar Desiato, one of our CSA site hosts at the Children's Hospital of Pennsylvania. His recipe blog, Otaised's Blog (http://otaised.wordpress.com/), is definitely worth checking out over the course of the season—Caesar is committed to providing readers with simple and healthy recipes for seasonal produce. For this recipe, he recommends a bamboo steamer "...as an essential piece of kitchen equipment... Bamboo steamers of all sizes can be found from Chinatown to Amazon.com for under $10.00. Steaming is quick, versitile, and really healthy."

Simple Spring Asparagus
Ingredients
1 bunch asparagus, 1 inch from the stem removed and steamed for 3 minutes
2 tablespoons of olive oil
½ cup seasoned bread crumbs
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
juice of ½ lemon
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
1. Transfer the asparagus to a serving dish. Dress with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, lemon juice, and salt and pepper. Cover and keep warm as you prepare the topping.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a small sauté pan over medium heat. As soon as it’s shimmering, add the bread crumbs and stir to coat. The texture will be like wet sand. Continue to stir and toast until you get a warm caramel color. Take the pan off the heat and toss in the cheese.
3. Spoon the topping over the asparagus and serve immediately.

Optional Additions:

• Add an anchovy filet to the olive oil before adding the bread crumbs.
• Forget the Parmesan and go blue!
• Chop in some fresh herbs; tarragon, chervil and oregano go really well.
• Make the entire recipe and allow to cool. Thaw out a package of Phyllo dough and follow directions for filling it. Add Feta cheese and fresh dill.

Sign up by April 15th to participate in the first 2011 CSA delivery!

Hello CSA Shareholders!

Just a reminder that spring is right around the corner...it's time to start thinking about CSA! To participate in the LFFC's first share delivery, please sign up by April 15th! Shareholders will receive 25 weekly deliveries of fresh Certified Organic produce. To sign up, you can either fill out our online application form or download the form and mail it into our office.

CSA is now more convenient than ever! We've added a whole bunch of new pick up sites this year in Eastern Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Washington, DC, New York, and Virginia.

We hope that you will join us in the spring harvest!

Your CSA Team,

Kathan and Evan

Vegan Kale Cake with Sweet Potato Filling

Photo by CSA shareholder and professional food photographer, Evi Abeler (www.eviabeler.com).

This has to be my new favorite dessert! It's a creation of CSA shareholder Laura Forer, who picks up her share in Harlem, NYC. Her online bakery, Waltzing Matilda's NYC, specializes in unique Australian pastries. Laura adapted a carrot cake recipe that she found on Hell Yeah It's Vegan! Blog to create the cake, and a vegan vanilla-banana custard recipe from Food.com to create the fabulous filling. (http://hellyeahitsvegan.com/, http://www.food.com/). Thank you, Laura!

Kale Cake with Sweet Potato Filling
Filling Ingredients
2 cups soymilk
2 tablespoons cornstarch
⅓ cup sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
2 sweet potatoes, boiled and blended until smooth
1 tablespoon vegan margarine
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 pinch nutmeg

Cake Ingredients
2⅓ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspon baking powder
1½ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons flax seed meal
¾ cup warm water
1 to 1½ cups sugar
1 cup oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups blanched, shocked, and chopped kale (about 2 bunches)
1 cup walnuts, chopped

Icing Ingredients
2 8-ounce containers Tofutti cream cheese
¼ to ½ cup vegan margarine
¾ to 1½ cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Filling Directions
1. Whisk cornstarch, sugar, and salt together in a heavy-bottomed saucepan.
2. Add milk and sweet potato and whisk until lumps disappear.
3. Heat over medium heat, whisking, until the custard thickens.
4. To test whether the custard is thick enough, dip a wooden spoon into the mixture and run your finger through the coating.
5. When the custard is thick enough, the trail will not close back up.
6. Take the custard off heat. Whisk in vegan margarine, vanilla, and nutmeg.
7. Cool with a plastic sheet pressed to the surface to prevent a skin from forming.

Cake and Icing Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 8×8″ pans with parchment paper. In a small bowl, sift together dry ingredients (flour through salt). In a large bowl, whisk together flax seed meal and water. Beat in sugar and oil. Add vanilla and blanched and shocked kale and mix until combined. Add dry mix and stir until moistened. Fold in walnuts. Pour equal parts into pans. Bake for 18-20 min, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in pans 10 minutes.
2. For the icing, beat together Tofutti cream cheese and vegan margarine. Add vanilla and powdered sugar; whip until smooth. Do not overbeat.
3. Use a knife to loosen edges of cake from pans. Using parchment paper, lift cakes out of pans. Carefully remove parchment paper from one cake. Frost one cake with sweet potato filling and one cake with icing. Layer and serve chilled.

Moroccan Raw Carrot Salad

This recipe is adapted from Epicurious (http://www.epicurious.com), which credits author Gil Marks of Olive Trees and Honey, published in November of 2004.

Moroccan Raw Carrot Salad
Serves 5 to 6

Ingredients
1 pound carrots, coarsely chopped or grated (about 4 cups)
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 to 4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro or parsley
2 to 4 cloves garlic, finely minced
½ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
pinch of salt
¼ to ½ teaspoon cayenne (optional)

Directions
In a large bowl, mix together all the ingredients. Cover and let marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days to allow the flavors to meld and permeate the carrots. Served chilled or at room temperature.

Homemade Pasta with Ricotta and Spinach

I tried this a few nights ago, when I was snowed in and had plenty of time to cook a nice meal. Fresh pasta is so fun to make and tastes delicious, and I was able to get most my ingredients from the Co-op through our online buying club, Four Season Harvest, which is still going strong throughout the winter at many of our sites! (Check it out at http://www.lancasterfarmfresh.com/static/controls/?page=fourseason.)

Homemade Pasta with Ricotta and Spinach
Serves 4 to 5

Pasta Ingredients
flour (about 5 cups)
5 eggs
salt
olive oil

Sauce Ingredients
olive oil
ricotta (about 2 cups)
whole milk
salt, to taste
spinach (5 to 6 handfuls)
Parmesan cheese, grated

Pasta Directions*
Place flour in a pile on clean workspace. Make a well, and crack 5 eggs into the well. Using a butter knife, slowly work eggs into the flour, using you have created a workable dough. You should have plenty of flour leftover to spread over your workspace when you are ready to roll out the dough. Leave the dough under a glass bowl and let rest for 10 minutes. When dough has finished resting, roll onto floured surface until thin enough to see your fingers through the dough. Cut dough into thin strips. You are now ready to cook! Boil a large pot of water, and add pasta, salt, and olive oil. Cook until pasta has reached desired texture. Drain and gently coat with olive oil.

*There is a fabulous video on Video Jug (http://www.videojug.com/) that I followed to make pasta for the first time. Check it out at http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-make-fresh-pasta.

Sauce Directions
Heat olive oil in a sauce pan over medium-low heat. Add ricotta and mix with milk to thin. Add salt to taste and spinach. Cook until spinach has wilted slightly. Add pasta and cook for a few more minutes until pasta and sauce are well mixed. Serve hot, topped with grated Parmesan cheese.