Easy salads: Quinoa, Greens and Toasted Cashews

It's salad season.  Who doesn't love that?  The Northwest is the best place to be in the summer--not too hot, mostly sunny and loads of fruit with new varieties appearing every week at a farmers market near you. Thirsty for water?  Take a ferry to the San Juan Islands, spend a day on Whidbey or Vashon, or take a trip to the rain forest on the Penninsula.  It's silly for Seattlites to take a vacation now, when the Northwest has so much to offer in the summer.

Cheers to those who love salads!  Virtually anything can be made into a main dish salad.  The essential ingredient is an acidic ingredient--citrus juice or vinegar.   I asked friends what appealed to them in main dish salads and I got a lot of interesting answers.  Red quinoa was the most intriguing addition.

Vegan cheese and cashews were in so why not add red quinoa?  (Scandalous confession: I found some for a great price at the Grocery Outlet. Check it out.)  Feta cheese would be a good choice if you eat dairy. Salads can be anything you want!

I added red pepper for color. Market and organic peppers are always at a premium price, so I use less. Make them go farther--that's the tightwad in me.  I've been keeping myself on a tighter leash around food this year.  It feels good not waste a thing these days.  I highly recommend budget plans, even if you don't need on, it's helpful to curb kitchen waste.

Lettuce is lower in price during the summer and it seems like everyone has some to spare.  I remember one year signing up for a CSA where I got four bunches of lettuce one week.  I felt like I was going to turn into a turtle with all those greens.  

Whatever kind of lettuce you have, use it.  Except maybe head lettuce--those cannon ball specimens that could hurt someone if tossed in the wrong direction.  

We've got an overload  of lettuce now.

It's not the first time.  This is my Cooking Assistant when he was just a baby learning that good things come from the garden.

Rockridge Orchards has a corner on the market on berry infused apple cider vinegar and wine.

Easy Salads: Quinoa, Greens and Toasted Cashews

(Serves 4 to 6)

Get out of the kitchen with this cool salad--a meal in one bowl, and all it really needs is some crusty bread.

1 cup shiitaki mushrooms, sliced

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 shallot, small dice

1/4 cup minced fresh red pepper

1 tablespoon Mama Lil's, chopped

2 cups cooked quinoa

3 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1/2 teaspoon smoked sea salt

1 cup minced celery

4 cups fresh lettuce, torn

1/4 cup diced vegan cheddar cheese

1/2 cup toasted cashews

Heat a heavy skillet over medium heat.  Add shiitaki mushrooms, stir and cook until the mushroom sofen.

Pour in olive oil and shallot.  Stir and cook until shallots begin to brown.  Add Mama Lil's.  Cook for a few minutes, then add quinoa and heat for a few minutes. Stir in balsamic vinegar and smoked sea salt.

Combine celery and lettuce and gently mix with mushrooms and quinoa.  Top with cheese and cashews.

Gluten-Free Vegan Apple Cider Muffins

I wanted to experiment with non-gluten grains more, so I decided to go gluten-free for a few weeks. 

Here's what I learned:

1.  Get ready to spend more money because many gluten-free options are more expensive than wheat based foods.  It could be because wheat is a subsidized crop.

2. Wheat is in most processed foods, making label-reading a priority when shopping.

3. I became more aware of what I was eating.  For substitutes, I opted for more fruit and vegetables which also cost more than commodity crops.  

4. Living on $100 or less is hard if you need to be gluten free.

5.  Living without wheat gave me a much more varied diet.

This recipe was inspired by an old chocolate vegan cake recipe that listed baking soda and vinegar to make the batter rise.

I made it once and replaced the cold water with apple cider. For flour I used rice, oat bran, tapioca flour and xantham gum.  I added pecans for texture, and they were good, but I felt like something was missing.

The next time I made the recipe I used a sweet tart apple, diced.  For more flavor, I added cinnamon and nutmeg.

My favorite apple cider and apple cider vinegar from Rockridge Orchards.

Any time is a good time for muffins.

These muffins will stay fresh for days.  To reheat simply place in the oven and the outside caramelizes, while the inside is soft and cake-like.

When the two weeks came to an end, I discovered wheat doesn't really seem to affect my digestion much, but I liked my new diet so much, I decided to reduce my wheat consumption to a few times a week, no more than rice or quinoa.

If you eat wheat more than once a day, maybe these muffins will inspire you to give up wheat for a week or more to see what you're missing.

Wheat, Egg and Dairy-Free Apple Cider Muffins

(Makes 6 to 8 muffins)

Use your favorite apples for this sweet muffin recipe. I like Pink Lady or Honey Crisp for these muffins and if I cut them early, I toss them with a little lemon juice to preserve the color.

1 1/2 cups brown rice flour

1/2 cup oat bran

3 tablespoons tapioca flour

1 teaspoon xantham gum

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cloves

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 cup cold apple cider

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup canola oil

1 sweet-tart apple, core removed, small dice

1/4 to 1/2 cup toasted pecans or walnuts

Preheat oven to 375F.  Combine rice flour, oat bran, tapioca flour, xantham gum, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves together in a large mixing bowl.  Sift them together if you want for better mixing. Blend in the brown sugar.

Oil muffin tins.  Combine apple cider, apple cider vinegar and canola oil.  Blend the wet with the dry ingredients. Fold in apples and nuts last.  

Spoon into muffin tins, about 3/4 full.  Add about 2 tablespoons water to every empty tin.  Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.   Loosen the muffins by cutting around them, and let the muffins sit for 5 minutes before removing from tins. These muffins are best eaten warm with just a hint of butter or Earth Balance spread.

Quinoa Salad with Blood Orange Vinaigrette

Sides and Salads Monday

A Mediterranean Quinoa Salad recipe caught my eye recently because it listed kalamata olives, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, olive oil and parsley.  I guess it was the parsley that got me.  Curly parsley is one of my favorites.  I just don't get why everyone flocks to the Italian flat leaf when curly parsley is way much better.

It's also super easy to grow (at least in the Northwest).  It takes little care, it's more like a cultivated weed that we harvest it year round. 

Curly parsley is also one of the most nutritious greens around.  It's a rich source of antioxidants, beta carotene, vitamin C, folic acid and B-complex vitamins.   It also had anti-inflammatory components and had been reported to help with arthritis. And curly parsley doesn't taste as strong or bitter as the popular flat leaf parsley.

Spring parsley

Winter parsley

When you've got this much parsley in your yard, begging to be harvested, it's time to find a recipe.   

High Quality Ingredients

I like to use a good quality olive oil, and I've been using this excellent extra-virgin olive oil from Spain produced by Manuel Molina Munoz e Hijos.  It was sent as a gift, so I'm not sure where you can purchase it in the Northwest, but check the website online because this oil makes a great gift for any chef or foodie.

Citrus 

Winter is the season for citrus, so why not use blood oranges.  The flesh is brilliant in color and the flavor is more complex than a regular orange.

My cooking assistant gives blood oranges four paws up.  The only drawback is they are small so it can  take two oranges to make a quarter of a cup. You can follow conventional directions about how to make a vinaigrette, but these standard recipes usually call for a ratio of 3 to 1--oil to vinegar.  I try to reverse that because the purpose of the oil is so the dressing will cling to the ingredient not to flood the salad with oil.  A good vinaigrette is a balance of five flavors--salty, sweet, sour, spicy and pungent.   (Think garlic or ginger for pungent.)

Salad Composition

Also think about colors when composing salads, since unlike dogs, we tend to eat with our eyes first.  I used a few Mama Lil's peppers,  some sundried tomatoes and of course kalamata olives, which I always keep on hand to add to soups and salads.

I cook millet with quinoa because it adds variety and it's a money saver.  Millet never costs as much as quinoa and it cooks in the same amount of time, so I always use them together.

To finish the salad I like to garnish with toasted nuts because it gives the salad more texture.  For this salad,  I used some Thai roasted cashews for an exotic touch.

A salad like this can be served on the side or as a main dish.  We had spicy marinated tofu with shiitake mushrooms, carrots and cabbage. Which was the main dish and which was the side dish?  We didn't care.  It was a grand night of vegetables at our house.

Quinoa Salad with Blood Orange Vinaigrette 

(Serves 4)

Salad

2 cups water

1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed

1/2 cup millet, rinsed

5 sundried tomatoes, chopped

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1/3 cup chopped kalamata olives

Dressing

4 tablespoons blood orange juice

1 tablespoon wine vinegar

1 teaspoon veganaise or garlic aiolii

1 clove garlic, pressed

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped Mama Lil's peppers (optional)

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1/2 to 1 cup finely chopped parsley

1/2 cup toasted nuts (cashews, pecans, walnuts, or pine nuts)

1. In a small saucepan, bring water to a boil.  Place quinoa, millet, tomatoes, garlic powder, sea salt, and cayenne in the boiling water.  Bring to a second boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until water is absorbed.  Let sit for 5 minutes, then stir in kalamata olives.

2. While mixture cools, prepare dressing.  Combine orange juice, wine vinegar, dijon mustard, garlic and olive oil.  Stir until well blended.  Add Mama Lil's peppers, sea salt and pepper to taste.  Blend in parsley.  Top with toasted nuts, if desired.

The Soup Project: Black Bean Chili with Hominy (and 48 more soup recipes)

I was so busy last week, but it was all fun, and I'll tell you more about that in another post, but when my schedule is full, I bring out my favorite default recipes, like chili.

I posted this chili recipe from The Northwest Vegetarian Cookbook last February, so I suppose this makes the second chili recipe this year, but the truth is it's one of my favorites and I never get tired of variations of chili.

I found another version in Lorna Sass's classic Great Vegetarian Cooking Under Pressure. I added hominy to because chili and corn are meant to be together and since fresh local corn isn't available in the winter, dried cooked hominy is a great option with a sweet flavor.

I used Rancho Gordo hominy this time. I first tried this hominy last year and my Cooking Assistant was willing to pose with the package, but he didn't like this little school boy outfit I made him wear for the picture. He definitely isn't a "dress-up" dog.

Rancho Gordo hominy has a different appearance than Ayers Creek hominy and the recipe for cooking it seems a bit less labor intensive than the posole or hominy from Ayers Creek Farm, but the flavor of these dried versions are more rewarding than canned hominy, which I've never really liked.

I mean seriously, take a look at those cans of hominy in grocery stores, how long have they been sitting there? Who eats that stuff?

Here is the post on how to cook hominy the Ayers Creek way--it's a bit of a process, but the colors are lovely and the flavor, stunning.

Cooked in a pressure cooker this recipe is ready in minutes. My Cooking Assistant almost missed posing with the soup of the week. But he runs fast, at least he thinks he does.

I don't think he realizes how goofy he looks when he runs.

This chili is definitely worth racing to the table to eat. I hope you like this version adapted from Lorna Sass's recipe.

Be sure to check out the other recipes I've posted since last January. The Soup Project only has a few more weeks to go, and I've got a few ideas for themes I'm noodling about for my Monday posts for 2012. If you have any suggestions for themes--sides, salads, etc., let me know.

You can make this chili as hot as you like, depending on whether you leave the seeds in the smoked jalapenos or take them out. Also I taste as I cook and if the flavor is too acidic, add a half a teaspoon of honey or sugar to the mix.

Black Bean Chili with Hominy

(Serves 4 to 6)

1 cup dried black beans, picked over, rinsed and soaked for at least 4 hours

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 teaspoon whole cumin seeds

1 cup minced onions or shallots

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 or 2 dried chipotle, stemmed, seeded and minced

1 heaping tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried whole fennel seeds

Pinch of ground cinnamon

1 28-ounce fire-roasted canned tomatoes

1 large carrot, diced (about 1 1/2 cups)

1 cup cooked hominy

2 to 3 cups boiling water

Salt and pepper to taste

1 cup minced cilantro

1 lime cut into wedges

1. Drain and rinse the beans and set aside.

2. Heat the oil in the pressure cooker over medium heat. Add cumin seeds and let them sizzle until they begin to pop--5 to 10 seconds.

3. Add onions and garlic; stir and cook for about 1 minute. Add reserved beans, chipotle chili, chili powder, oregano, fennel seeds, cinnamon, fire roasted tomatoes, carrot, hominy and 2 cups boiling water. Add more if you want a more soupy texture.

4. Lock lid in place Bring to pressure over high heat. Then reduce heat, just enough to maintain temperature and cook for 12 minutes. If using a regular soup pot, simmer, covered, on medium low for at least an hour, stirring every once in awhile.

5. Allow pressure to come down naturally or use quick release and if beans aren't quite tender, simmer a few more minutes. Open lid away from you. Add salt and pepper to taste. Just before serving stir in cilantro. Serve with lime wedges.

The 2011 Soup Project

1. Sweet Potato and Kale Soup

2. Quinoa Chowder

3. Basic Soup Stock

4. Locro Guascho Argentino (white beans, sweet potatoes and hominy)

5. Deborah Madison's Rustic Lentil Soup

6. Black Bean Chili

7. Meyer Lemon, Leek, Mushroom and Potato Soup

8. Dilled Cabbage, Mushroom and Potato Soup

9. Jamaican Red Bean Soup with Lime and Coconut

10. Chickpea and Kale Soup with Bread Crumbs

11. Roasted Potato and Leek Soup with Cashew Cream and Broccoli Raab

12. Masoor Dal

13. Caldo Verde: Portuguese Kale Soup

14. Long Life Miso Soup

15. Creamy Curried Nettle Soup

16. Red Velvet Soup (with beets)

17. Mushroom Rhubarb Soup with Baby Collard Greens

18. Yellow Split Pea Dal

19. Garlic-Asparagus Soup with Smokey Blue Cheese

20. Rhubarb-Cherry Soup with Cashew Cream

21. Roasted Tomato Soup with Grilled Asparagus

22. Spring Vegetable Soup with Red Lentils

23. Spinach Soup with Cashew Cream and Morels

24. Creamy Broccoli and Arugula Soup with Caramelized Zucchini and Avocado

25. Coconut Strawberry Soup

26. English Pea Soup with Mint and Apricots

27. Zucchini Chowder with Fire Roasted Tomatoes Basil and Parmesan Cheese

28. Cooling Creamy Mint Infused Apricot Soup

29. Dilled Fresh Tomato and Quinoa Soup

30. Creamy Carrot with Fennel and Pecans

31. Corn Chowder with Basil, Eggplant and Fire-Cracker Goat Cheese

32. Raw Creamy Cucumber Soup

33. Grilled Red Pepper Chowder

34. Lentil Soup with Smoky Eggplant

35. Borscht

36. Creamy Celery and Split Pea Soup with Carrots

37. Hot Apple Soup

38. Tortilla Soup with Corn and Red Beans

39. Dairy-Free Fresh Tomato Soup

40. Curried Pumpkin Soup

41. Butternut Squash and Pear Soup with Red Currants

42. Autumn Harvest Soup

43. Minestrone

44. Mushroom and Arugula Soup with Ravioli

45. Enchilada Soup with Black Eyed Peas

46. "Creamy" Parsnip Soup

47. Old-Fashioned Navy Bean Soup

48. Winter Mushroom Soup with Lemon-Hazelnut Gremolata

49. Black Bean Chili with Hominy (see recipe above)

Empanadas, San Francisco, and the Scoop on Rancho Gordo Beans

I love it when I go away from home and find exactly what I need without even looking. That's what happened last weekend when I met my daughter Jennifer who lives in Phoenix and my neice Roxanne who lives in San Francisco. We met in San Francisco for a girl's weekend getaway. Mostly I wanted to disconnect for a few days, relax, and discover something new, and I really wanted to catch up with both of them.

Jennifer and I visited a pet store to get treats for dogs we both left behind. It was this cute little place on Castro street where I bought a small bag of gourmet dog biscuits and a stunning schoolboy outfit for my assistant.

Empanadas

Not far from the store we met Roxanne and we stopped for lunch at this charming little place called Urban Bread. As soon as I spotted the veggie empanadas, I knew I had to have one. I've been trying to create empanadas for a veganized Argentina recipe article for Vegetarian Journal and I hadn't been having great success with the dough. I know veggie anything from Argentina sounds odd, but trust me, there are food options beyond the ubiquitious asado in Argentina.

The empanada was perfect. The outside of the pastry had a shine to it and tasted like an egg white had been lightly painted over it, and the flaky crust crunched ever so slightly in my mouth tasting very rich like puff pastry. The delicate flavor was so good, it had to be loaded with butter. It will be a challenge to make a vegan version, especially if it requires lower fat ratios, but this tasty near perfect empanada gave me a goal to shoot for with my own recipe.

Autumn in San Francisco

I must say we walked, and walked, and walked some more and the weather in San Francisco felt like home with the grey days and all the drizzling rain. It was a little warmer than Seattle and not as windy. The cold here seems to trigger bright fall colors in leaves that fall from trees. If I lived in San Francisco I'd definitely miss all the gold, orange, and red tones we get in the Northwest. Nothing but brown and grey in San Francisco.

I insisted we all visit the Ferry Plaza farmers' market again. (The three of us also got together last year and my request was the same. Who cares about plays or movies? I want to see the markets!) Roxanne says the smaller markets have better prices and more character, but I like touristy things and I wanted to visit Book Passage Bookstore, check out the fresh figs and get more almond butter from Massa Organics.

As we walked, horns blared, trolley cars rattled and there were lone people ranting about politics or chanting about God and the world on various corners. Sidewalks were packed and as we drew closer to the market, street musicians played every kind of instrument.
Rancho Gordo Beans

I was surprised that one of the first vendors outside the market was Rancho Gordo Beans. I knew about these beans from the Veggie Queen. Check out her video on how to cook beans in under 10 minutes. I also read about Rancho Gordo beans on 101 Cookbooks and I became very intrigued.

It used to be easier to buy heirloom beans in Seattle. In the 1990s, PCC Natural Markets stocked many varieties, but through the years the numbers dwindled and now it's hard to find heirloom beans in any natural food store here. (Okay, maybe Delaurenti's near Pike Place Market still has some, but those are definitely not anything locally grown.)
I must have paused at the table starring at the Heirloom Beans book a little too long before moving on to the beans, but about a week ago when I had lunch with my editors at Timber Press, they mentioned a Rancho Gordo book in the works. I remembered the conversation as I flipped through the book, perusing the recipes. I was puzzled: Why Rancho Gordo would have two books?

"Can I help you?" A woman's voice asked.

Startled, I looked up and blurted: "Are you doing another book with Timber Press?"

"Oh that," she replied in a matter-of-fact tone. "It will be really different than this one," she said. "I think the editors changed the focus of the book in the middle of the project, as I recall," she added.

Still, I'm intrigued. If not a recipe book what will it be?

Now there are two books I definitely want to get next spring from Timber Press--one on corn from Anthony Boutard and this Rancho Gordo bean book. This small Northwest gardening press is definitely branching out into the food world in a compelling way.

As I gathered bags of beans, I tried to restrain myself. Lugging heavy bags around San Francisco is not my idea of a fun time, but on the other hand, I could easily have taken one of every variety. That's how excited I was about finding Rancho Gordo beans. I found flageolets for my friend Patty who has had no luck finding these beans in Seattle; I got tepary beans, an heirloom variety from the Southwest that I haven't tasted for years, and best of all I found prepared hominy (dried corn)--another common ingredient in recipes from Argentina.

Sometimes you just get lucky and find exactly what you need.
My Cooking Assistant gets props not only for wearing goofy clothes but for really getting into the act and looking as intrigued as I am by Rancho Gordo beans.

A Baking Marathon with Nash's Organic Soft Winter Wheat Flour

I’ve been on a baking binge, and my scale has been shouting for me to stop. And I would, but I’m compelled to use Nash’s Soft Winter Wheat Flour that I bought at the market. I’m investigating this local flour while it’s in season, but it may be just an excuse for holiday baking long after the holidays have ended.

Nash's flour is available at winter farmers’ markets in Seattle—University District (Saturdays), Ballard and West Seattle (Sundays). Look for four pound bags, which at first can seem daunting because not everyone knows exactly how many pounds they use per month, and it only has a 3-month shelf-life in the freezer.

Also, one bag costs $6.00. I was sure the price was on the high side until I checked the bulk bins at PCC Natural Markets and got sticker shock there too. Whole-wheat flour has leaped up to $1.15 a pound.

Four pounds of flour translates into

• 14 cups of flour, which means




• about 7 recipes

Soft wheat means a flour has less gluten, and hard wheat contains more gluten, making it the best choice for yeasted breads. Gluten is the protein in wheat that gives wheat products structure. Typically yeast breads demand more gluten (hard wheat) and pastries, cakes, biscuits, etc are lighter and turn out better with soft wheat (or whole-wheat pastry) flour.

Also, since Nash's flour is ground the day before it is sold, it contains more moisture than, say, King Authur’s flour. I had a hunch Nash's flour was heavier and had less gluten and my suspicions were confirmed when I took my sweet potato biscuits from the oven.

They looked more like puffy pancakes. Lucky for me that Finn acts as if every recipe was a winner, I caught caught him quietly wagging his tail, gazing at the biscuits (above).

Lemon-Pecan Biscotti was next and I added an additional cup of flour to the mix, but the two rolls flattened and flowed together when baked, instead of rising and standing alone. I lifted the twice-baked biscotti rolls from the baking sheet to cool. They were fragile and crispy and I knew slicing them wouldn’t be easy.

Many of the cookies crumbled. The crumbs can be used to top oatmeal, sprinkled over fresh fruit or coconut sorbet, or to make a cookie piecrust. A few biscotti burned and Finn’s eyes seemed to light up when I mentioned it. Maybe he’ll join me on a diet after this. (Fat chance.)

A piecrust was next on my baking agenda. While I made the biscotti, I put one together for a quiche, using an old Sunset Favorite Recipes book. The recipe listed 1 1/2 cups flour, so I increased that measurement to 2 cups. I was afraid with so little gluten, the crust might fall apart, but this crust was beautiful and the sweet fresh wheat flavor spurred me on.

I’d given a few cups of the flour to a number of people to see how other bakers experience this freshly ground flour. My friend Molly phoned and said, “You can really taste this flour. My muffins were amazing. I’ve saved you one.”

A cashier at PCC Markets used a few cups for a basic yeasted bread recipe said the flavor was fantastic, but the bread was slightly dense. (I was surprised she’d chosen a yeasted bread recipe and it turned out, so all I can say is try it and see for yourself.) Another friend phoned and said since tasting this flour she'd wondered if the ground flour in stores was all old flour. If you want to taste the fresh local difference yourself. In the meantime, these are my recommendations for using this local soft winter wheat:

· Store it in the freezer for a maximum of 3 months.
· Focus on quick breads, cookies, cakes, and pie crust recipes
· Add about 1/3 cmore flour to your recipe
· Add twice the amount of baking powder for a better rise

Molly and I are chipping in for another bag of flour, and I’m already considering another recipe and thinking about other baker friends who might like to try this local treasure.

Anne Bramley's Meyer Lemon Tea Bread with Northwest Flour

When my Internet connection was suddenly severed last Thusday, I was startled and wondered if I could exist in a non-connected world. But this break in my usual Internet activity led to delicious freshly baked breads, biscuits, pie crusts and cookies--all made with Northwest Washington flour, grown and processed less than 100 miles away.

After Banana Bread, Anne Bramley's Meyer Lemon Tea Bread was my second experiment with Nash's Soft Winter Wheat Flour.

I handed Tom a slice of the sweet loaf and watched him take a bite.

“It doesn’t taste any different to me,” he grumbled, when I grilled him about the flavor of Nash’s flour.

“Really? No different at all?” Why couldn’t he taste the subtle sweetness and the distinct caramelized texture of the grain? I was dismayed by his answer because I was certain that the flour had a sweet flavor and was so much better than bread made with stale ground flour from bulk bins at the natural foods store. It was so good I was giving away to baking friends to try.

My new local flour infatuation partly sprang from a Washington Tilth-sponsored farm walk I attended at Nash Huber’s farm in 2008. Eighty-five of us gathered near Nash’s packing shed early in the morning to learn about grain and seed production on Nash’s farm. We walked to test plots of wheat behind the shed and listened while Nash talked about growing and processing grain on his farm. He said he'd always used grain-based cover crops to build soil fertility on his farm, and now he was growing wheat for market with plans to grind it into flour and sell it to market shoppers. I felt like I had a front row seat to the first wheat crop in this century grown on the west side of the Cascades.

Soft Wheat Flour is new at the market this year. Just seeing it on Nash's table, took me back to that sunny day listening to Nash in his wheat field, watching the grains wave gently in the breeze.

Mom's Banana Bread was my first choice for baking, but I was certain that lemons would highlight the wheat flavor. And I was so excited about the prospect of using local wheat in another recipe, I woke up thinking about Meyer Lemon Tea Bread. At the gym, I told my friend Molly about this flour and my baking plans and she was so intrigued, she wanted to try the flour in her favorite muffin recipe.


I took a few cups of flour to Molly’s house, then went home to bake Anne Bramley’s Meyer Lemon Tea Bread.

Unless you’ve got your own lemon tree, Meyer lemons aren’t local, but this is their season, and PCC Markets had some great organic ones, which you need because the zest (outer peel) is also used in this recipe.

Then gather the remaining ingredients. Use as many local options as possible. Instead of buttermilk, you can get local milk and add a bit of vinegar or lemon juice stirred in to curdle it. I didn’t have milk so I used soymilk with a little vinegar added. Here is Anne’s recipe with Northwest options:

Meyer Lemon Tea Bread
2 cups Nash’s Organic Soft Winter Wheat
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup freshly squeezed Meyer Lemon Juice (4 to 5 lemons)
½ cup buttermilk
¼ cup Golden Glen Creamery butter, melted
1 cup sugar
Zest of 2 Meyer lemons
1 large egg (Caity’s fresh eggs from the market)

1. Preheat oven to 350º. Butter a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a small bowl, combine lemon juice and buttermilk.

3. In an electric mixer, cream together the butter, sugar and lemon zest. Beat in the egg. Add half of the lemon juice mixture, then half of the flour mixture, followed by the remaining lemon juice and then the remaining flour mixture. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Place loaf in the oven. [Let your kitchen assistant take care of the mixing bowl.]

4. Bake for 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center. Cool 10 minutes before removing from the pan. [This is important because the cake is a bit dense and it might fall apart if you take it out earlier.] This bread can be made 1 day ahead.

The sweet slightly crispy caramelized edges surpassed my expectations. Even with the Meyer lemons, dominating the stage, I could still taste the flavor of this sweet flour carrying the loaf to perfection.

The only part I didn’t care for was the moment Finn stole my slice of bread. Despite their low slung bodies, Basset hounds can reach many things on kitchen counters. And when my back was turned for just a moment, Finn had the audacity to wolf down the slice before I’d even turned around. When I noticed the bread was missing Finn was gleefully licking the floor. Finn’s idea of slow food is if he’s too slow, he misses out.

Just remember to keep your muffins away from hungry puppies. As for me, I’m already wondering which recipe to try next.