4largePortobello mushrooms or 2 small Delicata Squash
1cupspinachfresh or frozen
2tbspolive oil
1cupblack-eyed peascanned or fresh
2tbspfeta cheeseor cheese of your choice
1oniondiced
1tbspgarlicminced
sea salt and ground pepperto taste
2tablespoonsolive oil
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F
Gently clean off the mushroom caps; remove the stems and, using a teaspoon carefully scrape out the dark gills. Coat the caps with oil and place in the baking dish. Season with a little salt and pepper.
Pre-bake the mushrooms for 15 minutes.
If using delicate squash instead of mushrooms, cut your squash in half lengthwise and remove the seeds.
Coat the squash with oil and season with salt and pepper and place it face down into a baking dish.
Pre-bake the squash for 15 minutes or until fork tender.
While the mushrooms or the squash is baking, prepare the stuffing mix.
In a skillet, heat 2 teaspoons oil and toss in the onions and garlic. Stir for a minute.
Add in the spinach. Stir to combine.
Gently heat through until the spinach is wilted. Transfer to a mixing bowl
Add the black-eyed peas and the feta to the spinach and mix well
Stuff each mushroom cap or each half of the squash with the spinach/bean/cheese mixture.
Return the mushrooms or squash to the oven
Bake in the oven for 15 minutes
Video
Notes
* If starting with dried black-eyed peas, sort to remove any debris and shriveled beans. Rinse well. Place in a large pot, cover with 2 inches of water and soak overnight. When done soaking, drain, rinse and cover again with 2 inches of water. Simmer until tender, about 1 hour. Taste for doneness. If using canned, rinse beans before use.Nutrition: Per serving (4 total): Calories 160; Total Fat 9g ; Sat Fat 0g; Sodium 140mg; Carbs 15g; Fiber 4g; Total Sugars 2g; Added Sugars 0g; Protein 7g; Vit D 0mcg; Calcium 119mg; Iron 3mg; Potassium 368mg; Vit B1 22% DV; Vit C 13% DV; Vit A 95% DV; Magnesium 19% DV.
Adapted from EatingWell.comHam hocks, bacon or smoked turkey are usually key ingredients for this Southern dish. In this vegetarian version of Hoppin‘ John, smoked paprika and cayenne pepper bring on the flavor. This dish is meant to bring luck, wealth and peace in the new year to those who eat it.
2medium sweet bell peppersorange, red or yellow, chopped (1/2-inch)
4large clovesgarlicfinely chopped
2tspcuminground
1tspsmoked paprika
1/2tspcayenne pepper
1tspsalt
1small bunchcollard greensabout 8 ounces, ribs removed and chopped coarsely
4cupsblack-eyed peascooked (homemade*, or canned and rinsed)
115 ounce can diced tomatoeslow sodium
1cupwater
Instructions
Heat oil in a large saucepan or pot over medium heat. Add bell peppers and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until starting to brown and smell fragrant, 6 to 8 minutes.
Stir in cumin, paprika, cayenne and salt. Cook, stirring constantly, for 15 seconds. Stir in collard greens by the handful. Cook until they are wilted a bit, about 2 minutes.
Add black-eyed peas; tomatoes with their juice; and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to maintain a simmer. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the greens are tender, about 15 minutes.
Serve as a main-dish stew, or over brown rice or over cornbread. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
*If starting with dried black eyed peas, sort to remove any debris and shriveled beans. Rinse well. Place in a large pot, cover with 2 inches of water and soak overnight. When done soaking, drain, rinse and cover again with 2 inches of water. Simmer until tender, about 1 hour. Taste for doneness.
214 ounce cansblack beansrinsed and drained (low sodium)
114 ounce cans diced tomatoes(low sodium)
1teaspoonsalt
1/4teaspoonpepper
4 to 6cupsvegetable brothor chicken broth low sodium
2sweet potatoespeeled and cut into one inch cubes (unpeeled for increased nutrition)
½cupcorn kernelsoptional
3cupsgreens kale, escarole, spinach (optional)
garnish with sour cream and/or lime wedge before servingoptional
Instructions
If cooking with CROCK POT
Heat oil in a skillet and sauté onion and garlic until soft and caramelized.
Add sautéed onions, garlic and remaining ingredients (except optional garnish) to the crock pot and cook on LOW for 8 hours or until sweet potatoes are tender.
Garnish, if desired, and enjoy!
If cooking on STOVE TOP
Heat oil in a large soup pot and sauté onion and garlic until soft and caramelized.
Add remaining ingredients, except beans and optional garnish, and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer for roughly 30 minutes, until sweet potatoes begin to soften. A
Add black beans and cook another 10 minutes, until sweet potatoes are tender and all flavors meld.
Garnish, if desired, and enjoy!
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Notes
NOTES:
For a thicker soup, remove 3 cups of finished soup and mash with a potato masher or immersion blender and return to the pot.
For a nutritional boost, add loosely chopped, washed greens (kale, spinach or escarole) at the very end. Tender greens, like baby spinach, will wilt immediately. Robust greens, such as curly kale, may need added simmer time.
Instead of cumin and coriander, try other spice options: curry, hot salsa, smoked paprika, chili powder – be creative!
NUTRITION:Calories 193; Total Fat 4.5g ; Sat Fat 1g; Sodium 439mg; Carbs 33g; Fiber 8.6g; Total Sugars 6.1g; Added Sugars 0.8g; Protein 6.8g; Calcium 119mg; Iron 3.2mg; Potassium 609mg; Vit K 43% DV; Vit A 161%DV.
Nutrition Facts
Sweet Potato & Black Bean Soup
Amount per Serving
Calories
110.8
% Daily Value*
Fat
1.8
g
2
%
Saturated Fat
0.2
g
1
%
Sodium
1091.2
mg
47
%
Potassium
360.1
mg
8
%
Carbohydrates
22.6
g
8
%
Fiber
3.3
g
12
%
Sugar
5.9
g
Protein
2.3
g
5
%
Vitamin A
11264.2
µg
1252
%
Vitamin C
8.5
mg
9
%
Vitamin K
2.6
µg
2
%
Calcium
43.3
mg
3
%
Iron
1.2
mg
7
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Adapted from CookieandKate.comThis naturally sweetened cranberry sauce recipe is easy to make and tastes amazing, too. Explore the many uses of cranberry sauce below and enjoy it throughout the winter – not just at Thanksgiving!
12ouncescranberries1 bag fresh or 2 1/2 cups frozen
2Tbs.maple syrupor honey
1/2cupwater
1mediumorangeZest of 1 medium orange, preferably organic, divided
1/2tsp.ground cinnamon
Optional: 1/4 cup orange juice
Instructions
Rinse the cranberries well and drain off excess water. Pick through the cranberries and discard any soft or wrinkled ones.
In a medium saucepan, combine the cranberries, maple syrup and water. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, stirring occasionally, about 5 to 10 minutes, until many of the cranberries pop. Using the back of a spoon, crush some cranberries against the sides of the saucepan to create a thick mixture.
Remove the pot from heat and stir in 1 teaspoon of the orange zest (save any extra zest for garnish). Add the cinnamon and stir to combine. Taste and if the mixture is too tart (keeping in mind that cranberry sauce is supposed to be a little tart!), add the optional orange juice.
The sauce will continue to thicken as it cools. It will keep in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 2 weeks.
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Notes
MANY USES:
Crostini – for an easy and colorful appetizer, slice a small loaf of crusty bread. Brush with a little olive oil and toast in the oven until light brown. Spread toasted bread slices with soft cheese (brie, cream cheese or other), top with cranberry sauce and garnish with a pinch of extra orange zest.
Sweet Potato Topper – for a delicious sweet-and-tangy side dish, bake a foil-wrapped sweet potato until done (yields to touch). Remove skin and mash with a fork. Top mashed sweet potato with a spoonful of cranberry sauce and optional toasted pecans.
Breakfast yogurt – add flavor and color to plain yogurt by mixing in a small spoonful of cranberry sauce. Top with granola and an additional dollop of cranberry sauce for a simple, nourishing breakfast.
Dessert parfaits – for a beautiful and tasty treat, layer crushed chocolate cookies, softened vanilla ice cream and cranberry sauce, 2 to 3 times, in a glass. Enjoy immediately. If making in advance, substitute pudding or yogurt for the ice cream and refrigerate. Try using shot glasses for mini parfaits – just as delicious but less filling.
NUTRITION: Per serving (approx 1/4 cup) made with optional orange juice: Calories 37; Total Fat 0g ; Sat Fat 0g; Sodium 2mg; Carbs 9g; Fiber 2g; Total Sugars 6g; Added Sugars 3g; Protein 0g; Vit D 0mcg; Calcium 11mg; Iron 0mg; Potassium 61mg; Vit C 11% DV; Manganese 12% DV.
A new partnership between Gravity Hill Farm in Titusville and Rolling Harvest Food Rescue helps the nonprofit continue to serve families in Hunterdon and Mercer Counties.
Nearly a year into the Covid-19 pandemic, which has disrupted food systems around the world, the hunger crisis has only intensified. Cathy Snyder, founder of Rolling Harvest Food Rescue, has watched the pressures impact families throughout New Jersey and Pennsylvania. “There is not a single zip code spared,” she says.
Food insecurity and hunger in the United States have existed long before we felt the stress of the coronavirus. In fact, well before we shuttered our doors and sheltered in place last spring, more than 35 million people struggled with hunger in the United States, including 10 million children. In the wake of the pandemic, with job loss at an all-time high, the number of people struggling with food insecurity has grown to more than 54 million people, including 18 million children. “This is unsustainable for us as a country,” says Snyder. “We could do so much better.”
In most cases, the hunger isn’t caused by a shortage of food. “There is a surplus of healthy food right here, it’s just a matter of creating the logistics to get it from where it’s grown to the people who need it and keep it out of landfills,” says Snyder.
Since 2010, Rolling Harvest’s team of more than 200 dedicated volunteers have visited local farms and harvested crops that would otherwise be composted or discarded after the initial commercial harvest. They then distribute this fresh, local produce to food-insecure communities in five counties throughout western New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania, including food pantries, domestic violence shelters, low-income senior centers, children and family homeless shelters, as well as to at-risk low-income adults with health challenges. “What we have found in doing this for 10 years is that the underlying food system is really stacked against people with limited income,” says Snyder.
Rolling Harvest, headquartered across the Delaware River in New Hope, Pennsylvania, currently works with over 50 farm partners and food producers. But one Garden State farm, in particular, has been with them since the beginning. Gravity Hill Farm in Titusville regularly donates thousands of pounds of food, and has allowed the nonprofit to house their permanent coolers and delivery trucks on their farm.
In late 2020, Gravity Hill Farm and Rolling Harvest announced a new partnership. Gravity Hill Farm will transition to a full-scale farm-based education operation and their available land will be dedicated to growing food specifically for donation. Rolling Harvest will enlist volunteers to come out and help with planting, weeding, and harvesting up to five acres of donation crop that will feed families and recipient sites in need.
The new merger with Gravity Hill Farm will also allow food pantries to come directly to the farm and pick out the exact kind and amount of produce they need, enabling more food banks and pantries to offer fresh, seasonal produce suitable to their guests.
“One of the things we try to do is to show people the respect and the compassion and the dignity that we all need by giving them the choice,” says Snyder. “Not everyone likes okra, not everyone likes Swiss chard. Why not let someone choose for themselves and for their family?” Allowing people to shop for their own food not only provides freedom of choice, but it also helps to significantly reduce food waste.
Snyder and her team also developed an educational nutrition program. At no additional charge to their partner organizations, the program offers on-site tastings and cooking demonstrations that show patrons how to store and prepare seasonal produce. Each demonstration ends with recipe handouts available in both English and Spanish, and all recipes can be found on Rolling Harvest’s website.
For Snyder, a Philadelphia native, advocacy and food justice are inherent to her character. “I was always very active in community service,” she says. “It’s in my DNA.”
Snyder is aware of the discomfort that can be involved with asking for help, but hopes that by turning food banks into farmers’ markets, we can begin to reframe the narrative around food insecurity. “I want people to know that there should be no shame in asking for help. If you’re struggling, if you are having trouble paying your bills and putting healthy food on your table, so are so many of your neighbors,” she says.
“Sally Quigley is not a farmer. But today, at a food distribution event in the parking lot of CURE Insurance Arena in Trenton, she could fool anyone.
She looks down at a table heaping with butternut squash and recalls wistfully how she planted this squash and later got to harvest it. Today, she’s proud to hand it over to families that will eat it for dinner.
It is mid-October and Quigley is a regular volunteer with Rolling Harvest Food Rescue, a nonprofit organization that rescues produce that would otherwise go to waste and distributes it to food pantries and food-insecure people throughout Bucks, Montgomery, Chester, Hunterdon and Mercer counties.
Rolling Harvest’s food rescue operation is centered around gleaning—harvesting produce that farms aren’t able to sell, either because it’s surplus or because it doesn’t match customers’ aesthetic expectations.”
Clean and have ready a Ball jar (pint sized), or a large glass (16 oz or more).
Wash, core and dice 1/2 of a medium apple (do not remove peel). Gala, Honey-crisp or other local apple varieties work well. Set aside.
Toast nuts in a dry pan, checking often, until fragrant and slightly brown. Chop and set aside.
Prepare, measure and set aside the other ingredients, including any desired optional ingredients.
Assemble in the Ball jar, or glass, by creating 2 identical groups of layers. Milk will be added at the very end. So start with half of everything. Oats first, salt and cinnamon next. Then add dried fruit, apples and nuts. If using any optional ingredients, add where you think best. Then repeat the group of layers once more, starting with the oats and ending with the nuts. Finish by slowly adding all the milk so that it seeps down to moisten every layer.
Cover and chill overnight. Eat cold in the morning, straight out of the jar. Or if you prefer a warm breakfast, heat slightly in a pan or microwave. Enjoy!
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Notes
Nutrition: Per serving (entire recipe) made with pecans and low fat oat milk: Calories 364; Total Fat 9g ; Sat Fat 1g; Sodium 258mg; Carbs 65g; Fiber 10g; Total Sugars 24g; Added Sugars 0g; Protein 9g; Vit D 4mcg; Calcium 396mg; Iron 2mg; Potassium 737mg; Vit B2 50% DV; Vit B12 50% DV; Vit A 22% DV.
Makes 3 pintsApple butter is a highly-concentrated form of apple sauce produced by long, slow cooking of apples with cider to a point where the sugar in the apples caramelizes, turning the apple butter a deep brown. In contrast to what the name implies, there is no “butter” in apple butter. The name comes from its smooth and buttery texture.
4poundsApplesMcIntosh, Braeburn, Fuji, Gala – cut, cored, but not peeled
2/3cupapple cider
¼cuplemon juice
2teaspoonsground cinnamon
¼teaspoonground cloves
¼teaspoonground allspice
Instructions
Add the apples, apple cider, lemon juice, cinnamon, cloves and all spice to a large pot.
Cook all the ingredients over medium-low heat, uncovered.
Stir occasionally, until the apples have become very soft, approximately 1 hour.
Mash the apples in the pot with a potato masher.
Continue cooking the apples uncovered and stirring occasionally, until they become thick, velvety and a deep mahogany color, about 1 hour.
Using a hand blender (also known as an immersion blender) puree the mixture until smooth.
You can also use a regular blender in small batches until smooth.
Let the mixture cool and transfer the butter to the pint-sized jars.
Keep the apple butter refrigerated.
It will stay for 3-4 weeks in the refrigerator.
Try spreading the apple butter on buttered toast, waffles, crostini with cheese. You can also add it to bbq sauce, chicken burgers or added to carnitas.
Enjoy!
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Notes
Nutrition Information: Per serving – 1 Tablespoon: Calories; 40 Total Fat 0g ; Sat Fat 0g; Sodium 1.1 mg; Carbs 10g; Fiber 1.7g; Total Sugars 7.8g; Added Sugars 0g; Protein 0.2 g; Calcium 6.7 mg; Iron 0.1mg; Potassium 83mg; Vit A 0.7% DV; Vit C 6.3% DV; Vit K 1.9% DV.
1 1/4lb.potatoesred-skinned and white-skinned, cut into 1 inch pieces
3/4lb.sweet potatocut into 1-inch pieces
3carrotscut into 1-inch pieces
1lb.beetsa mixture of red, golden and chiogga if possible, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
1largeonioncut into chunks
4tbsp.olive oil
3/4tsp.Salt
3/4tsp.ground pepper
2tbsp.chopped fresh rosemaryoptional
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400ºF
In a large bowl combine the red and white potatoes, sweet potato, carrots, beets and onions.
Drizzle olive oil over the bowl of vegetables, season with salt, pepper and rosemary, and mix well to combine.
Place all the vegetables on a large baking sheet.
Roast for 20 minutes, then gently stir the vegetables.
Roast until the vegetables are tender when pierced with a fork and golden brown in some spots for an additional 20–25 minutes.
Take care not to overcook the beets as their high sugar content could cause them to burn.
Video
Notes
STORAGE: Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.NUTRITION: Per serving (1/8 of recipe): Calories 173; Total Fat 7g; Sat Fat 1g; Cholesterol 0mg; Sodium 310g; Total Carb 26g; Fiber 5g; Total Sugars 7g; Added Sugars 0g; Protein 3g; Vit D 0mcg; Calcium 37mg; Iron 1.3mg; Potassium 688mg; Vit A 186% DV; Vit C 18% DV; Vit K 11% DV.
Trim greens from beet roots and set aside. Wash beet roots, but do not peel. Wrap each beet root in aluminum foil and place on a baking sheet. Bake until tender, roughly 45 minutes, depending on thickness of beets.
While beets are cooking, wash the greens extra well (beets tend to be sandy) and dry. Slice the beet greens into thin ribbons and put in a large bowl.
When beets are tender, remove from oven, unwrap the foil and let cool 5-10 minutes.
Peel the cooled beets and cut into 1-inch thick pieces. Add to the bowl with the greens.
Add peeled, cut oranges (and any juices) and onion slices to the bowl.
In a separate bowl/jar, mix vegetable oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Pour over the salad and toss to combine.
If the beet greens are insufficient to serve 6, then add extra clean salad greens (arugula, spring mix or other) to the bowl. Top with crumbled feta cheese, if desired. Serve chilled.
Video
Notes
*Red wine vinegar and extra virgin olive oil are preferred, but you may easily substitute other varieties.NUTRITION:
Per serving (1/6 of recipe) including feta cheese: Calories 130; Total Fat 7g; Sat Fat 2g; Cholesterol 7mg; Sodium 338g; Total Carb 16g; Fiber 5g; Total Sugars 10g; Added Sugars 0g; Protein 4g; Vit D 0mcg; Calcium 102mg; Iron 1.6mg; Potassium 600mg; Vit A 88% DV; Vit C 55% DV; Vit K 129% DV.
