Common Ground | Recipes

RECIPES FROM COMMON GROUND

At Common Ground, we strive to provide our students with food that tastes good, keeps them healthy, and draws on the season's harvest from the Common Ground gardens. While designed to feed 150 hungry teenagers -- and Common Ground's staff, who also eat our lunches with gusto each day -- these recipes are appropriate for home cooking, as well. Check back for new recipes each month (sometimes more often!), each featuring produce available in that season. For more recipes using local seasonal ingredients, visit the recipes posted by City Seed on the Buy CT Grown Web site

Previous Recipes from Common Ground

Tomato and Red Onion Salad, by Rhonda DeLoatch

Roasted Winter Vegetables

by Saralynn Taurus-Craig

Roasting is a great method because it is low in fat but high in flavor. The wonderful part about this method is that, whereas boiling vegetables leaches out the flavor, roasting actually concentrates it, as well as crisps and caramelizes the outside. We like to use this method for two kinds of vegetables: those with a lot of water, as the dry heat draws out the moisture and intensifies the flavor; and firm vegetables, which become sweet and tender after a slow roasting. In the first category are asparagus, eggplant, mushrooms, summer squash and zucchini. In the second are carrots, onions, potatoes, sweet potatoes and winter squash.

The best part? All you do is cut up some veggies, sprinkle some oil and seasonings, and put it in the oven. Five minutes of your time.

Roasted Vegetable Salad with Local Greens and a Tomato Vinagrette

Ingredients

Winter vegetables - carrots, onions, potatoes, sweet potatoes, winter squash

Olive oil for coating vegetables

2 plum tomatoes

2 cloves of garlic, finely minced

2 tbs extra virgin olive oil

2 tbs sherry or red wine vinegar

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Two Guys from Woodbridge salad greens

Ricotta Salata

Directions

Preheat oven to 400-425.
Cut up your vegetables into large chunks (3/4 inch to 1 inch). Oil a pan with or without foil. Throw your vegetables into the pan, rubbing them into the oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and garlic if you like.
On a separate small baking sheet, combine the salad dressing ingredients, minus the vinegar: tomatoes, olive oil, and garlic.
Put both trays in the oven. Easy peasy.
About 20 minutes in, toss the vegetables around in the pan, and add any seasonings you would like. Doing this later in roasting reduces the risk of burning the seasoning. Check the progress of the veggies, they're done when you bite into one and can't stop, about 45 minutes. Root vegetables can take longer, summery ones take a lot less time.
Remove the salad dressing ingredients from the oven, add vinegar, and puree with a food processor or blender. Add salt and pepper to taste.
On a large serving platter or salad bowl, create a bed of vegetable greens, layer roasted veggies over the top, and sprinkle on small chunks of ricotta salata.
Dress salad with vinagrette right before serving.
Enjoy!


	RECIPES FROM COMMON GROUND RECIPES FROM COMMON GROUND At Common Ground, we strive to provide our students with food that tastes good, keeps them healthy, and draws on the season's harvest from the Common Ground gardens. While designed to feed 150 hungry teenagers -- and Common Ground's staff, who also eat our lunches with gusto each day -- these recipes are appropriate for home cooking, as well. Check back for new recipes each month (sometimes more often!), each featuring produce available in that season. For more recipes using local seasonal ingredients, visit the recipes posted by City Seed on the Buy CT Grown Web site Previous Recipes from Common Ground Tomato and Red Onion Salad, by Rhonda DeLoatch Roasted Winter Vegetables by Saralynn Taurus-Craig Roasting is a great method because it is low in fat but high in flavor. The wonderful part about this method is that, whereas boiling vegetables leaches out the flavor, roasting actually concentrates it, as well as crisps and caramelizes the outside. We like to use this method for two kinds of vegetables: those with a lot of water, as the dry heat draws out the moisture and intensifies the flavor; and firm vegetables, which become sweet and tender after a slow roasting. In the first category are asparagus, eggplant, mushrooms, summer squash and zucchini. In the second are carrots, onions, potatoes, sweet potatoes and winter squash. The best part? All you do is cut up some veggies, sprinkle some oil and seasonings, and put it in the oven. Five minutes of your time. Roasted Vegetable Salad with Local Greens and a Tomato Vinagrette Ingredients Winter vegetables - carrots, onions, potatoes, sweet potatoes, winter squash Olive oil for coating vegetables 2 plum tomatoes 2 cloves of garlic, finely minced 2 tbs extra virgin olive oil 2 tbs sherry or red wine vinegar Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste Two Guys from Woodbridge salad greens Ricotta Salata Directions Preheat oven to 400-425. Cut up your vegetables into large chunks (3/4 inch to 1 inch). Oil a pan with or without foil. Throw your vegetables into the pan, rubbing them into the oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and garlic if you like. On a separate small baking sheet, combine the salad dressing ingredients, minus the vinegar: tomatoes, olive oil, and garlic. Put both trays in the oven. Easy peasy. About 20 minutes in, toss the vegetables around in the pan, and add any seasonings you would like. Doing this later in roasting reduces the risk of burning the seasoning. Check the progress of the veggies, they're done when you bite into one and can't stop, about 45 minutes. Root vegetables can take longer, summery ones take a lot less time. Remove the salad dressing ingredients from the oven, add vinegar, and puree with a food processor or blender. Add salt and pepper to taste. On a large serving platter or salad bowl, create a bed of vegetable greens, layer roasted veggies over the top, and sprinkle on small chunks of ricotta salata. Dress salad with vinagrette right before serving. Enjoy!