We call them burritos. The Brits say they’re foldovers. I just know this recipe, from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage Veg cookbook, is delicious.
Let’s talk dirt? You know, that soil hugging a carrot just pulled from the garden. The stuff hiding in the crevices of leafy Red Romaine lettuce. And don’t forget the leek. Those babies pride themselves on clinging to the sandy soil they love. Not to mention, so I won’t, a radish bunch. For the past two weeks, that’s been my #1 dilemma. (The world should be so lucky, right?)
The solution: Oxo Good Grips Flexible Vegetable Brush. $4.99. Sold everywhere. Buy two.
My first bounty from Talley Farms’ Fresh Harvest produce box.
For several months I’ve been cooking with other bloggers from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s “River Cottage Veg, 200 inspired vegetable recipes.” Hugh’s a Brit, an award-winning food writer who has garnered a huge following from his popular BBC River Cottage TV series/books. Touted as a ‘pioneering champion of sustainable foods,’ he’s my idea of a celebrity chef.
Fresh squeezed orange juice is a morning treat.
Recently Andrea, who created our group and blogs as The Kitchen Lioness, asked us to not only cook from Hugh’s book but also highlight our sources. “One of the express goals of the members of The Cottage Cooking Club,” she explains, “is to make an effort to use as much local, regional, organic and also seasonal produce as is reasonably possible. Do you know and make an effort to understand where some of the food that you buy comes from?”
Week #2’s motherlode.
My answer was, “Uh, no, Andrea, not really.”
My dinner’s foldover, topped with sour cream, red onions and avocados, gets ready for its fold. (Notice my new Tom’s shoes? Sorta wanted to show them to you.)
For me, another you-talk-the-talk now, walk-the-walk moment. That’s why I recently joined Talley Farm’s Fresh Harvest produce box program. TFs, founded in 1948 by Oliver Talley, is based in the Arroyo Grande Valley on California’s Central Coast. Every week a $26 box, containing anywhere from 9-12 different fruits and vegetables, is delivered for me to my Cambria pick-up site. (In March I will receive the $19 Singles Boxes with fewer products.)
After I sliced the steamed artichoke in two, I needed to scrape out the choke (the fuzzy center.)
TF’s also supports each box with an informational website telling me how to store, maintain and cook with each product. They send me a head-up list so I have advance notice of each box’s contents. That’s when I pull out my River Cottage Veg cookbook and do menu planning. No matter the veggie, Hugh’s book offers me simple options for its use. Besides being a nutritious and delicious adventure, it’s great fun.
I mixed together 2 sliced garlic cloves, 1 Tbs, lemon juice, 1/2 tsp of salt and pepper and 2 TBS olive oil. After brushing the entire artichoke halves with the mix, I grilled them for 6 minutes, 3 minutes for each side. No condiments needed for serving…so good.
This coming week I look forward to receiving more user-friendly local foodstuffs. My family was here when I picked up my first box so the fresh food was gobbled up. Using the black kale, Melissa, the mom, made kale chips. With the bags of oranges, Clara, 11, and I enjoyed freshly-squeezed orange juice each morning. We steamed the three artichokes and devoured two immediately. I grilled the leftover one for lunch this week. Unfortunately Emma, 13, didn’t share many blueberries. With the broccoli and leeks, I made soup. The spinach? Nothing beats Dorie Greenspan’s lemon steamed spinach. I claimed most of the carrots, radishes and cauliflower. With the lettuce, Melissa made salads, even for breakfast. Voila.
Last week I visited the Pacific Wildlife Center in Morro Bay, a site opened in 2007, all donor-financed and opened 365 days a year to all injured wildlife except grown bears. Last year they cared for 2014 reptiles, mammals and birds. Recovering here are a northern California brown pelican, Heermann’s Gull and a Royal Tern.
For this month’s recipe from River Cottage Veg I substituted leeks from TF’s for the onion. The recipe, Refried Beans Foldover, raises the bar on refried beans. I was put off by the refried beans moniker but charmed that the Brits call burritos, foldovers, so I soldiered on. Readers, this is an example of what an onion (I used leeks), a tomato and a can of cannellini beans, mixed together with the right seasonings, can create. Savory. Nutritious. Satisfying. Filling. Delicious. Company-worthy. And, pretty. Since the recipe is already blogosphere material, I may share it with you.
Refried Beans Foldover
REFRIED BEANS FOLDOVER by Hugh Fearnley-Whitingstall, River Cottage Veg
Serves 3
INGREDIENTS
2 Tbs canola or olive oil
1 small onion or 2 leeks, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
1/2 fresh red chile, seeded and chopped
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 large or 2 medium tomatoes
1 can (14-ounce) of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 to 1/2 tsp hot smoked paprika or cayenne pepper
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
2 to 3 Tbs Sour Cream or Yogurt (I added Penzey’s Chip & Dip Seasoning)
Soft flatbreads, Naan, flour tortillas or tortillas chips
OPTIONAL TOPPINGS
Grated cheddar or hard goat cheese
Sliced or Diced Avocado
Thinly Sliced Red Onion
Guacamole
DIRECTIONS
1. Sauté the sliced onion or leek in a frying pan with medium-heat for about 10 minutes until soft. Add the garlic, chile and oregano, if using it, for the last minute or two.
2. Halve the tomato(es), grate the flesh directly into the pan. Discard the skins. Let the mixture bubble and reduce for a few minutes before adding the beans.
3. Add the beans and cook gently while crushing them with a fork to make a coarse purée. Season well with salt and pepper. Add cayenne or paprika for more heat.
4. Lay a healthy tablespoonful of the mixture on the flatbread. Top with a generous dollop of sour cream or yogurt before adding any extras you (or, your guests) choose.
5. Fold and eat.
Note: After making this mixture and without any of the toppings, I stood at my stove, fork in hand, and ate lunch. I waited to make the foldover until dinnertime. I am not particularly proud of that, just sayin’.
Cottage Cooking Club is an international group of bloggers which is cooking its way through “River Cottage Veg, 200 inspired vegetable recipes” by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. If you’d like to join CCC or see what my colleagues cooked this month, go here.
I have several points to make…well 2 points and 1 question
1) last month I bought the Oxo veggie brush. I feel so much healthier now eating the carrot skin rather than peeling it.
2) just bought some foldovers at the grocery store…so I am armed.
3) who is Viola and why is she in this post?
Really great post, Mary! I love how you tied so many aspects of your life together. We eat tacos & burritos often so will have to try the beans.
Artichokes are my favorite vegetable & I love what you did with them. I’m so glad you got the fresh fruit & vegetables and that you’re making the most of them.
I am especially happy that you have a V egan (except for sour cream and cheese) recipe, Mary. As a Vegan, I am happy to see this and glad that others are going to get to sample the way I eat, all the time. Thanks.
Very nicely done, Mary! Glad to see you enjoying your time in Ca. This “foldover” looks yummy…have to give it a try! I love veggie meals…but Bill needs to have some meat thrown in! Have a great weekend!!
Hi Mary, your fold over looks delicious, something my entire family would of loved, should of prepared that one. Anyway what a great idea to join a produce group looks like you receive a plentiful box.
Yes this week I did notice you did not post on FFWD. Your foldovers look great. I love any Mexican food. I have not dived into the box of produce delivery system yet. I have so many local stores that I love that it is hard to give up.
I love your post. I made the foldover too. Wasn’t it nice? What a perfect casual lunch. I’ll have to seek out that OXO brush. The one I’d been using fell apart recently. And I am so jealous of what you can get in a CSA box this time of year. It all looks great, but those artichokes are exquisite. I can’t wait to see what you get next week. Our fields are all covered with snow, so it’s root vegetables from storage here. I forgot to mention in my post, but I used my last winter squash from last fall’s CSA in the chickpea dish (I’ve been storing it in the basement).
Dear Mary, love, love your post – you tie all the knots (does one say that…) – local produce, great recipe box, all the delicious dishes that you created with your CSA box veg – the beautifully grilled artichokes (there, I am jealous, never had that) – and the description of the Refried Beans Foldover – what a treat indeed. You are making me one happy CCC blogger (again) this month – thank you for picking up the the idea of getting to know your local sources. During the month of March, everyone can roam around this book and search for the best seasonal recipe and I am putting together an address list of all the participants so that every member will get a little “motivational” surprise in the mail, half way there…I am proud of you all and this group and all the dishes that the CCC members have created so far! Funny abut those Kale Chips btw. great minds…
Thank you for writing such a fantastic post – I am sure that you, Melissa, Clara and Emma had a wonderful time together!!!
Liebe Grüsse,
Andrea – do not forget to send me your Cambria mailing address (how long will you be there?)
Very excellent written piece Mary, though whoa there, you temporarily shocked my currently tender and frazzled brain waves, thinking I had accidentally signed on to the New Yorker magazine. Creative and refreshing. Those artichokes are something I greatly look forward to seeing at the market in the upcoming month. Love your refried beans turnover, so appetizing in appearance, and a very nice photograph, looking forward to giving this a go over the month too! Happy you are enjoying your CSA. I’ve never joined a CSA mainly because we have so many local farmer’s markets, local stands and farms nearby, not to mention extensive produce markets, so this offers me more than enough flexibility and also freedom to see what’s out there and just pick and choose. Just saw your Facebook comment- Thank you so much and you made my whole week! Was visiting and making a delivery to my mom down the Jersey shore- in the midst of an ice storm. Sigh. Cannot wait for spring!!! See you soon! Sending a big hug your way!
Look at those gorgeous artichokes…they must have been fantastic grilled. Grilling weather is but a dream for me right now! Your foldover looks beautiful; I thought that the refried beans were delicious also and must admit that some of mine disappeared en route to the serving dish.
Your fold over looks so fresh and yummy. We don’t have too many seasonal ingredients to use right now in NC but coming up soon there will be tons! Can’t wait!
Those artichokes!!!
Looks wonderful, but I am kind of in love with the birds 🙂
Your box of goods look wonderful! Those artichokes! We love grilled arti’s. I really should take up the box route again, it is a lot of fun to find it sitting on the doorstep . I will be making the fold-over for our March makeup. One I know my other half will enjoy immensely. Love the bird pic, and so enjoyed reading this post, Mary!
I am SO jealous of your California-fresh artichokes. I always buy plenty at the grocery store in the spring, but they aren’t the same. Our CSA share starts in May. I’m definitely looking forward to it. I’m glad you’re enjoying your program so far. That really is a beautiful box of vegetables.