baked

Six years ago my family joined a CSA (community supported agriculture), otherwise known as a farm share. We joined because I really wanted to take advantage of local, responsibly grown produce. Being a member of the farm share has been a truly wonderful experience—from the warm and friendly staff, to the community atmosphere amongst the members, to the access to truly seasonal fruits and vegetables!

Our CSA is sort of unique in that instead of just picking up a box of pre-selected produce, you get to pick your selections in a farm stand-type set up. When I was first starting out, this feature was nice because I was nervous about cooking with unknown vegetables, so falling back on familiar ingredients made me more comfortable. As I have become a more confident and curious cook, though, one of the things that I have really grown to enjoy is trying out a new ingredient every week (or almost every week). This season the highlights so far have been kohlrabi, tatsoi, and squash blossoms.

As I have experimented with these new ingredients over the years I have figured out five tricks to make it fun and easy:…

Last year around this time I shared my sweet potato latke recipe with you. It is one of my favorites. Very simple, very tasty, and I was excited to make them again for Hanukkah this year. And then my husband announced that he is sick of sweet potatoes. WHAT?! So while I will still make the sweet potato latkes for the rest of us, I thought this might be a nice chance to try something new, and the root vegetable latke was born!

As with my sweet potato version, these latkes are not fried in oil, but rather are baked on a layer of oil. I know that takes away from their traditional latke-ness, but I just have a block about frying foods in my house. And I have to say, the smell of these baking is absolutely awesome—way better than the smell of fried foods that lingers for days…

These latkes are made with carrots, parsnips, and onions, so they are quite sweet, but also lighter than standard latkes. They go really nicely with sour cream or plain Greek yogurt—the sweet and sour. You can also make them even more interesting and exciting by adding one of the optional spices—cumin, chili powder, and za’atar would all be awesome….

The Balanced Kitchen

Time for food. Time for Life.

Root Vegetable Latkes