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Shop Local, Eat Fresh

soups

Out of the frying pan and into the Instant Pot

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By Madeline McCarthy

Healthy Gourmet Kitchen, photo provided

“What are we having for dinner?” This daily asked question requires a different answer each time, but the response must always sound delicious, nutritious, and most of all, be easy to make.

These exact requirements crossed Mary Song’s mind before she started Healthy Gourmet Kitchen. Prior to opening her business, Song worked as a business analyst designing large scale computer applications. She helped improve life for people around the world, but she never met any of them. She was working long hours and found it challenging to cook healthy dinners. This inspired Song to create her business selling packaged seasoning blends, dips, soup mixes, and meal starters that can be made in a slow cooker, pressure cooker, or simmered in a saucepan for those who are too busy to spend much time cooking.

“I’ve loved to cook my entire life,” says Song, recalling how living in the Middle East and France influenced her cooking style. In the Middle East, she lived in an international expat community, where cooking was “like an art with a lot of heart.” While in France, she was taught traditional French cuisine and to use the freshest ingredients, stating that the process was “a bit fussy – but this was the 1980s after all!”

Healthy Gourmet Kitchen, photo provided

Song learned to combine the Middle Eastern and French food cultures and not to be afraid of spices, herbs, and flavor. She advises her customers to step outside their comfort zone when it comes to food, so rather than offering bland mixes, Healthy Gourmet Kitchen invites you to make flavorful and exciting dishes like a “Coconut Curry Chickpea Stew” or “Chicken Marengo”.

Everything is blended and mixed by hand and packed into clear packaging so customers are able to see the ingredients they are buying. Plus, there are no unnecessary added ingredients like you find in store-bought mixes. “When I first started Healthy Gourmet Kitchen there were few or no low sodium, low-fat options that also tasted great,” says Song, “I felt there was an opportunity to create healthy, delicious meal starters that didn’t rely on salt, sugar or chemicals for flavor.”

When she created her business, Song knew she wanted to participate in the Saratoga Farmers’ Market to finally be able to meet the people she helps. Healthy Gourmet Kitchen attends the market on Saturdays and will be back at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market on July 11!

This week’s recipe: Instant Pot Bolognese

Warming Up the Winter with Saratoga Farmers’ Market Foods

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By Himanee Gupta-Carlson

 

Puckers Gourmet, photo courtesy of Pattie Garrett

How can you use the foods grown and raised by local farmers at the coldest time of year to create meals that are healthy, warm, and pleasing to the palate?

“Bake an apple,” recommends Christine Gaud, of Saratoga Apple.

Gaud cuts out the core of an apple and fills it with a dab of butter and some nuts. She places the fruit in her wood-fired oven and lets it bake until it softens. “Sometimes, it takes 15 minutes, sometimes 20,” she says.

You don’t need a wood-fired oven to do this. Following Gaud’s advice, I baked a Cortland apple at 350 degrees until it was soft to the touch. After it had cooled, I used a spoon to scoop out the inner flesh, which blended beautifully into a soft and silky custard-like concoction with the butter and chopped walnuts I added in.

“Load up on probiotics,” suggests Kelley Hillis, of Puckers’ Gourmet Pickles. As she notes, probiotics – which are abundant in such foods as her naturally fermented pickled vegetables – help strengthen the immune system, which is vital to staying healthy through the winter. On top of that, the pickles taste tangy and crunchy. While pickles often are regarded as a condiment, Hillis suggests adding them to sandwiches, tacos, or salads or eating them as a vegetable side.

“Many people have told me that they like to cut up my dill sours, for instance, and add them to a chicken or a tuna sandwich,” says Hillis.

And there’s soup. “Healthy and easy,” says Jennifer Czelusniak, of the Cornell Cooperative Extension Service, who was serving samples of potato leek soup last Saturday. Czelusniak notes that planning a soup as part of a weekly menu means you don’t have to worry about what to use. “You can make a soup with almost any vegetable, a little oil or butter, and some broth.”

Frozen meats, aged cheeses, fresh fish, root vegetables, and greenhouse-grown salad greens, spinach and kale also are available at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market year round.

“Winter is a great time to try something different,” says Czelusniak. “Visit the market, talk to farmers. You might discover something new.”

Visit the Saratoga Farmers’ Market 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays at the Lincoln Baths Building in Saratoga Spa State Park; follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram; and contact friends@saratogafarmersmarket.org for volunteer opportunities.

Beef Sausage and Kale Soup

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Recipe courtesy of Lewis Waite Farm

 

Ingredients

*Ingredients currently available at the farmers’ market

  • 1 pack of Chorizo Sausage Links*
  • 1 onion*, sliced
  • 5 cups stock
  • 2 carrots*, cut into bite-sized chunks      
  • 1 cup uncooked pasta or rice
  • 1 clove garlic*, chopped
  • Parsley or cilantro*, chop finely
  • 4-6 leaves of kale* torn to bite size

 

Instructions

  1. In a Dutch oven, on medium heat, sauté onions with a little oil, until soft.
  2. Cut the sausage links into 1” length chunks and add to the onions. Stir frequently until the exterior of the sausage is browned.
  3. Add garlic and carrots, cover and let sit (called sweating) for 5 minutes.
  4. Add stock and bring to a boil.
  5. Add grain or pasta and simmer until soft. Timing on this will vary quite a bit depending on the grain chosen.
  6. Prior to serving, add the kale and parsley and let them wilt, but do not overcook. Salt & pepper to taste.