Dragon Tongue Bean Salad

Photo by Danielle Atkins.

Spicy Mustard Vinaigrette

ingredients

3 tbsp gochujang paste (or any chili paste)
1 tbsp dijon or stone ground mustard
2 tsp honey
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp minced fresh garlic
1 tsp minced fresh 
1  tsp minced fresh ginger
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions

Mix all ingredients except olive oil. Mix until smooth. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil while mixing to incorporate. Season with salt and pepper if needed.

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Dragon Tongue Bean Salad

ingredients

Dressing (above)
1/2 red onion julienned
1 carrot shaved/ribboned
1/4 cup julienned peppers
1/2  lb dragon tongue beans (ends trimmed) blanched
1/2 lb dragon tongue beans cut on bias, raw
3 tsp chiffonade Thai basil
2 cups of arugula or micro greens

directions

Toss the beans with the prepared vegetables (except raw beans) and greens. Add vinaigrette and top with raw cut beans to add crunch and garnish!

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This recipe is a part of our menu for our upcoming live dinner party, a part of our Nourishing our Community presented by Kroger Zero Hunger Zero Waste campaign.

We hope you can cook up your version and join us for dinner on Thursday, July 2nd!

Buttermilk Biscuits

Photo by Danielle Atkins.

We begin with bread — a symbol of nourishment in many senses of the word.

As Gandhi said, “There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.”

We choose the biscuit for its place where we work, Nashville, and the biscuit as a workhorse of a bread sustaining so many throughout the years. (Flour was our city's number one export in the late 1800s giving us flour brands that endure today like Martha White and White Lily, which donates to our kitchens in bulk).

With this recipe, we also nod too to our friends at Biscuit Love, Karl & Sarah Worley, who led last year's Nourish and generously donate in many ways their time, talents and even their cookbook collection!  

This particular recipe is a favorite of our resident baker, Meg Schmalandt, sous coordinator at the California Kitchen. Preferences in biscuits often differ in the type of fat they include. Culinary legend Edna Lewis preferred lard, for example, while hometown food hero Carla Hall suggests butter and shortening. We’ve adapted this recipe from Joy the Baker, which includes the more unusual addition of an egg adding lift to the dough, and we’ve included Hall’s tip by including a blend of butter and shortening.

Bake these biscuits on their own or use them to top next week’s recipe: Chicken Cobbler, a take on chicken pot pie, which has been a favorite in The Nashville Food Project’s kitchens over the years for its versatility in making use of fresh vegetables on hand.

Buttermilk Biscuits

makes about 12 biscuits

ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp granulated sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup cold salted butter, cut into small cubes, plus 2 tablespoons melted to brush the biscuits
1/4 cup cold shortening, cut into small cubes
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup cold buttermilk

Directions

Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. 

In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, combine egg and buttermilk and beat lightly with a fork. Set aside in refrigerator until ready to use. 

Using your fingers, quickly work the butter and shortening into the dry ingredients until some bits of butter and shortening are the size of oat flakes, some the size of small peas. Chunks of fat is what we want in our dough.

Create a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the egg mixture all at once. Stir into a shaggy mixture. The dough will be moist, but not overly wet.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured board and use a floured rolling pin to gently roll the dough into a into a 1-inch thick oval. At the short end of the dough closest to you, fold the dough over until the edge of the dough meets the center of the dough. Fold the top edge of the dough towards the center over the first fold. Gently roll the dough into a 1-inch oval and repeat the folding process again.

After the second fold, again roll the dough out to a 1-inch thickness and use a 2-inch round biscuit cutter to cut biscuits. Press any dough scraps together to make a few more biscuits out of the remaining dough.

Place 1-inch apart on the prepared baking sheet and brush lightly with melted butter.

Bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown on top. Serve warm with extra butter. 

Recipe adapted from JoytheBaker.com.

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This recipe is a part of our menu for our upcoming live dinner party, a part of our Nourishing our Community presented by Kroger Zero Hunger Zero Waste campaign.

We hope you can cook up your version and join us for dinner on Thursday, July 2nd!

Chicken & Vegetable Cobbler

Photo by Danielle Atkins.

This cobbler is a version of chicken pot pie, a favorite in our kitchens for its versatility and open palette for incorporating many types of vegetables on hand. The Nashville Food Project’s Chef Bianca Morton might sub in peas or chopped asparagus stalks or zucchini for the mushrooms, for example.  

Top this dish with biscuit dough from last week’s recipe to make a comforting cobbler. It has us thinking of Chef Tandy Wilson, a longtime friend of The Nashville Food Project and Nourish alum. While Tandy’s restaurant City House gives us some of the best food in town, he’s also apt to find inspiration from his family’s community cookbooks too incorporating the finest seasonal, farm-grown ingredients to highlight produce at its prime and reduce waste.

Chicken & Vegetable Cobbler

makes 8 servings

ingredients

3 tablespoons butter
1 cup sliced carrots
1 medium onion, chopped
2 (8-oz.) packages fresh mushrooms, quartered
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
3/4 cup whipping cream
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
3 tbsp sliced chives
3 tbsp chopped parsley
2 tsp chopped rosemary
2 tsp chopped thyme leaves
8 cups shredded cooked chicken
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Prepared biscuit dough (recipe here)
Garnishes: chopped fresh chives and parsley

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add carrots and onion, and sauté 5 minutes. Add mushrooms; sauté 5 minutes or until tender. Stir in garlic; sauté 2 minutes. Add wine; cook 2 minutes. Sprinkle with 1/3 cup all-purpose flour, and cook, stirring constantly, 3 minutes. Slowly add broth, stirring constantly; bring mixture to a boil, stirring constantly, 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in cream and next 5 ingredients. Stir in chicken, and season to taste with salt and pepper. 

Spoon mixture into buttered 3-qt. ceramic or glass baking dish. Top with biscuits, about 1/4 to 1/2 inch apart, onto chicken mixture. Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes or until browned and bubbly.

Recipe adapted from Southern Living.

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This recipe is a part of our menu for our upcoming live dinner party, a part of our Nourishing our Community presented by Kroger Zero Hunger Zero Waste campaign.

We hope you can cook up your version and join us for dinner on Thursday, July 2nd!

South x South Pickle Plate

Photo by Danielle Atkins.

These bites can be served before dinner or with the main meal to cut through the richness of the cobbler. In this plate we celebrate the Growing Together farmers. Pickled vegetables, like radishes, are a favorite in the farmers’ native South Asian culture just as people in the American South love pickled bites (from okra to chow chow).

To pair with the radishes, we also like this quick pickled version of collard stems as it makes good use of the parts that otherwise might get thrown away. Chef Jessica Benefield of Two Ten Jack served a similar garnish on a salad at Nourish in 2017. We celebrate her as the first chef to embrace the Growing Together community. Serve these pickles alongside a sharp cheddar or blue cheese from our friends at Kenny’s Farmhouse Cheese or goat cheese from Noble Springs Dairy.

Quick Pickled Collard Stems/Radishes

makes about 1 cup

ingredients

½ cup cider vinegar
½ cup water
¼ cup granulated sugar
4 garlic cloves, smashed
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon red chili flakes
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup collard stems, trimmed of leaves and cut into ¼-inch pieces
OR
2 bunches radishes, halved and thinly sliced (greens removed)

Directions

Combine the vinegar, water, sugar, garlic, bay leaves, chili flakes and salt in a small saucepan. Bring up to boil and add the stems or radish. Cook for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature. You can eat these right away, but they’ll be better the next day. The pickles keep in the fridge for up a month. 

Recipes from Deep Run Roots by Vivian Howard.

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This recipe is a part of our menu for our upcoming live dinner party, a part of our Nourishing our Community presented by Kroger Zero Hunger Zero Waste campaign.

We hope you can cook up your version and join us for dinner on Thursday, July 2nd!

Summer Squash Two Ways: Soup and Saute

Photo by Danielle Atkins.

This recipe for Braised Summer Squash with Onions is adapted from the brilliant book “Jubilee: Recipes from Two Centeries of African American Cooking” by Toni Tipton-Martin. It makes good use of yellow squash growing in The Nashville Food Project gardens while we also added zucchini and cherry tomato. 

The soup also showcases squash, scallions and herbs from our gardens. We love topping it with a carrot top pesto, which we often make as a way to demonstrate our commitment in the kitchens toward zero waste. TNFP Chef Bianca Morton has whirled up batches of it at James Beard Foundation events with staff also making it the Solar Stage at Bonnaroo. It makes best use of the parts some might think of throwing away—plus, it’s delicious! Swirl it on top of fresh summer squash soup to add depth of flavor and a beautiful swish of color. 

Both the soup and saute recipes have us thinking of Chef Margot McCormack, who helmed a team of all-women chefs for Nourish in 2017 and became our first recipient of the Thomas Williams Golden Skillet Award. She always has a myriad of vegetables on her menus and has long championed produce from local farmers and making best use of what’s on hand throughout the seasons.

Braised Summer Squash with Onions

makes about 4-6 servings

Directions

Slice the squash and zucchini. In a large skillet, heat the butter and oil over medium-high heat until hot. Add the onion and garlic and saute until the onion is translucent, about 2 minutes. Add the squash, salt, pepper and rosemary and saute over medium heat, 2 to 3 minutes until fragrant, stirring occasionally, adding up to 2 tablespoons water as needed to prevent sticking. 

Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and cook, turning frequently, until the squash is very tender, about 30 minutes. Add the tomatoes toward the end of the cooking time just to warm through. Garnish with the chives and serve. 

Recipe adapted from “Jubilee: Recipes from Two Centeries of African American Cooking” by Toni Tipton-Martin.

ingredients

1 1/2 lbs yellow summer squash
1 1/2 lbs zucchini
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp vegetables or olive oil
1 cup thinly sliced onion
1 tsp minced garlic
3/4 tsp salt, or to taste
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp dried rosemary
or 1/2 tsp chopped fresh
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
2 tbsp minced chives

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Summer Squash Soup with Carrot Top Pesto or Tomato-Basil Pesto

makes 4 to 6 servings

ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil or butter
1 ¼ lbs zucchini, crookneck, or pattypan squash
1 large onion, chopped
1 bunch scallions, including half of the greens, chopped
2 tbsp white rice, uncooked
½ cup chopped parsley
6 cups vegetable stock
Salt and pepper
Lemon Juice
½ cup of pesto (recipe below)

Directions

Heat the oil in a soup pot and add the vegetables, rice and parsley. Stir to coat with the oil, then add ½ cup stock, cover, and stew for 10 minutes over medium heat. (Or heat the oil, add the squash and onion, and saute over high heat until the squash begins to color, then add the scallions, rice and parsley.) Add the remaining stock and 1 ½ teaspoons salt and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, partially covered, for 25 minutes. Let cool briefly, then puree. Taste for salt, season with pepper, and add lemon juice to taste. Frish the soup by swirling in the pesto.

Carrot Top or Basil Pesto

makes about 3/4 cup

ingredients

2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped 
Salt
1 ½ cups loosely packed carrot top leaves or basil
⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
½ cup grated Parmesan
Optional: 2 to 3 tbsp tomato paste

Directions

Mash the garlic with the edge of your knife (or mortar and pestle if you have one) with ½ teaspoon salt until smooth. Chop the carrot top leaves or basil in a food processor and gradually add the oil to make a course puree. Remove and stir into the garlic with the cheese and tomato past if using. Taste for salt then add a dollop to soup. 

Soup and pesto recipes adapted from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison.

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This recipe is a part of our menu for our upcoming live dinner party, a part of our Nourishing our Community presented by Kroger Zero Hunger Zero Waste campaign.

We hope you can cook up your version and join us for dinner on Thursday, July 2nd!

Honey Chess Pie

We appreciate this pie as a way of making do with what’s on hand. Chef Mashama Bailey of The Grey in Savannah makes a superb version of this classic pie with honey, and locally, Alisa Huntsman, an alum of The Loveless Cafe, makes this version. Honey Chess Pie also gives us an opportunity to appreciate the bees — like those at our Community Farm at Mill Ridge. Dress it up further with seasonal berries or fresh mint.

Honey Chess Pie

makes 8 servings or one 9-inch pie

ingredients

9-inch pie shell, partially baked (instructions follow)
¾ cup honey
¾ cup packed light brown sugar
1 stick (4 ounces) plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
3 tbsp cornmeal, preferably white
2 tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp ground cinnamon
4 eggs, at room temperature
3 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
⅓ cup heavy cream

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the pie shell on a sturdy baking sheet and set aside.

Place the honey, brown sugar, butter, cornmeal, flour, vanilla, and cinnamon in a food processor. Pulse until the mixture is smooth. With the machine running, add the eggs, one at a time, processing until blended and scraping the bowl after each addition. With the machine on, add the lemon juice and then the heavy cream through the feed tube. Scrape the filling into the pie shell.

Bake in the center of the oven for about 40 minutes, or until the edges puff up slightly and the center is firm. Let cool completely before serving. Garnish with summer berries, a sprig of mint and or a dollop of whipped cream before serving. 

Baking Tip: Refrigerating this pie will make it easier to cut, but the flavor is best at room temperature. Try chilling the pie thoroughly, cutting neat slices, and letting them stand on their plates for at least half an hour before serving.

For the pie crust:

Use your favorite pie dough recipe or a store bought crust. The time and temperature called for here result in what is technically a “blind-baked shell,” cooked just enough to hold a filling without turning soggy and to allow further baking without darkening the rim.

Roll out one disk of dough on a lightly floured surface to a round 1/16 to 1/18 inch thick. Carefully fold into quarters or wrap over the rolling pin and transfer to a 9-inch pie plate. Ease the dough into the pan without stretching. Trim the edges to leave an overhang of about ½-inch. Fold under and crimp decoratively. Refrigerate the pie shell while the oven heats.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Whether using a store-bought prepared shell or homemade pastry, place the pie shell on a sturdy baking sheet to make it easier to maneuver. Line the pie shell with parchment paper and fill with 3 cups dried beans or pie weights.

Bake the pie shell for 18 to 20 minutes. The dough should look fairly dry but not at all browned. Remove from the oven. Using a large spoon, scoop out the beans or pie weights. Remove the paper and let the shell cool completely before proceeding with your recipe. Be sure to save the beans; they can be reused many times.

For the pie:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place the pie shell on a sturdy baking sheet and set aside.

Place the honey, brown sugar, butter, cornmeal, flour, vanilla, and cinnamon in a food processor. Pulse until the mixture is smooth. With the machine running, add the eggs, one at a time, processing until blended and scraping the bowl after each addition. With the machine on, add the lemon juice and then the heavy cream through the feed tube. Scrape the filling into the pie shell.

Bake in the center of the oven for about 40 minutes, or until the edges puff up slightly and the center is firm. Let cool completely before serving.

Recipe from Alisa Huntsman, formerly of Loveless Cafe, and The Local Palate magazine.

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This recipe is a part of our menu for our upcoming live dinner party, a part of our Nourishing our Community presented by Kroger Zero Hunger Zero Waste campaign.

We hope you can cook up your version and join us for dinner on Thursday, July 2nd!