I confess, I’m excited about the Royal wedding. My great grandmother grew up in England, after all, emigrating to the US as a teenager. (Technically, my grandfather’s family also had British origins, but as they came to America in the 1600s I think that’s stretching things a bit.) So I plan to set the alarm early on Friday, sip tea out of my great-great-grandmother’s china and enjoy a scone while watching the festivities. These rhubarb scones are the perfect blend of sweet, tart and spicy to wake you up. Too many rhubarb recipes drown rhubarb’s pleasant tang in sugar or cover it up entirely with strawberries — these go in the other direction, boosting the spice with little bits of crystallized ginger.

Recipe: Rhubarb Ginger Scones
adapted from Epicurious

Ingredients:

• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon organic cane sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup chopped rhubarb (about 2 stalks)
• 2 tablespoons candied ginger, finely chopped
• 1 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream

This twist on the classic winter soup is one of those happy accidents that happens when you don’t have quite enough of one ingredient — or in this case, a very petite butternut squash. I supplemented with two sweet potatoes and loved the richer flavor it gave the soup. It’s light on the curry, for the boy’s sake — and the husband and I just supplemented the spice with a dash of smoked paprika on top. Easy and tasty. Enjoy with grilled cheese sandwiches, or a side salad and rolls for an easy weeknight dinner.

Recipe: Curried Sweet Potato and Squash Soup
Adapted from MarthaStewart.com

Ingredients:

• 1 smaller butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed
• 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
• 1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 15 ounces coconut milk
• smoked paprika, to garnish

Instructions: Heat olive oil in soup pot over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until softened and translucent, about 4 minutes. Add curry powder, ginger and salt and sauté another minute. Add squash, sweet potatoes and broth and bring to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat to medium low and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in the coconut milk and simmer another 10 minutes. Remove from heat and puree with an immersion blender or in a blender. Serve, with a pinch of smoked paprika (and swirl of reserved coconut milk), if desired. Makes 4-6 servings. Enjoy!

Have you heard of Meatless Monday? We don’t eat meat every night. When do eat meat, it’s local, hormone-free, free-range/grassfed, etc. So on the whole I’m not too concerned about the carbon footprint of our protein choices, but I do think it’s important to have a varied, balanced diet and would like to expand my meatless repertoire beyond pastas and quesadillas. So I’ll periodically be posting Meatless Monday recipes that emphasize beans, whole grains and other forms of protein. Please suggest your favorites, too!

This week’s recipe was inspired by the beautiful piece of fresh ginger and two small acorn squash we got in our CSA bag from Potomac Vegetable Farms. Butternut squash would be a little easier to work with here, as its smooth skin can be easily peeled eliminating the extra cooking step with the acorn squash. But use whichever you prefer. If you do use the acorn squash, reserve the shells for a fun serving dish with high kid-appeal.

Recipe: Curried Squash, Potato and Bean Stew

• 2 medium-sized acorn squash
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 small yellow onions, chopped
• 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped (about 1 tablespoon)
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 cup water
• 8 fingerling or banana potatoes, chopped
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans,* rinsed and drained
• cilantro, optional

Instructions:

If using acorn squash: Halve squash and remove seeds. Place cut side down on lightly-oiled baking sheet and roast at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes, until slightly soft. Cool, then scoop flesh out and cut into 1/2-inch chunks.

If using butternut squash: Peel, halve and remove seeds. Cut into 1/2-inch chunks and add to stew with the potatoes.

Heat olive oil in dutch oven over medium heat. Add garlic and onion and cook 4-5 minutes, until soft and translucent. Add ginger and cook 1 minute. Stir in seasonings and cook 1 additional minute. Add water, stir, then add potatoes and coconut milk to pan. Cover and simmer 20 minutes, until potatoes are fork tender. Add beans and acorn squash to pan and cook another 10 minutes. Makes 4-6 servings.

Notes: I served this stew over brown rice. I intended to use garbanzo beans, but didn’t have any on hand so navy beans stood in instead. You can garnish with cilantro, but it’s actually some spinach from our CSA in the picture.

Get more Meatless Monday recipe ideas from Kim O’Donnel at True/Slant … and please leave a comment with any meatless recipes you’ve enjoyed recently!

Alexandria Farmers Market Watch: The weather was gorgeous in Alexandria this weekend, but my farmers market visits were brief due to visiting in-laws and a packed toddler-centric schedule of activities. (Three years in, I’m realizing that Mother’s Day is really not so much about me…)  At the Del Ray Farmers Market, Three Way Farms had strawberries galore as promised, though they were rapidly selling out. At the West End Farmers Market, Westmoreland Berry Farm was out of strawberries well before noon, though they were still selling strawberry shortcake for Mother’s Day. Most of the fresh stuff (strawberries, asparagus, Papa’s Orchard’s apples) did sell out early thanks to the great weather bringing hungry shoppers out in droves. Two familiar vendors, J & W Valley View Farm (VA, strawberries and greens) and Fresh Joseph’s (fresh-squeezed orange juice, scones & mozzarella — odd combination, isn’t it?) returned to West End this week. I snagged my Mother’s Day gift to myself — soft shell crabs from the On the Gourmet truck. (Check out the great write-up of the On the Gourmet crew in May’s Northern Virginia magazine.)

If there was rhubarb at the Alexandria markets, it sold out before I got there, so the ingredients for this market fresh dinner came from the Oakton market last week. Rhubarb season is just beginning though, so there will be plenty more rhubarb inspiration to come. (And rhubarb collins! Stay tuned.) The toddler loved the rhubarb sauce (it does have a slight resemblance to ketchup, after all) and dipped both his pork and asparagus in it. I love the tart, fresh taste of rhubarb with just about anything — I imagine this sauce would also go well with chicken or even fish.

Recipe: Roast Pork Tenderloin with Rhubarb Barbecue Sauce

Ingredients:

Pork:

• 1 3-pound pork tenderloin*
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
• 1 tablespoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon oregano

Sauce:

• 1.5 cups rhubarb*, sliced
• 1 spring onion*, white bulb portion (reserve green stalks for garnish/salad), finely chopped
• 1-inch piece fresh ginger, grated
• 1/8 cup white balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup honey*
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Instructions: Mix together pork seasonings and rub into pork tenderloin, coating evenly. Cover and place in refrigerator while preparing rhubarb sauce. (Bring out 10-15 minutes prior to cooking to bring to room temperature.)

Combine all sauce ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a gentle boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat to low and cook until rhubarb is falling apart, about 20 minutes. Cool and blend with stickblender or food processor until smooth.

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Heat oil in cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Sear pork for 3 minutes on each side, until browned. Brush with a generous amount of rhubarb sauce and transfer to over. Cook 12 minutes. Remove from oven and cover with foil. Allow to stand 10 minutes before slicing. Slice and serve with additional barbecue sauce. Makes 4-6 servings. Enjoy!

* Farms of origin:

• Valentine’s Country Meat, Va. (pork)
  
• Westmoreland Berry Farm, Va. (spring onion)
  
• Kuhn Orchards, Pa. (rhubarb)

What’d you find at the markets this weekend? Cook for mom? (Or yourself?)

On the sixth day of Christmas…

This one is bittersweet as it is the final batch of cider from Distillery Lane Ciderworks, provided through our milk delivery service from October through December. It’s the only juice we regularly drink, and the toddler is quite infatuated with his “appy cidey.” This version is for the grown-ups only, though of course you can simply omit the rum for your little ones!

Recipe: Gingered Apple Cider

Ingredients:

• 1 quart fresh apple cider
• 1/2 cup ginger simple syrup (or a peeled chunk of fresh ginger)
• 2 clementines, zest and juice
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• Rum

Instructions: Combine ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to low and simmer for 10 minutes. Strain and pour into mugs. Add rum if desired, and enjoy!