Shalayne Smith Needham-This is Utah Public Radio. Welcome to another USU Extension Education Highlight. I'm Shalayne Smith Needham. Finally, our temperatures are cooling after a long string of above seasonal highs across Utah during our summer. We're heading into my favorite time of year. It's harvest season. Here to help us with some fall recipe ideas is USU Extension Professor Emeritus, Teresa Hunsaker. Welcome back!
Teresa-Thanks for having me.
Shalayne Smith Needham-And let's jump right into your recipes, and since markets are in full swing right now, maybe we should start with your farmer's market spring rolls. Tell us about it.
Teresa-Oh, this is such a yummy recipe. So good, and I've made this a number of times, and the thing that is so nice about it is you can change up the vegetables that go in it, depending on your harvest, depending on what's available.
But all of this that could go in it is available right now in our farmers markets, whether it's carrots, and cucumbers, and cabbage, and you can change out the different kinds of cabbage. Just all of those wonderful things along with root vegetables such as beets, or radishes.
So, it's a typical spring roll, nothing extremely out of the ordinary that way, except that it's an all-veggie. You do use a package of rice paper that's so easy to work with in some warm water and just mold beautifully around your vegetables.
And then the thing that makes this, at least for me, is this orange-cucumber sauce, and it just pops. And you grate a cucumber, and then you can either use the juice of an orange, or I just kind of mash my orange all up in small chunks. Some olive oil, some cashews, some ginger make up this sauce along with a little bit of garlic and, and lemon juice.
And I'm telling you, it's just still so crisp and fresh and wonderful as we move into using the end of harvest kinds of veggies.
Shalayne Smith Needham-This one has a lot of ingredients in it, but would you say it's pretty simple to make?
Teresa-It's so simple to make, really and truly. It's peel carrots, peel cucumbers, chop your cabbage, and rolling those spring rolls is not difficult. It's kind of a burrito wrap, and I just do mine one at a time, fill it, and then set it aside, and then dump the other one into some warm water, and then fill it, and set it aside. It really goes quickly.
Shalayne Smith Needham-Your recipe for maple-glazed acorn squash sounds like the quintessential fall dish with so many delicious spices: cinnamon, cardamom, maple syrup, love that. Share your inspiration for this recipe.
Teresa-Well, I grew up with a parent who loved acorn squash, and this was my father, and so we were always trying to find different ways to use acorn squash. And so, my mom had come across a recipe similar to this one that I've kind of tweaked a little bit, but she always used maple syrup and butter.
And of course, we just gobbled it right up. And then I just added some cinnamon and cardamom, and then I roast some chopped pecans and do a little bit of zest of an orange in this mixture that I brush on, and then you just roast them. It It's so good. It really is. And like you said, it's quintessential fall. There's no question about it.
Shalayne Smith Needham-Well, I think we have time for one more recipe, Teresa. Which one would you like to wrap up with?
Teresa-I would love to just feature for a brief moment the zucchini patties. Many of us are familiar with grated zucchini patties, and this is no different. It's got the egg and the seasoned salt and, you know, kind of an herb blend of like Mrs. Dash's, some cheese in it, but the cool thing about this one is instead of bread crumbs, you use a cornbread mix.
And I tell you, it makes all the difference in the world. It's just a real fun addition to if you like a zucchini patty, make it with this cornbread mix. It doesn't take a lot, but boy, I'll tell you. And they freeze beautifully, or you can even freeze them in molds if you have kind of some silicone molds before you even cook them, and then pop them out and then fry them in your frying pan. So yummy!
Shalayne Smith Needham-Cornbread is always one of my favorites in the fall. Teresa, thank you so much for sharing these recipes. We will have these listed on our website, including the recipe for refrigerator pickled beets with onion. We didn't have time to share that one.
And, Teresa, we'd love to have you back on to share some spooky treats for Halloween. I think that's kind of becoming a tradition here at UPR. I'll look forward to that. Thank you so much for being here with us today.
Teresa-Thank you for having me, and I'll look forward to the fall Halloween as well.
Shalayne Smith Needham-And be sure to tune in for another USU Extension education highlight next week. I'm Shalayne Smith Needham.
Maple Glazed Acorn Squash
2 small to medium acorn squash, washed, cut in half, and seeded
1 TBS. avocado oil-or any other oil you prefer
4 TBS. butter
¼ c. maple syrup
½ tsp. sea salt, or regular table salt
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. ground cardamom
Zest from half an orange
½ c. roasted chopped pecans
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Either lightly grease a cookie sheet with oil, or line pan with parchment paper.
Mix oil, maple syrup, orange zest, salt, and ground cardamom and cinnamon, then brush it over the meat or flesh of the squash before roasting. Drizzle any remaining maple mixture over the squash pieces.
Add 1 TBS. butter to each half of the acorn squash. Place in pre-heated oven and bake for 40 to 45 minutes…or until soft. Just before serving top each half with roasted pecans.
NOTE: For a little extra fun, sprinkle with feta cheese crumbles the last 5 minutes of roasting…then top with the pecans just before serving.
Refrigerator Pickled Beets w/ Onion (Ballmasonjars.com)
8 cups beets (about 4 lbs.), peeled, halved and sliced into ¼ inch sections
3 c. sliced onions or peeled pearl onions
2 ½ c. cider vinegar
2 c. granulated sugar
1 ½ c. water
1 TBS. salt for pickling & preserving
1 TBS. mustard seed
1 tsp each: whole allspice and cloves
1 6 inch cinnamon stick, or 2 3 inch sticks
Combine onions, vinegar, sugar, water, mustard seed, salt, allspice, cloves, cinnamon sticks in a large stainless steel saucepan. Bring to a boil; boil gently 5 minutes. Add prepared beets and return to a full boil, lower heat and simmer just until beets are tender. Remove from heat. Discard cinnamon stick.
Pack hot beets and onions evenly into hot jars, pour hot brine over leaving a ½ inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Wipe jar rim, center lid on jar and apply band, adjust to fingertip tight. Cool to room temperature, tighten band then place in refrigerator. For the best pickled taste allow to sit for 3 weeks before serving. (I often use mine within 2 weeks and they are still fantastic!) Best quality if used within 3 months.
Zucchini Patties
2 cups shredded zucchini, drained and squeezed to remove some of the liquid
1 egg, beaten
1/3 c. cornbread mix
½ tsp. seasoned salt
½ tsp. herb blend (like Mrs. Dash’s No Salt Herb Blend)
1 c. shredded cheese, cheddar, pepper jack, or any other favorites
Butter or oil for frying
Grate zucchini and squeeze the excess moisture by wrapping it in a clean dish towel (or paper towels) and gently pressing the extra liquid out…or let drain for a couple of hours in a fine mesh colander.
Transfer zucchini to a large bowl and add egg, cornbread mix, salt, pepper, and cheese. Stir with a wooden spoon to incorporate all ingredients.
Heat oil or butter in a cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Using a large cookie scoop and drop batter into the skillet. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until the patty starts to turn golden brown. Flip, gently press down to flatten the a bit and cook for another 2 minutes or until cooked through.
Transfer to a plate. Repeat with the remaining batter, adding more oil to the pan as needed.
Enjoy warm with sliced avocado, sour cream, or dipping sauce (like Tzatziki) or Ranch dressing. It is also really good with chopped ham or cooked crumbled bacon mixed in. For a little kick add in some crushed red pepper flakes…or experiment with different herb blends, garlic powder, chopped green onion, etc.
Farmer’s Market Spring Rolls (everyonesharvest.org)
Spring Rolls:
1 package rice paper
2-3 carrots
2-3 cucumbers
½ head cabbage
1 bunch greens of choice, such as kale, chard, or green leaf lettuce
1 bunch root vegetables, such as beets or radishes
seasonal fruit, optional
sprouts, optional
Orange Cucumber Sauce:
1 cucumber
1 orange
¼ c. olive oil
¼ c. cashews, raw
1 TBS. ginger, grated
1 clove garlic
2 TBS. lemon juice
1 tsp. salt
For the Spring Rolls
Grate or thinly slice all of the vegetables for the spring rolls.
Fill a shallow container with warm water. One at a time, place a sheet of rice paper in the warm water until it softens (about 30 seconds).
Remove rice paper in water and place desired fillings in the center of the rice paper in a line. Be sure not to overfill the rice paper. (This will take some practice.)
Fold the ends of the rice paper and roll. Eat immediately or allow to sit for 5-10 minutes so the rice paper is less sticky
For the Orange Cucumber Sauce
Peel and dice a cucumber (I like to seed and grate the cucumber) and orange and place in a jar with a lid. Add ¼ cup olive oil, ¼ cup raw cashews, 1 TBS. grated ginger, 1 grated clove of garlic, the juice of 1 lemon, about 2 TBS., and 1 tsp. salt.
Shake to form a sauce and serve with the spring rolls.
