ITEMS
Leeks
Kale Bunch
Mushrooms
Cherry Tomatoes
Purple Barley / GF sub Oat Groats
Bacon / Veg sub Fermented Salsa
PRODUCERS
Rocky Mountain Produce - Augusta
Amaltheia Organic Produce - Belgrade
SporeAttic - Bozeman
Three Hearts Farm - Bozeman
Timeless Natural Food - Ulm / GF Prairie - Manhattan
Ranchland Packing - Butte / Farmented Foods - Kalispell
Ingredient Notes
Leeks tend to hold a lot of sand and dirt between their layers. Give them a couple good rinses after you've cut them up to clean thoroughly. Typically, the light green and white parts of the stem are all that's used.
Purple Barley is an heirloom grain that's been partially pearled, which means part of its outer seed coat has been scuffed off to decrease cooking time, but not all of it. If cooking whole grains is daunting due to time constraints, try cooking the whole bag at one time and refrigerate or freeze to use as needed. Many recipes can accommodate pre-cooked grains by adding them later than uncooked grains.
Oat Groats are whole oat grains [As opposed to rolled oats, which are groats flattened through a roller, and steel cut oats, which are groats that are cut up.] Due to the intact outer seed coat, they will not get soft and mushy like oatmeal but will retain a toothy bite. Use in place of brown rice, barley, farro, or any other grain.
Cherry Tomato Sauce with Bacon & Leeks
Serve with any pasta or grain you like. Makes 1 1/2 - 2 C sauce. Adapted from Alice Waters.
2 Tbs olive oil
3 slices bacon, cut into 1/4" pieces
1 large leek or 2 small-medium leeks, sliced thin (white & light green parts)
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
Salt
Heat a saucepan over medium heat and add the olive oil and bacon pieces. Cook until the fat has rendered and bacon is lightly browned. If bacon is browning too fast, turn the heat down. Scoop out bacon and set aside, leaving the fat in the pan. To it, add thinly sliced leeks and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, 7-10 min. [While the leeks are cooking, start a pot of water to boil for your pasta] Add tomatoes and a bit of salt to the leeks. Cook for ~10 min over low heat, stirring occasionally, then add the cooked bacon back in and cook for another 2-3 min. Taste for salt and adjust as needed. Serve tossed with cooked pasta and garnished with grated parmesan or fresh herbs, if you like.
Purple Barley Stew with Leeks, Mushrooms, & Kale
Recipe adapted from Bon Appetit. Serves 6.
1 Tbs olive oil, divided
1 1/2 C leeks, chopped - white and pale green parts only
4 oz mixed mushrooms (1 pack) sliced, tough stems discarded
2 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
2 1/4 tsp fresh rosemary, minced
~2 C cherry tomatoes, chopped
1 C Purple Barley - GF sub 1 C oat groats
4 C chicken or vegetable broth, plus more as needed
1 bunch kale (~8 oz), rinsed, center stalks removed, coarsely chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste
Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium heat. Add leeks; sprinkle with salt and pepper and sauté until leeks begin to soften, stirring often, ~5 min. Add mushrooms, garlic, and rosemary; increase heat to medium-high and sauté until mushrooms soften and begin to brown, ~7 min. Add tomatoes with their juices; stir 1 minute. Then add barley and 4 C broth; bring to boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until barley is almost tender, ~35 min. Add kale; stir until wilted in, then cover and simmer 5-10 minutes, until kale and barley are both tender. Add more broth by 1/4 cupfuls to adjust the stew consistency, if needed
Note: Oat groats may take longer to cook than the barley.
Additional Recipe Ideas: There were so many recipes I wanted to include this week, thanks to the complementary nature of these ingredients, that I had a hard time narrowing it down. Instead, here are *some* of the ways you can pull these items together, if you need inspiration. Find examples of each linked here online:
Quiche or Frittata: bacon, mushroom, leek, kale, or any combo of the two are great pairings for an egg bake of any style. Quick Mushroom Quiche Lorraine , or this Frittata with kale subbed for chard
Risotto: Yes, there are barley "risottos," like this one. And oat groat "risottos," like this one (which I should note calls for already-cooked groats. Or go for a classic leek and mushroom risotto or, if you prefer, a vegan mushroom leek risotto
Savory Galette, Tart, or Pie: A gallette is pie for people who like coloring outside the lines; same ingredients, fewer rules. Combine your favorite crust, however you like to shape it, with cherry tomatoes and leeks, caramelized leeks and mushrooms, kale and mushroom, kale and bacon, etc. Check out: 15 Galettes That are Easier Than Pie , Caramelized Leek Tart , or this Southern Tomato Pie .
Soups & Stews: the options are practically infinite. My favorite, though, is Potato Leek Soup with Crumbled Bacon.